Garrettsville – Village officials present at the village council meeting on October 10th, were Village Solicitor Michele Stuck, Nancy Baldwin, Mayor Rick Patrick, and Council people Tom Hardesty; Jeff Kaiser; John Chambers; Chris Knop; and Tom Collins.
A public hearing was held prior to the regular meeting for the purpose of discussing Ordinance 2018-36. This ordinance would amend the zoning map of the village by changing the classification of an area of property from Central Business District (CBD) to Residential Commericial (RC). The affected properties would be 10681, 10685, and 10689 Freedom Street (parcels 19-002-00-00-138-000 through 19-002-00-00-140-00 respectively). The public hearing was tabled when council learned that the property owners had not yet received letters notifying them of the proposed change. Letters will be sent to the relevant property owners, and the owners of parcels abutting those being rezoned. The public hearing will be resumed at the November village council meeting.
After the brief public hearing, Mayor Rick Patrick called the regular meeting to order. Motions were made to approve the minutes of the September meeting. Bills were reviewed and paid as presented. Council also reviewed the financial, expenditure, and income tax reports. Stuck noted that there about 65 income tax delinquency complaints in court.
Due to ordinance 2018-36 being tabled until November council did not vote on the ordinance at their meeting this month.
Ordinance 2018-46, a recommendation made by the Safety Committee, received its first reading at the meeting. This ordinance will amend the village’s traffic map by making High Street a one-way street from Main Street northeast towards Maple Avenue. The change would eliminate a potentially risky turn onto Main Street from High, and allow for an increase in parking (by angling spaces from the High Street alley to Art N’ Flowers). The existing unloading area would remain intact. Both the fire and police chiefs were consulted about this proposed change, and both expressed their satisfaction. When combined with ordinance 2018-48 (below) two of Main Street’s most problematic traffic areas will be addressed.
Resolution 2018-47 approving a contract with the County Public Defender service was approved unanimously. The service charges $150 per case, and historically has been used once or twice per year.
Ordinance 2018-48, also from the village’s safety committee, would amend the traffic map of the village by making the segment of Water Street from Main Street to Maple Avenue one-way to the southeast. The committee believes that this will alleviate traffic hazards at the intersection of Center, Water, and Main Streets. As with 2018-36, this ordinance is on its first reading. Affected residents will be notified in time to hold a public hearing on both ordinances in November.
Donations were accepted from the Bailey family for the parks, as was a donation from the Garfield schools for the village’s K-9 fund.
Ordinance 2018-49 was discussed by the council members. This ordinance would add section 1163.08 to the village codified ordinances. It would enable the village to adopt regulations regarding the parking and storage of recreational vehicles in the village (in all districts other than industrial). 1168.03 reads as follows:
PARKING AND STORAGE OF RECREATIONAL VEHICLES
(a) On private, residential property, the parking of boats, recreational vehicles, travel trailers, campers or similar vehicles is permitted for no more than seven consecutive days, and a maximum of fourteen total days per calendar year unless:
(1)The vehicle is parked or stored further back from the street right-of-way than the front face of the principal building on the lot, and
(2)The vehicle is adequately screened from view from the street and neighboring properties.
(b) This section is not applicable to the industrial district (I).
This ordinance was examined by a prior council and rejected. Based on the concerns of residents expressed at last month’s meeting, planning has sent the ordinance back to council for review. Mayor Patrick will also be providing council with copies of legislation regional planning had been looking at to see if there are ideas in it that may be incorporated into this ordinance. More discussion will likely follow in November.
Ordinance 2018-50 amends ordinance 2018-35 which authorized a survey and lot split of permanent parcel 19-002-00-00-141-001. The modifications to the ordinance are necessary as the scope of the work has changed slightly. Professional surveyor Cliff McGuire, named in section 3 of 2018-35, recommended that the village engage the services of Lewis Land Professionals who recently surveyed the neighboring lot of the parcel named above. This ordinance was passed unanimously.
The village’s 2018 tree project was discussed. Each year $10,000 is budgeted for removal of trees in the tree lawn. The funds greatly reduce the expense of tree removal for village residents (who typically end up paying about $250). Residents of the village of Garrettsville should contact the street department for more information about this service.
With regards to the street department, council voted unanimously to promote Randy Crites to Street Superintendent. He has been serving as acting superintendent for a while now.
Resolution 2018-51 was approved by council and honors Frank Nedelka for his many years of service to the village and community.
Roundtable Wrap-up
Knop reminded council that community cleanup is scheduled for October 18th. All residents should have received a notice on their last water bill detailing what items are accepted. He also provided the rest of council with copies of the fire alarm proposals for the Police station, village hall, and maintenance garage. Based on the numbers, the village will need to plan on roughly $10,000 per building. Knop also shared that it has been a busy time for planning. Dollar General’s site plan for their potential project in Windham and Liberty Street was approved. Taco Bell has been in touch with regards to the commercial properties across from That’s The Spirit. Energizer is looking at a 55,000 square-foot expansion to their building over in the industrial district. He also mentioned that planning was discussing the retention basin behind Energizer. They are not sure if a homeowner group is responsible for maintenance and mowing of the basin.
Hardesty shared that the Freedom Street paving project is complete, or at least the paving portion is. The village still has work to do off-road. Edge striping will be happening as well. The village will also begin work on the South Street sidewalks. The catch basin on Liberty Street is pending availability of the tree removal contractor who was pulled from the job due to an emergency.
Wordell discussed the $1,000 Serve Ohio: Make a Difference grant the village received. On October 27th and 28th there will be a cleanup project along Silver Creek, and over at the Baptist Cemetery on Maple Avenue (behind the veterans monument). The draft version of the proposed new logo for the village was discussed, and a status update on the new website was given — still about 60 days out at best.
Chambers asked about making another trip to the now defunct Euclid YMCA to retrieve the remaining playground equipment. The council agreed to make the trip on October 21st.
Patrick shared that Trick-or-Treat is scheduled for 6-8pm on October 31st; the Historical Society’s Christmas Walk takes place the first two weekends of November; Veterans Day will be observed on November 11th at the Ravenna courthouse.
Patrick also informed the council that Street Superintendent Randy Crites told him that the department is starting to get into good shape. Patrick did note however that the village should budget about $45,00o for a new 1 ton four wheel drive work truck as the existing truck is nearing end of life. A new paint sprayer was also recommended to council. The mayor also shared the quote from Scotchman Electric but wants to get more of a breakdown before doing anything with it as there are items they don’t feel they need at this time. The project quote is as follows:
Street Department Garage Lighting: $8,700
Change Traffic Lights to LED using LED fixtures the village already owns: $6,600 including repairs and replacement of arms.
Veterans Memorial Lighting: $1,000
Kaiser would like to have the new Maple trees at the cemetery mulched in the spring.
Collins provided an update on the boardwalk lighting project. As of the meeting date, all lighting was installed and operational, however the contractor was going to spend some time adjusting the atmospheric lighting (trees, waterfall, etc.) to better illuminate the area.
The meeting was adjourned after roundtable.
