Wellsville Village Council

Tuesday – November 23: Wellsville Village Council met in regular session this past Tuesday evening at Village Hall. The meeting was postponed from last week to give Village officials time to have a recommendation ready for an engineering company for the sewage forced main project.

Present at the meeting was Mayor Joe Surace, Councilmen John McMahon, Randy Allmon, Joe Soldano & Tony Cataldo. Also attending was Fiscal Officer Dale Davis, Village Administrator Jim Saracco, Legal Advisor Andy Beech and WFD Chief Bill Smith. Councilwomen Rosie Goss and Susan Haugh were excused.

Mayor Joe Surace asked for a moment of silence in memory of Mrs. Elizabeth Gibson, mother of Coucilwoman Goss.

In the Public Speaking portion of the agenda, Jack Cataldo of Riverside Avenue, announced that the grant application for a new street was turned down by OMEGA. The proposed new street is from 18th along the railroad tracks for trucks to enter and exit near the Intermodal Park instead of going Main to 17th to Clark to get on Route 7.

Jack Cataldo had applied for the grant on behalf of the Village and received recent notification that it had been denied. Cataldo advised that the grant application will be held open in case more funding from ARC is received or another project is unable to move forward. Council passed a motion in favor of having Cataldo reapply next year for Fiscal Year 2012 grants. Cataldo said he would provide the postage for the grant application out of his own pocket.

Daniel Freeze of Center Street addressed Council on a number of issues and was invited by the Mayor to visit sometime to discussed his individual issues.

For Administration Reports, Jim Saracco commended Cemetery Caretaker Mike Lombardozzi for taking the initiative to follow up on unpaid grave plots. Lombardozzi advised he was never informed about the situation and only learned about it when he found a file folder of “odds & ends”. In that folder was a list of people that had made down payments on grave plots and then just stop making payments for one reason or another. There was approximately $17,000 outstanding.

Last week Lombardozzi began sending letters to those individuals advising them they had one year to pay the balance. Plots must be paid in full before an internment. If the individuals don't comply, the down payments will be forfeited. In less than a week's time $850 has been collected.

Councilman Joe Soldano remarked that issue was brought up at the last Council meeting and it was felt the only recourse was to turn those accounts in for collection. Soldano stated he was glad Lombardozzi was able to find an alternate way so the purchasers would not lose their down payment money.

For the Mayor's Report, Surace gave kudos to a list of people who took part in getting the Village Christmas tree and putting it up on Monday. The tree is in front of the Gazebo in the 4th St. Square. Those mentioned by Surace was Brian Wallace, George Crews, John Abdalla and Mike Pusateri. Randy Allmon added the City workers, noting that Kevin Fullerton went “above and beyond the call of duty”. It was originally intended to place the tree in the middle of Main Street but that was decided against for safety concerns.

While on the subject Allmon noted there were 54 offers of trees after the Chamber of Commerce notified the newspapers of the need for one. The tree selected was donated by Gary Lyle. Allmon announced the tree will be decorated on Wednesday, December 1, starting at 3:30 P.M. Students from Wellsville High School will assist with the decorating. Saturday evening, December 4, will be light-up night with students from Garfield Elementary & Daw Middle School singing carols. A photographer will be on hand to take free pictures with Santa and pets are welcome. The light-up ceremonies are scheduled to begin at 6 P.M. Saying it was a community event sponsored by the Chamber, Allmon concluded that “it was team work right down the line from the Village to the Chamber of Commerce” as a community service. Allmon is President of the Wellsville Area Chamber in addition to his Council duties.

For Sewage Committee Reports, a motion was passed authorizing payment to Mike Pusateri Excavating for the Sewage Treatment Plant digester conversion project. The payment is the third one and was for $87,270. Fiscal Officer Dale Davis advised the payment will be made using money from the OMEGA grant received for this project.

Another motion was passed selecting GG&J Engineers of Eastlake, OH, for the Pump Station #1 & Sewer Main Improvements (forced main). Mayor Surace advised three firms bid the job. Each firm was evaluated using a point system based on such things as years of service and job evaluations. Davis advised a five member Engineering Committee reviewed the bids after Surace noted GG&J scored the highest.

To wrap up the Sewage Committee report Allmon asked for and received approval for Village officials to contract LSW to clear four storm sewer lines. At a meeting last week with LSW Allmon asked for a list of the four worse areas that should be considered first. Those areas are Route 45 at Ridge, 7th & Wood St., Commerce between 12th & 14th and 16th & Main. The estimated cost is $14,000 providing LSW doesn't need to use their cameras. LSW advised at that meeting last week they are acquiring a new head for the jet-rodding/clean out machine that will enable them to tackle tougher blockages.

For the Personnel Committee, Joe Soldano announced an Executive Session would be held at the end of the meeting to consider compensation for Cemetery Caretaker Mike Lombardozzi. Soldano stated no announcements or action by Council will be taken following the session. Lombardozzi, Dale Davis, and Andy Beech, along with the Mayor and Council members was in that session.

Tony Cataldo had no report for the Finance Committee. As of October 31 the Village books show a total balance of $608,526. Out of that amount there was $1,203 in the General Fund, $298,388 in the Sewage Update Fund and $50,612 in the Sewage Disposal Fund.

No mention or action was taken on the two ordinances that are tabled. One is for advertising for bids to repair the sink hole at 17th & Main. The other is for the repeal of Ordinance 06-34, the Tree Board ordinance. When we last asked the Mayor advised they are still working on arranging a meeting with the Village, Wellsville Terminals & Marathon Oil to review the costs of repairing the sink hole. According to Surace Marathon had already expressed a willingness to help pay for the repairs.

Next scheduled meeting is Tuesday, December 7 at 6 PM at Village Hall.

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