SAFETY COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL
REGULAR
MEETING
7:00
P.M.
1. ROLL CALL. Mr. Sabatino called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M., with roll call as follows: Mr. Sabatino and Mrs. Sanders were present; Mr. Smith arrived at 7:06 P.M. No members were absent. Others present were Mayor O’Brien, Cristie Hammond, Tim Hansley, Lynda Yartin, Chief Mike Taylor, Ed Drobina, Steve Carr, Paul Lane, Terry Sweany, Tim Kelly, Andrea Kelly, and others.
2. A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF October 6, 2008, Work Session. Mrs. Sanders moved to approve; Mr. Sabatino seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mrs. Sanders and Mr. Sabatino voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 2-0.
B. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF October 6, 2008, Regular Meeting. Mrs. Sanders moved to approve; Mr. Sabatino seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino and Mrs. Sanders voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 2-0.
3. COMMUNITY COMMENTS: There were no community comments.
4. COMMUNITY SAFETY CONCERNS: Mr. Sabatino ascertained there were no community safety concerns this evening.
5. DEPARTMENT REPORTS:
A. Parks and Recreation:
(1) Director’s Report. Mr. Carr stated he had provided a written report and he would be happy to answer any questions. He stated he would like to update the Committee on the Victory Park playground project as well. Mr. Carr stated some playground equipment was put in the ground today and will have equipment for both tots and older children. He stated by utilizing City crews we have achieved approximately a 45 percent cost savings, and he is confident the project will be complete this month if we do not have any weather problems.
B. Code Enforcement:
(1) Code Enforcement Officer’s Report. Mr. Sabatino ascertained there were no questions on the Code Enforcement Officer’s report.
C. Building Regulations Department:
(1) Building Department Report (Mr. Lane) Mr. Lane stated he had provided a written report and he would be happy to answer any questions anyone might have.
(2) Chief Building Official’s Report (Mr. Phillips) Mr. Lane stated he would be happy to answer any questions on Mr. Phillips’ report.
D. Service Department:
(1) Review and discussion regarding restricting right turns on red at S.R. 256 and S.R. 204. Mr. Sabatino stated this was referred back to Committee at Council and we are waiting for some input from ODOT before determining what we are going to do at this intersection. He stated he would request this remain on the agenda for the next meeting.
6. POLICE:
A. Chief’s Report. Chief Taylor stated he had provided his report to the Committee and he would be happy to answer any questions. Chief Taylor stated the reimbursement for the bulletproof vests should be about $4,000. Mr. Smith clarified all of our officers have the new vests. Mr. Fix inquired if there was an explanation as to why burglaries and stolen vehicles have already surpassed last year’s totals. Chief Taylor stated this is picking up all over Central Ohio. Mayor O’Brien stated the DARE graduation was scheduled for December 19th at 7:00 P.M., and unfortunately that is the night of the Finance Committee meeting so Council would not be able to attend, but he would be happy to pass along any comments anyone might have.
7. CHAIRMAN:
A. Review and discussion regarding proposed amendments to Disturbing the Peace ordinance. Mr. Smith stated everyone had received a mark-up copy of the proposed ordinance in their packets. He stated he has still has not heard back from the City Prosecutor or Police Chief with their comments on this ordinance, and he felt everyone was in agreement that these individuals should have input into the ordinance. Mr. Smith stated very little of our current ordinance has changed and is very close to what our legal counsel considers best practice in other communities they surveyed as well. He stated he would not proposed that this be voted out to Council until the comments from the prosecuting attorney and the Chief are received. Mrs. Sanders stated she was curious to know if this would make more work for our police force, or if they felt it would help the situations that might arise. Mr. Fix ascertained we were expecting the comments from the Chief and prosecuting attorney in written form.
Mayor O’Brien stated he could provide some information since today was Mayor’s Court and the prosecutor and Magistrate were both here and the Chief was in the building so we got together to discuss this issue. Mayor O’Brien stated their comments were very similar on how they would look at this. He continued that the draft ordinance states the complaints will come from “neighbors” plural, because we want to make sure that before a call is answered that the complaints come in from more than just one person. Mayor O’Brien stated the draft ordinance is very subjective and it might need to be worked on a little more to make it more objective. He stated everyone recognized the need to probably purchase decibel measuring equipment for each cruiser and train the officers how to use it to objective exactly the noise level and then we will have to set a noise level that would be a violation; like a speed limit. Mr. Smith stated this Committee has given Council guidance as there were two ways to go, one was subjective and the other was objective. He stated Council was recommending subjective to prevent that added expense and say that it is a standard recognized as law and practice. Mayor O’Brien stated the prosecutor concurs with the Chief that there must be more than one neighbor making a complaint to avoid getting the Mayor’s Court involved in civil matters that are neighbor versus neighbor disputes. He stated she agreed this is a good start and that we would need to buy decibel-measuring equipment for the cruisers and train the officers. Mayor O’Brien stated the Magistrate, who has dealt with this in other cities, stated we need much more objective standards as other noise ordinances have been court tested and some have been voided for vagueness. Further, the possibility exists right now to face constitutional challenges on it, specifically the times listed as to what time frames constitute violations.
Mrs. Hammond stated having read through the draft ordinance several times, she could not support it the way it is written right now. She stated she felt some of the language should be looked at from a different perspective because in some neighborhoods a distance of fifty feet would put you in the neighbor’s living room. She stated she felt that needed to be relaxed a little bit. Mr. Sabatino stated he concurred with the Mayor in making sure we had something the prosecutor agreed with because if we can’t prosecute violators we are only wasting our time. Mr. Smith stated he agreed and that is why this Committee had asked this to be coordinated with the prosecuting attorney for their input. Mayor O’Brien stated the overwhelming sentiment was that this was a good work in progress but that work should continue because we want to make sure that staff is not put into the position of determining whether it is code enforcement, law enforcement, or court. Mr. Smith stated he agreed and what opened this up is when the prosecutor informed the Chief that our ordinance is not enforceable. Mr. Smith stated he would like to have this remain on the agenda for the next meeting.
8. OTHER BUSINESS. No other business was brought forward.
9. ADJOURNMENT. There being nothing further, Mr. Sabatino moved to adjourn; Mrs. Sanders seconded the motion. Mr. Sabatino, Mrs. Sanders, and Mr. Smith voted "Aye." Motion carried, 3-0. The Safety Committee adjourned at 7:24 P.M., November 3, 2008.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:
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