CITY HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD
WEDNESDAY,
JUNE 6, 2007
REGULAR
MEETING
7:30
P.M.
1. ROLL CALL. Mr. Fix called the meeting to order at 7:30 P.M., with roll call as follows: Mr. Hackworth. Mr. Fix, and Mrs. Riggs were present. No members were absent. Others present were Judy Gilleland, Phil Hartmann, and Lynda Yartin.
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF May 9, 2007, Regular Meeting. Mr. Hackworth moved to approve; Mrs. Riggs seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mrs. Riggs, Mr. Hackworth and Mr. Fix voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.
3. SCHEDULED MATTERS:
A. Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance and proposed Administrative Code revisions. Mr. Fix stated he would like to clarify that the procedure to forward legislation from Committee to Council would be with a recommendation of approval or disapproval, but it could not be held up indefinitely in Committee by any one committee member. Mr. Fix further clarified that legislation would be sponsored by the appropriate committee, not a specific council member. He stated if we put the statement in the Code that…”any ordinance or resolution shall not be placed on the agenda unless submitted by a member of Council, Committee of Council, Mayor, or City Manager.” He stated that would allow for any council member to place legislation on the agenda. Mr. Fix clarified that when the ordinance is read, instead of reading a council member as the sponsor, it would be the committee sponsoring the legislation and the Committee Chairman would then brief on the legislation if necessary. Mr. Hackworth stated Ms Gilleland would like staff to summarize the legislation at the beginning of each meeting as well. Mr. Fix stated there is no mechanism to allow legislation to die at the committee level. Mr. Hartmann stated the language has not been changed, and it does not read that way, but that is how it has been interpreted. Mr. Hartmann stated he felt this should be discussed at Council level to make sure everyone knows there is no way for proposed legislation to die at Committee level. He stated if Council wants it interpreted that something can die at committee level, then we will have to change the language to reflect that. Mr. Fix stated he did not want to leave this up to an interpretation, he wanted the language to be very clear that everything will be referred to committee and moved out of committee with the committee’s recommendation either way. Mr. Hartmann stated he would then put in language after “recommendation …for review and recommendation either for or against prior to final action by Council.” Mr. Fix stated by inserting that language there would be no letting something die in committee and Mr. Hartmann stated that was correct. Mr. Hackworth clarified that this would still allow items to be carried over on the committee agendas for a month or two. Mr. Fix questioned if language should be included that committee referral cannot be unreasonably withheld, and Mr. Hartmann stated he would put something in for that. Mr. Hartmann stated there are other protections as well as council members can bring legislation forward themselves, and with the three-fourths requirement for council manic waiver of committee action you would need six votes. Mr. Hackworth and Mr. Fix both stated they felt a two-thirds vote or five votes of Council should be sufficient to waive committee action. Mr. Hartmann stated he would draft language to that effect. Mr. Fix stated based on this Committee’s discussion over the past few meetings he would like to ensure that the requirement for a member of Safety Committee to serve as Council’s representative on the Parks and Recreation Board was reinstated and Mr. Hartmann stated he would take care of that. Further, in order to be consistent he would like to make sure the Utility Fees Review Committee is correctly identified as the Utility Fees Review Commission. Mr. Fix stated he would like to have it clarified that volunteer members of all Boards and Commissions serve without compensation.
Mr. Hackworth stated he has concerns regarding the changes to Section 220.10, conduct of Discussions. He stated he felt that was making discussion very restrictive and Mr. Fix stated he thought it was appropriate to have these rules for those cases where there is hot debate that needs to be regulated. Mr. Hackworth further stated in Section 220.11, Voting, he felt the language for allowing abstaining was to narrow. Mr. Fix stated he felt this would be a debate for all of Council. Mr. Hackworth stated in the past you have not had to state your reason for abstaining, and Mrs. Riggs stated it seemed however that has been abused. Mr. Hartmann stated in other communities his office advises that you cannot abstain unless you have a true conflict, and the difference Pickerington has by having this written in the Code, when you abstain you effectively create a “Nay” vote because you require hard numbers. Ms Gilleland stated she has never encountered issues in other cities because people just don’t abstain unless they have a conflict. Mr. Fix stated he felt it was reasonable to state the reason you would abstain from voting on an issue.
Mr. Fix stated he felt the best way to present this to Council would be to provide each member with a draft copy for review. He stated he felt it would be appropriate to schedule a Council work session to allow for discussion by all members, and to have Ms Gilleland, Mr. Hartmann, and Mrs. Yartin available at the work session to answer any questions council members may have.
Mr. Fix moved to forward the proposed revised Administrative Code to Council and to schedule a Council Work Session for open discussion of the proposed revisions for July 17, 2007, at 6:00 P.M.; Mrs. Riggs seconded the motion. Ms Gilleland stated she felt this issue might require additional work sessions by Council. Roll call was taken with Mr. Hackworth, Mrs. Riggs, and Mr. Fix voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.
4. CHAIRMAN: Mr. Fix stated Mayor Shaver and Council President Smith asked that Rules Committee consider legislation that would put the exceptions to impact fees into the Code. He stated Mr. Hansley has been working on trying to come up with some parameters around that, and he would ask that Ms Gilleland, Mr. Hansley, and Mr. Hartmann put together some legislation on this issue for the Rules Committee to consider at their next meeting. Mr. Hackworth stated he felt the biggest issue we were dealing with was the “extraordinary circumstances” terminology. Mr. Hackworth stated he thought the Mayor was asking that this be defined a little better, however, he would be concerned if we tried to make it so specific that Mr. Hansley gets blocked in. Mr. Hackworth stated we want to get some commercial businesses, and we have very few tools to work with. Mr. Hartmann stated there is already the safe guard that the City has to pay the fees, so you have to have a lot of faith in what is coming in before you do that. Mr. Hackworth stated the current waiver requests were discussed in Finance Committee, it is in the ordinance, and it is not something that was just trying to be slipped through. Mr. Fix stated he agreed with Mr. Hackworth. Mr. Hartmann stated he felt there should be guidelines and he did not know if that should be codified, but that can be discussed.
5. OTHER BUSINESS: Mrs. Yartin stated she would like to point out that the regular Rules Committee meeting falls on July 4th, and questioned if the Committee would like to reschedule that meeting. Mr. Fix stated if all Committee members concurred, he would request the Rules Committee regular meeting for July be scheduled for July 11, 2007, at 7:30 P.M. All Committee members concurred.
6. ADJOURNMENT. There being nothing further, Mr. Hackworth moved to adjourn; Mrs. Riggs seconded the motion. Mr. Hackworth, Mrs. Riggs, and Mr. Fix voted "Aye." Motion carried, 3-0. The Rules Committee adjourned at 8:13 P.M, June 6, 2007.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:
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