Mayor Pro Tempore Owen Best called the February 22, 2024, Village of Attica Council regular meeting to order at 7:30 PM.
Roll Call: Ed Beamer, Owen Best, Nicole Lenhart, Keith Hopple, Kirk Stanfield
Others Present: Solicitor Heather Heyman Niedermeier, Superintendent Tom Scott, Contract Water Operator of Record Jaime Mendoza, Cindy Brookes- RCAP, Bryan Shock, and Wilbur Pine of 112 S. Main St.
Absent:
Approval of Warrants: Motion by Councilman Beamer, seconded by Councilwoman Lenhart to approve the warrants for payment. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried.
Approval of Minutes: Motion by Councilwoman Lenhart, seconded by Councilman Beamer to approve the minutes from 1/11/24, 1/25/24, & 2/8/24. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried.
Written & Oral Communication: Wilbur Pine of 112 S. Main St. was in attendance to inquire about his recent decrease in water pressure after recent work has been conducted on the waterlines in front of his residence. Mr. Pine was also curious why he wasn’t informed that the work was going to be taking place, which meant he was without water. Tom Scott indicated Mr. Pine’s property was one of two properties on one shut off. Councilman Beamer requested Jaime gets in touch with RA Bores regarding the decreased pressure. Mayor Pro Tempore Best also requested Jaime get in touch with RA Bores. Bryan Shock reported that he did not receive his bill this month. Tom Scott was present to update Council on projects he has completed and future projects he will focus on. Tom asked how Council how they felt about him tilling up a spot of land for a community garden. There was some brief discussion, but no objections about trying it out to see how it was accepted by the community. Tom also asked if he could have a Harbor Freight Credit Account. Council had no objections.
Public Safety: None.
Streets & Properties: Councilwoman Lenhart shared she attended a recent eclipse planning event. She indicated it was suggested the Village block off the water treatment plant entry to avoid eclipse views from pulling into the plant. She also suggested Council should consider blocking off the entrance to the Lagoons. Council had no objections to barricading the entrance.
Councilman Beamer reported driving by Mr. Kuhn’s residence on a rainy day to see if water was collecting in his driveway. He said he didn’t see anything of concern but agreed to keep an eye on it. Councilman Hopple reported he also went by the property on Lemmon St. and noticed water was building.
Parks: Councilwoman Lenhart reported she is organizing an Easter egg hunt on March 30th at 1 pm at Myers Park. She will be filling 1000 eggs with candy. She said North Central Electric is going to donate to help with the expenses. She also reported she is organizing an eclipse event on April 8th at 1:30 pm. She is partnering with the library who is providing 200 pairs of glasses. She hopes to have food trucks, in which she plans to charge a minor vendor fee. Council had no objections. Fiscal Officer Hatfield had concerns about the legality of the Village accepting donations and using Village funds to host events. The Solicitor indicated we will figure it out. Councilwoman Lenhart also indicated she wants to host a Farmers Market on the 1st Sunday of the month. She was thinking she would charge vendors $5 to set up. Councilwoman Lenhart wanted to know if she could put out a donation can during these events. Jaime spoke up and said there was a leak inside the pool building. Councilman Beamer suggested capping them off instead of using fund to repair them when they may not be used. Attica Springs Blooms and Bunch event will be held on May 11th.
Fiscal Officer Hatfield reminded Council that there is a Parks Levy expiring at the end of 2024, it will need put on the ballot for November.
Trees: Councilman Beamer reported he would be starting to look at trees soon.
Fire: Councilwoman Lenhart indicated there was 7 calls for the month of January 1 was fire.
EMS: None.
Cemetery: Councilman Hopple indicated there was a meeting where they discussed closing the cemetery for the eclipse at the drive entrances from April 5th – 9th.
Personnel: Councilman Best reported he and Councilwoman Lenhart held interviews for the position of Administrator. Following the interview Councilman Best and Councilwoman Lenhart thought Bryan Shock would be the appropriate person for the position. Councilman Stanfield asked how much. Councilman Best reported it would be $1500 a month salary. Councilman Stanfield then asked what job description was provided to him. Councilman Best replied to Councilman Stanfield that Councilwoman Lenhart created a job description to the best of her abilities without seeing the position in action. Councilman Stanfield asked if they read the statutory job description. Councilman Beamer asked if the Personnel Committee was recommending the appointment of Bryan Shock. They replied yes. Councilman Stanfield stated he didn’t feel Mr. Shock was qualified. The Solicitor spoke up and said the Mayor is supposed to appoint the Administrator, she suggested waiting until Louis returns from his vacation. Council agreed.
Councilman Best indicated they interviewed one individual for the water operator position, that individual was looking for part time hours. Councilman Best indicated he does have a lead on someone is licensed in Pennsylvania who is moving to Tiffin soon. That individual is supposed to come in for an interview soon. They were not sure how difficult it would be to get this person licensed in Ohio. He also reported sending out emails to operators listed on the EPA’s contract operator list, but not really having any luck there either. Councilman Best asked Jaime if he would consider meeting to renegotiate the expiring contract for the water contract operator, indicating the Village can’t continue to pay what it currently is paying for his services, it is just not feasible long term. Jaime agreed to a meeting. They plan to meet next week to discuss it. Councilwoman Lenhart shared she does know of someone interested in a maintenance position.
Zoning Commission: None.
Finance and rule: Cash balance: $1,414,363.75 All funds include CDs and reserved or restricted funds, and debt reserve funds. FO Hatfield informed Council that the water fund does not have a sufficient fund balance to pay all the bills with a balance of $102. She reported calling Cindy McCafferty with the State Auditor’s Office to get advice. She shared with Ms. McCafferty that Council has already approved transferring funds from the General Fund and she did not want to deplete the General Fund. Cindy McCafferty indicated the Water fund should be self-sustaining. FO Hatfield shared that she asked if we could legally use the Water Capital Improvement Fund to supplement the water fund, Ms. McCafferty said yes. She explained that if we have a capital improvement fund balance, the water fund is not technically broke. FO Hatfield shared that Cindy stated we are headed in the wrong direction which could result in Fiscal Watch, Fiscal Emergency, or some kind of similar oversight by the State Auditor. Ms. McCafferty shared she would be happy to come in and speak with Council if necessary. With this information FO Hatfield prepared Resolution 2024-5 to transfer $50,000 from the Water Capital Improvement Fund into the Water fund and an ordinance to appropriate the transferred funds.
2024-5 Ordinance Transferring $50,000 from the Water Capital Improvement Fund to the Water Fund and declaring an emergency.
Councilwoman Lenhart moved to suspend the three-read rule on Ord 2024-5, Councilman Beamer seconded. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried.
Councilwoman Lenhart moved to declare an emergency Ord 2024-5; Councilman Beamer seconded. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried.
Councilwoman Lenhart moved to adopt Ord 2024-5; Councilman Beamer seconded. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried.
2024-6 Resolution Amending Appropriations and declaring an emergency.
Councilman Beamer moved to suspend the three-read rule on RES 2024-6, Councilwoman Lenhart seconded. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried.
Councilman Beamer moved to declare an emergency on RES 2024-6; Councilwoman Lenhart seconded. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried.
Councilman Beamer moved to adopt RES 2024-6; Councilwoman Lenhart seconded. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried.
FO Hatfield reported she would have the January bank reconciliation at the next regular meeting.
Water & Sewer:
Councilman Beamer reported he and Councilman Best will meet with Cindy Brooks and potentially Dylan next week to discuss the next steps in regionalization. Cindy indicated the nomination for the next stage of funding is due March the 8th, she said they will need to discuss the timeline. Councilman Beamer said he has the paperwork for the GIS mapping that needs to be signed, one for water and one for sewer. Councilman Beamer indicated the grant will require some manpower from the village. Cindy indicated a kickoff meeting will be scheduled once both Memorandum’s of Understanding are signed and returned. The Solicitor prepared the rate ordinance to implement the minimum use charge, which she thought would be passed as an emergency. After discussion of the need to further increase rates, it was decided to hold off and do the increased charges and minimum use fee all at once. Councilman Best reported that Cindy Brooks suggested a 20% increase to stop the bleeding and move in a positive direction. Councilman Best would prefer to hold off on implementation of the rate increase until Council has an opportunity to hold a special meeting inviting citizens to come gain an understanding of the need. Councilman Beamer and Councilwoman Lenhart agreed. Councilman Stanfield reported the sewer has a huge amount of surplus. Councilman Stanfield indicated we could lower sewer rates and raise water rates to be less of a burden on the citizens. Councilman Beamer replied that he would not support lowering sewer rates because we would end up in this same situation with sewer fund. Cindy Brookes reported she didn’t believe there was as much of surplus as Councilman Stanfield believed. Councilman Stanfield reported there is $386,000 in the sewer improvement fund. He indicated we could stop collecting that money and still pay the debt for up to 7 years. Councilman Stanfield then said every tenant is paying for debt service when it should be the landlord who is responsible for supplying water to these properties. Councilman Stanfield doesn’t believe the village should be charging the tenants for debt service. He said branching meters is against our own ordinances, implying multifamily residence should have only one meter. Jaime spoke up and said it is never a good idea to go backward. He said the EPA could come in at any time with requirements that cost the sewer fund. Jaime also indicated with 260 new meters being installed, the Village will see roughly a 10% increase in revenue as the meters are installed. Councilman Best asked when would be best for everyone to attend a special meeting. Council decided to meet Wednesday, February 28th at 7 pm for a special meeting. Councilman Stanfield believes the minimum use charge is a “vapor rate” the poor users will be subsiding the large users. Cindy Brookes reported that the rate will be the same on the minimum use charge as everyone else pays. She indicated the Village has 27% water loss. She said 2000 gallons a month as a minimum use charge is the nationwide average, some communities implement a 4500-gallon minimum use charge.
Jaime reported there were several water leaks starting on January 23rd which lasted until February 9th where they were making 130,000 to 240,000 gallons of water. The day after everything was fixed, they made 90,000 gallons. One of the breaks was traced back to the pool. The break on Township Road 188 single family home, the water shut off was outside their house which meant the village was responsible to repair. They had RA Bores come put a two-inch sleeve underneath the railroad track which will make future repairs easier. Jaime said we were hemorrhaging a lot of water and a lot of money due to these leaks. With the condition of the water mains, Jaime suggested purchasing a listening device for about $10,000 -12,000 to avoid the need to hire an outside entity. He reported it would be a wise investment. Jaime reported with Tom’s help they have been able to clean up the vegetation around the east lagoon to gain access. The west one is full. Now they are focusing back on the chemical area unless you want us to quit spending money for now. Councilman Best said he thought that would be best for now, with the current situation. Councilman Best and Councilman Beamer will meet with Jaime next week to review and negotiate a new contract.
Councilman Beamer made a motion to table Ordinance 2024-7 Ordinance Amending the Water Rate Schedule, Councilwoman Lenhart seconded. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried.
Village Website & IT:
Unfinished, Old Business and New Business: New Business Councilwoman Lenhart reported she received an email from someone who wants to set up in Attica to collect data during the eclipse event. They will need a parking lot to accommodate 3 to 4 cars, possible electric, and possible restroom. She told the individual the pavilion at Myers Park is spoken for but she thought the baseball field would be okay. Council didn’t object.
Old Business: Councilman Beamer asked the Solicitor about implementing a code of conduct, he asked her to investigate it. She said she would.
Executive Session:
Next meeting: Thursday, March 14, 2024, at 7:30 PM.
Motion by Councilman Beamer, seconded by Councilwoman Lenhart to adjourn the meeting. Time: 9:30 PM. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried.
