Garrettsville – Village officials present at the village council meeting on March 10th were Village Solicitor Michele Stuck, Mayor Rick Patrick, Assistant Fiscal Officer Deb Wordell and Councilpersons Tom Hardesty, Chris Knop, Sheri Johnson, John Chambers, Jeff Kaiser and Tom Collins. Due to COVID-19 social distancing requirements, the meeting was held in person with no audience. The meeting was streamed to Facebook for the public.
The regular meeting was called to order by Mayor Patrick, and Sheri Johnson was sworn-in as the replacement for former councilman Larry Beatty. After Johnson officially joined council, the minutes of the February meeting were reviewed and accepted as written. Following the approval of the minutes, council reviewed the financial reports and income tax receipts. The reports were accepted as presented.
Ordinance 2021-08, authorizing all of the actions necessary for the village to accept NOPEC community grants, was approved and enacted.
Ordinance 2021-09 received a first reading. The ordinance amends chapter 1199 of the codified ordinances of the village and permits the village to undertake correction of exterior maintenance violations. The ordinance was passed to council by the Village Planning Commission, which drafted the amendments to the Exterior Maintenance chapter of the Codified Ordinances of the Village of Garrettsville relating to these powers, and has recommended their adoption to this council. This ordinance will have a public hearing and vote by council in April.
Ordinance 2021-10 was approved and enacted. In anticipation of the retirement of the current Zoning Inspector, the Planning Commission has recommended hiring a replacement for a training period of approximately two to three months and establishing an hourly wage to be paid during the training period; the ordinance allows the creation of a position (Zoning Inspector in Training) and sets the compensation rate (which was decided in executive session). At the end of the public meeting, council voted to hire former councilman Larry Beatty as the Zoning Inspector in Training with a start date of Monday, March 15. He will take over as Zoning Inspector on June 1st.
Resolution 2021-11 was passed and allows Mayor Patrick to execute all documents necessary to accept a diesel mitigation trust fund grant award. The village had previously applied for an Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Diesel Mitigation Trust Fund grant, which would fund the installation of a Level 2 Electric Vehicle Charging Station within the Village of Garrettsville. At the meeting councilman Collins shared that the village had been approved for an award of $12,322 for the installation of 2 charging ports which will be installed at the Garrettsville Municipal Parking Lot on Maple Avenue. Council hopes to leverage the availability of EV chargers to increase visits and commerce in the village.
Police Chief Tim Christopher was authorized to apply for an Ohio Law Enforcement Body Armor Program grant through the Ohio Attorney General’s Law Enforcement Gateway, on behalf of the Village of Garrettsville. Council endorsed the grant application and committed to providing the required 25% local match in the event that funding is awarded to the Village of Garrettsville. Sergeant Keith Whan was present to explain that the existing body armor has about another 1.5 years of service life before it will need to be replaced. He also mentioned that some of the officers have armor that was not measured to them – but they have so far been able to make it work. Resolution 2021-12 was passed at the meeting.
There was a slight increase in the price for public entity liability insurance, but the increase is below the national average. Council agreed to renew for 2021, as cancellation would need to have been made 60 days prior to the renewal date (April 1st).
Round Table
Council set the dates for community cleanup this year. The first date will be in July, and the fall cleanup will be scheduled later in the year.
Recycling was brought up again. As everyone now knows, the recycling bins have been removed from the village. The removal came after multiple attempts to negotiate with the Portage County Solid Waste District (PCSWD). The latest proposal from PCSWD (which was rejected at the February meeting) would have increased the cost of the existing bins from $6,000 per year to $42,000 per year. Hardesty reminded council that under the proposal, which would have designated Garrettsville as the Northern Portage collection site, even more bins would have been needed further driving up the cost to nearly $60,000.
The street department will be barricading both driveways for the time being as people continue to dump garbage where the bins used to be. Council discussed adding gates and cameras to the site to protect the garage and equipment. Kaiser mentioned that most of the garbage service providers offer recycling if residents want to recycle privately. Patrick shared that PCSWD may reevaluate their plans again and come back with a more acceptable option for the village.
Wordell shared that the village received a $1000 grant through PEP, some of which was used to insulate the maintenance building. Council also has NOPEC grant funds available from 2020.
The Main Street DORA proposal will be discussed at the April council meeting.
Whan shared that the Garrettsville Police Department is getting a new police dog. The German Shepherd is named Yirk and Patrolman Dynys will be assigned to the dog. In the coming weeks, they will be heading down for six weeks of training. Thanks to fundraising efforts, Yirk will not be an expense for the village as shirt sales, raffles and other projects covered the cost through the K9 Fund. There are $5,500 left in the fund for the next dog down the line. Patrick commended Whan, his family, and the other officers for working to raise funds. He also thanked Pete Kepich and Hiram Village for donating the proceeds of a car sale to the shop with a cop fund and the K9 fund.
Council entered executive session and later emerged to pass Ordinance 2021-10.
The meeting was adjourned after passage of the ordinance.
