October 2009
COUNCIL MINUTES
VILLAGE OF FOREST HILLS
October 6, 2009
The regular meeting of the
on October 6, 2009.
The following members of the Council were present:
Dick Iobst
Gene Tweedy
Kay Shapiro
Suzanne Stone
Jim Wallace, Mayor
The following Non-Council members were present:
Jim Weir, Finance Officer
Clark Corwin, Planning Board
Kolleen Begley, Clerk
Carl Hooper, ALT Clerk & Planning Board
(1) Call to order 6:00pm by Mayor Jim Wallace
(2) Review of meeting minutes for September 1, 2009. There were two tweaks in the minutes so when corrected, a motion to approve the minutes was made by Suzanne Stone, seconded by Dick Iobst, unanimously approved.
(3) Jim Weir gave the financial report for the month of September, 2009. Jim Weir reported activity for the month of September (which is the third month in the current fiscal year) as $6,039 in revenue and $48,117 in expenditures. The largest expenditure included the $47K in road improvements/paving of which $32,500 came from accumulated Powell Bill Funds from the state. (Line item details of these reports can be found on the Village website under Budgets.) Jim Weir addressed the Council and asked them to give him any suggestions of financial institutions that would pay more than the current ½% interest if they hear of any. A motion to approve the financial report was made by Dick Iobst, seconded by Kay Shapiro, unanimously approved.
Kolleen Begley addressed Council.
Kolleen brought up the money being spent on police patrol in the Village and suggested requesting a marked squad car vs the unmarked vehicle currently being used by the Sheriff’s Dept to patrol the Village. Kim Hooper from the Sheriff’s Dept had originally suggested a marked vehicle but Jim Wallace thought it more prudent to use an unmarked vehicle. Discussion extended to different police patrol approaches within the Village. Jim Weir stated that Kim Hooper is expected to be at the next meeting so there could be the potential of more detailed discussion then. Suzanne Stone made a motion to request a marked vehicle, seconded by Dick Iobst, unanimously approved. Gene Tweedy made a comment that the Village needs to strengthen the rules and regulations and request the Sheriff’s Dept to enforce them. Discussion with Clark Corwin and Carl Hooper about having the Planning Board help the Council with what steps need to be taken to enforce the Village covenants and restrictions. Discussion from Clark Corwin about how the ALE guidelines get enforced. Clark Corwin described the Social Hosts Liability and suggested that the Village covenants and restrictions mention, or possibly incorporate, this state law. Jim Wallace is going to review the current ordinance and find where “noise” is documented. Jim Weir stated that he is not aware that a citation or written warning has ever been issued when there has been a problem in the Village. Council to address this with Sheriff’s Dept.
Kolleen reported an idea to the Council from the maker of the Village sign to cut down the posts around the sign and apply some finished carpentry. She also reported that he stated that there would be no adverse side effects if the current sign colors were painted over with the correct outdoor paint. The Council suggested contacting Lee Budahl for advice on changing the colors and what program to use for creating some mock-ups. Resident, Betty Tweedy, also suggested painting the back of the sign since it’s currently white and stands out from that side.
(4) Community Watch Program. Jim Wallace is sending out letters to all of the Village residents requesting their email address for Village records and requesting Block Coordinators for the Community Watch Program. Jim has ordered the signs to put up throughout the Village as has received the stickers which were passed out to Council and will be put in the letters going out to the property owner residents. Discussion about where to put the signs led to decision to place 6 signs, 1 at Oak Forest area, 1 at bottom of Forest Hills Estates area, 1 on N & S at the bottom by the entrance back-to-back and 1 each on N & S at the end of the state maintenance.
(5) NEW BUSINESS: None.
(6) OLD BUSINESS: Suzanne Stone reported that the library confirmed that they received the check and that they will reserve one of the display cases to put the Village name and donation on.
Gene Tweedy discussed placing lines on the non-state maintained roads in the Village. Residents Mark Teague and Kolleen Begley stated that they did not want lines painted on the paved portion of
There being no further public business (and no other persons to be heard), a motion to adjourn was made by Dick Iobst, seconded by Kay Shapiro and unanimously approved. The meeting adjourned at 6:55pm.