Continental Village Council met in regular session on July 23, 2019 with Mayor Matt Miller presiding. Members present were Tom Armey, Todd Bartley, Roxie Knipp, Mike Varner, Jordan Streicher and Dan Sullivan. Solicitor Scott Welch, Fiscal Officer Susan Darby and Administrator Kathy Prowant were also present. The meeting opened with the pledge of allegiance.
Council approved minutes, bills as presented and receipt listing. Then & Now Purchase Orders over $3000, None.
OLD & NEW BUSINESS
Water Meter Project: The Contractor is in town to finish the twenty-five meter pits included in the OPWC project. They will not be replacing the other twenty-five pits; our maintenance men will be completing these.
The Neighborhood Revitalization Grant Update: The sidewalk repairs are being completed.
Credit Card Account: Council approved getting credit cards for the following staff and employees: Mayor Miller, Admin. Prowant, Police Chief Hardy, Maintenance Employees, Trevor Leis and Tylor Thompson and to set the monthly spending limit to $2,500 per month per card.
Personnel Policy Review: Council heard the Personnel Policy and Procedure manual is in it its final approval stages. Some areas needed their clarification, including the following sections. 1) Allowing the four-week request for a Department Head to resign to remain as written since it has a clause allowing council to waive the request. 2) Section 5.03 Vacation: To remain competitive, in the job market, council decided last night to update the vacation schedule to 1 year – One Week Vacation; 2-5 years – 3.1 hours per pay period (or Two Weeks Vacation); 6-10 years – 4.6 hours per pay period (or Three Weeks Vacation) and 11 years and above – 4.6 hours per pay period (or Four Weeks Vacation). 3) Section 7.09 Workplace Violence: Council wanted to add a section saying something like, Upon receiving a written workplace violence, incident report council will open an investigation and depending on whether it is civil or criminal in nature determines whether the police chief or the sheriff’s office investigates. 4) Section 3.06 Medical Examinations: Council wanted to clarify who determines that a person needs to be examined to determine if they can carry out their duties. They would like somehow that the Mayor and Police Chief should be the ones to determine if an examination needs to be completed and to allow the person to be suspended with pay until the evaluation comes back.
Final Readings for Levies: Third and final reading for the following resolutions was held: Resolution 07-2019 Police Protection Renewal of 3.0 Mills for Five Years, Resolution 08-2019 Renewal of Street Lighting with a reduction from 1.7 mills to 1.2 mills for five years, Resolution 09-2019 for an Additional Levy for Street Construction, Maintenance and Repair for .5 mills for five years.
RITA Percentage increase: Mayor reported on the conference call with RITA about the fee percentage and found there is a formula for expense sharing among all the entities that use RITA based on the percentage the village collects and amount of transaction made on behalf of the village. Council voted to increase the percentage to 3.5%.
Executive Session: Council held a short executive session to discuss matters required to be kept confidential and returned to regular session with no action taken.
Transfer to Fire Department Debt Service Fund: Council rescinded the motion from last meeting to transfer money to the Debt Service Fund as this money was already accounted for in the 2019 Budget. The Auditor made this change after the 2019 Budget was approved so going forward this will be how we will maintain the debt service fund.
Ohio Deferred Compensation: Informational meeting scheduled for August 13 after the regular meeting.
Health Insurance Renewal: Council heard that the Health Insurance Policy quote came in at an 8.7% increase but Fortman Insurance was able to get it reduced to a 0.05% increase. Council approved renewing at the .05% renewal rate.
WSRLA Nomination: Mayor received word that the Village was nominated to receive 1% loan for the Water Tower Project. Council agreed it would be good to have that to fall back on if we cannot get the whole project with grants and 0% loans.
Council accepted a letter to annex into the Village.
Council reminded that the Lions Club Fishing Derby is Sun., July 28 from 1 to 4 pm. Meeting adjourned.
Susan Darby, Fiscal Officer Village of Continental
