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, Scott K. Gordon, Chad A. Lowe, 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 Adam Ingram and Erika Estrada from the Franklin County Emergency Management, and representatives of the 5693 Olentangy Trust. At 7:03 p.m., the Mayor called the meeting to order.

Franklin County Emergency Management

Adam Ingram and Erika Estrada of the Franklin County Emergency Management were in attendance to discuss the 2018 Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan. The Village is not required to adopt this plan, but would need to adopt it in order to apply for mitigation funds in case of a disaster. The plan would cover all Village-owned property. There is no expense to adopt this plan and it is normally adopted by a resolution. Estrada will send the Mayor a model of the resolution to be passed.

Minutes

The minutes of the regular Council meeting of August 19, 2019 were not read since each member had received a copy. McClintock 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, Gordon, McClintock, Miller, and Pyter; Nay: None; Abstain: 1, Lowe. The motion carried (4-0-1).

Report of the Clerk-Treasurer

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

Report of the Mayor

  1. The Mayor stated that the trees for the tree replacement program had been ordered from Peabody Landscaping. The program ended up with 21 orders for a total of 31 trees. Council decided to add an additional ornamental tree to the Circle Park.
  2. The Mayor reminded Council that the Fall Festival would be on Saturday, September 28 at 4:30.
  3. The Mayor stated that the Village had been working with the contractor from the infrastructure project about reseeding lawns due to grass that did not take in the spring/summer. The contractor wants to do soil testing before deciding on a course of action.
  4. The Mayor stated that the Village was waiting on results of the Lift Station inspection on September 12.
  5. The Mayor mentioned that there had been a meeting to discuss plans to mitigate water flowing into the driveway at 5690 Olentangy after the streets were repaved. Burgess & Niple will discuss adding a trench drain in addition to raising the drive apron. B&N did not recommend changing the grade of the street, as they do not believe this will improve the drainage, and it may cause the pavement to crack over time.
  6. The Mayor noted that the replacement flags had been installed on the flagpole in the circle.

Report of the Solicitor

  1. The Solicitor stated that she had visited the County Recorder’s office and found the Village’s right of way for the Lift Station that had been issued in the 1920’s. Anyone who wishes to review this can contact her.
  2. The Solicitor stated that she had draft resolution for regulations around the installation of solar panels of solar panels in the Village. The language of this resolution is similar to those of other local municipalities.
  3. The Solicitor said that she had researched the issue of neglected properties. She noted that the Village had removed the neglected properties ordinance during the last modification to the planning & zoning code in 2014. The current code allows the Village to remove vegetation from a property that affects traffic visibility, as long as it provides 10 days’ notice without a response from the homeowner. There was discussion as to whether the Village should form a committee to discuss the issue. The Solicitor will send Council members examples of similar language in other municipalities.

Report of the Street Commissioner

The Street Commissioner requested the list of houses adding trees as part of the tree program so that he could expedite the request for OUPS to mark utilities at these locations. The Clerk-Treasurer said he would supply these.

Report of the Planning Commissioner

There was no update from the Planning Commission.

Comments from Residents on Agenda Items

Residents of 5693 Olentangy questioned the Street Commissioner as to the timeline for work on the Lift Station. The Street Commissioner stated that it would depend on the results of the inspection and what work would need to be performed. There was also discussion as to potential placement of a generator to be installed.

Old Business

  1. Committee on Infrastructure

There was no report as the Committee Chair was not in attendance.

  1. Committee on Communications

Gordon, the Chair of the Committee, reported that the Committee was finishing up the information gathering for the directory.

  1. Web Manager

The Web Manager reported that the number of unique visitors to the Village website had decreased since the completion of the infrastructure project to about 10 per day.

New Business

  1. Resolution 2019-07

Resolution 2019-07, A Resolution Accepting the Amounts and Rates as Determined by the Budget Commission and Authorizing the Necessary Tax Levies and Certifying them to the County Auditor and to Declare an Emergency was introduced by Gordon. Gordon moved and Lowe seconded the motion to waive the three readings of the resolution in order to submit this to the county Auditor in a timely manner. The motion passed (5-0). Lowe moved and McClintock seconded the motion to approve of the resolution. The motion passed (5-0).

  1. Ordinance 02-2019

Resolution 2019-07, An Ordinance to Approve a Modification and Realignment of Ordinance 02-2018, the Annual Appropriation Ordinance (Village), and to Declare an Emergency was introduced by Gordon. Gordon moved and McClintock seconded the motion to waive the three readings of the ordinance in order to submit this to the county Auditor in a timely manner. The motion passed (5-0). McClintock moved and Pyter seconded the motion to approve of the ordinance. The motion passed (5-0).

Expenses

Lowe moved and McClintock seconded the motion to authorize the following expenditures, along with no more than $1,000 for tree installation and stump grinding in the Circle Park:

– $330.00 – Gudenkauf Corp – Water & gas line locating

– $137.50 – Gudenkauf Corp – Water & gas line locating

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, October 21 at 7:00 p.m. at the Thomas Worthington High School.

Adjournment

There being no further business, McClintock moved and Pyter seconded the motion to adjourn.  The motion was approved unanimously (5-0).  The meeting was adjourned at 7:57 p.m.

 

Joshua C. Mehling, Clerk-Treasurer

Eric A. MacGilvray, Mayor