Minutes
DEFIANCE
TOWNSHIP TRUSTEES
July
25th, 2006 MEETING
The Defiance
Township Trustees met in regular session at VFW Post 3360 in Defiance Township, Defiance,
Ohio, on Tuesday July 25th,
2006 at 7:30 p.m. Following the Pledge of Allegiance the Chair instructed the clerk to
called the roll. Answering as present were
Robert Layne, Daniel Peck and Richard Ankney;
also present was Tim Houck, Township Clerk. All
three (3) members of the BOARD OF TRUSTEES having answered the roll, a quorum was present.
Visitors present:
John & Dalla Diemer – 23361 Defiance-Paulding Co Line Rd, Joe Kolb 16492
Cullen Rd, James Schlegel (zoning inspector)
– 220 Pinewood Ave; Charles & Penny
Bakle Jr. – 1204 Wayne St., Connie Humphys
& W. Tom Wiseman 108 Riverside, Marilyn
Steel – 155107 St Rte 66, Joel
Wiseman – 21369 Hammersmith road, Connie
Duerk 1585 South Clinton St, Brenda Clingaman
735 Village Lane, Denise Lange – 1600 S.
Clinton St, Thomas Rosedale – 2951 St Rte
66 s, Marc Warncke – 513 Holgate Ave.,
Terry Bodenbender 24196 Bowman Rd, Rick Stark
– 24132 Bowman Rd, Emily Palmer – 2012
Shawnee Dr, & JoEllen Houck of 8 Deville Drive, Defiance,
Ohio. Also present were Cliff
Vandemark of the Defiance Co. S.O, & Russell Herman of the Defiance County
Prosecutor’s Office.
ORDER OF BUSINESS
NO. 1
1)
Review and approval of minutes of the previous session.
Chairman Layne requested a motion for the approval of minutes from the
June 27th, 2006 session.
Mr. Peck was recognized and asked that the minutes be amended:
He asked that section 6 – b; subsection iii – 1 be amended from:
“He anticipates that the ditch clean out (Link ditch) will take place
next year (2007) and when that takes place the problem will be resolved.”
To:
“the best or earliest possibility for this project will be in
2007”. Noting that 2007 is not a definitive
project year.
MOTION: Dan Peck
SECOND: Richard
Ankney
YEA(s) 3
NAY(s) 0
Passed
X
Failed
The MINUTES were
approved as amended for the June 27th, 2006
meeting.
ORDER OF BUSINESS
NO. 2 - citizens concerns
a)
Mr. Richard Stark 24132 Bowman Rd. was
recognized. Stark stated he thinks the
charges posted to the property tax for property he purchased in 2005 for Twp mowing of
high weeds was excessive – ($271.21). See Twp minutes of June through Aug 05 for details.
Trustees based their order to mow the property on a citizen complaint.
Twp road personnel were ordered to mow this property in summer of 05 and the fiscal
officer was instructed to charge for eq use at $75 per hr,
plus labor and supplies. This amount
was to be assessed to the property taxes.
i)
Stark paid the first half tax (05 tax) in the spring of 06 which included half of
the mowing exp. He said he had recently paid
the second half property tax and he seeks relief from the 2nd half portion of
the mowing costs. After discussion and
comments on the need to maintain nuisance control the chair recognized the County
Prosecutor’s representative Russ Herman ESQ. Mr.
Herman noted that the Trustees appeared to have properly followed the procedures to
attach the cost of work performed to abate a nuisance
to the property tax. That having been
said:
Mr.
Peck moved to rescind the 2nd half tax for mowing expense or $135.61;
and to issue a reimbursement check to Mr. Stark in the amount of $135.61.
Mr.
Ankney seconded.
The
roll was called and the result was;
YEA(s) 3
NAY(s) 0
Passed
X
Failed
The
motion carried. The fiscal officer is to
refund Mr. Stark for the amount of $135.61.
This minute is the documentation necessary to cut this check.
b)
Denise Lange of 1600 South
Clinton St was then recognized. Mrs.
Lange wanted to know why her property on Williams Rd was re-zoned in Sept 2005 from
agricultural to residential – r-1.
i)
Trustees noted that the
area is mostly residential and it appeared to make sense to make this change.
ii)
Lange said she has some 42
acres of farm land along this road and wishes the property to be re-zoned for ag use.
She then wants a conditional use permit in order to construct a home on
approximately 7 acres of this land.
iii)
Trustees and the Mr. Herman
of the prosecutor’s office responded that she would need to file a request for a zoning
change with the Twp Zoning Commission.
(1)
Trustees can not take
unilateral action to change zoning. Mrs.
Lange noted her understanding.
ORDER OF BUSINESS
NO. 3 - FINANCES
–
The following
financial reports provided to the Board were reviewed.
a)
The June monthly Reconciliation – noted a reconciliation balance of $428,134.40
as of June 30th, 2006…..
balance is minus the outstanding checks.
i)
The balance was $7,016.89 less than the previous month’s balance.
b)
Receipt & Payment reports
i)
Receipts for July were $10,037.22. Bills
for July totaled $9,805.20.
c)
The Cash fund summary through July 31st, 2006, showed an “ending
cash balance” of $428,366.42.
d)
The unencumbered cash balance “cash available” was $307,870.28 which is the
balance after encumbrances are subtracted from the cash balance.
e)
Appropriation Status showed that through July 31st, 21.5% of the years’ appropriations had been expended. All
reports will be on file in the Clerks office.
f)
The Trustees reviewed and signed the bills for the month.
g)
Payroll for June was then reviewed and checks signed by the Trustees.
Mr.
Layne asked for a motion to accept the financial reports.
MOTION: Richard
Ankney
SECOND: Dan Peck
YEA(s) 3
NAY(s) 0
Passed
X
Failed
The motion passed.
ORDER OF BUSINESS
NO. 4 Township Zoning
a)
Trustees reviewed zoning issues as of this session.
i)
The Twp zoning
Commission held a hearing on July 10th
-
(1)
exhibit 4-a was
reviewed which was a meeting notice letter
from the clerk to all commission members.
(2)
Tjh reported that the
commission voted to recommend to the Trustees the approval of the Poling request.
That request was to re-zone the poling property from its current ag designation to
residential – r-1.
(3)
The Jack Poling
property is five + or minus acres on Bowman rd -
north side .5 miles west of Williams, adjacent to Fred Mansfield property
(a)
Exhibit 4-a- iii a packet
detailing property and application request was reviewed.
Mr.
Layne requested a motion to affirm or deny the zoning commission’s recommendation.
Mr. Ankney moved to affirm
Mr. Peck seconded
The clerk was directed to call the roll.
The
roll was called and the result was;
YEA(s) 3
NAY(s) 0
Passed
X
Failed
The
motion carried. The clerk/fiscal officer is
to notify Soil & Water to amend the zoning map.
ii)
The second item on the
Commission’s agenda was a request by Jerry Baden to re-zone 13 plus or minus acres on
Harding Rd
(1)
Baden’s attorney in
consultation with the clerk and the co prosecutor requested that this item be removed from
the agenda. No action was taken.
iii)
Trustees were provided with Exhibit 4-a-v which was a copy of the minutes of the
July 10th Zoning Commission session
iv)
As of this meeting tjh reported that there are no Zoning Commission scheduled
hearings
b)
The Zoning Bd of Appeals also met on July 10th.
i)
Trustees were provided with Exhibit 4-b which is a copy of minutes
ii)
The appeals Bd approved two items:
(1)
Item one:
Request of Joseph Sisco 1144 Wayne Ave
Defiance, Ohio,
to acquire a “Conditional Use” permit on a parcel of land currently zoned
agricultural to allow for the construction of a house.
The parcel is four (4) acres more or less and is located at
15828 Power Dam Road. Said parcel of land
being in the southwest corner of the southwest quarter of Section 17,
–
parcel ID B110017001910 in Defiance Township, Defiance County, Ohio.
(2)
Item 2: Request of Fred & Kelly
Mansfield of 18603 Schubert Road, Defiance,
Ohio, to acquire a
“Conditional Use” permit on a parcel of land currently zoned agricultural to allow for
the construction of a house. The
parcel is seventy – seven (77) acres more
or less and is located at 22583 Bowman Road. Said
parcel of land being in the southwest corner of the southeast quarter of Section 10,
– parcel ID B110010000802 in Defiance Township, Defiance County, Ohio.
c)
Trustees discussed the proposal to set a training sessions for the Twp Zoning Board
of Appeals and the Twp Zoning Commission
i)
This training request
came from Appeals Bd member Ruth Ann Schofield. Schofield contacted Maumee
Valley Planning’s Lisa Karcher and suggested a training session be held for Def Twp
Zoning Bd of Commission, Appeals, Zoning Inspector & Trustees.
ii)
Mrs. Karcher contacted
tjh prior to this meeting and inquired if this was desirable by others.
Tjh noted he would review the suggestion with the Trustees during the July meeting
and if desired would contact and schedule such training.
iii)
Mrs. Karcher proposed to include the prosecutor’s Office & the
Engineer as other training partners for this session.
iv)
Trustees instructed the clerk to schedule a training session after August 10th,
2006.
d)
July 2006 Monthly report -
Inspector’s Report - Mr. Jim Schlegel
i)
Site Review John Hahn Sponseller Rd 30X30 Home Addition - Permit Issued
ii)
Site Review Jeff Mick Hammersmith Rd 30X50 Out Building - Permit Issued
iii)
Site Review Larry Stetter Bowman Rd Up Ground Pool - Permit Issued
iv)
Burning Complaint Watson & Williams advised owner against such activity if it
invades upon neighboring
atmosphere.
v)
Site Review Jim Nusbaum St Rt 111 16X18 Home Addition - Permit Issued
vi)
Joe Sisco Power Dam Rd New Home 1958 Sq Ft
vii)
Site Review Fred Mansfield Bowman Rd 3,000 Sq Ft Home - Permit Issued
viii) Site Review John Bok wants to build a home on Ashwood Rd has 98
acres w/his Dad Bank wants a split to 1.65 acres foe new home will go to MVP
ix)
Rick Sanford Power Dam Rd wants a split of less than 1 acre to have legal access to
his home off Power Dam Rd This has been in family and no problem till a recent buy off of
a home revealed this potential problem. Scheduled to go to MVP this Thursday. Also Auditor wants to know the
Trustees decision on this for future reference. Also he is building a Barn with no permit on 4 acres wants to put
horses & goats in it states this is farm animals land is zones R1 I will get a opinion
from the Prosecutor
x)
Dale Moore Watson Rd His neighbor piled a 4 ft high dirt row beside his home on the
neighbors property
while he was on vacation and topped it off w/ turkey manure.
I could find nothing in township rules
prohibiting this.
xi)
Denise Lange Williams Rd wants to build a new home on Williams Rd. 7 Acres.
Currently Zoned R1 she states this should be AG but there is only 50 ft frontage she
stated she will be at tonight's meeting.
End report.
ORDER OF BUSINESS
NO. 5 - Equipment
a)
The Trustees than asked for comments or concerns from Twp employees on current or
proposed new eq.
i)
Employee John Diemer requested that the Trustees approve the purchase of a new or
used “box scraper”.
(1)
Trustees said to get two bids.
(2)
It was estimated the eq would cost between $500 and $800.
(3)
The fiscal officer confirmed the money was available to make this purchase.
b)
Tjh then reported on the effort to purchase a replacement copier
i)
Trustees approved the fiscal officer to acquire bids for a new copier during the
Jan 31st session.
ii)
TJH noted he is acquiring bids and once all are in and reviewed he will make a
proposal to the Trustees for purchase.
ORDER OF BUSINESS
NO. 6 - Trustee
Report – Monthly Twp Rd inspection
a)
July - Rd review by Trustee Layne. Mr.
Layne’s report was distributed to Twp road employees and will be on file in the
clerk’s office.
i)
Reported noted:
(1)
Trees to be cut or trimmed along Bowman rd
(2)
A catch basin to be installed on Bowman rd near Schauber property.
(3)
normal berming, patching and weed control
b)
a notice from the Defiance Co. commissioners relative to the Hire Rd project –was
distributed as exhibit 6-b
i)
Trustees were requested to attend a meeting on July 27th 11:15 a.m. in
the Commissioners Office.
ii)
This project is in Highland Twp but traffic re-routing may impact Def Twp
c)
Trustees then heard up-dates on existing road projects
i)
Kiser Rd project in 2007
(1)
Timeframe as determined by Trustees at
the jan 06 session is to do 2nd half (1 mile from Keller to Canal) in 2007
(2)
est cost from Co Engineer provided at
the Jan session was $304,000
(3)
fiscal officer continues to note that even this timeframe may not be fiscally
possible
(a)
as of this session there is approximately $120,000 available (comparing fund bal
report month to month)
(i)
there was no increase from June report in available funds.
(b)
regular updates will be provided
ii)
Indian Bridge Lane
(1)
Per Trustees directions
in the April 06 session
(a)
Issue is flooding
caused by lack of drainage
(b)
Twp hired Bendele for
tree stump removal and re-grading
(c)
Mr. Peck was concerned with project
progress at the June meeting..
(d)
Trustees noted the grading has been completed by Bendele
(i)
The City of Defiance will need to check if there is sufficient frost protection
remaining over the sewer and water pipes along this road.
(ii)
If not the Twp will have to pay to dig these service lines deeper to ensure frost
protection.
(e)
Trustees instructed tjh to acquire bids for seeding this project.
iii)
The chair asked if there were any new road projects?
(1)
There were none at this time.
ORDER OF BUSINESS
NO. 7 -
Twp Insurance Plan
a)
In the June session the Trustees voted to approve a “Citizens Complaint” form
per the recommendation of the Twp Insurer – the Ohio Plan.
i)
During this session the clerk as directed provided the Trustees with several copies
should they be requested by a citizen.
ii)
The clerk noted that the form has been sent to the web master for posting to the
web.
ORDER OF BUSINESS
NO. 8 – Personnel
a)
The Trustees then
reviewed a proposed contract from the Downes Hurst &
Fischel law firm of Columbus Ohio. The
contract is for services to provide legal guidance on personnel matters.
The firm was recommended to the Trustees by the Defiance county Prosecutor’s
Office. The contract was reviewed as exhibit
8-a. there are two copies – one
for the Twp records and one to be returned to Downes Hurst & Fischel.
b)
After review the Trustees signed the contract.
c)
Trustee Dan Peck asked for an “executive session”
to discuss personnel & possible litigation relative to Twp employee Mary
Ankney. Mr. Layne seconded the motion and the
board with Mr. Ankney abstaining, entered into executive session with Mr.
Russ Herman, ESQ. of the Prosecutor’s office and Stg Cliff Vandemark of the
County Sheriff’s Office. The clerk/fiscal
officer was then called into the session by the bd.
Returning from sequester Mr. Peck moved to return to open session.
Mr. Layne seconded.
The
roll was called and the result was;
YEA(s) 2
NAY(s) 0
ABSTAIN 1
Passed
X Failed
The
motion carried. Executive session ended.
d)
The Chair recognized Mr. Peck.
i)
Mr. Peck stated that on the advice of
counsel he was making a motion to terminate the “mowing work agreement”
between Mrs. Ankney and the Twp. This
agreement adopted in 2004 provided Mrs. Ankney with a monthly stipends for mowing the Twps’
cemeteries on a year round basis in order for Mrs. Ankney to acquire OPERS retirement time
for 12 full months each year instead of the months in which she mowed the cemeteries. (
see work agreement in personnel file)
Mr. Layne seconded and
requested the roll be called.
The
roll was called and the result was;
YEA(s) 2
NAY(s) 0
ABSTAIN 1
Passed
X Failed
The
motion carried.
e)
The Chair again recognized Mr. Peck.
i)
Mr. Peck stated that on the advice of
counsel he was making a motion to instruct the law firm of Downes, Hurst and Fischel to
review past employment records of Mrs. Ankney and determine if the Twp paid in error any
OPERS retirement fees on Mrs. Ankney’s behalf and to secure the refund if such existed.
Mr.
Layne seconded the motion and requested the roll be called.
The
roll was called and the result was;
YEA(s) 2
NAY(s) 0
ABSTAIN 1
Passed
X Failed
The
motion carried.
ii)
Mr.
Ankney abstained throughout the discussion as the employee in question is the wife
of the Trustee.
ORDER OF BUSINESS NO. 9 – Hand
outs:
a)
The Monthly (July 06) GrassRoots
clippings – exhibit 9-a was distributed.
b)
An invitation from Kalida Trucking – to attend their annual customer appreciation
day – Aug 10th was provided as
– exhibit 9-b
i)
Trustees Layne and
Ankney will attend.
ii)
Tjh will call rsvp’s
ORDER OF BUSINESS NO. 10 – Old
Business:
a)
Trustees discussed the Sanford Trucking annexation issue.
i)
This item was first discussed in the June session.
Trustees @ that time decided to take no action.
ii)
Co. Commissioner Kime suggested that the Trustees contact the Commissioners
relative to this issue.
iii)
During this session Trustees concurred that if the annexation were approved it
would create a spot zoning issue.
iv)
The Chair recognized Mr. Peck. Mr.
Peck stated this spot zoning could create another “Indian Bridge Lane” situation and
upon reflection he is opposed to the annexation.
Mr. Peck moved to
oppose the annexation request and send a resolution (#2006-08) of opposition on to the
County Commissioners for their consideration.
Mr.
Layne seconded the motion and requested the roll be called.
The
roll was called and the result was;
YEA(s) 3
NAY(s) 0
Passed
X
Failed
The
motion to reject the annexation request via resolution 2006-08 and send it to the County
Commissioners was passed. The resolution is
on file with the July meeting data in the clerk’s office.
b)
The Chair asked if there was any other old business??
i)
There was none at this time.
ORDER OF BUSINESS NO. 11 – New
Business:
a)
A Sprint – EMBARQ – notice was reviewed. This
letter requested Trustee
permission to cut State Service Rd @ a residence located at 1553 to provide service across
State Service rd east of West High St. see
exhibit 11-a. Trustees noted this was not
in Defiance Twp and instructed the clerk to forward the request onto Noble twp.
b)
The Chair again asked
if there was any other new business??
i)
There was no other new
business.
ORDER OF BUSINESS
NO. 12 – NEXT MEETING:
NEXT MEETING:
Time: 7:30
p.m.
Place:
VFW Post 3360 – 221 North Clinton Street - Defiance, Ohio
Mr. Layne requested a
motion to adjourn this meeting of July 25th,
2006
MOTION: Mr.
Ankney
SECOND: Mr. Peck
YEA(s) 3
NAY(s) 0
Passed
x
Failed
Respectfully
Submitted
Timothy J. Houck,
Fiscal Officer/Clerk