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Vermilion City Council Minutes
Monday, April 21, 2008
Vermilion City Council: Fred Ostrander, President; Dan Roth, Council At Large; John Gabriel, Ward One; Heidi Strickler, Ward Two; Steve Holovacs, Ward Three; Barb Brady, Ward Four; Madio Rossini, Ward Five; Gwen Fisher; Certified Municipal Clerk.
Administrative Staff: Dan Squires, Service Director; Carl Schmidt, Safety Director; Chris Howard, City Engineer; D. Zaleski, Law Director; Jean Anderson, Mayor; Wayne Hamilton, Finance Director
CALL TO ORDER:
F. Ostrander called the Monday, April 21, 2008 Vermilion City Council meeting to order.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE:
The members of Council, administrative staff, and audience participants recited the Pledge of Allegiance. A moment of silence followed.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
The Vermilion City Council approved the minutes of the April 7, 2008 meeting as recorded in the journal.
CORRESPONDENCE:
G. Fisher read a letter dated April 17, 2008 from Jimmy L. Davis as follows:
To City Council, the Current Administration and the Citizens of Vermilion:
In response to the Mayor’s report given during the City Council meeting on April 7, 2008, I offer the following clarifications. With regard to comments dealing with negotiation strategies and expenditures of the former administration, the current mayor said that the only reason for saying anything is that it is hard for her to let statements stand saying that the previous mayor did all of the negotiating and she should too. “I can’t let statements like this stand for the public.”
I also find it difficult to let misleading statements stand for the public.
Mayor’s statements:
•
Mayor Anderson stated that she “did nothing different than the “past administration”, when she hired a private, outside consulting firm to conduct the negotiations with the bargaining units of the Vermilion Police Department.
Mayor Anderson stated that she “did nothing different than the “past administration”, when she hired a private, outside consulting firm to conduct the negotiations with the bargaining units of the Vermilion Police Department. •She stated that the issue of trust was an indicator of awareness that didn’t seem to exist with previous city councils.
She stated that the issue of trust was an indicator of awareness that didn’t seem to exist with previous city councils. •The mayor said that she felt that the taxpayers should “get something” from the negotiations with the police department.
The mayor said that she felt that the taxpayers should “get something” from the negotiations with the police department. •Mayor Anderson stated that the previous mayor did not do the negotiations, but in fact hired an outside consultant to negotiate with the police unions.
Mayor Anderson stated that the previous mayor did not do the negotiations, but in fact hired an outside consultant to negotiate with the police unions. •The mayor chastised a council representative and said to be careful when speaking and to speak from fact. She said that they should stop making statements that aren’t founded in fact and build trust so that they can really deal with the issues.
The mayor chastised a council representative and said to be careful when speaking and to speak from fact. She said that they should stop making statements that aren’t founded in fact and build trust so that they can really deal with the issues. •The mayor stated that the previous law firm did not do minimal negotiations because she has a stack of invoices with logged hours for the work performed, as well as a manual.
The mayor stated that the previous law firm did not do minimal negotiations because she has a stack of invoices with logged hours for the work performed, as well as a manual. Negotiations 2003-2004:
•I had council approval to use the law firm of record for contract negotiations as approved in ordinance 98-3, unlike the current administration who did not seek prior authorization for expenditures.
I had council approval to use the law firm of record for contract negotiations as approved in ordinance 98-3, unlike the current administration who did not seek prior authorization for expenditures.•I stayed well within the legal spending limits authorized by Ohio law at the time for negotiation services provided by the City Law Firm. Based upon my review of invoice sheets recently obtained from the law firm, the costs were $1,980 in 2003 and $6,429.50 in 2004. Therefore the total cost to the citizens of Vermilion for both the FOP and the OPBA negotiations was $8409.50 spread out over two years. (see attached spreadsheet), unlike the current administration who appears to have spent over the annual $25,000 legal limit for non-authorized expenditures.
I stayed well within the legal spending limits authorized by Ohio law at the time for negotiation services provided by the City Law Firm. Based upon my review of invoice sheets recently obtained from the law firm, the costs were $1,980 in 2003 and $6,429.50 in 2004. Therefore the total cost to the citizens of Vermilion for both the FOP and the OPBA negotiations was $8409.50 spread out over two years. (see attached spreadsheet), unlike the current administration who appears to have spent over the annual $25,000 legal limit for non-authorized expenditures. •Contrary to Mayor Anderson’s statement, I was the lead negotiator and the actual negotiations were conducted by me.
Contrary to Mayor Anderson’s statement, I was the lead negotiator and the actual negotiations were conducted by me.•Contrary to Mayor Anderson’s misleading statement about previous Council level of awareness, I informed Council at each step of the process and actually received their input for the next series of meetings.
Contrary to Mayor Anderson’s misleading statement about previous Council level of awareness, I informed Council at each step of the process and actually received their input for the next series of meetings.•Versus hiring an outside negotiation firm from Columbus, I utilized the attorney with the most experience in police and fire department contracts from our City Law Firm as advisors and researcher to support the negotiations process and to formalize the contract documents.
Versus hiring an outside negotiation firm from Columbus, I utilized the attorney with the most experience in police and fire department contracts from our City Law Firm as advisors and researcher to support the negotiations process and to formalize the contract documents.•We, too, went through Fact Finding during the negotiations. As part of the support from the City Law Firm a manual was created with area police department comparable wages and benefits listed. This manual helped City Council to determine whether the negotiated agreement was fair and equitable. The cost of this research and ensuing manual is included in the $6,429.50 for 2004.
We, too, went through Fact Finding during the negotiations. As part of the support from the City Law Firm a manual was created with area police department comparable wages and benefits listed. This manual helped City Council to determine whether the negotiated agreement was fair and equitable. The cost of this research and ensuing manual is included in the $6,429.50 for 2004.I agree that trust needs to be developed and I hope that after 2-1/4 years, the focus would be on moving forward and dealing with the many serious issues at hand. Many very good public servants have been hurt by the continuous series of attacks, innuendoes and misleading statements that have been made in an attempt to create diversions by discrediting others.
To justify the hiring of an outside consultant for negotiations, the current finance director publicly stated that the previous Mayor cost the city a lot of money by personally conducting contract negotiations. I hope that this has clarified that misperception. I agree that we should all make statements based upon fact. I hope that you all can build bridges of trust and move forward. Thank you for your time.
PRESIDENT OF COUNCIL’S REPORT:
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Zoning Board of Appeals:
B. Brady reported that the next meeting has been scheduled for April 22, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.
Utilities Committee:
H. Strickler reported that the next meeting is scheduled for April 28, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.
She stated that due to a conflict in her schedule she will be rescheduling her meeting with the Edson Street residents this week. The meeting has been rescheduled to May 1, 2008.
She said that she is the representative for Greater Erie Marketing but has never received any notification of their meetings.
Parks & Recreation:
H. Strickler reported that the next meeting is scheduled for May 20, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.
Streets, Buildings & Grounds Committee:
D. Roth reported that the next meeting is scheduled for April 28, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.
Historic Design & Review Board:
D. Roth reported that the next meeting is scheduled for May 21, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.
Port Authority:
F. Ostrander reported that the meeting is scheduled for May 15, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.
Finance Committee:
S. Holovacs reported on the meeting held April 14. The next meeting is scheduled for May 12, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.
Licensing Board of Contractors:
S. Holovacs reported on the meeting held April 9. The next meeting is scheduled for May 14, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.
Legislative Committee:
J. Gabriel reported that the next meeting is scheduled for May 12, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.
Planning Commission:
J. Gabriel reported that the next meeting is scheduled for May 7, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. He noted that before any street closings can take place this has to be reviewed and approved by the Planning Commission so this meeting would be a good time to discuss this.
Health & Safety Committee:
M. Rossini reported on the meeting held April 14. The next meeting is scheduled for May 12, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.
Historic Design & Review Board:
F. Ostrander reported that at the Historic meeting of April 16, 2008 there was discussion about a PUD at the old Wakefield property. He noted that this will be on the Planning Commission agenda on May 7. He said the proposal is for a three-story condominium building.
MAYOR’S REPORT:
Mayor Anderson stated that she won’t spend a lot of time going back and forth responding to the previous mayor’s letter because it was a little bit hard for her to follow. She did think his translation of what she said is not totally accurate but believes it can be compared with what was said in the minutes.
She said in answering H. Strickler’s previous questions pertaining to GEM she has reported several times that GEM no longer exists and they have a new economic development structure called Erie County Economic Development Corporation (ECEDC). She stated that they meet on a monthly basis and it doesn’t require a council participant. She noted that she has been attending these meetings.
She asked Councilman Roth to place discussion of the Perry Street Closure/Quad Gates and Commuter Rail on the next Streets, Buildings, & Grounds agenda.
She congratulated everyone who shared in the high school musical presentation “How to Succeed in Business without Trying.” She noted it was superb.
SAFETY DIRECTOR’S REPORT:
C. Schmidt reported that the law director feels the city should have a “Memorandum of Understanding” with the unions in regards to a drug-free workplace. He asked J. Gabriel to place this issue on the next Legislative agenda as an ordinance will be prepared by the legal department to address this.
SERVICE DIRECTOR’S REPORT:
D. Squires reported that concrete work is near completion in phase one of the streetscape project which is from Grand Street on Liberty to the railroad crossing on Main Street. The installation of brick pavers will begin on Wednesday. He noted that asphalt repairs have begun in areas that were excavated during the watermain replacement so this will cut down on the dust in downtown. Also, repairs to disturbed tree lawn areas and existing landscape areas are also being completed in the streetscape area.
He reported that they have two street department crews which are both using cold patch asphalt which they heat in their hot box, and the dura patcher to expedite pothole repairs throughout the city. He asked the residents to refrain from blowing leaves into the ditches or into the streets. The leaves and other debris will block culverts and the storm sewers which will lead to flooding in the spring during rainfall.
He asked council to consider providing the administration with an emergency fund to cover any unforeseen expenses in any departments that directly or indirectly affect the residents.
H. Strickler asked if the ruts down Liberty Avenue where they installed the waterline would be asphalted. D. Squires said they will be and they are taking all the small areas where the laterals were put in and then will do the main. H. Strickler asked D. Squires if he had a chance to look at Haley Street. D. Squires indicated that there was no watermain break in the area but feel it is a collection area for a lot of acreage that is draining to that ditch. H. Strickler said it never used to do this before and it just began within the past year. She thought some of the residents were going to tear up their driveways to see what is going on underneath because their basements have had flooding.
H. Strickler asked D. Squires if he had a chance to look at South Street. D. Squires stated that he will be contacting several contractors. The reason they can’t do anything is because the pipe is so deep and they don’t have equipment in the city to reach down that far to excavate it, so they need a long reach hoe to do that.
S. Holovacs indicated that he spoke with a resident of Sweetbriar about the woods behind the city building on Devon Drive. He noted that there are some problems with dead trees. He asked to meet with D. Squires at this location.
M. Rossini said he was pleased with the dura patcher work on Cooper Foster Road but wondered if they had to come and put down another layer so it compacts down. D. Squires stated that it would compact down and they are testing different methods with cold patch and aggregate.
F. Ostrander asked if the sidewalks on the north side of Liberty are part of the streetscape project. D. Squires replied, “Yes.” F. Ostrander asked if they would be done before summer or at the end of the summer. D. Squires said currently the contractor thinks they will begin these after Labor Day. F. Ostrander asked if the holes where the trees were pulled out will be filled in from the Library to Main Street. D. Squires stated that they will be leveled off and filled in. F. Ostrander asked if he heard anything on how the city could obtain an urban paving grant. D. Squires reported that he spoke with John Hart Deputy District Director and was told that there are no funds available because the State of Ohio is having financial difficulties.
FINANCE DIRECTOR’S REPORT:
W. Hamilton followed up on the 2006 audit report and highlighted the issues where the number of citations given is not that uncommon particularly with cities of staffing needs of our size. There was no money spent for any non public purpose, nor was there an appearance of improprietary. He wanted to explain this to the taxpayers because he thought it was important for them to understand it. He said that under this layer of political turmoil they have in Vermilion there are some people doing a good job for this community and they are spending dollars properly, and the public is being served. The audit report can be found on the Governor’s website or auditor’s website.
He mentioned that the implementation of the report from the conciliators for the FOP and OPBA is now in place. They broke this into seven phases each pay period putting another step into place. This process has been completed.
H. Strickler said the court approached her regarding the fact that they were denied being able to pay for their checks because they had made a trimmer budget. However, some of the balances are in the negative and they really haven’t spent anything this year. A lot of it is because of bills from 2007 is adversely putting this year in the negative. She stated that the clerk didn’t know what the process is in getting this bill paid. She asked if all the departments will be adversely affected because some of the bills were not paid until January of February and it’s coming out of this year’s budget instead of last year. She told the court that they should go to the finance director and he would bring it to council if an appropriation is needed. W. Hamilton said the process is normal because they have bills from the prior year that come in on the new budget. They have a similar problem with the negotiator because they have some 2007 bills that were paid in 2008. Ideally, everything is encumbered at the end of 2007, except in reality it doesn’t happen. The other problem they run into is that it constrains the expenses on the particular line item to exactly what council has appropriated, and for a department head to move out of that they have to come back to council for an additional appropriation or transfer of funds. He said there is an appropriation ordinance before council tonight with a number of amendments on it. He said as things move along they will bring them before council.
G. Fisher made council aware that she may have to come back to council with an additional appropriation in her advertising line item because she too just got a bill from September of 2007 that she thought was paid. She noted that she had submitted a purchase requisition on this last year, but found that it wasn’t paid and it was for $77.00 so it does cut into the advertising line item for 2008.
F. Ostrander thought when they were preparing the 2008 budget it was for money to be spent in 2008 and he thought the 2007 bills were already paid. He said they are already hurting their 2008 budget because there are carryovers from 2007 that they weren’t aware of. W. Hamilton said by the time they passed the budget, 2007 bills had been paid, but council was passing the budget on March 30. He said they paid the bills prior to that. To avoid this and to have a perfect 2008 budget they should take everything that has been spent year-to-date in March and add it on to the 2008 appropriation, and then they would have a clean appropriation for 2008 over and above the 2007 expenditures.
B. Brady said if the money was encumbered in 2007 then why is it coming out of this year’s budget. W. Hamilton said it was not encumbered and they can’t go back and take it out of 2007. B. Brady said when they issue a purchase order it encumbers the funds so obviously there were not purchase orders issued on these items. They were purchase requisitions. W. Hamilton said this goes back to the citations that were in the audit. B. Brady said there should have been a larger amount of money left from 2007 because they expected to spend this money. W. Hamilton said this rolls into the beginning balance for the following years as part of the available funds for 2008. B. Brady asked if the available funds are higher than the $5.2 million that they were working with. W. Hamilton said the balance of $603,000 is included. He said if council really wants to see how much money gets carried forward, not encumbered, then they should look in the audit report under the accrual section for the dollars that are paid in 2007 that represent 2008.
J. Gabriel said this goes back to the bill paying issue because council had discussed this previously and this was a service that council went out and got in September and now this is April of the next year. He asked how the purchase requisition stretches that long over that period of time. He asked where the break down in the system is. W. Hamilton said they can’t pay a bill until they receive it and a lot of times they hang around in glove boxes and other places before they get to the finance department. He said they are the last link in the chain but not always the reason the bill doesn’t get paid. He said this bill could have been paid in January which shrinks their time line quite a bit, but still shows up in the 2008 budget. G. Fisher said in her defense she couldn’t prepare a requisition for this legal ad until she received the bill because posting notices are mandatory and there is no time to get approval on a purchase order that quickly. She said she just received a notice from the accounting department that said that they needed a purchase requisition for this bill from September of 2007. However, she submitted the purchase requisition back in September of 2007 with the bill, but now it seems to be missing so she had to fill out another one. W. Hamilton said that last year was unique because they had an employee of 32 years retire and had a period of time during November and December where they had one employee working both upstairs and downstairs doing utilities and accounts payables which is two full time jobs. He said this spread her a little thin at best. He said they brought in a new person around December 20 and when they have transition in operation, things happen because it takes awhile to get up and running again.
M. Rossini asked the finance director if his department was keeping a closer control over the purchase orders. D. Squires said they are working on a policy.
D. Squires clarified that the State is not providing any additional funding for urban paving projects at this time. He can’t speak on what they have done in the past on these types of emergency funding. F. Ostrander thought this was considered a plan rather than an emergency. D. Squires said this would be for the deputy director to waive the city’s 20 percent match.
CITY ENGINEER’S REPORT:
C. Howard reported that the East Liberty Watermain Extension project has been installed with only a few minor incidentals that have to be completed. Secondly, the pavement that was disturbed during the Morton Road Sanitary Sewer Conflict project will be repaved tomorrow and then the project will be complete.
M. Rossini asked what the next step is in regards to the water leak study. G. Fisher noted that this topic is on the next Utilities meeting. D. Squires said they will assess this and will get estimates on what the repairs will potentially be.
B. Brady asked if the Showse project was complete. C. Howard reported that the contractor did go back and fixed the issue at the outfall. B. Brady asked if the contractor was paid. C. Howard stated that they were paid last year with the idea that he had to come back and reseed it. B. Brady asked the engineer if they could meet at the site and C. Howard concurred.
J. Gabriel asked the engineer for an update on the preparation of the Elberta assessments. C. Howard stated that they are close in finishing the assessments but the difficulty breaking down the assessments between the city portion and resident portion is complicated. He expected to have the assessment roll prepared by next month.
LAW DIRECTOR’S REPORT:
D. Zaleski asked council to adjourn into Executive Session after the reading of the ordinances to discuss the Gammons lawsuit. He said he has a proposal from them that he would like to review with council. He said he would like council to read the judgment entry then have Attorney Smith come to council in two weeks to discuss the detail.
S. Holovacs addressed Chapter 1020.01 of the Codified Ordinances entitled “Cleaning and Repairing Sidewalks.” He said he understands that between the administration and the prosecutor they send out letters to residents who were given a letter already stating that they have 90 days to fix them, and if they don’t fix them the city will then come back and repair them and assess the costs to their taxes. There is also a section in the code that says the building inspector has the right to prosecute residents’ if they don’t follow through. He said it would have been nice if the administration or the law department would have let council know because they are receiving calls from residents. He said with the letter from the prosecutor the people are given 90 days to repair their sidewalks and after those 90 days they can be pulled into court for a minor misdemeanor. He asked what the city’s plan is after that if they don’t fix their sidewalks. D. Zaleski said if they don’t fix their sidewalks then the city will go in and make the repairs and assess it on their tax duplicate. S. Holovacs asked why they didn’t do it to the rest of the people. D. Zaleski said this was the first time he heard of this and will have to address it with Mr. Budway. S. Holovacs asked the administration if they had a plan because he didn’t think that all the residents received letters. He noted that a resident told him that he received a letter three to four years ago and couldn’t afford to fix his sidewalks, but the ordinance and letter was pretty self-explanatory in that if he didn’t fix it in 90 days then the city would come and fix it and assess his taxes. He asked why didn’t the administration do this then or why didn’t the other administration do it. D. Zaleski asked what street he was referring to and S. Holovacs said it is Forestview. He asked why the administration wants to take somebody to court when they can’t afford it and because they didn’t call in the first time. He said now they are going to drag somebody into court because they couldn’t afford to pay it the first time nor can they afford to pay it the second time, and now they’re going to be hit with a minor misdemeanor. He said instead of sending letters from the prosecutor why the city couldn’t find a note and attach some funds to so the city could go out and fix these sidewalks and assess the residents.
Mayor Anderson said she would have liked to be aware of this so she could have had a little more detail and information for council. She said she would be happy to report on this at the next finance meeting or whatever committee council would like to put it on. She said to the best of her knowledge everyone got a repeat letter from the several years ago. She said part of the reason why nothing was ever done with this ordinance in the past is that the prosecutor’s office really didn’t want to be bothered with these, so the building inspector kept them on file in his office. She sent he recently resent all of the letters so that they could move forward with enforcement of this code.
S. Holovacs said the city has never come in and fixed anybody’s sidewalks and assessed the cost to their taxes. Mayor Anderson said that she will have further answers for council at another committee meeting. M. Rossini asked if these letters are sent out certified with return signatures. Mayor Anderson said she isn’t certain how they send these letters out. M. Rossini thought it was only business ethics in that if they assess someone that you have a signed signature that they received a letter. S. Holovacs said if they read the code it says the property owner has to fix it in 90 days or the city will come and fix it. He said the city borrowed money four or five years ago that they could have added money on to one of their notes to fix sidewalks. He said the administrations have dropped the ball for years. He said there were probably 500 hundred people that did go out and spend some money and there is probably 100 plus people that can’t afford it and want the city to assess their taxes. He thought it was overkill by the prosecutor sending a letter. D. Zaleski asked if he has a copy of this letter because the ordinance says the building inspector sends a letter by certified mail. S. Holovacs said it also says that the building inspector directs the prosecutor to send a letter. D. Zaleski asked if he knew whether the prosecutor sent that letter. S. Holovacs said, “The prosecutor works for you not me.” D. Zaleski said the ordinance doesn’t say that the prosecutor sends the letter. The building inspector sends it by certified mail. S. Holovacs stated that it’s out of the building inspector’s hands at that point and is in the prosecutor’s hands. D. Zaleski doubted that Mr. Budway sent letters to any residents and will check on this. S. Holovacs said that a resident told him that they called the building department today and was told it was out of their hands and is in the prosecutor’s hand. D. Squires said he would sit down with Mr. Budway, Mr. Zaleski, and Mr. Kurtz on this issue. S. Holovacs said they shouldn’t have sent a letter from the prosecutor and the city should have found a way to pay for it through a note. He said they should just do what the ordinance says.
J. Gabriel asked the law director to publically answer whether or not Romp’s can continue their business relationship with the police department. D. Zaleski reported that he spoke with the Ohio Ethics Commission and researched this issue and Romp’s can no longer sell gas to the police department or make repairs to the police boat. He said the Charter prohibits this, as well as O.R.C. 2921.42 prohibits him from having any interest in a public contract.
RESPONSE TO THE AUDIENCE: No response.
OPEN TO THE AUDIENCE:
Dave Henry of 1221 Sanford Street showed pictures and parts of Sanford Street to council. He said in the past several weeks he has tried contacting through the mayor’s office; couldn’t reach the mayor. He said he called Mr. Squires and left a message and received one call back where he talk to his wife but never called him back. He said he also spoke to the safety director and never got a return call or response back. He said his issue is regarding the streets on Northview and the corner of Sanford and the repair work that was done there. He said the crews came out and put the blacktop in; the cold patch and filled the holes in with dirt. The cold patch is coming out and the front was filled in with water. He said there are a lot of stone, dirt, and gravel throughout the area. He said there are a lot of kids that are playing and stones are shooting up in the yard and damaging property. He said the sewer drains are backing up and the water drains are destroying the property in the yards. They’re filled with leaves and gravel. He said on the section of Sanford they have high school traffic, buses, cars, and kids, and this is what he is concerned about but nobody wants to answer his questions or do anything. He asked, “Why?” He said they are just asking for this to be fixed to protect the kids and the people on the street.
D. Squires said that he did call Mr. Henry back and left a message with his wife. He said he does follow up with all resident concerns. He said the dura patcher, hot patch, and cold patch are not the remedy to repair concrete streets. He said he is going to get an estimate and proposals from contractors to possibly cut out this entire intersection. Mr. Henry said again his concern is with the kids and the property damage. He said there is a drain caving in and for four years he has tried to get this taken care of. He said every time he asked someone they said it wasn’t their department. D. Squires said this is the first time he was made aware of this. Mr. Henry said there are pictures that show it caving in and there is a handicap sidewalk there with a handicap girl with a wheelchair that has to use that sidewalk, and there is a lot of excess material on that road that can hurt her. He said that he spoke with the safety director but never heard back from him. He said they have up to six to eight feet of water in their yards and it never happened until about a year ago. D. Squires said this is the first time he was made aware of the flooding and will be looking at this entire intersection and it will be up to council to approve the funds to make the proper repairs.
Mr. Henry asked why the citizens are responsible in cleaning their own roads. He said there are people up and down Sanford with wheelbarrows and buckets cleaning the stone off the street. He said he cleaned it up for the road department and they looked at it and walked away. He asked if this is what the citizens have to do now. D. Squires said they have these problems in numerous areas in the city.
Mr. Henry stated that the police department has to drive in the middle of Sanford along with other emergency vehicles. He said they can’t walk or ride a bicycle.
Mayor Anderson stated that she has never received a message from Dave Henry. Mr. Henry stated that he has spoke to her secretary more than a dozen times. Mayor Anderson said for some reason or another the message has never got to her. She said that the children’s safety is of the upmost importance to the administration and city council. The condition of the roads matter to them and they are all grieved for the situation that the roads are in around the city. She thinks they are all trying to do the best they can with the funds they have available. She said the dura patcher is something they brought on board mid-year last year hoping to fill potholes that would hold a little longer than the cold patch. In some of the asphalt streets this was very affective, but on the concrete streets it was not. She said they are happy because the dura patcher requires a two-man team rather than a four to five-man team, which allows them to have two crews out on the street at the same time. They are trying to maximum the resources available and they are trying to reach into some of the new techniques and utilize them as best they can. She said his concerns are felt by them all. D. Henry said this is a school zone and it’s where the kids are, and wondered why they are responsible in cleaning up and do this kind of work. He said they put in every year around $200 to $300 for landscaping to replace what has deteriorated off this road.
F. Ostrander said the dura patcher left stones all around the place and wondered if there was a program to clean this stone out of the street. D. Squires said the stone Mr. Henry is talking about is not from the dura patcher. Mr. Henry said last year they shoveled stone from the dura patcher by the bucket full. D. Squires stated that they swept those streets and what they are seeing now is just the deterioration of the concrete street itself. He said they haven’t been up there with the dura patcher this year. Mr. Henry said last year it made enough of a mess and the stone went into the drain there.
M. Rossini stated that at the last council meeting J. Gabriel had said that they need to look at some type of a tax program, road program, or income tax program. He said in order for people to get something done they’re all going to have to pay to generate income. He understands that nobody wants to hear this but it’s our city and this is the way it’s going to have to be. He said once council puts it on the ballot to vote on its then up to the residents. G. Fisher noted that this topic is on the Streets, Buildings, & Grounds agenda next week.
Hal Wisnieski of 385 Edison Drive said that Mr. Henry brought up some issues that he too is concerned about. He said at the last council meeting Mr. Ostrander said this city looks like “H” all over. He said he hasn’t been here for the last three months so he took a tour of the town and it does look like that. However, he told the mayor that she has done a good job at the end of her street and if he would have been mayor he would have done just what she had done. He said if they look at Elyria and Lorain Avenue that is the way they should be fixed just the way the mayor’s was fixed. He said on Edison it’s a mess and he spent many hours putting in a new tree lawn last year and now there is stone all over. He said a lot of the stone is from out of the street but there is also a lot from the dura patcher that is in the yard which makes a real mess. He said he himself can clean it up but there is a lot of elderly and handicap people that cannot clean it up. He said he has called Truman from the street department to try to get them to do something and they said the street sweeper is broke down and they can’t come out and sweep it. He said he retired from the street department and when the city bought the street sweeper the salesman said it wasn’t a bulldozer. In other words, this big heavy stuff lying in the street is not to be picked up with the street sweeper. He said they need to get a crew out to pick this big heavy stuff up. With regards to drains, a neighbor asked him today if he saw what they were doing down the street and he said no. He said they swept the stone in the manholes and catch basins. He said if the city doesn’t want to take care of it; and don’t tell him they don’t have time because he worked there. He said the reason the hot box never worked right is because it’s for liquid asphalt and there has never been one drop of liquid asphalt put into that tank. He said they have had very poor management for the last 12 years. He worked there for 10 and has been retired for two years. He said he doesn’t care what kind of machine the city buys because they’re not going to do anything with these holes unless they want to do the job right. He said the dura patcher tank is hooked up to a 220 line and it looks like they cut through the side of the building with an axe and ran a heavy extension cord to a 220. He said if kids get in there some night and start flipping that thing around and something happens, then they’ll know it is hooked up wrong. He said the city has a crack sealing machine which hasn’t been used for two years. They have a beach cleaner that was used three times since he left the department. He said he can tell them why the city doesn’t have any money because it’s the way the city is run.
Sgt. Adams spoke as acting chief because Chief Kish and Lt. Labis were out of town at a mandated Chief’s conference. He spoke on behalf of Ordinance 2008-33 for the purchase of the six police cars (5 Crown Victoria’s and one dodge). He stated that the department needs this ordinance passed tonight by suspending the rules and passing it by emergency. He said if this ordinance doesn’t pass tonight and these cars are not ordered by the end of April there will be a price increase because they will no longer be able to obtain 2008 vehicles. They will then have to wait and purchase 2009 vehicles and obviously council won’t regroup until the end of the month.
Secondly, with regards to Ordinance 2008-31 that establishes a pay schedule for the civilian watercraft operators for the City of Vermilion, they would to amend the ordinance to change it to four operators because the ordinance as stated now is three operators. Additionally, they would like to change Doug Keith Jr’s. pay rate to $11.25 per hour and William Kleinhans to $11.50 per hour. This ordinance needs to be passed by May 5 as they will be having their first meeting with the watercraft operators on May 14. G. Fisher said they could add this legislation to the streets meeting next week.
OLD BUSINESS:
S. Holovacs MOVED; B. Brady seconded to adjourn into executive session to discuss pending litigation. Roll Call Vote 7 YEAS. MOTION CARRIED.
J. Gabriel MOVED; S. Holovacs seconded to adjourn into executive session to discuss personnel matters involving salary matters. Roll Call Vote 7 YEAS. MOTION CARRIED.
NEW BUSINESS:
S. Holovacs MOVED; J. Gabriel seconded to amend 2008-18 to review this ordinance in October of each calendar year rather than February. Roll Call Vote 7 YEAS. MOTION CARRIED.
S. Holovacs MOVED; B. Brady seconded to amend 2008-20 to include that council will review and approve this ordinance in February of each calendar year. Roll Call Vote 7 YEAS. MOTION CARRIED.
B. Brady MOVED; J. Gabriel seconded to give Main Street Vermilion the authority to erect signs in the right-of-way as recommended by the Health & Safety Committee. Roll Call Vote 7 YEAS. MOTION CARRIED.
H. Strickler MOVED; S. Holovacs seconded to authorize the fire department to go out to bid for turnout gear. Roll Call Vote 7 YEAS. MOTION CARRIED.
F. Ostrander noted that D. Squires has requested to add a line item called “Emergency Fund” in the initial budget. Discussion: D. Squires said he would like to have some type of fund from council that allows him if need be to make repairs to a pump station pump. He said if they’re short in that line item he’ll know he can do it, or if he has a large repairs or unforeseen mechanical problems with a truck. He said this isn’t free spending but just knowing that the money is there. He said once the payment is made Mr. Hamilton can make the appropriate transfer and charge the amount back to the department. J. Gabriel asked what amount of money was he talking about and if this was a line item that has nothing in it to begin with. D. Squires said he would like to have $5,000 put into this fund. J. Gabriel asked if there was any particular area where this is coming from. D. Squires said it could be put under the Service Director rather than putting it in water or sewer because they don’t know where the expense could potentially be from. D. Zaleski said they will need new legislation on this. G. Fisher advised him that council amends the line items by ordinance. F. Ostrander noted that this is creating a new line item. He said he would like to move this issue to the finance committee. D. Squires said this isn’t money just to spend and he is very frugal with the taxpayer’s hard earned dollars. B. Brady said the purpose after incurring this expense would be to move it to the appropriate fund. She said eventually council will approve this appropriation so they are just giving a little bit of a slush fund. G. Fisher said that council can make a motion to have legislation prepared for the May 5 council meeting.
S. Holovacs MOVED; B. Brady seconded to have legislation prepared to amend ordinance 2008-17 to add a line item under the Service Director in the amount of $5,000. Roll Call Vote 6 YEAS; 1 NAY (Strickler). MOTION CARRIED. This was referred to the streets meeting for review.
READING OF THE ORDINANCES:
Third Reading – Ordinance 2008-18: AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE 74-104 ADOPTED NOVEMBER 4, 1974 BY AUTHORIZING THE DIRECTOR OF FINANCE OF THE CITY OF VERMILION, OHIO TO ALLOCATE AND CHANGE PORTIONS OF THE SALARIES OF CERTAIN MUNICIPAL OFFICIALS TO THE WATER FUND AND SEWER FUND UPON REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF THE VERMILION CITY COUNCIL IN OCTOBER OF EACH CALENDAR YEAR, AND TO SET FORTH THAT APPROVED TRANSFERS HAVE TO BE COMPLETED BY DECEMBER 31 OF THAT SAME YEAR, AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.
H. Strickler MOVED; S. Holovacs seconded to adopt this ordinance as amended and by emergency. Roll Call Vote 7 YEAS. MOTION CARRIED.
Second Reading – Ordinance 2008-20: AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE 2006-73 ADOPTED MAY 7, 2007, TO ENACT SECTION 1064.02 (C), “RATES” OF CHAPTER 1064 GARBAGE AND RUBBISH, OF PART TEN, STREETS, UTILITIES AND PUBLIC SERVICES CODE, CODIFIED ORDINANCES OF VERMILION; WHEREBY ESTABLISHING THAT THE ADDITIONAL MONTHLY CHARGE OF SIXTY CENTS ($.60) FOR ADMINISTRATIVE OVERHEAD INCURRED IN BILLING AND COLLECTING SUCH FEES SHALL BE EQUALLY DISTRIBUTED AT THIRTY CENTS ($.30) IN THE WATER FUND AND THIRTY CENTS ($.30) IN THE SEWER FUND, AND COUNCIL WILL REVIEW AND APPROVE THESE DISTRIBUTIONS IN FEBRUARY OF EACH CALENDAR YEAR, AND ANY MONEY COLLECTED SHALL BE DISTRIBUTED BY DECEMBER 31 OF THAT SAME YEAR, AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.
J. Gabriel MOVED; S. Holovacs seconded to adopt this ordinance as amended and by emergency. Roll Call Vote 7 YEAS. MOTION CARRIED.
Third Reading – Ordinance 2008-23: AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING THE SALARY FOR THE ACCOUNT CLERK II POSITION IN THE CITY UTILITIES DEPARTMENT.
B. Brady MOVED; J. Gabriel seconded to adopt this ordinance. Discussion: J. Gabriel said this is tough because it involves a very good employee of the city. He said it has to be said that this is no reflection whatsoever on this employee. He said it is kind of a shame the way this was even brought to council. He said the city just got out of very difficult labor negotiations with one group of city employees where the starting amount was zero, zero, and zero, and they just entered into another set of negotiations that they are currently involved in. He said the timing on this couldn’t be any worse so based on this alone, and as much as this employee deserves recognition, and is an honored employee of the city, and has done tremendous work for the city, he’s afraid he can’t support it. He said to him this is a crucial thing because they talk about trust and they had a conversation last week about it, but the reason this is important is when they sat down to talk about the budget with the administration, his very first question was, “How much do these employees make and specifically how much does this employee make.” He said the information they were provided, not only was not accurate, but come to find out later involved this particular pay raise which had to be redone and put into ordinance form to make it acceptable. He said this was one of his main considerations when he considered the line item budget.
B. Brady agreed that this wasn’t handled right anywhere but the problem is who are they punishing if they vote against it. She said they slapped the administrations hands at this point and made it obvious that they’re not happy with the way it was handled, but this is a good employee and she is the one who will take the brunt of this and she can’t agree with this.
M. Rossini said he has looked at this time and again and had thought very much like Barb does except for one thing, “What’s right is right.” He said it can’t be granted to one person if you’re not going to grant it to somebody else. With this in mind, he has to say that he hopes that Ms. Fenik understands that it’s just not good for the entire labor force, so he will have to vote the same way John is.
Mayor Anderson said that she wants to go on record being consistent with the information she sent to council. She stated that she was made aware of the ordinance after she recommended this raise. The raise was recommended because of the fact that this was the salary that had been paid to the person previously in that position. As everyone knows this individual has done a superb job for the administration for serving all the residents in the city; occupying two slots and had never been granted a raise based on merit as some of the other employees had historically been given. She said that she moved forward with her recommendation for a pay raise based on past practice and whereas this might not be an acceptable answer to some of council. She said that she knows that raises were given in the past that were not brought before council to approve in ordinance form. She said they have asked for a pay ordinance several times and it’s been part of their discussion. She said they know this would help keep things consistent as they are supposed to be. She said she would really hate to see council; she really doesn’t want to say punish but in a way yes; this employee for something that she was not aware of. She said she was following past practice. She said she would like to convince council that she is not going to do this again. She thought everything she has done has demonstrated that council will be a part of the hiring practices and the pay raise practices. She said on her behalf and this employee’s behalf she would like council to favorably consider this ordinance.
J. Gabriel said the only thing he has that is conflicting with this is that he did a little research on pay raises and if they go back to the August 14 Finance minutes where the mayor was present; she and Councilman Flak had this discussion and talked directly about this ordinance. He said that maybe she forgot about it and he’ll grant her that because they talk about a lot of stuff, but Wayne, the mayor, and D. Flak were at this meeting. He said that Don Flak had said, “The issue of creating positions or hiring has been a source of friction for 10 years.” He said that council does have an ordinance that no pay raise can be given above the step chart without council’s permission. J. Gabriel said, “It’s in the record.”
Mayor Anderson stated that in fairness they have discussed and talked a lot of those kinds of issues and the need for a pay ordinance, and she can say that she doesn’t remember everything as she is sure J. Gabriel doesn’t either. She said at no time is she trying to do something that oversteps her authority. She just reached into past files and decided how things had been handled previously and moved forward in the same way. She apologized for not doing this right but this person still in her mind deserves this raise and she would like to see it approved.
Roll Call Vote 6 NAYS; 1 YEA (Brady). MOTION FAILED.
Second Reading – Ordinance 2008-25: AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE 2006-79 ADOPTED JANUARY 22, 2007 AND ORDINANCE 2007-49 ADOPTED AUGUST 6, 2007 OF CHAPTER 1460 OF THE CODIFIED ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF VERMILION ENTITLED “FLOOD DAMAGE REDUCTION” AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.
Second Reading – Ordinance 2008-27: AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE 2007-56 ADOPTED AUGUST 20, 2007, CHAPTER 1026.01 OF THE CODIFIED ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF VERMILION, OHIO ENTITLED “PERMITS REQUIRED; APPROVAL; CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS; FEES; DEPOSITS” AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. (Referred to Utilities Committee of April 28)
Second Reading – Ordinance 2008-28: AN ORDINANCE ENACTING CHAPTER 1042.10 OF CHAPTER 1042 SEWERS GENERALLY OF THE CODIFIED ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF VERMILION, OHIO ENTITLED “PRIVATE SANITARY SEWER LATERAL CONNECTIONS” AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. (Referred to Utilities Committee of April 28)
Second Reading – Ordinance 2008-29: AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING CONSENT FOR THE PERMANENT CLOSURE OF VEHICULAR TRAFFIC OF THE PUBLIC GRADE CROSSING OF PERRY STREET.
First Reading – Ordinance 2008-31: AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING A PAY SCHEDULE FOR THE CIVILIAN WATER CRAFT OPERATORS OF THE CITY OF VERMILION, OHIO AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.
First Reading – Ordinance 2008-32: AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE 2008-17 TO MAKE APPROPRIATIONS FOR CURRENT EXPENSES AND OTHER EXPENDITURES FOR THE CITY OF VERMILION, OHIO FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2008 AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. (Drug-Free Workplace-$3,000; Downtown Sanitary Sewer Spot Repair Project/Underground Utilities-$25,000; Cold Patch–$2,000; ODOT Bill – Rte.2; Labor Negotiator-$12,457)
W. Hamilton asked if they could move this ordinance along tonight. F. Ostrander asked which lines items was needed to be passed tonight. D. Squires said the cold patch line item is needed. W. Hamilton said in the clerk of courts case he would like to move along the amendment for the court as well. F. Ostrander said they could have a special finance committee next week and then they can vote on this the week after that. J. Gabriel said they could even have a special council meeting after the special committee meeting. F. Ostrander agreed to this.
D. Squires stated that they have exhausted nearly all the funds for the street patching materials so they won’t be doing any street patching with cold patch after Wednesday of this week. F. Ostrander said it was funny when the administration told council they did all these line items and used past history, and they were all so exact, and here they are not even getting two months away and are already amending this stuff. D. Squires said in defense to the administration and their budget, they were hoping that they would continue to use new and approved methods of using the dura patcher on concrete streets, but since many residents and members of council disagree with the dura patcher, they had to revert back to cold patch so they are using up those dollars. F. Ostrander asked when hot patch will be available. D. Squires said it is available starting this week. F. Ostrander asked if they had money for hot patch. D. Squires said no because it’s all in street patching materials. F. Ostrander asked if cold patch and hot patch were in the same line item and D. Squires concurred and noted that hot patch is more expensive. J. Gabriel said that council did transfer an additional $50,000 that is unappropriated in that fund. He said this was a $300,000 transfer that they only actually budgeted $250,000 of, so they do have money specifically for these materials. B. Brady said they don’t want these guys sitting around with no materials to work with. J. Gabriel asked if there was a way they could break this out separately.
H. Strickler asked if they could take out the appropriations that they have problems with. She suggested doing the drug-free workplace appropriation, the court appropriation, and the cold patch. J. Gabriel said they can put the Clemans-Nelson appropriation on for discussion. F. Ostrander said they don’t know what the accounts are for in the court. B. Brady said this is a crisis. H. Strickler noted that Wayne has the fund. W. Hamilton said the court fund is 101-1105-53801 where they will appropriate $100. He said this will simply be under other expenses in the additional amount of $100. He said that D. Squires also pointed out the sewer amendment for $25,000. F. Ostrander asked if the city received the bill on this yet. C. Howard noted that he did get the bill.
F. Ostrander MOVED; H. Strickler seconded to amend Ordinance 2008-32 to include the court transaction in the amount of $100 and to remove the labor negotiator from the ordinance, and to remove the ODOT bill. Discussion: It was noted that the ODOT bill is $12,750 which too has been appropriated. H. Strickler said the reason they were taking the ODOT bill out is simply because they didn’t know where they could pay it from. W. Hamilton said it will come out of the general fund. D. Roth asked if D. Squires looked into the length of that road to make sure the city wasn’t paying for more of the highway. F. Ostrander said they received an e-mail that says it is 2.1 miles. He said this is also in the township so shouldn’t they be paying for some of this cost. W. Hamilton said they will have to talk to ODOT about this. He said they charge this off based on average cost for road maintenance in Lorain County and then they apply that to Rte. 2. J. Gabriel asked if there were two amounts included in this appropriation for Clemans & Nelson. W. Hamilton said the $12,457 is for the labor negotiator and the $12,750 under contracted services-other is the ODOT bill.
J. Gabriel said that the city had received $126,000 of money that wasn’t actually the city’s money and now the city has to return it. He said this number is not included in the certificate of income. W. Hamilton said they will have to amend the certificate. J. Gabriel said the certificate will go up $126,000 and the city’s expenses will go up $126,000. W. Hamilton said in projecting revenues next year they need to remember that this amount was not real.
It was noted to amend the motion to include the appropriations for the court transaction, the cold patch, the ODOT bill, and the refund of $126,000. W. Hamilton said he would like to discuss the labor negotiation appropriation because they have a meeting Thursday with Local 860 and they don’t have any one to represent the city. He said he can call the representative for 860 to tell them they won’t be able to meet. F. Ostrander said he doesn’t care to have Clemans & Nelson so he is more than happy to remove this appropriation. W. Hamilton said he doesn’t care who and if they want Don Zaleski to do it that’s fine but somebody needs to sit at the table come Thursday or cancel the meeting. F. Ostrander said they already had one ordinance that failed Clemans & Nelson so he doesn’t know why they came back again. W. Hamilton said this is an appropriation ordinance and that was an ordinance to. H. Strickler said this is her point because over the past six months everybody has said, “Well you knew it was being voted on because you were sitting in those meetings, and knew the money was going that way.” She said she is voting no because she doesn’t want this money going to them. She said this is why it is coming back up again in the appropriation ordinance. She wanted to make it loud and clear that she doesn’t agree. G. Fisher said to be clear, council did have an ordinance hiring Clemans & Nelson. They were going to appropriate money to hire Clemans & Nelson for the local 860 negotiations but this ordinance failed.
H. Strickler said there is a meeting on Thursday with the Local 860 so what is council directing the administration to do. F. Ostrander expected the administration to handle this because the labor negotiations seem down to the end. Mayor Anderson said that everything is not down to the very end. She said that 860 is just getting started and no matter how council looks at it they are going to need some professional assistance in the negotiating process whether it be Don Zaleski or somebody else. She said it doesn’t have to be Clemans & Nelson, but no matter what they will need to pull in some kind of legal representation for the negotiating process. She said this is nothing new because they have used legal counsel in the past and have hired them to serve in some capacity in negotiating. F. Ostrander said never near this dollar amount until Mayor Anderson took office. Mayor Anderson said they could talk about what dollar amount they gave in this last negotiating process as well, but she thinks overall they came out ahead by far. She said they will need somebody whether it’s Don Zaleski or somebody else to begin the negotiating process and they have a meeting scheduled for this week.
F. Ostrander said he would like a request for quotations from some other companies for this service. B. Brady said the timing is such. . . F. Ostrander said that council already said no to them once so why do they have to come back and hear about it again. He said they don’t want Clemans & Nelson and he thinks this is clear. Mayor Anderson said council has been agreeable to having Don Zaleski sit at the table, but they will still have to pay him. H. Strickler said she wants to make sure this money is not used for Clemans & Nelson. W. Hamilton said if council had so much trouble with Clemans & Nelson then why they didn’t tell Pat Hire that in the back room when they met with him on multiple occasions. F. Ostrander said his opinion was that the administration was living within the budget and that was out of their control. H. Strickler told Wayne that they went over the $25,000 by $40,000. W. Hamilton said this is not the issue. He asked why council didn’t tell Pat that they wanted somebody else. F. Ostrander thought this wasn’t their call but the administration’s call. Mayor Anderson said she has minutes from March 12, 2007 from the finance committee meeting where Wayne did advise council that they were going to exceed the $25,000 with Clemans and Nelson and that they needed an ordinance. F. Ostrander asked the clerk if she remembered this. G. Fisher stated that she remembers this but a motion was never made. H. Strickler said she remembers expressing her displeasure.
F. Ostrander asked the law director if he ever requested the administration to bring this back in ordinance form for council’s approval. He said that the law director was supposed to give council statute about going out to bid when they go over $25,000. D. Zaleski said council has to approve the contract if it’s over $25,000. He said they necessarily don’t have to go out to bid because professional services don’t have to be bid on; however, council still has to approve the contract if it’s over $25,000.
J. Gabriel said instead of a trip down memory lane they should look forward. He asked the administration what they estimate the cost being to negotiate with the 860, no matter who does it. He said the blank check thing is not working for council. W. Hamilton said that he thinks council has an estimate from Clemans & Nelson on what one meeting, two meetings, and what three meetings will cost them. J. Gabriel said this doesn’t tell him how many meetings they are going to have. W. Hamilton said if they don’t have a contract within two meetings then they go to fact finding.
F. Ostrander noted that W. Hamilton’s letter from April 16 says they have already used Clemans & Nelson in 2008 for 860 negotiations. The amount of these invoices is $12,075.74. He asked the finance director if he was asking for another $12,000 in addition to this or is this to cover what they already spent per this letter. W. Hamilton said this makes whole the $20,000 that council appropriated for labor negotiations for 2008. He said they put the $12,000 back from the 2007 expenses and they have $20,000 left which should get them through. H. Strickler said they paid the 2007 expenses in 2008 which came out of the 2008 budget. W. Hamilton said right. H. Strickler said this as been her point all along. W. Hamilton said it’s the same scenario that they just discussed with the court budget. F. Ostrander noted that per his letter it says it’s for services provided in 2008 for 860 for $12,000. W. Hamilton said this is prior to council passing their resolution. F. Ostrander asked how many meetings have they had with 860 where apparently 860 was involved. W. Hamilton said they had one meeting. F. Ostrander asked what the $12,075 is made up of that they spent in 2008. W. Hamilton said this is for when they go in and make a proposal. The difficult part of the process isn’t so much as setting at the table. The difficult part of the process is reading the contract, finding language that no longer applies with state statute or court rulings, and making changes to it. He said they had one piece of language in the FOP contract that required them to keep records on employees back to 1945 for sick time only. He said these contracts haven’t been read in a long time so somebody has to read the contracts and do the analysis, and prepare a presentation to give to the union. Once they are up and started they are ready to set at the table. F. Ostrander said in other words they have already spent $12,075 in 2008 to prepare to negotiate with Local 860. W. Hamilton said, “Right, to get the proposal on the table.” F. Ostrander said when council failed the ordinance to hire Clemans & Nelson earlier this year, council thought they voted no to hire Clemans & Nelson, but they’re being told that they paid them $12,000 so far.
W. Hamilton said that council is anxious to talk cost but never wants to talk the savings. He said nobody yet has pointed out to him any savings in prior contracts. In this contract based on the conciliators report, they have over $100,000 in savings per year. F. Ostrander said the only savings the administration ever told council about was what they tried to do to health care benefits and that stopped. Other than that he is not aware of any. W. Hamilton asked, “Wasn’t $100,000 enough?” F. Ostrander said the health care went back to what is was before so he doesn’t know what they saved and that’s his question, “What did you save $100,000 on?” W. Hamilton said, “You need to pay attention to everything that is going on Fred. It’s not back to where it was.” F. Ostrander asked where the $100,000 savings is. M. Rossini said that council has to make a determination before Thursday. He has always said that he doesn’t really care about Clemans & Nelson but somebody has to do it. He said if Don Zaleski does the negotiating then he will have to go right back to C&N to get some background. He said if council wants Don then hire him, if they don’t let’s hire C&N because they have to do something to get this thing going. He knows that council doesn’t like C&N but they either have to get on or get off the pot. F. Ostrander said that council thought when they voted no for them they got off from that one. M. Rossini said the answer then is vote no for them and get Don. He asked D. Zaleski if he could handle these negotiations and if he wanted to handle these negotiations. D. Zaleski said he can handle them but does he want to handle them, probably not. He said for the police negotiations he would have not done those because at the time they went into negotiations they had three pending federal lawsuits he was representing on behalf of the city, and he couldn’t represent them at a pretrial and a federal case and then the next day negotiate a contract against them. He said he would not do this and throughout the county there is no law director around that does negotiations for their city. He said that Elyria, Lorain, Avon Lake, and Amherst hires outside negotiators. He said that the city’s law director does not do negotiations as a general rule in most cities because of the conflict positions they get put in. He said he doesn’t have too many conflicts with
the Local 860 union in terms of lawsuits, however, if council wants him to sit down at the table and negotiate with them he will do this. M. Rossini said, “There’s your answer.” F. Ostrander said, “It works for me.”
B. Brady said they will have to pay both Clemans & Nelson and Don Zaleski for their time. M. Rossini said he personally would like to take his chances with C&N and get this thing out of here. F. Ostrander said he would vote no and may be outvoted which is fine too.
H. Strickler said the problem is not council because they made it abundantly clear a month ago or whenever they voted on it that they said no. So for the administration to come and say their backs are against the wall because they have a meeting on Thursday is their fault. However they come up with a solution she is not supporting this. She said that she doesn’t even have a problem with Clemans & Nelson as much as she has that they have spent so much money. She said that she hasn’t seen the cost savings yet because the health insurance hasn’t come in effect yet. She said let Don Zaleski but she is voting no. She said they have gone around this and have said no but they still keep bringing it back. M. Rossini said the cost savings wasn’t the health program; the cost savings was in the contracts that they negotiated with the police department. F. Ostrander said council has never seen it itemized as to what that was. F. Ostrander asked what the cost savings were other than health insurance. W. Hamilton said there was differential in rates. This is not the rate for the plan he had discussed with the FOP and OPBA some time ago. That health care plan was based on council’s original marching orders to him and Patrick which was to come back from the bargaining table with zero. His observation of council and what he refers to as amnesia relative to this discussion when 50 employees showed up to a council meeting; the mayor convinced him that maybe they should offer a revised plan which he can do that will still show a savings. The differential in rate, current plan is $16,553 and the rate for the expected for the modified plan is $13,943. That comes out to a savings of $91,359 a year. M. Rossini asked if the savings is a based on whatever the new health care program is. W. Hamilton said it’s based on a difference in annual premium and which was agreed to with the conciliator and OPBA for $40 payment premium.
B. Brady said she is not comfortable with the administration negotiating with the Local 860 because this isn’t what they do and to be fair to the union and the employees they need to have a professional negotiator. She said that D. Zaleski doesn’t want to do it, so one of council needs to volunteer she guesses. D. Zaleski clarified that he will do it if council wants them to. B. Brady said that maybe in the future they should have an ordinance that decides how this happens. F. Ostrander said that maybe D. Zaleski can represent them on Thursday and then go from there. W. Hamilton said they still need money. D. Zaleski said he is scheduled in court on Thursday.
Mayor Anderson clarified that the health care is set by the arbitrator. The city sets the insurance and they gather together with a health committee. There are certain stipulations within that ruling that they are to follow and they will follow those and will set the health care policy, and right now it will only be in effect for six months out of the year rather than a full year. However, the full year savings is over $91,000. She said they will take that for the years out of the negotiated contract and that is the amount of money that they have saved. She said this is per the arbitrator’s ruling and this is the ability the city has from that ruling. She said she has those documents for council to read.
J. Gabriel suggested postponing the meeting with the Local 860 because they need to have a lot more discussion. He suggested pulling the labor negotiator out of the ordinance and to pass the ordinance with the amendments.
G. Fisher read the motion as follows: A motion to amend Ordinance 2008-32 to include the $100 court transaction and to remove the labor negotiator and everything else will remain as is. Roll Call Vote 7 YEAS. MOTION CARRIED.
S. Holovacs MOVED; H. Strickler seconded to suspend the rules as amended. Roll Call Vote 7 YEAS. MOTION CARRIED.
H. Strickler MOVED; S. Holovacs seconded to adopt this ordinance as amended and by emergency. Roll Call Vote 7 YEAS. MOTION CARRIED.
First Reading – Ordinance 2008-33: AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING AND DIRECTING THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF VERMILION, OHIO TO ENTER INTO A CONTRACT FOR THE PURCHASE OF FIVE CROWN VIC 2008 POLICE CRUISERS TO BE PURCHASED FROM STATEWIDE FORD IN THE AMOUNT OF ONE HUNDRED NINE THOUSAND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS ($109,085), AND FOR THE PURCHASE OF A FOUR-WHEEL DRIVE VEHICLE TO BE PURCHASED FROM ANDRETTI CHRYSLER DODGE JEEP OF VERMILION, OHIO IN THE AMOUNT OF TWENTY-THREE THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED TWENTY THREE DOLLARS AND FIFTY CENTS ($23,323.50) TO BE PAID ACCORDING TO A THREE-YEAR AGREEMENT, AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.
H. Strickler MOVED; J. Gabriel seconded to suspend the rules. Roll Call Vote 7 YEAS. MOTION CARRIED.
H. Strickler MOVED; J. Gabriel seconded to adopt this ordinance by emergency. Discussion: B. Brady said they are spending every council meeting picking at pennies and then they have the police department with 16 cars. The officers take them home and they are trying to look for money under rocks and she can’t see how they can justify $130,000 for new cars when they already have 16. She said that some of them have to be released but she can’t support all the new cars for the police department. She didn’t think the city has the money and at some point in time they are asking everyone else to cut their budgets and to hold down their cost. She didn’t know how the city could do this.
C. Schmidt stated that when they started this program he was on council and it does save money because of the maintenance and the fact that they don’t have to buy a car every year, and the prices go up. He said if they buy these cars now they don’t have to pay more money next year for 2009 and 2010. B. Brady said they are paying insurance on 16 cars and not on five or six. What is actually needed on the road? C. Schmidt said the cars are only getting eight hours a day, whereas before they were getting 24 hours a day and they were buying three to four cars every three years and weren’t gaining a thing. They were falling further behind and the mileage was getting higher. They went to this program to preserve the fact that they could get lower mileage on these cars and keep them longer. F. Ostrander said the life of the cars are better and plus the officers taking them home are taking care of them. B. Brady asked Fred what he meant by saying they were taking care of them. F. Ostrander said they clean them and make sure all the equipment is in order, plus when they go to work the equipment is in the car so they’re ready to go to work which is a considerable advantage for the price.
M. Rossini agreed with Barb to some degree that this city needs to start tightening up and they have to start some place. He said in years past the police department had three people on duty every shift. The reason for that is because they had an ambulance run. If there was an ambulance run you would pull two guys off the road and put them on the ambulance and the third guy would cover the road. He asked whether the police ever lost their third man when the department got rid of the ambulance. C. Deverick said no they still have a three-person minimum. M. Rossini said the job expanded to fit the manpower and this is something they have to think about with this cost.
C. Schmidt stated that years ago they didn’t have the drug problem that they have today, nor did they have the crime that they have today. He said they don’t have enough policemen as it is. He would like to see them add another one. M. Rossini agreed but in today’s financial market the city is so strained he isn’t sure where they are going to come up with more money. C. Schmidt said if they don’t buy the cars and start buying three a year they will lose money. M. Rossini said he didn’t have a problem with this but is just saying they need to start tightening up some place.
W. Hamilton said his experience buying new cars every three years is cheaper. It makes a lot of sense because of the maintenance. He noted that a lot of cities do this every three years.
H. Strickler explained that she rode with the police a couple times and if they go below a three-cop minimum with a 22 square mile in Vermilion. . . She thought the cops are unappreciated. She said they work hard and they need to have three people on and actually need four or five on the weekends during the summer because of all the stuff that is going on. She said she doesn’t want to live in a community that has that minimum amount of police protection. She considers this a priority and feels it is very necessary for the health and welfare of the city. B. Brady said they are not cutting policemen and isn’t saying they shouldn’t buy police cars, but is saying they don’t need 16 police cars.
J. Gabriel said with the take home car program if they look at ward five and a train blocking the tracks then they better be glad that Dean Mayer has a car at his house with all of that safety gear in it. He said they don’t have a big luxurious police station like Amherst and if they look at the police force they are a unique city in the fact that they have millions of money in other people’s property sitting up and down the river. He said he is in support of this and he doesn’t think they are being overly extravagant with spending on this.
Roll Call Vote 7 YEAS. MOTION CARRIED.
Executive Session:
The members of council adjourned into executive session and no further business was conducted at the conclusion of that session.
Tabled Ordinances:
Third Reading – Ordinance 2007-63: AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE 2007-10, ADOPTED MARCH 26, 2007 TO MAKE APPROPRIATIONS FOR CURRENT EXPENSES AND OTHER EXPENDITURES FOR THE CITY OF VERMILION, OHIO FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2007 AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. ($400.59 – moral claim).
Third Reading – Ordinance 2007-100: AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO A CONTRACT WITH JOHNSON CONTROLS OF CLEVELAND, OHIO TO PROVIDE HOUSE BILL 300 PERFORMANCE CONTRACTING SERVICES TO THE CITY OF VERMILION AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.
Third Reading – Ordinance 2008-13: AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING GROUP HOSPITALIZATION INSURANCE FOR ALL CITY EMPLOYEES, UNLESS SPECIFIED DIFFERENTLY PER UNION CONTRACTS, AND PREEMPTING ORDINANCE 2003-17 AND ANY AND ALL ORDINANCES AS THEY REFER TO HEALTH CARE INSURANCE, VISION INSURANCE, AND DENTAL INSURANCE BENEFITS, AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.
ANNOUNCEMENT OF MEETING DATES:
- Monday, April 28, 2008 – Streets, Buildings & Grounds; Utilities Committee Meetings – 7:00 p.m.- Monday, May 5, 2008 – Vermilion City Council Meeting – 7:00 p.m.ADJOURNMENT:
No further business was conducted, therefore, F. Ostrander, President of Council adjourned the meeting.
Fred Ostrander, President of Council
Gwen Fisher, Certified Municipal Clerk
Note: Unofficial meeting minutes. Changes may be pending. Minutes are verbatim.
4/25/08
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