March 4, 2014 Trustee Meeting Minutes

Walnut Township Trustees Meeting

March 4, 2014

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM. Trustees William Yates, Doug Leith and Terry Horn were present.

The minutes for February 11, 2014 were submitted for approval. Trustee Leith made a motion to accept the minutes with changes. Trustee Horn seconded the minutes. The motion passed with 3 yes votes.

The minutes for February 18, 2014 were submitted for approval. Trustee Leith made a motion to approve the minute.Trustee Yates seconded the motion. The motion passed with 3 yes votes.

Fiscal Officer Kraner stated that the permanent appropriations and information for the 2014 certifications of funds been submitted to the Fairfield County Auditor.

Trustee Horn made a motion to approve checks 24242 through 24251 and EFTS 114-2014 through 143-2014, after being certified that funds are available and appropriations have been made by Fiscal Officer Kraner. Trustee Leith seconded the motion. The motion passed with 3 yes votes.

Trustee Horn made a motion to approve the Road Mileage Certification for 2014 from the Fairfield County Engineer.Trustee Yates seconded the motion. The motion passed with 3 yes votes.

Comments from the Floor

There were no comments from the floor.

Department Reports

Roads and Parks – Tim Morris – Tim would like to continue with cracksealing for 2014. He would like two skids this year at an approximate cost of $4000. Trustee Horn made a motion to approve budgeting $4,000 for cracksealing.Trustee Leith seconded the motion. The motion passed with 3 yes votes.

The replacement of the Chestnut culvert, by Fisher Marina, is scheduled for next Monday, weather permitting.

The gates were closed on the Buckeye Lake spillway today; the lake level should raise one inch per week.

The CDBG Hearing to discuss the requirements for submissions for 2014 will be held on March 11th. Tim will be attending for the township. Projects to be considered are King Rd, Fairfield Beach Rd to Lake Rd, Hawthorne Rd north to the deadend, Narcissus Rd, Lakeshore south to the deadend, Dahlia Rd and Ivy Rd east to the deadend.The completed application is due by April 15th. Tim will be submitting the proposal from the township by April 5th in order to earn additional points.

Tim and Mike would like to attend a Highway Safety program sponsored by Keith Taylor Trucking and presentations will be presented by the PUCO and the Highway Patrol, on March 7th. Trustee Horn made a motion to approve Tim and Mike attending this program. Trustee Yates seconded the motion. The motion passed with 3 yes votes.

Tim has been collecting quotes on Dumpster Service as Waste Management’s new contract was for $125/month, an increase of over $25/month.

• Big O quoted $50/month for 36 months with a 3% cap on an increase at the end of the term. Extra dumps would be an additional dumps
• Rumpke quoted $43/month with a 15.5% charge for fuel.

After discussion, Trustee Horn made a motion to use Big O for the township dumpster service. Trustee Leith seconded the motion. The motion passed with 3 yes votes.

There is currently 100 tons of salt and 100 tons if mixed remaining in the barn. There is 120 tons remaining on the current salt contract. Trustee Horn made a motion to purchase the remaining 120 tons on the contract. Trustee Leith seconded the motion. The motion passed with 3 yes votes.

Tim will attend Pesticide training on Thursday, March 6th.

Trustee Horn moved to pass Resolution 05-14 to reduce the Weight Limit on Blacklick Rd by 50% from today until the latest allowed date as set by the Fairfield County Engineer. Trustee Leith seconded the motion. The motion passed with 3 yes votes.

Health Department – Doug Leith – Trustee Leith attended the Health Department where they discussed their budget request for 2015. Walnut Township’s portion would go up to $38,123.94.

Old Business

Trustee Horn discussed the clean-up of 13050 Shell Beach Rd; at this time it is too wet to move anything. Horn would still like the 10-day letter sent regarding the removal of the vehicles and the camper and the completion of the cleanup by April 15th. This might be challenging for the property owners, however, the Trustees need to see some progress.

There was a discussion regarding the procedure to mail information about docks out to residents on Leib’s Island.The resident needs the signed form from Trustee in order to purchase a dock permit. Trustee Horn would like to put the form on the website, send out a letter this year notifying that next year it is on the website.

Trustee Leith has completed an updated Boat Dock Rules for those docks at Leibs Island that are on the township property, he is working with Rachel at ODNR to ensure that also meets all their requirements. Trustee Horn made a motion to approve the updated Dock Rules and to approve Doug making any revisions needed. Trustee Yates seconded the motion. The motion passed with 3 yes votes.

The contract has been signed for the Moving Ohio Forward demolitions; the Notice to Proceed has been sent to the contractor.

As a result of the article in the Beacon, four additional properties have been identified for demolition – 3320 Lakeside, 13577 Gearhart St, 13591 Richards St and 3900 South Bank. Jennifer Valentine from the Health Department will check the other three properties; Bobby Price will have no problem condemning the property on Gearhart. The property on South Bank has mold. The only expenditures that the township might have would be possible title searches. Then county is doing a land bank which in the future could generate funds that would be available for demolition of properties. The article will also appear in the Lancaster Eagle Gazette and the Towne Crier.

It is possible that a representative from the Electric Aggregation program could attend the March 18th meeting. The county is promoting the program the week of March 16th.

New Business

The Zoning minutes need to be in a narrative format so that it can be posted to the website. Trustee Horn will be meeting with Sandi Wagner to copy the hard drive on the Zoning laptop; a copy will be downloaded to the township computer.

The financial reports on UAN are in a pdf form; in the previous version, many documents were available in an excel format.

Trustee Horn requested that the updated minutes be available to post within one week, he suggested that the minutes be updated at the meeting.

There is a balance outstanding for Delta Dental that needs to be paid by the end of the month.

Snow removal policies of Violet, Liberty, Pleasantville townships were reviewed for suggestions on creating a policy for Walnut Township. Trustee Horn will add to the township website.

Trustee Horn has created several forms in regards to Public Record requests. The first form is the creation of Generic letterhead without official names. The second form is a Fulfillment Guidelines – with dates on all pages. The third form is the Acknowledgement Letter which would include an estimate of the number of days to comply with the request.

A letter regarding Blacklick Road repairs to the Engineer’s office. The estimate to repair is $206,380. Eric, Jeremiah and Jeff Send to Prosecutors and legislators.

The budget for Road Repairs for 2014 is approximately $150,000.

An email address for the fiscal officer was added to the walnuttwp.com. Fiscal Officer Kraner will begin transferring all contacts from walnuttwpfiscalofficer@yahoo.com.

A letter was received from the Village of Baltimore regarding annexation of 5.287 acres. They are using the Expedited Annexation procedure.

At 9:04 PM, Trustee Horn made a motion to adjourn to Executive Session to discuss Pending Litigation. Trustee Leith seconded the motion. The motion passed with 3 yes votes.

At 9:12 PM, Trustee Horn made a motion to come out of Executive Session. Trustee Leith seconded the motion. The motion passed with 3 yes votes.

Billy Phillips will move forward on the zoning violation at 13748 Queen Rd with one more inspection with the measurements of the fence with photos and forward the information to Kyle Whitt Lancaster City Prosecutors.

At 9:21 pm, Trustee Horn made a motion to adjourn to Executive Session to discuss a Compliant against a Public Employee and an Appointment. Trustee Leith seconded the motion. The motion passed with 3 yes votes.

At 9:36 PM, Trustee Leith made a motion to come out of Executive Session. Trustee Horn seconded the motion. The motion passed with 3 yes votes.

Trustee Horn made a motion to accept the resignation of Zoning Inspector of Billy Phillips effective immediately. Trustee Yates seconded the motion. The motion passed with 3 yes votes.

Trustee Horn called Anne Cyphert, Zoning Inspector in Bloom Township. She agreed to cover Zoning in Walnut Township until the Trustees can recruit a new Zoning Inspector. The salary will be the same as the previous zoning inspector. The two pending applications will be mailed to Anne. Trustee Horn made a motion to appoint Anne Darling Cyphert as the interim Zoning Inspector. Trustee Yates seconded the motion. The motion passed with 3 yes votes.Trustee Horn made a motion to use the Bloom Township Zoning Inspector job description. Trustee Leith seconded the motion. The motion passed with 3 yes votes.

Trustee Horn will measure the fence at the Queen Rd lion enclosure.

The permit for Elm Rd should not have been issued for a double-wide as the area is zoned residential. Holly from RPC has recommended re-zoning the area to Residential at no cost to the property owner.

An ad will be placed in the Beacon and the Lancaster Eagle Gazette for the open Zoning Inspector position.

10:35 PM, Trustee Horn made a motion to adjourn to Executive Session to discuss Economic Development. Trustee Leith seconded the motion. The motion passed with 3 yes votes.

11:01 PM, Trustee Yates made a motion to come out of Executive Session. Trustee Horn seconded the motion. The motion passed with 3 yes votes.

11:01 PM, Trustee Leith made a motion to adjourn to Executive Session to discuss confidential matters. Trustee Yates seconded the notion. The motion passed with 3 yes votes.

11:11 PM, Trustee Leith made a motion come out of Executive Session. Trustee Yates seconded the motion. The motion passed with 3 yes votes.

11:11 pm, Trustee Horn made a motion to adjourn. Trustee Leith seconded the motion. The motion passed with 3 yes votes.