MONDAY,
AUGUST 7, 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 Lynda Yartin, Chief Taylor, Ed Drobina, Steve Carr, Paul Lane, Brenda VanCleave, Mike Stacy, Sean Casey, Scott Seaman, Amy Kirk, Susan Lent, Marsha Roberts, Dave Rossman, and others.
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF July 10, 2006, Regular Meeting. Mr. Sabatino moved to approve; Mr. Wisniewski seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino, Mr. Wisniewski, and Mr. Smith voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.
Mr. Smith ascertained Mr. Rossman would like to address the Committee this evening. Mr. Rossman stated he would like to speak to the issue of reducing the speed limit on Hill Road. Mr. Rossman stated he was not in favor of reducing the speed limit, however, if it is a safety issue he could understand that. He further stated he would like to see the Committee entertain the thought of limiting access to Hill Road/S.R. 256. Mr. Rossman stated perhaps the City should consider a parallel road or something like that. Mr. Wisniewski stated this issue will be discussed in more detail later in the meeting, and Mr. Smith stated Committees are more informal than Council meetings and Mr. Rossman is certainly welcome to participate in that discussion.
Mr. Smith stated with the consent of the other Committee members he would like to address Item 5.D. on the agenda, the review and request for a motion to approve a draft ordinance establishing a prohibition on persons who have been convicted of, are convicted of, or pleaded guilty to either (1) a sexually oriented offense that is not a registration-exempt sexually oriented offense for a crime committed against a child or (2) a child-victim oriented offense; and who have been classified as either a sexual predator or as a sexually oriented offender as to either (1) or (2) above, from establishing a residence or occupying residential premises within one thousand (1,000) feet of any school premises, licensed daycare facilities, city-owned or operated public parks, swimming pools available to the public, or public or community playgrounds, at this time.
Mr. Smith stated this is a draft ordinance he had requested the law director assist him with and is based on the ordinance passed by the City of Hilliard in June. Mr. Sabatino questioned if this would basically take our existing 500-foot restriction and extend it to 1,000 feet. Mr. Smith stated it expanded it to 1,000 feet and also specifically enumerates six specific areas to make it a little easier to enforce and a little clearer on where someone that is in this class that is covered by this ordinance may or may not reside. Mr. Wisniewski clarified that the major difference between this ordinance and the one passed by Hilliard was that the area of playgrounds was added. Mr. Smith stated after reviewing ordinances from other cities across the nation, the six areas that were chosen for this ordinance because they tended to be places where children congregate without direct adult supervision. He stated he included schools because they are also in State law. Mr. Wisniewski stated he was wholly in favor of this ordinance, but it was an ordinance where you would never know if it did anything or not. He stated the benefits will never be realized, but if it came to the point where it helped save one child it would be worth it, but we will never know if it did or not. Mr. Smith stated he was under no delusions that this would totally prevent any assaults on our children, but if it did just one then he felt the gist of the ordinance was successful. Mr. Smith further stated that in the three months he has been working on this, today he viewed the County Sheriff’s web sit to view any sexual predators we have living within the City limits and there are three. He stated all three of those have a child specification on their offense. Mr. Wisniewski questioned if they lived within 1,000 feet would this require them to move, and if so, what would be the City’s responsibility or liabilities. Mr. Smith stated he was only aware of one case in Central Ohio where a similar ordinance forced someone to move after they fought it legally and lost and still had to move. Mr. Wisniewski stated the only negative he saw with the ordinance is that he hoped it did not create a false sense of security for parents. Mr. Smith stated within the past two to three years, there seemed to be a spiraling up of offenses against children, nationwide, and they seemed to be crimes of convenience. Mr. Smith stated if this ordinance made it inconvenient for one type of these people not to live here, therefore one instance of a crime against a child is prevented, then he was happy with it. Mr. Sabatino stated he agreed with that and he did not feel we could bury our heads in the sand and think these types of things did not occur here. Mr. Smith stated our children are our most precious assets and resources in the City and they are not protected except by their parents and this goes a little further in helping to protect them. Mr. Smith moved to forward this to Council at the first meeting in September; Mr. Sabatino seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino, Mr. Smith, and Mr. Wisniewski voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.
3. DEPARTMENT REPORTS: Mr. Carr stated he had provided a written report to the Committee and he would be happy to answer any questions.
A. Parks and Recreation:
(1) Director’s Report
a. Parks Master Plan. Mr. Carr stated he had provided a cost estimate and drawings for the splash pad and he would try to answer any questions on that or would get the answers from Mr. Edsall. Mr. Wisniewski stated he had no questions, but that is definitely something he would like to see incorporated in at least one area. Mr. Wisniewski stated in the surveys that came back, some of the underserved residents are teens and the ages of 35 to 50. He stated he was curious to see what the Master Plan did to serve those individuals better. He stated as he looked through the Master Plan he did not see anything that would bring the teens into the parks and he would like to know how we planned on addressing that segment a little better. Mr. Carr stated the task of the Master Plan was a park facilities, outdoor, master plan and did not address programs. Mr. Wisniewski stated he was referring to programs. He stated the teens will do activities that are geared to their age group, and we serve a small segment of the population through the skate park. He stated he was questioning what other things that teens like to do that would draw them to the parks and would stimulate them and keep them engaged. Mr. Sabatino stated he knew the teens really enjoy the movies that we have outdoors. Mr. Wisniewski stated that was more program related. Mr. Wisniewski stated we are talking about a multi-million dollar renovation of our parks system. He stated we sent out a survey asking who was not served by it and what they would like to see. He continued we have the results of the survey and we have this master plan, but he did not see anything that is geared towards teens, and he would like to know if there is something we can build into our parks system that will draw them there rather than other activities. Mr. Smith stated from what he has seen that would meet that criteria is the disc golf course. Mr. Carr stated two lighted basketball courts are proposed, along with the disc golf and the skate park. Mr. Smith questioned if Mr. Carr could get information from Mr. Edsall of things that he is aware of that would be appropriate for teens. Mr. Carr stated we did have meetings with elementary, junior high, and high school aged children and Mr. Edsall did take notes at those meetings on what they would like to see in the parks system, and trails came up a lot, as well as, a swimming pool and recreation center. Mr. Wisniewski stated he would like to know the cost of a summer only, outdoor pool. Mr. Carr stated he did not have any figures for that, but he could get that information for the Committee. Mr. Smith stated with a pool you also have the on-going operations and maintenance costs. Mr. Sabatino stated our Parks and Recreation Department is co-sponsoring a “Make Noise in Pickerington” event with the Pickerington Kiwanis on the National Make a Difference Day. He stated they will have activities using the parks and the theme is to illustrate to 13 and above aged children that they can have fun without alcohol and drugs. Mr. Sabatino stated he felt we should create an environment where the kids like to get together, because that is what they seem to enjoy as much as anything else.
1. Joint Parks District – Update. No report. Mr. Wisniewski stated we have not had an update on this recently and questioned if there was anything going on with this issue. Mr. Smith stated he has been trying to set up a meeting with a citizen-based group and has not been able to get that scheduled as yet. He stated he would like to leave this on the agenda until that meeting does take place.
b. NatureWorks Grant Project – Update. Mr. Carr stated we are in the process of planning the course layout.
c. Sycamore Park Tennis Court Resurfacing Project – Update. Mr. Carr stated the project is moving along and looks very good.
B. Building Regulations Department:
(1) Building Department Report (Mr. Lane) Mr. Lane stated as of July 26th, we have collected $670,498.72, with $101,126.72 from commercial and just over $569,372.00 from residential. He stated further with regard to permits, as of July 26, 2005, we had 139 residential permits and this year we have had 162 residential permits. He stated Mr. Stacy is currently reviewing 32 other residential permits right now. Mr. Wisniewski clarified the new design guidelines went into effect on July 20th, and questioned if any of the plans being reviewed were not covered by those guidelines. Mr. Stacy stated the plans submitted before the effective date of the residential design guidelines fall outside of the design standards, however, plans submitted on the effective date and later need to comply with the new design standards. Mr. Lane stated in the year-to-year comparison numbers you can see where we are a lot closer than we have been in previous months this year. Mr. Smith stated that seemed to mirror what is happening regionally with a down turn in new starts.
(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. Stacy stated the City received the letter from the Board of Building Standards regarding the OSB issue. He stated a meeting is scheduled for Friday to have further discussion on that.
C. Service Department:
(1) Traffic Engineer. Ms VanCleave stated with regard to the S.R. 204/S.R. 256 intersection issue, we just received a memo from ODOT providing three options. Mr. Scott Seaman stated ODOT suggested the following three scenarios to improve the situation: (1) Retime the signal at Winderly as it is off sync with the signal at 256 and 204, so the northbound left turning movements were hitting a roadblock as they went down Tussing. (2) Restrict the eastbound right turns going down 256 toward the downtown turning onto Tussing, however, that could cause a traffic back up onto the interstate. (3) Skip service on Winderly so it would not get the normal green except every other cycle. Mr. Seaman stated ODOT’s recommendation was to go with Option 1 and retime the signal, and then reassess the problem. Mr. Sabatino questioned if ODOT was supposed to be maintaining the signals, why weren’t they aware of the problem, and stated further he did not feel there would be a problem with traffic backing up onto the interstate by prohibiting right turns on red from Tussing Road. Mr. Sabatino stated he would agree to let ODOT retime the signal, and if we don’t see a difference by Safety Committee meeting next month, we can pursue other avenues. Mr. Smith requested Ms VanCleave let the Committee members know when ODOT does the retiming so they can monitor the situation. Mr. Smith clarified that Chief Taylor stated he agreed with the suggested retiming.
Ms VanCleave stated with regard to the speed limit on Hill Road, south of Diley, there was a conflict with the average daily traffic counts. She stated the 2006 data came from the published ODOT website, and we have a count of 13,750 per day. She stated this leaves us at a warranted speed of 40 miles per hour at the 38.1 calculated. She stated if we used the 22,000 per day count from 2003/2004 that number will go up to 41, which is rounded up to 45 miles per hour. She stated in her opinion the warranted speed limit is 40 miles per hour, however, we can request whatever speed limit we would like. She stated there were 65 accidents in 3 years within the .83 mile corridor. Mr. Smith stated with he did not feel lowering the speed limit to 40, which would only be 10 miles per hour, would have a large impact since people can’t usually travel at 50 miles per hour anyway. Mr. Wisniewski stated with 65 accidents in less than a mile stretch of road, how many accidents did we have at the intersection. He stated he would be curious to see if we would have an opportunity for other safety grants for this stretch of road. Mr. Wisniewski stated he would prefer to see the speed limit lowered to be consistent with the rest of the roadway. Mr. Sabatino stated he felt we should request a speed limit of 35 miles per hour or leave it alone. Chief Taylor stated he agreed with Mr. Wisniewski and Mr. Sabatino that if we are going to lower the speed limit, make it consistent and request for a 35 mile per hour speed limit. Mr. Smith stated that was his feeling as well. Ms VanCleave stated she would like to point out also that the accident data does not consider the intersection of Diley Road. Mr. Smith stated it seemed to be the consensus of the Committee to request ODOT lower the speed limit to 35 miles per hour on Hill Road, south of the Diley Road intersection.
Ms VanCleave further stated with regard to the Hill Road/Diley Road intersection, a meeting is scheduled for this week with the property owners of Drug Mart to discuss access points. She stated they have submitted a request to the City that basically gives them another access point and leaves all other access points as is. She further stated as part of the police reports she received doing the speed study, she noted you could contribute 15 accidents from January 1st of this year to the Diley Road access point to Drug Mart. She stated she had provided that information to their attorney, and if things do not go well with the meeting we do have a letter in to them that by the end of the month, if we do not reach an agreement, the reboundable posts will go up. Mr. Sabatino stated he understood a developer has met with the City and they are willing to put a traffic signal and a road in, but they need the City’s help with the 15-foot area owned by McAuliffe. Mr. Smith stated the access management plan has a dotted line road in the area that Mr. Sabatino was referring to. Mr. Sabatino stated we have someone who is willing to pay for the road, as well as, the traffic light and to coordinate the signal with other signals on S.R. 256.
Mr. Drobina stated a memo had been distributed this evening listing what we will need to do to make that lane at S.R. 256 and Diley Road as a right-turn only. He stated we will need to change the signal head, some striping, put in some arrows and some sign changes. He stated he did not know if that was something the Committee wanted to move forward on. Mr. Wisniewski clarified that to do this work we would use some of the funds we borrowed for traffic signal improvements. Mr. Wisniewski further clarified we plan to use some of those funds to do some work at Columbus Street and Hill Road, and some other smaller projects, and he understood those funds were not to be used to do piecemeal things, but to replace controllers and boxes, etc. Mr. Drobina stated Service Committee received a memo that had certain items or projects outlined and they designated four of these to work on. He stated one was the video detection rather than loop detectors at Hill Road and Columbus Street, and that is what we are looking at for that intersection. Mr. Drobina stated that intersection is the one we get the most complaints on. Mr. Smith clarified the work at Hill Road and Diley Road would cost less than $5,000. Mr. Smith stated he would like to have Service Committee approve this project, and Mr. Sabatino stated Safety Committee concurred with the project. Mr. Drobina stated the memo also covered the entrance to Drug Mart with regard to the reboundable poles which would block off the access to Drug Mart from Diley Road. Mr. Drobina stated this will also be covered at the next Service Committee meeting.
Ms VanCleave stated with regard to the PYAA access on S.R. 256, staff has submitted what we would like to see to PYAA, but we have not heard back from them. She stated she has had some questions from Council and she would like to clarify what Council would like to see. Mr. Wisniewski stated there are two organizations contributing to the problem, and one organization will bear the brunt of the impact. He stated he was hoping that everyone would work together to solve the problem and not just put it on PYSA only, and questioned if they were still affected in the same way. Ms VanCleave stated she did not know that and she would get that information for the next meeting. Mr. Wisniewski stated if we do not do something with this problem we will end up with an officer being injured or when an officer is not there to direct traffic a child will be hit. He stated we need to get this problem taken care of before something like that happens. Mr. Wisniewski further inquired if Seton Parish had been approached to be involved in this solution as well. Ms VanCleave stated she will get more information before the next Committee meeting.
(2)Review and discussion regarding renewal of Waste Management contract. Mr. Smith stated the City Manager is requesting the Committee consider extending the Waste Management contract for two years. Mr. Drobina stated at the time we awarded the contract to Waste Management, we included the option of a four year renewal, in two year increments. Ms Susan Lent stated she was present representing Waste Management and she is the Contract Representative. Ms Lent presented two options for a two year extension that would expire in September 2008. Ms Lent stated Option 1 provided a fixed rate for two years and Option 2 provided for a rate for year 1 and an escalating rate for year 2. Mr. Smith clarified a major reason for the rate increase was due to fuel costs. Ms Lent stated they will also provide a cell phone and ink jet cartridge recycling program at no cost to city residents. She stated the resident will be able to obtain a postage paid envelope, four times a year, and all they need to do is put the item in the bag and mail it. She stated they will provide the bags to the City and it will be the city’s responsibility to get the bags to the residents and Mr. Drobina stated we have been discussing if we can put the bag in with the water bills. He stated we will need to run a test to see if it will actually go through the machine because it is a plastic bag. Mr. Smith stated he has not received complaints from residents regarding our refuse collection contract. Ms Lent stated when issues do come up they try and make sure that they are solved quickly and to everyone’s satisfaction. Mr. Sabatino stated he also felt the level of service Waste Management has been providing is very good. Mr. Smith stated of the options he preferred Option 1 with the fixed rate and Mr. Sabatino stated he preferred that option as well. Mr. Smith moved to approve the two-year contract extension with Waste Management using Option 1 provided to this Committee; Mr. Sabatino seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Smith, Mr. Wisniewski, and Mr. Sabatino voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.
D. Facilities Operations:
(1) Update of City Hall Renovation Project. Mr. Smith stated the Committee had received a memorandum detailing the progress on the project.
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.
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: Mr. Smith stated the next regular Committee meeting would fall on the Labor Day holiday and if there are no objections, he would like to reschedule the Safety Committee meeting for September 11, 2006, at 7:30 P.M. All Committee members concurred.
7. ADJOURNMENT. There being nothing further, Mr. Sabatino 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 9:33 P.M., August 7, 2006.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:
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