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 September 1, 2015. Present were Councilmembers Hartman, Finan and Schaefer. Also in attendance during portions of the meeting were Mayor Apking, Cynthia Caracci, David Elmer, James Jeffers, Chris Patterson, Al Schutte, Jim Bothe, Carolyn Smiley Robertson, Dave Harwood, Beth McDaniel, Carolyn Duffy, Cindy Vaske and Stiney Vonderhaar.
The Finance, Administration and Engineering reports were submitted in writing and are attached.
Finance
Cindy Vaske presented a summary of the new Evendale Income Tax Ordinance mandated by the State of Ohio. Some of the changes include:
1. $25.00 per month penalty for non-filers capped at $250.00.
2. The Tax Board of Appeals has one member appointed by the mayor and two by council.
3. Required website postings and new forms.
4. Assessments must be sent by certified mail with certain wording in all capital letters.
5. A required affidavit for non-filers instead of listing future non-filing on the tax return.
6. New definition of “domicile”.
7. New Forms.
8. The net loss formula is carried from 3 to 5 years.
9. The day entry exemption is now 20 days with no relation back provision when the 20 day limit is reached.
Councilmember Schaefer suggested the a section be added the text of the Ordinance adopting the new Evendale Income Tax Ordinance limiting the old tax code to income earned before January 1, 2016. The plan is to consider this Ordinance for a first reading only at the September Council meeting. At subsequent readings there may be some additional changes. It is expected that the Ordinance will be adopted at the November Council meeting.
Cynthia Caracci presented the August Financial Reports. The August earnings tax receipts totaled $1,228,511.77. That is $264,604.80 more than August, 2014. Year to date earnings tax receipts through August, 2015 are $9,798,101.34. That is $826,243.07 more than 2014 receipts through August. The net surplus, excluding the Evendale Commons TIF, through August, 2015 is $905,562.69. Excluding the Evendale Commons TIF, the unencumbered balance is $18,332,081.47. The cash balance including all funds is $22,129,959.89.
There will be a “Then and Now” ordinance for equipment for new police cruisers and asbestos abatement at two of the houses recently demolished.
Finally Cynthia submitted the departmental capital purchase suggestions for the next five years. The mayor indicated that these are not his final recommendations for his proposed budget (appropriation ordinance). The plan for adopting the 2016 budget (appropriation ordinance), because of a transition to a new mayor and at least one new council member, is to complete work on the budget (appropriation ordinance) in November. The required public hearing will be set for the regular December Council meeting. The new mayor and council member or members would then have an opportunity to suggest changes before final adoption of the 2016 Appropriation Ordinance.
Administration
David Elmer submitted a written report which is attached.
1. Since the last committee meeting the Cultural Arts committee met with Councilmembers Hartman and Finan. The fire chief raised several life-safety issues. Additional discussions concerned the location of the elevator an availability of three-phase power. The architect will add these suggestions to his proposal.
2. A next Council meeting with IBI was tentatively scheduled for the afternoon of the council committee meetings on October 6th. David Elmer will try to get a copy of the power point presentation from the last meeting so it can be made available to council or perhaps a posting on the Village web-site.
3. Stiney Vonderhaar reported that the Cultural Arts Commission wants to hold other events in the space reserved for the Historical Commission. The Committee recommended that the Historical Commission’s collection be returned to the Cultural Arts Building before cold weather sets in so that the Village does not have to heat the TLC building.
4. David Elmers reported that the price at the last electric energy auction was too high. . An ordinance establishing pricing will be prepared for the September Council meeting if the pricing is within the range recommended by the consultants.
5. The Millcreek grant project is in the final design phase. It is expected that construction will start within 3 or 4 weeks.
6. The Homers building was sold to the owner of Elements (currently in Sharonville) who plans to rehabilitate the site to accommodate his event business to that location.
The Engineers report is attached. James Jeffers noted the following concerning both ongoing and 2015 projects:
1. The demolition work on the three recently purchased properties is complete.
2. The Cooper Creek wall project is completed. The information concerning the sewer issue was submitted to MSD. There has been no response from MSD to date.
3. The contract with Duke Energy for installation of the LID lights in the residential areas with overhead lights is expected to be completed this year.
4. The 2015 Street project has begun, but the with work on the Plainfield turn lane is delayed until the mortgage holder signs off on the transfer of the right of way.
5. Jim Bothe reported that the new Dump Truck has been delivered.
6. The Village received the Issue 2 grant for north Reading Road. The sole road project for 2016 will be this project. The Village share is estimated to be $500,000.
7. The repairs to Plateau Place are completed.
8. The Allen property issue is almost completed.
9. Carolyn Duffy raised a concern about the design of the ends of some guard rails, thought to have been installed by the state. James will look at these to make certain the design meets current standards.
Gorman Farm
Chris Patterson and Al Schutte presented the following concerning the Gorman Farm:
1. The siting issue for the new equipment storage building on the Cincinnati Bell property donated to the farm is ongoing. The Village work being done is within the existing appropriation.
2. The repair the Alfalfa Barn has been completed.
3. The construction of the Winnebago farm entrance walls by Rick Herzog with the help of Chuck Melampy and Jerry Schappacher is complete. The next phase of the improvement is the addition of wood fencing. This part of the project is ongoing.
4. There was a discussion about the paving of the Interpretive Building parking lot and the Winnebago entrance. James will co-ordinate these items with the Farm.
5. Row by Row was held on August 22 and had more attendees than last year. The 5K race is scheduled for September 19th, and the Sunflower festival is scheduled for October 5th.
The meeting adjourned at 4:15 pm.
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Christian J. Schaefer
Committee Chairman
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