The Council of the Village of Riverlea met on the above date via Zoom teleconference software. The following Council members were present: Mayor Eric A. MacGilvray, Marc J. Benevento, Scott K. Gordon, Kathy E. McClintock, Ted C. Miller, Leah M. Pyter, and Dan Schlichting. Also present were Joshua C. Mehling, Clerk-Treasurer, L. Leah Reibel, Solicitor, and William P. Charles, Street Commissioner. At 7:03 p.m., the Mayor called the meeting to order.

Minutes

The minutes of the Council meeting of April 19, 2021 were not read since each member had received a copy. McClintock moved and Schlichting seconded the motion that the minutes be approved as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The motion carried (5-0). Miller was not in attendance at the time of the vote.

Report of the Clerk-Treasurer

Pyter moved and Schlichting seconded the motion to approve the payment of bills and to accept the financial reports for April 2021 as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The motion carried (5-0). Miller was not in attendance at the time of the vote.

Report of the Mayor

  1. The Mayor reminded Council that the filing deadline for the November election is August 4. There will be four Council seats on the ballot in November.
  2. The Mayor reminded Council that the exemption to the Ohio Open Meetings Act allowing electronic meetings is set to expire July 1. Council does not currently have a meeting scheduled for July but will likely need to find a location to hold the August meeting in person unless the exemption is extended.
  3. The Mayor noted that the apartments located at 5835 N High, at the High Street end of Riverglen, are up for sale. The land is zoned single family residential.

Report of the Solicitor

  1. The Solicitor stated that she is monitoring the discussions in the legislature about the Open Meetings Act and whether there would be another extension of the exemption allowing electronic meetings. She will keep Council updated as to the status of this.
  2. The Solicitor stated that she had drafted language for the website regarding public records requests. This will ask interested parties to contact the Clerk-Treasurer.

Report of the Street Commissioner

  1. The Street Commissioner reported that he had received an OUPS request to install an irrigation system on the lot at the end of Olentangy that is for sale.
  2. The Street Commissioner noted that the Village needed to renew its EPA permit.

Report of the Planning Commissioner

There was no report from the Planning Commissioner.

Comments from Residents on Agenda Items

There were no comments from residents on agenda items.

Old Business

  1. Committee on Infrastructure

 

  1. Benevento, the Chair of the Committee, stated that the Committee had met in May and that resident Steven Orenchuk had been added to the committee.
  2. Benevento mentioned that the committee had discussed whether the Village should have another round of street sweeping in the late spring. Doing so at this time would be cheaper than doing it in the fall. After some discussion, McClintock moved and Miller seconded the motion to move forward with scheduling a street sweeping and authorized the Village to spend up to $3,000 on this service. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea: 4, Gordon, McClintock, Miller, and Pyter; Nay: 2, Benevento and Schlichting; Abstain: None. The motion carried (4-2)
  3. Benevento reported that Burgess & Niple had begun the process of contacting potential contractors to install a standby generator at the Lift Station. The committee is exploring the pros & cons of different locations for the generator.

 

  1. Committee on Communications
  1. Gordon, the Chair of the Committee, stated that he is waiting for final go-ahead on the Village directory from the Web Manager, who is working on page layout.

 

  1. Gordon recommended that Council adopt a resolution formally declaring that the Council does not support the racial covenant included in the Village Charter. The Solicitor stated that the Council could pass a “Sense of the Council” resolution but is not able to alter a historical document. She stated that she would draft such a resolution.

 

  1. Committee on Nuisances

Gordon, the Chair of the Committee, stated that the committee had worked with the Solicitor to draft a noise ordinance for the Village. This would be addressed later in the meeting.

  1. Web Manager

There was no report from the Web Manager.

New Business

  1. Lawn Proposal

The Clerk-Treasurer stated that he had been approached by Shields Turf Management, who had been subcontracted to perform mowing services for the Village in 2020. Shields had submitted a proposal to handle all landscaping duties for the Village in 2021. After some discussion, Council agreed to the proposal, with a reduction in flower bed maintenance from 15 occurrences to 5 and removal of the sales tax included in the proposal as the Village is tax exempt. These changes would reduce the cost of the proposal by $800. Schlichting moved and McClintock seconded the motion to accept the proposal with the changes mentioned above. The motion passed (6-0).

Pyter mentioned that the trees in the circle need to be pruned and the Mayor stated that he would contact Russell Tree Services about this.

  1. Ordinance 02-2021

Ordinance 02-2021, An Ordinance to Amend the Village of Riverlea Zoning Code, to Regulate Noise was introduced by Pyter and had its first reading. Pyter asked if the Village should draft a general noise ordinance in addition to the language in this ordinance regarding construction noise. The Solicitor stated that the Village could use Ohio’s disorderly conduct statute in case of noisy events such as parties.

Expenses

Schlichting moved and Benevento seconded the motion to authorize the following expenditures:

$ 550.00 – Gudenkauf Corp – Water & Gas locating – Mar

$ 550.00 – Gudenkauf Corp – Water & Gas locating – Apr

$ 838.51 – Shields Turf Management – 2020 Lawn maintenance

$ 209.63 – Shields Turf Management – 2021 Lawn maintenance

The motion was approved unanimously (6-0).

Comments from Residents on Non-Agenda Items

There were no comments from residents on non-agenda items.

Next Meeting Announcement

The next regular meeting will be Monday, June 21, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. via Zoom teleconference.

Adjournment

There being no further business, Pyter moved and Miller seconded the motion to adjourn.  The motion was approved unanimously (6-0).  The meeting was adjourned at 8:05 p.m.

 

Joshua C. Mehling, Clerk-Treasurer

Eric A. MacGilvray, Mayor