April 1, 2014 Trustee Meeting Minutes

Walnut Township Trustees Meeting

April 1, 2014

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM. Trustees William Yates, Doug Leith and Terry Horn were present. The pledge was led by Boy Scout Michael Hiles and Allen Pilkington.

At the March 25th Special Meeting, Detria Hiles was appointed the Zoning Inspector. She will be paid every two weeks. Trustee Horn made a motion to approve the minutes for the March 25th Special Meeting, submitted by Trustee Leith. Trustee Yates seconded the motion. The motion passed with 3 yes votes.

Fiscal Officer Kraner will email the employee packet to hiles@columbus.rr.com. Kraner will contact the insurance carrier regarding bonding Zoning Inspector Hiles.

The minutes for January 2, 2014 need to have the Zoning Inspector’s salary updated to $15,600/year. Trustee Horn made a motion to approve changing the minutes for January 2nd. Trustee Yates seconded the motion. The motion passed with 3 yes votes.

Fiscal Officer Kraner asked the trustees if they had an interest in adding insurance premium reimbursement to paychecks. Mike had asked if it could be done. Kraner will check with UAN to see if it can be done without any taxes being taken out.

Trustee Leith made a motion to approve checks 24271 through 24290 and EFTS 144-2014 through 211-2014, after being certified that funds are available and appropriations have been made by Fiscal Officer Kraner. Trustee Yates seconded the motion. The motion passed with 3 yes votes.

Comments from the Floor

There were no comments from the floor.

Department Reports

The Darley fire pump for the fire department boat is no longer repairable. Replacement cost for a 500 gallon/minute pump is $28,000. The department does have a 250 gallon/minute pump.

Trustee Yates made a motion, the equipment has no value, to turn the Darley Fire Pump and the Genesis Rescue System and all miscellaneous equipment over to the Millersport Fire Department for them to dispose of as they see fit. Trustee Horn seconded the motion. The motion passed with 3 yes votes. The equipment will be removed from the township inventory.

The EMS payments for the quarter will be available at the next meeting.

On May 2nd, there will be a mock crash at the Millersport High School around noon.

Thurston Walnut Township Fire Department – Chief Hite – Chief Hite presented two part-time firefighters that he would like to add to the squad – Jeffrey (Jarod) Poling and Matthew Kimbleton. The paperwork for Matthew is still pending.

There was discussion regarding the ems coverage for Pleasantville. The top half of Pleasantville is covered by Thurston Walnut Township fire department – which is approximately 5 – 6, runs a month. Pleasantville wants to have the entire village covered by one service.

Chief Hite asked how the annexation of Walnut Township land into the Village of Baltimore would affect the fire department and if he should look at decreasing his budget.

They are going to be using MECC EMS protocols. The initial cost is $3,300, which includes quarterly updates and competency training for department. The cost is then $3,200 every other year.

Trustee Leith made a motion to approve adding Jeffrey Poling and Matthew Kimbleton to the roster. Trustee Horn seconded the motion. The motion passed withb3 yes votes.

Zoning – Detria Hiles – Anne Cyphert will continue as Zoning Inspector through April 5th and will be available to Detria to answer any questions. Detria requested that a link to the zoning map on the County website be added to the township website. The trustees requested that Detria maintain a mileage log to that it can be charged back to the Zoning Fund. There is an upcoming training with Regional Planning that Detria will be attending. She will be using Truck #1 to make her rounds of the township. Tim will work with Detria to ensure she has access to the truck.

Roads and Parks – Tim Morris – Tim stated that Truck #2 had the hydraulic connection snap off. The manufacturer reviewed the damage and felt that the equipment had been maintained properly. They are trying to get equipment warranted so that it will be fixed. Otherwise, the cost to replace is $7,000.

Tim stated that they have gone through 10 tons of cold mix, with only 1/3 of the roads done.

The bids opening for the CDBG project at Fairfield Beach is May 1st. The projected cost of the project is $47,000.

The cost of the chemicals to spray the road right-of-way is approximately $1,000.

Tim is on vacation the week of April 6th.

Old Business

Tim Morris stated that there had been some progress toward the clean-up of 13050 Shell Beach Rd; however, the last time he checked, it had stopped. Trustee Horn said that Chet Irwin is still willing to help with the clean-up. The warning letter was not sent.

The lion and the enclosure have been removed from Queen Road.

Trustee Horn stated that there are still three potential properties that could be demolished under the Moving Ohio Forward program – the two properties on Lakeside and the property on Taylor.

Trustee Leith put an article in the Beacon regarding the Electric Aggregation program. The article will also appear in the Lancaster Eagle Gazette and the Towne Crier. There will be a public meeting on April 15th regarding the Electric Aggregation program.

Trustee Horn sent a copy to Jeff Porter of his letter to AEP regarding the damage to Blacklick Road, for his review and input. Tim stated that he had spoken with Cheryl at the Fairfield County Engineer’s office and she said there is a way to make them carry a bond.

New Business

There was discussion regarding the amount budgeted for Legal fees. Currently there is $2,000 in the budget. After meeting with the attorney, the trustees will decide if this needs to be increased.

Trustee Horn made a motion adopt the Public Records Policy that was presented to the Trustees. Trustee Yates seconded the motion. The motion passed with 3 yes votes.

Trustee Horn completed the public records requests. Fiscal Officer Kraner provided the payroll records for the third records request.

There was a request regarding completion of financial records for Matthew Noice.

Trustee Horn asked if he and Trustee Leith are bonded. Fiscal Officer Kraner emailed information that Horn was reelected and mailed the form for Trustee Leith.

Trustee Yates stated that there are four books that the township is supposed to keep – The Bond book; the Minutes book; the Roads book and Resolution book. Trustee Yates will pick up additional notebooks so that the books can be created.

April 3rd there will be a Special Meeting with the Township Attorney, Paul-Michael LaFayette.

April 4th the Trustees and Road workers will have their annual meeting with the Fairfield County Engineers.

April 10th there will be a meeting with John Albers. Trustee Yates will place an ad in the Lancaster Eagle Gazette.

An engagement letter needs to be executed to engage Paul-Michael LaFayette to the litigation regarding the zoning of the property on Elm. His fee is $90/hr. for a paralegal and $150/hour for his time. Trustee Yates made a motion to accept the engagement agreement with Paul-Michael LaFayette. Trustee Horn seconded the motion. The motion passed with 3 yes votes.

Tim Morris mentioned that effective today; his wife is on Medigold and should be removed from the Anthem policy.

At 8:56 PM, Trustee Horn made a motion to adjourn to Executive Session to discuss discipline and employee compensation. Trustee Yates seconded the motion. The motion passed with 3 yes votes.

9:28 PM, out of Executive Session.

9:28 PM, Trustee Leith made a motion to adjourn. Trustee Horn seconded the motion. The motion passed 3 yes votes.