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 Harwood, Smiley-Robertson, and Schaefer. Also in attendance during portions of the meeting were Mayor Apking, Cynthia Caracci, Tricia Watts, Chris Patterson, Al Schutte, and Jim Bothe, Also present were Mayoral candidates Catherine Hartman, Dick Finan, and Stiney Vonderhaar, as well as Council candidates Beth McDaniels and Diane Redden.
James Jeffers and David Elmer were unable to attend the meeting. The Finance, Administration and Engineering reports were submitted in writing and are attached. David Elmer sent an email outlining certain issues. It is also attached.
Finance
Cynthia Caracci presented the September Financial Reports. The September earnings tax receipts totaled $1,076,565.03. That is $187.95 more than September, 2014. Year to date earnings tax receipts through September, 2015 are $10,874,666.37. That is $826,431.02 more than 2014 receipts through September. The net surplus, excluding the Evendale Commons TIF, through September, 2015 is $958,909.30. Excluding the Evendale Commons TIF, the unencumbered balance is $18,857,631.22. The cash balance including all funds is $22,095,822.66.
Cynthia also indicated that she will apply to the County Budget Commission to show an increase of $800,000 in the 2015 revenue from the initial estimate. This reflects the amount of income tax revenue received to date.
There will be a “Then and Now” ordinance for a variety of contracts. All were previously approved by council. Cynthia explained that often, the invoice is sent electronically and is dated prior to the purchase order. Mayor Apking will raise this issue with the department heads in an effort to provide the administrative staff with information more quickly so purchase orders can be issued in a more timely fashion.
There will be a transfer ordinance moving the balance of the contingency budget item to the tax refunds.
Finally, there will be a supplemental appropriation in the Law Enforcement Fund and Drug Forfeiture Fund to pay for police department equipment necessary to gather evidence from electronic devices when appropriate.
Administration.
David Elmer submitted an email raising three issues for the committee which is attached.
1. Gold Medal’s application with HCDC for an Enterprise Zone tax abatement has been recommended for approval by HCDC. It will be on the council agenda. The committee recommended approval.
2. ODOT requires that the Village Engineer be authorized to work with them on the Reading Road repaving grant project. The committee agreed to this request.
3. The county commissioners requested that they be permitted to hold budget review open houses in Evendale this month. That request was also approved by the committee.
Service / Engineering
The Engineers report is attached. James Jeffers could not attend the committee meeting. The committee discussed and approved the following:
1. ODOT requires an initial payment of $45,000 to fund the engineering of the 2016 grant project to repave Reading Road. A supplemental appropriation of this amount is recommended by the committee.
2. The work on the Plainfield turn lane is delayed because the paper work has not been completed. The committee recommends that the solicitor prepare a “quick-take” appropriation for the needed right of way.
3. Jim Bothe reported that the attorney general has reimbursed the Village in the amount of $4,800. This comes from a settlement with salt suppliers who had conspired to fix prices. Ohio and several other states were involved in the litigation over this matter.
4. At the last committee meeting Carolyn Duffy raised a concern about the design of the ends of some guard rails. Jim Bothe sought reported that the existing design is grandfathered by the state and need only be replaced if the entire guard rail system is replaced
Gorman Farm
Tricia Watts, Chris Patterson and Al Schutte presented the following concerning the Gorman Farm:
1. Construction of the new equipment storage building should begin within the next two weeks. The colors will be beige with a white trim and green roof. Additional fill is being placed on the west side of the building pad.
2. The construction of the Winnebago farm entrance walls by Rick Herzog with the help of Chuck Melampy and Jerry Schappacher was completed. The wood fencing is currently being installed. It is expected to be completed in the next few weeks.
3. The Sunflower festival was exceedingly well attended. A total of 4,800 people attended and the total receipts are about $50,000. This is probably the most well attended event in the farms history. Volunteers provided 664 hours of preparation work and 93 volunteers worked at the festival.
The meeting adjourned at 3:50 pm.
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Christian J. Schaefer
Committee Chairman
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