WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2011

REGULAR MEETING

6:30 P.M.

1. ROLL CALL. Mrs. Hammond called the meeting to order at 6:30 P.M., with roll call as follows: Mrs. Hammond, Mrs. Sanders, and Mr. Fix were present. No members were absent. Others present were: Bill Vance, Lynda Yartin, Commander Steve Annetts, Chet Hopper, Ed Drobina, Greg Bachman, Joe Henderson, Becca Medinger, Tony Barletta, Gavin Blair, and others.

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF January 19, 2011, Regular Meeting. Mr. Fix moved to approve; Mrs. Sanders seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Fix, Mrs. Sanders, and Mrs. Hammond voting “Yes.” Motion passed, 3-0.

3. COMMUNITY COMMENTS: There were no community comments.

4. POLICE:

A. Chief’s Report. Commander Annetts stated the Chief had provided a written report and he would be happy to answer any questions. Commander Annetts further stated he would like to point out that the department had received one Rapid ID fingerprint reader from the Attorney General’s office. He stated this will assist the officers in identifying individuals during traffic stops, etc.

5. DEPARTMENT REPORTS:

A. Building Regulations Department.

(1) Code Enforcement Report. Mr. Hopper stated he had provided a written report and he would answer any questions. Mrs. Hammond clarified that the regulations for banners would be changing in the near future to allow for banners to be installed more frequently but for a shorter period of time. Mr. Fix stated one banner has been up on S.R. 256 for quite some time and Mr. Hopper stated that business had been notified of the violation and the property owner had also been notified. Mr. Hopper stated we cannot remove a banner from private property, however, they can be cited into Mayor’s Court.

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. Fix clarified that we do have a policy in place for the disc golf course should someone wish to hold a tournament.

(2) Service/Parks Maintenance Report. Mr. Drobina stated he had provided a written report and he would answer any questions. Mr. Drobina stated he had provided a proposal for installing street signs on the same pole as stop signs and stated he was just looking to see if Council had any preference on this. Mrs. Hammond stated it seemed like it would make for one less post for people to mow around, etc. Mr. Fix clarified the stop sign is required to be at seven feet and as long as the Police Chief has no problem with it he did not see a problem. Mr. Drobina stated he had also received the quotes for the portable restrooms and he was recommending we contract with ATR as they provide two cleanings per week at a lesser cost than the other companies. The Committee concurred with Mr. Drobina’s recommendation.

a. Review and discussion regarding refuse collection contract. Mr. Drobina stated he and Mr. Vance had met with Rumpke and they had made some proposals on what they would like to change. Mr. Vance stated he was recommending pursuing the one-year extension as we are trying to incorporate some minor improvements and Rumpke is investigating whether or not our requests can be met. Mr. Vance stated our current contract will expire in September. Mrs. Hammond stated she did not feel there would be any objections to the one-year extension.

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 he had no update on this issue this evening.

b. Review and discussion regarding bicycle ordinance. Mr. Bachman stated he had no update on this issue this evening.

6. CHAIRMAN:

A. Strategic Plan Goals – Update. Mrs. Hammond stated everyone had received a copy of the goals in their packet and she was not sure exactly where all of these came from. Mrs. Hammond stated she would like to review these goals and prioritize them. She stated as far as Code Enforcement goes she felt we had a decent handle on this and it is a work in progress. Mr. Vance stated with regard to National Night Out is an opportunity for the police department to pursue if they would like to. He stated it is a block party type situation in the summer months and is dedicated to celebrating the police department with different block parties in different areas of the city. He stated an officer is assigned to each block party and is a chance to get to know your police department. Mrs. Hammond stated she just wasn’t sure where these goals came from and Mr. Vance stated they can be kept or they can be discarded. Mr. Fix stated he felt the goals in the colored blocks are the ones that came from the retreat and the other ones came from the white board session Mr. Vance and the Mayor had. Mrs. Hammond stated then the Committee could look at these and determine which ones they wanted to pursue and which ones they want to set aside for the time being. Mrs. Sanders stated it appeared that all of the items listed under Community were items that were being discussed by the Parks and Recreation Board and Tree Commission. Mrs. Sanders further stated she and Mrs. Lisk from the Parks and Recreation Board would be attending the Violet Festival meetings to represent the City, and she would be happy to report back to this Committee on those meetings. Mrs. Hammond stated going back to the National Night Out, the official date set for that nationally is Tuesday, August 2^nd. Mrs. Hammond requested Commander Annetts speak to Chief Taylor and see if that is something he is interested in participating in and let this Committee know that decision.

(1) Drug Awareness Program. Mr. Fix stated he and Mr. Sauer had attended the meeting in Lancaster and they were coordinating with Ms Reitano for the effort here. He stated he is happy to bring back reports of progress in that area each month. He stated the Community Education Committee of the Opiate Task Force is very Lancaster centered and he is trying to start the same kind of program here. Mrs. Sanders stated she also has a meeting scheduled with the Assistant Superintendent of Schools to let him know that we still want to do something, and Mr. Fix stated however it is not a school problem, it is a community problem. Mr. Barletta stated at the meeting held at Seton Parish everyone observed that the video was very Lancaster centered and he would like to see if we could make it more of a county-wide approach. He stated there are families in this area that have the same kind of issues and he would like to see the county government become a little more flexible and perhaps have some of their hearings in this area so everyone doesn’t have to go to Lancaster. Mr. Barletta stated there are some good things we can do to help our citizens through difficult times. Mr. Fix stated the idea is more to prevent a trip to drug court rather than to make it easier to get there, but he understood what Mr. Barletta was saying.

Mrs. Hammond stated she would like to say that she was not in favor of a Joint Parks District for the simple reason that we would totally lose control of our parks. She stated a Joint Parks District is made up of trustees from whatever entities are part of it, they have control, and they have to immediately go out for a levy to support it. Mrs. Hammond stated when this was initially discussed several years ago the people in the Township did not want to support a levy and she could not imagine that anyone would want to support a levy right now with what is going on in the schools and all. Mrs. Hammond stated she did not see this as a viable subject at this time. Mr. Fix stated Mrs. Hammond was correct, this would be difficult to put together at this time, and something like that takes a good bit of time to create. He stated just because there is a Joint Parks District did not necessarily mean that we would lose our parks, we would have the opportunity to make some type of arrangement with the Joint Parks District. Mrs. Hammond stated that is not how it works. Mr. Fix stated his understanding is that you do not automatically turn over your property to someone else just because there is the creation of a Joint Parks District. He stated it is all in how that is written up. Mrs. Hammond stated that was not her understanding, the parks become under the Trustees of the Joint Parks District. She stated you may own the property, but you don’t control what goes on. You do not control the recreation, you don’t control any of it, it is all the under the control of the Trustees. Mr. Fix stated it would still depend on how you set it up. Mrs. Sanders stated she had done some research on communities in Ohio who had this, and they are all very different. She stated if we want to keep this on the agenda we need to look at all of those. Mrs. Hammond stated she did not feel that anyone would support a levy at this point, and Mrs. Sanders stated this does come up at the Parks and Recreation Board. Mr. Fix stated we have never given the voters the opportunity to say yes or no. Mrs. Hammond stated she felt that it was not a case of giving the voters to say yes or no, once you form it then it would go to the voters. Mr. Fix stated he felt it was worthy of a conversation to see if there is a way to work with the other entities in the area to have everyone contribute, not just citizens of the City, but have everyone in the area contribute to a Parks District. He stated it may never come to fruition, but it would not hurt to do the research and to have conversations with those other entities to see if there is a possibility as we may be able to do something bigger and better than what we have now and to have everyone participate. Mr. Fix stated he felt this was a worthwhile conversation. Mrs. Sanders stated we may find that it is just not doable.

7. OTHER BUSINESS:

A. Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance amending Sections 1482.01, 1482.02, and 1482.05 of the Pickerington Codified Ordinances relating to public nuisances. Mrs. Hammond stated our law director has requested we continue this item until the next meeting as there may be some additional amendments to the draft ordinance.

8. ADJOURNMENT. There being nothing further, Mr. Fix moved to adjourn; Mrs. Sanders seconded the motion. Mrs. Sanders, Mrs. Hammond, and Mr. Fix voted "Aye." Motion carried, 3-0. The Public Safety & Community Affairs Committee adjourned at 7:30 P.M., February 16, 2011.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

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Lynda D. Yartin, City Clerk