Garrettsville – Village officials present at the village council meeting on July 21st were Village Solicitor Michele Stuck, Mayor Rick Patrick, Fiscal Officer Donna Love and Councilpersons Tom Hardesty, Chris Knop, Sheri Johnson, John Chambers, Jeff Kaiser and Tom Collins. In-person attendees present were representatives of Ohio Health Benefits: Jeff Rinearson, Fred Carter, and company owner Steve Clark. Also present were Garrettsville Police Sergeant Keith Whan, and a concerned resident who asked to have their name withheld (out of concern of retribution from her neighbor). The July council meeting was open to the public as the pandemic restrictions have been lifted.
Representatives from Ohio Health Benefits (OHB) were invited to revisit a presentation on health insurance that had been made pre-COVID last year. Insurance agent Jeff Rinearson introduced his colleagues Fred Carter and OHB owner Steve Clark. OHB had previously provided the village with information about group health insurance and proposed raising the deductible from $500 to $3,000 per year. This would be coupled with the establishment of a Health Reimbursement Plan that would see the village reimburse insured employees (and families) for medical expenses that fell between the $501-$3000 range. The savings from increasing the deductible would save the village $65,000 in insurance premiums annually, and even if every insured employee maxed out their claims and received reimbursement from the village the savings would still come out to $2,500 per year. “How much curbing could you buy with that Tom?” joked Kaiser. Hardesty agreed that the concept sounded good, but expressed apprehension about entering into another self-funded plan as the last time the village was burnt on the deal. Kaiser and Knop agreed that the proposal is worth looking into if the saving would be that impressive. Clark shared that OHB, “has heard nothing but thanks and praise” from other entities that have done similar. Knop asked about the steps employees would need to follow for reimbursement of expenses. According to Clark employees can submit scans or photos of medical bills via email, or mail/drop off their bill at the OHB office in Hiram. From there OHB reviews the bill and checks to see if it is “in date” and qualified for reimbursement. If it is, the information is forwarded on to the village for reimbursement.
Hardesty asked how soon OHB can start shopping providers to produce a formal quote for 2022. Clark informed council that rates are set 3 months out from a start date. As the village wants to retain their January 1 start date the soonest prices could be obtained would be October. Clark “gently nudged” council to start the process by appointing OHB as the insurance broker so they can start looking into HRA options. Council decided to wait to make any decisions until August so they “had time to mull things over.”
Resolution 2021-31 received its first reading. The resolution authorizes the solicitor’s actions in submitting a vote to accept the fifth amended joint chapter 11 plan of the reorganization of Purdue Pharma LP in the United States bankruptcy court for the Southern District of New York (case number 19–23649). It authorizes the village solicitor to take further action as necessary. Stuck explained that Purdue Pharma is heavily involved in opiod painkiller mitigation, and that trusts are being established to help fund communities affected. Garrettsville may be eligible to receive some of these funds, and the resolution allows for them to be collected if it is.
Ordinance 2021-32 received its first reading and was enacted at the meeting. The ordinance adopts the tax budget for 2022.
With regular business out of the way, the floor was open for public comment.
A concerned resident on Maple Avenue was present to ask council what was happening with “the house” (8172 Maple Avenue), and if anything could be done to force the owner, Michelle Ward-Clayton to clean up the mess. According to the resident the house is full of “critters,” sickly feral cats leaving trails of bloody diarrhea in their yard, racoons, rats and all manner of pest. They also reported the presence of foul odors, an unkempt yard, and a lack of any effort being made towards making the property habitable which, health and safety concerns aside, is negatively impacting property values on the street.
Stuck shared that she had recently had the opportunity to meet with the owner of 8172 Maple Avenue in court and was told that Ward-Clayton had secured a buyer for the property. At the meeting Ward-Clayton was provided with a list of items that were required to be completed. The owner claims that she will have them done before the court date in September. Patrick said that this is not a matter of council not trying to get things cleaned up; it has been a process. This particular issue has been ongoing for over two years because, until now, Ward-Clayton had refused to appear in court.
The resident asked council directly, what could be done to condemn the property as it is in their opinion well past the point of being restored or salvaged. Stuck replied that the village has recently enacted an ordinance that would allow the village to take actions to clear the overgrown property, board up windows, etc., with the cost being assessed to Ward-Clayton through her taxes. “It won’t make it the prettiest house on the block, but it could be secured.”
The resident also expressed concerns about carpenter ants or termites moving to neighboring properties. They asked council “at what point do you move on from taxing and actually have it torn down?” Stuck mentioned that until recently the goal had been to preserve some of the architectural features, but at this point it may be too late for that. Hardesty said looking though some of the windows on the house will give you a view through the roof, so there is clearly water infiltration in the structure. Stuck advised council that it may be worth reaching out to The Portage County Land Reutilization Corporation (or “Land Bank”) to see if they would be interested in demolition of the structures on the property.
Stuck recommended that the concerned resident use the county’s Courtview system to follow the case. Before leaving, the resident provided council with a letter from other neighbors concerned about the state of the property.
Sgt. Whan was up next, asking council to approve the purchase of a new cloud-based interview camera system for the police station. Whan shared that the current method of manually transferring interview files to the record system is outdated when the rest of their cameras automatically upload directly. The current manual method could also introduce human-error to the process. The cost of the new camera is a little over $5600, which is available in the police budget. Formal approval was needed for the purchase, as it exceeded the approval limit. Council voted unanimously to allow the purchase of the camera system.
Roundtable Wrapup
Hardesty shared that the paving projects throughout town are underway and nearing completion. Johnson asked if the rest of Garfield Drive was on the schedule for 2022. Hardesty replied that “the new part” would be on the list for next year, with “the old part” to follow. The plan is to work from the freshly paved section outward. Hardesty also reported that he had asked for feedback on the columbarium project after the last meeting. He has heard no negative feedback from residents, and asked if council should proceed. Kaiser mentioned that there should be enough money in the cemetery account to pay for the foundation and site prep. Knop suggested appropriating enough in the current year’s budget to prep the site for two units, but order one this year (and the second in 2022). Council voted to allocate an amount not to exceed $49,000 for the first phase of the project.
Johnson questioned what to do about residents putting brush piles on the curb too early. Patrick joked that she should get a taller vehicle to see over them. Brush piles should not be on the curb too far in advance of pickup dates.
Patrick shared that the Board of Public Affairs had recommended that resident Ben Coll be appointed to finish out Fran Teresi’s term. He also mentioned that the street department has been busy painting all of the metal street lamps green, and replacing the decking planks on the boardwalk. Patrick suggested that council may want to consider phasing in TREX or other composite boards that would weather better beginning in 2022.
Kaiser reported a large tree in Park Cemetery that needs to come down. He also mentioned that the street department guys need to stop riding on the top of the trucks and in the truck beds. Patrick agreed to talk with them.
Collins asked if the village had been contacted by anyone from the Portage County Solid Waste District. Patrick said that they still have not heard from anyone.
Following roundtable council entered executive session for the purpose of discussing employee compensation. The meeting was adjourned immediately after.
