THURSDAY, MARCH 15, 2007

FINANCE COMMITTEE WORK SESSION

7:00 P.M.

1. CALL TO ORDER. Mr. Smith opened the Finance Committee Work Session at 7:00 P.M., with the following members present: Mr. Sabatino, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Smith, and Mr. Fix. No members were absent. Others present were: Judy Gilleland, Lynda Yartin, Fred Holmes, and others.

2. SCHEDULED MATTERS:

A. Coordination of Council and Committee agendas:

Mr. Smith stated at the Finance Committee meeting this evening he would be asking for an Executive Session early in the meeting as the Mayor was going to be present and provide information to the Committee members regarding an employee’s appointment.

Mrs. Hammond stated she does not have any major item to add to the Service Committee April agenda. She stated they are continuing to wrap up the Diley Road property acquisition ordinances, working on the water plant expansion, and items forwarded form the Planning and Zoning Commission. Mr. Smith stated Services also has the response from the Township on the Economic Development Agreement on their agenda, and Mrs. Hammond stated that was correct. Mr. Sabatino clarified that is on the Service Committee agenda for discussion on Monday, March 19^th.

Mr. Sabatino stated Safety Committee has several continuing items on the agenda and he would like to add discussion regarding the Adopt-A-Road program to the next April Safety Committee agenda. Mr. Sabatino stated discussion on the skate park noise problem is on the agenda and we may have more information on the proposed solutions by the time the Committee meets.

Mr. Fix stated Rules Committee has begun a review of the Administrative Code and they hoped to finish that up at their April meeting and have draft legislation ready to review by the May meeting. He stated there are issues that need to be looked at on a much longer term, and Rules Committee is reviewing the Code mainly in the areas dealing with how the Council and Committees work. He stated the Charter Review is on hold until the Administrative Code review is complete, and he would like to have some discussion regarding the Strategic Plan. He stated a Strategic Plan is a blueprint for a community to use as they grow and he felt it would be a great tool for the City’s leadership and staff to use in decision-making. Mr. Smith stated he would like to schedule work sessions for Council to discuss specific individual topics, for example, a joint parks district. Mr. Sabatino inquired if there had been any conversation with the Township on their position of involvement in that, and Mrs. Hammond stated she had attended some meetings on a joint parks district and there were a few people who liked it in principal. Mr. Smith stated those are the types of things he felt all of Council needed to discuss and he didn’t know if Council was even interested in pursuing this. Mr. Fix stated he would like to bring some alternatives back to this work session next month on how we might want to work on a Strategic Plan. Mr. Fix stated the other item Rules Committee is working is getting some depth in our citizen volunteers so we do not have boards or commissions that are short of volunteers. Mr. Sabatino clarified Rules Committee has not filled the vacancy on the Planning and Zoning Commission as yet. He stated when he was on Rules last year he recalled there were some individuals who had indicated interest in serving on Planning and Zoning and he also thought Mrs. Yartin has re-advertised for this vacancy. Mr. Sabatino stated he felt it was time to make a selection and move on. Mr. Fix stated he would be happy to discuss this with Mr. Sabatino either in Rules Committee or off-line.

B. Coordination of Committee activities. Mr. Smith stated at the April Finance Committee meeting there would be discussion on the Fee Schedule and also discussion on waiving impact fees. Mr. Smith stated he would welcome any input anyone might have on these two issues. Mr. Sabatino stated rather than a Finance Work Session next month, perhaps a full Council work session would be more appropriate so all of Council could provide input on these issues. Mr. Smith stated that might be something to consider.

3. ADJOURNMENT. There being nothing further, Mr. Smith closed the work session at 7:23 P.M., March 15, 2007.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

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Lynda D. Yartin, Municipal Clerk