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Council of the Village of Yellow SpringsIN COUNCIL CHAMBERS May 7, 2007 Comments from the Public are welcomed at two different times during the course of the meeting: (1) Comments on items not on the Agenda will be heard under Citizens Concerns, and (2) Comments on all items listed on the Agenda will be heard during Council's consideration of said item. A Sign-In sheet will made available on the small table at the rear of the Council Chambers. Please first write your name and the topic you wish to discuss. CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL ANNOUNCEMENTS
REVIEW OF THE MINUTES. Review of the minutes from April 2, 2007. Rickenbach MOVED and Hempfling SECONDED a MOTION to APPROVE the minutes as submitted. The MOTION PASSED.
REVIEW OF AGENDA Swansen reported that Senate Bill 117 regarding cable franchise fees and Senate Bill 154 regarding changes with Mayor's Court are making their way through the Ohio Senate. Swansen added that the latest draft of SB 117 still has some problems, which would allow for cable companies to discontinue support of local cable stations such as Channel 13. SB 154 would eliminate Mayor's Courts in some smaller communities and drastically change the remaining ones. Swansen will continue to update Council. Add: Appointments to Environmental Commission and the Human Relations Commission under New Business.
PUBLIC HEARINGS/LEGISLATION 2 nd Reading and PH. Ordinance #2007-05 Re: Supplemental Appropriations. Rickenbach MOVED and Hempfling SECONDED a MOTION for APPROVAL. Swansen explained that this ordinance listed changes in the various line items from the 2007 Annual Appropriations. The changes in amounts were largely due to the Early Retirement Program, general road repair and the Dayton Street Project. The total variance was $550,611. Wintrow opened the public hearing. Having no comments, the public hearing was closed. The roll was called. The MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. 2 nd Reading and PH. Ordinance #2007-06 Re: Fund Transfers. Rickenbach MOVED and Chase SECONDED a MOTION for APPROVAL. Swansen explained that these fund transfers could not happen until after receipt of property tax monies. Wintrow opened the public hearing. Having no comments, the public hearing was closed. The roll was called. The MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. 2 nd Reading and PH. Ordinance #2007-07 Re: Amending Mayor's Computer Fund, Rickenbach MOVED and Hempfling SECONDED a MOTION for APPROVAL. The increase from five dollars to ten dollars per case would generate additional funds for computer upgrades and maintenance. . Wintrow opened the public hearing. Having no comments, the public hearing was closed. The roll was called. The MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. 2 nd Reading and PH. Ordinance #2007-08 Re: Amending Kilowatt Tax Fund Distribution. Rickenbach MOVED and Van der Heiden SECONDED a MOTION for APPROVAL. Swansen explained that the monies would remain in the General Fund and would be redistributed as outlined in the annual budget adopted by Council. Wintrow opened the public hearing. Swansen explained that the Village operates a municipal electric utility and is required to calculate the tax on the hours of electricity distributed to end users located inside and outside of the municipality's corporate boundaries. Having no further comments, the public hearing was closed. The roll was called. The MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. 1 st Reading & PH of Ordinance #2007-09 Amending 1042.01(e)(1)(B) Back Up Power Generation as an Emergency. Rickenbach MOVED and Van der Heiden SECONDED a MOTION for APPROVAL. Wintrow explained that this came to the attention of Council through correspondence received from Glenn Watts regarding back up power generation for the new Antioch-McGregor building. The current ordinance specifically states that natural gas would be used for back up power generation. The amended ordinance deletes "natural gas" thus allowing for the use of alternatives for back up power generation. Swansen added that the ordinance was for commercial and industrial use not residential. Wintrow opened the public hearing. Having no comments, the public hearing was closed. The roll was called. The MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. Resolution #2007-12 Interim Village Treasurer's Employment Agreement. Hempfling MOVED and Van der Heiden SECONDED a MOTION for APPROVAL. This resolution extends Deborah Benning's Interim Village Treasurer employment agreement for an additional year with no increase in compensation. The roll was called. The MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. Resolution #2007-13 Authorizing Agreement with Greene County Engineer for Paving. Rickenbach MOVED and Hempfling SECONDED a MOTION for APPROVAL. Swansen explained that through this agreement the Village would have the streets repaired at a reduced cost. Swansen reviewed the list of streets that would be repaired. Wintrow expressed concern that there would be proper signage and barricades to inform motorists and residents of the street repairs. She also suggested that organizations that would be sponsoring events during this time be included in any notification. Amrhein explained that the work would not begin until after the July 4 th holiday and that the work would be done primarily through the week and not the weekends. Rickenbach MOVED and Hempfling SECONDED a MOTION to AMEND the resolution in Section 2 to read $479,249.45 plus 15% contingency cost. The MOTION PASSED. The roll was called on the original motion. That MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
CITIZENS CONCERNS John and Eve Sturm who live on Railroad Street expressed concern regarding the new outside patio area at the rear of the Dayton Street Gulch. The area has an enclosed fence but is open to the patrons and alcohol is consumed in this new expanded area. Swansen explained that the owner has to have approval from the Liquor Control Board to expand its service area. The Liquor Control Board has not yet given approval for this expansion.
Village Mediation Annual Report. Mediation member Len Kramer introduced the VMP Coordinator Jayne Richeson. Richeson reviewed the VMP Annual Report. The Program provides 200 hours of volunteer time to aid in facilitating mediations between parties in conflict. (See report). Charter Review Committee Report. In the absence of Chair Ron Lewis, committee member Jerry Sutton reviewed the report and the committee's recommendations. Van der Heiden asked why the council member was removed from the Board of Zoning Appeals. Sutton explained that village council would hear an appeal of a BZA decision and that that councilperson would then vote twice. Rickenbach added that the village council would be reviewing the BZA process during the appeal hearing not the decision. In answering Wintrow question regarding annexation, Sutton explained that the Growth Smart Coalition had asked that council allow a public vote on annexation rather than a council vote. Village Solicitor John Chambers had submitted an opinion that explained it was unlawful for the public to vote prior to the council vote. This would go against the laws of the State of Ohio and the State Constitution. Rickenbach had previously drafted a memo to the Committee in opposition to their recommendation that the township member to the Planning Commission be a non-voting member. Rickenbach expressed concerned that it would be difficult to have someone represent the township if that person did not have the right to vote. He added that, it was his belief that the founding fathers wanted the Planning Commission to be an inclusionary group recognizing that decisions made by the PC could greatly impact the township. Charter Review Committee member Sheila Miller explained that the Council must ultimately decide to accept or reject the recommendations and that the Committee understood that this particular recommendation may not be acceptable. Rickenbach was also concerned regarding the deletion of the section for "Removal of the Village Manager". Committee member Kent Bristol explained that the Committee felt that this was a personnel matter and that the Council should place this in the manager's employment agreement or the personnel manual. Rickenbach agreed to the deletion only if it was assured that any employee of council would be allowed due process and that the process would be clearly stated either in the personnel manual or the employee agreement. The Village Solicitor would review the final draft of recommendations and Council would continue this discussion at a later date.
OLD BUSINESS Energy Task Force. Wintrow and Hempfling had submitted their report, which included the charge to the task force, a process in which the task force would function, the make up of the membership and suggested resources available to the task force. The suggested process was handled though two phases. Phase 1 would be recommendations to Council on how to provide reliable, cost-effective electric service and Phase 2 would be recommendations regarding reduction of consumption and the impact of conservation. Concerns expressed by Council members and some members of the audience included: • The time frame in which both phases were to be completed. • Should growth be separated away from this discussion? • What growth is acceptable? • How would the substation fit into the discussion? • What expertise would be needed? • What is the reliability of the electrical system? • What is the life expectancy of the current equipment? • Identify the costs if the present equipment fails, Risk Management. • Should more definitive questions be asked from Pearce? • Should another engineering firm be hired? • Could Amp-Ohio's technical services do some of the work? • Should the task force skip Phase 1 and go directly to Phase 2?
Council agreed that the task force should formulate questions that could aid in future discussions regarding energy. The Council also agreed to continue this discussion at their next meeting. Anyone having additional recommendations or suggestions for the task force could present those at that meeting. Liquor Permit Renewals. Swansen explained that a representative from the Liquor Control Board was in Yellow Springs investigating a couple of the local establishments regarding an expansion that had already occurred and a proposed expansion being considered. Swansen would update the Council on the Board's findings. The renewals are for the current licenses without consideration of the expansions. Rickenbach MOVED and Hempfling SECONDED a MOTION not to object of these renewals and not to request a hearing. The MOTION PASSED.
NEW BUSINESS Human Relations Commission. Hempfling MOVED and Van der Heiden SECONDED a MOTION to APPOINT Don Wallis to the HRC. The MOTION PASSED. Environmental Commission. . Hempfling MOVED and Van der Heiden SECONDED a MOTION to APPOINT Steve Conn to the EC. The MOTION PASSED.
MANAGER'S REPORT In addition to his memo, Swansen reported that the LaserLinc Company would be moving to Fairborn . He explained that the company was expanding and needed additional space, which was not currently available in the Village.
AGENDA PLANNING The next meeting of the Council of the Village of Yellow Springs will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, May 21, 2007 Council Chambers, John Bryan Community Center, 100 Dayton Street.
FUTURE AGENDA ITEMSCIP Presentation-J. Sutton (6/4) EXECUTIVE SESSIONRickenbach MOVED and Chase SECONDED a MOTION to go into an Executive Session for a discussion of Personnel-Employment, this was in accordance with Ohio Revised Code #121.22(G)(1). The MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. Rickenbach MOVED and Hempfling SECONDED a MOTION to return to the General Session. The MOTION PASSED.
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