MINUTES OF MEETING OF
IRONTON CITY COUNCIL
June 11, 2020
6:00 p.m.

A regular meeting of Ironton City Council was held on Thursday, June 11, 2020, at 6:00 p.m. via video conference. Present was Vice Mayor Craig Harvey, who presided and members: Cleary, Haney, Hock, Pierce, Rist – six.

A prayer was given by Rev. Jim Cremeans of the City Mission Church. Everyone then stood for the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

The Minutes of the Regular Meeting of May 28, 2020 and the Finance Committee Meeting of May 28, 2020, stood approved as submitted.

AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION

Mr. Harvey said he had a call from a resident, Steven Elswick, who asked about our golf cart ordinance, and specifically, whether that ordinance addresses side-by-sides. He said Mr. Elswick said he has seen people in town using those, and they should be part of that ordinance so we can capture those dollars. He said he spoke with Chief Wagner and the Mayor to see if they had any objections; but it is not in the ordinance itself, so he is going to ask between now and the next meeting to amend that ordinance to include side-by-sides. He said it means they would have to add turn signals, they would have to be insured, they would have to have seat belts, all those things that the golf cart ordinance already addresses. He said also, thinking to the future, this body has been talking about making this a recreation destination and tying it to the Wayne National Forest; and he thinks they are going to have to do that anyway to get from places where people are staying to those trails and a connection they may have in their artist renderings of what that is going to look like in the future. He said he thinks it is good to go ahead and be proactive, and asked if anyone would like to co-sponsor that ordinance. Mr. Haney and Ms. Rist said they would co-sponsor. Mr. Cleary said he will also sponsor this ordinance, but he thinks there should be something in there about a noise level, because side-by-sides are like the ones you take out in the woods on trails, and they are usually really noisy. Mr. Harvey said he and the Mayor had the same conversation last night, and he said he thinks we already have some kind of noise ordinance in town related to when they were having issues with loud noises from the cruise line days, and he thinks that legislation is already in place. He said he will ask Brigham and Mack to find that. Mr. Cleary said it could be, but he thinks it needs to be enforced if it is. Mr. Harvey said he doesn’t disagree with him, but there is really no way to enforce decibels, so it would really be more of a timing issue, like after 10:00 p.m. He asked Mr. Cleary if that what he was thinking. Mr. Cleary said no, he was thinking that when the Police inspect the side-by-sides, maybe they need to look at the noise and how loud they are and come to a conclusion about what is acceptable. Chief Wagner said they don’t have a way to check a decibel level, but she thinks they have an ordinance on mufflers and tailpipes, etc. She thinks you do have to have a muffler and a tailpipe, but that doesn’t apply to a golf cart. She said if you put a cherry bomb muffler on there and a tailpipe, you are legal, and we all know they are loud. So that is a judgment call for a precarious situation. Mr. Pierce said they do make decibel meters, and you could put something like 35,000 rpm’s, the decibel reading has to be below this point. Mr. Pierce said they are hand-held and are between $25 and $250. Chief Wagner said remember that whatever they use, they have to be able to calibrate and to take to court. She said other than that, they have no problem with it. Mr. Pierce said these are used by OSHA for commercial check-points, and he thinks that anything over 85 decibels can begin to affect hearing loss.

Mr. Hock said he received an email from Michael Lutz concerning the incident that happened in the bar over the weekend. He said he wants to know what our ordinances are on nuisances. He said he will submit it to be included in the minutes of the next meeting. Mr. Harvey said he remembers last year they were having issues with fights breaking out in yards of group homes and these rehab places across town, and they were having neighbors complain about the Police being called and overdoses, etc. He said that is Ordinance 19-48, Public Nuisance Abatement, and it specifically outlines what chronic nuisances are and what the fines are. He said he would think that specific facility is at least on the Police’s radar with this ordinance. He said he realizes that everyone can have a bad night, and that was a bad night for that business; but if that is an ongoing thing, then they do have to have legislation to enforce it.

Mr. Pierce said he wanted to thank Ralph Kline and Mayor for getting to Council the drawings and renderings of the Brumberg building. He said also, regarding the complaints discussed at the last Council meeting, he was able to go with Mr. Gumbert, and they visited and reconciled all three issues. He said this week he had a gentleman, Pete Russell, who lives in the north end of town. He said at the old Sta-Tan pool, Columbia Gas has been working, and they are using the gravel, sand, dirt, etc. there to fill in as they do their work on this end of town. He said they are storing their equipment on the parking lot, and they make 50 trips a day on Clark Street. Mr. Russell has complained about the dust and the noise from the equipment. He is asking if they could use Means Street more as their access road than Clark Street. Mr. Russell and his wife are both ill, and the noise disturbs his wife. He said also, there is flooding along 4th Street, and it affects everyone along this street. He said the water comes down Goldcamp and makes the turn. He said he has video of the flood that occurred last night. He said he and Mr. Gumbert looked at this issue last week, and Mr. Gumbert said the only solution would be to put in a catch basin and divert that water out onto the ground and into a wastewater ditch in the back. He said he would like to see if Council could look into that issue.

Ms. Rist said she had a person contact her, Tonya Guy, who lives on Carl Drive, and Ms. Guy said the branches are over the street and are hitting the cars as they drive through. She wondered if anything could be done about that.

Mr. Hock said regarding the golf car issue, the other thing they had heard was after that was something about a State tag, and whether the City could capture the money by issuing a City sticker instead of a State tag. Mr. Harvey said he talked to J. D. Thomas about that today. Mr. Hock said if they were going to have that conversation about amending that, he didn’t know if they can do that; but instead of the City just getting the inspection fee, they would also be able to get the tag, so if someone from Hanging Rock or Coal Grove was to drive in, they could purchase the sticker from us as well. He said it may be potential to get more revenue from golf carts.

COMMUNICATIONS – None

REPORTS – None

ORDINANCES

ORDINANCE NO. 20-37 – CREATING A CARES ACT FUND (FUND 6) AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY was given first reading.

Mr. Cleary asked if maybe they were getting ahead to pass that before having the other part of it in place. Mr. Elam said they should probably go ahead and get everything set up since it is such a tight time frame. Mr. Cleary said this ordinance had favorable recommendation from the Finance Committee. He said he moved, seconded by Ms. Rist, to suspend the rules and give Ordinance No. 20-37 second and third reading by title only. Motion passed unanimously and Ordinance No 20-37 was given second and third reading. Mr. Cleary moved, seconded by Ms. Rist, to adopt Ordinance No. 20-37. Motion passed unanimously. ADOPTED

ORDINANCE NO. 20-39 – ENACTING CHAPTER 1052, “SMALL CELL TECHNOLOGY IN THE RIGHT OF WAY”, OF THE CODIFIED ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF IRONTON, OHIO was given first reading.

Mr. Harvey said they need to refer this ordinance to the Public Utility Committee for recommendation, and he believes Susan is going to join them for that. He said he talked with Ms. Rist, Chairman of PUC, and they are going to have that meeting on June 25th at 5:45 p.m., prior to their next regular Council meeting and refer Ordinance No. 20-39 to PUC.

AMENDED ORDINANCE NO. 20-34 – ESTABLISHING FEES FOR UNOCCUPIED STRUCTURES AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY was given third reading.

Mr. Haney moved, seconded by Ms. Rist, to adopt Amended Ordinance No. 20-34.

Mr. Cleary said he has followed this for the last 6-8 months in different versions, and he is still not sold that it is going to do what it is meant to do. He said Mr. Kline has spearheaded this for several months, and he is not with them tonight to explain anything, so he is going to vote no on this just because he doesn’t totally understand how the system is going to work. Mr. Haney

said he doesn’t know everything about it, but he knows enough if Mr. Cleary wanted to ask him any questions. Mr. Cleary said he appreciates that, but he is just not sold on the way it is. Mr. Haney said the City’s Code Enforcement Officer, the new MS-4 officer, and Inspector Joseph from the Ironton Fire Department have all grouped together to identify these buildings. He said Mr. Joseph came up with a great way to identify them using addresses. He said these buildings are going to use the City services, they will be protected by our flood walls, and if an unoccupied structure catches on fire, our Fire Department will respond to the fire. He said if neighbors of an unoccupied structure complain that there are maybe squatters living in these places, our Police Department is going to respond. So these structures are using the employee hours for basically just sitting there.   He said he doesn’t want to speak for Nate, but in speaking with him, they discussed the possibility of this motivating the current owners to either update or rent out these structures or go ahead and sell them to somebody who wants to remodel them or get them ready for businesses or families to move in. He said he wishes Nate was here to hit on some other things, but he thinks they have worked on this for a long time now and got opinions from Mr. Thomas and the Fire Department, the Police Department and just about every department involved in the City; and as a whole, this is what was created. He said he is fully behind this. Mr. Pierce asked Mr. Haney or Mr. Elam if they had any idea how much extra revenue this ordinance might bring into the City. Mr. Elam said he does not know because he doesn’t know the number of vacant structures there are. He said he wished he had that answer, but he cannot provide a number to him. He said he could possibly give him a projection tomorrow. He said it is just going to be whatever the number is, and then also it is enforcement, too, and who is going to actually pay. He said there are a lot of variables on there, and he doesn’t feel that he could give him a 100% accurate answer. Mr. Haney said he knows that Mr. Joseph has a pretty comprehensive list of structures he has identified. He said he could contact him maybe tomorrow and see if they could get a number to Mr. Pierce. Mr. Pierce said that was fine; he doesn’t need the individual address, just general numbers. He said there is undoubtedly going to be push-back, and one of the tools in their belt is when people ask, why did you do this, we can say it provides X amount of more revenue for our City for one thing, in addition to cleaning up a lot of other issues. Mr. Haney said it doesn’t affect anybody who is already paying for a utility bill. He said if you have water running to your property or your house, it is not going to affect you whatsoever. He said this is specifically going after revenue from services we are providing that nobody is currently paying for. Mr. Cleary asked Mr. Haney if that included vacant property. Mr. Haney said no, it does not. He said if you don’t have anything on a lot, you’re not using any of the services. Mr. Cleary since Mr. Haney explained it, he will go ahead and support it.

Motion to adopt was passed unanimously. ADOPTED

RESOLUTIONS –

RESOLUTION NO. 20-38 – AUTHORIZING THE APPLICATION FOR CORONAVIRUS AID was read.

Mr. Cleary said this was given a favorable recommendation by the Finance Committee. He moved, seconded by Ms. Rist, to pass Resolution No. 20-38. Motion passed unanimously. ADOPTED

RESOLUTION NO. 20-40 – AFFIRMING THAT THE CITY COUNCIL OF IRONTON, OHIO UNEQUIVOCALLY CONDEMNS HATE-FUELED BEHAVIORS AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY was read in its entirety.

Mr. Harvey said this resolution was brought about by people in the community and Mr. Hock especially, asking what this body was going to do to show leadership in the face of our current situation in our nation with the death of George Floyd going viral, and the disgusting video that was portrayed throughout our nation of his treatment. He said people really asking of him, as a leader, not to just be “not racist”, but to condemn racism. So he felt it was incumbent upon them to make a statement. He said not only does he think that Ironton is a great place to live and a great place for all of us to flourish, but to show that that dialogue is open if he is wrong, or if there is a problem not only throughout the nation where they have been highlighting police, but police, leadership, city departments, employers in our city, retail, etc., we all need to follow the Golden Rule and do unto others as we would have others do unto us. He said he doesn’t think there is anything wrong with standing up as a legislative body and saying that. He said we should all treat each other with respect and dignity and follow the Golden Rule, and hopefully, that Resolution encapsulates that. He said Mr. Hock has elaborated in great detail with him on that, and he knows Mr. Hock wanted to say something. Mr. Hock said he thinks it is important to point out that Ironton is not immune to these problems. He said it has brought up dark memories in our past, the death of Guy Thomas specifically. He said he thinks it is important that they acknowledge problems of unequal justice and take a look at how it affects structures around us. He said they need to figure out what they can do to fix these problems on a local level. Our solutions may look different than other cities’ solutions, but it is up to them to engage in these conversations. He said it is really their duty to listen to the voices of people who feel disenfranchised and vulnerable. He said on Monday night he, along with hundreds of others, the Mayor included, heard from several members of Ironton’s black community. They detailed heart-breaking issues that they face here every day in this city. He said everyone on this Council has a shared experience of being white, and for most of them, discussions of race can be uncomfortable; but he feels like they need to be open when people are hurting, and they need to step outside of their own experiences to see what they can do to help. He said he thinks they need to be called for action and make an attempt to right our wrongs. He said he stands in solidarity with people who experience injustice, and there are many different ways of expressing that, but he said Mr. Harvey really hit on it. There is a lot more to it than just not being racist. He said they need to get out there and they need to condemn it. He said he hopes they are at the beginning of a conversation that establishes a better society for everyone, but they have to do their part right now, right here. He said he wanted to commend Mr. Harvey for co-sponsoring this with him. He said we should never be afraid to speak up for what’s right. Mayor Cramblit said he really appreciates what these guys put together and what they said. He said he agrees 100% with them. Mr. Haney thanked them for working on that and getting it out there.

Mr. Pierce moved, seconded by Ms. Rist, to pass Resolution No. 20-40. Motion passed unanimously. ADOPTED

MISCELLANEOUS

Mr. Pierce asked if anyone knew the situation with Jewell City Seafood, and he has also heard that there is a Dairy Cheer coming to town and wondered if anyone knew anything about that. Mr. Harvey said the definitive answer on Jewell City would probably come from our quarterly update with Mr. Dingus, unless the Mayor knows anything any different. He said they may have their quarterly update soon with LEDC, and they may be able to provide you the definitive answers. Mayor Cramblit said Dickie Anderson himself had put out to social media that they would not be able to follow through with plans this year, as they have been closed down in Huntington at their restaurant there as well and still haven’t opened back up. He said they do have hopes of something down the road in the future, and he has confirmed with Mr. Dingus and he mentioned that it is just not feasible for them at this time. But they still have an interest here. Mr. Cleary asked if they actually bought the building. Mayor Cramblit said no, and he believes Mr. Dingus will be looking for another tenant at the moment. Mayor Cramblit said he hasn’t heard about the other thing. Mr. Pierce said he has heard that someone bought the property adjacent to that drive-thru carry-out and that that is where the Dairy Cheer is going to be located. He said he will see what he can find out about that.

Chief Wagner said she was having issues with her phone at the beginning of the meeting, and she thinks someone was trying to ask her something but she could not hear it. Mayor Cramblit said it was about them carrying decibel-reading meters or something such as that.

Mr. Haney said he talked to a couple of neighbors of his who are pretty well versed in pickle ball. He said the Recreation Committee has some community-block grants in place to update Etna Street Park. He said he has talked to Mike Sheridan and Randy Lily, and he would like to call a Recreation Committee meeting and invite these two gentlemen. He said Nate was the Chair of that committee and Nate is not here, and asked if he could call it. Mr. Harvey said he and Ms. Rist make up a quorum, so if he and Beth both agree, they can call it. They decided to call the Parks and Recreation Committee meeting for 5:30 p.m. on June 25th prior to the next Council meeting. Mr. Harvey said they had talked before with Brett Thomas specifically about pickle ball at Etna Street park, and it was determined that you can make two pickle ball courts out of one tennis court, so there should be enough room for 4 pickle ball courts. Mr. Haney said they have already agreed to do it, but they just seemed to want to have input. He said they have grant money to redo the surfaces, and he thinks they just want a little bit of input on what some nicer courts have, such as benches, etc. Mr. Haney also asked Mr. Elam about record request information. He asked Mr. Elam if he could give him some input on this. He asked if this was a new department protocol or what. Mr. Elam said that came recommended from the State Auditors when they were doing our audit this year. He said they had asked how we do public records, and he told them that when they get a request, they fulfill the request and submit it back to the requestor. He said he asked them if there was any type of a guideline, and that was what is sent as the State’s guideline provided by the Ohio State Auditors to him. He said the only thing he did was change it to where it said City of Ironton. He said he also included a spreadsheet that he made. He said the typed information is directly from the State Auditors that they sent to him. ________ sheets allow us to maintain a documented record following the guidelines, and that is for Finance Department. He said he has asked the Andersons if this has to be a policy that is adopted by Council, and they said I could go ahead and adopt that for the Finance Department. He said if the Mayor wants to make it a blanket thing, then that will be his call. But that is going to satisfy the Auditors in public records request that happens through the Finance Department. Mr. Haney said he and Mr. Hock have requested information a couple of times, and what he would like to see is an actual form to fill out. He said he was talking to the Mayor, and he said we could put that form on our new web page. He said you have make the record request in writing. He said if somebody calls and requests something and maybe somebody forgets about it or it goes past that 72 hours, they don’t have any documentation in the Finance Department of when that information was requested. He said if they come up with an actual form for someone to fill out with the time, date, etc., once they receive it, that will cover their rear-ends from breaking the Sunshine Laws. He said he thinks they should have something in writing. He said he was in a situation before he was on Council where he wasn’t very happy with the timeliness of the information he requested. He said he doesn’t know how Council feels about it, but he would like to see this put in place. He asked Mr. Elam why this one part was highlighted in yellow. Mr. Elam said he highlighted it because he thought that was the jest of the two-page document. He said per this, the public record request does not have to be in writing; but once again, this isn’t something he wrote, this was what was sent to him by the State Auditors. He said if that can change, he will refer it to the Andersons and have them look at it. Mr. Haney said it says it doesn’t have to be, but they could enforce it to where if it is given to them in writing or through the new web site, he thinks that would give them a paper trail and when the requests were received and fulfilled. He said he thinks that would protect them from any Sunshine Law litigation. Mr. Elam said he will get it back to the Andersons again and have them look at it.

Chief Wagner said regarding the discussion that John and Chris was just having, they probably do need to have the Andersons review that because there is certain information on First Responders, Police and Fire fighters that cannot be released even on a public record request. She said there is special documentation where officers can have things redacted from their license plate, voter registration. She said she believes the EMS falls under that as well. She said they should have Andersons review that so they don’t get personal and home addresses to various people who might want to do harm to somebody in the Police or Fire Departments.   Mr. Haney said what he and John were talking about is specifically for Finance. He said he knows the Mayor was also interested in this for a city-wide thing. He is not sure why anyone would want information on police or fire in the Finance, but they can definitely include that. Mayor Cramblit said he and Brigham are attending a webinar this week on public record guidelines. Brigham Anderson said there is a whole section of law that pertains to what is public record and what is not, so anytime there is a question in the City, you can ask us for an opinion as to whether it is public record or not. He said if that needs to be implemented in the policy, then that is certainly alright as well. But he said public records requests could vary from department to department.

Mr. Haney moved, seconded by Mr. Cleary, to adjourn.

Minutes were taken by Marta Leach, Clerk.

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