Committee of the Whole

City of Gahanna 200 South Hamilton Road Gahanna, Ohio 43230 Meeting Minutes Monday, December 9, 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 December 9, 2013 ADDITIONAL ATTENDEES: Jennifer Teal, Kim McWilliams, Charles McCroskey, Karl Wetherholt, Dottie Franey, Jennifer Teal, Tony Collins, Anthony Jones, Isobel Sherwood, Gen. Williams, Alan Deloera, Doug Maddy, Mayor Stinchcomb, Press CALL TO ORDER Ryan Jolley called the meeting of the Committee of the Whole to order at 7:01 p.m.; called an indefinite recess to continue special meeting. Council reconvened at 8:17 p.m. ISSUES - From Director of Development: CIC 2014 Contract Jones said 2014 contract was distributed in Council report; similar to 2013 with minor changes; an obligation that CIC is requesting to take on this year; to administer Gahanna land bank program; City can acquire underutilized properties; other one is to extend term to spend $350,000 that this Council provided to it, completes December 31, 2013; annual contract extended to 2015; allow us to continue with expenditures we have in place; website is one; 3rd change is on revenue side; authorize CIC to pay expenses they incur; reimburse costs for commercial properties; City reimburse from TIF account; those are changes from 2014; had a member here but had to depart. Wright stated good idea to move forward on land bank; speak to how many properties; Jones answered only 1 vacant lot would be easily incorporated into land bank; has to be vacant, tax delinquent and left. Wright asked the purpose of CIC taking this on if it's such a low variance; Jones stated not low, it's this year; updated quarterly; some commercial properties on list. Kneeland stated 1st entry into it for CIC; didn't want anything too complex; wanted to work their way through it, instead of getting wrapped up in a larger project and possibly fail. Wright stated think it's a good idea; lot of properties that won't fit those 3 situations you need; several properties in Ward 2 that didn't meet this; this is written in and never gets executed as a fully functioning tool; giving CIC another responsibility that they cannot fulfill; don't want to set them up for failure. City of Gahanna Page 1 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes December 9, 2013 Jones stated know right now CIC has put on hold this one residential project because of the uncertainty of how this land bank will be administered; administration of that program has been delaying us moving forward; spoken with developers this year; land bank program works with county's CIC and they have more flexibility; could help with demo of commercial properties for future development; getting properties ready for redevelopment. Angelou asked how does this fit in with memo just passed out; Jones stated this going to CIC wanting you to administer this on our behalf; Angelou ask will it work with original memorandum; Jones yes; required to be in unison; Angelou asked how is CIC doing with Blue Mile fiber; have they met requirements as it relates to the goals they set; Jones stated we wanted to get 5-10 VIP businesses on board have 3 now and 3 in works; received revenue for past 4 quarters; been producing return more than anticipated; Angelou asked in terms of stated goal; 181 Granville 5 new businesses; Jones said there has been changes in occupancy; increased up to 66%; Angelou asked 5 new businesses; Jones said majority of space is occupied; working with 2 tenants now; increased tremendously; Angelou asked is there an income flow from that; Jones responded, yes will be in Council report; but always turnover with small firms. Jolley asked what is slated for $350,000; Jones said 3 primary traunches slated: Gahanna Net and improvements for fiber optic network; 2nd dealing with real estate; 181 to become an asset for small businesses; 3rd is marketing website development and project specific assistance; Jolley asked status of Gahanna Net; Jones stated 3; one off of Taylor Road; expanded network on Cross Pointe to expand footprint; working with owner of multi-tenant building; a lot of work up front; streamlined it as well as we could and getting revenue back. Angelou went on website expecting it to be functional; Jones stated not currently open to public yet; Angelou stated it's blue. Kneeland stated not up yet; Jones stated he and Torres are working on it now; integrating with regional sites; hope was to get it done by end of year; end of first quarter now; will be exactly what we want it to be; a resource for companies that are here as well as interested in coming here. Recommendation: 1st reading, Consent Agenda with Waiver and Emergency Language. Resolution Supporting Geiger Excavating City of Gahanna Page 2 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes December 9, 2013 Jones stated we have Steve Geiger and Wendy Steiner from Geiger excavating present; remediating Bedford 2 landfill; just southeast of Kahiki; southern boundary of city; sold them the old Claycraft brick company last year; using it as part of overall Southpark development; looking to DSA to get a brownfield loan to help with remediation; 22 acres; adjacent to a rail line; put almost anything on property; distributed outline of project. Steiner stated prepared letter and have already made pre-application; gotten approval through Ohio EPA to do the loan; there is some site history on the other side and an analysis on what we will use the funds for; Geiger stated this is on the 3.7 acre and 1.9 acre is what we are doing now. Mayor stated looking for a resolution of support. Jolley apologized for long delay; thank you for waiting. Wright stated think it's an excellent idea to take this initiative; has my support; hope you can get the funding; Steiner indicated only way we're supporting it now is to also run another business on top of it. Recommendation: Resolution on Consent Agenda. Amendment to MOU - COCIC Jones said Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) passed on July 1st; gives CIC responsibility of administering program; they have flexibility and ease for ensuring success; cost savings for City; make project more efficient in operation. Jolley asked 3 qualifications, vacant, tax delinquent and abandoned; and is there only one eligible or one interested in acquiring; Jones stated more than one eligible but gets complicated; this is state owned; simple to acquire; Jolley asked how many meet that criteria; Jones said receive quarterly update; difficult to say right now; come in different states, various lien processes we have to go through and those vary as well; both residential and commercial; list that I have of properties is more than 20 but do not qualify in all 3 standards. Wright asked don't see the swell and demand that we have properties that are hitting all three metrics for the land bank program; is a problem we have; Jones stated the abandoned element is more complicated; need legal proof; program created to turn around delinquent properties; glad we don't have a plethora of those in the City; better for us to be involved. City of Gahanna Page 3 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes December 9, 2013 Schnetzer asked what is the liquidation process; Jones stated we have never completed from start to finish a liquidation process; according to MOU, if property becomes eligible, create notification to county; they would go through process, they can get various deed in lieu of foreclosure, lien certificate from state; only if CIC has a development plan for it; commitment in place before land acquired; they would hold them accountable for getting the land developed; if through CIC much simpler; CIC entity just for that process. Kneeland asked if we didn't have this program in place, what would happen to these properties; Jones answered they would sit; state could take ownership of it; possibly go to sheriff's sale; Jones continued County is considered a land bank; get a portion of property late fees to support them; collect delinquent properties and wipe it clean and turn it over. Wright stated think it is a good concept; has properties that would qualify but owners or servicers are doing bare minimum of the properties being considered vacated or abandoned; that's where we are stuck; challenge is, development department brings us legislation to put more teeth into what we call abandoned; would allow more properties to flow into land bank process. Jolley said guidelines are set by ORC; Jones stated existence of land bank program will give those owners flexibility. Larick stated land bank is one segment of the spectrum; it is limited within this process; however, in rest of spectrum there is anything from open market to purchase or redevelop or CIC could purchase outside of land bank program. Recommendation: Consent Agenda with Waiver and Emergency Language. JEDZ Update Jones stated as indicated in last meeting; provided copies of JEDZ agreement with Jefferson Township; have actual contract, list of parcels is about 70 pages long, map is included; covered a lot of points in last discussion; will entertain any questions; have a member of Jefferson Township. administration, Zoning Administrator, Charles McCroskey, present for any questions; our goals are to publicize on 18th of December, take action in January; township publicizing theirs Friday. Angelou stated went to JEDZ and watched Westerville and Blendon talk about their JEDZ, Prairie and Obetz talk about theirs; one thing it's City of Gahanna Page 4 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes December 9, 2013 critical that it's all about the plan; had specifics and presented in March with November being vote; they spent a great deal of time being educated on the entire issue and worked for a long period before that time frame; feels as though this is being rushed; want more about the plan and specifics; asked if there is a 30 year moratorium on annexation; please check on that; probably is a good thing; 7 different things in information you gave us; not sure it is elaborated enough; there was a person there who had a bad experience with a JEDZ; there is a state of flux at the State level; what is CETA. Jones stated there was moratorium language that was added to a house bill that was already approved and that was removed from that bill; no longer under consideration; some communities might work with unlikely partners; as program went on they found ways to build economies of scale; relationship building process for Obetz and Prairie Township; Blendon Township had a significant amount of beautification and zoning controls; Jefferson Township wants to increase zoning enforcement, would need some additional support; plan would give them controls over built environment; holding it to higher standards; also Economic Development programs like abatements and retention; in City's best interest to do so. Angelou stated we will be giving them economic development expertise; Westerville is doing it differently; they are paying City to administer economic development for them; we are giving them access to resources like MODE and LEEDS; share a lot of infrastructure; Techcenter extending east; help work together to develop; what are the expectations of money coming in. Jones stated hesitant to put a number on it; goal is to know what we want to do and successfully accomplish that. Angelou stated there were plans to see the "plans" for a private enterprise coming in; what does this infrastructure improvement do to residential roads in need of repair; how can we justify that; Jones stated alleviates pressure to do that; different stream of revenue to repair those JEDZ properties; that would be a known factor; not assuming any revenue streams. Mayor stated we have been working on this for a year. Angelou stated was not aware of this; finding this in December when we have appropriations to do; this was a surprise. Jones stated from January to when it goes on ballot; extensive educational process to inform the electorate. City of Gahanna Page 5 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes December 9, 2013 Angelou stated believe the only thing critical is plan; is there more than these few pages that Council received in their packet; Jones responded document is requirement for JEDZ creation; Westerville's is only one page. Jones said attorneys want to protect individuals there; plan is going to be put in place as required by Code and contract there; wanting some flexibility is fine; having people vote on flexibility is not right direction to go; maybe we want more concrete and stated boilerplate that has to be done; same for Westerville. Wright thinks it is a good plan; people could schedule a meeting with Development Director for any questions. Larick stated meeting as a representative is great; have to start thinking outside the box; concerned with timeline. Wright stated execution of putting this on primary in May concerns me . Mayor stated Township doing that not the City. Wright stated still reflects on Gahanna; this being something that goes down in big flames; people don't go out voting yes on big things like this without education. Larick timeline is heavily directed by Township needs and directives ; City has a relationship that mutually benefits from joint economic development; from an education standpoint, don't know how to address timing; schedule has been discussed from beginning was a spring time frame; objective is to educate electorate of Township and City; hearing in Township and City to educate on what, why and how regarding the structure; challenge is with engagement of City; time does not necessarily help that; critical that as much notification be made as possible of what it is and what it is intended to do. Anderson stated even though it is written broadly, does that allow for possibility of economic consideration outside the zones outlined now; there are areas abutting the Township now; Hamilton and Johnstown, etc.; is this broad enough to encompass something in future; Jones answered yes; framework allows it to be broad enough. Anderson asked who would make that decision as to whether or not; Jones stated 3 entities from JEDZ board, City 3 reps and Township. 3 reps have prerogative of providing portion to schools and benefiting JEDZ district; Township. has means to spend portion within entire township; City can spend resources to our benefit; multiple ways commercial development can be created. City of Gahanna Page 6 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes December 9, 2013 Anderson asked who holds liability; Jones stated board has ability to take out liability insurance just like a normal board; State has an extensive audit process for all parties involved. Mayor stated Jefferson Township could have chosen any municipality ; we are pleased they chose us; we are neighbors and have one school district; relationship with Jefferson Township better than it has been; relationship builds with this; hoping Gahanna can be the partner. Angelou agrees but want to make sure we're not being too broad in approach. Jones requesting no action. Clerk Sherwood will be advertising on December 18 for January 21 public hearing. ISSUES - From Director of Human Resources: Salary Ordinances Wadley asked Teal to join her; brought forth salary ordinances for part-time, unclassified, command and supervisory personnel; Anderson asked them to speak to part-time positions and the need and/or ramifications if those are eliminated or reduced; Wadley stated there are several being recruited; positions that have been funded in past but due to economic state of the City, administration has not filled them; ask Council to be conscientious that there may be a need for those positions as time goes by based on services we provide to the residents. Jolley asked to clarify per prior discussion the dollar amount asked for part-time positions; Wadley said she asked for a more structured part-time amount of $107,000 to implement; Jolley asked does that reflect a change; Teal stated amount needed is included in 2014 budget request; Jolley asked has that been modified; Teal stated still asking for $300,000; would be captured in finance department narrative; that pool of funds was intended to be used for items discussed in this group for all unclassified employees; whole number estimate was initially discussed in market survey as a placeholder for city wide implementing updates to market system; amount currently discussed is part-time. Angelou if we chose to change that number what would go; Teal stated be able to provide that breakout; any change due to discussion; bring forward an updated document with those changes; been planning to do that one way or the other. Anderson asked how does Federal Law affect that change; Wadley City of Gahanna Page 7 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes December 9, 2013 said workers with average 30 hours or more, have to either offer those individuals healthcare insurance or look at adjusting hours; same workload to be done, may require more bodies doing same amount of work. Mayor stated we have a pool of part-time workers; at this time we are not planning on offering health insurance; not affordable; cutting hours down to 29/week or less and probably need more people to accomplish that work; is a bank of hours not a number of people. Recommendation: 4 ordinances for January 2nd Regular Agenda with Waiver and Emergency. ISSUES - From Director of Public Service: Hamilton/Clark Hall Traffic Cabinet Franey stated Clark Hall intersection right by Panera; on November 23 a car hit control cabinet for that signal and it cost us about $3,200 just to get signal back operating; renting some equipment right now; price to get new cabinet; cannot repair; cost is $46,844 and that includes cost, plus 10% contingency; asking supplemental appropriation and asking that we have a waiver of second reading to get that as soon as possible so we're not renting any longer than necessary; will be billing party at fault; no insurance company on report; immediately we sent a letter to at fault party letting them know that they needed to notify their insurance company asap. Larick asked how do we keep track of whether or not we get that cost for damages incurred; Franey stated have a whole process for invoicing; get police report; one person in service department responsible for preparing invoice; get a statement for someone in field; if streetlight, Jess Howard gives us an estimate so we can get full reimbursement; logged in and we check once a month to verify receipt; have notices that go out all the way through to the end; goes to City Attorney; gets turned over to legal. RECOMMENDATION : 1st reading, consent agenda with Waiver. Mosquito Abatement Contract Franey stated Franklin County handles this for many counties; current vendor responded; the new contract would be for 2014-2016 with two, one year extensions; $19,700 about $500 more than price in 2013; asking for legislation to enter into contract; emergency with waiver to clean up by end of year. City of Gahanna Page 8 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes December 9, 2013 Recommendation: Consent Agenda with Waiver and Emergency Language. ISSUES - From Clerk of Council: Rules of Procedure Sherwood passed out rules at last meeting; asked you to review them; do have new reason of economic development to go into executive session; find out if you wished to do that and if there are any other changes you'd like to make; like to get them incorporated for adoption in January. Angelou suggested change in Article 7; standing committees; believes finance discussions need to be in Committee of the Whole structure; the rest could stand; Finance would be under separate category with all members involved. Sherwood stated this structure has changed every year based on president. Angelou stated being out of the loop and reading the minutes is not effective to discuss financial matters; should be done with all members of Council; Kneeland agreed; Anderson agreed; think it's very important considering issues we're facing. Larick stated think language matter is ok the way it is; not to change every year; simply identify what they are; but structurally list them that way if there is a change, it can be accommodated; this overall structure doesn't have to change every year. Angelou stated would like to see Finance go under Committee of the Whole. Anderson stated as an alternative it is chaired by a different person and still 2 different committees; defined as Finance incorporating all. Jolley stated breakout defining committees but Council president appointing members. Larick stated list committees; have a single line that says all committees chaired by same person meets in conjunction. Jolley stated this does not need to change as written in the rules. Anderson stated put in there that all 7 members be part of that committee and not leave it to chance. City of Gahanna Page 9 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes December 9, 2013 Sherwood stated at this point adopt rules on January 2nd as they are; then work through what committees they want. Kneeland stated standing committees are what we are bound to. Sherwood stated we will work on wording; do you want Economic Development added to executive session. Council concurred. Sherwood tweak wording; once president elected, tweak them again. Recommendation: January 2 Agenda, adopt. ORD-0112-2013 Sherwood stated it will be back on regular agenda; only items to be approved are on consent; 2nd reading; assume you will vote it down since tax increase failed. RECOMMENDATION: 2nd reading, regular agenda. ISSUE - From Previous Committee: 2014 Appropriations Angelou asked about page 82, tab 12: don't see where CIC $350,000 from previous times; Teal stated don't believe it was in that account; from TIZ in TIF fund in tab 19 page 143; 2012 actual column; TIF funds have typically related to TIZ; development, safety, category. Angelou on page 96 having to do with Ohio Herb Education Center; that appears twice; Teal stated that one is in Finance; historically when the lodging tax revenue would come in, we would before herb center belonged to City we would write them a check; there was an expense for that; now we just book revenue to them as opposed to receipting it and journal entrying it over to them. Angelou stated appear that we have revenue coming in that offsets that; wanted to draw attention to that; is a good place; tourist attraction; is this a positive; Teal stated revenue is on page 222, when you include the OHEC revenue, there is revenue associated with Herb Center; our operating revenue does not address keeping up a historic building; consistently dip into general fund. Anderson asked aren't there monies for maintaining historical sites; Collins responded there's 2 fold to Herb Center; currently operating in City of Gahanna Page 10 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes December 9, 2013 the positive and that's our goal each year when incorporating that bed tax; as we move forward, we looked at what Teal stated regarding facility and if we weren't operating that facility where would that go; historically that stayed in general fund; that's where the question remains; the remaining bed tax; there is a grant from historical society $30,000 for repairs and about $25,000 reimbursed from grant fund left from family that originally owned building; set up through Ohio Historical Society; painting and roof damage this year. Anderson asked are monies available for future; Collins stated some yes; it covers some of the costs; funds will be there to whatever the fund balance is; more of the costs are our people doing the work and labor from maintenance staff keeping that building up; brought in contractor for painting, we were reimbursed for that; we think this is a benefit. Larick stated would recommend Council members go through that facility for the knowledge of the facility; cellar is dirt floor; wood sided structure that has 100+ years of paint; in the realm similar to the Sanctuary, facility of that age, resources required to meet a standard are different than maintaining it as a functioning facility. Anderson stated on the same page; think that we should always think long and hard about maintaining and keeping them as they should be. Kneeland stated the court computer and court building fund have significant funding in that; what are plans/restrictions; Teal stated revenue coming from tickets being paid; based on two factors: computer fund side thinking of high cost was the understanding that court has significant computer funding needs above and beyond other departments; that money has been used consistently whenever upgrades are needed; those are their capital funds. Mayor stated idea was that the users of those items would pay for that expense. Kneeland stated to understand the flexibility, can we use those funds to pay those employees; Teal answered no; code sections are different; generally special revenue funds are very restricted; typically special revenue funds if we abolished funds and dispersal of what was left but nothing currently that allows that; now that we're getting a better feel for that we may not need to accumulate at the rate we're accumulating; court operation takes up far more space one day a week; may want to purchase or renovate a building, this is the starter. Mayor stated it is important that cities have visions; Teal stated in addition to court building and computer; they make a significant City of Gahanna Page 11 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes December 9, 2013 deposit to general fund. Larick stated seem to be Court Computer fund could buy equipment that could be distributed throughout City in a couple of years; Teal added we have been identifying most pressing technology needs. DeLoera stated just started a Technology Committee for City; trying to forgo spending monies this year; looking at strategic plan for City; need buy in from other departments to use technology more efficiently in future; have to maintain it and apply it better in future. Wright said once a fund is abolished, where does money go; Teal responded needs legal review; ideally Code or ORC would discuss potential elimination of fund; that has not always been the case; review in our Code, ORC and other communities where code doesn't specifically show what we're supposed to do; our Code for Capital Fund is very tight; in other areas it is not as precise; there may be very good reason for that and in many cases Codes are created or authority is determined by ORC; have been working on compiling that information; as time allows been doing more research. Larick asked if Court Building Fund is there anything beyond heading towards being financially able to support a facility; has any assessment been done whether court fees could support its own facility. Gen. Williams stated it is needed for the court; we operate here as an instrument generally of the State; as such we have to do what the state dictates what our court does, like records and how we keep them; in early 2000s, Clerk of Court and I sat down and looked at this; got together with Service Director in 2005 and did 2025 study; part of study was to move Court to Senior Center or build a Community Center at Oklahoma Avenue; that was in 2005 and economy went down in 2008 and have not been able to do that; added on an extra fee for facilities in hope that if community center was built, this money would pay to update senior center; we are in dire need of record keeping capabilities; modified hallways; worked to consolidate records; have to abide by state; have used court building and computer funds to update; court outgrowing this building from legal and safety standpoint; know they are ongoing and growing; think they are needed. Larick asked from operational aspect; would you expect to cover operational expenses; Gen. Williams responded never thought they would do that; however money was there in case we could move into senior center. City of Gahanna Page 12 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes December 9, 2013 Teal stated bringing in $464,000 fines and fees; cost to operate on page 69 is $318,000; Leeseberg confirmed that $18,000 comes from Court Computer fund not in addition to; Teal responded allocation of funds happens at the time you set ticket cost. Anderson thanked Gen. Williams for insight; JEDZ speaks to Community Center. Jolley stated $2 Million in reductions want to discuss, $300,000 slated for market adjustments to salaries; how much used for part-time; think we should eliminate the balance of that; Anderson stated can concur with that; Larick and Leeseberg concur; Teal stated no language changed; no other ordinances proposed include that; Teal would reduce what's in book by $183,000. Jolley proposed reducing funding of 3rd group on Mayor's vacation position list as of 12/9/13. Mayor circulated to Council list of positions open as of today; will get a copy to clerk's office; was a request that came late today; we made a shot at organizing this into 3 buckets. 1. Orange highlighted positions currently recruiting and planning to fill; important to fill and already in process; Deputy Director of Planning & Development; in final interviews; Police Officers down to 51, this will take us to 55; conducting background checks 2. Blue highlighted positions not currently recruiting for but feel we need 3 parks related positions, 8 jobs; if we have associated programs, need the people to operate them, namely pools and camps; assuming those programs are offered, we need the proper staff; if you cut those positions, we will not offer those programs. 3. Purple highlighted positions feel we could forgo those positions in light of budget constraints. Anderson asked about pros and cons of zeroing out those positions; Mayor answered the work would not get done. Collins stated plan show pools closing; is a strain on facility but knowing that going forward, future of pool uncertain; had not planned to fill position listed in 2014 because of that; Senior Center part-time but that person helps lead programs; reduction to senior center cost and one person operating there; working on Senior Center plan now; trying to find a different way of operating that; looking at how we operate that facility as it is; those front desk responsibilities will be pushed up to a higher level position; other part-time people would fill in. Anderson stated also in favor of foregoing those positions. City of Gahanna Page 13 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes December 9, 2013 Jolley stated my intent is that this is where we begin 2014; our work has only just begun; only zeroing them versus eliminating; look at reorganizing labor and may add positions or part of them back; have to look at reorganizing across the entire organization; have a significant amount of work to do; Council Office Assistants should continue funding those for now; have a new clerk coming in; will be reorganizing to some degree; to make changes within 3-6 months. Larick stated advocate to zero one of them; believe we've not had a distinct reduction in our staff; need to be engaged in this process. Sherwood stated funding one of them at least is critical as it is less expensive than paying overtime for coverage assistance. Angelou stated may find as the office changes, always working with various departments so need to keep the one at least. Sherwood stated another factor is Planning Commission work is picking up. Wright stated records department that is for entire City; Mayor said yes, entire City. Wright stated our records are a mess, need to work and focus on that; meaning there is a large back load and a lot to be done and focus on; what the state mandates; situation where we have to get a hold of what is going on with our policy there; think this is something that was expressed during interviews; support keeping two part-time positions. Sherwood stated there is a backlog of records that needs to be cleaned out; there has not been a significant increase in getting to those due to increase of records requests; program through AARP may help get a volunteer to help with backlog; Wadley stated just had success with that in compiling Civil Service, thank Anderson for recommending that; great success. Jolley stated not that things are a mess; process is cumbersome based on how we have to maintain that. Jolley wants to keep both positions in clerk's office; Anderson says one; Larick says one; Leeseberg and Schnetzer said one; Teal stated will be more than $12.75 but in the range depending on experience. Sherwood said Jayme Maxwell (present tonight) will be coming back part-time starting in January. Jolley asked about Procurement Coordinator in PD; Chief stated pregnant officer doing duty of officer; also officer had a stroke; worried if keep downsizing and combining positions it will backfire; Lt. Spence City of Gahanna Page 14 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes December 9, 2013 does everything else and Procurement Officer left because he wasn 't getting paid enough. Leeseberg stated this procurement position needs to be filled full time; Jolley agreed; Leeseberg stated getting best deals on equipment offers some savings. Anderson asked if the recreation specialist and coordinator for camp and family programming is for winter camp in December and spring break; Collins stated this person was responsible for all camps: winter, teen core, outdoor education, worked with schools, under this person's responsibility; coordinator is a part-timer that works with specialist; 2nd day camp site; specialist can't be assigned to a site; coordinator stations at a particular site and is manager of site throughout summer; at this time, as part of our re-organization efforts, we don't know where we're going to go at this point; based on financial forecast our department scheduled to lose full time staff in 2015; doesn't make sense to hire someone to fire in 2015; currently in process of how buckets get determined; we will do what we can do but want to do it well so some things will need to go away to make programs more self-sufficient than they are today; if we can leave these 2 in here, if we decide best method is to hire rec specialist back because position is self-sufficient, we need to be able to act quickly; our current mindset is to eliminate campsite; lease out campsite; provide opportunity to provide camp; a lot of calculations need to be done; Park's team members currently vacant; like to keep those in there; work is not going away, just people. Angelou stated we should come back and revisit the positions and budget line by line; Larick stated in favor of keeping them; get through rest of page and seeing if that's the appropriate place to end up. Jolley stated unless someone is proposing closing pools and eliminating programs in 2014, we need to get these things moving forward. Angelou stated Renner stated in e-mail he wanted to have a hiring freeze; Jolley stated agree with partial hiring freeze; Leeseberg stated like consolidating camp to one site and generating revenue at the other park; Collins stated we are in negotiations with a company now; if that works out, we would not hire the Specialist; have to allocate those responsibilities to existing staff meaning something else has to go away; Collins stated these changes would be permanent in our mind unless further reductions are necessary; recreation department is a 94% direct return on costs; to get us over the hump, we need to make reductions in expenses and increase revenues; looking at how long it will take us to get to that point; Anderson asked just be for City of Gahanna Page 15 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes December 9, 2013 2014; Jolley stated all we're discussing is 2014; with an eye to what do we do going forward, the stated 4 positions. Teal stated we know because of time to hire, we know they would not start Jan. 1; already assumed $100,000 in savings not reflected here. Kneeland stated in budget document showed 43 officers; what is actual number. Chief stated 51 officers including myself and deputy chief. Teal stated plus sergeants and lieutenants; Angelou stated couldn't find police that were at the standards you wanted and asked if have they had a list; Chief stated we went through 25 and only 4 are standing for oral boards; not going to lower our standards; Angelou stated nothing more important than our safety forces; Chief said anticipate a resignation end of this year, 3 potential retirements and an officer with a spine fuse; Jolley asked do we need additional at beginning of 2014 or can we look at delaying; Chief we need to keep pipeline filled; Kneeland asked we only have 39 on street right now; Chief that's about right; Jolley is all for funding this line item. Jolley asked about utility billing specialist; Franey said we have 2 clerks, this person would be paid completely out of proprietary funds; Jolley stated fund it. Jolley asked about assistant city administrator position; Mayor stated not planning to hire; number of projects, see how I reallocate those projects; who can absorb that work; retain some of that money simply to hire another part-timer to answer phones in Mayor's office; now 1 administrative assistant, but if that person is out, phones get shifted to development or front desk; may not get customer service or answers they are looking for; people are getting voicemail; want to retain some money, less than $20,000, to have someone cover sick days or vacation; just to assist in department. Angelou suggested zero it out; Jolley stated think it is appropriate at this time but very willing to move quickly to accommodate whatever arrangement the Mayor thinks would be most beneficial given our limited resources. Anderson asked the Mayor as you sit here today, how are you envisioning constituent services; Mayor stated we have one full time position, there is no one to answer phones, etc; she wants the best services for the residents; she will do her best. Franey said since 2005, we have reduced our staff by 12; mention that because so much is made up of divisions that are proprietary; been going full bore while other things have been cut back; we have cut back 12; have 14 direct reports; absolutely needs that position of City of Gahanna Page 16 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes December 9, 2013 leadership; Jolley stated these deputy director positions are crucial; Anderson stated in support of this position; is it at that salary; Wadley stated it would be in that range and based on experience; Schnetzer stated sat with Franey and learned; law of diminishing returns; sometimes have to spend money to make money; Leeseberg stated time it takes to ask for grants and loans, there is money to be had but takes time to do it; arduous process; may be able to utilize some of those funds but need the staff to go after it; Jolley stated one of most crucial areas. Jolley stated in looking at Capital Improvement fund; beginning balance +$2 million has a higher closing balance; includes a transfer of 1.6 million dollars; propose we forgo that transfer until we can look at capital improvement plan; spend more time looking at other efficiencies before we commit that money; Anderson seconds that; Larick stated typically think along same lines; with amount of carry over, think it is minimally risky and prudent that we dedicate and allocate those funds. Anderson stated important to delve into what kind of re-organizations; Kneeland asked downside of not transferring it; Teal stated we have maintained some balance in capital improvement fund in case some project currently funded ran over; also to account for timing issues; sometimes grant funding does not always come in when it is convenient; some amount of cushioning is appropriate; to not transfer there would be $400,000 there; would want those discussions to begin quickly. Larick stated don't want to lose sight of those projects that are capital and long term; whether pool comes into play this year; means of having that is a known; have a focus on those things that are our core assets. Anderson asked will 1 or 2 months make a difference; Teal stated don't think so; will bolster general fund; Kneeland stated that would falsely indicate how much money we have; Jolley stated my intent is not that that money not get transferred but that our work is just starting; looking at moving baseline down; looking at starting number for year versus; just my proposal; open to discussion. Larick stated maybe we convene at 6 p.m. prior to the next meeting to get more in depth about this discussion; Sherwood stated there is a reception for outgoing Council planned prior to the meeting 5:30-7; Kneeland stated of the opinion leave fund where it is; Schnetzer stated it is inevitable that it be transferred; Jolley stated leave it; Anderson said leave it in general fund; Jolley said no consensus. City of Gahanna Page 17 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes December 9, 2013 It was decided there will be a Special Committee of the Whole after regular meeting on Monday, December 16. Meeting adjourned at 11:17 p.m. Reserve Policy Discussion to be held at future committee. 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 18