MADISON TOWNSHIP BOARD OF TRUSTEES
WORKSHOP
February
8th, 2011 at 6:22PM
The meeting was
called to order by Chairman Bill Brotzman with the following people present: Mr.
Wayman, Mr. Anderson, Mr. Advey, Chief Del Calzo, Township Solicitor, Ron
Graham, Mrs. Gerred-Ditchcreek.
Chief Del Calzo
informed the Board that the Village came on to the Township dispatch on February
2nd, and everything has gone smoothly.
Chief Del Calzo
informed the Board that he received a letter of resignation from Kyle Nyman, a
part time officer recently hired due to a change in his family status and that
the Chief will be asking for their approval of the resignation at the regular
meeting.
He also noted that
he has two candidates for part time positions and hiring them now will get them
ready for the summer. He will be asking for the Board’s approval at the regular
meeting and that one of the new hires will be to replace Kyle while the other is
an additional new hire. He stated that one has been with Geneva for about 5
years and one fairly fresh from the Academy. Chief would also like to hire a
part time dispatcher, Thurston C. Svagerko from the Village. He stated that Mr.
Svagerko worked for Central Communications for a number of years and is familiar
with how the Township and Village runs so he would make a good hire.
Chief Del Calzo
noted that the officers have completed the remodeling of the station and did a
great job.
Mr. Graham discussed
the transfer of county time for a recently hired police dispatcher. He noted
that we have done this in the past and stated that the only thing the law
requires is that we take Township to Township time, but that any other time
would be under the discretion of the Board.
He noted that this is what the Board did and he feels it is proper.
Mr. Graham discussed
the issue of Larry Advey’s cell phone reimbursement of $40.00. He noted it was
brought to Mrs. Ditchcreek’s attention that this was not being submitted
properly, and that it should be taxed. She then sent Mr. Graham an IRS
regulation she received from the Auditor’s office. Mr. Graham spoke with Larry
about it who stated that he spoke with Mike Patriarca, who is his accountant and
Painesville Township Fiscal Officer who stated that reimbursing him is the
correct procedure. Mr. Graham also spoke with his brother, who is an IRS agent,
who confirmed Mr. Patriarca’s decision. Mr. Graham feels he does not have to
report it on his income, due to the resolution that was passed in 2007.
Mr. Anderson wished
to ask about Mr. Graham’s advice on the transfer of vacation time for the
dispatcher. He asked Mr. Graham if he looked at section 93-040 from the Attorney
General. Mr. Graham stated that he did not. Mr. Anderson stated that according
to the Ohio Revised Code and the Attorney General it cannot be done and that it
could only be City to City or Township to Township. Mr. Anderson admitted that
he made a mistake voting yes on that issue. Mr. Graham asked if he has the
Attorney General’s opinion, which Mr. Anderson stated he does. While Mr. Graham
reviews this document, business continued and will revisit it later in the
meeting.
Mr. Brotzman asked
if anyone else had questions for Mr. Graham, Mrs. Gerred-Ditchcreek stated that
she needs Mr. Graham’s legal advice on Larry’s cell phone charges in writing so
that if she gets hit on an Audit, it will show why she did it that way.
Mrs.
Gerred-Ditchcreek also stated that she will be asking for them to vote on the
appropriations budget. She stated that the carryover is actual. Under the
Revenue, Property Taxes is based on what the County said they would be giving.
She noted that Local Government is usually $350,000.00 but she took it to
$200,000.00. Tangible Personal Property, cut it by the 20% annual schedule as
they are doing away with this, Inheritance Tax is at zero. The appropriations
are what Larry and the Chief gave her and the normal bills such as; salary and
PERS, etc. She noted that with the medical, she had to show our complete
liability due to the deductibles for each employee. She stated that once she
knows what we have in July, there will be time to adjust. She stated that this
is the worst case scenario and stated that she thinks we are fine if we keep it
as it has been. Mr. Wayman agreed noting that even if it is all spent, we have a
decent carryover of over $2,000,000.00. Mr. Brotzman stated that we need to keep
our expenses to a minimum, as we have been. Mrs. Gerred-Ditchcreek stated that
they’ve allotted for Capital Improvements for dispatch, radios, fuel, etc. Mrs.
Gerred-Ditchcreek stated that Larry is also working on quite a few grants too
and although the money is appropriated, there are areas that may be replaced by
grant money. She stated she wanted to keep things conservative. Mr. Brotzman
stated that he would rather have his fiscal officer talking “poor” then talking
like we have a ton of money. She stated that this budget will become the
permanent appropriations.
Mr. Advey stated
that he had a note from the last meeting about what to do with Fire Station 3
and asked the Board if they wanted to discuss that further. Mr. Brotzman stated
that the assessment made to the fire board was that the walls were good, but
nothing else is. Mr. Brotzman suggested fixing the roof and using it for cold
storage. Mr. Wayman believes the rough estimate he had gotten would be around
$20,000. Mr. Brotzman stated that the only other option would be tearing it
down. Mr. Advey stated that it would be cheaper to put a roof on it. Chief Del
Calzo noted that it was a location they were looking at for a tower if the
Township went to their own radio system.
Mr. Advey stated
that the Township is going into the fifth year for ditch cleaning and every year
he looks at different ditches that need cleaned. The waterways behind Ridge
Manor, McMackin, Arcola Creek, and Townline Road need to be checked.
He asked if anyone knows of any that
need looked at to let him know.
Mr. Advey stated
that the Health District asked for first and second contact information and
asked the Board to pick who these contacts would be. Mr. Wayman suggested Safety
forces. Mr. Advey asked if they wanted to make it the Chair & Co Chairmen. As
they are not sure if they are looking for contacts after the safety forces are
contacted, Mr. Advey is going to look into what exactly they are looking for on
this and revisit it at another meeting.
Mr. Advey discussed
the ACHIEVE Wellness Bike Day, which will be held on Saturday September 10th.
He stated that he and Cindi are working on this. This is a family bike day event
and we will be holding ours at Stanton Park. The Mayor of North Perry Village,
Ed Klco, suggested teaming up with us, but Larry asked them to go to Perry
Village and Perry Township first. He asked the Board to look over some of the
suggested events and let him know what their thoughts are on them.
Mr. Advey discussed
the meeting he went to regarding the Farm and Lands Protection Program. To his
knowledge, North Perry Village is the one only financially able to participate.
Mr. Advey discussed
SUSTAIN (System for Urban Stormwater Treatment Analysis Integration) with the
Board. This is not a mandatory program at this point, but they want communities
to volunteer projects and those communities to fund the projects.
Mr. Advey discussed
the bid opening for the Energy Improvement Project for the Service Dept
Building. He is asking the Board to reject the bids as he is no longer going
with the drop ceiling, but rather an infrared system that heats objects instead
of air.
Mr. Advey stated
that he handed out a memo on the potential of NOPEC Energy Grant projects he is
working on. He noted that he has tried to find out if we will be receiving the
additional funds, as he has been anticipating. Mr. Advey discussed some of the
costs he proposes to repair Isaiah House, Tuttle House and Rabbit Run building.
He noted that, as a reference, Concord has 4,427 accounts at $30.00 each and
they received a total of $132,810.00; Painesville Township has 4,466 accounts at
$30.00 each for a total of $121,980.00; Madison Township has 2,077 accounts at
$30.00 for a total of $62,310.00. Mr.
Advey feels this is too low, he said he was told that’s about 50%, so 100% would
be 4,154 for a total of $124,620.00 plus or minus. Mr. Advey stated that the
Township is going to spend approximately $48,500.00 on the service Department
infrared heat and lighting depending on how the bids come out. The Township has
already spent $6,000 for architectural work on this project and he is hoping to
have $70,000 to go towards the additional projects discussed previously. Final
submission for the grant is February 28th. He spoke with Leigh
Herington, he advised him to do one of two approaches, the first being submit
the grants at that dollar amount or have the projects ready and when we find out
how much we’re going to get.
Mr. Graham wished to
address the Attorney General’s opinion that Mr. Anderson referred to. Mr. Graham
stated that he does not agree with him regarding what the Attorney General is
saying. He stated that the opinion refers to limiting vacation time he noted
that it says that “the board cannot limit vacation time”. In our handbook, it is
policy that it is under the discretion of the Board to approve it. He stated
that if Mr. Anderson is not happy with his decision and another board member
agrees, he can ask the Prosecutor to ask the Attorney General about this
specific situation. He added that the mandatory language only states that they
have to consider time earned for Township to Township. Mr. Anderson
stated that he disagrees and that he has spoken with other attorneys. Mr. Graham
broke in and stated that he is the Township’s solicitor and if Mr. Anderson is
getting opinions from other people there is something wrong there. Mr. Anderson
stated that there is nothing wrong with it and Mr. Graham added that there is
because he is the Township’s solicitor and Mr. Anderson asked for his
professional opinion, which he gave. Mr. Graham stated that the Board is welcome
to disagree with him and again stated that if there is another Board member who
disagrees with him, he will have the Lake County Prosecutor contact the Attorney
General and he will abide by what the Attorney General decides. Mr. Graham feels
the policy in our handbook is appropriate. Mr. Anderson asked Mr. Graham to put
his opinion in writing and Mr. Graham reiterated that if another Board member
agrees with Mr. Anderson, then he will do what the Board instructs him to do.
Mr. Brotzman asked if anyone else wished to comment on this, after no one spoke,
he stated that it appears that the majority of the Board is comfortable with
this opinion. Mr. Anderson disagreed and stated that what they’ve done in the
past is not right and that the Board is not above the law they are here to
uphold the law.
Mr. Anderson asked
if the meeting agendas could be finalized the day before. Mr. Advey stated that
many times things come up at the last minute. Mr. Anderson asked if those items
could be passed on to the next meeting. Mr. Advey stated that he wouldn’t want
to do that. Mr. Brotzman stated that if something comes up at the last minute,
that he would rather get it taken care of. He added that he doesn’t wish to have
the agenda so tight that nothing can be added as needed. Mr. Advey said the
agendas are available to view in Cindi’s office and that items are placed on the
agendas as they come up.
Mr. Wayman asked Mr.
Advey if he has a timeline as to when we might get done in the water in Township
Park. Mr. Advey stated that it is to start, tentatively, at the end of June or
beginning of July and completed around the first of September. Mr. Advey noted
that he hasn’t gotten the final review comments from the Army Corp of Engineers
and the Ohio EPA.
Mr. Anderson asked
if he could have his questions and the ORC section 93-040 be made part of the
workshop minutes. Mr. Brotzman stated they would be.
With no further
business to come before the Board, Mr. Brotzman adjourned the Workshop Meeting
at 6:54 p.m.
William A Brotzman,
Chairman
Terry Gerred-Ditchcreek, Fiscal Officer