The regular meeting of the Board of Township Trustees, Newbury Township was called to order at 7:30 p.m., November 19, 2008 with all trustees present.   Minutes of the meetings of 10/20/2008 and 11/5/2008 were approved upon a motion by Mr. Snively, a second by Mrs. Blair, and a unanimous affirmative vote.

Representatives of Geauga County Help Me Grow made a presentation regarding their program, which helps children in the county who are at-risk.  Newbury Kiwanis members present presented them with $150 to purchase parenting skills DVDs called Baby Builders, which are instructions to assist parents in providing young infants with adequate tummy time.  The Help Me Grow representatives were also provided free passes to the Newbury Kiwanis Breakfast with Santa event.    Ms. Debbie Palmisano, coordinator for the Newbury Food Cupboard was given a $600 donation from Kiwanis to help fund their efforts.  Mrs. Marge Hrabak, speaking for Newbury Kiwanis noted that their Clambake and Pancake Breakfast events are the two primary Kiwanis fundraisers each year intended to raise money for these types of worthwhile donations.

The trustees recognized Mrs. Joanne Majeski, who addressed the trustees regarding concerns that she had for traffic safety at the Sperry/Fairmount intersection.  Mrs. Majeski read a letter she had written to the Trustees, formally requesting that they contact County Engineer R.L. Phillips regarding installation of “Cross Traffic Does Not Stop” signs at the intersection.  Mrs. Majeski also related her personal observation that the speed limit on Sperry Rd. is regularly exceeded.  Mr. Snively related a near miss that he had witnessed there recently, and Mrs. Blair expressed her agreement that a speed problem appears to exist in this area.  Mr. Skomrock stated that he understands the concern being expressed and said that the Board would write a letter to the Geauga County Commissioners, asking that they request that Mr. Phillips reconsider his evaluation of this situation.  It was suggested to Mrs. Majeski by the Board that she request time on the Geauga County Commissioners’ meeting agenda.  The trustees stated that the Commissioners could then request Mr. Phillips be present for this agenda item, so that all issues could be discussed at that time.  Mr. Skomrock stated his opinion that distracted drivers are a major contributing factor to problems with traffic safety in general, and that drivers must drive defensively.  A letter regarding this same issue was also submitted to the trustees at this time by Mrs. Rose Yaecker.   As both letters are items open to public inspection as correspondence to the Board of Trustees, they will be maintained at the town hall for viewing for the period of time prescribed for public correspondence.

The trustees discussed following up on the solicitation of applicants for open Zoning Commission and ZBA positions.  Also discussed was the scheduling of a joint meeting with those boards and the trustees to discuss issues such as future amendments that would possibly improve flexibility and discretionary judgment to be delegated to the Zoning Inspector.    Mr. Snively provided the board with information regarding the desirability to have the Oberland Park property re-zoned from Residential to an active park classification, which would prevent a continual process of needing individual applications for any change to this property if zoning is maintained as a residential area.  Mrs. Endres presented the documentation and required forms that would have to be executed by the Trustees in order to begin the process of changing the zoning on this parcel to Active Park.  Toward that end, Mr. Snively moved that the board adopt Resolution 2008111902, to initiate a proposed Amendment to the Zoning Resolution.  Mrs. Blair seconded this motion, which passed by unanimous vote.  

Mrs. Endres reported that five people went to a Ohio Planning and Zoning Conference held recently, and all felt it was worthwhile.  Mr. Skomrock stated that based on information given at a recent Township Association meeting by County Engineer Phillips regarding the need to eventually replace current street and road signs with new signs meeting phased-in federal high intensity standards, Mr. Hollis would be instructed to phase in these new signs by complete replacement of existing signs in any area affected by a road repaving project over the next several years.

The trustees discussed the township logo and tagline ideas, identifying a logo preferred by a majority of elected officials and township employees at a previous meeting, modified to include the outline of a farm, a schoolhouse, and an office building.  It was decided that the final tagline to be used with this selected logo design would probably be determined at the next meeting.  Also discussed at this time was a proposal from Clay Burnett for development of a new township website.  The Board agreed that Mr. Burnett should meet with Mr. Lair in the near future to review the recommended web hosting and site content software that Mr. Burnett had specified in his proposal.

Correspondence received was reviewed, including a letter from the Geauga-Trumbull Solid Waste District, along with a contract agreement for the 2009 and 2010 recycling program, which was requested to be signed by the Trustees.  Mr. Skomrock moved that the board execute this contract; Mr. Snively seconded this motion, which passed by unanimous vote.

The Trustees briefly discussed the potential 2009 road re-paving program; it was noted that recent escalating costs in fuel-related commodities might require a scaling down of this program for 2009 if recent oil price drops did not remain in place for long, and that the normal re-paving program budget would be reduced by the amounts that would have to be held back for use as a local match for the Issue 2 re-paving projects for Cedar Rd. and Pekin Rd., in conjunction with Munson and Russell townships, respectively.

Mr. Skomrock noted that a ballot for voting in the County FSA Committee Election had been received from the USDA.  Mr. Skomrock moved that Bill Timmons be nominated by the board to represent this area on the County FSA Committee; Mrs. Blair seconded this motion, which passed by unanimous vote.   Mrs. Blair reported that she and Mrs. Endres had attended a 11th District Court of Appeals Magistrate and Mediator session held recently at the Geauga County Juvenile and Probate courtroom.  No compromise was reached at this session, which means that the appeal filed by the plaintiff in the All-Erection and Crane case will continue, with an estimated timeframe of up to a year for the appeal to be handled through the formal appeal process in the 11th District Court.

At the request of the Fiscal Officer, Mrs. Blair moved that Resolution 2008111901 be adopted, specifying that $100 be moved from 1000-110-311-0000 Accounting/Legal Fees to 1000-110-314-0000 Property Tax Collection Fees, and that $1200 be moved from 2141-330-219-0000 Employer Retirement Contribution to 2141-390-0000 Property Tax Collection Fees.   Mr. Skomrock seconded this motion, which passed by unanimous vote.

Warrants approved by signing prior to or at this meeting:    
Check #    Date    Payee     Amount
30952    11/17/2008    Ann A. Wishart              - AW     $      419.82
30953    11/17/2008    Douglas J. Zimperman        - DZ     $    1,250.16
30954    11/17/2008    George Mansfield            - GM     $    1,158.91
30955    11/17/2008    Jas. Rick Phifer            - JP     $    1,296.73
30956    11/17/2008    Karen E. Endres             - KE     $      899.89
30957    11/17/2008    Marcia J. Mansfield         - MM     $        81.94
30958    11/17/2008    Randal R. Hollis            - RH     $    1,605.24
30959    11/17/2008    Randal O. Hollis            - ROH     $    1,074.21
30960    11/17/2008    Timothy A. Mansfield        - TM     $    1,177.91
30961    11/17/2008    Ohio Public Employees Deferred Comp. Pro     $      605.00
30962    11/19/2008    Lillibridge Landscaping, Inc.     $    1,758.00
30963    11/19/2008    Newbury Auto Parts Inc.     $      778.02
30964    11/19/2008    First Energy     $    1,363.06
30965    11/19/2008    Chagrin Oil & Gas Co. Inc.     $      502.49
30966    11/19/2008    Jan Blair     $        49.15
30967    11/19/2008    Cintas Corp.     $      411.95
30968    11/19/2008    Western Reserve Office Supply     $        68.54
30969    11/19/2008    Sears Commercial One     $        94.73
30970    11/19/2008    Premier Paint Technologies, Inc.     $      446.49
30971    11/19/2008    United Healthcare Insurance Co.     $    7,817.71
30972    11/19/2008    Doug Zimperman     $        30.00
30973    11/19/2008    Turney Home and Auto     $        75.66
30974    11/19/2008    Ohio CAT     $      298.25
30975    11/19/2008    FASTENAL CO.     $        27.92
30976    11/19/2008    NAPA Auto Parts Middlefield     $        32.46
30977    11/19/2008    Cleveland Painters Supply     $      177.40
        Total:     $  23,501.64


This meeting was adjourned at 9:16 p.m., upon a motion by Mr. Snively, a second by Mrs. Blair, and a unanimous affirmative vote.
 
 
__________________________________  ___________________________________     
William Skomrock, Jr.  – Chairman            David Snively – Vice Chairman    


__________________________________  ___________________________________
      Jan Blair                     David Lair – Fiscal Officer