CITY OF PICKERINGTON

SAFETY COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL

CITY HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD

MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2005

 

REGULAR MEETING

7:30 P.M.

 

1.         ROLL CALL.  Mr. Sabatino called the meeting to order at 7:30 P.M. with Mrs. Riggs and Mr. Sabatino present.  Mr. Wisniewski was absent and had notified the clerk of his absence prior to the meeting.  Others present were:  Dan Heitmeyer, Steve Carr, Judy Gilleland, Lori Aberman, Chief Taylor, Frank Wiseman, John Gallagher and others.

 

2.         APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF February 7, 2005, Regular Meeting.  Mrs. Riggs moved to approve; Mr. Sabatino seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Sabatino and Mrs. Riggs 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. 

 

                                    a.         Parks Master Plan Survey.  Mr. Carr stated they plan to go

out for bids 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 would make a recommendation to Safety Committee at the April 25th Parks Board meeting.

 

                                                1.         Joint Parks District – Update.  Mr. Carr stated he and Ms Gilleland met with the township administrator to discuss mutual interests and options on February 7th.  Mr. Carr stated he would follow-up with the township administrator regarding the trustees’ interest.

 

                                    b.         Handicap Garden – Update.  Mr. Carr stated the 11th round of the NatureWorks grant award announcement will be announced soon.

 

                                    c.         ODNR, NatureWorks, Land and Water Conservation Fund.  Mr. Carr stated the 12th round NatureWorks grant application for disc golf baskets and concrete tee pads have been submitted.

 

                                    d.         Sycamore Park Tennis Court Repair Project – Update.  Mr. Carr stated staff met with a contractor on site to fine tune project budget.  The plan is to go out for bids in March.

 

e.                   Violet Festival Board – Update.  Mr. Heitmeyer stated he

was present to discuss operation of the beer garden at this year’s Violet Festival.  He continued that he understood that the Police Chief had concerns regarding last year’s operation.  Mr. Heitmeyer assured Safety Committee that the Violet Festival Board would adhere to the Police Chief’s recommendations for this year’s beer garden operations.       

 

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 have not reached a staff recommendation on this issue.  A memo was distributed to the committee regarding this matter.  Mr. Gallagher stated this matter needs to be included on next month’s agenda.

 

                                    b.         S.R. 256/I-70 Signage – Update.  Mr. Gallagher stated nothing has changed.   

 

c.             Temporary reduction of weight limits on City streets.  Mr.

Gallagher stated the question had been asked if the city could implement vehicle weight limits temporarily for streets during the winter season to save stress on asphalt.  He continued that the City Engineer and the City Manager currently have the authority to issue weight limits for vehicles in excess of five tons.  Ms. Gilleland stated this weight limit is very low when considering waste collection and dump trucks. Mr. Gallagher stated that he advised that the city not implement weight limits, as enforcement would be difficult.

 

d.            Traffic Calming Update.  Mr. Gallagher presented a

proposal to review and implement traffic calming devices in certain areas of the city.  The proposal outlined expenses of $5,000 - $10,000 for traffic calming.  The Safety Committee decided to not pursue traffic calming devices at this time due to budgetary constraints.

 

D.        Code Enforcement:  Update.  Ms. Gilleland reported that the Property

Maintenance Task Force will begin to bring code enforcement items to the Safety Committee at the April meeting.  She continued that it is expected that the Safety Committee will review the proposals and forward them to Council for adoption, or revise the Task Force’s recommendation or send it back to the Task Force with a recommendation for revision.   

 

4.         POLICE

 

A.                 Chief’s Report.  Chief Taylor stated his report had been distributed and he

would answer any questions.  He continued that there was an incident that occurred last Thursday after his report was generated that he would like to share with the committee.  Last Thursday night the Walgreen’s store in Canal Winchester was robbed at gunpoint and when the three suspects left they came down Route 33 and turned up Hill Road.  The description of the car was aired as the suspects were passing Ridgeview Junior High School.  There just happened to be a cruiser in the parking lot of the Junior High, which fell in behind the suspects and stopped them right outside of Willow Pond subdivision.  Three people were apprehended, along with a gun and the $3,000 they had stolen from Walgreen’s.  Within two minutes there were ten cruisers on the scene.  The first officer on the scene was rookie cop.  Everything went down without incident.  The suspects were from Columbus and were driving a stolen car, robbed the store and had a gun in their possession.  Chief Taylor stated he wanted to let everyone know what a great job the officers did in apprehending these criminals. 

 

B.                 Emergency Preparedness/Disaster Plan:  Update.  No report.

 

5.         CHAIRMAN:  Mr. Sabatino stated he had nothing to bring forward since Mr. Wisniewski was not present.

 

6.         OTHER BUSINESS:

 

            A.        Propane Tank Storage – Update.  Mr. Sabatino stated the law director was to look into concerns that were brought up at last month’s meeting.  Chief Taylor stated Council could create an ordinance to require stores install safety devices for the tanks.  The next step is for Council to create an ordinance enforcing the requirement of having barriers in front of the tank storage cages.  Chief Taylor stated Phil Hartman advised the City they can do this and he can create an ordinance for this.  Mr. Sabatino requested that the City Manager instruct Mr. Hartman to work on this.  Mr. Gilleland inquired does the Committee want a draft of an ordinance.  Mr. Sabatino stated he felt they should start with a memo to Mr. Hartman and then move forward from there.  Mr. Sabatino stated he would like to see this remain on the agenda so this could be discussed at future meetings.  Mr. Gilleland stated she would forward a memo to Mr. Hartman. 

 

7.         ADJOURNMENT.  There being nothing further, Mrs. Riggs moved to adjourn; Mr. Sabatino seconded the motion.  Mrs. Riggs and Mr. Sabatino voted “Aye.”  Motion carried, 2-0.  The Safety Committee meeting adjourned at 8:40 P.M., March 7, 2005.

 

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

 

__________________________________

Lori L. Aberman, Deputy Municipal Clerk