City Council

200 South Hamilton Road City of Gahanna Gahanna, Ohio 43230 Meeting Minutes City Council Tuesday, January 22, 2019 7:00 PM City Hall, Council Chambers A. CALL TO ORDER - Invocation, Pledge of Allegiance, Roll Call Gahanna City Council met in Regular Session on Monday, January 22, 2019, in Council Chambers of City Hall, 200 South Hamilton Road, Gahanna, Ohio. President of Council, Brian Metzbower, called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Vice President of Council, Stephen Renner, delivered an Invocation followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Agenda for this meeting was published on January 18, 2019. Present 7 - Karen J. Angelou, Jamie Leeseberg, Stephen A. Renner, Michael Schnetzer, Brian D. Larick, Brian Metzbower, and Nancy R. McGregor B. ADDITIONS OR CORRECTIONS TO THE AGENDA. None C. HEARING OF VISITORS - a. MAYOR TO PRESENT LEAD BY EXAMPLE AWARD TO OFFICER TORRIE D. INTRODUCTIONS AND ASSIGNMENT TO COMMITTEE: Ordinances - To Be Introduced and Assigned to Committee: ORD-0001-2019 AN ORDINANCE DETERMINING THE NECESSITY OF AND AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE AND SALE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT REVENUE BONDS, SERIES 2019 (THE COLUMBUS ACADEMY PROJECT) OF THE CITY OF GAHANNA, OHIO, IN TWO SERIES IN AN AGGREGATE PRINCIPAL AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $20,000,000; AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTION AND DELIVERY OF A LOAN AGREEMENT, AN ASSIGNMENT OF LOAN AGREEMENT, A BOND PURCHASE AGREEMENT, A TAX EXEMPTION CERTIFICATE AND AGREEMENT AND OTHER DOCUMENTS IN CONNECTION WITH THE ISSUANCE OF THE BONDS; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. City of Gahanna Page 1 City Council Meeting Minutes January 22, 2019 This Ordinance was introduced. ORD-0002-2019 TO AUTHORIZE AN AGREEMENT WITH TREVI ENTERPRISES, LLC FOR TAX ABATEMENT FOR THE PROPERTY LOCATED AT 870 CLAYCRAFT ROAD, PARCEL ID NO. 025-013638 AND 025-013639; PART OF COUMMUNITY REINVESTMENT AREA #3. This Ordinance was introduced. ORD-0003-2019 TO REZONE 4.19 +/- ACRES OF PROPERTY, TO LIMITED OVERLAY MULTI-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL (L-MFRD); SAID PROPERTY LOCATED AT 0 RIDENOUR ROAD; PARCEL ID NO. 025-013236; CURRENT ZONING L-SO; REQUESTED ZONING L-MFRD; NATIONAL CHURCH RESIDENCES; GEORGE TABIT, APPLICANT. This Ordinance was introduced. ORD-0005-2019 TO VACATE .040 ACRES OF ALLEY RIGHT-OF-WAY LOCATED AT 123 GRANVILLE STREET; WHICH IS NO LONGER IN USE. This Ordinance was introduced. ORD-0007-2019 TO AUTHORIZE THE MAYOR TO GRANT FRANKLIN COUNTY A TWENTY FOOT WIDE STORM DRAINAGE EASEMENT OFF OF TAYLOR STATION ROAD; PID 025-010569. This Ordinance was introduced. ORD-0009-2019 TO AUTHORIZE THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO AGREEMENT WITH THE GAHANNA CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU (CVB) FOR THE OHIO HERB EDUCATION CENTER (OHEC) This Ordinance was introduced. E. CONSENT AGENDA: Minutes - To Approve: 2019-0006 The minutes from the last two weeks will be on the next agenda due to technical difficulties. A motion was made by Schnetzer, seconded by Renner, that the Minutes was Approved and Filed. The motion carriedby the following vote: Ordinance: Introduce, Waive Second Reading, Adopt: ORD-0004-2019 SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATION - Goods and Services City of Gahanna Page 2 City Council Meeting Minutes January 22, 2019 This Ordinance was Adopted on the Consent Agenda. Ordinance: Introduce, Waive Second Reading, Adopt as Emergency: ORD-0006-2019 TO AUTHORIZE THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO A RECYCLING GRANT AGREEMENT WITH THE SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR THE SOLID WASTE AUTHORITY OF CENTRAL OHIO; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY. This Ordinance was Adopted on the Consent Agenda. Ordinances on Second Reading: Amend by Substitution ORD-0110-2018 AMEND THE RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF GAHANNA. This Ordinance was Adopted on the Consent Agenda. Motion Resolutions: MR-0002-2019 PERMISSION TO AUTHORIZE THE MAYOR TO MAKE APPLICATION FOR A GRANT FROM AEP FOR AN ELECTRIC VECHICLE CHARGING STATION This Motion Resolution was Approved on the Consent Agenda. MR-0003-2019 MOTION RESOLUTION TO APPOINT MATT WINGER TO THE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION FOR A 3 YEAR TERM ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2021. This Motion Resolution was Approved on the Consent Agenda. Approval of the Consent Agenda A motion was made by Schnetzer, seconded by Renner, to approve the Consent Agenda. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 7- Angelou, Leeseberg, Renner, Schnetzer, Larick, Metzbower and McGregor End of the Consent Agenda F. PUBLIC HEARING: ORD-0116-2018 TO AMEND SECTION 161.081, CREDIT FOR TAX PAID TO ANOTHER MUNICIPALITY, OF CHAPTER 161, INCOME TAX, OF THE CODIFIED ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF GAHANNA City of Gahanna Page 3 City Council Meeting Minutes January 22, 2019 President Metzbower asked if anyone was present to speak about the budget before he opened the meeting for the Ordinance. Stephanie (inaudible last name) have come to the Council meetings; listened to everyone speak about the tax levy; she wants a clear explanation as to why there is a deficit; is it because we are now moving forward with projects or what reason; Mayor said there is a lot that go into that answer; project gaps; has to do with the amount of revenue vs expenses; the matter with issue 29 was for roads; there have been a lot of capital improvements that have been deferred; a lot of different projects on the list; had carry over used, but it's one time money; 2.9 mil gap this year begins to compound each year. Tommie R. Radd, Ph.D., 1075 Arcaro Ct., stated: "Mayor Kneeland, City Council Members and Fellow Residents, My name is Tommie Radd and this evening I am the spokesperson for the Residents Ballot Initiative for Gahanna. We have 9 members on the steering committee with many more residents ready to work for a successful result via a special election in August 2019. Gahanna City will receive income from the passage of this ballot initiative on October 1, 2019. We became aware of the high stakes for the future of Gahanna and our quality of life when Issue 29 failed by 160 votes. We have decided to meet this challenge head on by initiating a positive campaign by going to our citizens to get their vote to move our community forward. We need you to consider the following as you determine how to move forward until October 2019: 1. Prioritize people and programs over projects that can be postponed. People and the programs they manage or use are the primary voting blocks needed for a positive vote in August. Clear communication with our residents can activate their involvement to gain community support and move people to vote. 2. Gahanna offers our businesses and residents a quality of life that needs to be enhanced and built upon to continue to be seen as equal to the other suburban communities. Being on an equal playing field with our neighboring communities protects our development and property value. City of Gahanna Page 4 City Council Meeting Minutes January 22, 2019 3. Gahanna needs to continue and enhance our family friendly opportunities to all residents across the lifespan such as, but not limited to our parks, trails, pools, senior center and activities, community services, police, etc. 4. Gahanna needs to be perceived as a forward-thinking community committed to a high quality of life for all residents. Everything we prioritize communicates our vision for the future. 5. Gahanna needs to continue and enhance involvement with our exceptional schools and other community resources. The Gahanna Residents Ballot Initiative is preparing to begin the petition campaign and ballot initiative language now. There will be trainings and a timeline given for those who want to circulate petitions per required legal guidelines. Those residents will then transition into educating the community and getting out the vote. The Gahanna Residents Ballot Initiative is completing required guidelines by establishing a Treasurer for those who can donate to the campaign. The graphic art design, etc., will be new to reflect the resident initiative. Thank you for your consideration of our suggestions and requests. We are enthusiastic to proceed for Gahanna's future." President Metzbower read the rules for the Public Hearing and opened at 7:42 p.m. Paul Vandermere, been resident for 25 year; enjoys living here; he works in the City of Columbus; grateful for opportunity to state his opinion; which would be a tax increase; cities to tax people where they work instead of where they live; is for the tax levy; didn't understand why it didn't pass; he's against getting his taxes raised by a significant amount; he files 3 returns now; he hopes Council considers giving 100% tax credit; looking to cut with other services; start charging fees if can't come up with money for services; start charging instead of cutting. Mike Hroncich, stated: "Gahanna Trust Initiative Good evening everyone. Thank you for allowing me to speak tonight. Before I begin, I'd like to present an idea that directly relates to the lowering of the tax credit, and the city's current financial situation. This idea is centered City of Gahanna Page 5 City Council Meeting Minutes January 22, 2019 on one thing, TRUST. In the Webster's Dictionary, trust is defined as, "assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something." In speaking with fellow residents, and reading comments online, there are a number of Gahanna's residents who simply DO NOT TRUST the city's elected officials. There is what I call, a "Trust Gap". As a newer resident of Gahanna, I don't have a good understanding of what is causing, or has caused, this gap to occur. That said, the attempts by city to bridge this gap are SIMPLY NOT WORKING. Now that the problem has been identified, how do WE, as a community, fix this problem? This is where my idea comes into play. I call it the "Gahanna Trust Initiative". This would entail 54 members of the administration ranging from the Mayor, to City Attorney, to members of Boards & Commissions, to visit every business, and every residence in Gahanna, within a 2 year time frame. Going door-to-door in this fashion would show that the city of Gahanna is serious about serving its constituents, and NOT just when someone is up for re-election, or a tax increase is on the ballot. This would allow residents and business owners to put a face to a name within the government. I believe this type of interaction is very important to rebuilding trust . There was a 2015 article in Forbes written by Mina Chang, who is the CEO of Linking World International. In this article, when referring to face-to-face meetings, Mina states, "These face-to-face interactions built trust, understanding, and a real sense of a shared mission, and this has made all the difference in the world". Now that we have a plan, and understand why the plan will work, how do we execute the plan? The 54 city officials would ask a few questions when going door-to-door. On this sheet, I have a few examples of some sample questions. The questions can be as simple as "What do you like most about Gahanna, or what do you like least about Gahanna, etc." For 54 people to approach every business or household over a two year period, this would require a time commitment of 3 businesses or households per week. City of Gahanna Page 6 City Council Meeting Minutes January 22, 2019 In summary, this plan will be a key step to bridging the Trust Gap that exists. This will also provide a more cost effective solution than spending approximately $60K on a survey. If the city commits to this idea; many of the challenges the city faces now, and will face going forward, will be much easier to overcome. Gahanna Reduction of Tax Credit Now on to the fun stuff, the proposed lowering of the tax credit. After reviewing the data presented by the city of Gahanna, and having questions answered by Mr. Larick and Ms. McGregor at a Town Hall Meeting in October, I became a supporter of Issue 29. I understand the need for additional revenue to invest in infrastructure, while maintaining the quality of life that I, and many residents, have become accustomed to. On November 6th, the majority of voters disagreed with the city, and voted against Issue 29. The people of Gahanna have spoken, now 3 times since 2013, and do not want to give the city additional tax revenue. As an elected official, it is your responsibility to represent your constituents, do so. There is zero justification to decrease the tax credit, therefore increasing taxes on residents just months after the PEOPLE SAID NO. I believe Issue 29 failed for two reasons: the tax lawsuit ruling 6 days before the election, and as I mentioned earlier, TRUST. Decreasing the tax credit, increasing taxes in this manner, would make the "Trust Gap" I spoke of, EVEN GREATER. Now look, I don't want anyone to lose their job. I don't want people to lose cost-of-living raises. Nobody does. The fact of the matter is there isn't enough money, period. I have no problem with the city's position to prioritize infrastructure. If cuts need to be made, so be it. If the quality of life residents have become accustomed to decreases, due to prioritizing infrastructure, so be it. Once services are cut, there will likely be residents who do not approve of the cuts. As Ms., Angelou and others have alluded to, I ask the city to allow a citizens-led grass roots effort to occur, if restoring services is desired. A grass roots effort is the City of Gahanna Page 7 City Council Meeting Minutes January 22, 2019 ONLY DEFENSIBLE WA Y to significantly increase revenue. In closing, I simply say this. MAKE THE CUTS. DO NOT LOWER THE TAX CREDIT EVEN ONE PERCENT. Respect the wishes of the majority of voters. Thank you for your time." Shawn Rose, lives here and works in Columbus; currently pays 2.75% total; this initiative would be paying more than that; most of the cities give 100 tax credit. Richard Taft, issue 29 failed by 135 votes; disconnect for him why it didn't pass; would have generated $9mil in 3 years; this tax change would be bring in much less; there is a big shortage; spoke last week against it; both him and his wife work in Columbus; doesn't necessarily object; unlike other residents he didn't feel that money was being spent in the wrong way; proposed ordinance shoulders the tax on one group of people; it's not right. G. COMMITTEE UPDATES H. CORRESPONDENCE AND ACTIONS: Clerk No report Council President Metzbower said Council office will be keeping track of correspondence, letters and emails; working on that reporting structure now. Also, working to publicize our meetings for FB Live; having technical difficulties; due to budget issues it is not the time to spend the money on equipment. I. SECOND READING OF ORDINANCES: ORD-0107-2018 TO GRANT A VARIANCE APPLICATION TO VARY SECTIONS 1108.01, REQUIRING FINAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN REVIEW FOR PROPERTIES ZONED TWO FAMILY RESIDENTIAL (MR-1), 1109.02(A), REQUIRING PUBLIC STREETS, AND 1145.05(A), City of Gahanna Page 8 City Council Meeting Minutes January 22, 2019 REQUIRING LOTS TO FRONT ON A DEDICATED PUBLIC STREET, OF THE CODIFIED ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF GAHANNA; FOR PROPERTY LOCATED AT 488 EAST JOHNSTOWN ROAD; PARCEL ID NO. 025-001930-00; CURRENT ZONING SINGLE FAMILY (SF-2); PAULINA PLACE; LORETO CANINI, APPLICANT. A motion was made by Larick, seconded by Schnetzer, that the Ordinance was Postponed to Date Certain, to the City Council, due back on 2/4/2019. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 7- Angelou, Leeseberg, Renner, Schnetzer, Larick, Metzbower and McGregor ORD-0106-2018 TO REZONE 4.5 +/- ACRES OF PROPERTY, TO TWO FAMILY RESIDENTIAL (MR-1); SAID PROPERTY LOCATED AT 488 EAST JOHNSTOWN ROAD; PARCEL ID NO. 025-001930-00; CURRENT ZONING SINGLE FAMILY (SF-2); PAULINA PLACE; LORETO CANINI, APPLICANT. A motion was made by Leeseberg, seconded by Angelou, that the Ordinance was Postponed to Date Certain. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 7- Angelou, Leeseberg, Renner, Schnetzer, Larick, Metzbower and McGregor J. FIRST READING OF ORDINANCES: INTRODUCE TO MAKE APPROPRIATIONS FOR CURRENT EXPENSES AND OTHER EXPENDITURES OF THE CITY OF GAHANNA, OHIO DURING THE FISCAL YEAR 2019. K. RESOLUTIONS/MOTION RESOLUTIONS: None. L. REPRESENTATIVES: Community Improvement Corporation (CIC) - Larick Larick said that all leadership is the same from last year. Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) - Angelou Angelou said has conference at Ohio State tomorrow; will at next meeting. Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) - Schnetzer No report City of Gahanna Page 9 City Council Meeting Minutes January 22, 2019 Governmental Liaison - Metzbower Metzbower said this is a new position; created governmental liaison position; school board representative, but also includes other government entities to keep people informed. M. OFFICIAL REPORTS: Mayor Text-to-911 will be active soon; working with everyone to get it launched; coming up on a new age; the message is: "call if you can, text if you can't:; being tested for some time; excited about this opportunity; Mifflin looking to build new facility; received memo advising on this new facility; working to enhance and to build better emergency communications; visiting the residents and businesses does have a huge impact; his initiative was to visit every business in Gahanna; we have 1700 businesses, so far visited 300. City Attorney ORD-0009-2019 for the Herb Center; currently working through the terms; just received final draft from CVB. N. COUNCIL COMMENT Angelou thanked Dr. Radd for her support and applauded their efforts; thanked the people that stood behind her at the podium; wonderful to see women standing up to move Gahanna forward; she thinks this is what we need; wish them all the best; exactly what she hoped for. Larick thanked everyone for coming; typically when it's challenging people do come to Council meetings; this is a regular challenge; trying to minimize the impact to employees and residents; talking about needing to fund additional level of capital investments; what is on the table is minimal funding; balance attempting to do with revenue and resources available and what needs to get done; best balance all of that; in order to get through a forward looking community; we will take the energy of all; thanked everyone for learning, speaking and attending the meetings. Renner said Angelou and Larick's comments are spot on; the energy we've seen and witnessed has been awesome; been overjoyed; takes great courage and passion to speak up; love to see levy back on the ballot; he doesn't want to cut anything; he's for saving jobs, programs and City of Gahanna Page 10 City Council Meeting Minutes January 22, 2019 services; we need to get this back on the ballot and asking to please keep that going; work with grass roots imitative and keep Council posted. Schnetzer echoed everyone’s comments. Metzbower also echoed his colleagues; always encourages community to give thoughts and feedback. O. EXECUTIVE SESSION None P. ADJOURNMENT by Renner at 8:26 p.m. City of Gahanna Page 11