April 2010
COUNCIL MINUTES
VILLAGE OF FOREST HILLS
April 6, 2010
The regular meeting of the
on April 6, 2010.
The following members of the Council were present:
Clark Corwin
Carl Hooper
Gene Tweedy
Suzanne Stone
Jim Wallace, Mayor
The following Non-Council members were present:
Kolleen Begley, Clerk
Mark Teague, Zoning Administrator
Jim Weir, Finance Officer
(1) Call to order 6:00pm by Mayor Jim Wallace
(2) Approval of meeting minutes for January 26, 2010 and February 2, 2010 Council meeting. A motion to approve the minutes was made by Gene Tweedy, seconded by Carl Hooper, unanimously approved. (The March meeting was canceled due to inclement weather.)
(3) Financial reports for the months of January, February, and March 2010. Jim Weir requested approval to pay for a snow removal invoice of $1,100.00 and a gravel invoice for $1,080.00 for winter road maintenance on non-state maintained Village roads. A motion to approve payments to Green’s Excavating for both invoices was made by Carl Hooper, seconded by Gene Tweedy, unanimously approved. Jim Weir requested approval to move a budget line item of $12,700.00 from Prior Year Fund Balance Transfer to Ad Valorem Tax Revenue. A motion was made by Gene Tweedy to approve the reclassed budget line item of $12,700.00, seconded by Carl Hooper, unanimously approved. Jim Weir reported that the new fiscal year budget needs to be presented at the May meeting. Jim Wallace appointed a Finance Committee for next fiscal year’s budget as Jim Weir, Kolleen Begley, Carl Hooper, and Gene Tweedy. Jim Weir went over the expenses for the 3 months and reported that the Police Expense will be under budget this year. (The actual vs estimated expenses fiscal year to date are published on the Village website.) Clark Corwin discussed requesting written statements from the police department to understand a schedule which could help the Village in planning future patrol. Gene Tweedy discussed having a “contract” between the Village and the police department. Jim Wallace said he would check into both of those items discussed with Kim Hooper. A motion to accept the financial report was made by Suzanne Stone, seconded by Carl Hooper, and unanimously approved.
(4) PUBLIC HEARING for the proposed ordinance revisions. At 6:17pm Jim Wallace opened up the public hearing for public input. Resident, Lee Budahl, spoke to the Council regarding the following suggestions: pg.27 501.2c Procedure – add a 4th point requesting a statement that such a permit is consistent with the ordinances in Sec.102 to preserve the social, economic, & aesthetic conditions that make of the Village of Forest Hills. Pg.19 Sec.213 Noises prohibited – add phrase “or making other noise” which would cover all bases and stay consistent with wording in other ordinances. Pg.20 Sec.219 Residency Occupancy Control – delete point “C” to ensure conditional use purpose. Resident, Angela Davis asked if the leash law was being enforced. Mayor Wallace explained that it was and how the process works. Jim Wallace spoke to the Council about his concerns with the proposed ordinance revisions and would like to make amendments to what the Planning Board finalized: pg.5 and pg.6, 8, 12, 13, & 27 – replace “4 or more unrelated persons” to “more than 2 unrelated persons” regarding the conditional permit for a single family residence. Discussion against this change by resident Alan Begley. Clark Corwin discussed how the Planning Board worked on the definition of “family” and the decision to come up with “4 or more unrelated persons.” Discussion about how this gets enforced. Discussion about the responsibility of the homeowner regarding college parties. Ron Hancock from the Division of Community Assistance addressed the Council stating that he felt it was too restrictive to bring it down from 4 to 2 and would increase workload to enforce it. Suggestions made by Mark Teague and Carl Hooper to vote on the proposed revisions recommended by the Planning Board. Mayor Wallace did not want certain revisions voted into law and continued with other ideas he is suggesting for amendments: pg.12 & 13 B, C, & D regarding Professional Office District restricting the construction of businesses to look like offices. Clark Corwin stated that Mayor Wallace’s suggestions be sent back to the Planning Board and requested that discussion continue on coarse for only the revisions recommended by the Planning Board. Jim Wallace asked that the names of the current Mayor and Clerk be updated in the documentation. Discussion about family care homes on pg.40 & 41 in R1. A motion to approve the ordinance revisions as is was made by Carl Hooper, seconded by Clark Corwin and unanimously approved.
(5)
(6) May Council Meeting. A motion was made by Suzanne Stone to change the regularly schedule May meeting to the second Tuesday, May 11, seconded by Carl Hooper, unanimously approved.
(7) Charges for the Planning Board. Jim Wallace asked that the planning board work on the Land Plan and the revision of the current ordinance map to agree with proposed. The potential revisions discussed earlier tonight will also go back to the Planning Board.
(8) Village Road trimming and clearing. Gene Tweedy is working on obtaining 3 bids to cut back the right-of-ways throughout the Village and clean up the damaged trees and debris due to the winter storms. Discussion about what the bids are to include working 4’ off of the shoulder, 16’ high.
(9) Village Road Maintenance. Kolleen Begley addressed the Council regarding the lack of maintenance on
NEW BUSINESS: not addressed
OLD BUSINESS: not addressed
At 8:00pm a motion to adjourn was made by made by Clark Corwin, seconded by Gene Tweedy, unanimously approved.