Richfield Township
Trustees
December 2, 2004
The Richfield Township Board of Trustees opened their regular meeting at 7:08 p.m. on December 2, 2004 with the following in attendance:
Shano Cica-Mraz, Trustee Chairperson
Laurie Peters Gilmore, Trustee Vice-Chairperson
David Wyatt, Trustee
Laurie Pinney, Clerk & Zoning Inspector
Dale Canter, Police Chief
Joe Stopak, Fire Chief
Six residents
Motion to approve minutes of November 04, 2004, was made
by Ms. Gilmore, seconded by Mr. Wyatt and received unanimous approval.
Motion to approve minutes of November 18, 2004 was made
by Ms. Gilmore, seconded by Mr. Wyatt and received unanimous approval.
Motion to approve warrant report items number 10925
through 10965 was made by Ms. Gilmore, seconded by Ms. Cica-Mraz and received
unanimous approval.
The Clerk report was provided by Ms. Pinney. Several
Prosecutor’s opinion have been received by the township, all in response to
questions raised by the Trustees. The opinions were regarding the use of police
capital funds, acquisition of property and a contract for street lighting. The
provider of the township’s financial software, OTAS, has sent notice that new
updates are available. The updates are to the payroll accounting function at
$375.00 and tax table updates at $85.00 for a total of $460.00. Reports &
payables will now be done on a laser printer. The Clerk may need to look into a
printer purchase, if the old printer is unable to meet the needs of the program
updates with reliability.
The Zoning report was provided by Ms. Pinney. The township
has set meetings on December 9, 7:00 p.m. for a work session to discuss the
proposed Briarwood Estates subdivision with area residents and January 13 for a
work session to be held jointly with the Board of Zoning Appeals and Zoning
Commission for a general discussion of the Zoning Resolution and the
Comprehensive Plan. The township received today a proposed plan for the
Briarwood Estates subdivision from the Summit County Planning Commission. The
proposed plan does not meet the requirements of either a 1983 judgment entry or
current zoning and would require amendment to the judgment entry to receive
township approval. Discussion turned to the township’s opposition to House Bill
175, which would take away local government’s ability to set minimum building
code standards. A motion was made by Ms. Cica-Mraz and seconded by Mr. Wyatt
to approve Resolution 12-2004 and passed with unanimous approval.
The Administration report was provided by Ms. Pinney. The
prosecutor’s opinion regarding the proposed street lighting contract has been
forwarded to Ohio Edison representative Robin Patton. Linda Bowmer will follow
through on issue when she returns from vacation next week. Ms. Cica-Mraz
suggested adopting a policy of having prosecutor opinion requests reviewed by
the Trustees before they are sent, to assure that all details are addressed and
a comprehensive reply is obtained.
The Road report was provided by Ms. Gilmore. The County of
Summit Engineer sent a notice to the township that they have recommended a
reduced speed limit of 45 mph on a section of Medina Line Road. Construction
work on Boston Mills Road is anticipated to take place in 2005. Ms. Gilmore
requested Ms. Pinney to contact Prestige Homes and obtain information on who the
paving contractor is for the road work in the new Kings Forest subdivision. The
construction of the road that intersects with Newton Road has resulted in large
amounts of mud being left on Newton Road. This has created a potentially unsafe
situation and the police should be contacted with information on who is
responsible for the road construction.
Mr. Canter provided the Police report. A grant for the
DARE program has been received. It was for $10, 615, which is about half of the
total program cost. All officers have recently been re-certified on the AED
devices. The original training was two years ago. Dr. McMullen, of Akron
General provided a course on jail procedures and all of the officers took the
course. All officers have received new bulletproof vests. The Shop with a Cop
program will be held on December 11, 9:00 a.m. I77 southbound will be closed
from the exit at SR 21 to Wheatley Road during a couple of weekends in 2005.
They are not sure yet what dates this will happen.
Mr. Stopak provided the Fire report. In November, there
were only 67 total runs, which is a slow month for calls. There were 51
inspections, with 11 of those in the township, which is more than usual. The
department has been busy with budget work.
New Business: In regard to the previously discussed issue,
Nick Kostandaras, Summit County Councilman-Elect, addressed the Trustees. He
believes it would be a travesty to take away home rule for building code
regulations. He has tried numerous times to call state representative Kevin
Coughlin, who will not return his calls. It is possible there will be a couple
of busloads of people to go to the Senate and offer their objections to the
bill. Mr. Kostandaras will let the Trustees know if a date is set.
Representative Kim Zurz, formerly a member of county council, tried to offer
amendments to the bill, but was overridden. Mr. Kostandaras invited the
Trustees and any member of the public to attend his swearing-in ceremony on
January 3, 2005.
Ms. Cica-Mraz opened up the topic of the police contract.
The Village of Richfield had a work session on November 30 and put forth an
understandable analysis of the structure of the proposed contract. A straw poll
was taken regarding the proposed contract so that Ms. Cica-Mraz could bring the
information to the other trustees for discussion. The proposed contract is for
a one-year term, at a rate of $420,000. The analysis did not include dispatch
as a percentage of service, since the village does not have the standards in
place to break out service to the Village of Peninsula and Valley Fire, who also
use the dispatch services.
Agenda Requests: They police contract will be discussed at
the next regular meeting on December 16, provided that the village passes their
proposal.
Announcements: Mr. Wyatt thought that the January 13
meeting should include discussion of the comprehensive and land use plans and a
discussion of House Bill 148.
Citizens Forum: Tom Sadar, of 5044 W. Streetsboro Road
asked questions about HB 175 and the prosecutors opinions. Frank Gindraw, of
4280 Oviatt Road asked whether the fire contract would be up again this year.
The discussion of the fire contract will begin immediately after the
finalization of the police contract.
Motion made to adjourn at 8:10 by Ms. Cica-Mraz, seconded
by Ms. Gilmore and received unanimous approval.
Last updated: 02/25/2006