SAFETY COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL

CITY HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD

MONDAY, AUGUST 4, 2008

 

REGULAR MEETING

7:00 P.M.

 

 

1.         ROLL CALL: Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino and Mr. Smith being present.  Mrs. Sanders was absent due to being on vacation.  Others Present were: Tim Hansley, Chief Taylor, Steve Carr, Don Phillips, Paul Lane, Stacey Bashore, Carol Carter, Susan Lent and others.

 

2.         A.        APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF July 7, 2008, Regular Meeting Mr. Sabatino moved to approve; Mr. Smith seconded the motion.    Roll call was taken with Mr. Smith and Mr. Sabatino voting "Yea."  Motion passed, 2-0.

 

            B.         APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF July 9, 2008, Special Meeting Mr. Sabatino moved to approve; Mr. Smith seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino and Mr. Smith voting "Yea."  Motion passed, 2-0.

 

3.         COMMUNITY COMMENTS: There were none.

 

4.         COMMUNITY SAFETY CONCERNS:  There were none.

 

5.         DEPARTMENT REPORTS

 

            A.        Parks and Recreation:

                        (1)        Director's Report- Mr. Carr stated he provided his written report and would be happy to answer any questions.  He reported that the pool season is coming to a close and he appreciated all of the help given to the Parks Department from other City departments.  Mr. Smith asked if the revenue would be over the conservative projections and Mr. Carr stated we may exceed what was projected from concession and pool pass sales and we are also planning a fall pool pass sale. Mr. Smith suggested looking into the Columbus Pool System when the weather is above 90 degrees for three days opening the pool to anyone.  Mr. Carr stated it would be something to consider and we plan to meet with our colleagues from Central Ohio to address issues and make decisions like that.  Mr. Smith expressed his appreciation to the City Manager and all of the departments that were instrumental in making the pool work well.  

 

            B.         Code Enforcement:

                        (1)        Code Enforcement Officer's Report - Mr. Smith stated the Committee had received the written report.   Mr. Hansley stated the Nuisance Abatement Board brought formal charges against the Exxon site and we believe that will encourage the owner to get things done.  He reported that the owner got approval from the bank to move ahead and get the project moving.  Mr. Sabatino stated he noted the grass mowing      complaints were back up again and he was glad that Code Enforcement was staying on top of things. Mr. Hansley stated that the Ordinance change that Council made late last year has been very helpful because now we can just post the site and after that is ignored then we can mow it. 

 

            C.        Building Regulations Department:

 

                        (1)        Building Department Report-  Mr. Lane stated he had provided his written report and would be happy to answer any questions.  Mr. Sabatino clarified that the year to date totals for impact fees reflects more commercial than residential activity.  He stated that shows the benefit of dealing with commercial projects. Mr. Sabatino asked if there was any residential activity and Mr. Lane stated there have been a few permits picked up for single family homes and we have reviewed eight in the past month.

 

                        (2)        Chief Building Official's Report- Mr. Phillips stated he had provided his written report and would be happy to answer any questions.  Mr. Sabatino stated that the graphs say it all. 

 

            D.        Service Department

                        (1)        Review and discussion regarding on-street parking during a snow emergency-  Mr. Drobina reported that he and Mr. Hansley are still working on it and hoped to have a draft ready for the next Safety Committee meeting in September.

 

6.         POLICE:

 

            A.        Chief's Report - Chief Taylor stated he had provided a copy of his written report and would be happy to answer any questions.  Mr. Sabatino stated he was concerned with the steady number of stolen vehicles and wanted to know if there was something going on.  Chief Taylor stated there was nothing that he could put his finger on regarding stolen cars.  Mr. Smith stated that he hoped the Violet Festival will take the Chief's recommendations into consideration for next year.  Mr. Hansley reported that the Violet Festival Committee was meeting and we sent them a copy of the concerns for their considerations. Mr. Sabatino clarified that the activity report was typical of a typical Violet Festival.

 

7.         CHAIRMAN:

 

            A.        Review and request for motion to recommend award of the refuse collection contract.  Mr. Drobina reviewed the bid tabulation charts with the Committee.  (Attachment 1 to these minutes)  Mr. Drobina stated that staff will need to review bid specifications to make sure everything is complete.  Mr. Smith stated that the Committee could call a special committee meeting to move it on to Council. Mr. Sabatino asked if there was one low bidder that was consistent across the board and Mr. Hansley stated that was the problem based on which combinations of option you choose. Mr. Wielinski stated he represented Rumpke and requested that when the fuel surcharge is figured in it be figured in at the current rate.  The Committee agreed to hold a public hearing followed by a Special Safety Committee meeting on August 13 to discuss the recommendation and get community comments.

 

            B.         Review and discussion regarding Section 618.015 of the Pickerington Codified Ordinances relating to dangerous and prohibited animals.  Mr. Smith stated we have asked the law director to come up with recommendations and we will continue this to the next Safety Committee.  Mr. Sabatino stated he understood that the law director was charged with this task last month and Mr. Hansley stated he would speak with him tomorrow to see where he was at on it.  Mr. Hansley stated that we received a call from a neighbor to an individual with snakes complaining about the smell.  He stated that under our current ordinance there isn't much we can do.  Mr. Sabatino stated he remembered some discussion regarding noises and odors but he didn't recall whether Council had adopted an ordinance on it.  Mr. Smith stated we are not trying to write an ordinance aimed at any one individual and the previous ordinance was declared unconstitutional based on two grounds so the Law director is looking into that.  Mr. Sabatino stated we are doing our due diligence based on other complaints because it addresses an issue we need to do a better job of dealing with.

 

8.         OTHER BUSINESS:  Mr. Smith reminded everyone that the next Safety meeting will be on September 8 due to the Labor Day Holiday. 

 

Mr. Sabatino stated he received a few phone calls from people in PYAA who are objecting to the arrangement that has been made with the group that broke away from them.  He stated that their opinion is it may be viewed as an inside deal and it should be made available equally to everyone. Mr. Smith stated PYAA is a private organization that is not subject to City oversight and we have limited impact.  Mr. Hansley stated he went through the agreement that was reached at the staff level with Mr. Sabatino and he had checked with Mr. Carr on the past practices of the City for scheduling City owned fields. Mr. Hansley stated the past practice was a staff scheduling and negotiation.  He stated in January there is a meeting to reschedule any fields due to conflicts in scheduling and we have fields that are somewhat underutilized and the scheduling is on a first come first serve basis.   Mr. Hansley stated there is no other group waiting in line to be scheduled on the fields so our goal was to get kids playing on the fields.  He stated they will be maintaining the fields and running the programs.  Mr. Sabatino stated he was not inferring that it was Safety Committee's function to schedule fields and in the past Mr. Carr had advised the Committee when he had made arrangements for parties to utilize the fields.  He continued that he was under the impression that the Committee would see a copy of the tentative agreement and that is why he was concerned with getting back a deal that was final.  Mr. Hansley stated that past practice has been that we scheduled the fields and let Council and the Committee know that we did.  Mr. Sabatino stated he didn't want anyone to think that he was part of any deal to arrange for something that is not done in the pure light of day so this was just for an FYI. 

 

Mr. Drobina reported that Diley Road should re-open on Wednesday, August 6th.  Mr. Sabatino stated he received a lot of complaints about the water truck from people who have been behind it. Mr. Drobina reported that the recycling dumpster that was at Sycamore Park has been relocated and there is a sign there to let people know where it has been moved to.    

 

9.         ADJOURNMENT  There being nothing further, Mr. Sabatino moved to adjourn; Mr. Smith seconded the motion.   Mr. Smith and Mr. Sabatino voted "Aye."  Motion carried 2-0.  The Safety Committee adjourned at 8:15 P.M on August 4, 2008.

 

 

 

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED

 

 

 

                                                           

Stacey L. Bashore, Deputy Municipal Clerk