WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 2011

REGULAR MEETING

6:30 P.M.

1. ROLL CALL. Mrs. Hammond called the meeting to order at 6:33 P.M., with roll call as follows: Mrs. Hammond and Mr. Fix were present. Mrs. Sanders was absent. Others present were: Bill Vance, Lynda Yartin, Commander Steve Annetts, Tony Barletta, Becca Medinger, Greg Bachman, Lynn Miller, Joe Henderson, Ron Ebright, Nate Ellis, and others.

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF May 18, 2011, Regular Meeting. Mr. Fix moved to approve; Mrs. Hammond seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Fix and Mrs. Hammond voting “Yes.” Motion passed, 2-0.

3. COMMUNITY COMMENTS: There were no community comments.

Mrs. Hammond stated Mr. Ron Ebright was present this evening and he would like to address the Committee regarding honoring his grandfather, T. O. Ebright who was Mayor of Pickerington for approximately 20 years. Mr. Ebright stated he has noticed around town that different police chiefs, fire chiefs, etc., have been honored by having a street or whatever named after them, and his grandfather was Mayor for over 20 years and he has no recognition. Mr. Ebright stated his grandfather started the volunteer fire department in 1934 with eight volunteers. He stated his grandfather was also instrumental in bringing the current phone system to Pickerington, and even went around changing burnt out street lights. Mr. Ebright stated there are still many family members that live here in Pickerington and his grandfather passed away in 1958 and is entombed in Violet Cemetery. Mr. Ebright stated Town Square Drive goes from S.R. 256 to N. Center Street and dead ends into the house his grandparents moved into in 1926 and he lived there until he passed away. He further stated there are no residences or businesses on that street and there would be no addresses that would have to be changed and he felt it would be fitting to rename that street in honor of his grandfather.

Mr. Fix inquired what the process would be to do something like this and Mr. Vance stated he would recommend the staff do some investigation since there is a policy in place as far as naming facilities and streets in the City. He stated he felt Mr. Ebright’s request is a valid one and he would suggest this Committee recommend this evening that staff come back with the appropriate protocol for the next Safety Committee meeting and the Committee would like to endorse moving it forward it could be moved forward to Council. Mr. Fix stated the Ebright family has a long history in town and he felt it would be fitting to honor Mr. T. O. Ebright in some way. Mrs. Hammond stated she would like to continue forward with something and Council had passed an ordinance last year regarding naming things and while she agreed there were no addresses on the recommended street she did not know if that was a post office issue, but she felt we should pursue that. Mrs. Hammond stated if that is not an avenue, then see if there is some other avenue where we could recognize Mr. Ebright.

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 she would like to mention that we will have National Night Out on August 2^nd and Officer Simcox is in charge of coordinating it. She stated if anyone wants any information they can contact Officer Simcox.

5. DEPARTMENT REPORTS:

A. Building Regulations Department.

(1) Code Enforcement Report. Mr. Hopper stated he had provided a written report and he would be glad to answer any questions. Mrs. Hammond stated she would like to thank everyone for picking up all the signs as she has had a lot of feedback from people who say they really appreciate how nice everything is looking.

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 stated he thought Ms Medinger had done a very good job on the variety of programs being offered. Mr. Fix stated he had received some comments that for the playground program the gym is not open and that makes it hard to keep everyone busy, especially on a rainy day. Mr. Fix stated if there is a way to get the gym open so they can play dodge ball, kick ball, etc., that would be great. Ms Medinger stated she would look into that situation. Mrs. Hammond stated she had seen the notice about the event in the skate park and Ms Medinger stated that event was very well attended and she had received very positive feedback on it.

(2) Service/Parks Maintenance Report. Mrs. Hammond stated Mr. Drobina was out of town at a conference this evening, however, he had provided a written report to the Committee.

(3) Parks Board Representative Report (Mrs. Sanders). Mrs. Hammond stated Mrs. Sanders is not present this evening.

C. Engineering Department:

(1) City Engineer’s Report. Mr. Bachman stated he does not have a specific report this evening and he concentrating on the S.R. 256 Safety Grant application to ODOT which will be due in July or August. He stated he would be happy to answer any questions. Mrs. Hammond stated Mr. Drobina had reported that a resident in Fox Glen had requested a stop sign at the intersection of Fox Glen Drive East and Sourwood Court be installed and she would like to have the engineer’s recommendation on this issue. Mr. Bachman stated it was his understanding the stop sign was requested to be installed on Fox Glen and that street will be extended with the future phase of Fox Glen and if we were to put in a stop sign it would be on the court. Mr. Hammond stated for the record the recommendation at this time is not to install the requested stop sign.

Mrs. Hammond stated we also have on the agenda a discussion regarding traffic issues on N. Center Street. She stated the Committee had received a letter from a resident on N. Center regarding speeding and other issues there. Mrs. Hammond stated the police have had a presence in that area lately and have issued some citations. Mrs. Hammond stated further she felt this was an issue in virtually every neighborhood. Mr. Bachman stated speeding is an issue in every neighborhood and on this street if you are going southbound it is a downhill section and it is hard to stay at 25 mph unless you are really watching yourself. Mr. Bachman stated 25 mph is perfectly appropriate in that section of Center Street and northbound you are coming across the railroad tracks so the speeds are less. Mr. Bachman stated there is a 25 mph speed limit from the City limits up by Stemen Road and coming south on Pickerington Road in the County the speed limit is 55 mph and it changes to 25 mph at Stemen. He stated there is not much change in the road to make people believe that there should be that much of a speed drop and it might be an idea to make that speed limit a little higher. Mr. Bachman stated from East Street down, 25 mph is completely appropriate. Mrs. Hammond inquired if we want to look into making the speed reduction more gradual and Commander Annetts stated that if the speed limit were increased to 35 mph, people will be going 45 mph, and traffic will be coming down that hill into the three-way intersection. Commander Annetts stated when they do a traffic detail there they do not clock people coming into town, but they do clock them going out of town. He stated there have been several accidents at that three-way intersection and if the speed is increased he is afraid we would have more. Mrs. Hammond stated then it appeared that the action we should take is to continue to tell people to observe the speed limits and be aware that there are children all over the City and to watch out for them. Mrs. Hammond further clarified that it would be the recommendation of the City Engineer and the Police Department not to change the speed limit in this area.

6. CHAIRMAN:

A. Strategic Plan Goals – Update.

(1) Drug Awareness Program. Mr. Fix stated they are continuing to push forward and working on getting some programs started here. Mr. Fix clarified that we have had some people register for the drug awareness programs provided by the Police Department in coordination with the Parks and Recreation Department and Mr. Vance stated he would request the Chief of Police to provide a report at the next meeting on how this is working and where it is going.

7. OTHER BUSINESS:

A. Review and discussion regarding request to honor T. O. Ebright (Pickerington Mayor 1930-1950). Mrs. Hammond stated this was dealt with earlier in the meeting.

B. Discussion regarding traffic issues on N. Center Street. Mrs. Hammond stated this was dealt with earlier in the meeting.

8. ADJOURNMENT. There being nothing further, Mr. Fix moved to adjourn; Mrs. Hammond seconded the motion. Mrs. Hammond and Mr. Fix voted "Aye." Motion carried, 2-0. The Public Safety & Community Affairs Committee adjourned at 7:01 P.M., June 22, 2011.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

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Lynda D. Yartin, City Clerk