Council Minutes Archives COUNCIL MINUTES City of Harrison March 18, 2008 Council met in regular session with Mayor Joel McGuire presiding.   Members present included:  Mrs. Deborah Acra , Mr. Tony Burkart,  Mr. Matt Hiatt, Mrs. Judy Kercheval,   Mr. Bill Neyer,  Mr. Jim Robertson, and Mr. Randy Shank.  Mr. Bill Deters, the Law Director, was also in attendance. The meeting opened at 7:30 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance. Mr. Burkart made a motion, seconded by Mrs. Kercheval to approve the Council meeting minutes for March 4, 2008.   Mr. Neyer made a motion, seconded by Mr. Burkart to approve the Executive Session meeting minutes for March 4, 2008. Roll Call:  All - yea. Mrs. Acra made a motion, seconded by Mrs. Kercheval to approve the purchase orders.  Roll Call:  All - yea. Mr. Shank made a motion, seconded by Mr. Robertson to approve the February Finance Report.  Roll Call:  All - yea. Mr. Neyer made a motion, seconded by Mr. Hiatt to approve an ordinance approving the purchase of real property located on Willow Lane.  Roll Call:  All - yea.  (Ordinance #17 - 2008). Mr. Donald Kocher addressed Council regarding truck traffic in an alley in downtown Harrison.  Mr. Kocher explained that he addressed his concern to the Street Committee and was told to see the Police Chief.  Mr. Kocher asked Council to place a "No Trucks" sign in the alley because trucks moving thru the alley have hit his garage numerous times.  Mayor McGuire explained that the Street Committee is notifying all the businesses who are serviced by trucks that enter the alley, before a sign can be placed.  Mrs. Acra explained that there are procedures in place before an alley can be vacated.  Mr. Deters explained it is a fairly simple process if all the parties involved agree to vacate the alley and if all the parties do not agree it becomes a fairly convoluted process. Mr. Leslie offered information that a delivery truck that previously entered the alley is no longer using the alley for deliveries, but unloads on Harrison Avenue in front of the business.  He will check with the rest of the business owners to see if anyone else is using the alley for deliveries. Mr. Neyer made a motion, seconded by Mrs. Kercheval to approve an ordinance approving the hiring of Frost, Brown & Todd for the purposes of conducting a litigation/defense strategy review of the City of Harrison Zoning Code. Roll Call:  All - yea.  (Ordinance #18 - 2008). Mr. Robertson made a motion, seconded by Mrs. Kercheval to approve an ordinance to revise the Codified Ordinances by adopting current replacement pages thereto.  Roll Call:  All - yea.  (Ordinance #19 - 2008). Mr. Shank made a motion, seconded by Mr. Burkart to approve an ordinance to approve a second amended resolution of the Council of the City of Harrison of Hamilton County, Ohio. Roll Call:  All - yea.  (Ordinance #20 - 2008). Mrs. Acra made a motion, seconded by Mr. Robertson to add an item to the agenda regarding the withdrawal of a request for a public hearing.  Roll Call:  All - yea. Mrs. Acra made a motion, seconded by Mr. Burkart to withdraw the city’s request for a public hearing by the Ohio Division of Liquor Control on the Monk’s Kitchen Liquor license application.   Roll Call:  All - yea. Mayor Report Mayor McGuire reported the Mayor’s Court receipts for February 2008 are up $6381 in comparison to February 2007. Law Director Report Mr. Deters had no report. Council - Committee Report Mr. Neyer announced the Stormwater Committee will hold their next meeting on March 20 at 6:30 p.m. Mr. Neyer reported the Planning Commission members have forwarded their priorities list to Dan Brooks.  He will tabulate the priorities and members will discuss the list at their April meeting. Mr. Hiatt reminded residents the Annual Easter Egg Hunt sponsored by the Harrison Recreation Commission will be held on Saturday, March 22 at 12:00 noon.  He announced volunteers will be bagging the candy on Thursday , March 20 at 7:00 p.m. He also reported the Economic Development/Resource Committee is continuing work on the new website design.  Mr. Hiatt made a motion, seconded by Mr. Robertson to enter into an executive session for the purpose of discussing personnel matters.  Roll Call:  All - yea. Mrs. Acra reported the Western Joint Ambulance District met on March 13 to discuss the impending decision to implement paramedic service in the city of Harrison.  The discussion was relative to the District’s current budget, projections of the District’s future budget, and carry over amounts for this year and subsequent years.  The Board will hold their next meeting on April 10 to discuss potential business models under various scenarios minus Harrison and/or Harrison Township.  Mrs. Acra reported the city portion of the Buildings & Lands Committee met on March 10 and discussed the upgrading of  council chambers, lobby and different areas within the Community Center.  The combined version of the Building & Lands Committee will be held on the 5th Tuesday of the month, April 29.  Mrs. Acra reported the following training notes from the Harrison Police Department:  Officer Joe Ramsey completed a 40 hour course of instruction on Core Criminal Investigation.; Officer Bill Staggs completed an 8 hour class on Officer Survivor.; Police Clerk Teri Hannon completed an 8 hour Module II class on the Regional Crime Information Computer System.; Clerk of Courts Drenda Wolf completed an 8 hour Module Class on the Regional Crime Information Computer System.; and Police Clerks Terri Hannon and Barb Chetwood, along with Clerk of Courts  Drenda Wolf attended a 4 hour class on BMV and Law Enforcement Advanced Status System Printouts.  Mrs. Acra announced the Police Committee will hold their next meeting on Wednesday, March 19 at 6:00 p.m.  Mrs. Kercheval reminded council members the auditor has scheduled a Records Training Session for HB 9 (Public Record Act) on June 17 from 1:00 to 4:15 p.m. in Greenhills. Mrs. Kercheval announced the Law Committee will meet April 3 at 5:00 p.m. She also announced she will be attending the Civil Service Commission meeting on March 24 and Tony Burkart will be attending the Board of Zoning Appeals meetings.  They will report back to council.  Mrs. Kercheval asked council members to review the Sign Ordinance as the Law Committee will be reviewing the ordinance at their meetings.  Mrs. Kercheval reported the Harrison Firefighters are now taking training on the new Quint apparatus. Mrs. Kercheval reported that Monday, March 24 will be the site visit from the Academy of Medicine for the proposed paramedic program. Mrs. Kercheval announced she, along with Mr. Leslie, met with ODOT on the Gateway Project.  Their representative advised the city to apply for the state Gateway Grant and to do the project in two phases in order to be able to receive $25,000 for each phase.  The project would probably not be started before the fall of 2008, but in the spring of 2009. Finally, Mrs. Kercheval announced the Harrison Fire Department will now only pay 8% instead of 10% for Medcount due to their success in compiling data. Mr. Robertson reported that he, along with Finance Director Gayle Grubbs, attended the TIRC in Monday with regards to the four projects we are currently monitoring. Three of the projects received very favorable ratings. However, Sekuworks due to changing from an Ohio LLC to a Delaware LLC, will need further investigation.  That meeting will take place on Wednesday, March 19.  Mr. Robertson reported the Personnel Committee will meet on March 26 at 6:00 p.m. followed by the Solid Waste & Environmental Committee meeting at 7:00 p.m. Mr. Burkart reported on the following items from the March 6 Utilities Committee meeting: Representative from ARCADIS were present with updates on all open accounts.; The West Road Sanitary Sewer Project design was changed from 15 inch to 18 inch PVC lines . The design phase will end April 1 followed by bidding at the end of May.  Construction should be completed by the end of July.;  The design of the township elevated tank is 50% complete and should be finished by April.  The bid phase will end by late June/early July with construction estimated to last one year.; The design of Stage I of the Dry Fork Sewer Project is completed and Stage II is 25% completed. Stage I bidding will be completed by June, construction will start in July and completed in one year.  Stage I begins at the Parks of Whitewater to our existing line on Dry Fork Road by the High School. Mr. Burkart announced the next meeting of the Utilities Committee is scheduled for March 20.  Representatives from Duke Energy will be in attendance to discuss power outages in Harrison. Finally, Mr. Burkart announce the Civil Defense Committee will meet on March 25 at 5:30 p.m. Mr. Shank had no committee reports, but announced the Street Committee would meet on March 20 at 6:00 p.m. Mr. Shank announced the Finance Committee will meet in April and discuss report simplification and working on centralized purchasing.  Mr. Shank also announced that he will be working on developing a Chamber of Commerce. He will be in touch with business owners in late April . There being no further business Council entered into an executive session. ATTEST: Joel McGuire, Mayor            Carol A. 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