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Commissioners’ Meeting

William F. Hutson called the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m. with Adam Friedrick and Patricia G. Geissman present. The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance and a prayer.

The minutes of the August 14, 2018 meeting were emailed in advance. Mr. Friedrick moved to approve the minutes; Mrs. Geissman seconded the motion. There was no discussion. Roll call showed all commissioners voting AYE. Highway Engineer Administrative Assistant Doug King presented and reviewed the following resolutions: (1) approving the final change order to the contract for MED-CR49-4.46, the replacement of Bridge No. 30 on River Styx Road (CR-49) in Montville Township, between Vo Menuez & Son, Inc. and the Medina County Board of Commissioners; (2) determining the necessity to close Firestone Road (C.H. 26) between Bursley Road (T.H. 87) and Lovers Lane Road (T.H. 88); and (3) determining the emergency closing of Chippewa Road (C.H. 50) between Avon Lake Road (S.R. 83) and Vandemark Road (C.H. 31). Mr. Friedrick moved to approve the three resolutions; Mrs. Geissman seconded the motion. Roll call showed all commissioners voting AYE.

The commissioners reviewed the permits issued August 2-15, 2018.

Finance Director Mike Pataky presented and reviewed the following resolutions: (1) amending the Annual Appropriation Resolution; (2) amending the 2018 Appropriations Resolution by transferring appropriations; (3) revenue adjustments for various funds; (4) authorizing the county auditor to transfer funds from the county general fund (0010) to the Medina County Job and Family Service Children Services Fund (0055) for the board and care of county wards; (5) creation of an Office for Older Adults Senior Prevention Services Fund and authorizing appropriations; (6) creation of a Sheriff’s Office Equipment/Technology Improvement Fund and authorizing appropriations; (7) authorizing the purchase of 6,000 gallons of regular unleaded gasoline for the engineering center; (8) declaring a Medina County motor vehicle and a 1,000 gallon fuel tank as excess property; and (9) allowing expenses of county officials. Mr. Pataky requested payment of the weekly bills in the amount of $501,735.58. Mr. Friedrick moved to approve the nine resolutions and to pay the bills; Mrs. Geissman seconded the motion. Roll call showed all commissioners voting AYE.

Human Resources Director Holly Muren presented and reviewed a resolution approving personnel changes for the employees under the jurisdiction of the Medina County commissioners. Mr. Friedrick moved to approve the resolution; Mrs. Geissman seconded the motion. Roll call showed all commissioners voting AYE.

County Administrator Scott Miller presented and reviewed the following resolutions: (1) authorizing Change Order No. 2 for various Medina County Repair and Restoration projects; and (2) approving the filing of a renewal application with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio for a governmental gas aggregation program. Mr. Friedrick moved to approve the two resolutions; Mrs. Geissman seconded the motion. In answer to a question posed by Mr. Hutson, Mr. Miller stated that for the most part, the work is complete; they are going through the punch list and getting final approval by the architect. There was no further discussion. Roll call showed all commissioners voting AYE.

Sanitary Engineer Amy Lyon- Galvin presented and reviewed the following resolutions: (1) authorizing Change Order No. 2 for the Liverpool Digester (Medina County WWTP Energy Savings) MCSE#500/00-1.5; and (2) authorizing the sanitary engineer to advertise for bid for lawn maintenance and snow plowing services for the Medina County Sanitary Engineering Department and various Medina County facilities. Mr. Friedrick moved to approve the two resolutions; Mrs. Geissman seconded the motion. Roll call showed all commissioners voting AYE. Chief Building Official Christopher Randles reviewed the July Monthly Report 2018 noting that they issued 374 permits for an estimated value of construction of $14,254,362.; they performed 1,268 inspections. Currently, the top three townships for activity are Montville, Lafayette and Medina. Commercial review times are down to eleven business days and residential is down to two business days. Mr. Randles reported that they recently had their software kickoff call; they are on schedule to go live January 1, 2019.

Mr. Hutson asked about the current trends. Mr. Randles answered that overall compared to last year, inspections are up. There were a couple of days this month where they had six vehicles on the road. Requests are coming in and everyone seems to be busy.

Veterans Service Office Director Ed Zackery reported that through June 30, they have filed 178 VA claims, 116 medical and other ancillary VA benefits, current pending claims on inventory are 243 and 14 appeals, and the average claims filed per month through June is 29.67.

Last year, they saw a slight decrease in compensation and pension benefits ($33M) from the Department of Veterans Affairs within Medina County; this is about 0.6 percent lower increase than it was the previous year. There has also been $3.8M invested in our county’s veterans through educational programs and payouts for insurance. Last year, $26.9M went to medical expenditures for Medina County residents. The VA spent a total amount of about $65.5M on the veterans of Medina County in 2017, which is a $40M increase from ten years ago.

Mr. Zackery stated that since the inception of the Ohio Bonus, 1,285 applications have been filed totaling $998,000. The Military Injury Relief Fund has dropped off quite a bit. Regarding the county financial assistance, they have seen 229 eligible clients the first half of 2018. With a lower than normal unemployment rate (1.6 percent), they expect it to continue into the near future. Those numbers come from the Department of Veterans Services.

Continuing, Mr. Zackery stated that they have seen 1,496 clients in the first half of the year. Recently, they started a new program with Medina County Transit where any veteran can ride the transit for free; this is on-demand or the loop routes. This program will go through the end of the year. The program will be evaluated in October to determine if the program will continue next year.

Mr. Zackery stated that operating costs have remained close to where they have been in the recent past. He stated that the VA has been going through its largest and most complex transition in its history. They are on pace with the VA during a seamless transition to a paperless claims process. He noted that they have attended 13 outreach to date including an event in Parma where more than 500 clients from around Northeast Ohio were seen. They also had a benefits briefing in Brunswick in June with one being held tomorrow night in Medina and a third is being planned for September in Lodi or Wadsworth.

Commissioner Hutson presented a resolution proclaiming August 2018 as Child Support Awareness Month. Mr. Friedrick moved to approve the resolution; Mrs. Geissman seconded the motion. Roll call showed all commissioners voting AYE.

Commissioner Hutson recognized the following Medina County students who participated in the Ohio Academy’s State Science Day on May 12, 2018 hosted by the Ohio State University:

Carson Bernard, Gianna Oliverio, Alexis Youngblood, Marie O’Keefe, Helen Chermak, Matthew Sandor, Anna Kalka, Brock Richardson, Amelia Moll, Hailey Smith, Sean Bingle, Elizabeth Russo, Lily Myers, Ky’Sonna Won, Sidney Frazier, Alex Shuran, Anna Stankard

Commissioner Geissman stated that the students’ projects were fantastic.

Commissioner Hutson stated that the Clerk received an Expedited Type 2 petition for annexation for one parcel of land totaling 31.9424 acres of land from Lafayette Township to the City of Medina. No public hearing is required. The commissioners’ will review the petition September 18, 2018 during their regular meeting. With no further business to come before the Commissioners, the meeting recessed at 9:48 a.m.

Discussion Session

At 9:49 a.m., the Commissioners began the Discussion Session in the Commissioners’ Conference Room.

Recorder Fees

Colleen Swedyk stated that every five years the recorder technology fee has to have a resolution declaring the fee per document. She stated that they are at $4 currently. She is proposing a resolution for $4 per document for the next five years. Mrs. Swedyk noted, in answer to a question, that the money is used for the computers and computer software. Mr. Hutson asked if the money went to the automation and making the documents available online. Mrs. Swedyk stated it did. Scott Miller stated that a resolution will be presented next week.

Updating Building Regulations

Christopher Randles stated that they are in the process of updating their building regulations. Two public hearings will be held in September. He hopes to have the updated regulations in place by November 1 and the Prosecutor’s office is reviewing them. The purpose is to create a technology fee to pay for the permitting software and to eliminate the contractor registration requirements. Mr. Randles noted that the updated regulations would be available on the website and in the office for the public to review.

Wadsworth Public Meeting

Amy Lyon-Galvin stated that the Wadsworth Public Meeting is on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. They have moved the meeting to their Council chambers. Commissioner Hutson stated that it will be an official commissioners meeting.

2016 Wadsworth Downtown Revitalization Grant

Rob Henwood stated that as the construction deadline is approaching for the grant, there are two issues: (1) a business owner withdrew their project from the program on the day the contract was scheduled to be signed. The project team had approved the façade improvement project with a valid bid; and (2) in the most recent batch of bids, several projects came significantly under their estimates. Mr. Henwood stated that there is $41,103 remaining. The project team came up with two strategies to spend the remaining funds: (1) two projects have been pre-qualified by the project team and have executed contracts, both of which have a combined reimbursable project cost of $23,925, were identified for funding, however, both projects are unable to have windows either produced or delivered by construction deadline. The project team will request that the Office of Community Development extend the construction deadline by five business days to allow these projects to be complete; and (2) currently the 2016 Wadsworth Downtown Revitalization Grant has two limits on reimbursement under the program; first, 75% of the project cost is eligible for reimbursement and second, the total reimbursable amount is limited to $20,000. The project team proposes, as specifically stated and permitted in its original application to Office of Community Development, to waive the $20,000 cap on reimbursement. This action will allow three projects to be fully reimbursed at 75% of the project cost for a total amount of $15,329. These two strategies will reduce the remaining grant balance from $41,103 to $1,850. Commissioner Hutson asked which two projects made up the $23,925. Mr. Henwood noted 138 Main Street for store front window improvements and 125 High Street for façade and electrical improvements. The windows for both projects are not available until the first week of September. The windows are being replaced for energy efficiency and are established by the City of Wadsworth as improvements that are necessary. The commissioners all agreed with the two strategies.

Executive Session

At 9:59 a.m., the Commissioners went into the Executive Session that had been voted on earlier. The Executive Session ended at 10:25 a.m.

Adjournment

There being no further business, Mr. Friedrick moved to adjourn the meeting; the motion was seconded by Mrs. Geissman. Roll call showed all commissioners voting AYE. The meeting ended at 10:25 a.m.

RESOLUTIONS PASSED AUGUST 21, 2018

• 18-0687 Proclaiming August 2018 as Child Support Awareness Month
• 18-0688 Allowing claims and authorizing issuance upon the treasurer in settlement of such list of claims
• 18-0689 Approving the final change order to the contract for MED-CR49-4.46, the replacement of Bridge No. 30 on River Styx Road (CR-49) in Montville Township, between Vo Menuez & Son, Inc. and the Medina County Board of Commissioners
• 18-0690 Determining the necessity to close Firestone Road (C.H. 26) between Bursley Road (T.H. 87) and Lovers Lane Road (T.H. 88)
• 18-0691 Determining the emergency closing of Chippewa Road (C.H. 50) between Avon Lake Road (S.R. 83) and Vandemark Road (C.H. 31)
• 18-0692 Amending the Annual Appropriation Resolution
• 18-0693 Amending the 2018 Appropriations Resolution by transferring appropriations
• 18-0694 Revenue adjustments for various funds
• 18-0695 Authorizing the county auditor to transfer funds from the County General Fund (0010) to the Medina County Job and Family Service Children Services Fund (0055) for the board and care of county wards
• 18-0696 Creation of an Office for Older Adults Senior Prevention Services Fund and authorizing appropriations
• 18-0697 Creation of a Sheriff’s Office Equipment/Technology Improvement Fund and authorizing appropriations
• 18-0698 Authorizing the purchase of 6,000 gallons of regular unleaded gasoline for the engineering center
• 18-0699 Declaring a Medina County motor vehicle and a 1,000 gallon fuel tank as excess property
• 18-0700 Allowing expenses of county officials
• 18-0701 Approving personnel changes for employees under the jurisdiction of the Medina County Commissioners
• 18-0702 Authorizing Change Order No. 2 for various Medina County repair and restoration projects
• 18-0703 Authorizing Change Order No. 2 for the Liverpool Digester (Medina County WWTP Energy Savings) MCSE #500/00-1.5
• 18-0704 Authorizing the Sanitary Engineering Department to advertise for bid for lawn maintenance and snow plowing services for the Medina County Sanitary Engineering Department and various Medina County facilities
• 18-0705 Approving the filing of a renewal application with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio for a governmental gas aggregation program

All deliberations concerning official business and formal actions by this Board of Commissioners were conducted
in an open public meeting this twenty-first day of August 2018.

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