VILLAGE OF CONSTANTINE
Regular Meeting, March16, 2009
Council Room, 7:30 PM

President Weiss called the Regular March 16, 2009 Meeting of the Constantine Village Council to order at 7:30PM at the Village Hall.

ROLL CALL
Present at Roll Call: Trustees Brewer, Brown, LaFluer, Mathers, and President Weiss. Absent: Trustees Harder and Moore. Also present: Manager Honeysett, Treasurer Strawser, Rental Inspector Lammott and Clerk Strawser. The pledge of allegiance followed Roll Call.

AGENDA
Motion by Mathers, Seconded by Weiss, to adopt the agenda as presented. Motion passed by affirmation 5 – 0.

MINUTES
Motion by Brown, Seconded by LaFluer, to approve the Regular March 2, 2009 minutes as presented (with typographic error corrected). Motion passed by affirmation 5 – 0.

PAYMENT OF THE BILLS
Trustee Brewer asked about the bills for pipeline parts. They are the standby parts previously approved by Council. In response to Trustee Brewer’s questions regarding squad car repairs, Manager Honeysett said the earlier rebuild had not included the rack & pinion or power steering. The car repairs also included replacing the regulator, battery and front sway bar links. Trustee Brown asked that Manager Honeysett and all departmental staff conduct an energy audit to conserve and help stem the incredible rise in all Village utility costs. In response to questions from the Clerk, Manager Honeysett said the DDA’s tree seedling promotion expenditure would be reimbursed by local businesses.

Motion by Mathers, Seconded by Brewer, to pay the bills and make the necessary transfers totaling $109,956.16. Motion passed by Roll Call 5 – 0.

2009-2010 BUDGET PUBLIC HEARING
President Weiss called the Public Hearing for the 2009-2010 Budget to order at 7:42PM .

Treasurer Strawser asked if the difference in New Equipment Line/Page 50 of the latest presentation of the 2009 budget was due to paying $40,000 for the police cruiser from the 2008 budget instead of the 2009 budget as earlier intended. Manager Honeysett said it was. (Diana Lammott distributed photocopies of Page 50 when the Council realized they did not have it.) In response to a question from Clerk Strawser, Manager Honeysett said the Police Chief’s salary would only come from the Police Department fund line and the General Fund.

President Weiss closed the Public Hearing at 7:46PM .

AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
No one rose to speak.

CONSENT AGENDA
Manager Honeysett read the list of meetings he attended in February, adding he and Diana Lammott had attended a grant-writing workshop in Niles on February 19 th and he and Trustee Brown had attended a meeting at GOCC that evening. He reported that the DDA did not have a quorum in February, but that those present had discussion. In response to questions from President Weiss, Manager Honeysett said that Cathy Annis keeps businesses informed of special [EDOC] events.

Police Commissioner Brewer gave a synopsis of the February 2009 Police Department Report. Trustee Brown lauded the increase in traffic tickets.

Manager Honeysett read the February 2009 DPW Report. He said he did not know the distinction between Local Street and Local Traffic on the man-hours table. In response to questions from the Treasurer, he said the alley repair at the Post Office was complete and they do not expect the problem will reoccur, and that the Village meets again, Wednesday, with the Post Office regarding their water line break. Manager Honeysett said that the Post Office would be responsible for the majority of costs for the repair.

Manager Honeysett read the February 2009 Fire Department Report. Chief Haydon reported that while they did not get the FEMA grant for SCBA air packs, the county was awarded a FEMA grant, which will allow our fire department to replace all outdated radios and pagers.

Motion by Brewer, Seconded by Brown, to accept and file the Manager’s and commissioners’ reports as presented. Motion passed by affirmation 5 – 0.

NEW POLICE CRUISER Manager Honeysett said that the $1,200-$1,500 cost of painting the new squad car black is within his spending authority although it would increase the total cost of the car by that much more than originally authorized. Trustee Brewer said they had already spent $14,000 above purchase price to outfit the car. In response to questions, Manager Honeysett said that he had misread the specs when ordering the vehicle and that graphics aesthetics was the main reason for a black car.

Motion by Brewer, Seconded by Weiss, to accept delivery of the white police car without painting it. Motion passed by affirmation 5 – 0.

VILLAGE HALL TREE
Manager Honeysett reported that two (2) businesses contacted said they could not move a tree that size. In response to the Clerk’s question if he or the staff had found the missing Tree Policy or Policy Book, Manager Honeysett said he had not been asked to look and that he was not certain a formal Tree Policy had ever existed.

Motion by Brown, Seconded by LaFluer, to table action on the Village Hall tree to the April 6, 2009 meeting. Motion passed by affirmation 5 – 0.

DDA RESIGNATION
Manager Honeysett reported that Larry Haas submitted his resignation from the DDA via email

Motion by Weiss, Seconded by Brewer, to accept, with regret, Larry Haas’ resignation from the Constantine Downtown Development Authority. Motion passed by affirmation 5 – 0.

Trustee Mathers expressed his concern that there has not been a quorum for the past three (3) months. Manager Honeysett and President Weiss said Tommy Sicard has not attended. Manager Honeysett reported that he left two (2) messages for Tommy Sicard, without callback. In response to Trustee Brewer’s question if they had a right to remove her, President Weiss said she could appoint and remove. In response to the Clerk’s question if they had found the DDA Bylaws, Manager Honeysett said they had not, and that they are not certain bylaws exist. Trustee Brown asked if there are others waiting to serve. Clerk Strawser said multiple members of the Downtown Brainstormers have offered.

Motion by Weiss, Seconded by Brewer, that the seat currently held by Tommy Sicard be vacated.

Motion withdrawn when President Weiss was informed the action would reduce the DDA membership below the legally required number.

BUDGET ADJUSTMENTS
In response to questions, Manager Honeysett clarified the term Village Fund Balance saying it was the left over non-budgeted monies. He said that he preferred using the County Tax money for part of the transfer instead of taking the whole $30,000 from the Village Fund Balance.

Motion by Brown, Seconded by Mathers, to approve the transfer of $15,000 from the Fund Balance to the General Fund and $15,000 of County Road Tax money from the Major Street Fund to the Local Street Fund. Motion passed by Roll Call 7 – 0.

2009-2010 BUDGET
Manager Honeysett said he is hopeful that matching federal monies will be made available through the Rural Task Force for the repaving of Sixth Street in 2010, and that the Village and St. Joseph County Road Commission had worked to get Sixth Street reclassified in order to be considered. Trustee Brown asked that the Council be notified quickly if monies are unavailable so the Council can take action, and asked what could currently be done to improve the surface. Manager Honeysett said cold patch, but that any significant improvement might lessen the Village’s chances for federal money. Manager Honeysett said the main difference from the budget draft was that the new squad car would come from the 2008-2009 budget money, while the other anticipated equipment expenditures would come from the 2009-2010 budget. He promised to produce bound copies of the new budget this year. President Weiss thanked Manager Honeysett for his good work on the budget.

Motion by Mathers, Seconded by Brewer, to adopt the 2009-2010 Budget as presented. Motion passed by Roll Call 7 – 0. [(The budget is an activity budget, subject to adjustment.)

Adjourned meeting at 8:20PM .

Ruth Strawser
Village Clerk

In the packet, but not discussed: January 20009 Three Rivers Pipeline Activity Report, February 17, 2009 Three Rivers Clean Water Plant Sewer Services Bill