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 Ryan P. Jolley, Chair Beryl D. Anderson Karen J. Angelou Brian D. Larick Stephen A. Renner Dav id L. Samuel Brandon Wright Monday, February 11, 2013 7:00 PM Council Committee Rooms Present 8 - Stephen A. Renner, Ryan P. Jolley, Brandon Wright, Beryl Anderson, Karen J. Angelou, Brian D. Larick, David L. Samuel, and David L. Samuel Additional Attendees: Dottie Franey, Mike Andrako, Karl Wetherholt, Tony Collins, Deputy Chief Bell, Sue Wadley, Isobel Sherwood, Mayor Stinchcomb, Brandi Braun, Jennifer Teal, Joann Bury, Anthony Jones, Shane Ewald, Press. ISSUES - From Previous Committee Night: LGI Building - 73-77 Mill Street Jolley called the meeting for Monday, February 11, 2013 to order; first issue is carried over from last committee, the LGI Building. Jones said Lew Griffin is taking Council's concerns and questions into consideration; this evening he delivered an alternative design for the facade on the front of the building; it is aesthetically pleasing and similar in design elements to the original proposal; it is different in that it does not encroach any farther than the original building; these are not finalized; it is a rendering just prepared by a new architect; once finalized, I will bring the information to Council with what action is needed; he understood everyone's concerns and has been working hard to accommodate us; hopefully we will have something soon to finalize; as of now there is nothing for action; take any questions. Renner said you said he has a new architect. Jones said he has a new design for the front of the building. Samuel asked what else is the building being used for; will he have other offices in there. Jones said he is on the first floor; it has 3200 square feet; 1400 square feet is set aside for a conference room area and a public gathering space with art work on the walls and opportunity for events to be hosted there; the second floor will be leased to 2 businesses. Samuel said I saw a publication that said this was a catalyst. Jones said he was on the front page of Business First; wonderful story about Olde Gahanna and Downtown; sign of good things to come. City of Gahanna Page 1 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes February 11, 2013 Larick said the new design will go to the prior, constructed line and we will still have legislation to pass. Jones said correct; the original building encroached on right of way about 2.5 inches; not into the sidewalk area; this new facade will go up to that point; once that design is finalized, we will bring it forward to Council for action to legally allow for an easement to accommodate that space; it won't infringe on the sidewalk at all. Larick said I just wanted to make sure it was no more than the same as it was before. Jones said that is correct. Wright said once he brings forward the legislation we need, it will be a different encroachment than we have now; currently puts people on the street; they are going to scale that back with the scaffolding and materials out there. Jones said the scaffolding will be removed when the front facade and building construction are complete; he wants that as quickly as possible as it is causing an inconvenience for our residents, businesses and it costs him money; everyone is motivated to get that done as quickly as possible. Angelou said is there a timeline for this. Jones said as soon as he comes up with the appropriate facade, then it will go back to Planning Commission to certify it is appropriate; then it will go City Council to accommodate the 2 inch encroachment on the City's right of way as the original building does. Larick said what about the overhang; it was there but is gone. Jones said yes he has taken that off since we last spoke. Larick said is it in the new design. Jones said there are canopies as before. Larick said there was a bump out. Jones said in the current design there is no such thing. Angelou said on the old building, was there an easement. Jones said no. Angelou said had he not taken the front off; just done what he wanted over it; there would be no need for an easement; he took off the front and now suddenly there is an easement; there has to be some reason for that. Wetherholt said because a lot of the buildings in Olde Gahanna are very, very old, we uncover places that are encroachments all over the place; there wouldn't be a reason to say anything unless we were going to widen the road; there would not be a reason for this to be uncovered and to be an issue; it's because he came in and was trying to modify it; that brought it up for us to be concerned with it; there was another instance a couple of years ago with a house on Shepard Street that was encroaching on the right of way by a small amount; the owner tried to sell it and buyers' mortgage company would not grant the loan until it was taken into account; we issued an encroachment easement that states if the house is rebuilt it reverts to the City; there is an Ordinance that did that. Angelou said Shepard Street isn't US 62 so does ODOT have to have any notification. Wetherholt said if we do the encroachment easement the way Ewald has it set up, it will meet all ODOT requirements. Anderson said I want to underscore and confirm, since you said all of our issues have been taken under consideration, does that mean they all have been addressed so none of them will be lingering. Jones said I have seen a rendering; not the final plan; he has yet to complete his final design of what it will look like; came to me today and said here is where I am; does this seem acceptable; I am going in this direction where the encroachment would not go any farther than the original building. Anderson said I understand what he came with to you today; my underscoring of this would be, since this is controversial and has had so many questions, does he accept the fact that the final design needs to address those things we had concerns about so this does not get dragged out and cost more money. Jones said yes. Angelou said not only is it yes; he is doing a new facade; cost him money to do it; the pillars were the major issue and they are gone; as for the 2 inches involved I was just making sure there were not issues for the highways. City of Gahanna Page 2 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes February 11, 2013 Wright said what was the review of the time frame. Mayor said he has to submit his application again; until that happens the clock isn't ticking; the ball is in his court. Jones said he fully recognizes that; he is working on the final design for Planning Commission and ultimately Council's approval. Wright said that is fine that the ball is in his court; but as I said last week, I expect we should be working toward moving this forward; it probably should come from the Administration to say you have got to get this done; let's expedite this; that is where I would like to see it; my concern is the scaffolding that is blocking the way; we need to be making sure there is some progress. Jolley said Griffin said last week he wants this to go forward as quickly as possible. Jones said it costs him money every day it is delayed. Jolley said knowing it goes to Planning Commission and back to Council, can you give us an anticipated timeline of when this comes back to Council. Jones said in talking to him today, stressed next Planning Commission meeting is this Wednesday; he said he would have the information to me quickly that includes the time frame; he has made significant progress; I can't give a specific time frame to be held to when it is unknown. Jolley said I was trying to determine if it will go back to committee or we will vote on next Monday. Jones said back to committee would be the appropriate response to make sure everyone is comfortable with it and to have the language finalized. Angelou said I would hope we can do whatever possible to move it forward. Jones said Planning Commission will do whatever is in their means to expedite this; they realize the urgency of the request. Recommendation: Back to Committee of the Whole when Director of Development brings it forward. ISSUES - From City Engineer: Hamilton Road Central - Consultant Contract Modification Wetherholt said in these extended ODOT-based consultant contracts, some of the scope is uncovered as you go along; the final one for this, called the clean up work because the contract is nearly finished, is for $60,191; the items listed in the scope finish up the design on the project; we need legislation to modify the consultant contract that was set up by Ordinance-0127-2011; that will get the design work finished with the right of way plans; the next things that are going to happen are we are having a public involvement meeting on the 21st to explain what the right of way acquisition process is like to the folks along Hamilton Road; that is an open house held at the Northeast School from 5 to 7; then the County is going to do 2 parts of this project for us; the history of the project is in 1996, the County came to us to widen Hamilton Road from Rocky Fork Creek to Stoneridge Drive; over the years we have gone through the various processes with them; we have completed the northern half; now is time for the central portion from Rocky Fork Creek to 62; County has been partners in this at about 50% of the funding; we were able to secure the Federal MORPC attributable funds for 80% of this; the County will do the right of way acquisition and the construction and administration; the original agreement had us doing the right of way acquisition; we will basically pay the County to have them do that; it speeds up the process considerably; there are several legislative steps that need to be done and that is all folded into the County's process; the next thing we will see is legislation to enter into an amended agreement with the County to provide actual repayment to them for the right of way acquisitions; the first step is the appraisals and the title search work; that will start in May, proceed into August, actually start buying right of way in the last part of this year and on through 2014; the City of Gahanna Page 3 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes February 11, 2013 County will do a major portion of the funding; our share is 20%; 80% is reimbursable by the grant; the County will handle that part too; it will take a lot of our work out; we will just be dealing with the County on that and keeping up with the public involvement so they have someone to come to for information; so instead of a lengthy series of legislative processes, we are down to about 3 or 4 more to get this completed. Jolley said what is the anticipated completion date for this project. Wetherholt said if we were following our processes we would not be able to start construction until late 2015 or 2016; the County is able to do it faster; we will probably see construction early 2015; it is a 2 season cycle; if all goes well, we would anticipate that to be early 2015 and in 2017 it would be completely finished. Angelou said will the $120,000 we appropriated cover the 20% of costs. Wetherholt said did not bring the 5 year Capital Improvement sheet that has all that laid out on it. Angelou said so we need to put more money in this for this year. Wetherholt said it was scheduled for 2014 on the sheet; we will probably be advancing some of that; the bulk of the acquisitions will occur in 2014; we will just have to work things out with the County to see where they are. Angelou said is the right of way going to be taken from both sides of the road. Wetherholt said yes. Angelou said equally. Wetherholt said no because it is not equal right now; there are large portions of the roadway where subdivisions were built; when Foxboro was platted it allowed for most of the right of way along there; if you are south some of those are not enough; also there is temporary needed for the driveways; the other side of the road, we have the same situation; Worman Drive has a lot of the right of way already allocated; up through the western side, it was not; except where Stonehenge Company owns it, we purchased that right of way in agreement with them about 4 years ago; on up Sycamore Woods has enough right of way, but north of that we need a lot more right of way acquisition; not as simple as one side of road or the other. Angelou said is some of the property not in Gahanna but in the township. Wetherholt said for the most part it is in the City. Recommendation: 1st Reading, no need to come back; 2nd Reading, Consent Agenda. ISSUES - From Director of Human Resources: Authorize Payment/BWC Invoice Wadley said we received an invoice from the Bureau of Workers Comp as part of our administrative costs; we in HR had failed to open that purchse order before the date of the invoice; the funds are available and are part of the appropriations and the budget; asking for a Motion Resolution to have permission to pay that. Angelou said did you say there were 2 payments. Wadley said we did go ahead and open the PO to cover 2 payments; we will pay this one now and the other one will come in June or July. Recommendation: Motion Resolution; Consent Agenda. ISSUES - From Clerk of Council: Authorize Agreement/Franklin County Board of Elections/Polling Locations City of Gahanna Page 4 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes February 11, 2013 Sherwood said the Board of Elections formalized their process about 4 years ago and came up with an agreement for us to enter into so they can use locations as polling places; there is a separate agreement for the Senior Center and for this building; we are asking permission for the Mayor to enter into the agreement; we do need emergency since it came in while I was gone. Jolley said are there any changes to this agreement due to redistricting. Sherwood said no. Anderson said how will the ward changes impact the polling locations. Sherwood said that is handled by the Board of Elections; at this point I have had no indication of any changes. Wright said did they give any indication when they will be done finalizing the precincts for our set wards. Sherwood said that is on their schedule; I don't have any information on that. Wright said I have no problem on the agreement, but they are not moving with haste to make any effort to set precincts; it is almost March; for us to move with haste on this, they should have to provide a time frame to us. Jolley said they are separate issues; it is based on when the board meets and they should be finalized soon. Renner said I believe they are meeting this week. Jolley said these are the only 2 public facilities they use; really has no affect on us. Sherwood said the Senior Center is 3B and F; and City Hall is 3D; if any precincts change I would not expect those specifically to change because of the changes in Ward 3. Recommendation: 1st Reading, no need to come back; 2nd Reading, Consent Agenda; Emergency Language. ISSUES - From Director of Finance: 2012 Year End Financial Report Teal provided a Power Point presentation of the 2012 Year End Financial Report; a copy is available in the Council Office and on the Gahanna website. Questions and comments; Larick said the gas and license distribution that we get, is that based on actual usage for Gahanna or an algorithm. Teal said I know the vehicle registration is based on cars registered here in Gahanna; we did just recently get some documentation from Columbus as it is audited from time to time; I believe the gas is what is purchased here in Gahanna. Jolley asked is there any monetary savings to doing the financial statements in house. Teal said we spent usually $10,000 to $15,000 on the accounting firm that had previously been doing the financial statements; they were good but we are going to be able to do them better; eventually we will be able to move toward a more comprehensive annual financial report like you see from non profits and other government entities; Bury has that experience and expertise in house and will do a much better product. Jolley asked for any other questions; there were none. Meeting Adjourned. City of Gahanna Page 5 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes February 11, 2013 Della Brandenberger, Reporting City of Gahanna Page 6