MINUTES OF MEETING OF
IRONTON CITY COUNCIL
March 12, 2020
6:00 p.m.
A regular meeting of Ironton City Council was held on Thursday, March 12, 2020, at 6:00 p.m. in Council Chambers. Present was Vice Mayor Craig Harvey, who presided and members: Cleary, Haney, Hock, Kline, Pierce, Rist – seven.
All persons stood for a prayer given by Rev. Margaret Tyson of Quinn Chapel Church, and for the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The Minutes of the Regular Meeting of February 27, 2020, the Finance Committee Meeting of February 27, 2020, and the Park and Recreation Committee Meeting of February 12, 2020, stood approved as submitted.
Nate Kline said he would like to to amend the Minutes of the Park and Recreation Committee meeting to state “Committee Unanimously Favorably Recommended the following items”.
AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
Mayor Cramblit stated that, a State of Emergency was declared today in the City of Ironton and a State of Emergency in the State of Ohio. He said this has come to protect our citizens and those in the surrounding area. He said the City is following the Governor’s direction on the ban of gatherings of events greater than 100. He said as of now the Governor has stated that this does not disrupt business as usual, workplace, office work, church, etc. This is public events out of the ordinary. He said statewide the Governor has extended the schools’ spring break starting at the end of school day on March 16th through April 3rd. He said the City of Ironton is adopting a “no handshake” policy to limit contact with others and to be mindful of each other while the virus is out there. He said they will continue to monitor the situation daily and follow the direction of the health professionals and the direction of Governor DeWine. Mr. Harvey said he had a question from a couple of people wanting to know about church services and what the Mayor suggests. Mayor Cramblit said as of right now, Governor DeWine said it should not interrupt church services; but as you’ve seen, things are changing by the hour. He said the Governor could come back with some different information, but as of right now, it should not affect that or business as usual. Mr. Harvey asked the Mayor if he will be in touch with clergy, and the Mayor said Terri was preparing a list and making sure it will get out to everyone. Mr. Kline asked, as far as communication with our residents, how does the Mayor plan to communicate with them as far as any updates from the City such as change of services, staffing issues, etc.? Mayor Cramblit said right now they are using the City’s Community Facebook page, as well as communicating everything to the local newspaper. He said he also spoke with some of the local news media out of Huntington, WOWK so far. Mr. Harvey said the Mayor had mentioned nursing home visitation. Mayor Cramblit said that has also been extended by Governor DeWine. He said the nursing homes in town have already enforced these limitations, and he thinks we can expect further restrictions on that from the Governor in the coming days.
COMMUNICATIONS – None
REPORTS
Mr. Harvey said that Mr. Pierce would like to report on the Opportunity Zone Conference. Mr. Pierce said he and Mr. Hock had a chance to speak with some people concerning opportunity zones and some other things. He said they spoke to a couple of gentlemen who represent the Sunday Creek Horizons, which is a business development firm focused on connecting investors with grants, community funds, entrepreneurs, to develop cities. He said they were particularly interested in our opportunity zone, which runs from Pleasant Street down to Pine Street; and there’s not a lot of what initially he and Mr. Hock thought were opportunities there for development. He said they pointed out the old Wilson Building, and right across the street they were interested in a warehouse, which he thinks Terry’s Glass is in temporarily. He said they said those would be two great buildings to consider. He said we missed this year’s deadline because it was kind of quick to garner understanding of opportunity zones and get investors together, but they said they could assist us in doing something with that next year. He said as they proceeded their conversation, they talked about the plans for Ironton, and they said Ironton was really checking the boxes off what they are interested in—the Gateway Sports Complex, the building of hotels, the vision of what we have for downtown, already what is going on with the CAO. He said they wanted to set up a time in the not too distant future with the Mayor, some Councilmen, and a couple of entrepreneurs from our town and drive around and talk to us and show us some things. They also said they would like to invite our State Senator to come and be part of that entourage and get to know our town better. He said all that seemed very positive to him, and he knows Mr. Hock echoes the same sentiments. So they said we should go full board ahead on this. Mr. Harvey said if Mr. Pierce and Mr. Hock need any assistance as far as facilitating dates; and if more than three councilmembers would like to show up for that tour and/or discussion, let him know and he will gladly call a Special Meeting and facilitate however they need that done. He said that is something they definitely want to explore, especially with all the other things we have going on.
ORDINANCES
ORDINANCE NO. 20-15 – ADOPTING THE PERMANENT BUDGET FOR THE CITY OF IRONTON, STATE OF OHIO, FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2020 AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY was given first reading.
Mr. Cleary said this ordinance was given a favorable recommendation in Finance. Mr. Cleary moved, seconded by Mr. Haney, to suspend the rules and give Ordinance No. 20-15 second and third reading by title only. Motion passed unanimously and Ordinance No. 20-15 was given second and third reading. Mr. Cleary moved, seconded by Ms. Rist, to adopt Ordinance No.
20-15. Motion passed unanimously. ADOPTED
ORDINANCE NO. 20-17 – AMENDING THE TEMPORARY BUDGET FOR THE CITY OF IRONTON, STATE OF OHIO, FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2020 AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY was given first reading.
ORDINANCE NO. 20-11 – ORDINANCE RENAMING LINE ITEMS FOR FUND
42-00-8-0099-0054 and FUND 01-15-5-0099-0054 AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY was given second reading.
ORDINANCE NO. 20-13 – REQUIRING VACANT PROPERTIES TO BE IDENTIFIED BY A PLACARD was given second reading.
Mr. Cleary moved, seconded by Ms. Rist, to suspend the rules and give Ordinance No. 20-13 third reading by title only. Motion passed unanimously and Ordinance No. 20-13 was given third reading. Mr. Cleary moved, seconded by Ms. Rist, to adopt Ordinance No. 20-13. Motion passed unanimously. ADOPTED
RESOLUTIONS
RESOLUTION NO. 20-18 – ESTABLISHING SALARIES FOR NON-UNION EMPLOYEES.
Mr. Cleary said they had favorably recommended this ordinance for adoption in Finance. He said everybody worked hard on this, and they put together a good salary resolution for all the non-union employees. He said it was very fair all the way around. He said on the non-union employees they are all full-time employees except for the Clerk, and she is the only part-time employee. He said when he was Mayor years ago, he tried every way in the world to get this ASFCME care plan, which covers vision, dental , life insurance, prescriptions, hearing aids, legal benefits, etc. for $68.75 a month. He said he would like to know if they could research it to see if councilmembers would be interested in paying that. He said he would certainly be happy to pay that to get all that coverage. He said they are considered part-time employees, and he would like to get some kind of opinion on whether they could pay it themselves if they wanted to and get that coverage. He said it could maybe even be something that could be deducted out of their Council check. Mack Anderson said he didn’t see any reason why they couldn’t do it, but it would be up to the insurance company to see if they would accept those additional people, particularly people paying out-of-pocket. Mark Dickess said he would look into it. He said the only thing he could see possibly holding that back is he thinks if it is paid 100% by the employer, that it has to be offered to every full-time employee. He said about 5 years ago there was an opt-out clause where the City would pay you $400 if you chose not to take that; but if it is paid 100% by the employer, you can’t individually opt out of it. He said he thinks the IAFF union has opted out of it as a bargaining unit, but individuals can’t opt out and opt into it. He said that was the only restriction he sees, but he can make a phone call tomorrow and probably have an answer.
Mr. Cleary moved, seconded by Ms. Rist, to adopt Resolution No. 20-18. Motion passed unanimously. ADOPTED
Mr. Harvey said he skipped Resolution No. 20-16 because they are going to talk about that next in Executive Session. Mr. Kline moved, seconded by Mr. Hock, to go into Executive Session to discuss litigation regarding Resolution No. 20-16, with the Mayor, Mr. Anderson and Mr. Elam, and possible action afterwards. Motion passed unanimously.
After a short Executive Session, the Regular Meeting was resumed.
RESOLUTION NO. 20-16 – RESOLUTION TO ACCEPT THE ONE OHIO MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING (MOU) was read.
Mr. Cleary moved, seconded by Ms. Rist, to pass Resolution No. 20-16. Motion passed unanimously. ADOPTED
MISCELLANEOUS
Mr. Harvey said there will be a Recreation Committee Meeting on Monday, March 16th at 4:00 p.m. The Public Utilities Committee is going to meet on Wednesday, March 18th at 5:00 p.m., and the Strategic Planning Committee is going to meet on Thursday, March 26th at 5:30 p.m. prior to the Regular Council Meeting.
Mr. Haney said he appreciates the efforts of the Mayor, his staff and the committee he put together today for public safety. He said they appreciate his quick response and for being proactive instead of reactive. He also wanted to express gratitude for all involved with budget meetings and getting the budget passed, as well as Mr. Harvey for creating Resolution No.
20-18. He said Mr. Harvey spent a lot of time on that, and he thought it was a very fair agreement. He said he doesn’t think a lot of people understand how much time they put into these things.
Mr. Cleary moved, seconded by Ms, Rist, to adjourn. Motion passed unanimously.
Minutes were taken by Marta Leach, Clerk.
In attendance: John Elam, Finance Director, Mack Anderson and Mayor Cramblit.