Finance Committee

200 South Hamilton Road City of Gahanna Gahanna, Ohio 43230 Meeting Minutes Finance Committee Michael Schnetzer, Chair Karen Angelou Merisa Bowers Brian Larick Jamie Leeseberg Nancy McGregor Stephen Renner Krystal Gonchar, MPA, Clerk of Council Monday, August 9, 2021 Council Chambers * Immediately Following Committee of the Whole A. CALL TO ORDER Chair Michael Schnetzer called the meeting to order at 7:23 p.m. B. DISCUSSIONS 2021-0159 2022 Capital Needs Assessment (CNA) Discussion Items. Chair Schnetzer stated that he gathered the questions from Council and provided those to Administration ahead of the meeting; will go down the list of questions for Administration to address. Park renovations- Director of Parks & Recreation Stephania Ferrell stated this was designed for repairs and improvements; for 2021 such as crack seal at Shull Park and spit rail fence repairs around the city have been addressed or are earmarked to be addressed; dug out repairs at baseball fields are new as well as pickleball courts; Parks Foundation will fund $10K of that; irrigation repairs at golf course; roof repair at Gahanna Swimming Pool; window replacements at the Herb Center. Pool maintenance- Ferrell stated that prior to 2018 this was not a fund; less the expense of the pool liner the expense is $25,000; no funding in 2019; projects placed on hold in 2020; in 2021 $137,000 for boiler replacement, gutters, sand filtration system had sand replaced; electrical improvements done. Larick said there is $25,000, $19,000, why the jump to $137K annually. Ferrell said prior to 2018 it was part of the SOM and we knew it would need replaced every 10 years; filtration system replaced every 10 years; looked at that over a 20-year time frame and that's where the cost came City of Gahanna Page 1 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes August 9, 2021 from; $150K is a better picture of how to operate pools safely. Street rebuilds- Crawford stated that the purpose is to rebuild ones no longer able to be maintained; normal life is 75 years; concrete streets can't be maintained; must also build other streets that can't be maintained; $311 per foot or $1.6M per mile annually; new request is $2.1M; have 7.32 miles of Detroit style streets left; would take over 6 years to finalize Detroit streets if all other streets were not maintained during that time. Schnetzer asked if we could expect a cost cliff after 6 years, as part of the CNA. Crawford said no, this is for all roads throughout the city; at some point they must all be rebuilt. Crawford said they reevaluate every five years; bridge program has accelerated funding; reduced to $366K in 2025; will be close to six years to reach that cap; the program will be evaluated again, but Issue 12 provided additional funding. Larick reiterated that the street rebuild is not accelerated at all. Crawford said it is not needed, they are keeping up with pace. Larick said roads are assessed and scored and replaced according to the grade . Crawford said a majority of them are below 75. Larick stated that separate from the Detroit streets, what needs to be looked at for rebuild of normal streets; is there a portion of modern streets that need rebuilt . Crawford confirmed. Larick wants to know as of today, how many miles of streets need rebuilt; asked to come back with that information . Angelou asked if there is ever a point when they don't have to replace . Crawford said no, but maintenance helps extend the life. Mayor Jadwin stated that maintenance is the goal. Schnetzer said he was out riding his bike recently and was impressed by the number of streets that were rebuilt or getting prepped; making good progress. Crescent public infrastructure - Finance Director Joann Bury said TIF dollars would be used; if not produced yet, then CNA will be reimbursed when the TIF Funds come in. Johnstown Road widening- Moorehead stated that when driving that road the congestion is focused on the intersections; that area is congested during rush hour; there are many curb cuts; a center turn lane was a projected need from our 2019 Thoroughfare Plan. Schnetzer said what he hears is that there's more than just adding a center turn lane . Moorehead confirmed that water and sewer lines would also be impacted; is part of a larger plan. Angelou asked if there is a plan for bicyclists. Moorehead said there is a plan for a multi-use path. Bowers thanked Moorehead and Angelou for bringing up that point; is needed for pedestrian safety. Leeseberg said that at Route 62 where City of Gahanna Page 2 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes August 9, 2021 City BBQ is, there was a right in/right out designed for it; he designed that with then City Engineer Carl Wetherholt; still concerned about the bottleneck there at Olde Ridenour. Moorehead said those intersections are in mind; with other regional development’s previous versions, did not include Old Ridenour and South Stygler for example. Leeseberg said old 62 cannot handle more traffic right now. Angelou asked if roundabouts are a possibility. Moorehead said they are a possibility but there's not right of way there now for a roundabout; planning for that real estate is necessary and will begin soon since this is planned for 2024. Creekside garage- Moorehead said they will be entering into contract with a team of consultants; there is flooding, issues with mechanicals under the plaza; estimates are up over $6M; the $10M is not unrealistic due to costs of known issues. Jadwin said that number was preliminary; is there as a placeholder; the problem was created 15 years ago and is now our job to work on fixing it. Schnetzer asked if it was fair to call this Creekside garage and plaza. Moorehead said that is accurate. Angelou asked if this could fall under the infrastructure bill at the federal level . Moorehead said he does not believe so, but FEMA grant funding will be explored. Jadwin said they have been working behind the scenes to find projects that may fall into that infrastructure bill to plan for funding. McGregor said when the garage was built, something like a bathtub was supposed to be built around it; asked if that was breached; could that have some bearing on this. Moorehead said what McGregor referenced is called a slurry wall; clay is more resistant to flooding; during construction, it was installed and later breached; it was repaired to some degree; utilities run through it; hopes that it contributes to blocking that groundwater to reaching the garage; there is still enough water to be concerned; FEMA does not consider that wall to be a factor for flood proofing. Jadwin asked if this is an emergency situation. Moorehead said this is no cause for panic or urgency in the moment; the risk is based on when a large 100-year flood occurs; working now to ensure that does not occur; nothing called into question the structure today . McGregor said a 100-year flood could happen today or in 100 years; there's no predicting when it will occur. Moorehead said there should be no concern for visitors in the area. Bowers asked if there's a possibility that this could be used for something other than a garage; if not a garage, what would have to be done; would the same level of FEMA floodproofing need to be done. Moorehead said there are many options; there would still need to be changes to the facility if there were no garage; would have to look further into that. Sanitary sewer projects- Crawford said the location has not been determined yet; an engineer must design; there is a large pump for City of Gahanna Page 3 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes August 9, 2021 sewer which is why we need to cross the creek; a jack and bore will go under the creek. Crawford said this is normal and under roads currently; used throughout the city. Angelou asked if that increases the amount of sewer that can go through. Crawford said this effects those properties not already connected to sewer; will allow them to connect. Electric vehicle charging station- Jadwin asked if this question can be discussed at a future meeting so that the Director of Economic Development could be part of the discussion. Schnetzer confirmed. Citywide long term plan- Ferrell stated the splash pad and Price Rd. parking lot are part of Southwest Food Plain project; have had traffic studies; desire to acquire more land; no final design yet; bike trail and playground at Academy Park need replaced in the next few years; additional ball diamonds are requested; skate park will be addressed in 2022. Schnetzer stated that for the mountain bike trail; this was asked about just this year and already included in the CNA; wants to show appreciation and gratitude for moving on this quickly. Angelou asked if Rapid5 was considered. Ferrell said Friendship Park is part of that waterway system; will evaluate all water ways in Gahanna to see what makes sense and is part of that overall Rapid5 vision. Bowers asked about disc golf; is that being considered. Ferrell said it is a low-cost amenity as far as design and maintenance; struggling with location; working with a resident who took this on. McGregor asked if the mountain bike trial was going into Academy Park. Ferrell confirmed. McGregor asked if they looked at soils. Ferrell confirmed; phase one of study has been completed; second phase determines what needs done to remedy the site. McGregor said two developers came in and they were unable to develop on it due to soils. Schnetzer said it is nice to see MORPC contributing to this; thanked Angelou for her due diligence there. Sidewalks and trails- Schnetzer said that James Rd. and Hines Rd. came up. Crawford said as part of the street rebuild, sidewalks are included wherever possible. Ferrell stated that Big Walnut Section 8 trail is a priority to complete; worked with MORPC for grant funding; Claycraft Rd. and Tech Center Dr. will have a new link connecting the industrial zone for people to bike to work. Moorehead stated that West Johnstown was discussed earlier, but there is a plan to include a multi -use path; there are plans for an East Johnstown Rd. bike path to connect Riva Ridge and YMCA Place; we have park improvements, standalone projects, road construction; any new development that occurs is required to build a sidewalk or trail along frontage. Leeseberg thanked Administration for the trail off Riva Ridge; has asked for that for 5 years; asked how they can enforce the areas not in the City. Moorehead said it City of Gahanna Page 4 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes August 9, 2021 is proposed on southeast side due to future connection to roundabout and desire to limit crossing the street; despite not being in the city, they have sufficient right of way for a multi-use trail. Moorehead said shared use paths are dealt with separately through code. Crawford said those are maintained. Moorehead said Franklin County and ODOT have jurisdiction in that area and we could coordinate with them for rights to maintain. Leeseberg said a sidewalk in front of a resident would be required maintenance for the property owner. Schnetzer said it is nice to see this vision move forward. Renner asked if in order to have a sidewalk put in, then it would first be triggered by a street project. Moorehead said they can also be built as part of separate capital projects. Renner stated that the CNA is an inventory of projects; would like to see ink on paper that these sidewalks are needed in these locations; on James Rd. there is a group of residents who are ready to petition getting a sidewalk in place; this is a priority; wants to move from conceptual to a hard plan. Athletic fields- Ferrell said those are outlined in park renovations, capital maintenance program and operational budget with professional services; there is $75K earmarked for Headley Park improvements for drainage. Angelou asked about soccer fields, they don’t have the ability to grow the grass and keep it green; is very expensive; has anything been done to bring in large soccer events as part of economic development; asked has any thought been made to installing irrigation system to allow for that . Ferrell said that would improve the grass; the level of play has to be considered too; there is a strategy around turf care that has been implemented in the last five years and it seems to be working. Ferrell said the reduction of play due to COVID, the fields are thriving. Larick asked if there are additional athletic items incorporated into plan such as football or lacrosse; asked if there is a plan for that. Ferrell said the Southwest Flood Plain plan comes into play there; there is room for more rectangular fields. Future plans for Oklahoma Ave. service facility- Bury stated that the Facilities Master Plan will address that; will bring that forward soon; will be stand-alone from CNA due to large size. Larick asked how that fits in from a dollar standpoint. Bury said it would be longer term, outside of 2022 budget. Jadwin stated that they intended to bring that forwarded sooner but discovered during a staff meeting that there were more questions that needed answered; there are overlapping needs with the schools and they are in discussion with them; city hall was built in 1992 for the staff size at that time. City of Gahanna Page 5 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes August 9, 2021 C. ADJOURNMENT At 8:33 p.m. City of Gahanna Page 6