Village
of Hebron
Council
Minutes
June
9, 2010
CALL TO
ORDER
Mayor
Clifford L. Mason convened the meeting at 7:30 PM.
PLEDGE OF
ALLEGIANCE / MOMENT OF SILENCE
Mayor
Mason asked everyone to stand and recite the pledge of allegiance and to remain
standing to pause for a moment of silence to remember those who serve our
country.
ROLL CALL
Those
responding to the roll call were: Councilmember Jim Friend, Councilmember
Alayna Morris, Councilmember Bob Gilbert, Mayor Clifford L. Mason, Councilmember
Pam DeVaul and Councilmember Annelle Porter.
Council President Walters phoned and due to a work commitment he would
not be attending tonight.
Fire
Chief Randy Weekly, Police Chief James Dean, Administrator Michael McFarland, Solicitor
Wes Untied, Tax Administrator Mindy Kester and Fiscal Officer Jessica Ethell
were also present.
RECOGNITION –
LAKEWOOD GIRLS VARSITY SOFTBALL TEAM
APPROVAL OF
MINUTES
The
minutes of the May 26, 2010 regularly scheduled council meeting were presented
for approval. Councilmember Porter noted
several changes to the minutes. There is
no mention of who seconded the appointment of Jessica Ethell to Fiscal Officer. There should be an attachment indicating what
the Township presented to the Village on the Fire Agreement. In the mention of the executive session the
wording does not seem right on the mention of property for public use. Also, the mention of the Legion Hall should
be capitalized. Councilmember Gilbert made
a motion to dispense of the reading of the minutes and approve them with the
changes noted by Councilmember Porter. The motion was seconded by Councilmember
Friend. A roll call vote was taken with all Councilmembers present voting in
favor. The minutes of the May 26, 2010 regularly scheduled council meeting were
approved with the noted corrections.
VISITOR’S
COMMENTS
Natalie
Tesler would like to see outdoor burning of wood banned because of the health
issues and also because it smells really awful.
Ms. Tesler’s neighbors are frequent wood burners. Ms. Tesler has asthma and has done some
research on the issues created from burning wood. Ms. Tesler states that wood burning is twelve
times more carcinogenic than tobacco smoke.
Also, Ms. Tesler stated that wood burning scars lungs and causes heart
attacks and strokes in the elderly. The EPA
has an article on their website that speaks about the issue and it can be found
as 456/B-09-001 dated October 29, 2009.
Mayor
Mason explained that the EPA allows certain types of outdoor burning such as a cooking
fire, a campfire, and heating fires in the winter time if you are a
construction worker. The Village cannot stop
these types of burning since they are permissive. The size of the fire can be no larger than 5
foot wide and 5 foot long and 5 foot high.
Mayor Mason explained that if the neighbors are burning outside of these
guidelines then Ms. Tesler should contact the Fire Department for assistance. Mayor Mason explained that there is no
legislation that can be passed if the EPA allows it.
DEPARTMENT
HEAD REPORTS
Police
Chief James Dean noted that he had distributed the monthly report. Chief Dean stated that the National Road Yard
Sales were uneventful; the police department escorted the softball team and previously
the Legion Memorial Day Parade. Two out
of the four cruisers were in the shop and the Police Department did not
purchase a new cruiser this year. The
Police Department needs to buy a cruiser in September or later this year
because they can save money by transferring equipment. Since the enactment of the parking ticket
ordinance the police department has written 8 tickets of which 7 were in Evans
Park. Chief Dean mentioned that he was
asked who was in charge of the Community Response Team a couple of meetings ago
and Reverend Brian Harkness is in charge of that.
Fire
Chief Randy Weekly noted that the monthly report for May was distributed. He reviewed the number of monthly runs for
the department. He stated that during
the Saturday storm, the firehouse was struck by lightning. It damaged the phone system, some coax
cable, the radio antennas, some computer routers and other computer equipment. The
insurance company has been contacted and Chief Weekly does not know what the
cost will be. Mayor Mason told Chief
Weekly to stay in contact with Administrator McFarland because the Water
Reclamation Facility had damage and possibly all damage will be one claim
regardless of the building.
Income
Tax Administrator Mindy Kester stated that she did not have anything to add to
the monthly report.
Fiscal
Officer Jessica Ethell did not have anything to add to the monthly report.
LEGISLATION
COUNCIL
ACTION ITEMS
There
were no items to discuss as council action items.
ADMINISTATOR’S
REPORT
Village
Administrator Mike McFarland mentioned that the signs sitting on easels were
provided by the National Road Association.
There are brackets where they can be mounted and visible to the
public. The National Road Association
would like to have an unveiling for the public.
After the unveiling late this month, one will be displayed in front of
the Hebron Mill and the other displayed outside the Municipal Building where
people can see as they are walking by. The signs are designed to be outdoors and they
are of no cost to the Village. An update
on the High Street stimulus project is that the catch basins and preliminary
work on sidewalks is being done now.
Administrator McFarland anticipates paving to begin mid to late
August. ODOT is managing the money and
project. Linda Nicodemus has been attending
the Licking County Safety Council meetings and Hebron received a perfect
attendance award for the 3rd year in a row. The Village also receives a substantial
discount on Workers Compensation rates. Hebron
has consolidated records in the old public works building and has never put the
records in order. The records are in
boxes and Administrator McFarland wants to have these organized and Linda Nicodemus
asked to hire an intern for the summer. Windy Murphy from Job and Family
services has a program for interns for the summer. The Village interviews the candidates and
chooses an employee and then will be reimbursed for their pay. As soon as the contract is reviewed, the
Village will move forward. The Water
Reclamation plant also took a hit from the lightning. Administrator McFarland will coordinate with
Chief Weekly for insurance purposes.
Also, the storms did not knock over a lot of trees so there is no need
for another chipper day.
Councilmember
Porter expressed concern about the records and wants to ensure that the records
are safe. Councilmember Friend agrees
that the person must be thoroughly reliable.
Mayor Mason supports what is being said and that the person must be
fully reliable and thinks it would be ok to get a camera for the room to
monitor activity.
Councilmember
Porter mentioned that paint is peeling at the post office. Mayor Mason recommends that concerned council
members and residents point this out to the local Postmaster.
MAYOR’S
REPORT
Mayor
Mason would like to thank the Police Department, Fire Department and the
Village for their support in the celebration of the girls’ softball team. Also Thanks to Ours Garage in delivering the trailer. The Methodist Church tents and canopies were blown
down and the Village helped. The
Methodist Church sent a thank-you card in appreciation to Rookie and crew.
REVIEW OF
EXPENSES
It
was noted that the expenditure list had been distributed to Council and that
all items on the list had been paid.
MEETING/EVENT
SCHEDULE
Mayor
Mason advised everyone to review the meeting schedule as follows:
ADJOURNMENT
Councilmember
Morris made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:59 PM.
_____________________________
Clifford
L. Mason, Mayor
Attest:
_______________________________
Jessica
Ethell, Fiscal Officer
