The Council of the Village of Riverlea met on the above date at the Thomas Worthington High School, Worthington.  The following Council members were present: Mayor Eric A. MacGilvray, Marc J. Benevento, Scott K. Gordon, Kathy E. McClintock, Ted C. Miller, and Leah M. Pyter. Also present were Joshua C. Mehling, Clerk-Treasurer, L. Leah Reibel, Solicitor, William P. Charles, Street Commissioner, and Gregory Bonk, Web Manager. Guests of Council were Amy and Paul Collini and representatives of the 5693 Olentangy Trust. At 7:01 p.m., the Mayor called the meeting to order.

Minutes

The minutes of the regular Council meeting of October 28, 2019 were not read since each member had received a copy. Benevento moved and Pyter seconded the motion that the minutes be approved as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea: 4, Benevento, Gordon, Miller, and Pyter; Nay: None; Abstain: 1, McClintock. The motion carried (4-0-1).

Report of the Clerk-Treasurer

McClintock moved and Benevento seconded the motion to approve the payment of bills and to accept the financial reports for October 2019 as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The motion carried (5-0).

Report of the Mayor

  1. The Mayor noted that with the general elections in November, Scott Gordon was reelected to Council, Josh Mehling was reelected as Clerk-Treasurer, and Eric MacGilvray was reelected as Mayor.
  2. The Mayor reminded Council that the Village would hold its luminaries event in the Circle Park on December 15. McClintock will organize the distribution of bags, candles, and instructions to all residents in advance of this. Gordon had the idea to distribute the directory sign-up information, including an opt-out option, along with these.
  3. The Mayor announced that there were 32 trees planted in the Village as the result of the tree program earlier in the fall. This includes an ornamental tree in the Circle Park.
  4. The Mayor stated that he had contacted Local Waste Services about the waste removal contract for the Village. The Village is currently in a month-to-month status with the company, which is proposing to raise rates by 15%, or about $6000 annually, in 2020. He asked Council if they were interested in putting the waste removal services for the Village out for bid to other companies, such as Rumpke or TrashCab. He noted that Sharon Township is in a consortium contract with Local Waste Services that pays rates that are currently lower than those of the Village, but may rise in coming years. The Mayor will contact Local Waste Services about the difference in rates between the consortium rate and the current rate and see if there is a benefit in switching. The Council also discussed the possibility of leaf collection for residents as part of this conversation. The Mayor will contact Sharon Township about a leaf collection quote.
  5. The Mayor mentioned that he was working on the final change order for the contractor in charge of the infrastructure project. Once this is signed, the Village’s dealings with the contractor will be complete, unless any warranty issues arise.

Report of the Solicitor

The Solicitor stated that she had been working on several end of year contracts, which Council will be asked to approve in November and December. She had also done work on the social media and solar panel policies, which will be discussed later in the meeting

Report of the Street Commissioner

  1. The Street Commissioner stated that there had been some issues in marking the utilities for the tree planting program, but they were dealt with and the planting went smoothly.

Report of the Planning Commissioner

The Clerk-Treasurer stated that the Planning Commission had approved the replacement of a roof and addition of a skylight at 138 Riverglen and the installation of a fence at 72 Riverglen.

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, along with the Mayor and Street Commissioner, had met with Burgess & Niple to discuss a potential asset management plan for the new infrastructure within the Village. Burgess & Niple should have a draft plan to send to the Village soon.

 

  1. The Chair of the Committee reported that Burgess & Niple investigated Worthington’s plans to tie into a sewer main south of Rush Run Park with the hope of ultimately removing the need for the Village’s lift station. Because this potential connection is still uphill from the Village, this would not be a possibility.

 

  1. Committee on Communications

Gordon, the Chair of the Committee, reported that the he had reviewed the proposed Social Media Policy and Disclaimer and found that it appears to be standard and acceptable. The Web Manager made some suggestions for alterations to the policy. These will be addressed in the second reading of the resolution (2019-08).

  1. Web Manager
  1. The Web Manager reported that he was working on the Village directory, including updates and formatting.

 

  1. The Web Manager reported that he had fixed some broken links in the website. He will also update some pages in the site, including for the Clerk-Treasurer.

 

  1. Neglected Properties/Marshal discussion

The Solicitor reported that she had distributed to Council members language that had been removed from the Village’s code as part of the overhaul to the building & zoning codes in 2014. In regards to the suggestion at the October meeting of potentially using an employee of Sharon Township to enforce the International Property Maintenance Code within the Village, Gordon stated that he was uncomfortable with an outside agency designating whether Village properties were compliant or not. Given the small size of the Village and infrequency of residences’ conditions being questioned, Council opted not to pursue this external option.

Council also opted not to reinstate any removed language to the code as they felt the remaining language was sufficient, but would like more consistent enforcement of the codes that are on the books. As part of this, they would like to explore the reinstatement of the Marshal position that was eliminated in 2015. This position would enforce the code and serve as a liaison between the Mayor and Village residents. Council will revisit the removal of this position and the possibility of filling the position.

  1. Resolution 2019-10

Gordon moved and McClintock seconded the motion to amend Resolution 2019-10, A Resolution Adopt the Village of Riverlea Social Media Policy and Disclaimer. These amendments include the following:

  1. The change of the reference to the “Friends of Riverlea Facebook page” to “Friends of Riverlea, Ohio Facebook group.”
  2. The addition of Riverlea.gov under section 1
  3. The modification of section 12 to refer to “…subject to the direction, review, and approval of Council…”

The motion passed (5-0). The Solicitor will bring the revised resolution to the December meeting.

Resolution 2019-10, A Resolution to Adopt the Village of Riverlea Social Media Policy and Disclaimer had its second reading.

  1. Ordinance 03-2019

Ordinance 03-2019, 2020 Appropriations (Village) had its second reading.

New Business

  1. Resolution 2019-11

Resolution 2019-11, A Resolution Authorizing the Mayor of the Village of Riverlea, Ohio to Contract with the City of Worthington, Ohio and the Worthington Police Department to Provide Police Services in the Village, and to Declare an Emergency was introduced by Pyter. Pyter moved and McClintock seconded the motion to waive the three readings of the resolution in order to sign the contract and submit it to the city of Worthington in a timely manner. The motion passed (5-0). Miller moved and McClintock seconded the motion to approve of the resolution. The motion passed (5-0).

Expenses

McClintock moved and Gordon seconded the motion to authorize the following expenditures

– $  1,100.00 – Gudenkauf Corp – Water & gas line locating

– $     495.00 – American Legal Services – 2020 Code internet hosting

– $12,322.02 – Sharon Township Board of Trustees – 2018-19 Snow plowing

The motion was approved unanimously (5-0).

Comments from Residents on Non-Agenda Items

Amy and Paul Collini addressed Council about issues they were having with a neighbor’s cat on their property. The cat had shown a pattern of urinating in their flower bed and damaging their property. They had reviewed the Village code and found it unclear in its language about animals at large. After further review of the code with Council and the Solicitor, they found the language and penalties to be sufficient, but there are questions about the enforcement of the code. Worthington Police will only act to enforce if they catch the animal in the act or are shown proof. The Collinis stated that they would attempt to take a picture of the cat on their property.

Next Meeting Announcement

The next regular meeting will be Monday, December 16 at 7:00 p.m. at the Thomas Worthington High School.

Adjournment

There being no further business, Benevento moved and McClintock seconded the motion to adjourn.  The motion was approved unanimously (5-0).  The meeting was adjourned at 8:48 p.m.

 

Joshua C. Mehling, Clerk-Treasurer

Eric A. MacGilvray, Mayor