Minutes: April 13th, 2010


CATAWBA ISLAND TOWNSHIP BOARD OF TOWNSHIP TRUSTEES
MINUTES – APRIL 13, 2010

The regular business meeting of the Catawba Island Township Board of Township Trustees was called to order by Chairman Gary Mortus at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 13, 2010 in the conference room. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all.

In attendance: Gary Mortus, William Rofkar, Matt Montowski, Pat Cerny, Rich Gillum, Donna Riehl, Jacque Gutkoski, Phil Gutkoski, James Foard, Janis Foard, Randy Riedmaier, Harold Roth, Jack DeVore, John Kocher and Doug Alexander.

Pat Cerny read the minutes of the March 23rd meeting. Matt Montowski made a motion to accept the minutes as read seconded by William Rofkar. All voted aye.

William Rofkar made a motion to approve and pay the bills in the amount of $53,440.39 seconded by Matt Montowski. All voted aye.

Correspondence received: Verizon Business regarding account transition of ILEC services to Frontier Communications.

Notice from Robert J. Hille, County Treasurer giving notice to the taxing authority of the township intitled to share in the proceeds of an estate.

Invitation from Buck and Knobby for an open house in their lawn and garden division.

A letter to William Rofkar from Amy Drummer Assistant Director of the Joint Solid Waste Management District informing that our grant application was not selected for funding this round.

A letter from Kendra M. German, Administrator inviting township officials to the Ottawa County Riverview Healthcare Campus for a Legislative Breakfast on May 14, 2010.

A letter from Belgian Hardwoods, Ltd., a forest management specialist regarding timber harvesting.

Pat Cerny received a call from Mike Schenk from the Catawba Island Club asking if the parking lots by the Community Hall would be available for use for an event they will be having for the Port Clinton Basketball team.

An advertising packet from Paul Patterson in regard to copy machines.

Meeting announcement from The Ohio DAS Office of Procurement Services for the State Purchasing User Group meeting on April 22, 2010 in Columbus.

Proposal from the Kreimes Company for asphalt repairs to Weyhe Rd, Barnum Rd., Sand Rd., Muggy Rd., and Twinbeach Rd. for the sum of $13,418.00. Tennis court repairs, $5800.00, Basketball Court, $6500.00. Porposal from McRill Drilling for boring w/pipe from existing catch basin to the break wall along B Street in Gem Beach in the amount of $19,100.00. A proposal from Erie for various road repairs for $30,478.75 and basket ball & Tennis Court repairs; one quote for $21,210.00 and one for $15,750.00. Northwest Underground, Inc. for the Gem Beach boring for the cost of $18,500.00.

E-mail from Verizon regarding combining the subordinate accounts into a single summary bill but unable to bundle calling features.

Correspondence from Attorney John Kocher in regard to the tour of the Marine Max facilities on April 6th and presenting a drawing depicting the parking spaces requested by the township and stating this plan would be temporary until Marine Max successfully purchases the property and at which time this will be revised to reflect the changes that they desire. Further, the right to use the 24 parking spaces north of the property will be established by a lease.

A letter from John Moore III stating he has received a copy of the Marine Max proposal to resolve the parking issue and has no issue with their resolution as proposed and other issues raised have been resolved to his satisfaction.

Thomas Welch from the OTARMA Insurance Program and also employed by Burnham & Flower Insurance Group and Dereck Sprouse from Sprouse Insurance requesting the opportunity to provide the township with an insurance quote. He also provided a handout to the Trustees indicating they are endorsed by the Ohio Township Association. They will arrange a meeting with Pat Cerny to go over our current coverage and provide any information needed.

Rich Gillum, Attorney, stated he is in attendance as he is representing Phil Gutkoski in regard to the fish cleaning station at Holiday Village. Mr. Gillum also provided a brochure regarding this issue and presented it to the Trustees along with a presentation stating fish cleaning is not a permitted use in C-2 District. William Rofkar stated this is an accessory use to his business and he cannot open up a fish cleaning business. Mr. Gillum did not agree with Mr. Rofkar. Mr. Gillum also stated there are no permits for this station. Rich Gillum stated the code is extremely clear as it is written. The fish cleaning station violates the zoning code. Mr. Alexander has been charged with a zoning violation and the basis of this charge is To wit: fish cleaning.
Mr. Alexander pled no contest and was found guilty and was fined and was ordered to remain law abiding for one year. Rich Gillum stated the fish cleaning station has been used in 2010, since the court’s order was issued, the structure has not been removed as would be required by the zoning code and the use continues. The photos show the conditions in the dumpster and the smell. This would also be a nuisance within the township. More discussion followed. Mr. Gillum stated if you are going to create a fish cleaning use, not a business, for people, that has to be in a C-4 district, whether it be for pay or otherwise if you are going to build something and let your customers and everybody down at the marinas use this, it has to be in a C-4 district. William Rofkar stated this has been going on for a long time and his understanding was that Holiday Village was going to try to accommodate and you have not given him a chance to try to accommodate you. The season has not started yet and the issue was the smell that comes off his property and if there is an issue with odor, the Trustees can be called and they will visit the site. Matt Montowski stated he had been called and he stopped over Phil Gutkoski’s home on Friday. In January Matt Montowski and Pat Cerny met with Doug Alexander and he gave them resolutions to the problem and there is no fish smell at the present time. Rich Gillum stated when you get to the nuisance part, there are photos in the booklet of unfrozen fish from two weeks ago and when the Gutkoskis arrived home from Florida it smelled terrible. In the meantime it has been cleaned up.
The bottom line is as Township Trustees you have an obligation to enforce the zoning code. The structure violates the zoning code and this predates 1980. William Rofkar disagrees. This is an accessory use. William Rofkar is not in favor of saying “no more fish cleaning in Holiday Village”. Rich Gillum is suggesting the building built without a zoning permit and is strictly for fish cleaning violates zoning. There should be an order to remove the structure.

Doug Alexander stated he purchased the property in 1982 and that was the old septic plant before we had sewers and the building the cement slab were always there. William Rofkar stated what he expected for this season is that if there are odor issues then her will go over and checking it out and it will be addressed. Phil Gutkoski stated when he returned from Florida, on April 1st, the smell was unbelievable and he went and took a picture and three quarters of the dumpster was filled with raw fish. Some were bagged, and by Sunday the dumpster was full to the top. Phil stated Doug cleaned the dumpster with bleach and then called the police to stay off of his property. Phil stated there are no signs that say bag your fish or anything and he has no intention of complying. Rich Gillum said it has been brought to their attention that the township is going to allow him to move the operation within fifty feet of the Gutkoski home again without a zoning certificate and the township should consider this because it would be pure spite. Gary Mortus stated the only thing the township has done since you left was investigate the grinder and went to the sanitary engineer with the information and Kelly Fry stated the system would not allow this to go on as far as disposal of fish remains through a grinder process. Phil Gutkoski stated then there were four flags in the Holiday Village rear yard. Mr. Gutkoski stated the township said he is moving his dumpster to that area. This is heresay. Mr. Gutkoski stated he has to leave his home in the morning to get away from the smell and he has the right to have fresh air twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Mr. Foard a neighbor of the Gutkoskis stated they cannot open up their west windows at night because of the smell.
William Rofkar stated we should let Holiday Village take care of the problem and he has the obligation to manage his fish cleaning operation and that is what the township expects him to do.

Gary Mortus stated the court order did not say to stop cleaning fish, it was an arbitration to try to resolve the problem. Rich Gillum stated when Doug Alexander pleaded no contest, the judge took the charge
and took the C-4 zoning district and said he is not contesting that he was fish cleaning and Mr. Gillum believes that fish cleaning is improper in the C-2 district so he is going to find him guilty. He did not plead guilty. Mr. Gillum stated you charged him with violating the zoning for fish cleaning and the court upheld it so how can you say he can fish clean contrary to the zoning code without regard to the fact he has no zoning permit for the structure which has been modified in the recent past. Gary Mortus stated if Judge Hany ruled on this and Mr. Alexander was there and we were there and something was agreed on and it has not been carried out then we need to go back to Judge Hany and let him decide. Doug Alexander stated whatever the Trustees say is what he has to do. Doug Alexander also stated he is not moving the dumpster, it is a rumor. He stated if he could get the dumpster emptied every day he would or will get another dumpster and have two and get them emptied more often if the trash removers will do this. Gary Mortus stated if it smells, give us a call.

Randy Riedmaier, Chief Deputy of the Sheriff’s office presented the Trustees with the 2009 Sherrifs Office Marine Patrol Year End Report and to ask for the support for the 2010 Marine Patrol Program. Chief Deputy Riedmaier gave a brief overview of the program and Matt Montowski made a motion seconded by William Rofkar to donate $6000.00 to the 2010 Sherrif’s Marine Patrol. Matt Montowski, aye; William Rofkar, aye; Gary Mortus, aye.

Attorney John Kocher stated he submitted the parking plan for Marine Max to put them in compliance with the variances. The Trustees are satisfied with the parking plan as it was a major concern and they people of their word. A communication will be sent to Marine Max, after the Prosecutor’s review, in regard to the questions that were brought up in resolving the issues of concern. Mr. Kocher stated he knows where they are currently and they have to be accountable
and what he is looking for is to know that Marine Max is okay as it sits.
This will also help in the purchase contract. Mr. Moore was also thanked.

Fire Chief John Gangway wanted the Trustees know about all the time and effort that Louis Wargo puts into the fire equipment and presented them with a handout of his time spent. William Rofkar stated the time spent is well appreciated.

Dan Barlow stated the bids for the road repairs, tennis courts and basketball court were received. The companies that bid on the drain pipe want to float the pipe out into the harbor and then pull it back into the harbor back into the drain as this is the easiest way to do it. And it will have to be done before Gem Beach starts filling the harbor with boats. Gary Mortus does not think that the township should pay for the problem Gem Beach has created. Police Chief Robert Rogers also suggested space is needed for people walking on the road. It would be an asset to the community from a safety standpoint.

Jack DeVore stated when the drainage issue was discussed last fall, it was stated by Jack Grummel that it would be taken care of by him. Mr. Grummel stated his engineers are taking care of all of this. There will be discussion with Mr. Grummel.

Dan Barlow stated the new dump truck should be in. Gary Mortus stated we have to start thinking about the options to dispose of the old truck. Dan Barlow also stated the hydraulic ram on the one ton has been having a problem and the problem is from Henderson itself. The truck has been repaired twice. We could get it repaired again under warranty and Dan would like to start making arrangements to get the truck to Bucyrus for repair. Also, the trees that were ordered will be picked up and planted.

Dan Barlow looked at the drainage issue on Sand Road and Dan thinks if the road is brought back up to grade where it is supposed to be it will sloap from the pond side. Gary Mortus stated Brian and Bob Snyder stated they would look into fixing this.

Gary Mortus stated he looked into upgrading the cell phones. Not everyone is using the cell phones. Gary Mortus proposes eliminating four of the cell phones instead of paying for phones that are not being used.

Jack DeVore stated he feels we should start looking at how long a boat can be stored plus whether it is licensed or not. Should a time frame be put on how long a boat can be stored plus whether it is licensed or not in a marina. He feels they can turn into a junk yard. The Zoning Commission can look into this.

Matt Montowski asked if the Boy Scouts are permitted to camp on the township property. They are permitted and are permitted to use the restrooms.

Matt Montowski asked if we can add caller I.D. and call forwarding to the zoning office. William Rofkar stated the phone system will not handle it. Gary Mortus stated we need to see what the cost would be to upgrade the phone or boxes could be added for the caller I.D.

Matt Montowski thanked Gary Mortus and William Rofkar for supporting the zoning training that was put on last Wednesday night.
He would also like to thank Mark Mulligan, County Prosecutor and his assistant Dave Bolt and Regional Planning’s Todd Bickley and Walter Wehenkel for their assistance.

Matt Montowski stated since he has been in office he is questioned about the bike path around the island. Matt met with the County Engineer and he stated we cannot do it because there is not enough right of way. Matt talked to Kelly Croy, and he stated there is a County Park Board, but it is defunct because of lack of funds. Kelly Croy said to talk to Mark Mulligan about completing the bike path around the island and Mark Mulligan stated he represents the Park Board as their attorney and would meet with you regarding your interest but would suggest inviting David Brunkhorst and Steve Grunner, Sandusky County Park Board Director. Gary Mortus stated we tried this before with a grant application using James Stouffer’s property from Cemetery Road to the State Park together. Gary Mortus stated the one thing he cautions is West Catawba Road is a county road and we utilize Dave Brunkhorst for consulting and he is our engineering. When you buck the system, for every action there is a reaction and if you want that reaction then do not move forward when he does not want something and this is just a warning put out there.
William Rofkar agreed.

Matt Montowski stated he would like to start cleaning out the Trustee’s office and the storage room. They have as lot of drafts in them and there is no place to store them. We need a drafting file cabinet and organize it by address. Matt received some prices on storage units for $1300.00. The Trustees agreed.

Pat Cerny presented a copy of the rezoning request from John Wood to each Trustee. The Regional Planning Commission voted not to recommend the rezoning and the Zoning Commission also voted not to recommend the rezoning. The Trustees will hear this request on April 27, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. in the conference room.

Gary Mortus stated the zoning training went very well and we all
walked away learning something.

Gary Mortus stated we could use a scanner, color printer for the new cemetery program, for a sum of not more than $300.00. Robert Rogers also stated the Police Department could utilize one. This will be looked into.

Matt Montowski made a motion to remove the broken copy machine from the Trustee’s office seconded by William Rofkar. All voted aye.

William Rofkar made a motion to adjourn seconded by Matt Montowski. All voted aye. 9:30 p.m.

__________________Chairman_______________Fiscal Officer