The Council of the Village of Riverlea met on the above date at the Sharon Township Hall. The following Council members were present: Mayor Dan Schlichting, Jeffrey L. Amick, Charles T. Bell, Leah M. Pyter, Emily J. Saving, and Suzanne K. Surface. Also present were Leah Reibel, Solicitor and Joshua C. Mehling, Clerk-Treasurer. At 6:38 p.m., the Mayor called the meeting to order.

Minutes

The minutes of the regular Council meeting of September 15, 2025 were not read since each member had received a copy. Saving moved and Surface seconded the motion that the minutes be approved as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea: 5, Amick, Bell, Pyter, Saving, Surface; Nay: None; Abstain: None. The motion carried (5-0).

Report of the Clerk-Treasurer

Amick moved and Pyter seconded the motion to approve the payment of bills and to accept the financial reports for September 2025 as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea: 5, Amick, Bell, Pyter, Saving, Surface; Nay: None; Abstain: None. The motion carried (5-0).

Report of the Mayor

  1. The Mayor announced that Riverlea would hold Trick or Treating on October 31 from 6-8 PM, following the hours of Worthington. He thanked Surface for preparing and running the event in Circle Park on that evening.
  2. The Mayor stated that he contacted Peabody Landscaping about setting up a program to share costs with residents for tree planting throughout the Village, but has not yet heard back from them. At this point in the year, it is unlikely that planting will be done before winter, so Council will plan on offering the program to residents in 2026. He mentioned that Bell had reviewed the tree selection at Oakland Nursery and recommended the purchase of 2 elm trees to plant in Circle Park to replace the tree that had recently been removed on the south side. Saving noted that the arborist who had inspected the trees noted that a concern with the trees in the park is that there is no system to water the trees and wondered if this would be a concern when planting new trees. Pyter suggested using watering bags around the new trees to keep them watered. Amick noted that the tree on the southwest corner of the park may also need to be removed and replaced at some point in the near future as about 1/3 of it appears to be already dead. Pyter moved to authorize the expenditure of no more than $1,000 for the purchase and installation of trees and corresponding supplies for the park. Amick seconded the motion. The motion carried (5-0).
  3. The Mayor reported that a new permanent barrier and sidewalk had been installed at the end of Melbourne Ct. now that the cut-through had been removed. The City of Worthington will add more reflective signs to the barrier and will replant grass at the end of the fall.
  4. The Mayor stated that he had received the September report on Worthington Fire Department activity within the Village. There were three EMS runs and two smoke detector activations that turned out to be false alarms.
  5. The Mayor stated that he had received the September report on Worthington Police activity within the Village. There were 157 runs, a request for an officer to be on-call during the move out of a resident in the apartments on High St., a report of a theft from an unlocked truck, and a report of someone from a previous relationship reported on a camera. Bell noted that he had watched a motorist run the stop sign on Riverglen & Westchester in front of a police care and stated that he felt that the police were too lenient when observing violations and was interested in contacting the department to suggest an increase in warnings or issuing citations when necessary.
  6. The Mayor shared an update on the deer program from Worthington City Manager Robyn Stewart. The City has contracted to bring in trained sharpshooters and spotters from designated raised platforms to cull the herd. This will take place in January and February and will include one location near Riverlea. Stewart advised Riverlea to wait and see the results of these activities on the population before proceeding with any programs of their own.
  7. The Mayor reported that he had received complaints from residents on the placement of a mattress near the driveway to the apartments on the northeast end of Riverglen. This mattress had been placed near the property of the adjoining homeowner and had sat for weeks without being picked up. The Solicitor stated that she had contacted the owner of the apartments and Local Waste Services before the mattress was finally picked up on October 20. The Solicitor reviewed the Village code on the subject, which states that a resident has 15 days to dispose of such an object and at that point, the Village can take it upon itself to remove the object and then bill the property owner for any associated fees. If the owner does not pay the fees, then it will become a lien on the property.

Surface questioned who was at fault in this situation. The Solicitor explained that the resident who disposed of the mattress did not wrap the mattress before disposal as Local Waste Services requires, but that even after this was wrapped, Local Waste did not pick up the mattress until reminded to do so.

Amick stated that the Village should reduce the time allowed for removal from 15 days to 5 days and should codify the language around when residents need to put their waste out and when to take empty bins in so that this language is enforceable. Saving questioned whether the Village had the ability to enforce these rules if they were codified. The Mayor stated that it does and that he is already planning on issuing notification letters when they are needed, but that property owners need to be responsible for handling issues on their property. Surface suggested changing the notification timeline to 7 days so that a resident has time to rectify a problem and Local Waste has the chance to pick it up before a situation is escalated. The Solicitor will change this section of the code from 15 to 7 days.

8. The Mayor stated that he is working on a newsletter to residents. This will cover several issues, including the Halloween schedule, an update on the November ballot issues, and a notice to residents that there will be an open spot on Council in January for someone to fill if interested.

9. The Mayor reported that he had been contacted by a reporter at the Columbus Dispatch for an article on municipalities lowering their millage rates. He explained that the Village is attempting to keep collections basically constant, but an increase in the taxable value of the Village since the last ballot measure in 2020 necessitated a decrease in the millage rate.

Report of the Solicitor

  1. The Solicitor stated that she had drafted a letter for the Mayor to send to residents in violation of the Village code for litter on their property.
  2. The Solicitor stated that recent Ohio legislation had been passed that requires all municipalities to draft a cybersecurity policy and that she is working on a template for this.

Report of the Street Commissioner

The Street Commissioner was not in attendance. The Mayor stated that he and the Infrastructure Committee are working on finalizing the list of items to have on hand. These items will likely total less than $1,000.

Report of the Planning Commissioner

The Planning Commissioner was not in attendance. The Clerk-Treasurer stated that the Commission had met in October and had approved the following applications:

  1. The addition of a porch roof at 222 Riverglen.
  2. The removal of a window at 5815 Crescent.
  3. The replacement of a porch & walkway at 58250 Carrington.
  4. Replacement of a rear patio with a deck at 5757 Olentangy
  5. Replacement of a roof at 235 Southington. The remainder of the application for this property was tabled pending further submissions.

Comments from Residents on Agenda Items

There were no comments from residents on agenda items.

Old Business

  1. Committee on Infrastructure

There was no report from the Chair of the Committee.

  1. Web Manager

The Web Manager was not in attendance

  1. Communications Committee

There was no report from the Chair of the Communications Committee

  1. Record Retention

The Records Retention Committee did not meet and will set a new meeting date.

New Business

  1. Resolution 2025-19

Resolution 2025-19 – A Resolution to Provide Legal Counsel for the Village of Riverlea was introduced by Saving and had its first reading. Saving moved to waive the three readings of this resolution in order to sign the contract in a timely manner and Bell seconded the motion. The motion passed (5-0). Pyter moved to approve the resolution and Surface seconded the motion. The motion passed (5-0).

  1. Ordinance 03-2025

Ordinance 03-2025 –2026 Annual Appropriation Ordinance (Village) was introduced by Saving and had its first reading.

Expenses

There were no expenses to approve for the month.

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 November 17, 2025, at 6:30 p.m. at the Old Worthington Library.

Adjournment

There being no further business, Surface moved and Amick seconded the motion to adjourn.  The motion was approved unanimously (5-0). The meeting was adjourned at 7:52 p.m.

 

Joshua C. Mehling, Clerk-Treasurer

Daniel E. Schlichting, Mayor