CITY HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD
MONDAY,
JULY 10, 2006
REGULAR
MEETING
7:30
P.M.
1. ROLL CALL. Mr. Smith called the meeting to order at 7:30 P.M., with roll call as follows: Mr. Smith, Mr. Wisniewski, and Mr. Sabatino were present. No members were absent. Others present were Jeff Fix, Judy Gilleland, Lynda Yartin, Chief Taylor, Steve Carr, Paul Lane, Brenda VanCleave, Mike Stacy, Roger McLoney, Tony Long, Dale Frazier, Angie Hitt, Larry Frazee, Linda Frazee, Luciano Tavares, Jim Croll, Dave Rossman, and others.
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF June 5, 2006, Regular Meeting. Mr. Wisniewski moved to approve; Mr. Sabatino seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino, Mr. Wisniewski, and Mr. Smith voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.
Mr. Smith stated he understood some residents from the Cherry Hill subdivision were present this evening to address the Committee. Mr. Luciano Tavares stated he was present representing the Cherry Hill Civic Association. Mr. Tavares distributed a list of concerns from the residents of Cherry Hill with regard to the Diley Road widening project to the Committee members (Attachment 1 to these minutes). Mr. Tavares stated obviously their concerns dealt with traffic trying to enter that intersection at Cherry Hill. He further stated they would like to know about the possibility of closing the Cherry Hill intersection. Mr. Tavares stated they felt it would create a real safety concern trying to enter onto a five-lane road, and several school busses use that intersection every day. Mr. Smith stated he had checked several documents and he did not see where there were any plans to close that intersection. Mr. Sabatino stated it has never been slated to be closed, it was an idea that was discussed by some Cherry Hill residents as a means to prevent it from being used as a cut through. Mr. Sabatino stated further that closure has never been represented as something that the City had plans to do. Mr. Wisniewski stated he has not been in any discussions regarding closing that entrance, nor has the City got to the point of the project for discussion about specific traffic signals at intersections out of subdivisions. Mr. Wisniewski stated further we probably will not see construction occurring on that road until 2008, and as that time draws near the City will evaluate all of the accesses onto Diley Road. Mr. Tavares stated they just wanted to bring these safety concerns to the attention of the City in time to have their concerns addressed when making the final plans for the widening project. Mr. Smith stated Mrs. Yartin had just pointed out that she does have a flag to ensure that a review of the traffic signal request for Cherry Hill and Diley Road is to be added to the Safety Committee agenda for discussion at the March 2007 meeting, and these concerns could also be discussed at that time. Mr. Sabatino stated he felt it was important to let the Cherry Hill residents know that Council is aware of their concerns and will listen to any suggestions the residents may have.
Mr. Smith stated there were some representatives present from PYAA and PYSA were present to address the Committee this evening as well. Mr. Tony Long stated he is the current President of the Pickerington Area Soccer Association and two members of the Pickerington Area Athletic Association are present as well. He stated this meeting discussed the traffic safety on S.R. 256 in the area adjacent to the entrance to their sports complex. He stated with regard to the speed limit on S.R. 256, both PYSA and PYAA agree that the speed limit should be lowered to 35 MPH, and they would be willing to work with the City to get that completed as soon as possible. He stated they felt the 35 MPH speed limit should go all the way up to Diley Road, and that would make egress and ingress into the sports complex safer for all motorists. Mr. Long stated with regard to access, the two organizations have not had enough time to analyze the options available, and they weren’t sure what the current options are. He stated they have heard that 256 may be widened, that Courtright may be extended east to Milnor, and also that a new three-lane road may go in ending at Old Route 256 and ending at Diley. He stated without knowing the priorities of the City and the timetable for each project, PYSA and PYAA cannot make a commitment on changes to their access point on S.R. 256. Mr. Long stated both organizations are willing to work in partnership with the City to make improvements to the 256 access point, but they need a process that is predictable and will give the organizations a chance to analyze the options and build funds if changes to 256 require payments from their organizations. Mr. Long stated, as an example, the immediate construction of a right-in/right-out only entrance, coupled with the use of Courtright Road before that road gets extended to Milnor will not alleviate the temporary congestion caused by sports events. He stated families traveling south on 256 would use Seton Parish as a U-turn point to allow them to make a right-in at the access. He stated this option would be better than waiting for a multiple light cycle on Courtright from a left-turn lane that only has room for six or seven cars. He stated the left-turn solution would cause a back-up on 256 for motorists wishing to travel south on 256, and for those leaving the complex the process would reverse. Mr. Long stated instead of making any hasty decisions on the access point for the sports complex, he would propose we involve the larger business community located in the vicinity to discuss all solutions, funding sources, and a timetable for road improvements in the area. Mr. Long stated he did agree that the first step in making the area safer is to lower the speed limit to 35 MPH, and the steps after that should be methodical, thought-out, planned, and executed in accordance with a master traffic plan tied to a funding source and a realistic timeframe for completion. Mr. Wisniewski stated his main concern in bringing this up is because he had requested PYSA, PYAA, and the City Manager to sit down well over a year ago and nothing has occurred since that time when there was an initial meeting. Mr. Wisniewski stated the complex does have access directly out to Courtright and it would get traffic out to a lighted intersection. Mr. Wisniewski stated his largest concern was the safety of the police officers directing the traffic. Mr. Wisniewski stated a large part of the time the problem is not the speed on S.R. 256, but people making a left turn out of the complex have almost total disregard for the officer’s safety. Mr. Wisniewski stated we need to get something going on this now because this is a very bad area. Mr. Wisniewski stated he would like the City Engineer to sit down with PYSA and PYAA and see what can be done in this area. Mr. Smith questioned if the organizations can meet with our engineer within the next three weeks to see if there is a solution that would be favorable for everyone. Mr. Wisniewski stated we are dealing with the Pickerington area as far as access points on 256 as well as everywhere else, and the various options. He stated he felt we were at a point where Council would adopt a new access plan so he felt we could make an informed decision about what would be the best access for not only the sports organizations, but for safety, and the other businesses in that area. Mr. Wisniewski stated with the location of other traffic signals he did not feel a traffic signal would be logical. Mr. Sabatino inquired if the PYSA and PYAA organizations were willing to sit down and talk to the City about this issue. Ms VanCleave stated she had met with the two organizations last week and she felt discussion was opened up. Mr. McLoney stated they would like to see a little commitment on the extension of Courtright. Mr. Wisniewski stated the City could not give a commitment as that was private land. Mr. Sabatino stated he thought that plan was in the works, but it is just not in the immediate future. Ms Gilleland stated that is on the table right now, and it could be a few years before the roadway is built. Mr. Smith stated over the next three weeks he would like the sports organizations to continue to work with our engineer and this will remain on the agenda for the next Safety meeting, which will be August 7th. Mr. McLoney stated they would like to have some conversation with Seton Parish regarding possibly sharing the costs on this and he did not know if that could happen before the next meeting. Mr. Smith stated he would like to see everyone continue to talk. Ms Gilleland stated we need to establish clear expectations for the groups, and if, in fact, we are willing to chip in on the cost of the project we need to establish what type of a project we are interested in. She stated she has heard several things, and all it really needs is a gravel road along the perimeter of the church property and out to Courtright, which is basically what is there now out to S.R. 256. She stated this would not cost a great deal of money, however, if they were talking paving, acquiring property from the church, etc., that took it into an entirely different ballgame. She stated the City does not have money in the budget for this specific project, and there are several access points that the City needs to address. Ms Gilleland stated the City is okay with a gravel road leading out to Courtright, and she wanted to make that clear. Mr. Sabatino inquired if we would be asking the church to use Courtright Road as well, and Mr. Wisniewski stated he felt they should be a partner in the discussions. Mr. Sabatino clarified that the City has spoken with the church in the past. Mr. McLoney stated what he had heard was that the City wanted a street put in with curbs and gutters and built to City standards, and there was no way the sports organizations could do that. Mr. Smith stated the City Manager had spoken on record that that was not the case. Mr. Long stated they would work with Ms VanCleave and hopefully something could be worked out before the next Safety meeting. Mr. Frazier stated when the Courtright Road extension occurs, the sports organizations will be very happy with it. He stated, however, until they know if that project is going to happen he did not know how accessing Courtright Road would be much help.
Mr. Smith stated other residents were present to discuss the Hill Road/Diley Road intersection at Drug Mart. A resident stated she rides her bike regularly and she cannot activate the light at that intersection. She stated she has to wait for a vehicle to come and activate the light so she can cross the road. She stated she would like to see if something can be done so the signal can sense a bicycle that would be helpful. She stated the pedestrian crosswalk is not activated on this side of the road. She stated even so, the pedestrian crosswalk does not activate the traffic light out of Mingo Estates, it doesn’t turn it green. Ms Gilleland stated Ms VanCleave will look into this situation. Mr. Smith stated with regard to this intersection he had requested we check into seeing if the right-most lane on 256 can be a right-turn only onto Diley Road. He stated he understood there has been some discussion on this issue. Mr. Sabatino questioned why we could not make it a right-turn only at this point and when, and if, further development occurs deal with the issue at that time. Mr. Smith stated he agreed with Mr. Sabatino. Ms Gilleland stated last month it looked like we would be seeing some activity on the other development, however, we haven’t heard back from them on our latest proposal regarding access to S.R. 256. She stated further we are still working with Drug Mart about their access on Diley Road. Mr. Smith stated he hoped we could come up with a solution that would help all of these concerns and he would leave this issue on the agenda for the next meeting.
Mr. Smith stated with regard to lowering the speed limit on S.R. 256 south of Drug Mart, he understood we needed to work with ODOT. Ms VanCleave stated she has spoken with ODOT and it appears that a traffic study has never been done in this area. She stated traffic counts have occurred in the past, however, a study has not been done. Ms VanCleave stated she would recommend a traffic study to determine if lowering the speed limit would cause a back up in traffic. Ms Gilleland stated there are legal reasons for conducting a study as well. She stated if an incorrect speed limit is assigned to a roadway and accidents are involved, it could present issues. She further stated we want to get the speed limit as close to what is appropriate and that the roadway will bear, and the only way to know for sure is by conducting a traffic study. Mr. Smith inquired if ODOT would provide something in writing that they will not require a traffic study. Mr. Wisniewski stated on 256 from Diley Road to the Church, the speed limit is 55, and from the Church down to the railroad tracks it is 35. Ms VanCleave stated in her conversation with ODOT, they left it as the City’s decision. She stated she did not personally speak to ODOT, but she had been informed that was what PYAA had been told. Mr. Sabatino stated if we got something in writing from ODOT that said they did not require a traffic study, then Council could look at it. Ms Gilleland stated she would like to keep this on the agenda for one more month to allow us to look into this issue further.
Mr. Sabatino stated he has asked for six months about making it no right hand turn on red from S.R. 256 onto S.R. 204/Tussing Road during the evening peak time. Ms VanCleave stated ODOT is working on it, and they are checking the timing of the signal. Mr. Sabatino stated we gave ODOT control of the timing of the lights, we did not give them control of the intersection. Mr. Sabatino stated if ODOT would state this could be a City’s decision, then we could put up the signs. Ms Gilleland stated she knew it seemed like a long process but we were following the lead of Stilson, our City Engineer, and they want to involve ODOT with this project.
3. DEPARTMENT REPORTS: Mr. Smith stated he would like to convey his thanks to the Parks and Recreation Department for a really great Fourth of July celebration. Mr. Carr stated he would pass that word along to his staff. Ms Gilleland stated the festival is administered by the City and the Parks Department did a wonderful job with very few staff members.
A. Parks and Recreation:
(1) Director’s Report
a. Parks Master Plan. Mr. Carr stated he and Ms Gilleland have had a couple of meetings on this and he e-mailed copies of the draft report to the Committee members. He stated they understood the Committee’s concern regarding the total price and they have tried to pare some things down to make it a more realistic budget. He stated there was an error on Phase III, that should read ten to twenty years and not five to ten years. Mr. Carr stated this is a draft and he was looking for input from the Committee members. He stated the proposal was that the largest amount of money be spent in the community parks and not the neighborhood parks. Mr. Smith questioned if restrooms were included in the figure for the community park development in Phase I, as well as, the turning lane into the lower portion of Sycamore Creek Park. Mr. Carr stated our consultant would be giving us some suggestions on sequential projects, however, we have not identified the actual phasing of specific projects at this point in time. Mr. Smith clarified that we are still about a year away from doing any of the projects. Mr. Sabatino stated he has had comments from residents regarding the Shawnee Crossing Park as they did not feel it would be used very much. Ms Gilleland stated the plan indicates pavement, a drive, and parking, with access from S.R. 256 so it could be used by the greater community rather than solely that neighborhood. Mr. Sabatino stated since it is only seven acres, there is not much you can do anything with. He stated he did not know if we would get enough use out of the park to justify the costs indicated. Mr. Smith stated we have seven acres of parkland that is completely unimproved, and is unusable for recreation purposes right now. Mr. Wisniewski stated he understood Mr. Sabatino’s concern about spending funds on a park that will have minimal use and perhaps it might be better to put that in Phase III rather than in Phase I. Mr. Sabatino stated he did not feel it would get much use due to its location, and if we do anything at all, he would recommend it be a low priority. Mr. Wisniewski clarified most of the play equipment would be new equipment because only three of our seven parks have any playground development at all.
Mr. Wisniewski stated he had spoken to Mr. Carr briefly prior to the meeting regarding the possibility of having some sort of water feature in one of our larger parks where we have access to water and sewer. He stated a water playground area, with sprays, etc., might alleviate some of the desire for people to have a rec center with a pool. He stated we have a young community and he felt this type of feature in the parks would bring more activity to the parks for the kids. Mr. Sabatino stated he understood the facility in Groveport with all of the water features gets a lot of use from our residents, and something like Mr. Wisniewski was suggesting if it was cost effective, made a lot of sense. Mr. Wisniewski stated for one park to do it, Sycamore or Victory where we have access to water and sewer already, seemed like a cost effective solution for something that may bring a lot more use. Mr. Smith stated if the Shawnee Crossing improvements were delayed, those funds could be used for this. Mr. Carr stated our consultant had helped develop something like this in a park in Powell so he should be able to get more information on it. Mr. Sabatino stated he felt this could be a step in the right direction, and Mr. Smith stated he felt it would appeal to children between the ages of toddler to teenager. Mr. Carr stated he was just asking for general direction so he could back with our consultant. Mr. Smith stated he felt the consensus of this Committee was to delay the development of the Shawnee Crossing park. Mr. Carr stated Mr. Edsall was also going to provide recommendations regarding our development standards for open space, green space, and that sort of thing. Mr. Smith stated he felt this proposal provided projects that were actually achievable within the next three to five years. Mr. Wisniewski stated he agreed, and with definitive goals to work toward it was much easier to see where we were going. Mr. Wisniewski clarified that most of the improvements to the parks could be funded by impact fees, however, something like the repair to the tennis courts could not be funded by impact fees because it was the repair of an existing facility. Mr. Smith stated once we get a plan like this, we would know what the maintenance costs would be so we could budget for maintenance and repairs. Mr. Carr stated with new facilities we would get a little bit of grace period on maintenance since the equipment will be new. He stated further a lot of the maintenance has to do with mowing and we have been going to more and more contractual mowing, and that has proven to be a tremendous cost savings. Mr. Smith stated with regard to Victory Park he would like to see replacing and upgrading the playground equipment first. Mr. Carr stated we have applied for grant monies through the State for that equipment and we could know in the next couple of months if we will receive those funds. Mr. Smith stated he would also like to see restroom improvements in both Sycamore and Victory parks and the turn in to the lower level of Sycamore Park. Mr. Sabatino clarified Mr. Carr would request some funding figures from Mr. Edsall for a water feature for the park. Ms Gilleland stated for next month’s meeting she hoped to bring back some refined costs for the Committee to review.
1. Joint Parks District – Update. No report.
b. NatureWorks Grant Project – Update. Mr. Carr stated with regard to the disc golf course at Simsbury Park, he has been waiting for the final report on the site location of the new water tower so he has not been able to do anything with the entrance drive or the parking lot. He stated the president of the Columbus Flyers Disc Golf Club has offered his assistance in the layout of our course, and has already given us a preliminary layout. Mr. Carr stated we plan to proceed on the course layout and ordering the equipment, however, the paving work will probably have to be done next year.
c. Sycamore Park Tennis Court Resurfacing Project – Update. Mr. Carr stated all of the prep work has been completed and we are waiting for the synthetic surface to be delivered. He stated the manufacturer has incurred a problem with the plant they get it from in Georgia, however, our contractor has been in communication with us and we hope within the next couple of weeks it will be delivered and installed.
B. Building Regulations Department:
(1) Building Department Report (Mr. Lane) Mr. Lane stated as of June 28th, we have collected $598,000, with $97,000 from commercial and just over $500,000 from residential. He stated as of June 28, 2005, we had 93 residential permits and this year we have had 150 residential permits. Mr. Sabatino clarified the impact fees are paid when the permit is picked up.
a. Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance adopting the 2005 Ohio Fire Code and amending Chapter 16 of the codified ordinances of the City of Pickerington entitled “Fire Prevention Code” Mr. Lane stated the Violet Township Fire Department has requested that we adopt the 2005 Ohio Fire Code. Mr. Smith clarified we would be adopting the Fire Code by reference. Mr. Stacy stated that was correct and the 2005 edition of the Fire Code is based upon the International Fire Code and is well coordinated with the Ohio Building Code. Mr. Sabatino clarified the Fire Department has reviewed this draft legislation and is in favor of it. Mr. Smith moved to approve the draft ordinance and forward to Council; Mr. Wisniewski seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Smith, and Mr. Sabatino voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.
b. Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance amending Chapter 1258.32(a) of the codified ordinances of the City of Pickerington entitled “Warranty of Improvements” Mr. Lane stated this would change it from the current 100 percent of the performance bond for a time period of one year or until the last certificate of occupancy is issued, to two years and twenty percent of the performance bond. Mr. Wisniewski clarified this is more in line with what other communities require. Mr. Smith clarified that Ms Gilleland was in favor of this change. Mr. Sabatino clarified the two years would be from the date of the letter of acceptance. Mr. Smith moved to approve and forward to Council; Mr. Wisniewski seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino, Mr. Wisniewski, and Mr. Smith voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.
(2) Chief Building Official’s Report (Mr. Stacy) Mr. Stacy stated he had submitted his written report to the Committee and would be happy to answer any questions. Mr. Sabatino inquired if the nonconformance of our design standards had been resolved as yet, and Mr. Stacy stated he had spoken to Mr. Ragoli of the Board of Building Standards and at that time the letter had not been sent to the City. Mr. Stacy stated he felt that letter would be coming at any time. Mr. Smith clarified that the recommendation from the RCAC was that it was in conflict and is not necessary. Mr. Stacy stated he would guess that the Board would follow that recommendation. Ms Gilleland stated she and Mr. Stacy would be meeting with the State on this issue.
Mr. Wisniewski stated he would like to have a breakdown of the impact fees for Finance Committee showing what we have received for each area, how we are spending it, etc. Mr. Smith stated he would also like to have the budget figure included on that breakdown.
C. Service Department:
(1) Traffic Engineer. Ms VanCleave stated she had nothing further to present this evening.
D. Facilities Operations:
(1) Update of City Hall Renovation Project. Ms Gilleland stated the work on City Hall should start soon after July 20th, and we will begin getting the items we can purchase under the State Contract.
4. POLICE:
A. Chief’s Report. Chief Taylor stated he had provided his report to the Committee and he would be happy to answer any questions. He stated the recent DARE golf outing was very successful and raised over $4,000 for the DARE program.
B. Review and discussion regarding communication procedures. Ms Gilleland stated the Committee had received a draft of the communications procedures that Chief Taylor prepared. She stated there have been some concerns in terms of what types of calls Council would like to be informed on. She stated typically when the Chief notifies her of certain things she informs the Mayor and the Council President. Mr. Smith stated he liked the concept that anything going to the press was copied, via e-mail, to Council as a minimum. He stated the weekend we had the double fatality, he would have appreciated a phone call that something that unusual happened. He stated he did not want to know any more than what we released to the press. Mr. Sabatino stated he agreed with Mr. Smith that any time we have any activity where the City Manager and PIO are notified, the Council members should be updated as part of that function. Mr. Wisniewski stated if we were going to do that he did not want to get calls, and he would prefer to be notified via e-mail. Mr. Sabatino stated he felt we should let the police personnel do their jobs, however, if we have an instance where the police will be getting involved with the news media, then Council should be notified at least by e-mail. Ms Gilleland stated we do have a disaster response policy and our chain of communication with Council is that she communicates with Mrs. Yartin who then communicates with each council member. Ms Gilleland stated she will continue to use her judgment on notifying Council, by e-mail when it is available, on issues that arise.
5. CHAIRMAN:
A. Review and discussion regarding Hill Road/Diley Road Intersection. Mr. Smith stated this was discussed earlier in the meeting.
B. Review and discussion regarding speed limit on Hill Road, South of Diley Road intersection. Mr. Smith stated this was covered earlier in the meeting.
C. Review and discussion regarding PYAA/PYSA access to Hill Road. Mr. Smith stated this was covered earlier in the meeting and would remain on the agenda for the next meeting.
6. OTHER BUSINESS: No other business was brought forward.
7. ADJOURNMENT. There being nothing further, Mr. Wisniewski moved to adjourn; Mr. Smith seconded the motion. Mr. Smith, Mr. Wisniewski, and Mr. Sabatino voted "Aye." Motion carried, 3-0. The Safety Committee adjourned at 9:40 P.M., July 10, 2006.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:
________________________________