A Special Council Meeting was held Wednesday at Village Hall at 2 P.M. Present were Councilmen Don Brown, Joe Soldano, John McMahon, and Tony Cataldo. Also present was Mayor Joe Surace, Fiscal Officer Dale Davis, Village Administrator Jim Saracco and Zoning Administrator Rick Williams. Rosie Goss and Randy Allmon were excused. This meeting was postponed from Tuesday due to a lack of a quorum on Tuesday.
The first order of business was a motion by Cataldo for the Mayor to accept a $60,000 Ohio Public Works grant for the 10th Street Extension repair project. The Village will add another $10,000 as their share. The project is to repair approximately 500 feet of roadway near the Springhill Cemetery entrance with improved drainage of hillside run off and to repave. That motion passed.
The area to be repaired is a S curve section that WPD Chief Joe Scarabino months ago advised Council is a serious hazard and needs to be given priority. To avoid pot holes and torn up roadway west bound travelers often go left of center setting themselves up for potential head-on collisions with motorist traveling in the opposite direction. Soldano said it has been dangerous for a long time.
The next order of business was a motion by Cataldo, with a second from Soldano, to declare an emergency for that road repair with GG&J to engineer and to by-pass the bidding process. That motion passed.
Next came another motion by Cataldo with a second from Soldano to hire Pusateri Excavating to do the job. Mayor Surace said Pusateri was the first to offer a bid on the project. That motion also passed. That section of road is expected to be closed for five days when construction begins.
Next was a motion by Soldano with a second by Brown to apply for a Dept. of Justice, Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) that passed. The grant is in partnership with the ELPD to pay for computers for cruisers. According to this morning's papers there can only be one of these grants per county. That's why the ville partnered with EL. WPD will receive $10,894 to equip the cruisers. Fiscal Officer Davis advised this grant will be administered by the county.
Following that was a motion by Cataldo with a second by Soldano to apply for a 2010 Issue I grant with GG&J to engineer for repaving Commerce Street from 9th to 15th. With a September deadline for applying looming that motion was passed. It is believed Cataldo meant Issue II as previously reported.
Council then took a roll call vote and went into Executive Session to discuss buying property. That is permissible under the State Sunshine Law. When they returned there was no discussion on any property acquisition.
What pursued was in violation of the Sunshine Law. While in Executive Session apparently discussion was held on the condition of the Village owned house at Springhill Cemetery. Cemetery Superintendent Mike Lombardozzi furnished a disc with 43 pictures and a list of problem areas mostly with the 1840 built house and some with other buildings up there. Most of the problems is water damage from leaking roofs on the porch and throughout the house. There was also mention of droppings in the attic from birds getting in due to the deteriorating condition of the eaves on the house. Upgrading the electrical service, needed insulation and door replacements were also mentioned.
When Council returned from Executive Session McMahon immediately made a motion, seconded by Cataldo, to rescind an earlier motion making it mandatory for the Cemetery Superintendent to occupy that house. At the December 16, 2008, Council meeting it was voted to make that part of the job description. That way the Superintendent would not have fair market rental counted as part of his income for taxing purposes.
In the following discussion Cataldo stated that there were 22 items that needed repair and the Village did not have the money to do it. Soldano remarked they knew back in December that repairs were needed plus needing a new garage for equipment storage and new tools. McMahon made a statement to the fact they are not trying to give Lombardozzi a hard time. It is just something the Village can't afford to do. Surace added there is just no money to make it livable. Davis added that he is not picking on Lombardozzi but as of August 1 he will have to start declaring rental value as part of the Superintendent's income in accordance with IRS regulations if he continues living there.
With Don Brown voting no the motion to rescind the earlier motion passed 3 to 1. Brown later stated that he felt the problems should have been taken care of all along and the historic house should be repaired. Lombardozzi wasn't in when I tried to call him this morning.
While Council was in Executive Session Davis stated the grant for the catch basins and paving was on hold for farther study.
The meeting was adjourned at 2:32. Next regular meeting is August 4 at 6 P.M. at Village Hall.
ole nib
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17 comments:
I am proud of Council, you did the right thing with the cemetery house. Don't do favors for people just because of their last name, do right by the people. We need you to make more votes like this, it will benifit the Village. That house should be torn down.
I would hate to see that house torn down. It's 169 years old. I would like to see it registered as a historic landmark and then see if any grant money is out there to preserve it. It's a treasure.
nib
Tearing it down, and making it manditory for Lombardozzi to live there, are 2 different things. It does not matter if it is fixed up or not, he still will have to pay the tax. That's the issue with him, remember last Dec.
The house is a treasure and the village should have taken care of it long ago. They are lucky to have someone that does such a great job..of course that is something they would not be able to relate to.
I know that Mike has done a lot of work to the house to make it nicer for his family but there is just so much work you would want to do to a property that you donot own.
It is a shame the village can't maintain the home but as always we have no money. To tear it down would be a shame and like it was said perhaps we can get some grant money to do the repairs. Did we not hire some grant writers ?
The Mayor was quoted in the Review thanking the director of Public Works Mike Miller for the grant money to repair 10th street.It should be noted that Mr. Miller is a Wellsville native and has used his position on multiple occasions to benefit his hometown whenever possible. Thanks Mike!
What makes this house historic. Because it is old? Old does not equal historic. What part did it play in the development of this area. Did an historic figure grow up there, reside there, or die there? Was a historic document negotiated, authored, signed, or conceived there?
Why not ask the Wellsville Historic Society if this house is indeed historic (or simply old and worn out) before beating the drums to save this "Historic House".
Confused - Any house built in 1840 that is still standing is historic.
nib
Mike Miller is the son of Wellsville residents Linda & Bill Miller. It's nice to see a fellow from the ville make good & even nicer that he can help out the old hometown where he can.
nib
Mike Miller has been a friend of mine since high school days, he is a good guy. He has helped us many times.
At what point does age become historic/ 50 yrs? 75 yrs? 100 yrs?
125yr?
If 100 yrs than 50% of Wellsville could be considered historic. If 140 then probably about 25%. The house I live in is over 100 yrs old (actually 108) and is not the oldest house on the street. How many of the houses currently condemmed would meet this critia (old and still standing) for being historic.
Lombardozzi! Whether they tax the home or not. It is the responsibility of the Village to repair the home. Seems funny that he asked for some repairs and they resind the agreement of making the home mandatory. Their reason,in the Evening Review, no money to repair.Now that the tax has started back up, and it is his choice to either move or stay,from what the Evening Review article states. Stay and Make them do the repairs. Sounds like retaliation.The home was provided as part of his employment. Asking for repairs, and concerns of the home is justified. Legal advice would be the wisest move. What a sad administration!
Most often where there is a problem there is a solution, but instead of at the very least taking a day or two to review the information presented in the meeting a snap decision was made. To say that the issue had been looked at before is questionable as well considering the most fruitful research that was done and brought forward was by the hands of the Lombardozzi family. The families who experience death I'm sure appreciate that someone is available with such flexibility to assist them. Like the tree issue this was handled wrong. The tree board could have been advised to appoint a sub committee to work specifically on the project in question, but the powers that be were comfortable to see several people who spent countless hours of volunteer time leave. And so now they will celebrate the accomplishments on Broadway with political representation, but not the people who gave the most time and effort. The house should be restored and there is a way to get grant money, finding it will require some effort on councils part. As for Mike's wage and compensation being altered, let council have their income tampered with and perhaps they'll become more resourceful in their thought processes.
Mike Miller is the son of Bill Miller and his former wife Betty Shaffer. Mike's dad ran Miller Insurance where Tonda's is now. He has a brother named John and a sister, Heidi. I don't believe he is related to Bill and Linda Miller.
The tax is not the issue with Lombardozzi. The issue is that NO caretaker has ever been taxed to reside in the home as caretaker.What makes him any different.Maybe it is his last name,as 1st Anonymous said.
Whoops! I got the wrong Miller family. I never knew MIke but have known his parents for a long time. Heidi is the only one of those children I ever knew. The last time I saw her was years ago on an employee bus at the Pittsburgh Airport.
My apologies to the Millers.
nib
The tax may not be an issue but without that stipulation that the caretaker reside there is no way to get around the IRS regulations for taxing benefits that was passed a few years ago.
It's an IRS regulation. It is not something the Village officials dreamed up. I remember when it came about but can't tell you the exact time. It effected me on another type of benefit I enjoyed from the job I had at the time. However, I believe Mike Lombardozzi was on the job when it did change. The change in IRS regulations is what is different from the others that enjoyed this perk.
nib
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