Windham – Windham Village Council met for their regularly scheduled meeting with everyone on the board, the mayor, the village solicitor and the administrator in attendance. Council approved the minutes, fire, police and rescue report as presented, along with the expenditures, and the bank reconciliation before moving forward.
Resolution 2020-3 is a resolution to authorize agreement to the one Ohio Memorandum of understanding pertaining to the pending opioid litigation settlement funds and declaring an emergency. Council suspended the rules and took a vote to discuss litigation resolution. The only person who knew anything about the resolution was the Village Administrator, Deborah Blewitt. She explained what she knew about it. In a nutshell, it was whether the village wanted to remain part of the global resolution type lawsuit with the cities and counties that filed the lawsuit against the opioid drug manufacturers holding them responsible for the opioid crisis. A decision would have to be made on it by March 6, 2020. When councilwoman Cindy Cale asked questions on the resolution, about possible cost to the village, restitution, and what exactly was in it, since council really didn’t have time to read it. No one knew the answer. Blewitt wasn’t sure, the solicitor was unable to advise on it as he was unaware of the issue, until meeting time. After some discussion, it was decided to table the matter, remove declaring an emergency and list the resolution as a first read. Council scheduled a special meeting for Tuesday March 3, 2020 at 5:30 pm to discuss this resolution and make a decision.
Council held a first read on Ordinance )-2020-6, an ordinance to revise and amend section 927.04 of the village of Windham utility code to require land owners of rental properties to be responsible for payment of water and sewer charges incurred by tenants. Landlords were on hand to object and inquire how it would apply to the contracts the landlords already had with their existing tenants. Mayor Scott Garrett stated that they could make some adjustments to the ordinance so landlords could honor the contracts they already had with their tenants.
Two other ordinances were on the second read O-2020-3 amending section 505.15 on farm and exotic animals in the village. The amendment will allow poultry on lots at .9 acres rather than the former lots of 5 acres or more. The other ordinance O-2020-4 was to prohibit driving on lawns, sidewalks and curbs. A question was raised on if it was possible to allow parking on one side of the street as many of the new homes coming in have very little space to park in their small driveways and small lots. Council will consider this option. (Currently street parking is prohibited on any village street). Council stated that the parking ban on the lawns/curbs is due to the breakage of city utilities. Once this ordinance passes it will also hold landowners liable for the cost of broken utility repairs.
Zack Williams who is renovating a few of the properties in the Maple Grove area, said he was working on the inside of his units and will get to the outside soon. He said he was working on getting them compliant with village codes. He is working with the zoning inspector and they are working out a plan. He also said he would do back ground checks, and would be weeding out tenants that are not a good fit for the community. Williams did say he felt the cost of the village’s utilities were too high.
Questions brought up by residents. Does each rental unit have their own water meters? Garrett and Blewitt said, “Yes, they do.” They also stated that there were a few left that have two units to a shut off valve. A question was asked about the bidding being taken on a water project. Village secretary stated it was for Phase Two of the water infrastructure project that the grant covers. Can boats and campers be parked in driveways? Garrett said, “No they can’t, they must be parked in the back yard or at an off-premises location.” Garrett said, “Currently the village was focused on citations for unlicensed vehicles but will get around to citing the boats campers etc.”
 There being no further business council set the March calendar and adjourned.
Correction:
Correction
In the printed version of this article the writer misunderstood and misquoted Kelly Meszaros’ reason for attending the meeting. She was not there officially announcing the new senior housing nor does she know if it will be one story, as the article stated. She was there to only offer tours to Willow Glen, the Newton Falls senior facility which the Windham one will be modeled after. The writer offers apologies to Kelly Meszaros for any inconvenience or problems this may have caused her.
