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. Sauer, Mrs. Sanders, and Mr. Sabatino were present. No members were absent. Others present were Tim Hansley, Lynda Yartin, Chief Mike Taylor, Don Phillips, Steve Carr, Brenda VanCleave, and others.
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF April 22, 2009, Regular Meeting. Mr. Sauer moved to approve; Mrs. Sanders seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino, Mrs. Sanders, and Mr. Sauer voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.
3. COMMUNITY COMMENTS: There were no community comments.
4. COMMUNITY SAFETY CONCERNS: Mr. Sabatino stated the Township Trustees have requested the City deal with the complaints from the neighbors of Doolin’s Pub, and hopefully after the meeting tonight Mr. Hansley will be able to send a response to that letter.
5. DEPARTMENT REPORTS:
A. Parks and Recreation:
(1) Director’s Report. Mr. Carr stated he had provided a written report to the Committee and he would be happy to answer any questions. Mr. Carr stated the update on the Fourth of July celebration is that we have signed a fireworks contract, we have hired a band, the high schools have been notified for their marching bands, we have a parade coordinator lined up, we sent letters to the vendors we cut loose back in January and we have received checks from four or five of those vendors. Mr. Carr stated the ride company we have worked with during the past few years for the kiddie rides was no longer available, however, he was helpful in getting another company for us. Mr. Carr stated with regard to the swimming pool, we are somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 to 425 pool passes. He stated we sold 680 last year so we have a way to go, but we had people buying passes last year after the pool opened and we are scheduled to open this next Saturday.
Mr. Carr further stated we still have four park benches to install at the Victory Park playground and some safety signage was delivered today and will be installed as soon as possible. Mr. Carr stated further the community garden plots have opened up and we have about a dozen people who have signed up. He stated we have somewhere between 40 to 50 plots, and we donated two plots to an Eagle Scout for his project of raising food for the Food Pantry, and we also donated two plots to the Fairfield County Community Garden Group and they also raise food for people that participate in that program as well as food pantries throughout the county.
B. Code Enforcement:
(1) Code Enforcement Officer’s Report. Mr. Sabatino stated the Committee had received a written report from the Code Enforcement Officer and ascertained there were no questions regarding this report.
C. Building Regulations Department:
(1) Building Department Report (Mr. Lane) Mr. Phillips stated Mr. Lane had provided a written report and he would be happy to answer any questions.
(2) Chief Building Official’s Report (Mr. Phillips) Mr. Phillips stated he had provided a written report and he would be happy to answer any questions. He stated he has also provided some suggestions for amending Section 1444 of the Codified Ordinances with regard to contractor registration. Mr. Phillips stated the fee schedule would also be amended to reflect these new registration requirements. Mr. Hansley stated if the Committee concurred with the suggested amendments we would bring a draft ordinance back to the next Safety Committee meeting. Mr. Sabatino ascertained there were no questions and this would be added to the agenda for the next meeting.
D. Service Department:
(1) Review and discussion regarding restricting right turns on red at S.R. 256 and S.R. 204. Ms VanCleave stated she had spoken to Mr. Bosch at ODOT and he indicated the study was complete and his recommendation will be that we can install a “No turn on red” sign, however, he requested we wait until he can provide us with a formal response in writing. Mr. Sabatino stated he hoped we would have that letter by the next meeting and he would continue this on the agenda.
Mr. Sabatino stated at the last Safety Committee meeting an issue regarding speeding on Stemen Road was discussed and the engineer has looked at this situation and is attempting to have some dialogue with the County Engineer. He stated he hoped we would have a final recommendation 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. Mrs. Sanders clarified the upgrade on the SMART trailer would be a computer package that would allow us to collect data such as the time of day speeding occurs, the number of cars, etc. Mr. Sabatino clarified we own the SMART trailer; we do not share it. Chief Taylor stated he had provided the information as Safety requested, and it would be something good to have but not something that is necessary to have. Mr. Sabatino stated if we get all of the information together we might have people who would like to make donations toward the purchase of this.
Mr. Sauer ascertained that the increase in breaking and entering is typical for this time of year and questioned if there was anything the City could do to help alleviate some of this or to increase awareness. Chief Taylor stated officers attend civic association meetings, etc., to try and educate homeowners and businesses on things they can do to prevent this. He stated his officers do find unlocked cars or garage doors at night and they try to remind everyone to make sure their cars are locked and garage doors closed. Mr. Sabatino stated perhaps something could be included in the utility bills just to remind everyone to lock their cars, close garage doors, and that type of thing. Mr. Hansley stated he would get with the Chief and Mr. Drobina about getting this included in the utility bills in June. Chief Taylor stated he also plans on putting a reminder on the marquee in front of the police station.
7. CHAIRMAN:
A. Review and discussion regarding complaints about noise from Doolin’s Pub. Mr. Sabatino stated a group had attended Council and voiced their complaints about the noise coming from this establishment, and they had also attended a Violet Township Trustee meeting and voiced their complaints. He stated as a result of that, the Township had written to the City and requested a written response on what we were doing to respond to this situation. Mr. Sabatino stated the Chief of Police has also spoken with both of the business owners and Mr. Sauer has also spoken to one of the owners.
Mr. Sabatino stated Chief Taylor has a log of the responses they have made to Doolin’s Pub that he will make available to the Committee members, and Chief Taylor stated since January they have responded to the area of Doolin’s Pub 20 to 25 times for one reason or another. He stated those responses may or may not have been regarding the pub itself, but could have been due to an accident outside, a fight, a drunk, loud motorcycles, loud music, and that sort of thing. Mr. Sabatino stated Mr. Sauer had questioned how our new ordinance that deals with noise interfaces with this situation. Mr. Sauer clarified that when we have issues of this nature, that ordinance does give the Chief the ability to do what they needed to do. Chief Taylor stated he had spoken with one partner of Doolin’s Pub and he had provided him with a copy of that ordinance. He stated he also made him aware of the number and type of calls they have had since the first of the year, and he was assured they are taking measures to fix the problem. Chief Taylor stated he had also made some recommendations, such as attending the Mingo Civic Association meeting and to address the motorcycle noise issue with his patrons at closing time as that seems to be when the noise picks up. Mr. Sauer stated he felt the best solution was to let the pub owners try and work this out with the neighbors.
Mr. Jeff Roederer stated he is one of the owners of Doolin’s Pub and he was very surprised when he heard about this about a month ago. He stated he did not want the label of a motorcycle bar because they are not, there are patrons that ride bikes, and he makes it very clear they are not a motorcycle bar. Mr. Roederer stated most of the people that come to his bar and ride bikes are business professionals, people of the community, and are not the typical biker that people think of. Mr. Roederer further stated the one individual that has complained about the motorcycle noise shares a driveway with a neighbor that has three motorcycles in their garage and they come in late at night. He stated he doesn’t know if his customers are getting blamed for some of their noise, but he has tried for the past two weeks to let his customers know that when they leave they shouldn’t be revving their engines or whatever, because there are homes right there. Mr. Sabatino stated he has read where a bar has been cited for noise and each citation carries a monetary fine. He stated how we interpret if there is a noise issue is by what our ordinance says, and our ordinances says if you can hear it at a certain distance and people call and complain about it, that starts the threshold. Mr. Sabatino stated since there is a petition signed by 40-some people, it is apparent it is not an isolated incident and now that the pub owner knows there is an issue, the question is how they deal with it. He continued if they say what they say they are going to do that is the end of this discussion, and if they do not, then the police department will take care of it. Mr. Roederer stated he wants to fix the problem and he will do what he can to do that. Mr. Sabatino stated hopefully, Mr. Roederer understands the seriousness of this issue and our police will not have to respond again. Mr. Hansley stated as apparent by the fact that the people who had attended the Council meeting were not present this evening, whatever adjustments that have been made seem to have worked. He stated if they continue with whatever they did, this may be the last we hear about it. Mr. Roederer assured the Committee he wanted to resolve this issue. Mr. Sabatino clarified that Mr. Hansley had the information he needed to respond, in writing, to the Violet Township Trustees as requested.
8. OTHER BUSINESS. No other business was brought forward.
9. ADJOURNMENT. There being nothing further, Mr. Sauer moved to adjourn; Mrs. Sanders seconded the motion. Mr. Sabatino, Mrs. Sanders, and Mr. Sauer voted "Aye." Motion carried, 3-0. The Safety Committee adjourned at 7:40 P.M., May 20, 2009.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:
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