Minutes

DEFIANCE TOWNSHIP TRUSTEES

May 31^st, 2005 MONTHLY MEETING

The Defiance Township Trustees met in regular session at VFW Post 3360 in Defiance Township, Defiance,  Ohio,  on Tuesday May 31^st,  2005 at 7:30 p.m.  Following the Pledge of Allegiance the meeting was called to order by Chairman Robert H. Layne.  Answering to the Roll were Trustees W. Tom Wiseman,  Charles Bakle & Board President Layne.  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:   Mr. James Schlegel, Township Zoning Inspector,  Richard Ankney,  Mary Ankney, Joe Kolb & John Diemer Township employees.   Other(s) present were JoEllen Houck of 8 Deville Drive,  Defiance,  Ohio.

ORDER OF BUSINESS NO. 1

Review and approval of minutes of the previous session.

Chairman Layne requested a motion to approve the minutes from the April 26^th,  2005,  session.    

MOTION:   W. Tom Wiseman            

             SECOND:  Charles Bakle                                             

YEA(s) 3          NAY(s) 0                      Passed            X                     Failed

The MINUTES of the April 26^th,  2005,  session were approved. 

ORDER OF BUSUNESS NO. 2            FINANCES –

The following financial reports provided to Board were reviewed.

a)   The April monthly Reconciliation – noted a reconciliation balance of $263,728.06 as of April 30^th,  2005. 

i)     The balance was $23,073.81 more than the previous month’s balance.  During the past twelve month period there have been seven months with a negative cash flow.    

b)   Receipt & Payment reports

i)     Receipts for May were $26,651.89.  Bills for May totaled $8,954.85. 

c)   The Cash fund summary through May 31^st,  2005,  showed an “ending cash balance” of $286,721.61. 

d)   The unencumbered cash balance “cash available” was $219,057.21 which is the balance after encumbrances are subtracted from the cash balance. 

e)            Appropriation Status showed that through May 31^st,  19.27% 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 May was then reviewed and checks signed by the Trustees.

Mr. Layne asked for a motion to accept the financial reports.

MOTION:    Charles Bakle           

             SECOND:    W. Tom Wiseman                                            

YEA(s) 3          NAY(s) 0                      Passed            X                     Failed

The financial reports were approved as presented. 

h)   Twp Audit – 2005

i)    The auditor is Doug Zimmerman

ii)   A summary of services letter dated May 6^th,  2005, was distributed as exhibit 2-h

(1)            Audit’s est cost is $6,000

(2)            To avoid an “Adverse Opinion”  the audit will be prepared in a “GAAP” type format

(a)      Generally Accepted Accounting Principals

(b)      The Twp’s audit will be a GAAP like report.

iii)        Auditor’s issues as of this time:

(1)            Documentation of rate of pay for Mary Ankney in 2004. see subsection v.

(2)            Over payment in 2004 reconciliation for Mary Ankney

(a)      The Twp must collect the overpayment from Mrs. Ankney and document the collection with the State Auditor. 

(b)      The Clerk and Mrs. Ankney will meet to determine the most efficient and timely method possible to address this issue.

(i)            Possible options:

1.      without June 05 work agreement pay of 26.2 hours

2.      have Mrs. Ankney write the Twp a check for the full amount of the over payment

(c)      The Clerk noted that the Auditor has warned the Twp to be cognizant of the reconciliation in 05 as Dec 04 was also paid and will need to be subtracted from hours worked in 05.

(3)            According to the Auditor the Twp needs policy/resolution accepting that the Zoning Inspector turns in collected fees at monthly meeting date and not within 24 hrs of collection

(a)      A proposed policy was reviewed and approved by the trustees.  The policy is #003 – and was listed as exhibit 2-hiii

Mr. Layne asked for a motion to accept the Zoning Fee Deposit policy - #003.

MOTION:    Charles Bakle           

             SECOND:    W. Tom Wiseman                                            

YEA(s) 3          NAY(s) 0                      Passed            X                     Failed

The policy was approved.  A copy is on file with the May 05 minutes and in the policy file in the clerk’s office. 

(4)            Twp needs cell phone policy

(a)      The Trustees reviewed three policy formats provided to the Twp from the County Prosecutor’s Office.  After discussion the single page policy was selected.

Mr. Layne asked for a motion to adopt the “Twp Cell Phone Policy”  as written by the Prosecutor’s Office. 

MOTION:    Charles Bakle           

             SECOND:    W. Tom Wiseman                                            

YEA(s) 3          NAY(s) 0                      Passed            X                     Failed

The “Cell Phone Policy” was approved.   A copy is on file with the May 05 minutes and in the policy file in the clerk’s office. 

iv)  An exit revue has been scheduled – Trustees were informed that the meeting with the State Auditor representative Doug Zimmerman will be Wednesday June 8^th at 2 p.m. in the Defiance County Environmental Services Office.  

v)   The Clerk informed the Trustees that during discussions with the State Auditor during the Twp audit it was suggested that a resolution be adopted to note the Twp’s intent to pay the Twp’ Cemetery Sextant’s position the $9.50 per hour rate that was paid but not confirmed via resolution in 2004.  It was also suggested that it would also be good to confirm the State ORC allotted mid-year pay increase for elected Twp Officials in 2005 when the budget increased to the next step of $500,000.  A proposed resolution #2005-08 was reviewed by the trustees as exhibit 2 h-v

 Mr. Layne asked for a motion to adopt Resolution 2005-08 as written. 

MOTION:    Charles Bakle           

             SECOND:    W. Tom Wiseman                                             

YEA(s) 3          NAY(s) 0                      Passed            X                     Failed

Resolution 2005-08 was approved.   A copy is on file with the May 05 minutes and in the resolution file in the clerk’s office. 

i)    A notice of an Estate Tax Disbursement was distributed to the Trustees as exhibit 2-i

i)     The notice was dated 5-2 from Co Treasurer noting the Twp will receive 64% of an estate tax of $28,361.14 

ORDER OF BUSINESS NO. 3 Township Zoning

1)   Jennifer Geiger issue.  The Trustees were reminded to see mins and agendas from Oct 04 through April 05 for details.

a)   The Township wished to collect fees under ORC 503.

i)   As of this session:

(1)            In May 05 agenda exhibit 3 - 1 was sent to the prosecutor’s office – twp letter dated 5-10

(2)            Prosecutor’s office responded with exhibit 3-2 –dated 5-18

(a)      Summation

(i)            Prosecutor’s office does not appear to wish to pursue collection of fees

(ii)            Trustees decided they will take no action at this time.  Trustees were reminded that should a similar issue arise in the future that the Twp does not appear to have any assurance that it can collect tax under this code at this time.  It would appear that new public hearings and proper procedural form would need to take place before the Twp can enforce its desire to collect tax under 503.

(iii)            No action was taken by the Trustees.

(iv)            The Clerk noted that this item will be removed from future agenda’s unless new information is brought forth.

2)   The next zoning item was the process of appointing the current members of the Twp Zoning Board of Appeals to the Zoning Commission and the current zoning Commission members to the Zoning Board of Appeals.  This issue was first placed on the agenda in the Mar 05 session.  The Trustees tabled the issue for a second time in the April session.  Again a discussion was desired and Mr. Wiseman moved to bring the issue off the table.  Mr.  Bakle seconded and a discussion followed:

a)     The clerk gave a brief history of the issue:

i)  The issue was initially raised by Zoning Commission member Schofield last fall.  She suggested that each group is doing the other groups work as she interprets the ORC.

ii) This position appears to be correct following a review of the procedures and responsibilities as provided by the Prosecutors office.  The Appeals Bd is doing the work that the Commission should do and the Commission is doing the work that the Appeals Bd is suppose to do.

b)   At this time the Trustees noted that they wish the current Zoning Bd members to finish the task they started which is to review and approve the updated Twp Zoning Map and Land Use Plan as prepared in conjunction and under contract with the Defiance County Soil and Water district.

i)      The Clerk noted that there is a strict procedure to adopt these items and several public hearings must be held.  The Clerk was directed to work with the Zoning Inspector to accomplish this task.  

(a)      The Clerk again noted that it will take some time as we are in the process of a biennial audit and there are only so many hours per month to donate to the zoning issues.

ii)      The Clerk informed the Trustees that he can not find an authorizing resolution adopting the current “Zoning Rules & regs for the Twp.  This book noted the items for which fees may be collected. 

(1)            Mr.  Wiseman noted he was Commissioner of Defiance County when this Zoning code was created and was adopted by all Defiance county Twp.  He believes a record should exist at the County courthouse.  TjH was assigned to research this and report back during the June Twp meeting.

c)   The Current Board of Appeals members were discussed: 

i)    Tjh was instructed in April’s twp session to contact Mr. Perez to determine if he wished to continue service….

(1)            The Clerk reported that he had contacted mr. Perez.  Mr. Perez wishes to remain on the Board but does not wish to serve as its President.

ii)   Tjh had also been instructed to contact Charles Renn to ascertain if he was eligible to serve as he was reported to have moved from the Twp….

(1)            Again, the clerk reports that he contacted Mr. Renn.  Mr. Renn is no longer a resident of Defiance Twp.

iii)  Mr.  Bakle suggested that Mr. Paul Zipfel current alternate on the Board be appointed a board member to replace Mr. Renn for the remainder of Mr. Renn’s current term – see chart below.  It was also suggested that a Mr. George Decker of 23319 Watson Rd be appointed as an alternate to the current Appeals Bd. to replace Mr. Zipfel for Zipfel’s current term.    

Mr. Layne asked for a motion to appoint Zipfel to replace Renn and to appoint Decker as an alternate to the Bd of Appeals.  Mr.  Zipfel  

MOTION:    Charles Bakle           

             SECOND:    W. Tom Wiseman                                            

YEA(s) 3          NAY(s) 0                      Passed            X                     Failed

The motion was adopted.  The Clerk is to contact the parties named to inform them of this action. 

 The current board members as of this meeting are:

ZONING BOARD OF APPLEALS

*  denotes term beginning January 11, 2005

Chairman Layne requests a motion to appoint all members of the appeals board noted above to the Zoning commission..  Terms to remain as noted.

MOTION:                                                        

             SECOND:                                                       

YEA(s)             NAY(s)                         Passed                                   Failed

No action was taken and the issued was returned to the table.

Current members of the Zoning Commission are:

ZONING COMMISSION

Chairman Layne requests a motion to appoint all members of the Zoning Commissioner to the Board of Appeals… Terms to remain as noted.

MOTION:                                                        

             SECOND:                                                       

YEA(s)             NAY(s)                         Passed                                   Failed

No action was taken and the issued was returned to the table.

3)   A Zoning/nuisance issue was discussed.

a)   The Clerk reported he had been contacted by Defiance County Commissioner Nicely

i)  Nicely reported that he was contacted by a resident on Sponseller Rd with concerns about a dilapidated and abandoned structure.  This structure was reported to be a property near a residence located at 15455 Sponseller Rd

ii) The Clerk e mailed issue to Zoning inspector Schlegel – see agenda exhibit 3-d

(1) Mr.  Schlegel stated he was working on the issue which is a part of his up coming report.

4)   Monthly report  - Inspector’s Report -  Mr.  Jim Schlegel

a)     Defiance Township - Zoning Report - May 2005

i)    Site Review Branson Watson Rd All season room permit issued

ii)   Site Review Behm Parkview Dr Garage permit issued

iii)   Site Review Valle Indian Bridge Lane new foundation permit issued

iv)      Letter To Russell Herman ref Bott mobile home hand delivered letter to wife due May26 then will go to prosecutor. Photos taken 5-27 site review revealed mobile home is gone flowers planted, site looks very nice…

v)      Nuisance comp Sponseller rd Larry Long CP 15448 abandoned dilapidated house owned by Don Link spoke to Mr. Link at a site review, he advised he is working on getting rid of this structure but he is a little slow as he has had two open heart surgeries. Advised CP of same

vi)      Jerry Baden Powers Rd site review ref lot split, I contacted Maumee Valley Planning then referred him to them. They advised you must have a minimum of 150-ft road frontage

vii)      Trash Comp 14606 Williams Rd Lange residence did site review contacted Ms. Lange she advised this is an ongoing neighbor hood feud. She did comply trash was cleaned up that day.

viii)      Trash complaint 21296 Parkview Dr. Garn residence. Two junk vehicles and a pile of remains that appears to be a large camper all tore apart and scattered along side the home. 5-24 no one home, left my card and advised to contact me. Photos taken. 5-27 Another site review met with owner James Ashbaugh he was cleaning the mess up as we spoke.

ix)      Received today High Grass on SR 15 next to 13416 Sr 15 will check it out Lorane Duerk Realtor wants records when acreage was transferred from twp to city this would be behind Pinewood Dr between Kingsbury house????

ORDER OF BUSINESS NO. 4 --  Equipment;

a)            equipment issues were reviewed the Township is in the process of purchasing a “berm reclaimer”.

i)   Per direction from the April session the clerk noted that the berm re-claimer was ordered from Kalida Truck

(1)            a second bid of $5,800 was received from Liebrecht Manf and land drainage of Continental,  Ohio

(2)            unit was purchased for $5,400 from Kalida Truck.

(3)            A purchase order was reviewed and signed at this session for the purchase by the Trustees.

ORDER OF BUSINESS NO. 5 -  Trustee Report – Monthly Twp Rd inspection

a)   The May - Rd review was provided by  Trustee Bakle

i)    A copy of the report was distributed to the Trustees for review

ii)   A copy will also be provided to Township rd crew to determine work schedule for June 05

iii)      Trustee Wiseman will conduct the inspection in June

b)   Mr.  Layne asked for an up-date on existing road projects by Twp staff

i)    Mr.  Ankney and Mr. Diemer reported:

(1)            A 6” tile for drainage is to be placed in the Beldon Addition on Lakeview dr on 6-3-05.

(2)            Winn Rd:

(a)      Twp will cold patch the two large holes.  If citizens complaints continue the twp will propose to close the road from Canal to Kibble.

(b)      Defiance city has not responded to Twp request to join in a partnership to repair

(i)            Twp believes city has some responsibility with this road

ORDER OF BUSINESS NO. 6  - Personnel 

a)   Mary Ankney – OPERS – service credit issue was reviewed

i)  The clerk reported on the status as of the meeting date:

(1)            Ankeny seeks service credit for 96,97,98,99,2000, 2001

(2)            Trustees should review agenda’s and mins from May 04 through April 05 for details

(3)            Clerk submitted data to OPERS – see exhibit 6-a which was distributed at this session  and is on file in the april meeting file in the clerk’s office

(4)            OPERs Steve McDaniels contacted Clerk 5-23 noting he is working on this issue and will be sending a notice to the Twp of debt owed

(a)      Said notice dated May 25 was distributed to the Trustees

(b)      The Twp owes $5,855.45 within 90 days to avoid interest and penalties

ii)     Mr. Wiseman noted he has been researching the files and has found documentation he believes should be sent to OPERS which confirms Ankney’s work for the Twp in years 90 – 95

(1)         Documents are pay vouchers and payroll postings – only one w-2 was found

iii)     Mr. Wiseman moved to submit the material to OPERS with the intent of having OPERS calculate time worked which is countable towards retirement for Mrs. Ankney & to pay for the retirement costs as calculated and required by law

Mr  Bakle seconded and a roll call vote was held

YEA(s) 3          NAY(s) 0                     Passed            x                      Failed

The Clerk is to send the data to OPERS with a request to have time earned calculated.  The Twp is responsible for the costs of both the employee’s portion and the Twp portion per ORC.

b)   The issue of creating a policy to address unemployment compensation paid to a Twp employee by another employer when at the same time the employee is being paid by the Twp and the Twp must pay a portion of the unemployment claim was reviewed.

i)   The issue arose with Twp employee Jim Schlegel in late 04 – see past minutes for details

ii)  The Clerk is in the process of writing a proposed policy based on Trustee direction from the Jan 05 session.

     Once the policy is completed it will be reviewed by the Trustees and then sent to the prosecutor’s office for  

     approval/edits.  As of this meeting the clerk reports that the action plan is being written….and is not yet

     complete.

c)            Trustee layne’s “Surety Bond” was reviewed.  see exhibit 6-c of the agenda which is also on file in the clerk’s office

iii)      Issued discovered during current audit -- Trustee layne’s bond expired at the completion of his term in 2004

iv) A new bond is necessary.  The bond request form was provided from OTRMA’s Ins rep in Defiance, Dale Hess of First Ins.

(1)            Clerk will take signed form to First Ins for processing.

(2)            The clerk reported that as the new term began before the new bond requirements were codified,  the bond will be for $10,000 not the new requirement of $110,000

v)   Mr. Layne signed the bond application form and returned same to the clerk for processing.

d) A Deferred Compensation Program Plan for Twp personnel was discussed.

i)  This issue was placed on the agenda in April 05 at the request of Mr. Schlegel

ii) The clerk is checking into possibility of participation in this program

iii)  Tjh has contacted Ohio Twp Association on 5-26

(1)            Rep is Danielle Fields – 877-644-6457

(2)            She is sending info for employees to review

iv) The clerk also reported that the CCAO has a deferred comp program

(1) This is a competitor to the Ohio Employees Deferred Comp Program represented by Danielle Fields

v)  the clerk reported that he must still contact UAN to determine how – if approved by Trustees, to set up the system in the computer.

vi) Again due to time constraints this process is proceeding slowly

ORDER OF BUSINESS NO. 7 – Hand outs were distributed as noted below:

a)            Monthly (May 05) GrassRoots clippings – exhibit 7-a

b)   Ohio supreme court opinion – sunshine law – notes when discussing business with an attorney the “sunshine law” is not normally applicable.  Information was from a Ohio Supreme Court ruling distributed as exhibit 7-b

c)  A Safety Training notice from EMA for “Confined Space”  training  presented as exhibit 7-c

i)   Twp Rd crew employees Richard Ankney and John Diemer agreed to attend.  The Clerk is to make the reservations.

d) A Letter from State Rep James Hoops of the 75^th House District on status of HB 66 state funding and impact on local gov’t entities was presented as  exhibit 7-d

i)      Trustees accepted without comment.

e) Def Co EMA – request Twp fill out survey for “Continuity of Govt” Plan

i)  Details needed to determine time frame necessary to provide services after a disaster. – exhibit 7-e

ii) Mr. Wiseman agreed to fill out the survey.  The survey was completed and returned to the clerk for submittal to ema.

ORDER OF BUSINESS NO. 8 Old Business

a)            Trustees discussed the issue of past work in the Lakeview subdivision on property owned by John Flores of 100 Lakeview.

i)    Mr. flores is believed to be in arrears to the Twp for this work per letters found in file requesting payment

ii)      See agenda’s and mins between Feb and april 05 for issue details

iii)      See exhibit 3-1 of the May agenda for Twp request to prosecutor for assistance and exhibit 3-2 for prosecutor’s response

(1)            Prosecutor – is working to collect this debt with a 4% penalty

b)            Trustees discussed the status of the Twp’s participation with the Ayersville Water & Sewer Board

i)      Trustee Wiseman was to invite representatives from Ayersville Water & Sewer & from Prosecutor’s office and or engineer’s office to discuss Twp association with this group

ii)   Mr.  Wiseman stated that County Engineer Warren Schaltter could not attend the session in May.  Mr. Wiseman will asked Mr. Schlatter to brief the Trustees in the June session.

iii)      The issue is should the Twp use more than one provider for water and sewer services.  What is the Twp’s commitment to the Ayersville Water and Sewer District given its 1998 resolution agreeing to services from the district for the twp in the district’s phases A & B.  What portion of A & B are covered in the Twp.  Can the Twp opt out of any future District expansion beyond phase A & B?