THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2007

REGULAR MEETING

7:30 P.M.

1. ROLL CALL. Mr. Smith called the meeting to order at 7:30 P.M., with roll call as follows: Mr. Sabatino, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Smith, and Mr. Fix were present. No members were absent. Others present were Judy Gilleland, Lynda Yartin, Linda Fersch, and others.

2. A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF July 19, 2007, Work Session. Mr. Fix moved to approve; Mrs. Hammond seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Fix, Mr. Sabatino, and Mr. Smith voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 4-0.

B. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF July 19, 2007, Regular Meeting. Mr. Fix moved to approve; Mr. Sabatino seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino, Mr. Fix, Mr. Smith, and Mrs. Hammond voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 4-0.

3. FINANCE DIRECTOR:

A. Finance Director’s Report. Mrs. Fersch stated she had provided a written report and would happy to answer any questions. Mrs. Fersch stated Willis Pooling should have our figures for CORMA the first part of September, and she has a meeting scheduled for September 10^th to review the proposal by our current insurance carrier. She stated she will also be meeting with the Ohio Plan for a proposal, and if the recommendation is to change insurance carriers we would do that the first of January. She stated if that decision is made, we will come back before the end of the year with legislation. Mr. Fix inquired if we knew what the penalty would be if we withdrew from CORMA and Mrs. Fersch stated she did not know what that would be at this time. She stated she would like to proceed on course with CORMA because our current policy expires on September 30^th. Mr. Fix clarified the audit on the Diley Road project is finishing up and she will know more after meeting with them on Monday. She stated everything appears to be going very smoothly and we should have no issues. Mr. Sabatino inquired on impact fees how much we had budgeted for income from commercial projects and Mrs. Fersch stated she did not have that information with her, but she could provide it to him.

B. Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance amending the 2006 appropriation, Ordinance 2006-164. Mrs. Fersch stated the Committee had received a draft appropriation ordinance and Mr. Sabatino inquired when we are refunding impact fees for building permit refunds, can we charge a fee, such as an administrative fee or handling charge, and deduct it from the refund. Ms Gilleland stated she recalled something about a two or three percent administrative fee, and Mr. Sabatino stated that is what he recalled. Ms Gilleland stated she would check into this. Mr. Smith moved to approve the draft appropriation ordinance and forward to Council; Mr. Fix seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino, Mr. Smith, Mrs. Hammond, and Mr. Fix voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 4-0.

C. Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance to authorize the City Manager to write off uncollectible water, sanitary sewer, and stormwater charges. Mr. Smith stated this will remain on the agenda for the next meeting as some information we have requested is not yet available.

D. Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance regarding Section 125 pre-tax exemption. Mrs. Fersch stated during the FOP negotiations it was discussed that if the police paid a higher contribution, the City would look into the possibility of the insurance premium being pre-tax, and this legislation is the mechanism to put the plan in place. Mr. Smith moved to approve the draft ordinance and forward to Council; Mr. Fix seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Fix, Mr. Smith, and Mr. Sabatino voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 4-0.

E. Review and request for motion to approve draft resolution accepting the amounts and rates as determined by the Fairfield County Budget Commission and authorizing the necessary tax levies and certifying them to the County Auditor. Mrs. Fersch stated this is the annual resolution we do to accept the rates determined by the Fairfield County Budget Commission. She stated this must be passed and filed with the County Auditor by October 1, 2007. Mr. Smith stated he understood this would have to be passed by emergency, and Mrs. Fersch stated that was correct. Mrs. Fersch stated there was no way we could have the information to the Committee earlier because the Budget Commission meets in August. Mr. Sabatino stated he felt this qualified as a true emergency. Mr. Smith moved to approve with emergency language and forward to Council; Mr. Fix seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Smith, Mr. Fix, Mr. Sabatino, and Mrs. Hammond voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 4-0.

F. Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance authorizing the City Manager to continue membership with the Central Ohio Risk Management Association for the time period October 1, 2007, to September 30, 2008. Mrs. Fersch stated she had discussed this earlier in the meeting and she has put the amount in the ordinance to reflect a ten percent increase. She stated this should be pretty close, but if something happens she would let everyone know right away. Mr. Smith moved to approve and forward to Council with emergency language; Mr. Fix seconded the motion. Mrs. Fersch stated this would also need to have emergency language in order to take effect in time. She stated this is a true emergency because the City needs to be covered by insurance. Mr. Fix inquired if Mrs. Fersch would have the actual amount by the next Council meeting and if not, since this has to be passed as an emergency anyway, why not wait until the September 18^th Council meeting so the actual figures could be reflected in the ordinance. Mr. Smith and Mr. Sabatino stated they agreed they would rather have this legislation on the September 18^th agenda after we have the actual figure in the ordinance. Roll call was taken with Mr. Smith, Mr. Sabatino, Mr. Fix, and Mrs. Hammond voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 4-0.

4. PERSONNEL DEPARTMENT:

A. Personnel Director’s Report. Mrs. Fersch stated she had provided a written report and she would be happy to answer any questions. Mr. Fix clarified the AFSCME contract will expire on December 31, 2007, and we are anticipating the negotiations will go smoothly.

B. Employee Manual – Update. Ms Gilleland stated if Council would like, staff could present a brief overview to council and this can be taken care of fairly quickly. Mr. Smith stated he would make a recommendation to his fellow Finance Committee members later in the meeting that will hopefully make that happen during the month of September.

5. DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT:

A. Development Director’s Report. Ms Gilleland stated Mr. Hansley was on vacation this week. Mr. Smith stated Mr. Hansley had provided a written report to the Committee.

6. CHAIRMAN:

A. Review of Legal and Engineering services invoices. Mr. Smith stated while the committee would continue to review the invoices, and question them when necessary, he would request this item be removed from the agenda.

B. Discussion of Council representative to Route 33 Memorandum of Understanding Group. Mr. Smith stated at the beginning of Council meeting, the Mayor announced that he was extending an offer to the Township to work with the Trustees to see if a resolution can be arrived at on the Wright Road annexation agreement. Mr. Smith stated further he had requested, and the Mayor agreed, that two members of Finance Committee could attend those meetings with him since this is something that Council must vote on and it would be good to have Council input during the negotiations. Mr. Sabatino stated the Mayor had extended an invitation to him to attend these meetings. Mr. Smith stated Mr. Sabatino and Mr. Fix have been involved in this and he assumed they would like to continue that involvement. Mr. Fix and Mr. Sabatino both stated they would be happy to attend the negotiation meetings.

Mr. Smith stated he had represented the Mayor at the Route 33 Group last week and Canal Winchester had three of their council members present so information could be shared with council. Mr. Smith stated he felt that was a good idea and he would like to suggest we have council members attend those meetings as well. Mr. Sabatino stated he would recommend that we have the City Manager or Development Director attend these meetings, and Mr. Smith stated Ms Gilleland and Mr. Hansley are involved in these meetings. Mr. Smith stated he thought it was a good idea to have council members involved and as we will have a change in the Mayor’s office at the end of the year, this would provide some continuity for the new Mayor as well. Mrs. Hammond and Mr. Fix stated they would be glad to attend the meetings.

Mr. Smith stated we have had three work session so far on the Administrative Code and we have another one scheduled prior to Council on September 4^th. Mr. Smith stated if Rules Committee would consider canceling Rules Committee on September 5^th, Finance Committee could schedule a Council work session for that night to hopefully finish up the Administrative Code. Mr. Fix stated he would recommend Finance Committee schedule a work session for Wednesday, September 5^th, from 7:30 to 9:30 P.M. to complete review of the Administrative Code. All Finance Committee members concurred. Mr. Smith stated then, a work session could be scheduled for prior to Council on September 18^th to review the Employee Manual and Budget work sessions would begin in October. Mr. Sabatino stated he would like to ensure that the ordinance that was adopted by Council regarding Section 250, Ethics, be included in the Administrative Code. Mr. Smith stated Mr. Sabatino could bring that up for discussion at the work session.

7. OTHER BUSINESS:

Mr. Smith stated the Committee had received a draft ordinance authorizing employees of the City to serve as Judges of Elections on the days of elections held in Fairfield County. He stated this basically allowed city employees a day off, with pay, to work election polls. Mr. Fix stated the Fairfield County Board of Elections is in desperate need of getting people to work at the polls and they have gone to all of the government entities and asked them to pass a similar ordinance. Mr. Fix stated city employees could be assigned to polls in the Township so there would be no problems. Mr. Sabatino clarified that the City of Lancaster and Baltimore have passed this as well. Mr. Fix moved to approve and forward to Council; Mr. Smith seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino, Mr. Fix, Mr. Smith, and Mrs. Hammond voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 4-0.

Mr. Smith stated the Committee had also received a draft Resolution authorizing the City Manager to submit an application for the DARE Grant. Mr. Fix moved to approve and forward to Council; Mr. Smith seconded the motion. Mr. Smith stated this had been discussed at Safety Committee as well. Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino, Mr. Smith, Mrs. Hammond, and Mr. Fix voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 4-0.

8. MOTIONS:

A. Motion for Executive Session under Section 121.22(G)(1)(b), Matters involving an employee’s or public official’s employment, Section 121.22(G)(2), Purchase or sale of public property, Section 121.22(G)(3), Conference with law director regarding pending or imminent court action, and Section 121.22(G)(4), Matters involving bargaining sessions with public employees. Mr. Smith stated there was no need for an Executive Session this evening.

9. ADJOURNMENT. There being nothing further, Mr. Fix moved to adjourn; Mr. Sabatino seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Fix, Mr. Smith, and Mr. Sabatino voting "Aye." Motion carried, 4-0. The Finance Committee adjourned at 8:35 P.M., August 23, 2007.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

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Lynda D. Yartin, Municipal Clerk