Committee of the Whole

200 South Hamilton Road City of Gahanna Gahanna, Ohio 43230 Meeting Minutes Committee of the Whole Jamie Leeseberg, Chair Karen J. Angelou Brian D. Larick Nancy R. McGregor Brian Metzbower Stephen A. Renner Michael Schnetzer Kimberly Banning, Clerk of Council Monday, September 24, 2018 7:00 PM Council Committee Room CALL MEETING TO ORDER Chair Leeseberg called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. UPDATE FROM FIRE DEPARTMENTS No update. PENDING LEGISLATION ORD-0065-2018 TO AMEND SECTION 161.081, CREDIT FOR TAX PAID TO ANOTHER MUNICIPALITY, OF CHAPTER 161, INCOME TAX, OF THE CODIFIED ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF GAHANNA, RELATED TO THE SUBMISSION TO THE ELECTORS OF THE CITY OF GAHANNA AT THE GENERAL ELECTION TO BE HELD NOVEMBER 6, 2018, AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND ORDINANCE 75-76, PASSED AUGUST, 1976, SO AS TO INCREASE THE GAHANNA INCOME TAX FROM A RATE OF ONE AND ONE-HALF (1.5%) PERCENT TO A RATE OF TWO AND ONE-HALF (2.5%) PERCENT. Mr. Ewald said he had nothing new to add, and he has not received any questions from members. Mr. Schnetzer asked the purpose of the placeholder on the agenda. Mr. Larick replied it’s a placeholder in the event anyone has any questions. Mr. Schnetzer said I want to underscore the purpose of this. It is part and parcel with issue 29. Residents who live in Gahanna but work in a 2.5% jurisdiction have an effective tax rate of 2.75%. Only the residents of Bexley, I believe, have a higher rate in the county. Instead of residents living next to each other paying different rates, this will normalize the rate so everyone pays 2.5%. For example, anyone who works downtown pays 2.75% (AEP, Nationwide, Rhodes Tower, Marconi Blvd, or up at Polaris), tens of thousands of workers in City of Gahanna Page 1 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes September 24, 2018 the region would see their tax rate normalized with approximately 80% of the region’s population. Any idea that this is inconsistent or out of the norm is false. This is putting Gahanna in line with other communities. Mr. Leeseberg said I can’t speak for my colleagues but I would expect the credit legislation to pass unanimously. That was the intent when we put this together. The reason this isn’t on the ballot is that we can’t have more than a single-issue measure on the ballot. It’s not a carrot we’re hanging out there. Mrs. McGregor said actually John Hicks posted on Take Back Gahanna that the tax issue is a levy, but the credit is an ordinance. Mr. Ewald said that was made clear by the Board of Elections that they would not allow it because of Ohio Revised Code. RECOMMENDATION: October 22, 2019 Special Meeting ORD-0077-2018 TO AUTHORIZE THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO LEASE AGREEMENT FOR PERSONAL WIRELESS COMMUNICATION FACILITY LOCATED AT ACADEMY PARK. Ms. Franey said the exhibit has not been finalized. Mr. Ewald said they’ve asked for more time. Recommendation: Introduced, Back to Committee. ITEM FROM THE CITY ENGINEER RES-0015-2018 STORMWATER AWARENESS WEEK RESOLUTION (October 7- October 13th, 2018). Mr. Priestas said this resolution is in promotion of stormwater awareness week October 7-13th. Mr. Larick asked would it be possible to identify recommendations with regard to code, standards, building expectations, or best management practices that we may want to entertain either as code or as standards in some fashion? We have guidance, but can we evaluate if we have an interest in the most effective forward-thinking stormwater practices, recommendations on things to look for in changes to our requirements to enhance that, in some reasonable window. Mr. Priestas said I have a couple of thoughts. We have a rainwater and land development manual. Everything is supposed to comply with that manual, how-to’s and BMPs. We do have code that requires certain detention, design requirements, but we have guidelines in place. Mr. Leeseberg said I think more green infrastructure. Some jurisdictions give preferential treatment. The EPA just changed their permit. Water quality has been doubled. We file a MORPC permit, most folks file with Columbus. Mr. Larick said essentially what I’m looking at is how do we take some form of a lead toward not piping toward the river. Mr. Priestas said we have a credit for developers who implement best practices, green infrastructure City of Gahanna Page 2 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes September 24, 2018 if you will. We’re looking at revising that credit to incentivize developers to use that more easily. Mr. Larick asked to take a little time to look at guidance. Mr. Schnetzer said I was going to confirm that you were getting at green infrastructure. Mr. Leeseberg said enough of those case studies have been around. Jurisdictions give preferential treatment to folks using it. Chicago puts you at the top of the list if you use LEED. Mr. Larick asked what a reasonable timeline would be. Mr. Priestas suggested the end of the year. Mr. Larick said preferably second committee in November, at the latest the first committee in December. Mrs. McGregor said when you say stormwater detention, are there highs and lows that must be met? Mr. Priestas said there is an evaluation of pre- and post-developed condition. There’s a one-year critical storm in a post-developed scenario versus the pre-developed scenario. Mr. Leeseberg said problem in this part of Ohio is that none of the water gets back in the ground due to clay and soil so it’s damaging over time. I hear over and over that “the shopping center is causing the problem” but it’s actually releasing less water, but over a longer period of time. Franklin soil and water had a great speaker on that topic. Mrs. McGregor said I know engineers say that but I live near a creak that used to be 6’ wide and now it’s 10’. Mr. Leeseberg said imagine a paper towel. It could handle a lot of water, but after a day of getting soaked, another drop would put a hole in it. What you get now is the banks are actually moving. It’s about not releasing any more than before. We can’t get it back in the ground here. Permeable pavers get it under the ground and it sits there. In Urbana we filled a pond and within a day it was gone. If you have sand it goes right down in the ground but around here it runs off. The clay’s almost as hard as the asphalt. Recommendation: Introduced, Consent Agenda ITEM FROM COUNCIL MR-0039-2018 THIS COUNCIL HAS NO OBJECTION TO TWO LIQUOR PERMIT TRANSFERS FROM VINDICARE MANAGEMENT LLC TO SCHULTE CATERING OHIO LLC, 695 TAYLOR RD, BUILDING A & B ONLY AND 665 TAYLOR RD & PATIO, GAHANNA, OHIO 43230. Mrs. McGregor asked if that was the hotel. Mr. Metzbower said yes. Recommendation: Introduced, 2nd Reading, Consent Agenda ITEM FROM THE FINANCE DIRECTOR MR-0040-2018 TO AUTHORIZE THE TRANSFER OF FUNDS IN THE AMOUNT OF $7,500 FROM 101.131.5295 - COUNTY AUDITOR AND TREASURER City of Gahanna Page 3 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes September 24, 2018 FEES TO 101.991.5933 - TRANSFERS TO THE GENERAL BOND RETIREMENT FUND. Ms. Bury said we just received a little less in real estate taxes than anticipated and the transfer is reliant on those funds, so we need to transfer more than anticipated. County auditor sends that estimate to us. We did come in more with homestead and rollback but the net was less. Mr. Schnetzer asked to walk through the chronology or mechanics of the process. My understanding is municipalities are at the mercy of the county so the county is the only one allowed to set aside a portion and everyone else has to sort of squabble over the rest. Ms. Bury said what they do is look at a property and all the jurisdictions that assess cannot exceed 10 mills. The county can hold aside some of it, but all the rest have to be calculated so nothing can exceed the 10 mills. It can only be changed if we can prove that our income tax cannot cover the remainder and the police pension fund is established by a special levy within the 10 mills. Recommendation: Introduced, 2nd Reading, Consent Agenda REPORT FROM SAFETY DIRECTOR - FOR REVIEW 2018-0176 Police Department Report for August 2018 ADJOURNMENT Chair Leeseberg adjourned the meeting at 7:18 p.m. City of Gahanna Page 4