Richfield Township Trustees
January 5, 2006

The Richfield Township Board of Trustees met for a regular meeting on January 5, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. with the following in attendance:

Shano Cica-Mraz, Trustee Chairperson
David Wyatt, Trustee Vice Chairperson
Laurie Peters Gilmore, Trustee
Laurie Pinney, Zoning Inspector
Dale Canter, Richfield Police Chief
Joe Stopak, Richfield Fire Chief
John Slagter, Legal Counsel

7 attendees

A motion was made by Ms. Cica-Mraz and seconded by Mr. Wyatt to approve minutes for meetings on November 3, 16 & 17, December 8, 2005 and January 2, 2006. The motion was passed with unanimous approval.

A motion was made by Ms. Cica-Mraz and seconded by Mr. Wyatt to approve warrants 11730 to 11834. The motion passed with unanimous approval.

The Fiscal Officer report was provided by Ms. Pinney. An invoice for legal counsel has come in and funds will need to be set aside for spending on the individual matters. A motion was made by Ms. Cica-Mraz and seconded by Mr. Wyatt to approve the exact amount set forward on the invoice for each matter (JEDD $2554, Briarwood $481, Glencairn $1092, Property Acquisition $432, Mt. St. Augustine $277.5, General $37, and Zebrowski $51). The motion passed with unanimous approval. The Trustees will approve spending amounts for each current legal matter at an upcoming meeting. Ms. Pinney reported that she is taking steps to do more reporting and some payments online this year. The payments that would be done online would mostly relate to payroll items and services that have been contracted and approved in advance.

The Police report was provided by Mr. Canter. In December there were a total of 821 calls, with 744 in the village and 77 in the township (9.4%). In 2005, there were a total of 1259 calls in the township, representing 9.3% of the total calls for the village and Township. Last week, the evidence room was inventoried. They are looking into equipment to bar code evidence at some point in the future. The department has made some personnel schedule changes, to allow all officers to get experience working different shifts. The PD budget has been completed & is currently under review.

The Fire report was provided by Mr. Stopak. There were a total of 80 runs in December, with 1 mutual aid, 31 ems and 21 fire in the village and 6 ems and 1 fire in the township. The year-end report will be completed soon. The department has an ice-rescue team and will be training five new team members. The village has started billing residents for ems services. Only insurance companies & Medicare will be billed – residents will have no obligation to pay balance left after insurance payments. Non-residents will continue to be billed for ems services. Some charges, including time, for motor vehicle accidents can also be billed and they may start this type of billing in the near future. Again, residents will not be required to pay for balances after insurance payments or if no insurance is available, residents will not be required to pay the bills. Mr. Wyatt pointed out that there are some state regulations on the amount townships can bill for fire & safety services and the department should check that they are billing within these constraints for township calls. Mr. Slagter provided a copy of Revised Code information on the topic, which will be reviewed. Ms. Cica-Mraz asked Chief Stopak to provide her with the letter that the billing company has written to explain the billing to customers. He said he would do so and that the letter is to go out to all residents.

The Zoning report was provided by Ms. Pinney. In 2005, there were 90 zoning certificates issued, with 45 for new residences. The owner of the property at 4562 Boston Road has applied for the January BZA, so there will be no legal action taken for the current zoning violations on that property until the case is resolved. The BZA is scheduled to meet on January 16 at 7:00 in the Senior Center and the Zoning Commission on January 12 at 6:30 in the Township office. The ZC will be making a recommendation on the KF Farms rezoning request at the next meeting and the Trustee’s public hearing for the rezoning is scheduled for January 19 at 7:00 in the Township office. The Trustees will be provided with information on the request, including comments from the ZC and the Summit County Planning Commission review, which have not been supportive of the rezoning.

The Park report was provided by Mr. Wyatt. The advisory park board had their first meeting on January 3, 2006. The Trustees had set the Snowbird festival date for February 5, with an alternate date of February 12. The RVP members had discussed the festival between the members and a notice was published with a date of January 29 and alternate date of February 5 for the festival, so the Trustees will move the date to January 29.

The Road report was provided by Ms. Gilmore. No snow, no report.

The Fire and Police contracts are up for renewal and the Trustees have been provided with proposed contracts and amendments as approved by the Village of Richfield. Some amendments were added by the Trustees and the proposals will be returned to the village for re-approval.

A motion to approve Resolution 02-2006, the Fire Contract with the Village of Richfield, as of January 5, 2006, for a Contract Period of January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2006 was made by Ms. Cica-Mraz, seconded by Ms. Gilmore and received unanimous approval.

A motion to approve Resolution 03-2006, the Police Contract with the Village of Richfield, as of January 5, 2006, for a Contract Period of January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2006 was made by Ms. Cica-Mraz, seconded by Mr. Wyatt and received unanimous approval.

Announcements – starting in February 2006, the first Trustee meeting of the month will be held at 1:30 p.m. and the second will be held at 7:00 p.m.

A motion was made by Ms, Cica-Mraz and seconded by Mr. Wyatt to go into executive session at 8:05 p.m., following a five-minute recess, to discuss potential and pending litigation. The motion passed with unanimous approval.

A motion was made by Ms. Gilmore and seconded by Ms. Cica-Mraz to go out of executive session and adjourn at 10:05 p.m. The motion passed with unanimous approval.


This page last updated on: 02/26/2006

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