Committee of the Whole

Office of the Clerk of Council City of Gahanna 200 South Hamilton Road Gahanna, Ohio 43230 Meeting Minutes Committee of the Whole Stephen A. Renner, Chair Beryl D. Anderson Karen J. Angelou Ryan P. Jolley Brian D. Larick David L. Samuel Brandon Wright Monday, March 26, 2012 7:00 PM Council Committee Rooms Present 5 - Stephen A. Renner, Brandon Wright, Karen J. Angelou, Ryan P. Jolley, and David L. Samuel Absent 2 - Beryl Anderson, and Brian D. Larick Additional Attendees: Mayor Stinchcomb, Dottie Franey, Rick Creps, Karl Wetherholt, Sue Wadley, Mike Andrako, Gen. Williams, Chief Murphy, Lt. Spence, Anthony Jones, Leah Evans, Shane Ewald, Jennifer Teal, Tony Collins, Brandi Braun, Isobel Sherwood, Tom Kneeland, Charlene O'Donnell and Toni Hall from Pediatric & Adolescent Practitioners, Press. ISSUE - From Director of Development: Office & Industrial Incentive - Pediatric & Adolescent Practioners, Inc. Renner called the meeting for Monday, March 26, 2012, to order; first up is the Director of Development. Jones said we have 2 employees from this practice here along with Evans who is managing this project. Evans said they are a current medical practice in Gahanna on Waterbury Court; we are seeking an Office & Industrial incentive in order to retain them in Gahanna; they will be moving to 1085 Beecher Crossing North where they will have a more efficient service pattern; information came to us that they were looking at locations outside Gahanna that they felt would meet their needs since they were not finding it in Gahanna; we worked with them and put them in touch with Larry Canini; he is able to build out the location chosen to meet their needs; so while they are negotiating to get the space to what they like and would prosper in, we decided for the first time to assist with the retention offer of a 3 year 15% O & I offer; the value is $13,136 over 3 years; it would start in 2013 and the net income in tax revenue to the City would be $278,765 over the 10 year lease; potentially could go longer as they have been in operation here in Gahanna a long time. O'Donnell said we are a 6-physician office with 17 thousand active patients; we have been in Gahanna for 15 to 20 years and the practice is between 40 to 50 years old; City of Gahanna Page 1 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes March 26, 2012 the building at Waterbury is not serviceable anymore with 2 floors and 6 doctors; we have done well there but we like the new area that is more user friendly; it is all on one floor at about 6500 square feet; we have signed a 10.5 year lease that starts in June; we will update the space to have only one nurse's station; there will be more exam rooms with 20, a similar parking arrangement for our 25 employees; there will be no fewer employees, we may add physicians but we also have some that are older who may leave; we think the move will be a shot in the arm and we could see more patients; any consideration we can have is appreciated; this economy is driving us all to find ways to save; we looked in Columbus, Whitehall, and New Albany but we feel Gahanna has been good to us and we would like to stay here. Angelou said we like to hear that; the 10 year lease is the way I can support this; even though your roots are here, that shows you are committed to Gahanna and it is a good reason for us to give you the incentive. Wright said I am excited that you reconsidered Gahanna; this is an example of why we should consider starting a retention fund to keep small businesses in Gahanna. Samuel said it is a well established practice; my grandkids go there so I am happy you are staying. Renner ask for any other comments. Angelou clarified they are moving in June; this begins in January. Original recommendation was first reading, no need to come back, second reading, consent agenda; Jolley requested the final recommendation later in the meeting. Recommendation: 1st Reading, Consent, no need to come back; 2nd Reading, Regular Agenda. PENDING LEGISLATION: ORD-0067-2012 TO ZONE 2.45 +/- ACRES OF PROPERTY AS ER-2, ESTATE RESIDENTIAL; SAID PROPERTY LOCATED AT 5061 SHAGBARK ROAD; CITY OF GAHANNA, APPLICANT. Renner said next item is pending legislation for 3 zoning ordinances; they have had first reading and hearings; are there any additional comments. The first is for 2.45 acres at 5061 Shagbark; no comments. Recommendation: 2nd Reading, Consent. ORD-0068-2012 TO ZONE 0.29+/- ACRES OF PROPERTY AS SO, SUBURBAN OFFICE; SAID PROPERTY LOCATED AT 4427 EAST JOHNSTOWN ROAD; CITY OF GAHANNA, APPLICANT. Renner said the second one is for 0.29 acres at 4427 E. Johnstown Road. Angelou asked if this was the parking lot issue. Sherwood said no, it is an annexation. Recommendation: 2nd Reading, Consent. ORD-0069-2012 TO ZONE 0.826 +/- ACRES OF PROPERTY AS CC-2, COMMUNITY COMMERCIAL; SAID PROPERTY LOCATED AT 1150 NORTH HAMILTON ROAD; CITY OF GAHANNA, APPLICANT. Renner said the third one is for 0.826 acres at 1150 N. Hamilton Road. Recommendation: 2nd Reading, Consent. City of Gahanna Page 2 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes March 26, 2012 ISSUE - From Previous Committee Night: Olde Ridenour Speeding Renner said next is a previous committee issue for Olde Ridenour Road speeding; who will speak to this. Ewald said I will; I talked to Franey and Council; there are a couple of options here; begin with a review of the title and deed work; next we have to move to secure a better title; if you have any concerns you can keep it on your agenda, but there is no action for Council; I will keep you up to date; it is a lengthy process; there is no short term solution; I would not suggest any alterations to the flow of traffic at this time. Wright said I will meet with the resident and give him an update and plan to keep him informed. Ewald said I will keep you in the loop through email. Renner said how long can we expect this lengthy process to take. Ewald said about a year once the process begins; after we pass legislation I feel we would be in a more secure position. Renner said thank you for looking into it. Recommendation: Remove from agenda; no legislation at this time. ISSUES - From Director of Human Resources: Delta Dental Contract Wadley said I provided a memo with details; our dental insurance has been with Delta Dental for a number of years under a renewable contract; the Central Ohio Health Care Consortium voted to leave them and form their own group so we need to sign a new contract; Delta did agree to honor the 2012 rate with a new plan; the details are in the memo. Wright said is there a reason a single pays the same as family. Wadley said typically we see different tiers; whether someone is single, employee plus one or family; ours has always been set up with a composite rate; doesn't mean we can't change it moving forward; the composite rate takes into consideration those factors; since we pay the premium versus the employee paying any portion of it, it will be the same using the composite or the breakout; typically employers will use a breakout because the employee is paying a percentage. Wright said it seems imbalanced if a single pays the same as a family; I looked at this and another question is why do the PPO and the Premier and the out of network all have the same level of benefits; usually would see a discount with a PPO or more deductible. Wadley said you are correct with these assumptions for some plans; the way our plan is currently set up and has been done for a number of years, the benefits are the same in network and out of network; you would normally see a better benefit in network to reduce costs. Angelou said this is March; why wasn't this done in January. Wadley said they just separated and Delta had to do a new contract with a different consortium; the Central Ohio Dental Care Consortium doesn't exist anymore. Angelou said like health care, the dental has a huge increase. Wadley said that did not have any impact on the price; we did negotiate to keep same rate as originally quoted; did gather information on why the increase is high and it is just the utilization; in 2011 for the renewal our loss ratio was 88%; they came back with a quote of 6% and it was negotiated down to 2.5%; our utilization rate in 2011 for 2012 was at 94%. Angelou said are we looking for other sources like for health care. Wadley said we are trying to keep better control of costs and benefits and that is why the consortium wanted out. Angelou said I want to make sure we, as a City, are looking at any ways to keep City of Gahanna Page 3 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes March 26, 2012 costs down, and we keep medical on the front burner. Wadley said Teal and I attended the consortium meeting this month and shared concerns with them; on the medical side they are revisiting their benefits; when we have that information, we will find out what other carriers offer and do a comprehensive study to determine what is the best plan. Angelou said glad to hear that. Recommendation: 1st Reading, Consent; no need to come back; 2nd Reading, Consent. ISSUE - From Director of Development: Regional Economic Development Pact Jones said we are requesting authorization for the Mayor to enter into a Regional Economic Development Agreement (REDA); since 2011 the Mayor, Braun, and I have been working to find ways to work together as a region and save money; for example ORD-0023-2012 was passed for shared fleet maintenance; this is what the Regional Partnership agreement looks like; it went down the path originally of being very complicated with tax issues and revenue sharing; to incent a company to move to another region is not effective; those monies could be used to help companies that are here or attract new ones to the region; REDA prohibits the use of tax dollars to entice a local company to move existing jobs from a partnering jurisdiction; this is a collaboration of 10 Central Ohio communities; last week the Mayor was at an event at City Hall where agreement was reached on what this would say; now each community is going before their Councils to secure agreement; it is our hope you find it worthwhile and will agree for us to enter into it; as Development Director I encourage this as a step in determining where to invest our scarce resources; there has been a lot of discord and disagreement in the past; our goal is to come to a consensus and agree to communicate going forward; there are 12 conditions outlined; it describes what we are committing to; it will expire in 2013; all parties will meet quarterly to discuss any changes to the agreement or ways to make it more effective and to make sure it is helping us complete our mission of economic development; any questions. Samuel said tell me what happens if a community violates the agreement. Mayor said we talked about if there should be a penalty and how that would work; if all Councils adopt it, it becomes legislation in each community so if we break it, we are breaking our own laws; talking about putting together a panel in case there is any trouble; we know we will be tempted; there are businesses that will tempt us, most likely commercial real estate investors; if there are disagreements this panel of about 3 of our peers would get together and mediate if necessary; this is for an 18 month trial period; it is unprecedented in this region even though it has been done elsewhere in Ohio; to answer your question there is not a financial penalty; the power of this is the small group; we were 8 cities originally, grew to 10, now we have 12 cities considering it; we intend to continue to reach out to all communities because with everyone in it works better. Angelou said it is a matter of trust; there was no reason to trust before but now you have this document; and if someone does break it, they can't give any incentive. Jones said by signing this you can't give any incentive. Mayor said we have learned about this; at one point Columbus took a large employer from us; still hurts us today; a couple of years later we took one from them; the taxpayers of either community don't win. Angelou asked do we have any pre-1994 CRAs. Jones said we do in the Olde City of Gahanna Page 4 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes March 26, 2012 Gahanna area; those would be automatic. Angelou said that is the one caveat. Samuel said will this group discuss how to eliminate the game playing by companies who come to town; they know they are going to a specific city, but they go to others asking what can you do for me in order to enrich their deal. Jones said when a community is approached by a company looking for incentives, if they are currently talking to someone else within the region, we have to reach out and determine what the project parameters are; they could be adding jobs and if that is the case, there are organizations that we can use to insure we are being consistent with any offers; there is nothing outlined specifically in this agreement that states that; but there are ways for us to effectively manage that. Wright asked what are the cities in the agreement. Jones said Columbus, Westerville, Worthington, Dublin, New Albany, Upper Arlington, Grove City, Hilliard, Grandview Heights, Gahanna, Whitehall, Reynoldsburg, Canal Winchester, and Obetz; we have a group of Mayors and City Managers to reach out to them to insure they want to be in the group; these are the primary ones in the group. Wright said what happens if we sign this and then in one of the other communities a new Council would repeal their legislation; what does it do to us. Jones said the goal of meeting on a quarterly basis is to address issues just like this; we would know if a community was feeling the goal was not in line with their vision, we could make adjustments; when we meet every quarter we will address the problems we are seeing with the agreement and what is working well; so we have a proactive approach in place to address that. Recommendation: 1st Reading, no need to come back; 2nd Reading, Consent. Issue - From Mayor: Vision Mission Statement Braun said the next 2 to 3 items on the agenda are follow up items from our strategic planning session; as part of our report, we emailed the report from Julia Novak that captured what happened during the planning day; we are trying to take some of the major action items and start the next steps in the planning process; there are 3 main categories; one is the vision and the mission; then critical success factors or strategic objectives; and the last item is the work plan which we did not get to finish; the first one for the agenda is Council re-affirming the vision of the City, based on the discussion and the consensus that was reached assuming that stands; then modifying the mission statement based on conversations that took place; we wanted to bring those forward for discussion and perhaps legislatively. Samuel said after some long thought regarding the mission statement, I am opposed to use of the word "strive" for; the Council before us and I would agree that the word "insure" should remain; the reason for this is that "insure" means to make sure; when I look at Gahanna, it is an exceptional place and we have an exceptional quality of life; we have that; we provide comprehensive services, we have financial stability, we are in better shape than most communities; we have well planned development; we have achieved a lot with what little we have had; the Development Department has done wonders along with our Service Department to bring in good developments; what I hear people say is we are more responsive, accountable and accessible to our constituents than any City in Central Ohio; I would say we need to keep the word "insure" and keep making sure that we keep this City like it is; the best; "striving" to me means struggling, arguing, and making an effort to bring the City up to a high level; we are already there; we want to insure that we remain that way. Renner said he missed the planning session due to illness; need background; why would we strike the word "provide" and go to "strive"; I share Samuel's views. Mayor said I have a clarification to ask about; on the front of this page it says "insure" City of Gahanna Page 5 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes March 26, 2012 but in the report it says "provide" so which is it. Braun said it is "insure"; where does it say "provide". Renner said in the report that was sent out. Mayor said I was unclear; asked Sherwood did we do research and pass this. Sherwood said yes. Braun said that is a mistake; it is in the memo twice; it should say "insure"; the first time is correct the second is not correct. Renner said I have the same question; why change it to "strive". Angelou said the question that came up was about the word "exceptional"; there was a lot of comment, not from Council, but primarily from staff members saying it is difficult to grade exceptional; if you don't reach a goal then you are not exceptional; I think we are an exceptional community and Samuel put that in his words tonight; but what I heard earlier is some people said we are not an exceptional City; there was a dramatic statement about us not being an exceptional City that caused me to be taken aback. Wright said in that conversation you have to look at the context of it; this is a professional staff, and to be honest, we have been funding things partially and half way sometimes; for them in their jobs as professionals, it is hard to come up with exceptional service if your budget is not exceptional; the budgets were cut and were not what they were before then it is hard to come up with the City as exceptional; that is what I got from it from observing; they were not saying they did not want to do it; there is just a lot that you have to look at; they are the professionals and they are saying to get Gahanna to professional level you have to fund it; we have not had that for the past few years; that's why I thought we were taking that out. Angelou said the word "exceptional" was never struck out; we left that in. Jolley said we did have a very long discussion on semantics; bottom line every one overwhelmingly agreed for the vision and the mission it encapsulated what we stand for; the only change discussed was "strive for"; nothing drastic; most everyone thought what we have already captures what we are trying to do as a City; we did not feel the need to drastically change anything but just tweak a word or two. Angelou said the modification came as a way to make the word "exceptional" more comfortable for people; I like it the original way; it drives everything we are doing. Jolley said the 2nd piece of this we don't know if it was ever formally adopted. Mayor said we asked Sherwood to research that and it was. Jolley said that was the other piece to make sure it was formally adopted. Samuel said I agree with Wright in that we need to keep progressing with expenditures to meet the needs of residents when we have it; and that would keep us at this level I am talking about. Renner said so you are bringing forward something we thought was agreed upon. Braun said there seemed to be consensus on it; we talked about having to define "exceptional," define "high standards," define and determine what is our level of service and where do we want to be; not sure how the Mayor feels about this, but we felt even if we didn't change this, we should reaffirm it as it is it is important to do that because it is the foundation for where we go with the success factors and the work plan; one thing talked about was things that are out of our control; to insure an exceptional quality of life in an economic downturn and a recession when revenues are low, we are going to strive for that but we certainly can't insure that it would be what some people consider exceptional; bringing it forward whether it is amended or not. Renner said that is why I am uneasy; I don't change my own mission on a temporal basis; it is something that exists as it is and that is what the City should do; if we have economic downturn that could last for 5 to 10 years, so what; you still have a mission statement that encapsulates what we do; we are going to insure the best we can provide; I don't see anything different in here. Samuel said, with respect to the Administration, this is Council's mission and vision statement and we will be deciding what it will be; I understand we all work together but this is Council's mission statement. Sherwood said Council wrote it with a different Administration who basically agreed to follow it, but it was not the Administration's vision/mission statement at that time. Mayor said I was one of the Council members at that time; when we wrote it we spent a lot of time on it; I take these as our marching orders; this is what we are here to do as a City; not just Council or the Administration separately because it doesn't say Gahanna City City of Gahanna Page 6 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes March 26, 2012 Council's mission on it; it could if you wanted it to; but frankly it works like usual; you all set the laws and our job is to support and follow them and make it happen; my concern was just as Wright said earlier; I had issues with "insure" and "exceptional" because I feel like in the last few years we have not been performing at an exceptional level and the Directors would agree because the funding has not been there; I am ok with this as long as everyone understands that this is what the Administration is going to work toward and take as what we do every day; the staff will push us all to insure our exceptional quality of life; that means insuring adequate funding to make sure we can carry out this mission; if you don't change it and it has been adopted we don't have to do it again; or we could reaffirm as Braun had asked. Angelou said I would like to give some background; in 1990s all the Administration was there at the golf course when this was done; absolutely everyone was involved in coming up with these statements and it should be the driving force. Mayor said that is why we felt it was important that it should be reaffirmed together as we started our planning with a new group of people; insure that this is indeed the direction; this is the expectation and why as Renner says they don't change; you don't change them for periodic economic downturns; there has been talk that Gahanna should be more moderate and not funded at such a high level. Angelou said I can't imagine that anyone wants that; if they do they can go to a different place. Wright said it doesn't help build relations to say they should go somewhere else; these are professional people taking their work seriously; if the mission is to insure exceptional, they take it literally; whether it was because we didn't have the money or didn't want to fund it, things were cut back and it was hard to create an exceptional atmosphere; I am comfortable with whichever way we go; we do need to discuss how we take it literally. Mayor said there is no need to decide this at this meeting; there is continued discussion; there are more steps we would like to take. Renner said the discussion is good so we understand, but I am diametrically opposed to changing anything in that. Angelou said I can support not changing anything. Recommendation: Back to Committee in 2 weeks when all of Council is present. Follow up to Planning Session Braun said there are 2 other things I need to follow up on; the critical success factors and the work plan; broad options are we could do another session facilitated by either an outside or inside person and do it as a group; another option is a hybrid approach that combines individual work as well as group discussion to make sure this process continues and comes to a resolution; with the critical success factors I wanted to step back; the facilitator started with our 5 strategic objectives; everyone involved got hung up on their definitions and what they meant in 2008; it was good dialogue; a better approach would be to step back and start with a clean slate; we need to say what 5 major things need to go well for us to achieve our vision; the approach I outlined would have every Council member listing up to 5 objectives and provide a brief definition of those; the Mayor's office would analyze those and come up with trending topics; come up with a draft document of 5 to 7 critical success factors along with the definition; bring that forward as a straw-man for group discussion to decide on those; many cities, when they decide their critical objectives, adopt them legislatively; we don't have to but that is an option. Wright and Renner both said they like this idea. Braun said I included some instructions in case we choose to go that route; happy to provide examples or provide assistance with the process. Renner said what is the time frame; when do you want us to submit something. Mayor said that is up to you; what kind of pace do you want to take. Braun said 1 week or 10 days; 2 weeks at the most; I would like to keep it going. Sherwood said if it comes back to committee in 2 weeks, it should be 10 days or by next Monday; that gives you a week to compile. Braun said that works for me. Sherwood said by April 2; will send an email out. Braun said the 3rd and last item is the Work Plan; we started work on the 2012/2013 work plan; Novak had Council members name projects they would like to see happen City of Gahanna Page 7 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes March 26, 2012 in the next 2 years; then we voted; there were 6 that received the most votes; then we broke into smaller groups and talked about those in depth and what kind of policies could we create to see these things come to fruition; examples are Creekside redevelopment, a 5 year financial plan; what the Mayor and I are recommending is that the Administration work on that plan; we take it and flesh it out a bit, maybe add some projects based on the other discussions and then bring that forward for Council consideration as a draft work plan for the next 2 years; once again it would be the straw-man to start the dialogue with. Renner said I think it is a great plan. ISSUES - From Director of Public Service: New Fleet Philosophy Presentation with Supplemental Requests Franey provided a power point presentation; a copy is available in the Council Office; she introduced Rick Creps, Fleet Superintendent. Questions and Comments: Renner said I hate to go back, but this type of activity personifies the insuring of exceptional quality in our mission statement; not striving, but insuring; my question is, can you elaborate on how the internal control process will work. Franey said this is how we envision it; have an example from tonight knowing this would be brought forward; Jones has a Zoning vehicle that they are having trouble with; so Jones called and said we need that vehicle replaced; what do we do; we said fill out this business case form; it asks all the pertinent questions; at the bottom of the form it has signatures for the Director of the Department, the Fleet Maintenance Superintendent, Franey, and Finance; everyone signs off and has answered appropriately; Finance would say if there are funds; fleet maintenance will answer if it can't be replaced, how long can it last; there are specific questions each person answers for the sign off; we would go through that entire process, then we would look at the spreadsheet and see if this makes sense; so we are in the process of doing this right now with Jones; we can say on this, you know Police get new equipment; they have some vehicles in fairly good shape and could go more with limited use, not hard use; so this could go to a Zoning Officer; we don't want it black and white so we would have to wrap the car and reposition it to Zoning and they get an excellent car; that is how the decision is made at fleet level and it would go through all of those processes to get there. Samuel said have you looked at any commercial programs for this tracking and internal control that might already be in existence and save manual work. Franey said I have not. Samuel said I have 3 sources you might want to check; I will share with you. Franey said we do have the Faster System; that is a database where all the work orders have been input; there is a system in Faster that we can look at; it is something we already own and other municipalities use this; it has a point system; it is doing the same things we are doing but on this point basis; so we have something like that if that is your question. Samuel said no this would put it all together. Angelou said it has a dashboard; saw it at the Analytics for a Smarter City and IBM has something as well. Franey said we would love to see any of it. Samuel said I will have someone call you. Mayor said we have been using the spreadsheet system for 2 years; it has been very effective for us; the funding is the new piece; letting the departments know they have a certain amount of money available to make long term decisions and carry over funds if they choose to; that is the new piece; give Franey and Creps and Spence a lot of credit to come up with this system; it is a good one; I like the new philosophy very much; glad we are doing it. Jolley said the last example you gave about transferring a Police vehicle to Zoning, in that situation would we make a transfer of funds from Zoning to Police instead of them selling it to a 3rd party or to the Zoning Department; is that an option in the City of Gahanna Page 8 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes March 26, 2012 philosophy instead of wrapping it and using it until it dies; this would recycle some of that funding to a future purchase. Franey said yes that could be a part of it; that specific example has generated a lot of discussion. Jolley said this is a perfect example of why it is a good strategy or tactic to separate the 2 funds but not lose sight of where there might be some redundancy in the use of vehicles and possible uses in the City for old Police vehicles; you mentioned you just provided the form to Jones; are we going to have a comprehensive audit of everything that we currently have and put it through the business case form process to determine what we have and what we can do with it in-house before we appropriate those dollars. Franey said I am not sure this will answer the question; this is how I see it playing out, for the money we have requested, any of those dollars that are being spent will go through this full process; before any dollars are spent, they go to this process; whether or not we run everything through regardless of whether it is up for replacement or not, I don't know if we would be doing that. Jolley said why not run it all through first to determine what we have and what we truly need and then look at the dollar amount. Franey said what we currently have are the spreadsheets on everything. Jolley said ok. Franey said we have all of those and have been tracking those. Jolley said for 2 or 3 years. Franey said yes; we have them on all Police equipment; all equipment from the General Fund or Enterprise Fund; we also have spreadsheets on hourly equipment; right now I could tell you where any piece of our equipment ranks against any other piece of equipment. Jolley said so that is what you used to come up with the supplemental figures. Mayor said absolutely. Renner said what kind of reporting do you anticipate doing on this; would it be annual. Franey said Andrako is coming up with document for how Creps will track all of these dollars; it will be very important to tell every department exactly where they stand in this account; it will be outstanding like everything he creates and be able to track everything that has been done; we should be able to generate a report at given intervals as well. Angelou said during your process, in the 21st century everyone leases; is leasing given a priority over actual purchase. Franey said we look at leasing; problem is end up paying more; it can be an advantage if you have a very high dollar piece of equipment and need to spread out the payments because you can't take that hit; we are not in love with leasing; we don't hate it either; we are just keeping it out there as an option; we might look at it if we need an expensive piece of equipment like in streets. Angelou said sometimes cars are lemons and you wonder how can it keep running; some are old and still doing great; you would not get rid of something just because it is old if it was still working. Franey said that is where the spreadsheet is accurate; looking at every single factor; could have something that is newer but still have an old model in service because it is outstanding. Angelou said concerning Police equipment; they have so much extra equipment that has to be put on; does this money appropriated for the 10 Police cars include all the extra components. Spence said that includes everything; that is everything we need for a fully functional Police cruiser; tried to get our fleet replacement more in line with the longevity and life cycle of the equipment we put in Police cars; in old days we would turn over a vehicle every 2 years because they had such high mileage, but we still had life expectancy out of the equipment; so we have tried to expand the life of the equipment along with the life of the vehicle; the answer to your question was yes; that is everything to fully outfit the 10 vehicles. Jolley said Angelou brought up a good point about leasing; when we purchase vehicles we get fleet rates based on the State of Ohio. Franey said we often buy them off the State Term Contract. Jolley said are there similar programs for leasing. Franey said I believe there are. Jolley said so we would be able to make a good comparison looking at both options. Angelou asked do the various gasoline tax revenue sources cover the amount being brought forward. Teal said no; those taxes go into the Street Fund; this program is specific to the General Fund. Franey said sometimes when the Street Fund does not City of Gahanna Page 9 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes March 26, 2012 have enough to cover everything needed, the General Fund has to supplement it; so it is possible this General Fund account would be called upon to supplement street equipment; there might not be enough from taxes to come over here especially with fuel efficient cars. Angelou said I like it. Franey said thank you. Renner said this was very good. Sherwood said the request on the table is for a supplemental appropriation in the amount of $515,000 for the Police Equipment; and $436,300 into the General Fund Equipment Program. Renner said is this one ordinance. Sherwood said I believe I can do it as one. Angelou said do we need to establish the funds. Teal said they are not actually funds because they are within the General Fund; they are line items so it is done administratively. Mayor said all the purchases will still come piece by piece with regular legislation; this just sets the money aside. Franey said it will follow the current program; if the expenditure needed Council action it will still need Council action. Recommendation: 1st Reading, no need to come back; 2nd Reading, Consent Agenda. Police - Authorize Purchase - Police Cruisers Next are the purchase authorizations. Sherwood said these are separate pieces of legislation. Spence said from Franey's presentation, you know we are asking for $515,000 to be put into the Police Equipment Fund; from that we are asking Council to appropriate $250,000 from that overall project cost for the purchase of the 10 vehicles; we are asking Council to allow us under the provisions of the GCO to purchase the vehicles from Key Chrysler in cooperation with the Hamilton County Cooperative Purchasing Agreement; this saves us approximately $2,000 per vehicle over that of State Term Contract; if we were to purchase from the State Term Contract we would be spending $2,000 more on each one; so we are asking Council to specifically authorize purchase of these in accordance with the Hamilton County contract; once this appropriation is passed by Council, it goes into the fund, if Council is so inclined, if we pass this with Emergency, we would be able to order these vehicles right away; any time we can save would be of benefit; we understand that is asking a lot; however we have a lot of aging vehicles in our fleet and that would allow us to get these new vehicles in the order pipeline as soon as possible. Renner said when would you take delivery. Spence said in about 90 days; then we have another 30 to 45 days to actually build them as cruisers; so any time we save to get them on the street is a benefit to us. Wright said how many do we have. Spence said we have 20 total vehicles in our full fleet. Wright said how many would go off line when these 10 come in. Spence said it is an even swap; 10 for 10; 10 will go out of service and 10 new ones into service is our intent; we have not purchased any new replacements since 2009; in keeping with the new fleet program we are going to stagger these purchases in 2012 into 2 groups to overcome the hump of 10 vehicles all at once going into service; 3 or 4 years down the road we would have vehicles with all the same mileage; so that is a big hump to overcome; try to lessen that impact and spread that impact over time; another advantage of the Hamilton County contract is it expires September 30, 2012; State Term will be re bid but will renew in mid April and we would not make that. Wright said with the Police concern it would be wise to do this as an Emergency to get this in the pipeline because of the number of days and lag time; that would be my recommendation. Angelou said are they black and white. Spence said yes. Wright said who chooses the colors. Spence said we have incorporated the arch in our design; fire trucks are red; Police cars are black and white; a few years ago this went back to the industry standard to make them recognizable; we travel all over to do our jobs; they represent City of Gahanna Page 10 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes March 26, 2012 the City; we are proud of our fleet; plan to stick with the design. Renner asked do they also need a waiver. Sherwood said then you would also have to put waiver on the supplemental. Spence said he only needed emergency. Recommendation: 1st Reading, no need to come back; 2nd Reading, Consent Agenda; Emergency Language. Parks & Rec. - Authorize Purchase Toro Mowers Renner said we have 2 more items; next one Parks is requesting authorization to purchase Toro mowers. Collins said we submitted 2 items on our report; this first one is requesting authorization to purchase 3 Toro 4000-D large area mowers; these are part of the General Fund Equipment program and are replacements; these would be purchased through the State Term Contract; we are respectfully requesting Emergency so that we can get them in before one of our existing mowers goes down again and we have to deal with down time and maintenance costs. Jolley said what has been the impact of the early spring on Parks. Collins said we have started mowing already; fleet has been working with us to get the equipment out quickly; we are 26 days ahead of the growth cycle right now with plants and grass; biggest challenge right now is resident expectations; they want to know why we don't have beds mulched, planters out, fountains flowing and restrooms open; it is March and will be 29 degrees tonight; that would have frozen pipes. Jolley said there was an article in the local paper about mower repair; just wondered if any of that was affecting us. Collins said our garage people are incredible and take good care of equipment in the winter; we have the early out issue going on right now; the good news is the golf course got to open a month early. Angelou said this request is for purchase; was any consideration given to leasing. Collins said yes; these particular pieces of equipment are not available in any lease programs. Creps said in this instance, purchase is the best way to go. Angelou said are you trading old ones in. Creps said Euton did the negotiations; this will go to online auction where we will probably get a better price. Collins said the existing units will be auctioned and provide revenue back into the fund; he is expecting from $7,000 to $10,000; the earlier we can get them on the auction block the more value we can get from them versus trying to get another season from them. Recommendation: 1st Reading, no need to come back; 2nd Reading, Consent Agenda; Emergency Language. Parks & Rec. - Authorize Purchase Buckeye Power Sales - Mowers Renner said your next item is to authorize Buckeye Power Sales mower purchase. Collins said these are 4 Scag zero turn mowers replacing what we have now; these would be done on State Term Contract; hoping to auction the old units to return funding back into the program; we did work with the fleet department to insure we are selecting the right equipment. Angelou clarified when the old equipment is auctioned off the money would go back into General Fund Equipment. Teal said that is correct. Wright said how many people do we have working in fleet maintenance. Creps said 4 mechanics. Wright said do we solicit to other communities for fleet maintenance services. Mayor said yes we do. Wright said would that money go into the General Fund into this program. Franey said in a sense it does; we are asking the General Fund to supply dollars to these line items; so it does exactly what you are thinking. Angelou said do you want an action on the new Fleet Philosophy; or a resolution from us endorsing that philosophy, or is it just a policy being put in place. Franey said my thinking is it is a policy to be put in place but we are open. Mayor said I would look to City of Gahanna Page 11 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes March 26, 2012 Ewald; can one Council bind the next one; can we put it in legislation. Angelou said it should just be a resolution of endorsement. Mayor said that would be good; incoming Councils would understand the commitment of this Council and make it clear what we wanted to do; just not sure we can make it legally binding. Angelou said then just a resolution in support of this policy. Ewald said you could do that through a resolution process. Mayor said we will work on that. Recommendation: 1st Reading, no need to come back; 2nd Reading, Consent Agenda; Emergency Language. Mayor said her department will work on drafting a resolution of support for the fleet philosophy. Della Brandenberger, Reporting City of Gahanna Page 12