Garrettsville – Village officials present at the March 14th village council meeting, were Village Solicitor Michele Stuck, Nancy Baldwin, Mayor Rick Patrick, and Council people Tom Hardesty; Deb (Glass) Wordell; Jeff Kaiser; John Chambers; Chris Knop; and Tom Collins. The meeting was called to order at 7:30pm by Mayor Rick Patrick.
The minutes from the prior meeting were approved in a unanimous vote; as was a motion to pay the bills. Council reviewed the income tax and delinquency reports.
Resolution 2018-14 amending the codified ordinances to clarify parking requirements for stores not in a plaza received its first reading. The resolution should resolve an issue for a prospective business. Currently there is a stray zero in the requirements that was never intended to be there (600 vs 60). A public hearing for this resolution has been scheduled for the April council meeting.
JAG Schools superintendent Ted Lysiak was present to make a proposal to village council. The school district is seeking a School Resource Officer (SRO) to begin working on the campus beginning in the 2018-19 school year. Lysiak has pulled information from several districts in the area, and developed a program that he briefly outlined for the council. Under the program the school district would be responsible for 68% of the officer’s salary while the Village would pick up the remaining 32%. The SRO would be contracted for 260 days with the district (181 days with students and staff) while the Village would have access to a sixth officer for 82 days of the year—conveniently during the busy summer months.
While the primary intent is to keep the JAG Campus safe, Lysiak and the school board also envision the SRO as an educator who can speak on careers in law enforcement, bullying, risky behaviors, etc. Following a somewhat lengthy Q&A session amongst the council members, Lysiak, Officer Whan, and Lt. Christopher the council unanimously agreed to a motion to endorse the plan for an SRO. Lysiak will put together a memorandum of understanding for approval at the April council meeting. Once passed Lysiak would be able to inform the Board of Education at the April school board meeting.
Appropriations for the current fiscal year were approved in resolution 2018-15.
Wrapping Up Round Table
Knop reminded the others that training was coming up soon.
Hardesty suggested going into executive session after the meeting to discuss employee wages. Chambers recommended getting chair mats to protect the new carpeting.
Collins reported that he is continuing work on the grant Becky Harrington had been working on. He elaborated a bit and said there was a strong chance of getting the whole amount.
Patrick informed the council that the Police Department needs a new roof. The current plan under consideration is to have a truss installed and do either a shingle or metal roof. He also provided an update on the new Police SUV which is now in Texas being outfitted for the department. It should arrive in Garrettsville within the next couple of weeks.
The meeting went into executive session following round table, and was adjourned shortly after.
