February 13, 2006   

 

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

 

            Motion by Michael S. Troyan seconded by Patrick Cavanagh to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of the Board of Trustees of February 6, 2006.  VOTE:  Troyan, yes; Cavanagh, yes; Eberly, yes.  The motion passed.

 

PUBLIC COMMENT:

            Miss Clarissa Polen, a Kenston High School student, was present. She is a PAC member and is required to attend a government meeting. The trustees welcomed her and her father to the meeting.

 

            Auburn resident John King was present to ask the trustees about the road salt/cinder policy. He lives on a cul-de-sac and the cinder build up seems excessive to him and he asked if it would be possible to eliminate the cinders altogether, substitute sand, or not plow at all, etc. The trustees discussed the options. Sand does not get the job done as well as cinders or grits. Not plowing on a low traffic cul-de-sac (assuming all the residents agreed) is not an option due to safety concerns with school busing, fire engines, sheriff department, etc. The trustees would prefer to use all salt unmixed with grits; however, that is too expensive an option for the township budget at this time.  

           

REPORTS:

            Michael S. Troyan discussed emergency transport billing briefly with fire chief, John Phillips. They will talk in greater detail about the pros and cons at a later date. They will also discuss the fire security system at Adam Hall.

            Mr. Troyan met with the road department about safety concerns for the Taylor May and Munn Roads area. The road department will install yellow “Caution 45 m.p.h.” signs along the roads in an effort to highlight a high accident area and make it safer.

            In response to an employee time sheet issue, the trustees discussed sick time, overtime, and vacation time. One cannot use sick time to exceed 40 hours of work. One must work in excess of 40 hours to earn overtime.

            Mr. Troyan discussed an article he read in “Trustee Times” stating $2.5 billion is generated by the gas tax and $1.4 million is earmarked for a land purchase in Bainbridge. This transportation bill money is the same money we tried to use for our road salt storage building but it did not come through for Auburn.

 

            Patrick J. Cavanagh received a call from a Lorien Woods resident and the trustees again discussed the pool parking matter. They restated that cars are not allowed to park there and would pose a safety threat in the event the fire department needed to get to the pool area. Mr. Eberly said he met with John Phillips and some home owners a few years ago to discuss the parking.  The home owners’ association does not allow it and does not want parking there.

            Mr. Cavanagh called the County Engineering Department and was told that we should have our road work estimates from the County in the next few weeks for this summer’s road jobs. The trustees discussed how they would like to see the jobs bid out and which projects are most necessary.

            The trustees want to add the chip seal of the Maple Shade Cemetery driveways to this summer’s work as well as some asphalt at Adam Hall and extending the asphalt parking in front of the Administration Building east to the cemetery drive.

            The trustees discussed a loader for the road department. P.J. mentioned that Solon Sand is going out of business. Mr. Eberly said that Dave has already talked to them. They have one loader that is the size we could use but it is from the 1970’s.

            P.J. offered to fill Gene McCune’s position on the Memorial Day Committee and spoke to John Reithoffer who agreed. Mike Troyan and John Eberly both approved.

 

            John A. Eberly reminded the other trustees of the upcoming meeting at Kenston High School in the Betty Patton room for the Auburn Bainbridge Recreation Board/Kenston Community Education Board of Directors concerning a matter of urgency. All trustees will attend and the fiscal officer. This March it will have been 30 years since Auburn Township, Bainbridge Township and Kenston Local School District formed the ABRB by Joint Resolution. A plan is now needed for the future of continuing education and youth recreation

in the Kenston community. Mr. Eberly believes a task force will be necessary to look at profit centers, determine why the organization is operating at a loss and determine future action.

                       

            Susan Plavcan, Fiscal Officer, had warrants, purchase orders and blanket certificates for signatures.

            Ms. Plavcan presented the annual appropriation resolution to the Board of Trustees for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2006.  John Eberly read the appropriation and the trustees discussed and reviewed it.

           

            Motion by Patrick Cavanagh seconded by Michael Troyan to accept the Annual Appropriation Resolution for the year ending December 31, 2006. VOTE:  Troyan, yes; Cavanagh, yes; Eberly, yes.  The motion passed. (Copy attached to minutes.)

 

            Ms. Plavcan reported that she took Arch Killbrew and two other gentlemen from the Geauga County Board of Elections to Adam Hall for Arch’s inspection of the facility. He was enthusiastic about using Adam Hall as a polling location for the township. Sun Valley will house two of the six Auburn precincts and Adam Hall will house the other four precincts.

 

OLD BUSINESS:

            A letter will be sent to one person in each of our five ZIP codes to check the speed of delivery in each ZIP.  The post office assures us that delay in delivery between ZIP codes should not happen.

            When we next meet with Wheeler Landscaping about the Adam Hall master landscape plan, we will ask them for their ideas on signage for the building.

            Susan will send out a news release to the News Herald, the Maple Leaf and the West Geauga Times asking if there are any Auburn residents who would like to be considered for a seat on a zoning board -- either the BZA or the Zoning Commission.  Interested parties should send a letter and/or resume expressing their interest to the trustees by March 6, 2005.  The Chagrin Valley Times has already run a notice.

 

NEW BUSINESS:

            A letter was received from Dale Wedge regarding House Bill 361, passed by the 125^th Ohio General Assembly, which became law on May 1, 2005. The passage of the bill creates a funding mechanism for the establishment of enhanced wireless 9-1-1 service in Geauga County. The legislation sets forth a $0.32 charge to be assessed to each wireless phone number belonging to an Ohio subscriber. In order for the county to begin receiving monthly disbursement from the fund, concurrence from each township and village to proceed is necessary.

                       

            Motion by Michael Troyan seconded by Patrick J. Cavanagh to approve and accept the Geauga County Final Plan pertaining to Wireless 9-1-1.  The amended plan has been approved by the Geauga County Technical Advisory Committee, the Geauga County Planning Commission Committee and the Geauga County Board of Commissioners; this action is in accordance with ORC 4931. The Geauga County Commissioners adopted the change on January 5, 2006.  VOTE:  Troyan, yes; Cavanagh, yes; Eberly, yes.  The motion passed. (Copy attached to minutes.)

 

            A letter was received from the Geauga County Bicentennial Board of Managers. Numerous events are planned and several commemorative items are available for purchase to help celebrate the anniversary. The trustees agreed to display 10 vinyl 30” x 60” 3-color pole banners that will be provided free to us. The trustees also agreed to the purchase of a Commemorative map of Geauga at a cost of $100.00. The map will hang in the Administration Building.

 

            Motion by Michael Troyan seconded by John Eberly to support the Bicentennial Celebration of Geauga County by purchasing a map of the county. VOTE:  Troyan, yes; Cavanagh, yes; Eberly, yes.  The motion passed.

            The trustees discussed the cleaning service at the Administration Building and the old Town Hall. Mr. Matthew Blowers will be offered the job as long as he has Workers’ Compensation. He is an Auburn resident and a teacher at Kenston.

 

PUBLIC COMMENT:

            Resident Sean Mullen is trying to help raise money for a playground at Timmons School. One idea is to host a Poker Night at Adam Hall. He is working with the school and the prosecutor’s office for approval. The trustees advised him that we have nothing prohibiting the event in our zoning. If he can get us a list of the regulations governing the usage, we would have no objection to it.  We donated to the playground about 8 years ago along with Bainbridge Township. That equipment will be moved to the new building. The trustees did not rule out making a new donation for equipment as long as the request is presented to us so we would know what is being purchased, where it is going, etc.  With the new high school opening pending, all the grades are being shifted to different buildings. Timmons School’s current equipment is being moved to the Intermediate School.

 

            The trustees will be gathering for a meeting on Wednesday, February 15, 2006 and so decided to recess this meeting rather than close it.

           

            Motion by John Eberly seconded by Michael Troyan to recess the meeting.  VOTE:  Troyan, yes; Cavanagh, yes; Eberly, yes.  The motion passed.  The meeting was recessed.