PICKERINGTON CITY COUNCIL

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2005

CITY HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD

 

REGULAR MEETING

7:30 P.M.

 

1.         ROLL CALL, PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE, AND INVOCATION.  Council for the City of Pickerington met for a regular session Tuesday, September 20, 2005 at City Hall.  Mayor Shaver called the meeting to order at 7:30 P.M.  Roll call was taken as follows:  Mr. Wright, Mr. Hackworth, Mr. O’Brien, Mr. Wisniewski, Mrs. Riggs and Mayor Shaver.  Mr. Parker arrived at 7:40 P.M.  Mr. Sabatino had notified the City Manager that he would not be able to attend tonight’s meeting due to a family emergency.  Others present were:  Judy Gilleland, Lori Aberman, Linda Fersch, Mackenzie White, Carl Burnett, Neal Conway, Katie Drees, Kirk Richards, Bonnie Bleile, Gary Peterman, Kristen Greer, Erica Adams, Ed Drobina, Kyle Paterson, Jay Williams, Bryant Wood, Ryan Williams, Shane Neal, Natalie Calderone, Courtney Smith, Nicole Dugranrut, Karie Korbar, Ben Dunson, Curtis Hale, Rex Myers, Commander Annetts, Christin Blaney, Phil Hartmann, April Thoms, Christies Hammond, Brian Fox, Matt Millerude, Billy Nelson, Trevor Schultz, Harry Myers, Sarah Leeb, Rachel Leeb and others.  Reverend April Thoms delivered the invocation.

 

2.         APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 6, 2005, REGULAR MEETING.  Mr. Wright moved to approve; Mr. Hackworth seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Wright, Mr. Hackworth, Mr. O’Brien and Mrs. Riggs voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 5-0.

 

3.         APPROVAL OF AGENDA.  Mrs. Riggs moved to approve; Mr. Wright seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Wright, Mr. O’Brien, Mr. Hackworth, Mrs. Riggs and Mr. Wisniewski voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 5-0.

 

4.         COMMUNITY COMMENTS. 

 

Mr. Gary Peterman, 8871 Charington Court N.W.  Mr. Peterman stated he wanted to preface his remarks with that he is not being critical of the Pickerington Police Department.  He continued that he believes they were probably following normal procedures in the handling of Mayor Shaver leaving the scene of an accident.  Mr. Peterman stated his criticism is directed toward Mayor Shaver and Mr. Hackworth.  He continued that he would like to encourage everyone present to get a copy of the Police report and compare it to Mayor Shaver and Mr. Hackworth’s explanation of the incident.  Mr. Peterman stated he believes Mayor Shaver made a calculated decision to leave the scene of an accident.  By virtue of being Mayor he knew that if he were caught he would not be cited as long as he professed ignorance of the accident.  Therefore, Mayor Shaver came up with the excuse that he thought he hit a curb.  Mayor Shaver and the current Council members came to office preaching high ethics and moral courage.  Mr. Peterman stated apparently these standards apply to everyone but the team.  The first time the Mayor gets in a public jam, does he exhibit high ethics and moral courage?  No, he runs from the scene of an accident.  Mr. Peterman stated he is simply asking everyone present to compare the Mayor’s story to that of the victim, who has an upstanding reputation as a Pickerington schoolteacher and has been a resident of Pickerington for over twenty years.  Mr. Peterman, stated good luck to the Shaver team in obtaining the teacher vote.  About twenty-five years ago Mayor Moody of Columbus was cited around 2:00 am for a DUI.  When he was asked what he was doing he stated he was inspecting the City.  That excuse became laughable and the butt of jokes for years.  Personally, Mayor Shaver has given Mayor Moody a run for his money.  Mr. Peterman stated he had copies of the police report if anyone would like to have one.  He continued the facts become obviously clear when you look at the report.  First, the accident happened in a street, it didn’t happen near a curb.  Secondly, as noted by the Police Department the only person noted for doing anything wrong was the Mayor for improper lane change.  The other person involved is not noted as doing anything improper.  Only by looking at the police report could you come to the conclusion that the Mayor never knew that he hit a car, he thought he had hit a curb.  Mr. Peterman stated he has copies of the report for anyone who is interested and he would like to pass copies out to City Council members, who may not know the facts of this case, but are commenting and defending the Mayor to the public newspapers.  Mr. Peterman asked has City Council read the police report?  Mrs. Riggs stated she spoke directly with the Chief of Police.  Mr. Hackworth stated he has spoken to the Chief of Police as well. 

 

Brian Fox, 592 Courtland Lane.  Mr. Fox stated he wanted to discuss a memo that was recently unearthed in a public information request.  This email is from Mr. Hackworth to Barb Slaven, Judy Gilleland, Mrs. Riggs, Mr. O’Brien and Mr. Wisniewski.  Basically the email was written in January regarding issues that Mr. Hackworth thought would be coming out of Service Committee.  The first issue was regarding the Utility Fees Commission to make a recommendation at Council to increase at the very least water and sewer tap fees.  There will be a final presentation at the end of the month; in addition they will consider rate increases in other areas such as user fees.  Mr. Fox stated he takes that to mean the water rates that he and all other residents pay.  The memo went on to state that the rate hikes might be put off for a few months or even a year due to the election.  Mr. Fox stated the memo raises a lot of red flags.  First, of all when Mr. Hackworth ran for office he was all about open government, transparent government, and citizen participation.  Now that Mr. Hackworth is a Councilman, he seems to have changed to want to wait on everything until after the election.  Secondly, the distribution list of the email is interesting, not all of Council is included.  Mr. Fox stated he does not think that it violates Sunshine Law, however, he wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of the emails and memos from City Hall have the same distribution list, the four Shaver people on Council emailing each other back and forth talking about issues.  When you have a majority on Council doing that it would be interesting to find out if there are decisions being made in private and then brought to public Council meetings, that then would probably constitute a violation of the Sunshine Law and would be unethical and obviously illegal.  Mr. Fox stated he is going to continue to look into that with more public information requests to see if that kind of thing is going on here at City Hall.  He continued, this email shows that Mr. Hackworth is very comfortable in sending this email to Councilman O’Brien and Councilman Riggs at their work sites, being the Federal Government, and the Secretary of State’s office.  Obviously, they can’t help if Mr. Hackworth sent emails to them at their work sites, however, they can control what comes back from that work site.  Mr. Fox stated he is interested in finding out if Mrs. Riggs and Mr. O’Brien are in fact doing City work, or personal political work on State or Federal Government time.  If that is going on it’s wrong, unethical and it would probably be illegal.  Mr. Fox stated he is going to look into that as well. 

 

5.         APPROVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA:  Mayor Shaver stated there were no consent agenda items this evening.

 

6.         COMMITTEE REPORTS:

 

A.                 SERVICE COMMITTEE.  Mr. Hackworth stated Service Committee

met on September 8th.  There were two ordinances requesting grants that were brought forward.  He continued the Utility Fees Review Commission met on September 12th for a tour of the Sewer and Water plants.  The Commission met last night for an organizational meeting and Mr. Terry Walburn was elected Chairman.  He continued the Commission set their regular meeting as the third Monday of the month at 6:30 P.M.  Mr. Hackworth stated in response to Mr. Fox, this Commission just met for the first time last night and the Commission will recommend to Council through Service Committee any rate increases in the future. 

 

 

B.                 SAFETY COMMITTEE.  Mr. Wisniewski stated Safety Committee met

on September 12th.  He continued Ordinance 2005-81 came out of Safety Committee and is on tonight’s agenda. 

 

C.                 FINANCE COMMITTEE.  Mrs. Riggs stated Finance Committee they

had a very short meeting.  There is an appropriation on the agenda tonight.  The minutes were in the packet. 

 

Council recessed for five minutes at 8:01 P.M.  Council reconvened at 8:06 P.M.

 

7.         REPORTS:

 

A.                 MAYOR.  Mayor Shaver stated he had nothing to report this evening.

 

B.                 LAW DIRECTOR.  Mr. Hartmann stated he is requesting that Item E, an

ordinance that has been TABLED for quite some time, relating to the appropriation of property for the Diley Road project that has been completed from Don McAuliffe, be removed from the TABLE.  He continued that they have received an executed contract and they are comfortable with that contract.  Additional legislation has been prepared to go to the appropriate committee to settle the matter and that will come before Council for a vote in the future. 

 

C.                 FINANCE DIRECTOR.  Mrs. Fersch stated she is happy to report that

the City’s 2004 audited capital report has been filed with the GFOA and Council should have received a copy of it and it will also be posted on the City’s website.  She continued she would appreciate three readings on 2005-84, the appropriation ordinance on tonight’s agenda since it mainly is for adjustments that need to be made.   

 

D.                 MANAGER.  Ms. Gilleland stated there are a lot of positive things

happening in the Pickerington area.  Staff and Council has been very busy working on the budget and Capital Improvement Program for the upcoming year.  She continued there would be the third reading tonight on the impact fee ordinance.  This has been a yearlong project.  Staff is making preparations for the implementation of the impact fees and there are many things staff will be working through to do so.  In addition, the City is finalizing the Growth Management Plan and there will be a Service Committee meeting on September 29th to discuss the draft of the Growth Management Plan.  She continued the City is also working on residential design standards. 

 

E.                  SERVICE MANAGER.  Mr. Drobina stated he wanted to update

Council on the annual street paving.  The contractors will be in tomorrow to do the work on Columbus Street at the two areas that they are going to be repairing.  Traffic will be maintained.  The work back in the subdivisions won’t start for another two weeks.  He continued he has three ordinances on the agenda tonight. 

 

8.         PROCEDURAL READINGS:

 

            A.        ORDINANCE 2005-81, “AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE SALE OF CERTAIN LAND OWNED BY THE CITY OF PICKERINGTON, MORE COMMONLY KNOWN AS PARCEL NO. 041-02584-00 (350 DILEY ROAD, PICKERINGTON, OHIO) TO BE SOLD IN ACCORDANCE WITH OHIO REVISED CODE SECTION 721.01, ET. SEQ.,” First Reading, Wisniewski.  Mr. Wisniewski moved to adopt; Mrs. Riggs seconded the motion.  Mr. Wisniewski stated this is for the property the City had purchased sometime ago and are looking to sell.  Roll call was taken with Mr. O’Brien, Mr. Wright, Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Parker, Mrs. Riggs and Mr. Hackworth voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 6-0.

 

            B.         ORDINANCE 2005-82, “AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO SUBMIT AN APPLICATION FOR FUNDING FROM THE OHIO PUBLIC WORKS COMMISSION FOR CONSTRUCTION OF THE LONG ROAD STORM WATER IMPROVEMENT PROJECT EAST OF DILEY ROAD, AND DECLARING EMERGENCY,” First Reading, O’Brien.  Mr. O’Brien moved to adopt; Mr. Wisniewski seconded the motion.  Mr. O’Brien stated the next two ordinances to include sections of Long Road both east and west of Diley Road.  He continued they will be applying for Ohio Public Works funding and the application needs to be turned in as soon as possible.  The second one will allow the City to apply for grant money from the United States Army Corps of Engineers for the area from Diley Road out to the City limits.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Parker, Mrs. Riggs, Mr. O’Brien, Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Hackworth and Mr. Wright voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 6-0.  Mr. O’Brien moved to suspend the rules for the purpose of three readings; Mr. Wisniewski seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Hackworth, Mr. Wright, Mrs. Riggs, Mr. O’Brien and Mr. Parker voting “Yea.”  Suspension of Rules passed, 6-0. Second Reading.  Mr. O’Brien moved to adopt; Mr. Wisniewski seconded the motion.   Roll call was taken with Mr. Wright, Mr. O’Brien, Mrs. Riggs, Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Parker and Mr. Hackworth voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 6-0.  Third Reading, with emergency.  Mr. O’Brien moved to adopt; Mr. Wisniewski seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. O’Brien, Mr. Hackworth, Mr. Wisniewski, Mrs. Riggs, Mr. Parker and Mr. Wright voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, with emergency, 6-0.

 

            C.        ORDINANCE 2005-83, “AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO SUBMIT AN APPLICATION FOR SECTION 594 GRANT FUNDS FROM THE U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS FOR CONSTRUCTION OF THE LONG ROAD STORM WATER IMPROVEMENT PROJECT WEST OF DILEY ROAD, First Reading, O’Brien.  Mr. O’Brien moved to adopt; Mrs. Riggs seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Wisniewski, Mrs. Riggs, Mr. Parker, Mr. Wright, Mr. Hackworth and Mr. O’Brien voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 6-0.

 

            D.        ORDINANCE 2005-84, “AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE 2005 APPROPRIATION, ORDINANCE 2004-81,” First Reading, Riggs.  Mrs. Riggs moved to adopt; Mr. Wisniewski seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. O’Brien, Mr. Wright, Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Parker, Mrs. Riggs and Mr. Hackworth voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 6-0.  Mrs. Riggs moved to suspend the rules for the purpose of three readings; Mr. Wisniewski seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mrs. Riggs, Mr. Parker, Mr. Hackworth, Mr. Wright, Mr. Wisniewski and Mr. O’Brien voting “Yea.”  Suspension of Rules passed, 6-0.  Second Reading. Mrs. Riggs moved to adopt; Mr. Wisniewski seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mrs. Riggs, Mr. Wright, Mr. O’Brien, Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Parker and Mr. Hackworth voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 6-0. Third Reading, with emergency.  Mrs. Riggs moved to adopt; Mr. Wisniewski seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mrs. Riggs, Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. O’Brien, Mr. Wright, Mr. Parker and Mr. Hackworth voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, with emergency, 6-0.

 

            E.         ORDINANCE 2005-54, “AN 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,” Second Reading, Hackworth.  (TABLED, 07/05/05) Mr. Hackworth moved to remove from the TABLE; Mr. Wright seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Wright, Mr. Parker, Mr. Hackworth, Mrs. Riggs, Mr. O’Brien and Mr. Wisniewski voting “Yea.”  Motion to remove from the TABLE passed, 6-0.  Mr. Hackworth moved to adopt.  Motion Died for lack of a second.

 

 

            F.         RESOLUTION 2005-16R, “A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDI NG WITH VILLAGE OF CANAL WINCHESTER AND VIOLET TOWNSHIP,” Second Reading, Wright.  Mr. Wright moved to adopt; Mr. Wisniewski seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Wright, Mr. O’Brien, Mrs. Riggs, Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Parker and Mr. Hackworth voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 6-0.

 

9.         LEGISLATIVE READINGS:

 

            A.        ORDINANCE 2005-50, “AN ORDINANCE ACCEPTING THE FINAL

PLAT FOR THE WELLINGTON PARK SUBDIVISION – SECTION 1 (VIRGINIA HOMES), Third Reading, Hackworth.  (TABLED, 07/05/05)

 

            B.         ORDINANCE 2005-72, “AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 1292 OF THE PICKERINGTON CODIFIED ORDINANCES AND SECTION VII OF THE COMMERCIAL DESIGN GUIDELINES (APPENDIX IV OF THE PICKERINGTON CODIFIED ORDINANCES),” Third Reading, O’Brien. Mr. O’Brien moved to adopt; Mrs. Riggs seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mrs. Riggs, Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. O’Brien, Mr. Wright and Mr. Hackworth voting “Yea,” and Mr. Parker voting “Nay.”  Motion passed, 5-1.

 

            C.        ORDINANCE 2005-73, “AN ORDINANCE APPROVING THE REZONING OF 8.874 ACRES FROM AG (RURAL DISTRICT) TO PM-1 (PLANNED RESTRICTED INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT) LOCATED AT THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF PICKERINGTON ROAD AND STEMEN ROAD FOR A NEW VIOLET TOWNSHIP ADMINISTRATION AND ROAD MAINTENANCE FACILITY,” Third Reading, O’Brien. Mr. O’Brien moved to adopt; Mr. Wisniewski seconded the motion.  Mr. O’Brien stated this is the final reading on the rezoning on the corner of Stemen and Pickerington Road for the Violet Township Maintenance Facility.  Roll call was taken with Mr. O’Brien, Mr. Hackworth, Mr. Wisniewski, Mrs. Riggs, Mr. Parker and Mr. Wright voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 6-0.

 

            D.        ORDINANCE 2005-74, “AN ORDINANCE ACCEPTING THE FINAL PLAT FOR WINDMILLER SQUARE COMMERCIAL SUBDIVISION,” Third Reading, Hackworth. Mr. Hackworth moved to adopt; Mr. O’Brien seconded the motion.  Mr. Hackworth stated this is located in front of the Kroger store.  The road will run parallel to State Route 256 and will create three out lots to help with commercial development in that area.  Mr. Wright clarified this will have no impact on the Prince of Peace Church.  Mr. Hartmann stated this does not involve any of the church property.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Hackworth, Mr. Wright, Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Parker, Mrs. Riggs and Mr. O’Brien voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 6-0.

 

            E.         ORDINANCE 2005-76, “AN ORDINANCE TO AUTHORIZE THE CITY MANAGER TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH JESS HOWARD ELECTRIC COMPANY FOR THE INSTALLATION OF A TRAFFIC SIGNAL AT THE WINDMILLER DRIVE AND REFUGEE ROAD INTERSECTION,” Third Reading, O’Brien. Mr. O’Brien moved to adopt; Mr. Wisniewski seconded the motion.  Mr. O’Brien stated it was recommended that a traffic light be installed at Windmiller Drive and Refugee Road, due to evidence of that intersection failing in a recent traffic study of the Refugee Road and State Route 256 area.  Roll call was taken with Mr. O’Brien, Mr. Hackworth, Mr. Wisniewski, Mrs. Riggs, Mr. Parker and Mr. Wright voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 6-0.

 

            F.         ORDINANCE 2005-77, “AN ORDINANCE TO CHANGE THE NAME OF A PORTION OF PRE-EXISTING DILEY ROAD REMAINING BETWEEN REALIGNED DILEY ROAD AND S.R. 256 TO OLD DILEY ROAD IN THE CITY OF PICKERINGTON, COUNTY OF FAIRFIELD, STATE OF OHIO,” Third Reading, O’Brien. Mr. O’Brien moved to adopt; Mr. Wisniewski seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Hackworth, Mr. Wright, Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Parker, Mrs. Riggs and Mr. O’Brien voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 6-0.

 

            G.        ORDINANCE 2005-79, “AN ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTION 274.02 AND ADOPTING IMPACT FEE AMOUNTS AND THE PROCEDURES FOR THE IMPOSITION, CALCULATION, COLLECTION, EXPENDITURE AND ADMINISTRATION OF IMPACT FEES TO BE IMPOSED ON NEW DEVELOPMENT; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE,” Third Reading, Riggs/Hackworth/O’Brien/Wright/Wisniewski/ Sabatino.  Mrs. Riggs moved to adopt; Mr. O’Brien seconded the motion. Mr. Parker stated he does not think you need to put an impact fee on commercial businesses.  Mr. Wright stated he wants to make sure that the City keeps an eye on the impact of this on future commercial development.  Roll call was taken with Mr. O’Brien, Mr. Hackworth, Mr. Wisniewski, Mrs. Riggs and Mr. Wright voting “Yea,” and Mr. Parker voting “Nay.”  Motion passed, 5-1.

 

            H.        RESOLUTION 2005-15R, “A RESOLUTION OF INTENT TO APPROPRIATE A 0.265 ACRE, MORE OR LESS, FEE SIMPLE INTEREST, FROM SMC LTD., LOCATED EAST OF REYNOLDSBURG-BALTIMORE ROAD (S.R. 256), CITY OF PICKERINGTON, COUNTY OF FAIRFIELD, STATE OF OHIO,” Third Reading, Hackworth.  Mr. Hackworth moved to adopt; Mr. O’Brien seconded the motion.  Mr. Hackworth stated this is across the street from the Kohl’s store and they are trying to get an access point changed.  Mr. Parker inquired has the other party tried to contact the City regarding this matter.  Mr. Hartmann stated he did speak with their Attorney about resolving the issue.  Mr. Hartmann stated he would discuss possible resolutions with the City Manager.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Hackworth, Mr. Wright, Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Parker, Mrs. Riggs and Mr. O’Brien voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 6-0.

 

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

 

11.       MOTIONS:

 

            A.        MOTION FOR EXECUTIVE SESSION UNDER SECTION 121.22(G)(1)a, MATTERS INVOLVING AN EMPLOYEE’S OR PUBLIC OFFICIAL’S APPOINTMENT, and 121.22(G)(3), CONFERENCE WITH LAW DIRECTOR REGARDING PENDING OR IMMINENT COURT ACTION.  Mrs. Riggs moved for executive session under Section 121.22 (G)(1) and Section 121.22 (G)(3); Mr. O’Brien seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Hackworth, Mr. O’Brien, Mr. Wright, Mr. Parker, Wisniewski and Mrs. Riggs voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 6-0.

 

Council went into executive session at 8:45 P.M., and reconvened in open session at 8:51 P.M. 

 

12.       ADJOURNMENT.  There being nothing further, Mr. Hackworth moved to adjourn; Mrs. Riggs seconded the motion.  Mr. Hackworth, Mrs. Riggs, Mr. O’Brien, Mr. Wright, Mr. Parker and Mr. Wisniewski voted “Aye.”  Motion carried, 6-0.  The meeting adjourned at 8:53 P.M., September 20, 2005.

 

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

 

 

___________________________________

Lori L. Aberman, Deputy Municipal Clerk

 

ATTEST:

 

 

____________________________________

David Shaver, Mayor