PICKERINGTON CITY COUNCIL
TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2007
CITY HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD
REGULAR MEETING AGENDA
7:30 P.M.
1. ROLL CALL, PLEDGE
OF ALLEGIANCE, AND INVOCATION. Council for the City of Pickerington met for a
regular session Tuesday, August 21, 2007, at City Hall. Mayor Shaver called the meeting to order at
7:30 P.M. Roll call was taken as
follows: Mr. Fix, Mr. Hackworth, Mr.
Smith, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Sabatino, Mrs. Riggs, and Mayor Shaver
were present. No members were
absent. Others present were: Judy
Gilleland, Lynda Yartin, Linda Fersch, Chief Mike Taylor, Phil Hartmann, Ed
Drobina, Rex Myer, Randy Navaroli, Rachel Scofeld, Ned Altland, Joe Hopkins,
Tony Barletta, Trish Hunter, Bob Slingluff, Harry Myer, Brian Sauer, Marvin Huhn,
and others. Pastor Huhn delivered the
invocation.
2. A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF AUGUST 7, 2007,
WORK SESSION. Mrs. Hammond moved to
approve; Mr. Hackworth seconded the motion.
Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Wisniewski, Mr.
Smith, Mr. Hackworth, Mr. fix, and Mrs. Riggs voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 7-0.
B. APPROVAL
OF MINUTES OF AUGUST 7, 2007, PUBLIC HEARING REGARDING LANDSCAPING. Mr. Hackworth moved to approve; Mrs. Riggs
seconded the motion. Roll call was
taken with Mr. Sabatino, Mr. Smith, Mr. fix, Mr. Hackworth, Mrs. Hammond, Mrs.
Riggs, and Mr. Wisniewski voting “Yea.” Motion
passed, 7-0.
C. APPROVAL
OF MINUTES OF AUGUST 7, 2007, PUBLIC HEARING REGARDING OUTDOOR FACILITIES. Mrs. Riggs moved to approve; Mr. Hackworth
seconded the motion. Roll call was
taken with Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Hackworth, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Smith, Mr. Fix,
Mrs. Riggs, and Mr. Sabatino voting “Yea.”
Motion passed, 7-0.
D. APPROVAL
OF MINUTES OF AUGUST 7, 2007, REGULAR MEETING.
Mrs. Riggs moved to approve; Mr. Smith seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino, Mr.
Hackworth, Mr. Fix, Mr. Smith, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Wisniewski, and Mrs. Riggs
voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 7-0.
3. APPROVAL OF
AGENDA. Mr. Smith moved to approve;
Mrs. Hammond seconded the motion.
Roll call was taken with Mrs. Riggs, Mr. Fix, Mr. Smith, Mrs. Hammond,
Mr. Hackworth, Mr. Sabatino, and Mr. Wisniewski voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 7-0.
4. COMMUNITY
COMMENTS:
A. Rex
Myer. Mr. Myer stated the residents of
the old Carpenter subdivision would like to thank the City for the signs they
put up as it does slow down the traffic, and they would also like to thank the
police department as they suggested putting up the signs. Mr. Myer stated further the residents would
like to know who came up with the two signs per yard sale limit, as they do not
agree with that and feel they need more than two signs to get customers into
the subdivision.
5. APPROVAL OF
CONSENT AGENDA: Mayor Shaver stated
there were no consent agenda items this evening.
6. COMMITTEE
REPORTS:
A. SERVICE
COMMITTEE. Mrs. Hammond stated Service
Committee met last night and there are no items from that meeting on tonight’s
agenda. She stated the Committee did
approve the rezoning and preliminary plan for 47 acres on Hill Road and draft
ordinances pertaining to the ACS light project for our traffic signals, and a
draft ordinance to authorize the City Manager to apply for a Water Pollution
Control Loan for the wastewater treatment plant project.
7. REPORTS:
A. MAYOR. Mayor Shaver stated he had no report this
evening. He stated he would like to
thank the Township for proceeding to pass an annexation proposal. He stated he realized it was different from
the City’s, however, he would be more than happy to meet with members of the
Township to work out the last details and come to a resolution between the two
versions. He stated he would
respectfully request Council pass the second reading of our version this
evening and hopefully we can have an alternative version for the third and
final reading.
B. LAW
DIRECTOR. Mr. Hartmann stated he had no
report, however, he would be happy to answer any questions anyone might
have.
C. FINANCE
DIRECTOR. Mrs. Fersch stated she had no
report this evening, but she would be happy to answer any questions.
D. SERVICE
MANAGER. Mr. Drobina stated he had no
report this evening but would answer any questions. Mr. Drobina stated he would like to update
Council on the CIP projects that are going on.
He stated the annual paving has been completed and went very well. He further stated the sewer cleaning and
televising project is approximately fifty percent complete, and the contractor
has started on the water tower cleaning and painting and should be complete the
first week of September if the weather cooperates. Mr. Drobina continued the contractor for
South Central Power will be starting on the poles south of Columbus Street
going towards Busey within the next two weeks.
E. MANAGER. Ms Gilleland stated she would like to thank
the members of the C3 Community Church as they undertook a volunteer community
project and painted the old service station located on the corner of Columbus
and Hill Road. She stated the paint and
labor were donated and the building looks much better now. Mr. Smith asked if there was an update about
the Exxon gas station project that looked like it was at a standstill. Ms Gilleland stated she does not have an
update this evening, the contractor is continuing to pursue the site. She stated there was much more work than
anticipated and the contamination levels were greater than what they
anticipated and that is what has caused them to stop the work. She stated they needed to rethink the project
and the financing, but she does not have a new timeframe at this time. She stated we were doing our best to make
sure the site is safe and hopefully we will see some progress within the next
two weeks.
8. PROCEDURAL READINGS:
A. ORDINANCE 2007-44, “AN ORDINANCE AMENDING PART TWO OF THE CODIFIED ORDINANCES OF PICKERINGTON, THE ADMINISTRATION CODE; TITLE TWO (CHAPTERS 202-208), TITLE FOUR (CHAPTERS 220-222), TITLE SIX (CHAPTERS 230-250), AND TITLE EIGHT (CHAPTERS 268-280),” First Reading, Fix. (TABLED, 07/17/07)
B. ORDINANCE 2007-38, “AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 1286 (CONDITIONAL USES) OF THE PICKERINGTON CODIFIED ORDINANCES TO ADD SECTION 1286.34, OUTDOOR SERVICE FACILITY REGULATIONS,” Second Reading, Hackworth. Mr. Hackworth moved to adopt; Mrs. Hammond seconded the motion. Mr. Hackworth stated this is a change to our Code to give better to our staff on the regulation of outdoor facilities. Roll call was taken with Mr. Fix, Mr. Wisniewski, Mrs. Riggs, Mr. Hackworth, Mr. Sabatino, Mr. Smith, and Mrs. Hammond voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 7-0.
C. ORDINANCE 2007-46, “AN ORDINANCE TO AUTHORIZE THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE A SECOND EXTENSION OF THE CITY’S CONTRACT WITH SYNAGRO CENTRAL, LLC, FOR BIOSOLIDS MANAGEMENT SERVICES,” Second Reading, Fix. Mr. Fix moved to adopt; Mr. Hackworth seconded the motion. Mr. Fix stated this is the second extension to our contract to remove biosolids from our wastewater treatment plant. He stated Mr. Drobina had reported last month that we would pay less going forward than we have in the past. Mr. Sabatino stated he has been contacted by a local contractor that feels they have the ability to give us a bid for this service and they have toured the plant and the operation and how it is done. He stated he received an e-mail from them requesting they be in a competitive bidding situation and the has forwarded that e-mail to the City Manager. Mr. Sabatino stated they seem to think they can save us some money on this and he, therefore, would not be voting for a second extension on this contract tonight. Ms Gilleland stated she spoke with Mr. Sabatino at about 5:00 P.M. this evening and he had just received that e-mail. She stated she would ask that Council proceed with the second reading as Mr. Drobina has spoken with this company and we are under the impression that they could not provide the service that we require. She stated she and staff would have another conversation with them and if it works out that we want to pursue other bids we will make that happen in the next week or so. Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino voting “Nay,” and Mrs. Riggs, Mr. Smith, Mr. Fix, Mr. Wisniewski, Mrs. Hammond, and Mr. Hackworth voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 6-1.
D. ORDINANCE 2007-48, “AN ORDINANCE GRANTING A CREDIT FOR FEES PREVIOUSLY PAID UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE IMPACT FEE ORDINANCE BY THE WINDMILLER SQUARE OFFICE CONDOMINIUMS PROJECT AND ESTABLISHING A SCHEDULE FOR AN ADDITIONAL CREDIT BASED ON THE DETERMINATION OF THE PICKERINGTON CITY COUNCIL THAT THE PROJECT WAS SUSTANTIALLY UNDERWAY PRIOR TO THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE LEGISLATION AND THAT THE FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SITE MAY CREATE AN EXTRAORDINARY ECONOMIC IMPACT AND/OR EMPLOYMENT GROWTH,” Second Reading, Smith. Mr. Smith moved to adopt; Mr. Fix seconded the motion. Mr. Smith stated this was discussed at length at the last Council meeting and he would like to remind Council that Finance Committee made two findings; this is one of two projects that was underway at the time the impact fee ordinance became effective, and that potentially they would have an impact on economic growth through their employment and the standard for them to be refunded the second half of their impact fees would be contingent upon them meeting the same criteria that anyone currently operating under the impact fee ordinance would have to meet. Mrs. Riggs stated she had voted “Yea” on the first reading, and she has spoken to staff and the law director since that meeting. She stated while she respected the position of Finance Committee, she continues to believe that although we do not perceive exposure she felt the City could have that. She stated she would therefore vote against the ordinance this evening, hoping that the ordinance changing the impact fee ordinance that will have its third reading this evening will provide a way that we would not have the exposure she felt this might. Mr. Wisniewski stated he also agreed to the first reading, but he would also not support the second reading this evening. Mr. Wisniewski stated he did not believe he could support it as it currently is and he would be working with the law director to see if some different wording can be arrived at that he could agree to prior to the next reading. He stated he just could not support this ordinance or the next one as they are. Mayor Shaver stated he agreed with Mr. Wisniewski and Mrs. Riggs, and he reluctantly did not veto the first round of exemptions he was concerned we would have more and more people coming to us for exemptions. Mayor Shaver further stated he was not sure there has been any substantiation that these projects were significantly underway and it seems very speculative as to what economic benefit these projects will bring to the community in conformity with our new standards. Mayor Shaver stated the idea of impact fees was to sustain our community and the only way he can see us not imposing the impact fees is when there is some obvious need to draw a particular business to the community. Her stated in these cases, both businesses were already firmly located in the community and were going to stay here and he felt this was a dangerous path to go down with these two ordinances. Mayor Shaver stated further in both of these cases, staff did not recommend we go forward with these ordinances. Mrs. Hammond stated she went along with passing this out of Finance Committee primarily because she felt it had been discussed to the point it would not change and she wanted to put it before all of Council so she could hear their opinions. She stated she also was uncomfortable about these ordinances although she could see some merit to possibly extending this in the future if some new business would come in that would meet our criteria. She stated she felt, all things considered, that she would not support this legislation this evening. Mr. Sabatino stated he understood some of the concerns, but had other council members been at Finance Committee and heard the testimony the Finance Committee members heard, they would feel it was well established that these projects were will underway at the time the impact fees became effective. He stated he also took the word of staff when they stated they had researched the issue and any additional exposure was minimal at best. Mr. Wisniewski inquired if Mr. Hartmann had reviewed these two pieces of legislation and given an opinion regarding exposure. Mr. Hartmann stated he was not asked to review these, but after the first reading he had them looked at to see if they could cause some problems in the future. He stated there was some concern procedurally how it went through based on how the code is written; the code does not really account for how you would ever come up with a partial distribution based on how much had been completed. He stated he has not spoken to anyone in the City, but he would be glad to talk to the building department to see how many people were halfway through as there could possibly be other people out there that would have the same type of argument. Mr. Fix stated Finance Committee had asked that question several times as it was one of their main concerns if they would be opening Pandora’s Box. Mr. Fix stated the information they received from our Development Director was that our exposure was limited to these two situations. He stated that is one of the reasons he was comfortable with these two ordinances. Mrs. Riggs stated we all knew that attorneys can interpret legal language to benefit their client, and she would hate to see a frivolous lawsuit come about for something that we did not have to do. Mr. Wisniewski stated he does have an issue with this, especially with the next ordinance on the agenda, the fact that we are passing an impact fee ordinance that specifically states that we will not grant impact fee waivers for retail, that that is what the next ordinance is specifically about. He stated if we open that, then we are opening to a subdivision that was partially completed and an impact fee waiver was granted on something we said we would not. He stated he also respected the conclusions of Finance Committee, the members of Council and the work they put forward on this, it is just an issue on which he disagrees. Mayor Shaver stated he understood Mr. Wisniewski’s concern because we must remember that all residential developments are a hybrid commercial and residential. He stated for the developer it is a commercial development. Mr. Sabatino stated the primary difference between residential and commercial is that typically commercial has much more of an income stream associated with it than a residence, and that is the basis for the exemption policy the City has developed. He stated he felt commercial and residential developments were two distinctive different components of the impact fee ordinance. He stated he felt staff and the Finance Committee had done a great amount of due diligence and that is why he would continue to support this. Mayor Shaver stated again, these waivers were not recommended by staff. Mr. Sabatino stated his comment was that staff supported the assertion that we did not have any more exposure. Mr. Fix stated the reason for waiving part of the impact fee for the next item on the agenda had nothing to do with it being retail or not; it had to do with where they were in the building process and the things the City asked them to do in order to get a permit. He stated the debate about retail versus non-retail has nothing to do with either of these two ordinances. Roll call was taken with Mrs. Riggs, Mr. Wisniewski, and Mrs. Hammond voting “Nay,” and Mr. Smith, Mr. Fix, Mr. Sabatino, and Mr. Hackworth voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 4-3.
E. ORDINANCE 2007-49, “AN ORDINANCE GRANTING A CREDIT FOR FEES PREVIOUSLY PAID UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE IMPACT FEE ORDINANCE BY BARNYARD PRIMITIVES, INC., BASED ON THE DETERMINATION OF THE PICKERINGTON CITY COUNCIL THAT THE PROJECT WAS SUBSTANTIALLY UNDERWAY PRIOR TO THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE LEGISLATION AND THAT THEY CONSTRUCTED IMPROVEMENTS TO THE STORMWATER SYSTEM THAT PROVIDE A PUBLIC BENEFIT,” Second Reading, Smith. Mr. Smith moved to adopt; Mr. Fix seconded the motion. Mr. Smith stated much of the discussion on the last ordinance covered this one and he would add only that this is not a complete refund of the impact fees; the first fifty percent was based on that they were substantially underway and the twenty-five percent refund was based on some stormwater infrastructure improvements that the City required this property owner to put in in order to get a permit. Mr. Wisniewski ascertained the total amount was roughly $16,000 and Mr. Smith stated Mr. Wisniewski was correct, the fifty percent was $11,500 and half of that again for the stormwater improvements. Mr. Wisniewski stated we would be sending back $16,000 and then $16,000 would come out of our general fund to pay back the impact fee fund. Mr. Wisniewski stated that would be a total loss of $32,000. Mr. Sabatino stated we would be moving it from one of our funds to another of our funds. Mr. Wisniewski stated that was correct, we were moving it; he just felt there was a financial impact to the City and the payback time period was about five years for just the movement of the money. Roll call was taken with Mrs. Riggs, Mr. Wisniewski, and Mrs. Hammond voting “Nay,” and Mr. Smith, Mr. Fix, Mr. Sabatino, and Mr. Hackworth voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 4-3.
F. ORDINANCE 2007-50, “AN ORDINANCE GRANTING AN EXEMPTION TO THE APPLICABILITY OF THE IMPACT FEE ORDINANCE TO VIOLET TOWNSHIP, OHIO, FOR THEIR MAINTENANCE BUILDING PROJECT BASED ON THE DETERMINATION OF THE PICKERINGTON CITY COUNCIL THAT THE PROJECT IS ENTITLED TO AN EXEMPTION UNDER SECTION 1486.03(d)(6) OF THE ORDINANCE,” Second Reading, Smith. Mr. Smith moved to adopt; Mr. Fix seconded the motion. Mr. Smith stated the findings of the Finance Committee were completely different for this ordinance, this is specifically covered in our current impact fee ordinance were a government owned building is eligible for exemption. He stated there was some question whether Finance Committee could grant this exemption and Finance Committee chose to bring it to full Council so there is no question. Roll call was taken with Mr. Smith, Mr. Fix, Mrs. Riggs, Mr. Wisniewski, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Sabatino, and Mr. Hackworth voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 7-0.
G. ORDINANCE 2007-51 (AS AMENDED), “AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE AN ANNEXATION AGREEMENT WITH VIOLET TOWNSHIP,” Second Reading, Smith. Mr. Smith moved to adopt; Mr. Fix seconded the motion. Mr. Wisniewski moved to amend by substitution with the agreement he had distributed to Council this evening; Mr. Smith seconded the motion. Mr. Smith stated he would like to clarify that the only change to the agreement was the addition of a sentence to Section 2 that states “If executed by the parties the agreement shall terminate thirty years after the date of execution.” Mr. Wisniewski stated that was correct, and Mr. Smith stated again that was the only change. Mr. Fix clarified this meant the annexation agreement would terminate, the property would remain in the City there would just be no agreement with the Township. Mayor Shaver stated this would just put a time limit on the payments, and Mr. Wisniewski stated that was correct it would not be an open-ended contract that went on and on forever. Mr. Wisniewski stated he felt a thirty-year time frame for an agreement of this nature was quite generous. Roll call was taken on the motion to amend with Mr. Hackworth and Mr. Fix voting “Nay,” and Mr. Wisniewski, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Smith, Mr. Sabatino, and Mrs. Riggs voting “Yea.” Motion to amend passed, 5-2. Roll call was taken on the ordinance as amended with Mr. Hackworth voting “Nay,” and Mrs. Riggs, Mr. Smith, Mr. Fix, Mr. Wisniewski, Mrs. Hammond, and Mr. Sabatino voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 6-1.
9. LEGISLATIVE READINGS:
A. ORDINANCE 2007-36, “AN ORDINANCE APPROVING THE RELEASE OF EASEMENT FROM B&K ENTERPRISES,” Third Reading, Fix. Mr. Fix moved to adopt; Mrs. Hammond seconded the motion. Mr. Fix stated this is a piece of land that had been set aside for a possible waterline, and it has been determined it is no longer needed. Roll call was taken with Mrs. Riggs, Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Fix, Mr. Smith, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Hackworth, and Mr. Sabatino voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 7-0.
B. ORDINANCE 2007-45 (AS AMENDED), “AN ORDINANCE ADOPTING IMPACT FEE AMOUNTS AND THE PROCEDURES FOR THE IMPOSITION, CACLUATION, COLLECTION, EXPENDITURE, AND ADMINISTRATION OF IMPACT FEES TO BE IMPOSED ON NEW DEVELOPMENT; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; AND REPLACING ORDINANCE 2005-79,” Third Reading, Riggs. Mrs. Riggs moved to adopt; Mr. Fix seconded the motion. Mrs. Riggs stated this does replace the original ordinance. She stated it cleaned up some language and now we will have a process in place to allow for waiving impact fees. She stated although the application process will need to be developed by staff, she is happy with it and it will make sure that we are equitable in the process if the fees are waived. Mayor Shaver stated he felt it was preferable to have some standard by which we do impact fee waivers rather than on an ad hoc basis. Roll call was taken with Mr. Hackworth, Mr. Smith, Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Sabatino, Mrs. Hammond, Mrs. Riggs, and Mr. Fix voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 7-0.
10. OTHER BUSINESS: No other business was brought forward.
11. MOTIONS: There
were no motions.
12. ADJOURNMENT. There
being nothing further, Mr. Smith moved to adjourn; Mr. Fix seconded the motion. Mr.
Sabatino, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Hackworth,
Mr. Smith, Mr. Fix, Mr. Wisniewski, and Mrs. Riggs voted “Aye.” Motion carried, 7-0. The meeting adjourned at 8:16 P.M., August
21, 2007.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:
_______________________________
Lynda D. Yartin, Municipal Clerk
ATTEST:
_______________________________
David Shaver, Mayor