WEDNESDAY, MARCH 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, Becca Medinger, Tony Barletta, Gavin Blair, Vince Malone, Kevin Nolan, and others.

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF February 16, 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. Mrs. Hammond stated with regard to the National Night Out that was discussed at the last meeting, Chief Taylor is interested in participating in this and will provide more information on his plans as they are formulated.

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. Mr. Fix inquired if there was any idea of a timeline on the feral cat issue that has been forwarded to Fairfield County for hearing and Mr. Hopper stated an arraignment hearing was to be scheduled however he has not heard when that will be. Mrs. Hammond stated from Mr. Hopper’s report it appears there is the potential for another cat population problem. Mrs. Hammond inquired if there was anything we could do to be proactive in preventing this type of situation and Mr. Vance stated even if we could be more proactive in the future, if it involves the legal system it can take months to resolve, so he did not have a good answer for Mrs. Hammond’s question.

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 clarified that we have added 11 plots to the community gardens this year for a total of 57 plots and as of today there are nine left. Ms Medinger stated if anyone is interested in handicapped plots we do have a location for that identified for that for next year.

a. Review and discussion regarding Kerr Indian Mound evaluation. Ms Medinger stated Mr. Malone and Dr. Nolan are present this evening to discuss this issue. Mr. Malone stated he is a resident of Pickerington and he had attended the last meeting of the Parks and Recreation Board to discuss his request of the City to consider an evaluation of our prehistoric Indian mound located on S.R. 256. Mr. Malone stated he has been interested in archeology for quite some time and over the past year he has done some Google research and he could find virtually nothing about this Indian mound. Mr. Malone stated he had contacted the Ohio Historical Society and they have it in their register but they do not have any pertinent information about it, and they had put him in touch with Ohio State University and Mr. Nolan who was gracious enough to offer his services if the request is approved to allow the evaluation. Mr. Malone stated they would like to evaluate the mound in general to get more information about it and he felt this could also be a teaching tool for local teachers and their students. Mr. Malone stated this would be a very non-intrusive and limited investigation for data collection. He stated Dr. Nolan was the expert and he would answer any questions. Mr. Fix stated his question would be if we started evaluating this would any tribe come and protest it. Dr. Nolan stated there would be no destructive investigation of the mound itself, they want to take soil cores and do some shovel tests around the mound to see if they can detect any activity area and get any artifacts that would indicate specifically when it was occupied. Dr. Nolan stated there are some artifacts that were taken out of the mound in the early 1980’s by some looters, but no archeologist ever saw them so we don’t know exactly what was in there. He stated the small type of mound is typical of the Adena period, and these were usually constructed for burial with a central chamber, but assuming the looters did not go down to the bottom of the mound and completely remove everything, with ground sensoring radar on the mound they will be able to get layer by layer how the mound was constructed and if there is anything at the base of the mound. He stated this would not pick up human bones, but if there are artifacts it should pick that up. Dr. Nolan stated there is no intention of digging into the mound and encountering any human remains. Mr. Fix clarified that if we find this is of any historic value that information will be provided to the Ohio Historical Society because there is very little official information on this mound. Dr. Nolan stated if any artifacts are found they could confirm if it is Adena or not. Mrs. Hammond stated she would request that if this is approved, the local Historical Society be provided with any information that might be obtained as they do get questions on it and they do not have any information to give out. Mr. Fix clarified that the Committee was being asked to recommend Council approve the request to complete an evaluation of the mound. Mr. Fix moved to recommend Council approve the request from Mr. Malone and Dr. Nolan to complete the evaluation of the Kerr Indian Mound; Mrs. Sanders seconded the motion. Mr. Malone stated this mound is located right between two homes and he didn’t know if anyone had any forethought as to what type of communication there would be with the neighbors. Mrs. Hammond stated she felt the neighbors should be notified of what we were going to do and clarified that the work would probably be no closer than six feet away from the property lines. Dr. Nolan further stated there would probably be no more than five people doing the evaluation and it would take about six days to complete. Mrs. Hammond stated she understood that the City needs to do some work with clearing weeds and brush before the evaluation can begin and Mr. Drobina stated we would be doing that. Mr. Vance stated a motion to approve this would be on the next Council agenda and residents would have the opportunity to attend that Council meeting and express their support or opposition for this project. Roll call was taken with Mrs. Sanders, Mrs. Hammond, and Mr. Fix voting “Yes.” Motion passed, 3-0.

(2) Service/Parks Maintenance Report. Mr. Drobina stated he had provided a written report and he would answer any questions. Mr. Drobina stated right now he is working on the repairs for the O’Brien shelter and the Hereford Drive shelter, and then he will work on Hilltop as he gets the chance. He stated by the first of April he hoped to have the restrooms at the O’Brien and Hereford Drive shelters ready to open. Mr. Drobina stated further the contractor is to begin some repairs on the covered bridge tomorrow and then we will paint it.

a. Review and request for approval of schedule for street flags (American). Mr. Drobina stated in the past the flags have been put up on the light poles in May and they are left up until December. He stated he is proposing a schedule to put them up for Memorial Day, July 4^th, Labor Day, and Veterans Day. Mr. Drobina stated by putting them up for shorter time periods it will make the flags last longer and it will also make them stand out more because when they are left up people just don’t see them anymore. Mrs. Hammond stated she did not feel there was any objection to that as long as Mr. Drobina did not have a problem with putting them up and taking them down. Mr. Drobina stated he would like to try it and see if there were any complaints or comments from the public. Mrs. Hammond stated she assumed that in between the times when the flags are up there will be banners for the Violet Festival and other events that may be going on.

Mr. Drobina stated he has been doing some research on the cost of the metal legs for the picnic tables in the park and they are quite costly. He stated if there were no objections he would recommend purchasing the lumber and building some tables. Mrs. Hammond stated this might be a project for volunteers and Mrs. Sanders stated there have been Eagle Scouts who have made picnic tables for the schools as their project. Mr. Vance stated we actually have an Eagle Scout who is looking for a project and Mrs. Hammond stated if we supplied the lumber and they built the tables that would be great.

(3) Parks Board Representative Report (Mrs. Sanders). Mrs. Sanders stated Mr. Malone had attended the Parks Board meeting and they had discussion regarding the Indian Mound. She stated they had also discussed the ice rink and different opportunities for providing a larger rink for next winter.

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. Mr. Bachman stated he had provided information on high crash intersections from MORPC and they had listed the highest two for each municipality in the Columbus area. Mr. Bachman stated the highest two for Pickerington were the S.R. 256/S.R. 204 and S.R. 256/Refugee and the number of crashes there are fairly high compared to most of the other suburbs. Mr. Bachman stated this is obviously one of the reasons we are looking at doing the safety project. Mr. Bachman stated he had also attended a seminar this afternoon and there is new information that shows that a boulevard type street does reduce crashes. Mr. Vance stated with regard to these intersections, they are two of the qualifying intersections for temporary signage and at staff would like, at the least, to have that signage coordinated with staff before it is put up. He stated he would suggest that we might want to eliminate the 256/204 and 256/Refugee as locations for some of that temporary signage because they are very dangerous intersections and can be an additional distraction. Mrs. Hammond stated she agreed with Mr. Vance and questioned if staff could come up with a couple of different alternatives for these signs. Mr. Fix stated he would just caution everyone that the schools rely on those intersections to advertise all of their programs. Mr. Vance stated as an alternative he is investigating the potential for Pickerington to have its own cable access channel and that would provide the opportunity for a revolving message board 24-hours a day. Mr. Vance stated he felt that would be a safer option. Mr. Fix stated he was supportive of this, however, he felt it should be kept in mind that there are some non-commercial entities that use those corners that we should be aware of. Mr. Vance stated obviously we are going to do the best we can to come up with some options. Mrs. Hammond stated she has noticed the school in Canal Winchester has an LED sign that just keeps running upcoming events and perhaps there is a location we could put something like that. Mr. Fix stated then this Committee was asking staff to come back to Safety Committee next month with recommendations on this issue. Mr. Bachman stated he would just point out from a safety point that the less signage there was the safer it was. Mrs. Hammond stated she would request staff look into some alternatives and bring some suggestions back to the next meeting.

Mr. Bachman stated he is also in the process of updating our Traffic Control Map and that should be completed shortly.

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.

Mr. Fix stated he had received an e-mail from a resident in Windmiller Ponds expressing concern about parking on both sides of Windmiller Drive around Rule 3 and that families trying to cross the street from between parked cars is a dangerous situation. Mrs. Hammond stated the way we have the left turn there, when people park on the side of the street, you need to cross over that to get around the cars. She stated she felt there should be some type of restriction on how far up you can park from their driveway. Mr. Fix stated his question was if it was possible to restrict parking to one side of Windmiller Drive, and, if so, is that a good idea from both a police and a traffic standpoint. He further questioned if that would cause the problem to spread further into the neighborhood and Mr. Bachman stated it would. Mrs. Hammond stated she would request Mr. Bachman and the Police take a look at this situation and bring some recommendations back to the Committee at the next meeting.

Mr. Fix stated he understood Mr. Bachman is working on a school zone speed summary and he would request that he look at the sidewalk that leads out the back of Violet Elementary and goes to Melrose Blvd. Mr. Fix stated the kids cross Melrose Blvd. and there are parked cars on both sides with parents there to pick up their kids. He stated this is a very dangerous situation and he would ask if there was a way to put up a flashing yellow light there or something of that nature in that location. Mr. Bachman stated he would look at this and see what could be done. Mr. Bachman stated, however, if you make this a marked cross walk then sometimes people feel they are safe in it and tend to cross without looking. Mr. Fix stated the problem is it is not at a corner but in the middle of the block.

6. CHAIRMAN:

A. Strategic Plan Goals – Update.

(1) Drug Awareness Program. Mr. Fix stated he had attended a meeting in Lancaster last week and it was very informative. He stated the two individuals who are in charge of that effort in Lancaster are very appreciative of Pickerington’s desire to duplicate the success they have seen in Lancaster here in Pickerington, and they are arranging a meeting with him to start that process here. Ms Medinger stated the Recreation Department is partnering with our Police Department and in our summer brochure we will be offering a drug awareness class for teenagers and adults.

7. OTHER BUSINESS:

A. Review and discussion regarding one-year extension on Rumpke refuse collection contract. Mr. Vance stated for discussion purposes staff and City Manager recommends we extend the Rumpke contract by one year so we can pursue some regional opportunities. Mr. Vance stated we made a proposal for Rumpke to consider the City potentially taking over the billing responsibilities and what that would equate to as far as potential savings and what it would cost for Rumpke to coordinate some type of Reverse 9-1-1 communication system where they could reach all the trash customers in Pickerington via phone. Mrs. Hammond stated that did not sound like something that as a customer she would want to pay for and Mr. Vance stated he was proposing paying for those things with savings associated with the services. He stated if the City took over the billing it would create about $17,000 in savings. Mrs. Hammond questioned who that savings would be for, the customer or the City. Mr. Vance stated that would be up to Council on if they wanted to pass on those savings to the customer or use those savings to create opportunities to enhance the service. Mrs. Hammond stated she was confused on how this would be a savings to the City because if we took over the billing that would be extra work for our employees. She stated Rumpke would not pick up your trash if you have not paid your bill and she was not sure how, if we were doing the collecting, they would know if the bill was paid or not. She stated she felt it would be a hardship for the City’s employees. Mr. Vance stated that is a position the City could take, however, he is familiar with other cities who tack on the garbage bills to the utility bill. He stated obviously people get their utilities cut off at times, but it seems those same people always get caught up because you have to have water and you do what is necessary to get your water bill up to date. He stated if there are any charges related to trash on the utility bill; those charges would get caught up as well. He stated he did not think the coordination back and forth between the City and Rumpke would be very significant except in very unusual situations. Mrs. Sanders stated then, Mr. Vance would like to extend the Rumpke contract for the next year so these things can be discussed. Mr. Vance stated he was proposing the one year extension anyway, and even if we kept things the way they are right now it would make sense to extend it a year. He since we are looking at this anyway he had asked Rumpke what they could do if the City took over the billing, how much money would that save. He stated they said it would save $17,000, so you could take that $17,000 and deduct it from trash rates or you could consider potentially investigating things like enhancing some recycling opportunities. He stated you could use that savings any way you would like as far as any potential improvement to our trash service or we could pass it on as a rate reduction. Mr. Vance stated his goal was to create some savings so we can invest those savings and potentially improve on the service that we provide. He stated another possibility in that regard is creating some kind of communication opportunity that does not currently exist with situations involving the weather, etc., where Rumpke could put in a message and send it out to the trash customers in Pickerington. Mrs. Sanders questioned if that message would only be that they were not going to pick up the trash on the regular day. Mr. Fix stated perhaps these discussion should be separated into three parts; the contract extension for a year, the idea of the City taking on the billing and saving $17,000; and, what would we choose to do with that $17,000. Mrs. Hammond stated generally speaking we would go out for bids on the contract. Mrs. Sanders stated she had no objection to extending the contract for a year to allow for the other discussions. Mr. Fix stated he also did not have a problem extending the contract for one year to allow us to discuss the regionalization issue. Mrs. Hammond stated she did not have a problem extending the contract for a year, but there are aspects of it she did not like, such as the fuel surcharge, and toward the end of the extension we should look at bidding the contract. Mr. Vance stated the intention is to go out to a competitive bidding process again and just have some additional time to recruit some other entities to get involved in that process. Mr. Vance stated if we are extending the contract for one year anyway, he would like to take advantage of the opportunity to investigate some potential cost savings and some potential service improvements. Mr. Fix moved to authorize a one-year extension of the current Rumpke refuse collection contract; Mrs. Hammond seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Fix, Mrs. Sanders, and Mrs. Hammond voting “Yes.” Motion passed, 3-0.

Mr. Vance stated if it was of interest to Council we could put something in place and the next contractor would come in understanding they had to continue with the reverse communication opportunity, if it is created. He stated there might be some benefit to moving forward with that now as opposed to later. Mr. Vance stated staff is just putting forth these opportunities for discussion. Mrs. Sanders inquired what would come with that, for example if there was a tornado watch, is this something we would use. Mr. Fix clarified this is something that Rumpke would control. Mr. Drobina stated it was a system that Rumpke would use to call the customers to say they would not be picking up the trash as scheduled. Mrs. Sanders stated then this is not actually a Reverse 9-1-1. Mr. Fix stated he was not really excited about that idea, and Mrs. Hammond stated she agreed that was not something she was interested in. Mr. Fix stated, however, he was interested in saving $17,000 if it just meant adding another line to our utility bills if that is what Mr. Vance is suggesting. Mr. Vance stated the potential extension would go into effect on October 1^st, so between now and then the Finance Department could get comfortable with this possibility or they could come up with some valid reasons as to why it is not a good idea. Mr. Fix stated his recommendation would be for Mr. Vance to coordinate with the Finance Department and see if that is something that is worth pursuing. Mrs. Hammond stated she is having a hard time in understanding how this would be a savings to the City because the City does not pay the rates, the customers pay the rates. Mr. Fix stated the City would collect the money from the citizens and pay Rumpke at a rate of $17,000 less. Mr. Fix stated he would ask that the Finance Director investigate the possibility of this and bring it back to Safety or Finance with a report on how this money would be generated, how it would work, what the costs would be, and all the details. Mrs. Hammond stated she was fine with that and she would like staff to pursue the regionalization of the refuse collection contract.

8. ADJOURNMENT. There being nothing further, Mr. Fix moved to adjourn; Mrs. Hammond seconded the motion. Mr. Fix, Mrs. Sanders, and Mrs. Hammond voted "Aye." Motion carried, 3-0. The Public Safety & Community Affairs Committee adjourned at 7:27 P.M., March 16, 2011.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

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Lynda D. Yartin, City Clerk