Wellsville Council Meeting

November 4 - Wednesday: The regular meeting was held last night at Village Hall. Present were Council President Pro-Tem John McMahon, Councilwoman Rosie Goss, and Councilmen Don Brown, Joe Soldano, Randy Allmon & Tony Cataldo. Also present were Village Administrator Jim Saracco, Fiscal Officer Dale Davis and Zoning Administrator Rick Williams.

In the Public Speaking portion of the agenda Councilwoman-elect Susan Haugh of 7th Street thanked all for the votes and congratulated Councilwoman Rosie Goss on her re-election. Haugh stated she looks forward to working with Council.

Dawn Johnston of Broadway, representing the Tree Board Committee advised Council of a $2,000 Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources Litter Clean-up grant that is available. The deadline for filing for the grant is Friday - November 6. Johnston stated that she can justify about $1,000 in expenses but would like to apply for the full amount. The Committee is allowed to use 10% of the grant toward the cost of mulch which will be needed for the Broadway trees. Stating she was hoping to enroll high school students in the project which would go toward credit for their community service requirements. Purchasing tee shirts, trash bags and dumpster rental are some of the supplies that can be used for this grant. Johnston said she didn't know how much competition there is for these grants but thought it was worth trying for it. A motion was made and passed to make the application.

Johnston also stated the Tree Board will need $1,620 to replace five dead trees in Broadway Park. One of the alleged dead trees is the one that was run over last winter. After the meeting former members of the Tree Board stated that particular tree appeared in good shape and full of leaves this past growing season. They also added they only know of two other trees that are dead.

Johnson said sugar maples will be the replacements and asked if it was okay to order. Councilman Tony Cataldo asked who was going to pay for this and Johnston replied "the village". Cataldo responded "I don't think so". Johnston responded that she was previously assured by Council that they would replace trees if the Tree Committee put in the sidewalks which they did. Cataldo said the matter had to be referred to the Council Property Committee and Property Committee Chairman John McMahon said he had to check his work schedule before he could set a time for such a meeting.

Wood Street resident Opal Lombardozzi inquired about when line painting will be done on the newly paved portion of 10th Street Ext. With winter weather approaching she stated it is a dangerous situation especially in wet weather. It needs finished she concluded.

Lombardozzi also inquired about the status of the condemned property at 801 Wood Street. Since moving back into their residence next door she has seen all kinds of "critters" around that house. She also mentioned the alley between the houses is loaded with water filled pot holes harboring mosquitoes. With children playing in her yard it is of concern.

Councilman Joe Soldano said they were aware of the property and asked the Village Administrator about it. Saracco said that yes, they have been aware of the property for years but it is in the fire chief's hands. Procedures have to be followed to get the owner's release. The owner for that property lives out of town. Soldano then asked about the line painting and Saracco replied they usually work with East Liverpool coming down with their line painting equipment. He would have to check into that.

Main Street resident John Cianni then addressed Council about the dilapidated housing demolition project. Born and raised in Wellsville Cianni retired from the Army and settled back in town. He said he has been checking and has learned from the County Commissioner's office that the county has a $1.5 million grant to demolish or rehabilitate houses and Wellsville is eligible to receive $66,000 of that amount.

Cianni stated that many of the condemned stickers are over a year old on houses dilapidated with "decades of neglect". He has made a list of 25 of the worse properties and checked the County Auditor's web site. He found that 13 of those houses have out-of-town owners and the other 12 have owners that don't live in the same neighborhood. He said EL has a $40/year rental inspection fee and asked why Wellsville didn't have something similar. He also asked why the ordinances for "basic stuff" such as cleaning up properties is not enforced. He said the demolition grant should be a priority and there is no requirement for matching funds. Cianni said the military taught you to have a sense of purpose. Since retiring Cianni said he has been involved with the Paint-The-Town project and assisted in helping clean up other places.

Councilman Randy Allmon stated that many residents take pride in the appearance of their property and they are trying to instill that pride in others. Saracco advised the village has done everything required of them and they are waiting for the county. Cianni said the Commissioners explained the process and he hasn't seen a list published like EL did recently. And it went on. The seven houses on the list for the available grant money have all been released by the owners to be demolished. With that permission it is not necessary to pay for expensive advertising to locate them.

For Administrative Reports Jim Saracco thanked Mike Pusateri & Pusateri Excavating for cleaning the ditches free of charge up on 10th St. Ext. He also reported that three sewer drops have been repaired. There were two on Lisbon St. and one on 18th. They no longer pose a hazard to cars being damaged. Finally he reminded residents of the paving project on the Wells Ave. bridge that began Thursday morning. Only one lane at a time will be worked on allowing traffic to still pass over the bridge. WPD will maintain traffic. The project should only take three or four days.

Zoning Administrator Rick Williams reported that the Zoning Office took in $185 for the month of October.

For Committee Reports Finance Committee Chairman Tony Cataldo made a motion to give village employees a bonus with the total not to exceed $11,000. Full time employees will get $500 and part time employees $100. The grants will come out of the Sewage fund by allocating a rental fee for the office used for bill collections. There's money in the fund to cover that. With Joe Soldano abstaining the motion passed.

For Streets, Chairman Joe Soldano asked about picking up leaves. Saracco said they are currently doing that. Soldano then asked about the decorative lights around Village Hall stating the last he heard it was running anywhere between $400 to $1,000 each to fix or replace. Don Brown stated that Lowes have some nice ones for about $100 a light. Soldano said it's been too long. Even if it's something cheap they need to be replaced.

For the Water Committee Councilman Randy Allmon asked for a motion to pay an invoice for $790 to LSW for jet rodding. Councilwoman Rosie Goss remarked that in checking with United Water they could have done some of that jet rodding if they had been notified. The village has already paid over $37,000 to LSW on several invoices for this. LSW was billed $814 for water they used. BWD advised the water LSW used is not free. Goss concluded she felt this bill should not be paid. Along with Goss, Councilmen Brown, McMahon and Soldano voted not to pay the bill. After the meeting the Fiscal Officer advised the new invoice was dated for work done 6/4/09.

For Property Chairman McMahon said he will probably calling for a Committee meeting Monday or Tuesday.

The Personnel Committee retired for an Executive Session regarding contract negotiations for 14 minutes with no farther action being taken.

Under Legislation two new ordinances pertaining to the ownership & control of dogs and dog pound fees were tabled for farther review.

For New Business a motion was passed to not make any objection to transferring a liquor license from the old owners to the new owners of the recently reopened Riverside Roadhouse. Tony Cataldo abstained from voting on that.

After returning from Executive Session the meeting adjourned at 6:55. Next meeting is November 17 at 6 P.M.

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