City of Fairfield Council met February 13.
Here is the minutes provided by the Council:
Meeting called to order by Mayor Brent Maguire at 6:00 p.m.
Prayer led by Alderman Ralph Barbre followed by the pledge of allegiance to the flag.
City Clerk Tina Hutchcraft called the roll:
Mayor: Brent Maguire
City Clerk: Tina Hutchcraft
City Treasurer: Julie Duncan
City Attorney: Darrin Rice
Aldermen: Ralph Barbre; Mike Pottorff; Jim Griffith; David Simpson; Eugene McGill; Jerry Lisenbee; Terry Stahl; Ed Prince
Also Present: Marty David, Wayne County Press; Keith Colclasure, Police Chief; Andrew Miller, Fire Chief; Flo Simpson, FADC; D.E. Young, Garage Department; DiElle Rogers, City Collector; and other citizens from the community.
The minutes of the meeting of January 23, 2018, agendas and bills of February 13, 2018 were sent out to those entitled to receive them. Mayor Maguire asked for approval of the minutes for the January 23, 2018 meeting. Motion by Alderman Stahl, seconded by Alderman Prince to approve the minutes of the meeting of January 23, 2018.
Vote yes: Prince; Simpson; Stahl; Barbre; Griffith; Lisenbee; McGill; Pottorff
Vote no: none
Mayor Maguire declared motion carried.
Mayor Maguire asked for approval to pay the bills for the February 13, 2018 meeting. A motion was made by Alderman Barbre, seconded by Alderman Pottorff to approve the bills for payment.
Vote yes: Simpson; Stahl; Barbre; Griffith; Lisenbee; McGill; Pottorff; Prince
Vote no: none
Mayor Maguire declared motion carried.
Public Comments – Ernie Coffelt addressed the Council with his concerns about two walnuts trees on Summit Street. He said the trees are approximately 5 feet from the street pavement and hang over the street. The trees drop walnuts onto the street causing many problems such as denting vehicles, making it hard to stop a vehicle, making it dangerous to walk or drive a motorcycle on the street, etc. He stated that the walnuts become a dangerous projectile if hit by a vehicle or lawnmower. Mr. Coffelt presented a petition that has been signed by 92 residents asking that the City cut these trees because they are a nuisance. He said the street should be kept safe, sightly, and clean. Public safety should be the major concern. He stated the walnut trees are on city property and asked for the trees to be cut down.
Purchase of Mosquito Chemicals – Mayor Maguire said that we have sought bids in the past for the purchase of mosquito chemicals. We will need six 55 gallon drums of mosquito mist and Clarke Mosquito Control has told us that they would be willing to sell us two barrels at a time instead of us having to purchase and pay for all six at one time. The total purchase price should be a little over $10,000. Traditionally the Council has gone out for bid for items totaling over $10,000 but the State statute has changed stating that if items are over $20,000 bids should be sought. We wouldn’t have to go out for bids if the Council decided to just purchase the chemical. A motion was made by Alderman Pottorff, seconded by Alderman Prince to purchase six 55 gallon drums of mosquito mist from Clarke Mosquito Control.
Vote yes: Stahl; Barbre; Griffith; Lisenbee; McGill; Pottorff; Prince; Simpson
Vote no: none
Mayor Maguire declared motion carried.
Discussion Concerning Payment Service Network – Mayor Maguire told the Council that utilizing the services offered by PSN would allow us to be able to accept payments with credit and debit cards and the customer would also be able to pay online as well. The biggest discussion has been concerning the cost of these transaction fees. The City could pay for all the fees or we could have the customer pay the fees. The City could also opt to charge the customer a convenience fee of $2.00-$3.00 for transactions to help offset the City’s cost of paying the fees. If we did opt to charge the flat convenience fee we would not be able to utilize an actual terminal to swipe credit or debit cards at City Hall. PSN does not have the capability of adding the convenience fee in. The customer could still utilize the computers in the collector’s office to do a virtual transaction. We could log into their account management software and enter the customer’s name and account number and it would pull up their bill and payment could be made from there. The customer could also go online at home and pay their bill from there. Mayor Maguire stated that he feels the City cannot afford to pay all the transaction fees and thought it might be best to go with the convenience fee option. This option would provide a service to the customer without them having to pay all the fees and it would also streamline work at City Hall without the City having to absorb all the fees.
Alderman Barbre stated that he not only looks at this as another service for our customers but to also streamline the work at City Hall and we should be trying to get as many people as we can to use this process. This process will make things run more efficiently at City Hall. He is concerned that if we do not have a swipe terminal at City Hall it could actually slow down the paying process. He prefers the City pay all the transaction fees and this would give us the ability to attract as many people as possible to use this system.
Mayor Maguire reminded the Council of the set up fees and the annual cost involved. PSN has said in other communities the average usage of this payment option is approximately 20% of all customers. If 20% of our customers were to participate and the City was to absorb all the fees, we could expect to pay $20,000 - $24,000 annually in transaction fees. After more discussion was made concerning the fees a motion was made by Alderman Barbre, seconded by Alderman Pottorff to enter into a one year contract with PSN with the City paying all the transaction fees.
Vote yes: Barbre; Griffith; McGill; Pottorff; Simpson
Vote no: Lisenbee; Prince; Stahl
Mayor Maguire declared motion carried.
Miscellaneous – Alderman Prince asked if any action was going to be taken concerning the walnut trees. Mayor Maguire has no interest in bringing this before the Council at this time. Alderman Stahl asked whose property the trees are on. Mayor Maguire stated that is the topic of the debate. Mr. Coffelt feels the trees are on City property but they are actually located in Mr. Coffelt’s neighbor’s yard. Mayor Maguire would like to talk to them about the situation but at this time he has had more pressing issues to deal with. Alderman Prince stated we have an ordinance in place that deals with debris in roadways. Mayor Maguire pointed out that the ordinance deals with people depositing debris in the roadway but it does not cover trees depositing walnuts, etc. in the roadway.
Executive Session – Alderman Griffith made a motion, seconded by Alderman McGill to go into Executive Session to discuss Section 2(c)(21) – discuss minutes of closed session meetings; Section 2(c)(6) – the setting of a price for sale or lease of property owned by the public body; and Section 2(c)(1) – appointment, employment, compensation, discipline of employees of the public body.
Vote yes: Griffith; Lisenbee; McGill; Pottorff; Prince; Simpson; Stahl; Barbre
Vote no: none
Mayor Maguire declared motion carried.
Return to Regular Session – Alderman Pottorff made a motion, seconded by Alderman Barbre to return to regular session.
Vote yes: Barbre; Pottorff; Griffith; Simpson; McGill; Lisenbee; Stahl; Prince
Vote no: none
Mayor Maguire declared motion carried and Council returned to regular session at 7:12 p.m.
Adjourn Meeting – Motion by Alderman McGill, seconded by Alderman Prince to adjourn the meeting.
Vote yes: 8
Vote no: 0
Mayor Maguire declared meeting adjourned at 7:15 p.m.
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