Belpre City Council Minutes
Council President Mr. Neff 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. Colvin, Mrs. Drake, Mrs. Marshall, Mrs. Miller, Mrs. Sinnett, and Mr. Turrill present. Also present were Mayor Lorentz, Safety-Service Director Mr. Cross, City Auditor Miss Pittenger, City Law Director Mr. Webster and Clerk of Council Mrs. Meredith. Absent from the November 14, 2016 meeting was Treasurer Mrs. Kincaid.
Mr. Neff asked that everyone please rise for the Prayer and remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance. Mr. Neff gave the invocation.
Mrs. Marshall made a motion to accept the minutes of October 24, 2016 meeting 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 to Council. Negotiations are complete with the UFWC Local 400 representing our Police Department. Hopefully council will find the contract fair and good for both sides. The city was able to clean up some language and our insurance savings should help fund the financial portions of this contract.
The Chamber of Commerce held their fall dinner and it was absolutely the best ever. Over 200 people were in attendance. Lynn Fruth from Fruth Pharmacies was very interesting.
The Chamber, Ms. Miller and I cut the ribbon for 4 and 20 Blackbirds craft shop in the shopping plaza on November 2nd. This is quite an addition to the plaza, stop and check it out.
October 31st. was the grand opening and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for Camden Clark E.R. This is a wonderful new facility for our region. Congratulations to Camden and our Ms. Abdella.
With the loss of Darwin Mayle I have asked Ron Duvall to accept President of the Civil Service Board for our city. Tonight I would ask council to accept this appointment with a voice vote between now and end of year.
If you have travelled the west end of town hopefully you noticed the Bohio is gone making way for the new bank. In the same area a new load of steel has been delivered to start the construction of Bob’s Market’s new 22,000 Sq., Ft. garden centers. This facility has state of the art components according to Mr. Neff.
As noted in the local papers our Senator Brown has championed the EDA Grant for us. The EDA wants a contingency from here to come to Chicago for a face-to-face meeting on the 28th. Council, I am asking for you to pick up my expenses for this trip. A representative from Burgess & Nipel and I are travelling to and from the same day, no overnight arrangements are necessary. Mr. Cross has agreed to go in my place.
Our American Legion Post 495 held a ceremony on Veterans Day to showcase their new veteran’s walk. This is an amazing addition to our park as well as our heritage. Please take time to view. On Sunday November 13th we attended the unveiling of the Gold Star Memorial in Vienna. This is an amazing tribute to our military. Please take time to visit this wonderful tribute to our military.
This evening we have Troop 117 from Lubeck. These fine young gentlemen are working toward their Citizenship Community Badge in our Community.
Mr. Neff asked for a voice vote to accept Ron Duvall as President of the Civil Service Board for our city. Ron will be filling the position of Darwin Mayle. Ms. Abdella made a motion to accept Ron Duvall as President of the Civil Service Board. A vote was taken with all members of council president voting aye. Mr. Neff stated that the appointment was ratified.
Mr. Neff offered his appreciation for the beautiful memorial that has been placed here in Howe’s Grove Park. I attended that ceremony as well and I was very impressed. There was a pretty big crowd. If anyone would like to purchase a brick with a past or present service mans name on the brick you can do so by filling out a form with the requested information of the service man. There is a fee of $25 for each brick.
Safety-Service Director Mr. Cross reported that the ODOT Project is going very well. We are now down to the traffic lighting so the project will be wrapping up within the next couple weeks. We are finalizing some of the asphalt repairs on water line breaks. We are trying to get that project done as quickly as possible. Mr. Neff stated that there is a few catch basins that still need repaired. According to Mr. Cross there are some more that we would like to get done before winter.
City Auditor Miss Pittenger announced that she has placed a copy of the cities schedule of fees at the back table. This has not been updated since 2015. Beginning December 1, 2015 all property owners and renters are required to pay a fee of $100 for utility deposit. Owners and renters will get their deposit returned once their final bill has been paid. Mr. Neff asked what the deposit was for commercial? According to Ms. Pittenger there is no deposit fee however this is something we need to consider.
Also the Adjustment Report for the month of October is on the back table and on-line and is awaiting approval by council. Ms. Abdella made a motion to accept the Adjustment Report as presented. A vote was taken with all members of council present voting aye.
Mrs. Drake made a motion to accept the schedule of fees that has been updated. Mrs. Miller asked if you previously owned property and you moved to a new location would you have to pay the $100 deposit. According to Miss Pittenger you would have to pay the deposit. A vote was taken with all members of council present voting aye except for Mrs. Miller whom voted nay.
City Law Director Mr. Webster announced that landowners have been receiving messages from the Washington County Auditor’s Office in regards to how your real estate has been assessed. If you don’t agree as to how your property has been accessed you can contact them to discuss. You must follow their process. We are still awaiting our request for exemptions for the City of Belpre. I believe we are in month 22.
City Treasurer Mrs. Kincaid was absent. No report was given in her absence.
Communications and Petitions:
Mr. Neff assigned to Police and Fire Committee the following: RESOLUTION ADOPTING THE 2016 MULTI JURISDICTIONAL HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN and AN ORDINANCE PROHIBITING THE OPERATION OF A LOW-SPEED OR UNDER SPEED VEHICLE UPON ANY CITY STREET OR HIGHWAY. Mr. Neff stated that RESOLUTION ADOPTING THE 2016 MULTI JURISDICTIONAL HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN needs to be passed pretty quickly and AN ORDINANCE PROHIBITING THE OPERATION OF A LOW-SPEED OR UNDER SPEED VEHICLE UPON ANY CITY STREET OR HIGHWAY by the end of the year.
Report of Standing Committee:
Ms. Abdella Finance Audit Committee reported that her committee met prior to this evenings meeting to discuss the Temporary Appropriations for 2017. There wasn’t a lot to discuss. Permanent Appropriations should be right on schedule for the beginning of the year. At this time, Ms. Abdella made a motion to add to tonight’s agenda for first reading TEMPORARY APPROPRIAITON ORDINANCE FOR CALENDAR AND FISCAL YEAR 2017. A vote was taken with all members of council present voting aye. Ms. Abdella thanked the Boy Scouts for attending tonight’s meeting. Nice to see that you are interested in seeing how we operate our city. I would also like to discuss a date for ALICE Training. We just had an active shooter drill at the hospital. It is very important that we all have this training. Mr. Neff asked the Mayor and Safety-Service Director to coordinate with the police chief. Ms. Abdella stated that this is approximately a 2-½ training. Ms. Abdella thought we should wait until the beginning of the New Year.
Mrs. Miller, Police and Fire Committee had no report. Mrs. Miller made a motion to add to tonight’s agenda RESOLUTION ADOPTING THE 2016 MULTI-JURISDICTIONAL HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN. We voted in reverse order so that Ms. Abdella could read the legislation. A vote was taken with all members of council present voting aye. Mrs. Miller called a Police and Fire Committee meeting for November 28, 2016 at 7PM for the purpose of discussing operation of golf carts in our city. Ms. Abdella asked the SSD to please have the police chief available to us at that meeting.
Mr. Colvin, Streets, Sidewalk and Storm Sewer had no report.
Mrs. Marshall, Utilities Committee had no report.
Mrs. Sinnett, Parks and Recreation Committee had no report.
Mrs. Drake, Planning and Zoning Committee had no report.
Mrs. Drake, Economic Development presented the following report. Belpre Area Chamber of Commerce: Economic Development committee met October 31, with 14 members present. Speaker was Jim Black, Executive Director, SE Ohio Port Authority.
The topic for the evening covered the need for a PLAN for the City to guide Economic Development. This was a follow up to the previous meeting with staff from the Voinovich’s School at Ohio University.
The protocol is BACC Economic Development and the City is a PLAN for infrastructure.
We the Council along with City officials need to create a vision so we can look to the future and not just at the present. We need to consider where we want our schools to be in 5 years, 10 years, or 15 years. Do we want them to be the same or move forward? Who do our citizens want to be? Where do we want our businesses to be/look like? Our industry and our shopping. We need to consider infrastructure for: water pressure, storm drainage, and natural gas.
We all need to take this seriously so we can be a ‘light on the hill’ and do what we can for progress.
So, the Plan, we need a Master Plan and that costs money but it is money that can be pursued.
Ohio University Voinovich School of Economics will be coming back to BACC Economic Development with questions and we do hope to have some good answers.
In the future, we hope to meet with WSCC and what role they may play in reaching out to our community.
Did you ever consider we might strive to get county or other offices to locate here?
Council members your input is welcome and together we can all contribute to make a difference.
Mayor Thomas worked very hard on Economic Development when he was Mayor.
Mr. Turrill, Rules Committee had no report.
Persons Appearing Before Council – Agenda items only.
None
Unfinished Business: None
New Business:
Ms. Abdella brought before council for first reading TEMPORARY APPROPRIATION ORDINANCE FOR CALENDAR AND FISCAL YEAR 2017. A vote was taken with all members of council present voting aye. This will lie over until the next meeting of council.
Mrs. Miller brought before council for first reading RESOLUTION ADOPTING THE 2016 MULTI JURISDICTIONAL HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN. Mrs. Miller made a motion to amend as the legislation listed Mr. Neff as a councilperson instead of Council President. A vote was taken with all members of council present voting aye. Mrs. Miller brought before council for first reading RESOLUTION ADOPTING THE 2016 MULTI JURISDICTIONAL HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN as amended. A vote was taken with all members of council present voting aye.
Mrs. Miller moved to suspend the rule of council on three different days to allow for the second and third readings RESOLUTION ADOPTING THE 2016 MULTI JURISDICTIONAL HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN A vote was taken with all members of council present voting aye.
Mrs. Miller brought before council for second and third readings RESOLUTION ADOPTING THE 2016 MULTI JURISDICTIONAL HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN. A vote was taken with all members of council present voting aye.
Mrs. Miller moved this be Resolution #20, 2016-2017 and duly passed. A vote was taken with all members of council present voting aye.
Persons Appearing Before Council:
Karen Locke, 726 Tuttle Street acknowledged Mr. Cross on the presentation of our city. Mrs. Locke stated that she is seeing a lot of improvements.
Ms. Abdella made a motion to go into Executive Session to discuss city contract. A vote was taken with all members of council present voting aye.
Council resumed. Ms. Abdella made a motion by voice vote to accept the contract that had been discussed in the Executive Session. A vote was taken with all members of council present voting aye.
Mr. Neff stated that the only business that would take place after the Executive Session would be a voice vote to accept the contract discussed.
Mr. Neff recognized the Boy Scouts and thanked them for attending. He explained the Executive Session to them before recessing.
Adjourn
Ms. Abdella made a motion to adjourn at 8:42 PM. A vote was taken with all members of council present voting aye.