Minutes: March 11th, 2008
 

The regular meeting of the Catawba Island Township Trustees was called to order by chairman William Rofkar on March 11, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. in the conference room.  Present were William Rofkar, Robert Schroeder, Gary Mortus, Pat Cerny, Jack DeVore, Sandi Erwin and James Stouffer.  The meeting began with the Pledge of Allegiance.  Gary Mortus made a motion to approve the minutes of the previous meeting seconded by Robert Schroeder.  Gary Mortus, aye; Robert Schroeder, aye; William Rofkar, aye.  Robert Schroeder made a motion to pay the bills in the amount of $58,552.75 including the payroll seconded by Gary Mortus.  Robert Schroeder, aye; Gary Mortus, aye; William Rofkar, aye. 

Correspondence included notice from Ottawa County Emergency Management Agency for all newly elected officials is rescheduled to April 24, 2008 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Replat of The Vineyard on Catawba Final Plat will be reviewed on March 18, 2008 at the Regional Planning Commission meeting in regard to the creation of five lots and the extension of Vineyard Village Drive.  David Brunkhorst; annual meeting of the Ottawa County Township Association will be held on April 8, 2008 at the Fair Grounds; National Nursing Home Week begins on May 11 with an invitation to the Legislative Breakfast on May 16 at Riverview.  Invitation to open house in regard to US Census Bureau; Annual Meeting of the District Advisory Council at the Ottawa County Health Department on March 13, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.

Sandi Erwin stated she took the Master Gardner’s course and was inquiring about using the Community Hall for planting seeds for kids and was advised to call John Braun Park or use the Heigel Park. 

Gary Mortus made a motion to approve Aaron Ranker to the Fire Department as a probationary member for one year seconded by Robert Schroeder.  He has all his qualifications.  Gary Mortus, aye; Robert Schroeder, aye; William Rofkar, aye. 
Road review will be 8:30 a.m. on March 14 with the County Engineer. 

Robert Schroeder stated there is a ditch in the new North Pointe subdivision that the plow fell into.  Gary Mortus stated it would be the subdivision’s responsibility.  The Maintenance Department also removed the rocks from the right of way  at a residence in Krempa and put them in the Cemetery for safe keeping.  They also took photos of the rock as these same rocks have damaged our trucks when plowing. 

William Rofkar stated the Maintenance Department did an excellent job during the snow storm and also had help from some of the firemen and Kevin Johnson did a great job keeping the trucks running. 

Pat Cerny asked if she can attend an Excel Training class in April.  The quote from Barnes Nursery is $7100.00 for grinding. 

Gary Mortus stated he has received several calls in regard to the rezoning issue on Harbor Island in regard to the bridge and he is inquiring if the township has any legal
responsibility as it is a private bridge.  Robert Schroeder stated he wondered if we could make a bridge inspection part of the rezoning request approval process with weight limit approvals.  William Rofkar stated he spoke with David Brunkhorst and it is a private bridge and there is no inspection requirement on any level.  The Township should check with the County Prosecutor if the Township would require any inspections.  William Rofkar stated he spoke with Dan Barlow, Fire Chief, and he stated the fire department would provide the same fire protection as they do for anyone else in the Township
and adapt to any situation, so there is no real concern from the fire chief’s standpoint.
Gary Mortus stated the owner of the bridge and the associations should get together and do a joint venture.  A letter will be written to Mark Mulligan for an opinion. 

William Rofkar stated he received a bid from Barnes Nursery after the bid was received from Norwalk Landscaping for grinding.  Norwalk Landscaping has not been contacted as of yet and William Rofkar would like to make a motion to rescind his motion on the approval of their bid to Norwalk Landscaping and award it to Barnes Nursery for $7100.00.   Motion carried unanimously.  

William Rofkar received a quote from JVS Garage Door for $2163.17 for the Maintenance Building for five garage doors with the bottom panels rusted out and this would be for the replacement five panels on the five garage doors.  William Rofkar made a motion to approve this quote seconded by Gary Mortus.  William Rofkar, aye; Gary Mortus, aye; Robert Schroeder, aye. 

William Rofkar stated he and Pat Cerny put together a vacation time plan and explained the Employee Manual cap on vacations of 120 hours.  William Rofkar would like to change the cap similar to the State of Ohio in regard to seniority and tell the employees they have to start using their vacation time.  Gary Mortus stated we should ask Mark Mulligan for an opinion on our first resolution that was made in 1996 because of taking vacation that should have been forfeited.  We have to cover all bases.  Pat Cerny stated she spoke with Mark Mulligan and gave him our manual to look over and he will give us an opinion by the next business meeting. 

William Rofkar asked about the report from an architect saying the Trustees have agreed to renovate the existing fire station and it is designed for a full time fire department with a future of two full-time fire personnel.  Gary Mortus stated he had this done at no cost to the Township to see if this is feasible.  Robert Schroeder stated the fire levy needs to be renewed.  Gary Mortus stated he is looking to the future and if a levy is put on we need to base it on something.    William Rofkar thinks we need to talk about services first before buildings and he does not see any major concerns at this time.  Gary Mortus stated he will contact the architect and tell him we are finished at this point because the fire department wants to go in a different direction.  Gary Mortus feels it is the Trustee’s responsibility to look to the future for maintaining the fire department but he only gets resistance because they are not in control.  If we keep taking from the General Fund, as we do for the Police salaries and then pay firemen from the General Fund it will become depleated.  Gary Mortus stated he was just trying to propose what it would cost to improve the building for future use and then if the three Trustees decide to spend money on the fire station, then they would have to go out and find levy money.  If the people want it, it is fine and if they do not, it would be fine, but there would be no cost up to that point.  This is truly exploratory.  William Rofkar stated the fire department wanted to do some remodeling within the walls and he has no problem with that.  William Rofkar stated we have a tremendous amount of money in our bank account and he sees no problem using this for the police and  fire department and if we get to a point to go to the tax payers, then he feels there is a need to go to the taxpayers.  Gary Mortus stated we should sit down and create a five-year plan.  William Rofkar stated we should be using government money and not sit on it and use it wisely.  William Rofkar stated the three Trustees should sit down with the fire department chiefs and talk about what is needed service wise, building wise and equipment wise.   William Rofkar stated he had three people from the fire department ask him if he is on board with this.  William Rofkar stated he talks to all of the employees regardless of what department they are in on a regular basis.  The meetings  at the fire department were with the chiefs and officers and all spoke their mind and no one objected.  Gary Mortus is scratching the architect.  William Rofkar feels he was not kept in the loop with this and Gary Mortus apologized if he was not kept in the loop but said to William he was going to go forward with this as a plan to see what a fire station would cost.  Gary Mortus also stated he heard there is a need or a desire for a fire boat and the fire department has a committee excluding the Trustees.  Robert Schroeder stated the fire department should buy the fire boat.  Gary Mortus stated he appreciates William Rofkar’s feedback. 

Gary Mortus made a motion  to adjourn seconded by Robert Schroeder.  All voted aye.

 

 

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