March 20, 2006

 

The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. by Chairman John A. Eberly. All Trustees were present.  John Trethewey 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 March 13, 2006.  VOTE:  Troyan, yes; Cavanagh, yes; Eberly, yes.  The motion passed.

 

GUESTS:

 

            Mr. Eberly welcomed Kara Trojan to the meeting. She is a Junior at Kenston High School and attended the meeting as a requirement of a government class.

 

REPORTS:

 

            Mr. Jeff Renner, President, Auburn Volunteer Fire Department, presented a run report for February 2006. There were 38 calls and 17 of them, or 44.73%, were covered by station staffing.  Mr. Renner reported that their new pick up truck, a brush fire buggy, is in but is still having work done on it and should be in service within 30 days.  In response to a  question from Mike Troyan, Jeff said that roughly 190 people out of 270 rescue calls were transported for treatment or about 60+%.  The remainder of the 510 total calls from last year would include MVAs, open burn calls, dumpster fires, wires or trees down, etc.

            Mr. Renner noted that 472 pancakes breakfasts were served at their first breakfast and 430 at the second. It was a very successful endeavor. There were many favorable comments on the great quality of the food this year.  There will be a Spaghetti Dinner served at the fire department on April 1^st (no fooling!).

            Mr. Renner reports they are working on their contract for 2006 service and the five-year budget.

 

PUBLIC COMMENT:

 

            Mr. Sam Sotera questioned the posted speed limits on Valley Road. He said it is posted both 35 mph and 45 mph.  Mr. Cavanagh said he would check into that. The 35 mph is most likely incorrectly posted.

 

REPORTS:

 

            Michael S. Troyan reported that he called and spoke to Mr. Bob Phillips, Geauga County Engineer, following last week’s automobile fatality at Munn and Taylor May Roads. Mr. Phillips stated that he would look at the history of that intersection. 

            Mr. Troyan reported that the Geauga County Engineering Department has a Resolution to Resurface Auburn Road between Washington and Franks Roads this summer.

            Mr. Troyan said that he would be following up at tomorrow’s fire department board meeting on the fire security system options for Adam Hall.

 

            Patrick J. Cavanagh had no report.

 

            John A. Eberly was approached about the south end of Munn Road by some residents who would like us to give it some attention. There is a blind spot that is a problem area. Mr. Eberly said that years ago, the township raised the road bed on a section of Taylor May to alleviate a similar problem

            The trustees discussed a larger storage building that would be to the west of the current salt storage building. Mr. Eberly said that this is the third year in the life of our salt building and it is in great shape.  The trustees are continuing to keep an eye out for a used loader for the road department.

            Mr. Eberly discussed the fact that conduit was laid for communication cable at Adam Hall and the trustees discussed this.

 

            Motion by John A. Eberly seconded by Patrick Cavanagh to issue a purchase order in the amount of $365.00 for Petersen Construction to pull communication cable at Adam Hall from the telephone pole to the building using the conduit there.  VOTE:  Troyan, yes; Cavanagh, yes; Eberly, yes.  The motion passed.            The trustees discussed Adam Hall, the parking lot there, the back door area and the need to build-up an area around the well casing to protect it. They discussed putting in some stone or blocks and landscaping.

           

            Susan Plavcan, Fiscal Officer, presented warrants and purchase orders.  Mrs. Plavcan asked about who will serve as township representative for upcoming events at Adam Hall. We are getting bookings. There was discussion and it is too soon to make that decision. A job description should be developed. For now, it will be handled by current staffing.  Mrs. Plavcan asked for clarification on the 90 day probationary period for a new employee. Sick days are paid from day one of employment and not subject to the 90 day period.            

            Mrs. Plavcan noted that the Board of Elections will need a primary name and a back up name for persons to open the building (Adam Hall) at 5:30 a.m. on election days. The trustees discussed it and Patrick Cavanagh will be the primary person and Mike Troyan will be the back up man. The trustees briefly discussed the storage of the voting equipment.

            Mr. Bud Weber of Johnson Construction set up a meeting time of 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 23 for the walk-through with the HVAC contractor to discuss how the systems operate. Dave Wilmot and Patrick Cavanagh will attend.

            A sign for Adam Hall was discussed. It was decided to call Wheeler to get an estimate from them for the stonework and sign.

 

            Next week there will be an Executive Session beginning at 6:00 p.m. for the purpose of interviewing Cemetery Sextons and Board of Zoning Appeals and Zoning Commission alternates.

 

            Mr. Trethewey asked that the trustees stress to the candidates during the interviewing that if they want to be appointed, they need to know they must attend the meetings.

 

            Mr. Eberly will be attending a meeting tomorrow night regarding a review of the Kenston Community Education financials.

 

PUBLIC COMMENT:

 

            Mr. John Trethewey suggested that the Boy Scouts who are looking for service projects might be interested in working on a sign for Adam Hall.

 

            Mrs. Wilma Brown commented on cemetery maintenance. Some graves are overrun with weeds; there is a hedge that is very overgrown, etc. The trustees said they will make an effort to get there and check things over and make sure these items are addressed.

 

            Mr. Sean Mullen is renting Adam Hall to host a fund raising party for the Kenston School Playgrounds. He asked about paying for some extra time in which to set up and about the building cleaning fee of $150.  The trustees waived the cleaning fee as long as Mr. Mullen has the room clean. We cannot waive the deputy being there as alcohol will be available. Mr. Mullen asked about an old metal tank at the back of the building. He is interested in buying it for $1. He will talk to Mr. Eberly about that. Mr. Mullen asked if the trustees had decided on giving a donation to the playground fund yet. He was advised that it cannot be decided yet but Auburn does not have $20,000 unappropriated. We are under the gun to repair our roads now. We need around $1 million per year to maintain our roads and our budget is not that high. The costs have escalated to where it costs $200,000 per mile to resurface a road. We use General Fund money to augment the road levies. Twenty thousand is just out of our budget but we will help as we can, such as waiving the cleaning fee for Adam Hall.

 

NEW BUSINESS:

           

            Bids for road maintenance equipment rental and aggregate and asphalt products were discussed and dates set for the opening of bids.

 

            Motion by Patrick Cavanagh seconded by Michael Troyan to request bids for Road Maintenance/Equipment Rental. The bids will be opened on April 17, 2006 and bids will be accepted until 4:00 p.m. on April 17, 2006.  VOTE:  Troyan, yes; Cavanagh, yes; Eberly, yes.  The motion passed. 

 

            Motion by Patrick Cavanagh seconded by Michael Troyan to send informal proposals to various asphalt and aggregate suppliers and request bids to be opened on April 17, 2006.  VOTE:  Troyan, yes; Cavanagh, yes; Eberly, yes.  The motion passed. 

 

            A letter was received and reviewed from Michael Stone of the Geauga County Engineer’s office containing a OPWC District 7 preapplication form to be used to apply for program year 2007 Ohio Public Works money. The trustees decided to apply for Shaw Road as a joint project with Troy Township as their first priority. The second road requested will be
Bartholomew Road between Munn and Thorpe. Both roads need concrete stabilization, asphalt surface and necessary road infrastructure.

 

            A franchise fee from Cebridge Connections was received and discussed.

 

            Motion by Patrick Cavanagh seconded by Michael Troyan to deposit the franchise fee from Cebridge Connections in the amount of $16,021.75 for the year 2005 into the Land Acquisition Fund.  VOTE:  Troyan, yes; Cavanagh, yes; Eberly, yes.  The motion passed. 

 

            Motion by Michael Troyan seconded by Patrick J. Cavanagh to adjourn the meeting.  VOTE:  Troyan, yes; Cavanagh, yes; Eberly, yes.  The motion passed.  The meeting was adjourned.