The Council of the Village of Riverlea met on the above date at the Old Worthington Library. The following Council members were present: Mayor Eric A. MacGilvray, Nicholas B. Bartels, Scott K. Gordon, Janet Heidkamp, Leah M. Pyter, Emily J. Saving, and Dan E. Schlichting. Also present were Joshua C. Mehling, Clerk-Treasurer, Leah Reibel, Solicitor, William Charles, Acting Street Commissioner, Bryce Jacob, Planning Commissioner, and Greg Bonk, Web Manager. Guests of Council were Worthington Services Director/City Engineer John Moorehead and Riverlea residents Marc Benevento, Davin Korstjens, Renee Shannon, Dan McIntyre, and Tammy Watts. At 6:33 p.m., the Mayor called the meeting to order.

Selby Bridge Construction

John Moorehead, Services Director/City Engineer of the City of Worthington was in attendance to answer questions from Council members and residents on the upcoming replacement of the bridge on West Selby Blvd over Rush Run. This project had been introduced to Council members at the August meeting and would involve setting up a temporary access road between Melbourne Pl in Riverlea and Northbrook Ct in Worthington. Construction on this access road would begin in the spring or summer of 2024 and Worthington is requesting that Riverlea grant a temporary easement to build this. The Mayor explained that the Riverlea Solicitor had worked with the Worthington Law Department to draft a resolution granting this easement  that was expected to be introduced at the meeting, and would be voted on in November after three public readings. He also explained that residents are invited to comment on this potential project at any of these meetings. The Mayor then opened the floor to residents for their questions and comments.

Resident Marc Benevento stated that residents in the area had concerns about construction traffic in the area after dealing with it through the infrastructure project and some recent new home builds. He asked how construction traffic will be dealt with for this access road. He also pointed out that there are water lines underneath the proposed access road and wondered how those will be protected. He then asked about the restoration of the area once the project is complete, mentioning the potential of creating a walking path through the area between the two streets. He stated that in addition to this potential path, there is potential for Worthington and Riverlea to work together on several infrastructure issues once this is complete.

Resident Davin Korstjens stated that he wanted to ensure that any roadway between the two streets is temporary and will be restored to its current condition at the end of the project. He is concerned about potential damage as a result of this work.

Resident Renee Shannon stated that she is against the addition of this connector and wants to keep Riverlea and Worthington separate. She would like Worthington to find another plan for this project and would like to keep Riverlea’s new roads in good condition.

Resident Tammy Watts asked for more details on the additional traffic that Riverlea could expect as a result of this access road and expressed concerns on the restoration of the area when the project is complete.

Moorehead then addressed these questions and concerns. He stated that Worthington is aware of and concerned with the impact to residents from this construction and will work to minimize its impact. The city has contacted all 75 houses in the impacted neighborhood in Worthington and the residents along Melbourne and would continue to communicate with them approaching and through the project. Crews would be considerate of work hours to minimize noise and disruptions. He stated that while it could be possible to station a Worthington Police Officer at the road to prevent unauthorized access at some points, it would not be possible to station one at that location full-time. Bartels asked if movable barricades could be kept in place and Moorehead said that he would ask the Fire Chief if this were possible.

Moorehead then addressed other issues that had been raised by Council members and residents:

  1. Moorehead stated that Worthington would work to protect the water lines under the potential roadway and ensure that the drainage from the roadway was properly directed to the existing gutters during and after the project.
  2. Regarding the comment about Worthington finding other alternatives to this connection, Moorehead noted that there are no alternatives; there is no other way to access the neighborhood if there are problems with the project. The project is designed so as to allow maximum traffic across the bridge and if there is an issue that would prevent traffic from accessing the bridge, ODOT would attempt to repair this on an emergency basis.
  3. Moorehead stated that there is potential of adding a walkway between Melbourne and Northbrook after the project if this were desired.
  4. Moorehead said that it would be possible to redesign the project so as to eliminate all traffic across the bridge during the project and redirect all of this traffic to the neighborhood through the Village and the alternate roadway. There would be cost and time savings to the project from making this change, though due to the use of grants for funding this project, any change would require federal review and approval, and this would require additional time as well.

Gordon inquired as to whether the idea of making this new roadway permanent had been discussed by Worthington at all and Moorehead said that it had been mentioned only in that Worthington has no desire to make this permanent. Gordon asked if there had been any mention of adding a camera along the temporary roadway to monitor traffic and Moorehead replied that there had not been any mention of adding this. Heidkamp said that she would be interested in adding one to assist in monitoring traffic.

Heidkamp said that she would like to see more details on the types and volume of traffic to expect before the passage of the resolution. The Mayor said that he would also like to see this information, as well as additional details in a letter of agreement before approval. He stated that he would work with the Worthington City Manager on these details.

Minutes

The minutes of the Council meeting of August 21, 2023 were not read since each member had received a copy. Pyter moved and Saving seconded the motion that the minutes be approved as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The following vote was held on the motion: Yes: 4, Bartels, Heidkamp, Pyter, Saving; No: 0; Abstain: 2, Gordon, Schlichting. The motion carried (4-0-2).

Report of the Clerk-Treasurer

Heidkamp moved and Saving seconded the motion to approve the payment of bills and to accept the financial reports for August 2023 as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The motion carried (6-0).

Report of the Mayor

The Mayor reported that work on the sewer relining project is complete except for some manhole work to be done. There had been some complaints from residents on odors as a result of this work and Burgess and Niple had worked to respond to these. The Mayor also noted that Burgess and Niple had researched the possibility of adding the 15” Worthington sewer line that runs under Falmouth Court to the project and found that this would not fit in the funds for the project.

Report of the Solicitor

  1. The Solicitor stated that there are two third readings of resolutions scheduled for the meeting.
  2. The Solicitor noted that after the previous discussion, changes will be needed to the language for the Melbourne Connector resolution.

Report of the Street Commissioner

  1. The Street Commissioner stated that the work had been completed to connect the new home at 131 W Southington Ave to the sewer main, but there is still work to be done to connect the line to the house.
  2. The Street Commissioner reported that he is working on the 2022 and 2023 EPA Stormwater reports and they are expected to be complete by the end of the month.

Report of the Planning Commissioner

The Planning Commissioner reported that the Village had placed stop work orders on two locations in the Village due to the lack of approval for these projects. Both are expected to submit applications to the Planning Committee:

  1. A play set being constructed in front of a house at Dover & Frontenac. This is currently being constructed in the 35 ft setback and would need to be moved back for approval. Approval is also needed because it will involve permanent posts being put into the ground.
  2. A patio being installed at a house on Falmouth.

Comments from Residents on Agenda Items

There were no comments from residents on agenda items.

Old Business

  1. Committee on Infrastructure

Schlichting, the Chair of the Committee reported that the Committee did not meet in September.

 

  1. Web Manager
  1. The Web Manager stated that he had performed routine software upgrades and security patches

 

2. The Web Manager said that the Village is going to begin using an email hosting service that will help the Village to maintain documents and archive them properly in accordance with record retention policies. The Solicitor reminded everyone to keep Village emails separate from personal/work emails, as Village email accousho9uld nt records can be requested. There was some discussion on centralizing email accounts for Village officials. The Communications Committee will discuss this and present a proposal to Council.

 

  1. Communications Committee

Gordon, the Chair of the Committee stated that the quotes from printers to print the directory came back higher than expected, so the Committee continues to search for a printer for this project. The Mayor stated that he will see if there are any Village residents who can provide this service.

  1. Ordinance 05-2023

Ordinance 05-2023 An Ordinance to Provide for the Compensation of Village Councilmembers, Certain Elected Officers, and Appointed Officials of the Village had its third reading. Pyter moved to accept the ordinance and Saving seconded the motion. The motion passed (6-0).

  1. Resolution 2023-09

Resolution 2023 – 09 – Amended Resolution to Reauthorize the Communications Committee to Support the Work of Village Council, to Appoint Members Thereto had its third reading. Bartels moved to accept the resolution and Schlichting seconded the motion. The motion passed (6-0). The Mayor appointed Scott Gordon and Leah Pyter to the Communications Committee. Gordon moved to appoint Pyter as Chair of the Committee. The motion passed (6-0).

New Business

  1. Resolution 2023-10

Council members discussed whether to introduce the Melbourne Connector resolution or table it for a later meeting. Schlichting recommended introducing it so that it is more visible to residents that Council is working on the issue. The resolution can be tabled at any point in the process up until passage. Gordon stated that if Riverlea decides to move forward with the project, then it should ask for some form of concession from the City of Worthington. Schlichting asked if it was worth offering that Worthington use this this connector as a primary roadway to access the neighborhood during construction in return for more concessions from the City on future projects.

Heidkamp introduced Resolution 2023 – 10 –  Resolution Granting a Temporary Right of Way Easement to the City of Worthington, Ohio Across Property Owned by the Village of Riverlea and gave it its first reading.

  1. Resolution 2023-11

Resolution 2023 – 11 –  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 was introduced by Schlichting and had its first reading. Schlichting moved to waive the three readings of this resolution in order to submit it to the County in a timely manner and Bartels seconded the motion. The motion passed (6-0). Bartels moved to approve the resolution and Schlichting seconded the motion. The motion passed (6-0)

Expenses

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

  • $165.00 – Gudenkauf Corp – Water & Gas line locating
  • $410.94 – Josh Mehling -Supplies & Postage

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, October 16, 2023, at 6:30 p.m. at the Old Worthington Library.

Adjournment

There being no further business, Bartels moved and Heidkamp seconded the motion to adjourn.  The motion was approved unanimously (6-0). The meeting was adjourned at 8:26 p.m.

 

Joshua C. Mehling, Clerk-Treasurer

Eric A. MacGilvray, Mayor