PICKERINGTON CITY COUNCIL

TUESDAY, AUGUST 5, 2008

CITY HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD

 

REGULAR MEETING AGENDA

7:30 P.M.

 

1.         ROLL CALL, PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE, AND INVOCATION. Council for the City of Pickerington met for a regular session Tuesday, August 5, 2008, at City Hall.  Mayor O’Brien called the meeting to order at 7:30 P.M.  Roll call was taken as follows:  Mr. Fix, Mr. Sauer, Mr. Smith, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Sabatino, and Mayor O’Brien were present.  Mrs. Sanders was absent due to vacation.  Others present were: Tim Hansley, Lynda Yartin, Linda Fersch, Chief Taylor, Ed Drobina, Phil Hartmann, Nick LaTorre, Miriam Segaloff, Rachel Scofeld, Carol Carter, Gavin Blair, Barry Cheney, Gary Weltlich, Jim Woods, Todd Cheney, Marvin Huhn, and others.  Mr. Huhn of Gods Way Church delivered the invocation. 

 

2.         A.        APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF JULY 15, 2008, PUBLIC HEARING REGARDING PROPOSED REZONING OF 430, 450, AND 460 HILL ROAD NORTH.  Mr. Sabatino moved to approve; Mr. Smith seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Wisniewski abstaining and Mr. Sabatino, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Smith, Mr. Sauer, and Mr. Fix voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 5-0. 

 

B.         APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF JULY 15, 2008, REGULAR MEETING.  Mr. Fix moved to approve; Mr. Smith seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Wisniewski abstaining, and Mr. Sabatino, Mr. Smith, Mr. Fix, Mr. Sauer, and Mrs. Hammond voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 5-0. 

 

3.         APPROVAL OF AGENDA.  Mr. Fix moved to approve; Mr. Smith seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Sauer, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Smith, Mr. Fix, and Mr. Sabatino voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 6-0. 

 

4.      COMMUNITY COMMENTS: 

 

A.        Carol Carter, Pickerington.  Mrs. Carter stated she would like to address the issue of recycling.  Mrs. Carter stated she would request Council members contact the Solid Waste District of which the City is a member and talk to them about the benefits to the City for participating in a recycling program. 

 

5.         APPROVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA:  Mayor O’Brien stated there no consent agenda items this evening.    

 

6.         COMMITTEE REPORTS:   

 

A.        FINANCE COMMITTEE.  Mrs. Hammond stated Finance Committee met on July 16th, and the minutes have been distributed.  She stated four items on tonight’s agenda came out of that meeting and she would address them as they came up on the agenda this evening.  Mrs. Hammond stated she would be happy to answer any questions.     

 

B.         SERVICE COMMITTEE.  Mr. Wisniewski stated Service Committee met on July 17th, and the minutes have been distributed.  He stated several residents were present at the meeting to comment on the rains we had at the end of July and the flooding that occurred in some basements, and he would like to thank the Service Department and staff for their efforts during that time frame.  Mr. Wisniewski stated we will be meeting with our law director to find out the City’s liability, if any, and there is still a lot of follow-up on this as yet.  Mr. Wisniewski stated there are several items on tonight’s agenda, most significantly the award of the contract for the wastewater treatment plant expansion project.  Mr. Wisniewski started he would be happy to answer any questions. 

 

C.        SAFETY COMMITTEE.  Mr. Smith stated Safety Committee met last night and had reviewed the bids for the refuse collection contract.  Mr. Smith stated the bids were opened yesterday morning, and Safety Committee looked at those bids during their meeting.  He stated Safety Committee has scheduled a public hearing for Wednesday, August 13, 2008, from 7:00 to 7:30 P.M., here at City Hall, for public comments.  Mr. Smith stated the public hearing would be followed by a Special Safety Committee meeting.  Mr. Smith stated the bids will be placed on the City’s website so all residents can look at them if they so desire.  He further stated he fully expected Safety Committee to recommend award of the contract for the next Council agenda.  He stated he would urge all the press members present this evening to publish the time and date of this public hearing. 

 

            REPORTS:

 

A.        MAYOR.  Mayor O’Brien stated the Monthly Mayor’s Court Report has been distributed.  Mayor O’Brien administered the oath of office to Sergeant Todd Cheney of the Pickerington Police Department.   

 

B.         LAW DIRECTOR.  Mr. Hartmann stated he had nothing to report, but would answer any questions. 

 

C.        FINANCE DIRECTOR.  Mrs. Fersch stated she would request three readings on the appropriation ordinances on tonight’s agenda as there are several items that need to be taken care of.  Mrs. Fersch clarified the second appropriation, Ordinance 2008-54, is for $10,000 to be set aside under the Public Information Category to be used to campaign for passage of the income tax issue. 

 

D.        SERVICE MANAGER.  Mr. Drobina stated he had three ordinances on tonight’s agenda, with the first being an agreement with Siemens Engery and Automation, Inc., for the purchase of additional equipment that will allow for the upgrade of our traffic signal system.  Mr. Sabatino clarified this was the second phase of the traffic signal project.  Mr. Drobina stated the second ordinance will authorize the City Manager to submit applications for Ohio Public Works Commission Grant Funds for two CIP projects.  Mr. Drobina stated the final ordinance would authorize the City Manager to enter into a contract with Reynolds, Inc., for construction of the wastewater treatment plant expansion.  Mr. Drobina stated the contractor has started connecting to the new water main and residents may experience discolored water while this is going on.  He stated further Diley Road should reopen for through traffic tomorrow evening.  Mr. Drobina further stated the culvert for Meadows Boulevard has been ordered and the delivery date is August 21st.  He stated he would answer any questions anyone might have.  

 

E.         CITY MANAGER.  Mr. Hansley stated he had submitted a written report and would be happy to answer any questions. 

 

8.         PROCEDURAL READINGS:

 

            A.        ORDINANCE 2008-50, “AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE 2008 APPROPRIATION, ORDINANCE 2007-85,” First Reading, Finance Committee.  Mrs. Hammond moved to adopt; Mr. Smith seconded the motion.  Mrs. Hammond stated the majority of the appropriation requests deal with the escalating gasoline costs.  She further stated she would like to clarify that the swimming pool is not losing money as indicated in the newspaper, and the appropriation tonight is simply for reimbursements for swimming lessons and pool memberships where people have changed their minds.  Mr. Smith further stated Safety Committee received a report last night that indicates the pool is above the business plan projection for revenue this year.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino, Mr. Fix, Mr. Smith, Mr. Wisniewski, Mrs. Hammond, and Mr. Sauer voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 6-0.  Mrs. Hammond moved to suspend the rules for the purpose of three readings; Mr. Fix seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Sauer, Mr. Smith, Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Fix, and Mr. Sabatino voting “Yea.”  Suspension of Rules passed, 6-0.  Second Reading.  Mrs. Hammond moved to adopt; Mr. Smith seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Smith, Mr. Fix, Mr. Wisniewski, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Sabatino, and Mr. Sauer voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 6-0.  Third Reading.  Mrs. Hammond moved to adopt; Mr. Smith seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Fix, Mr. Smith, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Sauer, and Mr. Sabatino voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 6-0. 

 

            B.         ORDINANCE 2008-51, “AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO CONTINUE MEMBERSHIP WITH THE CENTRAL OHIO RISK MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION FOR THE TIME PERIOD OCTOBER 1, 2008, TO SEPTEMBER 30, 2009,” First Reading, Finance Committee.  Mrs. Hammond moved to adopt; Mr. Smith seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Fix, Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Sabatino, Mr. Sauer, and Mr. Smith voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 6-0. 

 

            C.        ORDINANCE 2008-52, “AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND ORDINANCE 2007-81, THE EMPLOYEE PAY PLAN AND AUTHORIZED STRENGTH FOR 2008,” First Reading, Finance Committee.  Mrs. Hammond moved to adopt; Mr. Smith seconded the motion.  Mrs. Hammond stated this is the legislation to amend the authorized strength to add one temporary playground worker position as approved by a motion at the July 1, 2008, regular meeting.   Roll call was taken with Mr. Wisniewski, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Sabatino, Mr. Smith, Mr. Sauer, and Mr. Fix voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 6-0. 

 

            D.        ORDINANCE 2008-53, “AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT FOR THE ADAPTIVE CONTROL SOFTWARE LIGHT SIGNAL SOFTWARE CONTROLLER SYSTEM WITH SIEMENS ENERGY AND AUTOMATION, INC., AND WAIVING COMPETITIVE BIDDING,” First Reading, Service Committee.  Mr. Wisniewski moved to adopt; Mrs. Hammond seconded the motion.  Mr. Wisniewski stated this was the second phase of the ACS system and after it is complete we will have better flow through the City.  Mayor O’Brien stated Phase III of this will be developer driven, as lights are added due to development the developer will be responsible for paying for their portion to join the new lights on the system.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino, Mr. Fix, Mr. Smith, Mr. Wisniewski, Mrs. Hammond, and Mr. Sauer voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 6-0. 

 

            E.         ORDINANCE 2008-54, “AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE 2008 APPROPRIATION, ORDINANCE 2007-85,” First Reading, Finance Committee.  Mrs. Hammond moved to adopt; Mr. Smith seconded the motion.  Mr. Sauer stated this will permit the City to spend $10,000 of the taxpayer’s money to print and disseminate literature to try and convince the same taxpayers to vote to support to give the City more of their money by way of a higher tax rate.  He stated based on that he would oppose this ordinance.  Mr. Wisniewski stated there would be many people who would be taxed by this who do not live within our boundaries, and many people that work in our community that live somewhere else, it is not just taxing our residents.  He stated approximately 85 percent of our residents will not receive a tax increase.  Mr. Fix stated he felt it was important that any time an issue of this importance comes from the City government to go on the ballot that Council has a responsibility to inform the voters exactly what it is they are voting on.  Mr. Sabatino stated he respectfully disagreed that we need to tax our citizens at the two percent level.  He stated he did not feel taxpayer dollars should be used for this, that it would be more appropriate for a political action committee to get involved with this.   He stated he understood people had different opinions and questioned how we would effectively communicate the true recommendation of Council if we are only presenting the side that recommends approval.  Mr. Smith stated it is well established in case law that this is an appropriate and justified use of City funds subject to Council approval.  He further stated the overwhelming majority, estimated at 85 percent, of City residents work in another municipality and will see no increase in the taxes they pay.  He stated the largest impact will be on non-residents who work in the City.  Mr. Sabatino stated he feels we had the opportunity to give the residents more information by including the credit language in the ballot language, but it was determined not to do that.  Mr. Hansley stated he would like to clarify that this would be primarily an information campaign because of the complex issue of how the credit would be applied and so forth.  He stated we would be urging people to vote yes on this issue because it is a better deal than a property tax increase.  Mr. Fix stated the point of this legislation is to authorize the funds so we can present something to the public.  Mr. Wisniewski stated Council is approving funds to allow the City Manager to direct staff to perform this action.  He stated Council’s political views have no play in this, Council will not be looking over the wording and will not be working on it, Council is out of this.  Mr. Sabatino stated if all Council members agreed on this, he would agree, however, they do not.  Mrs. Hammond stated the majority of Council has come to the conclusion that this is necessary to keep the City functioning.  She stated, however, the purpose of putting this on the ballot is for the citizens to decide for themselves if they want to increase the income tax.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino and Mr. Sauer voting “Nay,” and Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Fix, Mr. Wisniewski, and Mr. Smith voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 4-2.  Mrs. Hammond moved to suspend the rules for the purpose of three readings; Mr. Wisniewski seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Sauer and Mr. Sabatino voting “Nay,” and Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Smith, Mr. Fix, and Mrs. Hammond voting “Yea.”  Suspension of Rules failed, 4-2. 

 

            F.         ORDINANCE 2008-55, “AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO APPLY FOR OHIO PUBLIC WORKS COMMISSION GRANT FUNDS FOR CIP WW-03 SYCAMORE CREEK EAST RELIEF LINE PHASE II (LOCKVILLE ROAD TO HILL ROAD) AND CIP SM-04 OLDE PICKERINGTON VILLAGE OUTFALL ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION,” First Reading, Service Committee.  Mr. Wisniewski moved to adopt; Mrs. Hammond seconded the motion.  Mr. Wisniewski stated these are two projects that have been on the books and we would like to submit applications for grant funds.  Mayor O’Brien clarified the EPA has recommended quite strongly that we need to do these two projects.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Wisniewski, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Sabatino, Mr. Smith, Mr. Sauer, and Mr. Fix voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 6-0.  

 

            G.        ORDINANCE 2008-56, “AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO ENTER INTO A CONTRACT WITH REYNOLDS, INC., THE LOWEST RESPONSIBLE BIDDER FOR THE WASTEWATER TREATEMENT PLAN EXPANSION PROJECT,” First Reading, Service Committee.  Mr. Wisniewski moved to adopt; Mrs. Hammond seconded the motion.  Mr. Wisniewski stated the City has been working on this project for the last several years.  He stated the original expansion project was halted as there was a lot of concern from Council regarding how the plant would be paid for, as it would have required 350 new homes a year to pay for it out of tap fees.  He stated that was not acceptable to both the citizens and Council at that time.  Mr. Wisniewski further stated after doing some value engineering on the plans, and re-engineering the project, the contract is before Council at this time.  He stated he hoped we could get this project started as the EPA is breathing down our neck.  Mr. Sabatino stated a week or so ago he had requested Mr. Drobina obtain information regarding this contractor and their experience, with their last five projects, such as did they come in under budget, were there change orders, etc.  He stated he has not received that information as yet and he would abstain until he receives that information.  Mr. Fix stated he hoped with all of the engineering done on this project there would not be to many changes.  Mr. Sabatino ascertained Mr. Drobina has the information and requested he provide it to all of Council.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino abstaining, and Mr. Fix, Mr. Smith, Mr. Wisniewski, Mrs. Hammond, and Mr. Sauer voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 5-0. 

 

            H.        ORDINANCE 2008-47, “AN ORDINANCE APPROVING THE REZONING OF PROPERTIES LOCATED AT 430 (0.68 ACRES), 450 (1.0 ACRES), AND 460 (0.908 ACRES) HILL ROAD NORTH FROM R-6 (RESIDENTIAL) TO C-3 (COMMUNITY COMMERCIAL),” Second Reading, Service Committee.  Mr. Wisniewski moved to adopt; Mr. Smith seconded the motion.  Mr. Wisniewski stated this involves three small properties on Hill Road that will be converting over to commercial and they will probably be marketed together as one lot.  He stated they will remain residential until such time as they are sold.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Smith, Mr. Fix, Mr. Wisniewski, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Sabatino, and Mr. Sauer voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 6-0. 

 

9.         LEGISLATIVE READINGS:

 

            A.        ORDINANCE 2008-45, “AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE CITY OF PICKERINGTON PERSONNEL POLICY AND PROCEDURES MANUAL TO ACCOMMODATE CHANGES IN CIVIL SERVICE INITIATED BY HOUSE BILL 187 AND TO INCORPORATE AN E-MAIL POLICY AND OTHER TECHNICAL CHANGES,” Third Reading, Finance Committee.  Mrs. Hammond moved to adopt; Mr. Smith seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Fix, Mr. Sauer, Mr. Wisniewski, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Sabatino, and Mr. Smith voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 6-0. 

 

            B.         ORDINANCE 2008-46, “AN ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTION 882.17 OF THE PICKERINGTON CODIFIED ORDINANCES TO PROVIDE A ONE HUNDRED PERCENT (100%) CREDIT ON THE FIRST ONE AND ONE-HALF PERCENT (1.5%) OF INCOME TAXES PAID TO ANOTHER MUNICIPALITY FOR THE INCOME TAX LIABILITY INCURRED UNDER CHAPTER 882, FROM A FIFTY PERCENT (50%) CREDIT ON THE LOWER OF THE TWO APPLICABLE TAX RATES ON THE INCOME TAXES PAID TO ANOTHER MUNICIPALITY,” Third Reading, Finance Committee.  Mrs. Hammond moved to adopt; Mr. Smith seconded the motion.  Mr. Sauer stated Mr. Smith and Mr. Wisniewski were correct, approximately 85 percent of the City ‘s residents would not see any change in their tax rate.  He stated that his concern was that from the information he has been provided it shows that a significant amount of revenue is able to be raised by providing a 100 percent credit to the residents, which means that a fair portion of that 85 percent could realize a tax cut and we could still raise enough revenue to pave our streets, pay our bills, pay down the Diley Road debt, and maintain our safety services.  He stated from his point of view, that is the most responsible way to go.  He stated with the current tax proposal with the current credit that is being proposed, there would be a $9.5 million more than the City would need to cover the projected deficit.  He stated with a 100 percent credit there would be between $3.7 million and $4 million.  He stated further the expense subcommittee has not completely finished its duties at this point.  He stated they have found potentially somewhere around $350,000 and $354,000 in potential savings, and those options are still there and seriously impact the bottom line of what they are looking at when talking about the credit we will provide.  He stated he would prefer to have this process complete before going forward without having sound numbers before him.  He stated he would prefer to see this delayed until they have done their due diligence with the expense side of this.  Mr. Sauer moved to Table; Mr. Sabatino seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Smith, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Wisniewski, and Mr. Fix voting “Nay,” and Mr. Sabatino and Mr. Sauer voting “Yea.”  Motion to table failed, 4-2.  Mayor O’Brien stated the Chairman of the Expense Subcommittee has indicated the expense review process is a strategic long term, on-going process; it is not something that is anticipated to be wrapped up completely before this went on the ballot.  Mr. Sauer stated he understood that, but he would like to have made sure all of the departments have been reviewed before going to the ballot saying we need “x” amount of dollars.  Mrs. Hammond stated she has attended the expense subcommittee meetings and the potential savings Mr. Sauer is talking about involves cutting services and personnel.  She stated she would prefer to look at other avenues before having to do that.  Mr. Sauer stated those potential savings, over a five-year period, would amount to a substantial amount of savings.  He stated he did not feel these savings involved cutting services but finding ways to be more efficient with the jobs that we have.  Mr. Wisniewski inquired if Mr. Sauer had that in front of him to share with everyone else, as he was making a statement about how much would potentially be saved but had no information to share with anyone else.  Mr. Wisniewski questioned if the expense subcommittee has looked at what our potential liabilities are on lawsuits that are sitting out there or the preannexation agreements that are out there, because those are potential expenses.  Mr. Wisniewski stated he felt we should take a conservative approach and prevent 85 percent of our residents having their taxes increased, and in two years look at it again and see if we can increase the credit.  Mr. Sabatino stated he thought the conservative approach was not to raise taxes any more than we have to and he felt a 1.5 percent increase is something we should consider.  Mr. Fix stated the expense subcommittee has spent a great deal of time reviewing the department budgets.  He stated if they enacted everything that has been considered, but not presented to the full Finance Committee; we would save roughly $350,000 a year.  He stated that would be cutting some services and outsourcing some services, and that would be a decision made by all of Council at the appropriate time.  Mr. Fix further stated even with those savings we still have $30 million in debt out there, and it needs to be paid at some point.  He stated he did not think it was responsible to have his children and grandchildren pay off those debts, and he felt it would be irresponsible to raise taxes only to the point to provide bare minimum services.  He stated he felt it was responsible of this body to ask the citizens to raise the taxes, 85 percent of which will not see an increase in their taxes, to the point that we can provide services that a city like this should provide, and pay down that $30 million in debt.  Not in 40 years, in 10 or 20 years, and he felt that was the responsible decision for this Council to make.  Mr. Sabatino stated his philosophy in dealing with debt is that you have your lifestyle that you maintain, which is based on the city’s basic operations, and if you do have a surplus of cash for one reason or another, that is the time that you address whatever recurring debt that you have.  Mr. Fix stated he felt it was responsible to give the voter’s their say and to suggest that if this passes the city will be rolling in money is a misrepresentation of the situation.  Mr. Sabatino stated it would be $1.1 million more than Mrs. Fersch indicated was what we needed.  Mr. Wisniewski stated as this is an ordinance of Council there is nothing preventing this from coming back, if there is some windfall down the road, of redoing this ordinance and changing the percentage.  He stated that is the good thing about it not being part of the ballot language, if Council feels we can give everyone a tax cut, it can come back through Council and we can do that.  Mr. Sabatino stated this is not just about saving money by cutting things, it is more about taking a look to see if we can do things in a more cost effective way.  Mrs. Hammond moved to call the question; Mr. Smith seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Sauer and Mr. Sabatino voting “Nay,” and Mr. Smith, Mr. Wisniewski, Mrs. Hammond, and Mr. Fix voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 4-2.   

 

10.       OTHER BUSINESS:  Mayor O’Brien stated he would call a Special Council meeting for Wednesday, August 13, 2008, at 7:30 P.M., for the purpose of a second reading on Ordinance 2008-54.  Mr. Sabatino stated that would be a conflict with the Special Safety Committee meeting.  Mr. Smith stated the public hearing could still be held at 7:00 P.M., and the Special Safety Committee would convene immediately following the Special Council meeting.    Mr. Smith stated the Municipal Clerk would make the appropriate notifications on all three of the meetings. 

 

11.       MOTIONS: 

 

            A.        MOTION FOR EXECUTIVE SESSION UNDER SECTION 121.22(G)(3), CONFERENCE WITH LAW DIRECTOR REGARDING PENDING OR IMMINENT COURT ACTION, AND SECTION 121.22(G)(2), PURCHASE OR SALE OF PUBLIC PROPERTY.  Mrs. Hammond moved for Executive Session under Sections 121.22(G)(2) and 121.22(G)(3); Mr. Smith seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Sauer, Mr. Smith, Mr. Fix, and Mr. Wisniewski voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 6-0. 

 

Council adjourned into Executive Session at 8:45 P.M., and reconvened in open session at 9:36 P.M.

 

12.       ADJOURNMENT.  There being nothing further, Mr. Smith moved to adjourn; Mrs. Hammond seconded the motion.  Mr. Fix, Mr. Smith, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Sauer, Mr. Sabatino, and Mr. Wisniewski voted “Aye.”  Motion carried, 6-0.  The meeting adjourned at 9:38 P.M., August 5, 2008. 

 

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED: 

 

 

_______________________________

Lynda D. Yartin, Municipal Clerk

 

 

ATTEST:

 

 

_______________________________

Mitch O’Brien, Mayor