THURSDAY, MAY 8, 2008

REGULAR MEETING

7:30 P.M.

1. ROLL CALL. Mr. Wisniewski called the meeting to order at 7:30 P.M., with Mr. Wisniewski and Mr. Sauer present. Mrs. Hammond arrived at 7:35 P.M. Others present were: Mayor O’Brien, Mike Sabatino, Jeff Fix, Tim Hansley, Lynda Yartin, Ed Drobina, Jennifer Frommer, Brenda VanCleave, Nick LaTorre, Deb Chuvalas, Fred Holmes, and others.

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF April 10, 2008, Regular Meeting. Mr. Sauer moved to approve; Mr. Wisniewski seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Sauer and Mr. Wisniewski voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 2-0.

3. COMMUNITY COMMENTS: No Community Comments.

4. DEVELOPMENT:

A. Development Director’s Report. Mr. Hansley stated he had submitted a written report and he would be happy to answer any questions. Mr. Hansley stated we are still working on getting the Exxon site cleaned up and if something does not happen, we may be convening the Nuisance Abatement Board.

(1) Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance to authorize all action necessary to affect an Opt-Out Natural Gas Aggregation Program pursuant to Section 4929.26 of the Revised Code. Mr. Hansley stated Mr. Fred Holmes of Volunteer Energy was present this evening to give the Committee an overview of what this program is and what this would accomplish. Mr. Holmes stated Ms Chuvalas is also present and she is an energy specialist at Volunteer Energy. Mr. Holmes stated natural gas aggregation is where the community goes together and buys natural gas for their citizens. He stated this is for citizens who are with Columbia Gas not the citizens who have chosen to participate in the Customer Choice program. He stated this program must be put on the ballot and approved by at least 50 percent of the voters. Mr. Holmes stated normally communities go through an energy broker and a fee is given back to that broker every year. He stated they wanted to do it a little differently, and they have developed what they call community reinvestment. He stated if the community goes through their company rather than a broker, they give back so many cents per thousand cubic feet of natural gas. He stated he has checked with the City’s attorney and he cannot just give the City this money to go into the General Fund, so they would specify in the contract that the funds must be used for matching grant funds. Mr. Holmes stated he was sure the City of Pickerington did Issue II, CDBG, Clean Ohio, and all of those grant programs require anywhere from a 10 to 50 percent local match. He stated you would receive these funds every year the city is in the program. Mr. Holmes stated their cost savings for the consumer is anywhere from 5 to 15 percent and they currently have three pricing programs. He stated these programs are a fixed price, a monthly variable market price which is the same that Columbia Gas is on, and also this year they are offering a guaranteed cost savings where they guarantee the cost to be a certain percentage below Columbia Gas, and that percentage depends on the market. Mr. Holmes stated Volunteer Energy is willing to work with the City, have public hearings to answer questions, etc. He further stated after this is passed on the ballot, the City must negotiate a management plan with a company and if you cannot negotiate a management plan that you feel is in the best interest of your citizens, you do not have to do this. He stated, however, if you do not put this on the ballot and pass it, you are not able to do this. He continued that by putting it on the ballot and passing it, it put Council in the best negotiating position for your citizens. Mr. Holmes stated when you are with a utility you have to pay gross receipts tax and when you go to a private supplier, that changes to sales tax. He stated in the guaranteed percentage program the savings depends on what your local sales tax is. Mr. Wisniewski questioned if this was something the residents would choose to do or would it be across the board and if they now have Columbia they would then have Volunteer Energy. Mr. Holmes stated everyone that is not with a supplier would go into the Volunteer Energy Program. He stated they would be given an opportunity to opt out at the beginning and then every two years they are required to send a card giving them the opportunity to opt out of the program. Mr. Holmes stated in the programs they currently have, they are averaging less than one of the percent of the people who choose to opt out. He stated they also have an opt in program where people can voluntarily sign up. Mr. Sabatino clarified that for residents that are in a customer choice program, they need to fulfill their obligation under that contract. Mr. Sabatino further clarified this program would apply to residential and some small businesses. Mr. Wisniewski stated he did not see a down side to putting this on the ballot for the voters to consider. Mr. Wisniewski further clarified if this passed at the ballot, it would be Council who would negotiate the contract and make the determination for all city residents whether it was the fixed, the variable rate, or whatever. Ms Chuvalas stated Volunteer Energy would provide Council with the best information in order for them to choose the best program for the citizens. She stated further they would also send out letters to all the residents to explain the program to them. Mrs. Hammond moved to approve the draft ordinance and forward it to Council; Mr. Wisniewski seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Wisniewski, Mrs. Hammond, and Mr. Sauer voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.

5. PLANNING AND ZONING DEPARTMENT:

A. Planning and Zoning Director’s Report. Mr. Hansley stated Mr. Schultz was not able to be here tonight, but he had provided a written report to the Committee and he had no action items on tonight’s agenda.

(1) Planning and Zoning Representative Report. Mr. Sauer stated Planning and Zoning Commission will meet next week.

(2) Review and discussion of development process. Mr. Wisniewski stated this would be continued on the agenda.

B. ACTION ITEMS: None.

6. 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. Wisniewski asked if Mr. Drobina had completed the research on what we had done during the last sewer back up. Mr. Drobina stated he had completed that and we hired an independent adjuster and he went around and looked at everyone’s damage and came up with the cost. He stated he had just received the information from the last resident today and he has sent all the information to the adjuster and he will get back with him on Monday. Mr. Drobina stated there were four homes involved in the back up. Mr. Drobina stated he had also attended a Debris Management meeting and the Fairfield County Emergency Management Agency would like all the communities to have a Debris Management Plan in case there is a tornado or some type of disaster. He stated the purpose of the Plan is so everyone is prepared and knows where debris would be taken, etc. He stated if Council adopts a Plan and there is an emergency, we would receive 85 percent back rather than 75 percent. Mr. Drobina stated he has met with Mr. Bob Clark from the County and Greg Butcher of the Township, and we are talking about doing a joint plan, Pickerington and Violet Township. Mrs. Hammond stated at the Township Trustees meeting last night this subject came up and one of the Trustees asked Mr. Butcher to speak with Canal Winchester about this also. Mr. Drobina stated he would get back with Mr. Butcher to follow-up what they are doing. Mr. Drobina stated W.E. Stilson is in the process of putting together the design and bid specs for Phase II of the ACS Lite Project. Mr. Fix clarified that with the ACS project we will get software at certain strategic locations in the signal system that will receive data from the cameras that were mounted and then adjust on a certain cycle the timing of the traffic signals. Ms Frommer stated this will allow for a more efficient progression through the corridor, but it will not improve the capacity. Mr. Fix stated this was a lot of money to get from one end of town to the other 20 seconds faster. Ms Frommer stated she understood his concern and it would take about a week or so, but she would get some quantification of measurable improvements. She stated many variables such as weather, events, etc., come into play, but certain assumptions on main line traffic volume can be made. Mayor O’Brien stated another couple of benefits from this project are that the loops in the road will be eliminated and instead of three programmed cycles a day, there will be 24/7 constant on-going monitoring so it will adapt to all traffic events. He further stated he has been working with representatives to get a meeting set up with Mr. Hansley and someone from ODOT to discuss the possibility of getting the Far East Freeway Study raised from a Tier 2 back to a Tier 1 project. He stated part of the commitment City to work with them on this is finishing the ACS system that will demonstrate that we are taking the steps necessary to move the traffic north/south as efficiently as possible to show we are getting them to the freeway we just can’t get them to move on the freeway. Mr. Wisniewski stated if nothing else, this system will help our flow and once this is completed it is out of our hands as far as trying to get traffic to move more quickly through the City. Ms Frommer stated this is not a new concept, it is new technology, but it was identified in the 2005 signal system report that was performed. Mr. Wisniewski inquired with regard to the red light cameras, did this system control the length of the yellow or was the length of the yellow a predetermined factor in software. Ms Frommer stated it would not change the time; it will still be a standard amount of time that the yellow will be on. Ms Frommer stated the length of time of the yellow varies by signal and Mr. Wisniewski stated he would like to know the length of time for the yellow light and what the length of our various intersections are. He stated he would like to know what exactly running a red light means; at what point in the intersection does the car have to be through in order for it not to be a red light. Mrs. Hammond stated she thought the length of the yellow light would have an effect on the driver’s reaction time. Mayor O’Brien stated before this Committee addresses or studies any speed limit issues on that part of Hill Road he would respectfully ask that they wait until the ACS system is completed. Mr. Wisniewski stated they had no intention of doing anything until that system is completed.

(2) Staff Engineer’s Report. Ms VanCleave stated she had provided a written report to the Committee and she would answer any questions. Mr. Sabatino stated Ms VanCleave references septic systems and questioned if we know how many septic systems are in use in the City. Mr. Drobina stated he did not have that information with him but he could get it and forward it to the Committee. Mayor O’Brien stated we did an inventory when we offered them a chance for a special assessment to tap in. Mrs. Hammond stated she thought it was somewhere between 40 and 70. Mr. Wisniewski stated with the red light camera issue they will provide some date. He stated, however, Ms VanCleave had collected information regarding traffic accidents at intersections, and questioned how broken down that information was. He stated he would like to see information regarding rear-end collisions in a monthly breakdown of the number of accidents per intersections. Ms VanCleave stated she would do a spreadsheet with that information. Mr. Wisniewski clarified this information was from 2003 through 2006.

Mr. Sabatino stated he had an engineering question with regard to the people that had flooded basements and questioned if the total remedy for the Lakes Edge Lift Station has been completed. Ms Frommer stated ODOT has just approved the change order for the work to put the last link in that connector, which is the force main out of the lift station to the gravity area. She stated that work will probably be started and finished within the next few months and then the only work that will need to be completed under the CIP project for this year is the additional pump that needs procured in the D-Line station and pulling all the guts out of the Lakes Edge station, fill it up with stone and put a concrete cap on it. Mr. Sabatino clarified this project should be complete within the next six months.

B. ACTION ITEMS: No action items.

7. ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT CAPITAL PROJECTS.

A. WASTEWATER

(1) Wastewater Plant Expansion - Update. Ms Frommer stated at the last meeting the status of the construction plans from the design team was discussed at length. She stated she received final plans at about 4:00 P.M. today and she has not had a chance to look at them to determine if they are final or not. She stated she met with Kerry Hogan of URS and Dave David of DLZ on April 23^rd and talked at length about the outstanding items including the sand filter option and that has since be added to the plans. She stated she would start reviewing the plans tomorrow morning and in the next few days she should be able to concur that these are a final set and we are ready to bid or not. Ms Frommer stated as soon as the plans are final and we have a good cost estimate we will be going to the loan application for the project and that will require some action by this Committee. Mr. Wisniewski clarified the decision on the sand filter will be a cost decision. She stated the design team is recommending the disc filters, but in the absence of a guarantee that will come in within the budget, we needed some insurance and the rehabilitation of the existing sand filters are significantly less expensive. Mr. Wisniewski questioned who would make that decision and Mr. Drobina stated the bids would have the two different types of media, one to repair what we have and one with the disc filters. Mr. Drobina stated in the bid they were going to include three days of training on the sand filters, so if we do go with the sand filters we will have a good training included so we know they are taken care of properly. Mr. Wisniewski stated we are hoping we are looking at $10 million or less and Ms Frommer stated the current cost estimate submitted from the designer about a week ago, with the disc filter option was $9.3 million. She stated the estimate they have put forth with the sand filter option is at $8.0 million. Mr. Sauer stated if the disc filters were able to be installed and still comes under budget, he assumed that would be the direction that the majority would want to go. Ms Frommer stated she felt that was a safe assumption, and the designer and plant operation staff would prefer the disc, but she will want to make sure before the decision is made that the information on the on-going costs to work the plant is also provided. Mr. Wisniewski inquired where Stilson was in relation to their contract through the end of the year and Ms Frommer stated Stilson has a three-year contract with the City and we are in the second year. She stated each year had a different dollar amount with each one being around $30,000. She stated to date this year they have billed about $16,000 and she did not anticipate going over the $30,000 this calendar year.

B. TRANSPORTATION:

(1) Diley Road Improvements Project:

a. MORPC/ODOT Project – Update. Ms Frommer stated she has not been able to get the master schedule from ODOT as yet. She stated utility work is on going and the project is proceeding quite nicely. She stated soon as she gets the schedule she will let the Committee know what to expect in the upcoming months. Ms Frommer stated she will also be preparing a monthly summary of the project costs for the Committee.

C. WATER: No Report.

D. STORMWATER. No Report.

8. CHAIRMAN.

A. Discussion regarding Contract Exclusion List. Mr. Wisniewski stated he had a discussion with Jennifer Readler of our law firm and this is something she does not think we should try and incorporate into our Code. Mr. Wisniewski stated this item could be removed from the agenda.

9. OTHER BUSINESS: Mr. Sabatino stated he would like to have a discussion in the interest of good government. He stated his comments are not meant to criticize any particular person, but he felt as illustrated in the handling of the DLZ contract we did not have enough safe guards in place to protect the interests of the City to ensure a timely performance. Mr. Sabatino distributed copies of two invoices he had received from Mrs. Fersch. Mr. Sabatino stated the first invoice is from W.E. Stilson in the amount of $5,400 and the second is from DLZ for $276,000. He stated the first invoice is approved by two individuals and the second is approved by only one person. Mr. Sabatino stated he believed when dealing with a project of this scope we need to have better checks and balances in place than what is currently demonstrated with this situation. Mr. Sabatino stated this procedure was in place before Mr. Hansley came here, but ultimately it is the City Manager’s responsibility to see that the City operates with good business practices, which relates to protecting the taxpayer dollars. Mr. Sabatino stated he just didn’t see how an invoice of $276,000 was approved when we were well aware that the work was not 95 percent complete as purported in that invoice. Mr. Wisniewski stated he thought the work was 95 percent complete; it was just 95 percent complete with 28 pages of comments. Mr. Sabatino stated in paying this invoice the City lost a considerable amount of leverage to ensure that if things didn’t go any further awry than they have. He stated the purpose of this discussion is to ensure that in the future when we have a significant contract like this that we have some sort of checks and balances in place to make sure that we do not cut lose a $276,000 check just based upon if there is money left on the purchase order. He stated we absolutely need to have some type of way of ascertaining we are receiving what we are paying for before we pay for it. Mr. Hansley stated by the contract the Service Manager is the City’s representative and the law director had provided a memo to Council regarding his review of the contract. Mr. Sabatino stated his point was we need some type of checks and balance system because how do we justify requiring two signatures on an invoice for $5,400 and only one signature to approve a $276,000 invoice. He stated there should be a sense of priority and a set of procedures to make sure things are handled appropriately. He stated in his opinion the ultimate responsibility likes with the City Manager to ensure that is done. Mr. Sabatino stated he knew Mr. Hansley did not set this procedure up, it was done by the former City Manager, but in going forward he would hope that he would instill some type of checks and balance in place that would preclude this happening in the future. Mr. Hansley stated he would make that commitment and Mr. Sabatino’s point is well taken. Mr. Sabatino stated perhaps this should be some type of policy or procedure that Finance Committee may want to look at just to ensure that we are doing things that best protect the citizen’s money.

10. ADJOURNMENT. There being nothing further, Mr. Wisniewski moved to adjourn; Mrs. Hammond seconded the motion. Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Wisniewski, and Mr. Sauer voted “Aye.” Motion carried, 3-0. The Service Committee adjourned at 9:10 P.M., May 8, 2008.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

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Lynda D. Yartin, Municipal Clerk