Council Meeting Minutes Regular Session

CITY OF READING, OHIO COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES – REGULAR SESSION OCTOBER 16TH, 2012 – 7:30PM

CALL TO ORDER President of Council Cris Nesbitt called the meeting to order at 7:30pm.

INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mr. Nesbitt led those in attendance in the Our Father and the Pledge of Allegiance.

ROLL CALL Council Members Present - Mr. Roth, Mr. Gertz, Mr. Lynd, Mr. Albrinck, Mr. Ashbrock, Mr. Fischesser. Motion made by Mr. Fischesser, seconded by Mr. Albrinck to excuse Mr. Lindeman from the meeting. Motion passed by a voice vote.

Other City Officials Present – Mayor Robert Bemmes, President of Council Cris Nesbitt, Treasurer Mel Gertz, Safety Service Director Patrick Ross, Clerk of Council Scott Heckle.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES Without objection, the minutes for the October 2nd, October 9th and October 10th council meetings were approved.

AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION Reading School Superintendent Scott Inskeep spoke to council and informed us that Reading Schools have been awarded the designation of Excellence with Distinction. Reading schools will have a renewal levy on this November ballot (Issue 45).

READING OF COMMUNICATIONS Mr. Heckle read the Mayors court report for the month of September. Total amount collected $15,590. Bench warrants issued- 188. Cases heard- 559. The report was marked received and filed.

REPORTS OF OFFICIALS Mayor (Robert Bemmes)- Mr. Bemmes offered condolences to the family of Margaret Pflanz. Please keep Bart Gertz and his family in your prayers. Bart remains in serious condition. Please keep all of the military and their family in your prayers. He congratulated Don and Rose Lindeman on their 46 wedding anniversary. Reading High School Hall of Fame Banquet is October 20th at VYO Haffey Fieldhouse. The service department was able to remove the concrete slab from Vorhees Park. The new playground equipment has been ordered and we hope to have it up in the next month. The new business directory was entirely paid for by the Reading businesses. We are in the process of delivering them by hand. Rick Scarpinski will be retiring from the City of Reading on October 31st after 37 years of service. Saints Peter and Paul Academy 5k run went very well. The Knights of St. Johns Halloween party is Oct. 27th at Haffey Fieldhouse. Halloween will be celebrated around Reading on Oct. 31st from 6-8pm. The 2nd annual night for St. Nicholas Academy will be Saturday Nov. 17th at the OLSH activity center. Please visit the city website at www.ReadingOhio.org. The fire department is active in a program called Taking it to the Streets. The fire department is still selling shirts in supports Breast Cancer Awareness. October is fire prevention month. This years them is “have two ways out”. A robbery occurred Oct. 9th at the 5/3 Bank. The police department has identified the person responsible and is currently looking for him. The police COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 16TH, 2012 PAGE 2 department has been conducting traffic enforcement in troubled areas. Mr. Bemmes has received compliments on the new police cars. Mr. Bemmes hopes everyone will go out and vote and elect people who will protect the unborn. Mr. Tony Gertz thanked everyone for the support given to his family from Reading residents during the tragic time his family is going through. Mr. Ashbrock said that community events such as the 5k run are what makes Reading the great city it is. Mr. Ashbrock hopes the next 5k run will be even bigger and better and encourage more people to get outside and get active.

Safety Service Director (Patrick Ross) – Mr. Ross said that next week we should have an ordinance regarding a retirement and unused sick and vacation time. There are changes coming to the current retirement plan and some who are already eligible for retirement may be retiring before the end of the year because of these changes. Mr. Ross has contacted 5/3 about possibly getting a bond or a note for various projects around Reading. Reading has been approved for $370,000 7year note at an interest rate of 2.6%. ($58,495 per year). Projects included would be – Vorhees Park restrooms, roof and HVAC for city hall building, major pool repair, fixing all security cameras in parks, Haffey Fieldhouse improvements, police department improvements, Hilltop firehouse, replace the flooring in city hall. Mr. Ross believes we will have enough money in the 340 fund over the next 7 years to handle this debt obligation. VYO may be putting up most of the money for the Haffey Fieldhouse roof themselves. Mr. Ashbrock asked for a breakdown for all of these projects and during the next council meeting we could discuss this in further detail. Mr. Tony Gertz would also like to see a breakdown of the projects and would like to see if we could get the (2) pick trucks that Mr. Albrinck has been wanting to get for the service department. Mr. Gertz announced there would be a finance committee meeting at 10am on October 23rd. Mr. Fischesser appreciates the work Mr. Ross has done putting together the project list. He said there isn’t an item on that list that is extravagant. Mr. Ross ordered the playground equipment for Vorhees Park. There was discussion between Mr. Ross and council regarding the Vorhees Park cleanup, shelter and new playground equipment. In the upcoming weeks the building behind Rally’s will be torn down ($20,000 grant). 10 E. Vine St. may be torn down soon also. The plaque honoring former Reading football coach Ken Minor is on display. Mr. Ross thanked Dick Jones for his $200 donation to the fireworks. Mr. Roth asked Mr. Ross if he had any further discussions with Linda Fitzgerald regarding Amberly Village. Mr. Ross said yes. He also said there were about 5 residents and 3 of those spoke during the Amberly Village council meeting regarding zoning issues. There was brief discussion regarding the zoning issue. Mr. Gertz asked if the money used to knock down the buildings he discussed earlier were through a community development block grant. Mr. Ross said yes. There was brief discussion between Mr. Ross and Mr. Gertz regarding grant money. Mr. Gertz asked what the cost was of the new playground equipment. The cost was $31,184 which was the amount we received from the Hylant Group. Mr. Gertz asked if the city was required to ask for bids before purchasing the new equipment. Mr. Ross said no because of the loss coming as a result of a fire, we didn’t have to get bids. Mr. Tony Gertz mentioned that Mr. Vonderhaar committed $250 as a pledge towards the fireworks as well as the Valley Central Savings Bank who pledged $500. Mr. Gertz thanked Mr. Lindeman for spearheading the effort to get donations for the fireworks. COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 16TH, 2012 PAGE 3

Mr. Ashbrock asked if the zoning issue with Amberly Village is the piece of property sitting between Maple Dr. and Cross County Highway. Mr. Ross said yes. Mr. Ashbrock asked if the city would be receiving restitution for the damage done to Vorhees Park. Mr. Ross said the insurance company would receive all of it. This protects the pool we are a part of.

Treasurer (Mel Gertz) – Mr. Gertz gave a mid-month update. Through Oct. 16th, the city has collected $335,223.56. This is about 7% ahead of last year. This end of the quarter is Oct. 31st.

COUNCIL COMMITTEE REPORTS Finance (Anthony Gertz) – Mr. Gertz said our goal in 2012 was to maintain a 5% growth from 2011. He is optimistic about the future of Reading. With projected revenue losses in 2013 we are still going to have to make up $300,000. He believes Gov. Kasich has done a great job balancing the budget at the state level. There will be a finance meeting 10.23.12 at 10am.

Zoning, Planning and Environment (Robert Ashbrock) – Mr. Ashbrock attended the OKI board of directors meeting. There was a special presentation on the Brent Spence Bridge at this meeting. It was discussed the preferred funding method will be tolls. He senses a great bit of enthusiasm from the new director in charge of the funding portion of the bridge. The possible start could be in 2016. He is optimistic about the bridge project starting sooner than most originally thought it would.

Laws and Contracts (Lee Roth) – Mr. Roth reported that Mr. Stevenson is still working on the ordinance that would pass the cost of the cleanup for meth labs onto the property owner.

Public Health and Safety (Randy Fischesser) – Mr. Fischesser thanked Lieutenant Zimmerman for allowing him to check out the new cruisers. He said the new cruisers have a lot more room than they appear. The new graphic on the cruisers have a lot more reflectivity. Sunday Nov. 4th will be when you need to set your clocks back (1) hour and also check and or change the batteries in your smoke detectors. He called a safety committee meeting for November 13th at 6:30pm.

Service (Dennis Albrinck) – Mr. Albrinck offered condolences to Bob and Andrea Gertz and their family for the loss of their son Michael. The service department has started leaf pick up on Oct. 8th but the leaves have not fallen as quickly as expected. When you rake your leaves your leaves please do not pile them into the street. We do not want the leaves getting into the sewer system. If you put them in the street and a car is parked on top of them it could set off a fire. Children also like to play in the leaves and we don’t want leaves in the street where a car could potentially run over any children. The service department continues to do all the tasks they normally preform.

Recreation (Tom Lynd) – Mr. Lynd reminded his committee members there will be a committee meeting Oct. 23rd at 6:30pm to discuss park rental fees. He thanked the Parks department for the wok they have done on Vorhees Park. The Haffey Fieldhouse is rented out for the Hall of Fame this Saturday, the Knights of St. John’s Halloween Dance the 27th and the Fire Department Raffle Nov. 16th and 17th. Trick or treating will be held on October 31st from 6p-8p, please watch out for all children. Mr. Tony Gertz thanked the service department for how well the football field looks. COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 16TH, 2012 PAGE 4

OTHER BUSINESS Mr. Ashbrock mentioned an email he received regarding an alternative revenue summit. He was curious if anyone from our city was planning on coming. He thinks we need to consider all ideas and if our city cannot attend then Mr. Ashbrock would like to find out if the results of the summit could be made public for interested communities. Have the LED lights the city was given been installed and if they have been what procedure must we follow to insure that Duke Energy is aware that we are using them. Mr. Ross said he will check with Matt Morgan, but he believes once he installs the lights, he contacts Duke Energy. He encouraged everyone to friend Della Rucker on Facebook. Miss Rucker has done some work with the city and has written a nice article about economic development. Mr. Tony Gertz agrees with the tree ordinance. He spoke to a resident who believes the manner in which the city is taking care of the trees is not respectful to the property owners. Mr. Gertz thanked the Lockland Police Department for the work they did in finding the person responsible for the tragic events to his family. He also congratulated Mel Gertz on his newest grandchild. He thanked Mr. Bemmes for his pro-life comments tonight and is honored to run on the same political ticket with Mayor Bemmes. Mr. Albrinck asked if the tree ordinance needs to be first referred to the Laws and Contracts committee. Mr. Ross said it can be but Mr. Stevenson has reviewed it. Mr. Roth scheduled a committee meeting for Nov. 27th at 6:30pm.

READING OF RESOLUTIONS Mr. Heckle read by title only of Resolution 2012-66R and 2012-67R passed on October 10th.

READING OF ORDINANCES Mr. Heckle read by title only of Ordinance 2012-68 and 2012-69 passed on October 10th.

Mr. Fischesser thanked Mr. Heckle for showing up tonight even though he was sick.

ADJOURNMENT Being no further business, the meeting was declared adjourned at 8:53pm.

CRIS NESBITT SCOTT HECKLE President of Council Clerk of Council