CITY OF PICKERINGTON

                                             SAFETY COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL

                                               CITY HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD

                                                MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2005

                                                                      7:30 P.M.

 

                                                 REGULAR MEETING AGENDA

 

1.         ROLL CALL.  Mr. Wisniewski called the meeting to order at 7:30 P.M. with Mr. Wisniewski, Mrs. Riggs, and Mr. Sabatino present. No members were absent.  Others present were:  Judy Gilleland, Lynda Yartin, Chief Taylor, Steve Carr, Ed Drobina, Eric Vannatta, Mitch O’Brien, Ted Hackworth, and others. 

 

2.         A.        APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF June 6, 2005, Regular Meeting.  Mrs. Riggs moved to approve; Mr. Wisniewski seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino voting “Nay,” and Mr. Wisniewski and Mrs. Riggs voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 2-0.     

 

            B.         APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF August 1, 2005, Regular Meeting.  Mrs. Riggs moved to approve; Mr. Wisniewski seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino voting “Nay,” and Mr. Wisniewski and Mrs. Riggs voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 2-0. 

 

3.         DEPARTMENT REPORTS:

 

A.        Parks and Recreation.

 

(1)        Director’s Report.  Mr. Carr stated he had provided a written report and he would be happy to answer any questions.   

 

Mr. Carr stated Ms Trapp of the Violet Festival Board was present to address the Committee on the Violet Festival, and a representative from PYAA was also present to address the Committee.  Mr. Wisniewski stated if there were no objections, he would divert from the agenda for these two items. 

 

Ms Trapp stated the final Financial Report is not available as yet, however, it does appear the Festival will either break even or make a small profit this year.  Ms Trapp stated the attendance estimate for the Festival this year was approximately 44,000.  She stated she would answer any questions the Committee may have.  Mr. Wisniewski stated he has heard several residents comment that there are not enough activities for teenagers so they are just roaming around the area with no supervision.  Ms Trapp stated one of the things the Board will be looking at is the parking and they are putting together a task force to see how this can be handled better.  Chief Taylor stated his officers have indicated they do have to make contact with the teenagers and the other issue they have to deal with is the parking.  Mr. Wisniewski stated the Dublin Festival does have a specific area set aside for teenage type events, and that may help them be more entertained.  Ms Trapp stated she would give these comments to the Board and perhaps they can contact Dublin to see how they handle the teenage issue.  Mrs. Riggs stated the other comments she has heard from parents are that they purchased tickets for rides and the lines were so long that they did not have a chance to use all of them.  Ms Trapp stated she would let the Board know of this as well.  Mr. Wisniewski stated the entertainment this year was great and he has heard nothing but favorable comments on that. 

 

Missy Hall stated she was present this evening to request the Committee consider extending the lighting curfew on the fields after school is out next year.  She stated they would like to have the lights on until 11:00 P.M. because the participation in the programs has increased and they are running short of field space to accommodate all of the games.  She stated with the time extension, they would be able to get three games a night in on all four of the fields rather than just two, and that would give them an additional 20 games a week.  She stated she was requesting the lights be allowed to be left on until 11:00 P.M., Monday through Saturday from June 12th to July 21st.  Ms Hall further stated they would like to have an extension on the lighting curfew for the Travel Team’s Father’s Day Tournament on Friday, June 9th and Saturday, June 10th so the lights can remain on until midnight.  Mr. Wisniewski stated this was an annual request, and he did not have a problem with authorizing that extension.  He stated, however, prior to considering extending the lighting curfew for a six week period he would like to see how the residents feel whose homes back up to those fields.  Mr. Wisniewski ascertained from Chief Taylor that the Police Department has received complaints during the Father’s Day Tournament in the past.  Mr. Wisniewski stated he would like the request for the six week lighting curfew extension added to the next Safety Committee agenda so the Committee members can get more information on how the residents feel about it.  Mrs. Riggs clarified the request for this six week extension was for Fields 1 through 4.  Mr. Wisniewski moved to approve extending the lighting curfew until midnight for Fields 1 through 4 on June 9, 2005, and June 10, 2005, for the Father’s Day Tournament; Mrs. Riggs seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mrs. Riggs, Mr. Wisniewski, and Mr. Sabatino voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 3-0. 

 

                                    a.         Parks Master Plan.  Mr. Carr stated we will be signing our agreement with Edsall & Associates on September 15th, and they will have representatives attend the October Safety Committee meeting, as well as, the Parks Board meeting at the end of September.   

 

                                                1.         Joint Parks District – Update.  Mr. Carr stated he had nothing new to report this evening.         

 

                                    b.         NatureWorks Grant Project.  Mr. Carr stated he had received a notification that our disc golf course was funded for $13,000, and that project will have to move forward in 2006 as we have a deadline of December 31, 2006, to have the money spent and the project completed.   

 

                                    c.         Sycamore Park Tennis Court Repair Project – Update.  Mr. Carr stated when you seam the synthetic material together it requires 75 degree or higher weather temperatures and takes three days.  He stated we would not be able to get it done during this construction period, and he plans to do the fence work this construction season and repair the cracks, then as soon as the weather breaks in the spring he hoped to have the contract ready to go for the synthetic surface.         

 

                                    d.         Violet Festival Board – Update.  Mr. Wisniewski stated this was addressed earlier in the meeting. 

 

            B.         Building Operations:  No Report.    

 

            C.        Service Department: 

                        (1)        Traffic Engineer

                                    a.         Review of recommended speed limit on Hill Road South.  Mr. Wisniewski stated the traffic engineer was not present this evening.    

 

Mr. Drobina stated he had received a request from the School District and they are requesting we eliminate parking of private vehicles along a pre-determined distance of Opportunity Way so they can park school busses there.  Ms Gilleland stated she did not see a big issue and she would recommend we approve the request.  Chief Taylor stated when they first started parking the busses there, his department did receive a lot of calls.  He further stated he would be opposed to this request from a traffic safety standpoint.  Mr. Sabatino stated he felt he would concur with Chief Taylor due to safety issues.  Ms Gilleland stated she understood they parked the busses up to the first curve, and Chief Taylor stated he could probably live with that.  Chief Taylor stated, however, the time they saw them they were parked up all along the curve, and that was a big issue with the police.  Mr. Wisniewski stated his concern was when an event was going on and the busses parked there.  He stated with cars, you could see someone running out a lot easier than a child running out from between two parked busses.  Chief Taylor stated he agreed with Mr. Wisniewski, and his other concern was it would narrow the road since there is parking on the other side of the street as well.  Mr. Wisniewski stated he would like Chief Taylor to look at this area and work with Ms Gilleland to provide the Committee a recommendation on what would work in this area.  Mr. Wisniewski asked this also be added as an agenda item for the next meeting. 

 

Mr. Drobina stated the Committee had reviewed a draft 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 721.01, Et. Seq. at the last meeting, and he would like to discuss it again this evening.  Mr. Wisniewski clarified this legislation would authorize the advertisement for bids at no less than $145,000.  Mr. Wisniewski moved to approve and forward this legislation to Council; Mrs. Riggs seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino voting “Nay,” and Mr. Wisniewski and Mrs. Riggs voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 2-0. 

 

            D.        Code Enforcement:  Ms Gilleland stated there was no report this evening as we are still working on the changes to the Home Occupation and Parking draft legislation.  She stated she hoped it would be ready for the Committee in October.  

 

5.         POLICE:   

 

            A.        Chief’s Report.  Chief Taylor stated his report had been distributed and he would answer any questions.  Mr. Wisniewski stated Chief Taylor was requesting to donate his old lap top computers to Metro Parks, and Ms Gilleland stated we did provide a listing of surplus property to the Committee this evening.  She stated with items that are under $250 in value, she is required to notify this Committee that we will be disposing of them.  She further stated any item valued $1,000 or over may be disposed of to the highest bidder, and if less than $1,000 she can dispense of the property without specific legislative direction.  Ms Gilleland stated the total value of these six computers would be approximately $150.  Ms Gilleland stated she would like the minutes to reflect that we would be donating these computers to MetroParks and also that we would be donating a metal detector to the Lancaster Municipal Court.  

 

Mr. Wisniewski stated he had recently read an article in the newspaper where it appeared the Police Department was being accused of giving preferential treatment and he wanted the Chief to know that, as Chairman of Safety Committee, he offered his apologies along with those of Mrs. Riggs, Mr. O’Brien, and Mr. Hackworth.  He stated it appeared that the Police Department got pulled into what seemed to be Pickerington politics and hopefully we have seen the end of unfounded accusations.  He stated further he hoped we would not see this in the future. 

 

6.         CHAIRMAN.   Mr. Wisniewski stated he had nothing to bring forward. 

 

7.         OTHER BUSINESS. 

 

            A.        City Bus Operations Transfer to FairCats.  Ms Gilleland stated Susan Crotty had been working with ODOT over the past couple of years for the transfer of the City owned van from Echo Manor to FairCats.  She stated the City has been in charge of the operation of the van along with Echo Manor and it was run out of the Senior Center.  She stated FairCats has agreed to administer the van and take over the reporting to ODOT, for the same amount of money we are contributed now, which is just over $24,000.  Ms Gilleland stated this transfer was at the request of ODOT and we felt that FairCats was better suited to operate the van.  Ms Gilleland stated we have made that transfer and she was just notifying the Committee.  Ms Gilleland stated the van will still operate out of the Senior Center and will provide the same service it currently provides. 

 

            B.         Review and request for motion to approve 2006-2010 Capital Improvements Plan.  Ms Gilleland stated the Committee had received a complete copy of the CIP and the sections that pertain to Safety are Lands and Buildings, Parks and Recreation, and Police.  She stated the only police project is included in the Lands and Building portion.  Ms Gilleland stated further the Unfunded projects are also listed, and these projects are projects that may never materialize or that the Committee would like to see materialize.  Mr. Wisniewski stated he would like to have just the portions that Safety Committee will review sent to all the Committee members electronically so they can be reviewed and then have this continued on the agenda for the next Safety Committee meeting.  Ms Gilleland stated she would like to have action taken at the next meeting so the CIP can be forwarded to Finance Committee for final action.  Mr. Sabatino clarified that it was not up to Safety Committee to deal with every unfunded project.  Ms Gilleland stated that was correct, she would just like each Committee to look at the unfunded projects.  She stated further, those projects are not in any specific group or order.  Ms Gilleland stated she would ensure these items are e-mailed to the Committee members. 

 

            C.        Notification of Surplus items.  Mr. Vannatta stated he had provided a listing of surplus items for the Committee to review.  Mr. Drobina clarified that we hoped to hold an auction and sell as much of these items as we can.  Mr. Wisniewski inquired if the cell phones could be donated to a Battered Woman’s Shelter as they are always in need of them, and Mr. Vannatta stated he would check into that.  Mrs. Riggs clarified that the items that did not sell would be disposed of and a record of salvage would be prepared. 

 

            D.        Review and discussion regarding lighting curfew at PYAA fields.  Mr. Wisniewski stated this had been dealt with earlier in the meeting. 

 

8.         ADJOURNMENT.  There being nothing further, Mrs. Riggs moved to adjourn; Mr. Wisniewski seconded the motion.  Mrs. Riggs, Mr. Wisniewski, and Mr. Sabatino voted “Aye.”  The Safety Committee meeting adjourned at 8:28 P.M., September 12, 2005. 

 

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

 

 

________________________________

Lynda D. Yartin, Municipal Clerk