Auburn Township Trustees

July 18, 2005

The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. by Vice Chairman Patrick J. Cavanagh. Diane Jones led the Pledge of Allegiance.

            Motion by Eugene T. McCune, Jr. seconded by Patrick Cavanagh to approve the minutes of the public hearing of the Board of Trustees of July 5, 2005. VOTE: McCune, yes; Cavanagh, yes. The motion passed.

            Motion by Eugene T. McCune, Jr. seconded by Patrick Cavanagh to approve the minutes of the regular session of the Board of Trustees of July 5, 2005. VOTE: McCune, yes; Cavanagh, yes. The motion passed.

AUBURN VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT:

            Mr. Dan Matsko presented each trustee and the clerk with a financial review report of the finances of the Auburn Volunteer Fire Department as prepared by a certified public account firm. Mr. Matsko noted that the financial statement is presented on time.

            Mr. Jeff Renner distributed the run review for June. There were 43 calls; 53% occurred during the daytime staffing. He was asked how the figures compare to last year. He said it is about the same as last year. When talking about the run report, he used the term MABAS. He explained that a MABAS is specific to an area or a business.

            In response to community requests, the fire department will host a clambake on August 27, 2005 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the fire department. The contact person is Sean Davis (440-489-3019). Leave a message and he will call you back. The fire department will cook, serve and prep in-house to keep the cost down and offer a more affordable clambake. Tickets are $20.00 each and are presale only.

AUBURN CORNERS:

            Mr. Stephen Ciciretto, architect, has bought the Sky Bank property at the Corners and presented a plan to build a retail center. He envisions a bank, 6 service oriented shops, and a drug store. It is very early in the concept stage; they are doing survey and site work. It will be designed under current zoning. He is working on getting tenants now and hopes to begin work in the winter or spring. He is excited to be a part of this project and believes it will set the precedent for other development.

            Mr. Eric Drake, Assistant County Prosecutor with David Joyce’s office was present. He replaces John Tremsyn. He is from Bainbridge so is familiar with the area. He has been an attorney for 12 years and is a former serviceman who was deployed 4 times overseas. He reported that he filed a Motion for Summary Judgment to throw the Hawkins case against the fire department out of court.

REPORTS:

            Eugene T. McCune, Jr. reported that he attended the July meeting of the Planning Commission and Mr. Petersen accepted the terms that Auburn and Bainbridge laid down. The road in question (access from Bainbridge only but property in Auburn—Fireside Estates) will be a private road. The four home owners will contract with Bainbridge for plowing, etc. or a private company. There is some confusion as to who will be liable for any road damages. Auburn will collect the property taxes.

            The trustees will schedule a walk through for Adam Hall. Work is progressing; the toilets, sinks and a water fountain are installed. The locks have been changed. We will contact PerfecTurf to get a quote on raking out and adding grass seed to some areas. The well has not passed a water test with the health department. That needs to be addressed. Mr. McCune talked with Mr. Eberly and they suggest not closing this meeting and doing a walk through on next Thursday evening, July 28. It is time to gather information from other townships on costs of rental.

            Mr. McCune read a letter from the Treasurer of Geauga County that inheritance tax in the amount of $148.05 has been collected during the month of June in the treasury for Auburn Township from the estate of Grace Rybicki.

            Motion by Gene McCune seconded by Patrick Cavanagh to put the $148.05 in inheritance tax into the Land Acquisition Fund when it is collected. VOTE: McCune, yes; Cavanagh, yes. The motion passed.

            Patrick J. Cavanagh commented on the new State of Ohio budget and that because of HB66, some local government funding will change. Personal property taxes will be eliminated. The township will lose 2% to 8% of our annual budget.

            The one-mill replacement road levy on the fall ballot becomes even more important to Auburn.

            Susan Plavcan, Clerk, had purchase orders and warrants for signatures. She reported on a phone call she received from the Gortz Personnel Manual people saying it is time for an update. There was some discussion and the trustees said it is very costly and they are not interested in doing that at this time.

            Mrs. Plavcan passed along a letter from the Board of County Commissioners asking the trustees to sign a Resolution endorsing the All Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan as declared by the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000. Geauga’s Mitigation final plan was approved by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on April 19, 2005 pending adoption. The State of Ohio’s Department of Public Safety approved the Geauga County plan on April 25, 2005. The Geauga Commissioners approved the All Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan on May 19, 2005. In order to finalize the Mitigation process, the Board of County Commissioners needs a Resolution from each subdivision recognizing and approving the Geauga County Mitigation Plan.

            Motion by Patrick Cavanagh seconded by Gene McCune to approve and adopt the All Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan representing various political subdivisions in Geauga County, Resolution 2005-16, as prepared by and approved by the Geauga County Commissioners. VOTE: McCune, yes; Cavanagh, yes. The motion passed.

            The Geauga County Township Association decided to support the fact that Ohio is the featured state in Washington DC at National Association of Towns and Townships by providing raffle items to be given away representing Geauga County. If we were to spend up to $150 for an item in our township, the Township Association would match up to the $150 for the purchase of an item that we would like to represent this township. The trustees are not interested in participating.

            The trustees discussed zoning amendment 2005-01 received from the Zoning Commission. It is an updated Riparian Setback Map and is Appendix E to our Resolution. A public hearing was set for 7:15 p.m. on August 1, 2005.

            Motion by Patrick Cavanagh seconded by Gene McCune to transfer $8,000 to the General Fund from the Motor Vehicle License Tax Fund for road operations. This transfer is temporary and will be paid back.   VOTE: McCune, yes; Cavanagh, yes. The motion passed.

PUBLIC COMMENT:

            Willis Brown commented that some years back there used to be a lot of French drains on his section of Taylor May and there is only one left. The trustees felt that the drains may not be needed any longer with the improved road work that has been done. They said they would ask David if he knows about it.

            Jack Trethewey said he was told that Ronyak Bros. Paving workers left bags of trash after their lunch on the roadsides when they were chip sealing. The trustees said they would be very shocked if that were true. In all the years we’ve done business with Ronyak, there has never been any trouble. We will pass this on to them.

            Mr. Gene McCune wished his wife, Karen, a Happy 31^st Anniversary.

            Motion by Gene McCune seconded by Patrick Cavanagh to recess the meeting. VOTE: McCune, yes; Cavanagh, yes. The motion passed. The meeting was recessed.