SERVICE COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL

CITY HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2009

 

REGULAR MEETING

6:30 P.M.

 

1.         ROLL CALL.  Mr. Sauer called the meeting to order at 6:30 P.M., with Mrs. Hammond and Mr. Sauer present.  Mr. Wisniewski arrived at 6:35 P.M.  No members were absent.  Others present were:  Chief Mike Taylor, Lynda Yartin, Mayor O’Brien, Jeff Fix, Ed Drobina, Greg Bachman, Joe Henderson, Brenda VanCleave, Tony Barletta, Carolyn Adams, Tory Kramer, Rachel Scofeld, Blake Rafeld, and others.

 

2.         APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF November 18, 2009, Regular Meeting.  Mrs. Hammond moved to approve; Mr. Sauer seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Sauer and Mrs. Hammond voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 2-0. 

 

3.         COMMUNITY COMMENTS:  There were no comments. 

 

4.         DEVELOPMENT:

 

A.        Development Director’s Report.  Mr. Henderson stated Mr. Schultz was ill this evening, but he had provided a written report.   

 

5.         PLANNING AND ZONING DEPARTMENT:

 

A.        Planning and Zoning Director’s Report. Mr. Henderson stated Mr. Schultz had provided a written report and would be happy to try to answer any questions.   

                       

                        (1)        Planning and Zoning Representative Report.  Mr. Sauer Planning and Zoning had reviewed the request of the C3 Church on a lighting plan and also the dog park that is on tonight’s agenda.   

 

            B.         ACTION ITEMS:  

 

            (1)        Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance amending the Rezoning and Final Development Plan of the existing PM-1 District (Planned Restricted Industrial District) to permit a dog park on the 8.874-acre Violet Township Administration and Road Maintenance Facility property at 490 North Center Street.  Mr. Henderson reviewed the staff report provided to the Committee members and stated the Planning and Zoning Commission had approved the rezoning and final development plan.  Mr. Sauer stated the rezoning for any other use or type of development would have to go back before the Planning and Zoning Commission for approval.  Mr. Wisniewski inquired if there would be specific hours for the dog park and Mr. Henderson stated he understood it would be open from dawn to dusk.  Mr. Sauer stated there is no lighting in this area.  Mr. Sauer moved to approve and forward to Council; Mrs. Hammond seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Wisniewski, Mrs. Hammond, and Mr. Sauer voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 3-0. 

 

Mrs. Yartin stated as this is a rezoning a public hearing before Council will be necessary.  She stated if the Committee would like to authorize the public hearing she would work with Mr. Schultz to ensure the necessary notifications are sent out.  Mr. Sauer moved to authorize the Clerk to schedule a public hearing before Council for open discussion on this rezoning and final development plan on the first appropriate date; Mr. Wisniewski seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Sauer, Mrs. Hammond, and Mr. Wisniewski voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 3-0.  

 

            (2)        Refugee Road Study – Update.  Mr. Henderson stated they are in the beginning stages of getting this study off the ground. 

 

6.         SERVICE DEPARTMENT

 

A.        REPORTS:

           

            (1)        Service Manager’s Report.  Mr. Drobina stated he had provided a written report and he would be happy to answer any questions.  Mr. Drobina stated they did start up two of the filters at the wastewater plant and they are operational.  He stated the contractor will be operating them for two weeks to ensure they are functioning properly and then the City will begin operating those two filters.  Mr. Drobina stated individuals from the EPA had toured the plant on Monday and they seemed pleased with the progress of the construction.  Mr. Drobina stated he had been contacted by the Lancaster Public Transit system retarding storing their busses inside the Service facility.  Mr. Wisniewski asked Mr. Drobina to check and see if this same request had been made of the Township as they have the large new maintenance building.  Mr. Drobina stated he could store them inside the building without putting our equipment outside, but they would have to leave the keys to the busses so they could be moved if necessary.  Mr. Drobina stated they have also requested they get fuel from the Service Department.  Mr. Wisniewski clarified that the fuel use would be monitored and they would be billed for the amount they used.   Mr. Wisniewski further clarified that Mr. Drobina intended to work with Violet Township for the maintenance of our larger vehicles.  Mr. Drobina stated if we have a truck break down he intended to take one up there to see how the process would work before we would enter into a contract or anything. 

 

            (2)        Engineer’s Report.  Mr. Bachman stated he had provided a written report and would be happy to answer any questions.  Mr. Bachman stated the bid opening for the Refugee Road water storage tank will be tomorrow.  Mr. Bachman stated he would let Service Committee know as soon as he could how the bids came in and what he was recommending.  He further stated he would be requesting to take a reading to Council prior to the next Service Committee meeting to move the process along on awarding the contract.  Mr. Wisniewski stated he had spoken to Mr. Bachman on this issue and he did not see where there would be a problem with having a reading prior to Committee action.  Mr. Wisniewski stated he would request Mr. Bachman forward the information to Mrs. Yartin so she could send it to all of Council. 

 

                        a.         Water Master Plan and Sewer Master Plan - Update.  Mr. Bachman stated he is in dialogue with the two consultants trying to hammer out the scope and how much they will do versus some of our staff doing to save on costs. 

 

B.         ACTION ITEMS: 

 

            (1)        Review and discussion regarding TDS options and costs.  Ms VanCleave stated everyone should have received a copy of the response that our attorney sent to the EPA.  She stated a brief initial letter was sent out in response to a report where comments were due on Monday.  She stated EPA had stated they would not take that response without the data to back it up.  Ms VanCleave stated the problem is it is still preliminary and it must go through EPAs people to be called credible, so we are in a Catch 22.  Ms VanCleave stated right now we are waiting for our consultant to write their final report and for it to go through the EPA process.  She stated we will just sit tight in the meantime.  Mr. Wisniewski ascertained we have violated our limit eight times this year, and we only have data up through October.  Mayor O’Brien clarified that we have been responsive to the EPA and Ms VanCleave stated we have been and we are still talking to them. 

 

Mayor O’Brien stated in the minutes of the last meeting it did not appear there was a lot of discussion of the color of the new water tower and whether or not to put a logo on it.  Mr. Wisniewski stated there was not much discussion and there was not a strong opinion one way or the other on this issue.  Mr. Wisniewski stated the Committee went with Mr. Bachman’s recommendation on color.  Mayor O’Brien stated the other water towers seem to be a color that blends in and since this is a larger type he questioned how white would look.  Ms VanCleave stated this is called “Tank white” and is not a pure white but is a color that should blend with the atmosphere.  Mr. Wisniewski clarified that this should be the same basic white that was used on the other tanks.  Mr. Bachman stated we can get samples of the color beforehand to look at before picking the base color.  Mayor O’Brien further clarified the Committee had chosen not to have a logo for cost reasons.  Mr. Wisniewski stated the cost of the logo was something like $40,000 to $60,000.  Mayor O’Brien stated given the amount of input he has received on the logo on the other tower, he was sure that if there were no logo on the new tower people would want to know why.  Mr. Wisniewski stated in looking at the cost estimate on the logo, he was willing to take phone calls on that.  Mayor O’Brien stated he just wanted to get it in the record that there are people in the community who are very sensitive to things like that.  Mr. Wisniewski asked Mr. Bachman to provide the Committee with cost estimates of what a logo would cost, filled in with colors, etc., so that information would be available for everyone.  Mr. Bachman stated he would provide the estimate for the logo as well as an estimate for just “Pickerington” on the tank. 

7.         ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT CAPITAL PROJECTS.   

 

A.        WASTEWATER

 

            (1)        Wastewater Plant Expansion – Update.  Mr. Drobina stated the estimated completion date on the plant is June 2010. 

 

B.         TRANSPORTATION: 

 

            (1)        Diley Road Improvements Project – Update.  Mr. Drobina stated there was no update. 

 

                        a.         Review and Discussion of Diley Road project complaints (Mr. Starr).  Mr. Bachman stated he had met with Mr. Starr last week and the Township was going to write a letter to ODOT about several of the items he had mentioned at this meeting last month.  He stated after those issues had been addressed with ODOT, any remaining items would be looked at.  Mr. Bachman stated one issue Mr. Starr had mentioned last month was the connection of his two driveways and the cost for connecting them.  Mr. Bachman stated the two driveways are only about 70 feet apart and he would anticipate a 70 foot long, 12 foot wide gravel drive.  Mr. Bachman stated he was already paid $2,500 for that and that certainly seemed to be enough money to cover the drive.   

 

C.        WATER:  No Report. 

 

8.         CHAIRMAN.    Mr. Wisniewski stated he would like to get updated rate sheets for water and sewer and surrounding communities.  He stated he had seen that Canal Winchester recently had legislation before their Council to increase their rates.  He stated we do occasionally receive complaints about our rates for sewer in the Sycamore Creek subdivision since that is Canal sewer but we are taking care of the billing so we are charging them the Pickerington rates.  Mr. Bachman stated when we were applying for OPWC funds there is one category for affordability of water and sewer rates and they give more points if you have high rates, and we actually get minus 16 points in that category because our rates are so affordable. 

 

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

 

10.       ADJOURNMENT.  There being nothing further, Mrs. Hammond moved to adjourn; Mr. Sauer seconded the motion.  Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Wisniewski, and Mr. Sauer voted “Aye.”  Motion carried, 3-0.  The Service Committee adjourned at 7:00 P.M., December 16, 2009.

 

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

 

 

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Lynda D. Yartin, Municipal Clerk