Committee of the Whole

200 South Hamilton Road City of Gahanna Gahanna, Ohio 43230 Meeting Minutes Committee of the Whole Trenton I. Weaver, Chair Merisa K. Bowers Jamille Jones Nancy R. McGregor Kaylee Padova Stephen A. Renner Michael Schnetzer Jeremy A. VanMeter, Clerk of Council Monday, April 1, 2024 City Hall, Council Chambers Immediately following regular Council, which began at 7:00 PM on April 1, 2024 A. CALL TO ORDER: Vice President of Council Trenton I. Weaver, Chair, called the meeting to order at 8:57 p.m. The agenda was published on March 29, 2024. All members were present for the meeting. B. ADDITIONS OR CORRECTIONS: Vice President Weaver began by introducing an addition to the agenda, an update from the administration on the Strategic Plan, which would be placed at the end following the two items from the Department of Planning. C. ITEMS FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING: ORD-0025-2024 AN ORDINANCE ADOPTING AN UPDATED BUILDING AND ZONING FEE SCHEDULE; AND WAIVING SECOND READING Director of Planning Michael Blackford presented two requests to Council. The first request involved an amendment to the building and zoning fee schedule. This discussion followed a previous amendment to the zoning portion of the fee schedule earlier in the meeting. Blackford explained that the changes were necessary due to the upcoming implementation of new software for permitting. The changes to the fee schedule were divided into two main categories. First, there were consolidations of permits based on their frequency or similarity of review and inspections. For example, permits for infrequent items like bleachers and warehouse racking were consolidated into a single permit. Second, there were removals of permits that were no longer within the jurisdiction of the building division, such as sheds and sidewalks, which were now handled by other city departments. The most significant change City of Gahanna Page 1 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes April 1, 2024 proposed was the removal of roofing permits entirely for both commercial and residential projects. Blackford explained that the State Building Code lacked specific standards for roofs, and third-party consultants did not inspect roofs due to liability reasons. Therefore, the permitting process for roofing was not effective in capturing quality standards. Removing roofing permits would streamline the process and align with the State Building Code. Blackford emphasized that these changes were necessary to align with the upcoming implementation of new permitting software. The department requested a waiver to go live with the building permit module before the current software contract expired, ensuring a smooth transition without interruptions in service. Recommendation: Introduction/First Reading with Waiver of Second Reading and Adoption on Regular Agenda on 4/15/2024. ORD-0026-2024 AN ORDINANCE TO REPEAL CHAPTER 1315 ELECTRICAL INSPECTOR FROM PART THIRTEEN - BUILDING CODE OF THE CODIFIED ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF GAHANNA; WAIVING SECOND READING AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY Director Blackford addressed Council regarding proposed amendments to Chapter 315, which pertained to the electrical inspector position. He explained that this chapter had become outdated and was essentially a "code relic." Research indicated that it had not been updated since 2007 when contractors' titles, duties, and fee structures were removed from the building code. Despite this, Chapter 1315 remained unchanged, making it the only reference of its kind among the various consultants used by the department. The reason for proposing its removal now was due to the retirement plans of the longtime electrical inspector. He expressed a desire to retire as soon as possible. To avoid disruptions in permitting and inspections, the department proposed removing this code entirely. Currently, the fee structure for electrical inspections was based on a percentage of the permit fee, which differed from the industry norm of hourly rates used by other consultants. Given that the retirement was imminent, the department sought an emergency and waiver to remove the outdated code swiftly. This would allow them to transition smoothly to using other consultants, all of whom operated on an hourly basis, aligning with industry standards. By amending the code, they could ensure continued efficiency in permitting and inspections without negatively impacting operations. Recommendation: Introduction/First Reading with Waiver of Second Reading and Emergency Adoption on Regular Agenda on 4/15/2024. D. DISCUSSIONS: 1. Strategic Plan Update City of Gahanna Page 2 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes April 1, 2024 Miranda Vollmer, Senior Director of Administrative Services, provided an update to Council regarding the request for proposals (RFP) issued on March 11th. She mentioned that a pre-bid conference had been held later in March, and the deadline for submitting proposals was April 4th. The RFP committee was scheduled to score the requests in April, conduct interviews in early May, and aim to start the contract in mid-June. The scope of services outlined in the RFP included tasks such as facilitating the strategic planning process, conducting community research and outreach, organizing planning meetings with public, board, and staff input sessions, preparing mission, vision, and value statements, identifying service priorities, goals, objectives, and activities, and finally, drafting and presenting the strategic plan. President Bowers sought clarification on whether these tasks would be performed by the selected vendor. Director Vollmer confirmed that the outlined tasks constituted the scope of services to be fulfilled by the vendor. President Bowers then inquired about the possibility of receiving updates on the next steps and potential council involvement after a vendor was selected. Director Vollmer assured that they would provide projected timelines and deliverables once a vendor was on board. President Bowers also mentioned that an invitation was extended for a councilmember to serve on the RFP bid review committee. However, due to the scoring criteria and the need to maintain equality across the scoring process, missing any meetings would result in removal from the committee. She encouraged any interested councilmembers to reach out to Mayor Jadwin or Director Vollmer for further details. She expressed gratitude for the update and for including the topic on the agenda. E. ADJOURNMENT: With no further business before the Committee of the Whole, the Chair adjourned the meeting at 9:05 p.m. Jeremy A. VanMeter Clerk of Council City of Gahanna Page 3 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes April 1, 2024 APPROVED by the Committee of the Whole, this day of 2024. Trenton I. Weaver Chair City of Gahanna Page 4