Rittman City Council Met in

A Regular Meeting

on Monday, March 22, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.

Members Present: Bill Workman, Rick Hanlon, Lynn Beaumont, Glen Russell and Richard Lapehn

Members Absent:  Darrell Carey

Presiding:               Mayor William Robertson

Invocation was given by: Ezra Caynor, Elder followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.  

Approval of Minutes – March 8, 2010

Lapehn so moved, all Yeas on roll call and motion carried.

Presentation to City Council by Patrolman John David Miller

            Patrolman Miller advised he recently returned from serving a year in Iraq with the United States Army and he thanked the City of Rittman for the support given to him and his family. He advised they (the City of Rittman) are a great employer and he was very proud to work here. Miller presented Council with a mounted American Flag and patches he carried with him through his entire deployment. He advised there was also a certificate which states, “Presented to the City of Rittman this flag and patches were carried during Operation Iraqi Freedom on combat logistic patrols by SSG John D. Miller of the 762^nd Transportation Company form April 22, 2009 – February 22, 2010” and was signed by his commander.

            Ptl. Miller was welcomed back by Council with a round of applause thanking him for his service to his country.

 

Workshop - None

Citizens Forum

Butch Carr of Hawk Ridge on behalf of the American Legion advised he was requesting permission to hold a parade for Memorial Day in the City of Rittman. He advised if it were so granted he would like to extend a personal invitation to Council to attend.

City Manager Boggs granted permission and advised Mr. Carr to let him know of starting times and location so the police department could be properly notified and set up.

Carr thanked Mr. Boggs. He advised the parade would be held on Memorial Day (Monday, May 24, 2010) and would begin at 10:30 am on Main Street (at Erie St.) marching north ending at the shopping center and meeting afterward at the Rittman Cemetery (DeCourcey) for a brief ceremony.

Mayor Robertson advised if they needed help with anything to let him know and he could be reached at wrobertson@rittman.com He advised he would try to remember to include the information in his weekly article when it was closer to the date of the parade. Robertson thanked him for organizing the parade.

Old Business – None

New Business

a.         Proclamation – American Red Cross Month

Mayor William Robertson proclaimed March 2010 as “American Red Cross Month” in the

City of Rittman and urged all residents to show support for the Wayne County Chapter of the American Red Cross and he challenged each of us to become active participants in advancing the noble mission of the Red Cross.

City Manager’s Remarks

            City Manager Larry Boggs advised several meetings ago he presented Council with a list of recommended rates and fee increases for some of the city services. He advised he didn’t hear any opposing views to those increases and he would be implementing the ones that did not require Council’s legislative action. Boggs advised with regards to the proposed cemetery fee increases an ordinance was required to change those rates and recently there were a couple of burials scheduled for a Saturday and the city incurred 10 hours of overtime for the employees. Boggs advised he talked with Gillman’s and they understood the reasoning behind increasing the rates for after hours and on weekends and holidays. He advised if there were no objections he would like to bring it back in ordinance form for the next meeting for Council’s consideration.

            Boggs advised he had a brief update for Council for an executive session at the end of the meeting.

Finance Director’s Remarks 

            Finance Director Barbara Rissland advised included in the packet was a general spreadsheet giving an analysis of the revenues for 2008 and 2009. She advised she was compiling some of the information for the audit and she thought Council might be interested in it as well and she was just passing it along for informational purposes at this time.

            Mayor Robertson advised he had to give a presentation last week and the information was timely and helpful.

Council Remarks

            Council Member Lynn Beaumont inquired of the Finance Director as to how the census forms affect any possible grants or funding the city might receive.

            Rissland advised a lot of your state governed locally shared taxes were based on population so it was important that everyone was counted because that would affect the distribution of taxes governed by other people.

            Beaumont advised so it would behoove them to encourage our citizens to fill out the forms.

            Rissland advised most definitely.

            Beaumont indicated the form was very simple to fill out and there were only 7 or 8 questions and there was nothing on the form he received that people couldn’t access through public records anyway. He advised he would encourage the citizens to fill the form out, as it would help us (Rittman) and he believed the deadline was the first week of April.

            Robertson advised he mentioned it twice in his article. He advised if everyone sent in their forms and the census employees didn’t have to go out and do follow-ups, it would save the US Government $1.5 billion dollars, which was phenomenal.

            Boggs advised one of the things they could do, as he felt they still had a marginal amount of time, was put a reminder on the utilities bill about filling out the census form.

            Council Member Bill Workman thanked everyone for coming. He advised Mr. Carr they would support the American Legion with the parade and with the fish fry’s as well.

            Council Member Rick Hanlon had no remarks.

            Council Member Richard Lapehn advised the Finance Director that he was encouraged by the numbers in the spreadsheet and he saw it as good news and he thanked her for providing such. Lapehn advised in response to the e-mail from Mr. Meade regarding beekeeping inside city limits, when it came before Council previously he voted in favor of allowing the beekeeping in city limits and he continues to be in favor of it. He advised the county oversaw the beekeeping and you had to be a licensed beekeeper and there were inspections and regulations governing such. Lapehn advised he felt it was interesting that the New York City Board of Health voted to allow beekeeping in their city limits and they were a dense population. He advised he wanted Mr. Meade to know he was giving his support.

            Robertson inquired if there was legislation brought previously.

            Boggs advised he didn’t believe they had legislation the last time, but Mr. Meade made a presentation to Council and the majority of Council at that time was not in favor of passing new legislation in order to change it.

            Beaumont inquired if they should discuss it, as there were two new Council Members.

            Boggs inquired if Council would like him to invite Mr. Meade to a future meeting.

            Russell advised previously he wasn’t in favor of the beekeeping and he believed Councilman Carey wasn’t in favor of it unless he has since changed his mind. He advised he believed there was a place for everything, but he didn’t believe bees had a spot in Rittman. Russell advised it was in the news recently where in Florida honeybees stung people and there were thousands of bees in the trees. He advised he didn’t feel this was the proper place to have bees because of safety. Russell advised there were people who were allergic to bees and he was quite concerned about that.

            Workman advised he didn’t believe beekeepers draw the bees to cause anyone problems.

            Russell advised he didn’t believe it was the beekeepers, but the bees.

            It was noted, Mr. Meade would be contacted to attend a future meeting for a workshop discussion.

            Council Member Glen Russell congratulated Patrolman Miller for his service to our country and to our city as he was an excellent patrolman.

            Mayor William Robertson had no remarks.

a.       Approval of Vouchers 52831 thru 52925 Including Then and Now

Certificates Hanlon moved to approve, all Yeas on roll call and motion carried.

Motion to Go Into Executive Session for the Purpose of Discussing the Purchase of Property and Invite the Law Director, the Mayor, the Finance Director and the City Manager  - 7:19 p.m. – Workman so moved, all Yeas on roll call and motion carried.

Motion to Come Out of Executive Session – 7:40 p.m.

Workman so moved, all Yeas on roll call and motion carried.

Adjourn: 7:41 p.m.

Russell so moved, all Yeas on roll call and motion carried.

________________________________Mayor

__ ______________________

Clerk of Council