The Miami Township Board of Trustees met in regular session on Tuesday,
December 5, 2006, at 7:00 PM. Chairperson Edwin H. Humphrey called the meeting
to order. The pledge of allegiance was given. Trustee Ken Tracy gave the
invocation. Miami Township Fiscal Officer, Eric C. Ferry, called the roll.
Attending were Edwin H. Humphrey, Mary Makley Wolff, and Ken Tracy. Ms. Wolff
made a motion to approve the meeting minutes of the work session on October 30,
2006, the Special Trustee Meeting on November 20, 2006, and the regular Trustee
Meeting of November 21, 2006. Mr. Tracy seconded. Upon roll call, all voted
"AYE."
CORRESPONDENCE
Mr. Ferry presented correspondence detailing the notice from the Clermont County Auditor, Linda L. Fraley, requesting that all 2006 amended certificates of estimated resources be in her office by December 22, 2006 in preparation for the Clermont County Budget Commission meeting on December 28, 2006.
Mr. Ferry also read a letter from Erich & Carolyn Wuerful thanking the
Trustees for their support of the Dare program, and commending Officer
Petrocelli in his presentation of the program.
PROCLAMATIONS AND SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS
There were no proclamations and special presentations.
OLD BUSINESS
There was no old business
NEW BUSINESS
Mr. Tracy made a motion to pay the bills of the Township including 61 checks numbered 93188 - 93248 for the total amount of $781,279.92 plus payroll and payroll taxes for November 24, 2006 in the amount of $294,436.39. Ms. Wolff seconded. Upon roll call, all voted "AYE."
Ms. Wolff made a motion to approve conditional offers of employment to Robert Froppe for the position of Full-Time Fire Fighter/Paramedic and Cynthia Bryant and Jennifer Mills for the position of Full-Time Records Clerk in the police department. Mr. Tracy seconded. Upon roll call, all voted "AYE."
Ms. Wolff made a motion to tender final offers of employment to John
"Justin" Williams for the position of Maintenance Worker 1, pay rate
of $12.47 per hour, effective November 28, 2006, and to Casey Brashear for the
position of Probationary Full-Time Police Officer, pay rate of $20.60 per hour,
effective December 20, 2006. Mr. Tracy seconded. Upon roll call, all voted
"AYE."
Mr. Tracy made a motion to approve RESOLUTION 2006-67 amending the Township's
2006 Annual Appropriations, dispensing with the second reading and declaring an
emergency.
Mr. Tracy moved to set a public hearing on December 19, 2006, at the regularly scheduled Trustee Meeting, for a Street Lighting District at Mills of Miami. Ms. Wolff seconded. Upon roll call, all voted "AYE."
Ms. Tracy made a motion to approve RESOLUTION 2006-65 authorizing the Township Fiscal Officer to issue a "Then and Now Certificate", dispensing with the second reading. Ms. Wolff seconded. Upon roll call, all voted "AYE."
Ms. Wolff made a motion to approve RESOLUTION 2006-67 amending the Township's Personnel Policies and Procedures, dispensing with the second reading. Mr. Tracy seconded. Upon roll call, all voted "AYE."
Mr. Tracy made a motion to meet to review the 2007 proposed Budget on
December 19, 2006 and Ms. Wolff seconded. Upon roll call, all voted
"AYE."
PUBLIC COMMENT
Ms. Sharon Scovanner, 6586 Miami Trails Drive, addressed the Board with the following comments:
"Back in June after being informed that we were filing a
mandamus action against the Township because Mr. Fronk was not doing
his job of enforcing the Zoning Resolutions of the Township, John
Korfhagen initiated a meeting between OVV, township representative,
and ourselves. Mr. Korfhagen called the parties, arraigned for the
meeting on township property, recorded notes and authored the
agreement. He and Larry were both present and were actively involved,
suggesting solutions such as relocating and realigning the parking lot
that ended up being critical components of the agreement. Now Mr.
Korfhagen writes that the Township will not enforce the agreement he,
(on behalf of the Township), initiated, scheduled, hosted, mediated
and authored. This agreement directly led to the dismissal of an
action before the Zoning Board of Appeals and at the time, did away
with the need to file a mandamus action against the Township. For
months, we have come to you, the Board of Trustees, for help in
enforcing this agreement, and nobody (Mr. Korfhagen, Mr. Fronk, or you
the trustees) has said anything to dispel that expectation at the
time, nor later. In a letter Mr. Fronk sent to OVV dated August 16,
2006 he stated that the lights were subject to the agreement and must
be turned off by 8:30 or removed. And as recently as last nights BZA
meeting, Mr. Fronk stated in his staff report that the lights should
comply with the agreement. It was only when OVV violated the
agreement, in fact and in spirit, that these same Township officials
said they would not enforce the agreement they were instrumental in
creating. We relied on the Township. By now not enforcing that
agreement, the Township's attorney and the Director of Community
Development have created a situation which is detrimental to the
peaceful enjoyment of our home and is damaging to our property value.
Mr. Korfhagen now suggests that we hire our own attorney to bring suit
against OVV. Township residents should not have to hire their own
attorneys to get Township Zoning Resolutions and legal documents
created by the township enforced. Additionally, we should not have had
to spend our own money and countless hours of our own time preparing
for and attending meetings, not to mention the enormous amount of
mental anguish this case has caused. We have been asking for the
Township's help for over a year to simply enforce your own Zoning
Resolutions. When the Development Department doesn't know the Zoning
Resolutions well enough to enforce them and then the Township Attorney
compounds those errors by misleading residents into dropping appeals
by authoring agreements he has no intention of enforcing; legal action
against the Township is required. As the elected officials of this
township, we are asking you to rectify this situation by directing
your employees to diligently enforce all zoning resolutions and to
enforce the agreement authored by the township attorney. Let me just
say on a personal note, I have known Mr. Korfhagen for many years and
have always had the utmost respect for his legal ability, and I have
felt that he is an attorney with the highest moral and ethical
standards. Certainly if Mr. Korfhagen had no intention of enforcing
the agreement he authored, in the very least, it would have been
morally and ethically proper to tell us that when he initiated the
meeting. Mr. Korfhagen's lack of professional courtesy has prompted me
to bring these facts to you with much sadness and
disappointment."
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Mr. Tracy made a motion to go into Executive Session to review collective bargaining sessions with Public Employees pursuant to Section 121.22(G)(4) of the Ohio Revised Code, and to discuss pending or imminent litigation pursuant to Section 121.22 (G3) of the Ohio Revised Code. Ms. Wolff seconded. Upon roll call, all voted "AYE."
Mr. Tracy made a motion to come out of Executive Session and Ms. Wolff seconded. Upon roll call, all voted "AYE.
Ms. Wolff made a motion to approve the contract with Mr. Korfhagen for attorney services and the contract for administrative support. Mr. Tracy seconded. Upon roll call, all voted "AYE."
With no other business to come before the Board, Chairperson Humphrey
adjourned the meeting at 9:15 PM.
ATTEST: __________________________________________________________
Eric C. Ferry, Fiscal Officer
__________________________________________________________
Edwin H. Humphrey, Chairperson