Mayor Nathan Frisch called the July 23, 2020 Village of Attica Council meeting to order at 7:30 PM.

Roll Call: Lynn Love, George Yakoubian, Ed Treft, Louie Sanders, Kirk Stanfield*, Tim Bulger Others Present: Village Administrator Greg Martin, Solicitor Heather Niedermeier Heyman, Water/Wastewater Superintendent Gary Weis *Mr. Stanfield exited the meeting at 8:47pm, prior to meeting adjournment at 9:07pm

Approval of Warrants: Motion by Councilman Yakoubian, seconded by Councilman Bulger to approve the warrants for payment. Vote: 6-0. Motion carried.

Approval of Minutes: Motion by Councilman Love, seconded by Councilman Bulger to approve the minutes. Vote: 5-0, with Councilman Stanfield abstaining. Motion carried

Written & Oral Communication: Matthew Beattie with Flashes Trash stopped in to discuss details on trash removal service and bulk clean up. He asked if the Village would be interested in a contract for the entire village and a few other questions about how our service is now. Flashes would likely not be interested in a one-time bulk pickup, but would potentially be interested in service for the whole village. Service for the whole village would include some sort of bulk pickup, depending on the tonnage normally generated by the village for these events in the past. Resident Scott Dorris was present to see if it was possible to have his water service restored tonight instead of in the morning. VA Martin exited the meeting about halfway through to go and do this for Mr. Dorris. FO Gullett stated that a representative from TSEP contacted the Village to see if we had any recommendations on business to receive some PPE kits they are distributing. Suggestions included NAPA, the gas station, Back Roads Diner, and the fertilizer company.

Public Safety: none

Streets & Properties: VA Martin stated that a property wants to annex onto the Village. Part of the property for Beck Supplier is already in the Village, looking to do the rest. Information was turned over to the solicitor. Martin also announced that the pole has been replaced at Lemmon Street has been replaced and signage has been repaired by Attica Raceway Park.

Parks: FO Gullett announced that the Village was awarded a grant from the Seneca County Parks District for $3,175. This grant is to fund a fence rail along the 224 side of Myers Park. Councilman Love stated she spoke to Tim Bowerman with the baseball club, and he would like a longer fence than they discussed before. The ball club would pay the difference. She will coordinate with VA Martin on how to proceed with the project. Councilman Love stated that she sought a quote for the portalet that was previously requested by Doug Mason for cross country season. It would be $85 per month and set out by the pool if approved. The ball clubs usually rent one, but there is no ball this summer. Love requested that we go ahead with the rental for this year since we are not paying for a dumpster this summer at the park. Motion by Councilman Love, seconded by Councilman Sanders to rent a portalet through October 1st for placement at Myers Park. Vote: 6-0. Motion carried.

Trees: none

Fire: Councilman Yakoubian reported: had meeting, paid bills. Stated that fire hose testing will be taking place on Monday.

EMS: Councilman Love reported: had meeting, paid bills. Stated three new hires were brought on last night.

Cemetery: none

Personnel: Councilman Bulger stated that the employee handbook is 30 years old and requested to take the lead on updating it. Councilman Yakoubian stated that we can budget for outsourcing if needed, but Bulger expressed that he has experience and can get things going on it. Yakoubian suggested a few things to consider, including vacation time, sick pay and employee use of company vehicles. Councilman Stanfield asked VA Martin when he was planning to retire, as he feels it is affecting planning. Martin advised he will give notice to the Village when the time comes. Stanfield stated that in looking at our water and sewer departments, eliminating Greg’s salary would be helpful in planning. Councilman Yakoubian reminded Stanfield that Martin’s salary is not 100% water, he has a split salary with other departments and is Village Administrator. Stanfield then requested to see the ordinance that established the position of Village Administrator. FO Gullett will try to locate. Councilman Love stated that the Personnel Committee met with W/WW Gary Weis on his request for sick time payout. He is looking for the same request as before, which is all but 200 hours of his accumulated sick time. He is willing to take the payout over a period of 2-3 years to not hit the budget so hard and requested the same treatment as former Police Chief Keith Turner upon his exit for the payout of sick time. During the December 13, 2018 meeting, a motion was passed to pay Turner his full hours. Weis made the request for his payout on 2/15/19 and has been waiting for an answer since. Solicitor Heyman stated that the ORC provides for 25% at retirement, up to 30 days’ wages. The Village can make a policy that is different and can establish payout terms for other separations. There are also stipulations that cash out requests may prohibit any hours not claimed in the request from being paid out in the future. In absence of a policy, there is no cash out option while you are employed, only at retirement. The Village can also create a policy for a yearly request but only for that year. Weis stated that a rule went into place, an employee was allowed to cash out everything in 1999 but after that time was 120 hours. Heyman advised she is not familiar with that statute, and it could have changed since then, as there was a revision in the ORC code in 2007. There is no way to tell what that revision was, and it would apply as stated currently. One of the codes presented to Heyman for review was determined to be applicable only to state employees. She stated that the Village can create a policy that is consistent with that code but cannot supersede it. Councilman Yakoubian asked about Turner’s case. Heyman advised that the Village can adopt a policy to address payment terms upon separations other than retirement. Weis then asked if he quits could he request the payout; Heyman responded that no, a quit would not be covered. Weis asked if the water operations were sold and his job was gone, could he then; Heyman responded maybe. Weis also asked if Council set a policy when they voted on Turner’s payout; Heyman responded no, not necessarily. Councilman Stanfield stated that Turner was laid off at the time. Weis also asked if Turner was paid at the full rate, and stated that he can’t plan for retirement unless he has some answers. It was reviewed that the motion in December 2018 was passed as full hours and didn’t address pay. FO Gullett will investigate what was paid, as she did not work for the Village then. Councilmen Bulger and Love suggest that without policy we need to follow the ORC. It’s been a year and a half since he requested and we need to make a determination on this request. There was some discussion on creating a policy for an annual payout for 120 hours. Love stated that other places do payout requests at 35% of current wages. Bulger advised it would be best to review the information have another meeting with Weis. The solicitor would also need more time to review the information and make sure that everything follows code.

Zoning Commission: none

Finance & Rule: Cash balance of all funds $ 1,304,225.86. FO Gullett advised that we need revised appropriations for 2020, due to the addition of Coronavirus Relief Funds, the parks grant and expenses in the police fund that were not included previously. The amended revisions and summary were distributed for review. Gullett also stated that she requested an amended certificate of estimated resources, due to the Coronavirus Relief Funds. Councilman Stanfield asked what would we spend those funds on, asking if Council could be paid for missed meetings. It was advised that currently, the funds cannot be used to replace lost revenue, but there are several other things that would benefit the Village. Gullett will be reviewing a webinar on information for spending the funds. She did state that an audio/video upgrade would be covered, as it would enable meetings to be uploaded to the web for public view or attendance through a program like Zoom. Motion by Councilman Sanders, seconded by Councilman Love to suspend the three read rule on RES 2020-12. Vote: 6-0. Motion carried. Motion by Councilman Sanders, seconded by Councilman Love to declare an emergency on RES 2020-12. Vote: 6-0. Motion carried. Motion by Councilman Sanders, seconded by Councilman Love to adopt RES 2020-12. Vote: 5-1, with Councilman Stanfield voting no. Motion carried. Councilman Stanfield asked if there was any progress on refinancing the debt. FO Gullett advised that she followed up on the contact he had given her and reported back at a previous meeting. Stanfield stated that he had a list of places to contact. Gullett requested a copy of the list and she would follow up. Mr. Stanfield exited the meeting before providing such list. Village Income Tax update: FO Gullett distributed the sample ordinance provided by RITA for Council to review. Councilman Yakoubian stated that the RITA rep did follow up with him and did state we should decide soon if the Village would want a start date of January 1. Councilman Stanfield suggested that someone follow up with Bloomville to see how it has been working out for them. The general consensus of Council was for the income tax but no vote was proposed. Councilman Yakoubian suggested that a Town Hall meeting be held to allow the residents of the Village to attend and ask questions. He suggested that a presentation be made to give information that could be given in person and posted to the Village website.

Water & Sewer: none Village

Website & IT: none

Unfinished, Old Business and New Business: Councilman Bulger stated that the police department needs to be inventoried. He proposed that the Public Safety Committee be reinstated so that it can be handled. Mayor Frisch advised that the committee was never abolished and just needed appointed. Solicitor Heyman advised that it might be a good idea to contract someone from the Sheriff’s office to help out, as there are things we should not be touching. Resident Lance Drummond suggested that bigger signage be place on the door so that anyone driving by could better see that the department is not open. Councilman Sanders asked if Turner would have to come back if the department was reopened. Solicitor Heyman advised she would need to know more about how he left and review the statute to give a determination.

Next meeting: August 13th, 2020 at 7:30PM

Motion by Councilman Bulger, seconded by Councilman Treft to adjourn the meeting. Time: 9:07 PM. Vote: 5-0. Motion carried. ____________________________________ ______________________________ Mayor Nathan Frisch Fiscal Officer Michelle Gullett