MINUTES OF MEETING OF
IRONTON CITY COUNCIL
January 28, 2021
6:00 p.m.

A regular meeting of Ironton City Council was held on Thursday, January 28, 2021, at 6:00 p.m. via video conferencing. Present was Vice Mayor, Craig Harvey, who presided and members:
Cleary, Haney, Hock, Kline, Pierce, Rist – seven.

All persons stood for a moment of silent prayer, and then the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

The Minutes of the Strategic Planning Committee Meeting of January 12, 2021, Finance Committee Meeting of January 14, 2021, the Joint Meeting of City Council & Upper Township Trustees of January 14, 2021, and the Regular Meeting of January 14, 2021, stood approved as submitted.

AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION

Mr. Harvey said the Mayor submitted to him a letter, which will be made a part of the minutes, for his official request for reappointment of Mark Dickess to the Ironton Income Tax Review Board. He said the Mayor appoints one and Council appoints two. He said he would entertain a motion to accept this nomination. Mr. Haney moved, seconded by Mr. Cleary, to accept the recommendation of Mark Dickess. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Kline said he would like to make two separate nominations from Council. He said he would like to note that these are unpaid positions, and it is just to review tax appeals. He said, in talking to Becky Hitchcock, that has not happened in the last two years. So he moved, seconded by Mr. Haney, nominate for reappointment Brad McFann to the Ironton Income Tax Review Board. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Kline moved, seconded by Mr. Cleary, for reappointment of Aaron Heighton to the Ironton Income Tax Review Board. Motion passed unanimously.

Mr. Pierce said Caitlin Knore, the art teacher at Ironton High School, contacted him concerning the art at the Brumberg Building. He said some students have asked about their art, and they might want it back, and others just want to know what is going to be done with it, if anything. He said Ms. Knore wants to know who she can contact or communicate with to get some information about that art work. Mayor Cramblit said it would be Sam Heighton at Ironton Alive, and he will get that phone number to Mr. Pierce.

Mr. Haney said he understands that the blueprints of the roundabout project have been released. He said he has received a few messages and has seen a lot of comments about this. He said Ironton City Council has done nothing with this project and are really not involved with anything at this point. He would like to put on record some information about the roundabout project on the on and off ramps on 93 where it meets 52. He said the Ohio Department of Transportation announced a “construction project targeted at improving safety. This location has been on ODOT’s radar for quite a while, said Matt McGuire, public information officer at ODOT. In 2019 when Gov. Mike DeWine listed the intersection on the 2019 Governors Top Safety Location List, that allowed us to put more focus on that. During a four-year period, more than 60 crashes occurred. 73% of those crashes were rear-end collisions, and another 33% were injury-related collisions. McGuire said with the high numbers of crashes in that area, the best long-term solution is to convert two single-lane intersections into single-lane roundabouts. It’s an effort that would reduce injury crashes by up to 71% and property damage crashes up to 26%. ODOT will hold a virtual public meeting on February 9th to hear concerns and feedback from drivers who travel through the area. We’re looking at the whole US 52 corridor in this meeting. We hope to get any information we can, said Matt Selhorst, a transportation planner. We’ve collected a lot of data and analyses, and now we’re looking at trying to make an effort to make a lot of improvements to address the problems. We want to hear input from the public. Construction for the project is set to begin in the spring of 2022.” Mr. Haney said he would like to say that this is a State route, and this wasn’t a decision made by Council. He said it looks like ODOT has put a lot of thought into this and has studied these intersections a lot. He said there is a lot of negative feedback, but he thinks if the people who are worried would attend this virtual meeting on February 9th, they could hear and voice some of their concerns and also hear a lot of information that may make them feel more comfortable in regards to their safety. He said he just wanted to put that on record and invite anybody who is watching this to attend that virtual meeting. Mr. Harvey said people can join at 855-925-2801, and the meeting code is 8205. He said or they can join on line at https:\\publicinput.com\P8162. Mr. Cleary said Mr. Haney said he has had feedback and have been reading different people’s thoughts on it, and asked Mr. Haney if they were negative or positive? Mr. Haney said a lot of people who have traveled for business purposes and other purposes and are familiar with roundabouts seemed really positive about it. He said he can’t gauge everybody, but he doesn’t know that the people who are negative about it really have had to use roundabouts. He did hear a few people say that the South Point roundabout had some problems, but he traveled up there for basketball and he didn’t have any problems with that roundabout. He doesn’t know if the problem is because it is new or if people have had trouble navigating roundabouts; but the people who have had experience with roundabouts, more often than not, had the positive feedback. Mr. Pierce said the architectural rendering that he saw he thinks showed two roundabouts, one at each section of the on and off ramps. Mr. Haney said yes, it would be the eastbound and westbound leading to and off of Park Avenue or 93. Mr. Harvey asked Mr. Haney if he was planning to attend that virtual meeting? Mr. Haney said yes. Mr. Harvey said if he doesn’t mind, would he ask on behalf of City Council how they plan to address storm water run-off from those? Mayor Cramblit said that he has been in the discussions with Matt Selhorst and Ralph Kline, ODOT, KYOVA, Kevin Woods and everyone involved with this, and they are all aware of this. He said they have discussed things like a retention fountain in the middle of it, and many different options for that. Mr. Haney said he will remember to ask that on behalf of Council. He said also, he has had someone mention Jefferson Street going toward the hill. He said once you get off the bridge coming into Ironton, the right lane is not only the right turning lane, but it’s also the straight ahead lane. He said a couple of people have complained and said that right lane should be right turn only and the left lane should be the straight ahead lane and the left turn lane. He said he just went through there about 45 minutes ago, and it does seem to jam traffic up there when somebody is going straight ahead and everybody else wants to turn right. Mayor Cramblit said he has talked to Mike Pemberton about it many times. He said it is something ODOT did when they put the bridge in. He said the bridge is theirs, but the streets are the City’s and the light signals. He said it definitely does cause back up. Mr. Haney said that is kind of the answer he has given them, that it is a situation with ODOT and the City. He said he doesn’t want to waste everybody’s time at that meeting, but that may be something he can follow up with somebody on February 9th. He said lastly, he wanted to mention that he has had a lot of positive feedback on the construction on the Brumberg Building and the old Tim’s News building. He said multiple people have mentioned that they are excited to see what is going to go in there. He said he has not been able to give them much information on the Tim’s News building, but he has described what the Brumberg building is going to look like.

Mayor Cramblit said he has Joe Sokol and Scott Mason from ABM to give Council an update on the project they are working on with the City. Mr. Sokol shared his screen with Council and presented an update on how the program is shaping up. He said they have been in front of Council a number of times sharing the program before they started developing everything, and that has led them to what they call the Investment Grade Audit, which is where they are today. He said they are in and around the buildings, talking to lot of personnel at the City, and they are expecting about a month left of that, as far as being able to identify everything and as far as what the guaranteed savings are going to be, all the different funding sources and then the final pricing so the City can make an educated decision on what scope items to include. He said once the City has that information, the City can make that decision. And depending on what scope is selected, that dictates the amount of financing, and there’s a number of different options that the City has. He said they are going to start discussions with John Elam on Monday and giving him information, but that’s ultimately a City decision. So they will be working directly with the Finance Department and Mayor Cramblit. He said they eventually will be coming to Council for voting and approval. He said they would like to keep the City along with them through the whole way that they have these things going on from today with this update through to the point where they bring a program in front of Council for their approval. He said he would love to continue to give Council these updates and see how the program develops. He then went through a presentation as a refresher on different issues: IGA Summary, Interim Findings, and Funding/Financing Sources. He said the will be working with John and the Finance Department, and the ladies in the Finance Department have helped them a lot with getting utility data and those sorts of things. He said he really appreciates their help. He said on Monday they will be meeting with John to start the discussion about financing options for the City. He said their next step and time line for the IGA, they want to get to the point where they are going to do a workshop as far as the findings are concerned with Administration to decide what is going to be best to fit into the program, and that is co-authored between the City and ABM. He said it gets into finalizing the financial arrangements and the contract, and they would like to take the City along with them as that gets finalized, and come back for review and approval, and then it just comes down to implementation and project management. Mr. Haney said one of the things he is impressed with so far is their weekly updates. He said he wants to show his appreciation for the transparency that ABM is showing weekly. Mr. Kline asked Mr. Sokol how close they are to following their schedule as far as wrapping up their audit into February and then Council action in March, etc. and if they are on target with that? Mr. Sokol said right now they are right on target. He said along with Council’s weekly updates, he holds weekly internal updates with his team. He said those internal meetings are all around what items do they need to hit by what deadline to hit that exact solution timeline that he detailed out for Council. He said they are right on schedule right now, but that is not to say that something will come up that may push them back a little bit. Mr. Kline asked what time that meeting is in the Finance Department on Monday? Mr. Sokol said he will be there sometime in the afternoon, around 2:00 p.m. Mr. Kline said he didn’t know if he could make that. Mr. Sokol said if not, they are just beginning the conversations with John, and this is by no means a one-meeting thing; and they will be reviewing this information and will set up a follow-up meeting with anyone who would like that. He will leave that up to the Mayor to do that .

COMMUNICATIONS – None

REPORTS – None

ORDINANCES

ORDINANCE NO. 21-02 – AUTHORIZING AND DIRECTING THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE ON BEHALF OF THE CITY OF IRONTON AN AGREEMENT TO THE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE, OHIO LABOR COUNCIL, INC. AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY was read.

Mr. Cleary said this ordinance was given a favorable recommendation by Finance this evening. Mr. Cleary moved, seconded by Mr. Pierce, to suspend the rules and give Ordinance No. 21-02 second and third reading by title only. Motion passed unanimously and Ordinance No. 21-02 was given second and third readings. Mr. Cleary moved, seconded by Ms. Rist, to adopt Ordinance No. 21-02. Motion passed unanimously. ADOPTED

MISCELLANEOUS

Mr. Harvey reminded everyone that there is a Budget Workshop on February 6th at 9:00 a.m., and the location is yet to be determined.

Mr. Haney asked Mayor Cramblit if there had been any discussion about the spray-in liner for the new trucks that they just purchased? He said he had talked to Brett Thomas about that, and they both thought it would be a good idea just to extend the life of the truck and the bed. Mayor Cramblit said he may have talked to him about it. Mr. Haney said he didn’t know if it is something that Council would have to do, but he doesn’t think it would. He said if it does, would anyone have any opposition towards getting the spray-in liners to protect the beds of the new trucks they bought? Mr. Cleary said he thinks that would be fine to do that. Mr. Pierce said if they really want to extend the life, get the spray-on undercoating.

Mr. Kline moved, seconded by Mr. Cleary, to receive, file and make a part of the minutes the December 2020 financials. Motion passed unanimously.

Mr. Kline moved, seconded by Mr. Haney, to go into Executive Session to discuss personnel with Council and the Mayor, with no action to follow. Motion passed unanimously.

Minutes were taken by Marta Leach, Clerk.

In attendance: John Elam, Finance Director, Mayor Cramblit.