What: City council meeting March 2

PRESENT: George Levendis, Timothy O’Bryan, Steve Cappitte, Robert Stanko and Mayor Bryan Tedesco

ABSENT: Joseph Mazzocca Jr.

Council:

• Passed an ordinance to pay $1,296.96 to Warren Fire Equipment for self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) flow tests, electronic battery board replacements and electronics repair for the fire department;

• Passed an ordinance to pay $1,650 to Steel Valley Contractors for the emergency demolition of 61 Morley St.;

• Passed an ordiance to pay $1,500 to Fire Safety Services Inc. of Huntsville for an intake valve for the Campbell Fire Department;

• Advanced to third reading an ordinance to send a 1 percent income tax renewal to the Mahoning County Board of Elections for placement on the Nov. 8 general election ballot. Council said .25 percent of the 1 percent will be for operation of the parks, playgrounds and recreational facilities, and the rest will be for general operation of the city. Levendis said without the renewal, Campbell no longer will be able to function as a city because there will not be enough funds to operate;

• Advanced to second reading on an ordinance to pay no more than $45,000 to DWA Recreation for new playground equipment at Roosevelt Park. Cappitte said it will be placed by the community center so it will be convenient for people who rent the facility. He said $10,000 of the funds will come from insurance money that the city received following storm damage at the park last year, so only $35,000 will come out of the park fund;

• Advanced to second reading an ordinance to pay $25,841 to Fire Force Inc. / Eagle Emergency of New Waterford for turnout gear for the fire department. Fire Chief Stephan Dubic said it will take about 10 weeks for the equipment to arrive;

• Advanced to second reading an ordinance appointing police officer James Conroy as the city’s code enforcement officer;

• Heard from street superintendent Gary Bednarik that a plow on one of the trucks was taken out of commission and replaced with a plow on another truck. He said the plow will need fixed for next winter at an estimate between $7,900 to $8,900;

• Agreed to follow the recommendation of Bednarik to raise the pay rate for part-time road department workers from $10 to $12 per hour to entice more people to apply. Levendis said he will bring in legislation reflecting the increase and council can re-evulate its effectiveness next year;

• Heard from Bednarik the road department was out cold patching and completed Coitsville Road and 6th Street, as well as a portion of 13th Street;

• Heard from law director Brian Macala that a meeting between himself, Levendis, Tedesco, Dubic and Conroy was being held with the Mahoning County Land Bank to discuss demolitions and funding. He also announced that Civic Day will be Friday at which Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge Anthony Donofrio would be the guest speaker. Civic Day invites high school government students to shadow city officials;

• Heard from Tedesco the utilities department is two months behind on water billing, but should be caught up by the end of the month. The delay is because of the billing changeover from the city to Aqua.

• Heard from Tedesco of the need to eliminate the city land bank. Macala said it is unclear when the city land bank was created, but at some point it was called the Campbell Land Reutilization Program and some properties were sold off and titled in that name. He said Deb Flora from the Mahoning County Land Bank is going to do research at the county auditor’s office to see how many properties are titled to the reutilization program.