September 2009
COUNCIL MINUTES
VILLAGE OF FOREST HILLS
September 1, 2009
The regular meeting of the
on September 1, 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 6:01pm by Mayor Jim Wallace
(2) Review of meeting minutes for August 4, 2009. A motion to approve the open session minutes was made by Dick Iobst and seconded by Gene Tweedy, unanimously approved. A motion to approve the closed session minutes was made by Dick Iobst, seconded by Gene Tweedy, unanimously approved.
(3) Jim Weir gave the financial report for the month of August, 2009. Jim Weir reported activity for the month of August (which is the second month in the current fiscal year) as $1765 in revenue and $9,595 in expenditures. Included in these expenditures is the standard $170 month in entrance operating costs and the approved donation for this fiscal year of $5,000 to the new Jackson County Library. The total approved donation pledge was $10,000.00 of which $5K gets sent this fiscal year and $5K gets sent next fiscal year. (Line item details of these reports can be found on the Village website under Budgets.) Jim Weir addressed the Council and stated that he has to pay the paving bill which will leave roughly $43K left in cash on hand until more revenues come in and stated that he is more comfortable having at least $50,000 in cash on hand.
Gene Tweedy went over the actual paving expenditures per the paving proposal. The total of the paving
repairs and maintenance done in the Village was $46,690.29. Gene Tweedy explained that the actual
amount was higher than estimated at the last meeting because the total ton of stone needed was not
known at that time. The proposal states “125 ton stone @ $19.75 per ton as needed”. There was also a
section that was paved at 12’ vs 10’ at an additional cost of $1,200 (also stated in the proposal) due to
the paving company’s recommendations. Gene obtained verbal approval from all of the
Councilmembers prior to approving the upcharges before the work was completed.
A motion to approve the financial report was made by Kay Shapiro, seconded by Gene Tweedy and
unanimously approved.
(4) Kolleen Begley addressed Council.
Kolleen brought up that the box outside of the University Inn had outdated Village contact information in it but it’s locked without a key. Carl Hooper stated that he would take care of having the box reworked.
Kolleen asked the Council if they would consider repainting the colors on the Village entrance sign with more earthtone blending colors per suggestions from neighboring residents. Suzanne Stone stated that she had suggested prior to the sign being constructed that the coloring of the sign blend with the surroundings with muted coloring. Suzanne stated that the sign was constructed without Council at that time seeing the colors first. She stated that the Council did not get to preview the colors before the sign was erected. She stated that when she asked, she was told by former Mayor Jim Davis that the sign colors were already painted and done. Jim Wallace stated that he thought former Mayor Jim Davis asked the Council for input on the sign colors and the Councilmembers were too busy to respond. Suzanne stated that wasn’t true. Dick Iobst disagreed with Suzanne’s statements. Suzanne stated that she wants to make sure this situation is prevented in the future and before any new colors may be agreed upon, it needs to be voted on. Kolleen stated that she could attempt some mock-ups from the original JPEG file of the sign. Kolleen stated that paint would be a minor expense and could be an enhancement.
Discussion about obtaining an up-to-date list of Village residents by registered voters. Kolleen will call the Board of Elections and get this information for the Village records. The current list held in the Village records is only property owners. This new list of residents will include everyone that lives in the Village registered to vote. Wes Stone offered to help Kolleen format data from both lists into a database program. Jim Wallace to type up a letter to all of the residents (1 per household) requesting email addresses, informing them of the website and the polling questions, and reminding them to vote in November. Kolleen will provide mailing labels from the new list of all registered voters as well as the list of property owners.
(5) Discussion about future potential park in Village. Suzanne Stone asked for clarity and definition on what idea the Council had for the park. Suzanne also asked if the Planning Board has had this on their agenda. Clark Corwin responded with yes and this will be one of the topics at the next Planning Board meeting that the Council will be attending Tuesday, September 8th at 6:00pm at the University Inn. Discussion about placing a new polling question on the website regarding this topic.
(6) Community Watch Program. There were 3 people identified as Block Coordinators. Suzanne Stone suggested that we have Sgt. Hollifield back for another meeting and ask for more block coordinators after that next meeting. Jim Wallace asked the Council to recruit a few more people. Jim Wallace has ordered the signs to put up throughout the Village as well as the marking pens to identify personal belongings.
(7) NEW BUSINESS: Honoring the Village for their donation to the new
Discussion about painting lines on the Village-maintained roads. Jim Wallace is going to check with Kathy Clemmons to see if the Village could hire the DOT to paint lines on the Village-maintained roads.
Carl Iobst has submitted a written report to the Council on the first meeting of the
Kolleen Begley went over the amount left in the budget for road maintenance. Including estimated Powell Bill funds to be received the first week of October, there will be approximately $5K left in the budget for the rest of the year for Street Maintenance/Improvements after paying the paving invoice.
Discussion about having legal council at certain meetings to answer questions. Council questioned whether or not we were under contract with our current attorney, his fees, and if he’s meeting the Village needs.
(8) OLD BUSINESS: None.
There being no further public business (and no other persons to be heard), a motion to adjourn was made by Dick Iobst, seconded by Suzanne Stone and unanimously approved. The meeting adjourned at 7:33pm.