CITY OF PICKERINGTON

                                             SAFETY COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL

                                               CITY HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD

                                                   MONDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2005

                                                                      7:30 P.M.

 

                                                 REGULAR MEETING AGENDA

 

1.         ROLL CALL.  Mr. Wisniewski called the meeting to order at 7:30 P.M. with Mrs. Riggs, Mr. Wisniewski, and Mr. Sabatino present. No members were absent.  Others present were:  Judy Gilleland, Lynda Yartin, Chief Mike Taylor, Steve Carr, Frank Wiseman, John Gallagher, and others. 

 

2.      APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF January 10, 2005, Regular Meeting.  Mr. Wisniewski moved to approve; Mrs. Riggs seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino abstaining, and Mrs. Riggs and Mr. Wisniewski voting "Yea."  Motion passed, 2-0.

 

3.         DEPARTMENT REPORTS:

 

A.        Parks and Recreation.

 

(1)        Director’s Report.  Mr. Carr stated he had provided a written report and he would answer any questions anyone might have.  Mr. Carr stated our Spring and Summer program guide will be distributed to the public on March 17th. 

 

                                    a.         Parks Master Plan Survey.  Mr. Carr stated he has established a timeline and plans to go out for bid the week of February 28th with a March 31st deadline for submitting proposals.  He stated staff and the Parks Board would conduct interviews the week of April 18th and provide a recommendation to Safety Committee at their meeting in May. 

 

                                                1.         Joint Parks District – Update.  Mr. Carr stated he and Ms Gilleland met with Mr. Yeaple of the Township to discuss a Joint Parks District, and he is going to meet with the Township Trustees and then he will meet with Mr. Carr. 

 

                              b.         Skate Park Project – Update.  Mr. Carr stated this project is complete and there are no plans for updating the park this year.  Mr. Wisniewski stated this item can be removed from the agenda. 

 

                                    c.         Handicap Garden – Update.  Mr. Carr stated he hoped to hear something soon on this grant. 

 

                              d.         ODNR/NatureWorks Land and Water Conservation Fund Grant Projects

 

                                    e.         Sycamore Park Tennis Court Repair Project – Update.  

 

            B.         Building Operations:  No Report.    

 

            C.        Service Department: 

                        (1)        Traffic Engineer

                                    a.         Review of recommended speed limit on Hill Road South.  Mr. Gallagher stated they had collected all the data they needed and it was the engineer’s recommendation the speed limit north of the wastewater plant be 35 MPH, and from the wastewater plant to Busey they would recommend a 45 MPH speed limit.  Mr. Wisniewski stated he had concerns with increasing the speed limit to 35 from the intersection at Columbus Street to the wastewater plant.  Mr. Gallagher stated this would exclude the school zones that are there.  Ms Gilleland stated she felt we would want 25 MPH close to the center of town.  Mr. Sabatino stated the speed limit is 25 going through the 256 portion and he felt it made sense to keep the speed limit near town at 25.  Mr. Wiseman clarified most of the east side of the road going south to Busey is in the City, and some areas on the west side are in the Township.  Mr. Gallagher stated that is correct, but the area in the Township is very limited.  Chief Taylor stated he thought the 25 MPH limit was set because of the schools and the hills, and there are a lot of kids who cross the street to the schools at the crosswalk right at the top of the hill.  Mr. Wisniewski stated he would have a problem with increasing the speed limit between the light and the high school entrance.  Mrs. Riggs stated she agreed with Mr. Wisniewski.  Mr. Wisniewski stated he did not have a problem increasing the speed limit once you get past the high school.  Chief Taylor stated he would not have a problem with the speed limit going from 25 to 45 right when you pass Opportunity Way.  Mr. Sabatino stated he felt it would be appropriate to keep pace with the Township so we both have the same speed limit and it is consistent, and their speed limit is 40 MPH.  Mr. Wiseman stated Hill Road is classified as a minor collector and based on our ordinance, a minor collector is 25 MPH.  He stated if we want to change the speed limit it will have to be done by ordinance.  Mr. Sabatino inquired if the classification of the road would have to change, and Mr. Wiseman stated that is one option, it would have to be reclassified as a minor arterial, and that might cause some problems with the required right-of-way.  He stated it could be reclassified as a major collector and the speed limit could then be 35 MPH.  Mr. Wisniewski inquired if we could change the ordinance that set the speed limit for a minor arterial.  Mr. Wiseman stated he would like to have a chance to meet with the engineers to determine how we arrived at where we are, as it must be based on a state standard.  Mr. Wisniewski stated that would be fine, and he would keep this on the agenda until the next meeting.   

 

                                    b.         S.R. 256/I-70 Signage – Update.  Mr. Gallagher stated ODOT plans to go forward with the signage and stripping they indicated they would.  He stated the problem with the northbound left turn signal appears to be not so much with the signal, but that so much traffic is now trying to go in that direction on Tussing that it backs up.  Mr. Gallagher stated he is currently working with ODOT to see if that light timing can be increased.  Mr. Gallagher further stated the signage is on order and the stripping will be done when the weather allows. 

 

                                    c.         Temporary reduction of weight limits on City streets – Update.  Mr. Wisniewski stated his question was if we had anything in our ordinances that allows us to temporarily adjust the weight limits without having to go through the ordinance process.  Mr. Wiseman stated he understood an ordinance would have to be drafted that would authorize the City Manger to reduce the weight limits.  Ms Gilleland stated she had requested the engineer look into this, and Mr. Gallagher stated he had not done that as yet, but he would have something for the next meeting. 

 

                                    d.         Traffic Calming Update.  Mr. Gallagher stated he had provided a budget to Mr. Wiseman, and the actual estimate for what was proposed was $20,800 to look at the five locations, determine the worst two, look at some type of remediation at those two locations, and the follow-up analysis to see if it made any difference.  Mr. Gallagher stated this could be cut back in various ways if the Committee desired.  Ms Gilleland clarified Safety Committee had not received the proposal.  Mr. Wisniewski stated he would like Mr. Gallagher to work with staff to see how this budget could be reduced. 

 

            D.        Code Enforcement:  Update.  Ms Gilleland stated there was no update on the Task Force this evening.  Mrs. Riggs stated she had received the report on the house in Willow Pond that has the mold problem.  Mr. Wiseman stated he had just received that report today and he would like the opportunity to check into what the health department was doing. 

 

4.         POLICE:   

 

            A.        Chief’s Report.  Chief Taylor stated his report had been distributed and he would answer any questions.  

 

            B.         Emergency Preparedness/Disaster Plan:  Update.  Chief Taylor stated a memo had been distributed to the Committee regarding updates to the Plan.  Mrs. Riggs clarified the emergency operations would be from the Police Department rather than City Hall.  Ms Gilleland clarified that we do have agreements with other municipalities that have our financial software, so if we need to run payroll or anything of that type, we can go there and utilize their facilities.  Mr. Wisniewski further clarified we were working on having off site storage of backups on our computers, etc. 

 

5.         CHAIRMAN.   Mr. Wisniewski stated he had nothing to bring forward. 

 

6.         OTHER BUSINESS. 

 

A.                 Propane Tank Storage.

 

                        (1)        Review of Fire Marshall’s Report.  Chief Taylor stated a memorandum had been distributed to the Committee for their review.  Mr. Wisniewski stated as he understood it, if the guidelines in the Ohio Fire Code are not followed, and it has not been enforced for two years, they are grandfathered and do not have to follow those guidelines.  Mr. Wisniewski further clarified that there are locations that do not follow the requirement of having barriers in front of their tank storage cages, but they have been in operation for over two years.  Mr. Sabatino stated he felt we would be remiss in not requiring that from this point forward.  Mrs. Riggs stated she would like to have the law director review this issue and provide an opinion as to whether or not we could enforce this now.  Ms Gilleland stated she would forward this to the law director. 

 

            B.         Review and discussion of smoking survey results.  Mr. Wisniewski stated the Committee had received a memorandum from Ms Crotty detailing the survey results.  Ms Crotty stated based on the results, it appeared there is no need to adopt legislation restricting smoking in the Pickerington business community at this time.  The Committee stated they concurred with they did not feel we should do anything further at this time. 

 

7.         ADJOURNMENT.  There being nothing further, Mr. Wisniewski moved to adjourn; Mrs. Riggs seconded the motion.  Mr. Sabatino, Mrs. Riggs, and Mr. Wisniewski voted “Aye.”  Motion carried, 3-0.  The Safety Committee meeting adjourned at 8:30 P.M., February 7, 2005. 

 

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

 

 

________________________________

Lynda D. Yartin, Municipal Clerk