Geneva Township Trustee’s regular meeting, Dec. 12^th, 2007.

Trustees returned from Executive Session at 7:30 p.m. Meeting was called to order by Chairman Mills at 7:31 p.m. Those present were Mr. Mills, Mr. Pruden, Mr. Russell and Mr. Long. Minutes from the previous meeting were approved as presented on a motion by Mr. Pruden, seconded by Mr. Russell. Bills in the amount of $36,703.04 covered by warrant numbers 12279-12346 were approved on a motion by Mr. Pruden and a second by Mr. Russell.

Mr. Cerjan gave the Zoning Dept. report. He indicated that 4 permits had been recently issued including building a new house, 2 pole barn permits and one addition. Mr. Cerjan indicated that he had talked to the owner where the trailers were located on Countyline Rd. He has a license until July of 2008, however he will get back to the Zoning Inspector in respect to what he will do with the trailers.

House Bill 50 was covered, which is a bill to give the Township the ability to remove junk cars after notification and bill the Occupant or certify the bill to his property taxes.

A member of the audience indicated that the Iapola property is listed as vacant land and wondered how this can be when there is a house on the property. This will be looked into.

Junk cars on the Norman property on W. Maple will be looked into by Mr. Cerjan. A certified letter will be sent to the owner.

Mr. Long gave an update on the Zoning meetings taking place, updating our Zoning manual.

A property on Rt. 20, just east of Addison Rd. was sent a letter by the County, there was no response. It is now being turned over to the Health Dept., although all of the present taxes are paid up to date. There is a large amount of junk in the yard, however it does not appear that anyone is living on the property.

Chief Starkey gave the Fire Dept. report. He indicates he has contacted individuals about property to build a North Fire Station. One of the properties is owned by the Cemetery Board who have given their approval to move forward, the other property is the State Park at Rt. 534 and Lake Rd. They are presently putting in a driveway at the Training Center, footers have been poured, the weather has not been very cooperative to this point. As the weather improves, progress will be made on the Training Center.

Chief Starkey received a thank you letter from the individuals involved in the Thanksgiving Day Fire. He also indicated that the gifts from the Safety Forces will take care of 37 families this Christmas.

Mr. Schupska gave the road dept. report. He indicated that several deer have had to be picked up. They continued to cold patch and crack seals as long as the weather held up. They ran new pipe in a couple of areas to help the drainage problem. Also they have done some ditching on W. Maple and Countyline Rd. When the weather required it, salt spreading has been undertaking. He indicated that all the vehicles had been cleaned and waxed and that the Township did participate in the Christmas Parade on Nov. 30^th. Mr. Schupska has indicated they have ordered more salt, repaired a mailbox, put up signs and the cinders that have been ordered have been delivered. New tires have been put on the backhoe and on one of the trucks. There had been considerable flooding on W. Maple and we will talk to the County Engineer in respect to this problem.

Mr. Russell reported that we have received a letter from ODNR for Lake Rd. repair. The Village and Township will repair the base and ODNR will pave the road. On a motion by Mr. Russell, seconded by Mr. Pruden unanimously approved to partner with ODNR and Geneva on the Lake for the repair of Lake Rd. On a motion by Mr. Russell, a second by Mr. Pruden unanimously approved a motion to request the County Engineer to prepare plans for preparation of Lake Rd. paving. On a motion by Mr. Russell, seconded by Mr. Pruden unanimously approved Mr. Russell and Mr. Long to sign an agreement with Geneva on the Lake for reimbursement of funds that may be expended. The ODNR will go out for bid in January for paving, we will go out for bid after that time in respect to the base. Hopefully the paving will be completed by late May.

Mr. Russell reported that our Issue 1 Project for the south end of Wheeler Creek Rd. has been sent to Columbus along with 2 others from Ashtabula County for consideration. Mr. Russell also indicated that the NAD Board will sponsor a First Aid Class for all Road Dept. employees within the district. It is an estimated 4 hour course that will cover First Aid and other areas.

Mr. Pruden reported the streetlight at Myers and Rt. 20 has been fixed, however there are lights on Rt. 20 West that are out. Mr. Burhenne has marked them and Mr. Pruden will follow up to see if we can’t get those fixed.

Resolution 2007-15, a resolution supporting the efforts of the Harpersfield Township Trustees in obtaining a traffic light at State Rt. 534 and State Rt. 307. Mr. Pruden made the motion, Mr. Russell seconded. Roll call, Mills – yes, Pruden – yes, Russell – yes.

Resolution 2007-16, a resolution requesting a traffic study on recently paved Addison Rd. Motion by Mr. Pruden, seconded by Mr. Mills. Roll call, Mr. Mills – yes, Mr. Pruden – yes, Mr. Russell – yes.

Mr. Long gave a report on the 534 Corridor Study. He indicated we had presently interviewed 2 of the 5 final Companies who have responded to our RFP. The final 3 will be interviewed on Monday, Dec. 17^th after which time the Committee will review those interviews and the RFPs and determine the selection of the firm to conduct the study.

Mr. Pruden gave a report on the County Trustee Meeting. He indicated that the Officers were elected. Chuck Riley is now the Secretary and Janie Spade is presently the President. He also indicated that Sheriff Johnson gave a talk, he indicated that the County is receiving a $449,000 grant, one of 4 in the Country. The reason for it is the large volume of Meth Labs within the County. Sheriff Johnson also indicated 90% of violations in the County are drug related.

Mr. Long indicated he had spent time at the County Offices in Jefferson filing exempt certificates for the recently constructed salt bins. Without the exempt certificates, they would be billed as regular taxes. Many residents along Countyline Rd. are presently being hooked into the new waterline that was recently completed. The north end of Countyline Rd. is experiencing some problems getting under the road due to the type of material of which the road is made up.

A member of the audience indicated that there appear to be some problems with the Assessment, one property that has approximately 800 linear feet is not being assessed. This is on the Lake County side of the road and there is some question as to how that area is being paid for. There’s also an area without the fire hydrants, Chief Starkey has been in contact with Lake County in this respect. The other hydrants that have been installed appear to be very low, there is some question as to who will raise these hydrants to be more accessible.

Mr. Russell reported that with some excess funds from that project, a waterline may be run under the road to Maple Ave., which would be used in the future to run water down Maple Ave. The waterline on Maple Ave. to connect to Austin Rd. should be completed by June with the CDBG Grant.

Mr. Pruden made the motion, Mr. Mills seconded unanimously approved to pay our full time road workers a bonus of $300 per employee.

A member of the audience indicated that the light from the Cumston property on Padanarum Rd. is still shining in the neighbor’s yard and that nothing has been done in respect to trying to shade it. Mr. Cerjan will follow up on this problem.

On a motion by Mr. Pruden, seconded by Mr. Russell, Trustees returned into Executive Session at 8:37 p.m.

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