WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2008

REGULAR MEETING

6:30 P.M.

1. ROLL CALL. Mrs. Hammond called the meeting to order at 6:30 P.M., with roll call as follows: Mr. Sabatino, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Fix, Mr. Sauer, and Mr. Wisniewski were present. Mr. Smith was out of town and Mrs. Sanders was absent due to a prior obligation. Others present were Mayor O’Brien, Tim Hansley, Lynda Yartin, Linda Fersch, Ed Drobina, Steve Carr, Greg Chamblin, Dan Heitmeyer, Jim Woods, Carol Carter, and others.

2. A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF November 12, 2008, Special Meeting. Mr. Sabatino moved to approve; Mr. Fix seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Wisniewski abstaining, and Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Fix, Mr. Sabatino, and Mr. Sauer voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 4-0.

B. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF November 19, 2008, Regular Meeting. Mr. Fix moved to approve; Mr. Sauer seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Wisniewski abstaining, and Mr. Sauer, Mr. Fix, Mrs. Hammond, and Mr. Sabatino voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 4-0.

Mrs. Hammond stated she understood Mr. Greg Chamblin of the Violet Festival Board was present and would like to address the Committee.

Mr. Chamblin stated he was present representing the Pickerington Violet Festival and he would like to ask that the support to the Violet Festival be considered an investment to the community. He stated he would like to make sure that this Committee considers what the Festival brings to this community. He stated the estimated attendance at the Festival is approximately 40,000 and if one percent of that number is from out of town, that means 400 people come into town, spend some money, and learn what this community is all about. Mr. Chamblin stated he felt that added a huge value to the Festival and to the community. Mr. Chamblin further stated at the last festival three of the local news stations came and interviewed individuals and put the community in a very good light. Mr. Chamblin stated he understood the proposal was on the table for sponsoring the July 4^th festivities and he certainly supported that, however, he did feel that the Violet Festival means a great deal to the City and this Committee should consider the image that it presents. Mr. Chamblin stated he would be happy to answer any questions anyone might have. Mr. Fix questioned if Mr. Chamblin meant there were 40,000 unique users at the last festival and Mr. Chamblin stated he did not. He stated the crowds were estimated by the Police Department and he was sure that some of them were there more than one day. Mr. Fix further clarified that the Chamber of Commerce has never provided any financial contribution other than purchasing a spot in the tent, advertising in the brochure, or something to that effect. Mr. Fix questioned if the Festival Board had considered charging admission to the big events and Mr. Chamblin stated they have, it is an option; however, it would take some logistics to secure that area. He stated they had charged admission to the beer garden this past year.

3. FINANCE DEPARTMENT.

A. Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance amending the 2008 appropriation, Ordinance 2007-85. Mrs. Fersch stated the Committee had received a draft appropriation ordinance, however, she had distributed an amended one this evening. She stated she did not find out until late this afternoon that the police department wanted to spend the money they received from the vehicle auction. Mrs. Fersch stated the majority of the appropriations were end of year adjustments, and in the General Fund, Finance Department, she was requesting an increase for income tax refunds, and she was also requesting an increase of $75,000 for attorney fees for the Diley Road project. Mr. Sabatino stated based on information Mrs. Fersch had provided, this $75,000 would bring the total close to $300,000 in attorney fees for Diley Road. Mrs. Fersch stated ODOT has been very slow in providing our reimbursement, but we will eventually get the money from them. Mr. Sabatino clarified that Mrs. Fersch may not need the entire $75,000 but she did not want to be short. Mrs. Fersch stated once the final bills are paid on the eminent domain cases she will provide a recap of everything that was done. Mrs. Fersch stated the Committee had also received a draft appropriation ordinance for the advance of funds in the 2008 Budget for a $100,000 advance to the Diley Road Widening Fund. She stated if these funds are not needed they will not be transferred, but she just wanted to ensure we could meet the deadline for payments that our law director has indicated. Mr. Wisniewski moved to approve and forward both the amended draft appropriation ordinance and the advance of funds ordinance to Council; Mr. Fix seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Fix, Mr. Sabatino, Mr. Wisniewski, and Mr. Sauer voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 5-0.

Mrs. Fersch stated the Committee had also received a draft Resolution creating a Stormwater Construction Fund. She stated she will need this in February so when we borrow the money for the culvert and the outfall it needs to be put in a separate fund for tracking purposes and this will create that fund. Mrs. Hammond moved to approve and forward to Council; Mr. Fix seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Fix, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Sauer, and Mr. Sabatino voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 5-0.

Mrs. Fersch stated she had also provide a draft Resolution of items appropriated in the 2009 budget. She stated the Auditors require that even though Council appropriates the transfers we need to have a document at the beginning of the budget year that states what we can transfer up to. Mr. Fix moved to approve and forward to Council; Mr. Sauer seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Fix, Mr. Sabatino, Mr. Wisniewski, and Mr. Sauer voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 5-0.

Mrs. Fersch stated she had spoken with US Bank and we were able to lock in our rate for our police lease on December 31 at 2.35 percent. She stated we have never had a rate that low on this lease.

4. CHAIRMAN:

A. Review of 2009 Budget. Mayor O’Brien stated this will be covered later tonight in the Work Session, but he would encourage Council to think back to when the question was asked if the City Manager had a budget he could live with, and he said yes, he did. Mayor O’Brien stated there have been two readings on the budget that he can work with and he did not feel Council needed to make any more changes at this point in time. He stated further he has spoken with staff and several Council members and he would like to propose that next year Council have quarterly budget workshops. He stated by meeting quarterly it would allow course corrections or projections to plan for the 2010 budget with more current data. Mr. Hansley stated to continue to make cuts to the budget that the Manager can work with now, he felt would put an undue burden on him to perform at the level of service needed. Mr. Hansley stated he agreed with the Mayor, and the budget as submitted with the hiring freeze continuing and the adjustments made to get to this point, he believed we could get through all of 2009. Mr. Hansley stated further he also felt it would be beneficial to at least at the half-way mark, if not at the quarter-mark, to make sure we are in touch with revenues compared to expenses. Mr. Hansley stated a decision must be made in 2009 as to how to get us through 2010 if we still face a revenue shortfall. Mr. Hansley stated with the budget as balanced and presented will allow us to get through 2009 assuming a normal level of attrition of additional positions and some of the other assumptions that have been made. Mr. Sabatino clarified there would be an increase in our obligation for Diley Road in 2010. Mrs. Fersch stated in 2010 we will be paying the full amount of the approximately $700,000 based on the total borrowing of $7.5 million. Mrs. Fersch stated we will not be paying that full amount in 2009, but it may be between $500,000 to $600,000 that we would have as a debt payment. She stated that has already been programmed into the budget submitted. Mr. Sabatino stated as he understood it then, in 2010 we will be paying more on Diley Road than in 2009. Mr. Wisniewski stated it is hard to tell because we don’t know how much borrowing we will have by the end of 2009, however, we are looking at somewhere between a $150,000 to $200,000 increase in 2010 over 2009. Mr. Sauer questioned if there would be discussion on some of the changes brought up at the last meeting regarding the annual budget. Mrs. Fersch stated out of the reductions totally approximately $43,000 suggested by Mr. Sauer; staff had determined they could live with $27,750 of them. Mr. Hansley stated Council can, by motion, accept the changes Mr. Sauer had suggested and staff had agreed to, and those adjustments would be made to the budget. Mr. Sabatino stated in reviewing the suggested reductions it appeared these were funds that might not be spent anyway. Mr. Wisniewski stated he would not agree with that at all because, for example, the funds for mowing are funds that are used every year. Mr. Wisniewski further clarified the budget that has already been voted on does not contain the suggested reductions. Mrs. Hammond stated with regard to the mowing, the area by the interstate is the first area people see when coming into the City and she felt it should look well groomed. Mr. Sabatino stated he also thought that is something that should be kept up because we don’t want to present an unkempt look coming into the City. Mr. Hansley stated another issue that needs to be resolved is whether we do nothing on the Fourth of July or do a modified program with the Township. Mr. Hansley stated the budget as presented has zero for the Fourth of July, so Council can add the entire thing back in or a portion of it or whatever they determine. Mayor O’Brien stated the laser light show that was discussed is not practical because we do not have anywhere to project that. Mr. Wisniewski stated his preference would be to leave the budget as it is, without reinstating the fireworks, Violet Festival, Dog Warden, or the suggested reductions. Mr. Fix stated he concurred with Mr. Wisniewski and these issues have been discussed and voted on. Mr. Sauer stated he would just like to clarify that he was just trying to find a way to preserve the Fourth of July celebration and the landscaping was just an area that jumped out at him. He stated it just seemed to him like the Fourth of July was more of a priority than mowing the grass. Mrs. Hammond stated she also hated to see the Fourth of July cut because with things being as difficult as they may get people are going to want to stay closer to home on the holiday and it would have been nice if we could have offered the fireworks display. Mr. Sabatino stated he felt if we were going to cut those types of things, some type of consistency would be in order. Mr. Hansley stated in the absence of a motion, the budget stands as presented at this point. Mrs. Hammond verified the general consensus is that the budget that has had two readings at Council is the budget we will go with.

5. OTHER BUSINESS: No other business was brought forward.

6. MOTIONS:

A. Motion Regarding Fairfield County Board of Health. Mr. Hansley stated he had requested this motion at the last Council meeting so it was not needed this evening.

7. ADJOURNMENT. There being nothing further, Mr. Sabatino moved to adjourn; Mr. Fix seconded the motion. Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Fix, Mr. Sabatino, Mr. Sauer, and Mr. Wisniewski voted "Aye." Motion carried, 5-0. The Finance Committee adjourned at 7:15 P.M., December 10, 2008.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

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Lynda D. Yartin, Municipal Clerk