Mayor Nathan Frisch called the November 24, 2020 Village of Attica Council regular meeting to order at
7:31 PM.
Roll Call: Lynn Love, George Yakoubian, Ed Treft, Tim Bulger, Kirk Stanfield
Others Present: Solicitor Heather Niedermeier Heyman
Approval of Warrants: Motion by Councilman Yakoubian, seconded by Councilman Bulger to approve
the warrants for payment. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried.
Approval of Minutes: Motion by Councilman Love, seconded by Councilman Bulger to approve both sets
of minutes. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried.
Written & Oral Communication: Sherry Loos, the Ohio RCAP State Coordinator, was not able to attend
the meeting in person as planned, due to COVID travel restrictions. Loos was available by phone to
answer questions from Council. Loos stated that legislation is still not approved for Ohio that would
enable refinancing of certain loans, mostly USDA loans. She continues to check on that and will update
us in the future. A recap of the answers from Sherry Loos are as follows:
- While RCAP may not be able to provide an actual valuation on the utility systems, a member of
the team, Wayne Cannon, may be able to help with looking at long term costs, reviews of legal
agreements and future plans.
- RCAP is a non-profit organization and has helped the Village before when securing grants for
the new wastewater project. They can help find other grants if projects qualify.
- Loos feels that a meeting with Wayne Cannon would be helpful to get a starting point for
coming up with a valuation. She suggested getting an engineer to come in and also cautioned to
look at the cost of repayment long term of any debt covered by a buyer.
- Some numbers used in a valuation may come from the EPA report.
- The next step is for Loos to connect the Village with Jennifer Jeanette and Wayne Cannon. She
will ask for Jennifer to reach out to the water/sewer committee and set up an initial meeting.
(Solicitor Heyman noted this meeting should probably be a formal water/sewer committee
meeting when it happens.)
Public Safety: Mayor Frisch noted that a new battery had to be put in the police SUV so that it could be started. It appears that no camera is in the vehicle, and all information should be on the laptop. Councilman Bulger stated that he is aware of an agency possible interested in both vehicles. Solicitor Heyman will check the threshold of value to determine if they need to be put out to bid. She will need a valuation on them, as well.
Streets & Properties: Per a report from VA Martin: the Woodwind tile project is done. Mayor Frisch also noted as a follow up to an earlier conversation, the Village has 9.4 miles of streets.
Parks: Per a report from VA Martin: the Myers Park lot project is nearly done.
Trees: none
Fire: none
EMS: none
Cemetery: none
Personnel: 1 st read: ORD 2020-23: AN ORDINANCE ADOPTING PERSONNEL POLICIES FOR EMPLOYEES OF THE VILLAGE OF ATTICA, OHIO. Councilman Bulger asked that members review the ordinance and come to the next meeting with notes and questions if they had any. They would like to pass by the end of the year. Bulger also requested eight 1” binders for Council and employees to keep the handbook and make it easy for any future revisions. FO Gullett questioned if the ordinance should include language on prior ordinances. Solicitor Heyman stated that yes, there should be a paragraph included. Heyman also asked for clarification on the terms in the sick leave section. Councilman Bulger clarified that abolishment is when a job is eliminated, termination is when an employee is fired. Councilman Treft voice his opinion that sick time payouts should be higher at retirement. Councilman Stanfield questioned if W/WW Super Gary Weis OK’d the earlier payment arrangement for his sick time payout. Councilman Bulger advised that he did not, so that was a no go. Councilman Love questioned the amount of Weis’s accrued sick time hours. The handbook states that max accrual is 1440 hours. FO Gullett stated she would have to back track and see where he went over to confirm what the amount would be with accrued and used.
Zoning Commission: none
Finance & Rule: Cash balance of all funds $ 1,339,838.66. 2 nd Read: RES 2020-21: 2021 PERMANENT APPROPRIATIONS. 1 st Read: RES 2020-22: 2020 AMENDED APPROPRIATIONS. Changes to program codes for the Veterans Park Fund; no net change to appropriations. $250 added to contracted services in the Police Fund to cover maintenance on the police cruiser; increase of $250 overall to appropriations from carryover. Motion by Councilman Yakoubian, seconded by Councilman Love to suspend the three read rule on RES 2020-22. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried. Motion by Councilman Yakoubian, seconded by Councilman Love to declare an emergency on RES 2020- 22. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried. Motion by Councilman Yakoubian, seconded by Councilman Love to adopt RES 2020-22. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried. Village Income Tax – none
Village Website & IT: none
Unfinished, Old Business and New Business: It was decided that the second meeting in December will be held on Tuesday, December 22, 2020 at 7:30pm, due to Christmas Eve.
Next meeting: December 10, 2020 at 7:30 PM
Motion by Councilman Bulger, seconded by Councilman Love to adjourn the meeting. Time: 8:24 PM. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried
. ____________________________________ ______________________________ Mayor Nathan Frisch Fiscal Officer Michelle Gullett
