PICKERINGTON CITY COUNCIL

TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 2009

CITY HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD

 

 

REGULAR MEETING

7:30 P.M.

 

1.         ROLL CALL, INVOCATION, AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE. Council for the City of Pickerington met for a regular session Tuesday, June 16, 2009, 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. Smith, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Sabatino, Mrs. Sanders, and Mayor O’Brien were present.  Mr. Wisniewski arrived at 7:31 P.M. and Mr. Sauer was absent as he was on vacation.  Others present were: Lynda Yartin, Linda Fersch, Ed Drobina, Phil Hartmann, Chief Mike Taylor, Carol Carter, Susan Bogan, and others. 

 

2.         A.        APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF JUNE 2, 2009, PUBLIC HEARING REGARDING REZONING OF 77 W. CHURCH STREET.  Mr. Fix moved to approve; Mr. Smith seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Smith, Mr. Fix, and Mrs. Sanders voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 5-0. 

 

B.         APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF JUNE 2, 2009, REGULAR MEETING.  Mr. Sabatino moved to approve; Mr. Fix seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino, Mr. Smith, Mr. Fix, Mrs. Hammond, Mrs. Sanders, and Mr. Wisniewski voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 6-0. 

 

3.         COMMUNITY COMMENTS.

 

A.        Carol Carter.   Ms Carter stated she would like to thank Cristie Hammond for helping her do some plantings in town and to also thank Mrs. O’Brien for her donation of some of the plants.  Ms Carter stated she hoped everyone would enjoy the plants in the park. 

 

4.         COUNCIL COMMUNICATIONS.  Mr. Sabatino stated the individuals from Volunteer Energy Services had called to say they would be out of town tonight, but if anyone had any questions if they would let Mrs. Yartin know she can forward that to Volunteer Energy.     

 

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

 

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

 

7.         REPORTS:   

 

A.        MAYOR.  Mayor O’Brien stated he had attended the District Advisory Council meeting last night and they did not have a quorum, and discussion on the City’s contract with the Fairfield County Board of Health was on the agenda for that meeting.  Mr. Sabatino inquired if there was any discussion about scheduling a meeting to discuss the City’s contract and Mayor O’Brien stated the agenda called for the next meeting to be September 21, 2009, however, the Chairman strongly emphasized that the next regularly scheduled meeting is in January 2010, and there would be no meetings prior to that. 

 

B.         LAW DIRECTOR.  Mr. Hartmann stated he had no report this evening and he would be happy to answer any questions.   

 

C.        FINANCE DIRECTOR.  Mrs. Fersch stated she had no report this evening.

 

D.                             D.        SERVICE MANAGER.  Mr. Drobina stated he would like to notify Council that the $425,000 stimulus money he was assured we would receive would not be forthcoming.  He stated we a new list came out last week and we did not make the funded list.  Mr. Drobina stated our project dropped from 60 to 428 on the final list.  He stated Ordinance 2009-28 on tonight’s agenda for a third reading is for the project that these funds would be used for and he would recommend Council not pass that ordinance.  Mr. Fix requested Mr. Drobina find out how much stimulus money the City of Lancaster was receiving.  Mayor O’Brien stated Columbus has announced they would be paving Tussing Road from Brice Road to their corporation limits 2009.  Mr. Drobina stated that was correct and the limits were to the new paved area to the west side of the bridge. 

 

E.         CITY MANAGER.  Chief Taylor stated Mr. Hansley is on vacation but he had provided a written report.  He stated he would try to answer any questions anyone might have.  Mr. Wisniewski stated he did have a question regarding the Violet Festival.  He stated Mr. Hansley’s report had indicated that they had paid $2,000 of their bill from last year and he would like to know how much they still owe from last year’s bill.  Chief Taylor stated he wasn’t sure, but he felt it was a lot more than $2,000.  Mr. Wisniewski stated he was wondering why we would approve the festival when the agreement clearly stated last year that they would pay the police overtime at the end of last year’s festival.  He continued that now we were getting another promise about them paying the rest of last year’s bill and this year’s bill at the end of this year’s festival when we didn’t receive the money as promised last year.  Mrs. Sanders clarified that last year was the first year they were billed for the overtime.  Chief Taylor stated their permit has not been approved as yet and it had a long way to go before it was approved.  Mr. Wisniewski stated he was prepared to make a motion at the end of Council regarding that.  Mayor O’Brien stated his comments were very similar to Mr. Wisniewski’s, and he had the number of $5,200 owed for last year and an estimate of $6,000 for this year.  He stated his question was more if we had something signed, sealed, notarized, with a guaranteed payment date and everything.  He stated if they are not paying last year’s bill he would like to see everything in writing before we go forward, something the law director could hold them to. 

 

F.         FINANCE COMMITTEE.  Mr. Fix stated Finance Committee met on June 3rd and the ordinance on the gas aggregation program on tonight’s agenda came from that meeting.  He stated he would answer any questions. 

 

G.        RULES COMMITTEE.  Mr. Smith stated Rules Committee also met on June 3rd, and had discussion regarding the evaluation process of Council employees.  He stated Mr. Hansley would be providing a process for Rules Committee to review and forward to Council.  He stated they had also scheduled a Special Rules Committee for June 22nd to interview candidates for the vacancy on the Parks and Recreation Board.   

 

8.         PROCEDURAL READINGS:

 

            A.        ORDINANCE 2009-32, “AN ORDINANCE TO APPROVE THE PLAN OF OPERATION AND GOVERNANCE FOR THE CITY OF PICKERINGTON’S NATRUAL GAS AGGREGATION PROGRAM,” First Reading, Finance Committee.  Mr. Wisniewski stated this is the follow-up to choosing Volunteer Energy Services for our natural gas aggregation program.  He stated Finance Committee chose to go with the natural gas aggregation program having a fixed savings associated with it of ten percent off of the Columbia Gas bill at this time.  He stated they had chosen the very conservative route.  Mr. Fix moved to adopt; Mr. Wisniewski seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mrs. Hammond, Mrs. Sanders, Mr. Fix, Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Sabatino, and Mr. Smith voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 6-0.  

 

            B.         ORDINANCE 2009-31, “AN ORDINANCE TO AUTHORIZE THE CITY MANAGER TO PURSUE A NATURAL GAS AGGREGATION PROGRAM WITH VOLUNTEER ENERGY SERVICES, INC.,” Second Reading, Service Committee.  Mr. Wisniewski moved to adopt; Mr. Fix seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mrs. Sanders, Mr. Smith, Mr. Fix, Mr. Wisniewski, Mrs. Hammond, and Mr. Sabatino voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 6-0. 

 

            C.        ORDINANCE 2008-90, “AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT FOR PARTICIPATION IN THE REGIONAL COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS FOR THE PURPOSE OF UTILIZING THE REGIONAL INCOME TAX AGENCY TO ADMINISTER AND ENFORCE THE CITY OF PICKERINGTON’S INCOME TAX ORDINANCES,” Second Reading, Finance Committee.  (TABLED, 12/16/08)

 

            D.        ORDINANCE 2009-22, “AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO ENTER INTO A CONTRACT FOR HEALTH SERVICES WITH THE FAIRFIELD COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH FOR 2010,” Second Reading, Finance Committee.  (TABLED, 05/19/09)  Mr. Fix moved to remove from the Table; Mr. Sabatino seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Smith, Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Sabatino, Mrs. Hammond, Mrs. Sanders, and Mr. Fix voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 6-0.  Mr. Fix stated this ordinance contained the provision that we would have an answer from the District Advisory Council by June 30th, and it is clear that is not going to happen.  He stated he would move to adopt this ordinance and urge his fellow council members to vote this down tonight.  He stated later in the meeting he would be making a motion to authorize the City Manager to begin work with Franklin County Board of Health for health services.  Mr. Fix moved to adopt; Mr. Sabatino seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Smith, Mrs. Sanders, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Sabatino, Mr. Wisniewski, and Mr. Fix voting “Nay.”  Motion failed, 0-6. 

 

9.         LEGISLATIVE READINGS:

 

            A.        ORDINANCE 2009-28, “AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO APPLY FOR AND ACCEPT GRANT FUNDS FROM THE AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT OF 2009 (ARRA) THROUGH THE WATER POLLUTION CONTROL LOAN FUND (WPCLF) FOR THE PURPOSE OF CONSTRUCTING THE SYCAMORE CREEK EAST RELIEF LINE, PHASE II (CIP PROJECT #WW-09),” Third Reading, Finance Committee.  Mayor O’Brien stated the Service Manager had indicated he would like this legislation to go away so a motion with no second should take care of that.  Mr. Fix stated he felt it was tremendously disappointing that our City got no stimulus funding whatsoever and he felt we should find out who around us got what, what the process was, and where we failed or where other governmental leaders in our area failed us.  Mr. Fix moved to adopt.  Motion died for lack of a second. 

 

10.       DISCUSSION.  Mr. Fix stated he would like to thank the members of the Fairfield County Board of Health for their efforts to try to continue the relationship with the City of Pickerington, and he was extremely disappointed with the District Advisory Council.   

 

Mr. Wisniewski stated with regard to the Violet Festival he felt we should definitely recoup all of our costs from last year, plus get a good faith effort something toward this year before approve any permitting.  Mr. Wisniewski stated there was a clear agreement that they would pay for the police overtime at the end of the festival last year.  Mrs. Hammond stated she also recalled the discussion that we would not approve this year until last year’s bill was paid.  Mayor O’Brien stated there are two parts to this, one is the permit to sell beer and the second is the rest of the Festival; to permit them to close streets for the parade, etc.  Mayor O’Brien further stated the money owed is for police overtime for the festival and for the beer garden.  Mr. Sabatino inquired, for a legal standpoint, if we had any potential issues.  Mr. Hartmann stated he was not sure if the permitting process can be held up and he would like to have the opportunity to look into this, and discuss it with Mr. Hansley.  Mr. Smith stated he was not sure we had any obligation at all to approve any permit.  Mr. Sabatino stated his question would be regarding the change in the way we are doing permits.  He stated it was not done by ordinance but was done administratively and he did not know how that interfaced with whatever standing we have.  Mr. Hartmann stated he would look into it and get back to Council hopefully within the next few days.  Mr. Sabatino stated Mr. Hansley’s report states they agreed to pay last year’s bill and he wanted to know if that was in writing, if it was verbal, and if verbal by whom, etc.  Mr. Smith stated the fact that they paid $2,000 is evidence that they have an obligation to pay something.  Mr. Fix questioned if there was a motion last year that they would pay, is there a written agreement somewhere, or what.  Mr. Wisniewski stated without Mr. Hansley being here we can’t answer these questions, but he felt the Chief could take the questions back to the City Manager.  Mr. Fix questioned how we wanted to handle this because our next meeting is not until July 7th.  Mr. Hartmann stated he just needed to speak with staff and understand the background and he should be able to e-mail an answer to Council within the next couple of days.  Mr. Sabatino stated he would like to know what type of agreement we had, between whom, concerning last year’s fees before he would be able to vote on this.  Mr. Fix asked Mr. Hartmann to include that information in his e-mail. 

 

11.       REFERRAL TO COMMITTEE.  Mayor O’Brien stated he had received a letter late this afternoon with some complaints by the owner of Brookview Village Center, concerning getting permits processed, how long it takes, and some other questions.  He stated this is a Service Committee issue so they would be provided a copy of this letter for discussion at Service Committee tomorrow evening. 

 

12.       OTHER BUSINESS. 

 

            A.        PRESENTATION BY GOVERNING DYNAMICS REGARDING CITIZEN SURVEY RESULTS.  Mayor O’Brien stated if there were no objections, he would handle the Motion section of the agenda and then come back to the presentation. 

 

13.       MOTIONS: 

 

            A.        MOTION TO SCHEDULE PUBLIC HEARINGS TO ALLOW CITIZENS A CHANCE TO VOICE ANY QUESTIONS/CONCERNS REGARDING THE CITY’S PROPOSED NATURAL GAS AGGREGATION PROGRAM FOR JULY 7, 2009, AT 7:00 P.M. AND JULY 21, 2009, AT 7:00 P.M.  Mr. Fix moved to schedule the two public hearings as stated; Mr. Sabatino seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mrs. Sanders, Mr. Fix, Mr. Smith, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Sabatino, and Mr. Wisniewski voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 6-0. 

 

Mr. Fix moved to authorize the City Manager to engage Franklin County Board of Health to provide health services to the City of Pickerington; Mr. Wisniewski seconded the motion.  Mr. Smith stated he felt we could make our relationship with Fairfield County work and it has become clear that will not happen this year so he had no problem now supporting this motion.  Mayor O’Brien stated there is the possibility there was no quorum at the DAC meeting last night as their attorney had given a verbal opinion that the DAC was advisory and had no control over the Health Department.  Mr. Sabatino stated the fact that Franklin County uses their District Advisory Council as part of their process, they have done many communities for a good while, and they seem to have a process that works and a working relationship with their DAC.  He stated he felt we would be foolhardy to take an opinion that doesn’t seem logical.  Mr. Smith stated further this opinion is not in a physical form at all.  Roll call was taken with Mrs. Sanders, Mr. Fix, Mr. Smith, Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Sabatino, and Mrs. Hammond voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 6-0. 

 

Council recessed at 8:05 P.M. and reconvened in open session at 8:15 P.M.

Mayor O’Brien introduced Ms Susan Bogan of Governing Dynamics regarding the citizen survey results.  Mayor O’Brien stated this information will be discussed in greater detail at the Council retreat in July. 

 

            Ms Bogan stated the survey was done between May 21st and June 2nd and they contacted 300 registered voters through a telephone survey.  She stated there was a margin of error for the survey of 5.7 with a 95 percent confidence.  Ms Bogan stated the survey began with questions on how the individual felt about the state of America, the state of Ohio, and then moved to questions regarding the City of Pickerington.  Ms Bogan reviewed the survey results and stated she would answer any questions.  She stated some of the positive responses they received were that it was a good school system, good town, good infrastructure, good police, and even the economy.  She stated the negatives were that taxes were to high, wasting money, and housing market.  Mr. Hartmann clarified that if on the initial question if things were going in the right direction and the response was 63 percent, then the next question of why they believed this was based on that 63 percent.  Ms Bogan stated if the respondent said things were going in the right direction, they were asked why; if they said things were going in the wrong direction, they were asked why.  Ms Bogan also stated when asked what the residents felt the top priority for Mayor and Council should be they responded bringing jobs and business to the City, holding down City spending, controlling the area’s growth and development, improving traffic congestion, and fighting crime.  Ms Bogan stated they had included three departments in the survey and those were police, public service, and parks and recreation.  Ms Bogan stated they had also asked if the residents wanted more festivals and the response was 75 percent that they did not want any more festivals.  She stated, however, when asked if they approved of Council reinstating the Fourth of July festivities the response was 82 percent that they did approve.  Mrs. Hammond stated however, the question was did they approve of the City sharing the expense with the Township, not did they approve of the City reinstating it, so that did not really give an accurate answer.  Ms Bogan stated when asked if the residents would support or oppose an income tax increase 60 percent were opposed and 33 percent supported it.  She further stated the question was asked if an election were held today for an income tax increase would they support it and 63 percent said no with 32 percent saying yes.  Mr. Sabatino stated it appeared that since the election Council has not communicated anything to them that would change their minds.  Ms Bogan continued that questions were also asked regarding letting them know the income tax has not been raised in 30 years, the amount the City has in debt, that the majority of Pickerington residents would not pay more taxes, that in order to balance the budget new road and infrastructure projects would be stopped or reduced, or that services would have to be cut in order to balance the budget.  She stated on the question that in 2010 funding for the Police Department would have to be reduced did result in 57 percent stating they would be more likely to support an increase with 37 percent stating they would not.  Mr. Wisniewski clarified there were no questions on the survey that by raising the income tax from one to two percent the residents would save on the taxes they pay to the City.  Mayor O’Brien stated that wording was not used because the individuals actually conducting the survey could not answer any questions on how that worked or what that meant.  Ms Bogan stated that is a point that can be used in your communication to your voters when it is time to put this back on the ballot.  Ms Bogan stated the key finding of the survey is that this is a winnable campaign for the tax increase but the conditions are not set yet through communication tools with your citizens.  She stated there is a way of winning, but it must go through the right cycles and the right steps.  She stated they would not recommend putting this on the ballot in November; there is not enough time for you to communicate with your citizens and communicate effectively with them.  Mr. Sabatino ascertained that no question was asked if the residents would support a levy for the Police Department.  Mr. Sabatino stated he felt that was a vital question and Mr. Smith stated this was something that could be discussed at the retreat.  Mr. Fix stated if he understood correctly, their recommendation was that the only immediate action this year was to figure out how to better communicate and what the message needs to be.  Ms Bogan stated her message would be that you need to be communicating, finding an effective way to communicate with the residents.  Mr. Sabatino stated he was under the impression that this was going to look at different avenues, and if he had known that specifically the police levy was not going to be talked about, he would have voted against this.

 

Mayor O’Brien thanked Ms Bogan and stated the retreat scheduled for July 10th and 11th would allow for detailed discussion regarding the survey results. 

 

14.       ADJOURNMENT.  There being nothing further, Mr. Smith moved to adjourn; Mr. Fix seconded the motion.  Mr. Sabatino, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Smith, Mr. fix, and Mrs. Sanders voted “Aye.”  Motion carried, 5-0.  The meeting adjourned at 9:00 P.M., June 16, 2009. 

 

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED: 

 

 

_______________________________

Lynda D. Yartin, Municipal Clerk

 

 

ATTEST:

 

 

_______________________________

Mitch O’Brien, Mayor