Assistant fire chief sworn in; grant to RJRD approved but challenged

By Sue Serdinak

Nov. 3 village council meeting

Richfield Village council chambers was packed with people in blue and khaki as Michael Lester was sworn in as assistant fire chief.

The position was added two years ago, when George Seifert was appointed in anticipation that he would be promoted to chief in 2020. The assistant chief position has been vacant since, but it was included in the budget.

Chief Seifert told council Lester first worked in the Bath Fire Department when he also worked there. Lester started working for the village part-time in 1995 and became full time in 2000. In 2017 he was promoted to lieutenant.  

Lester has served as the lead medic with the Metro SWAT team, and members of that team attended his swearing-in ceremony.  He also is an expert on auto extraction.

Grant to RJRD

By a 6-1 vote, council approved a resolution to provide a $30,000 grant to the Richfield Joint Recreation District to help pay the cost of installing a heat, ventilation and air condition system in the Lodge at the Richfield Heritage Preserve. The money comes from the village’s share of the federal government’s American Rescue Plan Fund. 

Councilperson Bobbie Beshara said she opposed the grant because property owners support the recreation district with a tax levy. She said the only way she could support giving the district COVID relief funds would be as a loan.

She moved to make the grant a loan.

 “We are not paying back our COVID money, so why should we ask them to pay back,” said Councilperson Sue Ann Philippbar.

There was no second to Beshara’s motion.

At earlier meetings, several council members said they felt obligated to support the RJRD board, because it is trying to make the district self-supporting, and the Lodge needs improvements to become competitive with other venues.

Village resident Denise Ready read from prepared notes opposing the grant.  “This is a mistake and a misuse of funds. The RJRD was not impacted by the pandemic.  It was a park. The village of Richfield is not a benevolent organization. … There is never enough funds to handle the village projects,” Ready said.

A second village resident Julie Wenger agreed with Ready, asking what criteria the village is using  to give grants from pandemic relief funds. 

“I find it concerning that you are providing grants without communicating to the broader community that grants are available,’’ she said. “ … I think there should be a clear policy about using that rescue plan fund to provide a grant to different entities.”

Wenger continued quoting from federal guidelines for appropriate use of the funds, adding that no data shows the recreation district suffered a revenue loss because of the pandemic.

“The Lodge didn’t open up for weddings until October 2020. … I think this is a money grab,’’ she said. “Trying to make it fit with the COVID funds. [The pandemic] certainly had an impact on the [village] budget. That [rescue plan] money should be used here first.”

Wenger added, “I think you are all sincere people. I think you’re trying to do the right thing. … It isn’t free money. It is not a windfall. It was designed for a specific purpose. … I hope you can find a way to rescind this action.”

Kelly Clark, a Richfield Township resident and former member of the RJRD board, also spoke against providing the grant.

Village Finance Director Sandy Turk said the village received about $191,000 from the American Rescue Plan Fund in 2021 and expects to receive the same amount in 2022. She said she is required to work with the state to “request, receive and fulfill reporting requirements for the American Rescue Plan Funds.”

Turk later said no report of revenue loss from RJRD had been requested, adding that the basis for the grant was “to respond to the public health emergency or its negative economic impact.” 

Turk provided the Richfield Times with a copy of an email she received from the Ohio Office of Business and Management in response to her request for validation of the grant.

On Sept. 16 a representative from OBM responded, “Based on the information, I would think a sub-grant to another entity for this purpose would be eligible.”

Turk requested council suspend two readings and adopt a resolution to transfer money between funds to make the $30,000 grant available.

Council did not approve suspending the readings. Councilperson Dr. Gary Domanick said this would give them more time to discuss the grant.

Interim recreation director

Beshara challenged Mayor Michael Wheeler’s decision to give his administrative assistant the title of interim recreation director and an associated pay increase. “I think we should formally approve what the pay is for the interim recreation director,” she said.

When Wheeler became mayor, he did not appoint a full-time recreation director, a position that opened with the forced retirement of Ruth Jocek. Instead, he appointed Laura Toth as his executive assistant and asked her to assume some duties of interim recreation director.

At the same time, he canceled all recreation activities and closed the recreation building because of the pandemic.

Law Director Alex Cortes advised that the pay could be handled by a resolution. “I don’t think it is a huge deal, but there should be documents that could be used for an audit,” he said. 

In other business:

• Art Gonzales, an RJRD board member, submitted a letter saying he would retire from the board when his term expires at the end of the year.

• Wheeler reported he is acting as service director following the resignation of Chris Papp. He said the situation has been complicated by recent absences of some supervisory people in the department. • The village was to celebrate the retirement of police Sgt. Nick Kostandaras and officers Rick Lorek and Anthony Rivioti on Nov. 17. Police Chief Michael Swanson reported that Douglas McArtor and Morgan Miller would be appointed full-time officers to fill the void. Both people have been serving as part-time officers with the village.  ∞