The regular meeting of the Board of Township Trustees, Newbury Township was called to order at 7:30 p.m., October 21, 2009, with all members present.   Minutes of the meeting of October 7, 2009 were approved upon a motion by Mrs. Blair, a second by Mr. Skomrock, and a unanimous affirmative vote.   Mr. Snively reported on behalf of Mrs. Hrabak from the previous Planning Commission meeting of 10/13/09.

Mr. Skomrock moved that the board approve a change order for the Ronyak Cory Lane paving contract, reducing the original contract price from $49,180 to $45,995.65.  Mrs. Blair seconded this motion, which passed by unanimous vote.

Mr. Snively brought up the issue of the lease renewal to authorize Les Ober to hay 40 acres on the Oberland Park property and to continue to gather maple sap.  The proposal being advanced is to divide the contract into a yearly hay farming agreement, with the agreement for maple sap harvesting to be five years due to investment in the equipment acquired by Mr. Ober for this purpose.  The trustees were in general agreement with this concept, and Mr. Snively said that he would create a draft document incorporating these ideas for review by the rest of the board and the Assistant County Prosecutor. 

Mrs. Blair reported on the October 17^th meeting with the Park Board.  Chip Hess provided a draft layout of current and proposed park areas.  Those present provided input as to their ideas and preferences in further development of the park.  Ideas advanced included storage for recreation board equipment and park maintenance equipment, a preschool-age playground, and possible parking lot expansion.  It was agreed that any playground area should be located so as to be as far as possible from any areas being fertilized by Mr. Ober.  It was also suggested that corporate sponsorships to assist in acquiring playground equipment could be pursued.  Mr. Hess agreed to provide 3 different layouts based on the input he received at this meeting, and the next meeting was scheduled for November 17^th.  Mrs. Blair recommended that the trustees agree on creating a billboard-type sign installed on the property visible from the road to inform residents as to the future plans for the park.

Mrs. Blair provided a Bureau of Workers Compensation update; at a recent Ohio Workers Compensation board meeting it was decided to lower premiums for public employers in Ohio by 17%.

Mr. Skomrock reported on efforts toward updating the Cemetery policy and making decisions regarding maintenance.  It was stated that Ann Wishart as Interim Sextant has been doing a good job improving the documentation of the gravesites, and Marcia Mansfield has been assisting as well.  After providing some of the background to the various issues involved, Mr. Skomrock read a draft document entitled “Proposed Newbury Township Cemetery gravesite policy/conditions”.  This document was approved by the trustees upon a motion by Mr. Skomrock, a second by Mr. Snively, and a unanimous affirmative vote.   Mr. Skomrock brought up the issue of cemetery lawn maintenance, expressing his dissatisfaction with the work of the current landscaping contract service, and asked the other trustees about whether they would like to look for another landscaper or consider part time employee John Mansfield to do this work.  Mr. Snively suggested that the township still solicit bids for next year's cemetery lawn maintenance for a basis of comparison.

Mr. Skomrock read the Resolution 2009102101 in honor of Eagle Scout Derek Meer, who performed GPS plotting of 332 veterans in the four Newbury cemeteries.   This resolution was adopted upon a motion by Mr. Skomrock, a second by Mrs. Blair, and a unanimous affirmative vote.  Mr. Skomrock reported on the Geauga County Soil & Water Annual Meeting and dinner held last week.

Mr. Snively said that there were openings on the Zoning Commission and BZA for this year, with the following individuals' terms expiring at the end of this year:

Zoning Commission:    L. Tomsic – board member, B. Ruckstuhl - Alternate

Board of Zoning Appeals:  M. L. Brezina – board member, K. Blair – Alternate.

The board agreed that notices should be placed to inform interested community members of these openings; also briefly discussed was the possibility of asking for the resignation of any current members where possible conflicts with other responsibilities resulted in ineligibility for continued service or insufficient participation in the activities of these boards.

It was reported that Newbury Kiwanis is sponsoring a meet the candidates night on October 28^th at 7pm.  Correspondence received prior to this meeting was read by Mr. Snively.  Mrs. Endres reported that 6 people from the Zoning Commission were interested in attending the zoning seminar being held in Westlake, one of which has offered to pay for their own attendance fee.  This meeting was adjourned at 8:39 p.m., upon a motion by Mrs. Blair, a second by Mr. Skomrock, and a unanimous affirmative vote.

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David Snively – Chairman                                          Jan Blair – Vice Chairman

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William Skomrock, Jr.                                                            David Lair – Fiscal Officer