PICKERINGTON CITY COUNCIL
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2005
CITY HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD
REGULAR
MEETING AGENDA
7:30
P.M.
1. ROLL CALL, PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE, AND INVOCATION. Council for the City of Pickerington met for a regular session Tuesday, October 4, 2005, at City Hall. Mrs. Riggs called the meeting to order at 7:30 P.M. Mrs. Riggs stated Mayor Shaver is ill this evening and sent his regrets for not being able to attend. Mrs. Gilleland stated Mr. Parker had notified her he would not be able to attend this evening due to business commitments. Roll call was taken as follows: Mr. Wright, Mr. Hackworth, Mr. O’Brien, Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Sabatino, and Mrs. Riggs, were present. Mr. Parker and Mayor Shaver were absent. Others present were: Judy Gilleland, Lynda Yartin, Linda Fersch, Ed Drobina, Chief Mike Taylor, Phil Hartmann, Patti Wigington, Mackenzie White, Tory Kramer, Rex Myers, Kirk Richards, John Pekar, Reverend Phil Manson, Patrick Bowen, Keith Smith, and others. Pastor Manson delivered the invocation.
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 20, 2005, REGULAR MEETING. Mr. Hackworth moved to approve; Mr. Wisniewski seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino abstaining, and Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Wright, Mr. Hackworth, Mr. O’Brien, and Mrs. Riggs voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 5-0.
3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA. Mr. O’Brien moved to approve; Mr. Wisniewski seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino, Mr. Wright, Mr. O’Brien, Mr. Hackworth, Mrs. Riggs, and Mr. Wisniewski voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 6-0.
4. COMMUNITY COMMENTS:
A. Christine Brown, 832 Elizabeth Drive, Lancaster, OH. Ms Brown stated she is a consumer of Fairfield County MRDD and she was asking for everyone’s support on the levy that is on the ballot in November. Ms Brown stated this levy would help provide for a satellite office of MRDD in Pickerington.
B. Mr. Todd Boone. Mr. Boone stated recently he had received some information and as this is an election year he felt this information should be made available to residents. Mr. Boone stated an e-mail had been sent in January by Mr. Hackworth regarding the Utility Fees Review Commission and that Commission was not formed until May. Mr. Boone stated the e-mail stated that Commission would make recommendations to Council to increase, at the very least, our water and sewer tap fees. Mr. Boone continued that in addition, the e-mail stated the question of increasing user fees would be considered, however, that may be put off because of the election. Mr. Boone stated that is what bothered him. He further questioned how an e-mail could be sent telling others that a Commission that has not even been put together yet will make recommendations, and what did an election have to do with it? Mr. Boone stated if we need to raise the rates, then raise them, but don’t hold off on doing this because you want to be re-elected. Mr. Hackworth responded the context of that e-mail was that he was responding to the public information officer on possible articles for the next year. He stated Council had received presentations that we were losing money on our water and sewer plant, the Mayor wanted an open committee to be formed, and his speculation and prediction was that we would form the commission. Mr. Hackworth further stated we have not raised rates in 13 years, and although he is not up for election, four members of Council are. He continued if this issue would have moved faster, he did not know if he could get it through Council. Mr. Hackworth clarified that Mr. Boone only had his response and not the e-mail where the public information officer was requesting article ideas. Mr. Hackworth stated he could provide the complete e-mail to Mr. Boone.
C. Presentation by John Bosser of Fairfield County Board of MRDD. Mr. John Pekar stated Mr. Bosser was not able to attend this evening. Mr. Pekar stated he is the Superintendent of the Fairfield Country Board of MRDD and he was present this evening to ask for everyone’s support on Issue 7, the MRDD levy on the ballot in November. Mr. Pekar stated this is a replacement issue, and not a new levy.
5. APPROVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA: Mrs. Riggs stated there is one item on the Consent Agenda this evening. Resolution 2005-18R, “A Resolution expressing the City of Pickerington’s support for House Bill 299.” Mr. O’Brien moved to adopt; Mr. Wisniewski seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino, Mr. O’Brien, Mr. Wright, Mr. Wisniewski, Mrs. Riggs, and Mr. Hackworth voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 6-0.
6. COMMITTEE REPORTS:
A. SERVICE COMMITTEE. Mr. Hackworth stated Service Committee had a Special Meeting on September 29th, and the Capital Improvements Plan was approved, as well as, the Growth Management Assessment and Strategy Plan that is on tonight’s agenda.
B. SAFETY COMMITTEE. Mr. Wisniewski stated Safety Committee met last night, and the Committee discussed the Parks Master Plan. He stated a citizen’s survey will be going out, and we would like to get a lot of feedback from the survey on the direction the citizens would like to see the Parks and Recreation Department go, such as expanding services, etc.
C. FINANCE COMMITTEE. Mrs. Riggs stated Finance Committee had met on September 20th, and the legislation for borrowing to update our traffic signals on tonight’s agenda came out of that meeting. Mr. Sabatino stated Mrs. Riggs had indicated there would be an executive session at the last Council meeting to deal with the selection of the law director. Mr. Sabatino stated he was unable to attend that meeting, however, he had been advised that Council did not deal with that issue. Mrs. Riggs stated that was correct, and it was her intent to have that discussion at an Executive Session when we had a full Council present. She further stated she was hoping for a full council this evening so that issue could be discussed. Mr. Sabatino stated we were spending approximately $57,000 a month on legal fees and he felt this had gone on for a long time and it would be in everyone’s best interest to get this settled. Mr. Sabatino stated if necessary a special meeting should be called and he encouraged Mrs. Riggs to take the leadership and do that. Mrs. Riggs stated at the next Council meeting she would make that discussion happen.
7. REPORTS:
A. MAYOR. Mrs. Riggs stated she had nothing to report on behalf of the Mayor.
B. LAW DIRECTOR. Mr. Hartmann stated had nothing to report this evening.
C. FINANCE DIRECTOR. Mrs. Fersch stated the only item she had on the agenda were the notes for the traffic signal improvements, and she was not requesting additional readings this evening.
D. MANAGER. Ms Gilleland stated her report had been distributed and she would answer any questions. Mrs. Gilleland stated we have begun work on the budget for next year, and this is a very busy time of year for the staff. Mrs. Gilleland stated she is working on having Mr. Greg Dale provide a presentation on the Growth Management Plan to Council just prior to the Council meeting on November 1st. Mrs. Gilleland stated the Drug Mart access has been identified as a problem and we are working on getting that situation corrected.
E. SERVICE MANAGER. Mr. Drobina stated the street paving was almost complete, and he would be happy to answer any questions.
8. PROCEDURAL READINGS:
A. ORDINANCE 2005-85, “AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR THE ISSUANCE OF $260,000 OF NOTES BY THE CITY OF PICKERINGTON, OHIO, IN ANTICIPATION OF THE ISSUANCE OF BONDS, FOR THE PURPOSE OF PAYING PART OF THE COST OF ACQUIRING AND INSTALLING TRAFFIC CONTROL DEVICES AND RELATED STREET IMPROVEMENTS,” First Reading, Hackworth. Mr. Hackworth moved to adopt; Mr. O’Brien seconded the motion. Mr. Hackworth stated this is on our Capital Improvements Plan and is to update our traffic signal controllers and a few other maintenance type items that will help the Service Department identify problems and monitor our traffic control devices a little better. Mr. Sabatino clarified this is not the SMART system, however, it would be the first step in being able to upgrade our traffic signal controllers. Mr. O’Brien stated with these upgrades we will technologically be in a position to go toward the SMART corridor. Mr. Sabatino stated he has a concern then because the information he received states the implementation of a SMART system takes several hundred thousand or a million dollars and several years to adequately implement. He stated his question was if we were looking to go toward a million dollar traffic control system? Mr. O’Brien stated the traffic engineer would have to answer that, and Mr. Hackworth stated right now we are looking at $260,000 to upgrade our system so we can program the lights and get the progression. Mr. Wisniewski stated this is a first step, and the next step would probably be a like amount to take us toward a SMART corridor. Mr. Wisniewski stated we do need to get traffic flowing in and out of the City and it will require a lot of money to get it done. Mr. Sabatino stated he was not saying we shouldn’t do that, he was just pointing out if that was the direction we were going in, Council needs to be prepared to commit to take it the rest of the way. Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino, Mr. O’Brien, Mr. Wright, Mr. Wisniewski, Mrs. Riggs, and Mr. Hackworth voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 6-0.
B. ORDINANCE 2005-86, “AN ORDINANCE ADOPTING THE GROWTH MANAGEMENT ASSESSMENT AND STRATEGY PLAN,” First Reading, O’Brien. Mr. O’Brien moved to adopt; Mr. Hackworth seconded the motion. Mr. O’Brien stated the plan was in two parts, a narrative and conclusions in the first part and the cost of land use plan and statistical and analytical data in the second part. Mr. O’Brien stated there are basically ten conclusions that are recommended and several are initiatives we already have in place. Mr. Wisniewski stated he would request this report be put on the web site so everyone can have a chance to look at it. Mr. Sabatino stated he felt it was a very comprehensive piece of work that took a team of professionals about a year to put together. He stated just receiving it on Friday he has not had the time to completely read and digest it, however, what he has seen he does like. Mr. Sabatino stated further he would abstain from voting on the plan this evening, because until he has had time to completely review it he could not vote one way or another with a clear conscience. Mrs. Riggs stated she felt this is obviously part of the impact fees and everything we have been talking about to control our growth and what it costs to provide services to the City. She stated she did not have a problem with one reading this evening, and as Ms Gilleland mentioned earlier, we would have a presentation by the consultant before the third reading is scheduled. Mrs. Riggs stated she agreed this is a very comprehensive document. Mr. Hackworth stated the study does address quality of life issues and he appreciated that being included. Mr. Hackworth stated he felt this would be a great roadmap to work from over the next few years to bring the City up to a more cultured and sophisticated community. Mr. Wright stated in going through the report he wanted to make sure he was reading the fiscal results correctly. He continued the indication is basically that we need to be at a six unit per acre for positive fund results, and his concern was if that meant we were going to move towards a more dense type of development in order to have the revenue covering the costs or was this a guideline and we would pick our point. Mr. O’Brien stated he felt at the two unit per acre line it showed us what the deficit was to the City and when you went to the nonresidential you could look to balance that. Mr. Wright stated that was his concern, with as much vacancy as there is in commercial development, did we think we could really do something with growth management by offsetting it with commercial without having to do something with higher density. Mr. Wright stated he would vote for this tonight, but he felt these were questions that needed to be looked at. Mr. Wright stated he just wanted to caution that we look very closely at the fiscal results and impact of what is going on, and see if that is what we want. Ms Gilleland stated Mr. Dale will make a presentation on the Growth Management Plan, however, the Cost of Land Use Study was done by Tischler & Associates. She stated she would see if she could schedule them to provide a briefing at the same time Mr. Dale is scheduled. Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino abstaining, and Mrs. Riggs, Mr. O’Brien, Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Hackworth, and Mr. Wright voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 5-0.
C. RESOLUTION 2005-18R, “A RESOLUTION EXPRESSING THE CITY OF PICKERINGTON’S SUPPORT FOR HOUSE BILL 299.” First Reading, O’Brien. Mr. O’Brien moved to adopt; Mr. Wisniewski seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino, Mr. O’Brien, Mr. Wright, Mr. Wisniewski, Mrs. Riggs, and Mr. Hackworth voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 6-0. (CONSENT AGENDA ITEM)
D. 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.,” Second Reading, Wisniewski. Mr. Wisniewski moved to adopt; Mr. Hackworth seconded the motion. Mr. Wisniewski stated this is property the City acquired approximately one year ago and we are now going to put on the market. Mr. Wright clarified this is the property where we are taking part of the front yard and that will be disclosed. Mr. Hartmann stated that is also on the legal description. Mr. Sabatino stated he wanted to ensure that we had something that disclosed that the right-of-way had been removed. Mr. Hartmann stated it will be reflected on the actual deed, and it will have the survey and map with it showing exactly where the new right-of-way is. Mr. Hartmann stated we will ensure it is as explicit as possible. Roll call was taken with Mrs. Riggs, Mr. Wright, Mr. O’Brien, Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Sabatino, and Mr. Hackworth voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 6-0.
E. 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,” Second Reading, O’Brien. Mr. O’Brien moved to adopt; Mr. Wisniewski seconded the motion. Mr. O’Brien stated this will permit the City Manager to submit the application for grant monies to be used to help with the improvement for drainage of storm water in this area. Roll call was taken with Mr. O’Brien, Mr. Wisniewski, Mrs. Riggs, Mr. Hackworth, Mr. Sabatino, and Mr. Wright 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)
B. RESOLUTION 2005-16R, “A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING WITH VILLAGE OF CANAL WINCHESTER AND VIOLET TOWNSHIP,” Third Reading, Wright. Mr. Wright moved to adopt; Mr. Wisniewski seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. O’Brien, Mr. Hackworth, Mr. Wisniewski, Mrs. Riggs, Mr. Sabatino, and Mr. Wright 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 stated the executive session would not be held this evening.
12. ADJOURNMENT. There being nothing further, Mr. Wright moved to adjourn; Mr. O’Brien seconded the motion. Mrs. Riggs, Mr. O’Brien, Mr. Wright, Mr. Hackworth, Mr. Sabatino, and Mr. Wisniewski voted “Aye.” Motion carried, 6-0. The meeting adjourned at 8:40 P.M., October 4, 2005.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:
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ATTEST:
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