MONDAY, OCTOBER 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, Mike Sabatino, Lynda Yartin, Lance Schultz, Ed Drobina, Jennifer Frommer, and others.

2. A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF September 17, 2007, Regular Meeting. 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 February 23, 2007, Engineering Firm Interviews. Mr. Hackworth moved to approve; Mr. Fix seconded the motion. Mr. Hackworth stated he understood Mr. Sabatino felt there should be some amendments to these minutes and questioned what he would like to have added. Mr. Sabatino stated he had sent an e-mail with his concerns about the minutes to all the Committee members earlier. Mr. Fix inquired if there were any changes he would recommend at this time and Mr. Sabatino stated he had offered to do that, and he had requested this Committee table the minutes so that could be done. Mrs. Hammond stated as the minutes were being discussed now, did Mr. Sabatino have something he would like to offer to have the Committee take into consideration. Mr. Hackworth stated he did not see anything specific in Mr. Sabatino’s e-mail other than he would like to have the minutes tabled. Mr. Sabatino stated he had requested they be tabled and he had explained in his e-mail the reason he did not feel the minutes represented what happened at that meeting. He stated if this Committee wants to approve the minutes as they are, then he would deal with what he needed to deal with. Mr. Fix inquired what that meant, and Mr. Sabatino stated if they are approved as they are then he would do what he needed to do because he did not feel they were right as they are. Mrs. Hammond stated if Mr. Sabatino felt there was something that needed to be added to them, she would appreciate it if he would tell her what that was. Mr. Sabatino stated he had offered that and it was excluded. Mrs. Hammond stated Mr. Sabatino had not offered any suggestions to her, and Mr. Sabatino stated he had offered suggestions when these were being compiled which were not heeded. Mrs. Hammond clarified Mr. Sabatino had not offered suggestions to any Committee member. Ms Gilleland stated she recalled Mr. Sabatino sent an e-mail to the city attorney with a couple of suggestions and the one change she recalled that he had requested was that something be put in to indicate the date the minutes were prepared, and Mr. Sabatino stated that was one thing he had asked for and it was partly done, but not entirely as he had requested. Mrs. Hammond stated she was very unclear as to what Mr. Sabatino was requesting. Mr. Sabatino stated what he was stating is the fact that there was no recording done of the meeting, there was no minutes taken that reflected the testimony that was given, it was a three and one-half hour meeting, and the minutes are 49 pages that reflect not one spoken word and he has a problem with that. Mrs. Hammond stated Mr. Sabatino was at the meeting and he did not have a problem with it at that time, and Mr. Sabatino stated for all he knew it was being recorded. Mr. Fix inquired if Mr. Sabatino had specific changes he wanted included in the minutes, and Mr. Sabatino stated he had suggestions to make it more reflect what happened. Mr. Fix inquired if Mr. Sabatino could make those suggestions right now, and Mr. Sabatino stated he could not, he would have to sit down and think about it. Mr. Sabatino stated the only reason these minutes are even a subject right now is because he asked for them through a public information request. Mr. Fix stated he understood that, but that was three weeks ago. He stated Mr. Sabatino has known for at least three weeks that there were no minutes, and he is now saying he has not put anything together to make changes. Mr. Sabatino stated he had offered suggestions and he received the final copy in his packet at the same time the Committee members did. Mr. Hackworth stated he felt the spoken word was included in the bullet points on the first two or three pages that summarized the comments of the three applicants as they made their presentations. Mr. Hackworth stated as the meeting was not recorded he did not know how they could approve minutes with quotes, if that is what Mr. Sabatino is requesting. Mr. Sabatino stated it is a well understood fact that no recording was done and it should have been. Mr. Fix stated the minutes state the meeting was not recorded and that the minutes were prepared on September 21, 2007. Mr. Sabatino stated that is at the end of the minutes and he felt it should be at the beginning of the minutes. Mr. Hackworth stated he felt there was more than enough information in the minutes to outline what happened at the meeting, and Mr. Fix stated if any concerned citizen read the minutes, they more than reflect what happened, and there is more than enough information for them to know what went on. Mr. Sabatino stated he would like to be on the record that he disagrees with that, the minutes contain what was presented, there is no discussion reflected in the minutes. Mrs. Hammond stated, generally speaking, when minutes are taken by hand they reflect that discussion was held and a vote was taken, each individual detail of the discussion is not added in. Mr. Sabatino stated he did not feel a Council meeting could be taken that way. Mrs. Hammond stated since Mr. Sabatino had nothing to offer other than the fact that the meeting was not recorded put at the beginning of the minutes….Mr. Sabatino stated he was requesting the minutes be tabled until next month so perhaps something could be added that would better reflect what transpired. Mrs. Hammond inquired if Mr. Sabatino had recollections of what everyone said at that meeting and Mr. Sabatino stated he did not. Mr. Sabatino stated he did not recall everything he said and he certainly did not recall what was said in enough detail to offer it as suggested minutes. Mr. Fix stated he does not recall his parts of the conversation, and since Mr. Sabatino does not recall his, how could the minutes be amended to reflect conversation that was not recorded and neither one can recall. Mr. Sabatino stated his request is to come up with an explanatory paragraph at the beginning so people would understand what it represents. Mr. Fix stated then, Mr. Sabatino’s big concern was that the last sentence was not at the beginning, but at the end of the minutes. Mrs. Hammond stated she would be willing to table the minutes and charge Mr. Sabatino with coming up with whatever kind of wording he felt should be put in the minutes so these can be on the agenda and approved at the next meeting. Mr. Sabatino stated he appreciated that, and that was all he was asking. Mr. Fix stated he felt more than enough of city staff’s time had been wasted on this, nothing was done untoward in this activity. Mrs. Hammond stated city staff will not be involved, Mr. Sabatino can make his suggestions to her, and as Chairman of the Service Committee she will see they get read into the record. Mrs. Hammond moved to Table; Mr. Hackworth seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Fix voting “Nay,” and Mrs. Hammond and Mr. Hackworth voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 2-1.

3. COMMUNITY COMMENTS: There were no community comments.

4. PLANNING AND ZONING DEPARTMENT:

A. Planning and Zoning Director’s Report. Mr. Schultz stated he had provided a written report to the Committee and he would be happy to answer any questions. Mr. Fix questioned if, with regard to the Commercial Design Guidelines, we were looking at the guidelines of other cities we have respect for. Mr. Schultz stated our consultant has prepared several guidelines throughout the country and they model some of ours after that. He stated he and other staff members have reviewed the guidelines of other cities and they took some ideas from them and merged them into ours. Mrs. Hammond stated she felt everyone has done a tremendous job on the Commercial Design Guidelines, and they seem very complete and helpful. She stated, however, she is still hearing from people that there is still the impression that it takes to long to get things done in Pickerington. She stated she was hoping that having these guidelines would help with that. Mr. Hackworth stated he understood Mr. Hansley was working with staff to have some of the more routine decisions made by staff so that should speed up the process. Mr. Schultz stated he had spoken with our staff architect and he indicated the guidelines are very well done and are compatible with prior approvals we have had in the past. Ms Gilleland stated she had also sent the guidelines out and requested input from various developers, both the smaller ones and larger ones, as we wanted honest feedback. She stated we want to make the system easier not harder. Mr. Hackworth inquired if there was any way to have two tiers of approval, one for small businesses and one for larger businesses. Ms Gilleland stated small businesses are usually inexperienced and do not understand the system and that is where we need to provide more help, however, she was not sure about having two tiers for approval. Mr. Hackworth stated just whatever we could do to help small businesses. Mrs. Hammond stated items like the engineering and site preparation would be the same for both large and small businesses, we just need to have someone that can work with small businesses and lead them through the process. Ms Gilleland stated Mr. Hansley is doing that, and Mrs. Hammond stated she has heard since we have had Mr. Hansley on board it is getting easier.

(1) Planning and Zoning Representative Report (Mr. Hackworth) Mr. Hackworth stated Planning and Zoning met on October 9^th and the final plat on tonight’s agenda was approved at the meeting. He stated several residents of Windmiller Ponds attended the meeting because they were concerned about the proposed bowling alley at the Olde Diley Road location. Mr. Hackworth stated it is a very nice looking building and Mrs. Hammond stated she assumed there would be restrictions on the outdoor patio. Mr. Schultz stated we just adopted the conditional use permit guidelines for outdoor patios and those restrictions may or may not be enforced on this development. Ms Gilleland stated this is one of the situations where the zoning is not ideal, but that is how the zoning is. She stated we have been trying to ensure that office, at least, goes up against residential. She stated the bowling alley is further down and not directly adjacent to any residents other than Giorgi.

B. ACTION ITEMS:

(1) Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance accepting the final plat for Zane Property Commercial Subdivision. Mr. Schultz stated he had distributed a memo from the developer asking that this item be tabled tonight. Mrs. Hammond stated she would request this be continued on the agenda for the next meeting.

5. SERVICE DEPARTMENT

A. REPORTS:

(1) Service Manager’s Report. Mr. Drobina stated he had provided a written report and he would be happy to answer any questions. Mr. Fix inquired where we were on the sludge removal contract and Mr. Drobina stated he had finished preparing the bid specs for that and he hoped to get it out for bid very shortly. Mr. Hackworth ascertained the sanitary sewer inspection has been completed by Dreier and Maller, and Mr. Drobina had received their report. Mr. Drobina stated with the assistance of Mr. Decker from our engineering firm he will review the report and prepare a priority list of what repairs we need done. Mr. Fix clarified we are going to try using the brine solution to pretreat roads this winter. Mr. Drobina stated he would like to purchase a truck tank and try this system for one year before we decide if we want to purchase an entire system. Mr. Hackworth stated he feels it does tend to help. Mr. Drobina stated Violet Township is also going to try one tank this year on their roads. Mr. Hackworth further clarified that we will not begin removing ash trees because of the Emerald Ash Borer until the trees actually become a hazard. Mr. Fix inquired if we could let someone who sells firewood cut the trees down. Mrs. Hammond stated the wood would have to be sold only in our County. Mr. Drobina stated he would check to see if anyone else is trying something like this and Ms Gilleland stated it is something worth checking into.

B. ACTION ITEMS:

(1) Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance authorizing the City Manager to enter into a contract with G&G Enterprises for the Hill Road South sanitary sewer extension. Mr. Drobina stated this is a small line that will go south of Sycamore Creek and is part of a pre-annexation agreement to provide sewer service. Mr. Hackworth stated he thought this was in the Canal Winchester sewer district and Mr. Drobina stated that was correct, and the sewer would run to Canal Winchester. Mr. Fix questioned why we would be putting in the line to connect someone to Canal Winchester’s sewer system so they can pay Canal Winchester for sewer service. Mr. Drobina stated this was included in a pre-annexation agreement. Mr. Hackworth inquired if this would take care of all of the homes, and Mr. Drobina stated this will take care of the west side of the road. Mr. Fix questioned if we could ask Canal Winchester to pay to hook these homes up to their own system. Mr. Drobina stated the way the pre-annexation agreement is worded, the City is responsible for providing sewer to these residences. Mr. Fix stated Canal Winchester would be collecting sewer fees from these residences and they will get the tap fees. Mr. Drobina stated the City will have to pay the tap fees. Ms Gilleland stated we have had this conversation with the County on other properties, and the County is going to eventually put in the line and the City will pay the tap fees. Mr. Fix stated he would even agree to that, but he felt we should not have to run the lines and pay tap fees, and then turn it all over to Canal Winchester. Mr. Fix inquired if the pre-annexation agreement specified the time in which we had to build these lines, and Ms Gilleland stated she did not believe it did. Mrs. Hammond clarified these residences will be on City water and Canal Winchester sewer. Mr. Fix clarified we would be paying for the construction of the line, which is about $50,000, plus the capacity fees. Mr. Drobina stated he would be meeting with Matt Peebles from Canal Winchester tomorrow and he could talk to him about this issue. Mr. Hackworth stated if there is a chance Canal Winchester would pay for the line installation he would be willing to continue this on the agenda. Ms Frommer stated we would need to confirm with the contractor that he would hold his bid price for that duration. Mr. Fix moved to Table; Mr. Hackworth seconded the motion. Mr. Hackworth clarified that between now and the next Service Committee meeting, Mr. Drobina would meet with Mr. Peebles and discuss this issue and Ms Gilleland would be speaking to the Mayor of Canal Winchester. Roll call was taken with Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Hackworth, and Mr. Fix voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0. (TABLED)

(2) Review and discussion regarding Fairfield Square Condo Association request for installation of individual meters. Mr. Drobina stated he had forwarded the request from the Fairfield Square Condo Association for installation of individual water meters. Mr. Fix clarified the City would install the meters, but the owners of the condos would have to pay for them. Mrs. Hammond stated most condo developments do not have individual meters and Mr. Drobina stated that was correct, most developments have master meters and they hire a firm to read the meters and they bill the residents separately. Mrs. Hammond clarified the reason they want individual meters is because they are having problems with the company that is reading their meters, as far as repairing the meters, and the residents do not feel they are paying their correct share because the firm is doing a lot of estimating. Mr. Drobina stated when first approached he felt it would not be possible to install individual meters as there would be no way to shut off each unit since most condos do not have individual shut off valves. He stated, however, after looking at these units he found there is an outside shut off valve for each individual unit. Mr. Fix clarified there would be no downside to the City to approve this request. Mrs. Hammond questioned if we did this for one condo development what would we do if another development makes the same request. Mr. Drobina stated if they have outside shut off valves for each unit he would say yes, but if they do not, then he would say no. Mr. Fix stated he thought that was reasonable and Ms Gilleland stated she agreed and it would make the residents happy because they would be paying their own bill. Mr. Drobina stated the Committee does not need to take any action, he was just letting them know of the request.

6. ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT CAPITAL PROJECTS.

A. WASTEWATER

(1) Wastewater Plant Expansion - Update. Ms Frommer stated DLZ is due to submit their 60 percent design submittal this week. She stated since the last Service Committee meeting, City staff met with the consultant team and discussed cost reduction methods and clarification on the cost estimate and options. Ms Frommer stated at that time they produced a $9.2 million number and indicated they are continuing to work on the filter vendors and options therein and felt there was potential to decrease the project cost estimate on that line. She stated we are still working on that.

Ms Frommer stated she had distributed a draft project priority list produced by the EPA for the WPCLF loan and Pickerington is listed as an intended project. She stated they will finalize that draft list in November. Ms Frommer stated Pickerington has also been approached by several different communities asking to partner with them on the Wetlands Restoration Grant, and by doing this you would still get the interest rate break if you choose to sponsor one of them and they will get their money. She stated she and Ms Gilleland are investigating this further. Ms Gilleland stated we would not need any legislation for the letter of intent, but we would need legislation at some point. Ms Gilleland stated she just wanted to be sure Service Committee supported looking at this as there is no downside, and it could save us a considerable amount of money.

Ms Frommer stated the construction manager contract SOQs were due last Friday and she received six submittals, the four that submitted last time and two new submittals. She stated she and Mr. Drobina had discussed them briefly and they would be evaluating them this week. Ms Frommer stated she would just like to clarify the process moving forward, presuming that Service Committee would like to do the interviews. Ms Gilleland stated we did include in the SOQ that we intended to have Service Committee interview, and Mr. Fix inquired if Service Committee members needed to conduct the interviews. Ms Gilleland stated staff could conduct the interviews. Mrs. Hammond stated staff could conduct the interviews and make a recommendation to Service Committee. Mr. Hackworth clarified that we did request hourly rates in the SOQ, and that information will be provided to the Committee. Mr. Fix stated the professional staff are the experts and their recommendation would carry a lot of weight with him. Mrs. Hammond stated she was comfortable with leaving it up to the staff to conduct the interviews and provide a recommendation to the Committee. Ms Frommer clarified that Service Committee would like staff, Mr. Drobina and herself, to review and select one firm for the Committee to consider. Mr. Hackworth stated he felt it would be better to get the list down to three firms and have some dollar amounts to compare the three. Mr. Fix stated then he would like staff to present the three finalists with their recommendation. Mr. Hackworth clarified the criteria that was published in the restatement of qualifications request was the same criteria that was published the first time. Ms Gilleland stated she was comfortable with whatever process the Committee decided to use. Mr. Hackworth stated he would like to go through the process and have staff make recommendations to the Committee. Ms Frommer clarified the Committee would like staff to provide the Committee with the top three firms and to recommend one. Mr. Hackworth stated he would like a little insight as to how much the hourly rate is. Ms Frommer stated she would encourage any council member who has any guidance to give on this matter to express it to her or Mr. Drobina in the very near future.

B. TRANSPORTATION:

(1) Diley Road Improvements Project:

a. MORPC/ODOT Project – Update. Ms Frommer stated a pre-bid meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, November 14^th, and the bid date is December 12,2007.

1. Review and discussion regarding agreement with the State of Ohio, Department of Transportation, for the Diley Road Widening Project. Ms Frommer stated ODOT requires the City to pass final legislation about the project and they forwarded a draft of that for staff’s consideration and review. Ms Frommer stated she noted some discrepancies with the dollar amount referenced in the document and also an error on the part of the State. She stated she is in process of working through that with ODOT, however, the final legislation needs to be passed. She stated she would bring this to the Committee next month and because they are asking for a quick turn-around she would request Council consider three readings at the Council meeting. Mr. Hackworth clarified this resolution is to state that we are still on board with widening Diley Road, and Ms Frommer stated that was correct. Mrs. Hammond stated the Committee had received a copy of Ordinance 2003-103, the original legislation regarding Diley Road, along with the draft resolution submitted by ODOT, so they would have all of the background information. Ms Gilleland stated Mr. Hartmann originally felt that the 2003 legislation allowed the City Manager to sign all documents, but he was checking into that and she has not received the final answer as yet. Ms Frommer stated if that is correct, then she would not need the additional legislation. Mrs. Hammond stated she would like to have this continued on the agenda for the next meeting.

b. Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance authorizing the purchase of a 0.804 acre, more or less, fee simple interest, from Chester J. Pavlic, Jr., and Joanne Pavlic, located on Diley Road, County of Fairfield, State of Ohio. Mr. Fix moved to approve and forward to Council; Mr. Hackworth seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Hackworth, and Mr. Fix voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.

c. Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance authorizing the purchase of a 0.827 acre, more or less, fee simple interest, from Charlene Boggs, located on Diley Road, County of Fairfield, State of Ohio. Mrs. Hammond moved to approve and forward to Council; Mr. Hackworth seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Fix, Mr. Hackworth, and Mrs. Hammond voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.

C. WATER: No Report.

D. STORMWATER. No Report.

7. CHAIRMAN. Mrs. Hammond stated she had nothing to bring forward this evening.

8. OTHER BUSINESS: Ms Frommer stated consideration of the application for the Safety Grant for S.R. 256/Refugee Road will be Wednesday, October 17^th, by District and Central Office.

Mr. Hackworth stated he understood that Columbus was going to install speed bumps on some streets and questioned the City’s stand on this. Ms Frommer stated this issue has been reviewed by Safety Committee on at least two occasions. She stated several of the obstacles for installing speed bumps included the cost, the complaints of residents in areas where speed bumps have been installed and had to be removed because of the noise, and also the problem with snow plowing on streets with speed bumps.

9. ADJOURNMENT. There being nothing further, Mr. Fix moved to adjourn; Mr. Hackworth seconded the motion. Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Fix, and Mr. Hackworth voted “Aye.” Motion carried, 3-0. The Service Committee adjourned at 8:38 P.M., October 15, 2007.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

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Lynda D. Yartin, Municipal Clerk