The Hambden Township Trustees met in Regular Session at the Hambden Townhall on Wednesday, February 17, 2010 at 6:30 p.m. with the following members present:  Keith McClintock, Edward Kaminski and Nadine Pope.  Also in attendance was Fiscal Officer, Laura Chorman, Administrative Assistant, Mary Ann Dottore and those on the attached sign in sheet. 

Chairman McClintock called the Regular Meeting to order with the Pledge of Allegiance at 6:30 p.m.

Mr. McClintock asked if any residents had any questions or concerns to bring before the Board.  There were none.

Dave Jevnikar of G-TV spoke about the franchise fees he receives from Hambden Township.  Mr. Jevnikar thanked Hambden Township for funding G-TV since 1996.  Mr. Jevnikar explained that the local cable companies increased the franchise fee they bill subscribing customers to 5% from 3%.   The more the township pays G-TV, the more township events will be covered.  Mr. Jevnikar is working on a digital conversion that would allow some programming to be viewed on the internet.  Since only half the township has Time Warner Cable service available to them, broadcasting over the internet would allow more residents to view the programs.  The cost of the digital coverage would be $250 per month, which would be split between the municipalities and townships using the digital coverage.  Mrs. Pope reported that the opinion of Assistant Prosecutor, Susan Weiland is that the franchise fee could be kept by the township for the benefit of our residents and used for the community for such things as funding the Bondstown Bash Community Picnic.  The trustees will discuss and decide the portion of the increase that will be provided to G-TV and the extra coverage which will be requested.

MINUTES
Mr. McClintock asked the Board if there were any corrections or changes to the minutes of the Regular meeting of February 3, 2010.  There were no changes requested and Mrs. Pope made a motion to accept the minutes and waive their reading.

ZONING INSPECTOR
Zoning Inspector, Darlene Welch submitted to the Board her activity report covering the period of February 1, 2010 through February 16, 2010.  A copy of the activity report and verbal report are attached for review.

ZONING
Helen Scheuring reported that the Zoning Commission is in the process of comparing the Hambden Township zoning resolution to the Geauga County zoning model resolution.

Mr. McClintock reported one of the recommendations from the Hambden Land Use plan was to improve the appearance of the town center and gate-way on Route 6 entering into Hambden from Chardon.  Rod Garrison of EG&G Consultants was contacted to evaluate and estimate a cost for preparing a plan for streetscaping these areas.   The estimated cost to the township would be $28,000.  Based on that cost estimate we would need to look for alternatives or grant funding to pay for that type of plan.  A meeting with Hambden Township business owners would need to be held to discuss ideas with them and see if there is any interest in participating in this project if the township should decide to move forward.   Mr. McClintock thanked Mrs. Pope and Richard Acquaviva for attending the meeting with Mr. Garrison and for their input.