March 2011
COUNCIL MINUTES
VILLAGE OF FOREST HILLS
The regular meeting of the
on
The following members of the Council were present:
Jim Wallace, Mayor
Clark Corwin
Carl Hooper
Gene Tweedy
Suzanne Stone
The following Non-Council members were present:
Kolleen Begley, Finance Officer
The following Non-Council members were absent:
Tammy Collins-Tawny, Clerk
(1) Call to order
(2) Vote on Agenda. Carl Hooper added one item, “Agenda”, to New Business. A motion to approve the agenda as modified was made by Carl Hooper, seconded by Gene Tweedy, and unanimously approved.
(3) Approval of meeting minutes for
(4) Financial reports for the months of February, 2011. Kolleen Begley gave the Financial Report as 8 months into the 12 months fiscal year stating the bottom line was still within budget. Discussion about the police patrol staying within current year budget but the dates and times are being rotated. A motion to accept the financial report was made by Gene Tweedy, seconded by Carl Hooper, unanimous. (Approved budgets are posted on the Village website)
(5) Closed Session. Attorney David Moore requested going into a closed session pursuant to 143-3318.11 At
(6) Regular meeting resumed at
(7) WCU Student, Steven Johnson, addressed the Village Council asking about the state of the potential annexation. Mayor Wallace replied that there was nothing at this time. Steven Johnson also mentioned that the students would like to work with Professor Todd Collins on a survey of what the community would want in regards to the annexation and asked if that was ok. Response was positive.
(8) Resolution to adopt Procedures. Clark Corwin passed out copies of the Rules of Procedure to guide the structure of the monthly meetings. Discussion about researching why these rules are in place and how they would affect the Village meetings. This agenda item was tabled again to the April meeting to give Councilmembers Tweedy and Stone more time to consider it.
(9) Village entrance maintenance. Carl Hooper volunteered to be in charge of and work with volunteers to take care of the maintenance at the Village entrance. Mayor Wallace stated that the entrance needs immediate attention and felt that this task could become overwhelming. Mayor Wallace handed out a list of maintenance items that need to be taken care of at the entrance to the Council and asked them to approve Carl Hooper going ahead with this task. Suzanne Stone made a motion to have Carl Hooper in charge of and coordinate volunteers to take care of the maintenance at the Village entrance, seconded by Clark Corwin, unanimously approved. Discussion from Clark Corwin about some of the items on the list and requested some type of schedule for mowing frequency, when herbicide needs to be applied, etc. Carl Hooper requested help from Mayor Wallace with that schedule. Mayor Wallace discussed dead bushes at the entrance because of temperature sensitivity and requested they be replaced with something more hardy and appropriate for our zone.
NEW BUSINESS:
Village roadside clean-up by
Board Compensation. Carl Hooper made a motion that the board councilmembers and mayor be compensated at a rate of $50.00/month to be paid quarterly beginning July 1 and only if meetings are attended, seconded by Clark Corwin. Discussion from Clark Corwin about other members that have responsibilities during and outside of the meetings referring to the clerk and finance officer positions. Corwin also discussed the work done by councilmembers outside of meeting attendance. Corwin further discussed potential future compensation for planning board members when/if the Village expands. Gene Tweedy stated that he feels that compensation is something that is deserved he’s not comfortable voting in a salary for himself but would go along with the majority vote. He suggested potentially amending the motion to have the compensation start after the next election (November 2011.) Mayor Wallace agreed with Tweedy. Mayor Wallace asked for input from Kolleen Begley (Finance Officer) to give an idea of what she thought would be a fair compensation for the finance officer and clerk positions. Begley responded that this was discussed in the Budget Committee Meeting and she felt with the current small Village entity structure, if there were to be compensation for the clerk and finance officer positions that equal compensation for any member would be adequate for now since everyone puts in time. Begley stated that she took on the finance officer position as voluntary and is fine with that, but is requesting a decision on whether or not Council wants to move forward on any compensation either July 1st or December 1st so an amount could be figured and allocated as a line item for it on next fiscal year’s budget. Begley further stated that this would be helpful but not required. Mayor Wallace stated that he is questioning a fair salary for the clerk position because he is concerned that the Village may need to hire on the clerk position if it doesn’t get filled. Clark Corwin interjected stating that there is a motion on the floor that doesn’t pertain to compensation for the clerk position. Clark Corwin also reminded the board that the motion stated referred to July 1, not to December 1. Suzanne Stone continued the discussion regarding the motion and stated that she felt that it is something to move toward but agreed with Tweedy in that it should wait until after the next election but would like to take more time to consider the amount of compensation since this is the first she has heard about it. Stone voted nay on the motion, Tweedy voted nay on the motion, Corwin voted yes on the motion, Hooper voted yes on the motion, and Mayor Wallace voted nay on the motion to break the tie. Motion defeated. Stone requested some figures from surrounding towns from Begley. Tweedy and Stone discussed wanting more time to absorb the information in order to cast their vote. Tweedy felt that the clerk and finance officer positions should be considered for compensation as well as the board.
Clark Corwin interjected to make a motion to adjourn. He stated that he wants the meetings to follow proper order and if a motion is defeated, Council should move on to next business and unless someone wanted to make a motion to reconsider. Corwin stated that Council needs to stay out of discussion and do business. Mayor Wallace asked for a vote on the motion, Stone nay, Tweedy nay, Corwin yes, Hooper nay. A motion to suspend the rules was made by Suzanne Stone, seconded by Gene Tweedy, yes by Carl Hooper, nay by Clark Corwin. Discussion from Suzanne Stone about not agreeing with compensation being withheld if a meeting wasn’t attended. Carl Hooper agreed and suggested an amended motion could be stated. Clark Corwin suggested also looking at the percentage of compensation to the total budgets when comparing.
Agenda Kolleen Begley addressed Mayor Wallace requesting more detail be typed on the agenda subjects or to attach descriptions to the agenda which when received prior to the meetings aids attendees in being informed enough to cast a vote, give input, suggestions, or get their questions answered before the meeting.
Paving Gene Tweedy made a motion to get proposals for resurfacing portions of
OLD BUSINESS: None.
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