Committee of the Whole

City of Gahanna 200 South Hamilton Road Gahanna, Ohio 43230 Meeting Minutes Tuesday, October 15, 2013 7:00 PM Council Committee Rooms Committee of the Whole Stephen A. Renner Brandon Wright Beryl D. Anderson Karen J. Angelou Brian D. Larick Ryan P. Jolley Thomas R Kneeland Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes October 15, 2013 Present 7 - Stephen A. Renner, Brandon Wright, Beryl D. Anderson, Karen J. Angelou, Brian D. Larick, Ryan P. Jolley, and Thomas R. Kneeland Additional Attendees: Donna Jernigan, Brandi Braun, Mayor Stinchcomb, Dottie Franey, Karl Wetherholt, Anthony Jones, Troy Euton, Jennifer Teal, Joann Bury, Shane Ewald, Sue Wadley, Chief Murphy, Lt. Spence, General Williams, William Murdock and Eileen Leuby from MORPC, Press. ISSUES - From Council: Resolution - MORPC Amended Articles of Agreement Jolley called the meeting for Monday, October 15, 2013 to order; said start with our guests from MORPC (Mid Ohio Regional Planning Commission); you have provided the questionnaire to us if anyone has questions. Angelou said the first issue is the bylaws; do you want to give a brief overview of what is being done; appreciate you being here. Murdock said thank you for having us here; I am the Executive Director of MORPC; I have a long history with Gahanna and consider it my home town; MORPC passed some changes to its Articles of Agreement at our September meeting; the Commission has been looking for ways to improve those for a couple of years; they needed to be made clear and have added flexibility as well as be more simple and consistent; the Commission did vote unanimously to recommend these for approval; now we need a majority of MORPC's legislative bodies to adopt them within the next 3 months; this is the primary reason for our visit. Angelou said Worthington was the first to do that; we want to at least be the second. Leuby said I am the Membership Coordinator and a new Gahanna resident; as such I will be working with all the 41 governments; another point is a big portion of our funding is federal transportation dollars so the language requirements had to match up with that. Murdock said we appreciate having the City of Gahanna at the table as a member of MORPC; it is my first year with the organization and we appreciate the leadership and support of all the folks and Gahanna as we work to City of Gahanna Page 1 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes October 15, 2013 provide transportation and services; happy to take any questions. Jolley asked for any other questions on the bylaws; asked Murdock to talk about the Capital Bill Project Questionnaire. Murdock said as of last Thursday we told Commission Members that the Governor's office has asked for a new way to solicit capital bill projects; we sent out the basics of that information on Friday; hoping to have more information this week that will answer some of the questions that have been coming our way; the basic sketch is the Governor's office is looking to have a consistent way to solicit both economic development and arts and cultural capital bill requests for the next budget; as part of that they have split these into 2 different solicitation requests; what we shared on Friday with MORPC members is the Capital Bill Requests for Economic Development Projects; the questionnaire looks to communities to provide their most pressing capital requests for development; for our region the Governor' s office has designated the Columbus Partnership as the convening entity; the Partnership in turn has asked MORPC on behalf of local governments and Columbus 2020 to help solicit projects and bring them to the Partnership as a project; the timeline is very short; it is next Monday and I am confident Gahanna has projects ready to submit; MORPC's primary role right now is working with our communities to make sure they are not missing this window of opportunity; we are trying to help get questions answered and make sure the tight timeline can be accommodated; it is my understanding this is a hard deadline; once all the projects are in they will be prioritized by the Partnership; we do not have the details of how that process works; my advice to you is, if you have projects and they are ripe and have a big impact and are part of a plan and you have partners on board, they probably stand a better chance so take the deadline seriously; it is my understanding that this does not eliminate the ability of communities to directly approach legislators to submit projects to the Capital Bill as we go forward; this is the Governor's administrations way of prioritizing projects; the consistency and solicitation is a new approach and we will all be interested to see how it works; that is the basics of what I have; the Arts and Cultural Projects will be a separate process that I do not have details on. Angelou said I have a question on the Arts and Cultural Projects; if you have a venue now that needs maintenance; maybe a lot of maintenance; is that something that could be approached to rehabilitate; this could be a venue where arts occur but we need to do some major maintenance on it or does it have to be a new project. Murdock said I don't know; we don't have any information on the Arts and Cultural Projects; as soon as I get it I will get it out to you; I do know that in the economic development projects they want projects that are not deferred maintenance; that may be a guide for Arts and City of Gahanna Page 2 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes October 15, 2013 Culture; as soon as we have an answer we will get it to you. Anderson said thank you for being here; with the economic development projects, is partnership key; you said you did not know all the criteria. Murdock said I think it would be important; certainly there are some stand alone projects that are going to be significant. Anderson said does that make those projects higher up on the list. Murdock said I think it might. Anderson read from page 2 of the Articles of Agreement with regard to representation saying members are encouraged to appoint representatives based on diversity and expertise; said is this a directive or a suggestion. Leuby said we actually work very hard on that; we have a Community Citizen Action Group that we are constantly soliciting folks to get involved in; we have diversity running through all of our programs as a priority; it is part of our mission; Central Ohio is so diverse now in our demographics; we want to reflect that in everything we do; we are working hard to do that in leadership roles and decision making in committees. Anderson said is that with regard to MORPC specifically or also when they partner with other groups. Murdock said to your question, it is a suggestion; it is not a directive or a legal requirement; MORPC does have a Diversity and Inclusion Plan which is a core part of our identity as an organization; when we think about the Commission and the communities that surround as well as the different boards, we want to make sure we have a representative group of talent and individuals with diverse backgrounds on the Commission; something we are always trying to bring to the forefront and we are always conscious of making sure the different voices are heard. Anderson said if someone is interested in what MORPC does, who would they contact. Leuby said they would contact me; we are particularly soliciting right now for our community needs; local citizens that review transportation; I will leave my card. Leuby said I am also going to leave an invitation to ED411; economic tools are shared at this meeting; very beneficial; meet all your colleagues in the same role. Jernigan clarified the recommendation to proceed with the resolution to accept the Articles of Agreement. Murdock said MORPC is here to serve our communities; if you have a question or need something, you may contact Leuby or me via email or call us; know that I spent 10 years here and I love you guys; thanks for your support for my organization and for me personally. Recommendation: Resolution on Consent Agenda. City of Gahanna Page 3 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes October 15, 2013 ISSUES - From City Attorney: Dolphin Lounge Jolley said note to all; the City Attorney is also going to talk to about the Dolphin Lounge which we are adding to the agenda. Ewald said the Dolphin Lounge sign recently made headlines; my understanding of what happened is there was a storm that came through and damaged their sign; the sign was removed, then repaired and put back up; unfortunately it was a non conforming sign; at the discretion of our Zoning Administrator, it was her opinion that it then was in violation which is within Code; there is a section of our Code that talks about non conforming signs that says if they are damaged in any way that it removes their grandfather status; that is what happened here; unfortunately the process that was used was a variance of the non conforming section which in and of itself is a variance of Code; my suggestion was to put them back in the proper process; reissue the order; allow them the leeway to either appeal the zoning order to BZA or apply for a variance for a new sign; I believe they have applied for a repeal of the administrative order; the request before you tonight is because they have paid $300 for the variance application; I would ask Council to waive that and allow them to apply it to the BZA hearing because of the difficult process they have been through. Jolley asked how much is the BZA hearing. Jernigan said $500. Jolley said were they also asking for a waiver of the remaining $200. Jernigan said yes. Ewald said yes they are and that is able to be done at the discretion of Council. Kneeland said what does it take to make it happen. Mayor and Ewald said it is an Ordinance. Ewald said you could pass it with emergency if that is Council's prerogative. Anderson said what is the rationale; I am thinking about precedence. Mayor said we have done this before. Ewald said my rationale is I believe they went down the wrong road; we are trying to put them back into the proper process; anytime there is an appeal of an administrative order, they should have the option to immediately go to BZA; instead this was diverted into a variance process for a Code section that is itself a variance; to vary the varianced section of Code is a bad idea. Anderson said the Mayor said we have done this before; is that because things were skewed in the process. Ewald said only to the point where they have refunded fees. Anderson City of Gahanna Page 4 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes October 15, 2013 said so the refunding of fees was based on an irregularity. Ewald said Council has the ultimate authority to waive fees based on each case. Kneeland said wasn't the issue that the applicant was led down the wrong road. Ewald said yes. Anderson said so the similarity in both cases is applicant was led down the wrong road. Mayor said I would not say that. Jolley said I was actually at the Planning Commission meeting where this issue was brought forward; the applicant, business owner, was not aware of any of the procedures or the Code; they were simply repairing the sign; subsequently would get an inspection to make sure new supports were adequate; at this point they were told they were in violation of the Code; and due to miscommunication, believed they needed to get a variance in order to put the sign back up; turns out that is not correct; not knowing this was not the proper procedure they paid the $300 and secured an attorney to process the variance; then it went before Planning Commission and it was the opinion of Weber that was not the proper process and he referred it to Ewald; the applicant had paid the $300 fee and gone through this process through no fault of their own and were going down the wrong road; what they want to do is get back on track and to appeal the administrative order and not have to spend additional money; they are asking we apply the $300 to the $500 cost and waive the remaining $200. Anderson said thank you for those facts; I am trying to understand how Council is making these decisions; I understand that it is at the discretion of Council, but I don't want anyone to be able to say it was done willy nilly; so for the other case were the facts similar. Ewald said I do not recall those facts; I just recall that in the past Council has waived fees. Mayor and Ewald said they would have to do research to answer the question specifically. Angelou said for bookkeeping wouldn't we be better off just giving them back the $300 they paid and then charging them $500. Wright said they are asking us to waive the $200. Mayor said additionally there have been citizens in the community that have reached out and may contact Council that feel a grandfathering should stay that way; that sign is somewhat iconic and just because it got blown down by a storm, they are asking should they be required to go through this process; keep that in mind as you deliberate. Jolley said it is a confusing section of Code. Wright said who would lead them down the wrong path; was it the Zoning Administrator. Jones said I would not characterize this a wrong path; when someone is trying to do something outside the usual Code terms, we apply for a variance to allow them to do something outside what the Code says; that is the logic we were using when we were City of Gahanna Page 5 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes October 15, 2013 applying for this variance; there was no other means at our discretion to accommodate them for what they had done; after additional discussions and a review of the Code, Weber and Ewald gave their opinions that this was not the appropriate mechanism so we decided to go a different way; it was not that they were being misled; it was our information on hand that we had to make a decision on; there are elements of the Code that can be interpreted multiple ways; we try to be as objective as we can. Ewald said they could still apply for the variance right now but it would not be from the current section of Code; it would be for a new sign. Renner said I too have received a number of comments from Ward 1 residents; people are watching this; and they sense there is an injustice (my word) that is happening here; I am in favor of waiving fees; all of the fees so we get this back on the right path and have the owners go through BZA and be able to say what they want to say. Ewald said I have spoken to the owner and their attorney and they have been nothing but cooperative and very willing to work within the process; they just wanted to know what their options were; it was clear they could appeal the order or apply for a new sign variance; that is where we are; the request before you is to refund the fee and they have asked for consideration on the additional $200. Kneeland said we have tried over the years to be pro business; with these folks, for as long as they have been here as a Gahanna business, and with whatever took place, they have spent a lot of time energy and money to work through the process they were told needed to happen; we do incentives for businesses in different ways and this would be a good opportunity to show good faith toward business and show that we are business centric and I would be in favor of giving them credit for what they paid and giving them a waiver for the other $200; that is my position. Anderson said credit being a refund. Kneeland said no give them credit for $300 but waive the additional $200. Mayor said so you are saying their total fee would be the $300 they have paid however we do it bookkeeping wise. Kneeland said yes. Jolley said the biggest question I have is should there be a standard force majeure clause added; this was an act of God, a violent storm that we are having more of that caused this sign to need repair; so my question is there something we can look at for the Code going forward and aside from waiving these fees; what options does Council have to create an exemption for this individual sign. Mayor said we would have to do it for all, not just this one. Ewald said we would have to rewrite the Code for these instances. City of Gahanna Page 6 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes October 15, 2013 Jolley said my question was can we look at this going forward and is there a way to make it apply to this case. Mayor said how can it apply to this issue. Ewald said we would have to take action now on this issue; then work on the legislation; Sherwood is out until Friday and I would have to get with her and walk through the process; review the 2 sections that are inconsistent about repair; clean up the language and build in the exception for force majeure; then bring it back; it would go to Planning Commission on a recommendation from here. Mayor said we just have to take action on this separately. Jolley said if Planning Commission approves it, would the applicant still have to go to BZA. Ewald said I have asked for the sign to be left in place while they appeal; it is up now. Jernigan said 2/3 of it is up; it was in 3 sections. Ewald said my suggestion is to take action on this individually tonight about the fees; it will take some time; the last time sign Code was in front of Planning it took months. Jones said this is a small section; it wouldn't be as long. Ewald said in the mean time you would have to suspend the BZA process which they have already started. Jernigan said it is scheduled for November 7. Ewald asked if notices have gone out on that. Jernigan said they have not gone out. Ewald said it is up to Council if they want to tackle this all at one time. Mayor said what is the precedent for suspending BZA. Ewald said I would suggest going forward; deal with this issue now and come back and deal with the legislative side on the back end. Mayor said I agree with that. Jones said with the intent of Council being known, I was thinking Ewald and I could go offline to figure the best approach ; you could act on the fees tonight and then we could come back with a recommendation to suit your intent. Jolley said so we need an ordinance to keep $300 already paid and then waive the additional $200 for the BZA filing fee. Mayor said we can work on the language. Jolley said what ever is easiest for finance with the end result being the payment of $300. Jernigan clarified waiver and emergency. Recommendation: 1st Reading with waiver of 2nd Reading, Consent Agenda with Emergency Language. Lounge 62 - Repeal of Liquor Objection. Ewald said we have a business in town, Lounge 62, a bar and restaurant; they have been difficult to work with; that is based primarily on the amount of service calls made there by the Police Department, City of Gahanna Page 7 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes October 15, 2013 noise ordinance violations, and other activities reported in and around the establishment; we objected to their Liquor Permit which is very rare for the Police Department to do; we worked with them directly to come to an agreement which has since been violated; my hope tonight was to come to you and ask you to repeal the objection, but I can't do that given what is occurring at that establishment; we have a hearing this week with the Liquor Commission; I will be at that hearing to object to the Liquor Permit; we will take what we have and present it to them; there is no action for Council to take; my hope was to repeal the objection and have an agreement in place but that does not seem likely; tonight it is information only and in consultation with the Mayor's office we are preparing a nuisance action to file in court; we will keep you apprised of any action. Wright said as the representative for Ward 2, I can say there have been a lot of inquires about this facility from citizens as to how did you identify it as a nuisance; whether it is the music or other issues; I fully support this if we cannot reach a peaceful agreement. Anderson said I have a question on the timeline; after the upcoming hearing what happens. Ewald said it depends on the outcome of the hearing and what they are willing to agree to; my concern is we did get an agreement in place for a course of conduct that they have not kept to; because of that and our limited Police resources due to current financial conditions, we can't provide the service that is required there, as well as the safety factor of residents who are passing by given some of the things that have occurred there that I prefer not to discuss. Anderson said so the next step is possible litigation. ISSUES - From Clerk of Council: Gahanna Jefferson Schools - Request for fee reduction. Jones said the school has requested a reduction in their permit fees for the recently completed installation of bleachers at the high school; after review from our Chief Building Official we recommend lowering the fees which are currently at $2000 to a total of $500; the rationale is we classified this improvement as a commercial alteration; that is because our building fee structure does not currently break out bleachers for a specific type of inspection; these permits are done on a percentage of overall costs; the bleachers were very expensive and most of the equipment costs were high leading to this high fee; by reducing it we would be laying the ground work for reducing the fee schedule next year to break out bleachers as a required permitted activity; we had not had to inspect bleachers in quite some time; if new ones come up in the future we want to have it specified; it is a different inspection process with the majority of the costs due to equipment; we City of Gahanna Page 8 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes October 15, 2013 come in and make sure it is secure and properly installed per the manufacturer's requirements; reducing it would be appropriate at this time; we will follow up with a fee schedule change in the future. Mayor said and we cover all our costs. Jones said correct. Jolley said that would be important going forward because I understand they only replaced half the bleachers and it is likely they will be replacing the rest. Kneeland said what kind of costs did we incur. Jones said it depends on if we send it out; that costs us $90 an hour; this one we did internally; it took a couple of visits; every time we have these we compare the permit fee schedule with the estimated man hours; we would never recommend waiving any fees that would dip into our cost. Jolley said when we estimate for an internal review, what would our rate be. Jones said it is based on how many hours it takes either the Building Inspector or Chief Building Inspector to review it. Jolley said I mean the dollar figure. Jones said it is based on the salary of the individual who does it. Mayor said Fultz reassured me that the $500 would cover. Jolley said so there is not a set rate; it is based on a billable hour like attorneys use. Jones said it is salary, construction costs and square footage; some are simple and others much more complicated. Larick said why did this as a school fit under the Commercial Building Code. Jones said by the Ohio Building Code it is commercial or multifamily; it is not residential. Wright said so how did we get to $500 from $2000. Jones said the $2000 was based on a flat fee as well as 2% of the over all construction costs; those were significant in that bleachers are not a cheap purchase; that worked out to $2000 and we realized in this case it did not require a significant inspection; we determined that $500 was reasonable to review the plans and to inspect the work and make sure it was done properly. Wright said if a church had a gym and decided to replace bleachers , would we take this same rationale. Jones said they would have to pay the $500 fee once the schedule has been changed; we intend to change it next year. Kneeland said what action is required by us. Jones said an ordinance; they have already paid $2000 so it would be refunding $1500. Jolley asked Jernigan if it needed waiver or emergency. Jernigan said no reason that would be needed. Angelou said the permit for this work was pulled by the school not by the contractor installing the bleachers. Jones said I believe that is City of Gahanna Page 9 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes October 15, 2013 correct. Angelou said I would question why the school did this rather than the vendor. Jones said I do not know whose name was actually on the application; in the end the school eats the bill for it. Angelou said it says location; we did this another time this year when they came forward. Jones said that was a specific contract that included it. Jones said we work with the schools and it is their property management. Angelou said it is likely the person installing should be eating that cost rather than the school; it could be the permit fees were included in the $123,600 cost of the bleachers; that would make a difference;can you check on that. Jones said I will find out about the applicant and send that out tomorrow morning. Recommendation: 1st Reading, no need to come back, 2nd Reading, Consent Agenda. Liquor Permit - Mi Tradicion, Inc., 111 N. Stygler. Spence said the liquor permit is a standard transfer; the Police Department has no objections or history of the premise. Recommendation: Motion Resolution, Consent Agenda. ISSUES - From Director of Finance: Revenue Based Expense Adjustments/Supplemental Teal said I am making an attempt to streamline the year end adjustments that we bring forward on a regular basis; many of them are revenue based changes in our appropriations; tried hard not to have any bumps in the road but I am handing out an adjustment to what I initially emailed; staff found one more but I am trying, in order to be more efficient, to get it all into one omnibus adjusted appropriation rather than bring these in piece meal; the one I added is the third one down; basically for hotel/motel lodging tax; at present they are at about 74%; at the end of the third quarter they were right on track from a revenue standpoint at 75% of plan; however the last quarter does tend to be higher; these funds would only be needed if that revenue comes in ahead of where the rest of the year was tracking; this would give us the ability to make the payouts to the CIC and CVB that we need to do without having to come back in late November or December and ask for additional funds; for the most part these are routine adjustments to the funds; the ones that deserve the most attention are related to bond retirement; in 2012 the Creekside TIF received a windfall because of the property settlement; the funds should have rightfully been transferred to bond retirement that year; because of the timing they did not get included; this would true up that City of Gahanna Page 10 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes October 15, 2013 fund; make it close to a zero balance; it will move everything historically that should have gone to bond retirement into bond retirement; likewise the Manor Homes TIF is performing better than we initially anticipated; that will also go into bond retirement each year; between those 2 adjustments, the refunding, and an improved way of how we should transfer money from the General Fund for bond retirement, I don't need to transfer any General Fund dollars this year; rather than to keep having this budget under run for the rest of the year, we thought it was best to clean that up and unappropriate those funds; that way it doesn't look like we are performing in some superior manner when in reality we have no intention of transferring that money over; any other questions on these adjustments I am happy to answer. Angelou said on the Manor Homes TIF, in reading when it was first done, part of it was for roads; wasn't this done by a developer who typically does the roads. Teal said we may have to do additional research or Wetherholt may have to reply; there were some public improvements to the area to get it development ready; there were utility components as well as some road activity; don't have the detailed list but I could pull that up; the TIF performs strong enough to cover all of the debt service associated with that and the debt associated with Hannah Farms Park; so it performs far in excess of what was needed to cover those public infrastructure improvements related to the private development and spurred that development to happen; the public infrastructure components are what we are paying toward and what the TIF funds are allowable for; not any private infrastructure. Angelou said typically when housing is done like this, that is all done by the developer; it is something they give to the community; thought it was odd; would they not have built the Parade of Homes there. Teal said if there is a request for additional research I can do that. Angelou said when you have time. Jones asked Angelou to clarify the question. Angelou said it appears we took bonds out on Manor Homes that were for road construction if I was reading it correctly; when a development comes in, typically the developer puts in the roads and infrastructure. Jones said we have an exact accounting of where all those funds went; the developer just finished Phase 2 and they did some work for us and we paid them back. Angelou said I will get with you as I would like to learn more about that. Jolley clarified this is one ordinance for supplemental appropriation. Recommendation: 1st Reading, no need to come back, 2nd Reading, Consent Agenda City of Gahanna Page 11 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes October 15, 2013 3rd Quarter Update Teal provided a Power Point presentation for 3rd quarter; a copy is available in the Council Office and on the Gahanna.gov Website. Wright said with the Local Government Fund do you think we will be able to hit the planned target. Teal said we will come in really close; I have recently received information from the County that in the new budget bill there was a further reduction; we will see that number come in lower for 2014. Wright said so the reduction was on a State level. Teal said yes; that fund is State driven and it has been decreasing in steps for the last 3 years; we thought this year was rock bottom; but we were recently told that is not true yet. Angelou said the schools are getting extra. Teal said they are; there were adjustments to increase school funding over last year's level; but not to local government. Jolley said school funding is still below where it was when the reductions started; so we are at $750,000 now; where would we have been. Teal said about 1.6 or 1.7 million so it has been cut more than half. Angelou said we will be up to $900,000 by the end of the year. Teal said this year there was still 6 months at a higher rate; the reduction level is a stair step; next year will be the first year with the whole year at the reduced rate. Angelou said but we will have more at the end of the year to about $900,000. Teal said it will be at $745,000 at the end of the year as per the chart. Angelou said I was thinking of it wrong. Larick said can you elaborate on the miscellaneous line. Teal said there are a couple of items in there we are moving out to track better in 2014; historically there have been a number of penalty and interest lines included; anytime a receipt comes in we don't know what to do with because it is completely out of the ordinary, it goes there until we figure a better home; there was a Bureau of Workers Compensation adjustment where they had the rebate for prior years; we will never receive it again and have to put it somewhere, so things like that go into miscellaneous; varies year to year; once we pull out penalty and interest lines we will see less in there and really be able to see anomalies. Larick said what portion of this number is that stuff. Teal said the tax collection penalty and interest is around $250,000; I can't recall the BWC figure. Larick said with regard to grants, that ties to less grant requests and less grant associated work. Teal said right or timing; most grants require we complete the work before they give us money; since we are just now completing construction season we would not expect to see grant reimbursements yet. Jolley said do you anticipate we will hit close to plan for this. Teal said yes; I am not aware of anything that City of Gahanna Page 12 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes October 15, 2013 would have reduced our grant funding. Capital Needs Assessment Braun said last year we started with a foundation for creating the Capital Improvements Plan; this was recommended by our Citizens Financial Advisory Committee and is a best practice of local governments that allows you to plan for future needs and the financing of them; we started the process with the 5 year Capital Needs Assessment; there is no plan now since there is no funding, but it does allow us to look out and say, based on our vision, mission, and our critical success factors, what are the capital needs of our City for the next 5 years; we did this last year and updated it this year; there is not a lot that has changed; this is for 2014 to 2018; there are 5 projects that are brand new; they are identified in the introduction; we then updated numbers based on any new information; want to talk about definitions we used; capital is anything that costs $5000 or more and has an expected life of 5 or more years; operating capital meets the capital definition but is for things we need on a regular basis like cruisers; not necessarily projects or improvements; then there are true capital projects and improvements like trails and new facilities; we also identified priority levels as a way to categorize projects; priorities 1, 2 and 3; 1's are things we must do; 2's are things we should do; 3's are things that we could do; there is more information on these in the introduction; and then we have core service levels; as a recommendation of the Citizens Financial Advisory Committee we were to go through and identify our core services; so we have taken all our services and projects and labeled them core or must do; semi core or things above and beyond what we should be doing as a local government; then enhancements that improve the quality of life; the document in front of you is similar to last year's; in the pocket is an executive summary; the introduction talks about what the assessment is and highlights the new projects; also talks about those that we know we need to address but they are not in this assessment or realistically on the horizon, like a community center or new Police headquarters; but we don't want to leave these totally off of the table; first section is operating capital; second is priority one projects; then it is priority 2 and 3, just like last year; all that is related to the General Fund; then there is a section for Proprietary Funds; on the project sheets, every project has a description; what the ongoing costs will be; the forecast of ongoing costs; core service level; priority level; this year we added a new section of what ward the project will be in or if it is citywide; we are not asking for action on this; this sets the stage for the appropriations requests discussion at the first committee in November; turn it over to Teal. Jolley said we are out of time; we could adjourn and reconvene after City of Gahanna Page 13 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes October 15, 2013 the special meeting. Teal said everything I was going to say is on the paper in the cover ; you won't miss anything if you just read this with the points I was going to make with summary information about what is included and the overview information about the dollars. Larick said this represents all of the potential projects with some things identified as left out; when the 2014 appropriations come forward, that will end up being a subset of what is available. Teal said yes. Mayor said we need you to remember we are funding at about a quarter of what we need to fund; we are seriously under funding the capital needs of the City; we are deferring things that should not be deferred. Anderson said but these are the Administration's priorities. Mayor said yes; these are the priorities of the professionals hired to make these decisions; we believe we are seriously under funding and need to take a good look at this. Meeting Adjourned. Isobel L. Sherwood, MMC Clerk of Council APPROVED by the Committee of the Whole, this day of 2013. Stephen A. Renner City of Gahanna Page 14