MINUTES OF MEETING OF
IRONTON CITY COUNCIL
May 24, 2021
6:00 p.m.
A regular meeting of Ironton City Council was held on Monday, May 24, 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
Minutes of the Finance Committee Meeting of May 13, 2021, and the Regular Meeting of May 13, 2021, stood approved as submitted.
AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
Mr. Haney said Mr. and Mrs. Klaiber of 1560 Florence Avenue, wanted to thank the Street Department for fixing an issue with the asphalt outside of their house. He said he had also heard some comments on the flood wall and how well it is maintained, so money well spent on the new mowing equipment.
Mayor Cramblit said everything is moving forward at the Splash Park. He said it is supposed to open up on Memorial Day. The Shakery, which is a satellite location for the Shake Shoppe, will be opening there, serving hot dogs, shaved ice and soft serve ice cream. He said they will probably be seeing soon the new proposed project, which he showed to them at the last meeting. They are hoping to complete that project by the end of the year. He said there are a few events going on leading up to Memorial Day, and one which he would like to put some information out on is the fireworks show, which will be happening on Saturday at 9:00 p.m. He said the riverfront will be closed to the public starting at 2:30 p.m. He said they have spent a lot of money on this fireworks show, and there are a lot of safety measures that have to be put in place; and if they have people trying to break the rules to get over there, the people putting on the show will not put the show on because of it. He said they are recommending a few places that people will be able to get a good spot to watch the show. They have some of the parking lots on Second Street. He said one place they will not be able to go is the grassy area next to the overpass across from Meehan Steel—that is part of the drop zone for the fireworks. He said some of the recommendations were Etna Street Park, the Little League fields, and Farmer’s Market. He said if you are leaving your car unattended, make sure that you keep them locked for safety measures. He said that came straight from the Police Chief, who says they see an increase of theft, etc. during Memorial Day weekend. He said also that Navy Night will take place at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, and the Veteran’s Memorial Service at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday. Mr. Cleary asked the Mayor what time the floodgates are going to be off limits for the fireworks? Mayor Cramblit said they will be shutting down about 2:30 p.m. He said the people who are putting the show on will start setting up around 4:00 p.m. He said they have to close off the bike path and a few other areas. Mr. Cleary said he thinks they are going to be putting up some food trucks on the river side. Mayor Cramblit said yes, he talked with the Fat Boy people to let them know that they need to be gone by 2:30 p.m. that day.
Nate Kline said he wanted to tell the Mayor, the City employees and volunteers for Clean-Up Day a couple of weeks ago that they did a great job. He said that there were a lot people who came out, and it was very organized. He said they didn’t get to do that last year. He said it was nice to see all of the trees that were planted and everything mulched. He said he thinks it was a great success.
Mr. Pierce said he wanted to ditto Nate’s comments. He said everyone he has spoken to thinks that it looks great downtown, so he wanted to thank the Mayor and Mike Pemberton and everyone who worked on that. He said he also wanted to mention that he is very proud and pleased with Council and the administration, Mr. Elam and the Mayor. He said at their last Council meeting they passed two very important pieces of legislation regarding the contract with ABM, which essentially sets their City facilities into the 21st Century, and the street paving project. He said there are streets in town that have been waiting five decades to get attention. He thinks both of those pieces of legislation were monumental, and he is really pleased with what this Council is doing.
Mayor Cramblit said he forwarded on the Asset Management Plan today that Nate Davis spoke about during the Public Utilities Committee meeting last week. He said they will be able to find the analysis and everything in that document. Mr. Pierce asked the Mayor if he could pass that depiction of the kids’ park onto Council? Mayor Cramblit said yes, he will send them the media release that they sent out to all of the local newspapers and broadcast stations.
COMMUNICATIONS
Mr. Harvey said as was mentioned and summarized at the last Council meeting, a letter from Ruth and Tony Crowe regarding 804 South 4th Street. He said it is in their agenda packets for this evening as part of the minutes, but it was addressed in the last Council meeting.
REPORTS – None
ORDINANCES
ORDINANCE NO. 21-32 – AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR THE ISSUANCE OF NOT TO EXCEED $1,004,000 OF BONDS BY THE CITY OF IRONTON, OHIO FOR REFUNDING THE VARIOUS PURPOSE BONDS, SERIES 2013, AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY was given first reading.
Mr. Cleary said this ordinance was given a favorable recommendation by the Finance Committee this evening. Mr. Cleary moved, seconded by Mr. Pierce, to suspend the rules and give Ordinance No. 21-32 second and third reading by title only. Motion passed unanimously and Ordinance No. 21-32 was given second and third reading. Mr. Cleary moved, seconded by Mr. Pierce, to adopt Ordinance No. 21-32. Motion passed unanimously. ADOPTED
RESOLUTIONS – None
MISCELLANEOUS
Mr. Haney asked Mr. Elam if he had ever received the actual guidelines for the COVID spending? Mr. Elam asked him if he was talking about the ARPA funds? Mr. Haney said yes. Mr. Elam said no, they are still releasing. . . he tried to click on a link today, and it was what he had received two weeks ago. He said he is watching for updates, and he will distribute those as he gets them.
Mr. Cleary moved, seconded by Mr. Kline, to receive, file and make a part of the minutes the April 2021 financial statements. Motion passed unanimously.
Mr. Harvey said he would like to mention that their next Council Meeting on June 10th will be live in Council Chambers, and there will be no audience. It will be Council, Solicitor, Clerk, Mayor, Finance Director and limited department heads that the Mayor feels necessary to speak to Council. He said they will move towards having audience in July. He said if you have been vaccinated and choose not to wear a mask in Council Chambers, it is up to you; or if you choose to wear a mask, that is fine, too. He said to remember they are broadcast live through Dave Lucas Communications, and he will meet with Dave and his tech to make sure the microphones are working in case you are masked so that you are able to be understood.
Nate Kline said they had a zoning workshop and discussed the creation of new zoning maps that are updated, easy to edit and easy to share. He said he wanted to see if Brett Thomas had talked to Kevin Wood about being able to produce those. He asked the Mayor if he could pass that on to Susan Dooley and have her email him (Nate). The Mayor said he would.
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, Mayor Cramblit, Brigham Anderson