Caucus: June 7th 2021
MINUTES OF A COUNCIL CAUCUS
MAYFIELD VILLAGE, OHIO
Monday, June 7, 2021 – 7:00 p.m.
Videoconferenced in Main Conference Room-Mayfield Village Civic Center
Present in Main Conference Room: Council President Schutt and Mrs. Betsa. All other members of Council, Mayor Bodnar, Ron Wynne, Ms. Weber, Mr. Marrelli, Mr. Russell and Mr. Sipos in attendance via ZOOM. The remainder of the Department Heads accessed the meeting via videoconference.
This meeting can be accessed by going to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDSbZmF2W8E&t=635s
Council President Schutt stated, welcome to the June 7, 2021 Council Caucus meeting for Mayfield Village, Ohio. It is 7:11 p.m. This meeting has been duly noticed and will be held in accordance with Ohio Revised Code Section 121.22 specific to recent amendments made in light of the current COVID-19 declared emergency (House Bill 197-amended by House Bill 404). Under the orders of Governor DeWine and the Director of Health of Ohio, and pursuant to Ordinance 2020-08, adopted March 16, 2020, Council will be meeting remotely, via electronic means. No one will be in Council Chambers or able to access that space during the meeting The public is invited to view the meeting live and can access the meeting through a link posted on the Mayfield Village website at www.mayfieldvillage.com.
Mayfield Village will conduct these proceedings in compliance with all applicable State Laws and regulations.
ROLL CALL:
Present: Mrs. Jurcisek, Mr. Marquardt, Mr. Meyers, Mrs. Mills, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Schutt, and Mr. Williams
Also Present: Mayor Bodnar, Mr. Wynne, Ms. Weber, Mr. Marrelli, Mr. Russell, and Mr. Sipos
PENDING LEGISLATION:
- Ordinance No. 2021-04, entitled, “An Ordinance amending Mayfield Village Codified Ordinance Section 1501.08 Unfriendly Fires in Building; Alarm Duties.” Introduced by Mayor Bodnar. (First Reading – April 19, 2021; Second Reading – May 17, 2021) (Fire Department/Building Department)
Council President Schutt asked, any questions?
There were none.
Council President Schutt stated, Ordinance 2021-04 will be moved to Third Read for the Regular Meeting of Council on June 21st.
- Ordinance No. 2021-05, entitled, “An Ordinance amending Mayfield Village Codified Ordinance Section 1183.10 Improvements to Parking and Loading Areas.” Introduced by Mayor Bodnar. (First Reading – April 19, 2021; Second Reading – May 17, 2021) (Fire Department/Building Department)
Council President Schutt asked, any questions?
There were none.
Council President Schutt stated, Ordinance 2021-05 will be moved to Third Read for the Regular Meeting of Council on June 21st.
- Ordinance No. 2021-06, entitled, “An Ordinance amending Mayfield Village Codified Ordinance Section 1501.12 Conflict.” Introduced by Mayor Bodnar. (First Reading – April 19, 2021; Second Reading – May 17, 2021) (Fire Department/Building Department)
Council President Schutt asked, any questions?
There were none.
Council President Schutt stated, Ordinance 2021-06 will be moved to Third Read for the Regular Meeting of Council on June 21st.
- Ordinance No. 2021-07, entitled, “An Ordinance repealing Mayfield Village Codified Ordinance Section 1383.06 Automatic Fire Detection Systems in existing buildings in its entirety.” Introduced by Mayor Bodnar. (First Reading – April 19, 2021; Second Reading – May 17, 2021) (Fire Department/Building Department)
Council President Schutt asked, any questions?
There were none.
Council President Schutt stated, Ordinance 2021-07 will be moved to Third Read for the Regular Meeting of Council on June 21st.
- Ordinance No. 2021-08, entitled, “An Ordinance amending Mayfield Village Codified Ordinance Section 1383.03 Buildings and Occupancies Requiring Automatic Fire Suppression Systems.” Introduced by Mayor Bodnar. (First Reading – April 19, 2021; Second Reading – May 17, 2021) (Fire Department/Building Department)
Council President Schutt asked, any questions?
There were none.
Council President Schutt stated, Ordinance 2021-08 will be moved to Third Read for the Regular Meeting of Council on June 21st.
MAYOR:
Thank you Council President. Just a couple things of note this evening.
First of all, we held our Memorial Day Services on Sunday May 30th and it was very successful. When they say it takes a Village, I think maybe they had in mind our services. Special thanks to resident Mary Singer who has put this event together and done a wonderful job for many many years. It was more of a challenge this year because of COVID. She had more difficulty securing
musicians and participants, but we had a great turnout. It turned out wonderful. Our Council President Steve Schutt did a great job as Master of Ceremonies so thank you Council President. Our Police Chief Matias was a great featured speaker. Chief Matias is a proud Veteran of the United States Navy. We had Council members Patsy Mills and Al Meyers in attendance. Service Department Chair Scott Sipos, Fire Chief Carcioppolo and our Director of Administration Diane Wolgamuth was also in attendance. If I missed anybody, I’m very sorry, but it was a wonderful event and I thank everybody who participated and who turned out.
Finally a couple of birthdays. A few weeks ago, our IT guy extraordinaire Jeff Thomas, the man behind the camera who has helped us glide through our COVID Zoom meetings like a hot knife through butter celebrated a birthday. Thank you for everything Jeff. As our special birthday gift to you, we are going to go back to in-person meetings next month.
Finally, our Council President Steve Schutt is going to be celebrating a birthday next week, so a very happy birthday to you Steve and thank you for everything you do.
That wraps up my comments. Thank you.
COUNCIL PRESIDENT:
Council President Schutt stated, thank you Mayor Bodnar and I would like to wish a happy birthday to you as well. Mayor Bodnar’s birthday is June 23rd so she will be celebrating her birthday later on this month as well.
Mayor Bodnar stated, thank you.
Council President Schutt stated, you’re welcome.
Council President Schutt stated, the next Regular meeting of Council is on June 21st at 7:00 p.m. This meeting will be the last virtual meeting. In-person meetings will commence on Tuesday, July 6th at 7:00 p.m. The meeting is on Tuesday due to the 4th of July holiday. The Regular Meeting of Council in July will be on Monday, July 19th. As in the past, all meetings are open to the public. The meetings will no longer be streamed via ZOOM.
CLERK OF COUNCIL:
- Community Shred Day: June 19, 2021
Just a reminder of Community Shred Day on Saturday, June 19th from 9:00-12:00 in the Civic Center parking lot. Please call Administration with any questions. Thank you.
FINANCE:
- Property/Liability Insurance Renewal
Mr. Wynne stated, I have several items this evening. The first item is our property and casualty liability insurance policies are up for renewal at the end of this month. I spoke with the broker this morning and they are still waiting for bids in on several of the policies so I hope to have the final numbers for you prior to the Council meeting on June 21st. Based upon the bids they have received so far, we are looking at an increase for the coming year of about between 4-6%.
- Establishing Fund for American Rescue Plan
Mr. Wynne stated, we are going to be getting funds in the next couple of months under the American Rescue Plan Act. Similar to the CARES Act, you might have to establish a separate funds on the books to account for those funds. I have reached out to the State Auditor’s Office to find out if we can use the existing Coronavirus Fund that we set up last year and if we can’t then we will be requesting Council to approve the set up of another fund on our books so we can track those funds separately.
- Alternative Tax Budget
Mr. Wynne stated, this is an annual requirement to submit an Alternative Tax Budget to the County by July 15th of every year. This will be for our property tax collections for next year; how these will get allocated amongst our funds. This has to be approved by July 15th, so we will either need a Special Meeting on July 6th to get it approved or I will try to get everything done so that we can approve it at the June 21st meeting.
That’s the end of my report. I will take any questions if anyone has any.
Council President Schutt stated, it looks like there are no questions. Thank you Mr. Wynne.
LAW:
- Recommendation of Planning and Zoning Commission regarding Mars’ Storage Expansion
- Landscape Agreement between Mars and Skoda
Ms. Weber stated, hello. I wanted to give you all an update on the Mars’ Storage Expansion and Landscape Agreement between Mars and Skoda. As you know, at the last Council meeting there was a recommendation from the Planning and Zoning Commission in order to approve with conditions a temporary permit in order for Mars to expand their outdoor storage area at their location at 6655 Beta Drive. As you know, one of the conditions that was placed upon this temporary permit was to enter into a Development Agreement between Mars Electric and the representatives of the Montebello Subdivision in order to provide for adequate landscaping screening to diminish any type of potential noise that would be caused. Our Economic Development Manager, John Marquart was working with them. We have had numerous discussion with both Mars Electric and the representatives of the Montebello Subdivision as well as the owner of the property that Mars Electric leases from and we have almost completed and come to an agreement on a final Development Agreement that will provide for cost sharing and construction of an agreed landscape buffer between the Mars Electric Property and the Montebello Subdivision. We have one outstanding item that we are nailing down regarding the ongoing maintenance but outside of that we are hopeful to have a final Development Agreement to provide to you in packets for the next Council meeting to go along with the motion to approve the Planning and Zoning Commissions’ recommendation. If anyone has any questions, I would be happy to answer them.
Council President Schutt stated, it doesn’t look like there are any questions. Thank you Ms. Weber.
Ms. Weber replied, thank you.
SERVICE:
- Updates to Wage Ordinance
Mr. Sipos stated, thank you Council President. I am looking to add a stipend to hold certain certifications within the department. We have four certifications I feel we need the men to have, one of them being an ISA Certified Arborist through the International Society of Agriculture, an NRPA Certified Playground Safety Inspector through the Ohio Parks and Recreation Association, a Certified Pool Operator through the National Aquatics Council and the Ohio Commercial Pesticides License through the Ohio Department of Agriculture. We hold these certifications to ensure safety through inspections with certified personnel who have completed the exams and also for the operations of day-to-day duties within the Service Department. So for those certifications, the men have to complete schooling and take an examination to hold the certification. We do need to have those to function.
The second item is I want to get rid of the two Foremen positions and create another layer of a larger footprint with management by having four crew leaders put in place so that the two Foremen would go away and we would have four crew leaders and they will be the personnel in the Department that show leadership qualities and that are trustworthy that I could reach out to and handle the situations. Usually we have two landscape crews in the north end of town and one in the south end of town. I have a construction crew that travels around through the Village so that’s the other incentive I want to create within the Department. Those individuals will be selected by me. They would not hold those positions permanently. They would have to hold on to them by showing certain qualities and hard work.
Mr. Sipos stated, those are the two items I have. If there are any questions, I would be happy to answer them.
Mr. Meyers stated, I have a couple.
Mr. Sipos replied, sure.
Mr. Meyers asked, we already have an Arborist, right?
Mr. Sipos replied, yes, we do.
Mr. Meyers asked, is he certified?
Mr. Sipos replied, yes, he’s certified through the International Society of Arboriculture.
Mr. Meyers asked, so we will have another arborist, or will it be the same person?
Mr. Sipos replied, no, there will only be one arborist. He already holds the arborist certificate right now. If he would choose to step down or he doesn’t want to do that, then another guy can step up and get his certification. I push the guys to get their certifications regardless. I think it’s good if we have more than one arborist on site. Only one would hold the Arborist position and hold that certification. The same thing with the Playground Inspector. We currently do not have one. We need that position filled to do inspections on the playgrounds which we should be doing every month. The other certification, Certified Pool Operator, we have two men that go down and handle the pool chemicals and the operations of the pool. We do the start up and tear down of the pool, but to handle the chemicals we need to have two Certified Pool Operators on staff. The Ohio Pesticides License is needed because just in order to spray Roundup we have to have somebody within the department that holds that license as well. That’s why I need to fill these positions. I want to create a stipend. It’s an added responsibility and a liability to hold these licenses. That’s why I want a stipend put in place.
Mr. Meyers asked, would that pesticide application be part of the fertilizer for the ballfields?
Mr. Sipos replied, we contracted out a fertilizer for the ballfields so this way we don’t hold those chemicals on site. It takes a lot of time to do those applications that’s being done by the professionals. For us to maintain the fields and spray the beds and everything with Roundup, we have to have somebody who is certified.
Mr. Meyers stated, okay. Thank you.
Mr. Sipos replied, sure.
Mrs. Jurcisek asked, Scott, a couple of questions about the details. There’s obviously a savings with not replacing the two positions. Do we know approximately how much a year that cost savings is when you look at some of these extra certifications versus two full-time salaries? I’m just curious.
Mr. Sipos replied, so the way we came to the number of $2.00 an hour was the two Foremen were $4.00 an hour more than the regular personnel here, so we just split those up into four different positions so we would not be incurring any more cost, if that’s correct Ron?
Mr. Wynne replied, yes. Certainly the savings is not an additional person. We physically have the person here. It’s just a premium that the individual gets. The cost of the stipends for the crew leaders is $2.00 per hour. That’s pretty much budget neutral.
Mr. Meyers asked, if it’s $2.00 per person times 4, that’s $8.00 versus $4.00.
Mr. Wynne replied, yes.
Mr. Meyers sated, I’m just adding the numbers.
Mr. Sipos replied, no, we have the two Foremen positions that you are going to fill within the department so that was $.8.00.
Mr. Meyers asked, four crew leaders, right?
Mr. Sipos replied, four crew leaders at $2.00 a piece would be $8.00. We would have more costs if we were to have two Foremen, I would think.
Mr. Wynne stated, no, Scott if we were to keep the Foremen position, Scott, would you say two individuals that we currently have and make them Foremen, we wouldn’t have to hire from the outside, correct Scott?
Mr. Sipos replied, that’s correct, yes. And this position may be held by a gentleman that is not at the top rate so at some points we may be saving money. It’s not always going to be the same people who are crew leaders. If they’re on vacation, they wouldn’t be getting the crew leader rate or if another individual steps up or if it’s a different project, I will switch it around to the person who is most qualified for that project at that time. There will be times where we will be saving money but we will have the same amount of people within the department. So if we had two Foremen and we added two Foremen in the Department it would just be two guys promoted inside the Department and then they have their position and they have the position forever. This way, I am creating an incentive within the Department so those who are most trustworthy and the hardest workers will get the positions of crew leader. I do rely on people to kind of be my crew leaders. It creates a bigger footprint of management within the department and it creates incentives for the guys to work harder to get to that position because it’s achievable by anybody.
Mrs. Jurcisek stated, thank you.
Mr. Sipos replied, sure.
Mr. Murphy asked, Scott, are you creating expectations or a job description of crew leaders and what’s expected of them and how someone can be the crew leader or trying to keep things straight and narrow?
Mr. Sipos replied, yes. In order to hold that position, guys will step up and, naturally you know, we have leaders and then we have guys who just want to work within the department and that’s okay. So these guys that I can rely on that will keep the guys straight, we will push the projects and we will manage them and make sure the work gets done. Those are the people that will be crew leaders. There’s guys currently in the department already that will naturally be the crew leaders, so I do have expectations of them. Now if those expectations are not met and they do slack off, then I’m going to go to the next person that’s showing those leadership qualities.
Mr. Murphy stated, I would just suggest full communication with them letting them know your expectations and if you take away their position as crew leader, they know why and what the reasoning was behind it.
Mr. Sipos replied, absolutely. And they may switch according to the project. If we have a larger project that we are pouring concrete or something, and it starts to slow down within the department where I don’t need two crews cutting grass in the south end of town, then what I will do is take those guys and refocus them on a different project so then we may just have three crew leaders. It’s all going to be based on my needs at that time.
Mr. Murphy asked, okay. Initially you said you were going to have four crew leaders and it wasn’t going to alternate, but it sounds like you can have two crew leaders at a time or four crew leaders at a time, is that true?
Mr. Sipos replied, I will have room to have four crew leaders. Currently with the way we are doing things right now, I could use four crew leaders, but there may be times that that changes, so if we have a large project going on where I am having half of the personnel in the department there, then I don’t need to have four crew leaders. I may only have three crews, do you understand? So I may not need four crew leaders, but currently I have four crews out working so it’s going to alternate in a way and this is a way for me to allow it to alternate instead of just having two Foremen all the time.
Mr. Murphy asked, the only thing that fluctuates is their wages working on a specific project as crew leader for that project?
Mr. Sipos replied, exactly.
Mr. Murphy stated, thanks.
Council President Schutt asked, any other questions for Mr. Sipos?
There were none.
Council President Schutt stated, okay thank you everyone for the comments and questions.
ANY OTHER MATTER BEFORE COUNCIL:
Council President Schutt asked, are there any other matters to come before Council tonight?
There were none.
There being no further matters, the meeting concluded at 7:32 p.m.