Tuesday – January 18: The Wellsville Village Council held their regular bi-monthly meeting this past Tuesday evening at Village Hall. Present at the meeting was Mayor Joe Surace, Fiscal Officer Dale Davis, Council Pro-Tem Randy Allmon and Council members Susan Haugh & Joe Soldano. Also attending was Village Administrator Jim Saracco, Village Legal Advisor Andy Beech, Zoning Administrator Rick Williams and WFD Chief Bill Smith. Council members Rosie Goss & John McMahon were excused.
Allmon announced his selection of committee assignments for 2011 as follows: Finance – Tony Cataldo, Chairman along with Joe Soldano & John McMahon: Personnel – Soldano, Chairman along with Rosie Goss & Tony Cataldo; Streets, Lights & Parking – McMahon, Chairman along with Soldano & Susan Haugh; Claims, Rules & Ordinances – Goss, Chairwoman along with Soldano & Haugh; Property, Equipment & Cemetery – Haugh, Chairwoman along with Allmon & Goss; Sewage - Randy Allmon, Chairman along with Cataldo & McMahon; EMS Committee – Cataldo & McMahon; Liaison for Police & Fire – Allmon & Haugh and Fire Dependency Board – McMahon & Allmon. There are only a few minor changes from last years committees. All Chair people remain the same and Allmon noted it was his fourth year to chair the Sewage Committee.
For Administration Reports, WPD Chief Smith reported he is still working on summarizing 2010 but noted fire calls were down 50% last year and he “has no idea why”. Smith said apparently everyone is paying more attention to fire prevention.
Smith reported that the 2009 FEMA grant awarded to the department is nearly completed. With that grant they were able to purchase 29 complete sets of turn out gear from head to toe, 12 air paks with all the bells & whistles, 12 extra air bottles to go with the air paks and 29 sets of extrication gloves. There is a little money left that has to be used for fire prevention and he is working on a couple of programs to put into the Wellsville school system. Application for the grant was made in 2009 and it was awarded last year.
Smith also advised that along with the help of the Fiscal Officer he has applied for a no match required State Fire Grant. Council voted to retroactively approve applying for the grant.
Soldano reminded everyone that this is the time of the year a lot of grant applications are due. Many grants have to be applied for early in the year and if deadlines are missed it takes another year to even be considered. He asked that everyone check on any grants they may be aware of for application deadlines. Soldano noted he wants to get together with the Hammond Park Commission to see if they want to move forward with a grant that was being considered last year and, also, he will check with the Village's grant writing firm for any additional information.
Susan Haugh inquired on the status of the grant awarded to furnish the Police Department with bullet proof vests. The Fiscal Officer responded that the vests have been in for a couple of months now.
Wrapping up his report Smith presented an application for a paid volunteer with the request that it be expedited. Smith noted that the applicant is available to work day-light which is where he is short on available personnel. The application was turned over to the Personnel Committee and will be on the agenda for a Special Council Meeting next Tuesday. The Mayor advised the Chief that he received a check from Marathon Oil earmarked for the Fire Department. Smith replied that it is badly needed.
Zoning Administrator Rick Williams reported that $3,900 was taken in by the Zoning Office for 2010. New zoning maps for the proposed change have been completed by Dallis Dawson Associates and distributed to all Council members. The new maps reflect the changes requested by LSW to change the old MacDonald School from residential to light industrial. The change is needed for the proposed Ohio River Bread Co. to proceed with using part of the old building for their operations.
Village Administrator Jim Saracco reminded Village residents “it's illegal to throw snow out in the middle of the street” and asks that they pile it on top of the curb. He stated that with funds being short they really can't afford to go back to clean up and put more salt down. Violators can be cited into Magistrate Court.
Finance Committee Chairman Tony Cataldo reported at the end of December, 2010, the General Fund had $12,689, Street Construction, Maintenance & Repair $3,911, State Highway $11,957 and Cemetery $1,041. The Sewage Up-date Fund is down to $220,066. Total of all funds is $490,957.
Cataldo then asked the Mayor to arrange a conference meeting with GG&J and the EPA in regards to the STAG money to make sure everyone is on the same page. GG& J is Wellsville's engineering firm for the Sewer Treatment Plant digester conversion project. The Fiscal Officer advised he had just spoken to Rob Jurs of GG&J Tuesday afternoon on that subject. Davis reported the EPA has still not replied to the formal request to extend the deadline on using the STAG money. Secondly there is still some debate to fully using the $113,000 that was applied to the project. Right now the EPA is only allowing part of that amount and there is still the issue that amount was built into the bid for the project before the money was technically released. Unbeknown to Village officials a former engineer with GG&J applied that $113,000 of STAG money as part of the financing package for the conversion project. Davis noted that GG&J is working with the EPA on behalf of the Village and urged that diplomacy be used on this matter.
Cataldo motioned to order in legislation for a 1-mill police levy, to be on the May ballot, authorizing the Fiscal Officer to request a County Auditor certification required for any levy. The Mayor inquired if that would be enough. Legal Adviser Beech noted there is a time constraint involved in getting anything on the May ballot and suggested certifications be requested for different amounts for Council to consider. The motion was seconded by Soldano.
Allmon then made a motion to order legislation for a 2-mill police levy which Cataldo seconded in order to get a discussion on the motion. Cataldo noted he would vote for the motion to get the information but felt 2-mill was too high. Allmon responded that the estimated $27,000 for a 1-mill levy isn't much money. Cataldo then said “we're going to be raising sewage rates here”. You can't go to the voters with that much more. Cataldo added that a full-time policeman now costs $32,000 a year which includes benefits. The Fiscal Officer advised ordering in the legislation is just an information gathering process to compare rates and decide which amount should be placed on the ballot. Getting the information is not binding whether it's 1, 1-1/2 or 2-mills. Allmon replied he hasn't had time to consider the levy and his request is only to get the information. He then changed his motion to make the amount a 1-1/2 mill which was approved. When asked fter the meeting if the levy was for a new hire or raise salaries Cataldo replied the exact language will be determined later. With the wages being one of the lowest in the area his intent is to try to help the department if approved by the voters.
Personnel Chairman Soldano said being early in the year he thought a reminder that any legislation should be first referred to the various committees for their recommendations. Stating that although he trusts the judgment of the Chiefs on their recommendations for new personnel the Personnel Committee is being by-passed. Now the routine is for the Chiefs is to go to the Mayor with their recommendations for someone and the Mayor submits it to Council. Many times Council members know nothing of a proposed hiring until the night of a meeting when they are asked to apporve it. There are times members of Council don't know the person or anything about them. If procedure is followed it gives time for consideration before voting. Case in point is the Fire Chief's request presented earlier in the meeting. Soldano said he thinks “it's a good idea” to follow procedure and Haugh added she agrees. The Mayor said he also agrees and turned the application over to Soldano.
Sewage Committee Chairman Allmon announced there will be a meeting for the Committee for Tuesday, January 25 at 2 PM. The reason for the meeting was not announced. Allmon then got a motion approved for application for payment in the amount of $55,208.30 to Mike Pusateri Excavating for the sewage conversion project. Soldano reminded everyone that the payment is still coming out of the grants the Village was awarded for the project. The payment is Draw #4.
Property Chairwoman Haugh reported she has made inquires on the Sterling Pottery property but is waiting for a response. The Mayor added there is talk that once the buildings are removed and the site cleaned up the owners are going to give the property away. Surace commented he had talked to one of the co-owners earlier in the day to put dibs in for the Village. Saracco reported he expressed the Village's interest in the property with the other co-owner who indicated he had no problem with turning the land over to the Village. Haugh commented “there's nothing in stone but we're working on it”.
Under Old Business Cataldo got a motion passed to order in legislation to amend the planning and zoning plan to the change for the old MacDonald School from residential to light industrial for the proposed Ohio River Bread Co. A second motion passed on this subject was to schedule a public hearing for the change at the regular Council meeting on March 1 and authorizing the Fiscal Officer to mail the required notices to surrounding property owners. Beech noted that the law requires 30 days after the notice is published in the papers and notifications sent before the public hearing can be held.
For New Business, Councilman Allmon asked that consideration be given to reducing Council members pay after missing two meetings in a calendar year. Allmon noted that members are paid $200 a month and felt that should be reduced to $100 after missing more than two meetings, stating that Washingtonville does something similar. Sue Haugh took umbrage to that, stating she does not get paid for coming to meetings. She gets paid for what she does “Monday through Sunday every week spending hours and hours on the phone” researching and talking to constituents. Just because you don't come to a meeting due to other commitments or illness doesn't mean you're not doing your job. Allmon responed “this is like a job too”. Haugh agreed saying she calculates she's working for about 18 cents an hour and doesn't feel Council members should be punished for missing a meeting. Haugh recanted following the meeting saying that amount should be 34 cents an hour. Allmon said he is just asking it be considered. They are asking Village employees to make sacrifices and going to the residents to vote on giving more money he felt it should start with Council.
Wrapping up the meeting the Mayor called for a Special Council meeting for next Tuesday at 2:30 PM or immediately following the Sewage Committee meeting. Items to be considered are the two Cataldo resolutions on the zoning change and the Fire Chiefs recommendation for a new hire.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:36 PM. A lot of ground was covered in just 36 minutes. Next meeting is the Special Meeting for Tuesday, January 25 at 2:30 PM or earlier if the 2 PM Sewage Committee meeting adjourns before then. The next regular scheduled meeting is for Tuesday, February 1 at 6 PM at Village Hall.
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