January 18, 2007

 

Mayor Poole called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. with the following members present: B. Blue, E. Davis, C. Hofstetter, J. Jemison, S. Klein and B. Wallace.   

 

Also present: C. Osborne – Fiscal Officer, D. Weir - Admin., Tom Lee – Village Solicitor, B. Provost – Village Engineer, S. Roessner – Zoning Inspector, M. Hatch – Recreation Director, Lily Ammons, Betty McArthur, Carl Hornung, and Jennifer McKevitt – News Herald.

 

Agenda:   No additions or deletions.             

           

Minutes of January 4, 2007 meeting were presented for approval.  Blue moved to approve the minutes as amended.  Hofstetter seconded.  Roll Call: All Yeas (6).  

 

Payment of Bills Totaling $118,152.40 was presented for payment.  Klein moved to authorize the payment of bills totaling $118,152.40.  Jemison seconded.  Roll Call: All Yeas (6). 

 

Recreation Director’s Report – December: Hatch reported the youth basketball season has begun and the new East Geauga Youth Basketball League’s organization and operation of games has been successful thus far.  Peewee wrestling will begin this week.

            Youth baseball and softball registrations will begin this month.  Hatch met wit the Huntsburg and Parkman coaches and it was decided to stay in the Geauga Fast Pitch League, and will offer 14-U to go into a different league. 

            Hatch stated there’s ongoing work on all of the parks, she’s currently working on the winter/spring activities guide, and continues to locate facilities and implement new programs.  One new game, “pickle ball”, is similar to table tennis.  Hatch is planning to include the Frisbee Golf Park information, including rules for the park, in the winter guide.   

            Hatch introduced Lily Ammons, who is interning with Hatch to fulfill requirements toward her degree in Education Studies at Kent State University.  Hatch will have Ammons research before and after school care, and the possibility of summer camps.

            Hofstetter questioned if there’s a problem with fast pitch league.  Hatch stated the people involved make it nearly impossible for Middlefield, Parkman, and Huntsburg to benefit from being a member of this league.  The voting is determined by how many teams each town has and, if you only have one team, you only have one vote on any issue before the league.  One benefit for moving to Trumbull Softball League is it offers more to the teams, and the rules are governed by the Ohio Youth Softball Assn. and Hot Stove.  These rules can’t be changed by team leaders.  Also, depending on the talent of the teams, they have the opportunity to compete in State finals.  Hatch doesn’t want to sever ties to the local softball league, which is why she’ll try easing into the new league with a 14-U team, and perhaps all levels in the future.  Some parents are leery about traveling to Southington or Bristol for games, which makes it difficult to convince people this change is good for the girls.  Currently teams travel to Kirtland.  The risk in leaving Geauga Fast Pitch League is it’s a private league and we may not be able to join again in the future.

 

Ambulance Report – December: Included in the council packet.

 

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

No comments from those in attendance.

 

FIRST READING

Resolution 07-01: Requesting the Geauga County Auditor to Provide Tax Advances for the 2007 Collection Periods, and Declaring an Emergency.

Davis introduced Res. 07-01, read by title only, moved to waive the required readings and declare an emergency.  Wallace seconded.  Roll Call: All Yeas (6).

            Hofstetter moved to pass Res. 07-01, seconded by Blue.  Roll Call: All Yeas (6).

 

Ordinance 07-102: Authorizing the Fiscal Officer to Transfer the Unencumbered Balance in the COPS Fast Fund, in the Amount of $10,241.85, to the General Fund.

            Jemison introduced Ord. 07-102, read by title only, and moved to place it on first reading.  Davis seconded.  Roll Call: All Yeas (6).

           

SECOND READING – none before council.

           

THIRD READING – none before council.

 

ENGINEER’S REPORT – included in the council packet. 

 

OLD BUSINESS – none before council.

 

NEW BUSINESS – none before council.

 

Davis stated the East Geauga Fire District will be using money from the general fund and will pay off the building loan one year early.  Therefore, they have rescinded the capital improvements levy and requested the county auditor not to collect the taxes for the last year of the levy.  Middlefield Village and Middlefield Township will get .96-mil reduction in their taxes.

 

At 7:48 p.m., Klein moved to adjourn into executive session for purposes of pending litigation.  Davis seconded.  Roll Call: All Yeas (6).

 

The meeting reconvened at 8:07 p.m.

 

Alarm monitoring contract – Lee reviewed for the newer Council members how the Village took over the dispatch center in 1998.  One of the concerns at the time was having the alarm monitoring for Middlefield’s own alarms and for local businesses go directly to Village dispatch rather than to the Geauga County Sheriff’s department or a private entity.  More traditional alarm monitoring companies monitor from areas outside of Ohio and, if there’s a communication issue between Ohio and an outside company, the alarm could go off and the information might not get back to this area.  Lee stated that local businesses benefit by having an alarm-monitoring system here, which is the main reason at that time that Council chose to continue monitoring alarms through the dispatch services, even though those are not traditional government functions.  The Village entered into a contract with John Burger’s company, Basic Alarm, for maintaining our system and Burger was to pay monitoring fees to the Village.  That contract, which had been renewed in the past, has now expired.  Lee stated Burger was cautioned more than once within the last 2 years regarding his delinquency in alarm payments to the Village.  Lee stated this has become an added burden to the Village and the issue has been raised as to whether the Village should cease to provide alarm monitoring services to private entities.  Because the alarm-monitoring contract has expired and Burger is in arrears with his payments, Lee stated the Village has no legal obligation to continue monitoring alarms.  Lee advised that businesses that rely on the alarm systems being monitored could be caught in the middle with no one monitoring their alarms.  Lee suggested informing those clients prior to terminating the contract. 

            Davis stated Burger’s delinquency isn’t the only issue.  Burger hasn’t maintained or upgraded the equipment as promised.  Chief Stehlik agreed. 

            Chief Stehlik stated on Jan. 10, 2007 he met with Weir, Rick Roose, and retired Fire Chief Earl Warne.  Chief Warne was one of the founding fathers of Central Communications – the original private, non-profit alarm monitoring company that eventually became Central Dispatch - and Warne strongly encouraged Weir and Stehlik to discontinue monitoring private alarms.  Central Communications was started because there were no alarm-monitoring companies in the area.  Of the 100 alarm accounts, currently there are only 50 accounts inside the Village, which isn’t cost effective.  One benefit to having local alarm monitoring is the ability to immediately dispatch police and/or fire personnel to a call. 

            Chief Stehlik stressed the equipment is outdated, stating another alarm company informed Chief the Seaboard console itself was outdated 25 years ago.  Many of the buttons have broken off, forcing the dispatchers to press the small pins where the buttons were attached in order to turn off the alarm.  Also, when an auto alarm test comes in, the dispatcher must press a sequence of buttons to acknowledge the test, and it then is printed.  There are times when more than one alarm runs an auto test within an hour, which is very time consuming to dispatchers who have to monitor the telephone system and greet people who come into the dispatch center. 

            Since June 2006 one alarm in particular comes in every 15 minutes, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  The Chief has requested to Burger several times to repair this alarm and, even though Burger told the Chief the problem was fixed this week, the alarm still continues to come in.  Lee stated he wasn’t aware of the false alarm issue, and the contract states Burger will be charged for each false alarm.  Lee requested Chief Stehlik to calculate these charges and forward that calculation to him.  Also, Burger has failed to update alarm account information.  Therefore, our dispatchers took it upon themselves to update some accounts, and there are many times when an alarm comes in and the dispatcher calls the company, and is then informed that company hasn’t been a client of Burger’s for years. Also, many of the codes the dispatchers enter don’t comply with the alarm codes in the manual given to them by Burger and the dispatchers have been writing their own notes so other dispatchers can get through the alarm effectively.  Lee stated Burger’s contract states he’s required to correct these issues in a timely fashion. 

            Chief Stehlik stated with today’s technology, we can no longer continue to monitor using this Seaboard console.  There’s a monitoring company in Painesville that uses state-of-the-art equipment.  The Chief stated the Safety Committee has continually discussed Burger’s performance, noting he’s very difficult to reach by phone.  Wallace stated the safety committee required Burger to meet obligations by the end of 2006 that were not met.  The Chief stated that one business owner in the Village told him that Burger stated it’s the dispatchers’ responsibility to remove old accounts, even though Burger’s contract says otherwise. 

            Lee stated if it’s the consensus of Council not to renew the contract.  Burger should be notified and given a reasonable time to move his accounts, provided that he pay the past-due balance immediately.  In giving Burger notice, the false alarms need to be mentioned.  Lee suggested writing Burger informing him of the contract non-renewal and also copying the letter to his clients to give them notice that the monitoring service will terminate shortly.

            Blue moved to direct Lee write Burger informing him that, provided the past-due arrearage is paid immediately, the alarm-monitoring services provided to Basic Security will terminate April 30, 2007, seconded by Wallace.  Roll Call: All Yeas (6).

 

Discussion held regarding the January 29, 2007 Town Hall meeting regarding Mayor’s Court.  Wallace and Davis stated once they’ve had a chance to explain all of the benefits of Mayor’s Court to residents, they’re more in favor of it.  Lee stated he and the mayor discussed having more than one meeting.  All are in agreement this will be a good forum to clarify any questions from the public.

 

Being no further business at this time, Klein moved to adjourn at 8:53 p.m.