CITY OF PICKERINGTON

SAFETY COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL

CITY HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD

MONDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2003

7:30 P.M.

REGULAR MEETING AGENDA

1. ROLL CALL. Mr. Fox called the meeting to order at 7:30 P.M. with Mr. Sabatino, Mrs. Riggs, and Mr. Fox present. No members were absent. Others present were: Frank Wiseman, Lynda Yartin, Chief Mike Taylor, Steve Carr, Sandy Whittington, Amy Taranto, Dawn Thompson, and others.

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF September 8, 2003, Regular Meeting. Mr. Sabatino moved to approve; Mrs. Riggs seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mrs. Riggs, Mr. Fox, and Mr. Sabatino voting "Yea." Motion passed, 3-0.

Mr. Fox stated as Committee meetings are less formal than Council, if there were no objections, he would address the item on the agenda regarding a request for a stop sign in the Willow Pond subdivision.

Amy Taranto stated she and Mrs. Thompson were present to request the Safety Committee consider placing stop signs at the intersection of Pruden Drive and Patterson Street in the Willow Pond subdivision. Mrs. Taranto stated Pruden Drive is being used as a cut through and the cars just speed down that street. She stated the children in the neighborhood are in harms way when they try to cross the street and she is afraid that someone is going to be hit. Mrs. Taranto stated Patterson will eventually be a circle street as the development is still occurring, and there is no question that this problem is only going to get worse. Mrs. Taranto stated further she had circulated a petition throughout the neighborhood and had given it to the Clerk for this Committee. Mr. Fox stated the Committee had received the petition and Chief Taylor and Mr. Wiseman were going to look at this problem. Mr. Sabatino clarified this problem does not occur at a specific time of day, but all the time. Mrs. Taranto stated the police are out there as much as they can be, but she felt stop signs would cause the traffic to slow down. Mr. Wiseman stated he and Chief Taylor had gone out to the area and although we cannot place a stop sign to slow traffic, he did feel that since this is a four way intersection that a stop sign would be appropriate for safety reasons. Chief Taylor stated he concurred with Mr. Wiseman that a stop sign at this intersection would be appropriate. Mr. Wiseman stated there is another intersection east of this one that might be considered for stop signs as well. Mr. Fox stated he would like to start with this intersection and if it does not help correct the problem, if the residents will come back and let this Committee know, then additional stop signs could be considered. Mr. Sabatino moved to amend the traffic control map to place stop signs for a four-way stop at the intersection of Pruden Drive and Patterson Street; Mrs. Riggs seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Fox, Mr. Sabatino, and Mrs. Riggs voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.

3. DEPARTMENT REPORTS:

A. Parks and Recreation.

(1) Director’s Reports

a. Parks Master Plan Survey - Update. Mr. Carr stated he has received 253 completed surveys to date. He stated 832 surveys had also been distributed to Tussing Elementary School and they are in a different color so we can tell they are from the Columbus portion of the school district. He stated the City Manager had also sent a letter to the Violet Township Trustees inquiring if they would be interested in distributing the survey, at their cost, to the township residents. He stated he did not think a response had been received from the Township as yet.

b. Skate Park Project – Update. Mr. Carr stated a preconstruction conference was held on September 19^th, and the contractor indicated they would be able to complete the project by the end of October. He stated the modular equipment has been delivered, and he feels the project should be complete by the end of the month.

c. Handicap Garden – Update. Mr. Carr stated the consultant made a presentation at the Parks Board meeting and they are now working on construction drawings and cost estimates.

d. Water Tower/Simsbury Park Clean Ohio Conservation Program Grant Project – Update. Mr. Carr stated he had received a phone call from the grant administrator and it appears we should receive official word of that award on October 15^th.

e. ODNR/NatureWorks Land and Water Conservation Fund Grant Project – Update. Mr. Carr stated the application has been submitted and we will probably not hear back on that until June of 2004.

(2) Parks and Recreation Board Council Representative Report (Mrs. Riggs). Mrs. Riggs stated R. D. Zande had given a presentation to the Parks Board regarding Hickory Lakes. She stated further that a member of the Parks Board had indicated the equipment for the skate park that was purchased was not what he thought Parks Board had recommended. Mr. Fox stated we put the equipment out for bid and the one we accepted was the low bid. He further stated the company was local, from Violet Township, and the City has done business with them before and been very pleased. Mr. Sabatino clarified that the equipment the City purchased was within the bid specifications. Mr. Fox stated further it was his understanding the Parks Board had not made a specific recommendation regarding the equipment purchased. Mr. Carr stated that was correct, the Board had reviewed the input from a public meeting where individuals had indicated the type of equipment they would like to see.

B. Community Outreach:

(1) Violet Festival Board Report. Ms. Whittington stated the Board was beginning preparations for the 2004 festival and had elected their officers for 2004 at their last meeting.

(2) Olde Pickerington Village Business Association Report. Ms. Whittington stated the Association was a part of the Taste of Pickerington and the Community Showcase. She stated they have reprinted their OPVBA brochure and have distributed them to the local businesses and hotels. She stated they are working on their budget request to submit to the City.

C. Building Operations:

(1) Review and request for motion to approve sale of surplus Sensus meter equipment. Mr. Wiseman stated the Committee had received a copy of a bid from the City of Reynoldsburg for this surplus equipment. He stated we had advertised this equipment approximately one year ago and did not receive any bids. He stated we had re-advertised it in August of this year, and we did receive a bid of $9,999.00 from the City of Reynoldsburg. Mr. Sabatino moved to approve the sale of the surplus Sensus meter equipment from the City of Reynoldsburg fro $9,999.00; Mrs. Riggs seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mrs. Riggs, Mr. Sabatino, and Mr. Fox voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.

D. Streets:

(1) Tree Commission. Mr. Wiseman stated the Tree Commission is continuing to work on a Tree Brochure and they hope to get that finalized soon. Mrs. Yartin stated the legislation increasing the Tree Commission membership is now effective and Mr. Sabatino is the Safety Committee representative to that Commission. Mr. Fox stated Courtland Lane has never had any trees planted in the tree lawn. Mr. Wiseman stated they have been going back and picking up older subdivisions that were developed prior to when we had our tree ordinance. He stated he will check to see if Courtland Lane is on that schedule.

Fall Street Tree Planting – Update. Mr. Wiseman stated this legislation is on Council agenda for a second reading.

(2) Review and discussion regarding requested stop sign at Pruden and Patterson intersection in Willow Pond. Mr. Fox stated this had been dealt with earlier in the meeting.

E. Tornado Sirens/Weather Alert Monitors: Mr. Fox stated Mr. Wiseman is still monitoring this issue. Mr. Wiseman stated if funding becomes available he will notify this Committee. Mr. Fox stated he felt this item could be removed from the agenda.

F. Code Enforcement:

(1) Nuisance Abatement Board.

a. Nuisance Abatement procedures regarding sign at 18 E. Columbus Street – Update. Mr. Fox stated Mr. Mapes is continuing to work on this issue and will provide an update to the Committee, however, he is out of town this week.

b. Containment of Developer Trash. Mr. Fox ascertained there have been no recent complaints. Mr. Fox stated this item can be removed from the agenda and if necessary placed back on in the Spring.

4. POLICE:

A. Chief’s Report. Chief Taylor stated his report had been distributed and he would answer any questions. Chief Taylor stated the City has been awarded the “Locater” program from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. He stated this program allows for information on missing children to be sent to all other locater locations, and also, to send the information by e-mail to other departments that do not have the locater system. He stated we are the only department in the area to be selected for this program. Chief Taylor stated he will be notifying all other departments in the area and let them know if they have a need to use this program they can bring the information to the department and it will be entered into the system.

Mr. Sabatino asked Chief Taylor to elaborate on the figures he had provided the Committee regarding additional police officers. Chief Taylor stated if the department had 23 officers instead of 21, it would break it down to 2.4 officers per 1,175 residents, and that is very close to what the national average is.

5. CHAIRMAN. Mr. Fox stated he had nothing to bring forward.

6. OTHER BUSINESS. No other business was brought forward.

7. ADJOURNMENT. There being nothing further, Mr. Sabatino moved to adjourn; Mrs. Riggs seconded the motion. Mr. Sabatino, Mrs. Riggs, and Mr. Fox voted “Aye.” Motion carried, 3-0. The Safety Committee meeting adjourned at 8:00 P.M., October 6, 2003.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

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Lynda D. Yartin, Municipal Clerk