WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 18, 2010

REGULAR MEETING

7:30 P.M.

1. ROLL CALL. Mrs. Hammond called the meeting to order at 7:43 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, Commander Annetts, Ed Drobina, Chet Hopper, Greg Bachman, Susan Crotty, Michelle Richardson, Alexa Liebert, Carol Carter, John Vanduynhoven, Frank Sclafani, Jim Myers, Eric Richardson, Larry Stupke, Linda Stupke, Tracy Pieczynski, Angelique Taylor, and others.

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF July 21, 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. Jim Myers. Mr. Myers stated he resides on Hereford Drive and he and Mr. Frank Sclafani were present this evening to discuss the Neighborhood Watch Group they have started in RaMar Acres and Pickerington Hills subdivisions. Mr. Myers stated they have run across some signs they would like to post throughout the neighborhood to warn that neighbors are watching. Mr. Myers stated they currently have two signs on Lockville Road that they would like to replace with larger signs. He stated he had discussed this with Mr. Drobina and it was suggested he come to this Committee to see if they can get signs posted throughout the neighborhood, at the entrances to the park, and at the entrances to the neighborhood. Mr. Myers stated he understood they could not put this type of sign on speed limit signs, stop signs, street signs, etc., but they would have to be posted on their individual posts. Mr. Myers stated he was requesting the City either put in posts and post the signs, or if the City could put the posts in he would be more than glad to install the signs. Mr. Myers stated they were just trying to get the word out that the neighborhood was watching out to assist the police officers in Pickerington. Mr. Vance stated he would go out with Mr. Drobina and investigate what they would like to accomplish and go from there. He stated he felt the City would be receptive to working with the neighborhood in that regard.

B. Carol Carter. Mrs. Carter stated she would like to address the issue of the chickens in her neighborhood. Mrs. Carter stated she does not object to farmers have chickens, but she does live inside the city limits and we do have an ordinance against keeping livestock. She stated keeping livestock in the city does affect your neighbors, and most cities do not allow livestock on properties of less than five acres. Mrs. Carter stated allowing these chickens, etc., would also affect the property value of the neighbors homes. Mrs. Carter stated as a resident of the neighborhood she was not in favor of allowing chickens.

C. Linda Stupka. Mrs. Stupka stated she lives behind the family that has the chickens and it does affect her. She stated it does affect the property values, the smell is terrible, and she would like to see this stopped.

D. Michelle Richardson. Mrs. Richardson stated she is the resident who owns the chickens and she is maintaining that they are pets, not livestock. Mrs. Richardson stated Mrs. Stupka does live behind her, but the chickens do not smell. Mrs. Richardson distributed a packet of information on the benefits of raising chickens and stated chickens are educational, teach responsibility and self-sufficiency, and it is good for the environment. Mrs. Richardson stated she maintains her chickens are pets because in Ohio the definition of livestock excludes a person who keeps a limited number of hens for pleasure, companionship, and a few eggs for household use. Mrs. Richardson stated she has several letters from real estate personnel that state there is no difference in property values among cities and townships that allow pet hens and those that do not. Mrs. Richardson stated she had also provided a petition for chicken approval and five letters in support from neighbors stating they are in support of the chickens.

4. POLICE:

A. Chief’s Report. Commander Annetts stated Chief Taylor had provided a written report and he would be happy to answer any questions anyone might have. Mr. Blair stated he did have a question regarding the concern about the parade and suggestion that it end at the high school, not the junior high school. Mr. Blair inquired if the police department have suggested this every year and Commander Annetts stated they have, but it has not happened. Mrs. Hammond questioned if the parade route could remain the same, but be in reverse order; start at the high school and come down Hill Road, along Columbus Street, up Lockville Road, and then end at the high school by going down Opportunity Way. Commander Annetts stated he did not see any issue with that and Mr. Blair stated he thought that sounded like a good idea. Mr. Vance stated if we have any safety issues we could specify them in the event application that the city either approves or denies and he would expect everyone would work with us. Mrs. Hammond stated having been in charge of parades in the past, she stated they need more volunteers to help as parade marshals. Mr. Vance stated he would ensure the police department is involved in all discussions involving future parades so we can negotiate these issues.

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. Blair clarified that some trees have been removed from Victory Park and there is a plan to some different landscaping late this fall or early next spring. Mr. Vance stated he thought it would be appropriate to have the Tree Commission continue to be an active committee and this subject is on their agenda for this month. Mrs. Hammond stated she would like to point out that from the reports she received it appears that we will be spending close to $7,000 a year for port-a-potties for our parks, and we do actually have restrooms in our parks. Mr. Blair questioned if we have had a vandalism problem and that is why we don’t use the restrooms, and Mrs. Hammond stated a number of years ago there was a problem. Commander Annetts stated in the past we employed a gentleman to unlock the restrooms every morning and lock them at night, but he doesn’t know why we don’t do that now. Mrs. Hammond stated it just seemed ridiculous when we have very nice restrooms with running water that we lock up sitting next to the portables that we pay $7,000 a year for. She stated she would like to see if this could be changed.

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 we have issued approximately 60 building permits to date this year. Mr. Hopper stated a pre-construction conference is scheduled with Dominion Homes for the next section of Fox Glen and they anticipate building more homes in that section before the end of the year.

(2) Code Enforcement Officer’s Report. Mr. Hopper stated he had provided a written report and stated they continue to make high grass a priority issue. Mr. Vance inquired if the grass had been cut on Long Road today and Mr. Hopper stated when he checked before noon it was not done, but the gentleman cutting for us assured him it would be done today. Mr. Hopper stated he would check first thing in the morning to make sure it was done.

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 at the last meeting he had reported a request to install permit parking signs in front of 76 and 84 E. Borland Street. He stated he and Chief Taylor had looked at this area and their recommendation was not to install this signage. Mr. Drobina stated they had also looked at the boulevard area in the Pickerington Hills/RaMar subdivision after a request to install no parking signs, and if the Committee felt it necessary they would support the installation of these signs. Mr. Blair inquired if parking has been an issue and Mr. Drobina stated the only time there is a real issue is when there is a festival or an event in the downtown area. He stated during those times people will park in the boulevard. Mr. Blair inquired if we have anything like a temporary sign for no parking and Mr. Drobina stated we could do that. Mr. Vance stated we have been working with the Violet Festival as we have those issues in other areas and he felt we would be more proactive next year with regard to temporary no parking signage to make sure emergency vehicles can get into every neighborhood we have. Mrs. Hammond stated she had driven in this area and she would be hesitant to install these signs on a permanent basis. Mr. Vance stated he would take a look at this and come back to the Committee if necessary.

D. Engineering Department.

(1) City Engineer’s Report. Mr. Bachman stated with regard to the Avalon Road gas well, ODNR has started the work to permanently cap the well that is in the right-of-way and that section of Avalon Road will be closed for a couple of weeks until the work is done. He stated they were now estimating this as a $60,000 project that they will be covering. Mr. Bachman stated he will be working with MORPC on a safety project and we will be participating next month where we pick a pedestrian crossing crosswalk and position an officer who will give warnings to motorists who do not yield for pedestrians. He stated this is to bring a better awareness of pedestrian crossings, and Columbus, OSU, Hilliard, and Worthington are some other communities that will be participating in this project. Mrs. Hammond stated that is a great project because we have more and more people that are out walking. Mr. Bachman stated next month he plans to bring forward a sidewalk replacement policy for discussion. He stated our Code requires the property owner to replace sidewalks, but that is the only guidance and staff would like some guidance as to what point we require the sidewalks to be replaced, how it would be paid for, etc. Mr. Bachman stated he will bring a draft policy and some recommendations to the Committee.

6. CHAIRMAN:

A. Review of request to keep fowl within the City. Mr. Barletta stated as a resident, and representing the residents, he is not inclined to change the existing Code to allow keeping hens. Mr. Blair stated he does not doubt that Mrs. Richardson keeps her chicken coop clean, but he cannot see changing the legislation that would allow this. He stated for every one person that might do a good job of keeping it up, there will be someone else that will not. Mr. Blair stated he is not a strong advocator of legislating for one person. He stated in terms of changing the whole legislation to open it up to everyone might not be a positive situation and he could not see supporting a change to what we currently have. Mrs. Hammond stated she would have to agree with Mr. Blair and Mr. Barletta, and she has also spoken with other council members and they also do not support making any changes to our Code for one individual. Mrs. Hammond stated then that the ordinance stands as it is.

7. OTHER BUSINESS:

A. Mr. Blair inquired if the police department has been in contact with the schools with regard to their changes in the bussing situation in terms of what we would need to do. Commander Annetts stated he had received a phone call from the school asking what the possibilities were of getting special duty officers in the mornings and afternoons for Diley Road at Long Road and Columbus Street. Commander Annetts stated currently we have three officers that work special duty just for the schools; twice a day they do Ridgeview, Stonebridge, and Sycamore Creek Elementary School. Commander Annetts stated we do not have the manpower and he had suggested the schools consider volunteers as crossing guards. He stated the schools have stated they would prefer an officer, and he has a meeting with them tomorrow for further discussion on this issue.

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 8:40 P.M., August 18, 2010.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

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Lynda D. Yartin, Municipal Clerk