Minutes: November 8th, 2011

Catawba Island Township Board of Township Trustees

Meeting Minutes

November 8, 2011

The regular business meeting of the Catawba Island Township Board of Township Trustees was called to order by Chairman Matt Montowski on Tuesday, November 8, at 7:30 p.m. in the conference room.

In attendance were Matt Montowski, William Rofkar, Gary Mortus, Karen Shaw, Dan Barlow,
John Gangway, Bob Rogers, Jack DeVore, Dale Norris, Tony Corona, Randy Riedmaier,
Brian Snyder, and Bob Snyder.

The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all followed by a moment of silence for our troops.

The minutes were read from the October 25 meeting of the Board of Township Trustees.
William Rofkar made a motion to approve the October 25 meeting minutes as presented.
Gary Mortus seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.

Gary Mortus made a motion to approve and pay the bills, including the last payroll, in the amount of $185,903.85. William Rofkar seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.

Correspondence

The following correspondence was received by the township and read:

A letter from Tony Corona, Operations Manager for Sunshine Companies, requesting a Minor Deviation for their Fairway Villas PUD. The Minor Deviation is for a change from a four unit attached building, to two units attached (duplex) and two units detached, in the same location.

William Rofkar made a motion to approve the Minor Deviation for Fairway Villas as requested. Gary Mortus seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.

A letter from Ohio Public Entity Consortium regarding the Delta Dental 2012 Renewal.

The 2011 Annual Report from Star Ohio.

Notice of Police Officer Jeff Hickman’s resignation.

A letter from Bob and Kathy Walls concerning the property at 2009 NW Catawba Road. In the letter it was stated that due to the lack of mowing the grass has been overtaken by weeds which are several feet in height.

The Trustees agreed to send a letter to the property owner.

Fiscal

Fiscal Officer Karen Shaw presented the October financial reports and bank reconciliation.

William Rofkar made a motion to approve a Then and Now Purchase Order in the amount of $2,000 for Ohio Telecom for local and long distance phone service at various township locations. Gary Mortus seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.


Fire and Safety

Fire Chief John Gangway said he would like approval of a probationary volunteer fire department member Stephen Knowles. He said Stephen Knowles is already an EMT and fire fighter and has passed all his background and driving checks.

William Rofkar made a motion to approve Stephen Knowles as a probationary volunteer fire fighter and EMT. Gary Mortus seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.

John Gangway said the prescription medication drop off program was very successful. He said it was conducted at the fire department and conveniently offered as a drive through drop off service. John Gangway said the next scheduled prescription medication drop off will take place in April.

John Gangway also said squad 227 has been repaired and is back in service.


Maintenance

Maintenance Supervisor Dan Barlow said the resurfacing of Route 53 is almost completed. He said he has a call into ODOT concerning a manhole an inch and a half over grade at the corner of Route 53 and Porter Road. Dan Barlow also said he will ask ODOT about the berm on Route 53.

Bob Rogers said he spoke with a foreman of the ODOT crew and was informed the manhole at Porter as well as the one at Twin Beach Road will be lowered this week.

Dan Barlow said all the patch work on township roads has been completed.

Dan Barlow said they will close the restroom at Heigel Park for winter in the coming week.


Police

Bob Rogers said he would like to suggest a replacement for Jeff Hickman. He said Ronald Timmons has applied. Bob Rogers said Ronald Timmons grew up on Catawba and was recently honorably discharged from the Marine Corp. He said Ronald Timmons served a tour of duty in Iraq and one in Afghanistan and is enrolled in a local police academy anticipating graduating in March. Bob Rogers said he would like the Trustees to consider him as a part-time replacement.

William Rofkar said Ronald Timmons sounds like a good choice.

Gary Mortus said he is not sure he is ready to replace the part-time officer. Gary Mortus said he would like to sit down in a work session and discuss need, schedule, and hours. He said he is not opposed of the individual or part-time but would like to take a look at everything before making a decision.

The Trustees agreed to attend a work session at 8:00 a.m. on Monday, November 14, to discuss the issue further.

Zoning

Matt Montowski said Janotta and Herner called to give a heads up that they were working on the utilities at Marine Max and had to pull out 10 or 12 telephone poles that were in place in order to get to their utilities. Matt Montowski said they assured him the poles would be put back in place.

Matt Montowski said he talked to a representative from Marine Max about the boats parked along the building in the fire lane and he was assured that would not be their practice. He said the representative asked for a little grace while they are completing their remodeling and assured they would be cleared out in two weeks.

Gary Mortus said he is uncomfortable with the situation because it is a fire hazard and a zoning violation from when they agreed to keep the area cleared. Gary Mortus said he thinks the violation should be removed because it is a safety hazard.

Matt Montowski said a letter was sent to Marine Max concerning the issue. He said Bob Rogers also visited them and asked them to move the boats.

John Gangway said in addition to the boats parked at the west end, there is a semi-trailer and boat trailers blocking the east end. He said it is a fire code violation and it should be addressed.

John Gangway agreed to have a conversation with Marine Max regarding the issue.

Matt Montowski said Boaters Point was contacted by the Zoning Inspector and they have come in to apply for the proper paperwork.

Matt Montowski said the Zoning Inspector questioned the property owner of the home near the intersection of NE Catawba and Muggy Roads concerning the vehicles parked on the property. Matt Montowski said the property owner showed proof of registration for all the vehicles and said the vehicles are now licensed.

Brian Snyder asked if the property owners were issued a permit for the fence they put up over the summer. Matt Montowski said he would look into the matter.

Matt Montowski said there were six zoning permits and two variances issued in October with a total of $1,310.36 collected.

Other Business

Residents Brian Snyder and Bob Snyder thanked the Trustees for resurfacing Muggy Road. Bob Snyder said usually the contractor comes back and seals where they butt the blacktop. He said that has not been done on Muggy Road.

Dan Barlow said he will contact the County Engineer’s Office concerning the issue.

Bob Snyder asked if there was any chance the Trustees would consider requesting ODOT put the bike path on Route 53 down one side of the road only and make it wider creating more separation from the traffic.

Gary Mortus said he didn’t feel that would work because runners run against the traffic and bikers bike with the traffic for safety.


Dale Norris said he was in attendance to encourage the Trustee’s unanimous support of the Reasonable Accommodation process. He said it may seem like a small gesture, but he is sure it will have a significant impact on people who may have to use the process.

A brief discussion took place regarding Reasonable Accommodation.

Bob Snyder asked how the application request for a Residential Reasonable Accommodation works if the property owner is located within a private subdivision.

Matt Montowski said private subdivisions have their own rules that property owners must follow. He said the request for Reasonable Accommodation only affects how the township will process the application for a zoning certificate.

Gary Mortus said adopting the Reasonable Accommodation procedure would exempt the need for a variance if the applicant qualifies.

William Rofkar made a motion to adopt the Request for Residential Reasonable Accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Application with the primary contact being the Trustee over Zoning and the final decision to be made at a regular Trustee meeting. Gary Mortus seconded the motion. All voted aye. Motion carried.

Matt Montowski asked the Trustees if they would consider having a medical professional review the applications.

Gary Mortus said they could use that as discretionary on a case by case basis.

Karen Shaw said Parks Board member Meridith Beck stopped in to ask if the Parks Board had a certain amount of money available to them that they can spend for the parks without having to make each request before the Board of Trustees.

The Trustees agreed the Parks Board needs to bring all requests to the attention of the Trustees for approval.

Karen Shaw gave a brief cemetery report which included the sale of 36 sites year to date totaling $13,625. She also said there have been 35 burials.

Gary Mortus said he gave the most recent copy of the sample personnel and policy manual offered by the Ohio Township Association to Shelley Stively to update the township’s current personnel and policy manual. He said when completed the Trustees can get together during a work session and see what is required and what is suggested and make a final decision regarding the township’s manual.

Gary Mortus made a motion to adjourn the meeting. William Rofkar seconded the motion.
All voted aye. Meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m.



______________________________ _____________________________
Matt Montowski, Chairman Karen Shaw, Fiscal Officer

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