Invocation was given by: Dr. Jerry A. Burton, Pastor followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

Approval of Minutes – May 12, 2008
Copley moved to approve, all Yeas on roll call and motion carried.

Approval of Minutes – May 27, 2008
Russell moved to approve, all Yeas on roll call and motion carried.

Workshop

a. Discussion of the 2009 Tax Budget Expenditures
Finance Director Lucinda Mann advised this was a preliminary budget requirement for county purposes. Mann advised the general fund they tried to keep reasonable. She advised they expected an increase in salaries based on mainly the police contract, which was going up 3% and they estimated an increase of 3% for all salaries, but that would be up to union contracts and Council. Mann advised they tried to be reasonable with increases in utilities as those were always a guess and they tried to put in a buffer. She advised they tried to build in an increase for diesel fuel and health insurance as well. Mann advised with regards to workers compensation the city was probably looking at a 25% increase next year as they have changed their rating from the last couple of years even though they were in a group and would be getting the group discount.
Council Member Glen Russell inquired as to how many was in the group.
Mann advised the group was the North Central Finance Officers and there were probably 30 entities in the group, which share information with regards to discounts. She advised it has been a really good program and we do save money. Mann advised this year we saved $30,000 just by belonging to this group and next year it would be around a $20,000 savings due mostly to the changes in the rating. Mann advised the budget overall looked like it went up around $200,000 out of a $2.9 million budget. Mann advised they were trying to keep the departments in reign and if they could find other areas to cut back they would do so.
Boggs advised Council should keep in mind there are 27 pay periods in 2009 versus the usual 26, which was approximately $100,000 more than the previous year.
Mann agreed and advised with that in mind, it was more like $100,000 increase, which out of $2.9 million budget wasn’t too bad and they do try to keep costs down. She advised EMS was “bumped up” due to the plans for the purchase of a new ambulance, which added an extra $136,000. Mann advised Street M&R it was hard to keep costs down with such a small budget and she believed most of the increase was payroll related due again to the 27 pay periods. She advised with the State Highway fund they “bumped up” the temporary employees account quite a bit and that was always subject to change. Mann advised the State Highway account has been fairly steady so they have a little play on that one. She advised she didn’t budget anything for either one of the Perm Tax funds because she was assuming most of it would be used this year, but that was yet to be seen. She advised we increased the Police Pension Fund a little and that fund was based mostly on revenues. Mann advised the Law Enforcement Education Fund and Law Enforcement Fund they budgeted about the same amount every year and have been getting quite a bit of money into those two funds over the years as they were funded by DUI fines and drug fines. Mann advised Capital Improvements was another one that was subject to change and a hard one to figure. She advised they are expecting another upgrade to the computer system and to purchase new copiers so there were some extra increases for the administration and most of that was the software upgrade. She advised they were planning on new copiers at the police station, the recreation center and city hall. Mann advised when she was going through the revenues and expenditures for this tax budget she realized an error on our capital improvements, as the debt schedule was a little off and they weren’t going to have to spend quite as much as originally thought. Thus, she advised they were able to put a little more money into the capital improvements for expenditures. Mann advised there were moderate increases in salaries and contractual services for gas and electric for the fire department. Mann advised Debt Retirement looked as if it really went down due to the debt payment that would be paid off this year for the recreation center roof for the note redemption. She advised the bond redemption dropped quite a bit and that was the change found on the debt schedule. Mann advised the Cemetery Endowment Fund was dropped back quite a bit and was dependent on what was decided with opening the new section or using the flat headstone section, as Council seemed to be leaning toward changing the headstone requirements to open up more lots in the flat section. Mann advised the recreation trust fund has been used for the difference in what was spent in general fund in receipts from the recreation center, as they have been transferring money to cover expenses. She advised she budgeted $70,000 for next year and this year they were just under a $1,000 by the end of May for revenue expenses, which was very good. She advised so far they have had a very good year at the recreation center. Mann advised with regards to the water fund it was increased about $200,000, but most of that was for waterline replacements. She advised this year nothing was appropriated and the Utilities Director was hoping to do some waterline replacement work. Mann advised when she was setting this up they hadn’t had any final word on our Issue II application for Industrial Street and they may have to budget money now in 2008 as the Issue II money has tentatively been approved and they might have to drop down the amount for 2009, but she was hopeful they could spend some money next year as well out of this fund. She advised the sewer fund remained pretty much the same other than the increases previously mentioned. Mann advised the sewer surplus fund has dropped down and they have appropriated money for the Milton Road Lift Station, but they would have to see where the final figures came in and they would be playing it by ear for the end of 2008. Mann advised overall for all funds was actually down about $800,000, but a lot of that was the debt from the recreation center roof.

b. Discussion of the 2009 Proposed Service Department Budget
Service Director Dave Simpson gave a brief breakdown of the proposed 2009 budget for the service department. He advised he had to rearrange employees from department to department in the middle of last week and it changed his whole budget proposal and he apologized for not having it ready for their packets. Simpson advised he provided the percentage of increase or decrease for each account in the Service Department. He advised he changed an employee from the cemetery to building maintenance and an employee from building maintenance to the street department and the street department employee to the cemetery so some of the salary accounts were really going to be out of line from last year, but overall the total of the $753,000 budget was increased by 4.1%. Simpson advised health insurance went down and everything else pretty much stayed the same in the building maintenance department. He advised the cemetery operating costs in salaries didn’t change much at all as it was one of the lower paid employees who was moved there although longevity was up because that employee was moving up in years of service. He advised they dropped the engineering costs for opening the new section, which was a 3,000% decrease. Simpson advised overall in the cemetery budget compared to last year was a 4% decrease. He advised there weren’t any significant changes to Leisure Time Activities. Simpson advised the electric at the ball fields has decreased due to Recreation Director’s firm control over the lights and there was a one percent decrease in that account. He advised in the Community Environment accounts he added another $1,000 for mosquito spraying as the cost continues to go up due to the cost of petroleum. Simpson advised as far as storm sewer maintenance the $2500 really doesn’t go very far. He advised this year he had an excavator dress up Landis Ditch from Main Street to Eastern Road and that cost $2000 and that was out of that $2500 so, he was requesting $6000 for 2009.
Russell inquired as to what was done on Landis Ditch.
Simpson advised there were a couple logjams that had meandered as happens.
Russell advised he noticed at the bridge it was building up again with gravel.
Simpson advised they cleaned out and dug a big hole on the down streamside of the Main Street Bridge so the gravel could wash into that area. He advised they try to dig it out three or four times a year with six or seven big truckloads to get rid of the gravel so it doesn’t build up. Simpson advised vehicle maintenance stayed the same. He advised the workers comp numbers were adjusted. He advised they budgeted more in the gasoline and electric accounts, as they knew those were going to continue to go up. He advised in the St. M&R account he didn’t put much in the sick leave buyback previously as the guys haven’t been taking advantage of it in the past, but he felt they might start as their bank has built up. Simpson advised overall there was a 4.4% increase. He advised in the State Highway Fund they basically doubled the temporary employees salary accounts and dropped the overtime a bit and raised the maintenance supplies and fuel.
Beaumont inquired as to whom they were going to use for the new chipper.
Simpson advised when they first applied for the grant it was discussed they would apply for money to pay for the employees and have since found out that was not eligible under the grant terms. He advised he would be using the street department employees and they had twenty-six property owners who called in for brush pickup and were able to get all of them in one day. He advised he felt the number would increase as people see the chipper and word gets out more (about this service). He advised he and some other city employees had calls thinking it would be every Wednesday and he clarified it would only be the first Wednesday of the month.
Boggs inquired as to how much material was collected.
Simpson advised approximately 16 cubic yards, which was quite a bit and (the equipment) was making pretty nice chips and eventually could be used at the city buildings for mulch. He advised it was a good program and people were real receptive and excited we were going to provide this service.

c. Discussion of the 2009 Proposed Fire Department Budget
Fire Chief Don Sweigert advised the fire department five-year levy for capital improvements would be coming up for renewal in 2010. He advised it was a one-mil levy, which generates approximately $90,000 to $100,000 in revenue each year and the fire department budget was a little more than that amount. Sweigert advised his department has been allocated $150,000 and $90,000 to $100,000 was from the fire levy and the remaining amount was coming out of the general fund. He advised the $24,000 difference was from a carryover balance. Sweigert advised the budget was about the same as last year with an increase of 1.07%. He advised regarding the levy he would suggest it be put on the ballot in 2009 and if it doesn’t get approved there would still be time to get it approved. Sweigert advised if they choose to seek the 1-mil levy he would recommend they make it a replacement levy at the current valuation as it was at the 2005 valuation currently. Sweigert advised they have a plan to replace a fire truck every 30 years and they were trying to save $40,000 a year toward such a purchase, as the cost was approximately $400,000. He advised the ladder truck should last 40 years and the pumper trucks should last 25-30 years for our use. Sweigert indicated there has not been an increase in wages for the fire department since 1994 at $8.00 an hour. Sweigert advised he believed the level 1 FF received a $1.00 increase to $9.00 an hour in 2000 or 2001. He advised they budgeted for a 3% increase overall. Sweigert advised Medina Township, which was the most similar to Rittman’s, their 36 hour firefighters were paid $12.18 an hour and their level 1 and level 11 at $15.31 an hour. He advised Council might want to take a look at the firefighter wages, as they have not been increased in 14 years. Sweigert advised there was a 50% reduction in the cost of basic physicals. Sweigert advised the uniform line item was used for turnout gear and the replacement schedule tries to buy about 5 per year although they have only needed to replace 4 per year in recent years. He advised it was $2,000 per turnout gear with 30 members of the fire department, which was $60,000. Sweigert advised the dues and subscriptions were reduced by 40% noting it was important to stay informed of the educational materials and those were shared with the whole department. Sweigert advised as far as training was concerned he knew Councilman Johnson also requested they try to increase the budget for that line item. He advised last year they spent approximately $2,000 for training, but the year before they spent $6,600, as there were different kinds of training classes. He advised he could see it fluctuating and felt $3,500 was adequate and indicated funds might need to be increased as additional mandates for continuing education were adopted. He advised outside maintenance and maintenance contracts remained the same as well as maintenance supplies and vehicle maintenance. Sweigert advised in regards to maintenance contracts they were required to conduct a certification test on Ladder 56 every year as well as conduct air quality checks on our air compressor for the SCBA bottles quarterly. Sweigert indicated they conduct yearly SCBA bench tests on all 34 SCBA packs to verify all the components of the SCBA are functioning properly.
Boggs advised he wanted to point out to Council that the way they have been doing the budget (for the FD) they really haven’t been saving enough for the fire truck and they were going to have to do some creative thinking or catching up.
Sweigert advised the carryover balances have increased over the last three years and it was generally to get us through the first six months of the next year, but it has increased from $126,000 when he first took over as chief to $160,000 this last year. Sweigert advised they were looking at a 1.7% increase in (expenditures) and a reduction in income.
Beaumont inquired if he said Medina Township was the most comparable (to Rittman’s FD).
Sweigert advised yes, Medina Township although they have slightly more runs than (Rittman).
Beaumont inquired as to what their 36-hr firefighter was paid.
Sweigert advised $12.18 and their level 1 FF was paid $13.41.
Beaumont inquired as to the (Medina Township Fire Department) Chiefs salary.
Sweigert advised he believed it was $15,450.00 annual salary. He advised he could provide him a copy as he got the information off the website from the minutes of the Medina Township.

Citizens Forum
No comments.

Old Business

a. Ord. No. 7493 An Ordinance of the Council of the City of Rittman, Ohio, Wayne and Medina Counties, Declaring it Necessary to Establish a Municipal Motor Vehicle License Tax Upon Municipal Residents who have Registered Motor Vehicles in Medina County. Third Reading.
Ord. No. 7493 was read on third reading. Beaumont moved to adopt, upon roll call; Johnson-No, Russell-No, Lapehn-Yes, Beaumont-Yes, Copley-No, Carey-Yes (3-3) Mayor Robertson-Yes and motion carried.

b. Ord. No. 7494 An Ordinance of the Council of the City of Rittman, Ohio,
Wayne and Medina Counties, Declaring it Necessary to Establish a Municipal Motor Vehicle License Tax Upon Municipal Residents who have Registered Motor Vehicles in Wayne County. Third Reading.
Ord. No. 7494 was read on third reading. Beaumont moved to adopt, upon roll call; Beaumont-Yes, Lapehn-Yes, Johnson-No, Copley-No, Russell-No, Carey-Yes (3-3) Mayor Robertson-Yes and motion carried.

c. Res. No. 7499 A Resolution of the Council of the City of Rittman, Wayne and Medina Counties, Ohio, to Provide an Election to Establish a Municipal Motor Vehicle License Tax Upon Municipal Residents who have Registered Motor Vehicles in Medina and Wayne Counties and Declaring an Emergency. Second Reading.
Res. No. 7499 was read on second reading. Johnson moved to place on third, upon roll call; Johnson-Yes, Copley-Yes, Beaumont-No, Carey-No, Russell-No, Lapehn-No and motion failed.

d. Ord. No. 7500 An Ordinance of the Council of the City of Rittman, Wayne and Medina Counties and State of Ohio, Amending Section 1163.10 M3 Mixed Industrial Use, to Amend this Section of the Codified Ordinances of the City of Rittman and Declaring an Emergency. Second Reading.
Ord. No. 7500 was read on second reading. Lapehn moved to place on third, all Yeas on roll call and motion carried.

New Business

a. Res. No. 7501 A Resolution of the Council of the City of Rittman, Ohio, Authorizing the Municipal Manager, Chief of Police and City Finance Director to Submit an Application for DARE Program Funds for the Fiscal Year 2008-2009 Through the Ohio Attorney General’s Office. Three Readings.
Res. No. 7501 was read on first reading. Russell moved to suspend the rules and have second and third reading, all Yeas on roll call and motion carried. Res. No. 7501 was read on second and third reading. Copley moved to adopt, all Yeas on roll call and motion carried.

b. Ord. No. 7502 An Ordinance of the Council of the City of Rittman, Wayne and Medina Counties and State of Ohio, Amending the Annual Appropriation Ordinance No. 7466, As Amended According to the Attached Sheet(s) and Declaring an Emergency. First Reading.
Res. No. 7502 was read on first reading. Lapehn moved to place on second, all Yeas on roll call and motion carried.

c. Motion to Reconsider Resolution No. 7499
Russell inquired if they could go back and reconsider Res. No. 7499, as he would like to change his vote if there were no objections. He advised he believed he voted yes and he would like to vote no.
The clerk clarified on Res. No. 7499 Councilman Russell voted no.
Russell advised he wanted to vote yes.
Russell so moved, upon roll call; Carey-No, Copley-Yes, Russell-Yes, Beaumont-No, Lapehn-No, Johnson-Yes (3-3) Mayor Robertson-No and motion failed.

City Manager’s Remarks
City Manager Larry Boggs advised he received notice today that the city was awarded a grant for the Industrial Street Waterline Project. He advised it was an approximate $400,000 project and $168,383.00 was from the state and $218,917.00 would come from the water department fund, which would reduce the carryover balance significantly.
Boggs advised letters were sent out today by certified mail to the property owners on Ohio Avenue for the paving project.
He advised they still have not received a quote for the (resurfacing of the) tennis courts and basketball courts at the recreation center. Boggs advised he noticed some wear and tear on it and it was normal to need resurfacing about every eight years. He advised it would be approximately $10,000 to $14,000 if they do both of those courts this year.
Boggs advised he had a meeting with the Police Chief and the second in command and they discussed a possible grant to assist the schools. He advised they contacted Superintendent Ritchie and were going to apply for a $60,000 grant that was designed to provide security systems for schools. He advised he felt the timing was good with the prospect of a new high school building. Boggs advised it was a matching funds grant and if successful it would save the citizens approximately $30,000. He advised it would be a C.O.P.S. grant, which was run through the city, but if successful the schools would reimburse us for those amounts.
City Manager Boggs advised there were a couple of issues pending and they may have to hold a special meeting and he wanted to give Council advance notice.

a. Approval of Financial Report for May
Russell moved to approve, all Yeas on roll call and motion carried.

b. Finance Director’s Remarks
Finance Director Lucinda Mann advised she wanted to remind Council she would be gone next week for training and would be out of the office all week.

Council Remarks
Council Member Glen Russell advised he appreciated everyone for being here. He advised he appreciated the budget reports presented as he felt they did a good job and he congratulated them. Russell advised regarding the downtown revitalization and the one store (on S. Main St. where the windows are covered with paper) he felt if they purchased some venetian blinds to cover the windows it would make the downtown look much better. Russell advised maybe the City Manager could contact them and advise them of such.
Council Member Lynn Beaumont advised the Open House at the Police Department was very successful and the Police Chief said he thought over 130 people attended and over 30 of those people requested and received free gun locks. Beaumont advised Burg reported there were 36 children who attended and the taser demonstration was popular with them and the kids were finger printed and he felt the Police Department should be commended. Beaumont advised the chamber report stated that last year the Sleepwalker Festival made over $4,000 and over $1,600 the year before and this year they were projecting a profit over $5,000 and he felt that was a testament to how hard they were working and the fact that people were interested in coming to our festival. Beaumont thanked the departments for their (budget) reports. He advised the reason he asked the (fire) chief for the Medina Township figures because he felt they (Council) needed to discuss in the very near future raises for the Fire Department. He advised we have discussed it and possibly after the summer meetings he felt they should consider those raises most especially for the chief.
Council Member Richard Lapehn inquired regarding the Perm Tax money they would be using on DeCourcey, W. Sunset, W. Ohio and College streets for paving and advised it looked as if there would be $70,000 from Perm I and $30,000 used from Perm II and inquired as to how much would be left if anything or were they draining those accounts.
Finance Director Mann advised the fund balance sheet shows those figures and Perm Tax I would be taken down to approximately $26,000. She advised Perm Tax I builds constantly, but slowly. Mann advised the Perm Tax II would be taken down to almost $17,000.
Lapehn advised so there wouldn’t be Perm Tax monies available for probably two years at least.
Mann advised that was correct.
Lapehn advised regarding the Sleepwalker Festival he agreed with Beaumont and there was a lot of information being provided this year with the quarterly report and flyers and the information being provided in the Trading Post and a lot more people it seemed were talking about the Sleepwalker with enthusiasm and expectation. He advised it was nice to know ahead of time some of the events that were going to be taking place and some of the people who would be involved and that was good to see. Lapehn advised he made some phone calls regarding our Fire Chiefs part-time status. He advised he called the US Department of Labor, the Civil Service Commission of Ohio, the Department of Commerce and spoke with some of their labor employees regarding labor standard acts and you almost need a labor attorney to help you go through the morass of stuff such as the Fair Labor Standards Act, which applies here. Lapehn advised what he got out of it was that what was necessary in our duties to the Fire Chief was that we weren’t asking him to work 80 hours a week and only paying him for 20 hours just like an employee who works 8 hours a day as an hourly employee can’t be asked by the boss to stay for 10 hours and not be compensated properly. But Lapehn advised he wanted to echo Mr. Beaumont’s remarks that we could do better as a city compensating the Fire Chief for his work and he felt there was something Council could do to make that possible and he hoped it doesn’t sound like a whole lot of hot air.
Council Member James Johnson thanked everyone for coming. He advised he would like to publicly apologize to the citizens of Rittman where three members of this Council and the Mayor denied you your right to vote on how you can spend your money.
Council Member Darrell Carey thanked everyone for coming. He thanked City Manager Boggs for the letter sent regarding the overgrown bushes blocking a stop sign as he almost ran the stop sign himself and he was glad to see that problem corrected quickly.
Council Member Charles Copley thanked everyone for coming. He thanked the Fire Chief for his report and advised he felt it was nice to see they were staying close to the same (budget) as last year as that was always good to see. Copley advised he was sorely disappointed in Council and especially the Mayor for not allowing people to vote on that issue. He advised it was a split Council and the only reason he supported sending to the ballot as he felt when Council was split on something like that the citizens should have the opportunity and they still have the opportunity to bring a referendum forward.
Russell advised on Rufener and (Eastern Rd.) the stop sign was pretty much covered up by hedges.
Boggs advised that was the issue Councilman Carey brought up.
Carey indicated they have since trimmed those hedges.
Mayor William Robertson advised last weekend the Foutty’s of the IGA had Joe Charboneau at the store on Friday and a band concert Saturday night and there were a couple hundred people down in the parking lot and they were thrilled with the turnout and had a good time celebrating their one year anniversary of being open. He advised the Foutty’s were very appreciative of the support from the Rittman citizens and it was great to see them involved in the city. Robertson advised along with the Sleepwalker Festival they have a lot of things planned they were putting a lot of their own money into and part of the reason there were so many volunteers to help work on things and allow the profit to come out of the other end of it he felt would be a loss if everyone charged. Robertson advised Rick (Hanlon) does a lot of volunteer work too and if we (Chamber) had to pay for all the electrical work he does it would come out of that budget. He advised Rittman has a great festival and it brings people together.

a. Approval of Vouchers 48756 thru 48859 Including Then and Now
Certificates Johnson moved to approve, all Yeas on roll call and motion carried.

Motion to Adjourn – 8:01 p.m.
Lapehn so moved, all Yeas on roll call and motion carried.