Garrettsville – Village officials present at the village council meeting on February 12th were Village Solicitor Michele Stuck, Mayor Rick Patrick, and Councilpersons Tom Hardesty, Chris Knop, Jeff Kaiser, Larry Beatty and Tom Collins. Councilperson John Chambers was absent from the meeting.
The minutes of the January meeting were reviewed, but due to an omission that will require listening to a recording of the meeting, must wait until March’s meeting for approval. Knop requested that the reports emailed out to the council be formatted to display correctly on screen as they cannot be rotated.
Resolution 2020-03 was approved and enacted. The resolution declares the 2011 Chevy Tahoe police vehicle with VIN 1GNLC2E0XBR307481 obsolete and authorizes the chief of police to trade-in the vehicle. Beatty asked police chief Tim Christopher if the department can salvage the equipment from the vehicle before the trade and move it into the new vehicle. Christopher shared that Ganley will allow them two weeks to move the equipment from the trade-in vehicle and install it into the new one.
Resolution 2020-04 was approved and enacted. This resolution authorizes the actions necessary to accept Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council (NOPEC) 2020 Energize Community Grants. Garrettsville has been approved for close to $9,000 this year, and last year brought in about $8,800.Funds from past NOPEC grants have paid for energy efficiency projects at the Veterans Memorials, maintenance garage, and caution light in town.
Ordinance 2020-05 was approved and enacted. The ordinance amends Ordinance 2019-44 entitled “Annual Appropriation Ordinance” to make appropriations for current expenses and expenditures for the Village of Garrettsville during the first quarter of the fiscal year ending December 31, 2020. Hardesty explained that the adjustment to Appropriations was necessary to pay for carryover expenses from 2019 that will now be paid in 2020.
Ordinance 2020-06 received its first reading. The ordinance and enacts chapter 927 of the Codified Ordinances of the Village of Garrettsville in order to adopt sanitary sewer discharge regulations for users of the village’s waste water treatment works. Water Department superintendent Jeff Sheehan was present to explain the ordinance, which provides step by step guidelines to end illegal discharge. This ordinance is important, as sludge generated by the waste treatment plant cannot be field-spread if it exceeds the limits for restricted materials; which would necessitate paying to have it disposed of. This was an issue in recent history due to improper discharge from one of the occupants of the industrial park. Due to the length of the ordinance and corresponding resolution (26 pages) it has been excluded from the print version of this article. It will be included and available in the online version at weeklyvillager.com.
A public hearing will be held before the March council meeting to discuss the application for placement of Esler Hyde’s farmland in an agricultural district. About 11 acres of Hyde’s land along Brosius Road fall within village limits. The agricultural district designation must be renewed every five years. Collins asked how properties are designated R1, or R2. Hardesty explained that R1 properties are large tracts without municipal utilities while R2 are smaller, about half an acre, and include utilities.
Council also approved a $5,500 reimbursement to the Garrettsville Branch of the Portage County Library for electric and gas service for the year.
Police chief Tim Christopher reported that an employee at the police department is looking to take family leave, about eight weeks out of the 12 they are entitled to under FMLA. Christopher would like council to amend chapter 5, specifically section 5B of the employee handbook, to include use of sick leave along side holiday time and comp time before an employee is on unpaid leave status. Council agreed to make the change on a case by case basis.
Christopher also shared that the rescue task force (police, fire, EMS, sheriff, and state patrol) have active shooter training scheduled for March 14 at Garfield High School. All northern police agencies were invited, he also invited members of council to observe, or participate as hostages or bodies. Weather permitting, there will also be triage training outdoors. It is important to note that the Garfield campus will be closed to the public, students, staff, and faculty on March 14 during the training. A reminder will be sent out by the schools before the training date to prevent panic.
Roundtable Wrap-Up
Hardesty shared that he has been talking to Ohio Edison and researching energy savings on light fixtures. He is also looking into areas that need additional street lighting. The plan is to target areas that already have underground electric service. He also talked with Justin Rybak about the baseball program and their list of things the organization would like to see. Hardesty also spoke with Randy at the street department about designating a part-time employee to maintain the fields, drag, mow over the summer. Leagues would not be permitted to do their own “maintenance”.
Patrick talked to Scotchman Electric about installing LED panels in Village Hall; he also spoke with Randy and asked if installing new light fixtures would be a good winter project for the maintenance guys. Knop offered to assist in researching LED lighting fixtures for Village Hall.
Hardesty shared that he, Collins, and Beatty met to discuss restrooms at Hardesty Park, located on Brosius Road.
Beatty reported that he recently attended a 2020 census meeting, and learned how to get census information out to the residents. He also reported that a resident of Fox Run complained about a house being built without a dumpster on site. After speaking with the contractor, it was determined that a dumpster was already scheduled to arrive after the trusses for the house were installed and the driveway clear for delivery.
With no other business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned.
