Board Meeting Minutes, January 30, 2018
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 January 23, 2018 Commissioners’ 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.
Finance Director Mike Pataky presented the following resolutions: (1) cash transfers to the Medina County Soil and Water Conservation District; (2) approving an amendment to the agreement with Aramark for the provision of food service at the Medina County Home; (3) allowing expenses of the Adult Probation Department; and (4) allowing expenses of county officials. Mr. Pataky requested payment of the weekly bills in the amount of $619,444.10. Mr. Friedrick moved to approve the four resolutions and to pay the bills; Mrs. Geissman seconded the motion.
Commissioner Hutson asked if there was a separate contract for Aramark to provide food services at the Medina County Jail. Mr. Pataky answered that there were two separate contracts. There was no further discussion. 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. There was no discussion. Roll call showed all commissioners voting AYE.
Mr. Hutson said that there was one person wishing to make public comment. He reminded him that he had five minutes.
Bill Bramley, 361 Sharon-Copley Road, Sharon Township, stated that a couple of weeks ago, a public speaker present at the Commissioners’ meeting said that the workers on the Nexus pipeline would only need fast food and hotel rooms. He agreed that those were two of the things they would need. The workers are paid very well – $30- $45 an hour plus a per diem of approximately $45 a day. Additionally, they would likely earn overtime since construction will be on a 24-hour schedule. Those workers will earn more in three months than most people earn in 12 months. The Medina County car and truck dealerships would be well advised to pay attention to the workers since they will likely be buying vehicles (expensive pickup trucks are rather common on these types of job sites). Regarding taxes, people have said many times that property taxes will decline in the pipeline pathway; it’s probably true and that those people will have lower taxes. The rest of the story is different. The pipeline companies will be obligated to pay taxes – a lot of taxes – especially for the compressor station that will be in the millions. Even better is the fact that because much of the gas will be shipped abroad (to countries that won’t allow hydraulic fracturing), the other countries will be paying Medina County and Ohio taxes. When looking at the big picture, the pipeline will be a net benefit to Medina County, Ohio, and the entire world.
Mr. Friedrick moved to go into an Executive Session after the Discussion Session to consider the purchase of real property, and to consider the appointment, employment, dismissal, discipline, promotion, demotion, or compensation of a public employee or official; the motion was seconded by Mrs. Geissman. There was no discussion. Roll call showed all commissioners voting AYE.
With no further business to come before the Commissioners, the meeting recessed at 9:38 a.m.
Discussion Session
At 9:41 a.m., the Commissioners began the Discussion Session.
Ohio Loves Transit Day
Transit Director Mike Salamone stated that the Ohio Public Transit Association was having a promotional event, “Ohio Loves Transit Day”, on February 14 and he would like to participate. The event is being held to celebrate public transportation and its benefits. They would offer free rides on fixed routes – there are two in Brunswick, two in Medina, and one in Wadsworth. The lost revenue would be $50-60, but more transit customers may be gained. The Commissioners agreed to participate. The press release will be provided to the newspapers and publicized on the buses.
No Pay, No Ride
Mr. Salamone stated that in the past, they enforced a policy that if a client didn’t pay, they couldn’t ride the bus. For some time, they stopped enforcing that. He would now like to reinstitute it. If the rider doesn’t pay and they are in arrears by $6, they can be prevented from riding until they pay. If they know that a client needs assistance, they are directed to an agency that can assist them with payment. The commissioners agreed that the policy be enforced.
Update on Transit Dollar Transfer
Mr. Salamone noted that the funding transfer hadn’t taken place yet. Mike Lyons is reviewing the MOU. Mr. Salamone noted that 1% of the approximately $600,000 had to be spent on safety (building cameras, bus cameras, etc.)
Mileage Rate
Commissioner Hutson asked about the status of reviewing the mileage reimbursement rate. Scott Miller answered that he and Mike Pataky had performed calculations and arrived at the 46¢ reimbursement rate, less than the Federal rate of 54.5¢. The increase to the budget if 54.5¢ was paid would be $3,200. Mr. Miller asked if the Commissioners wanted to change to the Federal rate or keep what’s been negotiated with the unions. Commissioner Hutson noted that when the calculations were made, if financing costs were added, it added about 8¢ a mile based on 12,000 miles a year. That would bring the cost to 54¢ a mile. Commissioner Friedrick asked if someone’s a poor planner and needs to obtain a loan if the county should have taxpayers paying that. Commissioner Hutson said that financing is part of the cost of the ownership of the vehicle. If it’s not financed, it’s an opportunity cost because money is taken from a person’s portfolio to fund the vehicle; it’s a valid part of vehicle ownership. He suggested going to the Federal rate. Commissioners Friedrick and Geissman said that they wanted to keep it at the current 46¢ rate.
Compost
Sanitary Engineer Amy Lyon-Galvin provided an update on the compost bids that were opened; an information packet was provided. In the last Solid Waste Management Plan update, the flow control requirement was eliminated for yard waste. It’s still accepted at the facility at no charge, but they longer enforce that all yard waste in the county has to come to the county facility. There was a large paper mill that had closed November 2015 that had used a lot of sawdust and wood chip materials from lumber mills and tree clearing industries in Ohio. Those materials are now finding their way into compost; it’s a cleaner product than trying to take the dropped off yard waste, chip it, process it, and remove contaminants. Pricing has been affected. The Commissioners had given her permission to advertise and go out for bids because they knew their costs would increase significantly compared to the past few years ($1,500 a year) with Smith Brothers. Because of the change, companies are instituting fees for the material.
Amy wanted to make a recommendation next week to award the one-year contract (because of the changing climate) to Smith Brothers. There were only two bidders; the other one was Madden Brothers. The costs would increase to over $100,000 annually. They exported about 6,500 tons of yard waste last year. Part of the recommendation is to institute a fee for commercial haulers and tree businesses to pay on a per axle basis. There were about 13,000- 15,000 tons in the county. If they don’t charge, they don’t want to be the receiver of all of that material because the county’s the lowest cost outlet and they bring it to the county. Beth is putting together her recommendation on the fee that they would like to implement for the commercial and tree haulers on a per axle basis. At this time, the fee would be $25 for a per-axle dump and $40 for a tandem-axle dump.
Commissioner Friedrick asked if a homeowner bringing yard waste to the CPF would still be able to do that free of charge. Amy said it would remain free.
Amy noted that next week, she’d like to present a resolution to award the Class IV contract (effective February 12) and then institute the fees if it doesn’t require more discussion.
Commissioner Hutson noted that the cost is going from $1,500 to $130,000 cost. Amy proposed for their consideration that depending on how the negotiations proceed for the future operations under the sum of all parts, she may, at some point, not offer a Class IV facility because there are others in Medina County. Our county may not want, or need, to provide that.
Commissioner Hutson asked how they handle it if yard waste comes across the scale as part of other garbage. Amy answered that they are weighed and then take whatever material is dumped (no-charge items) and then weigh again and dump the yard waste. Everything is managed through the scale house operation; they have a conversation with the inbound driver to ask what they have. They must come through the scales twice in order to capture what is and isn’t a payload.
Commissioner Friedrick asked for more detail and Amy provided it. Commissioner Hutson inquired if the compost would be available to purchase. Amy answered that it hasn’t been available to purchase since the prior contract operations ceased. Commissioner Geissman stated that it was a big thing; people really liked being able to get that compost. Commissioner Friedrick said that it was also good mulch; Commissioner Geissman said it was better than the commercial mulch.
Commissioner Geissman asked if this was a continuation of the sum of all parts. Amy answered that it was and noted that they had been fortunate for the last three years to pay $1,500 a year; she appreciated the value that had been received thanks to Smith Brothers.
Miscellaneous
Commissioner Geissman asked how frequently the Transit buses were washed. Mr. Salamone answered that they are washed daily if the wash bay is working.
Commissioner Geissman stated that she still didn’t like the sum of all parts because she didn’t think it was working.
Executive Session
At 10:02 a.m., the commissioners went into the Executive Session that had been voted on earlier.
Adjournment
There being no further business, at 10:44 a.m., Mr. Friedrick moved to adjourn the meeting; the motion was seconded by Mrs. Geissman. There was no discussion. Roll call showed all commissioners voting AYE.
RESOLUTIONS PASSED JANUARY 30, 2018
18-0062 Allowing claims and authorize issuance upon the treasurer in settlement of such list of claims
18-0063 Cash transfers to the Medina County Soil and Water Conservation District
18-0064 Approving an amendment to the agreement with Aramark for the provision of food service at the Medina County Home
18-0065 Allowing expenses of the Adult Probation Department
18-0066 Allowing expenses of county officials
18-0067 Approving personnel changes for the employees under the jurisdiction of the Medina County commissioners
All deliberations concerning official business and formal actions by this Board of Commissioners were conducted in an open public meeting this thirtieth day of January 2018.