Richfield Township Trustees
November 4, 2004

The Richfield Township Board of Trustees opened their regular meeting at 7:04 p.m. on November 4, 2004 with the following in attendance:

Laurie Peters Gilmore, Trustee Vice-Chairperson
David Wyatt, Trustee
Laurie Pinney, Clerk & Zoning Inspector
Linda Bowmer, Township Administrator

Dale Canter, Richfield Police Chief
Joe Stopak, Richfield Fire Chief
Five residents

Trustee Chairperson Shano Cica-Mraz is absent due to illness.

Approval of minutes for October 21 & 26 will be suspended until the next meeting. Only three warrants have been written since last meeting and report will be approved at next meeting.

The Clerk report was provided by Ms. Pinney. A memo had been sent to the Trustees providing the Consumer Price Index for the last year, which was 2.4%. The CPI is used as a basis for determining cost of living adjustments for the Trustees’ and Clerk’s salaries, which are set by the state. The CPI can also be used as a guideline when determining cost of living adjustments to employee wages.

The Police report was provided by Mr. Canter. There were 455 service calls in October; 87, or 19% were for the township. Sgt. Kostandaras will be in Columbus to receive an award certificate tomorrow. On December 11, the police department will hold their annual Shop with a Cop program. Last year, sixty-seven children were taken and the department hopes to increase that number this year. On November 5, Mr. Canter and Fire Chief Joe Stopak will be cooking turkeys at the Senior Center dinner. Mr. Canter would like to remind everyone to utilize the paper-recycling bin behind town hall. Last year, the Senior Center received $65 from these recyclables and it prevents the waste from being placed in landfills. The DARE program is now underway at the local schools, and is being done in conjunction with the Bath police department. Sam’s club has donated $1000 to the Richfield/Bath DARE program this year.

The Fire report was provided by Mr. Stopak. The fire department had 86 calls in October, with 11 being township fire calls and 3 township fire inspections. Hillcrest Elementary recently had its fire prevention week and fire department officials took the students through the program. Staff from the department recently toured the ISG plant. Ms. Gilmore had a question for Mr. Stopak regarding when collective bargaining will become effective for the department personnel. The department heads do not know at this time, but there is a meeting scheduled with representatives and the collective bargaining program will probably be in place in 2005.

The Zoning report was provided by Ms. Pinney. An application is being made for a grant to study transfer of development rights, using Richfield Township and the Village of Richfield as a model. The grant request is for $75,000 and requires matching by the study entities. Summit County has agreed to provide $40,000 in like-kind service and EnviroScience, who is authoring the grant, has requested that the township and village contribute $17, 500 each in like-kind service or cash. A motion was made by Ms. Gilmore and seconded by Mr. Wyatt to approve grant fund matching of up to $10,000 in like-kind staff hours and up to $7500 in cash, provided that the Village of Richfield provides an equivalent like-kind and cash contribution and that the award is granted to Summit County, with Richfield Township and the Village of Richfield being used as a model for the study. The motion passed by unanimous approval of those in attendance.

The Road report was provided by Ms. Gilmore. The Hawkins Road culverts have been cleaned out and the main storage building on Boston Mills Road is ready to be insulated and have a heating system installed.

The Administration report was provided by Ms. Bowmer. A meeting was held with Ohio Edison representative Robin Patton regarding the renewal of the street lighting contract. The current contract was for ten years, with a five-year extension and the township was paying 3.5 cents per kilowatt-hour. The proposed contract allows for rates that will be increased periodically, up to the maximum amount of 10.1 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2009. A motion was made by Mr. Wyatt and seconded by Ms. Gilmore to approve extension of the contract for an additional term, ending December 31, 2008, provided a favorable response is received from the prosecutor’s office in their review of the agreement. The motion passed by unanimous approval of those in attendance. Ms. Bowmer has been called for one week of jury duty, beginning November 8. A motion was made Ms. Gilmore and seconded by Mr. Wyatt to provide Ms. Bowmer with her regular salary during her jury duty, in accordance with the employee handbook and to allow her to retain any jury duty pay received to offset the costs of parking and meals while serving. The motion passed by unanimous approval of those in attendance.

Announcements: Mr. Wyatt commented on House Bill 175, which allows the state to set up minimum and maximum residential building standards. It ties the hands of townships and counties in establishing building codes in accordance with local community standards. We should contact the OTA for more information and our state representatives to object to the bill. Ms. Gilmore reported that she had recently attended a Revere Board of Education meeting to become involved on behalf of the township on a committee that will be looking at renovating up to four of the local school buildings. She will continue to attend and report back the findings of the committee.

Citizens Forum: Frank Gindraw of 4280 Oviatt Road questioned whether the schools are running out of space and will need new facilities. Tom Sadar of 5044 W. Streetsboro commented that residents can go to RPCarbone.com to get complete 117-page study in PDF.

Ms. Gilmore made a motion to go into executive session to discuss property acquisition for public purpose. The motion was seconded by Mr. Wyatt and received unanimous approval of those in attendance.

A motion was made by Ms. Gilmore and seconded by Mr. Wyatt to go out of executive session at 9:07. The motion received unanimous approval of those in attendance.

A motion was made to adjourn at 9:08 by Ms. Gilmore. The motion was seconded by Mr. Wyatt and received unanimous approval of those in attendance.


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Last updated: 02/25/2006