Auburn Township Trustees

February 6, 2006

The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. by Chairman John A. Eberly. All Trustees were present. Carl Schneider led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Motion by Patrick Cavanagh seconded by Mike Troyan to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of the Board of Trustees of January 30, 2006. VOTE: Troyan, yes; Cavanagh, yes; Eberly, yes. The motion passed.

Mr. Steve Evenhiemer, Commercial Division representative from Gillmore Security Systems Inc., was present to discuss a plan for fire and security protection for Adam Hall. The total cost is $8,184 to install fire and security protection with a $40 per month monitoring fee thereafter. To go with only a security system, the total cost would be $2,561 with a $30 per month fee thereafter. The fire alarm system only would cost $5,623 to install with a $10 per month additional cost for monitoring. The trustees discussed the proposal with Mr. Evenhiemer and asked questions. Mr. Troyan will discuss the proposal with Auburn Volunteer Fire Department Chief, John Phillips, at the next board meeting he attends for the chief’s input. Mr. Evenhiemer stated that the fire protection system for a public building is far more important in his opinion than the security portion of the system. The building does not have a sprinkler system but there is a fire wall present between the old part of the building and the new addition (the kitchens and rest rooms).

REPORTS:

Mr. Frank Kitko, Zoning Inspector, was present. He did not have a written report but noted that he issued 7 permits for new single family dwellings in January 2006 and had a total of 13 permits issued for the month. He said there are five foundations already in progress on Edinboro Lane. Edinboro Lane runs west off Ravenna Road. It is part of the Moreland, Phase 1 subdivision.

Mr. Kitko reported that the problem with the strobe light on a tower that provoked so many calls from residents has been resolved. The tower light was mal-functioning. It should have been changing to red at night. Mr. Eberly thanked him for the quick action given to the problem and its resolution.

Mr. Kitko and the trustees discussed proposed zoning permit application fee changes. Several of the changes are the result of the necessity to make 4 or 5 additional trips to construction sites to monitor erosion control measures such as silt fences. Mr. Kitko noted that Newbury Township will be hosting the next county-wide zoning inspector meeting and he will compare our zoning fees with others at that time. Some of the changes proposed:

Single Family Dwelling – from $250 to $300

Exterior Additions over 1200 sq. ft. – from $250 to $300

Accessory buildings (over 300 sq. ft.) – from $100 to $150

Fences from $20 to $25

Conditional Use – from $250 to $300 (involves the BZA)

Commercial & Industrial Change of Use – lowered from $250 to $100

Frank was asked about the PBD district. A PBD Plan Review-Preliminary is $2,000. The smallest parcel for PBD is 15 acres. He has not heard from the Kosar group that bought property at US422 and Ravenna Road. Steve Ciciretto is planning his construction start at Auburn Corners for this spring. Steve has been to the BZA and was granted the variances he needed.

The trustees believe the proposed pricing schedule is reasonable.

Motion by Mike Troyan seconded by Patrick Cavanagh to accept the proposed zoning fee schedule as presented effective February 7, 2006. VOTE: Troyan, yes; Cavanagh, yes; Eberly, yes. The motion passed. (Copied attached to minutes)

Dave Wilmot, Road Superintendent, was not present. The road department has been putting in a lot of time plowing. The trustees discussed water on several roads. Bartholomew Road has the same recurring problem of water and the road department has put up a permanent sign. A resident complained about water on Shaw Road. Dave will check out these problem spots.

The trustees discussed purchasing or leasing a loader with a 3 yard bucket and getting rid of our oldest one. This will be investigated and hopefully will be on the budget for next spring. A larger loader will save money in the long run. We will save on man hours loading the dump trucks and mixing salt and cinders will go much faster. We will also cut down on hiring some work out and we would not be stressing the loader as we do with the smaller one. Mr. Eberly talked to vendors during the Ohio Township Association (OTA) conference in Columbus. He believes a loader in the $35,000 bracket would give us use for many, many years.

Also discussed was the storage space shortage. Mr. Eberly’s thought is to use our present salt storage building for equipment parking and build another larger structure to hold salt. He would like us to use more salt and less cinders when plowing. The CUE road salt co-op does not seem to be likely after all. We were hoping we would be able to join; however, Auburn would be the first out-of-county member and they do not seem to want to go that route.

Michael S. Troyan, reported attending the Ohio Township Association conference in Columbus. He attended a Fire Legal Lessons seminar and found that charging for EMS services can bring in much needed money for the department. The money collected is from insurance companies only and not the residents directly. The trustees discussed the pro and con of the issue. Mike will discuss it with the fire department at his next meeting there.

Patrick J. Cavanagh, announced that John Phillips was reelected Chief of the Auburn Volunteer Fire Department. Our thanks to Mark Lewis on his service as Chief. We will update the Fire Fighters Dependency Fund name to be current.

Motion by Patrick Cavanagh seconded by Mike Troyan to appoint John Phillips as Fire Prevention Officer. VOTE: Troyan, yes; Cavanagh, yes; Eberly, yes. The motion passed.

P.J. noted that following the interviews for a secretary, the Board made the decision to hire Quran DeJarnette at the hourly rate of $10 per hour.

Motion by Patrick Cavanagh seconded by Mike Troyan to hire Quran DeJarnette as administrative secretary. VOTE: Troyan, yes; Cavanagh, yes; Eberly, yes. The motion passed.

John A. Eberly, declared he was thankful not to have to sleep with Gene McCune at the OTA this year. He attended a Cemetery seminar and learned useful information. He reported that the trustees and fiscal officer met for dinners with the trustees and fiscal officers of both Troy and Bainbridge Townships.

John reminded the trustees to attend the KCE meeting on February 15 in the Betty Patton room of the Kenston High School.

Susan Plavcan, Fiscal Officer, had warrants for signatures.

Susan noted that when she measured for the installation of Adam Hall coat racks to be installed on the back wall of the kitchen (facing the rest room doors) there is an access panel with drop down stairs in the ceiling right above where the racks would go. The discussion ended with the decision to order five (5) 60” coat racks and they will be installed around the ceiling access trap.

Motion by John Eberly seconded by Patrick Cavanagh to purchase five 60” wall mounted brushed aluminum coat racks for Adam Hall. VOTE: Troyan, yes; Cavanagh, yes; Eberly, yes. The motion passed.

Susan has been asked about a “licensed” bartender in attendance at Adam Hall. Mr. Eberly said that any time alcohol is being served, one is necessary, even if only wine and beer. A “licensed’ bartender is one who carries proof of insurance.

Susan asked if we should drop the “service” portion of our agreements with Gillmore Security based on the conversation we had with Steve Evenhiemer earlier in the evening.

Motion by Mike Troyan seconded by Patrick Cavanagh to cancel the service portion of our contracts with Gillmore Security for the township buildings. VOTE: Troyan, yes; Cavanagh, yes; Eberly, yes. The motion passed.

Susan requested a motion to allow her to transfer money from line to line in a fund.

Motion by John Eberly seconded by Mike Troyan to authorize the fiscal officer to record supplemental adjustments of appropriations between line items within the same fund. VOTE: Troyan, yes; Cavanagh, yes; Eberly, yes. The motion passed.

The trustees reviewed and approved appendix F for the proposed zoning amendment ZC2005-03 as submitted by the Zoning Commission.

A check in the amount of $4236.79 was received from Adelphia Cable as our franchisefee for January through December 2005.

Motion by John Eberly seconded by Patrick Cavanagh to deposit a check in the amount of $4236.79 from Adelphia Cable for our franchise fee for the year 2005 in our Land Acquisition/Improvement Fund. VOTE: Troyan, yes; Cavanagh, yes; Eberly, yes. The motion passed.

Mr. Eberly reported on a meeting at Representative Steven LaTourette’s office in Painesville attended by the trustees, the fiscal officer, three U.S.P.S. officials and Mr. LaTourette and his Deputy Director, Dino DiSanto regarding the five ZIP codes in Auburn Township. Each attendee was able to discuss their concerns. Mr. LaTourette offered to set up a meeting of the Commissioners of Geauga and Portage Counties to try to resolve Auburn license tag money going to Portage County for our residents living in the “Mantua” ZIP. The trustees discussed the delay in mail delivery to the “out of county” ZIP's in auburn. The postal officials said there should not be a delay. The township will mail letters to the five different ZIPs and have the recipients’ note the day the mail is received. The Chagrin Valley Time newspaper is not delivered to 44255 and 44234 ZIP codes as quickly as it is delivered to 44023. 44021 is slightly better than Mantua and Hiram but not as fast as 44023. The U.S.P.S. wants to survey two ZIP codes serving 68 houses in Hiram and Aurora to change ZIP codes. If the residents elect to change that will eliminate two ZIP’s bringing us to three.

As Mr. Troyan succinctly put it, Auburn does not want to cause a cataclysmic collapse of the U.S. Postal Service by eliminating three ZIP codes at one time.

Motion by Patrick Cavanagh seconded by John Eberly to support the post office to survey residents living in Auburn Township who have a mail ZIP code of 44202 to change to 44023; and a mail ZIP code of 44234 to change to 44255. VOTE: Troyan, yes; Cavanagh, yes; Eberly, yes. The motion passed.

The trustees applaud Mr. LaTourette for going to bat for us on this issue. He is the only government official who responded to our letters. We never heard from Senators Voinovich or DeWine.

A check was received from Tenant Construction to pay for the handicapped parking signs and posts at Adam Hall. We will accept the check and remove that item from our Old Business list.

The Zoning Commission requested another alternate board member. Sue Reid from the Chagrin Valley Times agreed to put a notice in the paper requesting anyone interested in serving on the Zoning Commission or the Board of Zoning Appeals to send in a letter of interest and/or resume for consideration by March 6^th.

The Board of Trustees had been asked if they would pay for an ad to appear on a Bomber poster as a fund raiser. The trustees do not feel that is an appropriate use of township money and declined.