July 2, 2018 Council Minutes
Once approved, a link to the official council minutes will be at the bottom.
COUNCIL MINUTES
July 2, 2018
St. Clairsville City Council met in Council Chambers on Monday, July 2, 2018 with the following present:
Tim Porter, Council President
Perry Basile, Council 1st Ward Terry Pugh, Mayor
Mark Bukmir, Council 3rd Ward Jim Zucal, Service Director
Linda Jordan, Council-At-Large Cindi Henry, Finance Director
Beth Oprisch, Council-At-Large Richard Myser, Law Director
Mike Smith, Council-At-Large Jeff Henry, Police Chief
Jim Velas, Council, 4th Ward Don Smithberger, Superintendent of Services
The meeting was called to order by President, Tim Porter
MINUTES: Minutes of the June 4, 2018 and June 18, 2018 meetings were distributed to Council. A motion was made by Mike Smith and seconded by Linda Jordan to approve the Minutes of June 4, 2018 and June 18, 2018.
Roll Call Vote:
Basile Yes Oprisch Yes
Bukmir Yes Smith Yes
Jordan Yes Velas Yes
Roll Call Vote: Six (6) Yes Zero (0) No Motion Approved
CITIZENS HEARING: There were no residents present who wished to address Council.
REPORTS:
Service Director, Jim Zucal: Our paving project is not entirely complete. All the asphalt is down, they are coming back to do some finish work and some crack sealing and sealing of the edges. We were very pleased with how quick it went and how well it was done. Shelly & Sands was the contractor for the city. I have heard a lot of great comments. We were proactive, we milled, we put in new catch basins, we put in risers and I think we have a real quality product out there. I appreciate Council’s support and the team work of all of the city employees that helped make it a very successful paving project.
Some of the issues that Council passes on to me, I do work quickly to pass them along to the department heads and we will work on some more of the alleys this summer. We will hopefully share in a project with Richland Township to borrow their paver and work with them. We are getting things done, we are being productive and appreciate everyone’s cooperation. Beth Oprisch: Did the paving come in under cost? Jim Zucal: Yes it did.
Mayor, Terry Pugh: Community Day was wonderful and hot. I want to thank Linda Jordan for her wonderful singing of the National Anthem, it was very impressive.
Police Chief, Jeff Henry: No Report
Finance Director, Cindi Henry: The Mayor put a copy of a letter from the Mayor of Tiltonsville in your mail boxes. Tiltonsville & Yorkville are going to host a certified public records training on September 22nd from 10:00 to 1:15. As elected public officials sometime during your four year term you are required to attend this. If you can’t go to this one you may very well have to go to Columbus to get this done during your term. If you do want to attend you need to let me know.
On the other hand the budget hearing was held at 7:00 with no one in attendance. I have copies in addition to them being emailed to you. I need a motion to accept the budget as submitted. A motion to accept the budget for 2019 was made by Jim Velas and seconded by Mark Bukmir.
Roll Call Vote:
Basile Yes Oprisch Yes
Bukmir Yes Smith Yes
Jordan Yes Velas Yes
Roll Call Vote: Six (6) Yes Zero (0) No Motion Approved
Planning & Zoning Administrator, Tom Murphy: Not Present
COUNCIL COMMITTEES:
Finance, Mike Smith: No Report
Utilities, Frank Sabatino: Not present
Beth Oprisch: There is a phone number for after-hours utility issues, non-emergency calls.
The number is 740-695-0123.
Police, Mark Bukmir: No Report
Street North Side, Jim Velas: I had a lot of compliments on the paving.
Street South Side, Beth Oprisch: People who had their streets paved are appreciative.
Safety, Beth Oprisch: No Report
Building and Grounds, Perry Basile: I haven’t been in all the public buildings, I am just walking through them. The weather is nicer, my schedule has changed and I have a lot more freedom to do this so within the next month I will have a list of things we might want to address.
Planning Commission, Mike Smith: No Report
Recreation, Linda Jordan: With Community Day in the books I would like to say we did have a nice turn out in spite of the terrifically hot weather. We would like to thank everybody who volunteered, the venders the event goers and anybody who supported us in any way. We are very grateful to all of you. The next Board meeting is July 15th. The band for tomorrow’s concert is the 40+ Band.
Park District, Linda Jordan: Just a reminder of the Grand Opening for the Nature Trail on July 11th at noon. The next regularly scheduled Board Meeting is Monday, July 9th
Fire District, Frank Sabatino: Not Present.
ORDINANCES & RESOLUTION: Law Director, Richard Myser
We have one piece of legislation tonight to be presented and read for the first time. This is Resolution No. 2018-17 it is to increase the yearly compensation of some of its employees. It does have emergency language in it. We have six Council Members here tonight it could be passed and become effective tonight. Jim Zucal: To pass it tonight would help the Finance Director. AFSCME received the same amount on July 1st their contract date. If Cindi can get it into the work there is no retro activity with it. According to our calculations the amount of employees is 12. It amounts to about $20,000. Anyone who has been with the City longer than 6 months will receive the raise. Mayor Pugh: This was brought up in the Finance Committee and they agreed with the recommendation at their last meeting on June 18th. Beth Oprisch: Who are the 12 employees? Jim Zucal: The non-bargaining members who had raises last year along with the F.O.P. & AFSCME members. It is all the Department Heads, Utility Office employees, Assistants to the Mayor & Service Director, Recreation Employees, Police Chief, Service Director, Finance Director and Planning & Zoning Director. Mark Bukmir: I think that the Mayor and Mr. Zucal have assembled a good crew from all accounts everyone works as a team, things seem to be going well. We do need to be sure that we have the money to pay for these raises but I am of the opinion if you have good people and you trust those people to do good jobs for our city I think it is no more than fair to show them the gratitude by a pay raise. You can always say you did a fantastic job and pat somebody on the back but when you have a job you really want to see that gratitude financially. I think this is a good opportunity. Beth Oprisch: So the finance committee determined that the money is there? Mike Smith: The information was given to us. Some of us have not been here very long, is this typical for this time of year? Cindi Henry: AFSCME contract up until last year was always the 17th of July. I asked if it could be negotiated to be changed to a pay period because what happens the raise will be over two pay periods one period will be for one rate and the other one the higher rate. They backed it up to July 1st. F.O.P. has always been in October. Historically the nonunion employees have gone to six months to a year if at all to get a raise. So we are not in a place where our non-union Supervisory Staff is making about what their high end staff are or less. You have a Supervisor in this room who made less than three of his employees last year.
EXECUTIVE SESSION: A motion to go into Executive Session per Ohio Revised Code Section 121.22 (G) (1) to consider employment, or compensation of public employees was made by Beth Oprisch and seconded by Linda Jordan
Roll Call Vote:
Basile Yes Oprisch Yes
Bukmir Yes Smith Yes
Jordan Yes Velas Yes
Roll Call Vote: Six (6) Yes Zero (0) No Motion Approved
A motion to return to regular session was made by Beth Oprisch and seconded by Linda Jordan.
Roll Call Vote:
Basile Yes Oprisch Yes
Bukmir Yes Smith Yes
Jordan Yes Velas Yes
Roll Call Vote: Six (6) Yes Zero (0) No Motion Approved
There was presented and read to Council on its first reading by title only, RESOLUTION NO. 2018-17; A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY COUNCIL TO INCREASE THE YEARLY COMPENSATION OF SOME OF ITS EMPLOYEES AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. Jim Velas moved that the rules requiring Ordinances and Resolutions to be read on three separate readings be suspended and declaring an emergency; Linda Jordan seconded the motion.
Roll Call Vote:
Basile Yes Oprisch Yes
Bukmir Yes Smith Yes
Jordan Yes Velas Yes
Roll Call Vote: Six (6) Yes Zero (0) No Motion Approved
There was presented and read to Council on its third and final reading by title only, RESOLUTION NO. 2018-17; a motion was made by Linda Jordan and seconded by Jim Velas that Resolution No. 2018-17 be passed by Council.
Roll Call Vote:
Basile Yes Oprisch Yes
Bukmir Yes Smith Yes
Jordan Yes Velas Yes
Roll Call Vote: Six (6) Yes Zero (0) No Motion Approved
Resolution No. 2018-17 was declared adopted.
CORRESPONDENCE: The Clerk read a not from Doug Walsh thanking Chief Henry for arranging extra parking for the Library’s open house June 4th . It was certainly needed. We had 478 visits for the day and the lot was filled. Extra parking helped make this Library Event a success.
The Next Council Meeting will be Monday July 16, 2018 at 7:30 in Council Chambers.
There being no further business to come before Council a motion to adjourn was made by Mike Smith and seconded by Mark Bukmir.