CITY OF PICKERINGTON

                                           FINANCE COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL

                                               CITY HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD

                                                     THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 2003

 

                                                          REGULAR MEETING

 

                                                                      7:30 P.M.

 

1.         ROLL CALL.  Mr. Wright called the meeting to order at 7:30 P.M., with roll call as follows: Mr. Wright and Mr. Parker were present.  Mr. Fox was absent.  Others present were: Frank Wiseman, Lynda Yartin, Linda Fersch, Susan Crotty, Dennis Schwallie, Peter Ross, and others.

 

2.         A.        APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF March 27, 2003, Regular Meeting.  Mr. Parker moved to approve; Mr. Wright seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Parker and Mr. Wright voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 2-0. 

 

B.         APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF April 17, 2003, Special Meeting.  Mr. Parker moved to approve; Mr. Wright seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Wright and Mr. Parker voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 2-0. 

 

Mrs. Fersch introduced Mr. Schwallie and Mr. Ross and stated she had asked them to attend the committee meeting tonight to brief the members on a preliminary plan for refinancing water and sewer issues. 

 

Mr. Schwallie stated he and Mrs. Fersch had initial discussions on this issue and Mr. Ross was present to brief this Committee on the way it could be done.  Mr. Schwallie stated due to the fluctuations in interest rates he can not tell this Committee exactly what the savings would be.  He stated if Council would like to pursue this, he would recommend that Council pass an ordinance allowing the Finance Director to react and take advantage of favorable interest rates.

 

Mr. Peter Ross of Fifth Third Securities stated there were ways to refinance bond issues that are similar to refinancing your home in order to take advantage of the lower interest rates.  He stated his firm was involved in municipal finance and they have bankers in their network that specialize in this area, and he specialized primarily with cities and counties in Ohio.  Mr. Ross stated communities that have issued bonds in the past five to ten years may be able to realize savings by turning them into lower interest rates.  Mr. Ross stated if the city prepares and is ready, when there is a situation when the rates are low, the issue would be ready to go and ready for market within a very short period of time.  Mr. Ross stated it is usually beneficial to do this if the savings are about three percent, after cost of issuance.  Mr. Schwallie stated when doing this you may stretch out your payments, but he would not recommend doing that.   

 

Mr. Schwallie stated if council does decide they want to do this, and they pass legislation allowing the Finance Director to react or “pull the trigger,” when rates go down, it could all be completed very quickly. 

 

Mr. Wright stated as he understood it, if Council decided this was a good idea, the sooner they did it the better.  Mr. Ross stated as soon as the City informed Mr. Schwallie they wanted to move forward, within several days they could have the outline of an official statement ready to send.  He stated this preparation could be done while the legislation was going through the reading process at Council, and once the ordinance was effective they would be ready to go with everything.  Mr. Wright clarified that if everything is ready and the rates are not down sufficiently, it can be held until the rates are lower. 

 

Mr. Wright stated he felt it would be a good idea to take advantage of an opportunity to lower our interest rates, however, he felt that all of Council should be involved in making this type of decision. Mr. Parker stated he thought everyone would approve of saving money for the City.  Mr. Wright  stated he would like to schedule a Special Finance Work Session and have Mr. Schwallie and Mr. Ross present this briefing to all council members so everyone can understand how all of the pieces must fit together.  He stated he would try and schedule this work session as soon as possible and Mrs. Fersch would notify Mr. Schwallie of the date.  Mr. Wright moved to authorize Mr. Schwallie to proceed with the preparation of the legislation so it would be available for all council members at the work session; Mr. Parker seconded the motion.  Roll call was take with Mr. Wright and Mr. parker voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 2-0. 

 

3.         FINANCE DIRECTOR:

 

A.        Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinances amending appropriation ordinance 2002-142.  Mrs. Fersch stated she had provided a draft appropriation ordinance to the Committee and she was requesting an increase in the General Fund, Finance Department, of $20,000 for income tax refunds; in the Police Fund an increase of $4,500 for monies collected from Webcheck and paid to the State; in the Stormwater Fund an increase of $45,000 for the City’s share of the Clean Water Grant if funded; and, in the Windmiller/Diley TIF Construction Fund an increase of $536 for legal fees on the renewal note issue.  She further stated, it was not on the draft ordinance, however, she was requesting an increase of $500 in the Sewer Debt Fund for additional payment on the sewer debt issue.  Mr. Parker moved to approve and forward to Council with the added appropriation; Mr. Wright seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Parker and Mr. Wright voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 2-0. 

 

Mrs. Fersch stated she had provided a draft of the proposed 2004 Tax Budget to the Committee this evening.  She stated the City is required by the Ohio Revised Code to adopt the Tax Budget by July 15th, and it must be filed with the Auditor’s office by July 20, 2003.  Mrs. Fersch stated it is difficult to predict end of year balances this early, and she has estimated items such as the health insurance costs, etc.  Mrs. Fersch stated in order to meet the filing deadline, she would ask that the legislation be on the next Council agenda and also a motion to set the required public hearing.  Mrs. Fersch stated if anyone had any questions or additions she would be happy to answer them. 

 

Mr. Wright moved for a short recess to allow the Committee to review the draft tax budget; Mr. Parker seconded the motion.  Mr. Parker and Mr. Wright voted “Aye.”  Motion carried, 2-0.  Finance Committee recessed at 8:30 P.M., and reconvened in open session at 8:40 P.M.

 

Mr. Wright stated after reviewing the draft, he had no questions for Mrs. Fersch but clarified that changes could be made on Council floor if necessary.  Mr. Wright moved to forward to Council; Mr. Parker seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Wright and Mr. Parker voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 2-0. 

 

B.         Reports:

 

            (1)        Health Department.  Mrs. Fersch stated the Board had adopted a tentative budget with no increases for the townships, cities, or villages in the District.  She stated the budget will be reviewed at the end of the year and it is possible there could be an increase to all municipalities in the District at that time.  Mrs. Fersch stated further the Board is interviewing candidates for a new Health Commissioner and hoped to have the position filled by July.  Mr. Wright stated since it is possible we could be looking at an increase with the Health Department, what do we have to do if we are going to contract with someone else.  Mrs. Fersch stated we are required to notify the Health Department a year in advance if we are going to pull out of the District. Mr. Wright asked Mrs. Fersch to keep monitoring this issue. 

 

            (2)        CORMA.  Mrs. Fersch stated the CORMA insurance group had met in March and they had invited several municipalities in an effort to increase the membership.  She stated she hoped by this time next year there will be eight communities in the group. 

 

            Mrs. Fersch stated she had provided the Committee with the City Fund Balances based on the appropriations approved this evening and an updated copy of the City’s Debt Schedule.

 

4.         PERSONNEL: 

 

A.        Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance to amend Section 1440.02 of the Pickerington Codified Ordinances relative to the position of Building Official.  Mr. Wright clarified this was a housekeeping ordinance that would correct a discrepancy between the Codified Ordinances and the Employee Relations Manual.  Mr. Parker moved to approve and forward to Council; Mr. Wright seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Parker and Mr. Wright voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 2-0. 

 

5.         DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT:

 

A.        Reports

 

            (1)        Chamber of Commerce Report.  Ms Crotty stated at the last Chamber meeting there was a presentation by the School District and she provided a printed copy of the presentation to the Committee members.  Ms. Crotty stated the presentation was very well received.  Ms. Crotty stated there was also good discussion on the Community Authority and Mrs. Bushman was present and answered questions on that issue. 

 

            (2)        Rt. 33 S.E. Growth Alliance Report.  Ms Crotty stated the Transportation Committee met on April 21st and representatives from State Representative Hobson and State Senator Hottinger’s offices were present.  She stated the Alliance would be sending another letter to ODOT letting them know they have not changed their position.  

 

            (3)        Fairfield County Visitor’s and Convention Bureau Report.  Ms Crotty stated they are still focusing on the glass museum.   

 

            (4)        Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission Report.  Ms. Crotty stated MORPC held their annual meeting in April and they had elected their new officers.  She stated they had discussed the proposed bill that would require the State collect taxes on behalf of the cities and municipalities.  She stated MORPC had passed a resolution to forward to the State Legislature that any type of legislation that would be approved would be revenue neutral.  She stated the concern was that the State not charge a fee to collect taxes. 

 

B.                 Project Updates

 

            (1)        Business Retention and Expansion Study.  Ms Crotty stated they are still in the process of interviewing the local businesses. 

 

5.         CHAIRMAN:

 

A.        Monthly review of law director services.  Mr. Wright ascertained there were no questions on the law director’s report.   

 

6.         OTHER BUSINESS:  No other business was brought forward. 

 

7.         MOTIONS:  

 

A.        Mr. Wright moved for an Executive Session under Section 121.22(G)(3), Conference with law director regarding pending or imminent court action; Mr. Parker seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Parker and Mr. Wright voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 2-0. 

 

Finance Committee went into Executive Session at 9:05 P.M., and reconvened in open session at 9:44 P.M.

 

8.         ADJOURNMENT.  There being nothing further, Mr. Parker moved to adjourn; Mr. Wright seconded the motion.   Mr. Parker and Mr. Wright voted "Aye."  Motion carried, 2-0.  The Finance Committee adjourned at 9:45 P.M., April 24, 2003.

 

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

 

 

________________________________

Lynda D. Yartin, Municipal Clerk