City Council

City of Groveport 655 Blacklick St. Groveport, OH 43125 614.830.2052 www.groveport.org . Meeting Minutes Monday, February 22, 2021 6:30 PM Council Chambers City Council Mayor Lance Westcamp Council Members - Jean Ann Hilbert, Ed Dildine, Shawn Cleary, Becky Hutson, Scott Lockett & Chad Grashel City Council Meeting Minutes February 22, 2021 I. Call to Order by Mayor Lance Westcamp at 6:30 p.m. Staff Present: BJ King - Administrator, Kevin Shannon - Law Director, Jason Carr - Director of Finance, Kurt Blevins - Police Captain, Jeff Green - Assistant Administrator / Development Director, Ruthanne Sargus Ross - Clerk of Council Guests Present: The Guest Book is on file with the Clerk of Council. II. Moment of Silence The Mayor asked everyone to join him in a moment of silence. III. Pledge of Allegiance Captain Blevins led the Pledge of Allegiance. IV. Roll Call Present: 6 - Shawn M. Cleary, Edward Dildine, Chad T. Grashel, Jean Ann Hilbert, Becky Hutson, and Scott Lockett V. Approval of Minutes - February 8, 2021 The February 8, 2021 minutes stand approved as submitted. #59-2021 City Council Minutes 2.8.2021 Attachments: City Council Minutes 2.8.2021.pdf VI. Business of Guests None. VII. Ordinances and Resolutions A. 3rd Readings None. B. 2nd Readings Ord. 2021-005 AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING A MODIFICATION TO THE DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR 2400 ROHR ROAD, PARCEL NUMBER City of Groveport Page 1 City Council Meeting Minutes February 22, 2021 154-000002 Sponsors: Dildine Attachments: Ord. 2021-005 Exhibit A.pdf Clerk of Council Ross read by title Ordinance No. 2021-005. C. 1st Readings Ord. 2021-009 AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE ADMINISTRATOR TO ENTER INTO A CONTRACT WITH THE MILLER VALENTINE GROUP FOR PROFESSIONAL DESIGN-BUILD SERVICES, WAIVING COMPETITIVE BIDDING PURSUANT TO GROVEPORT CITY CHARTER SECTIONS 9.02(B), 7.03 Sponsors: Lockett Clerk of Council Ross read by title Ordinance No. 2021-009. This Ordinance was referred to the Committee of the Whole. VIII. Reports A. Mayor - Lance Westcamp Mayor Lance Westcamp had the chance to attend the Community Improvement Corporation (CIC) meeting this morning. Now that he is retired, he can get more involved in the CIC. Mrs. Hilbert and Mr. Dildine serve on the Board of Trustees. The CIC has put a very good Board together that gives out a lot of information. The Board's Chairperson, Pat Pickett, does a wonderful job whenever he leads an organization. B. Administrator - BJ King Administrator BJ King referred to his CIP report that was submitted with his Council report. Mr. King will update Council with this report at the last City Council meeting of the month. Kudos to the City's street guys and the parks & facilities guys for the tremendous job they have done dealing with the snow and ice over the last couple of weeks. Mr. King noted that staff will be requesting an executive session later on tonight's agenda. The City's salt supply was down to 300 ton and an order was made for 508 ton. Part of the salt was delivered on Friday with the rest to be delivered this week. The City should be in good shape. Mr. King was informed that the City uses about 15 ton on a typical snow event. The road block at Church and Elm Streets is due to a water leak. The City of Groveport Page 2 City Council Meeting Minutes February 22, 2021 way the weather had been recently, crews can't get in there to repair the concrete so gravel has been temporarily laid down until the permanent street repair can be made. #60-2021 Admin report to Council February 22 2021 Attachments: Admin Report to Council 2_22_2021.pdf C. Chief of Police - Ralph Portier Chief Portier was not present. Captain Blevins reported that the department is facing some coronavirus issues and with Sergeant Thompson's retirement next week there have been some challenges. The open house for Sergeant Thompson is 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday, March 5th. D. Director of Finance - Jason Carr Finance Director Jason Carr thanked Anna Krigbaum on getting the year-end closed and getting the City’s W2s and 1099s out on time. The 1094Cs related to the Affordable Care Act were filed meeting all of the City’s IRS filing requirements. In July of 2020, Governor DeWine lifted the executive order related to charging late fees on utility bills. This Council had elected to suspend charging late fees until January 1, 2021. The billing cycle that just ended, with bills due by February 1, was the first cycle the City re-implemented late fees, tag fees and shut-off fees. There were 400 accounts that were late, 150 of which were related to water and sewer accounts, with remaining accounts stormwater related. Out of that 150, 75 tags were placed on residents’ doors. Subsequently, as of today, the 75 door tags resulted in only 10 shut-off notices. Another factor for only 10 shut-off notices is that the City’s hardship applications have to be received before late bills are mailed, or for this billing cycle February 2nd. After a discussion with the City Administrator, that requirement was lifted and the City allowed residents to apply for a hardship application up until shut-off notices were served. The Finance Department received 30 hardship applications from February 2nd until today (February 22nd). The Department worked with residents and were flexible when enforcing the City’s utility code. Mr. Carr thanked Jason Cooper for all his work. In response to Mayor Westcamp’s request in regard to the cost for snow removal, Mr. Carr provided the following information. The labor cost, which includes regular hours, overtime and equipment use, was $105,704.32. Salt usage was 808 tons, at an average price of $70.71 a City of Groveport Page 3 City Council Meeting Minutes February 22, 2021 ton, came to $57,133.68. That information comes out of the City’s FMX system. Mr. Carr thanked Brian Strayer and Walt Wagner for tracking the information and having it readily available. Mayor Westcamp thanked Mr. Carr for following up on his request. E. Director of Law - Kevin Shannon Nothing to report. F. Assistant Administrator / Development Director Jeff Green Assistant Administrator / Development Director Jeff Green announced that the Community Improvement Corporation (CIC) had its first work session today with the planners. Different from anything the CIC has done in the past, this is a comprehensive planning for the City’s downtown to look for physical space. Looking at what potentials there could be in the future, at what the City is doing now with new construction and the transformative process that could influence what things can happen. The CIC and Downtown Professionals Network (DPN) will have daily check-in sessions at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. On Friday, at a lunch meeting, DPN will present their plan's framework to show the direction they are heading with the redevelopment of the Historic Downtown Groveport district. City staff is in the process of finishing up the annual report; it should be ready to go to the printers in a week or so. The annual report will be going out by the end of March at the latest. G. Council Members - Jean Ann Hilbert, Ed Dildine, Shawn Cleary, Becky Hutson, Scott Lockett and Chad Grashel Council Members did not have any comments. H. Clerk of Council - Ruthanne Sargus Ross Clerk of Council, Ruthanne Sargus Ross, requested Council to consider making a motion to appoint her as their designee for Certified Public Records training. A motion was made by Council Member Hilbert, seconded by Council Member Hutson, to appoint Clerk of Council, Ruthanne Sargus Ross, as their designee for Certified Public Records training. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 6- Cleary, Dildine, Grashel, Hilbert, Hutson and Lockett I. Standing Committees City of Groveport Page 4 City Council Meeting Minutes February 22, 2021 Cemetery Committee Mayor Westcamp received a letter from Suzie Price stating she was resigning from her appointment on the Cemetery Committee. Mr. Cleary will be making some inquiries in the next couple of weeks and hopes to have someone in place for the Mayor to appoint by the next City Council meeting. IX. Other Business A. Executive Session Law Director Kevin Shannon requested Council to consider making a motion to go into Executive Session pursuant to Ohio Revised Code Section 121.22(G) to discuss economic development to include all members of Council, the Mayor, himself, the Administrator, Finance Director and the Assistant Administrator / Development Director. And also pursuant to Ohio Revised Code Section 121.22(G) to discuss a matter as it relates to a public official at which point Captain Blevins will be asked to join the Executive Session while Mr. Green and Mr. Carr are excused. A motion was made by Council Member Cleary, seconded by Council Member Hilbert, to go into Executive Session at 6:44 p.m. pursuant to Ohio Revised Code Section 121.22(G) to discuss to discuss economic development to include all members of Council, the Mayor, the Law Director, the Administrator, Finance Director and the Assistant Administrator / Development Director. And also pursuant to Ohio Revised Code Section 121.22(G) to discuss a matter as it relates to a public official at which point Captain Blevins will be asked to join the Executive Session while Mr. Green and Mr. Carr are excused. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 6- Cleary, Dildine, Grashel, Hilbert, Hutson and Lockett A motion was made by Council Member Hilbert, seconded by Council Member Cleary, to come out of Executive Session at 7:08 p.m. with no action taken. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 6- Cleary, Dildine, Grashel, Hilbert, Hutson and Lockett Mr. Dildine warned everyone to check on their fraud and credit reports. He also asked Administration to keep an eye on unemployment claims filed against the City. Someone had opened up unemployment claims in his name against the Township. Luckily it was caught before any benefits were paid out. Mr. Dildine became aware of the fraud when he City of Groveport Page 5 City Council Meeting Minutes February 22, 2021 received a letter asking for a temporary password for an unemployment claim filed. The State is utilizing staff from big businesses with the proper background to help State of Ohio fix the fraud. X. Adjournment A motion was made by Council Member Cleary, seconded by Council Member Hilbert, to adjourn at 7:13 p.m. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 6- Cleary, Dildine, Grashel, Hilbert, Hutson and Lockett __________________________________________ Lance Westcamp, Mayor __________________________________________ Ruthanne Sargus Ross, CMC Clerk of Council PLEASE NOTE: THESE MINUTES ARE NOT VERBATIM. A RECORDING OF THE MEETING IS AVAILABLE IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE DURING REGULAR BUSINESS HOURS. City of Groveport Page 6