SERVICE COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL
CITY HALL, 100
LOCKVILLE ROAD
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2010
REGULAR MEETING
6:30 P.M.
1. ROLL CALL. Mr. Fix
called the meeting to order at 6:30 P.M., with Mr. Fix and Mr. Sauer
present. Mr. Wisniewski was absent due
to a work commitment. Others present
were: Bill Vance, Lynda Yartin, Ed
Drobina, Greg Bachman, Susan
Crotty, Tony Barletta, Gavin Blair, Tricia Sanders,
Seth Dorman, Alexa Liebert,
and others.
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF August 18, 2010, Regular
Meeting. Mr. Sauer moved to approve; Mr.
Fix seconded the motion. Roll
call was taken with Mr. Sauer and Mr. Fix voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 2-0.
3. COMMUNITY COMMENTS: There were no community comments.
4. DEVELOPMENT:
A. Development Director’s Report. Ms Crotty stated she had provided a written
report and she would be glad to answer any questions.
(1) Annexation – Update. Ms Crotty stated we are still waiting on the
survey to be corrected so it can be refilled and we have communicated with the
petitioner that the research has been completed. Ms Crotty stated we will not be including Busey Road in the annexation
so the maintenance of that will remain as is.
Mr. Fix inquired if not annexing Busey Road had any impact and
Ms Crotty stated Mr. Vance had spoken to the Township to make sure they were
informed by us that this would be the case.
She stated the Township has an arrangement with Canal Winchester about
maintenance and that will continue. Mr.
Vance stated this was being communicated to Mr. Yaple
and no objections have been received.
(2) Development Process – Update. Ms Crotty stated she had no update this
evening.
(3) Economic Development Marketing Plan –
Update. Ms Crotty stated she has
received some feedback on brand and she is working through that with our
consultant. She stated she had also
provided a copy of the report from the Board of Consultants of the Columbus
Board of Realtors showing feedback from their tour of Diley Road. Ms Crotty stated we are following through on
those recommendations and we have already put up the directional sign to U.S.
33. Mr. Fix stated for the record he
would like to thank Councilman Blair for
bringing the Board of Realtors to the City and they were very helpful.
(4) Business Retention Project –
Update. Ms Crotty stated she had nothing
further to report this evening.
(5) Long
Range Economic Development Plan –
Update. There was no further update.
(6) Implementation of the Diley Road Corridor Plan –
Update. Ms Crotty stated she had no update
this evening.
B. Review and request for motion to
approve draft resolution to amend the Community Reinvestment Area (CRA). Ms Crotty stated she had not received the
draft legislation for tonight’s meeting, but she did anticipate having that completed
to move forward in the near future. She
stated she plans to proceed as discussed to include the Eichhorn
and the Skilken properties. Mr. Fix stated if Mr. Sauer had no objections
he would like to move this issue forward to Council
contingent on getting the legislation out as soon as possible so it can be
acted upon quickly. Mr. Sauer stated he
concurred with that action. Mr. Fix moved to forward legislation on the
Community Reinvestment Area to Council
contingent upon it meeting all of the requirements of staff and review by Council; Mr. Sauer seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Fix and Mr.
Sauer voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 2-0.
Mr. Vance stated this legislation
provides a lot to interpretation unfortunately and he felt we need to solidify
the City’s position and also work with our bond counsel to make sure the
language is as friendly as possible when we send it to Columbus. He stated that is what we are working on and
he apologized for the delay but some information came to our attention in the
recent past regarding some grey areas and we are just working through those.
5. PLANNING AND ZONING DEPARTMENT:
A. Planning and Zoning Director’s Report.
Ms Crotty stated Mr. Schultz is ill this evening, but she would answer any questions.
(1) Planning and Zoning Representative
Report (Mr. Sauer) Mr. Sauer stated he
had no report.
Mr.
Vance stated the Chamber was kind enough to work with staff as a clearing house
for sign regulation comments and it is his understanding the deadline is
approaching to receive those comments and they should be coming to the City’s
staff in the near future. Mr. Vance
stated those comments will be forwarded to the Planning and Zoning Commission
in October and have a report to Council as
well.
B. ACTION
ITEMS:
(1) Review and request for motion to approve
draft ordinance for rezoning and Preliminary Development Plan for the
approximate 5.05 acre Skilken property from C-3
(Community Commercial) to PC-3 (Planned Community Commercial District) for the Windmiller Medical Campus located just south of Kroger’s on
Old Diley Road and to schedule a public hearing for
Tuesday, October 19, 2010, at 7:10 P.M.
Ms Crotty stated the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval
as a Final Development Plan with 13 conditions.
She stated the developer was agreeable with the conditions and this will
help them move forward with the development of the medical office complex south
of Kroger. She stated she would answer
any questions and Mr. Seth Dorman from Skilken is
present as well. Mr. Dorman stated he
would like to thank Mr. Vance, Ms Crotty, and the rest of the City staff for
taking the time to meet with them on a number of occasions and for helping
Sheppard the application through the process.
He stated he would answer any questions anyone might have about their
project and they would appreciate this Committee’s recommendation to move this
forward to full Council. Mr.
Fix moved to approve and forward to Council as
a Final Development Plan and to schedule a Public Hearing for October 19, 2010,
at 7:10 P.M.; Mr. Sauer seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Sauer and Mr. Fix
voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 2-0.
(2) Review and request for motion to approve
draft ordinance to approve text amendments to Chapter 1278.02 of the
Pickerington Codified Ordinances to allow single-family uses in the C-2 Central
Business/Mixed Use Zoning District in the Olde Pickerington
Village and to schedule a public
hearing for Tuesday, October 19, 2010, at 7:20 P.M. Ms Crotty stated this came about due to an
inquiry earlier this year from a property owner in the old village who was
interested in selling their property.
She stated the person interested in purchasing the property was
interested in a commercial use as the primary use of the building but living
above the business. She stated we found
that because most of the properties that are commercial along Columbus
Street are zoned C-2, if they have not been used
for a year as a single family residence or a portion has not been used as a
single family residence, then that use is prohibited. Ms Crotty stated it seemed like it would make
sense in the historic district downtown that you would have buildings that
would allow shop owners to live above the business or for property owners to
rent the top floor as an additional source of income. She stated our legal counsel reviewed our
ordinance and the change would be to include just for the old downtown
Pickerington village area, which will follow the boundaries that have been
designated for the portable sign ordinance for the downtown, that single family
uses shall be permitted uses when incorporated with a C-2 commercial use
provided that it will not occupy more than 50 percent of the structure. She stated this would ensure that the
buildings do not revert back to residential use for the entire building. Mr. Sauer stated he fully supported this
amendment and Ms Crotty stated the Planning and Zoning Commission had recommended
approval as well. Mr. Fix moved to approve and forward to Council and to set a Public Hearing for October
19, 2010, at 7:20 P.M.; Mr. Sauer seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Sauer and Mr. Fix
voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 2-0.
(3) Refugee Road
Study – Update. Ms Crotty stated Mr.
Schultz is working on getting the information together for a work session for
the Planning and Zoning Commission and then presenting the draft plan to the
Planning and Zoning Commission in November.
6. SERVICE DEPARTMENT
A. Service Manager’s Report. Mr. Drobina stated he had provided a written
report and he would be happy to answer any questions. Mr. Sauer stated he noticed the Tree
Commission was recommending an amendment to our Code to increase the minimum
caliper and questioned if there would be a cost with this. Mr. Drobina stated there would be a cost;
however, it would depend on the variety of the tree. Mr. Drobina stated he agreed with the
recommendation because it would provide a better chance for the tree to
survive. Mr. Drobina stated he did not
have a draft ordinance prepared because he wanted to get the Committee’s
feeling on this prior to doing that. Mr.
Sauer stated as he understood it this would be a better way to go just because of
the health of the tree and we would not have to replace as many. Mr. Drobina stated that was correct, and he
would have a draft ordinance for the next Committee meeting.
B. WASTEWATER
(1) Wastewater Plant Expansion –
Update. Mr. Drobina stated the
wastewater expansion is complete and it is up and operational. He stated we do not have a final cost as far
as the overage for engineering and inspection but he should have that in the
next week or so. Mr. Vance stated since
we did have the contractor finishing after the deadline there were penalties
associated with that. He stated those
have to be negotiated and then we will work with the engineers on the
additional charges for their services.
He further stated once we have negotiated all of those details we will
bring recommendations back to the Service Committee. Mr. Fix clarified we are hoping that these
balance out.
a. TDS – Update. Mr. Bachman stated design of the water
treatment to convert over to reverse-osmosis is proceeding and one thing he
will be asking for is Council’s approval to go
ahead with early procurement of reverse-osmosis equipment. He stated that will move the project along a
little faster and the benefit is that if we can show good progress to the EPA
we are hoping they will give us a temporary waiver on the TDS limit so we can
have less hardness coming out of our water treatment plant for our residents
and less people will feel the need to put home water softeners in. He stated if a lot of people put home water
softeners in we still end up with a TDS problem at the wastewater treatment
plant. Mr. Bachman stated we should be
ready with an early procurement contract in October and when we need the
authorization to award that contract he would appreciate quick action, whether
it be three readings with emergency, waiver of committee action, etc. He stated we hope to have the reverse-osmosis
in by the end of next year, if we can get early procurement we may be able to
have it in before the bulk of the summer.
Mr. Fix stated if a Special Service Committee meeting is needed, he
would be happy to accommodate that. Mr.
Bachman stated a committee waiver might be the easiest process and Mr. Sauer
stated he is fine with that and he was sure Mr. Wisniewski would be as well. Mr. Vance stated Mr. Bachman had scheduled a
meeting with staff and our engineers and he has been involved in situations
where the City would go ahead and order parts and materials first and the
contractor would come in and then assume responsibility for those parts and
materials with no objection. He stated
we want some sort of wording in the contract, and he had not heard any
objection, that the contractor would not have a problem assuming responsibility
for what we order so if there is a problem down the line they don’t claim it is
the City’s problem. He stated once they
get the contract it becomes their equipment essentially. Mr. Bachman stated he always has some concern
about early procurement but in this case it seems to make sense and Mr. Vance
stated he agreed it absolutely made sense.
C. WATER. No report.
7. ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT
A. Engineer’s Report. Mr.
Bachman stated he had provided a written report and would be happy to answer
any questions.
Mr. Bachman stated with regard to storm water, we are
having an erosion concern down in Shawnee Crossing with one of the streams off
of Cherokee Court as the stream is eroding on the outside of the bank and we
will have to address that next year. He
stated we should be able to address it with storm water utility funds, but
encroaching is on City land, there is a reserve that came with the subdivision
and that is where the bend of the stream is.
He stated it is getting awfully close to a property line so we will
probably have to do something with that next year.
Mr. Bachman stated we have also received a proposal from
Tipping Point Renewable Energy to put in a solar panel array at the water plant
that would basically provide about the same amount of electricity as the plant
uses, and sell that electricity back to the power company to offset our
electricity at the plant. Mr. Bachman
stated we use about $100,000 of electricity at that plant each year and the
solar array would take up about five acres of land. He stated we have about 60 acres of land at
the water plant, and this would be one of, if not the largest, solar arrays in
central Ohio. He stated they would propose to put it in at
their expense and basically charge us for power at a lower rate than what the
power company charges us. Mr. Bachman stated from their projections the savings
to the City the first year would be about $15,000 to $20,000 and graduate up to
about $50,000 in year 20, so over a 20 year life it would be between $15,000 to
$50,000 a year in savings to the City.
Mr. Bachman stated Mr. Vance and Mr. Drobina have looked at this as well
and it looked very reasonable and good for the environment so we are strongly
considering that. He stated Tipping
Point has asked for a letter of intent that does not bind us to anything but
shows our intent. Mr. Vance stated he felt
this was a very exciting project and is a good opportunity for Pickerington to
go green to some extent and there is a definite cost savings as far as
electricity is concerned. He stated this
would cost the City nothing and he is familiar with various green opportunities
in the past relating to such a possibility and while he has never been
successfully involved with any such opportunity this is a private market
proposal, he had encouraged them to come back with a realistic proposal. Mr. Vance continued they did come back with
what Mr. Bachman and Mr. Drobina consider to be a very realistic proposal and
he recommends that we continue forward and indicate in a non-binding way that
the City is extremely interested in pursuing this possibility with them. Mr. Bachman stated he would add that right now
solar is not competitive with conventional electricity, however, there is a
significant federal government credit that is not available to public entities
but is to private enterprises like Tipping Point and that is basically how they
would end up making money, they would get the federal energy credit. Mr. Fix clarified Tipping Point would front
the cost of installing all the solar panels, they would then generate the electricity
that would go into the plant, and they sell that electricity to us at their
cost plus their mark-up. Mr. Bachman
stated it would come out to about 7-1/2 cents per kilowatt right now from the
power company and their cost is about 6 cents per kilowatt hour. Mr. Fix stated then their mark-up is designed
to, over time, pay for the up front cost of the installation and questioned if
at some point down the road was there a way we take ownership of that or see a
reduction in the rate. Mr. Vance stated
those specifics would have to be negotiated, we do not have any type of base
contract to look at right now and anything is possible in negotiations and
those points can be brought up to provide the City some flexibility down the
road. Mr. Vance stated further these
structures would not be absolutely permanent and they could be removed if the
situation turned out not to be a good one for the City. Mr. Sauer stated his question would be if
there was an issue with the equipment, it would be Tipping Point’s expense to
take care of it and that would be negotiated as well. Mr. Vance stated absolutely, the goal is to
make sure that the City has no expense other than in-kind expenses associated
with the utilization of staff to negotiate the deal. Mr. Vance stated he felt it would be a good
start, if this Committee is supportive of us going in this direction, to send
it on to full Council for their blessing prior
to that letter going out. Mr. Bachman
stated he would also like to add that if the equipment did not work, we would
go back to the electric grid. Mr. Sauer
stated his concern is that he did not want the equipment set up and then we
assume responsibility for it. Mr.
Bachman stated it was his understanding they would have all the maintenance
responsibility and we would make sure that was in the contract as well as a
clause regarding removing the equipment if necessary. Mr. Fix stated he thought it would be
appropriate for Mr. Vance and Mr. Bachman to negotiate the contract and bring
it back to Service Committee so it would then be moved forward to Council. Mr. Bachman stated some preliminary
engineering is involved so they want to make sure there is some Council
buy-in before they do that, and Mr. Fix stated five members of Council
were present this evening and they all were in favor of this. Mr.
Fix moved to authorize the City Manager and City Engineer to work with Tipping
Point Renewable Energy on a letter of intent to establish a solar panel grid in
Pickerington; Mr. Sauer seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Sauer and Mr. Fix
voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 2-0.
B. ACTION ITEMS:
(1) Water Master Plan and Sewer Master Plan
- Update. Mr. Bachman stated these
projects should be wrapped up shortly and we will have a record of the location
of those, the areas they serve, pressures, etc.
a. S.R. 256 Safety Improvement Project -
Update. Mr. Bachman stated he has met
with ODOT’s new Safety Engineer for the District and
they are very much interested in the project.
Mr. Bachman stated the Safety Engineer was checking to see what
engineering the District could do for us on that application and he has not
spoken to him to see what he has found as yet.
(2) Review request for motion to approve two
draft ordinances accepting water line easements for Refugee
Road water tower.
Mr. Bachman stated these easements became necessary because the
connection to our water line grid was not shown in the correct location on the
plans and we actually found the water line to be on the other side of Windmiller Drive. He stated we did get two easements at the
cost of $1.00 from the commercial properties there and these ordinances will
accept those easements. Mr. Fix moved to approve the two draft
ordinances and forward to Council;
Mr. Sauer seconded the motion. Roll
call was taken with Mr. Fix and Mr. Sauer voting “Yea.” Motion
passed, 2-0.
C. TRANSPORTATION
(1) Review and discussion regarding ODOT
controlled traffic signals. Mr. Bachman
stated he has had correspondence with ODOT and they plan to put battery back-up
on the two traffic signals at the end of the ramps for I-70 next year and they
are initiating a traffic study for those signals. He stated he does not have a timeframe set
for that, but we have gotten their attention and they are looking at it to
improve the timing through there.
(2) School Speed Zone Study – Update. No report.
8. CHAIRMAN. Mr. Fix stated he had nothing to bring
forward.
9. OTHER BUSINESS:
A. Mr.
Vance stated he would like permission from the Committee to coordinate with the
Growth Management personnel and Building Department personnel to coordinate a
request for proposal in relation to contracting building inspection services to
include code enforcement and a request for qualifications for professional
planning consulting services. He stated
once we advertise for interested parties to participate the next step would be
to bring proposed recommendations to Service Committee prior to negotiating
contracts. Mr. Fix stated as
clarification Mr. Vance was asking for approval to go forward with the request
for proposals and Mr. Vance stated that was correct. Mr.
Fix moved to authorize the City Manager to move forward with requests for
proposals on these issues; Mr. Sauer seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Fix and Mr. Sauer
voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 2-0.
10. ADJOURNMENT. There
being nothing further, Mr. Sauer moved to adjourn; Mr. Fix seconded the
motion. Mr. Fix and Mr. Sauer voted
“Aye.” Motion carried, 2-0. The Service Committee adjourned at 7:10 P.M.,
September 22, 2010.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:
________________________________
Lynda D. Yartin, Municipal Clerk