WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 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 Matt Delp, Ed Drobina, Becca Medinger, Joe Henderson, Brenda VanCleave, and others.

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF April 20, 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 Delp stated the Chief had provided a written report and he would be happy to answer any questions.

5. DEPARTMENT REPORTS:

A. Building Regulations Department.

(1) Code Enforcement Report. Mr. Vance stated Mr. Hopper had provided a written report and he would answer any questions anyone might have. Mr. Vance further stated the court date for the feral cat issue is set for June 8^th. He also stated we have had a lot of success with getting banks signed up with maintenance agreements on the foreclosed properties.

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. Ms Medinger stated a lot of work has been done at the pool. Mr. Fix clarified the pool is heated to 83 degrees and Mrs. Hammond clarified that as of today we are at 1,062 patrons. Ms Medinger stated that is less than last year if you go on the number of patrons. She stated she had contacted a few other communities with pools and everyone seems to be down this year. Mr. Vance stated we had restructured the passes and financially he felt good about our situation.

a. Discussion regarding the option of having vendors/fundraisers selling food at Sycamore Park during movies, concerts, and events. Ms Medinger stated when she and Mr. Vance met in the fall they had discussed ways to help promote the atmosphere at the movies and the concerts. She stated they had discussed the possibility of having a vendor selling popcorn, etc. Ms Medinger stated this spring a for-profit vendor contacted her about this possibility. She stated further that it had been discussed to try it this year with not giving any kind of proceeds or percentage back to the City, but see if there was interest and people do purchase things at that kind of event. She stated she had also been approached by non-profit or fundraising groups who thought it would be nice if Girl Scouts, etc., would be able to do fundraisers at those types of events. She stated it had been discussed at the Parks and Recreation Board and they recommended doing a month’s worth of time for the for-profit and if we are approached by a non-profit or fundraiser then set a schedule. She stated if there is more than one vendor that is interested then perhaps schedule a June vendor, July vendor, etc. She stated if there is interest then we could improve upon it for next year. Ms Medinger stated she would like to know what the Safety Committee thought of this. Mr. Fix stated he felt we should have some consistency in what we offer so people will know what to expect, and it would make sense for charitable organizations to be additional vendors. He stated he wasn’t sure what the attendance was at these events so it may be a slight revenue opportunity for the City in the future, but he liked the idea of having someone try it out for this year. He stated, however, they would need to make a commitment to be there because the last thing we want to do is have it there for a few weeks and then they stop showing up. Mrs. Hammond stated if we decide to do this we would want to get the word out quickly that there will be food available. Mrs. Sanders stated we would need to tell the non-profits they could not sell competing items with the vendor. Mrs. Hammond stated the vendor would have a self-contained cart, is licensed and has a health permit, so if any other groups would be selling there they would have to sell things that are wrapped such as candy bars. Mrs. Sanders stated the Parks and Recreation Board had discussed that we should make sure they were permitted and that they were signed up with the City for an assigned time so people weren’t just showing up without permits, etc. Mr. Vance stated if the Committee is in favor of trying this staff would work with the vendor and make sure he has a business license, insurance, health department clearance, etc. He stated we could give him permission to go ahead for June and have one non-profit at each of the concert and movie opportunities. Mr. Fix moved to approve allowing vendors that have been approved and scheduled by the City to sell food items at the events in Sycamore Park on a trial basis for 2011; Mrs. Hammond seconded the motion. 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. Fix inquired if there have been any issues with the ball fields and Mr. Drobina stated they were a little torn up over the weekend as they shouldn’t have been played on. Mr. Fix inquired who made the call on if the fields were ready for play and Mr. Drobina stated Ned, our part-time person who maintains the ball fields, makes that determination. Ms Medinger stated she and Ned had just met with a few of the Tiger Baseball maintenance people and they had come up with some options for notification of the status of the fields.

(3) Parks Board Representative Report (Mrs. Sanders). Mrs. Sanders stated the Parks and Recreation Board had a discussion regarding security in the parks, specifically Sycamore Park, and they had discussed putting cameras up, additional lighting at the O’Brien facility at Victory Park, and the Board is out to get some of this done. Mr. Drobina stated lights were installed at the O’Brien Shelter and we can have them on from dusk to dawn or turn them off at night. Commander Delp stated from a patrol standpoint, if the officers can see what is going on inside the shelter it would deter people from hanging out in there. Mr. Drobina stated we can try leaving the lights on at night for awhile and see how that works, but we may have complaints about leaving the lights on all night and wasting electricity. Mr. Vance stated it is a security issue and if we are trying to make sure people if people congregate in that area that the police department has the ability to coordinate with them and educate them as to park hours. Mr. Drobina stated we also have signage that the parks are closed at dusk, and if we have the lights on all night people might think the park is not closed. Mr. Vance stated again he felt this was for security. Mr. Fix stated he would leave them on and Mr. Drobina stated he would turn them on tomorrow and we can see how that works.

C. Engineering Department:

(1) City Engineer’s Report. Ms VanCleave stated Mr. Bachman was out of town this evening and he did not have a report, however, she would try to answer any questions anyone might have.

a. Review and discussion regarding Sidewalk Replacement Policy. Ms VanCleave stated Mr. Bachman had not provided an update on this issue for this evening. Mr. Fix inquired if there was an estimated timeline for this policy and Ms VanCleave stated she did not know, however, she would leave a note for Mr. Bachman that an update would be appreciated.

b. Review and discussion regarding bicycle ordinance. Ms VanCleave stated Mr. Bachman had not provided an update on this issue for this evening.

6. CHAIRMAN:

A. Strategic Plan Goals – Update.

(1) Drug Awareness Program. Mr. Fix a meeting in Lancaster is coming up and he would get the date out to everyone. He further stated there was a meeting earlier this evening with Representative Steve Austria at which Councilman Barletta had inquired what congress would be doing about the opiate addiction issue and the answer was that it was on the radar and they are concerned about the opiates and heroin that are coming out of Afghanistan and trying to figure out how to deal with that.

7. OTHER BUSINESS:

Mrs. Hammond stated everyone had received a letter from a resident about dogs being loose or on leashes in the parks. She stated it was posted that dogs should be on leashes and Mrs. Sanders stated she does feel that the dogs not on leashes could be dangerous. Mr. Fix clarified that our policy is that any dog in the parks should be on a leash. Mrs. Hammond stated she was not sure what we could specifically do to enforce this policy. Commander Delp stated he would include this in the patrol information that if the officers spot someone in the park with their dog not on a leash they can take some kind of action such as giving them a warning. He stated once they start doing this the message will get out. Mr. Fix asked if the Committee could get an update on the dog park at the next meeting and Mr. Drobina stated he would be glad to do that.

Mrs. Hammond stated the Parks and Recreation Board had discussed having some kind of a building to have our recreation programs in. She stated we do have impact fees for park improvements and she would like to know if the Committee would be interested in exploring the possibility of either finding some place we can purchase or perhaps putting up a building we can use for these programs. Mrs. Sanders stated the Board had discussed being able to use the facility for our programs, but also to rent out for casual banquets, casual type weddings, etc., on the weekends. Mrs. Hammond stated that would require a building that had some kind of a small kitchen. Mrs. Hammond stated she was just asking if the Committee was interested in looking into the possibility of getting an architect to draw up something and show what it would potentially cost. Mr. Vance stated basically Mrs. Hammond was asking if the Parks and Recreation Board would be given the green light to start working on some specifics they could bring back to this Committee for discussion. Mrs. Hammond stated that would be what she would like and if we could have a not to exceed amount so it could be paid off in a specific amount of time. Mr. Fix stated he was in agreement with that. Mr. Fix further stated the Wolf Estate on S.R. 204 has been closed for several years and he questioned if there was a way we could initiate a conversation with the owner to see what their plans are for that property and see if there is not the potential for other uses of it. Mrs. Hammond stated she felt that was something that could be looked into, but in the meantime the Parks and Recreation Board could explore the option of getting plans for a building. Mr. Fix and Mrs. Sanders stated they concurred with exploring this possibility.

8. ADJOURNMENT. There being nothing further, Mr. Fix moved to adjourn; Mrs. Hammond seconded the motion. Mrs. Hammond, Mrs. Sanders, and Mr. Fix voted "Aye." Motion carried, 3-0. The Public Safety & Community Affairs Committee adjourned at 6:58 P.M., May 18, 2011.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

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Lynda D. Yartin, City Clerk