Belpre City Council Minutes
Council President Protem Larry Martin called the Regular Meeting of the Council of the City of Belpre, Ohio, to order at 7:30 p.m. The roll was called with the following members present: Ms. Abdella, Mr. Gilbert, Mrs. Marshall, Mr. Martin, Mrs. Miller, and Mr. Robinson present. Also present were Mayor Lorentz, Safety Service Director Mr. Ferguson, City Auditor Miss Pittenger, City Law Director Mr. Webster, and Clerk of Council Mrs. Meredith. Absent from the October 27, 2014 meeting were President of Council Mr. Neff, Treasurer Miss Martin and Councilperson Mr. Newberry.
At this time, Mr. Martin asked that everyone please stand for the prayer and remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance. Mayor Lorentz gave the invocation.
Mrs. Marshall made a motion to accept the minutes of October 13, 2014, as presented and by-pass the reading. A vote was taken with all members of council present voting aye.
Reports of City Officials
Mayor Lorentz presented his report.
October 16th was the 2nd Chamber of Commerce Town Talk. Attendance was very good as were the businesses that set up information booths. Our little city is starting to be noticed throughout the area as a place to start up a business.
On October 17th, Superintendant Dunn and Superintendant Starcher from Fort Frye and I produced a commercial for the Children’s Services Levy. If you listen to FM 107 you may hear one of us.
On October 17th, I attended the Wetz Warehouse celebration for 75 years in business. Also the same day I attended the fall luncheon and Labor Management meeting for the trades. Our speaker was an associate with the cracker plant being proposed in Parkersburg.
Saturday October 18th I attended the Heritage Day Ceremony at the Museum as well as their official ribbon cutting. We attended the ribbon cutting for Givens Trading Post, the Kids Fest put on by Hagemeyer Corporation, as well as the fundraiser for Bob Mongell.
Mr. Ferguson, Chief Clevenger and I conducted interviews for our new police officer. The process should move pretty smooth once council completes approval of manpower.
October 23rd our Chamber held its fall dinner. Attendance was over 160 for the evening. Christina Schmenk was our keynote speaker on the subject of oil and gas and its impact on the area. Chris ended her talk with the question, are we ready for the development that is eventually coming our way? Jon Neff from Bob’s Market is our Citizen of the Year for 2015.
Our city experienced a pretty significant water leak on Friday. Due to the nature of the leak and its location we experienced water outages over most of the city. We are still on a boil advisory at this time. All should be normal by this time tomorrow if the samples for EPA are still good.
Over the past few months I have communicated to council the need for us to adopt the sewer line extension north of our city to the Wetz Warehouse area. We are now to the point Belpre needs to commit to repairing our northern line and attaching to the new section heading north. Tonight I would like a voice vote to accept the stream from the north. Mike Betz has given me the word that we have the capacity even to the 250,000-gallon limit without changes to our system. This may be the only way we have to repair our section without huge costs to our residents. If OWDA agrees with our grant I would need legislation drawn and approved very soon. Our projected cost for the repairs needed at this time is $508,000.00. If successful we could conceivable complete with almost nothing coming from the city and retain many jobs. Mr. Webster had some insight on the sewer line project with further discussion by council on a back-up plan for financing of $508,000.00 if needed.
Council we do have a strong candidate for patrolman. If possible I would like to complete the manpower tonight so that we could start physicals etc. for an employment offer.
We are receiving numerous calls of concern about wells within the city limits being injected with drilling waste. To date we have no confirmation or contact. I am checking with the county to confirm.
At this time Mr. Martin called for a voice vote of council to accept the stream from the north. A vote was taken with all members of council present voting aye.
Safety Service Director Mr. Ferguson stated that he would like to see council approve the manpower legislation tonight for second and third readings. We have a very good candidate for the police officer position that we would like to hire.
Mr. Ferguson also thanked all those who came out Friday night to help with the water-line break. The help that those folks provided was greatly appreciated.
City Auditor Miss Pittenger reminded all that Election Day is one week from tomorrow. There are several State and County issues to vote on. The boil advisory has been continued. Boil Advisory means that you should boil your water for one minute if you are planning on drinking it. It is okay to brush your teeth, bathe, wash your clothes, run your dishwasher, etc.
Also the Adjustment Report for the month of September is ready and on-line for council approval. A vote was taken with all members of council present voting aye.
City Law Director Mr. Webster reported that legislation has been drawn on the HVAC for the heating and air conditioning. The legislation has been prepared two ways 1) formal bidding process or 2) council could determine that an emergency exists and that the bidding process could be by-passed.
Treasurer Miss Martin was absent. Miss Pittenger presented the Treasurers Report in her absence. Miss Pittenger stated that the Budget Report is on line for viewing. A signed copy has been presented to the clerk and is now awaiting approval by council. Ms. Abdella made a motion to accept the Treasurers Report as presented. A vote was taken with all members of council present voting aye.
Communications and Petitions:
Mr. Martin assigned to Finance/Audit Committee HVAC (heating and air conditioning).
Report of Standing Committee:
Ms. Abdella, Finance Audit Committee had no report. Ms. Abdella called a committee meeting for November 10, 2014 at 6:30 PM for the purpose of discussing HVAC (heating and air conditioning) non-formal bid option.
Mr.. Gilbert, Police and Fire Committee had no report.
Mr. Martin, Streets, Sidewalk and Storm Sewer Committee had no report.
Mr. Robinson, Utilities Committee had no report.
Mrs. Marshall, Parks and Recreation Committee had no report.
Mr. Newberry was absence. No report was given for Planning and Zoning Committee.
Mr. Newberry was absence. No report was given for the Economic Development Committee.
Mrs. Miller had no report for the Rules Committee.
Persons Appearing Before Council – Agenda items only. None
Unfinished Business:
Ms. Abdella brought before council for second reading AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE AUTHORIZED MANPOWER FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2014. A vote was taken with all members of council present voting aye.
Ms. Abdella moved to suspend the rule of council on three different days to allow for the third reading of AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE AUTHORIZED MANPOWER FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2014. A vote was taken with all members of council present voting aye.
Ms. Abdella brought before council for third reading AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE AUTHORIZED MANPOWER FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2014. A vote was taken with all members of council present voting aye.
Ms. Abdella moved this be Ordinance 11, 2014-2015 and duly passed. A vote was taken with all members of council present voting aye.
New Business:
Ms. Abdella brought before council for first reading TEMPORARY APPROPRIATION ORDIANCE FOR CALENDAR AND FISCAL YEAR 2015. A vote was taken with all members of council present voting aye. This will lie over until the next meeting of council.
Persons Appearing Before Council-
Chief Clevenger 715 Park Drive, Belpre thanked members of council for addressing the Manpower Ordinance this evening. Also I would like to remind council and the administration that Trick or Treat is Thursday from 6:00-7:30 PM. I would like to remind all citizens to please take caution if you are driving on the city streets during this congested time period.
Mr. Robinson thanked everyone who was involved in taking care of the issues Friday evening from a busted water line.
Ms. Abdella made a motion to excuse Mr. Newberry from this evenings meeting. Mr. Martin stated that Mr. Newberry had followed council procedures and had an excusable absence.
Miss Pittenger informed council that the attachment for the Temporary Appropriations for 2015 is on the cities website.
Mr. Webster thanked all who participated this year in the Apple Butter Stir Off. Once again it was a success.
Adjourn
Mr. Robinson made a motion to adjourn at 8:10. A vote was taken with all members of council present voting aye.