Belpre City Council Minutes
President of Council Mr. Martin called the Regular Meeting of the Council of the City of Belpre, Ohio, to order at 7:30p.m. The roll was called with the following members present: Mr. Campbell, Mrs. Drake, Mr. Gant, Mrs. Miller, Ms. Riffle and Mr. Shutts present. Also present was Mayor Lorentz, Safety-Service Director Mr. Cross, City Auditor Miss Pittenger, City Law Director Mr. Webster, City Treasurer Ms. Carpenter and Clerk of Council Mrs. Meredith. Absent from the August 12, 2019 meeting was Council person Ms. Abdella.
Mr. Martin asked that everyone please rise for the Prayer and remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance. Mr. Martin asked that the Mayor take a moment of silence for Dewey Robinson who was a long time member of this council who passed away. Mayor Lorentz gave the invocation.
Mr. Martin asked for a motion to accept the minutes of July 8th, 2019 as presented and dispense with the reading. Ms. Riffle made a motion to accept the minutes of July 8th 2019 as presented and dispense with the reading. A vote was taken with all members of council present voting aye.
Mr. Martin asked for a motion to accept the minutes of July 22nd 2019 as presented and dispense with the reading. Mr. Gant made a motion to accept the minutes of July 22nd. 2019 as presented and dispense with the reading. A vote was taken with all members of council present voting aye,
Reports of City Officials:
Mayor Lorentz reported that Mr. Wiggins and I met with Barb Bradley, our Health Department. Barb as you should remember is our Sanitarian for the Marietta Belpre Health Board. Barb recommends that we should adopt the International Property Maintenance Code or, a similar version of the same. As we research this option I may ask for a town hall type meeting to discuss with our rental owners.
Ms. Martin, our Mayor’s Court Clerk and I attended an exercise on Ohio Public Records Law and updates. We both brought material back if you wish to view. As of now we only have two copies.
Hopefully all members of council heard that our long time council member Dewey Robinson passed away. Dewey served this city well for 28 years and will be missed. Dewey’s Funeral was July 30th.
A representative from the U.S. Census Bureau stopped in my office to explain the time table for information gathering within our city. I have a few handouts to share if you like. They are looking for quite a large pool of people from our area to perform information gathering if you know someone interested please let them know.
The 87th Annual Homecoming has come and gone. Many thanks to the Homecoming Committee that headed this up. Also thanks to Karen Waller for her leadership during this time.
Today was the VIP opening for the Burger King Restaurant. Hopefully all got to sample the merchandise today. I believe this will be a good addition to our city, and employment for some young folks.
The opening for the state liquor store is slated to open September 19, at 9am. As this time approaches I will send you a reminder.
Last month I gave you a report concerning our lease with the Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Webster has drafted an M.O.U. for us to consider. If you are in agreement I will sign and put in place.
Today I received a call from Vienna Mayor Randy Rapp. We have chosen Thursday October 31st as Halloween Night in our cities. Parkersburg, Vienna, Williamstown and Belpre will start at 6PM and end at 7:30.
Chief Williams and I have set the date for a city auction of August 28th at 5:30 PM. The auction will be at our city garage on Blennerhassett.
The Economic Development Committee and city received a grant through the Belpre Area Foundation for a specific plan addressing our cities development and future. If successful it should give us a 1 2 3 4 5 plan to follow. We also received a grant that is a 1 to 1 match through the foundation with the recreation commission. All the fencing at Civitan is beyond life and in places, dangerous. The commission is attempting to upgrade the fields and fencing making it as nice as we once enjoyed. Larry Arnold is here tonight to present the city and Economic Development team a check that starts the process of obtaining the plan. I will ask Larry to come forward as well as Jesse Roush the chairman of the team.
A check for $5,000 was presented to Mayor Lorentz. Mayor Lorentz stated that we do have quite an active Economic Development Team. They are always looking for ways to help us.
Rick Hineman from Buckeye Hills Regional Council who is here this evening to discuss the 2018 Return on Investment. We want to do this on a quarterly bases. In the front of our handout is the 2018 return on Investment Report for the City of Belpre, Washington County. The total dues to Buckeye Hills for 2018 was $644.10. The total amount collected through the various organizations was $156,739. Giving us a return on our investment per dollar of $243.35. We covered eight county regions. We basically secure funding for communities. We help plan for the community using a lot of resources. We are an aging disability. We help older folks with disabilities the opportunity to stay in their homes by making their homes more handicap accessible. We address code violations. We also have reports on unfunded projects. I would like you to review and if anyone has any questions please call us to discuss. Again we would like to come back on a quarterly bases to discuss.
Safety-Service Director Mr. Cross announced that the Farson Street hillside street repair should be completed within the next day or two. Street paving should also begin sometime this week. There is also some well work on Well 1 at Civitan Park taking place.
City Auditor Miss Pittenger had no report due to some IT glitches for the past three weeks.
City Law Director Mr. Webster had no report.
City Treasurer Ms. Carpenter had no report.
Communications and Petitions:
There is one item that was sent to me from a William Reynolds regarding a four way stop sign on the other side of the interstate. I would like to assign this to Street, Sidewalk and Storm Sewer, Mr. Campbell Chairman. Also I would like to assign to the Rules Committee, Ms. Riffle Chairman the updated codified ordinances for the City of Belpre.
Mrs. Miller made a comment on the four way stop.
Report of Standing Committee:
Ms. Abdella Finance/Audit Committee was absent. No report was given in her absence.
Mrs. Miller, Police and Fire Committee had no report. Mrs. Miller called a committee meeting for August 19th at 6PM for the purpose of discussing golf carts on city streets.
Mr. Campbell, Streets, Sidewalks and Storm Sewer had no report.
Mr. Gant Utilities Committee reported that Dominion has contracted with a company to install gas pressure release valves throughout the city. This is a federal mandate. It will not affect all residence. Most residents have been informed by Dominion. They will come back about every three weeks. Mrs. Miller asked if this was a way that they could supply more gas to the city. She was informed that it was not.
Mr. Shutts, Parks and Recreation Committee reported that the pool had a pretty good season this year. Mr. Shutts called a Parks and Recreation meeting for Thursday night at 6PM for the purpose of discussing a grant for the field at Civitan Park.
Mrs. Drake Planning and Zoning Committee had no report.
Mrs. Drake, Economic Development Committee had no report.
Ms. Riffle, Rules Committee had no report.
Ms. Riffle asked the Mayor about the issues that they are having with the Washington County Health Department. Does this have any effect on us in any way? According to the Mayor it has no effect on us.
Ms. Riffle also stated that she has been contacted by citizens regarding abandoned cars throughout our city. Ms. Riffle asked if this could be assigned to committee. Mr. Martin assigned this to Mr. Campbell’s Committee.
Persons Appearing Before Council – Agenda items only. None
Unfinished Business: – None
NEW BUSINESS: None
PERSONS APPEARING BEFORE COUNCIL:
Jesse Wonycott 805 Main Street Belpre addressed city council regarding water usage at 125 Maple Street rental apartments. She also addressed license renewal fee in the amount of $20. She wanted to know where that $20 goes. She was informed that it was for road repair.
Steve McDougle 125 ½ Maple Street thanked the city for having the speed bump removed. He asked when they were going to start the replacement of the sidewalk on Walnut Street. According to the Mayor it should begin August 27th of this month.
Bill Locke 726 Tuttle Street addressed property across from the city building on Park Drive. He questioned what the status of the property was. He was informed that there had been no contact with Mr. Eddy but the real estate in the front was to be sold.
Mr. Campbell made a motion to excuse Ms. Abdella from this evenings meeting. Mr. Martin stated that Ms. Abdella had an emergency at work and would not be in attendance.
Mrs. Drake made a motion to go into Executive Session at 8:10PM per request by the law director to discuss sale of real estate. A vote was taken with all members of council present voting aye.
Mrs. Drake made a motion to come out of Executive Session at 8:28PM. A vote was taken with all members of council present voting aye.
ADJOURN:
Ms. Riffle made a motion to adjourn 8:30 p.m. A vote was taken with all members of council present voting aye.