CITY OF PICKERINGTON

FINANCE COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL

CITY HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2004

REGULAR MEETING

7:30 P.M.

1. ROLL CALL. Mrs. Riggs called the meeting to order at 7:30 P.M., with roll call as follows: Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Hackworth, and Mrs. Riggs were present. Mr. Wright was absent. Others present were: Michael Sabatino, Mitch O’Brien, Judy Gilleland, Lynda Yartin, Linda Fersch, Bob Mapes, Susan Sheikh, Susan Crotty, Frank Harmon, Nancy Lee, Betty Luzarder, and others.

2. A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF September 7, 2004, Special Meeting. Mr. Hackworth moved to approve; Mr. Wisniewski seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Hackworth, Mr. Wisniewski, and Mrs. Riggs voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.

B. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF October 16, 2004, Regular Meeting. Mr. Hackworth moved to approve; Mr. Wisniewski seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Wisniewski, Mr. Hackworth, and Mrs. Riggs voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.

Mrs. Riggs stated prior to addressing the agenda, she understood Ms Lee, Assistant Director of the Senior Center, was present to address the Committee this evening. Ms Lee stated Mr. Joos, the Center’s Director, was out of town so she and Mrs. Luzarder, the Center’s Treasurer, would like to address the Committee with an additional funding request. Mrs. Luzarder stated she had a copy of the Center’s current Treasurer’s Report and the projected 2005 Budget for the Committee to review. Mrs. Luzarder stated she also had a copy of a letter sent to all of the Center’s members detailing expected expenses and asking for donations to cover these expenses. Mrs. Luzarder stated so far they have had a good response to this request, however, they will be falling short of funds this year and according to the estimates for next year, they will fall short about $26,000 next year. Mrs. Luzarder stated the building is now 20 years old and it seems everything is falling apart. She stated they have had to replace the compressors in the walk-in refrigerator, the air conditioners have all gone out, the parking lot had to be redone, and these are very large expenses. Mrs. Riggs clarified the Senior Center is rented out for wedding receptions, etc. Ms Lee stated the facility is rented for weddings at the rate of $575, which includes set up time the day before and five hours of party time the next day. Mr. Hackworth clarified that a volunteer is on-site at all times when the building is rented out. Ms Lee stated the members do a lot of catering for fund raisers and that sort of thing as well. She further stated the building is used by the City of Pickerington every Monday night, and the building is rented for wedding receptions, graduation parties, anniversary parties, birthday parties, etc. Mr. Hackworth ascertained the City of Pickerington has been giving the Senior Center $10,000 each year. Mrs. Luzarder stated they have asked the County for money and in the past they have given them $5,000, however, this year they did not give money but paid to have the back parking lot done which was $9,927. She stated they also receive money from dues, and various fund raisers. Ms Gilleland stated she understood the Township was giving the Center $5,000 and also funded a renovation to the HVAC system that cost approximately $6,500. Mrs. Luzarder stated she has not received the check from the Township as yet. Ms Gilleland stated the Township’s donation this year is then approximately $11,500. Mr. Wisniewski clarified as of September 25^th the Center has $7,000 in their checking account. Mrs. Luzarder stated the Senior Center Foundation donated $10,000 last month, and they cannot get any more funds from the Foundation. Mr. Hackworth clarified the Township owns the building and the Senior Center is responsible for the utilities and the upkeep on the building. Ms Gilleland stated it would be her recommendation that the City match the total amount that the Township has appropriated for the Senior Center this year. She stated we have already donated $10,000 and she would recommend an additional appropriation of $1,500. Mrs. Riggs moved to appropriate an additional $1,500 for the Senior Center; Mr. Wisniewski seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Hackworth, Mr. Wisniewski, and Mrs. Riggs voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.

3. FINANCE DIRECTOR:

A. Review and request for motion to approve draft ordinance amending appropriation ordinance 2003-97. Mrs. Fersch stated in the General Fund she was requesting an increase for Council of $3,379 as the liability insurance was more than budgeted, a decrease in Land and Buildings by $3,379 as the property insurance was less than anticipated, and an increase in the Street Fund of $20,000 for the impact fee study and overtime for leaf pick-up. She stated further she would request the $1,500 for the Senior Center be added to this appropriation. Mr. Wisniewski moved to approve the appropriation ordinance including the additional $1,500 for the Senior Center; Mr. Hackworth seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Hackworth, Mrs. Riggs, and Mr. Wisniewski voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.

B. Finance Director’s Report: Mrs. Fersch stated she had provided a written report to the Committee and she would be happy to answer any questions.

C. Review and request for motion to approve Interim Funds and Active Funds Depository Agreements. Mrs. Fersch stated she had distributed the six proposals she had received to all the Committee members along with a copy of the proposal she had sent out. Mrs. Fersch also provided a memorandum from our investment advisor providing an analysis of the proposal. Mrs. Fersch stated she had included the request for a courier service in her proposal and only one had included this at no charge. Mrs. Fersch stated she was not requesting action this evening as there is quite a bit of information to look at. Mr. Hackworth stated he does have some concerns about the internet process and he would like to get more information on that issue.

4. PERSONNEL DEPARTMENT:

Mrs. Riggs stated Mr. Frank Harmon was present this evening from Ohio Public Entity Consortium. Mr. Harmon stated he was present to answer any questions the Committee might have on the proposal he had provided to Mrs. Sheikh for the City’s health insurance package. Mrs. Sheikh stated she had provided this proposal to the Committee. Ms Gilleland stated she would like to thank Mr. Harmon for his proposal. She stated it was discovered this morning that the figures Mr. Harmon had been provided included our dental and insurance, so the cost savings he had calculated was not quite as significant as it appeared. She stated it would still be a savings of approximately $100,000. Ms Gilleland stated there were still some issues that need to be looked at, such as run out claims, and provisions would need to be made for that. Ms Gilleland stated we need to provide our current consortium notice by September 1^st of each year if we are going to participate for the following year so they can provide premiums to everyone and we have already notified them we will be participating next year. She stated it is a little late to pull out now without affecting every entity in the consortium. Ms Gilleland stated she felt it was a very good idea to look at insurance options, however, it is very late to introduce a new plan for next year. Ms Gilleland stated she would also like to have the employees involved in the selection if we were to change insurance carriers. Mrs. Sheikh stated she understood this plan was geared toward smaller groups of 50 and under, and we are larger than that. Mr. Harmon stated in the past few years they have started to get larger members in. Mr. Wisniewski stated his concern was that the cost may be lower this year, but that did not mean it would be lower next year as well. Mr. Hackworth stated he also understood we had some obligations to our union employees regarding insurance. Mrs. Sheikh stated that was correct and is a very important point. She stated we had one grievance filed in all of 2004, and it was related to changes that occurred in the health care plan from 2003 to 2004. She stated the ruling was in favor of the City, however, at that time we told the employees that if we were ever going to change again, we would communicate it to the employees. Mrs. Riggs stated she thanked Mr. Harmon for coming in and this will be reviewed.

Mrs. Sheikh stated she had nothing further to report this evening.

5. DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT: Ms Crotty stated she had provided a written report to the Committee and she would be happy to answer any questions. Mr. Sabatino stated he would like to receive information regarding the number of businesses we have year to year, the amount of income taxes they generate, etc. Ms Crotty stated she kept information on new businesses when they come in such as the type of business it is, the square footage, and an estimate of the investment when they build or make improvements. She stated she did not keep income tax information. Mr. Sabatino stated he would like this information to see how effective we are in our economic development efforts. He further inquired if we had any type of report that showed, for example, in 2001 we had 841 businesses and collected so much income tax? He stated this would give us a base line and if we saw we were not getting much activity we could look at figuring out what we can do to create more activity. Ms Crotty stated she would provide Mr. Sabatino with a copy of the report she does have. Mrs. Fersch stated she could provide information regarding how much income tax the businesses generated as a lump sum total, but she could not give individual information. Mr. Sabatino stated he felt council needed this type of information from the past few years so they can look and see how we’re doing and where we should go.

6. LEGAL DEPARTMENT:

A. Monthly review of law director services. Mrs. Riggs ascertained the Committee had received a copy of Mr. Mapes’ monthly report and there were no questions.

7. CHAIRMAN: Mrs. Riggs stated she had nothing to bring forward.

8. OTHER BUSINESS: Ms Gilleland stated she would like to remind everyone of the Budget Work Session, Tuesday, October 26^th, at 6:00 P.M. She stated there will also be a joint work session with Council and Planning and Zoning Commission on the Growth Management Plan at 7:30 P.M., that same evening.

9. MOTIONS:

A. Motion for an Executive Session under Section 121.22(G)(1)(b), Matters involving an employee’s or public official’s employment, Section 121.22(G)(2), Purchase or sale of public property, Section 121.22(G)(3), Conference with law director regarding pending or imminent court action, and Section 121.22(G)(4), Matters involving bargaining sessions with public employees. Mr. Wisniewski moved for an Executive Session under Section 121.22(G)(1)(b), Matters involving an employee’s or public official’s employment, 121.22(G)(2), Purchase or sale of public property, and Section 121.22(G)(3), Conference with law director regarding pending or imminent court action, and Section 121.22(G)(4), Matters involving bargaining sessions with public employees; Mr. Hackworth seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mrs. Riggs, Mr. Wisniewski, and Mr. Hackworth voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.

Finance Committee adjourned to Executive Session at 8:50 P.M., and reconvened in open session at 10:30 P.M.

Mrs. Riggs moved to approve and forward to Council legislation to appoint a City Prosecutor for the City of Pickerington, Ohio, for a term of one year and to fix the compensation to be paid, contingent upon the acceptance of the terms by the City Prosecutor; Mr. Hackworth seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mrs. Riggs, Mr. Wisniewski, and Mr. Hackworth voting “Yea.” Motion passed, 3-0.

10. ADJOURNMENT. There being nothing further, Mr. Hackworth moved to adjourn; Mr. Wisniewski seconded the motion. Mr. Hackworth, Mr. Wisniewski, and Mrs. Riggs voted "Aye." Motion carried, 3-0. The Finance Committee adjourned at 10:34 P.M., October 21, 2004.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

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Lynda D. Yartin, Municipal Clerk