M I N U T E S
The Village of Evendale
Regular Council Meeting
September 8, 2005
The Village of Evendale held a Public Discussion Session prior to the Regularly Scheduled Council Meeting. Mayor Apking asked if anyone wanted to address Council. There was no discussion.
The Village of Evendale held three Public Hearings. Mayor Apking opened the public hearing to consider the Mayor’s appeal of the variance granted by the Zoning Board of Appeal to United Rentals. There was no discussion from the public. A motion to close the public hearing was made by Mr. Schaefer, seconded by Mr. Vonderhaar, and unanimously approved.
The second Public Hearing was opened. The purpose of the public hearing was to consider the following applications filed by Lifestyle Properties, Ltd., 2721 E. Sharon Road, for a zone change for parcels 611-0030-0250-00 and 611-0030-0035-00. The applicant has requested that these parcels be changed from the current General Industrial classification to either Heavy Commercial or Heavy Commercial Planned Business Development. There was no discussion from the public. A motion to close the public hearing was made by Mrs. Hartman, seconded by Mr. Albrinck and unanimously approved.
The third and last Public Hearing was opened to consider two text amendments to the Zoning Code. One will modify the regulations for publishing public notice (1278.02(b)(2)) and the second would clarify the Planning Commission’s plan review authority (1270.03(a)(4)). There was no discussion from the public. A motion to close the public hearing was made by Mr. Schaefer, seconded by Mr. Vonderhaar and unanimously approved.
The Village of Evendale held its Regular Council Meeting. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Don Apking. Upon roll call, the following council members were present: Mr. Bill Puthoff, Jr., Mr. Stiney Vonderhaar, Mr. Jeff Albrinck, Mrs. Carolyn Smiley-Robertson, Mr. Chris Schaefer and Mrs. Catherine Hartman. Also present were: Assistant to the Mayor, Jack Cameron; Economic Director, Linda Fitzgerald; Village Solicitor, Tim Burke; Chief Fiscal and Accounting Officer, George Snyder; Recreation Director, Dave Nichols; Village Engineer, James Jeffers and Village Clerk, Michelle Ficke.
Mayor Apking presented the consent calendar. Mayor Apking asked for a motion to accept the consent calendar consisting of August 2, 11, 16 and 23, 2005 Council Meeting Minutes; CFO Report for August, 2005; Tax Administrator’s Report for August, 2005; current Departmental Reports and the Treasurer’s Report for August, 2005. A motion to accept the consent calendar was made by Mr. Puthoff seconded Mr. Schaefer and unanimously approved.
Mayor Apking gave the Mayor’s Report. Mayor Apking stated that Hurricane Katrina that hit the gulf coast was the most devastating in US history. Evendale has sent two police officers to Louisiana and two to four fire fighters from Evendale are waiting to be assigned. Two other police officers are on call to relieve the police officers that are on their way down when they return. They left with sleeping bags and tents and are heading to Louisiana to help with relief efforts.
He also stated that it is unfortunate when politics gets so ugly and blame goes back and forth from one to the other. We must learn to come together and work for the good of all people. Evendale is fortunate and the council members look at what is in the best interest of the people of Evendale.
Mayor Apking reported that Princeton decided to build a new school in Evendale. Dick Shaffer has been attending the meetings. There are 240 pre-K through Fifth graders that live in Evendale; 112 children attend Evendale Elementary and 128 go to private schools.
He announced that September 25th at 2:00 pm is the Neighbor to Neighbor to promote better communications between several communities and it will be held in Lockland this year. He encouraged Evendale residents to attend. If any Evendale businesses would like to donate door prizes please call Mayor Apking.
Mr. Albrinck gave the Finance Report and Recreation Report. August receipts were just over $820,000 for the year and we are just short of $8M in gross receipts. Last year we were just over $5.6M at this time.
September 11 is Dog Day at the Pool day 6:30 – 8:00 pm. The pool will be open Saturday, September 10 from 10:00 am until 8:00 pm and Sunday, September 11 from Noon until 6:00 pm.
Phi Lambda Pi, the teen organization in our community, donated $500 to the Red Cross Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund and $500 to the Human Society.
Mr. Schaefer reported on the Police-Engineering-Service-Gorman Heritage Farm Council Committee. The committee put together a drug testing policy that will come before council next month. Cooper Creek was discussed. In the 1970’s the creek washed out the bridge over Reading Road. The creek seems to be threatening the bridge again. The committee suggested that we put $150,000 in next year’s budget and keep an amount in the budget on an on-going basis to do repairs as needed. We can then look at problems as they arise with Cooper Creek and other areas in the Village because we do have drainage problems. The Wild Animal Ordinance that was introduced in April was discussed and we have a solution to that. The concern was people keeping venomous snakes so we have a proposal on that and hope to have an ordinance pertaining to this next
month.
Mrs. Hartman announced the Town Meeting on November 5th at the Recreation Center. We will have dinner and a state of the Village talk from the Mayor and Council members.
Mayor Apking announced there are three people running unopposed for council in November. They are Doug Lohmeier, Stiney Vonderhaar and Jeff Albrinck. He congratulated them and stated that they are looking forward to working with them.
Mayor Apking announced that last week was Evendale Chamber of Commerce Golf Outing. Tom Stautberg, President of the Evendale Chamber presented Doug Roberts from the Cincinnati Chapter of American Red Cross Hurricane Relief Effort a check for $7,500 on behalf of the Evendale Businesses and Chamber of Commerce; $6,000 was raised at the golf outing and $1,500 was raised at the Fire House Chili Lunch in June. Doug Roberts thanked Mr. Stautberg and mentioned that 159,000 survivors are being housed in 650 shelters in 17 states. Red Cross has received $485 Million Dollars in gifts and pledges. The Cincinnati Chapter alone has raised over $1M dollars in aide.
Hurricane Relief Efforts are on the Website. Jack Cameron has posted on the website who to call to contribute to the relief efforts. Mrs. Smiley-Robertson suggested that we post on the website what Evendale is doing to contribute to the relief efforts such as sending our police and fire fighters to help.
Mayor Apking presented Resolution #05-10A. RESOLUTION UPHOLDING THE APPEAL OF THE MAYOR AND DENYING THE ZONING VARIANCE APPLIED FOR BY UNITED RENTALS TO OCCUPY AND UTILIZE PROPERTY AT 2521 GLENDALE MILFORD ROAD. Mr. Tom Breidenstein, attorney with the firm Barrett and Weber, representing United Rentals introduced himself and Andy Casco who is manager of field operations and new business development for United Rentals out of their Northern Virginia office. Mr. Breidenstein requested that further consideration of the appeal be put off until October’s council meeting because since the appeal was filed, United Rentals filed an application with the Planning Commission requesting a Similar Use determination. The Village code allows companies to come in and ask for consideration of uses that are not specifically detailed in the zoning code.
It begins with the PC and a recommendation is made by PC to Council and Council ultimately makes the determination of a similar use. That determination cannot occur before your next meeting on October 13. We believe it makes sense to postpone the appeal and any discussion on the appeal until it can be merged into discussion with the similar use. Mayor Apking agreed.
A motion to table Resolution #05-10A and B until October 13 Council Meeting was made by Mr. Schaefer, seconded by Mr. Vonderhaar and unanimously approved on roll call. Resolution #05-10A and B were tabled until the October 13th Council Meeting.
Mayor Apking presented Ordinance #05-38, ORDINANCE TO REZONE PARCELS 611-0030-0250-00 AND 611-0030-0035-00, FROM GENERAL INDUSTRIAL (GI) TO HEAVY COMMERCIAL (HC) WITH A PLANNED BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT OVERLAY AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. Mr. Schaefer explained that Watsons acquired two adjoining properties and wants to join it into their commercial development. Dan Utz, Attorney for Watsons, stated that Watsons has been operating since 1995 at this location and propose adding two additional parcels to the existing planned development. Those parcels are currently zoned General Industrial. They are proposing to increase their existing retail heavy commercial development by adding two more acres to that. We would then take through Planning Commission and Council a development plan for that property. The first step is to get it rezoned with a PBD
overlay. Don Utz shared that the original PBD called for two buildings and one of the retail buildings has been built and by adding this acreage there could potentially be two buildings.
Mr. Schaefer said that the best way to do this is to amend the development plan first and have an overall direction of where you’re going. What we are in the process of doing is hiring a consultant to redo the development plan. Once our new development plan is in place we will see amendments to the development plan followed by amendment to zoning code.
A motion to read Ordinance #05-38 by title only was made by Mr. Vonderhaar, seconded by Mrs. Smiley-Robertson and unanimously approved on roll call. A motion to suspend the second and third readings of Ordinance #05-38 was made by Mrs. Smiley-Robertson, seconded by Mr. Vonderhaar and unanimously approved on roll call. A motion to adopt Ordinance #05-38 as an emergency was made by Mrs. Hartman, seconded by Mr. Albrinck and unanimously approved on roll call. Mayor Apking declared Ordinance #05-38 adopted as an emergency measure.
Mayor Apking presented Ordinance #05-39, ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTION 1270.03(a)(4) OF THE CODIFIED ORDINANCES OF THE VILLAGE OF EVENDALE, CLARIFYING THE PLAN REVIEW AUTHORITY OF THE EVENDALE PLANNING COMMISSION AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. Mr. Schaefer stated that this amendment to the zoning code was recommended by Planning Commission. In the past all commercial developments went through PC. When building officials changed there was a different reading of the zoning code so some would go and some would not to PC. This clarifies language that all commercial and industrial developments should go through PC.
Mr. Albrinck said that he would like to see the old section that is being changed and an explanation of why it is being proposed when council sees amendments to code. Mr. Schaefer said that they had that information in Planning Commission and maybe we need to have Pam forward the same information to Council. Mr. Albrinck said that information from committees originating the amendments would be helpful. Mr. Vonderhaar stated that most of it is covered in the Planning Commission minutes.
Mayor Apking said we will be looking at several areas to bring legislation up to date. A motion to read Ordinance #05-39 by title only was made by Mr. Schaefer, seconded by Mrs. Hartman and unanimously approved on roll call. A motion to suspend the second and third readings of Ordinance #05-39 was made by Mr. Puthoff, seconded by Mr. Albrinck and unanimously approved on roll call. A motion to adopt Ordinance #05-39 was made by Mr. Albrinck, seconded by Mrs. Hartman and unanimously approved on roll call. Mayor Apking declared Ordinance #05-39 adopted as an emergency.
Mayor Apking presented Ordinance #05-40, ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTION 1278.02 REGARDING THE REQUIREMENTS FOR PUBLISHING NOTICE OF ZONING HEARINGS AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. Mr. Schaefer stated the Planning Commission meetings are on Tuesday and Council Meetings are on Thursday and the way the code is written now we must advertise on the same day of the week that the public hearing is held. This limits us to the Post or Enquirer. We can advertise on Wednesday which is when the Valley Courier is published and it is more cost effective. The Valley Courier meets the legal qualifications of a newspaper of general circulation. The Community Press does not. A motion to read Ordinance #05-40 by title only was made by Mr. Vonderhaar, seconded by Mrs. Smiley-Robertson and unanimously approved on roll call. A motion to suspend the second and third
readings of Ordinance #05-40 was made by Mrs. Hartman, seconded by Mrs. Smiley-Robertson and unanimously approved on roll call. A motion to adopt Ordinance #05-40 as an emergency was made by Mr. Vonderhaar, seconded by Mrs. Hartman and unanimously approved on roll call. Mayor Apking declared Ordinance #05-40 adopted as an emergency measure.
Mayor Apking presented Ordinance #05-41, APPROVING ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATIONS AND TRANSFERRING FUNDS IN VARIOUS FUNDS AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.
Mayor Apking stated that this ordinance is moving monies to assure increases in fuel costs. Mr. Albrinck asked if Mr. Snyder knew how much needed to be budgeted for this. Mr. Snyder said they reviewed all of the gasoline bills from last year and determined how many gallons of gas we used from mid-August through December of last year by department and determined the cost. It is about $30,000, $21,000 in the Police Department alone. Mr. Snyder said there is one other appropriation for $7,400 to repair a damaged chipper and we received a check from insurance today for $7,800. We had to rent a chipper for $1,400 until ours was repaired. Mayor Apking asked residents to be responsible when using the services of the Village. A resident put a steel rod out with the twigs to be chipped at the curb and it caused this damage. A motion to read Ordinance
#05-41 revised on 9/7/05 by title only was made by Mr. Vonderhaar, seconded by Mr. Albrinck and unanimously approved on roll call. A motion to suspend the second and third readings of Ordinance #05-41 was made by Mr. Puthoff, seconded by Mrs. Smiley-Robertson and unanimously approved on roll call. A motion to adopt Ordinance #05-41 as an emergency was made by Mrs. Hartman, seconded by Mrs. Smiley-Robertson and unanimously approved on roll call. Mayor Apking declared Ordinance #05-41 adopted as an emergency measure.
Mayor Apking presented Ordinance #05-31, ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING THE SALARY FOR THE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF COUNCIL. Mayor Apking announced that this is the third reading of the ordinance. Salaries have not been increased since 1995. Mrs. Smiley-Robertson expected revisions to this ordinance after our discussions at past meetings. She stated that feedback from residents suggested not tying it to Hamilton County Commissioners salaries, however, there was not an alternative to this for just Evendale and she was okay with tying it to the commissioners. Mrs. Smiley-Robertson felt that it needs to be reviewed the year before it goes into effect. Mayor Apking stated that the responsibilities of the Mayor have increased significantly and the council responsibilities have increased as well.
Mr. Vonderhaar made a motion to change Section 3 of Ordinance #05-31 to Section 4 and add a Section 3 to state “This shall be reviewed in the even years by Council.”
Mr. Schaefer preferred to have a fixed amount for the Mayor and Council salaries and have future councils review it as necessary. People have commented that they do not like the automatic step increases and it is more straightforward to use a fixed number.
Mrs. Smiley-Robertson liked the idea of an automatic increase but stressed a need to review the process so we don’t have to address salaries yearly because it is a tough issue to tackle.
Mrs. Hartman was concerned that if we put a fixed salary in then we are back to waiting ten years before it is addressed and Council and the Mayor receive a raise.
Mr. Albrinck said before it required an action to stop a raise. Now it would require us to take action to receive the raise requiring us to be proactive to review it to get a raise.
Mayor Apking said he didn’t want money to be an issue but he wanted people to feel they are being compensated fairly. Jeff Albrinck suggested that Council receive 1/3 of the Mayor’s salary, $24,000 and $8,000. Mayor Apking said that is unfair because the Mayor puts in more than three to one hours per week that Council puts in and he thinks $25,000 for the Mayor and $7,000 for Council is fair. Mayor Apking asked Council to get more involved in the running of the Village. Mr. Albrinck suggested looking at other municipalities.
Mrs. Hartman said that some people commented to her that you would never get automatic increases in the private sector. She stated that our performance review is to get re-elected unless we are running unopposed. Two raises in sixteen years would not be tolerated elsewhere. Mrs. Hartman is in favor of a percentage of the Hamilton County Commissioners salaries.
Mr. Albrinck is not in favor of receiving a percentage of the Hamilton County Commissioners salaries and said he prefers Council to look at raises when appropriate. Mrs. Hartman said that every other private sector employee gets a raise and Council members should not have to wait ten years. Mr. Albrinck said in the private sector they are supporting their family.
Mr. Gordon Geraci, from Otterbein, stated that Council and the Mayor should not feel awkward asking for a raise and that they deserve it. He only questions how to deal with raises in the future.
Mr. Schaefer said that in some years we need to adjust employee salaries, for example, if they are below surrounding communities' salaries. Mr. Puthoff said that Council cannot give themselves a raise. Mr. Geraci said that if you set it as an automatic raise, Council can always stop it if necessary to be fiscally responsible.
Doug Lohmeier said that the Hamilton County Commissioners’ salaries are set by the Ohio General Assembly and he is for tying the salaries to the Commissioners and if things get out of whack we can re-address it. Mayor Apking said that Lockland’s budget has gone down and their Mayor, Jim Brown, went from $18,000 to $12,000 per year. If Evendale has financial difficulty then it will need to be re-addressed.
Doug Lohmeier did mention that if the form of government would change in the future then the Mayor’s salary would need to be re-evaluated.
Mr. Schaefer stated that his concern is how do you compare a county commissioner to being a municipal councilmember. A commissioner is an administrative position like the Mayor. They do not have the power to pass laws. Village Council is administrative and city council members do not do administrative acts. Congress established an independent commission to review salaries so they do not have to deal with it. He prefers a set salary over an automatic salary.
Mr. Schaefer suggested that they set the Mayor’s salary at $25,000, Council members to $7,000 and a section stating that if the form of government changes to a City Manager form of government then the Mayor’s salary will be adjusted accordingly.
Mr. Puthoff said that any of these salaries are subject to adjustment particularly is there is a fiscal problem coming along. He believes Council and Mayor do deserve a raise but how to do it is the challenge but no matter how we do it, it is still subject to review.
Mayor Apking said that once you make an ordinance you can change them in the future where necessary.
Tim Burke, Village Solicitor, clarified that this ordinance would require Council to look at and consider the matter on even years. There is no action required, but it can be reviewed every two years.
Mr. Vonderhaar’s motion to change Section 3 to Section 4 and add a new Section 3 to state “This will be reviewed in the even years by council.” was seconded by Mrs. Smiley-Robertson. Mrs. Smiley-Robertson, Mr. Puthoff, Mr. Vonderhaar and Mrs. Hartman voted yes and Mr. Schaefer and Mr. Albrinck voted no. The motion to amend Ordinance #05-31 was passed.
Mr. Schaefer made a motion to fix the Mayor’s salary at $25,000 and the amount for Council to be fixed at $7,000 and it can be reviewed at any time. There was no second to the motion.
A motion to adopt Ordinance #05-31 as amended was made by Mr. Vonderhaar, and seconded by Mrs. Hartman. Mr. Puthoff, Mr. Vonderhaar and Mrs. Hartman voted yes. Mrs. Smiley-Robertson, Mr. Schaefer and Mr. Albrinck voted no. Mayor Apking voted yes. Mayor Apking declared amended Ordinance #05-31 adopted.
Mayor Apking presented Resolution #05-11, RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE AND FILE AN APPLICATION FOR AN OHIO DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES GRANT FOR THE LEISURE TRAIL SYSTEM THROUGH THE NATUREWORKS PROGRAM; CLEAN OHIO TRAILS FUND. Dave Nichols explained that this is a process through the Clean Ohio Trails Fund and the resolution is required for the application which is not due until February of 2006. Mr. Schaefer asked where the trail is going to go and whether or not there are any restrictions attached to the grant as far as what the Village can do on the property. Mayor Apking clarified that this Resolution is required for the Mayor to apply for the grant. Mr. Albrinck said we are looking to see how much money we can get to do the trails where the Village is hesitant to finance it ourselves. If we can get funding through a
grant then we can take it to the next step.
Mr. Schaefer would like to know what restrictions there are with the grant and for what trails they are applying to use the grant for before considering the Resolution to allow the Mayor to apply for the grant. Mr. Jeffers said this Resolution is a standard form that is required by the state to apply for the grant.
Mr. Schaefer suggested we do a First Reading only since the grant application deadline is February 2006 because we need to know what the proposed project is. Section 3 states that “the Village agrees to obligate the funds required to satisfactorily complete the proposed project”. Mr. Puthoff said that we need to know what the proposed project is before we agree to obligate funds required to complete the project. We have to know the scope of the project.
Jeff Albrinck and Dave Nichols are to give Council information before the next council meeting regarding the scope of the project and what restrictions go with the grant.
Mayor Apking asked for a motion to read Resolution #05-11 by title only. A motion was made by Mrs. Hartman, seconded by Mr. Vonderhaar and unanimously approved on roll call. Mayor Apking declared this a First Reading of Resolution #05-11.
Mayor Apking presented Ordinance #05-42, ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO A CONTRACT WITH TEC ENGINEERING, INC. TO PROVIDE CERTAIN ENGINEERING SERVICES FOR THE READING AND GLENDALE-MILFORD INTERSECTION IMPROVEMENTS AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. This Ordinance was not on the agenda. Mr. Schaefer stated that the amount is under $25,000 and it is not necessary for council to act on it and that George Snyder would need to make a supplemental appropriation for it. Mr. Schaefer said that with the Poggemeyer study the corners of Glendale-Milford and Reading Roads were to be enhanced with landscaping and with additional turn lanes required for the Anchor Development there will be issues with space. Jack Cameron commented that we have a grant from ODOT for this intersection and certain protocol is required. Initially, the proposal
from TEC was $28,000 and a week later, ODOT told us that they will do the environmental portion and the amount dropped by $7,000 to $21,000. This is the phase I portion of the ODOT grant that we need to do. Since the amount was under $25,000 there was no action necessary by Council.
Other Items included:
Mayor Apking said that it would require $70,000 to $80,000 to resurface the blacktop on the municipal grounds. The grounds will need to be lined as well. Mr. Puthoff asked if the Griffin Nature Preserve lot could be lined at the same time with this money. Mayor Apking said yes.
Mrs. Hartman said that the Town Meeting will be held on November 5 this year.
Mr. Vonderhaar made a motion for the Mayor to go out and get bids on resurfacing and lining the lots. Mr. Puthoff seconded the motion and it was unanimously approved on roll call.
Mr. Vonderhaar said that there are a lot of streets that are in need of repair. It was verified that there is enough money in the budget for street repairs. James Jeffers has been looking at the streets in the Village and formulating a five year street program.
Mr. Schaefer asked that the trees be replaced in the Bicentennial commons area as Mrs. Hartman has asked at their committee meetings each month. Joe Wiehe indicated at the committee meeting that they were waiting to plant the trees because of the weather.
Nancy Ackner stated that the handicapped parking spaces are not appropriately sized for handicapped van accessibility.
Mr. Vonderhaar reminded Council that the NIMS 700 test required by FEMA must be completed before September 30th, 2005. They are to give their certificate to George Snyder to be kept in the personnel files.
The Gorman Farm Sunflower Festival is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, October 1st and 2nd, 2005 and the dinner and silent auction on September 30th, 2005 at the farm. The event is called “Once in a Blue Moon” featuring Master Chefs Jimmy Gherardi and John Kinsella.
Mrs. Hartman stated that the Evendale Police and Fire Departments did an outstanding job at the Chris Dyer Memorial Service.
There being no other business to come before Council, a motion to adjourn was made by Mr. Albrinck, seconded by Mr. Vonderhaar and unanimously approved on roll call. Council adjourned at 8:55 pm.
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Mayor
Attest:
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Village Clerk
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