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, December 13, 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. Chief Spence provided an oath of office to swear in two new members of the Gahanna Police Department; one new officer is a lateral hire from the City of Columbus, James Gillespie. Seth Meadows is a new Police Dispatcher. B. DISCUSSIONS: 1. Items From the Director of Public Service & Engineering: ORD-0092-2021 AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO CONTRACT WITH SCA OF OH, LLC (SWEEPING CORPORATION OF AMERICA) FOR STREET SWEEPING AND PARKING GARAGE CLEANING SERVICES. Director of Public Service & Engineering Grant Crawford read from the attached Report to Council; reviewed ways the streets can be cleaned; SCA of Ohio was the lowest and best bid. Angelou asked if the cost is typical. Crawford said yes, it's a 9% increase, which is not unusual during this time; Creekside area is up 13%. Angelou asked how often Creekside will be done. Crawford said the standard sweep is every other month, with a cyclone sweep 2-3 times per year. Bowers asked how many responses were received. Crawford said they received one response. McGregor asked if this is the same company we City of Gahanna Page 1 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes December 13, 2021 have used before. Crawford confirmed. McGregor asked if they are called out for something extra, how do we charge. Crawford said that they are charged by the hour, but if the services are requested due to a commercial construction then that business is charged. Recommendation: First Reading/Introduce on 12/20/21; Consent Agenda on 1/3/21. ORD-0093-2021 AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO CONTRACT WITH GPD GROUP FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES FOR THE 2022 STREET REBUILD AND WATERLINE REPLACEMENT DESIGN PROJECT. City Engineer John Moorehead provided a summary of the attached Report to Council; received four responses and of those four, the qualifications committee determined that GPD Groups was best qualified. Schnetzer said when looking at the scope of work, looks to be North St. between High and Shepherd; believes on the south side of that street there’s a lot of gravel; there’s off street parking; what’s the plan. Moorehead said part of this proposal will be looking at different streetscape options and adding on-street parking where possible and that may include widening the existing street pavement; there’s not consistent pedestrian access either; is a goal to get sidewalks constructed. Schnetzer said he received questions from residents when canvassing, about having something done about the gravel; would be well received in the community. Larick stated that this is an area where utilities are above grade rather than buried underground. Moorehead confirmed. Larick asked if there was any consideration to burying the lines. Moorehead said no; the city doesn’t have a legal right to force utilities underground; if the project would disrupt their existing above ground pole service then they would consider relocation. Leeseberg stated that he believes what Larick is asking is why didn’t we consider paying to locate them underground; we looked at it when we did the Hamilton Rd. widening project and everything; this is an opportunity when we’re replacing waterline and sewer; understands it would be at our cost. Moorehead stated that under grounding overhead utility services is not a staple of the city’s street maintenance efforts; most neighborhoods in the city have above ground utilities; this is not part of our routine process. Larick stated that it has been a long-term initiative to be done over time, at the most equitable means possible; this seems to be a good opportunity but it seems to have been missed; we have had many conversations about this; funds seem to be available for this. Crawford that the project is still in its infancy; we are here with the design contract; this is something that can still be explored with the design engineer. Leeseberg stated that there City of Gahanna Page 2 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes December 13, 2021 are many benefits to having utilities underground. Bowers stated that the city has been in financial constraints and what was brought forward was a fiscally conservative project; this is an opportunity to explore underground utility relocation. McGregor said normally we don’t replace storm sewers so it will be opened up on the side; we are already tearing up the road in this case; would make sense to underground the utilities here in this case. Moorehead stated that capital requests did not include under grounding utilities. McGregor said that on Morgan Ln. there’s a central storm sewer rather than one on each side of the road; asked if that had been considered. Moorehead stated that it was more costly for repairs when under pavement. Angelou stated that some of these roads are close to Creekside; would it be possible to put some of those lines underground; would be beneficial to that area. Larick asked if moving forward, will this dialogue be part of the ask to these designers. Moorehead said it will be brought up and discussed with them. Bowers said by bringing this back to Committee, they can review updated cost estimates, etc. Moorehead said they would not have time to evaluate cost estimates for under grounding utilities by then, but could revise fees. Recommendation: First Reading/Introduce on 12/20/21; Back to Committee on 1/10/22. 2. Items from the Director of Administrative Services: ORD-0089-2021 AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING THE SALARIES FOR PERSONNEL OF THE CITY OF GAHANNA FOR THE PERIOD JANUARY 1, 2022 THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2022; WAIVE SECOND READING; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. Director of Administrative Services Miranda Vollmer read from the attached Report to Council; these changes were incorporated into the proposed 2022 Budget; there is a request for 2% increase to salaries; 10% shift in wage scale; market adjustments, etc. Angelou asked when people are paid. Vollmer stated they are paid on Fridays; people are paid one week behind. Angelou said that for people who are paid once per month, they are usually paid on the second pay. Vollmer said that will remain the same; she would send out a payroll calendar for review. Angelou asked if she could have a list of salaries for each employee. Vollmer stated that she would get that sent out. Recommendation: Introduction/First Reading/Waive Second Reading/Adopt as City of Gahanna Page 3 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes December 13, 2021 Emergency on Regular Agenda 12/20/21. ORD-0090-2021 AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING THE BENEFITS FOR PERSONNEL OF THE CITY OF GAHANNA, EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2022; WAIVE SECOND READING; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. Vollmer read from the attached Report to Council. No questions from Council. Recommendation: Introduction/First Reading/Waive Second Reading/Adopt as Emergency on Regular Agenda 12/20/21. ORD-0091-2021 AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO SIGN AND ADOPT THE PAY PLAN ADMINISTRATION POLICY, EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2022; WAIVE SECOND READING; AND TO DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. Vollmer read from the attached Report to Council. No questions from Council. Recommendation: Introduction/First Reading/Waive Second Reading/Adopt as Emergency on Regular Agenda 12/20/21. 3. Items Carried Over From Last Committee: ORD-0077-2021 AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND CHAPTER 135, DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SERVICE AND ENGINEERING, OF THE CODIFIED ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF GAHANNA. Angelou said that she met with the City Attorney concerning the issues that were brought up the last time; has the original proposal if anyone wishes to see it; there may be a way to ensure that we find out about things before the decision to do them has already been made; wants to collaborate. If we would just take the parts forward that we want to change, then this would work; need to find out what amount they want; asked the City Attorney to write something. Mularski stated that he had not yet had the opportunity, but believes what the ask is should not be included in this section, and would add it somewhere else; would make many changes; would move out of this chapter of code. Angelou asked if it would better fit in the budget. Mularski said he has not had time to determine. Bury said the federal procurement needs to be addressed. Larick stated that the second item on the agenda tonight is a request for professional services; that is appropriate for the actions that the city takes; is what would be expected for any contract of reasonable size on a routine basis; doesn’t understand why this professional services agreement is on here but not others; that was the concern and that’s what the objective is to avoid that. Bury stated that federal guidelines hit on City of Gahanna Page 4 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes December 13, 2021 sealed bids and it also hits on professional services and RFP processes; bringing the plan forward so that we are procuring all expenditures in the same way we do with federal dollars. Recommendation: Held in Committee. ORD-0086-2021 AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTION OF A DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT WITH METROPOLITAN HOLDINGS FOR THE MILL STREET APARTMENTS. Director of Economic Development Nate Strum stated that he also has Andrew Lemmon from Metropolitan Holdings present for questions. Bowers stated that she had some questions about the agreement; asked if Strum could explain the CRA agreement in relationship with the schools and the non-school TIF. Strum said there was an ROI calculation provided that denotes the anticipated value of the CRA post build out of the project, which is near $8M; assumes over the 15-year period that incremental change of the value under the existing compensation arrangement with the schools, this city is required to give a 50% consideration on the improved values, which would be $4M plus 50% of the net new wages; anticipates $461k in payroll to the city; 50% would go towards the school. For the TIF values, this site is located in a TIF and although historically when we provide TIF dollars we have an agreement with the developer, they want some recoup value; this is a rolling TIF area so the TIFs never really roll off; we just capture a new increment value post project. Strum said he suggests following year 15, the city could file a DTE24 form with the County Auditor’s office; the form redirects the non-school related derived property values into the capital fund for the city. Bowers said she is uncomfortable with how that is calculated because the city does not own that asset; stated that over the life of the abatement period there would be $300k dollars in income tax revenue; asked how the school compensation gets paid. Bury stated that in June, they are paid for the previous year; we get all the tax valuations of all the abated areas and then run it through the formulas that are programmed based on the school compensation agreement so it includes the valuations, the percentages that’s abated, the total amount lost to the school, and then what income tax is generated from those individual parcels. Bowers stated that from the work from home revenue and construction wages, that doesn’t come close to the lifetime cost to the city to the school district. There’s a section in the agreement regarding the city’s obligations with regard to ensuring the eligibility of the CRA, on pg.2 that says “will take priority over any exemptions that apply to the property based on its location in the Olde and West Gahanna TIF district.” Strum said that CRA usurps any TIF considerations for the first City of Gahanna Page 5 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes December 13, 2021 15 years of its life. Bowers stated that she had a question from a resident regarding Wilson Alley, regarding the width. Strum asked if she was referring to the email from Ms. Hoffman. Bowers confirmed. McGregor asked if it would be wide enough for two cars, if the addition of 3 feet would allow that, or would they be one direction. Strum said he did not have the information to answer that. Moorehead said all alleys in Olde Gahanna were platted in the 1800s to service horses and wagons and pedestrians; code has a minimum right of way for an alley, which is 20’ wide; those are 16’ wide; developer is trying to get that updated for two way operation but is not intended to be the primary source of traffic but are secondary access. Bowers said for the vacation of North St., could the process for that be explained, and a follow up question for the developer is what variances do they anticipate. Strum stated that he believed the vacation goes to Planning Commission and then recommended to Council. Moorehead stated that upon vacation, it reverts the land that was in the right of way to the adjoining parcels; so each of the two properties on the north and south side of North St. would receive half of that property; utilities in the right of way are provided for utility easement, so there’s a relocation of gas and water services back into the public right of way. Moorehead said he is unsure if there are variances with this application but a new application is required because the project changed to only cover the east side of Mill St. Strum said regarding parking, as asked by Ms. Hoffman, the developer has a goal to have a one to one match for bedrooms and parking spaces and would likely require a variance. Lemmon said they are asking for a parking variance for 69 spots for a 74-unit project; working with a private company on an agreement for spaces; there is also likely a setback variance. McGregor said current code requires 106 spaces for this project; 69 spaces is significantly lower than the required; there was mention last week that when nearby businesses have vacant parking lots that those spaces could be used but that is private property; last week it was said that there will be 74 spaces and now you are saying 69. Strum stated that he has, from a development mind, the opinion that if you have a parking issue, that’s a good issue to have in our downtown areas; it means the area is in high demand. Bowers asked if Mularski had the opportunity to review her questions about material obligation and the right of way language. Mularski said that he did get a chance to review it and believes she is accurate; City of Gahanna Page 6 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes December 13, 2021 making that change “to substantial” from “of material.” Bowers asked about the incorporation of the Exhibit B into that section. Mularski said that is a good idea. Renner asked if the vacation of North St. takes place at Planning Commission after we approved a developer agreement, and then the vacation would come from Planning Commission to Council. Strum said that is his general knowledge. Leeseberg confirmed. Bowers said she is concerned that if the agreement is approved and the vacation of North St. is not, what liability does that leave the city, and this body. Mularski said the contract would fail; could walk away, form a new contract. Jadwin stated that the agreement in front of them is for the financial aspects; what the city will contribute; what the developer would contribute; they need some assurance because it’s going to cost a significant investment to do the plans. Strum said the developers want this agreement before submitting anything to Planning Commission. Bowers said she was a strong opponent to this in 2019 due to the financial ask of the city; wants to make sure that we deliver the best possible product; there is no grocery or convenience retail in the area, in a walkable distance; in other cities and similar projects, there are small corner stores; there are cashier-less tech trends that would be attractive to the tenants; asked what efforts were made to contact Aramark or similar companies; was there any outreach in order to pursue the idea of retail space. Strum stated that places like that require enough volume, but especially with fresh food you have to have enough movement to pay for itself. McCabe confirmed. Bowers said she is concerned about displacing a coffee shop in the area and other civic components. Mayor Jadwin stated that she felt the same a year ago; felt there needed to be a mixed component; after having conversations with retailers, was told there is not enough foot traffic yet. McGregor said they had that issue with a movie theater when her husband was Mayor in 1983; they were told there are not enough households to support a theater; ten years later one was built after housing growth. Larick recalled independent grocers going out of business throughout the history of the city; now there’s Kroger and Giant Eagle; stated that Creekside was meant to be a catalyst; the only path to retail is having freely available traffic with cash to spend in those facilities. Lemmon said the average household income in the city is $88k; there are 74 units, and multiple that by $88k, and you get roughly $6.3M in income; 6% of their income will be spent on food and entertainment. McGregor asked again about parking. McCabe said that we are looking at 1:1; have discussed other options; we are seeing in housing trends, is that there are many people working from home and use a second City of Gahanna Page 7 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes December 13, 2021 bedroom for an office; couples also share cars so there may not be two cars to park. Bowers said she also has concerns with the “in lieu of compensation section” in the agreement; have sent some proposals through the city attorney for review; talk about more specific community engagement levels in terms of setting dollar amounts to those numbers; wanted to see if they have interest; proposed changes to section B, iii, and iv; suggested levels of sponsorship to create dollar figures for community engagement. Strum said he provided a draft document that was sent by Bowers to him and Mularski, over to the development team; said for those who can’t see the document, there was proposed corporate membership to the Gahanna Chamber of Commerce, biannual sponsorship of $2k to a non-profit, civic-based organization in the city for an event; buy annual sponsorship of an arts or Creekside area related events; and then $4k to an area arts organizations, annually for ten years; all would equate to nearly $13,200 per year; assumed underlying value of the road was $40k. McCabe said they believe in being engaged in the community; would encourage property manager to be part of Chamber of Commerce and Creekside District Alliance, or get involved in the Arts Commission; they are in a bad environment as far as costs go; they came back with less incentive requests to get to the bare minimum; they still have a $264k gap on the project and are working with the county to close it. Mularski said that this comes up every year at the Tax Incentive Review (TIRC) meetings; the city has a right to say what they think the developer should be putting in; objections can be filed. Bowers asked to revise section 5 to have that oversight. Strum said they already have that oversight. Bowers asked if that was clear enough in the agreement. Strum said it’s in the Ohio Revised Code. Recommendation: Regular Agenda on 12/20/21. C. ADJOURNMENT. Meeting adjourned at 8:51 p.m. City of Gahanna Page 8