WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2007

REGULAR MEETING

7:30 P.M.

1. ROLL CALL. Mrs. Hammond called the meeting to order at 7:38 P.M., with Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Hackworth, and Mr. Fix present. No members were absent. Others present were: Judy Gilleland, Lynda Yartin, Ed Drobina, Lance Schultz, Brenda VanCleave, Jennifer Frommer, David Owen, Jack Reynolds, Nick Vollman, and others.

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF December 14, 2006, Regular Meeting. Mr. Hackworth moved to approve; Mr. Fix seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Fix, Mr. Hackworth, and Mrs. Hammond voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.

3. COMMUNITY COMMENTS: There were no community comments.

4. PLANNING AND ZONING

A. REPORTS:

(1) BZA Report. Mr. Schultz stated there were no agenda items in December and there are no cases scheduled for January.

(2) Planning and Zoning Representative Report (Mr. Hackworth) Mr. Hackworth stated Planning and Zoning met on February 9^th, and they had approved some design guidelines for signs that should be at Service Committee next month.

(3) Diley Road Corridor Plan. Mr. Schultz stated for this item, as well as the Commercial Design Guidelines, we have retained a consultant to prepare the studies and they are working on them concurrently. He stated it will be more cost effective to prepare them simultaneously and they are scheduled to begin this month with an estimated completion date of August. He stated they were proposing a joint Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council meeting in March to discuss both plans. Mr. Fix clarified the goal of the Diley Road Corridor Plan was to get ahead of the curve and determine what the appropriate land uses are with the Diley Road widening.

(4) Commercial Design Guidelines. Mr. Schultz stated he had addressed this along with the Diley Road Corridor Plan.

B. ACTION ITEMS:

(1) Review and request for motion to approve a Preliminary Development Plan for approximately 4.4 acres for a 38,100 square foot retail development located at the northeast corner of S.R. 204 and Freedom Way (Shoppes at Yarmouth). Mr. Schultz stated Planning and Zoning Commission approved the preliminary development plan in December with 13 conditions. He stated if this Committee approves it tonight, it will go back to Planning and Zoning with the Final Development Plan before coming to Service and being forwarded to Council. Mr. Schultz stated this is located west of Power Shack and in front of the R G Berry property. Mr. Schultz stated the developer is in the process of preparing a traffic impact study and a revised grading plan that will be completed prior to final development plan submission. Mr. Jack Reynolds stated he was present representing the developer and they are working their way through the 13 conditions imposed by the Planning and Zoning Commission. Mr. Reynolds stated he would be happy to answer any questions. Mr. Hackworth clarified we will coordinate the access points when the property across Freedom Way develops so the access points will align. Mr. Schultz stated the final development plan will approve the site plan and the curb cuts. He stated the elevations will ultimately go back to Planning and Zoning Commission for approval of a Certificate of Appropriateness. Mrs. Hammond clarified the curb cut in the back lines up with Power Shack. Mr. Hackworth moved to approve the preliminary development plan with the 13 conditions listed; Mr. Fix seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Hackworth, Mrs. Hammond, and Mr. Fix voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.

(2) Review and request for motion to approve a preliminary development plan for approximately 5.5 acres for a 34,480 square foot retail development located at the southwest corner of S.R. 204 and Freedom Way (Hunter’s Run, Phase V). Mr. Schultz stated this site is located just west of Camille’s and would include the vacant lot and the church lot. He stated the zoning process is the same as discussed in the previous item. Mr. Schultz stated Planning and Zoning Commission approved the preliminary development plan in December with 13 conditions. and the traffic impact study will be done simultaneously with the previously discussed development. Mr. Jack Reynolds stated he was present representing the developer and the development will mirror what is at Hunter’s Run now. Mr. Reynolds stated they will come back for approval of signage, landscaping, and all of that at a later time. Mr. Hackworth clarified that access to the cemetery is included as one of the conditions listed and there are no plans to try and move the gravesites. Mr. Fix moved to approve to approve the preliminary development plan with the 13 conditions listed; Mrs. Hammond seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Fix, Mrs. Hammond, and Mr. Hackworth voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.

5. BUILDING DEPARTMENT. No Report.

6. SERVICE DEPARTMENT

A. REPORTS:

(1) Utility Fees Review Committee Representative Report (Mr. Hackworth). Mr. Hackworth stated he had no report.

B. ACTION ITEMS:

(1) Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance approving the Violet Township Maintenance Building use of Fairfield County water. Ms Gilleland stated we are still negotiating this issue. Mrs. Hammond requested this remain on the agenda.

C. WATER UTILITY MAINTENANCE:

(1) Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance authorizing the City Manager to enter into a contract with Neptune Equipment Company for water meters as needed in 2007. Mr. Drobina stated this is an annual contract and we do this contract with Neptune because our meter reading equipment is Neptune and we want to keep the meters Neptune. Mrs. Hammond moved to approve and forward to Council; Mr. Hackworth seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Hackworth, Mr. Fix, and Mrs. Hammond voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.

D. WASTEWATER UTILITY MAINTENANCE: No report.

E. STREET MAINTENANCE. No report. Mr. Fix stated our people did a very good job on snow removal this past weekend.

F. STORM WATER UTILITY MAINTENANCE.

Mrs. Hammond stated she felt the letter included with utility bill about storm water was very well done. Mr. Drobina stated during the rain we had a couple of weeks ago, we had a couple of basements on Columbus Street that had some storm water back-up into them. He stated he was in the process of getting some quotes to put sump pumps in those two particular homes. He stated both homeowners have stated they never had a problem until the streetscape project was done in the downtown. Mr. Hackworth asked how the storm water was getting into the basements, and Ms VanCleave stated they are contending that the floor drains in the basements are directly connected to our storm sewer trunk main and there is a bottleneck in the old downtown where a bigger pipe is flowing into a smaller pipe. She stated during large rain events we cannot get the flow to go quick enough and the water backs up into their basements. Ms VanCleave stated in the CIP for engineering next year and construction in 2009, we have a project to improve that bottleneck. Mr. Fix clarified that from the video Mr. Drobina was pretty sure their drain ties into a catch basin in front of their house, and Mr. Drobina has this complaint every time we have a heavy rain. Mrs. Hammond clarified that Mr. Drobina felt putting in a sump pump would address the problem and Ms VanCleave stated we would basically cut off that connection and give the water a different way out.

G. TREE COMMISSION. Update. Mr. Drobina stated the Tree Commission reorganized and changed the time of their meeting from 5:30 to 6:00 P.M. on the second Wednesday of each month. He stated we have also started an inventory of all street trees and we will have a data base, from this date forward, showing the date it was planted and what nursery it was purchased from.

7. ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT CAPITAL PROJECTS

A. WASTEWATER

(1) Wastewater Plant Expansion - Update. Ms VanCleave stated the Committee met this week and each member will be evaluating the SOQs received and at the next meeting they will combine the rankings and determine the top three or so top firms for presentation at Service Committee.

B. TRANSPORTATION:

(1) Diley Road Improvements Project:

a. MORPC/ODOT Project – Update. Mrs. Hammond stated this had been covered at a work session earlier this evening.

b. Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance vacating 0.341 acres, more or less, of Old Diley Road located southwest of S.R. 256, and 0.685 acres, more or less, of Old Diley road located south of Windmiller Drive, City of Pickerington, County of Fairfield, State of Ohio. Ms Gilleland requested this item be continued on the agenda.

(2) Cover/Ebright Connector

a. Pickerington Health Care Access Road – Update. Ms VanCleave stated the property has been sold and Mr. Hartmann contacted the new property owner and they have indicated the City can take the road. She stated the next step will be to meet with the owner of the nursing home to assess the current access on S.R. 256.

(3) Traffic Signal Update. Mr. Drobina stated he had distributed information on a new product called ASC Lite and he would like to move forward to get more information on this product. He stated this program would allow our lights to operate more efficiently as it actually looks at the traffic and changes the timing every 60 seconds depending on what it sees. He stated this is a new technology that was tested in Gahanna, and other cities, and will provide a cost savings to the travelers as far as fuel and time savings. Mr. Hackworth stated we did borrow $260,000 for traffic improvements and he felt we have not spent all of those funds yet. He stated he was very impressed with this technology and perhaps we could use some of those funds for this project. Mr. Drobina stated he would like to get more information on this system and a cost estimate for our lights on S.R. 256 and he would bring that information back to this Committee.

Mr. Drobina stated also for the traffic signals at S.R. 256/Refugee Road and S.R. 256/S.R. 204, he has ordered battery backup equipment so if the power goes out, those two signals will still operate. Ms VanCleave stated we are also moving forward on the installation of the pre-emption devices.

C. WATER: No Report.

D. STORMWATER. No Report.

8. CHAIRMAN.

A. Review and request for motion to reschedule February Service Committee Regular meeting due to Presidents Day holiday. Mrs. Hammond stated since the regular meeting will fall on the holiday she would like to reschedule the meeting. Mrs. Hammond stated Finance Committee has rescheduled their regular meeting she would like to schedule the February Service Committee Regular Meeting if all members were available for February 15, 2007, at 7:30 P.M. All Committee members stated they concurred with that date.

9. OTHER BUSINESS. No other business was brought forward.

10. ADJOURNMENT. There being nothing further, Mr. Fix moved to adjourn; Mr. Hackworth seconded the motion. Mr. Hackworth, Mr. Fix, and Mrs. Hammond voted “Aye.” Motion carried, 3-0. The Service Committee adjourned at 8:30 P.M., January 24, 2007.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

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Lynda D. Yartin, Municipal Clerk