Tuesday - January 19: The Village Council met in regular session last night. Present at the meeting was Mayor Joe Surace, Council people Sue Haugh , John McMahon, Rosie Goss, Tony Cataldo and Randy Allmon. Also present was Fiscal Officer Dale Davis, Village Solicitor Andy Beech, Acting Administrator Rick Williams, and WPD's Chief Joe Scarabino & Lt. Ed Wilson.
United Methodist Pastor Bob Phillips, representing the Wellsville Area Ministerial Assoc., offered the opening prayer.
After the roll call and approval of the minutes of the previous meeting the Mayor turned the meeting over to WPD Chief Scarabino & Lt. Ed Wilson. See our post below.
In the Public Speaking portion of the agenda Commerce St. resident Jeffrey Ori expressed his appreciation for the Village's public forces and reminded everyone that a Fire Levy will be on the ballot which will need everyone's support this year.
Don Clutter representing VFW Post 5647 petitioned Council to convert two existing parking spaces in front of the Post to handicap spaces. Stating that many of their members are aging veterans with some having served in WWII and the Korean Conflict there is a need for the reserved spaces. Even the Viet Nam vets are getting up there in years. Former Councilman Don Brown stated the VFW will purchase the posts and signs and take care of the installation. John McMahon made a motion to approve the request. The motion passed without opposition.
Aten Avenue resident Diane Dinch thanked the WPD, the Sheriff's Office and other agencies "for lack of a better word, cleaning up the trash in her neighborhood". Dinch related that just recently five individuals living in one house were taken into custody on Aten. She gave a very emotional appeal for Council to do everything in their power to enact ordinances preventing landlords renting to undesirables. She said she never thought she would see the day when her 15 year old nephew would hide, armed, in a bedroom with his mother in fear of their neighbors. It happened when those five were arrested. Having lived there for sometime she said she has seen sex offenders and drug dealers renting houses and asked Council to "please find a way to hold landlords responsible".
Councilman Joe Soldano remarked "there is no way this should be happening" with landlords willing to rent to anyone who can come up with the money. He related he has seen raids conducted by the police, Sheriff Deputies, ATF agents and U.S. Deputy Marshalls in his neighborhood in recent years.
The Mayor related it's an ongoing problem in the Village and help is needed from the landlords. Surace stated they need to forget about the almighty dollar and consider the safety of Wellsville residents.
Soldano reiterated "there is no way this should be happening" and advised he is already working with Village Solicitor Andy Beech to see what can be done.
Main St. resident Blaine Fields questioned why it isn't just put into a Village ordinance. Fields stated he worked for a resort out west about the size of Wellsville and back ground checks were required . It had to be done. Solicitor Andy Beech confirmed that an investigation of the legalities for such an ordinance is in the process.
Dave Bucher of 12th St. voiced a complaint against the Village. The Mayor advised it will be looked in to.
Rose Maple of Campground Rd. addressed Council about the up-coming census stating she is a recruiter for census takers, crew leaders and assistant crew leaders. She said April 1st is Census Day. Testing is currently going on for the part-time jobs. They hope to soon have a testing location in Wellsville but are already testing in East Liverpool. The jobs are for anyone 18 years and older. They pay from $10 to $16 per hour and if travel is required mileage is paid at .50 cents per mile. More information can be obtained by calling 1-866-861-2010 or visiting http://www.2010censusjobs.gov/. Census headquarters for this region is in Canton, OH.
The only Administration Report was from Rick Williams advising Council that the Zoning Board approved the variance request for Tri-County Ambulance to locate in Wellsville. See post below. Williams also praised the Street Dept. employees for the great job they've been doing keeping the streets in good shape with the snow and ice we've had.
In the Mayor's Report, Surace asked for a motion to reappoint Lincoln Ave. resident John E. Call as one of Wellsville's representatives on the Buckeye Water District Board of Directors. The appointment is for a six year term. A motion was made and it was approved unanimously. Call thanked Council saying it's been a learning experience with the water district expanding.
The only Committee Reports were from Susan Hall & Rosie Goss. For Property, Equipment & Cemetery Haugh reported on last week's Committee Meeting. See our post dated January 16. Haugh commended Cemetery Caretaker Mike Lombardozzi for the planned expansion in Springhill, stating that making room for 1,800 additional grave sites would eventually mean $900,000 in new revenue at today's prices.
Haugh also stated the Committee is compiling a complete list of unused equipment that the Village can try to sell.
For Claims, Rules & Ordinances, Rosie Goss recommended that a Money Claim from a Meadow Woods resident be denied. Again see our post dated January 16 for a report on that Committee Meeting. The motion to deny the claim was approved.
Goss also reported that she is scheduled to meet with Andy Beech next week to see what can be legally done to beef up the ordinances on rental properties. She then told Diane Dinch to "hold on". She had a similar incident in her neighborhood that was eventually taken care of by the authorities. Surace added it takes time to gather enough evidence for these situations. It's a tough job but you can be sure it's being worked on. Goss assured Dinch if it takes new ordinances or changing existing ordinances to get it accomplished it will be done.
There was no new legislation on the table.
For New Business, McMahon, speaking for all his fellow Council members, wished former Mayor Nunzio Lombardozzi the best in his recovery. McMahon said over the years Lombardozzi has done a lot for our village. Surace remarked that over the years Nunzi has had more titles serving Wellsville than the License Bureau over in Lisbon.
Haugh asked if Council would be interested in her looking into the village selling used equipment on http://www.govdeals.com/. It's an e-bay type site for old, used and broken equipment that was written up in last Sunday's newspapers. Haugh said it appears to be a legitimate site for selling unwanted government agency's equipment. Soldano suggested she check with the Village Solicitor first before proceeding. Surace asked her to please pursue it and report back.
Tony Cataldo mentioned the signs seemingly springing up everywhere advertising various business and asked if the Street Dept. employees could remove them. Soldano remarked they are illegal without the Zoning Department's approval and Haugh stated she would like to see them fined for littering. As mentioned in the Zoning Meeting reported on below, isn't there a fee required to post commercial signs?
The meeting was adjourned at 6:44 P.M. Next Council meeting is scheduled for February 2 at 6ish.
ole nib
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Landlords are not permitted to discrminate. Landlords can be sued. Perhaps it was a HUD house. Discuss this with your Village Attorney.
Hud house or not, this isnt the first time this house has been occupied by "trash". It gets worse everytime new tenants move in. As was stated in the council meeting, a convicted child molester was allowed to live there. When surrounding neighbors tried to contact this landlord about the occupant, phone calls were not returned. Instead, he informed his niece who lives around the corner, that the "predator" was not a bad man. We neighbors were not being very nice. This landlord deserves to be sued! He can take his prize winning tenants and put them in his neighborhood.
Post a Comment