CITY HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 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 and Mr. Sabatino present. Mrs. Riggs was absent. Others present were: Judy Gilleland, Lynda Yartin, Chief Taylor, Steve Carr, Ed Drobina, Fire Chief Kenn Taylor, John Edsall, Lynn Boetcher, and others.

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF October 3, 2005, Regular Meeting. Mr. Wisniewski moved to approve. As there was no second to the motion, Mr. Wisniewski requested the approval of the minutes be continued on the agenda for the next meeting.

3. PRESENTATION BY CHIEF KENN TAYLOR, VIOLET TOWNSHIP FIRE DEPARTMENT. Chief Taylor stated he would like to address the committee this evening regarding the contract the fire department has with the City for dispatching services. Chief Taylor stated they are considering the option of relocating their dispatching services and he wanted to come to the Committee and inform them right up front. Chief Taylor stated there is no issue with being dissatisfied with the service, they felt they have had fine service for over twenty years. Chief Taylor stated they have an opportunity for the Fire Department to become a partner with a center called MECC, Metropolitan Emergency Communications Center, that is located in Gahanna. Chief Taylor stated this is a collaborative effort of Mifflin Township, Jefferson Township, and Plain Township, who have put this together over the last two years that does nothing but fire and EMS dispatching. Chief Taylor stated the Center received a $780,000 federal grant, which is one of the largest fire act grants ever administered, to put together this consolidated dispatch center. Chief Taylor stated he felt it was the right time to make this move due to the technological upgrades and advances they have been able to do. Chief Taylor stated the current contract with the City provides that either party may terminate the contract with 60 days written notice. He stated they did not want to send a 60 day written notice without coming before this Committee and letting you know why they were taking this action. He continued that when they make the move, they will not take any of their equipment out of the police department facility because they felt it was important to have a facility where fire personnel, law enforcement personnel, city personnel, etc., could be located as an emergency operation center. He stated during the ice storm last winter, it was very important to have a facility such as that available. Chief Taylor stated also, should this not work, it would also provide them with a fallback plan. Mr. Wisniewski ascertained that with this change there would be no reduction in the service provided to the City or Township residents. Ms Gilleland stated she and our Chief Taylor felt this was an excellent opportunity for the fire department to take advantage of a regional opportunity. She stated we recognize MECC has additional expertise that will benefit all of our residents in the long run. She stated it would be a loss of $75,000 to $80,000 annually to the City and we would have to plan appropriately for that. She stated further the upside is that our officers will now be able to fill in for police dispatch. She stated they did not have the expertise to fill in before because we were doing police and fire, so it will help staffing wise that we can supplement dispatching with officers. Ms Gilleland stated we anticipate this will be a much more efficient service for our residents in the long run and we will work with the fire department in whatever way we can. Chief Mike Taylor stated he totally supported the Fire Chief in this and he wished them the best of luck.

Mr. Lynn Boetcher stated he would like to address the Committee this evening regarding a safety issue with the school busses. Mr. Boetcher stated he lives in the Cherry Hill subdivision and he is concerned about busses trying to get out of the subdivision onto Diley Road. Mr. Boetcher stated he is aware of the expansion of Diley Road and that it has been a sensitive issue in the City. Mr. Boetcher stated he is not interested in promoting further dialogue on that issue, but he would like to address the need for a traffic signal at the intersection of Cherry Hill Drive and Diley Road. He stated he was sure the traffic studies have been made on Diley Road, but have those studies been addressed since the new traffic signal was installed at the newly aligned Diley Road and S.R. 256. He stated being a resident of Cherry Hill and traveling that intersection as many as four to five times daily, it is a dangerous intersection now and will be a greater danger in 2007 when it is widened to five lanes. He stated he was asking that appropriate studies be initiated, revised, and reviewed so that due consideration can be made for the inclusion of a traffic signal at Cherry Hill Drive and Diley Road. Mr. Boetcher inquired if the Committee was aware that there were 64 routes of the Pickerington School District in and out of Cherry Hill every day, this is 37 busses. He stated he had received that figure today from the Pickerington Schools, and you can verify that with Mr. David Deasmon. Mr. Boetcher stated his granddaughter is in fifth grade and rides the bus every day to Diley Middle School and she has been late because the bus has not been able to make the left turn off of Cherry Hill Drive onto Diley Road. Mr. Boetcher stated if they are having trouble now, what is it going to be like in 2007. Mr. Wisniewski stated that was a large number of busses trying to travel through a residential neighborhood and this is something that obviously needs to be addressed in the widening of that road. Mr. Wisniewski stated he felt getting the studies done would be the first step and we would definitely look at this.

4. 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 that last week we had 850 children in Victory Park for our annual Halloween event.

a. Parks Master Plan. Mr. Carr stated Mr. Edsall was present this evening to update the Committee on the Parks Master Plan. Mr. Edsall stated as of today he has gotten through the survey of facilities, the natural features and cultural factors evaluation and he had distributed that this evening. Mr. Edsall stated there is a piece of Pickerington that goes into Franklin County that he was not aware of, so the map will be amended to add that. He stated further he understood there is the prospect of potential annexations to the south so the map will also be amended so that if during the course of this study that comes about, he can make that adjustment. Mr. Edsall stated they have summarized existing facilities, including City parks, Metro and Township parks, recreation facilities of varying types, and located all the schools and special features and facilities. Mr. Edsall stated these maps will be included in the study as far as evaluations and they are starting to look at potential sites they will report on at a later time. Mr. Edsall further stated they have put together the citizens survey and questionnaire that was provided to the Committee this evening. He stated this is still a draft and there were still a few corrections to be made. Mr. Edsall stated he would like the Committee to look over the questionnaire and provide any comments they may have. Mr. Wisniewski questioned if it would be possible to include in the questionnaire a section for students to respond to, and Mr. Edsall stated that is a good idea. He stated during the week of December 5^th they will be holding three public meetings and interview sessions involving student representatives from three different groups, grade five, grade eight, and grade eleven. Mr. Wisniewski requested an electronic copy be forwarded to him and Mr. Edsall stated he would provide a PDF file to the City once the questionnaire was finalized. He stated the current plan is to send approximately 1,000 questionnaires, which would be about every fourth household, and then another 50 to 100 to the schools. Mr. Wisniewski stated then they were not planning on sending the questionnaire to the entire City. Mr. Edsall stated if you want to have a scientific random sample, the intent is to take every fifth name off the water and sewer bill and send it to those addresses. He stated that would give you a much more random sample across the community. Ms Gilleland inquired if there was any merit in assigning dollar values to some of the facilities, namely the community recreation center. She stated without knowing a dollar amount people might be more inclined to check off that they wanted that type of facility. Mr. Edsall stated that would be up to the City, however, he has found it is the preponderant preference to be more generalized as far as the questionnaire is concerned. He stated if you put a cost down for a community recreation center and then you found it would be a higher cost, the people would remember the lower cost and think you were trying to add more to it. He stated, however, this is your questionnaire and he had no problem putting in whatever the City wanted. Mr. Sabatino stated an idea might be to do a cost projection on projects once we find what people are interested in. Ms Gilleland stated at this point in time it might be better to gauge the interest in projects and get more details once we find what those interests are. Mr. Wisniewski stated if we are trying to get input from all residents it seemed a little contradictory to send the questionnaire to only every fifth house. Mr. Edsall if you preferred to do a blanket mailing, that was fine, but he felt the tabulation would be an onerous task. Mr. Wisniewski clarified we would not mail the questionnaire to Township residents. Mr. Wisniewski stated the Committee and the City Manager would talk about having it mailed to everyone versus every fifth house and get back to them. Mr. Carr further stated Mr. would be conducting a series of interviews with community representatives and Ms Gilleland stated she would urge Safety Committee members to sign up for one of the interviews.

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 no report this evening.

c. Sycamore Park Tennis Court Repair Project – Update. Mr. Carr stated the fence installation was completed today, and that will be back with the crack filling and the new synthetic surface in the spring.

d. Violet Festival Board – Update. Mr. Carr stated he had nothing to report this evening.

B. Building Operations: No Report.

C. Service Department:

(1) Traffic Engineer

a. Review of recommended speed limit on Hill Road South. Mr. Wisniewski stated we are receiving a lot of calls on this and we need to get a response from the County soon. Ms Gilleland stated our engineer continues to call the County and they continue to say they will get back with us. Mr. Wisniewski clarified we have control over our speed limit, but not on the portion of the road that belongs to the County. Ms Gilleland stated the speed limit in the Township is 50 MPH and we are trying to get them to compromise at 35 MPH. She stated the Township cannot make that decision, it is the County’s decision. Ms Gilleland stated we have provided all the documentation to the County and it is apparently a low priority for them to respond. Mr. Wisniewski clarified the jurisdiction goes in and out on both sides of the road. Mr. Wisniewski further clarified we have talked to the Township about annexing the road and we have received a lukewarm response. Ms Gilleland stated she would contact the Township again about this issue. Mr. Sabatino clarified our engineer has been calling the County Engineer and perhaps we should contact the County Commissioners and ask them to intercede. Mr. Wisniewski stated we are just trying to make the road a safer area for everyone.

D. Code Enforcement: Ms Gilleland stated there was no report this evening.

5. POLICE:

A. Chief’s Report. Chief Taylor stated his report had been distributed and he would answer any questions. Mr. Wisniewski stated we recently had a serious accident on Diley Road and inquired what the Chief would recommend to try and make the intersections safer. Mr. Wisniewski inquired if there would be any logic in putting solar lights on the “Stop Ahead” signs, flashing signs, or something of that nature. Chief Taylor stated anything would help, however, that is a clear intersection. He stated in that particular accident the driver at fault just wasn’t paying attention. Mr. Wisniewski clarified we do have “Stop Ahead” signs in all directions, and Mr. Sabatino stated we put those signs up in response to a citizen’s concern. Mr. Sabatino stated those signs do seem to be rather close to the stop signs and he felt there was an ODOT regulation that they could only be a certain distance from the stop sign. He stated he felt they would give a little more advance notice if they were further back from the stop signs. Mr. Wisniewski requested Ms Gilleland and Chief Taylor look into the solar lights, since we don’t have electricity out there, and see what the cost would be.

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

7. OTHER BUSINESS.

A. Review and request for motion to approve 2006-2010 Capital Improvements Plan. Ms Gilleland stated the Committee had received the appropriate areas of the CIP that include Parks and Recreation and Lands and Buildings. She stated Finance Committee and Service Committee have reviewed the CIP, and she would review the Parks and Recreation and Lands and Buildings area and answer any questions the Committee may have. Mr. Carr reviewed the Parks and Recreation portion of the CIP and Mr. Drobina reviewed the Lands and Buildings portion. Mr. Drobina stated the new categories that have been added this year include annual capital maintenance and technology improvements. He stated these categories would include maintenance on air conditioning, furnace, etc., and we also added a category for technology assessment. He stated this would include an assessment to see if we need to upgrade computers, etc. Mr. Drobina stated in the budget the first two of these three categories have been included on the contingency list and the amount projected for the technology assessment has been cut in half. Mr. Sabatino ascertained that of the items that were placed on the contingency list this year, the police cruisers were the only thing that did not get funded this year. Mr. Wisniewski stated he had spoken to the Chief on how our officers are out-gunned on the road. Chief Taylor stated he had included in his budget the funds to purchase three or four compact rifles at a time and slowly build up a stock. Mr. Wisniewski further clarified we typically have three cruisers out on the road at one time so there would be enough rifles for every car. Chief Taylor stated the problem with that type of weapon is that they have to be sighted per man, so it would be best for every officer to have their own rifle just as they have their own side arm. Mr. Sabatino clarified Chief Taylor would need 24 rifles, and he has 6 rifles in the 2005 budget while his 2006 budget would fund 3 to 4 rifles. Mr. Wisniewski stated he would ask Ms Gilleland to look to see if we can move money from other categories to the Chief’s budget for arms, and Mr. Sabatino stated he agreed and when our officers go out they should be better prepared than who they are going to be up against. Ms Gilleland stated she agreed and it was her intent to purchase the rifles for everyone next year. Chief Taylor stated he, of course, wants his officers well equipped, but one way or another he needs to get two cruisers next year. Ms Gilleland stated the only Safety item on the unfunded list is the community recreation center.

B. Review and discussion regarding reconsideration request for lighting curfew at PYAA baseball fields. Mr. Wisniewski stated when this was reviewed last month, the residents who back up to the fields did not want it. Chief Taylor stated the response he received was that they were not opposed to the lights, but they were opposed to the noise, and he did not see how you could have one without the other, how could you have a game without the noise. Mr. Sabatino clarified the residents indicated they were not opposed to the time extension, but they are opposed to the noise from the fields. Chief Taylor stated he did not see how you could have a game until 11:00 P.M. without making any noise. Mr. Sabatino inquired if they were opposed to the noise enough that they asked us not to allow the extension. Mr. Steve Miller stated he was present representing PYAA. Mr. Miller stated a Mr. Mike Butler, one of the residents whose home backs up on the complex, had gone around and spoke to the residents who back up to the facility and he found they were in favor of allowing the time extension. Mr. Miller stated in looking at the schedule, this would involve an additional 20 nights total where they could use the extension, and it is not a guarantee that every game will be playing until 11:00 P.M. He stated this would affect only the older age group and would be only on the front fields, the back fields would not be utilized at all during the week with the time extension. He stated the majority of the reason they are requesting this is due to the growth. Mr. Miller stated the intent is just to expand the timeframe to allow for make-up potentials for the older age groups, in addition to at least allowing flexibility in the schedule. He stated this would also offset the other part of the problem, which is traffic at the complex. He stated if they can stagger some start times, it would allow a much more convenient flow of traffic into and out of the complex. Chief Taylor stated he can only report what he found out from the residents, and his department gets the phone calls. Mr. Miller stated while some people complain about the noise, others complain about not being able to get their games in. He stated they accommodated over 2,500 participants in their baseball program this year. Ms Gilleland clarified that Mr. Butler was the only resident Mr. Miller had heard from while the police talked to quite a few more. Mr. Miller stated they were not trying to run a full scale game slot in that timeframe, it was basically to allow for one or two games in addition to potential make-up games. Mr. Wisniewski clarified that the baseball scheduling and planning begins in January so if we left this on the agenda for the next meeting to allow for the Committee members to talk to residents, etc., and see how they feel. Mr. Wisniewski further inquired when PYAA and PYSA would get together and move the entrance to the facility out to Courtright Road so the traffic could use a signalized street. Mr. Miller stated the two organizations need to agree on this and it appears to be a funding issue, who would pay for what. Mr. Miller stated plans had been drawn up last spring to begin that process and then the funding fell through. Mr. Wisniewski asked Ms Gilleland if the City could facilitate this issue and Mr. Miller stated if the City would mediate it might move faster. Mr. Wisniewski asked Ms Gilleland if she could set up something between the Safety Committee members, PYAA, PYSA, and herself and see if we could get something done as there are too many safety issues with that access off of S.R. 256. Ms Gilleland stated she would take care getting something set up. Mr. Wisniewski stated the request for the lighting extension would be addressed one way or the other at the December meeting.

8. ADJOURNMENT. There being nothing further, Mr. Sabatino moved to adjourn; Mr. Wisniewski seconded the motion. Mr. Wisniewski and Mr. Sabatino voted “Aye.” The Safety Committee meeting adjourned at 9:00 P.M., November 7, 2005.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

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Lynda D. Yartin, Municipal Clerk