THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2007

REGULAR MEETING

7:30 P.M.

1. ROLL CALL. Mrs. Hammond called the meeting to order at 7:30 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, and others.

2. A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF January 24, 2007, Work Session. 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.

B. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF January 24, 2007, Regular Meeting. Mr. Fix moved to approve; Mr. Hackworth 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 January and one case is scheduled for February.

(2) Planning and Zoning Representative Report (Mr. Hackworth) Mr. Hackworth stated the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting scheduled for February 13^th was cancelled due to weather conditions, and has been rescheduled for Thursday, February 22, 2007, at 7:30 PM.

(3) Diley Road Corridor Plan. Mr. Schultz stated he had provided a tentative schedule for this project as well as the Commercial Design Guidelines project. He stated he was hoping to schedule a joint Council and Planning and Zoning work session to discuss some of the issues of these projects. Mr. Hackworth stated the City met with ODOT last week and as a general schedule it appears the utilities will take up much of 2007, with South Central Power taking six to eight months. He stated we have been pushing to sell the project early and an individual from ODOT had stated the City may have to pay late fees if they could not start on time. Ms VanCleave stated that would be if the contractor gets to a segment of the road he needs to work on and the utilities have not been relocated and he needs to stop work, then he could charge us for the hours he is off work. Ms Gilleland stated that is why ODOT typically does not like to sell the project before the utilities are done. Mr. Hackworth stated, then, the actual widening of Diley Road realistically will probably not start until about this time next year. Ms Gilleland stated it all depends on how quickly the utilities go.

(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 draft ordinance regarding sign code revisions in Chapter 1292, and Appendix IV, of the Pickerington Codified Ordinances. Mr. Schultz stated the Committee had received a copy of the draft ordinance and in December 2006, Planning and Zoning Commission approved the proposed changes to the sign code. He stated the main revisions deal with ground signs that advertise more than one use or tenant, no flashing or animated window signs shall be permitted and neon signs shall be limited to identify if the business is open or closed only, community activity signage (churches, schools, non profit organizations, etc.) will now require staff administrative approval through a zoning certificate. He stated these signs would be limit the advertising to 14 days per event with a maximum sign size of 32 square feet, and changeable copy (letters) would not be permitted. Ms Gilleland stated these revisions were for temporary signs only, not the permanent signs, and there were some comments at the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting by some residents as this would affect the PYAA trailer mounted sign with the changeable letters as well as a few other churches or non profit agencies in town. She stated those individuals objected to these changes, however, the Planning and Zoning Commission felt these revisions were important to be incorporated into our sign code. Ms Gilleland stated when we schedule the public hearing at Council we may have individuals address Council at that time. Mr. Hackworth clarified this did not pertain to the permanent monument signs with changeable lettering that some churches use to advertise events, etc. Mr. Schultz stated there were some housekeeping changes in the revisions as well. Mr. Fix moved to approve the draft ordinance regarding sign code revisions and forward to Council; Mrs. Hammond seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Fix, Mrs. Hammond, and Mr. Hackworth voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.

(2) Review and request for motion to schedule public hearing before Council regarding proposed sign code revisions for March 20, 2007, at 7:20 P.M. Mr. Fix stated he would like to have more time for the public hearing to all for community members to voice their concerns on this issue. Mr. Fix moved to schedule a public hearing before Council regarding the proposed sign code revisions for March 20, 2007, at 7:10 P.M.; Mrs. Hammond seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Hackworth, Mr. Fix, and Mrs. Hammond voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.

5. 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. Mr. Drobina stated he has not heard anything further as yet. Ms VanCleave stated she heard she should expect plans from their new engineer at any time. Mrs. Hammond requested this remain on the agenda.

C. WATER UTILITY MAINTENANCE:

(1) Update on water softening salt contract with Morton Salt. Mr. Drobina stated our contract is with Cargil Salt and it expires this year. He stated he has been in contact with them to see if they would be willing to extend the contract as our current contract provides for an extension of four years in two year intervals. Mr. Fix clarified that it should be more cost effective to extend our contract rather than bid it again. Mr. Drobina stated if Cargil is not willing to extend the contract, we will put it out to bid.

D. WASTEWATER UTILITY MAINTENANCE: No report.

E. STREET MAINTENANCE. Mr. Drobina stated as everyone is aware we have been doing a lot of snowplowing lately. He stated in the past two weeks we have used a little over 700 tons of salt. Mrs. Hammond stated our crews have done a tremendous job with the weather this past week.

F. STORM WATER UTILITY MAINTENANCE. No report.

G. TREE COMMISSION. Update. Mr. Drobina stated the Tree Commission meeting was cancelled last night due to the weather conditions.

7. ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT CAPITAL PROJECTS

A. WASTEWATER

(1) Wastewater Plant Expansion - Update. Ms VanCleave stated the interviews with engineering firms are scheduled for February 23, 2007, beginning at 1:00 P.M.

B. TRANSPORTATION:

(1) Diley Road Improvements Project:

a. MORPC/ODOT Project – Update. Ms Frommer stated with regard to the right-of-way acquisition, as of today, all but five parcels are resolved. She stated 28 have been filed for appropriation and we are in on-going negotiations with MI and Dominion Homes. Ms Frommer stated it looks like we will be revising the construction sequencing so we can avoid potential delays with regard to the utility relocations. She stated ODOT has the product being filed for bid in late July with the opening date in December. She stated we asked if we could move up the timeframe, ODOT said if we get the right-of-way taken care of and the utilities taken care of, it could be filed. Ms Gilleland stated before Ms Frommer arrived the question came up that if the utilities were not cleared and that ended up delaying the project, that would be 100 percent Pickerington’s cost because we asked to have the project moved up. Ms Frommer stated that is a complex question, but the short answer is yes. She stated this occurs because of construction sequencing, and if we can write the roadway construction sequencing to start where the utilities start, the chances are much greater that we can avoid those delays. Mr. Hackworth stated South Central Power was concerned about the mound of dirt that Dominion has appears to be in the easement, and Ms VanCleave stated she has measured that off and half of the mound is in the right-of-way and Dominion will have to move that dirt. Ms Frommer stated this was brought to Dominion’s attention during the right-of-way acquisition and they are aware of it.

Ms Frommer stated today she received from Congressman Hobson’s office the next chance application for appropriation funds for Diley Road. She stated the application is due on February 27^th, so she will be working on that.

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 stated we are getting closer on this issue and Mr. Schultz stated the portion north of Diley Road, the Kroger and DiCeaser property, the developer has been questioning when we will vacate it and turn it over to him. Mr. Drobina stated he felt it would be appropriate to remove this item from the agenda and bring it back as separate parcels. Mrs. Hammond stated she felt that would be appropriate and asked this item be removed from the agenda.

(2) Cover/Ebright Connector

a. Pickerington Health Care Access Road – Update. Ms VanCleave stated she has requested Stilson to provide a cost proposal to bring that intersection up to a point where we can stop the split phasing. She stated she was not sure if this would be economically feasible, but we will look at it. She stated by split phasing, the light is timed right now to let the Kohl’s traffic out while the health center waits, and then it switches. She stated there might be some minor realignment of the road required in order to remove that split phasing and allow both segments to go at the same time. She stated she would keep this Committee updated on this issue.

(3) Traffic Signal Update. Mr. Drobina stated the battery backup has been installed at S.R. 256 and S.R. 204, but has not been installed at S.R. 256 and Refugee as yet. He stated he hoped that would be installed next week.

C. WATER: No Report.

D. STORMWATER. No Report.

8. CHAIRMAN. Mrs. Hammond stated she had nothing to bring forward.

9. OTHER BUSINESS. Mr. Hackworth stated he had received a complaint regarding the access at Lakes Edge Apartments. He stated the main entrance is normally open and they have a second entrance further up on Courtland Lane, and he understood there was an agreement with the City that this second entrance would be used for emergencies. He stated apparently this entrance is being used by normal traffic. He questioned if we could check and see what is going on with this entrance. Mrs. Yartin stated she had received a call on this issue and Mr. Mahaffy, our Code Enforcement Officer, has spoken to some of the residents and he has gone out to look at the situation and see what can be done.

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 8:15 P.M., February 15, 2007.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

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Lynda D. Yartin, Municipal Clerk