President of Council Marjorie Harlow called Council to order on May 20, 2009, at 7:00 p.m.

    The governmental body and those in attendance recited the pledge of allegiance. Mrs. McNear gave the invocation.

    Mrs. McNear took roll call. Present were Council members Danbury, Diehl, Galster, Squires, Wilson and Harlow. Mr. Vanover was absent.

    The minutes of May 6, 2009 were approved with six affirmative votes with one change: “Mr. Vanover” took roll call.

    COMMITTEE AND OFFICIAL REPORTS
    Civil Service Commission                     -     no report
Rules and Laws        -    no report
Finance Committee        -    no report
Planning Commission        -    no report

Board of Zoning Appeals – Mr. Danbury said the owner of 11840 Lawnview Avenue requested a variance to allow the elimination of the garage. The garage was converted before he bought the house and the variance was granted 7-0. A variance was granted for a utility building 3’4” from the side yard line at 650 Castro Lane. Showcase Cinemas requested a variance to allow a display of 200 three-foot balloons for one day. The variance was approved. The resident at 684 Smiley asked for a variance to increase the impervious surface to 0.545 percent. That was approved for 0.55 percent.

Board of Health – Mr. Squires reported a community health assessment survey will be mailed out in the newsletter. More people are getting sick from the regular flu today than the H1N1 virus and this is not flu season. A Healthy Women Healthy Lives program will be held at The Healing Center at The Vineyard on June 13. There will be a mobile mammography van at the Community Center on July 30 and a rabies vaccination clinic will be held September 26 at the Police Department.
   
Veteran’s Memorial Committee – Mr. Wilson stated the dedication is Sunday at 2:00 p.m. The statues are installed, the Merchant Marine story stone is installed and the remaining twenty-five pavers will be installed tomorrow.

Mr. Squires said kudos to Mr. Wilson and Mr. Galster for their hard work on the committee.

O-K-I -        -    no report
   
Mayor’s Report – Mayor Webster said the seating is limited for the dedication ceremony so get there early if you need to sit. I would like to amplify Mr. Squires comments about the contributions of Mr. Wilson and Mr. Galster. Along the way Mr. Danbury joined the group. Mr. Vanover was there along with Mr. Knox. Mr. Osborn played a very active roll on the committee. We were very fortunate to have three veterans on the committee: Mr. Wilson, Mr. Osborn and Mr. Knox.

Mr. Danbury said available parking will be a pressing need this Sunday so I would encourage anyone who can walk to park as far away as possible to allow those with limited mobility the opportunity to come and participate.
   
Clerk of Council/Finance Director – Mrs. McNear reported the annual audit will begin June 1st and the auditors are expected to be here one to two weeks.

   
Administrator’s Report – Mr. Parham said we would like to request legislation authorizing the execution of a job retention agreement with Cincom Systems Inc.     We would also like an ordinance to amend Ordinance 31-2008 providing for a job creation retention agreement with PCMS Datafit Inc. At the March 18 meeting of Council Brenda Wehmer was present as we were addressing an ordinance to reflect the increase of interest rates and fees for the Letter of Credit associated with the TIF at Pictoria Island. At that particular meeting Mr. Galster raised the question of Mrs. Wehmer as to what would occur if one of the parties chose not to sign that agreement. Unfortunately, we find ourselves at that point. One of the parties has decided not to sign the agreement, thus that would draw down the Letter of Credit and cause this to default. According to Mrs. Wehmer, RBC which is the remarketing agent for the Letter of Credit had failed to submit their invoices for 2008. At the same time RBC apparently did not really pay close enough attention to the legislation by Council as well as the Port Authority at their meeting concerning changing those fees. Since RBC had not provided their invoices they did not receive compensation for their services for 2008. When it came time for them to sign the document, I guess someone made them aware that they had not been paid and they said that they would not sign the document. The Port Authority, along with the Trustee of the agreement has reached a settlement with RBC, the successor to Seasongood and Mayer that they will be paid their fees. If they don’t pay the fees RBC will not sign the document and the Letter of Credit goes into default. Mrs. Wehmer contacted us today to see if Council had an issue with this. In the document we passed March 18, there was generic authorization language included to handle such issues. In talking with Mrs. Wehmer and Mr. Schneider, we believe the generic authorization language will handle this process for us. Hence, we do not need legislation from Council but we would like to get authorization from the body. Mr. Schneider has copies of the language.

Mrs. Harlow asked would Council like to have the document read.

Mr. Schneider said I don’t think it is necessary to read the document on the floor. It accomplishes what Mr. Parham said. The authorization we provided in the original ordinance says “and take such other actions as necessary to complete the transaction.” There was sufficient given and it does not affect us in any way.

Mr. Galster asked, once again if one of the parties doesn’t sign, then the note gets recalled? You say they negotiated a settlement for their fees. What if that’s not good enough?

Mr. Parham responded as Mrs. Wehmer pointed out on March 18, it would then fall back to MEPT, the developer on the project. They did what they needed to do. The problem is that RBC did not necessarily take care of their part of the process but they carry a pretty heavy hammer. As Mr. Schneider indicated, it does not affect the City.

Mr. Galster said if all of a sudden the developer can’t get a line of credit . . .

Mr. Schneider replied they already have it.

Mr. Galster said this is to replace it on new terms.

Mr. Schneider responded this is just to meet the obligations that exist. The issue is that the advisor, Seasongood and Mayer or their successor did not get in their billing within the calendar year. As a result, technically they defaulted and are not entitled to it but everybody has agreed that they did all the work and it would be very unfair not to pay them for it. Rather than let it go into default this is the alternative. It does not impact us at all.


Mayor Webster said the original issue is that one of the parties wanted to increase their fees and the original document wouldn’t allow them to do it. That’s what started this. Now that’s been taken care of.

Mr. Galster stated it hasn’t been taken care of because they didn’t sign it.

Mayor Webster said that is a different issue. This is an unpaid bill that should have been taken care of before this legislation was presented or adopted by us or approved by U.S. Bank or MEPT, etc. It was an oversight that they didn’t submit their bills. Now they want their money and they have negotiated a settlement.

Mr. Galster said and then they will sign the original document that was originally presented before because they are not objecting to the actual terms of that.

Mr. Parham said the agreement does not expire until October 25, 2009. If you recall, at the meeting on March 18, Mrs. Wehmer indicated to Council that we had time before the deadline was to occur because of the other actions that needed to take place. However, there is language that she has indicated to me that is in the original document that suggests that it has to be renewed 150 days prior to the expiration date which puts us at next week. If we are not in agreement with it and RBC does not sign it, then sometime next week the Letter of Credit will be drawn down and there will be a default on the Letter of Credit.

Mr. Galster made a motion that Ordinance 7-2009 is hereby understood and that Council has agreed that the City Administration shall continue upon their efforts to execute the document as originally intended. Mr. Squires seconded. The motion passed with six affirmative votes.

Mr. Parham said the pool season opens this Saturday, May 23. The pool will be open 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.

Law Director’s Report         -     no report
   
Engineer’s Report – Mr. Shvegzda stated there has been a delay in receiving some of the signal equipment for the SR 4 improvements at Crescentville Road. We have no delivery date from ODOT. The SR 4 continuous northbound lane north of Glensprings has also been delayed. The work is well underway for the Crescentville Road improvements at SR 747. They have temporary pavement on the north side to allow construction in the new roadway to take place on the south side. The signal is about ninety percent complete. The SR 747 ODOT paving project from Kemper Road to the I-275 eastbound off ramp is going to be bid July 15. The SR 4 southbound lane addition at I-275 environmental document is being prepared for ODOT. The Northland Boulevard repair and resurfacing also requires an environmental document be prepared.

Mrs. Harlow said they just switched the lanes around at SR 4 and I-275 and when I came over this way about 6:20 p.m. traffic was backing up considerably. The light was extremely long and if you get backed up onto I-275 you have such a short distance there from the other merge.

Mr. Shvegzda stated I did notice that the traffic was backed up as far as northbound SR 4 yesterday and today. There is nothing I know that they have modified at the Crescentville/SR 4 intersection but something has changed. We’ll get in touch with them about that. The westbound off ramp to SR 4 is in its new configuration of one lane and that is an issue itself without any complications from SR 4.

Mayor Webster said Fairfield is running the project for the SR 4 at Crescentville work.

Mr. Shvegzda replied Fairfield is the lead agency under the director of ODOT.

Mayor Webster said the intersection is treacherous. I walked down the hill and across SR 4 last week. There is no sidewalk. The pedestrian button is gone on the south side of the intersection. Back in the winter I had Jeff check with them about a huge hole in the road that they didn’t do anything about. They disappeared for weeks on end. Now they say they are waiting on controllers. How long have they been on order?   

    COMMUNICATIONS                             -     none

    Mr. Wilson said we talked about the story stones and additional pavers at the Veteran’s Memorial. Over the last several months I have been in communication with the local representative of the Tuskegee Airmen. His interest is to have a story stone. The first submittal we received the community decided that we wanted a story stone to be more inclusive. Two weeks ago I received the twenty-five page document that was more inclusive of all the organizations, the units that served from the Revolutionary War to World War II when we had desegregation shortly after. I will be reviewing that packet and at our next memorial meeting I will be presenting that packet for us to review and condensed to what will be contained in the story stone. We do have extra story stones and there will be other organizations that will be applying to be included in that.

    Mayor Webster said I received a communication from the Springdale Sailfish Team thanking the City for the financial contribution to the team.

    Mayor Webster said we give them $3,000 a year and have done so since 1995.

    COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE AUDIENCE             -     none

Springdale Garden Club – Donation of Trees to City Departments - Joan Knox

Mrs. Knox, President of the Garden Club said the Garden Club bought trees for the City for Arbor Day. Public Works chose two sugar maples and a swamp white oak. The Parks and Recreation Department chose the eastern white pine for their tree. In all, it is $376.25. The Garden Club is over fifty years old and has donated many trees over the years. In response to Mrs. Harlow, Mrs. Knox said we plant the three beds at the Community Center. We must have put $3,000 into that initial planting. The Garden Club before my time worked with Public Works to plant the Triangle Park between here and UDF. Since then, Public Works cleaned that out and the Garden Club put $2500 into that and we maintained it since then with their help. For the past three years we have put a butterfly garden in at the elementary school.

Mrs. Harlow said we appreciate the Garden Club’s effort to beautify the City.

Update on Chamber of Commerce - Julie Matheny, Executive Director

Mrs. Matheny reported there will be a Springdale Farmer’s Market and the kickoff date will be June 4th. It will run through October every Thursday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. We have a variety of vendors selling, meats, vegetables, pasta, bread, honey, eggs, soaps, etc. I want to thank the Meyers Y Cooper Company because they offered their parking lot to us at no charge.

Mrs. Matheny said the Chamber has decided not to let the Taste of Springdale die. The Business Community Expo/Taste of Springdale will be held October 11 inside the Community Center from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.

ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS


ORDINANCE NO. 12-2009 “AUTHORIZING THE CITY OF SPRINGDALE (HEREINAFTER THE “CITY”) TO ENTER INTO THE LPA FEDERAL LOCAL-LET PROJECT ARRA AGREEMENT WITH THE STATE OF OHIO DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (ODOT) TO PROVIDE FOR UPGRADING NORTHLAND BOULEVARD (HEREINAFTER THE “PROJECT”) AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY”

Mr. Squires made a motion to adopt and Mr. Danbury seconded.

Mr. Wilson said I see we are obligated to pay any money over $950,000. Do we feel that figure is good?

Mr. Shvegzda replied it is well within the guidelines. As we proceed, we will value engineer that project to make sure it stays within that cost constraint.

Ordinance 12-2009 passed with six affirmative votes.

RESOLUTION R5-2009 “COMMENDING THE PRINCETON VIKINGS BOYS’ BASKETBALL TEAM FOR AN OUTSTANDING SEASON AND THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS THEY ADVANCED TO THE OHSAA STATE CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS”

Mrs. Harlow said Princeton had an awards ceremony at their school this evening and the team is unable to be in attendance.

    Mrs. McNear suggested we pass this ordinance this evening and then either have them delivered to the school so the students can get them before the end of the school year and invite them to come to a subsequent meeting to receive these in person and get the accolades from the City.

    Mr. Danbury made a motion to adopt and Mr. Wilson seconded.

    Mr. Danbury said these young men showed a lot of grit. They lost their coach right before the season and they could have given up but they didn’t. They played for their previous coach who is now deceased and their current coach. Also, a lot of these players donate their time at Heritage School mentoring students. I think we should all be proud of what they’ve done.

    Resolution R5-2009 passed with six affirmative votes.
   
OLD BUSINESS

Mrs. McNear said I’d like to thank Mayor Webster for his participation in an event we held at Princeton High School last week to honor Tony Snow, who was the former press secretary for the President. He so kindly gave a resolution that proclaimed last Tuesday as Tony Snow Day in Springdale. Tony Snow did grow up in Springdale and attended Heritage Hill, Princeton Jr. High and Princeton High School. I also want to thank Mr. Danbury for participating in the event as well.

    NEW BUSINESS                         -     none

    MEETINGS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

    Veteran’s Memorial dedication                 -     May 24
   
COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE AUDIENCE        -      none

UPDATE ON LEGISLATION STILL IN DEVELOPMENT

CINCOM job retention                     -     May 24
Amending Ordinance 31-2008                 -     May 24


Mayor Webster said Jeff Tulloch told me this CINCOM job retention is slightly different than our normal job retention. It’s usually a forgivable loan and their bank has a problem with committing to that type of loan arrangement so this is going to be more of a line of credit.

RECAP OF LEGISLATIVE ITEMS REQUESTED

Resolution authorizing agreement wit ODOT (SR 747)


Council adjourned at 8:12 p.m.

                        Respectfully submitted,




                        Kathy McNear
                        Clerk of Council/Finance Director

Minutes Approved:
Marjorie Harlow, President of Council