Mayor Jim Wallace

Councilmember Marcia Almond

Councilmember Clark Corwin

Councilmember Jerry Rice, III

Councilmember Nilofer Couture

 

The following Non-Council members were Present:

Stephanie Gibson, Clerk

 

1. Call to order:  at 7:00pm Mayor Wallace called the meeting to order.   

2. Announcements: 

• Reminder – Please silence cell phones for meeting 

3. Approval of Agenda – Councilmember Rice made a motion to approve the agenda, Councilmember Almond seconded the motion, unanimously approved. 

4. Approval of Meeting Minutes –December 3, 2019 Regular Council Meeting: Councilmember Almond made a motion to approve the minutes; Councilmember Corwin seconded the motion, unanimously approved.  (All meeting minutes are posted on the Forest Hills website once approved.) 

5. Acceptance of Financial Report & Checklist for the month of December 2019:  Councilmember Corwin made a motion to accept the financial report; Councilmember Rice seconded the motion, unanimously approved.  (All financial reports are posted on the Forest Hills website once approved.) 

6. Public Comments:  None 

7. Reports:  

Roads:  Jerry Rice – Councilmember Rice said that the culvert repair has filled up with debris and leaves past John Adams house and across the street there is a tree down that needs to be cleared.  Councilmember Corwin made a motion to have Councilmember Rice hire someone and pay up to $150 to have the tree removed, Councilmember Rice seconded the motion, unanimously approved.

Also, one of the No Parking on Township Roads and Right of Way signs was stolen.  Councilmember Corwin made a motion to order another sign, Councilmember Almond seconded the motion, unanimously approved.

RPO/TAC:  Marcia Almond – Councilmember Almond said that the next meeting will be held on January 27^th.

• Planning Board:  Clark Corwin – Councilmember Corwin said that the planner recommended making time limits for people speaking with public input for the Planning Board.  They are waiting to do an Organizational meeting.

Councilmember Corwin said that Planning Board members had mentioned the possibility of installing speed bumps near Prospect Western.  Mayor Wallace said that it would unlikely to have speed bumps because the Department of Transportation is responsible for State Maintained roads.

Village Safety:  Nilofer Couture noted no safety issues were reported. 

8.  Mayor’s Comments: 

• Procedural Guidelines – Mayor Wallace asked that if anyone had a topic to discuss, please raise your hand.
• Planning Board Nominations – Rick Cardona said that he would like to apply to volunteer as a Planning Board member.  Councilmember Corwin said that he felt we should review any applications and bring forward to the February meeting.
• Responsibility of Non-council/Planning board use of Assembly Hall – Councilmember Corwin suggested having Attorney Fox create a form to be submitted to request use of the Assembly Hall.
• Sound echoing problem of Assembly Hall – Mayor Wallace asked that Council members to bring ideas for sound blocking to the next meeting.  Councilmember Corwin suggested speaking with the Prospect manager to see what would be allowed.
• Emailing Agenda and Minutes to residents – Mayor Wallace said that it might be possible to check on emailing residents.
• Philosophy of “Liaison to Planning Board” – Mayor Wallace read former Mayor Begley’s email outlining the Liaison’s position that Councilmember Corwin has filled with the Planning Board.  He noted that he feels there should be a representative from the Planning Board attend the Council meetings.  Councilmember Couture agreed that it would be good to have someone from the Planning Board attend Council meetings.

Mayor Wallace said that he feels the Planning Board should be a separate entity from the Council.  Councilmember Couture said she feels that the chair of the Planning Board or their representative should attend the Council meetings.

Councilmember Corwin said that he feels the challenge will be to have someone attend meetings on an ongoing basis.  Planning Board members are to serve for 3-year terms, but it has been a challenge to get and keep a full board for that time.  Councilmember Corwin said that he doesn’t feel any development in the valley is imminent.

Councilmember Couture said that she feels it is important to give Planning Board members an orientation/training as to what is expected.  Councilmember Corwin agreed that this is important and that trainings are important but that previous trainings provided were not well attended. 

9. Additional Public Comments:  Rick Cardona said that he feels that Chris Green is looking at developing R-1, he is looking at 1100-1200 sq. ft. homes.

   10. Adjourn:  At 8:00pm, Councilmember Rice made a motion to adjourn; Councilmember Corwin seconded the motion, unanimously approved.