FINANCE, ADMINISTRATION, SERVICE,
ENGINEERING and GORMAN FARM
COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
The Finance, Administration, Service, Engineering and Gorman Farm Committee met at 3:00 pm on April 7, 2015. Present were Councilmembers Hartman, Finan andSchaefer. Also in attendance during portions of the meeting were Mayor Apking, David Elmers, James Jeffers, Chris Patterson, Al Schutte, Stiney Vonderhaar, Carolyn Duffy,and Tricia Watts. Also present were Sydney Trout and Bill Grafe of Energy Alliances.
The Finance and Engineering reports were submitted in writing and are attached.
The committee did not request a written Gorman Farm report due to personnel changes at the Gorman Farm.
Finance
Cynthia Caracci could not be present at the meeting so the March Financial Reports were submitted in writing. The March earnings tax was $1,387,314.66. That is $4,624.47 more than March, 2014. Year to date earnings tax receipts through March,2015 are $3,641,713.54. That is $212,025.48 more than 2014 receipts through March.The net deficit, excluding the Evendale Commons TIF, through March 2015 is
$214,494.26. Excluding the Evendale Commons TIF, the unencumbered balance is $15,805,787.16. The cash balance including all funds is $20,528,437.89. There are twoTransfer Ordinances that have already been distributed involving funding the demolition of the Feibelman Property and the Office Space for the new IT employee. As will be discussed later there will be a third Ordinance funding the Landscape Architect Contract
for the Thru the Valley Project
Administration
1. David Elmers advised that a recommendation for making all floors of the Cultural Arts Center Handicapped Accessible has not yet been completed. It is expected nextmonth.
2. Stiney Vonderhaar reported that the Historical Commission’s collection of artifacts will begin being sorted next month. The delay in starting was due to wedding planning for Diane Lemen’s daughter. It is expected that the sorting of the collection will begin next month.
3. David Elmers introduced Sydney Trout and Bill Grafe of Energy Alliances who submitted a proposal to create an Electric Aggregation Program for Evendale. The program will be an opt-out program. Residents and small businesses that have elected to enter contract with other suppliers will not see their contracts affected by this proposed program. The process of establishing the Electric Aggregation program will take several months in order to meet PUCO regulations. There will be an Ordinance or Resolution on the April Council Agenda that will start the process. It is
recommended that the initial legislation carry an emergency clause.
4. David reported also that the Millcreek project grant will not be finalized until June.
5. The property transfer for the Allen’s on Stanwin is not yet complete.
6. The Evendale Community Church raised concerns about their parking lot being use by residents and guests attending events at the new picnic shelter. The Village Administration reached an agreement to authorize use of the church parking area for the new picnic shelter and other events in exchange for the Village mowing the area between the parking lot and the new picnic shelter.
7. David also reported that, despite being authorized at a Special Meeting on January 24th of this year, the Contract for the Architect for the Thru the Valley Project has not been agreed upon. Apparently, the $70,000.00 appropriation at the March council meeting was an estimate and not the amount that the architectural firm, IBI had quoted. The committee expressed frustration at this news and contacted the Mayor by
telephone. Mayor Apking reported that he thought the contract had been agreed upon. Mayor Apking directed that David Elmer take personal responsibility for this contract. It is expected that there will have to be an additional appropriation on the April Council Agenda. The date of Wednesday, April 15, 2015 was set as a date to review the Phase Three design of the project. The Committee expects that a
representative of IBI will be present at that meeting.
Service/Engineering
Jim Bothe was unable to attend the meeting.
The Engineers report is attached. James Jeffers noted the following concerning
both ongoing and 2015 projects:
1. Carolyn Duffy expressed concern about criminal activity which occurred
in the area of Plateau Place and requested more Street Lights. Mayor Apking proposed
that the new LED cobra head lighting be installed in the areas of the Village without
underground wiring. The committee concurred in that recommendation. On Carolyn’s
request for more street lights, the committee recommended that the normal course be
followed. That is that the Village Administration survey the residents of Plateau Place to
determine whether more street lights are wanted in the area.
2. The work on the new picnic shelter did not resume in March. Presumably
it will resume in April.
3. The Cooper Creek wall project has not yet started. Presumably it will start
in April.
4. Duke has completed installation of new streetlights in the Cooper Road
area and the installation project is moving north.
5. So far no contractor has come forward needing the Root property mound
for fill.
6. The bid results for the 2015 Street project have been opened. It includes
the right turn lane from Glendale-Milford to Plainfield Road and repaving of the Gorman
Farm Parking Area. The acquisition of additional property for the right turn lane will be
referred to the solicitor. The parking lot paving will be coordinated with the Gorman
Farm Foundation to avoid conflicts with events at the Farm.
7. The small repair contract work on storm sewer inlets is complete.
Additional work on Plateau Place will begin in a couple of weeks.
8. The Police and Fire Departments are still using the Root, Blaisdale and
Feibelman Properties for training. The demolition of those properties is still being
delayed.
9. There is an agenda item granting Cincinnati Bell an easement on the April
Council agenda. The location is on property owned by Evendale between Twilight Drive
and Carpenter’s Creek Drive.
10. A review of the Phase Three plans for the Thru the Valley Project is
scheduled for April 15th at 1:30pm. All council members are invited to attend
.
11. ODOT has an Ordinance on the April Council Agenda regarding the Thru the
Valley Project. It basically agrees to the terms of the project.
12. The Building Department is working remedying a situation on the lot Neyra
started using as a dump for construction debris.
Gorman Farm
Chris Patterson and Al Schutte introduced Tricia Watts, the new Executive
Director. After introductions the committee briefly explained council committee
procedures to Ms. Watts. After introductions were completed, the following issues were
discussed:
1. The Farm will provide Cynthia Caracci the annual CPA financial report.
2. The next Farm event is Savor the Season scheduled for May 2nd.
3. Al Schutte presented the row crop plan and thistle control plan for 2015.
4. The Bio-Char kiln is completed and needs to cure. After it is cured, the
area around it will be graded and prepared for use.
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5. The fencing project for the field next to the Bio Char Kiln has begun.
6. The Farm is going to begin selecting the location of the new equipment
storage building. Several sites have been discussed, but none have yet been selected.
7. John Deere fixed the Corn Planter for $1,800 and gave a year warranty.
This will be paid for out of the Farm operating budget. The Capital funds will be used
for small tools, a vegetable washing station, and the balance for the equipment storage
building.
8. The Winnebago entrance work will probably not start until late summer.
2500 Cunningham house bricks remain and may be incorporated into the project.
9. The Farm is getting proposals to repair the north east corner of the Alfalfa
Barn which is failing. One quote of $11,500 has been received.
10. Chris Patterson also would like to have the Contract Committee schedule
its next meeting. April 21, 2015 at 6:30 has been tentatively selected as the date for the
next Contract Committee meeting.
11. Mayor Apking indicated that he will have the tree removal company
inspect the trees on the border between the Gorman Farm and the homes on Brinton Trail
and the end of Kingsport to make certain no dead trees on Gorman Farm property are
threatening homes in the area.
Griffin Park
The Griffin Park clean up is scheduled for May 2, 2015. Mayor Apking indicated
that the contractor used to remove dead trees will be asked to remove additional dead
trees in the Griffin Park after they are identified.
The meeting adjourned at 5:10 pm.
___________________________
Christian J. Schaefer
Committee Chairman
April 2015 Council Update
1. Cooper Creek Drainage - The contractor is finishing a job in Blue Ash and will begin work as soon
as that project ends, anticipated within the next two weeks.
2. Residential Lighting Project - Duke Energy has begun to install lights. All streets off Cooper have
been completed and they are now in Carpenters Creek.
3. Outdoor Picnic Shelter - Due to the weather and issues with MSD/CWW, we will complete this
project as weather permits.
4. Thru the Valley/I-75 Landscape RFQ - IBI has begun the design process and will be contacting us
for meeting dates soon.
5. Small scale repairs - Repairs have been completed on Medallion and Winnebago. We have
several other areas to address, but if there are other areas to be looked at, please let us know.
6. 2015 Street Improvements - This project bid opening will be at 11:00 am Tuesday morning. I will
have the results for the committee meetings.
7. Right Hand Turn Lane on Glendale Milford/Plainfield - This is included in the Street Improvement
Project and Dave has been in contact with the property management group to discuss the right
of way issue.
8. Demolition of 3046 Inwood (Blasdale) and 9746 Reading (Root) - The demo of these properties
will begin after May 1st to give fire and police time to perform training. We are coordinating the
efforts so that the demo contractor will be taking the building down soon after the breaches of
the exterior are performed.
9. Demolition of 1500 Glendale Milford Road (Feibelman) - I anticipate receiving the quote for this
work today and will have it for the committee meeting. There will need to be a
appropriation/transfer ordinance as this work has not be account for in the budget.
10. Mr. Allen - Dave is working with Mr. Allen on this matter.
11. Cincinnati Bell Utility Easement - This ordinance is for an 30x50 utility easement for Cincinnati
Bell to install a Fioptics hub at the property the Village owns at the end of Carpenters Creek.
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