CENTERBURG — Centerburg Village Council met Monday evening, with all council members in attendance. Mayor Dennis Sykes was absent, as he is on vacation. Andy Wharton led the meeting.
Resident Saundra Dove, representing the Heart of Ohio Women’s Club, requested permission for a Fourth of July parade on Saturday, June 30, at 11 a.m. to stage on Preston Street at the old high school. She also requested permission to use the gazebo on Saturday, May 5, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. for a plant swap and white elephant sale, as well as community garden bed planting in the section of the park near the Subway restaurant.
Council approved the Fourth of July parade but took no action on Dove’s request to use the gazebo, saying that council does not approve its use. Instead, the gazebo is reserved on a first-come, first-served basis.
Resident Thelma Satterfield informed council of ongoing water problems in the back yard of her property on Clayton Street. She said problems began in August 2006; water has pooled there four times since then. She said she feels a lack of cooperation from property owners nearby is the problem, as the water comes from a pond on someone else’s property, runs into the farm field adjoining her back yard, and flows into her yard. She has found fish from the pond, which is half a mile away, in her yard.
She said she has been told by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency that she has no recourse except to seek legal action against the pond’s owners. She was informed by township trustees that the pond is on private property, so nothing can be done.
Satterfield said an additional problem is field and crop debris clogging the drainage cone that village administrator Dan Mount installed to help drain the field. She asked who is responsible for clearing the debris.
Mount responded that the drainage line is made from field tile, meant to drain the field, not to handle overflow from the pond, and that the line is indeed flowing. He said the pond is in the township, not the village, and the village is not responsible for clearing debris from the cone because the line is the responsibility of the farmer.
Julie Laughlin, Hilliar Township administrator, said the pond’s owners have ongoing problems with beaver dams and that the pond’s overflow backs up. She said the pond’s culvert needs to be lowered.
Tracy and Mac Quillin spoke regarding their Creekside at Centerburg Meadows proposed addition, saying they do not regard council’s vote on annexation as an approval, that they are going back to the drawing board and thanked council for its feedback.
The Quillins added that one property owner had voiced many concerns, publicly and privately, and named that person as Laughlin, whose property borders the proposed development and who wishes to purchase some “buffer zone” property from them. According to the Quillins, Laughlin had circulated a petition to stop the annexation.
“She is threatening to reverse the annexation if we do not sell the land at a drastically reduced price,” said Mac Quillin. “What she is doing is wrong. It’s blackmail. Because she’s the township administrator.”
Tracy Quillin quoted Laughlin as saying she would stop circulating the petition if they sold her the land.
Village solicitor Kyle Stroh explained that the proposed ordinance for annexation does not take effect until April 4, thus filing a referendum is legal. He said 50 signatures, 10 percent of the number of voters in the last gubernatorial election, would be required.
“The sole issue is do our voters want the property to be annexed into the village,” he said. “[Laughlin] would not be voting. The referendum takes it out of the hands of the council and into the hands of the voters.”
The issue was moved to old business.
Jerry Hess discussed ongoing information meetings in the townships and with organizations on the proposed Joint Recreation District.
“It’s a plus for everybody,” he said, and reminded council that the district is still in the planning stages.
Clerk Teri James said the finance committee had tabled recently read vacation and employee compensation policies so that more research could be conducted. Stroh asked council to indefinitely table the ordinance for parking in fire lanes, as research had shown the matter to be moot.
George Shaw said an open at-large position on the Central Ohio Joint Fire District board was filled by Porter Welch. He said Chief Joe Porter is working on a grant to purchase a ladder fire truck, and that if the grant is awarded, COJFD would have to pay $40,000, which he called a “good deal,” as the truck’s price tag is more than $750,000.
“With our growth and anticipated growth, we need that equipment,” Shaw said.
He added that the COJFD board had given Porter permission to purchase an imaging camera to detect hot spots after fires, to prevent firefighters from having to chop into drywall to find the hot spots.
Mount reported that village trees had been pruned on Wednesday, tree trimming was accomplished last week and two trees planted last year will be replaced by the landscaping company. Following that, street sweeping will begin and black mulch will be applied to city flower beds and trees. Mount warned that the mulch smells terrible but looks nice.
Mount displayed a map of the area where the sewer system will be updated, and said it will be a nine-month process.
“We owe it to our current residents to take care of problems that have existed since the 1960s ... we need to do something before someone does something for us,” Wharton said.
Stroh explained the proposed ordinances and asked for a first reading of an ordinance to create a part-time seasonal laborer position for the village. Mount said the position would entail 24 hours a week, with a ceiling pay scale of $10.44 per hour and a cap of $8,000 total. The laborer would water newly planted trees, paint, mow, landscape and free Mount and other village employees to handle more pressing work. The position would run approximately from April 1 to Oct. 31.
First reading was given to an ordinance to adopt the Knox County Storm Water Management Plan. The required three readings were waived on an ordinance to authorize a contract with Bird & Bull for evaluation of infiltration and inflow, at a cost of $23,900.
In the matter of the Quillin annexation, Stroh said he reviewed the annexation process to check for errors and had discovered a small technical error in the required number of days between vote and institution. He recommended, therefore, that council authorize ordinance 07-04A to rescind the original ordinance, 2007-3, then authorize ordinance 07-04B to accept the annexation of the 70.373 acres once again.
“As a ranking member of the zoning committee, I will make the motion to rescind,” Wharton said. “We are merely correcting the mistake that we made. This changes nothing for the Quillins’ timeline.”
The three readings were waived and both ordinances were passed unanimously.
Stroh reported he is writing an ordinance for a village fire code. Porter explained that one benefit to adopting a fire code is that it can then be enforced locally instead of at the state level.
“I believe there are no negatives to adopting it,” said Porter.
“What we are hoping to accomplish here,” added Shaw, “is working hand-in-hand with the growth that is coming.”
Council planned a budget workshop, to be held prior to the next council meeting on Monday, May 7, beginning at 6 p.m. Council meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m.