City Council Meeting 2.1.10 Notes

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The Tipp City Council meeting this evening started about 10 minutes late due to the 6:45PM Study Session over Council’s strategic retreat, the eminent domain question and the bids for the new water tower.

The first item on the agenda included the Prayer for Guidance and Pledge of Allegiance lead by Father Marc Sherlock, from St. John the Baptist Catholic Church.

Item one was an ordinance adopting a revised Codification of the Tipp City Municipal Code at a cost of $11,000. **EDIT According to City Manager Jon Crusey, “$5,500 of which was budgeted by the Law Department and encumbered in 2009 for this codification. Additionally, there was an outstanding P.O. to American Legal for $4,415. The remaining $1,500, which was technically not budgeted for the codification, came from City Council’s budget.”  The Ordinance passed unanimously.

The second ordinance authorized the abatement of unsafe structures and enacting codes Sections 94.70 to 94.76 of the Codified Ordinances for the City of Tipp City. This ordinance was sponsored by Hale with Kessler providing the second. During public comments, Councilman Kessler stated “I see the need for this for the City overall”.  Councilman Bryan Budding  stated that he has “reservations about the ordinance” and continuing, “I believe that this may be the law of unintended consequences”. and continued to partially quote Barry Goldwater in saying… “And if I should be attacked for neglecting my constituents’ ‘interests,’ I shall reply that I was informed that their main interest is liberty, and in that cause I am doing the very best I can.” Councilman Joe Gibson described his thoughts on the ordinance concisely,  “this does not provide enough protections for the property owner, so I will be voting no.” The roll was called and the Ordinance passed 4-3 with Gibson, Black and Budding voting against the measure.

Motions

The first motion was to provide for a vacation position in the Parks Department after one individual there moved over to fill an opening in the Water Department. Councilman Bryan Budding asked for some clarification on the position from Scott Vagedes. Vagedes approached the podium and shared, “As discussed in the Capital improvement budget meeting, we have 400+ acres of mowing and trimming with only 3 people… with a need for more laborers now that there is the bike trail to mow and trim.” Vagedes continued, “Not filling the vacancy with a full time position would put us behind in the mowing.” Both Councilmen Gibson and Budding were seeking a reason to not backfill the position, as attrition is a much more palatable way to cut the budget over termination of an employee in the future. Motion passes with Councilman Kessler voting No.

Appointments

Steve Gellatly to Building Standards Board of Review

Scott Brownlee to the Planning Board
– George Lovett stated  “I have known both folks, both are well qualified.” he continued,  “When someone attends the council meeting in which they are nominated, that speaks volumes about that person. “

Tom Deross to the Tree Board

Kathy Vukovich to the Board of Zoning Appeals

Both Gardens Alive! and Holiday Inn have filed a public appeal to the Board of Zoning Appeals for recent decisions that have not gone their way. A public hearing for these have been set for Feb 16th.

EDITORS NOTE: I have requested details about these appeals from the City Manager, more to come…

Closing Remarks

Gibson – Reminding that the City Council meeting will be rebroadcast on Channel 5 and that the broadcast schedule is published on KIT website and TippNews.com Soon KIT-TV will Include BZA and Planning Board meeting s to their schedule of broadcasts.

Lovett – Jan19 attended Ohio Municipal Electric Assn in Columbus. Oppty to get an update on state and federal issues about municipal power. He will be headed to Washington DC Feb 22-24th to be briefed by them. Lovett intends to meet with the Energy aide for US Rep. John Boehner. He also reminded the public that the City gets reimbursed 100% for these travel expenses.

Mayor Gillis stated that Saturday is an art exhibit at Benkins and that tomorrow is Groundhog Day