The Council of the Village of Riverlea met on the above date at Thomas Worthington High School. 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, and William P. Charles, Street Commissioner. Guests of Council were Dewey Fisher, Steven Orenchuk, and Emily Saving. At 7:01 p.m., the Mayor called the meeting to order.

Minutes

The minutes of the regular Council meeting of August 16, 2021 were not read since each member had received a copy. McClintock moved and Benevento seconded the motion that the minutes be approved as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea: 5, Benevento, Gordon, McClintock, Miller, and Pyter; Nay: None; Abstain: None. The motion carried (5-0).

The minutes of the special Council meeting of September 8, 2021 were not read since each member had received a copy. McClintock moved and Benevento seconded the motion that the minutes be approved as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The following vote was recorded on the motion: Yea: 5, Benevento, Gordon, McClintock, Miller, and Pyter; Nay: None; Abstain: None. The motion carried (5-0).

Report of the Clerk-Treasurer

Benevento moved and McClintock seconded the motion to approve the payment of bills and to accept the financial reports for August 2021 as submitted by the Clerk-Treasurer. The motion carried (5-0).

Report of the Mayor

  1. The Mayor stated that the State Capital Improvements Program (SCIP) and American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) applications for infrastructure maintenance funding had been submitted and the Village should receive the results of the ARPA funding request by the end of October.
  2. The Mayor stated that earlier in the month, police had responded to a request to handle a possum acting erratically and dispatched and disposed of the animal.

Report of the Solicitor

  1. The Solicitor noted that she had distributed to Councilmembers the draft Public Records Request Policy in anticipation of a vote on adopting a resolution approving the Policy. The Policy is modeled on the Model policy suggested by the Attorney General of Ohio.
  2. The Solicitor stated that she had drafted a Sense of Council Resolution in Opposition to the Use of Restrictive Covenants in the Rental, Purchase or Sale of Real Property, regarding restrictive covenants in certain Village deeds. These restrictive covenants are illegal, but some historic deeds contain this language. Gordon commended the Solicitor for her work in researching and drafting this legislation as there does not appear to be anything similar issued by other municipalities.

Report of the Street Commissioner

  1. The Street Commissioner reported that he had ordered the new street signs to prevent parking on the east side of Crescent Ct. at the intersection of W Riverglen Dr.
  2. The Street Commissioner stated that he is working on purchasing the extra pumps for the lift station.

Report of the Planning Commissioner

  1. The Clerk-Treasurer noted that at the September Planning Commission meeting, the Commission had approved COAs for a shed and concrete slab at 93 Riverglen Dr., and the installation of solar panels at 5803 Dover Ct.

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, reported that the Committee had submitted the bids for the SCIP and ARPA funding requests, and thanked Dan Schlichting for his work in preparing and submitting the SCIP request.
  2. The Chair of the Committee reported that the Committee continues to work on the Lift Station project. The waiting time for a generator is currently about 15 weeks and Columbia Gas is requesting a survey to mark the Village right of way before installing a gas line. The lead time for surveys is currently about 6-12 weeks and Benevento recommended that the Village have all of the houses on the southern edge of the Village surveyed as well, to confirm the location of any right of ways that may exist for maintenance of the force main. Benevento moved and McClintock seconded the motion to approve up to $5,500 for a title search and surveys if necessary. The motion carried (5-0). Benevento stated that the Village needs to contact the new owner of the impacted lot at the end of Olentangy Blvd to get their input before proceeding with the lift station project.

 

  1. Committee on Communications
  1. Gordon, the Chair of the Committee, reported that he had received information on new residents to give to the Web Manager for use in the directory, but he has not been able to meet with the Web Manager.

 

  1. The Chair of the Committee stated that he had been thinking of the best methods for the Village Government to communicate with residents.

 

  1. There were discussions on reviving the newsletter that was previously distributed, but several members noted that it had been difficult to generate the necessary content to create such a document.
  2. An issue with the distribution of the minutes of Village government meetings is that they cannot be published until approved by members of the Council or Committee, which is generally monthly, but could be longer. The Mayor and Clerk Treasurer will work on the best method to post Council meeting highlights to the website before the official minutes are approved.
  3. Miller stated that he would inspect the kiosks around the Village to see if they could be cleaned to make the information contained therein more legible.

 

  1. Web Manager

There was no report from the Web Manager.

New Business

  1. Tree Trimming Quotes

The Mayor informed Council that Russell Tree Service had submitted a quote in the amount of $3,600 to trim the trees in the ravine. Benevento moved and Miller seconded the motion to approve the acceptance of this quote and payment of this amount. The motion carried (5-0).

  1. Resolution 2021-07

Resolution 2021-07 – A Resolution to Adopt the Village of Riverlea’s Public Records Request Policy was introduced by Pyter and had its first reading. Benevento stated that he had some suggestions as to the language in this resolution, notably around the office hours and cost of copies noted in the document, and that he would submit them to the Solicitor for review.

  1. Resolution 2021-10

Resolution 2021-10 – A Sense of the Council Resolution Condemning the Use of Restrictive Covenants, and Discharging any Discriminatory Covenants on City-Owned Property was introduced by Gordon and had its first reading.

  1. Resolution 2021-11

Resolution 2021-11 – A Resolution to Provide Legal Representation for the Village of Riverlea,  was introduced by McClintock and had its first reading.

  1. Resolution 2021-12

Resolution 2021-12 – 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 Pyter. Pyter moved and McClintock seconded the motion to waive the three readings of this resolution in order to submit it to the County in a timely manner. The motion passed (5-0). McClintock moved and Pyter seconded the motion to approve the resolution. The motion passed (5-0).

  1. Ordinance 03-2021

Ordinance 03-2021 – An Ordinance to Approve a Modification and Realignment of Ordinance 10-2020, The Annual Appropriation Ordinance (Village), and to Declare an Emergency was introduced by McClintock. McClintock moved and Benevento seconded the motion to waive the three readings of this resolution in order to submit it to the County in a timely manner. The motion passed (5-0). Pyter moved and McClintock seconded the motion to approve the resolution. The motion passed (5-0).

Expenses

Benevento moved and Miller seconded the motion to authorize the following expenditure:

$330.00 – Gudenkauf Corp – Water & gas line locating

The motion was approved unanimously (5-0).

Comments from Residents on Non-Agenda Items

Resident Dewey Fisher addressed the Council on the topic of communications with the residents. He noted that the plexiglass on the kiosks needs to be cleaned more frequently and that a reminder to residents that minutes cannot be posted until approved may be advisable. These topics are mentioned in the minutes of the Communications Committee and potential updates are underway.

Next Meeting Announcement

The next regular meeting will be Monday, October 18, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. at 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 8:11 p.m.

 

Joshua C. Mehling, Clerk-Treasurer

Eric A. MacGilvray, Mayor