WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2009

REGULAR MEETING

7:15 P.M.

1. ROLL CALL. Mr. Sabatino called the meeting to order at 7:15 P.M., with roll call as follows: Mr. Sauer, Mrs. Sanders, and Mr. Sabatino were present. No members were absent. Others present were Chief Mike Taylor, Lynda Yartin, Mayor O’Brien, Jeff Fix, Brian Wisniewski, Cristie Hammond, Joe Henderson, Greg Bachman, Don Phillips, Danny Mahaffey, Steve Carr, Ed Drobina, Tony Barletta, Gavin Blair, Bill Riat, Trish Vacca, Ernie Vacca, Gary Taylor, Tory Kramer, Rachel Schofeld, Mike McKinley, Keely Weaver, Carol Carter, Lynn Boetcher, Orin Hoover, Jim Paxton, John Ricketts, John Price, and others.

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF November 18, 2009, Regular Meeting. Mrs. Sanders moved to approve; Mr. Sauer seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino, Mrs. Sanders, and Mr. Sauer voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.

3. COMMUNITY COMMENTS:

A. Carol Carter. Ms Carter stated she would like to address the issue of allowing alcohol in Victory Park. Ms Carter stated her question was not why it should not be allowed, but why it should be allowed. She stated she understood this request was for one festival, but if you say yes to this one, how will you stop it. Ms Carter stated when she goes to the park with her grandchildren she does not plan on being bothered by people that are drinking. She stated again the question is why it should be allowed, not why it should not be allowed. She stated to allow drinking in the park was offensive to her.

B. Gary Taylor. Mr. Taylor stated he had spoken at the last meeting on this issue and he and his sister are fourth generation family living in Pickerington. He stated it was his grandfather, along with Mr. Good, who gifted the ground for Victory Park to the village in 1942. He stated his father and his uncle had gifted additional ground to enlarge the park to the size it is today. Mr. Taylor stated the deed for that property has a restriction that the land is to be used for “recreation, religious, or educational purposes, and if used for any other purpose or purposes said premise shall at once revert back to and vest in the grantors their heirs and assigns forever.” Mr. Taylor stated he wanted to make it clear that he was not present attempting to get that ground back in his family, and although the word alcohol is not specifically stated in the deed, he thought everyone would have to agree that the intent in the way it was worded there was no question about what they were intending to do, and they did not intend to have alcohol to be a part of the park. Mr. Taylor stated the Jazz and Rib fest has requested this be specifically amended so they could have an event there and we already know the Violet Festival is going to do a similar type request, and who knows what might be next. Could it be the Fourth of July? Could it be the Lions’ Club? Mr. Taylor stated he would encourage the Committee to remember the way it was originally intended. It was gifted by two men who wanted to make a nice place for the community and worded the deed in such a way that it would continue that way. Mr. Taylor stated he would encourage Council to remember that when the ordinance does come about. Mr. Taylor stated he would also remind everyone that there was an ordinance in 1998 addressing the same thing, and he is not sure whether it ever came to a vote or not, but it obviously did not pass. Mayor O’Brien clarified that the ordinance Mr. Taylor referred to was to allow alcohol at the Violet Festival in 1998.

C. Orin Hoover. Mr. Hoover stated he has lived in the City for 38 years and he did not feel alcohol was necessary or a wise thing to do in a city park. He stated he did not object to the Jazz Festival being in the park, but when he has gone to the Violet Festival he sees groups and groups of teenagers. He stated the beer garden has been across the alley, out of sight and out of mind and not a problem, but he did not see any wisdom or necessity to put it in the park where you have hundreds of teenagers hanging around. Mr. Hoover stated he thought that was a bad thing to throw in their faces at a bad age, and if it is just for dollar signs he thought it was a real bad idea.

D. Jim Paxton. Mr. Paxton stated he did not feel we need to have alcoholic beverages in the park. He stated you tell your children to stay away from drugs and alcohol and then you would take it right down there where they are playing and he did not feel that was the place for it.

E. John Ricketts. Mr. Ricketts stated he and his wife would like to ask Safety Committee and Council to not vote for this to happen. He stated they definitely felt that the use of alcohol in the park is the wrong thing for our community.

F. John Price. Mr. Price stated he is President of Violet Grange and when this was talked about at their meeting everyone was against the selling of alcohol in the park, and he was present to let the Committee know that their membership was against this.

Mr. Wisniewski clarified that there were no objections from anyone about doing the same thing the Violet Festival does, having the beer garden out of the way, up on the hill.

4. COMMUNITY SAFETY CONCERNS: Mr. Sabatino stated he had received four e-mails on the issue of allowing alcohol in the park and they would be attached to the official minutes of this meeting. Mrs. Sanders stated she has had many conversations on this issue and it was great to see so many people be involved and voicing their opinions. Mayor O’Brien clarified that no committee members had been approached by any residents who were in favor of this issue.

Mayor O’Brien stated he would like to find out who operates the bus formerly known as the Pickerington City Bus and Mr. Sabatino stated MRDD operates that specific bus. Mayor O’Brien asked if we could get in contact with them to discuss the speed at which their driver is driving through town and in the neighborhoods. Mayor O’Brien stated he has received a couple of complaints and he has also witnessed the bus driving through the neighborhoods at a pretty high rate of speed in the early morning hours without their lights on. He stated this was not when there were passengers on it, but still there are people are going in and out of their driveways, etc. Mr. Sabatino stated the city signage has been removed from it, and Mayor O’Brien stated that was correct, but you could still see the shadows of the lettering. Chief Taylor stated he would contact MRDD on this issue.

Mr. Orin Hoover stated he did have a concern about the throwing of candy when we have parades. He stated it is a safety issue when children run out into the street to get the candy. He stated he has spoken to Chief Taylor on this and while it has lessened it still happens. He stated he would just ask that we make it known to people that they are not to throw candy from their cars.

5. POLICE:

A. Chief’s Report. Chief Taylor stated he had provided a written report and he would answer any questions. Mrs. Sanders stated she saw we had received the DARE grant and ascertained that we received half of what we asked for. Chief Taylor stated he would take the other half for the program from his budget. Mr. Wisniewski inquired if that would affect his budget and Chief Taylor stated it would, but he would make it work.

6. DEPARTMENT REPORTS:

A. Parks and Recreation:

(1) Director’s Report. Mr. Carr stated he had provided a written report and would be happy to answer any questions. Mr. Carr stated all of the improvement projects at the pool are complete with the exception of the plumbing projects and they should be complete within a few days.

B. Code Enforcement:

(1) Code Enforcement Officer’s Report. Mr. Mahaffey stated he had provided a written report and he would answer any questions. Mr. Sauer clarified a training session was conducted with Franklin Systems on the software to track zoning complaints and it went well. Mr. Mahaffey stated there are a few things that need to be worked out as yet, but it seems to program will work very well. Mr. Sauer stated he understood that Planning and Zoning would be moving to the Building Department building. Mr. Mahaffey stated that was correct, but he was not sure when that would happen. Mr. Sauer questioned if the connection that was installed between the two buildings would still be necessary and Mr. Wisniewski stated there are other systems in the Building Department building that had not had the ability to send to City Hall. Mr. Wisniewski further stated with the technology assessment that is going to be done he thought it would show that was not a waste of money.

a. Code Enforcement Technology Update. Mrs. Sanders clarified that Mr. Mahaffey had the equipment necessary for the software and he hoped it could be expanded for use by other departments.

Mr. Wisniewski stated right now we have a complaint driven code enforcement system and he was not sure if that has worked out as well as hoped. He stated he just wondered if something could be put in place to make it a more common sense approach. Mr. Wisniewski stated as an example there was a house in his neighborhood where half the roof is gone and has had blue tarp over it for probably two years. He stated he did not know if anyone had complained about it, but it is a huge eyesore. He further stated e thought if there are obvious things that Mr. Mahaffey sees as he drives around we should be proactive rather than wait for someone to complain. He stated this might be something that Safety could think about next year. Mr. Sauer stated hopefully once the software is put in place it will free up time to be able to do that type of thing.

b. Review and discussion of Long Term Code Complaint Report. Mr. Sauer stated this report is working out well and providing him with a better picture of what is going on. He further questioned that when the same violation is committed repeatedly by an individual, is there a way to define the punishment? He stated his question was if the committee couldn’t look into this to see if there is something that can be done to deter these repeat violations. Mr. Fix stated if he understood it, Mr. Sauer would like to know if there are repeat offenders could they be fined more or whatever. Mr. Sauer stated he was not necessarily saying fine them more, but he would like to see what other communities do in those situations. Mr. Sabatino stated he understood this to be if the consequences for a repeat offense to have more impact going forward. Mr. Mahaffey stated he is working with the new prosecutor on some of the areas where the Code is weak and the possibility of using probation.

C. Building Regulations Department:

(1) Building Department Report. Mr. Phillips stated he provided a written report and would be happy to answer any questions. The Committee thanked Mr. Phillips for his work for the City and stated they wished him well.

(2) Chief Building Official’s Report (Mr. Phillips) Mr. Phillips stated this report had been included with the Building Department Report, and again he would be happy to answer any questions.

D. Service Department:

(1) Diley Road speed limit survey – Update. Mr. Bachman stated he would be doing the speed study on Diley Road next month after the holiday traffic has died down. He stated there are some compelling reasons to raise the speed limit from 35 to 45 MPH, and there are also some compelling reasons to keep it at 35 MPH. He stated he would outline those in the report he provides to the Committee.

7. CHAIRMAN:

A. Tornado Sirens - Update. Mrs. Yartin stated all of the background information had been provided to the Committee and it is just a matter of funding.

8. OTHER BUSINESS:

A. Review and discussion regarding noise at Doolin’s Pub.

Mr. Bill Riat stated he is an investor in Doolin’s Pub, and Mr. and Mrs. Vacca, the owners of Doolin’s Pub, are also present this evening. Mr. Riat stated as the Committee was aware the noise complaints have come from the residents in Violet Township across S.R. 256. He stated he has gone out and stood across the street when the doors were open and the band was playing and he could not hear much, if anything. He further stated he knew the residents did not like the shopping center to begin with, and earlier in the summer the problem was motorcycles, and there were some people frequenting the pub that were motorcycle people, however, they had no control over that. Mr. Riat they have made some changes and the motorcycles aren’t coming in, but the ones that do have been told to keep it quiet and not to disturb the residents across the street. Mr. Riat also stated he knew Pickerington police have been called many times and Fairfield County Sheriff’s Department have been called as well. He stated he found it interesting that the Deputy from Fairfield County that came, both times, said he could not hear anything. He stated they are currently building a vestibule so there is a sound block, and that project is about half done. Mr. Riat stated the homes are a football field away and across S.R. 256 and even when the band was playing he could not hear much, if anything. He stated they had just found out this was on the agenda tonight and they were here to say they want to try and work this out; they want to try and comply. He stated if the City will let them know if there is an issue they will be glad to meet and address this in the future. He further stated the building vestibule is there, there will be another vestibule built by summer, and when the doors are propped open there will be double doors so there should not be a sound issue. He stated they are trying to deal with this as best they can and they have a new level of consciousness on this issue. Mr. Sabatino questioned then if the operating procedure would be to leave the door open? Mr. Riat stated no, there were two single store front doors in the shopping center and if people would prop the door open, you could hear some noise outside. He stated what they have now is double doors both would be on closers, so if one opens the other closes so one of the two would always be closed. He stated they have also told the band to tone it down and they are doing what they can as they are trying to be good citizens. He stated they will continue to do whatever they can to keep addressing the problem, but the vestibule should solve the problem. He stated they would answer any questions and they would be available to meet with anyone at any time either at the pub or here at the city. Mr. Sauer stated he felt the vestibule is extremely important. He stated obviously Council has received complaints with regards to this over the past few months, and in his mind going to the expense of putting the vestibule in where it guarantees that one of the doors will be shut shows him a good faith effort on the part of the owner in trying to address the situation. He stated with regard to the motorcycles in the parking lot, he has a hard time finding a way to blame an individual in a strip center because they could have been coming from any of those businesses. He stated he could not fairly blame a single business for the motorcycles or any types of noises coming from the parking lot. He stated at some point it came down to personal responsibility and the individual causing the commotion in the parking lot should answer for it. Mr. Sauer stated again he felt the vestibules went a long way toward addressing the situation. Mr. Sabatino stated if he recalled the complaint about the noise on the motorcycles was happening around the closing time of the bar and at that time that is the only business in that center that is open. Mr. Fix stated he did not feel you could penalize a business owner for the type of vehicle their clientele bring to their business; it is not their fault that people who come to that bar ride a motorcycle. Mr. Wisniewski stated the other issue people were complaining about was definitely music, and we have one opinion as to whether you could hear it or not, but there were several other opinions that were the exact opposite of this. Mr. Fix stated he agreed with that, but the motorcycle part he did not feel you could blame them. Mr. Fix further stated with regard to the music if they are doing the vestibule, turning down the music, and doing the things the City asks them to do then they are doing what a business should do to stay in business. Mrs. Sanders inquired if the police have had any complaints in the past month or so and Chief Taylor stated the people who have complained have been advised the City cannot enforce it and he would have no knowledge if they had complained to the Sheriff’s office. Mr. Riat stated the Deputy had come twice and said he did not hear anything and left. He stated they are sensitive because they do not want to be a bad neighbor.

Mr. Sabatino stated the Committee had received a draft ordinance this evening that would object to the renewal of the liquor permit and request a hearing before the Liquor Control Board. He stated Chief Taylor was requesting this and once a year when liquor permits are renewed there is a certain window of time when a municipality can object or ask for a hearing before the Board. He stated this did not mean the Board would take any action; however, to request the hearing to present the concerns of the municipality to the Board a resolution from Council is required. Mr. Sabatino stated it is up to the Safety Committee to determine if this resolution should be forwarded to Council.

Mr. Riat stated with all due respect, the owners have not received a formal notice of anything, they have no violations, they had citations that were dismissed, and he felt it would be damaging to them to go to the Liquor Control Board with something when they have not had a chance to study it or know exactly what they were doing wrong or what the standards should be. He stated he would object to going forward with this legislation. Mr. Sauer stated given the fact that the vestibule is being done and the fact that the citations were dismissed; he would not support this resolution. Mrs. Sanders stated she could not support this right now because they are doing what they can and she felt the owners and the City needed to continue to work together. Mr. Sabatino stated his only interest in this has been to have the pub act as a good neighbor and it appears now that they are taking the positive action of putting in the vestibule and hopefully that will be a solution. Mr. Sabatino stated based upon what was said this evening he would ask Chief Taylor for his recommendation on this, and Chief Taylor stated he would like to proceed as planned.

Carol Carter stated she agreed with Mr. Sauer and if this business was trying to solve the problem she felt they should be given a chance to see what happens. Mr. Sabatino stated he always believed in giving everyone a chance to do the right thing and he understood the police department’s concern. Mr. Sabatino stated he will not be office next year, but he hoped that these efforts dealt with the issue and this did not have to be revisited next year. Mr. Wisniewski clarified that because this issue was on the agenda for review and discussion only, the draft ordinance was provided only for the Committee to discuss and was not required to be forwarded to Council.

B. Review and request for motion to approve draft resolution waiving the provisions of Section 529.07(B)(3) and 1082.01(s) of the Codified Ordinances for the 2010 Jazz and Rib Festival. Mr. Sabatino stated every comment he has heard has been to urge Council not to allow consumption of alcohol in the park and he has not heard any comments that it should be allowed. He stated there are two issues here; the potential reversion of the land back to the donors and also once it is allowed for one group, then how could you deny it to other groups. He stated further, if it were allowed for these dates what could be done if someone did not buy the beer in the park but brought it into the park. He stated the police would not be able to take enforcement action on them because the consumption would be permitted on those dates. Mr. Sabatino stated he has no problem with the Jazz and Rib Fest moving their festival to Victory Park, he just felt we did not need to have beer consumption inside the park. Mrs. Sanders stated she had originally agreed with this, she has been to other communities where alcohol was served in the park and there was no problem, but in the last week to two weeks she has had people come out of the woodwork upset about this. She stated she has not had anyone say if it was kept with the beer garden in the alley that they would not come to the festival, and she therefore did not feel that not having the beer garden in the park would hinder attendance at all. Mrs. Sanders stated she would be voting against this tonight. Mr. Sauer stated he had also supported this originally, and while he may not personally agree, he felt it came down to what the people he represented wanted. He stated he respected the comments and the position of the citizens so he would not support this. Mr. Fix clarified this would be moved forward to Council for a vote even if the Committee did not support it.

Ms Keely Weaver stated she is co-chair of the Jazz and Blues Rib Fest. Ms Weaver stated she is a business owner in Pickerington and is a community volunteer. She stated this festival has been growing every year and she feels the majority of the community wants this event and does not have a problem with the alcohol. She stated she did not feel having the beer garden in the park would be an issue. She further stated that she spends thousands of hours a year on this festival and she puts on this event because this is her way of giving back to the community. Ms Weaver stated the fact is this festival needs to move forward and she needs to have a home for it. She stated she does not have any option other than the park for the festival and she needs the beer garden just because it helps with money, it pays for a lot of the music for the festival. Ms Weaver stated when she made this request she did not even think at the time that this would upset anyone. Ms Weaver stated she was not requesting alcohol everywhere in the park; it would be in a contained beer garden. She further stated if Council were not to approve that her other option would be to hold the festival in the park and have the beer garden between the alley and Fanchers Street, right in front of the Grange building. She stated she wanted to know if the Safety Committee had a safety issue with that option. Mr. Sabatino stated the issue on the agenda for discussion tonight is the ordinance that would allow beer consumption in the park. Mr. Fix stated it seemed to him that there would not be enough votes to allow the beer garden in the park, and it appeared that there would be no problem having the beer garden in the alleyway or whatever, as long as it is not in the park. Mr. Sabatino stated the issue that would be voted on tonight would be to rescind the ordinance that prohibits alcohol in the park. Mrs. Yartin clarified that at the last meeting the Committee did vote to allow the Jazz and Blues Rib Fest to be located in Victory Park. The legislation before the Committee this evening is to allow the possession and consumption of alcohol in the park for this event only. Mr. Sabatino moved to approve and forward to Council; Mr. Sauer seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Sauer, Mr. Sabatino, and Mrs. Sanders voting “Nay.” Motion failed, 3-0. Mrs. Yartin stated this legislation will be forwarded to Council as not recommended by Safety Committee.

C. Review and discussion regarding prohibiting texting while driving. Mr. Sabatino stated he has been informed that we are still gathering information and he would like this continued on the agenda for the next meeting.

9. ADJOURNMENT. There being nothing further, Mr. Sabatino moved to adjourn; Mr. Sauer seconded the motion. Mr. Sauer, Mrs. Sanders, and Mr. Sabatino voted "Aye." Motion carried, 3-0. The Safety Committee adjourned at 8:30 P.M., December 16, 2009.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

________________________________

Lynda D. Yartin, Municipal Clerk