The Village Council met in regular session this week. All council members were present except the vacationing Tony Cataldo. Also present was Mayor Joe Surace, Village Administrator Jim Saracco, Village Solicitor Andy Beech, Fiscal Officer Dale Davis and Zoning Administrator Rick Williams.
For Public Speaking Connie Carmichael of 10th St spoke on behalf of the Revitalization Committee. She informed Council that the committee is going to pursue working with Heritage Ohio. Presently they are attempting to establish a board and working out details for the financial end of it. Plans are to have Heritage Ohio Director of Revitalization Jeff Siegler back again in November.
Diane Dinch of Aten Ave. asked Council what it cost the Village when they engaged a Cleveland area law firm to investigate allegations against a WPD officer and to revise and update the Police Manual. Dinch remarked she had never heard what the actual costs were. FO Dale Davis advised he would have the numbers available at the next Council meeting. Without prior notice they were not readily available.
Opal Lombardozzi of Wood St. then addressed Council in regards to the now vacant cemetery house stating "things have been done wrong". After requesting copies of documents she advised they found out the insurance company recommended the house not be reoccupied until proven safe after a cleaning project. There had been a chimney collapse back in 2007 and the Lombardozzis were temporarily provided housing in the Meadow Woods Apts. Mrs. Lombardozzi said they were never told of the recommendation and asked why.
Councilman Joe Soldano asked "who okayed moving back into the house?" Lombardozzi replied "no one knows" and vouched to get to the bottom of it. Soldano then questioned where the Cemetery Board is. He stated that they are suppose to govern everything at the cemetery and they have not met in two years. (A correction was later printed in the newspaper that they haven't met in two months. The Cemetery Board held a meeting in September, '09.) Soldano then advised the Mayor "you have to get on them".
Lombardozzi then stated they were told repairs to the house would cost $25,000/$30,000 when she had a copy of the architech's letter saying it would be less than $10,000. She then requested a meeting be arranged with the insurance company representatives, the Mayor and her. Surace remarked he would be glad to have a meeting but ultimately it will come back to a council decision.
The discussion then went to the Lombardozzis being made to move out of the house when they received a letter from the Village Administrator stating it "was council's decision" that they can't live there. Soldano remarked that wasn't true. Council only voted to make it "not mandatory to live there like it's been for 100 years". The Mayor said he didn't know it was in such bad shape and Saracco remarked the Village does not have the money to fix it. Lombardozzi responded they found money to buy the trailer and at that point the Mayor put an end to the discussion.
Faye Lombardozzi of Clover St. next stated that there were three items paid for recently that she felt was not in the Village's best interest. Those were the new roof on Village Hall, the buying of the vacant lot at 12th & Main and the lack of maintaining the historical cemetery house. She indicated she thought the roof repair could have been done at a cost a lot less than what was spent. She noted that she thought buying the vacant lot for additional parking was frivolous when there are "three football fields of space behind Village Hall" for parking. Lombardozzi then asked where the cemetery caretaker's office will be located and Sarcco answered that it be in Village Hall. She asked about cemetery records and Surace responded it takes time to move but they will be moved too. Councilman Randy Allmon then remarked he felt that the move to Village Hall was the "best solution". Lombardozzi closed her comments saying that she felt Council has not been acting in the best interest of the Village and suggested that all members of Council "tender their resignations".
Former Mayor Nunzio Lombardozzi, also of Clover St., then remarked that Council's decision on the cemetery house was immature and it should have been taken care of two years ago. The pointing of fingers for this is a "terrible shame". He noted that most council members haven't even seen the house and commended Councilman Don Brown's efforts for trying to make it right. Stating it was a "council decision not administration". Lombardozzi noted he felt Soldano had a guilty conscious and called him an idiot. He noted that money was found for the trailer. Soldano replied that the Administrator can spend up to $25,000 to which Saracco remarked "if the money is there" before the Mayor rapped an end to that conversation.
Cris McNicol next got up and stated it was unbelievable that in two days Council changed a 60 to 70 year old tradition. He also stated that he thought the trailer was in violation of Zoning Codes. Saracco replied the trailer is classified a construction trailer which is not covered in the Zoning Codes. McNicol then went on to ask about security at the cemetery. Surace answered that police officers are closing the gate every evening at dusk.
For Administration Reports Jim Saracco advised that work has begun to renovate the Boy-In-The-Boot site. Noting a generous donation from the Eagles made it possible to purchase everything and do the work. The grass has been stripped off and will be replace with weed barrier plastic. Marble chips will be put on top of that. A new flag pole and a memorial to Wellsville native Cathy Salter will be installed. Salter perished in the World Trade Center bombing of 9/11. Lights will be installed per specification and I believe that includes lights for the floodwall murals. Lights for the murals were approved by Council not long ago.
Zoning Administrator Rick Williams reported $330 was taken in for permits in September. He also provided McNicol with a copy of the Zoning ordinance for trailers.
Animal Control Officer Leslie Dean left her Activity Report covering 8/23 to 9/23. In that time frame she had 27 calls. Five of those calls were reports of lost dogs and another five were to investigate reports of abuse & neglect. Dean was not present at the meeting.
For the Mayor's Report Surace noted that he's been in office for six years and still feels there are people with "vendettas" out there. Stating it was a shame and that energy could be better spent to improve the village. He said that Council was here for the betterment of the Village and those people holding grudges should turn the tide and also work for the betterment of the Village.
For the Zoning Board Surace nominated Gene Beadnell for the 6 year term, Jack Cataldo for the 4 year term and Jack Call for the 2 year term. Council approved those nominations. Rick Williams will remain the Zoning Administrator and John McMahon will be the Council liaison.
For Committee Reports Joe Soldano questioned the status of the street sweeper for Streets, Lights & Parking. Saracco replied they are still waiting for a company inspector to show up. Soldano said if it can be repaired it might be used to pick up some leaves. If not it should gotten rid of.
Councilman John McMahon stated there have been a lot of complaints of unauthorized people illegally using handicapped parking permits. He noted any violators caught will be ticketed.
Councilwoman Rosie Goss referring to the bills paid to LSW for jet rodding and smoking sewers included $814 the Village paid for water usage for those services. She felt since it wasn't covered in the agreement that LSW should pay for the water. Surace said that has to be negotiated and Saracco stated the LSW has offered to refund that amount. Goss then noted that the total amount paid to LSW exceeded the Administrator's allowable maximum of $25,000. Saracco answered there were four different projects paid for and none of them went over the maximum. Discussion then turned to what United Water is capable of doing with Don Brown noting they did not have any complaints of sewers backing up or water in basements. Saracco replied that the sewers had to be jet rodded and cleaned before smoke testing and the EPA was threatening to fine the Village if the smoke testing wasn't done. Surace noted that United Water is only capable of cleaning sewers in town. Saracco added that of the 35 violations found none of them were in Russell Heights.
For Legislation a resolution was approved under suspension of rules to adopt the rates of levies and certifying them to the County Auditor. This was for levies already voted in at the polls.
Under New Business Council set Halloween Trick or Treat for Saturday, October 31, from 5:30 - 7 P.M.
Councilman & Chamber-of-Commerce President Randy Allmon reported that treated lumber has been bought of the gazebo renovation. The lumber was still "wet" and they have to wait on it to dry before cutting. It is hoped to have that project completed before the end of the year. That project is being sponsored by the Chamber at no cost to the Village.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:54. Next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 20 at 6 P.M. at Village Hall.
ole nib
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12 comments:
Where is Mike Lombardozzi in all of this? He is the employee of the village, so why is his wife, father, and step-mother doing all the questioning? Why isn't he requesting a meeting with the mayor and the insurance company? The answer isn't attacking the administration and council at public meetings.
Why doesn't the mayor explain the personal vendettas against him? Why does he take everything so personal? Isn't it the job of the council to watch over what is being done by the administration? Isn't it the voters right to ask questions of their council and administration? They appropriate and spend PUBLIC monies, so maybe it's a PUBLIC vendetta?
I wonder if there was any response when Faye lombardozi asked for their resignations? Kudos to Chris McNichol for letting people know where he stands on the issues. He has my vote!
Just checking.. box of rocks? Wellsville administration?
Lifer - Not one word was said.
nib
Mike doesnt need to be at the house this is an exta expense to the village that does not need to be. MCNICOLE stated that it was tradition to have the cemetery caretaker live in the house, so what lets try and save money. THE VILLAGE was paying all the bills at the house so mike had a sweet deal thats the only reason he is upset.now he has to pay bills like the rest of us.
I was just wondering how much the cemetery board knew about the closing of the caretaker's house and the moving of his office to village hall. Seems like they are left out of the loop and should be consulted before these decisions are made.
In all fairness to the Lombardozzis there is documented proof that they spent thousands of dollars of their own money renovating and making that house a nice place to live for themselves and their family. That's not counting the untold hours of their own time they spent working on it. That's not any different than what you or I would do in a similar situation.
Personally I like the house with its historic significance. Also I liked the idea of having the cemetery care taker reside there. I liked that the Lombardozzis were trying to restore it.
Whether the expense of maintaining it is too much of a financial burden for the Village has yet to be answered. However, I did not like the way Council went about changing the arrangements. It could have been handled much better than what has come about.
nib
Is Wellsville ready for change? Certain citizens want the administration to make decisions with their heart because this is the way it was always done. Is this progessive thinking?
Everyone in this community needs to "THINK". Do you have any idea the embarrassment in the newspaper for all involved. You sound like a bunch of clowns.
I wonder if everyone who thinks that ugly construction trailer is a good idea, would feel the same way if it were parked near the grave of their loved ones. That thing is an eyesore and should have been placed back by the dump.
If not for the Morning Journal, no one would have known about the trailer even being put up there until it was a done deal. now that it was reported, village officials backed down because they knew people would ask why not spend money on repairs to the house instead of that trailer.
It has nothing to do with the fact that mike has to pay bills like the rest of us. The facts are, when the bid for the cemetery job was posted, the caretaker's all took the bid's with the cemetery house as a benefit. Why should Mike not be compensated for his loss?
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