MONDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 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, Tricia Sanders, Lynda Yartin, Joe Hamilton, Ed Drobina, Jennifer Frommer, Todd Dillon, and others.

2. A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF October 15, 2007, Regular Meeting. Mr. Fix moved to approve; Mr. Hackworth 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. (TABLED, 10/15/07) Mr. Hackworth moved to Remove from the Table; Mr. Fix seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Hackworth, Mrs. Hammond, and Mr. Fix voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0. Mr. Fix moved to amend by substitution with the minutes provided to the Committee that include Mr. Sabatino’s requested statement; Mr. Hackworth seconded the motion. Ms Gilleland stated she had received the requested language only this afternoon and she had forwarded it to the law director for review, and she was not sure if he had the opportunity to do that as yet. Ms Gilleland stated since she has not heard from the law director on the appropriateness of it, she was hesitant to add the comments. She further stated, in addition, the wording was not entirely correct in stating that there were no references to reflect the words spoken during the 3.5 hour meeting. Ms Gilleland stated she would suggest something more like, “The actual dialogue was not recorded, however, some questions and answers were included.” She stated she felt the statement that there was “…no reference to reflect any of the words spoken…” is not exactly accurate. Ms Gilleland stated the minutes can reflect her remarks, they can be passed as is, or they can be held for another month. Mr. Hackworth stated he would like to have the City Manager’s remarks included with these minutes. Mrs. Hammond stated perhaps Mr. Sabatino’s and Ms Gilleland’s remarks could be added as an addendum to the minutes. Mr. Hackworth stated he would like to have the comments of Mr. Sabatino reflected in bold print so it is clear that is what he added to the minutes, and then have Ms Gilleland’s comments included in bold print indicating these were her comments. Mr. Fix stated he would like the record to reflect his motion to amend included adding the two bold print sections to the minutes; Mr. Hackworth stated that was his second. Roll call was taken on the motion to amend with Mr. Fix, Mrs. Hammond, and Mr. Hackworth voting “Yea.” Motion to amend passed, 3-0. Mr. Hackworth moved to approve the minutes as amended; Mr. Fix seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Hackworth, Mr. Fix, and Mrs. Hammond voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.

3. COMMUNITY COMMENTS: There were no community comments.

4. PLANNING AND ZONING DEPARTMENT:

A. Planning and Zoning Director’s Report. Mr. Henderson stated Mr. Schultz had provided a written report and he would try to answer any questions anyone might have. Mr. Fix clarified the design guidelines will be reviewed by the Planning and Zoning Commission and forwarded to Service Committee for submission to Council.

(1) Planning and Zoning Representative Report (Mr. Hackworth) Mr. Hackworth stated one action item from the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting is on tonight’s agenda.

(2) Review and discussion of development process. Mrs. Hammond stated she would like to have this item continued on the agenda.

B. ACTION ITEMS:

(1) Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance accepting the final plat for Zane Property Commercial Subdivision. Mr. Hamilton stated the developers are still working out the development agreement and hopefully something will be ready to bring forward at the next meeting. Mrs. Hammond stated she would like to have this item continued on the agenda.

(2)Review and request for motion to approve a Preliminary Development Plan for approximately 8.55 acres for Anchor 204 Business Park located on the north side of SR 204 between Freedom Way and Holiday Inn Express. Mr. Hamilton stated the developer is proposing to develop this site with a gas station, a restaurant, and a retail building. He stated the parking lot for the restaurant would connect to the Holiday Inn Express, and there would be no direct access on to S.R. 204. Mr. Hamilton stated stormwater detention appears to be in subsurface facilities within parking lot areas. Mr. Hamilton stated Planning and Zoning Commission had approved the Preliminary Development Plan with 23 conditions. He stated the condition that a traffic impact study be prepared by the applicant and approved by the City Engineer would clear up several of the issues on that site. Mr. Fix clarified the developer and Holiday Inn Express will agree on an access agreement between the two properties with the Holiday Inn being responsible for preparing and building that connection to the back of their lot. Mr. Fix inquired if the right-in/right-out would then be closed on S.R. 256. Ms Frommer stated she was not aware of the status of these discussions, however, that has always been the intent of the Access Management Plan. Ms Frommer stated Mr. Hansley might know the status of those discussions. Mrs. Hammond moved to approve the Preliminary Development Plan for the Anchor 204 Business Park with the conditions required by the Planning and Zoning Commission; Mr. Fix seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Fix, Mr. Hackworth, and Mrs. Hammond voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.

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. Drobina reviewed the memorandum regarding the EPA meeting on November 1, 2007, for possible solutions for the total dissolved solids (TDS) problem we are having at the wastewater treatment plant. Mr. Drobina stated with regard to the request of the Committee last month, he had spoken to Matt Peebles of Canal Winchester regarding the Hill Road sewer project and they are willing to work with us on the capacity fees. He stated Canal has been speaking to us for several months regarding the City providing the billing for Fox Glen and Sycamore Creek for sewer. He stated Canal presently does the billing for the sewer and we do the billing for the water. He stated there are several residents in these areas that do not pay their sewer bill and Canal cannot shut them off because they pay their water bill. Mr. Drobina stated Canal would like the City to take over the billing for sewer for these particular subdivisions and if we do that they would be willing to write us a check for the capacity fees. He clarified they want us to pay the capacity fees, take over the billing for sewer, and then they will write us a check to reimburse the capacity fees. Ms Gilleland stated she thought the capacity fees were around $30,000. Mr. Drobina stated he felt we should do the billing because they are residents of the City of Pickerington. He stated we read the meters and we bill them for water only. Mr. Drobina stated the problem is that we would bill for the sewer and Canal is requesting we send them a check for the amount we are billing, then we will be responsible for collecting the money from the residents. He stated he would have to work out an agreement with Canal as far as the billing. Ms Gilleland stated it is the right thing to do, these are our residents, and if this helps with the Hill Road project that is a benefit. He stated he would work with Canal and try to work out an agreement on the billing issue.

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. (TABLED, 10/15/07) Mr. Fix moved to remove from the Table; Mrs. Hammond seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Fix, Mr. Hackworth, and Mrs. Hammond voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0. Ms Frommer stated she had contacted the contractor to request him to extend his bid, and of the approximately $8,000 between his bid and the next lowest bidder, he requested a change order in the amount of about $6,500 to extend his bid and keep that price until March 3^rd. Ms Frommer stated she was suggesting this be moved forward because the extra amount the contractor has requested to hold his bid price be added to the base price of the contract. Mr. Fix stated he did not feel this was an urgent project and he would be more comfortable knowing that we have received the funds back from Canal Winchester before we commit to this contract. Ms Frommer stated she just needed to know what to tell the contractor. Mr. Fix moved to Table; Mr. Hackworth seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Hackworth, Mrs. Hammond, and Mr. Fix voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0. (TABLED)

(2) Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance authorizing the City Manager to enter into a five-year contract with Synagro Central, LLC, for biosolids management services. Mr. Drobina stated we did put this out for bid and we received two bids, with Synagro being the lowest bid. Mr. Hackworth stated currently the extension of our contract with Synagro is tabled on Council floor on its third reading. Mr. Fix stated that was correct and that extension would have to be removed from the table and voted down because this is a new contract that we put out for bid. Mrs. Yartin stated the law director had indicated this would have to begin the process at the first reading. Mr. Hackworth moved to approve and forward to Council; Mrs. Hammond seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Hackworth, and Mr. Fix voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.

(3) Review and discussion regarding amending Section 1050.04 of the Pickerington Codified Ordinances allowing for reconnection of utilities after normal business hours. Mr. Drobina stated he had asked this be reviewed because some of the Service Department employees have complained about getting called in at all hours of the night to turn on someone’s water. Mr. Fix stated he thought it was ridiculous to call in an employee and have to pay them overtime to turn on someone’s water. Mr. Drobina stated if the Committee concurred with amending the Code, he would have an ordinance prepared and bring it to Committee next month. Mrs. Hammond stated she felt everyone was in agreement with this recommendation. Mr. Hackworth clarified that people can pay their bill at the Police Department at any hour and Service workers are being called in after midnight to turn on someone’s water. Mr. Drobina stated water will be turned on during normal business hours, and we will be cognizant and not turn off someone’s water on a weekend or a holiday.

6. ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT CAPITAL PROJECTS.

A. WASTEWATER

(1) Wastewater Plant Expansion - Update. Ms Frommer stated she had summarized the wastewater treatment plant project in her report and she would be happy to answer any questions. She stated she had provided a memorandum regarding the construction management SOQ’s dated November 16, 2007. She stated she and Mr. Drobina had reviewed the submissions and recommended the contract be awarded to URS. She stated of the six firms that submitted, five of them elected to submit only a letter requesting their last submittal be used in the scoring process. Mr. Hackworth stated he did not understand why we would be selecting a company without knowing what they were going to do and how much it would cost the City. He stated we had recently passed an ordinance allowing us to request bid amounts. Ms Frommer stated that ordinance was not in effect when this request went out, but we did request the firms that elected to submit a letter of interest include their hourly rates so we would have that information. She stated when we went forward in negotiating a contract we would have that information in hand. Mr. Hackworth stated he was not comfortable in voting on something that he did not have all the information on. Ms Gilleland stated it wasn’t necessary to vote on this tonight, but if anyone has any questions if they would get with either herself or Ms Frommer so something can be determined at the next meeting. Ms Frommer stated in reality this project will probably be submitted to the EPA for permitting purposes by the end of the year, so it is a matter of whether you want your construction manager to be involved prior to submittal for permit. Mr. Fix clarified the reason we would want the construction manager involved is to save on change orders down the road. Mr. Drobina stated the construction manager could recommend changes to the design engineer prior to the project going out for bid for construction. Ms Gilleland stated our engineer has recommended we get this firm on board as soon as possible. She stated the Committee could get a whole list of reasons and the functions of the firm, but the bottom line is it would be better for the City to get the firm on board sooner rather than later. She stated the process has been postponed several months already, but we are pushing it. Ms Frommer stated there is no contract that has been negotiated to act on this evening, it will take some time to negotiate a contract, and she would welcome the Committee’s feedback on what should be negotiated in scope wise and what you would rather not. Ms Gilleland stated she would anticipate next month that if the committee is comfortable with staff’s recommendation on the firm, we will take the following month to go through negotiations, discussion, and so on. Mr. Fix stated he thought everyone was comfortable with this firm and he would suggest, if the rest of the committee concurs, that we get to work on getting a contract. Ms Gilleland stated if the Committee wants to do anything tonight, it would be to give an okay to begin negotiations and talks with the leading firm. Mr. Fix stated he felt we would be much better off to have a proposal from that firm at the next meeting so everyone would know what we were talking about. Mr. Fix clarified that should negotiations with the leading firm not work out, then he understood we could go to the number two firm. Mr. Hackworth stated he did not have a problem with staff negotiating a contract, but he wanted to see a dollar amount. Ms Frommer stated the Committee’s concurrence tonight would just mean you were authorizing staff to negotiate what that dollar amount looks like and what contract terms look like, put that package together and submit it to the Committee next month, and then it could move forward after that. Ms Gilleland stated we did ask for their hourly rate so we are able to take a look at that as one of those factors. Mr. Fix clarified that everyone was clear with authorizing staff to begin negotiations with URS and provide information to the Committee at the December meeting.

B. TRANSPORTATION:

(1) Diley Road Improvements Project:

a. MORPC/ODOT Project – Update. Ms Frommer stated a pre-bid meeting was held last Wednesday, November 14^th, and the bid opening date is scheduled for 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 she had provided a document for final legislation, and the dollar amount is at issue. She stated ODOT has requested roughly $560,000 the City advance to them for the balance of what might not be covered by the SIB loan. She stated the question is whether or not the State Auditor’s Office credited the City’s SIB loan for the payment you made. Ms Frommer stated if they have, indeed, credited you, that $560,000 would not be there. She stated they have requested you forward the dollar amount prior to them opening the bids. Ms Frommer stated this doesn’t make sense unless there was a math error on the part of the State Auditor’s Office that you would owe this money. She stated she has not received an answer one way or another from them. She stated she received some documentation from the State Auditor’s Office, but she has not been able to complete review of that documentation. Ms Frommer stated she included in the packet the final legislation and the Committee can forward this matter to Council and forward the $560,000 to ODOT, which you may get back. She stated you may also effectively delay the project bid to allow enough time to have ODOT and the State Auditor’s Office concur with what, if anything, that dollar amount is. Ms Frommer stated it is a matter of if we want to delay the bid opening until this issue is ironed out or move forward under the likelihood that you may get the money back. Mr. Hackworth stated he did not see forwarding $560,529 with not knowing if we would get the money back, if there was a mistake, or whatever. Ms Frommer stated the accounting issue was that inadvertently a couple of invoices were sent in twice and ODOT paid them twice. She continued accordingly, you drew your SIB down lower than you should have, and recently you paid the difference back. She stated this should have pumped back up the amount of money left in the SIB loan, and until we can get their concurrence that that is the case, she did not have an answer for the Committee. Ms Gilleland stated ODOT understands our tight timeframe, but the best they can do is tell us there is still a possibility that the City owes another $560,000 on top of the $600,000 that you’ve already paid. Ms Gilleland stated Council will meet on December 4^th, so there could be a Special Service Committee meeting before Council and put it on the Council agenda that night. She stated that would not hold up the bid opening for ODOT. Ms Gilleland stated if the bid opening were delayed even a couple of weeks, it could then be delayed again, etc., and that would be the last fallback resort. She stated her recommendation would be to wait and see what happens December 4^th, and if the Committee is willing to have a special meeting and if need be, pass this on to Council on the 4^th. She stated if we do not owe the money we do not need to pass any legislation, she can sign the agreement without legislation. Mr. Hackworth clarified that Ms Frommer should know by December 4^th if we owe the money or not. Mr. Hackworth stated his concern was the length of time if might take ODOT to return the money if we do not owe it. Mr. Fix clarified that we should know within a matter of days if we owe the money or not. The Committee concurred they would be willing to have a special meeting on December 4^th if necessary.

C. WATER: No Report.

D. STORMWATER. No Report.

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

8. OTHER BUSINESS: No other business was brought forward.

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 8:35 P.M., November 19, 2007.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

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Lynda D. Yartin, Municipal Clerk