CITY OF PICKERINGTON

SERVICE COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL

CITY HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD

THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2005

 

WORK SESSION

DISCUSSION OF 208 PLAN

 

6:30 P.M.

 

1.         ROLL CALL.  Mr. Hackworth called the Service Committee Work Session to order at 6:30 P.M., with Mr. Hackworth and Mr. O’Brien present.  Mr. Parker was absent.  Others present were Judy Gilleland, Lynda Yartin, Ed Drobina, Jennifer Frommer, and others.

 

Ms Frommer stated this work session was to discuss the State of Ohio Water Quality Mangement Plan, Clean Water Act Section 208.  Ms Frommer stated the Plan is 20 years old and is being updated by the EPA.  She stated the updated Plan will be based on plans submitted by local governments, and the EPA is committed to updating the most recent version by December of this year. 

 

Ms Frommer presented a power point presentation.  (Attachment 1 to these minutes)

 

Ms Frommer stated staff has participated in meetings to discuss service territory with the Fairfield County Sanitary Engineer and utility staff from Canal Winchester as those are the areas we are affected by and has the overlap.  Ms Frommer stated she and Mr. Drobina recently met with the Fairfield County Sanitary Engineer and determined it would be prudent to come up with some sort of legal agreement, both for our protection and for theirs, that would preserve our rights.  She stated Fairfield County has submitted a lock in request for a lot of the territory around us and we want to make sure they are committed to serving it and if they can’t, they will allow others to do so.  She stated once this updated plan is adopted, the EPA has expressed they do intend to use it as a tool in issuing permits.  She stated, for example, a community is a Designated Management Agency, a service provider, and they have locked in a service area and another entity provides a set of plans and requests a permit to install sanitary sewerage in that area, it will be denied.  Ms Frommer stated if our respective governments agree on the purported service area map, then Fairfield County has to amend their lock in request with EPA, and that revision must occur before June 30th.  Ms Frommer stated the legal agreement with Fairfield County with regard to the lock in service area that preserves our rights can be very basic.  She stated Canal Winchester has not been involved in this effort as Fairfield County has the lock in request submitted so she felt we should deal with them first.  Ms Frommer stated the EPA has stated they will take the lock in requests on a first come, first serve basis, however, they do want them to be well thought out and technically supported.  Ms Frommer stated the EPA is aware that we have discussed making an agreement with Fairfield County and as long as we can show them paper evidence that it is in process, they will consider an agreement to have been submitted.  She continued if, however, you do not do it now, before June 30th,  you cannot make the agreement later. 

 

Ms Frommer stated things that go with a lock in request, obviously you have your municipal boundaries and lock in that service territory, but things that go along with that are notions of stream capacity, and there are nine facets of the overall plan that need to be addressed in providing technical merit that you can provide service.  Ms Frommer stated everyone is aware of the June 30th date and are trying to decide how to handle this. 

 

Ms Gilleland clarified that when Ms Frommer spoke to the EPA about our submitting a tentative agreement to them by June 30th, she was told the Central District Office chief stated that it was okay to get the draft in and then work through it and get the final agreement in later.  Ms Frommer stated she is trying to verify this information. 

 

Ms Frommer stated she would request she be able to submit something stamped as a draft and stating it is a work in progress, but be aware there is an agreement in concept.  She stated if the Committee is not comfortable with that, she felt the EPA would recognize letters from Ms Gilleland or the Mayor, and the County Commissioners stating we are working on this, but are not prepared to submit a draft at this point.  Ms Gilleland stated she felt a draft could be submitted under her signature, and the final would have to be approved by Council and submitted to EPA at that time. 

 

Mr. Hackworth clarified Ms Frommer would keep this Committee updated on this issue.  

 

2.         ADJOURNMENT.  There being nothing further, Mr. Hackworth closed the work session at 7:23 P.M., June 9, 2005.

 

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

 

 

________________________________

Lynda D. Yartin, Municipal Clerk

CITY OF PICKERINGTON

SERVICE COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL

CITY HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD

THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2005

 

REGULAR MEETING

7:30 P.M.

 

1.         ROLL CALL.  Mr. Hackworth called the meeting to order at 7:30 P.M., with Mr. Hackworth and Mr. O’Brien present.  Mr. Parker was absent.  Others present were:  Judy Gilleland, Lynda Yartin, Lance Schultz, Ed Drobina, Phil Hartmann, Jennifer Frommer, Todd Boone, Mike Sabatino, Sharon Bricker, and others.

 

2.         APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF May 12, 2005, Regular Meeting.  Mr. O’Brien moved to approve; Mr. Hackworth seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Hackworth and Mr. O’Brien voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 2-0. 

 

3.         COMMUNITY COMMENTS: 

 

A.        Mr. Mike Sabatino, 642 Montmorency Drive, stated he would like to comment on the Cherry Hill issue and he has submitted his information to the insurance adjuster.  Mr. Sabatino stated he had $6,000 worth of items that were damaged but not disposed of, and the adjuster allowed a credit of about ten percent for those.  He stated he also had $4,000 that he paid to have water removed and there was absolutely no consideration for that on the adjuster’s paperwork. 

 

B.         Mr. Todd Boone, 644 Montmorency Drive, stated he was present to address the Cherry Hill issue as well.  He stated his concern was through the Freedom of Information Act, he would like to get this information on the record, that it is the feeling of some people in the neighborhood that comments by the Committee in wanting to meet with them on an individual basis, those families who do not feel the $2,500 is enough and would want to be considered for more, is blowing smoke and there is no real intention to do that.  He stated this is the feeling of people and he is concerned about that, that he is taking his time and effort to come down here but no initiation was made by the City in response to his letter until he made contact.  He stated he is concerned about the amount of feedback when he is expressing concern, no one seems to pick up the phone and get in touch with him, so he has concerns about staff actually sitting down and meeting with him and his wife to discuss why they should be considered for more than the $2,500 that was offered.  Mr. Boone stated he has documents that go back to 1997, and Ms Gilleland is aware of these documents as well, and there was a sewer back up in August of 1997 that was caused by a power failure.  He stated at that time the City said they were going to install a lift station which would have new monitoring software, thus if a pump failed, the power went out, or some other act of vandalism or nature, and he assumed an Act of God was nature, impeded the functioning of the lift station the City could act quickly.  He stated he would contest in this case the City did not act quickly because the power was off for some 14 hours and he never got a phone call or anything from anyone at the City.  He stated he did not know exactly what was done to try and get power back on or getting a generator to the lift station to get the lift station operational.  Mr. Boone stated in 2000 there was a problem with the Lakes Edge lift station due to negligence, and it is his opinion that in 1997 the City indicated they knew there was a problem, and they should have known long before the storm last year that we needed a back up generator of our own and not have to rely upon some other City.  He stated, therefore, he did not necessarily buy into the “Act of God” and that the City was not culpable in this matter.  He stated in his mind there was reasonable doubt that the City should have known and should have been better prepared, and he did not want to have this situation again.  Mr. Boone stated he was looking to receive what the appraiser said after he depreciated, and that was $7,200, and he would like to sit down with the City to discuss this and he would like a quick and swift movement, not have to wait another month for another meeting. 

 

Ms Gilleland stated we had given the residents until May 27th to get all of their claims and information in to us, and we have stated all along that we were not in a position to make decisions until we had all of the information, and just this afternoon she received some of the final figures in from the adjuster.  Ms Gilleland stated there is one person we still have not heard from, and Mr. Boone stated the deadline was given and if they do not respond, then the City has done everything they can.  Mr. Boone stated he needs to move on with his life.  Mr. O’Brien clarified Mr. Boone did not feel he should be held up because one person has not got back to the City.  Mr. Boone stated if they did not get back to the City in a timely fashion, then the City had to do what it had to do.  Ms Gilleland stated she is in a position to make a recommendation tonight, and she felt comfortable that the people we have not heard from, we probably will not.  Mr. Boone stated his last question would be at what point he could expect to hear from someone in regards to an appointment to come in and sit down and discuss this.  Ms Gilleland stated she would suggest we wait until we go through the staff recommendation and then talk about it. 

 

C.        Sharon Bricker stated she would also like to address the Cherry Hill issue.  She stated she had always understood the City would look at each resident on a case-by-case basis and then she got the letter that said $2,500.  She stated she now did not know if the City would look at these cases individually or what was going to happen. 

 

Mr. Sabatino stated he understood Ms Gilleland was going to make a recommendation on how this would be handled this evening.  Mr. Hackworth stated that was correct, and this Committee would act on staff’s recommendations tonight. 

 

4.         PLANNING AND ZONING

 

A.        REPORTS:

 

                       (1)         BZA Report.  Mr. Schultz stated the case was withdrawn last month, therefore, the Board did not meet.  Mr. Schultz stated in June there are five items on their agenda, a storage building at Peace United Church; a rear yard setback in Shawnee Crossing; a rear yard setback in Windmiller Ponds; a rear yard setback in Manchester; and, a use variance for Pickerington Carpet Outlet. 

 

            (2)        Planning and Zoning Representative Report (Mr. O’Brien) Mr. O’Brien stated Planning and Zoning has not met since the last Service meeting, and they will meet on June 14th. 

 

Mr. Hackworth stated if there were no objections, he would move to Item 5.C.(1) Sewer Back-Up Issues at this time. 

 

Ms Gilleland stated she would like to review what we have in place.  She stated our operators check the water levels and pump operation twice daily through our computerized system.  She stated we physically check the wet well weekly for accumulation of grease build up, and that was the issue back in 2000.  Ms Gilleland continued we operate all three pumps in the hand mode weekly to ensure proper operation of pumps and controls, we have the grease removed from the lift station once a month, we operate our emergency back up generator once a week, and that generator was purchased in January of this year.  Further, any time the generator is down we have another generator in place, so at no time is that lift station without a generator; we are in process of installing an automatic transfer switch to the generator that will cause the generator to start automatically in the event of a power failure; and also the lift station is equipped with alarms that notify the operator if the power is off, the water level is high, or a pump fails.  Ms Frommer stated the gravity line was originally designed in 2004 and due to some extensive issues with regard to the permit from the railroad and some developments on the Diley Road widening, there was a minor redesign and that is nearly complete.  She stated she expected the plans to be fully reviewed and approved by the City next week and she anticipated a bid advertisement the week after that.  She stated the bid opening would be the week of the next Service meeting and at that next meeting she should have bids for this Committee to review and recommend an award of the contract.  Ms Frommer stated it would then require Council approval, but she would expect construction to start in September.  Mr. Hackworth ascertained this should project should take about 60 days.  Ms Frommer stated with regard to the lift station, since the 2000 event, the City has installed an autodialed there, which is a means of notification for the staff, and it is configured to notify on several different tiers and if it doesn’t get an answer to tell someone that it has an alarm condition, it moves on down the chain of command to include the police dispatcher and a couple of other people.  She stated the City has also reconfigured the pump operating sequence and made it a bit more efficient, the grease is removed regularly, and you have installed a more high tech means of detecting the levels of water in the station itself. 

 

Mr. Boone stated all of these things are great, but he would like to know how many of these things work without electricity.  Mr. Drobina stated the autodialed would work without power.  Mr. Boone stated all these wonderful things won’t mean anything if the power is out, except for the autodialed.  He stated then, that someone must have received a call then that there was a problem December 23rd, and he is surprised that there is no documents that identify this.  He stated if you don’t have power, then all of this means nothing.  Ms Gilleland stated to our employees credit, they were there.  Mr. Drobina stated they did hook up a gasoline pump, but unfortunately it did not keep up with the flow. Ms Gilleland stated further we had a generator on order, but it was caught up in the storm and did not get there until late. 

 

Ms Gilleland stated now that we have received all the information from the residents and the adjuster has provided his input on the losses of the residents, she is ready to present a staff recommendation regarding payment to the residents.  She stated further Council had originally approved up to $2,500 for payment to the residents, and that was based upon information we had available at the time and we were trying to provide some relief to the residents as a good will gesture.  She continued staff would recommend that the City pay the residents the amount designated by the appraiser and we would need an ordinance to pay these claims.  She stated we do not have a draft ordinance for the Committee this evening, but she had asked that the ordinance be worded so that the City can pay what the appraiser has recommended, and this would go to Council at the June 21st meeting.  Ms Gilleland stated she would ask for all three readings at that meeting and when it went into effect 30 days after that time, we could pay the residents that amount.  Ms Gilleland further stated if any person would like to meet with the appraiser again, before we get things finalized, to discuss their claims we can set up that meeting.  Mr. Hackworth clarified when referred to as appraiser and adjuster, that was the same person.  Mr. Sabatino inquired if meeting with the appraiser would have to be coordinated with the City or should the residents do that themselves.  Ms Gilleland stated the City can take care of setting up the meeting.  Mr. Sabatino stated he was requesting to meet with the appraiser and Mrs. Bricker stated she would also request a meeting.  Mr. O’Brien ascertained that the amount of money the City has spent in the safeguards for the lift station is in the neighborhood of $75,000.  Mr. O’Brien stated before Council he would like the engineer to provide him with the information what of that would be considered non-reusable equipment when the gravity line is put in. Ms Frommer stated all of the equipment except for the autodialed and the generator.  Mr. Drobina stated the automatic transfer switch could also be moved to another location.   Mr. Boone stated he would accept the staff recommendation if Council will approve it.  Mr. O’Brien moved to forward staff recommendations to Council in the form of an ordinance; Mr. Hackworth seconded the motion. Ms Gilleland stated the ordinance would be worded that we were authorized to pay what the appraiser has cleared, and an appropriation would be included in the ordinance.  Mr. Hartmann stated he felt the appraiser’s final paperwork should be attached to the ordinance.  Mr. O’Brien stated he felt we should have a final date included.  Ms Gilleland stated she hoped to have the final paperwork to attach to the ordinance for the June 21st meeting, and that is what we will pay off of.  Mr. Hackworth requested the legislation be written with emergency language, and Mr. Hartmann stated he would suggest it not be written as an emergency, however, Council could do three readings on one night and then in 30 days it would be effective.  Mr. Hackworth clarified the paperwork provided with the legislation would be after residents have met with the appraiser again as requested this evening.  Mr. Hackworth clarified Ms Gilleland will send a letter to everyone to explain what was recommended this evening.  Mr. O’Brien clarified that we will send one more letter to everyone, and if those who have not responded still do not respond, that will be our last attempt.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Hackworth and Mr. O’Brien voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 2-0. 

 

B.                 ACTION ITEMS:  None. 

 

5.         SERVICE DEPARTMENT

 

A.        ACTION ITEMS: 

 

B.         WATER UTILITY MAINTENANCE. 

 

            (1)        Water Softening Salt – Update.  Mr. Drobina stated we received two bids for our water softening salt contract.  He stated the Committee had received copies of the bids and he would recommend we contract with Cargill Salt Company.  Mr. Drobina stated our current contract expires June 30th, so he would request three readings if possible.  Mr. O’Brien moved to authorize the City Manger to enter into a contract with Cargill Salt Company for our water softening salt; Mr. Hackworth seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. O’Brien and Mr. Hackworth voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 2-0.     

 

C.        WASTEWATER UTILITY MAINTENANCE. 

 

            (1)        Sewer back-up issues - Update.  Mr. Hackworth stated this had been covered earlier in the meeting. 

 

            (2)        Review and discussion regarding EPA 208 Plan.  Ms Frommer stated Service Committee had discussed this issue in the work session prior to this meeting. 

 

D.        STREET MAINTENANCE. 

 

            (1)        Annual Street Repaving Project – Update.  Ms Frommer stated she and Mr. Drobina had reviewed Mr. Wiseman’s recommendations and we hoped to get that advertised next week. 

 

E.         STORM WATER UTILITY MAINTENANCE. 

 

            (1)        Long Road/Bowen Road Stormwater – Update.  Mr. Drobina stated we would be going out next week and try to float the ditches to make them look presentable and so people can mow the front of their yards.  He stated the ditch seems to be working well, and with the heavy storm yesterday the water was flowing and there were no problems. 

 

F.                                          TREE COMMISSION.  Update.  Mr. Drobina stated a young lady will be doing a Girl Scout Golden Award project at the arboretum.  He stated she will be building eight bird houses, cleaning out the flower beds, and planting some flowers.

 

6.         ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT CAPITAL PROJECTS

 

A.        WASTEWATER

 

            (1)        Wastewater Plant Expansion - Update. 

 

                        a.         Wastewater Treatment Plant Stress Test Update.  Ms Frommer stated the Committee has received the stress test information and there is no additional update except to say your new permit has been submitted.  Mr. Hackworth stated this item can be removed from the agenda. 

 

B.         TRANSPORTATION: 

 

            (1)        Courtright Drive. 

 

                        a.         Courtright Drive Extension Project, Phase III  – Update.  Ms Frommer we received some draft numbers from the developer’s attorney and they are very preliminary.  She stated we have had no counter discussion with regard to Courtright Drive being extended to Milnor and what may be involved.  Mr. Hartmann stated he has not spoken directly with them since he received those numbers.  Ms Gilleland stated Mr. Schultz and Ms Frommer are going to meet with their engineers to review the numbers.  Ms Gilleland stated more work at staff level is necessary and it will be forwarded to the Committee as soon as possible.   

 

            (2)        Diley Road Realignment:

 

                        a.         Diley Road/256 Intersection Improvement Project, Phase II – Update.  Ms Frommer stated the contractor did not want to start work until they had the signed change order in hand, and we will have it to them tomorrow.  Ms Frommer stated the contractor has said they will be here within two weeks of receiving the change order and that should be no later than June 24th.   

 

                        b.         Diley Road/S.R. 256 Intersection Improvement Project, Phase III – Update.   Ms Frommer stated this project is moving along, however, we are starting to run into bad soils.  She stated we may need to stabilize the soils with a cement content and that is being looked at now.  Mr. Drobina stated there is a sewer line that runs from Drug Mart over to the D-Line that was installed by Drug Mart’s contractor, and it has been backing up.  He stated there is a big dip in the sewer line and we will need to address getting that fixed in the next couple of weeks.  Ms Frommer stated she had spoken to representatives of Drug Mart and informed them we expect them to stand behind the quality, or lack thereof, of their contractor’s work with regard to the sewer.  She stated she will work that angle as much as they can, but roadway will need to be put in over that sewer in about two weeks time.  Mr. Hackworth inquired if when we accepted the sewer line, did we take responsibility for it.  He stated he would like to know what the City does as far as inspecting the quality of work prior to accepting it.  Ms Frommer stated the line was inspected and it did pass test, however, it is possible over time for things to settle.  Mr. Drobina stated he has not discovered yet who did the inspection, and Ms Frommer stated, regardless, it was inspected and passed test at the time the City approved it. 

 

                                    1.         Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance to appropriate a fee simple interest consisting of a combined 0.911 acres, more or less, from Don McAuliffe, in property located east of Diley Road, City of Pickerington, County of Fairfield, State of Ohio.  Mr. Hartmann stated this was part of the Drug Mart rezoning where they bought three or four parcels from Don McAuliffe.  He stated this is a parcel they never closed on and it is his understanding there is no litigation pending, however, Mr. McAuliffe is thinking about suing them to enforce the real estate purchase contract.  He continued, however, time is of the essence for us and we need to continue to be on the property and our right-of-entry will be expiring at the end of June.  He stated he would add emergency language to the ordinance to see if we can pass it quickly.  Mr. Hartmann stated we had anticipated this would be dedicated to the City for the necessary roadway, but unfortunately that never happened. He stated this was an unexpected cost to the City.  Ms Gilleland stated we were originally negotiating with Giltz on the assumption that this property was theirs, and when we found out they had never closed we had to find Mr. McAuliffe’s representatives to work something out.  Mr. Hartmann stated it was very frustrating because it was supposed to be dedicated and it is not going to be.  Mr. Hackworth moved to approve and forward to Council with emergency language; Mr. O’Brien seconded the motion.  Mr. O’Brien clarified this was a part of an eminent domain action.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Hackworth and Mr. O’Brien voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 2-0. 

 

 (3)       Diley Road Improvements Project:

 

                        a.         MORPC/ODOT Project – Update.  Ms Frommer stated the next progress meeting is June 14th and we are about to initiate land acquisition starting with the three relocations.  Ms Frommer stated we have received the environmental clearance and with that came the encumbrance of the funds at federal level.  Ms Frommer stated there will be a lot of things going on with regards to property owners in the Diley Road corridor and E. L. Robinson is the right-of-way consultant through Stilson.  Ms Gilleland ascertained the letters that were sent out regarding right-of-way had been sent out. 

 

                        b.         Noise Barriers – Update.  Ms Frommer we are about to send a letter to the property owners in the subdivisions that got a vote on the noise barriers letting them know how the vote tallied.  She stated we are also dealing with what your portion should look like.  Ms Gilleland stated we are sending someone within the next week to look at the brick noise barrier that is in the Canton area.  Ms Gilleland stated we had decided on the dry stacked stone, however, after speaking to ODOT they suggested we might want to think about the brick, especially in light of the sidewalk potentially being abutted right up next to it.  She stated she would bring some pictures and a recommendation to the Committee when we have them. 

 

            (4)        Review of Access Management Plan.  Mr. Hackworth stated he would like to continue this item on the agenda for next month. 

 

            (5)        Cover/Ebright Connector

 

                        a.         Pickerington Health Care Access Road – Update.  Mr. Hartmann stated he had received a call from the appraiser today to get some clarification before he can determine the value of the property.  He stated once he has all the information he will present it to Ms Gilleland so a decision can be made on how to proceed.  Mr. Hartmann stated he did get the impression that Dr. Buoni would fight the eminent domain case because he wants a complete redesign of the access points out there based on his opinion that he thinks what he wants is better than what was proposed.      

            (6)        I-70/S.R. 256 Joint Improvements Project with Reynoldsburg and ODOT – Update.  Ms Frommer stated that according to the punch list provided to ODOT late last year, they have satisfied all of the items we requested they complete.  She stated Safety Committee has asked Mr. Gallagher to look at some additional stripping to provide lane guidance.  Mr. Hackworth stated this can be removed from the agenda at this time. 

 

            (7)        Traffic Signal Update. 

 

                        a.         Discussion regarding Refugee Road/Windmiller Drive Traffic Signal.  Ms Frommer stated this project is on track and the signal is planned to be installed yet this year.   

 

            (8)        Proposed Meadows Blvd. Closure.  Mr. Hackworth stated he understood Safety Committee was also reviewing this project.  Ms Gilleland stated she would like to have more staff discussion before she brings it to this Committee.  Mr. Hackworth stated this would be continued on the agenda.   

 

C.        WATER: 

 

            (1)        Wellfield Investigation – Update.  Mr. Hackworth stated the Committee had received the report provided by EMH&T, and he requested Mr. Hedges attend the next Service meeting as he had some questions on the report.  Ms Gilleland inquired if the Committee would like a work session on this issue or just consider it during the regular meeting.  Mr. Hackworth stated if there was a lot of information a work session might be necessary.  He stated he would like to have some assurance at this stage that if we start pumping more water out of our wellfield, and we allow Canal Winchester to start pumping water, he wants to be sure that we are not going to be drawing down on Pickerington Ponds.  He stated he did not feel the reports have addressed that issue. 

 

D.        STORMWATER.  Mr. Drobina stated we did have a problem with water in the basement at Mrs. Schaffner’s home during the heavy rains yesterday.  He stated she says she did not have any problems until the City did the streetscape project, and he and Ms Frommer will be looking at this issue. 

 

7.         CHAIRMAN.    Mr. Hackworth stated if there is no objection, he would like to move the next Service Committee meeting forward one day to Wednesday, July 13th.  He stated if necessary, we can schedule a work session with Mr. Hedges just prior to that meeting.  Mr. Hackworth stated at the last Rules Committee meeting they had recommended an appointment for the final position on the Utility Fees Review Committee member.  Ms Gilleland stated staff will begin putting together something for that Committee. 

 

8.         OTHER BUSINESS.  No other business was brought forward. 

 

9.         ADJOURNMENT.  There being nothing further, Mr. O’Brien moved to adjourn; Mr. Hackworth seconded the motion.  Mr. Hackworth and Mr. O’Brien voted “Aye.”  Motion carried, 2-0.  The Service Committee adjourned at 9:33 P.M., June 9, 2005.

 

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

 

 

________________________________

Lynda D. Yartin, Municipal Clerk