Garrettsville – Council met September 10, 2014 for their regularly scheduled village council meeting. Councilman Klamer was not present.
Minutes from last month’s meeting were approved. Revenue, expenditure, cash balance and income tax reports were reviewed. Councilman Hadzinsky commented that revenue was up for August compared to the previous year’s records.
Before continuing with the agenda, Mayor Patrick asked if there were any comments or questions from the guests in the audience. A resident thanked council for the curbing work that had been recently completed on South Street. He is hopeful that it will diminish the flooding and erosion issues that had plagued the area.
Next, Becky Doherty addressed council and the audience about her bid in the upcoming election.
Back to the agenda, proposed Ordinance 2014-14, which has been tabled since May, was brought up for discussion. Council President Hardesty reported on his findings regarding cooperation in the departments that the proposed legislation was designed for. The drafting of the legislation was prompted in an effort to save money for the village by controlling costs of employees overtime. Hardesty stated that over the last several months, the police department had been able to curb overtime issues and reporting problems for payroll had been resolved. He stated at this time the proposed legislation was not needed because of the compliance with existing rules as well as council’s requests. After a brief discussion, council un-tabled the proposed ordinance and voted it down.
The second reading of proposed Ordinance 2014-31 was recorded. The proposed legislation is from a recommendation from the planning commission to eliminate discrepancies in the existing code about maximum heights for flagpoles in the village. A public hearing is scheduled before the October council meeting. Council also approved Resolution 2014-33, which authorizes the county to collect taxes and pay fees for the village and voted to accept two donations, one from the Orson Ott family to the cemetery fund, and one from the Bailey family for the parks.
During round table discussion, the mayor announced that FALL CLEAN-UP is scheduled for THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, and TRICK-OR-TREAT is scheduled for THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30th from 6-8 P.M.
The mayor also announced that applications for village’s tree lawn program will be due by the end of September. Residents with dead, dying or problem tree-lawn trees need to contact village hall to schedule removal. The cost to residents is $200/tree the village covers the rest. The mayor also asked council for and received approval to fill an upcoming vacant position in dispatch.
Mayor Patrick brought up the topic of the dramatic increase in cost for salt for the village’s roads this coming winter. Costs this season are $108.01/ton as compared to last year at $27.50/ton. Council is expecting to pay $20,000 more than last year, based on last year’s usage.
Councilman Kaiser complimented the street department’s work on the new driveway apron at the library park entrance and Councilwoman Harrington updated council on the status of the surveys the vision group put together. She also asked if there was anything council could do to address the ongoing issues at the Garrettsville Post Office about limited inconvenient hours (being closed at the lunch hour) and poor customer service. The mayor said that former Mayor Moser and himself as council president had sent letters a few years ago, which had no effect. The local Postmaster is the one responsible for the hours and personnel and the village has no control.
If you’d like to know more of what is happening in your community attend a meeting. The next regular Village Council meeting is scheduled for October 8, 2014 at 7:30 p.m. at Village Hall. There will be a Public Hearing on proposed Ordinance 2014-31 prior to the meeting.
