CITY OF PICKERINGTON

SERVICE COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL

CITY HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD

THURSDAY, JANUARY 16, 2003

 

REGULAR MEETING

7:30 P.M.

 

1.         ROLL CALL.  Mr. Parker called the meeting to order at 7:30 P.M., with Mr. Maxey, Mr. Parker, and Mr. Shaver present.  No members were absent.  Others present were Joyce Bushman, Frank Wiseman, Lynda Yartin, Lance Schultz, Jerry Dailey, Lenny Lewis, Bill Taylor, and others.

 

Mr. Parker moved to have the Committee officers remain the same as last year with Mr. Parker as Chairman, Mr. Maxey as Vice Chairman, and Mr. Shaver as Secretary; Mr. Maxey seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Parker, Mr. Shaver, and Mr. Maxey voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 3-0. 

 

2.         APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF December 12, 2002, Regular Meeting.  Mr. Shaver moved to approve; Mr. Maxey seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Parker, Mr. Shaver, and Mr. Maxey voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 3-0. 

 

Mr. Parker stated if there were no objections he would take Item 7.B., “Review and discussion regarding providing municipal water service to the residents of Pearl Lane and Florence Drive,” at this time as Mr. Bill Taylor is present to address the issue.  There were no objections.  Mr. Taylor stated at the last meeting he had stated he would contact the residents in the neighborhood of Pearl Lane and Florence Drive and although he was unable to contact each resident, he had left a packet of information at each home.  Mr. Taylor provided a packet of information to the committee showing the responses and comments of the residents.  Mr. Taylor stated there are 43 homes in the area and 22 responded they did want city water, 4 stated they would be interested in the future, 3 are not interested, and there were 14 who did not respond.  Mr. Taylor stated Mr. Wiseman and his staff were very helpful in providing him copies of the information packet and being available to answer any questions he had.  Mr. Taylor stated if the city moves forward with this he would be available to help in any way that he can.  Mr. Parker stated he would like to ensure that residents were made aware that the offer being made was a better deal for them than if they were to receive a free tap, and Mr. Wiseman stated that was correct and he would make sure that was done.  Mr. Wiseman stated some people had commented that developers paid $1,500 for a tap fee and residents would be charged $2,851.50.  Mr. Wiseman stated he did not know where that information came from, but it was not correct.  Mr. Parker stated he would like to make sure the individuals knew that was not correct.  Mr. Parker ascertained the next step would be to have our engineer prepare a proposal to put together the design and bid specifications and get it out for bid.  Mr. Wiseman stated that proposal should be under $15,000.  He further stated the funds are in the budget so once we have the bid opening it would go to Service Committee to recommend award of the contract.  Mrs. Bushman stated approximately half of the residents want to have city water, and she would like some clarification that if they want to tap in and take advantage of this offer, it will have to be done at the time the line goes in.  Mr. Wiseman stated he felt a letter should be sent to each resident stating if they want to take advantage of this offer they must do it within six months of when the line is put in, and if they decide not to tap in the deal is no longer on the table and they will have to pay whatever fees are in effect at that time. Mr. Shaver stated he felt a six month time period was reasonable.  Mr. Parker stated he felt we should move forward with the engineering of the project.  Mr. Parker stated he would also like to ensure that everyone knew that no-one would be forced to hook into the line.  Mr. Maxey moved to support the installation of a water line to provide municipal water service to residents of Pearl Lane and Florence Drive; Mr. Shaver seconded the motion.  Mr. Maxey stated once the engineering is complete, it might be a good idea to schedule a public meeting so the residents can come in and look at the plans to see where the lines would be going, etc.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Maxey, Mr. Shaver, and Mr. Parker voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 3-0. 

 

Mr. Parker stated he would move to Item 8.A., “Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance to update the City’s building and housing code as set forth in Chapters 1420 to 1430 of the Pickerington Codified Ordinances.”  Mr. Lewis stated part of the update is a housekeeping item as every three years when the State updates codes we must update also.  Mr. Lewis stated since we had the last update done to the codifieds, the State has dropped a letter from the building code, so everywhere the code references OBBC it will now read OBC.  Mr. Lewis stated there are also some deletions from the code that are no longer necessary, and a clause has been added to allow us to adopt the newer codes every three years without having to come back with legislation.  Mr. Lewis stated it is in our best interest to keep up with the most recent codes as there are always new standards, new chapters may be added, and things of that nature.  Mr. Lewis further stated every four to five years the building department is audited by the Insurance Service Organization, and in order to keep up with the ratings they look favorably upon you enforcing the newest code possible.  Mr. Lewis stated our ISO rating allows homeowner’s insurance to be reduced, and we have received very favorable ratings.  Mr. Parker moved to approve the draft ordinance and forward to Council; Mr. Shaver seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Parker, Mr. Shaver, and Mr. Maxey voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 3-0. 

 

Mr. Maxey stated he had discussed commercial water tap fees for fire sprinkler systems with Mr. Lewis in the past and he would like to request this be added to the agenda for discussion.  Mr. Maxey stated he would like to see if there is some way to discount this fee as it will not be used unless there is a disaster and it will assist commercial development.  Mr. Maxey stated the fee right now sometimes precludes the owner from putting in a fire sprinkler system because it is so high.  Mr. Lewis stated our building officials can probably give us some comparisons on what other communities do in this case, and he would provide that information to this Committee.  Mr. Dailey stated the one single criteria that more than anything else in the community determines the size of the waterline you put down any street is the ability to provide water for a fire, and, therefore, it is a capacity fee.  Mr. Shaver stated he would like to see what surrounding communities are doing and if the fee would put us at a competitive disadvantage.  Mr. Parker stated he would like to have this put on the next Service agenda for discussion purposes. 

 

3.         PLANNING AND ZONING

 

A.        REPORTS:

 

                       (1)         BZA Report.  Mr. Schultz stated the BZA had approved one variance last month for a storage shed, and there are no agenda items for this month.   

 

                       (2)         Planning and Zoning Representative Report (Mr. Maxey).  Mr. Maxey stated Planning and Zoning had met on Tuesday and discussed Cottman Transmission that is going in next to the old Countryside Hardware.  He stated they had approved the location of the building and the building materials would be reviewed at the next meeting.  Mr. Maxey also stated Planning and Zoning had held a public hearing on the revisions to the codified ordinances relative to multi-family developments and other pertinent revisions.  Mr. Maxey stated Planning and Zoning had then approved the draft ordinance.       

 

B.         ACTION ITEMS

 

            (1)        Review and request for motion to approve proposed revision to Pickerington Codified Ordinances to require that roads in multi-family developments be constructed to public street standards, to require sidewalks in all multi-family developments, to modify set-back requirements in multi-family developments and other pertinent revisions (TABLE, 05/09/02)  Mr. Maxey moved to remove from the Table; Mr. Parker seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Shaver, Mr. Maxey, and Mr. Parker voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 3-0.   Mr. Maxey moved to approve; Mr. Shaver seconded the motion.  Mr. Maxey stated based on an opinion from our law director, the two lots per acre precludes us from building multi-family developments.  Mr. Maxey also stated these revisions do clean up our code and he wanted to make it clear that supporting this legislation in no way indicated he was supporting multi-family development or saying the two lots per acre was good, bad, or indifferent.  Mr. Maxey stated the legislation also provides the authority for the city to determine if driveways to commercial or industrial developments will be streets or commercial driveways based on the City’s Access Management Plan.  Mr. Maxey stated he felt that was a very good thing for the city.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Parker, Mr. Maxey, and Mr. Shaver voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 3-0. 

 

            (2)        Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance to rezone 28.548 acres of land located south of Refugee Road and north of Long Road (Woodward property) from AG to R4.  (TABLED, 11/14/02)

 

            (3)        Review and request for motion to approve final development plan for a single-family development on approximately 79.912 acres located north of Long Road and south of the railroad tracks (formerly Lane property).  (TABLED, 11/14/02)

 

4.         SERVICE DEPARTMENT

 

A.        WATER UTILITY MAINTENANCE.  Mr. Wiseman stated he had no report at this time. 

 

B.         WASTEWATER UTILITY MAINTENANCE.  Mr. Wiseman stated over in Victory Park they did find a sanitary sewer line that had separated where it went under the stream, but that has been resolved. 

 

C.        STREET MAINTENANCE - Update

 

            Mr. Wiseman stated we have used about 700 tons of salt so far this year. 

 

D.        STORM WATER UTILITY MAINTENANCE.  Mr. Wiseman stated he had nothing to report this evening. 

 

5.         ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT CAPITAL PROJECTS

 

A.        WASTEWATER – R. D. ZANDE

 

            (1)        Wastewater Plant Expansion (CIP# 02-03-012).  Mr. Wiseman stated we are still waiting for the EPA response to the PTI. 

 

                        (A)       NPDES Permit – Update.  Mr. Wiseman stated he had no report. 

 

B.         TRANSPORTATION

 

                        (1)        Hill Road Extension (CIP#02-03-012) – Mr. Dailey stated he has no report on this item.  Mr. Parker stated this could be removed from the agenda at this time.   

 

                        (2)        Cycle Way – Update.  Mr. Dailey stated this project is essentially shut down for the winter. 

 

            (3)        Courtright Road. 

 

                        (A)       Courtright Road Extension Project (CIP# 02-03-011)  Mr. Dailey stated some utility construction and storm sewer construction should start in the next few weeks.  Mr. Dailey further stated the date to activate the signal has been changed to January 29th at the request of the Post Office.    Mrs. Bushman stated the City will close the current entrance because we cannot activate the light until that entrance is closed. 

 

(4)               Diley Road Improvements Project

 

                        (A)       256 Realignment Phase (CIP#98-03-005)  Mr. Dailey stated we are ready to bid this project as the city works it into their financing and funding.  Mr. Dailey stated this is the widening of 256 from the Kroger light down to the new signal south of Grandview.  

 

                        (B)       MORPC/ODOT Project (CIP#98-03-005 and 03-03-005)  Mr. Dailey stated he would have the people come to the next meeting and report on this project to the Committee.   

 

            (5)        Downtown Revitalization Project Phase III, IV, and V and West Columbus Street Public Parking Lot (CIP#s 02-06-001, 03-06-001, & 03-06-003) – Bid Opening 1/08/03. 

 

                        (A)       Review and request for motion to authorize award of contract.  Mr. Dailey stated the bid opening was January 8th and he had distributed copies of a letter sent to Mrs. Bushman today from his company.  Mr. Dailey stated six bids were received for the project.  Mr. Dailey further stated he had sent a letter to the bottom four bidders telling them that based on their experience with them and/or the information or lack of information they supplied with their bid, they could not verify that they would qualify and had experience in similar projects to this.  Mr. Dailey stated the fifth bidder had a complete bid with all the information.  Mr. Dailey stated after speaking with the law director, the four bottom bidders were given a chance to respond by 5:00 p.m. yesterday, and all did respond in some format.  Mr. Dailey stated the City may have a good experience with any of these bidders, however, McDaniels was the lowest bidder he could qualify. Mr. Parker clarified the first phase of the project was done by Strawser and they had done an excellent job.  Mr. Shaver ascertained the city’s experience with McDaniels was the Courtright project that is currently going on and as a subcontractor on another project.  Mr. Shaver stated he liked the fact that McDaniels was only using 16 percent subcontractors.  Mr. Wiseman stated he was a little concerned about a firm that could not get the bid right, because this is a very detail oriented project.  Mrs. Bushman stated she felt the biggest point of consideration is that we have the best, most responsive standard on our books and there is a big difference between building a road and doing a downtown revitalization project.  She stated there can be a lot of unexpected conditions in the field, and these may be some things to be considered when evaluating the bids.  Mr. Parker moved to award the contract to McDaniels Construction; Mr. Maxey seconded the motion.  Mr. Parker stated he agreed Strawser did an excellent job in the first phase of the downtown, however, this phase of the streetscape might go a lot smoother than that one.  Mr. Parker stated if the engineers felt McDaniels was capable of completing the project he would have no problem awarding the contract to them.  Mr. Wiseman stated his only experience with McDaniels is with the most recent project they are doing and they seem to have worked well.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Parker, Mr. Maxey, and Mr. Shaver voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 3-0. 

 

            (6)        Cover/Ebright Connector (CIP#02-03-010)

 

                        (A)       Mt. Carmel Signal – Update.  Mr. Dailey stated we are just now signing the contract.  Mr. Shaver inquired when the signal would be up, and Mrs. Bushman stated we cannot sign the contract until the Finance Director can certify the funds which she cannot do until the borrowing is completed.     

 

C.        WATER

 

            (1)        Water Plant Expansion Project (CIP# 00-01-006) – Update.  Mr. Dailey stated this project has had some delays mostly with design guidelines changing for the building.  He stated they are still working toward the original completion date at this time. 

 

                        (2)        Refugee Road Water Line Extension  (CIP # 99-01-007) – Update.  Mr. Dailey stated the project is complete.  Mr. Parker stated this item can be removed from the agenda. 

 

D.        WASTEWATER.

 

            (1)        D-Line Interceptor, Phase IIIB (CIP# 02-02-005) – Update.  Mr. Dailey stated this committee authorized bidding of the project at their last meeting and they were just waiting to see that funding is in place. 

 

            (2)        D-Line Interceptor, Phase IV (CIP# 02-02-006) – Update.  Mr. Dailey stated this project is essentially complete.  Mr. Parker stated this can be removed from the agenda.

 

E.         STORMWATER.

 

                        (1)        East Street Outfall (CIP# 01-04-003) – Update.  Mr. Dailey stated he has no report this evening. 

 

6.         SCIP/LTIP PROJECT (FORMERLY ISSUE II) – Update.  (Proposed project:  Long and Wright Road Intersections on Diley Road)  Mrs. Bushman stated she understood the Executive Committee was meeting this week. 

 

Mr. Parker stated the Committee had also received a draft ordinance to accept a sanitary sewer easement from Barbara Snyder.  Mr. Maxey moved to approve; Mr. Parker seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Parker, Mr. Shaver, and Mr. Maxey voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 3-0. 

 

7.         CHAIRMAN.

 

A.        Review and discussion regarding draft ordinance to enact a moratorium on the issuing of housing permits for single family residential units for a period of one year.  (TABLED, 11/14/02) Mr. Parker stated there were still some discussions going on with other parties so this will remain on the table this evening. 

 

B.         Review and discussion regarding providing municipal water service to the residents of Pearl Lane and Florence Drive.    Mr. Parker stated this had been dealt with earlier in the meeting. 

8.         OTHER BUSINESS. 

 

A.        Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance to update the City’s building and housing code as set forth in Chapters 1420 to 1430 of the Pickerington Codified Ordinances.  Mr. Parker stated this had been dealt with earlier in the evening. 

 

Mr. Parker stated he had provided a copy of a proposal from Hartman Engineering to look at some of the water problems over on Long Road.  Mr. Dailey stated Mr. Hartman is one of the best people in central Ohio in doing projects like this.  He stated at some point in dealing with some of the areas, we cannot be objective and Mr. Hartman has done some work for the city in this area in the past.  Mr. Maxey stated when he first dealt with Mr. Hartman on a stormwater management plan in the Diley Road area he found him to be very thorough, and questioned if this would tie in with that previous study.  Mr. Dailey stated prior to putting this proposal together Mr. Hartman had reviewed that study and it will dovetail in some parts.  Mr. Parker stated there have been some changes in that area with development and all, and he felt it would be a good idea to look at the area. Mrs. Bushman stated the committee would also need to recommend Finance appropriate the funds for the contract.  Mr. Shaver asked if developers could be asked to pay for a portion of the study, and Mr. Dailey stated the study might provide information that as development occurs, we could require the developer to do certain things.  Mr. Dailey stated the proposal was for $19,790.  Mr. Parker moved to recommend the appropriation to Finance and to forward the proposal to Council; Mr. Maxey seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Maxey, Mr. Parker, and Mr. Shaver voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 3-0. 

 

Mr. Maxey stated at the old four-way stop that now has a signal, the bars have been moved back to assist the busses.  He stated there is still a need for us to sensor that light and it can be done at a cost of approximately $10,000 for all directions.  Mr. Dailey stated that would be for microwave sensors. Mr. Maxey stated he had been contacted by a resident on this problem and Mr. Dailey had some of his people go out and do a charting study on a day when school was in session.  Mr. Maxey stated it was found there was a need for the sensors.  Mr. Dailey stated the signal works well at most times, and the only control we have is that we have them timed, sensing is not taking place fully.  Mr. Dailey stated it would be more efficient to put the microwave sensors in.  Mr. Maxey moved to authorize Stilson Consulting Group to move forward with the project to install microwave sensors at that intersection at a cost not to exceed $10,000; Mr. Shaver seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Parker, Mr. Shaver, and Mr. Maxey voting “Yea.”  Motion passed, 3-0. 

9.         ADJOURNMENT.  There being nothing further, Mr. Shaver moved to adjourn; Mr. Maxey seconded the motion.  Mr. Shaver, Mr. Maxey, and Mr. Parker voted “Aye.”  Motion carried, 3-0.  The Service Committee adjourned at 8:55 P.M., January 16, 2003.

 

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

 

 

 

________________________________

Lynda D. Yartin, Municipal Clerk