Committee of the Whole

200 South Hamilton Road City of Gahanna Gahanna, Ohio 43230 Meeting Minutes Committee of the Whole Nancy R. McGregor, Chair Brian D. Larick Karen J. Angelou Merisa Bowers Jamie Leeseberg Stephen A. Renner Michael Schnetzer Krystal Gonchar, MPA, Clerk of Council Monday, August 23, 2021 7:00 PM Council Chambers A. CALL TO ORDER. Vice President of Council Nancy McGregor called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. B. PRESENTATION: 1. Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio 2021-0168 AHACO Presentation- Carlie Boos. McGregor introduced Executive Director of Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio, Carlie Boos for the attached presentation. Bowers asked if Boos could provide some information about the members of AHACO and asked about the slide on source of income protection; asked if the data was specific to Franklin County or Ohio. Boos stated that the data came from Franklin County’s Department of Justice and Policy Programs, in court consultation with the Legal Aid Society of Columbus and the Ohio Housing Finance Agency. Regarding membership, AHACO has 25 members, including non-profits like Homeport and Homes on the Hill; for-profit developer members such as NRP Group and Woda Cooper; members also include shelter groups such as YWCA, YMCA, Shelterboard; have investors such as Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing and Finance Fund; also includes organizations helping with substance abuse and recovery. Larick asked how AHACO relates to and interacts with Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority. Boos stated that they are a member; City of Gahanna Page 1 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes August 23, 2021 Bob Bitzenhofer is the Vice Chair; they have an excellent relationship due to the scale of housing that CMHA is able to do; the number of households they are able to affect; their data has trend forecasts. C. ITEMS FROM THE DIRECTOR OF FINANCE: 1. ORD-0054-2021 AN ORDINANCE AUTH O R I Z I N G A SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATION- American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Funds. Finance Director Joan Bury stated that the first payment from ARPA funds was dispersed in July; looked at calculation to determine lost growth; average growth from 2017-2019 was 10%; roughly $3.5 million for loss in revenue. Went back to directors to see what was forgone in 2020; there are a few items; a reduction in professional development, technology, new communications center; the ask is for a supplemental in the amount of $186,000. Moving forward, we are looking at all the requirements under ARPA, which is to boost the economy and help those who were most impacted; will be working closely with the Finance Committee Chair to talk about projects; no intention to use these funds for ongoing operations because we don’t want to bank on one-time funding for those; will be looking for items that are one-time in nature; we have four years to obligate funds. Recommendation: Introduction/First Reading on 9/7/21, Consent Agenda on 9/20/21. 2. RES-0030-2021 A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE TRANSFER OF FUNDS. Bury stated that they are winding down with the CARES funds that were received in 2020; one thing that was identified was the cloth chairs in Council Chambers; cloth is not very easy to sanitize and clean to minimize the spread of COVID-19; transferring the $5,600 is the last piece because some funding was already appropriated. Bowers asked if dais chairs had been factored into that. Bury confirmed. Director of Administrative Services Miranda Vollmer stated that the new chairs would be black with silver casters; the dais chairs would be all black. Larick asked if the chairs would be stackable. Vollmer confirmed; said they come with a cart for easy transport. Angelou asked what will happen with the current chairs. Vollmer stated that they will be removed by the furniture company. Angelou asked if they would be sold. Vollmer stated that we paid for the removal and discarding of chairs. Recommendation: Consent Agenda on 9/7/21. D. ITEMS FROM THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC SERVICE & ENGINEERING: City of Gahanna Page 2 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes August 23, 2021 1. ORD-0051-2021 AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO CONTRACT WITH EMH&T FOR SANITARY SEWER EVALUATION SURVEY (SSES) SMOKE AND DYE TESTING SERVICES; WAIVE SECOND READING; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY. Director of Public Service & Engineering Grant Crawford read from the attached Report to Council. Angelou asked if any water in basement reports were filed during the recent rain events. Crawford said none were filed this year. Angelou asked if they changed in terms of the way things are done. Crawford stated that the flow monitors remain in the sewers and they did capture the sewers’ response to the rainfall events, however the intensity and severity of those were not comparable to the ones experienced last year. Larick stated that he and Moorehead have been in dialogue about a property over in the commercial district; the first time the building has had infiltration was this year, with the water that came in on Tuesday. Crawford confirmed; that was localized heavy rainfall towards the industrial zone; some of you may have heard that Reynoldsburg received over 5” in a matter of a couple of hours; they had significant flooding throughout; that is part of the eastern area that was hit harder than the western portion. Moorehead said that the storm this past week was variable even in Gahanna; the eastern portion of the city had a very heavy rainfall; the building Larick referenced was not a water in basement situation where water came back up through the sewer, but rather the land flooded enough that the water flowed overland and directly into their doors. McGregor said her daughter had 7.5” in her rain gauge on Tuesday alone. Recommendation: Introduction, Waive Second Reading, Emergency Adoption on Regular Agenda on 9/7/21. 2. ORD-0052-2021 AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO CONTRACT WITH EMH&T FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE 2021-2023 SIDEWALK MAINTENANCE PROGRAM; WAIVE SECOND READING; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY. Crawford stated that following the adoption of ordinances for the sidewalk program, this would allow EM&T to contract for the administration and inspection; stated that the emergency would allow residents enough time to determine whether or not to opt in or out. Leeseberg asked for confirmation that opting in or out this year is for construction next year. Crawford confirmed; stated that residents can opt into the program or opt out and repair sidewalks themselves. Leeseberg asked why if this is for repairs, maintenance, and construction for next City of Gahanna Page 3 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes August 23, 2021 year, we need a waiver/emergency now. Crawford stated that due to the time it takes to go through the entire process, once we authorize the contract, the contractor has to go out and survey all the sidewalk; we also have to set the program area, provide the residents with enough time to opt in or out, then we have winter, and we need to allow residents enough time to actually do the construction if opting out. Leeseberg asked if we have approved money for construction this year. Crawford confirmed. Leeseberg asked why the study had not been done. Moorehead said the inspection work has been completed in the areas where we expect to have the program; that work occurred over a period between 2019-2020; the money that was encumbered for this year is the construction dollars that will support a bid for this upcoming work as well as this contract; this ordinance allows EMH&T to assist in developing the documents associated with the program for years to come; notices and mailers need to be drafted to get out to residents. Leeseberg asked if any sidewalk got built this year for this program. Moorehead said no. Larick asked for clarification, is this opt in or opt out. Moorehead said opt out; residents have the option to opt out if seeking repairs on their own. Recommendation: Introduction, Waive Second Reading, Emergency Adoption on Regular Agenda on 9/7/21. 3. ORD-0053-2021 AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO CONTRACT WITH MILLER CABLE COMPANY FOR THE REPAIR OF GRANVILLE STREET TRAFFIC SIGNALS; TO REQUEST A SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATION; WAIVE SECOND READING; AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY. Crawford stated that the signal poles had deficiencies; we received four bids for repairs; recently asked for supplemental but indicated that additional funds may need requested; this is to cover construction and contingency. McGregor asked how it was determined that the poles were failing. Crawford said a signal improvement occurred at the Granville and Mill Street intersections, and the inspector discovered it during that process; then they went around to inspect other foundations. McGregor said that usually concrete gets harder with age, asked why this concrete is failing. Crawford stated that it was the mounting hardware that caused the deficiencies. McGregor asked if they would be constructed differently this time. Crawford confirmed. Recommendation: Introduction, Waive Second Reading, Emergency Adoption on Regular Agenda on 9/7/21. E. DISCUSSION ITEMS: 1. Ward Boundaries City of Gahanna Page 4 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes August 23, 2021 Larick stated that he had been discussing with the Clerk and the MORPC data is still pending for the population by wards map; the city GIS team is working on a map based off that data; we will pursue further once we receive that data. 2. Council Communication Larick stated that he had also been working with the Clerk on tools for Council communication; looked at resources available and potential costs; want to be informative of general activities of Council; do not want to over expand constant communication paths and be challenged with content; will communicate schedule, committees; budget is a good example; there is an upcoming e-newsletter and we are preparing to be included in that; will look into expansion from there. We have also been identifying dates for Coffee with Council; will pursue monthly since it has been over a year and a half since we have last had one; will determine a path for next year. Another item that the office has been working on is an application process for boards and commissions; we are working on an online format; we will have a draft of questions back out to Council soon. Bowers asked when the e-newsletter would go out. Clerk stated that it would be a monthly newsletter and the first one would go out in September. Bowers asked if that was through e-mail. Clerk stated that it would be sent out by the Marketing and Communications Department; it would have Council items included in the existing city e-newsletter, which is sent out by email. Bowers asked if that was through the GovDelivery system. Larick confirmed. F. ADJOURNMENT. Meeting adjourned at 7:48 p.m. City of Gahanna Page 5