Middlefield – Mayor Poole called the meeting to order at 7 pm. All council members were present.
Approval of minutes from July 7, 2011: Motion passed
Payment of bills in the amount of $339,581.20: Motion passed
Fiscal Officer’s Report: Report was submitted to council. Fiscal Officer would like council to think about meeting Friday, December 30 for final meeting of the year to discuss cost cutting and budget issues. Nothing was finalized at this time. The income tax packet was also distributed to council.
Streets and Utilities Report: There were a lot of street repairs done last month. Many holes were patched up. Grass mowing, field maintenance and street sweeping were also done last month. There were six water leaks last month, they were repaired and some pipes had to be replaced. At the time of the meeting, all leaks were fixed. The cemetery project is completed except for some landscaping. Council thanked Charlie and his department for all the work they did to get the leaks fixed.
Police Report: Report was submitted to Council. Last month, there were 841 incident reports, 1070 incoming calls and dispatch was up last month. There were 996 business checks and 34 traffic citations issued. Departmental training and CPR and AED certification/recertification took place last month. The department received a new radar unit which was donated because of the department’s emphasis on safety. Safety presentations were given. The department handled a few high profile cases last month and the officers involved were commended on their excellent work.
Zoning Report: Report was submitted to Council. The town hall needs some maintenance. That request was submitted, in writing, to the owners now that it is privately owned.
Recreation Department Report: Report was submitted to Council. The Cops and Kids fishing derby had over 150 participants this year and was a great success thanks to help from Police Department. Community support included worms and juice donated by Wal-Mart. Community Days was another successful event even though the weather was a bit warm and the water leaks occurred in the area during this event. Participants did not seem to mind. The park was full the entire day. There were many positive comments stated about the event. The Department is now in transition from summer to fall programs and currently doing registration and preparing winter events. Council commended Missy for a good job done this summer.
Ambulance Report: Report was submitted to Council. The work load is up but there were no issues to speak of.
Financial Report: Report was submitted to council. There were no questions or comments.
Public Hearing regarding Ordinance 11-121:
Opened at 7:16 pm, there were no comments made and the hearing was closed shortly thereafter.
A concerned citizen wanted to thank Charlie and Dan on the work done on Glen Valley Drive. It is more pleasant to drive on. He also asked if Charlie get a quote for other work that needs done. Charlie replied yes they did and will meet with contractor next week and will have a plan to move forward. Everyone hopes that some of the work can get done this year.
Another concerned citizen had several issues to bring to the Council. She thanked the Police Chief and all the police for their work during fireworks and power outage. The Police handled the situation very quickly and kept everyone safe.
She is also concerned with Wal-Mart driveway, as she uses a motorized chair to get around. She is concerned about being hit when entering Wal-Mart and asked if they would put in a sidewalk for pedestrians and wheelchairs access without actually having to be in the road. Council took the suggestion under advisement.
Another concern stated was if council was working toward bringing business to Middlefield. She was concerned with the billboard just outside of town for an industrial park in Newbury that was advertising for new businesses to “grow” there.
Then she explained that residents need to be replied to when they ask questions of Council. For example, she then asked if anyone take care of Tony Lombardo and the resident with flooding basement issue? She wants the council to respond quickly to persons who bring issues to them. It was stated that some residents feel that council does not care about residents. She just asked that they respond in a timely manner.
1st Reading: Ordinance 11-117: Confirming the appointment of William R. Tench as a part-time police officer and establishing his rate of pay and declaring an emergency. Motion passed. Tench has worked in Portage County and comes highly recommended.
Ordinance 11:119: Confirming the appointment of Bridget M. Jones as a part-time police officer and establishing her rate of pay and declaring an emergency. Motion passed. She is very highly recommended.
Ordinance 11:120: Approving the editing and inclusion of certain ordinances as parts of the various component codes of the codified ordinances of the Village of Middlefield, Ohio.
Ordinance 11:121: Rehiring Kathy Jacobs as “crossing guard” effective August 23, 2011, pursuant to specified terms and conditions, and declaring an emergency. Motion passed.
Ordinance 11: 122: Authorizing the Mayor and Fiscal Officer to enter into an agreement with the Village of Roaming Shores, Ohio, for Middlefield to provide Roaming Shores with dispatch services and declaring and emergency. The Safety and Finance committee also discussed this issue and recommended that the agreement go for 15 months. That time frame would give council time to review fees/pricing. Councilperson Seyer was concerned that it is costing the village residents too much money and he will not support any of these costs. Motion passed.
Ordinance 11:123: Authorizing the Mayor and Fiscal Officer to enter into an agreement with the Village of Orwell, Ohio, for Middlefield to provide Orwell with dispatch services and declaring an emergency. Motion passed. Councilperson Seyer disagreed.
Ordinance 11:124: Authorizing the Mayor and Fiscal Officer to enter into an agreement with the Village of Andover, Ohio, for Middlefield to provide Andover with dispatch services and declaring an emergency. Motion passed. Councilperson Seyer disagreed.
Ordinance: 11:125: Authorizing Mayor and Fiscal Officer to enter into an agreement with the Village of Jefferson, Ohio, for Middlefield to provide Jefferson with dispatch services and declaring an emergency. Motion passed. Councilperson Seyer disagreed.
New Business:
- Christ Covenant Church has requested to hold their Rib Burn Off. It would be the same as years past and held on the church grounds. Motion passed.
- Charges and polices for columbarium: Dan put together an application which includes residential and non-residential rates, along with a discount break. There are 18 policies involved with this project and are described in paperwork. Inscriptions will be uniform so that the units stay good looking.
- There is also a unit location guide. Council urged participants to look it over. The units are not offered for purchase yet, they wanted to wait until the project was complete. All funeral directors in the area will be notified. It was suggested that something be put on the village website regarding this issue. Moved to adopt the columbarium rules and regulations and pricing schedule as proposed by the administrator. Motion passed.
- Will village look into establishing a crosswalk at Hillcrest? Police Chief feels that a lot of children do cross from there. He feels it is needed. Mayor thinks a crosswalk needs to be manned and that an unmanned crosswalk may be more of a hazard. The Village may need to get permission from state to do a crosswalk since it is a state road. Council needs to find out if the state needs to give their permission, and then discuss it at a later date.
No other new business. Meeting was adjourned.
Next meeting to be held September 1, 2011.
