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February 10, 2005 |
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On
Thursday, February 10, 2005, the Board of Trustees of The
meeting opened with the pledge of Allegiance. FIRE
DEPARTMENT: (Chief Rich Peterson) Chief
Peterson asked for a Resolution to hire and swear in new Firefighter/Paramedic,
Don Barthel. Virginia
Macdonald motioned to hire Firefighter/Paramedic Don Barthel seconded by Russ
Goffus. All voted yes. Motion carried. Virginia
Macdonald called for Don Barthel to step forward and then gave the Oath. Virginia Macdonald and the Board welcomed Don
Barthel and everyone in attendance applauded him. Peterson
reported he would be applying for the $6.5 million SAFER Grant (Staffing for
Adequate Fire and Emergency Response).
This grant will allow him to apply for funding for staff. The SAFER Grant will be awarded in June and
hopes to hear something by then. Peterson
announced the Fire/EMS Community Pancake Breakfast is scheduled for Sunday, May
15th at Station #1 from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. Peterson
reported the Township Association 911 Planning Committee meeting was scheduled
for Tuesday, February 15th at 3:00 p.m. but stated he received a
call today around 4:30 that this meeting has been changed or postponed. Todd Bosley said he hadn’t heard
anything. Russ Goffus stated he had just
talked to Steve Meeks and as far as he knew, it was still scheduled for the 15th. Discussion followed. ROAD
DEPARTMENT: Ty
Reiter gave an oral road report stating they have been plowing/salting, cleaned
up some old scrap pipe from storm sewer projects from last fall and took to
Slesnick’s and did patching on Parks, Maplegrove and Swallen. Discussion
was held regarding CHILDREN AT PLAY signs.
Virginia Macdonald feels CHILDREN AT PLAY signs should be taken down as
the road crew sees them because in the Ohio Revised Code, it states these signs
give a ‘false sense of security’ and it’s against the law to have these signs
up. Ty Reiter stated he feels the
Trustees should get a written opinion from the Prosecutor’s Office. Reiter
stated a couple years ago, he recalls the Board agreeing not to erect any new
CHILDREN AT PLAY signs but would not take down the existing signs and continued
to say if the Trustees would decide to take these signs down, that in his
opinion, it should be done by Resolution.
Since
a resident requested the CHILDREN AT PLAY sign on Shilling be taken down, it
has been removed. The Board agreed all
the signs should come down but agreed to only take down the one on Nickelplate
now, which was also requested by a resident.
Reiter stated he would take care of it tomorrow. Mrs. Macdonald stated she would check into it
and do some research on this subject. Reiter
requested a vacation day tomorrow, Friday the 11th. But he stated if it snowed, he would be
in. The Board approved his request. ZONING
DEPARTMENT: (Keith Lasure) Mr.
Lasure asked for approval from the Board for Paul Gretzinger to attend the next
Trustees Meeting to take photos of the elected officials for the website he is
doing for the township. The Board
agreed. The website is currently under
construction but is ready for viewing at
www.nimishillentownship.com. Russ
Goffus motioned to accept the January 2005 Report for the Stark Mr.
Lasure read his written Zoning Report for February 10th, 2005. Virginia Macdonald motioned to accept the
written Zoning Report for February 10, 2005 seconded by Russ Goffus. All voted yes. Motion carried. (Copy attached) Lasure
questioned the Board regarding the proper procedure for the erection of a
mausoleum in a township cemetery.
Discussion followed. February 10,
2005 (Cont.) CONCERNS
OF CITIZENS:
1.
Terri Huckels of 8730
2.
Dave Mullett of 5057 Broadway stated he almost lost his daughter
Christmas Eve. He spoke about his
concerns with the current 911 system and questioned why the
3.
Mark Rumble of 3094 Since
it was now a little after 8:00 p.m., the
4.
Student Liza Dirocco of
5.
Donna Fuller of 5857 At
this point, Bosley asked Peterson to explain the maps being used at the 911
Center. Todd
Bosley stated five years ago 911 was broken and it’s still broken today. He stated this has been an ongoing problem
but it’s to the point now that it has to be fixed.
6.
Student Amber Jaeb of 4627 Parks stated her next-door neighbor had a
heart attack and her mother called 911 and it took them ten minutes to get
there. She stated she didn’t realize how
big of a problem this was until tonight and, in her opinion, she thinks that,
as a township, Nimishillen needs to step up and emerge as the leader to get
things moving. Amber received a round of
applause form the Board and residents.
7.
Joanne Moody of 7018 Pilot Knob suggested residents go on a letter
writing campaign expressing their concerns on the current 911 System and the
necessity to reconvene the committee.
Terri Huckels suggested Joanne put something in The Herald to have all
At
this time, Virginia Macdonald asked Chief Peterson where all the dispatch
centers were located. Canton City services their own Fire/EMS and police and
answer their own 911 calls with a population of approximately 78,000-80,000 Red Center dispatches for about twenty agencies for a
population of approximately 91,000 Nimishillen Township, if we don’t pick anyone
else up, will dispatch for about fourteen agencies with a population of approximately 86,000 City of Louisville dispatches for themselves,
law enforcement, police, EMS, Washington Township Fire/EMS and City of East Canton for
approximately 15,000 North Canton has their own (doesn’t
remember population) Alliance dispatches their own at approximately 22,000 Plain Township dispatches their own for
approximately 38,000. Peterson
stated all of these entities with the exception of Canton City go through Stark
County 911. Nimishillen
Township Board of Trustees February 10,
2005 (Cont.)
8.
Judy George of 5874 Noel commented how impressed she was when she
attended a Firefighter’s meeting and was shown a piece of equipment and how
this equipment is used. Mr.
Mullett stepped to the podium again and praised and thanked the Nimishillen
Township Paramedics and Mark Rumble stepped to the podium again and spoke about
the need for action on the 911 problems.
Discussion followed. At
this time, the Board talked about going into Executive Session. Todd Bosley stated pending litigation could
not be discussed unless the attorney was present. Russ Goffus questioned this. Clerk, Carlene Harmon, explained when she
attended the Winter Conference in Columbus, Ohio, it was stated an attorney
must be present to discuss pending litigation in Executive Session. Trustee
Bosley wanted to talk about the pending litigation in public session and
continued to comment on the case and wanted to know who would pay for the
settlement if the township would lose.
Russ Goffus and Virginia Macdonald stated pending litigation cannot be
discussed in an open meeting. Mrs.
Harmon stated you don’t have to go into Executive Session for anything – it’s
only if you choose to do so. Discussion
on this subject continued. Virginia
Macdonald and Russ Goffus stated they would call the attorney to see if he
could attend the next Trustees meeting. Before
going into Executive Session, Todd Bosley stated he had asked Dick Bruey to
come tonight and speak on the Horn Ave. problem. Mr. Bosley said he has talked to the City of
Louisville and they stated they would take care of the problem but gave no
definite date as to when this would be done. Dick
Bruey of 5464 Horn stepped to the drawing board to demonstrate how he feels the
flooding problem could be solved. Ty
Reiter also stepped to the drawing board and explained how he feels it should
be fixed. Many ideas and much discussion
followed. Mr.
Bosley stated this problem is a priority and said he would try to pinpoint when
the City would fix their share of the problem.
If he could not pinpoint a date, he would then write a letter requesting
to speak at a Louisville City Council meeting or request to meet on site. Virginia
Macdonald motioned to go into Executive Session at 9:25 p.m. for the evaluation
of personnel seconded by Russ Goffus.
All voted yes. Motion carried. Virginia
Macdonald motioned to come out of Executive Session at 9:55 p.m. seconded by
Todd Bosley. All voted yes. Motion carried. Russ
Goffus motioned the Board agreed to promote Kevin Swartz as Road Superintendent
beginning tomorrow February 11, 2005 on a 180-day probation period to run all
aspects of the Road Department. Salary
will be decided at the next Trustees meeting (2/24/05) to be retroactive and Ty
Reiter would step down to Assistant Road Supervisor seconded by Virginia
Macdonald. All voted yes. Motion carried. Ty
Reiter stated he would call Kevin tonight and Russ Goffus stated he would also
stop by the Road Department tomorrow morning and talk to Kevin. Russ
Goffus motioned to give Township Secretary, Sharon Shaub, a 3% increase
effective for the current pay period seconded by Virginia Macdonald. All voted yes. Motion carried. Russ
Goffus stated the next person evaluated was Rich Peterson. His last increase was in 2002. Russ Goffus motioned a 3% increase for the
three years missed for a total of 9% rounded off to an even $3,000.00 effective
this pay period and to be reviewed again in September 2005 and then every
September thereafter seconded by Virginia Macdonald. All voted yes. Motion carried. Russ
Goffus stated all Fire Department employees should be reviewed on their hire
date. The Administrative Office is to
keep track of this and put on the agenda when each is up for evaluation. CONCERNS
OF TRUSTEES: Russ
Goffus reported on the Ohio Township Association Conference he attended in
Columbus, Ohio and asked to set up a work session to discuss how to run an
effective meetings and to discuss insurance regarding having different
insurance agencies handling different areas.
Carlene Harmon stated she has no problem working with two separate
entities and said she has Nimishillen
Township Board of Trustees February 10,
2005, (Cont.) had
a problem with Mark Hollinger returning her calls. Mr. Goffus feels they need to meet with Mark
to give him a chance to tell his side and iron out any problems. Discussion followed. The
work session is scheduled for Tuesday, February 22, 2005 at 4:00 p.m. at Fire
Station #2. Keith Lasure asked if
discussion on redoing the Nimishillen Township Zoning Resolution with Regional
Planning could be done at this work session.
It was stated that should be a separate work session. Keith said he would call Reva Butera to find
out what dates she would be available. Russ
Goffus reported on Zoning Technology and had Sharon copy information for the
Board and Keith. (Copy attached) Also discussed was the possibility of renting
the Township Hall, involving Scouts with township clean-ups and the cost of
newsletters. Goffus said the township
would write the articles for newsletters but some schools would print them as a
school project. Todd
Bosley tabled the problem on Swallen Avenue (hill) and signs for Fairhope. Terri Huckels said the signs were green with
white letters. Creating
office space at the Township Road Department:
Virginia Macdonald feels the Road Department building and offices should
be kept the way they are. Todd Bosley
said that sooner or later, there would have to be more space. The Board said they would look into it. Per
the request of Mary Lee Sponseller, Virginia Macdonald appointed Russ Goffus to
the Tax Incentive Review Council. Only
one Trustee was appointed at the 2005 Organizational Meeting in January. The
Board agreed a township newsletter should be put out in the spring (April/May)
as well as in the fall (August/September). 6190
Columbus-Grover Street: Russ Goffus
stated he received a written opinion from the Stark County Engineers stating
Grover is not a township road because the township does not receive money and
even though it was dedicated but never accepted, the township is not
responsible for maintenance. APPROVAL
OF MINUTES: Russ
Goffus motioned to approve the January 27, 2005 Minutes as written seconded by
Todd Bosley. All voted yes. Motion carried. CONCERNS
OF THE CLERK: There
were no concerns of the Clerk. APPROVE
THE FINANCIAL REPORT AND PAY BILLS…. Russ
Goffus motioned to approve the Financial Report and pay bills in the amount of
$49,887.93 seconded by Virginia Macdonald.
All voted yes. Motion carried. SIGN
CHECKS AND ADJOURN: Virginia
Macdonald motioned to sign checks and adjourn seconded by Russ Goffus. All voted yes. Motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 10:35 p.m.
______________________________
__________________________________ ATTEST: CLERK/TREASURER __________________________________
__________________________________ TRUSTEES
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