City Council

Office of the Clerk of Council City of Gahanna 200 South Hamilton Road Gahanna, Ohio 43230 Meeting Minutes City Council Monday, September 17, 2012 7:00 PM City Hall A. CALL TO ORDER - Invocation, Pledge of Allegiance, Roll Call Gahanna City Council met in Regular Meeting on Monday, September 17, 2012, at Gahanna City Hall, in Council Chambers, 200 South Hamilton Road. President of Council Brian D. Larick called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Invocation was given by Vice President of Council Renner followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Council Member Anderson. Agenda for this meeting was published on September 14, 2012. Present 6 - Stephen A. Renner, Karen J. Angelou, David L. Samuel, Beryl Anderson, Ryan P. Jolley, and Brandon Wright B. ADDITIONS OR CORRECTIONS TO THE AGENDA: None. C. HEARING OF VISITORS. Samuel said Cal & Barbara Berkey owned the service station at Hamilton and Morrison Roads that has been torn down in the past several weeks; said the Berkeys helped many struggling people over the years; they were an asset to our community and part of our history. Samuel presented the Resolution "To Honor and Commend Cal & Barbara Berkey for 40 Years of Service to the Gahanna Community"; both were present along with many family members, and said thank you for honoring their family. Laurie Jadwin, President GCVB, said we would like to share what our organization has been able to accomplish for 2012; also would like to outline for you what we see ahead for our organization throughout the remainder of the year, and beyond; some really great news, our lodging tax revenue continues to trend upward; the numbers to date are 7% above last year at this time, and in August of 2012 the lodging tax revenue was 26% above what it was in August of 2011; what do you attribute that to; stronger occupancy rates; corporate travel is now up; our location to the airport helps that; they have an ability to charge a stronger room rate which in turn is helping to increase our revenue; through that increased revenue and through your support that has enabled our organization to be even better positioned to accomplish all the things that we need to do to be the destination marketing organization for Gahanna; did have a power point presentation for you, but due to technical difficulties we do not have that so I will turn it over to Karen Eylon. Karen Eylon, Director GCVB, said it was a really good power point presentation; exciting 3rd quarter; a lot going on in our office; had another successful Creekside Blues & Jazz festival due in part to your amazing support and Jadwin; probably the biggest thing for us from a product standpoint, and most of you are aware that Gahanna doesn't have a lot of land available, and with that we don't have the financial resources to build a new bricks and mortar type development; whether it be a museum or an attraction; know you all understand the value of economic impact from visitors; we have been working on how we capitalize on that which makes us City of Gahanna Page 1 City Council Meeting Minutes September 17, 2012 unique in a way that can continue to help Gahanna have a presence in the tourism industry and in the minds of our visitors, and how can we do so in a way that presents an opportunity for growth long term; with that on Saturday May 12th in conjunction with Herb Day we launched the Herbal Trail; the Herbal Trail basicly is like the Napa Wine trail; like the Bourbon Trail, and there are chocolate trails; it is a trail that connects points of interest in Gahanna that relate to herbs; we started with culinary and one of the great things that most of you are aware of is the trend toward culinary tourism; the trend toward being foodies continues to grow and evolve in Columbus and nationally; one of the things we started with was trying to elevate the culinary theme in Gahanna; in doing so we connected those who are interested through participation in the Herbal Trail; in order to participate in the Herbal Trail they have to identify herbal menu items, they have to provide a decal on their front door; they have to include it in their menus and educate the front line staff; we have a host of restaurants that are participating and some that are taking it to the next level, and the next level for them is doing chef bios; we have a very talented public relations staff person helping to create and write these bios; have several bios done; we have a great new story trail that Collins and his staff put together; we have 38 points of interest which is pretty exciting; whatever the interest level is we can pull people in on that and hopefully have them come back to experience gardening or herbal; next step would be to develop some type of recognition program for those who participate; whether that is a T-shirt for every 5 stops you make or what have you; that is our next level; we have had amazing press over the Herbal Trail; again due in part because it is new and every reporter is asking what is new; have had several million impressions thus far; it was in AAA Home and Away and Ohio Magazine; the Herb Center was recently featured on Midwest Living.com; Herbal Trail has allowed us to partner in many different levels; allowed us to partner with our stakeholders; we worked diligently in the spring with Parks & Recreation, the Development Department and the Parks & Rec Foundation and a whole host of other entities and applied for a grant, and were awarded a $6,500 grant from GCAC/200 Columbus and with that we worked on signage and a whole bunch of development related to the Herbal Trail; have also taken it a step further back to the culinary scene; have partnered with a culinary food photographer who is helping us get pictures of the foodie scene in Gahanna in a manner that truly is of excellence; a couple of other things; as most of you know we merged with Gahanna Events in 2009; we had to take a step back from our destination marketing initiative and kind of treaded water for a number of years in order to make sure events were viable financially; in doing so we were able to finally get back to some of the business at hand with destination marketing and we partnered with the Ohio Tourism Division on two of their initiatives this summer and obtained around 5,000 opt/in leads of people who said they wanted more information about Gahanna; like to say we could not do this without your enthusiasm and support; overwhelming support for the Creekside Blues & Jazz festival; support from City services enables us to move forward and grow the event for next year; next year marks the 15th year of the Creekside festival; so much more we want to do under Jadwin's leadership moving forward to next year; improve admission gates, improve shuttle service; would like for people to be able to hop on an air conditioned motor coach with an ambassador on board to welcome them to the Creekside festival; that is their first impression of our city; laundry list of things that we are working toward to grow that event; through the support of the City services we now have the revenue that we need going into next year; attendance was good in spite of a rainy Sunday, we had 39,000; had a whole house of volunteers that helped make that happen; could not do without volunteers; pleased to share that we had a 12.5% return to service organizations; we make a donation back to their organization; were able to give back more than $10,000 this past year; thank you again for your support; let the record reflect that we could not do this without the support of Laurie Jadwin and Gretchen Hof; also working on several areas from a social media standpoint to help attract visitors to our community; I just cannot say how much it means to me personally and to our organization to have your support; I think most of you know that City of Gahanna Page 2 City Council Meeting Minutes September 17, 2012 this is the last time that I will be before you in this capacity; it has truly been an honor to serve this community; it is a heart wrenching experience to leave this community moving on to DC where my husband has accepted a job; thank very much for allowing me to have such an incredible experience here in Gahanna. Jadwin said she just wanted to update Council on where we are in our organization in finding Eylon's replacement; the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors has been working diligently to find a replacement for the very big shoes we have to fill; position was posted on several different professional industry websites; have received over 30 applications from applicants from all over central Ohio, Colorado and Nevada; Executive Committee has met and filtered through those resumes trying to match the stated qualifications of those candidates to what we are looking for and narrowed it down to ten applicants that we think we would like to invite to at least go through an initial interview and begin down that path; we are starting those this week and will be continuing in the next several weeks; have no drop dead date for filling the position; the position will be filled when we find the right person; the best qualified person to carry on the legacy and the foundation laid by Karen Eylon; quite frankly Eylon is the CVB; only director we have ever had; Jadwin reviewed many of Eylon's accomplishments in Gahanna and said that is truly what is putting Gahanna on the map. Larick asked Eylon to come to the podium and read and presented her with a resolution of appreciation from City Council. Eylon said thank you; this is very touching; have worked with some of you for ten years; it never felt like work; thank you and Gahanna and you will always have a special place in my heart. Anderson said I just wanted to say that on both a professional and a personal level it has been a delight and a pleasure to work with you; to work with you not only on Council but on various projects and see your enthusiasm that transcends all that you do; your tenacity and will to succeed; your cooperative spirit and your willingness to bring in people and show them the way in the things that you are doing personally or through what you do professionally; continue to carry on that spirit; you will be greatly missed and stay in touch. Angelou said I am one of the original people who happened to be on the original CVB board that went through the process of finding you; we knew at the time we found you that we had found a star, but we didn't know how big that star was; what you have done to grow the CVB is extraordinary; I can only wish you the best and wish there was a way you could do this from Washington; thank you for your service. Claire Yoder, School Board Representative, said we are glad to welcome Niagara Bottling; look forward to new jobs for the City and new people living in the community; from the last meeting, not sure you know about the one room school house; Tom Gregory had a vision for this project to redo it and he submitted a vision to the Education Foundation of the school district and they awarded him $20,000 to begin that project; we heard principal reports which are new with Superintendent Scruci; they were asked to give a brief snapshot of what is going on in their schools in the last month, and share the challenges they face in their school; fun to have them all there at the last board meeting; we also approved the continuing process for B 264 energy conservation program that we have engaged company to do for us; they did the audit of all of our energy needs and now they have proposed what are the most significant improvements that need to happen first; we hope the Ohio School Facilities Commission will approve our plan and it looks like we are going to be eligible to borrow the money for the project at a 2.5% interest rate and then each year once the project is completed we anticipate a savings of $465,000 per year in energy costs; also we do the Win/Win Agreement with Columbus and due to some miscalculations we weren't receiving the total amount of funds we were to receive City of Gahanna Page 3 City Council Meeting Minutes September 17, 2012 and now the district will be getting $605,000 a year from the Win/Win. Patrick Boyle, 179 Rugby Lane, said noise was extremely loud on Thursday; when we were first told about changing the noise code I questioned how in raising the decibels by 5 is it going to help me; I was told by changing where the reading is taken at the source it will cause it to be less for me; after last Thursday night I found out how it helped me; it made the noise I receive raise 5 decibels; can you explain to me again how raising the code is going to help me; it was said in one of these meetings that people like to go and listen to bands and music some times; perhaps you would like to come to my house where there is no cover charge, and when you are done listening to the music what do you do; you probably leave and go home; that is what I would like to do but then I realize I am home; now what do I do; my final observation and question is after last Thursday I realized something after the police came after 10:00 p.m. and told me he recorded 60 to 65 decibels, with a peak of 70 decibels from the Pub at their property; my neighbor told me he recorded 55 decibels around our house with peaks of 61 decibels that as I sit in my home with my windows open watching my TV, if I turn my volume up to hear my TV over the music from The Pub because I cannot go over 55 decibels when I am receiving 61 decibels I could get a citation; now I ask you do you think there is something very wrong with this. Christopher Lefchik, 187 Rugby Lane, said we were able to clearly hear the noise from The Pub last Thursday evening; it was very loud at our property; started around 7:00 p.m. and according to our measurements it was in the upper 60 decibel range and went as high as 69 decibels; continued at that level until around 11:00 p.m.; 4 hours of loud annoying music; we clearly hear it inside with the windows closed; still is an issue with noise; do believe the levels need to be reduced; know there has been some discussion about allowing multiple citations in a single evening and I would like to express my support for such a change; if someone is caught speeding several times during a day they will be issued multiple tickets for those infractions; would remind Council that why this has become such an issue is that for many years the police were refusing to issue citations even when an establishment violated the noise ordinance multiple times; if Council would consider this change to allow multiple citations in a single evening, there would be clear, firm guidelines regarding how this would be handled and how this should be enforced. Tom Lefchik, 187 Rugby Lane, said on Thursday, September 13, 2012 the noise coming from The Pub was higher than at any previous time since the passing of the new Gahanna noise ordinance; noise came through the walls of my house with the windows closed; said I took readings on numerous occasions from a location approximately 200' from the property line of The Pub; chose location so as not to cause a disturbance from the owners and patrons of The Pub; cars, pick up trucks and other obstructions were between where I take the measurements; assume my readings are reduced by 2-3 dB because of distance; readings for 7/21, 8/2 and 8/30 ranged from 61-62.7 dB; my readings on 9/09 ranged 63-64dB; I use an Extech 407780 professional integrating sound level meter calibrated with an Extech 407766 sound level calibrator; my readings for 9/13 ranged 66.0-69.2dB; I set my meter to slow for the time weighting as the Gahanna Police do; a noise meter takes rapid measurements continually; measurements are averaged over a 125ms time for a fast measurement; over 1 second for a slow measurement, and over the selected time period for an average measurement; therefore the slow or fast will affect the 2 minute average reading; Gahanna police readings for 9/13 were 63 dB and 64 dB; their readings were lower than any of my readings for that date even though my readings were taken 200' away with obstructions between my meter and The Pub; my readings ranged 66.0-69.2 dB with a reading of 67.1 dB at 10:27 p.m.; I have attached the GPD incident report and some of my readings; (Attachments available in the office of the Clerk of Council). City of Gahanna Page 4 City Council Meeting Minutes September 17, 2012 D. INTRODUCTIONS AND ASSIGNMENT TO COMMITTEE: Ordinances - To Be Introduced and Assigned to Committee: Ordinances introduced, by title, by Angelou. ORD-0183-2012 TO AUTHORIZE THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO "FIRST AMENDMENT TO PCS SITE AGREEMENT" AND "MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT" WITH GLOBAL SIGNAL ACQUISITIONS II LLC, TO EXTEND LEASE ON THE CELL TOWER AT THE GAHANNA SERVICE COMPLEX, 156 OKLAHOMA AVENUE. ORD-0184-2012 TO AMEND CODE SECTION 1163.01, OFF STREET PARKING SPACE REQUIRED, OF CHAPTER 1163, PARKING REGULATIONS, OF THE CODIFIED ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF GAHANNA. E. CONSENT AGENDA: Minutes - To Approve: 2012-0037 This Matter was Approved and Filed on the Consent Agenda. Ordinances on Second Reading: ORD-0177-2012 TO AMEND CHAPTER 135, DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SERVICE AND ENGINEERING, OF THE CODIFIED ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF GAHANNA. This Matter was Adopted on the Consent Agenda. ORD-0178-2012 SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATION - Capital Improvements, Capital Projects/Improvements This Matter was Adopted on the Consent Agenda. ORD-0179-2012 TO ADOPT THE FRANKLIN COUNTY NATURAL HAZARDS MITIGATION PLAN 2011. This Matter was Adopted on the Consent Agenda. ORD-0180-2012 TO ADOPT THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE ADVISORY BOARD FOR THE OFFICE & INDUSTRIAL INCENTIVE PROGRAM GRANTING APPROVAL FOR NIAGARA BOTTLING, LLC FOR A PERIOD OF FIVE YEARS; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY. City of Gahanna Page 5 City Council Meeting Minutes September 17, 2012 This Matter was Adopted as an Emergency on the Consent Agenda. ORD-0181-2012 TO AUTHORIZE THE WAIVER OF REQUIREMENTS OF GAHANNA CITY CODE SECTION 929.14, WATER SYSTEM CAPACITY RATES AND CODE SECTION 921.04 SEWER SYSTEM CAPACITY RATES, OF THE CODIFIED ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF GAHANNA, TO ALLOW A ONE TIME 50% REDUCTION OF CAPACITY FEES FOR NIAGARA BOTTLING LLC. This Matter was Adopted on the Consent Agenda. ORD-0182-2012 TO AMEND CODE SECTION 929.12, WATER RATES OF CHAPTER 929, WATER CONNECTIONS AND RATES, OF THE CODIFIED ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF GAHANNA. This Matter was Adopted on the Consent Agenda. Resolutions to Adopt on First Reading: RES-0012-2012 RESOLUTION ACCEPTING THE AMOUNTS AND RATES AS DETERMINED BY THE BUDGET COMMISSION AND AUTHORIZING THE NECESSARY TAX LEVIES AND CERTIFYING THEM TO THE COUNTY AUDITOR. This Matter was Adopted on the Consent Agenda. RES-0013-2012 TO HONOR AND COMMEND KAREN EYLON FOR SERVICE AS DIRECTOR OF THE GAHANNA CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU This Matter was Adopted on the Consent Agenda. RES-0014-2012 TO HONOR AND COMMEND CAL AND BARBARA BERKEY FOR 40 YEARS OF SERVICE TO THE GAHANNA COMMUNITY. This Matter was Adopted on the Consent Agenda. Passed The Consent Agenda Yes: 7- Larick, Renner, Samuel, Angelou, Jolley, Anderson and Wright End of the Consent Agenda F. PUBLIC HEARINGS: President Larick stated the Public Hearing Rules that would govern the hearing tonight. CC-0001-2012 City of Gahanna Page 6 City Council Meeting Minutes September 17, 2012 Director of Planning & Development Jones said this is a minor clerical change to 1163 Parking Requirements; the reference to code OG-1 is no longer in existence; when the Olde Gahanna Code was modified this classification was eliminated; just removing "except OG-1". President of Council Larick opened the public hearing at 7:44 p.m. and asked for proponents; there were none; asked for opponents; there were none. Larick closed the public hearing at 7:45 p.m. G. STANDING COMMITTEES: Committee of the Whole - Renner: No report. Finance & Development - Samuel: No report. Parks, Service & Safety - Anderson: No report. H. CORRESPONDENCE AND ACTIONS: Clerk - No report. Council - No report. I. SECOND READING OF ORDINANCES: None. Ordinances Reported Out of Committee: None. ORD-0176-2012 TO AUTHORIZE THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC SERVICE TO AWARD AND THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO CONTRACT WITH WB REPUBLIC BUILDERS, LLC, FOR THE BIG WALNUT TRAIL SECTION 3 PROJECT; TO SUPPLEMENTALLY APPROPRIATE $160,000; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY. A motion was made by Samuel, seconded by Renner, that this matter be Adopted as an Emergency. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 7- Larick, Renner, Samuel, Angelou, Jolley, Anderson and Wright J. FIRST READING OF ORDINANCES: None. K. MOTIONS/RESOLUTIONS: None. L. REPRESENTATIVES: City of Gahanna Page 7 City Council Meeting Minutes September 17, 2012 Community Improvement Corporation (CIC) - Larick/Renner Renner said the meeting is tomorrow night at 6:00 p.m. in committee rooms. Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) - Angelou Angelou said MORPC met last Thursday and I was unable to attend; will let you know what happened; you can also go to the MORPC website; EcoSummit is coming up which is the very large worldwide summit of which Columbus is one of the sites. Bd. of Education, Gahanna-Jefferson Public Schools - Wright Wright said he attended the meeting at Clark Hall; very interesting what each principal had to say about their schools; each building has their own unique kind of theme that they are incorporating; not only into the lessons but building wide; is important especially for the elementary schools going into middle school that helps mitigate some of the bullying; the things that the buildings came up with were very innovative; Mrs. Yoder did a good job recapping everything in her report. Anderson said I just wanted to say for the record that Wright and I switched meetings; I attended the July meeting. Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) - Jolley Jolley said I could not improve on anything that Eylon said; want to thank her for everything she has done for Gahanna. Central Ohio Transit Authority - Samuel Samuel said there was no meeting last month. M. OFFICIAL REPORTS: Mayor Mayor Stinchcomb said I would like to welcome Derieth Sutton from Niagara Bottling; she has been coming to our last couple of meetings following the legislation; with the passage tonight of the ordinances I want to formally welcome Niagara; we look forward to your construction and reconstruction of the Amerigraph building and the hiring fair that is coming up; keep us posted; plans are already in the zoning office; understand you will be producing water by February 1st; we had a wonderful Flea Market; 47th annual; great weather; more vendors than last year; real community event; to Eylon, like Jadwin said you are the CVB; you have been the CVB; you have a wonderful record and have served this community well; hard to come up with adequate words to thank you; will miss you, and wish you the best. City Attorney Ewald said he would like to congratulate Eylon; appreciate the time and importance City of Gahanna Page 8 City Council Meeting Minutes September 17, 2012 to our community; the work you have done with Jadwin has really shaped our community, especially with tourism; thank you personally and professionally; last week the legislature passed substitute SB 343 affecting OPERS: I emailed a copy to each of you with the adjustments; mainly there are adjustments in the benefit availability based on age, retirement years and minimum service amount paid; you can review that. N. COUNCIL COMMENT Jolley said I just want to say Happy New Year. Samuel said it has been a pleasure working with Eylon; please keep in touch; did visit Gatsby's on Saturday and noise was not a problem; also visited Coaches and they were inside because of cold; disappointed that the Pub played so late on a Thursday. Renner said to Eylon, Godspeed; appreciate everything you have done for Gahanna; thank you; the Franklin County Commissioners are expected to pass Resolution 2012-656; it is for a contract with an organization called "Hands On" and they are going to create a program to do outreach; reach out to communities and try to get volunteers, and educate volunteers about the next emergencies that we have; they will also be producing an app for smart phones to help with the education and outreach; next Saturday at Friendship Park there is an event to help us as normal citizens to be prepared for the next emergency from 9:00 to 3:00: FEMA and Red Cross and lots of organizations will be there; also kids events; things to help us remember to be prepared. Anderson said I also was at the Flea Market; great weather; many vendors; focal point for Gahanna; people come from all over; well attended; remind everyone to be the ambassadors or marshals to encourage people to register to vote if they have not already; as former Deputy Secretary of State of Ohio I am always inspiring people to get in the game and make sure their voice is heard; registration deadline is 30 days before the actual election; received Save the Date, the Power of One, a statewide tribute to Rosa Parks, the Mother of the Modern Civil Rights Movement; it is Thursday, November 29th, at 5:30 p.m. at COSI; will be a conversation with the original civil rights Freedom Singers; having worked for Rosa Parks she is very near and dear to my heart, and the principles she stood for; we are if not the only state, one of the states that actually has a Rosa Parks Day which is December 1st; finally I would like to congratulate and applaud Niagara to say welcome to our community; thank you for scoping us out and finding; looking forward to working with Niagara. Wright asked Eylon what she was going to do in DC , and Eylon said she is still working toward that. Wright said we should look at getting you to lobby people to come to Gahanna from the capital of the US; I do want to talk about Thursday: this is Brandon as a citizen and not as a Council member; it was very loud around the area of The Pub Thursday: I was shocked that it went on until about 11:00 p.m.; there was no exaggeration by the people who spoke before; music was loud; three different owners we are looking at and they all have three different techniques of how they are going to work to comply with the noise ordinance that we have; need to move on this so that everyone knows what the rules are and how we are going to implement them; now back as Brandon as a member of Council; need to work on building our brand as Gahanna so it is easier to sell bringing companies in or going abroad because we are all connected with the same brand and the brand is uniform throughout Gahanna with the CVB, as well as City government, as to what we do service wise; that we are all unified under the brand of Gahanna; it is very important to me what Anderson said about the Save the Date; I know my family and my grandfather struggled through on just trying to gain rights to be recognized as a normal member of society; seeing how one person can make a change; made it easier for me; people have already paved City of Gahanna Page 9 City Council Meeting Minutes September 17, 2012 the way for me; will definitely be going. Angelou said just to add to that; we are so fortunate to be in the United States of America where we have our freedom; whether it is freedom of speech or freedom of religion, we live in the greatest country in the world. Larick said I just want to point out to the audience especially that Council has received the 5 Year Capital Needs Assessment; those items are listed on the website under the Capital Projects listing on the Finance page; we are at the beginning of the appropriation season and some things have been changed from years past as to how we approach things this year; the Capital Projects are the priorities from the Administration to be reviewed and consider their impact both financially and what they mean to the City; if you have a moment please review them and if you have questions any one on Council as well as the Administration would be willing to speak with you; we are here to identify where we are going and how we are going to get there; on this Friday the 21st is the Friday after 5:00 for the Parks & Recreation Foundation at 5:30 p.m. is a fundraiser. O. EXECUTIVE SESSION A motion was made by Anderson, seconded by Jolley, to go into Executive Session for the following reasons: 1.) To consider the appointment, employment, dismissal, discipline, promotion, demotion or compensation of a public employee, official, licensee or regulated individual unless such public employee, official, licensee or regulated individual requests a public hearing; 2.) To discuss matters required to be kept confidential by federal law or rules of state statutes; 3.) To confer with the City Attorney concerning disputes involving the City, and/or appointed or elected officials or employees, which are subjects to pending or imminent court action. . The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 7- Larick, Renner, Samuel, Angelou, Jolley, Anderson and Wright Council rose to Executive Session at 8:07 p.m.; Council rose from Executive Session at 8:49 p.m. with all members returning to the dais. P. ADJOURNMENT: 8:50 p.m.; Motion by Larick. City of Gahanna Page 10