President of Council Kathy McNear called Council to order on May 16,
2007, at 7:00 p.m.
The governmental body and those in attendance recited the pledge of
allegiance. Mr. Knox gave the invocation.
Mr. Knox took roll call. Present were Council members Galster, Harlow,
Squires, Vanover, Wilson and McNear. Mr. Danbury was absent.
The minutes of May 2, 2007 were approved with six affirmative votes.
PROCLAMATION FOR PEACE OFFICERS’ MEMORIAL DAY
Mayor Webster read a proclamation proclaiming May 15, 2007 as Peace
Officers’ Memorial Day and May 13 to May 19 Police Week.
Mayor Webster presented the proclamation to Lieutenant Mike Mathis and
Sergeant Lynn McKee.
Chief Laage introduced new violations bureau clerk Chris Hedrick. Chris Hedrick has a
bachelor’s degree from UC in Education. She serves as a council person in Deer Park.
Chief Laage commended Sergeant McKee and Lieutenant Mathis for their years of dedicated
service to the City.
COMMITTEE AND OFFICIAL REPORTS
Civil Service Commission
-
no report
Rules and Laws - no report
Public Relations - no report
Public Health, Safety & Welfare -
no report
Public Works – Mr. Wilson stated construction of a new sidewalk on the north side of
Northland Boulevard from Olde Gate Lane to the existing sidewalk just east of SR 4, and
expansion of the Police and Fire Department parking lots is scheduled to bid mid July and
be completed mid October.
Public Utilities - no report
Capital Improvements – Mr. Wilson said work is substantially completed on the SR
747/CSX grade separation. Approximately forty-six feet of a culvert will be replaced
because it did not have the proper transition section installed by the original
contractor. Due to the additional cost related to the construction of this project the
current level of funding will be exceeded. OKI has available a funding source that will
help correct the funding deficit. The application deadline is June 1 and there is a
resolution before Council tonight supporting this funding application. The widening of
Kemper Road is underway, construction of the bridge and installation of new signals are
also underway. The project will be completed by September 2007. No change on the SR
4/Crescentville Road project and SR 4 continuous northbound lane north of Glensprings.
Award of the construction contract is scheduled for the fall of 2008. The ODOT urban
paving project from Glensprings to 800 feet south of Crescentville Road was originally
scheduled to start in early May. However, due to concerns for conflicts with the I-275
construction, ODOT has postponed the start of the SR 4 paving work. It’s still
scheduled to be completed in mid July. The Kemper Road improvements at Tri-County Mall are
currently on hold pending resolution of the reimbursement of the project costs with the
mall owners. The Veteran’s Memorial project is to be in mid July with construction to
start in late summer. Construction on the Church Street parking project is anticipated to
be substantially completed by late November
Finance Committee - no report
Planning Commission – Mr. Galster reported the first item was approval of a
developmental plan for Sam’s Club vestibule renovation. The second item was a request
for approval of a sign facing for AT&T Cingular Wireless, 11711 Princeton Pike. This
tenant does not have frontage on Princeton Pike and was trying to get a sign that was
off-premise on another part of that building. We recommended that they use some existing
entrance signage and the applicant agreed and withdrew his request. David’s Bridal,
720 Kemper Commons, requested a façade change that was approved 7-0. BJ’s
Restaurant, 11700 Princeton Pike, requested a façade change. That was approved 7-0.
Board of Zoning Appeals – Mr. Squires said the first request was for a boat in the
driveway at 170 Ruskin Drive. The resident purchased the boat with the understanding she
was in compliance. Boats are allowed in the driveway providing there are two additional
parking spaces 9 feet by 19 feet. The size of the parking spaces was not stated in the
brochure they had. The side yards are nine feet wide, not wide enough to park the boat in
the side yard. There are an 8 feet by 17 feet parking space and an 8 feet 7 inch by 14
feet 9 inch parking space available so they don’t have to park anything on the
street. A boat bigger than 19 feet l0 inches long including the triggers is all that will
be allowed at that property. That was approved with six votes. LifeSphere requested to
erect a fence in the front yard. The buildings along a stretch are situated so that the
back faces Springfield Pike; therefore, by code the fence would be a front yard fence. It
was defeated by a 6-1 vote. There was a request for an oversize accessory building at 1254
Wainwright. They originally wanted a 10 feet x 14 feet utility building and they already
have a shed on their property. When told the second shed would have to come down they
requested a bigger shed. They were approved for a 150 square foot shed. The Board is
working on revising the application form. We will submit that to the Administration and
Legal Department for review and it will be presented to Council for adoption. We are
working with the Building Department on sheds. We are looking for a formula to use and we
have gotten some material from other cities.
Mayor Webster asked on the boat situation, was there any discussion regarding the pamphlet
that the City had made available to these folks? They claimed that in reading that they
made an interpretation that their driveway would be a suitable size to accommodate this
boat so it was the City’s fault because we published this pamphlet and then our
inspector cites them.
Mrs. Harlow replied they weren’t cited. They actually flagged down Al Winkle as he
was driving by and asked him if they were in compliance. They were proactive. They looked
at the boat, then read the pamphlet, then went back and purchased the boat. Then they
flagged down Mr. Winkle and he told them they fell short of meeting the parking
requirements.
Mayor Webster asked was there a deficiency in the pamphlet?
Mrs. Harlow responded it just indicated that certain things could be done. The size or
requirements for the parking were not in the pamphlet but it did mention that you could
park a boat in your driveway.
Mayor Webster said if we left something out of that pamphlet then we need to reexamine the
pamphlet. I would feel for a family that would make an investment in a boat, then the
decision of the board was no, you can’t park it there.
Mr. Wilson asked did the owners indicate it would be a financial burden for them to sell
the boat because it would then be a used boat or was it an issue of storage costs?
Mr. Squires replied it was an issue of storage costs.
Mr. Wilson said I don’t know about storage costs but I would think they would want to
put it in a more secure area than there. I guess we need to tighten up our bylaws and
state the size of boat, motor home or trailer we can put on a given lot.
Mr. Squires replied I think they are adequate. That’s why they ask for variances. In
this particular case the vehicles they have are small. They came very close to the two
additional parking spaces.
Mr. Wilson said any resident can ask for a variance for anything. We seem to approve a lot
of these on financial hardships. The cost of the boat is expensive as is, to say because
it’s a financial burden we’ll make an exception this time. How often do we make
exceptions?
Mrs. Harlow said the burden was that they could not store it on any other location on
their lot. In this particular driveway, they can have the boat, because it has a
break-away tongue, and one vehicle right behind it without anything overhanging the
sidewalk. Then they have a parking spot next to that for two other vehicles.
Mayor Webster said I know the family and the situation. If that house sells in the future
and a family moves in with two full size vehicles, is there still room for those two to
park in the driveway?
Mrs. Harlow replied yes. They would have to be responsible for moving their cars in and
out but they could get two of them there. It was pointed out that our Police Department is
very diligent about cars hanging over the sidewalk and that they would be cited.
Mr. Galster said originally you said there were two parking spots, one in front of the
boat and one on the side. Now I think I heard there is a short one in front or behind the
boat, and two on the side. Are the two parking spots on the side of the actual size that
was required by the Zoning Code or are they too small still to fit two regular cars there?
Mrs. Harlow replied they are slightly under and the only reason they fit is that she
drives a very small car.
Mr. Galster said a lot of consideration was given to the parking stalls to try to make
sure that it didn’t become a nuisance to have that kind of vehicle in the front yard.
Board of Health – Mrs. Harlow stated The Willows of Springdale and the Health
Department have teamed together to offer a kids summer program June 13 to July 25 on
Wednesdays. It is geared to children six to twelve and will include food, fun and crafts.
There will be an orientation meeting for the Tri-State Medical Reserve Corp at the
Vineyard Church on July 12. The purpose is to establish a database of medical volunteers
in case of emergency.
Veteran’s Memorial Committee – Mr. Wilson said the Veteran’s Memorial golf
tournament committee met on May 1. We need to lock in a course, date, meal selection, hole
sponsors. We hope to meet no later than the first week in June to finalize this.
O-K-I - no report
Mayor’s Report – Mayor Webster said the Springdale Night at the Reds was a lot
of fun. The choir was very good and the color guard presented the colors. We are looking
forward to do this on a regular basis. Mr. Danbury did a good job putting this together.
Mr. Galster said a DVD from the Reds Night is available at the elementary school. It shows
the Mayor throwing his wonderful pitch, the color guard and the chorale performance, as
well as other footage. I believe it costs $10.
Clerk of Council/Finance Director -
no report
Administrator’s Report – Mr. Osborn said we contract with TEC Engineering for
traffic signal maintenance and operations. We are currently reaching the end of a
three-year contract. I have a proposal for renewal from TEC. The new contract will remain
at $3500 a month for the first year, then it goes up $50 a month the second year and $100
a month the third year. I would request that Council consider an ordinance at the next
meeting authorizing the agreement.
Mr. Osborn continued I’m sure you saw in the paper where two of our County
Commissioners have proposed a Hamilton County Comprehensive Safety Plan that would build
an eighteen hundred bed prison. It would provide financial assistance to law enforcement
throughout the County, particularly in the area of communications. At the end of this
proposal the County would pick up seventy percent of all communications costs. I’m
distributing the material we received from the County on this proposal. I can tell you
that the elements of what they are proposing to do have the support of the law enforcement
community in Hamilton County. Today I received the following communication from the County
again touching on this and requesting that jurisdictions throughout the County consider
adopting a resolution endorsing their proposal. A number of years ago I was on the levy
committee for new communications system in Hamilton County. At that time I did not come to
you and ask for a resolution in support because I understood and realized it has been our
practice not to endorse levies or ballot issues. For that reason I am only passing this
information out for your review and perusal. If you have any questions regarding it or
should you choose to break with past tradition and take action here that would be your
decision. This is a very hot issue right now and will reach a critical point in the very
near future.
Mr. Knox said Mr. Osborn mentioned there would be savings to the community in this report
he handed out. It says that the City of Springdale would save over $64,000 a year in the
costs of communications.
Law Director’s Report (Ken Schneider) -
no report
Engineer’s Report (Don Shvegzda) -
no report
COMMUNICATIONS
-
none
COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE AUDIENCE
- none
ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS
ORDINANCE NO. 30-2007 “DECLARING THREE VEHICLES AS SURPLUS PROPERTY AND AUTHORIZING
THE CITY ADMINISTRATOR TO ADVERTISE, AUCTION AND ENTER INTO A CONTRACT FOR SALE OF SAID
VEHICLES AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY”
Mr. Squires made a motion to adopt and Mr. Vanover seconded.
Mayor Webster asked why not sell on e-bay?
Mr. Osborn replied one has a blown engine and one we can’t get started yet so we
thought it would be difficult to entice bidders on e-bay.
Ordinance 30-2007 passed with six affirmative votes.
ORDINANCE NO. 31-2007 “AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR AND CLERK OF COUNCIL/FINANCE DIRECTOR TO
ENTER INTO A PERPETUAL USE AND EASMENT AGREEMENT WITH PRINCETON CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD
OF EDUCATION”
Mr. Vanover made a motion to add the emergency clause and Mr. Galster seconded. The motion
passed with six affirmative votes.
Mr. Vanover made a motion to adopt and Mr. Galster seconded.
Ordinance 31-2007 passed with six affirmative votes.
ORDINANCE NO. 32-2007 “ENACTING AND ADOPTING THE 2006 S-8 SUPPLEMENT TO THE CODE OF
ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF SPRINGDALE, OHIO, AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY”
Mr. Galster made a motion to adopt and Mr. Vanover seconded.
Mr. Knox said I certify that I have checked it out and it is exactly as the Ordinance and
ORC says it should be.
Ordinance 32-2007 passed with six affirmative votes.
RESOLUTION R9-2007 “RESOLUTION OPPOSING HOUSE BILL 154 ABOLISHING MAYOR’S
COURTS”
Mr. Squires made a motion to adopt and Mr. Wilson seconded.
Mayor Webster said I would like to request that Mr. Knox certify a copy of this to all
members of both houses of the State Legislature. Mr. Knox suggested adding the governor
also.
Resolution R9-2007 passed with six affirmative votes.
RESOLUTION R10-2007 “OPPOSING OHIO SENATE BILL NUMBER 117, A BILL REDUCING OHIO
CITIES’ RIGHTS REGARDING CABLE TELEVISION AND FRANCHISES FOR CABLE TELEVISION”
Mr. Squires made a motion to read Resolution R10-2007 by title only. Mr. Wilson seconded.
The motion passed with six affirmative votes.
Mr. Knox stated they are saying this is to add to the competition. The way it is set up
now the same competition is there. This is an attempt by one company to deregulate the
cable industry in the State of Ohio in my opinion. Where we would have lost control of our
right-of-ways has been removed from the bill. This would have cut out two major funds that
would come to cities. The shopping networks are still out and that will cost us three to
five percent. We just received $24,182 from Time Warner for one quarter. That would cost
us $3,000 to $8,000 a year. The way this is written I’m sure many rural communities
will lose their cable television because part of this deregulation effort is to say that
cable companies can walk away from any contract or franchise that they have now and they
don’t have to serve any area they don’t feel like serving. This is a
deregulation, not to increase competition.
Mr. Vanover said the banks have been hammered for trying to pick and choose where they do
business. They can’t do it so I don’t understand how the cable companies can do
this. I suggest sending this to all legislators and governor also.
Mr. Squires said the main sponsor of SB 117 is AT&T.
Mr. Squires made a motion to adopt and Mrs. Harlow seconded.
Resolution R10-2007 passed with six affirmative votes.
RESOLUTION R11-2007 “AUTHORIZING THE CITY ADMINISTRATOR TO FILE A FUNDING APPLICATION
FOR A SPECIAL CYCLE OF SURFACE TRANSPORTATION PROGRAM FUNDING THROUGH OKI, WHICH WILL BE
UTILIZED TO AUGMENT THE CURRENT SR 747 / CSX GRADE SEPARATION FUNDING IN ORDER TO DEAL
WITH POTENTIAL FUNDING SHORTFALLS”
Mr. Galster made a motion to adopt and Mr. Wilson seconded.
Mr. Osborn stated this is very critical for us. The project costs for
construction and right-of-way have continued to go up over the years mostly because of
things outside our control, such as the CSX organization reneging on their force account,
causing the first contract to be canceled, delaying the project for a year; thereby
escalating costs and also adding about $500,000 in penalties to their contractor that they
had to walk away from. Then we ran into a situation where the second contractor went
bankrupt two-thirds of the way through the project. The delays have caused things such as
the temporary right-of-way fees to go up. This project started several years ago and at
the time, the State bought an option for some temporary right-of-way. That was for a
certain period of time and the cost of right-of-way has gone up by almost $1 million. That
also includes an undetermined settlement with the last property owner. Overall, we’ve
seen the project exceed more than $2 million above our current funding levels. We have a
total funding available for construction of $13.7 million. We are looking at $14.8
million. Only $400,000 in actual construction cost is ours at this point, although we did
$1 million engineering and professional services ahead of that contract. The current
right-of-way cost is $1,599,593 so we are $2,134,000 short. We would like to apply for
funding under this special cycle. We are applying at an 80/20 split so we will be asking
for $1.7 million dollars. We ask for your support for this resolution.
Mr. Wilson said if we pass this resolution we will have to put it in
process early because there are no guarantees we will get this money.
Mr. Osborn responded this is the last piece. We have the application
ready to go and it must be filed by June 1. We have vetted the application with the
individual at OKI who will administer the program. We have tried to benefit from that
input and believe we have polished the application the best we can. This resolution is not
needed but we felt the added weight of Council’s endorsement could not hurt at all
and could very well influence some of the members of the board that awards the funding.
Mr. Wilson asked what is the timeframe until we get an answer?
Mr. Shvegzda replied the committee meets June 19th and there will
probably be an appeals time.
Mr. Osborn stated it will be this summer. A big part of our argument is that this is truly
a regional improvement. This is not done just for the City of Springdale. A great majority
of the benefit derives from people living outside of Springdale.
Resolution R11-2007 passed with six affirmative votes.
OLD BUSINESS
Mrs. McNear said there seems to be a lot of debris in the road on the I-275 construction.
Perhaps we can report that. Finally people are starting to slow down.
Mr. Osborn said on S8-2006, our codification ordinance, Mr. Knox reads every comma and
semi-colon and checks it back against all the ordinances and resolutions you adopted
during the previous year. That’s a very tedious job. It was never done in this detail
before he was here.
Mr. Osborn stated TEC’s offices are in Springdale. If you have not had an opportunity
to go there, I’ll make arrangements for you to stop in and have a tour of the place.
I think you’d be very impressed with the high tech systems they use to operate our
traffic signals.
Mrs. McNear said we also talked about touring Rumpke at some time.
Mr. Parham replied I can make that arrangement whenever you’re ready.
NEW BUSINESS
Mr. Knox stated we had a request for a D1 liquor license for Chipotle.
There were no objections.
Mrs. Harlow made a motion to go into the summer schedule having only
the second meeting in July and August, and Mr. Vanover seconded. The motion passed with
six affirmative votes.
MEETINGS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Mr. Knox said Al Winstel, Hamilton County Parks asked to be on the June
6th agenda.
COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE AUDIENCE -
none
UPDATE ON LEGISLATION STILL IN DEVELOPMENT
Tax budget
-
June 20
RECAP OF LEGISLATIVE ITEMS REQUESTED
Council adjourned at 8:46 p.m.
Respectfully
submitted,
Edward
F. Knox
Clerk
of Council/Finance Director
Minutes Approved:
Kathy McNear, President of Council
__________________________, 2007
Page 5 Ed ___
Cecil ___
City of Springdale Council
May 16 2007