No Early Postings
Councilman Rex Bevis suggested that the minutes not be posted until after they have been approved by Council. Mayor Policastro said we have been posting the minutes as soon as they are available so people can review what happened at the meeting prior to the next meeting. Council agreed they would prefer the minutes be posted after they have had an opportunity to review them.

Mr. Bevis said he would like to address the meeting of June 26, 2006. On Friday June 23, 2006 the Solicitor sent out an ordinance on West Street which was erroneously marked as an emergency. Solicitor McTigue has subsequently told everyone the same.

Later Friday afternoon, he received an e-mail from Adams asking what the emergency was about. Bevis said he informed Adams that the ordinance would only have a first reading and that Bevis would not be voting for it as an emergency. Ebelhar also said that the emergency clause was simply an error and the ordinance would only have a first reading.

There was no doubt that this was not to have been an emergency. The reason he brought it up was because it changed the whole entire tenor of that meeting. On Monday June 26, 2006, Adams sent out the following e-mail: ‘It has been listed as an emergency Ordinance, as you can see in the attached copy that Joanee originally sent. However, they are now trying to not make it an emergency because they don’t have the votes to get it passed with Bill Ebelhar being out of town. As it stands now, if Bill were in town, the vote would be 3 to 3, with the Mayor then casting the tie- breaking vote. And, he is firmly in favor of it moving forward. Melissa, Kim and I do not want this to go forward until the School Board gets back to us with their plan, and we will try to get it stopped tonight. It’s always good to have community representation at these meetings, especially when we have such a volatile issue like this. Thank you for your support’.

It suffices to say that one resident came to that meeting and referred to Council as being sneaky. Adams knows Bevis did not intend it to be an emergency as he knows neither did Ebelhar. Bevis believes Adams deceived the public. He believes the meeting of June 26, 2006, was flawed because of some misrepresentation.

Sullivan said she did not think it was misrepresentation because there were some valid questions. She does not think they were trying to skew the meeting one way or another. She had valid questions about how things fell into place and simply wanted more information. Mayor Policastro said it was an honest mistake by the Solicitor. Ebelhar did not call for an emergency. The only thing Bevis was addressing was the emergency clause.

Sullivan moved seconded by Ebelhar to accept the minutes as written for June 26, 2006, Budget Hearing June 26, 2006 and July 10, 2006. On roll call; five ayes, Ebelhar abstained due to his absence from the meeting.

School Board gives thanks
Mayor Policastro asked that the e-mail be read from Mariemont School Board President Rick Koehler into the permanent minutes:

‘Dear Mr. Mayor: As I will be out of town next week, I wanted to express to you and the Council Members, the thinking of the Mariemont School Board relative to the West Street reconfigurations being anticipated at this time. To begin, I would like to say what a pleasure it has been to work with Bill Ebelhar on this project. The invited dialogue between Mariemont Village Council (MVC) and the Mariemont Board of Education (MBOE) has been terrific. Indeed, this project has opened our eyes to a better solution for our parents and the children of our school district. At the June MBOE meeting, we authorized Gerry Harris to have Ron Roberts Engineering proceed with the drawings necessary to execute a drop-off area on school property. We envision these drawings being completed this fall. Late this year, or early next year, we will put those drawings out for bid. Our intention is to award the contract so that work can begin on this endeavor the day after school is out, next summer. When the kids return in the fall, the work will be completed and ready to be used by the parents. If MVC is going to eliminate the parking on West Street, prior to us having our work completed, we would ask that you consider allowing drop-off at certain times of the day, for parents and their children. This would alleviate the need for parents to park their cars in the lot and then walk their children to the school from there. Next year, when our work is completed, this will not be an issue. I am certain that Dr. Harris and Steve Brokamp (the new Mariemont Elementary Principal) would be happy to work with the Village, to establish what times of the day this plan would need to properly function. Thank you in advance for your consideration. Sincerely, Rick Koehler, President MBOE.’

Open Forum
During Open Forum, members of the audience may address council regarding concerns, questions, or just to make a statement. Here were the comments issued by those who requested to speak to council.

Ms. Karen Hollyday, 6607 Mariemont Avenue, said she is concerned that if we go ahead and make West Street no parking for one year until the new drop off is completed that it will become a more hazardous situation for the children for this year. It is a nightmare as it is for parents and a safety issue for parents. She suggested having a limited time drop of for the next year.

Ms. Jamie Keyes, 6825 Hammerstone Way, said she appreciates our police. She thinks our police department goes beyond the call of duty for a Village our size. She would encourage the police to do occasional surprise visits on West Street during school drop off. Rather than continue their niceness, perhaps the police need to start issuing some citations, we will not have people parking along West Street. Mayor Policastro said once we get this on paper, he is going to ask the Police Chief to have an officer there for at least the first 30 days of school to make sure the chaos and problems are ironed out. She thinks it will take more than 30 days. Mayor Policastro said he will leave that up to the Police Chief.

Ms. Marie Huenefeld, 7 Denny Place, thanked Council for working the Mariemont Board of Education. These problems are not easily solved and she appreciates that Council will continue to work cooperatively with the Board of Education.

Ms. Geneva Jokich, 6620 Wooster Pike, asked Council for a handicap parking spot in the back of her house to park. Mayor Policastro referred the matter to the Safety Committee.

Ms. Jenny Ferguson, 2 Emery Lane, thanked Council and the School Board for working hand in hand and trying to work together to resolve a prickly situation. The whole point of the matter is safety and serving the need of all community members - residents, students and businesses. She thinks it is wonderful to see everyone working together to serve everyone’s needs.

Ms. Ferguson said the City of Montgomery has been experiencing a surge of residential teardowns and new residences being built. The City recently passed an Ordinance to prevent new construction from towering over existing construction. She was curious if the Village had a similar Ordinance that would protect our older homes from being dwarfed by new homes. Mr. Ebelhar said the Village has in place standards and guidelines, which in not an Ordinance, but recommendations for building. It was put into place several years ago. The Solicitor said the Standards and Guideline have some teeth, but not as much as it would if there was an Ordinance in place. He suggested the Mayor refer it to a Committee if Council wishes to address the issue further. Mrs. Bartlett said time if of the essence because she believes another new home is to be constructed on Center Street. The Mayor referred the matter to the Planning and Zoning Committee.

Ms. Ferguson said another matter of concern to her is non-members using the tennis courts. Because we are limited on funding and personnel to monitor the area, she was curious if it would be a possibility to incorporate the tennis courts into the Parks system, which could be utilized by all residents for a nominal fee. It might bring in more money than what is currently being paid. Mr. Bevis said it would be best to bring it up at the next Recreation Board Meeting. He said we have people come to Council meetings periodically who complain about the waste collection fee, so he would be hesitant to impose a fee on every family when so few participate. Mayor Policastro said he also would have a problem with that because a lot of people would be upset. Ms. Ferguson said it could be made a general fee to support all of our parks. It is important to remember that having the tennis courts in our community available to those who want to play, is a property value.

On top of Rowan Hill
Mr. Bevis said the work has commenced on the residents and Mercy St. Theresa on Rowan Hill. All the plantings have been removed. He wanted to know if there was a landscaping plan. Mayor Policastro said he has the plan, but he does not think a whole lot will be done until September. The Mayor has trees at the tree farm that will be planted in the Village right-of-way. Mr. Bevis said in the old agreement, Mercy St. Theresa was required to put up a fence at the top of the hill. The concern is the automobiles that are parked in the lot and the headlights shine directly into the residences on Rowan Hill. Mayor Policastro said he would rather see a softer type barrier than a privacy fence.

Fire coverage discussed
Mr. Bevis said the Village of Terrace Park, as part of a 2.1 million tax funding, is building a new fire department building as well as adding a new fire truck. Yet, we continue to provide daytime fire coverage for them for $10,000. He suggested we renegotiate the contract at the end of the year. We have a $600,000 Fire Department and they are paying $10,000 a year for primary support during the day.

Resolutions
Resolutions receive three readings, so as to give the public a more thorough chance to learning what changes could be made.

“A Resolution to Transfer Funds from the General Fund to the Paramedic Fund” had a first reading.

“A Resolution to Advance Funds from the Permanent Improvement Fund to the General Fund” had a first reading.

“To Amend Section 79.01, Schedule II and Schedule III of the Mariemont Code of Ordinances Regarding Parking on West Street; To Repeal Ordinance No. O-12-00; and To Declare Emergency: had a second reading. Mr. Ebelhar moved, seconded by Mr. Adams to remove the emergency clause and to remove Section V. On roll call; six ayes, no nays. Mr. Ebelhar said we are primarily working off the plans by Roberts Engineering that were presented at the Committee of the Whole meeting. As indicated in the e-mail from Mr. Koehler, the School Board has approved the go ahead for the drop off area. In looking at the turn off lane that we talked about participating in, it makes sense from the standpoint of the Engineer that he work off their elevation and wait for Mr. Roberts drawings to be completed. We would then have a better document to assist us. As the School Board has indicated, everyone knows how dangerous it is presently and with construction slated for June 2007, the idea was what kind of intern plan we want to have in place to move cars and discharge kids safely. The original Ordinance calls for no stopping, standing or parking. To discharge someone in a drop off zone would require stopping, so we would have to eliminate that term. It seems to him we would need to eliminate standing and parking at all times in the area. There were some preliminary ideas about where the drop off area would be. West Street would have a designated drop off area which would be a safe zone. The parents could come in, drop off their students and keep going. This would allow for continuous traffic flow with the children being discharged on the school side of the building. It would eliminate people stopping and parking.

Mr. Adams said he commended Mr. Ebelhar for working with the School Board to come to that resolution. He believes it truly answers several different issues. One being working with the School Board and it also addresses the safety issue. He feels this is a good resolution.

Ms. Sullivan asked how afternoon pick up would be handled. Mr. Ebelhar said cars control discharge of the students and in the afternoon when students leave, they may stop at their lockers, talk to friends. He thinks it would be best to have the parents meet their children at a designated location. Ms. Sullivan said her concern is communication and we need to be very proactive. As soon as a decision is made, the more communication we have with everyone the better.

Mayor Policastro said another thing that is very important is the right turn onto Wooster Pike. Once we get the plas from the school, we will have our Engineer review the plans. It would be great thing to happen so people can get out even faster with the right turn lane.

Mrs. Schmit asked if this procedure is successful, can it be considered for the future. Mr. Ebelhar agreed that it would be a nice testing phase, but he would be concerned about the impact on the additional parking lot and how that would play out.

Mr. Ebelhar moved, seconded by Mr. Bevis to amend the Ordinance to read ‘there shall be no parking at all times on both sides of West Street between Wooster Pike and Madisonville Road with the exception of the designated drop off area which shall only be utilized for the imminent discharge of passengers for school purposes at that location’. On roll call; six ayes, no nays.

“To Accept Bid of Barrett Paving Materials Inc. for the 2006 Street Rehabilitation Project; To Authorize Contract and To Declare Emergency” had a first reading. Ms. Sullivan moved, seconded by Mrs. Schmit to suspend the rules to allow for the second and third readings. On roll call; six ayes, no nays. The Ordinance had a second reading. Mr. Bahler said in Section III needed to be amended to read ‘the Permanent Improvement Fund and the Street Restoration Fund and to charge Account No. 403.703.52409 $50,000 with the balance to Account No. 201.701.52409’. Mrs. Schmit moved, seconded by Mr. Bevis to amend the Ordinance. On roll call; six ayes, no nays. The Ordinance had a third reading. Mr. Thomas moved, seconded by Mrs. Schmit to adopt the Ordinance. On roll call; six ayes, no nays. Mr. Ebelhar moved, seconded by Mr. Thomas to invoke the emergency clause. On roll call; six ayes, no nays. Ordinance No. O-6-06 was adopted.