PICKERINGTON CITY COUNCIL

TUESDAY, JUNE 21, 2011

CITY HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD

 

REGULAR MEETING

 

7:30 P.M.

 

1.         ROLL CALL AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE. Council for the City of Pickerington met for a regular session Tuesday, June 21, 2011, at City Hall.  Mayor O’Brien called the meeting to order at 7:30 P.M.  Roll call was taken as follows:  Mr. Barletta, Mr. Blair, Mr. Fix, Mrs. Hammond, Mrs. Sanders, Mr. Sauer, Mr. Wisniewski, and Mayor O’Brien were present.  No members were absent.  Others present were: Bill Vance, Lynda Yartin, Chris Schornack, Commander Steve Annetts, Jennifer Readler, Greg Bachman, James Mako, Matthew Kibbey, Keith Solon, Janet Thiede, Taylor Thiede, Nate Ellis, and others. 

 

2.         A.        APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF JUNE 7, 2011, WORK SESSION REGARDING LOFELONG COMMUNITIES AND COMPLETE STREETS.  Mr. Fix moved to approve; Mr. Sauer seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Blair abstaining and Mr. Barletta, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Sauer, Mr. Fix, and Mrs. Sanders voting “Yes.”  Motion passed, 6-0. 

 

            B.         APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF JUNE 7, 2011, PUBLIC HEARING REGARDING 2012 TAX BUDGET.  Mr. Fix moved to approve; Mrs. Sanders seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Blair abstaining and Mr. Barletta, Mr. Fix, Mr. Sauer, Mrs. Hammond, Mrs. Sanders, and Mr. Wisniewski voting “Yes.”  Motion passed, 6-0. 

 

            C.        APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF JUNE 7, 2011, REGULAR MEETING.  Mr. Fix moved to approve; Mrs. Hammond seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Blair abstaining and Mr. Wisniewski Mr. Sauer, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Fix, Mrs. Sanders, and Mr. Barletta voting “Yes.”  Motion passed, 6-0.  

 

3.         PRESENTATION ON FEDERAL AND STATE FAIR HOUSING REQUIREMENTS BY JAMES MAKO, FAIRFIELD REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION.  Mr. Mako stated he would talk about the Community Development Block Grant which the Regional Planning Commission administers on behalf of the Fairfield County Commissioners.  He stated would speak specifically about the fair housing requirements of the Development Block Grant agreement.  Mr. Mako stated this is a federal grant and last year the City of Pickerington was successful in receiving $32,000 for doing some handicapped accessible ramps that will be done this year.  Mr. Mako stated as part of the grant agreement they have to adopt and administer a fair housing program, and per the agreement they are required to do training to the communities that receive grant awards each year, and that is the purpose of his presentation this evening.  Mr. Mako stated in speaking of fair housing, the program consists of two separate programs.  The first is fair housing, which is discrimination against legally created protected classes, and the second part is the landlord/tenant act.  He stated there are state and federal laws that create the protected classes for fair house and this includes sex, national origin, race, religion, etc.  Mr. Mako stated if someone feels they have been discriminated against, they can call Fairfield County Regional Planning, they will take the complaint and if they feel there is standing they will forward it on to the Ohio Civil Rights Commission who investigate civil rights complaints throughout the State.  Mr. Mako stated typically they receive between three and four fair housing complaints in Fairfield County.  Mr. Mako stated most of the complaints they receive are a landlord/tenant issue and they typically receive anywhere from 35 to 40 of these types of complaints each year.  Mr. Mako stated he would answer any questions that any council member may have.  Mr. Fix inquired if the Regional Planning Commission tracks where the complaints come from, and were there complaints from Pickerington or were they Fairfield County in general.  Mr. Mako stated it was Fairfield County in general, mostly from Lancaster, but they do get complaints from Pickerington.  Mr. Fix further inquired if when a complaint is forwarded to the State did they get back with the Commission and let them know how it was resolved.  Mr. Mako stated the Ohio Civil Rights Commission keeps a data base of fair housing complaints on the county level and every year the Regional Planning Commission gets the information for Fairfield County.  Mayor O’Brien ascertained there were no further questions or comments. 

 

4.         COMMUNITY COMMENTS.  There were no comments. 

 

5.         COUNCIL COMMUNICATIONS.  None.

 

6.         APPROVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA.  Mayor O’Brien stated there was one consent agenda items this evening, Resolution 2011-15R, a resolution re-appointing Aaron Dean to the Parks and Recreation Board.”  Mr. Wisniewski moved to adopt; Mrs. Sanders seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Barletta, Mr. Sauer, Mr. Fix, Mr. Blair, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Wisniewski, and Mrs. Sanders voting “Yes.”  Motion passed, 7-0.  

 

7.         APPROVAL OF AGENDA.  Mr. Fix moved to approve; Mr. Blair seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mrs. Sanders, Mr. Fix, Mr. Blair, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Sauer, Mr. Barletta, and Mr. Wisniewski voting “Yes.”  Motion passed, 7-0. 

 

8.         REPORTS:   

 

A.        MAYOR.  Mayor O’Brien stated the Mayor’s Court Report has been distributed and he had attended the Flag Retirement Ceremony conducted by the Grange.  He stated he would be happy to answer any questions. 

 

B.         LAW DIRECTOR.  Ms Readler stated she is filling in for Mr. Hartmann this evening and she would like to let everyone know that we are still working on the Tipping Point agreement and also a meeting for further discussion on the dedication of Postage Drive to the City has been scheduled.   

 

C.        FINANCE DIRECTOR.  Mr. Schornack stated the WPCLF loan documents have been submitted to the EPA and should be finalized by next week.  He stated we did go with a 10 year loan versus a 20 year loan which will save us about $335,000 over the life of the loan. 

 

            D.         SERVICE MANAGER.  Mayor O’Brien stated Mr. Drobina was attending a conference this evening. 

 

E.         CITY ENGINEER.  Mr. Bachman stated MORPC has invited him to attend a three-day Bicycle Transportation Leadership Workshop in Minneapolis in July. 

 

F.         CITY MANAGER.  Mr. Vance stated we have done some improvements to the Carnegie building and we will be getting some estimates on other issues that need to be taken care of with the condition of the building that may need to be addressed.  He stated he would be happy to answer any questions.  Mr. Blair stated he would add that the soccer complex was approved to be reconsidered at the July 12th Planning and Zoning Commission meeting.  Mr. Blair questioned how much we were spending on attorney fees with regard to the Tipping Point project; would we be spending more on attorney fees than we could ever recoup.  Mr. Vance stated he has been working with the law director on what the specific costs were going to be and to date he did not know of any additional costs we have incurred.  Mr. Blair questioned if it would be beneficial to work with the Township when we are looking at our land use code because if we partnered with them it might cut down the cost if we approached it as a regional effort.  Mr. Vance stated that is something we could look into. 

 

            G.        CITY ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE (Mr. Wisniewski).  Mrs. Hammond stated the Committee met on June 8th, and the Resolution just adopted on the Consent Agenda came out of that meeting.  She stated the Committee had approved looking into merging the Parks and Recreation Board and the Tree and Beautification Commission.  She stated there has been a problem getting a quorum for the meetings and they were recommending the four current members of the Parks and Recreation Board and the three current members of the Tree and Beautification Commission become a seven member board with the Council Representative being a non-voting unless needed to break a tie.  Mrs. Hammond stated the draft ordinance will be reviewed by the Parks and Recreation Board and the Tree and Beautification Commission and then come back to the City Administration Committee for final review before it is forwarded to Council. 

 

            H.        FINANCE COMMITTEE (Mr. Sauer).  Mr. Fix stated they also met on June 8th, and the appropriation ordinance on tonight’s agenda came out of that meeting.     

 

9.         PROCEDURAL READINGS: 

 

            A.        ORDINANCE 2011-34, “AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE 2011 APPROPRIATION, ORDINANCE 2010-91,” First Reading, Finance Committee.  Mr. Fix moved to waive the requirement in Charter Section 2.05 (C) that the ordinance be read on three separate meeting days; Mr. Sauer seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mrs. Sanders, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Sauer, Mr. Barletta, Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Fix, and Mr. Blair voting “Yes.”  Suspension of Rules passed, 7-0.  Final Reading.  Mr. Fix moved to adopt; Mr. Sauer seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Barletta, Mr. Fix, Mr. Blair, Mr. Wisniewski, Mrs. Hammond, Mrs. Sanders, and Mr. Sauer voting “Yes.”  Motion passed, 7-0. 

 

            *B.      RESOLUTION 2011-15R, “A RESOLUTION RE-APPOINTING AARON DEAN TO THE PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD,” First Reading, City Administration Committee.  Mr. Wisniewski moved to adopt; Mrs. Sanders seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Barletta, Mr. Sauer, Mr. Fix, Mr. Blair, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Wisniewski, and Mrs. Sanders voting “Yes.”  Motion passed, 7-0.   (CONSENT AGENDA ITEM)

 

            C.        ORDINANCE 2011-33, “AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO CONTRACT WITH URS CORPORATION FOR “IF AUTHORIZED” ITEMS FOR PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING SERVCIES FOR THE WATER TREATMENT PLANT REVERSE-OSMOSIS PROJECT,” Second Reading, Planning, Projects & Services Committee.  Mr. Fix stated Mr. Wisniewski had requested information at the last meeting regarding the history of URS in doing reverse-osmosis engineering and Mr. Bachman has done some research on that.  Mr. Bachman stated URS has performed exceedingly well on this project, they have been exceedingly responsive.  He stated he had inquired about the project in Lancaster and while URS worked on that project there were no problems with the reverse-osmosis project, but they did have problems with the general contractor and the instrumentation sub-contractor.  He stated URS has done other reverse-osmosis projects in Ohio since then and he has not had any bad reports on any of those.  Mr. Fix moved to waive the requirement in Charter Section 2.05 (C) that the ordinance be read on three separate meeting days; Mr. Sauer seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Sauer, Mr. Wisniewski, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Blair, Mr. Fix, Mr. Barletta, and Mrs. Sanders voting “Yes.”  Suspension of Rules passed, 7-0.  Final Reading.  Mr. Fix moved to adopt; Mr. Blair seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mrs. Sanders, Mr. Barletta, Mr. Fix, Mr. Wisniewski, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Blair, and Mr. Sauer voting “Yes.”  Motion passed, 7-0.  

 

            D.        RESOLUTION 2011-14R, “A RESOLUTION BETWEEN THE CITY OF PICKERINGTON AND VIOLET TOWNSHIP, OHIO, APPROVING A JOINT PLANNING AGREEMENT AND AREA,” Second Reading, Planning, Projects & Services Committee.  Mr. Fix moved to Table; Mr. Wisniewski seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Sauer, Mr. Barletta, and Mr. Blair voting “No,” and Mr. Fix, Mr. Wisniewski, Mrs. Sanders, and Mrs. Hammond voting “Yes.”  Motion passed, 4-3. (TABLED) 

 

10.       LEGISLATIVE READINGS:  NONE. 

 

11.       DISCUSSION.  There were no discussion items. 

 

12.       REFERRAL TO COMMITTEE.  Mayor O’Brien stated he would like to request the City Manager obtain an organizational chart from Violet Township and forward it to the City Administration Committee for their on-going discussions to look for future opportunities for shared services and cooperation.   

 

13.       OTHER BUSINESS.  No other business was brought forward. 

 

14.       MOTIONS:  There were no motions. 

 

15.       ADJOURNMENT.  There being nothing further, Mr. Fix moved to adjourn; Mrs. Hammond seconded the motion.  Mr. Barletta, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Sauer, Mr. Blair, Mr. Fix, Mr. Wisniewski, and Mrs. Sanders voted “Aye.”  Motion carried, 7-0.  The meeting adjourned at 8:02 P.M., June 21, 2011. 

 

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED: 

 

 

_______________________________

Lynda D. Yartin, City Clerk

 

ATTEST:

 

 

_______________________________

Mitch O’Brien, Mayor