The regular meeting of the Board of Township Trustees, Newbury Township was called to order at 7:35 p.m., October 6, 2010, with all members present.   Minutes of the meeting of September 15, 2010 were approved upon a motion by Mr. Snively, a second by Mr. Skomrock, and a unanimous affirmative vote.

 Zoning activity was reported by Mrs. Endres, including a NSP update.  The Geauga County Department of Community and Economic Development, who is administering the NSP project is still waiting on soils analysis for the former PC’s Tavern property to see if one affordable home can be built on that site with an on-site system.  Mrs. Endres noted that latest zoning amendment is now in force.  She also briefly discussed the current sewer district map for the township and the need for some updating.  She reported that the application for the proposed Sweet Peet operation has been received and officially denied because it does not meet township zoning.  In response, the developer has filed a number of appeals, with a hearing to occur on October 19th.

Road activity reported by Mr. Hollis included asphalt patching, truck repairs ditch repair, brush cutting and roadside mowing on various roads, installation of new headstone bases and re-setting of old headstones at Morton Cemetery and Center Cemetery.  Mr. Hollis requested purchase of a large leaf blower with an approximate state bid cost of $600; the trustees agreed with this request.  Mr. Hollis also reported a need to repair one garage door on the road department portion of the old fire station.  The trustees briefly discussed with Mr. Hollis the 2011 proposed project list as received from the Geauga County Engineer, along with the OPW District 7 grant application for the possible resurfacing of Burton Hts. Blvd.

 Blanket Certificates approved by signing prior to or at this meeting:

B.C. #

Date

Payee

 Amount

    84-2010

9/18/2010

Various Vendors

 $    7,741.39

    85-2010

9/18/2010

Various Vendors

 $    4,000.00

    86-2010

9/18/2010

Various Vendors

 $  15,000.00

    87-2010

9/18/2010

Various Vendors

 $    2,600.00

    88-2010

9/18/2010

Various Vendors

 $    1,000.00

    89-2010

9/18/2010

Various Vendors

 $    3,673.94

    90-2010

9/18/2010

Various Vendors

 $    4,195.54

    91-2010

9/18/2010

Various Vendors

 $    1,000.00

    92-2010

9/18/2010

Various Vendors

 $    1,000.00

    93-2010

9/27/2010

Various Vendors

 $      600.00

    94-2010

10/2/2010

Various Vendors

 $    1,095.83

 

 

Total:

 $  41,906.70

Purchase Orders approved by signing prior to or at this meeting:

 

P.O. #

Date

Payee

 Amount

    25-2010

9/25/2010

Russell Township

 $  15,000.00

    25-2010

9/25/2010

Russell Township

 $  52,000.00

    25-2010

9/25/2010

Russell Township

 $    3,163.15

    26-2010

9/30/2010

Newbury Volunteer Fire Department Q3

 $  17,500.00

    26-2010

9/30/2010

Newbury Volunteer Fire Department Q3

 $  57,500.00

    27-2010

9/30/2010

Newbury Volunteer Fire Department Q4

 $  17,500.00

    27-2010

9/30/2010

Newbury Volunteer Fire Department Q4

 $  57,500.00

 

 

Total:

 $220,163.15

Warrants approved by signing prior to or at this meeting:

 

Check #

Date

Payee

 Amount

26936

10/4/2010

Geauga County Recorder

 $        20.00

26937

10/3/2010

David J. Lair               - DL

 $    1,409.49

26938

10/3/2010

George Mansfield            - GM

 $    1,221.21

26939

10/3/2010

Janice M. Blair             - JB

 $      824.87

26940

10/3/2010

John H. Mansfield           - JM

 $      854.31

26941

10/3/2010

Jas. Rick Phifer            - JP

 $    1,374.43

26942

10/3/2010

Marge Hrabak                - MHR

 $      154.20

26943

10/3/2010

Randal R. Hollis            - RH

 $    1,654.63

26944

10/3/2010

Randal O. Hollis            - ROH

 $    1,156.82

26945

10/3/2010

Timothy A. Mansfield        - TM

 $    1,249.94

26946

10/3/2010

William J. Skomrock, Jr.    - WS

 $      689.87

26947

10/3/2010

Treasurer of State

 $      871.58

26948

10/3/2010

Ohio Public Employees Deferred Comp. Pro

 $    1,625.00

26949

10/3/2010

Ohio Public Employees Retirement System

 $    8,175.81

26950

10/1/2010

Geauga Safety Council

 $        25.00

26951

10/1/2010

Geauga Safety Council

 $        15.00

26952

10/6/2010

Geauga County Maple Leaf

 $      134.00

26953

10/6/2010

United Healthcare Insurance Co.

 $  11,199.87

26954

10/6/2010

ScapeAbilities (John Suvak)

 $      270.00

26955

10/6/2010

Turney Home and Auto

 $        63.27

26956

10/6/2010

Geauga Concrete Inc.

 $        91.00

26957

10/6/2010

Air Gas Great Lakes

 $        35.04

26958

10/6/2010

Reliance Standard Life Insurance

 $      677.45

26959

10/6/2010

FASTENAL CO.

 $        78.15

26960

10/6/2010

Concord Road Equipment Mfg.

 $    2,611.12

26961

10/6/2010

Tractor Supply Co.

 $        39.99

26962

10/6/2010

Dominion East Ohio Gas

 $      107.02

26963

10/6/2010

Turney Power Place

 $        34.42

26964

10/6/2010

Kimball-Midwest Inc.

 $      197.74

26965

10/6/2010

Windstream

 $      301.48

26966

10/6/2010

M.T. Business Technologies

 $          6.42

26967

10/6/2010

Delta Dental

 $      653.75

26968

10/6/2010

Speedway SuperAmerica

 $      239.08

26969

10/6/2010

First Energy

 $      547.92

26970

10/6/2010

Schwartz Land Surveying,Inc.

 $    1,040.00

26971

10/6/2010

PNC Bank

 $      147.55

26972

10/6/2010

Hess & Associates

 $    2,858.75

26973

10/6/2010

Thomas A. Hall Excavating & Contracting

 $    5,320.00

26974

10/6/2010

Ann Wishart

 $        26.00

26975

10/6/2010

Patsy Keyes

 $      220.00

26976

10/6/2010

NAPA Auto Parts Middlefield

 $      110.35

26977

10/6/2010

Marshall Power Equipment

 $        23.15

26978

10/6/2010

Free Enterprises Inc.

 $    1,335.68

26979

10/6/2010

Kokosing Materials

 $    4,934.16

26980

10/6/2010

Hans' Truck & Trailer Repair, Inc.

 $  68,711.00

26981

10/6/2010

Newbury Volunteer Fire Department

 $  75,000.00

26982

10/6/2010

Sunrise Springs Water Co. Inc.

 $      134.25

26983

10/6/2010

Kevin Chartrand, MD

 $        51.00

26984

10/6/2010

Verizon Wireless

 $        33.27

26985

10/6/2010

Newbury Auto Parts Inc.

 $      107.23

26986

10/6/2010

Best Sand Corp.

 $      141.12

26987

10/6/2010

Kolsom Tires

 $      120.00

26988

10/6/2010

Concord Road Equipment Mfg.

 $      540.30

26989

10/6/2010

Chagrin Oil & Gas Co. Inc.

 $      989.61

26990

10/6/2010

Kokosing Materials

 $    4,911.51

26991

10/6/2010

First Energy

 $    1,732.39

 

 

Total:

 $207,097.20

EFT transactions processed prior to or at this meeting:

 

Trans#

Date

Payee

 Amount

E00424

10/3/2010

Ann A. Wishart

 $      615.88

E00425

10/3/2010

David A. Snively

 $      712.32

E00426

10/3/2010

Douglas J. Zimperman

 $    1,335.00

E00427

10/3/2010

Karen E. Endres

 $      107.01

E00428

10/3/2010

Marcia J. Mansfield

 $      226.68

W00041

10/3/2010

Middlefield Bank

 $    3,329.06

 

 

Total:

 $    6,325.95

 Fire activity reported by Chief Zimperman included 46 calls for month, with 412 calls year to date.  September financial activity for the township was briefly reviewed by Mr. Lair.  Correspondence received since the last meeting was reviewed by Ms. Blair, including a report of a Senior Clean-up event to be sponsored by the Geauga County Department on Aging over the next several weeks.  The Department on Aging is looking for volunteers from elected officials and the general public.  Ms. Blair also briefly discussed the American Legion lease renewal, advising the others that she has asked Assistant County Prosecutor Sue Wieland to review the lease document and make any necessary changes before it is submitted to the Legion for execution.

 Ms. Blair said that the Newbury Kiwanis had expressed interest in sponsoring an event celebrating the history of Grange Park, to be held at Oberland Park on Memorial Day following the annual parade.  The Newbury Kiwanis group is looking for input and support from the Recreation Board, the American Legion, and other community groups.  Ms. Blair said she will keep the board updated on this project.  Mr. Skomrock suggested that the Oberland Park pavilion be dedicated to the Grange Park and the individual who had donated the Grange Park property many years ago.

 Ms. Blair reported on a seminar sponsored by the Geauga Safety Counsel which she attended in Middlefield today which dealt with workplace supervision and safety issues.

Mr. Skomrock discussed the Sheriff's report of 911 and other incidents, with a total of 189 incidents occurring within the township for September.  Traffic stops on Kinsman and Ravenna roads were a large portion of this activity.

 Mr. Snively reported that he spent over an hour today speaking with various individuals including the County Engineer regarding the Pekin Road repaving project situation.  Based on the information he received, Mr. Snively said that he intended to send a letter to each Pekin Rd. property owner within the recent repaving area.  Mr. Snively read the proposed letter, which will solicit each property owner to provide specific information regarding adverse effects of the repaving project.  Mr. Snively said he anticipated some specific questions regarding the size and exact position of the road right of way, but said that he did not have any specific answers at this point.  He hopes to have some answers that can lead to further discussion on this topic at the November 3rd meeting.

 One resident asked who was responsible for the establishment of markers prior to the repaving of the road without checking for the proper right-of-way.  Mr. Snively said that he had questioned the placement of the markers and was assured by the County Engineer's office that they were correctly placed.  Ms. Maurer referred to a document which established a 50' right of way, and asked what more was being done to verify what the correct right-of-way actually was.  Mr. Snively said that he intended to do whatever possible to ensure that the proper documentation of the correct right of way was obtained.

 Mr. Russell said that he was shown back in the late 1970s that the accessory building on his property that he wanted to modify was just outside the existing 50' road right-of-way according to the township zoning documentation being used at that time.  Ms. Endres said that it was doubtful that the zoning inspector at the time had access to any actual survey documents.

 Residents present indicated that it would have been better if the affected residents would have been notified much earlier of the documentation that indicated a 60 foot right of way was being relied on for the proposed repaving project.  One resident said that rather than arguing about a 50' right of way versus a 60' right of way, he felt the issue could be resolved by installing a culvert along the south side of the road, in place of the new, larger ditch that had been created.  Others indicated that a bigger issue was that if the repaving project relied on the right of way being 60' instead of 50', then there has been a taking of property which needs to be rectified to those affected property owners.   

 One resident stated that while all Newbury officials have been a pleasure to work with, this project has been mismanaged from the start.  In response to an audience request that Mr. Snively disclose the five questions he had said he assumed would be posed by residents in the affected area, he stated the first question would be what would it cost for government to buy 5 feet of roadway on both sides of the street if in fact only a 50 foot right-of way existed and this project had taken over a total of 60 feet.  Without that answer the trustees cannot move forward to consider any action to rectify the situation.  Other questions Mr. Snively expected to hear were when are the trustees going to be able to resolve this situation, and when would property owners’ deeds be corrected to reflect the established road right of way?

 Ms. Maurer stated that she took offense to the manner in which she had recently been addressed by Mr. Skomrock.  Mr. Skomrock said that he was communicating the information to her as to what could and could not be done based on the County Engineer's current knowledge of what the correct right of way width for that stretch of road actually was.   In response to concerns expressed about increased speed following the widening of the road, Mr. Snively said that a speed survey will be conducted and compared to previous studies done on this stretch of road to see what the effect of the repaving project actually has been.  Ms. Blair said that the township will analyze the letters to be returned by area residents, and the township will try to fix those issues brought to the township's attention which are able to be fixed. 

 Mr. Snively reported in response to an earlier issue brought up by Ms. Maurer of material ending up on her car due to driving through the construction area, unaware of the recent application of the material, he stated that the township will reimburse reasonable expenses for removing the material.  Similarly, the township will endeavor to fix those problems caused by this project which appear legitimate, and that the township can fix in an efficient manner, with the township assuming the responsibility for receiving eventual reimbursement from the parties ultimately responsible.  One audience member suggested that the township, in attempting to rectify the situation should ask title companies to do the research to determine what the actual right of way was, and if it had changed, exactly how and when it changed.  Ms. Maurer stated she was told by an employee of the County Engineer's office when she visited his office that the surveyor knew the right of way in the affected area was 50 feet, but that he had forgotten this at the time when he was working in the area.

 In other business, Mr. Snively reported that he had recently appeared in Judge Fuhry's court representing the township on the Bell Shire judgment entry process, which has now been resolved.  Mr. Snively reported that the Kimberly Estates water line valve replacement project was continuing, with input from the County Engineer's office to ensure proper documentation of the water lines within the subdivision.  Mr. Hollis reported that all water line valves within the township's roadways have now been repaired as part of this project.

 Mr. Skomrock read a letter from Clare Timmons thanked the trustees for the recent repair work to Morton Cemetery monument bases.  This meeting was adjourned at 9:10 p.m., upon a motion by Ms. Blair, a second by Mr. Snively, and a unanimous affirmative vote.