3. ORDINANCE NO REAPPROPRIATIONS Mr. Logan

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1 MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF AVON, OHIO HELD MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2018 IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS OF THE MUNICIPAL BUILDING AT 7:30 P.M. CHAIRMAN, CRAIG WITHERSPOON, CALLED THE MEETING TO ORDER PRESENT: Council Members: 1 st Ward Bob Butkowski; Council-at-Large Brian Fischer; Council-at-Large Tammy Holtzmeier; 2 nd Ward Dennis McBride; 3 rd Ward Tony Moore; Council-at-Large Craig Witherspoon; Mayor Bryan Jensen; City Engineer Ryan Cummins; Service Director/Parks Director Mike Farmer; Planning and Economic Development Coordinator Pam Fechter; Law Director John Gasior; Finance Director William Logan; Clerk of Council Barbara Brooks ABSENT: 4 th Ward Scott Radcliffe The following items were considered in this Work Session: 1. ORDINANCE NO TO ACCEPT IMPROVEMENTS CONSTRUCTED BY PACIFIC RESTAURANT ENTERPRISES, LLC FOR THE INSTALLATION OF PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS ON DETROIT ROAD, SPECIFICALLY KNOWN AS THE TACO BELL TRAFFIC SIGNALIZATION/PAVEMENT MARKINGS PROJECT Mr. Cummins 3 rd of 3 Readings at Regular Meeting Monday, October 22, 2018 Mr. Cummins advised we have received as-builts and we are ready to proceed. Mr. Logan confirmed that all the financial requirements have been received. 2. ORDINANCE NO AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH GREAT LAKES RECYCLING, INC. D/B/A SIMPLE RECYCLING Mr. Witherspoon 2 nd of 3 Readings at Regular Meeting Monday, October 22, 2018 Mr. Gasior advised Simple Recycling contacted him this morning and has agreed to all of the proposed changes. He said Council can act on this legislation next week and he would remove the red line version and incorporate the new clauses. Mr. Gasior stated the main change is that it is a 4-year contract and Simple Recycling has to notify the City 60 days in advance of its termination to consider renewing it. 3. ORDINANCE NO REAPPROPRIATIONS Mr. Logan Mr. Logan explained the appropriation amendments per the exhibit attached to the Ordinance. He made mention that some of them pertain to wage increases dating back to Ordinance No. 1-18, where 2.5% was in the budget for most all departments and a few non-bargaining unit wage increases were a little bit higher. 4. RESOLUTION NO. R ACCEPTING THE AMOUNTS AND RATES AS DETERMINED BY THE BUDGET COMMISSION AND AUTHORIZING THE NECESSARY TAX LEVIES AND CERTIFYING THEM TO THE COUNTY AUDITOR Mr. Logan Mr. Logan advised the County Budget Commission requires for every political subdivision in Lorain County to execute this legislation each year. He stated that none of the full millage on these tax rates changed in the last year and he asked Council to confirm them by a yes vote next Monday night. Mr. Logan said once this Resolution is passed it will be submitted back to the Budget Commission for their records. He explained that the total property tax revenue based on the current values is about $5.2 million to the City each year. Mr. Logan noted the values will change once we get into January and we see what the new property values are for 1

2 2019 and the General Fund revenue will increase a little as a result, but the other voted levies will mostly raise the same amount of revenue that they are currently raising, but that they would have a lower effective millage. 4a. ORDINANCE NO TO ACCEPT IMPROVEMENTS IN AVONDALE SUBDIVISION NO. 5 Mr. Farmer Mr. Farmer advised as of this morning we received all the financial obligations to which Mr. Logan confirmed we have received all the deposits and maintenance bonds, title insurance and that he has everything he needs. Mr. Farmer said they did a final walk through on Friday (10/12) and everything was ready for acceptance. He stated he spoke with Mr. Cummins today and he believes there are a couple items that we need to address prior to acceptance and he indicated he would be circulating the routing slip. Mr. Farmer advised there were a couple items with the storm water and another issue that still needed to be reviewed. Mr. Gasior advised they may not be ready for acceptance next week so it may not be on the agenda for the Regular Meeting. He said in speaking with Mr. Cummins prior to the meeting tonight he did not realize they were not completely ready. Mr. Gasior stated if they get everything in order then we will be ready to go on Monday night, if not then they will be removed from the agenda and we will not act on this legislation. 4b. ORDINANCE NO TO ACCEPT IMPROVEMENTS IN AVONDALE SUBDIVISION NO. 6 Mr. Farmer Mr. Gasior indicated this legislation is included with the discussion of the previous legislation. 4c. RESOLUTION NO. R IN SUPPORT OF SEEKING FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY (FEMA) HAZARDOUS MITIGATION ASSISTANCE FUNDING FOR THE PROPERTY ACQUISITION, DEMOLITION AND RESTORATION OF THE PROPERTY LOCATED AT 3535 JAYCOX ROAD Mr. Cummins Mr. Cummins advised this is another grant opportunity that they would like to apply for and is very similar to the property on Mills Road that we sought the same grant for last year. He said this property, like the property on Mills Road, the structure is located not only within the 100 year floodplain but also in what is called the floodway, which is a very dangerous area next to the creek. Mr. Cummins stated this particular property has experienced multiple flooding events and we believe it is a good candidate for this same grant program. The grant program would allow the City to use those grant funds to purchase the home, demolish the home and have the property remain as publicly owned land and remove that hazard, that danger of having an inhabited home in a flood prone area. He said this legislation is required to make the application and it will be approximately 6 months until we receive word if we are successful or not and then there will be a second piece of legislation like we passed for the Mills Road property implementing the program. Mayor Jensen advised the family who owns this property came to the City when we had the major flooding previously, the same as the one on Mills Road. He felt these are probably the only two residential properties with this problem that we know of that may have some value to the City. Mayor Jensen said as people come across from Schwartz Road Park this could be another outlet. He said there are other properties in that same floodplain farther back as part of a development, but this is one that constantly floods. Mayor Jensen explained he is not trying to bail someone out who knowingly purchased a house in a flood area, but as the City does more improvements along the French Creek this will help give us the ability to do something with that property. He said they have talked to the property owner next door and he has agreed to maintaining the property for the City. Mayor Jensen indicated we are not sure yet that we can acquire this property, but this first step will prepare us if this moves forward. Mr. McBride asked if the house to the south floods as well. Mayor Jensen answered no, not like this one to the north that is always underwater. 2

3 Mr. Cummins advised that, in looking at the map, there are several houses in that vicinity that would think would have similar results. He said this particular house located at 3535 Jaycox Road has been hit very severely multiple times and the other homes in the close vicinity not substantially, if at all. Mr. McBride inquired if this house just sits lower. Mr. Cummins stated he believed the lay of the land sits a little lower and this house is right at house the confluence of French Creek and Schwartz Creek. Mr. McBride agreed the house at 3535 Jaycox Road sits to the north of Schwartz Creek. Mayor Jensen explained that it looks as if the property to the south of the Schwartz Creek would be the one that is worse off, but that property owner has been to the meetings and has stated they do not flood although they ask what the City can do to protect their property and there is not a whole lot the City can do for those properties in the floodplain. Mayor Jensen advised this opportunity is through a grant to purchase the property at 3535 Jaycox Road. Mr. Cummins advised if someone were to try some sort of mounding to protect the structure at 3535 Jaycox Road they could very easily be transferring the problem at that point to a property that has never had an issue previously. He said in his mind, the best option is to take the danger away and this grant opportunity provides a way to have that substantially paid for with outside dollars. Mr. Butkowski stated he knows the subdivision behind this property floods a lot and he asked if there was something the City could do with this grant to help alleviate some of that problem. Mr. Cummins explained this grant is focused on individual homes and if they were to get into larger projects they would have to do an extensive cost benefit analysis. He said they found this little niche for individual homes where they can fall under that threshold and still be able to get the funding and make it work. Mr. Cummins indicated there was possibly the opportunity for something larger but it would definitely be more difficult to do. He stated there are only a few of these homes in Avon and we are just trying to tackle them one at a time. No further discussion. 5. REPORTS AND COMMENTS MAYOR JENSEN advised Council was notified by today letting them know what work is being done over by the pool. He said the Street Department is clearing the area that is the potential location for a new City Hall. Mayor Jensen stated there are no immediate plans to construct that City Hall but he was sure there would be inquiries once people could see there were some trees coming down and cleanup work. He said he asked the employees to remove dead trees or trees that are in bad shape as well as clean out the underbrush. Mayor Jensen explained even if the construction is 3-4 years away he wanted it to begin to look like an area that is open. He stated a walking trail is planned for the outside perimeter to add another area for people to walk. Mayor Jensen advised Council would be the first to know if they were moving forward with construction plans if and when that ever takes place. COUNCIL MEMBERS: MR. BUTKOWSKI, WARD 1 advised he forwarded the prepared Exhibit E to the garbage consortium and the consortium is meeting tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. to review the final bid packet before it goes out for bids. He invited Council / City Officials to join him in Grafton for the meeting if they wished or if they had any comments they wished for him to pass along at the meeting he would be happy to do so. MR. FISCHER, AT LARGE advised last week an regarding the need for sound walls on the east end of Avon along I-90 was brought up. He said he was asked if sound walls are not going to be installed at that location if trees could be planted. Mr. Fischer inquired if there have been any further discussions about that possibility. 3

4 Mr. Cummins advised there has been nothing further to his knowledge. He believed we looked at that situation previously and there is not a lot of space in that area to make that happen as there are some drainage ditches and the like. Mayor Jensen advised they would have to reach out to ODOT again as he believed there was some kind of commitment made. Mr. Cummins stated he could follow up with ODOT again to see if they have made a determination. MRS. HOLTZMEIER, AT LARGE advised there have been some residents inquiring about signs going up on SR83 for builders, specifically one at the South Park entrance to Highland Park. She said apparently there is a builder who is building inside the neighborhood and they are advertising on the tree lawn on SR83. Mrs. Holtzmeier stated this builder is not the only builder for that subdivision as there are multiple builders. She said the questions are if we are now allowing all builders to put signs up on main thoroughfares for building inside of neighborhoods. Mrs. Holtzmeier asked if the sign will be located there permanently similar to what Stonebridge has or was there a timeline to that sign. Ms. Fechter advised she looked into that inquiry and a sign permit was issued to be installed at that location. She said we have not run into a situation where multiple builders are coming in as Highland Park is the only one that has the Smitek family as well as a builder, but they could look into that situation, but currently she knows they are allowed. Ms. Fechter stated there was an issue at Stonebridge because where they were building at Carmel there was no main thoroughfare for their signage so the City allowed them to put it in a spot that does not look like it belongs to that neighborhood, but was the only main entrance to get to the available lots for this builder. She suggested they could try to set up something if there are going to be multiples, but she has not had that issue in front of Planning Commission yet. Mrs. Holtzmeier asked as to how long the permit is valid. Ms. Fechter believed the sign is allowed to stay while they are selling the lots, but said she would look into it and provide her the exact time frame the signage is allowed. Mrs. Holtzmeier asked if renewals are prohibited or provided for. Ms. Fechter stated that in regards to the subdivision the sign is put up once and it stays until all the houses are sold and then it comes down. She advised the Zoning Enforcement Officer monitors that, but she does not know if there is a specific time frame. Mrs. Holtzmeier stated she would wait and see what kind of time frame we were talking about before further discussion on this matter. MR. MCBRIDE, WARD 2 asked if they were discussing the larger development sign the builder installed or was it the typical builder sign. Ms. Fechter answered it was similar to the sign currently on Detroit Road for the Bentley Subdivision No 2, that larger sign that says, Now Coming. Lots Available. Call (this number) and is approximately the size of these types of signs. Mr. McBride asked about the signs that people just put up in the tree lawns. Ms. Fechter advised those signs are not allowed and the Zoning Enforcement Officer takes them down as he is made aware of them. Mrs. Holtzmeier stated the one she is talking about is approximately 5 tall and 3 wide and is staked into the ground with 2 x4 s. She added that there is landscaping around these signs and they are perceived as permanent. Ms. Fechter said the signs she saw today for that subdivision did not look permanent. Mrs. Holtzmeier clarified the one(s) at Highland Park do not look permanent, but the one(s) at Stonebridge absolutely do look permanent with their seasonal bushes and foliage around the sign. MR. MOORE, WARD 3 had no comments. MR. RADCLIFFE, WARD 4 was absent. MR. WITHERSPOON, AT LARGE had no comments. DIRECTORS/ADMINISTRATION: 4

5 MR. CUMMINS, CITY ENGINEER had no comments. MR. FARMER, SERVICE DIRECTOR/PARKS DIRECTOR had no comments. MS. FECHTER, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT /PLANNING COORDINATOR stated that this Saturday, October 20 th is the City s first Halloween party called the Not So Scary Halloween. She said the event will be held in the grassy area outside the Aquatic Facility and the pathways. Ms. Fechter invited the community to bring their families as it should be a lot of fun and will be held from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. MR. GASIOR, LAW DIRECTOR had no comments. MR. LOGAN, FINANCE DIRECTOR advised the Digital Financial Transparency Report they have been working on will be LIVE tomorrow morning on the City website. He asked Council to look at it and provide their feedback and let constituents know where to find it and ask them to take the survey at the end. Mr. Logan said this is our first time using this type of report and it can be updated or changed as needed. AUDIENCE: No comments were made from the audience. 6. ADJOURN 7:54 p.m. There being no further business the Work Session of Council was adjourned. PASSED: SIGNED BY: Craig Witherspoon, Council President ATTEST: Barbara Brooks, Clerk of Council 5