Committee of the Whole

Office of the Clerk of Council City of Gahanna 200 South Hamilton Road Gahanna, Ohio 43230 Meeting Minutes Committee of the Whole Stephen A. Renner, Chair, Karen J. Angelou, Ryan P. Jolley, Thomas R. Kneeland Brian D. Larick, Jamie Leeseberg, Michael Schnetzer Kimberly McWilliams, CMC, Clerk of Council Monday, August 10, 2015 7:00 PM Council Committee Rooms CALL TO ORDER Chair Renner called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Additional Attendees: Sue Wadley, Rory Gaydos, Jennifer Teal, Joann Bury, Kim McWilliams, Lt. Jeffrey Spence, Dottie Franey, Rob Priestas, Mike Musser, Troy Euton, Anthony Jones, Niel Jurist, Jeannie Hoffman, Residents, Diana Redman, Press. Present 6 - Thomas R. Kneeland, Brian D. Larick, Jamie Leeseberg, Karen J. Angelou, Michael Schnetzer, and Stephen A. Renner Absent 1 - Ryan P. Jolley ITEM FROM COUNCIL ORD-0072-2015 TO AUTHORIZE THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO CONTRACT WITH COLUMBUS ASPHALT PAVING, INC. OF 1196 TECHNOLOGY DRIVE GAHANNA, OHIO 43230 FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF BIG WALNUT TRAIL SECTION 5; TO SUPPLEMENTALLY APPROPRIATE $60,000; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY. Euton said spoke with a few members of Council last week and tonight we will address some of the concerns; have Darrell Miller, the project engineer and Tony Slanec, the planning and urban designer here to answer questions and address some concerns; will be addressing the trees that will be removed; reminded everyone why we are doing this project and why this is important; trails are important and highly desired; have received over 1.6 million dollars up to this point for these trail projects; everyone is asking why we need a fence; needed for safety; pedestrians will be walking in the area where golf balls are being hit; if someone is hit on this trail someone could die; this fence is important; discussed the original alternative before the fence was moved; it was moved if you recall to keep the sledding hill and reduce some of the fence; have eliminated around 400 feet of fence in the adjustment to the plan; will be adding curb and gutter along the street so the drivers know there is an edge of street; the number one tee area is close in proximity to the trail; along the greens there will be City of Gahanna Page 1 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes August 10, 2015 some fencing to prevent various shots from injuring someone using the trail; the shots can be up to 70 mph; do not want to put the trail users in harm’s way; an actual picture was shown to show the proximity of the trail to the number one tee as well as the number four tee; number one and number three green pictures were also shown and it was pointed out where the trail will go; the fence will be ten feet high with an angle cover over the top for protection; Champions golf course has put up a similar fence and a picture was shown; our fence will be black which will be more visually attractive; spoke with Brad Westall, Greenways Planner for the City of Columbus, and discussed one of their current projects; it was put on hold for ten years because golfers did not want the fence; have now put in the fence and are being requested to put in more fencing to protect trail users; they have no issue now and the golfers are happy with the fence; noted that an arbor was suggested by a resident; does not believe it will be safe or low maintenance option; the wood will likely not stop the golf balls at their speed; the wood may rot; will be higher in maintenance; if it needs repaired it will not offer the same safety; the chain link fence offers full-time protection and is limited maintenance; also, netting was brought up by residents; that option lasts only a few short years compared to the chain link fence and his experience with them and other colleagues experience, it is not favorable.. Euton showed an image of the revised alignment of the tree impacts; many of the pictured trees will need to come down for the project; there is a cottonwood tree in the picture that will need to come down for the project; with time the trees that are planted will match and give a nicer look than they do today; recommend we keep this project moving; do not want to put us in a penalty box for grants; we can always disguise this fence; feel the fence is vital for trail users; we need certified plans to get this moving forward for the grant; if the fence is removed there is too much liability and an engineer will not certify the plans; the City of Columbus has lived this situation and found that people do not believe the fence is an issue or unattractive once it is put up. Angelou thanked Troy for putting this together; hope we can get out, possibly on the website how it will look without the trees; hope we can come up with good landscaping so this adds to the community; Euton said Michael Heitzman suggested locking a landscape plan in now and ensuring we have funding; Schnetzer confirmed the fence has to cure for a year before being painted and asked if the landscaping would have to be held up as well; Euton said the fence is galvanized and should weather before it is painted; would love to paint it immediately but need to get more opinions and to see if there is new technology which can allow us to paint the fence immediately; Angelou said Tom Liszkay wrote a letter and wanted to make sure that was City of Gahanna Page 2 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes August 10, 2015 known and everyone got it; Euton said there are public groups meeting on a regular basis and discussing these items; they are the public outreach; Kneeland said we could allow the audience to make a comment on the fence; Catherine Cunningham said she sent the picture of the arbor; understands the safety of the fence; thanks everyone for working on the trail project; said the arbor picture shown has not been touched in at least thirteen years; has had no maintenance or paint or stain; believes it is a more attractive park-like fence option; said the chain link fence looks like it belongs in an industrial area; Tony Correlli from Rivers Edge Way said the chain link fence breaks up the view and reminds him of a prison fence or the fence that is over 270 on McCutcheon; said he is for the trail; does not believe we need a fence; has seen other golf courses with trails that do not have a fence through them; likes the idea of a trellis; Cunningham noted it is backing up to residential homes and they likely do not want to fence; Euton said understands the golf course has been there for a long time but there has never been a trail through the golf course; expect a busy trail when all the trails connect; appreciates the alternative fence designs; do not know of a design that is as effective or will be as economical to maintain as much as this fence; we try be economical; said there are four homes across the street from this fenced trail; one owner was not in favor of the fence because they wanted a view of the golf course; the chain link fence does not distract the view as the trellis option may; Miller said the top few feet of the fence will be visible from the street area because of the slope and the trees in the area; Leeseberg asked about the cost for a vinyl coating versus painting; noted he was golfing today and one of the best golfers he was with left hooked a shot today that nearly hit someone’s windshield; chain link fence on a golf course is not uncommon; it is economic; it is durable; you will not see it as you distance yourself; Larick asked about fewer posts and cabling; Euton said there is no update; have not hired any engineering to explore that; we would be looking at a mesh fence along a cable structure; ice and wind load would be problematic in professional experience; Kneeland asked about renditions of the project as it currently is configured; views from the street; Euton said we do not; reviewed where the fence was shown to go in and where it would be eliminated; intend to plant additional trees in other areas as some are removed; in the picture shown on the projector the yellow represents a straight shorter fence where it will address line drive balls; Miller said about 400 feet are below road level and are the eight foot not arched fence; Angelou noted at the beginning of the fenced trail, it is 20 feet below the road and you will not see the fence from the roadway; only the golfers will see the fence; Euton said the project has 2100 feet of the fence in the original plan but we are down to 1500-1700 now; also reducing the taller arched fence by another 400 feet; happy to answer any further questions or concerns; believes we need to move forward City of Gahanna Page 3 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes August 10, 2015 on this project. ITEMS FROM THE CLERK OF COUNCIL 1. Fireproof Contract McWilliams said we are requesting a contract renewal with Fireproof; have had a contract with them since 1992; have the funds available; a few items changed and they were reviewed with no issues by the City Attorney; we have about 436 boxes at Fireproof which are more permanent records and need protection; currently we are paying about $176 a month; the fee increase as shown will increase currently bill to about $196 a month; need to send additional boxes soon, so that price will slightly increase. RECOMMENDATION: Consent Agenda. 2. Records Management Update McWilliams said Human Resources (HR) will start at the end of next week with Intellivue and that software; the Police Department is more than half way through; currently use the software daily to search for records; has been a benefit; Council and Legal are also using the software; Kneeland asked Spence for feedback; Spence said a lot of their records are on paper and stored in the basement or off site and not in their current system; frequently get requests for these records and it is difficult to retrieve them and distribute; ended up having to make copies of copies to redact information and the quality was poor; the new software makes it easy; can redact social security numbers and use generalized templates in the software seamlessly; it is very easy to retrieve information; excited to digitize and get these boxes off site permanently and not stored in the basement; sorting through old records has been labor intensive and time consuming and we will not have to go back to that after things are in Intellivue; some items are not able to be sent off site as they are sensitive items; with the software we are above 60% through; it is a more efficient way to do business; McWilliams added that Records has been able to eliminate the use of the reader as everything can be found in Intellivue now and we are happy with that progress. 2015-0159 Clerk of Council Supporting Documents ITEM FROM THE DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 1. Transfer Funds: Hourly to Contract Services Fund City of Gahanna Page 4 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes August 10, 2015 Gaydos said we are asking for motion resolution to transfer funds; the amount being transferred will come from four different accounts that were set aside for a full-time IT specialist position with the City; funds will be transferred to contract services; will still be used for a full-time IT specialist position but through a temporary agency until the end of the year. RECOMMENDATION: Consent Agenda. 2015-0156 IT Supporting Documents REPORTS 2015-0160 Parks & Recreation Report ADJOURNMENT: 7:48 p.m. Kayla Holbrook, Reporting City of Gahanna Page 5