Council Meeting - Tuesday - 6/16/09

Mayor Joe Surace called the meeting to order, led us in the Lord's Prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance. Roll call was taken and all Council members were present. Also in attendance was Village Solicitor Andy Beech, Village Administrator Jim Saracco, WFD Chief Smith, Fiscal Officer Dale Davis & Zoning Administrator Rick Williams. Davis doubles as Council Clerk.

For the Public Speaking portion former Councilwoman Diane Dinch thanked the Street Department for cleaning up a pile of debris that was left over from the construction company that did some work in her neighborhood some time ago. Dinch also thanked Council on behalf of herself and the other resigned members of the Tree Board for the privilege of being able to serve the village in that capacity. She said they enjoyed contributing to make improvements in town and it was especially gratifying working with the children on the Arbor Day Project. Dinch was appointed Chairwoman by the Tree Board for this year's Arbor Day events which included all the town's third grade students. Citing a continual conflict with fellow member Dawn Johnson the remaining members of the Tree Board resigned last month en masse.

Councilwoman Rosie Goss thanked the former members stating that she loves what the Tree Board has accomplished and proposed a joint meeting with Council, all the former members and village administrators. The mayor added that he hasn't formally accepted the resignations yet and added he thought such a meeting was an excellent idea. Members are appointed by the mayor with Council's approval. So far the one remaining member, Johnson, has not submitted any new names to the mayor. Johnson was not at last night's meeting.

Several other Council members added their compliments to what for what the Tree Board has done with Don Brown summing it up saying he too hope that the differences can be worked out stating he would hate seeing them give up with all the work they put into the committee. Main Street resident Marge Dysert added she doesn't know all the ins and out of that committee but she loves what has been accomplished with Broadway Park. "It's a real beauty compared to what it looked like beforehand", she added.

Center Street resident Mary Bucher addressed Council on the vicious dog issues that seem to be plaguing the village. In addition to the incident on Highland Avenue her grandson was attacked by a mixed pitbull/bull mastiff dog last week. That dog jumped a fence when he attacked her grandson. The seven year old grandson was walking from his home to visit his grand parents. Mrs. Bucher also admonished village officials for the slow response to that incident stating it could have been much worse. Apparently the ACO officer was not immediately available and there was some miscommunication between her and the WPD.

Mayor Surace said that is being addressed by village officials. He stated that he has issued a proclamation that all village owners of vicious dogs, as described by the Ohio Revised Code, must register those pets with Village Hall along with proof of insurance. As being used here a vicious dog is any pit bull or any pit bull mixed breed. Any violators caught will be cited into Magistrate Court.

Fix-up/Clean-up Committee Chairman Nunzio Lombardozzi reported four deacons and two other members of Wellsville's First Baptist Church got together last Saturday for an unscheduled session. They repaired the Center Street intersection near the church and smoothed it out with cold patch. He commended Rev. Thompson and the First Baptist congregants for volunteering their time and efforts to complete that project.

Lombardozzi advised that last year the committee logged over 1,600 man hours. So far this year those man hours only amount to around 180 hours. The committee meets the first Saturday of every month. For the past two months it's been a committee of one plus himself. Thanks should go out to Jan Wasko. As Nunzi stated maybe other organizations in the village will pick up the lead shown by the members of First Baptist. With just a few hours time a lot could be accomplished to benefit the village.

WFD Chief Smith submitted a Dept. of Homeland Security grant available to fix up and construct additions to the Fire Dept. The grant is one that does not require any matching funds. Smith stated that the application is quite involved adding he would like to use the village grant writers to handle this one. Finance Committee Chairman Tony Cataldo advised he has scheduled a committee meeting Thursday to address this issue.

Village Administrator Jim Saracco announced that this year's chip and seal program is completed. He apologized to residents of Pine and Appian Way for not getting those streets done as planned for. The equipment used by the County Engineers road crew is too wide for those areas. Saracco said they are working on Plan B for that. He also thanked the residents of the streets that got done for their patience and cooperation in not parking on those streets. The county employees had some equipment break downs and it took a little longer than anticipated to complete the job.

Saracco also reported that there have been two incidents of vandals dumping soap in the Broadway fountains. Not knowing if it will damage the pumps it may be necessary to shut them down and that would be a shame. One of our police officers advised that a good way to capture these miscreants is for the Broadway residents to keep a close vigil and immediately report anything suspicious. If caught they will have to answer to their misdeeds in Magistrate Court. The number to call is 330-532-1522. The WPD have increased their patrolling of that area but can't be there at all times.

For the Mayor's Report Surace reported that income from the Magistrate Court for May was $6,787.38 and year-to-date is $41,900.78.

Under Committee Reports for the Street Committee it was reported that the lights at the 18th St. playground are now working. Vandals have already broken out two of them. Representing the VFW, Don Brown submitted a request to block off 4th St. on July 11 from Main to Commerce all day for a poker run. The poker run is being held to raise funds to benefit the Viet Nam Moving Wall. The wall is suppose to be in Thompson Park this fall. With Brown abstaining Council voted to approve the request provided the chiefs of the WPD & WFD gave their okays.

For the property Committee Randy Allmon reported that the Masonry Union has volunteered to do the cement work needed to rehabilitate the 4th St. gazebo. Right now they are trying to locate a source to get some 8X8 timbers for roof supports. They are not replacing the roof and are only looking at replacing some of the rotten timbers that hold it up. The Chamber-of-Commerce is funding the project with an auction to be held July 11 at the Alumni Center. The members of the allied trade unions are donating the labor for the project. Allmon advised they hope to have that project completed by the end of July.

For Claims, Rules & Ordinances Chairwoman Rosie Goss made a motion to deny a claim for a busted tire submitted by a Highland Avenue resident. That claim was from a woman stating that she slid on snow and ice back in early winter and consequently busted a tire. That ditch has been up there forever. Jim Saracco said that because it is a hilly street it is well maintained with salt when it snows. In a Monday Committee meeting it was brought up that the village has never paid such claims and that motion was passed by Council.

For new Legislation, under suspension of rules, Council approved the annual participation in the D.A.R.E. program for the 2009-2010 school year. It's a drug education program conducted by the WPD for our school children. Officer Marsha has mainly been handling those duties the past few years.

Also recommended by the Ordinance Committee was the reduction in the amusement tax for coin operated machines such as pin ball, pool tables and juke boxes. Since 1998 that fee has been a flat rate of $250/year for each establishment that has any of the machines. The Committee recommended that it be cut in half but Ordinance 09-11 was tabled due to some changes that Andy Beech said should be incorporated into the amendments. Fiscal Officer Davis questioned when the ordinance would be in effect and what should be done with the fees that have already been paid. Stating that if it is effective this year there is no stipulation included in the proposed amendment covering how to handle fees already paid. Council agreed that it would be retroactive to the beginning of this year and anyone who has already paid will be given the option to be reimbursed or to credit any over payment to next year's fee payment. Davis apologized for delaying the changes but advised he needed documentation to authorize any thing he does to satisfy the auditors when they come in. Beech said he would adopt the changes into the amendment and have it ready for the next regular Council meeting.

Being no New Business on the agenda the meeting was adjourned at 6:38 P.M. Next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, July 7.

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