RICHFIELD TOWNSHIP BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
December 1, 2005
7:00 p.m.

Richfield Township Trustees
December 8, 2005

The Richfield Township Board of Trustees met for their regular meeting on December 8, 2005 with the following in attendance:

Laurie Peters Gilmore, Trustee Chairperson
David Wyatt, Trustee Vice Chairperson
Shano Cica-Mraz, Trustee
Linda Bowmer, Township Administrator
Laurie Pinney, Zoning Inspector
Dale Canter, Richfield Police Chief
Joe Stopak, Richfield Fire Chief

4 attendees

A motion was made by Ms. Gilmore and seconded by Ms. Cica-Mraz to accept warrant report items 11645 through 11729. The motion passed with unanimous approval.

The Clerk report was provided by Ms. Pinney. Legal spending approval for the Adelphia/ Time Warner issue is short of current invoicing by $1124.75. A motion was made by Ms. Gilmore and seconded by Mr. Wyatt to approve spending of an additional $1124.75 on this matter. The motion passed with unanimous approval.

Final transfer and appropriations approvals are needed for year-end financial adjustments. A motion was made by Ms. Cica-Mraz and seconded by Mr. Wyatt to transfer $5000 from 01 General to 02 Motor Vehicle License Tax to compensate for lower receipts in 2005. The motion passed with unanimous approval. A motion was made by Ms. Gilmore and seconded by Ms. Cica-Mraz to make supplemental appropriations as follows: 01 General reduce to $630,000, 02 Motor Vehicle License Tax reduce to $24,000, 03 Gasoline Tax increase to $100,000 and 04 Road & Bridge increase to $190,000.

The Zoning report was provided by Ms. Pinney. The JEDD was filed December 6, 2005, with an effective date of October 24, 2005. The Village of Richfield has received an estimate from the Cuyahoga County Board of Health for plotting outfalls. The township may get a quote also for the same NPDES Phase II required work in the township. The property owner at 4562 Boston Road has ongoing violations and the township has a history of legal action with this party. If the current issues cannot be resolved, we may contact legal counsel to help enforce. There is an open balance on approved legal spending for this matter, so no additional spending approval is required at this time. There is a meeting for the Summit County General Plan tomorrow, December 9 in the morning, which will be attended by Mr. Wyatt and Ms. Pinney. A request for rezoning of two parcels totaling approximately 15 acres and located at the southwest intersection of Streetsboro Road and I271 has been made by the property owner. The request is to rezone from C-3 Highway Commercial to LI-O Light Industrial-Office district. The property is currently vacant, except for a lattice-type cell tower and associated structures and has been approved by the BZA as a temporary storage and staging area during the reconstruction of the I271 Bridge. The Zoning Commission discussed the issue at their December 1, 2005 meeting and will make a recommendation at their January 12, 2006 meeting, after comments from the Summit County Planning Commission are received. The Trustees will hold a public hearing for the proposed rezoning at their regular meeting on January 19, 2006.

The Parks report was provided by Mr. Wyatt. John Myers, a Broadview Road resident has requested appointment as a Rising Valley Park Board advisory member. A motion was made by Mr. Wyatt and seconded by Ms. Gilmore to appoint Mr. Myers to the position, effective January 2006. The motion passed with unanimous approval.

The Administration report was provided by Ms. Bowmer. Since the Rising Valley Park Board has decided not to meet in December, plans for the annual snowbird festival have not yet been made. The Trustees would like to see the snowbird festival continue and the township staff will handle the arrangements as necessary. It was decided that the festival would be held on February 5, 2006, with an alternate date of February 12, 2005, if weather requires. This date will allow the RVP Board to be involved in the planning, since the Board will resume regular monthly meetings in January. Jan Fischer is planning on continuing as secretary to the RVP board. A motion was made by Ms. Gilmore and seconded by Mr. Wyatt to pay Ms. Fischer $50 for each regular Rising Valley Park Board meeting attended. The motion passed with unanimous approval.

The Fire report was provided by Mr. Stopak. There were 94 calls in November, with 4 mutual aid, 43 ems and 32 fire in the village and 10 ems and 5 fire in the township. They are currently exceeding the number of calls from the same time last year. The paramedics must re-certify every 2 years, which has just been done and went very well.

The Road report was provided by Ms. Gilmore. The crew is ready for snowplowing. Hills will be pre-treated with a saline solution before snow starts to fall. Over the Thanksgiving weekend, there were a number of calls from Secluded Highlands residents who want the RVP gate opened during snow storms. The police department has issued a memo regarding the policy for opening the gate during snow emergencies.

The Police report was provided by Mr. Canter. Officer Simmons was given an award by MADD last week. The DARE grant has been awarded in the amount of $11,746, which is about half of the cost of the program that Richfield shares with Bath Township. For the fourth time, the PD has used the spikes to stop a car in pursuit. The recent incident started in Fairlawn and the perpetrator was stopped by Richfield police on I77 at the Ohio Turnpike exit. The spikes work by slowly releasing air from the tires and do not cause a blowout situation. The shop with a cop program is ready to go, with a few children taken out this weekend. The big day will be December 17, when 225 children will be taken out to shop. The Richfield Senior Center will be hosting a Christmas tea on Sunday, December 11.

Ms. Gilmore brought up the issue of the fire and police contract renewals, which will be discussed in January. The Trustees’ Organizational Meeting will be held January 2, 2006 at 10:00 a.m. and the first regular meeting of the year will be January 5 at 7:00 p.m.

A motion was made by Mr. Wyatt and seconded by Ms. Gilmore to appoint Ms. Cica-Mraz as Trustee Chairperson for 2006. The motion passed with unanimous approval.

A motion was made by Ms. Gilmore and seconded by Ms. Cica-Mraz to appoint Mr. Wyatt as Trustee Vice-Chairperson for 2006. The motion passed with unanimous approval.

A motion was made to adjourn at 8:30 p.m. by Ms. Gilmore, seconded by Mr. Wyatt and received unanimous approval.

This page last updated on: 02/25/2006

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