FINANCE, ADMINISTRATION, RECREATION, SERVICE,
ENGINEERING and GORMAN FARM
COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
October 5, 2010
The Finance, Recreation, Service, Engineering and Gorman Farm Committee met at 6:00 pm on October 5, 2010. Present were Councilmembers Smiley-Robertson,Vonderhaar, and Schaefer. Also in attendance during portions of the meeting were Mayor Apking, George Snyder, James Jeffers, Jim Bothe, Dave Nichols, Michelle Gottschlich and Susan Van Amorangen and Sandra Murphy.
I. Gorman Farm
The first issue to come before the Committee was the Contract with the Gorman Heritage Farm Foundation (“the Farm”). The proposed Contract was distributed to all of Council some time ago. After the Committee meeting on August 4, 2010, the following changes are recommended to the proposed Contract:
1. The Village will not provide services of a custodian to the Farm.
2. The Farm, subject to approval by Village Council, will identify the location of one trail to connect Cooper Road to Kingsport Drive. Once that trail is identified, the Village will assume the maintenance and improvement costs of the one designated trail. The maintenance or improvement of other trails on the Gorman Farm property will be the responsibility of the Farm.
3. The Village will add the Farm to the Village contract for waste removal and recycling at the cost of the Village.
4. Within one year of the term of this Contract, the Farm, subject to approval by Village Council will adopt a master plan for the Farm’s operation and physical make up during the ensuing five year term of the Contract.
5. While the Recreation commission greatly appreciates the attendance by a Farm representative at the Recreation Commission meetings, a Farm representative will not become a member of the Recreation Commission.
With these changes, the Committee voted to advance the proposed contract to the full council for approval. Councilmember Smiley-Robertson expressed concern that the Village had not fully fulfilled some obligations in the prior agreement. Councilmember Vonderhaar expressed concerns over cost of the proposed contract in light of the proposed 2011 budget.
Sandra Murphy submitted a written report of the Farms monthly activities, it is attached.
II. Recreation
Dave Nichols reported that there were sufficient funds in his budget to pay for Phase II of the URS Bicycling Master Plan without the need for Council Action. The Mayor joined the discussion and indicated that he was not completely satisfied with the Phase I of the URS study and that he would discuss the matter with Dave Nichols. The Mayor also indicated that, in light of the current economic situation, he did not see any implementation of the plan in the near term if the plan contemplates using Village funds for implementation.
James Jeffers indicated that there is room for a bicycle lane on Glendale –Milford Road. But, he needed to know the recommended URS striping pattern within three weeks to implement it. Councilmember Schaefer noted that he had received a copy of an article from the Cincinnati Bicycle Club newsletter criticizing the idea of having a bicycle lane along the proposed GE Parkway. The concern is that, if the bicycle lane is
constructed by the State as part of the Thru the Valley project, it could lead to Evendale being “flyover” country to the biking world.
Since no Council Action appears to be required under any of these scenarios, the Mayor indicated that he would attend a Recreation Meeting to discuss the matter.
The final issue concerns recreation fees. The Men’s Recreational Basketball Resident team fee went from $100 to $330 in one year. After complaints were raised, the mayor directed that the fee be returned to the 2009 level until Council can set guide lines as Council is required to do under Codified Ordinance 274.06. Dave Nichols reported that the Children’s fees are nominal. The community activity fees (Fourth of July, Holloween, Christmas Light-up etc.) are free or nominal. The recreation department has been raising fees on adult sports. The idea is to recovers all costs of those activities. The committee asked for a complete fee schedule including fees charged for the Villagers trips so that the committee can get a full
understanding of all fees before making a recommendation.
III. Engineering/Service
The Glendale-Milford project has proceeded with grinding and the first course of pavement. The railroad paperwork is finally approved by the railroad and hopefully the bridgework can be completed in the near term.
James is hopeful that the entire Monet project will be completed in four weeks. The Mayor indicated that he thought James was overly optimistic on the completion date. They have run into some difficulties because of the location of the gas main. These seem to be overcome at this point.
The meeting with GE, ODOT, and Evendale on the Thru-the Valley project took place in mid September. There are still multiple issues to be worked out because of security issues on some of the GE site. The designers are yet to be given the authority to start on the design of the project.
Finally James Jeffers reported that he has been working with Princeton concerning the division of the old driveway areas between adjoining lots. The problem seems to be the lack of a survey of the Evendale Elementary School land.
IV. Finance
August Financial Report
Excluding the Evendale Commons TIF we are still showing a year to date cash surplus of $203,669.79. This will change next month to a substantial loss the 2009 obligation to GE and the payments for the road project start becoming due. The year end unencumbered balance projection is $12,725,141 if the Anchor TIF is included. The Anchor TIF has $409,381 of technically unencumbered funds that will end up becoming obligations to other entities.
Appropriations
There will be multiple transfers and appropriations in one ordinance at the Council meeting. These will include an appropriation in the restricted law enforcement fund, money for the pool, money for the Stormwater District and building department. There will be multiple transfers out of the Evendale TIF to cover Treasurer and Auditor Fees, reimbursement of Anchor Development Company, and a payment to Princeton City Schools.
2011 Budget
The initial proposed budget has been distributed to Council. We are planning an extended discussion of the Budget on November3, 2010. The earnings tax estimate for 2011 will remain $10,500,000. the State has, however, given notice that the local government fund will not be funded next year. This will result in a $100,000 shortfall to the Village. The deficit in the proposed budget is 2.7 million dollars.
TIF Bond Issue
It is expected that representatives of Peck Shaffer and Williams and Fifth Third will attend the next committee meeting to discuss a bond issue for the TIF to lock in the current low rates.
Property Tax Rates
The will be an Ordinance setting the property tax rate at zero on the October Agenda. This must be done annually.
Investments
The Village has been using Fifth Third as an investment broker. They have almost uniformly been pushing FNMA and FHLMC bonds. Unlike bonds from the Federal Home Loan Bank and the Federal Farm Credit Bureau, FNMA ans FHLMC bonds have no explicit federal guarantee. For that reason the committee has not been investing in bonds from FNMA and FHLMC. George is going to start using a different broker who can give the Village a wider selection of investment opportunities.
The meeting adjourned at 8:40 pm.
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Christian J. Schaefer
Committee Chairman
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