WEDNESDAY, JULY 21, 2010

REGULAR MEETING

7:30 P.M.

1. ROLL CALL. Mrs. Hammond called the meeting to order at 7:30 P.M., with roll call as follows: Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Barletta, and Mr. Blair were present. No members were absent. Others present were Bill Vance, Lynda Yartin, Chief Taylor, Phil Hartmann, Ed Drobina, Chet Hopper, Greg Bachman, Mechelle Richardson, Jon Kochis, and others.

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF May 19, 2010, Regular Meeting. Mr. Blair moved to approve; Mr. Barletta seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Blair, Mr. Barletta, and Mrs. Hammond voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.

3. COMMUNITY COMMENTS:

A. Mechelle Richardson. Mrs. Richardson stated she lives on Hilltop Drive and she has some chickens. Mrs. Richardson stated she had asked someone two years ago if you could keep chickens in the City and she was told it was fine. She stated, however, she found out two months ago that chickens are not allowed in the City and she would like to know how she can keep her chickens. Mrs. Richardson stated she had provided a packet of information on keeping chickens as pets to the Committee members along with photos of her children with the chickens. She stated they consider the chickens pets and they all have names. Mrs. Richardson reviewed the information she had provided to the Committee and stated she does not have a vicious dog or loud parties, she just has her hens and she would like to keep them. Mrs. Richardson stated further that the chickens are so quiet that some of her neighbors did not even know she had them. Mrs. Hammond clarified that Mrs. Richardson currently has nine chickens. Mr. Blair further clarified that until two months ago she was not aware that you were not allowed to have chickens in the City. Mrs. Richardson stated at that time she had a rooster and there was a noise complaint about him crowing, and that is when Code Enforcement contacted her. Mrs. Richardson stated she had found a home for the rooster and he was no longer there. Mrs. Hammond stated our law director is present and he will research this issue, although the Committee cannot take any action this evening. Mr. Hartmann stated in looking at our Code this is clearly prohibited, but he will look into other communities and see what they are doing and if we are consistent with them. Mrs. Richardson stated she had a lot of information that she would provide to Mr. Hartmann and he stated he would appreciate that. Mrs. Hammond stated she would have this on the agenda for the next meeting.

Mr. Hopper stated Code Enforcement did receive a complaint regarding the rooster, and at that time they looked into it and found that as the law director indicated, this is strictly prohibited. He stated that is the only reason any action was taken by the City. Mrs. Hammond stated again that we would look into this issue and have it on the next Safety Agenda.

Mrs. Hammond stated Mr. Jon Kochis, from the Fairfield County Office of Emergency Management & Homeland Security, was present to give a briefing on the Reverse 9-1-1 system. Mr. Kochis stated he is the EMA Director for Fairfield County and when presenting to the police and fire agencies in Pickerington last week on what they call the “Alert Fairfield County” program because the phrase “Reverse 9-1-1 does have a copy write. Mr. Kochis stated the Alert Fairfield County basically joins the other counties in our surrounding area; Franklin, Licking, and Delaware. He stated we have emergency warning sirens, and this is just the next step in this technology. Mr. Kochis stated this program is funded by Homeland Security Grant awards and quite a bit of money is being spent on public safety and Homeland Security issues. Mr. Kochis stated the system will call landlines, cell phones, and voice override phones. He stated it will also page, e-mail, send SMS texting, and basically any form of communication we have out there. He stated the purpose is specifically for emergency warnings; however, the policy has not been completed because they do not want to exclude any type of emergency that may come about. He stated some things they have discussed are hostage situations and drug labs on the law enforcement side, and then for fire hazardous materials for evacuation zones and information. He stated they have discussed boil water alerts and while they are critical it has not been determined if they are critical enough to warrant this. Mr. Kochis stated a contamination issue involves immediate health and safety and they would use this system for that. Mr. Kochis stated the system currently can be implemented by any entity and they would train and give rights to any agency or jurisdiction that requests it. Mr. Kochis stated he was present tonight to show the system and also gauge the reaction, comments, and questions Council may have with developing and using the system in Pickerington. Mr. Kochis stated the point of the system is for public safety and he would like everyone to see the opportunity for that. He stated there is also another side of the system which is an internal hosted system that they are also offering, and that would let you call your employees for anything such as a snow emergency, etc. He stated for this option they would have to charge the City for any minutes used because those minutes would not be included in the minutes purchased for emergencies in the County. Mr. Kochis stated he would be happy to provide a live demonstration of the system and Mrs. Hammond stated she felt this would be something the entire Council would be interested in and she would like to request Mrs. Yartin schedule a briefing for all of Council.

4. POLICE:

A. Chief’s Report. Chief Taylor stated he had provided a written report and he would answer any questions anyone might have. Chief Taylor stated he would like to note for the Committee that in the recent drug bust, if it were not for the new K-9, we would not have been able to get a lot of drugs off the street or arrest the drug dealers.

(1) Review and request for motion to approve draft resolution authorizing application for the 2010-2011 school year DARE Grant. Mr. Blair moved to approve and forward to Council; Mr. Barletta seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Blair, Mrs. Hammond, and Mr. Barletta voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.

(2) Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance authorizing the City Manager to apply for a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice through the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (“COPS”) for one additional police officer. Mrs. Hammond stated we applied for this Grant last year and we did not receive it, so we are trying again this year. She stated if we hire an officer with this grant we will be required to keep them for at least one year after the grant expires. Chief Taylor clarified the grant is for three years. Mr. Blair ascertained we have applied for this grant in the past. Mr. Blair moved to approve and forward to Council; Mr. Barletta seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Barletta, and Mr. Blair voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.

5. DEPARTMENT REPORTS:

A. Parks and Recreation:

(1) Director’s Report. Mr. Drobina stated he had provided a written report and he would answer any questions. Mr. Drobina stated he had provided the revenues and expenses for the Fourth of July, excluding the police department. Mr. Blair clarified that we have a three year contract with one vendor for the drinks and Mrs. Hammond stated this is something we may want to look at when that contract expires because it does cause some difficulties with other vendors during some festivals. Mr. Vance stated we would be looking at that contract and see what flexibility we have to improve in the future. Mr. Blair questioned if the poison ivy at the disc golf course had been taken care of and Mr. Drobina stated they have not sprayed yet but this fall he plans on going in and cleaning up a lot of those undergrowth areas. Mr. Barletta clarified the expenses for the Fourth of July will be split with the Township.

B. Building Regulations Department:

(1) Building Department/Chief Building Official’s Report. Mr. Hopper stated he had provided a written report and he would answer any questions. Mr. Hopper stated as of this afternoon we have had 50 new home permits since the first of the year and it does not appear to be slowing down. Mrs. Hammond questioned if there seemed to be a turnaround in new building in the area or if people were buying in Pickerington. Mr. Hopper stated we have a new builder that has recently come into the City and they are building one spec home along with their model home and we are also starting a new section in Fox Glen subdivision. Mr. Hopper stated at least for this community it appears the builders feel things are moving in the right direction.

(2) Code Enforcement Officer’s Report. Mr. Hopper stated at some point in time the City invested in a program that was geared toward code enforcement. He stated as of August 1^st all complaints received for code enforcement will go into that program and he had provided a sample of the report this Committee can expect monthly. Mr. Blair asked if we were operating under a complaint driven system only and Mr. Vance stated we were trying to be proactive as well as responding to complaints. Mr. Blair inquired if there was a difference in terms of a commercial versus a residential property complaint in the way they are treated. Mr. Vance stated it depends on what the emphasis is at the time, right now we are receiving a lot of sign complaints, and he met today with the Chamber president to discuss getting the Chamber involved with coordinating some type of majority business community position on what is good about our sign regulations in their estimation, what could be improved, etc. He stated we could then work hand-in-hand with our business community, the Chamber, and Planning and Zoning to move forward.

C. Service Department:

(1) Service Manager’s Report. Mr. Drobina stated he had provided a written report and he would answer any questions. Mr. Drobina stated as he had reported, the property owner at 84 E. Borland Street was requesting we install Permit Parking Only signs in front of 76 and 84 E. Borland Street because when school is in session people park there and the residents then have nowhere to park. Mrs. Hammond clarified that Chief Taylor was not in favor of permit parking as a rule. Mrs. Hammond stated she would ask the Chief and our City Manager to look into this issue, however, she does feel that the entire public pays for the city streets and unless there is a real compelling reason she was not in favor of it. She stated she would request staff provide a recommendation on this request to the Committee at the next meeting. Mr. Drobina stated he had also received a request from a resident that “No Parking” signs be installed on boulevards in the Pickerington Hills/RaMar subdivision because during festivals people like to park in the middle of the two roads. Mr. Vance stated he and Chief Taylor would look at this area as well. Mr. Bachman stated he has also had a request that curbs be installed in those subdivisions and Mrs. Hammond stated staff could report on this at the next meeting as well.

D. Engineering Department.

(1) City Engineer’s Report. Mr. Bachman stated with Town Square Drive opening up Center Street was re-stripped at Columbus Street so we have a left turn lane and a right turn lane and that seems to be working well. Mr. Bachman stated we are getting about 500 vehicles per day on Town Square Drive, however, he expects that to grow as people get used to it. Mr. Bachman stated ODOT, District V, has a new safety engineer and he has spoken with him briefly on the S.R. 256 safety project and he was very interested in it. Mr. Bachman stated he will continue to discuss this project with him. Mr. Bachman stated MORPC is interested in doing a program in September for crosswalks and he will be discussing this with Chief Taylor. Mr. Bachman stated he is also working on a sidewalk replacement policy and he is checking with surrounding communities on this issue. Mrs. Hammond questioned what the cost would be to replace one section of a sidewalk and Mr. Bachman stated generally sidewalks are about $6.00 per square foot, but he would provide that information to the Committee. Mr. Vance stated this could turn into a budgetary question, and in a lot of places the City will pay half and the property owner will pay half, so we might budget a certain amount per year and use an application process, and we could prioritize the worst areas of town as we go forward.

6. CHAIRMAN:

A. Review and discussion regarding amendments to Sections 444.02, 444.06, 444.07, and 402.05 of the Pickerington Codified Ordinances. Mrs. Hammond stated this Committee starting reviewing this a few months ago and every time they thought they had completed it, something else came up to be looked at. She stated with that, the Committee is basically starting from scratch on this issue.

Mr. Ira Weiss stated he is a resident of Violet Township and he would suggest that the City separate the helmet law from other changes to the bicycle statutes and policies. He further stated he felt it was that as far as the age requirement for helmets, the City of Bexley is also considering setting the age limit at 16 and Columbus chose 18. Mr. Weiss stated he felt the age of 16 made more sense because if you are old enough to drive you are old enough to decide if you should wear a helmet or not. Mr. Weiss stated there are some inconsistencies because there are places where the City of Pickerington abuts the City of Columbus. Mr. Weiss stated with regard to prohibiting riding on the sidewalks unless accompanied by an adult, the problem is that many subdivisions and a lot of our arterials do not have sidewalks. He stated you would basically be telling a child that until they are 11 they cannot ride a bike at all. He further stated he delineated from the school traffic plan, part of the Safe Routes to Schools program, all of the subdivisions and streets that could use sidewalks and other bike facilities right now. Mr. Weiss also stated he had all of the codes and definitions from Columbus if Pickerington would like to have copies of those. Mr. Weiss stated we need to create a safe infrastructure first and with the exception of Diley Road the arterials are not safe for all but the most experienced bicyclists. He stated a couple of years ago MORPC created the bike users map and there were a lot of things we can do to improve the infrastructure in our area. Mr. Weiss stated he would suggest forming an advisory committee composed of local residents interested in creating safe facilities for bicyclists of all abilities, and policies that promote the bicycle as a means of transportation, recreation, and achieving fitness.

Mrs. Hammond stated Mr. Bachman has been working on bike paths and there is a Master Parks Plan and we are working on ways that can improve our roadways and looking for creative ways to get the funding to do this. Mrs. Hammond stated meanwhile we want to take our regulations and make them work with what we have now. Mr. Barletta stated he had looked at the comments from Patricia Kovacs the Committee received in February and he felt she made some reasonable suggestions. Mr. Barletta stated Mr. Weiss had also made a good point by pointing out that we have so many subdivisions without sidewalks, so he felt we should remove that age restriction for riding in the street without an adult. Mr. Barletta stated he felt this Committee had recommended some good revisions in the past and there were still a couple of areas yet to be looked at. Mr. Blair stated he liked the idea of tackling the helmet issue separately because he questioned when the City should let parents be parents. Mr. Blair also stated with regard to the age issue for riding in the street, he agreed that should probably be removed. Mr. Hartmann stated he felt this was a good point and we could put in a restriction that you must be accompanied by an adult in commercial areas, but allow them to ride in subdivisions without an adult. Mr. Blair stated he felt the goal was to make this as user friendly as possible in terms of getting people to ride bikes, not make it more difficult. He stated he felt our regulations could be enhanced as far as making it more friendly and not making it more restrictive. Mr. Barletta stated he did not want to put any kind of limitation on riding bikes in business districts, etc., because we could put up signage if we want to prohibit it in a certain area. Mr. Hartmann stated just to be clear in the ordinance originally proposed, Section 444.06 subparagraph (a) would be deleted and subparagraph (b) would be a protector and Mr. Barletta stated that was correct. Mr. Bachman stated he would offer to be a liaison with Mr. Weiss and our law director to come up with some kind of revisions since he has a bicycling background. Mrs. Hammond stated she felt that would be a good idea and further that we did not want to put something in the regulations that would be impossible to enforce. Mrs. Hammond stated if Chief Taylor has any suggestions she would appreciate that. Mr. Hartmann further clarified the Committee would like to remove the criteria that no person under the age of 11 should operate a bicycle on a street unless accompanied by an adult. Mr. Hartmann stated he agreed it would be a good idea to separate out the helmet requirements. Mr. Barletta stated he has been struggling with this and he has done some research on the merits of helmets and the head injuries that result from not wearing a helmet. Mr. Barletta stated he felt we should do what we can to encourage a child to wear a helmet and avoid the chance of ruining their life. Mrs. Hammond stated she felt everyone was in agreement that the helmet requirements be separate from the bicycle ordinance. Mr. Hartmann clarified the Committee would like this as a separate piece of legislation so if there was opposition to this one point it would not cause the entire issue to fail. Mr. Vance stated he agreed with separating these two issues because he would hate to see all the good work done on the bicycle regulations be held up by people not agreeing on the helmet requirement. Mr. Hartmann clarified that the Committee would like two draft ordinances to review, and Mrs. Hammond stated in order to allow time for Mr. Bachman and Mr. Weiss to get together and then forward their information to Mr. Hartmann, she would ask that this item be put on the Safety Committee agenda for September if it is not ready for the August meeting.

7. OTHER BUSINESS:

A. Discussion of potential future refuse collection enhancements and service possibilities. Mr. Vance stated he and Mr. Drobina had met with Rumpke to discuss the next refuse collection contract. He stated this contract can provide a lot of flexibility to do a lot of different things and hopefully reduce your costs and enhance your services at the same time. Mr. Vance stated this is more informational at this time as we will be looking at a September 2011 contract. He stated he would like to see for example the use of roll outs being used without any additional costs and that recycling be provided without any additional costs. Mrs. Hammond stated that does bring up a few issues because she is aware the residents don’t want to pay for recycling and we have the ordinance that prohibits putting the roll out carts beside your home and some of them are too big to fit into garages. She stated we may have to make some modifications to our ordinances on that. Mr. Barletta stated he is definitely in favor of recycling, but to have to pay for it while he is reducing the volume they are picking up at the curb is almost ridiculous. Mr. Barletta stated he would like to see recycling offered to everyone without an additional charge because that should be reducing their tipping costs at the landfill. Mr. Vance stated if the City would require that all domestic garbage has to be in a city provided roll out that would allow the contractor to better estimate what the trash volume is going to be and you could have a monthly by appointment only bulk item service, you could have a spring and fall junk collection, and items like that to enhance the services and to get the costs as low as possible while still keeping litter off the streets. He stated if Safety Committee has no objection he would like to continue on in this direction because if you are going to enhance your services you cannot negotiate a one-year deal because they have to factor a lot of financing responsibilities on behalf of the contractor to get all of the equipment necessary to distribute to the customers. He stated we would then be talking about a longer contract, but the City would be holding all the cards because you have an out whenever you need it if the service declines to a point where it is not acceptable, and he would work with the law director to make sure that the contract is in the favor of the City.

8. ADJOURNMENT. There being nothing further, Mr. Blair moved to adjourn; Mr. Barletta seconded the motion. Mr. Blair, Mrs. Hammond, and Mr. Barletta voted "Aye." Motion carried, 3-0. The Safety Committee adjourned at 8:50 P.M., July 21, 2010.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

________________________________

Lynda D. Yartin, Municipal Clerk