WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 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, Jeff Fix, Brian Sauer, Tricia Sanders, Phil Hartmann, Commander Steve Annetts, Ed Drobina, Chet Hopper, Greg Bachman, Becca Medinger, Dan Heitmeyer, Mike McKinley, and others.

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF October 20, 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: There were no comments.

4. POLICE:

A. Chief’s Report. Commander Annetts stated Chief Taylor had submitted a written report and he would answer any questions anyone might have.

5. DEPARTMENT REPORTS:

A. 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 anyone might have. He stated in the past the Building Department sent out a reminder to all contractors regarding renewal. He stated this year rather than sending a letter and stuffing envelopes, they were sending out a post card notice. Mr. Hopper stated this would not only be a cost savings in postage for the City, it was less time consuming for the staff as well.

(2) Code Enforcement. Mr. Hopper stated he had also provided a written report on Code Enforcement and he would answer any questions. Mrs. Hammond asked the status of the cat problem and Mr. Hopper stated the number of cats has declined and should it come up again we will be turning it over to the law director. Mr. Hartmann stated our Code does provide the ability to cite the resident into Mayor’s Court for harboring the cats and he would speak to the prosecutor about it as well. Mr. Hartmann further stated he would look at other communities to see if there is anything we can do to strengthen our Code.

(3) Review and discussion regarding draft ordinance to add a new Chapter 1488, “Neglected Property Registry” to Part 14, “Building and Housing Code” of Title 6, “Miscellaneous Building Regulations” to the Codified Ordinances of Pickerington. Mrs. Hammond stated Mr. Hartmann was present this evening to answer any questions on this issue as well. Mr. Blair stated he had requested Mr. Hartmann put something together on this and while it is not exactly what he wanted that draft has been provided to the Committee. Mr. Hartmann stated Columbus recently passed an amendment to their Code on this issue and he had used that as a basis for this draft ordinance. Mr. Blair stated the part that he liked was dealing with the penalties for disappearing real property owner. He stated he did not like the registry idea or having a public list, he did not like having a fee associated with this, and he did not like defining what a vacant house is. Mr. Blair stated he realized that bank owned properties are usually the problem, but he did not want to hurt people who were trying to sell their house or have investment property they are keeping up. He stated the idea behind the penalty for a disappearing property owner gave the City more authority to go after the problem owners. Mr. Hartmann stated Mr. Hopper and Mr. Vance had also provided a draft they had prepared. Mrs. Hammond stated she agreed with Mr. Blair and she would be really hesitant to put together a list it would become public and she would hate to think there was a list that people could target. She stated she hoped there was a workable compromise. Mr. Vance stated the idea is that we would like to make banks that assume ownership of houses come in and register their involvement with those foreclosure situations. He stated when they did register their involvement we could get a point person and we could establish a relationship with that person at that bank and when the neighbors of those foreclosed homes call the City demanding that we do something about the abandoned property next to them, we would have someone we could contact. Mr. Blair stated once we have a list and people see the property is empty and is not being watched, copper is still in there and people can get in to that. He stated he could see it as a crime activity waiting to happen if we have a list of any sort that could be obtained. Mr. Vance stated those lists would have to be requested so we could keep track and we would know if there were issues with the properties that something was going on. Mr. Hopper stated he did not feel a list would promote or prevent crime because if you drive by a vacant home and the bank has foreclosed there is usually something in the window showing the home has been winterized, etc. Mr. Hopper stated the bigger issue is that when it is going through the foreclosure process the banks respond that they don’t own the property yet. He stated this is a mechanism that would help us not have to spend hours researching who owns the property and also hold them accountable to take care of the property. Mrs. Hammond questioned if Mr. Hopper was talking specifically about houses in foreclosure because there are vacant houses because the owners have moved but they are not in foreclosure, they are keeping up the payments, etc. Mr. Vance stated it is his goal to start proactive relationships and the register would allow us to get started. Mr. Blair inquired if a fee would be associated with the registry and Mr. Vance stated he would suggest that if we incur any in-kind cost associated with the provision of this service, and this is a service, we are providing a property value protection service to those in our neighborhoods. He continued anything we expend with these efforts we can constitute a fee that would recover that expense. Mr. Blair questioned how you would get off this list, and Mr. Vance stated if we establish a relationship with the bank, both the bank and the city would be tracking those properties, and we would know that the house is being sold and who the new owners are. Mr. Blair stated he was fine with this as long as we got rid of the idea of abandoned, vacant, and those types of terms in whatever piece of legislation they looked at next. He stated if it could be narrowed down to foreclosed homes that was a different story to him. Mr. Vance stated he did communicate that ultimate goal to the law director and any assistance he could provide would be welcome to make that occur legally if this committee has no objection. Mr. Barletta stated you could have an abandoned home that is not foreclosed, yet would have all the same earmarks of a foreclosed home, and he would not want to exclude a property from the list that is distressed in that way. Mr. Vance stated we can use routine code enforcement practices to deal with situations like that. He stated he is just looking for some legislation that allows us to legally encourage banks that come into play as far as foreclosed properties to register those properties. Mrs. Hammond stated the draft provided by Mr. Hopper encompasses more than just foreclosures and questioned if the Committee would like to address those issues separately. Mr. Vance stated the document provided by Mr. Hopper has been in place elsewhere and it provides flexibility to work with banks in relation to foreclosed properties and do so in a very proactive way. Mr. Vance stated he would defer to the law director for the creation of new legislation to accurately portray whatever position this committee wants to take. Mr. Blair stated he still feels this leaves enough ambiguity that it is not just foreclosed properties that we are going after in this legislation and he is just not comfortable with the term “abandoned.” Mr. Hartmann stated he would work with Mr. Hopper and Mr. Vance and prepare a new draft ordinance for review by this committee at their next meeting if that is what everyone would like. Mr. Hartmann stated with regard to the registration fee he would rely on Mr. Hopper and Mr. Vance to provide him with a fee associated with the cost of actually doing the task to avoid any suits. Mrs. Hammond stated she would request this remain on the agenda and a new draft ordinance be provided for review at the next committee meeting.

B. Service/Parks Department

(1) Recreation Administrator’s Report. Ms Medinger stated she had provided a written report to the Committee and she would be happy to answer any questions. Mr. Blair stated he would like to thank Ms Medinger for the good work on the Haunted Village. Mrs. Hammond stated for the tree lighting she would suggest we have some type of microphone or something because when the Mayor or others speak you cannot hear them. Ms Medinger stated she would look into this.

(a) Review and discussion regarding disc golf course rental policy and reservation form. Ms Medinger stated she had combined the draft from the last meeting with recommendations from the law director. She stated she had also incorporated some wording from the shelter reservation form we currently use and reworded the guidelines for the disc golf course. Ms Medinger questioned if the requirement for a non-profit organization to provide documentation was necessary and Mr. Hartmann stated he did not feel that was necessary. Ms Medinger further stated she had received a call from Mr. Paul Jay and the Columbus Flyers would like to make a donation to the City to be used for maintenance of the disc golf course. Ms Medinger stated further that she was not quite sure what the item on the form asking if the applicant would be partnering with the city for the event actually accomplished. Mr. Vance stated it would be his recommendation that the disc golf course only be closed if we have some type of regional tournament. Mr. Blair stated he thought this could be handled by Parks and Recreation with notification to the Committee. Mrs. Hammond stated she did feel Council should be made aware of these types of events, but she did not feel it would have to come to Safety Committee for approval. Mr. Vance stated he felt it would be appropriate to have the Parks and Recreation Board consider this as we are giving that Board more responsibilities to utilize the resources they provide to the City. Ms Medinger stated she would make the appropriate changes on the reservation form. Mrs. Yartin stated if the committee would like to accept the donation from the Columbus Flyers she would include the appropriate resolution on the next Council consent agenda. Mr. Blair moved to accept the donation from the Columbus Flyers to be used for maintenance on the disc golf course 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.

Ms Medinger stated it has been discussed to have a security deposit on the disc golf course of $100 made before the event and she would like clarification on when that deposit was collected; would it be after the reservation is approved and at what point is the approval. She stated we have talked about doing this form and then they would have to do a community event packet, and she understood it would not actually be approved until everything is signed off on the event packet. Mrs. Hammond stated her question would be if it were necessary for them to do the entire community event packet for this. Mr. Vance stated he would suggest we have a disc golf tournament application to stand on its own merit. He stated we could put together a draft applicant and bring it back to this committee for final consideration and then forward it to the Parks and Recreation Board for utilization. Mrs. Hammond stated she felt that would be appropriate because she felt the entire events package was too cumbersome for this type of event. Mr. Vance stated he would work with Ms Medinger to develop a disc golf tournament application. Mr. Vance stated further they would also work with Mr. Schornack with regard to when the security deposit should be collected and bring recommendations back to this committee.

(2) Service/Parks Maintenance Report. Mr. Drobina stated he had provided a written report and he would answer any questions. Mr. Blair clarified that Mr. Drobina was looking into vandalism-proof toilets for the parks. Mr. Drobina stated he does hope to have the restrooms open where they are available. Mrs. Hammond questioned if we have the potential at some point in the future to put restrooms in at the disc golf course, and Mr. Drobina stated we do have the potential to install restrooms, however, that would be quite expensive.

(a) Review and request for motion to approve draft resolution authorizing the City Manager to apply for the 2011 Ash Removal and Canopy Restoration Grant. Mr. Drobina stated he was notified by the USDA Forest Service of a matching grant where you can apply for up to $50,000 but no less than $3,000, and it is a 50-50 match. He stated this is to remove ash trees and to replant other trees. Mrs. Hammond inquired if we would be applying for a predetermined amount and Mr. Drobina stated he has several questions on that and he has not been able to get in touch with the USDA representative as yet. Mr. Drobina stated you can apply for up to $50,000, so the match would be $25,000. Mr. Blair clarified that while we do not have an exact count we do have a fairly good count of our ash trees. Mr. Drobina stated he would like to look around the subdivisions and look at some of our larger trees and if we are going for the grant to remove the larger trees. He stated the larger trees with power lines, etc., would be the ones we would contract to remove. Mr. Sauer clarified that the Emerald Ash Borer has affected ash trees within the City and will continue to spread. Mr. Sauer further clarified that should we not receive these grant funds we do have an Emerald Ash Borer plan and we would remove the dangerous trees first and then slowly remove the dead trees as money becomes available or people call in. Mr. Drobina stated this will kill all of the ash trees. Mr. Mike McKinley stated he is a member of the Tree Commission and we do have several thousand ash trees within the City. Mr. Drobina stated in 2011 he does have $60,000 budgeted in the Urban Forestry budget for professional services and some of that money could be used for matching funds on the grant. Mr. Barletta further clarified that the grant requires the project be completed by December 2011. Mr. Drobina stated we would receive notification in March 2011 if our application was funded. Mr. Sauer further clarified this is an annual grant that can be applied for. Mr. Blair moved to approve and forward to Council; Mr. Barletta seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Blair, Mr. Barletta, and Mrs. Hammond voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.

(b) Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance to amend Section 1258.15, “Street Trees; Urban Forestry,” of the Codified Ordinances of Pickerington. Mr. Drobina stated the Tree Commission was reviewing the Parks Master Plan the City had done a few years ago, and that Plan recommends that we should change some of our tree ordinances to match up with the Master Plan. He stated this legislation would make our tree ordinance and the recommendations in the Parks Master Plan consistent and increase the caliper of the trees we plant. Mr. Drobina stated he had briefly discussed this at the last meeting and he was bringing the legislation forward this evening. Mr. Blair moved to approve and forward to Council; Mr. Barletta seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Blair, Mr. Barletta, and Mrs. Hammond voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.

C. Engineering Department:

(1) City Engineer’s Report. Mr. Bachman stated he had provided a written report and he would be happy to answer any questions.

(a) Review and discussion regarding Sidewalk Replacement Policy. Mr. Bachman stated earlier this year our Code Enforcement Officer requested some assistance with the determination of our sidewalk replacement policy. Mr. Bachman stated he had prepared a memorandum for the Committee with some examples and he was looking for direction from the Committee. Mr. Bachman stated this could be enforced administratively, but we have never enforced it before. Mr. Bachman stated he would like the Committee to think about this for awhile and provide some feedback as to how we want our Code Enforcement Officer to enforce this. He stated he would then try to write something administratively or propose amendments to the Code. Mr. Sauer inquired if other communities have a plan where they look at different neighborhoods each year and then have a plan where the City gets the work done cheaper if there is a larger amount of sidewalks to be repaired so the homeowner saves on the cost, and Mrs. Hammond stated she knew a lot of communities do something like that. Mr. Vance stated there are sidewalks in the City that need to be addressed and we budget for that, so perhaps we could set up some type of program where residents could apply for a portion of the cost of repair. Mr. Barletta stated he would like to see the City offer a break in the cost if we can. Mrs. Hammond stated she would like Mr. Vance to look into the different things we can do and make recommendations to the Committee on what he felt might work for the City. Mr. Hartmann stated in the past the City has helped people spread out the cost because Fairfield County is easy about putting things on the tax records so there are things like that to consider as well. Mr. Barletta stated he would just be leery of offering something to one taxpayer in terms of replacing their sidewalk that might make another taxpayer think he was being done out of something and if there were any legal pitfalls we could fall into by being to generous. Mr. Barletta stated he was referring to matching funds, etc. Mr. Vance stated we could have our engineers inventory, as they can, sidewalks around the city and rank the conditions of those sidewalks. He stated he would just like an idea of how Council would like to handle this issue. Mrs. Hammond stated she would wait to see what recommendations Mr. Vance provided for the Committee’s review.

(b) Review and discussion regarding bicycle ordinance. Mr. Bachman stated he had received comments from several groups and he had not had time to review all of these. Mrs. Hammond stated she would like to continue this on the agenda. Mr. Barletta stated the Parks and Recreation Board had reviewed six proposed bike paths that Mr. Bachman had prioritized and we have a potential grant opportunity coming up to apply for on bike paths. Mr. Barletta stated the number one priority was a path that goes between city hall and across the park and would be a great one to do. Mr. Barletta stated he would like to get a sense from Council that if we were successful in applying for a grant like this if Council would be agreeable to use Parks Impact Fees to pay the matching funds. Mrs. Sanders stated there are only certain things we can use the Parks Impact Fees on and Mrs. Hammond stated our Parks Master Plan also has other items that we could be doing in all the different parks and she wasn’t sure we shouldn’t follow that plan as we make improvements. Mr. Blair clarified that we have $19,000 in the fund now and if we do 60 new homes next year we would collect roughly $100,000. Mr. Bachman stated bike path options presented to the Parks and Recreation Board came out of the Parks Master Plan. Mrs. Hammond stated if she recalled during the budget sessions Council had discussed just holding back on impact fees next year and letting it build up before a decision is made on what to do with it. Mr. Barletta stated it would take a year to accumulate enough to spend on anything, but he was just trying to get a sense on how everyone felt. Mr. Barletta stated if we were to apply for the grant we would have to get the legislation started as the applications are due February 1^st and are for up to 75 percent. Mr. Bachman stated he has had preliminary discussion with the schools about possibly them putting in some money since those paths would help reduce the number of busses. Mr. Barletta stated he felt it was a valuable asset to the community if we could eliminate some busses, give people an easier way to walk around and bike around, that would be a big plus. Mrs. Hammond stated that was true, but she would like to see sidewalks in the City as well. She further stated we would not know until the end of next year how many houses would be built or how much money would be in that fund and she was not sure how we could commit to money we don’t even know we will have. Mr. Bachman stated if we got the grant, construction would not begin until 2012. Mr. Barletta stated as Council’s representative to the Parks and Recreation Board he could request the Board review the Parks and Recreation Master Plan to see if there are any other items that need priority. Mrs. Hammond stated she felt that would be a very good idea because some of the Parks Board members may not have had the opportunity to review that Plan and there are a lot of different parks in the city that people are not even aware of. Mr. Barletta stated he would see if this could be made an agenda item for the Parks and Recreation Board.

6. CHAIRMAN: Mrs. Hammond stated she had nothing to bring forward this evening.

7. OTHER BUSINESS:

A. Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance amending Sections 416.06, 852.03, and 853.06, and adding a new Section 852.01 of the Pickerington Codified Ordinances relating to solicitors within the City. Mrs. Hammond stated the Committee had discussed this last month and the law director had made the changes requested by this Committee. Mrs. Hammond clarified that the charity must be Fairfield County based, and the language was included that gave the City Manager to authority to revoke the permit at any time. 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.

B. Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance regarding the expansion of powers for Nuisance Abatement Board. Mrs. Hammond clarified that Mr. Hartmann had not completed that draft ordinance as yet and requested it remain on the agenda for the next meeting.

8. ADJOURNMENT. There being nothing further, Mr. Blair moved to adjourn; Mr. Barletta seconded the motion. Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Blair, and Mr. Barletta voted "Aye." Motion carried, 3-0. The Safety Committee adjourned at 8:50 P.M., November 17, 2010.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

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Lynda D. Yartin, Municipal Clerk