Norwood City Council

Council Chambers

March 28, 2006

 

 

 

 

A)   CALL TO ORDER

The Council for the City of Norwood met in regular session on the above date with Ms. Jane Grote presiding.  The meeting opened with a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

B)   PRAYER

 

C)  PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

 

D)  ROLL CALL

On roll call, the following members answered present:  Mr. Gabbard, Mr. Sanker, Mr. Schneider, Ms. Kelly, and Mr. Mumper.

 

E)   AMENDMENT OF AGENDA:

On a motion by Mr. Mumper, seconded by Ms. Kelly, it was moved to amend the agenda by adding First Readings of Ordinances J-A) and J-B) and by replacing O-3) with a revised communication.  All members present voted YES.

 

F)   Requests to address council on agenda items

 

G)  Reports of Standing committees of council

 

H)  SECOND READING OF ordinance

 

A)    ORDINANCE PROMOTING THE “CITY WIDE STREET SALE” AND ABATEMENT OF PERMIT FEES ASSOCIATED WITH THE SALE

 

On a motion by Mr. Sanker, seconded by Ms. Kelly, it was moved to hear the second reading of the Ordinance.  All members present voted YES.

 

I)      SECOND READING OF Resolution

 

A)   RESOLUTION FOR ADVANCE PAYMENT PER OHIO REVISED CODE 321.34 AND 135.351, AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY

 

On a motion by Mr. Sanker, seconded by Mr. Gabbard it was moved to amend the agenda and move this item to the end of the agenda.  All members present voted YES.

 

J)    First READING OF Ordinances

 

As amended Council then considered the following items.

 

A)   ORDINANCE MAINTAINING THE PART TIME HOURLY TAX CLERK POSITION ESTABLISHED BY ORDINANCE 34-2005 FOR THE REMAINDER OF CALENDAR YEAR 2006, AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY

 

On a motion by Mr. Sanker, seconded by Ms. Kelly, it was moved to hear the first reading of the Ordinance.  All members present voted YES.

 

B)   ORDINANCE APPROVING THE EDITING AND INCLUSION OF CERTAIN ORDINANCES AS PARTS OF THE VARIOUS COMPONENT CODES OF THE CODIFIED ORDINANCES OF NORWOOD, OHIO AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY

 

Mr. Gabbard asked Mr. Gibson to the podium to explain the need for this Ordinance.  Mr. Gibson explained that this is a routine annual Ordinance that codifies all amendments from the previous year into the City’s permanent code.

 

Mr. Sanker asked if there is any advantage to looking for a more competitively priced agency to work this through.  Mr. Gibson mentioned that currently our Ordinances are codified by the Walter H. Drane Company.  In the past, we have looked into the possibility of publishing our codified Ordinances online and it was cost prohibitive.  Recently however, the cost for this service has been significantly reduced and this is something the Law Department will pursue.  This not only gets this information online, but also reduces the publishing cost for hard copies, and reduces the turnaround time required to obtain these updates.

 

Mr. Sanker thanked Mr. Gibson for the update and asked if there is other competition that could further reduce the costs.  Mr. Gibson responded that in his experience the Walter H. Drane Company is very competitively priced when compared to similar firms.

 

On a motion by Mr. Sanker, seconded by Mr. Gabbard, it was moved to hear the first reading of the Ordinance.  All members present voted YES.

 

K)  ADMINISTRATION REPORTS

 

City Auditor Mr. Jones was present and mentioned that the first quarter payment has been made to the Police and Fire Pension Board.  In addition, the proposed agreement to repay the Fund was submitted several weeks ago.  If this is approved by the Board, we will need to make adjustments to our budget to change appropriations accordingly.  This is just a heads up at this point and we will update you on the response from the Pension Board.

 

When opened for questions, Mr. Sanker commented that the four quarterly payments are currently in the budget and the Finance Committee has plans to make the adjustments as suggested in the proposal.  With these changes we are expecting a shortfall of approximately $1 Million for the calendar year 2006.

 

Mr. Sanker also asked Mr. Jones what the plans are to backfill the position currently held by Ms. Kennedy with her upcoming retirement.  Mr. Jones commented that she will be missed, but she has agreed to make herself available for questions.  The current plan is to bring her back as a part time resource as her experience will be greatly needed as we work through this tough financial situation.

 

Mr. Sanker also asked Mr. Jones about the status of the 2003, 2004, and 2005 audits as a follow up from the last meeting.  Mr. Jones responded that his office is working with the State Auditor’s Office to modify the presentation of these audits to meet the new GASB standards.  To reiterate, the Audits are complete, but some items need to be addressed to comply with the State’s formatting and presentation standards.  In addition, there may be an option to save the City significant costs by changing Audit formats for future years.  This would be moving to a modified cash accrual based system rather than the legacy CAFER audits.

 

L)   REQUEST TO ADDRESS COUNCIL RE: NON-AGENDA ITEMS:  

Ms. Yvonne Collins addressed Council regarding changes she would like to see in the future.  

 

M)UNFINISHED BUSINESS  

 

Mr. Sanker commented that all Council Members have the full versions of the Codified Ordinances and asked that all Council Members go through the tedious process of updating your booklets with the new pages from Walter Drane.  This is imperative and, if not done in a timely fashion, can lead to outdated versions of Ordinances being circulated unintentionally.

 

N)  NEW BUSINESS

 

Mr. Schneider mentioned that he is impressed with the Senior Center Calendar and how many events are planned for the coming month.  Mr. Schneider thanked Jerry and Sharon for their efforts in keeping this organization so energizing.  In addition, Mr. Schneider mentioned that there is a “Friends of Boyscouting” Cornhole Tournament at the Community Center this weekend.  The Community Center is a real asset to our community.

 

Ms. Kelly mentioned that the 10th Annual Norwood Car Show is scheduled for June 23rd, and 24th.  The location will be behind Frisch’s and Quality Inn and she thanked them for their generosity in allowing the use of their property for this event.

 

Mr. Sanker added that the Recreation Commission Offices have recently been relocated to the Community Center.  This should be an advantageous move to have the Recreation Commission co-located with all of the amenities and possibilities of this facility.

 

Mr. Sanker also added that Hamilton Counties Hazardous Waste disposal program is again in operation at the Environmental Enterprises location on Spring Grove from March 18th to October 31st.  This is a great, free opportunity for Hamilton County residents to properly dispose of flammable liquids, solvents, paints, pool chemicals, motor oil, and other hazardous chemicals.

 

On a motion by Mr. Sanker, seconded by Mr. Gabbard, it was moved to suspend the Standing Rules of Council and bypass the Law and Ordinance Committee, to send a letter directly to the Law Department requesting Resolutions be drafted to modify the Standing Rules of Council by reducing the membership of the Community Development Committee, by assigning one chair and two other members of the committee, and to assign the chair as Mr. Moore and other two members as Mr. Gabbard and Mr. Sanker.  All members present voted YES. 

 

 

O)   COMMUNICATIONS: 

1.      Letter from Building Department RE: Liquor License Transfer

 

On a motion by Mr. Gabbard, seconded by Mr. Schneider, it was moved that the letter be received and filed.  All members present voted YES.

 

2.      Letter from Ted Kiser, Law Department RE: Opinion Requests

 

On a motion by Ms. Kelly, seconded by Mr. Sanker, it was moved that the letter be received and filed.  All members present voted YES.

 

As amended, Council then considered the following item which was a revision to the original communication.

 

1.      Letter from Planning Commission RE: 1922 Sherman Ave (651-0047-00561)

 

On a motion by Mr. Schneider, seconded by Ms. Kelly, it was moved that the letter be received and filed and the Public Hearing be scheduled for the May 23rd Council Meeting.  All members present voted YES.

 

2.      Letter from Environmental Services RE: Solid Waste Management Plan

 

On a motion by Mr. Schneider, seconded by Mr. Gabbard, it was moved that the letter be received and filed and that the requested Ordinance be drafted without the emergency clause attached.  All members present voted YES.

As amended, Council then considered item I-A) which was previously moved to the end of the agenda.

 

RESOLUTION FOR ADVANCE PAYMENT PER OHIO REVISED CODE 321.34 AND 135.351, AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY

 

Mr. Sanker asked Mr. Jones to comment on the urgency of this resolution.  Mr. Jones mentioned that this Resolution is an urgent need in order to request that the County Auditor send the City our money as it is received rather than on a semi-annual schedule.  This is nothing out of the ordinary, most Cities do this and we have done this the entire time Mr. Jones has been in office.  There is always a benefit to have these funds in our possession earning interest rather than the County’s possession, but more importantly for this quarter as several bills are due at the end of the JFM quarter which is in a few short days.  Bond retirement payments are the most significant and urgent need and we are approximately $150,000 short making the payment if our money is not retrieved from the County.  We need to get this passed, when we have enough members in attendance, in order to pay our immediate bills.  Mr. Jones encouraged Council to call a special meeting to pass this Resolution as soon as possible.

 

On a motion by Mr. Sanker, seconded by Mr. Gabbard it was moved to hear the second reading of the Resolution.  All members present voted YES.

 

Ms. Grote called an Emergency Council Meeting for 6:00pm for March 29th in Council Chambers for the purpose of discussing the Third Reading of this Resolution.  This is subject to Mr. Moore being available.  If Mr. Moore is not available this meeting will be cancelled and a new meeting will be scheduled.

 

P)   EXCUSE ABSENT MEMBERS

 

On a motion by Mr. Mumper, seconded by Mr. Sanker it was moved to excuse the absence of Mr. Moore.  All members present voted YES.

 

Q)  ADJOURNMENT

On a motion by Ms. Kelly, seconded by Mr. Gabbard, it was moved to adjourn.  All members present voted YES.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

______________________________            ______________________________

J. Brian Mumper                                           Jane M. Grote

Clerk of Council                                             President of Council