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, Chad A. Lowe, 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 John Oberle, Tod Haman, Jim & Alice Favret, and representatives of the 5693 Olentangy Trust. At 7:00 p.m., the Mayor called the meeting to order.
Minutes
The minutes of the regular Council meeting of September 16, 2019 were not read since each member had received a copy. Pyter moved and Lowe seconded the motion that the minutes be approved as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea: 4, Gordon, Lowe, Miller, and Pyter; Nay: None; Abstain: 1, Benevento. The motion carried (4-0-1).
Report of the Clerk-Treasurer
Miller moved and Pyter seconded the motion to approve the payment of bills and to accept the financial reports for September 2019 as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The motion carried (5-0).
Report of the Mayor
- The Mayor stated that the reseeding of grass within the Village was complete. If the grass does not take by spring, the contractor will reseed again.
- The Mayor stated that Columbia Gas was doing work at Riverglen & High to connect the new gas lines in the Village to the new lines in Worthington.
- The Mayor stated that the Village would hold a luminaries event in the Circle Park on December 15.
- The Mayor stated that Peabody Landscaping would begin installing trees in the Village on October 30. Marc Benevento had delivered instructions and stakes to mark locations to all residents who had ordered the trees. The Mayor ordered a crabapple tree to replace the ornamental tree that was removed in the Circle Park. Peabody will work with OUPS to mark utility locations.
- The Mayor mentioned that he had met with representatives from the Mid Ohio Regional Planning Commission. One item discussed was possible funding for work on the Village’s sanitary sewers. Another item was the fact that the state authorized villages to add an additional $5 fee to motor vehicle license applicants if desired. The council will decide whether or not to pursue this additional fee.
- The Mayor stated that he had been contacted by a representative from Local Waste Services, who informed him that the company would be raising their rates for 2020. There were questions about when the Village’s contract with Local Waste Services expires. The Clerk-Treasurer will look into this. Resident John Oberle stated that SWACO offers a consortium contract to municipalities and that Sharon Township uses this. The Village will look in to this option as well.
- The Mayor announced that there would be a meeting with Burgess & Niple on November 4 to discuss the development of an asset management plan for the Village. This meeting will replace the Infrastructure Committee meeting for November.
- The Mayor mentioned that the Village had received the report on the condition of the Lift Station from Burgess & Niple. Benevento, the Chair of the Infrastructure Committee, discussed its findings. The report stated that the station is structurally sound and has a life expectancy of 10-15 years. There is some exposed rebar in the floor that the report recommended be cleaned & painted. The report recommends that the Village add a generator for backup power to the station. Burgess & Niple is exploring possible locations for this generator.
- The Mayor stated that the Infrastructure Committee had reviewed options for the water runoff into the driveway at 5690 Olentangy. After studying the problem, Burgess & Niple recommended that the driveway apron & crown be replaced. The Infrastructure committee recommended that the Village fund this replacement and leave the funding for a trench drain, if desired by the Favrets, the owners of the home, up to them. The Favrets stated that they believe a large part of the issue is that the crown on the road was removed as part of the road replacement project. The Mayor recommended starting with the driveway apron and trench if desired and addressing the crown of the road if there is still a drainage problem. The Favrets agreed and plan on installing the trench drain at their expense.
Report of the Solicitor
The Solicitor stated that she had prepared several resolutions and ordinances for this meeting. Included among these is an ordinance to adopt language related to solar panel installation. Benevento questioned whether the 2 sq ft size stated in the ordinance was too large. Gordon mentioned that the language stating that these panels could be installed on the sides of houses could prove problematic for those houses which have sides that are prominently visible from the street. The Solicitor will send the draft ordinance to the Planning Commissioner and get his opinion before proceeding.
Report of the Street Commissioner
- The Street Commissioner stated that he had sent the addresses of the houses that had requested trees to Gudenkauf for utility marking. Sanitary sewer lines will need to be marked as well.
- Lowe requested that the Village get an estimate for a one-time street cleaning to remove the leaves from gutters and storm drains before the winter. John Oberle stated that he will send information on the street cleaning services that Sharon Township uses.
Report of the Planning Commissioner
The Clerk-Treasurer stated that the Planning Commission had approved a new fence and replacement of an old fence at 84 Riverglen and the addition of a shed at 272 Melbourne.
Comments from Residents on Agenda Items
Tod Haman, who recently sent an email to Council members urging them to add an ordinance concerning neglected properties to the Village zoning regulations, reiterated his opinion that it would be a good idea to have such an ordinance in the code.
Old Business
- Committee on Infrastructure
Benevento, the Chair of the Committee, stated that the committee had met and discussed the Lift Station, tree program, 5690 Olentangy driveway, and asset management plan, all of which had previously been addressed. A resident at 5693 Olentangy had a question about the timeline for the Lift Station generator installation. Benevento replied that the committee would likely discuss this during the meetings in December & January and that they will seek input from the residents throughout this process.
- Committee on Communications
Gordon, the Chair of the Committee, reported that the Committee did not meet in October, but would be scheduling a meeting to discuss the Social Media Policy. He also mentioned that the Committee was planning to deliver a flyer to residents allowing them to opt out of having their information shared in the directory, and giving them the opportunity to update this information before publication.
- Web Manager
The Web Manager reported that the renewal for the website’s certificate was coming up soon. He also mentioned that he is exploring desktop publishing tools for the Village directory.
- Neglected Properties
The Solicitor had distributed language from the zoning codes of other municipalities on the maintenance of properties and enforcement of these ordinances. She reminded the Council that similar language was removed in 2014 as part of a larger edit to the zoning code in the Village, and will send Council copies of the language that was removed.
Resident John Oberle stated that Sharon Township has a Code Enforcement Officer who deals with these issues and that the Village could pay him on some sort of limited basis for these services. He also stated that Sharon Township has seen property values increase since instituting the International Property Maintenance Code and that he is willing to work with the Village to explore options.
There was some discussion of whether Council should form a committee to discuss these options and what language, if any, to add to the code; or whether this issue should be discussed by the full Council. The Council will discuss this matter again in November after reviewing the language that had been removed from the code.
New Business
- Resolution 2019-08
Resolution 2019-08, A Resolution to Approve and Adopt the Franklin County Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan, and to Declare an Emergency was introduced by Lowe. Lowe moved and Miller seconded the motion to waive the three readings of the resolution in order to submit this to the county in a timely manner. The motion passed (5-0). Miller moved and Pyter seconded the motion to approve of the resolution. The motion passed (5-0).
- Resolution 2019-09
Resolution 2019-09, A Resolution to Provide Legal Counsel for the Village of Riverlea, and to Declare an Emergency was introduced by Gordon. Gordon moved and Benevento seconded the motion to waive the three readings of the resolution in order to sign this contract in a timely manner. The motion passed (5-0). Lowe moved and Miller seconded the motion to approve of the resolution. The motion passed (5-0).
- Resolution 2019-10
Resolution 2019-09, A Resolution Adopt the Village of Riverlea Social Media Policy and Disclaimer was introduced by Benevento and had its first reading.
- Ordinance 03-2019
Ordinance 03-2019, 2020 Appropriations (Village) was introduced by Pyter and had its first reading.
- Ordinance 04-2019
Ordinance 04-2019, An Ordinance to Amend the Village of Riverlea Zoning Code to Regulate the Installation of Solar Panels was introduced by Gordon. Gordon moved and Benevento seconded the motion to table this ordinance in order to receive input from the Planning Commissioner.
Expenses
Lowe moved and Pyter seconded the motion to authorize the following expenditures
– $220.00 – Gudenkauf Corp – Water & gas line locating
– $20.40 – Marc Benevento – Stakes for trees
The motion was approved unanimously (5-0).
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, November 18 at 7:00 p.m. at the Thomas Worthington High School.
Adjournment
There being no further business, Benevento moved and Miller seconded the motion to adjourn. The motion was approved unanimously (5-0). The meeting was adjourned at 8:41 p.m.
Joshua C. Mehling, Clerk-Treasurer
Eric A. MacGilvray, Mayor