Mayor Bryan Shock called the October 25, 2018 Village of Attica Council meeting to order at 7:36PM.
Roll Call: Nate Frisch, George Yakoubian, Justin VanAlstine, Louie Sanders, Ed Treft, and Kirk Stanfield.
Others present: Chief Turner, Administrator Greg Martin, Solicitor Rick Palau, and resident’s M/M Lance Drummond.
Approval of Warrants: Motion by Councilman Yakoubian, seconded by Councilman VanAlstine to approve the warrants for payment. Vote: 6-0 Motion carried.
Approval of Minutes: Motion by Councilman Frisch, seconded by Councilman Sanders to approve the minutes with the corrections. Vote: 6-0 Motion carried.
Written & Oral Communication: Billy Gayheart has an issue with his water bill. It has been 2 months and possibly this month that they have not been charged a usage fee. They have brought it to our attention that their bill has only been $43.50 and they have not been getting charged for usage. Bridget and Billy Gayheart need time to pay this off. They cannot afford to pay the bill all of this at once. Greg stated that the meter is actually working; the outside reader battery went out. Greg will get with Sheryl to see if there is a way to look for 0 usages or a high number of usages for all customers so this does not continue to happen. This also happened at another location. Katherine Smiths family had a similar instance except no usage charges for the past 3 months. The radio reads did not pick up due to dead battery. The battery has a life span of about 10 years. Set up payment terms to catch up the water bill with no late fees.
Motion by Councilman Sanders, seconded by Councilman Treft to allow Katherine Smith and Billy Gayheart to pay their regular monthly water bills plus extra a month with no late fees on the past due portion until the bills are caught up. Katherine Smith will pay her regular monthly bill plus $25.00 a month – Billy Gayheart to pay regular monthly bill plus $75.00 a month to catch up with what the radio reads did not catch. Vote: 6-0 Motion carried.
Mrs. Gail Miller wanted to update us on the wind power project. Mrs. Miller read the attached statement. (Please see attached letter)
She asked Mayor Shock if he would like to contact Josh Clark the assistant county prosecutor and ask if the village council might pass a resolution of intervention to the wind project. Solicitor Palau stated we could pass a resolution as a political statement but we would not have any legal rights within the proceeding.
Mrs. Miller continued on to read this statement from the 10/23/18 Seneca County post meeting release:
There is a meeting scheduled for 5:30 p.m. November 7. More information is expected later this week on the location of the event.
Commissioner Shayne Thomas pitched the meeting as a chance to try and find a compromise on a contentious issue.
He said he sees three potential paths forward. The first path is for both the townships and the county to choose not to intervene. In this case, there would be no legal fees or costs. The entities still could participate in the public hearing process, but would not be able to participate in the adjudicatory hearing in Columbus.
The second path would be to find common ground and to use the prosecutor to represent the county and the township’s joint position on the issue at the adjudicatory hearing. This position could highlight the common ground between the entities. Examples could include protecting roads, groundwater, wildlife and revenue. The entities would not be able to participate in the local public hearing in this scenario.
The final path, which Thomas said would be the worst-case scenario, would see each entity intervening individually and footing the bill for attorney fees for the adjudicatory hearing in Columbus. Lengthy legal
hearings are possible, which could lead to high attorney fees for each governmental body.
Mayor Shock asked if anyone has gotten ahold of the ODNR about the eagles in this area. Mrs. Miller was not sure.
Public Safety: Reminder that Trick or Treat is 10/28/18 from 4-5:30 pm. Come out and vote 11/6/18.
Streets & Properties: none
Parks: everything in the park is winterized
Trees: none
Fire: Meeting held, bills paid
EMS: none
Cemetery: none
Personnel: Councilman Sanders would like to call an executive session to discuss a possible hire.
Zoning Commission: Councilman Yakoubian would like to review the boundary maps for the Village of Attica.
Finance & Rule: July 2018 budget is ready. Resolution 2018-12 accepting the amounts and rates as determined by the budget commission and authorizing the necessary tax levies and certifying them to the county auditor
Motion by Councilman Frisch, seconded by Councilman Sanders to suspend the 3 read rule for the budget. Vote: 6-0 Motion carried.
Motion by Councilman Sanders, seconded by Councilman Frisch to declare an emergency. Vote: 6-0 Motion carried.
Motion by Councilman Sanders, seconded by Councilman Yakoubian to pass the budget and adopt resolution 2018-12. Vote 6-0 Motion carried.
Water & Sewer: none
Village website & IT: none
Unfinished, Old Business and New Business: 3rd Read Ordinance # 2018-11 to refund seven years (2012-2018) of sewer enterprise usage rate overcharges and to establish a maximum sewer usage rate for 2019.
Motion by Councilman Stanfield, seconded by Councilman Treft to Adopt ordinance 2018-11 Vote 2-4 Motion failed
Motion by Councilman Sanders, seconded by Councilman Frisch to go into executive session for personnel Vote: 6-0 Motion carried
Executive Session start time: 8:30 pm end time 8:48 pm
Motion by Councilman Sanders, seconded by Councilman Treft to end executive session Vote: 6-0 Motion carried
Next meeting: Thursday November 8, 2018 at 7:30PM.
Motion by Councilman Stanfield, seconded by Councilman Treft to adjourn the meeting. Time: 8:49 PM. Vote: 6-0. Motion carried.
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Mayor Bryan Shock Fiscal Officer Angela Depinet
