Garrettsville – Village officials present at the village council meeting on April 8th were Village Solicitor Michele Stuck, Mayor Rick Patrick, Fiscal Officer Deb Wordell, and Councilpersons Tom Hardesty, Chris Knop, Jeff Kaiser, Larry Beatty, John Chambers and Tom Collins. Water Superintendent Jeff Sheehan and BPA member Stephanie Byrne were also present in the meeting. Due to COVID-19 social distancing requirements the meeting was held digitally via Zoom and streamed live to Facebook (both services facilitated by the Weekly Villager).
After the meeting was called to order by Mayor Patrick, the minutes of the March meeting were reviewed. Collins pointed out that there was a typo on the first item in the minutes pertaining to who made a motion and seconded. The minutes were approved with a note that Wordell will be reviewing her notes/audio from the meeting to correct the item in question. Following the approval of the minutes, council reviewed the financial reports and income tax receipts. Patrick shared that income tax is currently down a little, and that there is some concern that they may be down due to COVID-19 but it is too early to tell what the impact will be on the village. Delinquency collections are doing well for the first quarter according to Stuck. Beatty asked council to confirm that the filing date for village income tax has been pushed back to July 15th like it has for the state. Stuck and Wordell confirmed this as true.
Ordinance 2020-08 received a second reading at the meeting. The ordinance enacts section 1199.091 of the village’s codified ordinances and involves retention ponds and other improvements. According to Hardesty the ordinance would currently only affect the retention basin at Fox Hollow and specify that once the village accepts the basin the ongoing maintenance will be at the expense of the home owners association with a fall back to the owners if the HOA becomes defunct. Sheehan reminded council that there is an abandoned retention basin, behind the Energizer/Eveready plant and the ordinance would give the village a tool to go after them to put the basin back into use. Council will allow the ordinance to head to a third reading in May before enacting.
Resolution 2020-09, authorizing participation in the ODOT road salt contracts, was passed on the first reading in a motion by Kaiser, seconded by Chambers. Entering this contract with ODOT allows the village to potentially save on road salt expenses.
Resolution 2020-10, authorizing the Garrettsville Police Department to provide police services and mutual aid to other political subdivisions pursuant to Ohio Revised Code 737.041, was passed and enacted on the first reading in a motion by Knop, seconded by Beatty. Stuck explained that the village has an agreement from around 1994 which Police Chief Tim Christopher wanted to update because the old one was limited geographically to stop at State Route 44. Christopher wants to have some mutual aid agreements with Kent State University, so he wanted one without the geographic limits. Knop asked if this is a one- or two-way agreement. Stuck explained that it would provide mutual aid for whichever side requested it. Hardesty mentioned that the village has had a long-time agreement with Hiram and Windham allowing them to work together.
Ordinance 2020-11, authorizing agreements for reciprocal emergency management assistance or aid between the village and other public subdivisions or public/private agencies within the state of Ohio, was passed and enacted on first reading in a motion by Chambers, seconded by Beatty. Stuck explained that this ordinance is for emergency management assistance (natural disasters, etc). About seven years ago the resolution made its way around the county municipalities. Stuck could not find a record of such an ordinance for the village. This ordinance corrects that. This would allow the county EMA office to commandeer equipment needed elsewhere but also allows the village to do the same if the need arises.
Ordinance 2020-12, naming Michele Stuck as Village Solicitor, was approved and enacted on the first reading.
Round Table
Knop asked Stuck about insurance risks for the insurance pool the village is in. Stuck contacted Mark Russell of Ellerhorst Russell Insurance for information. According to Stuck, Russell needed to contact the underwriter for the policy but would get back to her. Stuck reached out a second time after about a week but still does not have anything definitive. The insurance appears to be a sort of cooperative from what Stuck can see and appears to be self-insured. Knop would like to receive more information and suggested that Russell attend the next council meeting with answers.
Hardesty stated that the village spending is pretty much fixed as far as employees go and the departments are keeping expenses low during the closures. Looking at road work, council needs to consider revising plans for roadwork this year. Hardesty shared that about $173,000 was budgeted but at this point plans may need to be put on hold until there is a better picture on where revenues are going to land. He recommended prioritizing the sidewalk projects for about $20,000-30,000. Mayor Patrick recommended holding off on making decisions until the May meeting. Kaiser asked if chip and seal is an option as a stopgap measure. Hardesty would prefer not to go that route as the roads will still need to be completely ground down for replacement in the future.
Mayor Patrick reported that all village employees are all doing their part to maintain social distance. He also shared that he has attended a few conference calls with the Mayors Association and everyone is trying to do their part. He mentioned that many businesses in town closed and residents are following the Governor’s order to stay home. The Street Department has wrapped the playground equipment in caution tape to discourage congregating, and basketball hoops will be removed for refurbishment and repainting.
Patrick also announced some important date changes for events:
- Spring cleanup has been moved to July 2nd
- Summerfest has been moved to July 31st – Aug 2nd
Wordell, reminded council that it is very difficult to predict what revenues are going to do right now, but she is trying to stay informed.
Collins shared that the new village website is now live at Garrettsville.org. He suggested a few changes to make it easier to find the most current meeting minutes. Patrick asked council to review the website and send any modifications to Wordell.
The meeting was adjourned after roundtable.
