Meeting Minutes: October 6, 2015
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS:
Council called to order by Mayor Amy Joseph on Tuesday, October 6, 2015 at 7:30 pm at the Rockford Village Hall.
Invocation was given by Jeff Long
Pledge of Allegiance
Those present: Gehle, Rutledge, Fox, Pontsler, Dooley, Heitkamp
Also attending: Chief May, Srgt Stetler, Jeff Long, Claire Geisige of the Daily Standard, Chase Heitkamp, Glenn Keeling, Peggy Kimmel
Motion Gehle. Second Fox to accept the agenda as orders of the day. Dooley called for the question. Gehle = y, Fox = y, Dooley = y, Rutledge = y, Pontsler = y, Heitkamp = y. Passed 6 yes.
Motion Dooley. Second Heitkamp to accept the minutes from the
September 15, 2015 council meetings as presented. Pontsler called for the question. Dooley = y, Heitkamp = y, Pontsler = y, Gehle = y, Rutledge = y, Fox = y . Passed 6 yes.
Visitors to Address Council:
Mayor’s Report and Correspondence:
Mayor to note receipt and review of Mayors Court pay in,
September bank reconciliation, and bank statement – 2nd meeting each month.
We have several areas we are looking for volunteers to serve:
We need 2 volunteers to serve on the zoning board.
We need 2 volunteers to serve on the tax board.
We need 1 volunteer for the records commission.
Please call the village office at 419-363-3032 ext 1 if you are interested in serving on these boards.
Public Meeting concerning the aggregation question on the ballot.
October 20th at 7 pm at the Village Hall.
Upcoming events:
Rockford Fall Fest – THIS weekend ! Saturday – October 10th begins at 11 am at Shanes Park.
Beginning October 24th and consecutive Saturdays @ 9 am – consider volunteering at Shanes Park to help decorate for Christmas at the Park.
Need LOTS of volunteers !
Rockford Chamber Banquet – October 26th – 6 pm
* Rockford Community Building . Tickets are $20/ each with RSVP
Trick or Treat – October 31st – 6 – 7:30 pm – Judging at the Fire house at 8 pm
Christmas at the Park – November 29th – 7 pm * Shanes Park
Village Administrator’s Report – Jeff Long
Since we are short on the zoning board members, we may need to refer a re-zoning application directly to council. We have 30 days to act on the application.
Many may have been hearing some talk regarding our post office. Recently the Northern Ohio District Safety Manager visited the post office and has deemed thebuilding unsafe for work to continue in the location as is. As early as next week the routes are being transferred to Van Wert. As we understand, the PO boxes will still be available for use but there will be no window for mailing packages and getting stamps. The post office official will be contacting the owner of the building and trying to come up with some repair solutions and a time frame. In the meantime, they will be looking at other possible real estate options in Rockford. They are saying this transition is temporary and that eventually all will be coming back to Rockford. This may take up to a year.
More discussion on building problems and some real estate ideas, but ultimately we don’t want to lose the main street building.
We will give updates as we become aware of what is going on.
Committee Reports
Finance Committee – Gary Fox
Motion Rutledge. Second Pontsler to pay the bills in the amount of $35,567.48 Gehle called for the question. Rutledge = y , Pontsler = y, Gehle = y, Fox = y,
Dooley, Heitkamp = y. Passed 6 yes.
* information was available to council but not approved at meetings. Per audit
requirements the following needs to be reviewed and approved and noted in the minutes each month.
Motion Gehle. Second Dooley to approve the January – September monthly financial reports –Cash Summary by Fund, Appropriations report, Revenue Report, Budget vs Actual activity report. Pontsler called for the question. Gehle = y, Dooley = y, Pontsler = y, Rutledge = y, Fox = y, Heitkamp = y. Passed 6 yes.
Motion Dooley. Second Pontsler to approve January – October monthly transfers. Gehle called for the question. Dooley = y, Pontsler = y, Gehle = y, Rutledge = y, Fox = y, Heitkamp = y. Passed 6 yes.
Motion Pontsler. Second Gehle to approve supplemental appropriations to date. Dooley called for the question. Pontsler = y, Gehle = y, Dooley – y, Rutledge = y, Fox = y. Heitkamp = y. Passed 6 yes.
Motion Gehle. Second Rutledge to approve the January – September Bank reconciliation. Dooley called for the question. Gehle = y, Rutledge = y, Dooley = y, Fox = y, Pontsler = y, Heitkamp = y. Passed 6 yes.
Ordinance
To update the Tax Ordinance according to state requirements will be coming – Judy working on it.
RESOLUTION 10-15
A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE ROCKFORD VILLAGE FISCAL OFFICER TO ESTABLISH FUND 4911, COLUMBIA STREET RECONSTRUCTION FUND.
Motion: Gehle, Second Dooley, Pontsler called for the question. Gehle = y, Dooley = y, Pontsler = y, Rutledge = y, Fox = y. Heitkamp = y. Passed 6 yes.
RESOLUTION 09-15
A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE VILLAGE ADMINISTRATOR TO PREPARE AND SUBMIT AN APPLICATION TO PARTICIPATE IN THE OHIO PUBLIC WORKS COMMISSION STATE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT AND/OR LOCAL TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMS(S) AND TO EXECUTE CONTRACTS AS REQUIRED.
Motion: Rutlege. Second Gehle. Dooley called for the question. Rutledge = y, Gehle = y, Dooley = y, Fox = y, Pontsler = y, Heitkamp = y. Passed 6 yes.
Service Committee: Greg Pontsler
Leaves are beginning to fall and people are raking them to the curbs. Beginning next week, the village will begin some leaf pick up. Going around town once a week and will pick up more as the season continues.
Splash pad has been shut down for the winter.
Safety Committee: Chris Heitkamp
Per Audit recommendations – The Village needs to have a Disaster Recovery Plan. Needs to have the following information: Recovery Terms and definitions, technical (hardware/software) recovery procedures, end user recovery procedures, readiness plan, emergency contract list, reciprocal agreement with compatible site. We have contacted Judy for a sample to begin the process.
Some discussion on area behind Peoples Bank, D & L Classic and the library. Led into other discussions about alleys in the village improved and unimproved, Opened and closed allys.
Economic Development Committee: Rob Rutledge
Nothing at this time.
Public Utilities Committee: Steve Gehle
Nothing at this time.
Rules Committee: John Dooley
Nothing at this time.
Old Business
Letter to Mayor and Council regarding 4-wheelers and underage golf cart drivers. Chief May responded by stating the letter was written on September 27th . On September 30th several 4-wheelers were videoed, stopped and warned. There were at least 3 different drivers. They have all been warned that this is enough and the next time the police visit that area there will be tickets issued and mandatory 3 days in jail. One of the problems is that people need to call in complaint when the situation is happening. We can’t do our job on heresay. We need to witness the incident to issue warnings and tickets. There should not be anyone driving a golf cart that is not a licensed driver period. So again, We need to be aware of the problem when it’s occurring. Either call the station to report or call central dispatch and they will get ahold of person on duty and then we can take action. More discussion on the reply to the letter stating this information.
New Business
The sidewalk to Dollar General on West Street looks nice, but concerns about the
corner section that goes down to a cement drain. Possible to install a guard rail as a safety precaution ? Greg will look into the situation this week.
Chief May brought up the need for a new cruiser. Repairs on the old cruiser body and paint would be about $3700 and motor work another $4000 plus needs tires asap. Do we invest into an old cruiser or put the funds towards new ? We are looking at cost of new in the $30,000 range. Information packet was given to Councilman Fox. A finance meeting was scheduled for October 19th at 6:30pm to begin reviewing the budget and cruiser information.
Meeting adjourned 8:34
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Mayor Fiscal Officer
