Village Council Minutes – May 11, 2015 – Village of New Concord, Ohio

Village of New Concord, Ohio
Council Meeting
May 11, 2015

Mayor Adams called the meeting of Village Council to order on Monday, May 11, 2015 with all members, except Lyle, present.

Moved by Kokovich second by Essex that Council dispense with the reading of the April 13, 2015 minutes and approve as distributed. Motion carried.

Visitors: John Lowe from The Daily Jeffersonian, Dick Payne, Larry and Kathy Normansell

The meeting started with a presentation of the 2014 Dedicated Public Servant Award winner, Kathy Normansell.

REPORTS

Solicitor: Nothing to report.

Police Chief: Chief Hayes gave the April monthly report.

1) Reported 179 calls for service in April with 26 arrests.
2) Chief Hayes reported police department will participate in the Click It or Ticket Statewide Campaign. Officers will be making traffic stops looking to enforce safety and seatbelt awareness within the village.
3) Chief Hayes reported on June 6th, with the assistance from the fire department, they will offer a bicycle rodeo at 6 p.m. at Stormont Elementary School. The department will be checking bike, oiling chains and offering free bike helmets.

Fire Chief: Chief Gates gave the April monthly report.

1) Reported 16 fire runs and 81 EMS runs with 81 EMS patients for April.
2) Chief Gates announced National Nurses Week is May 6th – May 12th this year.

Mayor: Mayor Adams thanked NCAARD, street department staff, fire department, police department and all who helped make Let’s Pick it up New Concord a success.

1) Mayor Adams announced Celebrate New Concord will begin June 2 at 7 p.m. with Northwest Territory performing.
2) Mayor announced Chief Gates received recognition on receiving the second annual Pipeline Award from the Ohio Oil and Gas Energy Education Program.
3) Mayor Adams announced the fire department received a letter commending fire personnel regarding an incident they responded to.
4) Mayor Adams announced NCAARD will have Movie Night on June 6th in the Village Park at dark. They will be showing Big Hero.

Policy: Bronner reported committee did not meet.

Infrastructure: Dickson reported committee met prior to council meeting.

1) Dickson reported committee approved to allow the Village Administrator to work with Decorative Paving for repairs to brick crosswalks.
2) Dickson reported staff working to schedule street repairs in preparation for resurfacing and paving.

Finance: Kokovich reported committee met on Thursday, May 7th.

1) Kokovich reported the committee reviewed swimming pool budget and fundraising efforts.
2) Committee reviewed Village Purchasing Policy and will forward to Eickelberger for final review.
3) Committee approved to extend the Part-time Planning Coordinator position through December 2015.
4) Kokovich reported committee endorsed Resolution 5-15-4 to create and fill two summer administrative internships not to exceed $3,500.
5) Committee recommends Ordinance F-5-15-1 to amend Ordinance F-2-15-1 in order to appropriate additional funds.
6) Committee supports Resolution 5-15-3 to enter into a contract with Goettler Associates to conduct a strategic plan and study for the NCAARD. The village has agreed to match the awarded grant funds with an additional 22%, $5,000, to compensate the chosen consulting firm for their work on the proposed study.
7) Kokovich reported committee discussed semi-annual real estate tax settlement revenue decrease of $42,000 from the previous year. Colgate Warehouse on Rix Mills Road appealed their assessed valuation to the Board of Revisions. The board reduced their appraised value and their taxes were reduced retro-active for three previous tax years.

Safety: Essex reported committee met prior to council meeting.

1) Essex reported committee discussed update on School Resource Officer negotiations with EMSD, noting the school is satisfied with the service they are receiving.
2) Motion by Essex for staff to investigate whether or not an ordinance was in place, or if it needed to be created, for a part-time police officer position and bring it to the next meeting of Council. Until then the Police Chief was given temporary authority to advertise and fill this position, seconded by Dickson. All voted yea. Motion carried.
3) Essex reported Chief Hayes is applying for COPS Grant that will pay for up to 75% of full-time officer for three years.
4) Essex reported after review of the ODOT traffic study Safety Committee members requested that the landscape bed on N. Friendship Drive, adjacent to Westview, and any other visibility hindrances such as tree limbs or shrubs, be removed as soon as possible by Village Operations staff.
5) Essex reported an ad hoc citizens committee on pedestrian safety issues was created. It is the request of Council and the Safety Committee that the group hold a public meeting to report on findings in September of 2015 before making a formal report to the Safety Committee at their October 2015 meeting.

Fiscal Officer: Marlatt gave April financial report.

1) Marlatt reported Fund Report shows total expenditure and revenue month end balance of $717,834.
2) Marlatt reported the Village received $673 from American Electric Power for participating in the Energy Efficiency Program.
3) Reported Income Tax revenue is up $75,000 compared to prior year. This is attributed to the new income tax software database and the income tax levy incease.

Administrator: Colley gave April administrative report.

• Water Production for April – 7,207,820 gallons
• The Lower Reservoir grading and seeding project was completed and staff will review its effectiveness over the next year
• Wastewater Flows for April – 12,522,200 gallons
• Compliance issues for April – The New Concord area experienced 3.55 inches of rain over two days. The intensity of the rain event resulted in high creek levels which caused significant inflow and infiltration to occur causing the WWTP to treat 2,355,200 gallons of flow on April 9, 2015 and 1,419,000 gallons on April 10, 2015. The high flows to the plant caused violations to occur for Total Suspended Solids and CBOD5. We also reported two sanitary sewer overflows for the two above mentioned dates.

1) Colley reported replacement street signs have been ordered and will be installed as soon as they arrive
2) Reported change in water shut-off procedure has been put into effect (timing of payment & shut-offs)
3) Colley reported 75 second grade students from New Concord Elementary School participated at Arbor Day 2015 Ceremony – The Village celebrated Arbor Day on April 24, 2015 by planting a sentry crimson maple along Main Street in front of the John Glenn Museum.
4) Colley reported the annual Tree City USA awards ceremony was held in Athens, Ohio at the Ridges on April 29th, 2015. The Village received its 34th consecutive Tree City USA award at this time.
5) Reported the Innovation Committee has chosen Goettler Associates, Inc. as the consulting firm which will do the NCAARD strategic plan and study, completion by October 2015.
6) Colley reported Dynamic Digital Solutions, based in Logan, Ohio, will be designing the new Village website; anticipating to see a working website conversion by July 1st with additional work and improvements being completed by late August.
7) Colley reported the winter salt order has been placed through the State Bid. The Village must purchase at least 90% of the requested tonnage with the option to purchase up to 110% of the requested amount should the village need it. The winter salt contract will be valid from November 1, 2015 through May 31, 2016.
8) Colley reported the Village has secured a contract with Poggemeyer Design Group for the firm to commence with the preliminary engineering options for the Liberty Road Bridge. The agreed upon contract amount is $8,000.

OLD BUSINESS

NEW BUSINESS

Moved by Bronner
Seconded by Kerrigan

Resolution No. 5-15-1, a resolution authorizing the Police Chief to prepare and submit an application to the U.S. Department of Justice COPS program and to execute contracts as required and declaring an emergency.