CITY OF PICKERINGTON

SAFETY COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL

CITY HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD

MONDAY, APRIL 7, 2008

7:30 P.M.

 

REGULAR MEETING

 

 

1.         ROLL CALL.  Mr. Smith called the meeting to order at 7:30 P.M. with Mrs.  Sanders, Mr. Sabatino, and Mr. Smith present.  There were no members absent.   Others present were: Jeff Fix, Tim Hansley, Chief Taylor, Paul Lane, Don Phillips, Stacey Bashore, and others.

 

2.         APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF March 3, 2008, Regular Meeting.  Mr. Smith moved to approve; Mrs. Sanders seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mrs. Sanders, Mr. Smith, and Mr. Sabatino voting "Yea."  Motion passed, 3-0. 

 

3.         COMMUNITY COMMENTS.   There were none.

 

4.         COMMUNITY SAFETY CONCERNS:  Mr. Hansley reported that the City is continuing to work with the Violet Festival Committee and the schools on putting a street light in Victory Park.  Mr. Sabatino reported that he met with the City Manager and Code Enforcement regarding the Lake's Edge gate and there is a plan in place that will help lessen the propensity to flood.  He reported that there will be some work done with the retention pond.  

 

5.         DEPARTMENT REPORTS

 

            A.        Parks and Recreation:

 

                        (1)        Director's Report-  Mr. Carr stated he had provided a written report and would be happy to answer any questions.  Mr. Carr reported that 56 pool passes had been sold with most of them being family memberships.  He stated that approximately 700 passes were sold last year.  Mr. Carr stated that we should expect the amount of passes that we have sold to double before the price goes up.  He stated that we have retained the previous pool managers who are very knowledgeable in aquatics.   Mrs. Sanders stated that she had received several emails expressing disappointment in the City not offering day passes.  Mr. Hansley stated that we will have some limited day passes after June.  Mr. Sabatino clarified that day passes were not previously offered.  Mr. Carr clarified that we have continued the guest pass policy and we have also offered to the City residents a five visit pass that would be good July 1st through Labor Day.  He stated that was something we felt we needed to offer the residents other than a season pass.  Mr. Carr stated we will evaluate everything and report back to the Committee.   Mr. Smith asked about any interest for groups using the pool off hours and Mr. Carr stated we have scheduled one request for that.  Mr. Smith asked about any senior programs such as water aerobics and Mr. Carr stated we are looking into that.  

 

Mr. Smith stated there has been a lot of news reported over Joint Park Districts coming out of the Township.  Mrs. Sanders reported that she would be attending the meetings that the Township will be holding.   Mr. Carr stated that the meeting was regarding bike trails and one of the issues with bike trails through multiple jurisdictions is who maintains them.  He stated that Metro Parks has been able to work out with other jurisdictions that they maintain it when it is in close proximity to one of their parks.  Mr. Carr stated that the idea of Joint Park Districts was mentioned at the meeting and if we had that avenue it would help take care of the maintenance and coordination issues.  He stated that the Township Trustees said as of a result of a recent survey they had they were interested in discussing it.  Mr. Fix asked how far along it was in the process or was it just a conversation and Mr. Carr stated he determined it as a conversation at this point.  He stated that the Township will be having public hearings to discuss the merits of a Joint Park District.  Mr. Hansley stated this was a meeting we hosted, but was sponsored by a Township Bike path advocate to talk about long term bike path plans and we pointed out that we would be in favor of exploring the idea of Joint Park District.  He further stated that at this point they are only informational meetings.  Mr. Fix stated his concern would be that we would work in conjunction with the Township so that they cannot create a Joint Parks District on their own.  Mr. Hansley stated it would have to exclude the incorporated areas if they would.  Mrs. Sanders asked if the Township gave the impression they were willing to work with City Council and Mr. Hansley stated that they were.  Mr. Fix clarified that the Township and Schools could form a Joint Parks District.  Mr. Sabatino stated that one of the Township Trustees indicated to him that this was not a front burner project at this time. Mr. Smith asked if it could include Canal Winchester and Mr. Carr stated it is a possibility because there is nothing that precludes them.  Mr. Hansley stated as a reminder Canal Winchester approached us regarding the possibility of a joint indoor recreational center under that mechanism.  He stated that issue will not be addressed any time soon.     

                                   

            B.         Code Enforcement:  No report.  Mr. Smith requested that a monthly activity report be provided to the Committee.  Mr. Hansley stated that he would make sure that is provided.

                       

            C.        Building Regulations Department:

                       

                        (1)        Building Department Report (Mr. Lane)  Mr. Lane stated that he had provided a written report and would be happy to answer any questions.  There were no questions. 

           

                        (2)        Chief Building Official's Report (Mr. Phillips)  Mr. Phillips stated he had provided a written report and was open to any questions.  Mr. Smith stated that the yearly chart for the building permits was very informative.  Mr. Sabatino stated that the charts went along with what the BIA provided to us and showed us that we are the same as other markets.

 

            D.        Service Department:

 

                        (1)        Refuse collection contract bidding - Update.  Mr. Hansley reported that the bid documents are being finalized and will be going out for bid no later than mid-May.  Mr. Sabatino asked if there were any significant changes and Mr. Hansley stated that we picked up items from other recent bids and raised some of our insurance limits since it has been five years since our last bid.  He stated that we also sent out a survey with our most recent utility bill and they are coming back in good numbers and we will look at those to help guide us as we evaluate the recycling aspect.  

 

6.         POLICE:

           

            A.        Chief's Report- Chief Taylor stated he had provided a written report and would be happy to answer any questions.  There were no questions.

 

                        (1)  Review and discussion of traffic signal red light cameras.   Chief Taylor asked for guidance on where to go with the traffic signal red light cameras.  Mr. Smith stated the presentation completely changed his view of red light cameras and now he understands the process.  Mr. Sabatino stated that at some point in time if we decide to go down this road we need to have a specific proposal to evaluate.   Mr. Fix asked if we were to install the cameras how would that impact the manpower plan of each shift rather than having them police intersections.  Mrs. Sanders stated that was her question as well and wanted to know if it would impact how the officers' time was spent.  Chief Taylor stated that we would have more time to answer calls and provide our daily service.  He stated that anything we can come up with to add safety to the program is beneficial.  Mr. Fix asked how much of the officer's time would we gain by having the cameras at the intersections.  Chief Taylor stated we currently work traffic intersections approximately 50 hours a week and it would be eliminated if we had these cameras.  Mr. Fix clarified that there would be 50 hours that an officer would be out in the neighborhoods and answering calls.  Chief Taylor stated his main concern was not from a revenue standpoint, but from a safety issue.  Mr. Sabatino stated that the added benefit would be respect of the intersection and more stable situations.  Chief Taylor reported that it takes three officers to work the S.R. 204 and S.R. 256 intersection effectively.   Chief Taylor stated that the next step would be to draft a letter of intent from the City so they can survey the intersections to determine how many cameras would be necessary and what the share of revenue would be.  Mrs. Sanders asked if there were other companies that were similar to this and Chief Taylor stated that there were none that have judicial notice.  Mr. Smith stated his opinion based on the discussion was he didn't feel it was something that was needed in the immediate future.  Mr. Fix stated he didn't see any reason to wait and felt that this could be presented very positively to the community.   Mr. Sabatino stated that anything that could be potentially controversial would be controversial no matter when you decide to do it.   Mr. Sabatino clarified that if we issue a letter of intent it doesn't obligate us to anything, but it would bring back a specific proposal.  He stated that he didn't see where there was anything to lose by taking the next step.  Mr. Hansley stated that if the sense of Council was to proceed then a campaign would need to be done to explain why.  Mr. Smith asked if a public hearing would be appropriate before the proposal and Mr. Hansley stated that would be a policy decision by Council, but it may be better to wait to see what they are proposing before the public hearing.  Mr. Sabatino stated if we decide to move forward on it then we could work with the company to orchestrate how to educate the public.  Mr. Smith stated he was impressed with the fact that the data feed allows a police officer to make the decision based on the video.  Mrs. Sanders stated this would be another way to reassure people who are concerned about the City's growth that we are being aggressive about safety.  Mr. Smith clarified that a letter of intent could be available before the next Council meeting.  Mr. Fix added that we would also need to be ready for the press before then.     Mrs. Sanders made a motion to move forward to Council a letter of intent for red light camera surveys; Mr. Sabatino seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Smith, Mr. Sabatino and Mrs. Sanders voting "Yea."  Motion passed, 3-0.

                                               

7.         CHAIRMAN:  No report.

                       

8.         OTHER BUSINESS:    No other business was discussed.  

           

9.         ADJOURNMENT.   There being nothing further, Mr. Sabatino moved to adjourn; Mrs. Sanders seconded the motion.   Mrs. Sanders, Mr. Smith and Mr. Sabatino voted "Aye."  Motion carried 3-0.  The Safety Committee adjourned at 8:10 P.M on April 7, 2008.

 

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

 

 

 

                                                                       

Stacey L. Bashore, Deputy Municipal Clerk