The Village of Weston Council

November 2, 2015

The regular council meeting was called to order by Mayor Jason Worthen at 7:05pm, followed by the pledge of allegiance.

A roll call of the council members was taken: Mrs. Danelle Langley, Mrs. Tammy McClellan, Mr. Jeremy Schroeder, Mr. Shad Kendall, Mr. Greg Stevens, and Mrs. Dawn Blandy were all present.

The minutes from the 10/19/15 council meeting were reviewed and approved as read.

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Visitor(s):

Spencer Horvath, Brandon Seeley, Bronx Blanc, and Logan Carrier came as part of a project for their Otsego government class.

Deputy Adam Emry attended the meeting. Mrs. Langley asked that he watch the alley between Oak and Washington, as some kids have been running the stop sign. The Mayor reported speeders on Evon Lane. And Mr. J Schroeder asked how the Sheriff’s office would handle a potential chicken violation if someone were to call and make a complaint. The deputy stated that they would likely look up the applicable code, or they could issue a warning or citation for disorderly conduct.

Officers Mark Trumbull, Rick Easterwood, and Ron Tolles came on behalf of the Weston Fire Dept. They stated that the officers and several of their members (about 20 out of 30) recommended Ron Tolles as the new Fire Chief. A signature sheet of these names was passed out to council. They also received a letter of interest from Tim Schroeder, which was given to the safety committee.

Jamie Schroeder, member of the Weston EMS, was then given the floor to present some department related information that he had gathered. He stated that right now, Fire is mostly EMS based; between 90-95% of Fire runs are EMS in nature. Looking at our run numbers from the last 6 months, 87 runs were EMS related, while 5 were Fire; thus, 5.7% of Weston Fire runs were fire related (this does not include Plain Twp or mutual aid calls, but with those, 19.2% were Fire related). He named off several other areas in which Fire Departments have EMTs as officers, and reiterated the fact that Fire is EMS based. Since Fire does most runs as EMS, he thought that it would make the most sense to look at a candidate that already has EMS qualifications in order to close the gap between the two departments. He pointed out that the alternate candidate has over 25 years of professional experience, is a paramedic, EMS instructor, CPR instructor, Fire Fighter II, and certified fire inspector. Although these things are not required for this position, they would be an added plus.

Ron Tolles stated that he “thought we had a Fire Department” and pointed out that hardly any of the qualifications mentioned were mandated by the State. He said that over 60% of their members were recommending that he take the spot, and that they were pretty confident in what they wanted.

Rob Myerholtz stated that two of his sons were on the Fire Dept, and it made them into the men they are today. He didn’t like the fact that we were speaking of trying to split that group of individuals. He feels that credentials are great, but a vote of confidence means a lot.

Mark Trumbull pointed out that although the majority of their runs are FR, most of them are simple and they rarely get to do much. He said we to remember that “there is a Fire Side and an EMS Side”, and that the firemen have a brotherhood and they stick together. Scene safety is always their first priority. They were glad that Ron was willing to step in, and he’s willing to get his FR certification. He stated that he hoped their recommendation would weigh heavily, because that’s what they want.

Randy Tolles, former Fire Chief, said that Ron has caught on very quickly. He showed him how to do the reporting on the computer last week.

Mrs. McClellan noted that although Tim is very qualified, Ron comes with the recommendation of 2/3 of his peers. Mr. Kendall asked Ron about his experience, and he stated that he has been the Asst Fire Chief for 6 years and on the department for 33. Mr. Stevens asked Mr. Tolles if he was prepared to move into the future, and Ron said yes. However, he was not going to require his people to obtain further certifications if they aren’t required by the State; if they don’t want to, it would be bad for morale to force them. Mr. J Schroeder asked if the people who had signed the recommendation were aware that there was another person interested, and Mr. Tolles stated that they were all “well aware”.

The Mayor then had council vote for the candidate that they would like to have fill the position. Mrs. Langley voted for Ron; Mrs. McClellan voted for Ron; Mr. J Schroeder asked if this could be put on hold until Tim arrived back from vacation and could be given the chance to speak. He was told that there was no reason to put off a vote any longer; therefore, he chose to abstain from the vote. Mr. Kendall voted for Ron; Mr. Stevens voted for Ron; and Mrs. Blandy voted for Ron as well.

Terry Klinger came before council to ask about our mowing regulations. She’s taking care of her son’s things and might only get the mail every 2 weeks. By the time she got a notice stating that the property needed to be mowed, it had already been done. Thus, she asked if the rule could be changed to allow 2 weeks’ notice instead of 5 days. Council did not feel that this was reasonable, and suggested that she just keep an eye on the grass and mow it when it gets tall. She stated that she had driven by and didn’t think it was excessively tall.

The payment register (chk #’s 47032-47046, totaling $2,922.89) was presented to council. Mrs. McClellan asked about the Toledo Edison bill for the concession, which was quite high. Mr. Kendall moved to pay the bills, seconded by Mr. J Schroeder, all were in favor; passed.

Mrs. McClellan made a motion to approve the financial reports for October. This was seconded by Mr. Stevens, all were in favor; passed.

The Village of Weston’s revised Income Tax Ordinance, to be effective 1/1/16 in compliance with HB 5, received the second reading. Council was informed that we will need to have a tax board in place by the first of the year as part of the new rules.

The Ordinance to increase the compensation amounts for Fire Department officers (and swapping the number of captains/lieutenants) received the second reading.

The Ordinance to amend Section 174.04 of the Weston Basic Code, in relation to costs associated with mowing/weed removal, received the second reading.

The Ordinance to again appoint Matt Reger as Village Prosecutor (through the end of 2016) received the first reading. It was explained that the ordinance for his solicitorship was already passed to include 2016, so next year we will do both solicitor and prosecutor in one (for 2017).

The Ordinance to continue our 2016 banking agreement with PNC received the first reading.

The Ordinance to continue our banking agreement with Farmers & Merchants Bank for 2016 received the first reading.

The Ordinance to renew our agreement with the Wood County Public Defender’s office for 2016 (for indigent persons charged solely under Village Code) received the first reading. So far for 2015, we have not had any cases/costs incurred.

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Council/Committee Business:

Mr. Kendall stated that he met with the alumni about the sign. K&K Construction is willing to donate all of the brick for the project. We will do a 6-8 foot wall and will get a granite piece to cut and put in. They would like for the sign to be in between where the two sets of steps used to be.

Mr. Kendall also updated council on the sign for Route 235. Fletcher Machine is getting the steel welded up now. We can probably get the footers poured for the sign and monument at the same time. He would like to have a dedication for these sometime in May.

Mr. Stevens reported on the 10/27/15 Safety Committee meeting, at which a majority of the Fire officers were present. Their ladder tests were completed; the air compressor has been fixed; and they ordered a special part for the trucks. We’re down by about 31 EMS runs from where we were at last year; there is 1 EMT currently taking the basic class; and Kathy will be putting in a sweatshirt order soon. She will be on vacation from 11/9/15 thru 11/15/15. He was also able to meet with Deputy Holland from the Sheriff’s Dept beforehand, and they are satisfied with how things are currently going (crime is down).

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The Mayor asked Mr. J Schroeder about the status of the Rec Board. He will see who comes to the next meeting in order to figure out who will still be on.

At the previous meeting, two candidates had shown interest in the open seat on the Planning Commission. He recommended Mr. Taylor, but asked council for a vote: All were in favor of Mr. Taylor. When Mr. Lashuay’s seat comes open in January, Mrs. Downard could fill that spot.

After tonight’s public hearing, a vote from council was needed to decide how to move forward with the chicken/livestock amendment. The Fiscal Officer read the proposed change out loud, noting that we would add something to the 4H provisions requiring the signature/approval of the 4H advisor (as recommended by the Planning Commission). Mr. Gahler, who had stayed over from the public hearing, urged council to vote “no”. Mr. Myerholtz spoke up and said that they should accept it as is. Council then voted as to whether or not to move forward with the amendment as proposed: Mrs. Langley- yes; Mrs. McClellan- no; Mr. Schroeder- no; Mr. Kendall- no; Mr. Stevens- yes; and Mrs. Blandy- no. With only 2/6 in favor, the motion failed. Council was asked to think about how they want this to read, and Sarah will check with the solicitor to see whether or not we have to start the whole process over.

No further business was discussed. The meeting was adjourned at 8:20pm.

Sarah Schroeder, Jason Worthen,

Fiscal Officer Mayor