Council Meeting Minutes March 4, 2019

by | Mar 4, 2019 | Council Minutes

Village of Edgerton Council Meeting Minutes
Monday, March 4, 2019 @7:00PM

  • Mayor Bowsher called the meeting to order at 7:00PM with the Pledge of Allegiance.
  • Y – Yes, N – No, A – Abstain, Abs – Absent
  • Roll Call:

Muehlfeld, Roger                                  

Absent

Thiel, Dean

Y

Day, Robert

Y

Wallace, Chuck

Y

Gruver, Jason

Y

Perry, Jackie

Absent

 

Other Village Representatives Present

  • Charles Butler – Solicitor
  • Denise Knecht – Fiscal Officer
  • Zachary Dohner – Village Administrator
  • Shawn Clifton – Income Tax Clerk

Media

  • Josh Evers, Bryan Times
  • Jeremy Scott, The Village Reporter
  • Cindy Thiel, The Edgerton Earth

Public

  • David Casebere

  • Motion to Approve Meeting Minutes from 02.18.19:

Muehlfeld, Roger                                  

Absent

Thiel, Dean

Y   Second

Day, Robert

Y   Motion

Wallace, Chuck

Y

Gruver, Jason

Y

Perry, Jackie

Absent

 

  • Motion to Approve Special Meeting Minutes from 03.02.19:

Muehlfeld, Roger                                  

Absent

Thiel, Dean

Y

Day, Robert

Y   Motion

Wallace, Chuck

Y

Gruver, Jason

Y   Second

Perry, Jackie

Absent

 

Administrator Report:

Zach Dohner stated that the Planning Commission Meeting scheduled for February 28, 2019 at 6:00pm to discuss the coffee shop was canceled because of not having a quorum.  Zach is in contact with Charles Butler on how to move forward.

Zach commented that he has been in contact with Elite Lock Services and Larry’s Lock and Key.  Zach stated he is waiting to hear back from Larry’s and once he does he will get the quotes to Council.

Zach stated that there will be a planned power outage on June 1, 2019 at 1:00PM.  The Village will have someone from AMP present to operate the generators.  Zach stated he will be in contact with the factories to let them know.

Zach stated he is still waiting on Council to decide what the Village is doing with the property at 323 North Crane Street, Edgerton OH 43517 so we can report it to the insurance company.

Zach stated we have begun emptying the Lagoons and will continue for the next thirty days.  Kip and his team have been in contact with Chad Ordway and the EPA.  Chad was present on March 1, 2019 when the process was begun. Bob Day asked if we need to empty/dredge the Lagoons? Jason Gruver responded to a certain level. Denise Knecht stated that we put bugs in each year to help the process.

Fiscal Officer Report:

Denise Knecht discussed the February Monthly Financial Reports and asked Council to sign an acknowledgement that they had received the reports. Denise reported to Council that the Revenues/Expenditures appear to be on track.

Denise informed Council that Thursday and Friday, March 7 & 8, 2019, she and Zach would be attending the Annual Local Government Conference with Auditor of States Office in Columbus.  This is a FO requirement and a great learning opportunity for Zach. Denise stated that it is very informational and feels Zach would benefit from it. They will each be taking different classes throughout the days.  Zach will be attending the Basic Fund Accounting and Grant Writing session.  They will be leaving on Thursday and be back Friday later in the day.

Denise informed Council that the Ohio Checkbook website is up to date as of December 31, 2019 financial information.

Council Discussion:

Jason Gruver stated that his recommendation for the mobile home at 323 N. Crane is to demolish it for scrap. Dean Thiel questioned whether it needs to be put out for bid? Charles Butler, Village Solicitor said he didn’t think it needed to be put out for bid if it is exchanged for scrapping it out. Bob Day stated that Chandler Nester might be willing to scrap out the mobile and turn in the metal to benefit the Baker Family. Zach Dohner stated he would contact Greg Kimpel/Chandler Nester to see if they are interested. Chuck Wallace asked if they are there scraping it out where it stands now who will be liable if someone is injured? Charles Butler suggested that whoever scraps it needs to carry insurance because it is a risk. Bob Day stated that if we do list it for bid Council needs to decide what we expect to get out of it. Mayor Bowsher stated that he likes the ideas of letting it be scrapped to benefit the Baker Family. Jason Gruver stated that he wasn’t sure it could be moved because of the condition it’s in. Zach Dohner will check on the insurance for the demolition. Denise Knecht requested the time frame of completion of this project to report to the insurance company. Mayor Bowsher estimated thirty to forty-five days.

Jason Gruver thanked Zach for staying in communication with the tree service to get the trees scheduled for removal completed. Zach Dohner stated that the agreement was as long as the worst two were down the others could be taken care of and completed when weather and time permitted. He will remain in contact with the tree service.

Chuck Wallace asked where we are as far as the defibrillators for the park. Zach stated that he passed this along to Shawn Clifton to research this information. Shawn Clifton informed Council that she called and left a message but have not heard back from Jim Hicks at Williams County EMS.  Mayor Bowsher commented that if you don’t hear anything from Jim Hicks to let him know and he would get make contact. Zach Dohner said he would pass the information along to Council once Shawn receives it. Shawn will call again tomorrow.

Bob Day asked if the Village pays premiums for employees to AFLAC? Denise Knecht stated that AFLAC is a benefit available to the employees through payroll deduction at a reduced premium rate. The Village courtesy withholds from the employees payroll and remits payment to AFLAC monthly on behalf of the employee but the Village does not share in the cost of the premium.

Bob Day stated that he thought Saturdays, Special Council Meeting was really good. He felt that Council got a lot of good input from different directions. He likes that. Zach Dohner replied that when Tim Bock from Poggemeyer Design Group wanted to come in and talk to the Village on site for the East and West Hull St. Projects, he thought it was a good idea to follow through with.

Chuck Wallace commented that the waterline on West Hull St. is from 1937 and was wondering what type of line it is (material) and what is the size?  He also asked how many breaks we have had on West Hull Street.  He suggested that if the line hasn’t been a problem, the Village might not need to replace the line just because the road is opened. Zach Dohner explained that the Village is trying to be proactive and the water line has well exceeded its useful life. Denise Knecht commented that the water main is part of the project application and didn’t know what that might do to grant funding if not replaced. Mayor Bowsher said if we don’t replace water line while it’s exposed we could have issues and have to cut up a new road. Zach agreed and reminded Council that this is a larger water main that would be going from a 6 inch to an 8 inch main and we wouldn’t want to have to cut up a major investment to repair if it could have been prevented with grant monies.

Dean Thiel asked if the water main could be located on the South side of Hull Street. Zach replied yes but that would require more tree removals on the South side compared to the North.

Jason Gruver said the rest of town had water lines on the North side and could there be an added expense associated due to running water service connections across/under the road.

Much conversation was held regarding the location of the water main in relation to the road, under the road and distance form sewer lines. EPA regulation is that the water line be 10’ from the sewer line. There were questions if the EPA was referencing storm sewer lines or sanitary sewer lines. Bob Day asked how firm the EPA is on this regulation? Zach stated that the Village is not willing to compromise our grant money and that we will be following guidelines per EPA. Zach asked why we would want to put ourselves and the Village in that position. What if there is a water main break? This would increase the chances of having to cut up the new road. Chuck stated that everybody does it and he doesn’t live his life by what ifs. Zach said just because everybody does it doesn’t make it right and he does not feel comfortable with that decision.

Chuck Wallace said the waterline is 3’ to 5’ away from sewer line now. Why would we change it? Bob Day stated your waterline is basically into your sidewalks. Chuck Wallace reiterated that he would like to know how many waterline breaks we have had.

Bob Day asked what would happen to David Casebere’s retention wall. Zach Dohner stated that there are options such as boring or small catch basins at the sides of the wall, but this would need to be discussed once the water main location has been decided by council. Jason Gruver stated that a catch basin located on each side of the wall could keep it from washing out per the engineer.  Tim Bock just needs to know how the Village wants to do things to be able to prepare the engineers plan.

Mayor Bowsher asked David Casebere if he had comments for Council. Mr. Casebere stated that he had a couple issues.  When the United Methodist Church plows their parking lot the snow covers the catch basin on the east side of my property and when it melts in flows down the street to the next catch basin.  He also asked why the Village doesn’t run the water main down the South side. He thought there would be less obstructions than the north side.  He didn’t think there were any concrete approaches on the south side. Bob Day said the Funeral Home. Zach Dohner stated that there would be concrete or asphalt approaches, depending on council’s decision.  He also stated that he and Tim have driven the area and noticed the snow piled by the Church.

David Casebere asked if the water main could be ran down the South side on West Hull and down the North side on East Hull. Mayor Bowsher stated that there was a specific reason why the engineer didn’t want to do that but he couldn’t remember why. Jason Gruver mentioned storm sewer location and South side has less mature trees than the North side.

Chuck Wallace asked what the cost difference is between north and south. Denise Knecht stated that the engineer said it was not much of a cost difference.  Chuck Wallace stated that the waterlines are basically a wash–longs for shorts and shorts for longs.

Jason Gruver inquired about the cost of hydrants.

Chuck Wallace stated he wanted to make sure the approaches were included.

David Casebere asked how many hydrants were on West Hull Street. The drawing shows three currently but in the new plan there are four.

Mayor Bowsher stated that the Council needs to make a decision so that the Village can move forward with the bid process.

Dean Thiel said he thought it should go on the North side.

Bob Day commented that his understanding was that the trees would be replaced with more of an ornamental type tree so that the roots don’t interfere with the project down the road and they are not so tall they would get into the electric lines.

Determinations for East Hull Street and West Hull Street Projects

  • Motion to Approve Water Main location on the North Side of East and West Hull Street Projects:

Muehlfeld, Roger                                  

Absent

Thiel, Dean

Y   Motion

Day, Robert

Y

Wallace, Chuck

N

Gruver, Jason

Y   Second

Perry, Jackie

Absent

 

Council Discussion regarding curbs:

Bob Day asked for numbers. Zach stated that if the Village eliminates curbs we could save approximately $52,000.00 with grant funding included. Jason Gruver commented that the actual cost could be $97,320.00 before grant funding.

Zach Dohner stated that if we change the scope of the project that the OPWC funding might not be available per their discretion. We have the potential to loose grant money and ultimately cause the bidding process to be stretched farther down the road. Jason Gruver stated that without grant money the price could be more than twice the original cost.

Bob Day stated that Tim Bock told Council on Saturday that it is highly unusual to pave streets without curbs in urban areas.  He wants to know who made that decision. Zach Dohner commented that essentially he pulled them out because there are so many other critical infrastructure projects that need attention. For example a whole new lift station which will cost approximately $600,000.00. Zach also stated that this was brought to council in a previous meeting and everyone voted yes to remove curbs from the scope of the project before sending engineering agreements to Poggemeyer.

Bob Day stated this decision did come to Council, but this is our opportunity to definitely curb.  Bob said that it seems like the residents are always on the low end of the totem pole.

Also he wants to know how the Village went from changing the locks to a $90,000.00 bid for fobs and security camera.

Mayor Bowsher stated that we can’t start curbing some roads and not others. We are setting a precedence for future projects.

Bob Day commented that even if we curbed the 100 blocks, he would be ok with that. Denise Knecht commented that a lot of smaller and larger communities in our area do not have curbs on side streets.

Chuck Wallace stated that he likes the idea of curbing the 100 blocks.  He stated that we can’t live on what ifs.  We have the money to curb now so we should.

Dean Thiel commented that he feels the Village should not do curbs.  We don’t need them.

Dean Thiel stated that as long as streets are graded correctly it should be fine. Jason Gruver agreed and feels the Village should be fine without curbs.

After much discussion and no agreement, Bob Day suggested that we end here until other Council members can be present. Zach asked if we tell Tim no, what am I supposed to do next. This will cause the project to be on hold and he may need to go to Columbus and speak at an OPWC hearing. This may also cause our grant money to be relinquished. Bob said we need to listen to the experts about putting in curbs. This is all about $50,000- not listening to the experts and not putting in the curbs. Chuck said we are looking at the road projects not 100 other reasons not to put in curbs. This statement was in reference to Zach listing critical items that the Village is in need of such as the main lift station, generator replacements, back up motors, and more. Mayor Bowsher said that $50,000 is not a big deal but $4,000,000 is a big deal. This number is an estimate based on curbing the rest of the town. Denise said that $50,000 could turn into $97,000 based on the OPWC funding. No vote was taken:

  • Motion to Approve Curb/No Curbs on East and West Hull Street Projects:

Muehlfeld, Roger                                  

 

Thiel, Dean

 

Day, Robert

 

Wallace, Chuck

 

Gruver, Jason

 

Perry, Jackie

 

No Vote Taken

  • Motion to Approve replacement of on street parking areas with same material as prior to East and West Street Project:

Muehlfeld, Roger                                  

 

Thiel, Dean

 

Day, Robert

 

Wallace, Chuck

 

Gruver, Jason

 

Perry, Jackie

 

 

No Vote Taken  

  • Motion to pay bills 03.04.19:

Muehlfeld, Roger                                  

Absent

Thiel, Dean

Y

Day, Robert

Y

Wallace, Chuck

Y   Motion

Gruver, Jason

Y   Second

Perry, Jackie

Absent

 

Councilman Bob Day recommended that everyone wait for Council Member Perry’s arrival as she was close per notification to Denise Knecht.

Jackie Perry entered at 8:04PM

  • Motion to adjourn at 8:05PM:

Muehlfeld, Roger                                  

Absent

Thiel, Dean

Y

Day, Robert

Y   Motion

Wallace, Chuck

Y

Gruver, Jason

Y   Second

Perry, Jackie

Y