Mayor Nathan Frisch called the January 28, 2021 Village of Attica Council regular meeting to order at 7:34 PM.

Roll Call: Lynn Love, George Yakoubian, Ed Treft, Tim Bulger, Kirk Stanfield, Louis Sanders Others Present: Village Administrator Greg Martin, Solicitor Heather Niedermeier Heyman Approval of Warrants: Motion by Councilman Bulger, seconded by Councilman Yakoubian to approve the warrants for payment. Vote: 6-0. Motion carried.

Approval of Minutes: Motion by Councilman Love, seconded by Councilman Bulger to approve minutes. Vote: 6-0. Motion carried.

Written & Oral Communication: none

Public Safety: none

Streets & Properties: VA Martin updated: potholes are showing up; we’ll fix them in the spring. Councilman Yakoubian reported on the stop sign issue from the previous meeting, that, aside from switching the signs, he sees no need to remove the stop signs. They currently run North/South, and he would recommend switching it to East/West. Councilman Bulger also reported that he took time to observe the intersection for about an hour. He also recommends a switch and no removal. VA Martin stated there wouldn’t be much to change them, we do have signs. Solicitor Heyman also confirmed that it would be a good idea to post something notifying residents of the change so they get used to it. Also suggested moving to a 4-way stop for a little while before removing the North/South signs. Motion by Councilman Yakoubian, seconded by Councilman Bulger to change the intersection in question of two alleys, near High and 224, to a 4-way stop for two months, then remove the North/South signs. Vote: 4-2, with Councilmen Treft and Stanfield opposing. Motion carried.

Parks: VA Martin requested that Councilman Love place markers in the downtown park where the new picnic tables should go in the spring.

Trees: none

Fire: Councilman Bulger reported: had meeting, paid bills, passed resolution to get new SCBA bags, scheduled some maintenance, announced upcoming CO2 training and Seneca East Cross Country event on 9/11 with a flyover planned.

EMS: Councilman Love reported: had meeting, paid bills, announced another meeting with commissioners via Zoom on 2/8 and interviews for new clerk on 2/10.

Cemetery: none

Personnel: Third read of ORD 2020-25: AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING RATES OF PAY FOR VILLAGE EMPLOYEES. Motion by Councilman Sanders, seconded by Councilman Love to adopt ORD 2020-25. Vote: 6-0. Motion carried. Discussion on the proposed handbook ordinance took place, with questions regarding healthcare coverage for employees’ families, water/sewer required licenses, license pay. Councilman Bulger felt those changes should be made and expressed he would like to table the ordinance until they are. Motion by Councilman Bulger, seconded by Councilman Sanders to table ORD 2020-23. Vote: 6-0. Motion carried.

Zoning Commission: none

Finance & Rule: Cash balance of all funds $ 1,315,435.55. First read of RES 2021-2: 2021 AMENDED PERMANENT APPROPRIATIONS. FO Gullett explained the changed were to incorporate Coronavirus funds since the deadline was extended to the end of 2021, recommending passage by emergency to continue forward with plans to subgrant to the fire department and any other expenditures of Coronavirus funds. Motion by Councilman Love, seconded by Councilman Sanders to suspend the three read rule on RES 2021-2. Vote: 6-0. Motion carried. Motion by Councilman Bulger, seconded by Councilman Love to declare an emergency on RES 2021-2. Vote: 6-0. Motion carried. Motion by Councilman Yakoubian, seconded by Councilman Bulger to adopt RES 2021-2. Vote: 6-0. Motion carried. VA Martin put together a proposal for any potential income tax monies and where he felt they should go. This list was passed to Council for review. It listed the Village has approximately 9.4 miles of streets and alleys. At current prices of $90k per mile, it would take approximately 9.4 years to pave roads, using his proposal figures. Councilman Stanfield stated that he doesn’t feel anything needs done with streets, as other towns are worse. Councilman Yakoubian expressed that we shouldn’t wait for things to be terrible before we do something about it, noting several areas of streets that need repaired. Mayor Frisch asked Council if they felt that the Village Income Tax should be put back on the discussion board, also asking for any feedback. The general consensus was yes to discuss, but with several points to consider given. Councilman Treft stated he feels that fulltime employees should have better benefits. Councilman Love stated that if there is a merge for EMS, the current AVR EMS would have to be dissolved and a potential levy would have to be placed to fund the new EMS. Councilman Yakoubian stated there has been on strain on funding since 2008, and if residents would like to continue to have local services, they would need to be funded locally, which is usually by taxes or levies. Councilman Stanfield stated that he would rather make a levy for street repairs.

Water & Sewer: VA Martin stated that turbidity meters were needed, as a repair was recently made and we no longer have supported parts to fix them in the future. Councilman Treft questioned his water bill amount. VA Martin explained that bills were estimated by the system this month. FO Gullett reminded that if the actual read is lower next month, it will be credited to the account. Councilman Yakoubian stated that the delays in postal service and delivering bills should be discussed, and any penalties for late payments during this time. Motion by Councilman Yakoubian, seconded by Councilman Treft to suspend late fees on utility bills for 60 days. Vote: 6-0. Motion carried. Councilman Stanfield stated that since the Village didn’t have to make a payment on OPWC loans in July, that the Village should stop collecting the capital “tax” that funds those loans on utility bills. It was explained that the payments were skipped but not forgiven. The Village still owes the payments, but ALL loan payments in July were suspended by OPWC. A payment was just made in January for those same OPWC loans. Motion by Councilman Stanfield, seconded by Councilman Treft to stop collecting 5702 tax because the Village didn’t have to pay OPWC loan payments in July. Vote: 1-5, with Councilmen Yakoubian, Treft, Love, Sanders and Bulger opposing. Motion failed.

Village Website & IT: none

Unfinished, Old Business and New Business: First read of ORD 2021-1: AN ORDINANCE APPROVING, ADOPTING AND ENACTING AMERICAN LEGAL PUBLISHING’S OHIO BASIC CODE, 2021 EDITION, AS THE CODE OF ORDINANCES FOR THE MUNICIPALITY OF VILLAGE OF ATTICA, OHIO, AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. Motion by Councilman Love, seconded by Councilman Sanders to suspend the three read rule on ORD 2021-1. Vote: 6-0. Motion carried. Motion by Councilman Love, seconded by Councilman Bulger to declare an emergency on ORD 2021-1. Vote: 6-0. Motion carried. Motion by Councilman Love, seconded by Councilman Bulger to adopt ORD 2021-1. Vote: 6-0. Motion carried. Solicitor Heyman stated that she needs clarification on a few things in order to prepare the subgrant paperwork for the fire department. She stated that there are different ways to structure the subgrant and recommends a reimbursement structure. The others are partial amounts or the complete amount. She also wanted to know if Council wished to limit items to the list given to Mayor Frisch earlier, and a deadline for monies to be spent/returned. It was decided to go with a reimbursement structure, items would be limited to the list already given, and 90 days provided there are no shipping problems.

Next meeting: February 11, 2021 at 7:30 PM

Motion by Councilman Bulger, seconded by Councilman Love to adjourn the meeting. Time: 8:56 PM. Vote: 6-0. Motion carried.

____________________________________ ______________________________ Mayor Nathan Frisch Fiscal Officer Michelle Gullett