CITY PLANNING, PROJECTS, & SERVICES COMMITTEE

CITY HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2011

REGULAR MEETING

7:30 P.M.

1. ROLL CALL. Mr. Fix called the meeting to order at 7:15 P.M., with Mr. Fix, Mr. Blair, and Mr. Barletta present. No members were absent. Others present were: Bill Vance, Lynda Yartin, Ed Drobina, Greg Bachman, Cristie Hammond, Trisha Sanders, Joe Henderson, Chet Hopper, Shaun Goodwin, and others.

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

3. COMMUNITY COMMENTS: No comments.

4. DEVELOPMENT:

A. Development Director’s Report. Mr. Henderson stated Ms Crotty is in Atlanta with representatives from the 33 Alliance this week, however, she had submitted a written report. Mr. Henderson stated he would try to answer any questions anyone might have.

(1) Annexation – No further report.

(2) Development Process – Update. No further report.

(3) Economic Development Marketing Plan – Update. No further report.

(4) Business Retention Project – Update. No further report.

(5) Long Range Economic Development Plan – Update. No further report.

(6) Implementation of the Diley Road Corridor Plan – Update. No further report.

5. PLANNING AND ZONING DEPARTMENT:

A. Planning and Zoning Representative Report (Mr. Blair) Mr. Blair stated the two action items on tonight’s agenda came out of the last Planning and Zoning Commission meeting.

B. ACTION ITEMS:

(1) Review and request for motion to approve a Preliminary Plat for Pickerington Pointe Residential subdivision located behind the Police Department on Fuller’s Way. Mr. Blair stated he understood the developer was requesting this be approved as a Final Plat. Mr. Henderson stated the applicant is present this evening and they are requesting this be approved and forwarded to Council as a Final Plat. Mr. Henderson stated this is basically a re-plat as the development was originally a condominium development, however, that went into foreclosure. He continued there is an applicant looking to purchase the lots that are not developed to do a senior focused luxury apartment complex on the approximately 23 acres that are remaining. He stated they need to re-plat it because of some financing issues and Planning and Zoning Commission approved the Preliminary Plat with the five conditions shown. Mr. Fix clarified this was approved by Planning and Zoning, Service Committee, and Council several years ago with the former plat and the re-platting has 34 less units than originally planned. Mr. Fix stated as a preliminary plat this would go back to Planning and Zoning Commission, be forwarded to Service, and then to Council. He stated the request to approve it as a Final Plat was only for expedience. Mr. Vance stated the Planning and Zoning Commission did not have any objections to the preliminary plat and then intention was to request Planning and Zoning Commission approve it as a Final Plat, however, that just got missed during the meeting. Mr. Vance stated if this committee would move it forward to Council there would be another public meeting to allow for any comments. Mr. Fix clarified that it is staff’s recommendation this be approved as a Final Plat and forwarded to Council. Mr. Shaun Goodwin stated he was present representing the applicant and they did not have any objections to the five recommended conditions, and would request consideration as a Final Plat. Mr. Blair stated Planning and Zoning Commission had no problems with the Preliminary Plat. Mr. Barletta stated he felt this was a very good development and the type that we would like to attract. Mr. Blair moved to approve and forward to Council as a Final Plat with the five recommendations of staff; Mr. Barletta seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Blair, Mr. Fix, and Mr. Barletta voting “Yes.” Motion passed, 3-0.

Mrs. Yartin stated as this would be going to Council, a public hearing would need to be scheduled. Mr. Fix stated he would request Mrs. Yartin determine the earliest date possible for the public hearing on this issue. Mr. Blair moved to schedule a public hearing prior to Council at the earliest opportunity; Mr. Barletta seconded the motion. Roll call was taken Mr. Barletta, Mr. Fix, and Mr. Blair voting “Yes.” Motion passed, 3-0.

(2) Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance amending subsection 1292.04(b) of the Pickerington Codified Ordinances entitled, “Temporary Signs for which a Certificate is required.” Mr. Henderson stated this ordinance will amend the Code to allow for 6 temporary signs for 15 days in lieu of 3 temporary signs for 30 days. He stated this will allow the businesses to put these signs up an additional three times a year for a shorter period of time, and was requested by business owners. Mr. Henderson further stated this clarifies where these signs are allowed so they are not hanging on ground signs, etc. Mr. Fix inquired if a business could hang a banner between two pillars and Mr. Henderson stated if the pillars are attached to the building that would be allowed. Mr. Blair moved to approve and forward to Council; Mr. Barletta seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Blair, Mr. Barletta, and Mr. Fix voting “Yes.” Motion passed, 3-0.

(3) Refugee Road Study – Update. Mr. Henderson stated we have hired an intern who is a graduate student in Planning. He stated he started this week and will work six to eight weeks and finish up the Refugee Road Corridor Plan.

6. BUILDING DEPARTMENT.

A. 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. Mr. Blair clarified that we will coordinate with Volunteer Energy this summer with regard to the brick on their building, and if we need to work with them after that, we will.

7. SERVICE DEPARTMENT

A. Service Manager’s Report. Mr. Drobina stated he had provided a written report and he would answer any questions. Mr. Fix clarified that we have approximately 400 tons of salt remaining and he hoped he did not have to purchase any additional salt until the fall when he would fill the barn for the winter.

B. WASTEWATER

(1) TDS – Update. Mr. Drobina stated he had no report this evening; however, he has started reducing the hardness of the water.

C. WATER.

(1) Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance authorizing the City Manager to enter into a contract with Neptune Equipment Company. Mr. Drobina stated this is our annual contract to purchase water meters. Mr. Fix inquired how many meters we purchase a year and Mr. Drobina stated it varied on how many new homes were built, how many replacement meters we needed, etc. Mr. Drobina stated we purchase from Neptune because all of our equipment is compatible with Neptune. Mr. Drobina stated we do order a supply of regular sized meters, but we do not stock the larger meters. Mr. Blair moved to approve and forward to Council; Mr. Barletta seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Fix, Mr. Blair, and Mr. Barletta voting “Yes.” Motion passed, 3-0.

Mr. Fix stated Mr. Sauer had spoken with a resident who wanted Council to review the City’s policy with regard to meters and condominiums. Mr. Fix stated he did not know the details, however, he would request a copy of that policy or ordinance be included in the next Committee packets so they could discuss this. Mr. Drobina stated he would put that information together. Mr. Barletta stated he understood this individual was requesting individual metering for condos because with collective metering where the bill is divided up, and he doesn’t use a lot of water and someone else does, he pays more than his share. Mr. Drobina stated it has been discussed and our goal is for all future condominium developments to have individual meters. Mr. Fix stated he would like to have this as a discussion item.

(2) Review and discussion regarding Refugee Road Elevated Water Storage Tank painting. Mr. Drobina stated there has been discussion as to the color of the water tank and if we would do a logo. Mr. Bachman stated the last time this was discussed, the determination had been made that the tank would be painted off white. He stated further the painting contractor is getting ready to proceed and the cost of the painting is included in the contract. Mr. Fix clarified that the decision was made to paint the tank off white with no logo. Mr. Barletta stated in looking at the past minutes that had been provided to the Committee, the color has been decided and lobbying for a different color would be an added expense. Mr. Fix stated when discussing the maintenance contract for the water towers it could be discussed if we want to have all of the towers painted the same color with the same logo and work toward that.

(3) Review and discussion regarding water storage tank maintenance contract. Mr. Vance stated he is familiar with tank maintenance agreements where you can factor in the costs associated with all of the water storage tanks you have over a period of time so one year you don’t have to invest a large amount of money into them and then have zero expense the next year. He stated he would suggest at some point in time we investigate moving in this direction. Mr. Vance further stated he has spoken with Mr. Drobina and Mr. Bachman on this and Mr. Drobina feels we should have an independent engineer come in and give us an independent status report as to the condition of our current tanks so we could base a potential maintenance program on factual information supplied from someone other than the contractor themselves. Mr. Vance stated he felt this would be a good direction to go and Mr. Bachman stated he agreed with that as well. Mr. Fix inquired what the cost would be to have an independent engineer do that analysis for our tanks and Mr. Vance stated that would require some investigation. Mr. Fix stated if possible he would like to have this information for the next Committee meeting.

8. 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 further stated the detailed plans for the installation of the RO equipment have been completed by our consultant and have been submitted to the EPA for review. He stated further the contract for the purchase of the equipment has been signed. Mr. Bachman stated as Mr. Drobina had indicated we are softening the water again to the levels that we did before we had the TDS problem and we should have a flyer going out to the residents at the end of this month alerting them to that fact.

B. ACTION ITEMS:

(1) Water Master Plan and Sewer Master Plan - Update. Mr. Bachman stated we are reviewing the draft plan from Burgess & Niple for the Water Master Plan and he will be meeting with them to go over the report. Mr. Bachman stated the water system is in good shape throughout the City. He stated with regard to the Sewer Master Plan he will have a meeting in a week or so to see the progress on this. Mr. Bachman stated this project is a little further behind than the water project because we were a little later in getting some of the GPS data to them.

(2) S.R. 256 Safety Improvement Project - Update. Mr. Bachman stated since he last updated the committee on this project, the engineer that he was working with at ODOT was let go.

(3) Discussion regarding partially collapsed storm sewer on S.R. 256. Mr. Bachman the 10 foot section that we are repairing right now is up to a 14 foot section. He stated that was back open as of today and by Friday they want to put the liner in. Mr. Bachman stated about 50 feet downstream from this section they found two pipe breaks in the top. He stated he asked for a price from the contractor to fix that 50 feet and it came back at $70,000 for the liner. Mr. Bachman stated in speaking with the Finance Director, we do not have an additional $70,000 in our Stormwater Utility. Mr. Drobina stated the Finance Director had told him we do not have the 470,000, but if we wanted to not do a couple of projects we already have budgeted we could use those funds. Mr. Fix stated what projects that would be and Mr. Drobina stated the Shawnee Crossing stream repair is budgeted at $50,000, and we have $20,000 budgeted for a stormwater study. Mr. Fix stated he felt we had to do the stormwater study and Mr. Bachman stated the $20,000 was budgeted for the stormwater study in case we needed a consultant, but we are planning on doing it in-house. Mr. Fix stated there is a chance that this is not an isolated issue and Mr. Bachman stated that is correct. Mr. Barletta questioned if the liner has a long life and Mr. Bachman stated we are getting a five-year warranty on it, but it should last 50-100 years. Mr. Blair questioned how long a stormwater pipe normally lasted, and Mr. Bachman stated it should last 50-100 years. Mr. Fix clarified we can examine that entire length of pipe but it would take some time to do that. Mr. Blair questioned if we had the time to do that and Mr. Bachman stated that was the question. Mr. Fix stated if possible he would like Mr. Bachman to review this situation and bring a recommendation back to this Committee next month.

C. TRANSPORTATION

(1) Review and discussion regarding ODOT controlled traffic signals. Mr. Bachman stated there is no update on this issue.

(2) School Speed Zone Study – Update. Mr. Bachman stated he had no update this evening.

(3) Review and discussion regarding left turns along S.R. 256. Mr. Bachman stated he had provided the Committee with a spreadsheet listing the existing turns on S.R. 256 and where we allow full access and partial access. He stated he had also included a column showing for an existing full access if there was an alternate access to the signal, and in most cases there is or there can be in the future. Mr. Fix stated his sense of this Committee is that we are not inclined to go against our own traffic plan and that we are not inclined to recommend allowing left-turns at this particular center and that we recommend following our traffic plan whenever we can. Mr. Fix stated he felt it would be beneficial if we could work with the business owners in that center to help them with sightline issues with mounding. Mr. Bachman stated for clarification Mr. Fix was asking staff to work with the business owners to allow them to change the mounding rather than the City changing it. Mr. Fix stated he was not suggesting we spend money there, but he was suggesting that we work with the current and future owners and apply pressure where needed to do better than what they have now. Mr. Fix stated he would like this item removed from the agenda.

(4) Discussion regarding MORPC $500,000 grant for Center/Milnor/Meadows intersection improvements. Mr. Bachman stated the MORPC grant funds for construction are in the year 2015. He stated he had provided in the packets two alternates for reconfiguring this intersection. Mr. Fix inquired which alternate the residents of Meadows Boulevard would prefer and Mr. Bachman stated that is one of the steps we will get to. He stated he would first do the traffic count, then he would approach the one house where we would need some land, and then have an initial public meeting with the neighborhood to get their feedback.

9. CHAIRMAN.

A. Strategic Plans Goals – Update. Mr. Fix stated discussion on business retention would be held when Ms Crotty is present, and he felt the Committee had addressed pavement maintenance and the master plan earlier this evening.

10. OTHER BUSINESS:

A. Update on proposed solar panel project at the water treatment plant. Mr. Vance stated he is currently in discussions with the power company on this issue.

Mr. Fix stated at the last meeting the Committee had asked Mr. Hopper to review our Code to see if there are things that are outdated or unenforceable and he asked if Mr. Vance had a status update on that. Mr. Vance stated Mr. Hopper is in the process of doing that review. Mr. Fix asked that this be added as an agenda item for the next meeting. He further requested the Fairfield County Regional Planning Commission be added as an agenda item under Planning & Zoning so this Committee could receive a report each month.

11. ADJOURNMENT. There being nothing further, Mr. Blair moved to adjourn; Mr. Fix seconded the motion. Mr. Barletta, Mr. Fix, and Mr. Blair voted “Aye.” Motion carried, 3-0. The City Planning, Projects, and Services Committee adjourned at 8:20 P.M., February 16, 2011.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

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Lynda D. Yartin, Municipal Clerk