February 5th, 2018 Council Minutes
Once approved, a link to the official council minutes will be at the bottom.
COUNCIL MINUTES
February 5, 2018
St. Clairsville City Council met in Council Chambers on Monday, February 5, 2018 with the following present:
Tim Porter, Council President Terry Pugh, Mayor
Perry Basile, Council 1st Ward Jim Zucal; Service Director
Mark Bukmir, Council 3rd Ward Cindi Henry, Finance Director
Linda Jordan, Council-At-Large Richard Myser, Law Director
Beth Oprisch, Council-At-Large Jeff Henry, Police Chief
Frank Sabatino, Council 2nd Ward Tom Murphy, Planning & Zoning Administrator
Mike Smith, Council-At-Large Don Smithberger,
Jim Velas, Council 4th Ward Tom Murphy, Planning & Zoning Administrator
CITIZENS HEARING: There were no Citizens present who wished to address Council.
MINUTES: Minutes of the January 2, January 8 and January 16 meetings were distributed to Council. A motion to accept the minutes of the January 2nd meeting was made by Beth Oprisch and seconded by Jim Velas.
Roll Call Vote:
Basile Yes Sabatino Yes
Bukmir Yes Smith Yes
Jordan Yes Velas Yes
Oprisch Yes
Roll Call Vote: Seven (7) Yes Zero (0) No Motion Approved
A motion to accept the minutes of the January 8th meeting was made by Beth Oprisch and seconded by Mike Smith.
Roll Call Vote:
Basile Yes Sabatino Yes
Bukmir Yes Smith Yes
Jordan Abstain Velas Yes
Oprisch Yes
Roll Call Vote: Six (6) Yes Zero (0) No One (1) Abstain Motion Approved
A motion to approve the Minutes of the January 16th meeting was made by Mike Smith and seconded by Linda Jordan.
Roll Call Vote:
Basile Yes Sabatino Yes
Bukmir Yes Smith Yes
Jordan Yes Velas Yes
Oprisch Abstain
Roll Call Vote: Six (6) Yes Zero (0) No One (1) Abstain Motion Approved
SERVICE DIRECTOR, JIM ZUCAL: I can assure you we have all been very busy here at the City. I want to complement the whole team. Of course keeping up with the ice and snow and keeping up with potholes. We have been using the new Dura-Patcher and it is working well. Don Smithberger has been very busy and leading the charge. We are also working on some of the ongoing projects. With Mr. Myser we are working on the plat for the Commons Mall Crossing and U.S. 40 and I think that within a few months you will see a traffic light out there. We are working with Tom Murphy to keep our GIS program going. I think he will share what we are doing. We continue to interview people. We have some select candidates that were interviewed for the Street Superintendent position. We are looking at some police positions one being officers and an Office Manager Administrative Assistant Position We met with AEP regarding Utility Rates. We had a formal meeting with their representative from Columbus. Getting up to speed with all the changes that are going on in electric costs. We did meet again with Equity concerning the Senior Suites Facility. We were told that looks like it will have a March opening. There should be a grand opening then. Everything is falling into place and again we are looking at the utilities to make sure they are up to our standards before we accept them. We also met with Jeff Vaughn the local Engineer who has been very helpful as with last year he helped us on the Legion Road project. This year we are looking at possibly replacing the lift station on Efaw Avenue and looking at a storm sewer project on Westminster and we are currently working on a storm sewer project daily with the contractor Lexis Construction Systems, they are doing storm sewer work on Woodrow Avenue. Councilman Sabatino and I looked at a wet weather issue on the hillside there tied into the catch basins and taking that runoff south toward Sebulsky Steel so we are addressing that issue and planning for a very productive year.
MAYOR, TERRY PUGH:
I just want to report that we did have some water leaks in January, actually we had seven. Which is still a lot less that we had experienced in the past especially with the weather we have been having. I want to again thank all the City employees and especially Don Smithberger who is responsible for the Street Department as well as the Electric Department and goodness knows he has had challenges. The next thing I am going to mention has been discussed at the Utility Meeting but not with the entire Council. I felt that we had a problem in our Utility Office. What I am talking about is mainly a software and meter problem. I took it upon myself to request an audit from the State Auditor for the Utility Office. I met with them once and explained what my concerns were and I received a call from them towards the first of January. I received a call from them and they are going to do the audit and it is going to be an in-depth audit. They requested certain information be provided. I met with them on the 23rd and provided them with everything they had asked for and assured them that we would provide anything and everything they asked for in the future. It is something that is going to go on for up to a year. They are not going to be talking to me until they are completed. It was something I felt needed done. Many people were involved in gathering this information. Beth Oprisch: The purpose of the audit is? Terry Pugh: The purpose was because of noticing that we had a problem with not enough revenue coming into the City based on the amount of water that was produced.
POLICE CHIEF, JEFF HENRY:
We are in the interview process for some part time officers. On the 28th of January we lost the service of Car #5. It is 2015 Ford Taurus. The officer was checking Route 9 for a tree down. There was no power in town so he was looking up at the lines and he found a tree. Thank God he wasn’t hurt but it did about $6,000 worth of damage to the car. It should be back in service next week. .I am working with Ford Motor Credit now in the process of ordering a 2018 Ford Taurus. It should be here in three months. Frank Sabatino: Are we going to buy it or lease? Jeff Henry: We lease it for three years and then buy it for one dollar. Beth Oprisch: Are we just hiring part time officers? Jeff Henry: First we are going to do part time and then whenever the money is settled for the full time officer we will be looking for a full time. Beth Oprisch: The Administrative Assistant is full time? Jeff Henry: Yes. Beth Oprisch: How many part time people? Jeff Henry: The Mayor would like to have at least three, I will be happy with two but I will be happy with three.
FINANCE DIRECTOR, CINDI HENRY: The only thing I have to add is to the cruiser lease, Jim Zucal was able to sign the lease at the end of the day and it will be submitted tomorrow so we are probable looking at April for it to be here. For the leasing program we have to pay the first payment when we get it and we will have two subsequent payments after that.
PLANNING AND ZONING ADMINISTRATOR, TOM MURPHY: As Jim mentioned, many of you probably aware that the City has a GIS or mapping system. Everything in the city and any of the utilities that may extend out are in that system. Right now we are updating the aerial
graphs. We are not taking the pictures, we are utilizing the data that the County up to 2017. The most recent ones the City has are 2011. This will bring us up to date. What is nice about that too it is set up in different layers so we can jump back to 2011 or 2006 and see what has changed over time. That is a good benefit right there. In addition to that the property owner ship files are being up dated. Many of the files we have are dated, as a matter of fact as I look on my map some of them may be as much as ten years old. The existing County information in regard to ownership will be brought in and utilized in our system. We are also checking the addressing we have in the Utility Office with the County 911 to make sure there are no glitches in that. It is a pretty reasonably sized project but so far it is going well.
COUNCIL COMMITTEES:
Finance, Mike Smith: No Report
Utilities, Frank Sabatino:
We had a very busy Utility Meeting this evening as Jim outlined. Richard Myser will be explaining. Council please note that we would like to see a time table on that so we can get going with the two ordinances. Jim & Terry thanks for the explanation.
Police, Mark Bukmir: No Report
Street North Side, Jim Velas: No Report
Street South Side, Beth Oprisch: Not Present
Safety, Beth Oprisch: Not Present
Building and Grounds, Perry Basile:
I am starting to make tours of the City buildings. Do you want a written report or do you just want it mentioned at the next City Council meeting? Tim Porter: They don’t normally write it, you can write it if you want to hand it out to Council if you want to but you can still make a report. Jim Zucal: We have a plan in place and I think we can work together. Your report can be part of what we see in bringing our buildings up to our own code.
Planning Commission, Mike Smith: No Report
Fire District, Frank Sabatino:
Just one item. Our next regular Fire Board Meeting will be Wednesday, February 21st at 3:00 at the Main Station. Mayor Pugh: I received a call from Fire Chief, John Slavik today complementing Officer Jeff Gazdik for his experience and compassion. There was a call for a person with cardiac arrest on the corner of Orchard Drive. Officer Gazdik was the first one there, he started CPR and he said if that man lives it will because of that officer’s response. I think that speaks highly of both our Police Department and our Fire Department working hand and hand.
Recreation, Linda Jordan:
The barrier boards have been ordered and are on their way. They will use them for the indoor hockey for safety, and they can be used for many other things. The Easter event is planned for March 31st at 2:00. The Library will also be participating again. Weather permitting there will be an Easter egg hunt as well. Next meeting is Monday, February 19th.
Park District, Linda Jordan:
The next meeting should be Monday, February 12th.
ORDINANCES & RESOLUTIONS:
Law Director, Richard Myser
We have three new pieces of Legislation. At the last meeting the Mayor introduced to Council that we are going to be undertaking an annexation of a portion of the Commons Mall Crossing Road. This is 1.247 acres. This will be the apron where the entrance off of Rt. 40 the Commons Road. This is a long procedure and the first thing that has to happen is that the entity that is doing the annexation (the City of St. Clairsville) has to enter into an annexation agreement with the entity out of which the property is coming (Richland Township). The annexation agreement has been prepared and basically it says that both the Township and the City agree that they want this annexation to take place, and after it takes place the City of St. Clairsville will be responsible Police protection and cleaning the streets. The real estate taxes will be prorated and allocated to the proper people. Tonight we have legislation that the Mayor is authorized to sign and enter into this annexation agreement with the Richland Township Trustees. We could suspend the rules and pass this tonight or we could have three readings.
The next two Ordinances concern Water & Sewer Rates. We already have Ordinances for these rates, these Ordinances simply amends the rates we have in place.
Jim Zucal: The Administration tries to keep the Utility Committee fully informed and try to keep Council informed also. We had to change the top two tiers of five tiers. The bottom three users are typically your residential users. Only the heavy users are in the top two tiers. The information that was inaccurate was in the top two tiers. We went back and reworked these tiers. We spent a lot of time and effort and came to the conclusion that we had to change those top two tiers and really bring them to a rate where they should be. I am very comfortable presenting these changes. There should have been a $1 per thousand rate increase this year for the first three tiers which are your residential customers. We are not asking for that increase. We felt that the top two tiers because of erroneous information have been given a break dating back to 2015. We think it is fair to our constituents to give them a break by not paying the extra $1 per thousand. So we feel that the top tiers should be paying what the City deserves. We are in the water business and we do have a water department to operate. There will be a $1.50 per thousand gallon increase in the top two tiers for both Water & Sewer. These rates will supply the City with a fair amount of revenue and where commercial users should be. We are asking no action tonight. If they don’t pass the next meeting will ask for a special meeting. We would like to have these rates in place by March 1st. Beth Oprisch: Will the Mayor speak to the commercial customers? Jim Zucal: Yes we will speak to them.
Richard Myser: In the summer months Tom Murphy sends out a lot of letters to people who do not take care of their property, basically not mowing grass. In the winter he sends out a lot of letters to people who are not complying with our zoning regulations. Usually when people get a letter they will comply. We have had a couple of people of late who have been challenging some of our zoning regulations. I just wanted Council to know that Tom has been on the ball in sending out these notices to people that they are in violation.
Perry Basile: I have been reading the Codified Ordinance Book and I wanted to discuss with Tom some of the off street parking ordinances and zoning. We have such a diverse community in St. Clairsville it seems like every zoning ordinance fits the neighborhood. I was hoping we could go through them and maybe take a little tour through the City. I know I haven’t been here that long.
Some of the ordinances that I read through some are from like 1969 when you had one car households and not everybody in the house drove. Now we have a parking issue here. Tom Murphy: The Zoning Ordinance was actually updated in 1994. If something is from the 60’s it is in one of the general sections of the code. Yes, it is something you can take a look at and bring it to the attention of the Mayor or Jim. Tim Porter: Do we want to appoint a Committee to look at certain sections? A committee was formed of Perry Basile, Mike Smith and Jim Velas.
There was presented and read to Council on its first reading by title only, RESOLUTION NO. 2018-02; A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF ST. CLAIRSVILLE TO ENTER INTO AN ANNEXATION AGREEMENT WITH THE RICHLAND TOWNSHIP TRUSTEES TO ANNEX 1.247 ACRES INTO THE CITY OF ST. CLAIRSVILLE AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. Linda Jordan moved that the rules requiring ordinances and resolutions to be read on three separate readings be suspended and declaring an emergency; Jim Velas seconded the motion.
Roll Call Vote:
Basile Yes Sabatino Yes
Bukmir Yes Smith Yes
Jordan Yes Velas Yes
Oprisch No
Roll Call Vote: Six (6) Yes One (1) No Motion Approved
There was presented and read to Council on its third and final reading by title only, RESOLUTION NO. 2018-02. A motion was made by Linda Jordan and seconded by Jim Velas that Resolution No. 2018-02 be passed by Council.
Roll Call Vote:
Basile Yes Sabatino Yes
Bukmir Yes Smith Yes
Jordan Yes Velas Yes
Oprisch Yes
Roll Call Vote: Seven (7) Yes Zero (0) No Motion Approved
There was presented and read to Council on its first reading by title only, ORDINANCE NO. 2018-03; AN ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTION 925.01 (B) TO ESTABLISH WATER RATES EFFECTIVE AT THE EARLIEST DATE DETERMINED BY LAW AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.
There was presented and read to Council on its first reading by title only, ORDINANCE NO. 2018-04; AMENDING CODIFIED SECTION 933.02/.06 TO ESTABLISH SEWER RATES EFFECTIVE AT THE EARLIEST DATE DETERMINED BY LAW AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.
NEW BUSINESS:
Mayor’s Report for December 2017 is $2,085.60
Mayor’s Report for January 2018 is $1,372.60
A motion to approve the Mayor’s Reports was made by Linda Jones and seconded by Perry Basile
Roll Call Vote:
Basile Yes Sabatino Yes
Bukmir Yes Smith Yes
Jordan Yes Velas Yes
Oprisch No
Roll Call Vote: Six (6) Yes One (1) No Motion Approved
NEXT MEETING: Tuesday, February 20, 2018, 7:30 p.m. in Council Chambers
There being no further business to come before Council, a motion to adjourn was made by Perry Jones and seconded by Frank Sabatino.