City Council

City of Groveport 655 Blacklick St. Groveport, OH 43125 614.830.2052 www.groveport.org . Meeting Minutes Monday, April 24, 2023 6:30 PM Council Chambers City Council Mayor Lance Westcamp Council Members - Jean Ann Hilbert, Ed Dildine, Shawn Cleary, Becky Hutson, Scott Lockett & Jack Rupp City Council Meeting Minutes April 24, 2023 I. Call to Order Mayor Lance Westcamp called the City Council meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Staff Present: BJ King - Administrator, Kevin Shannon - Law Director, Jason Carr - Director of Finance, Casey Adams - Chief of Police, Jeff Green - Development Director, Seth Bowers - Recreation Center Director, Kenny Hill - Recreation Manager, Mindy Kay - Assistant 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 Chief Adams led the Pledge of Allegiance. IV. Roll Call Present: 6 - Shawn M. Cleary, Edward Dildine, Jean Ann Hilbert, Becky Hutson, Scott Lockett, and Jack Rupp V. Approval of Minutes The April 10, 2023 City Council Minutes stand approved as submitted. #085-2023 City Council Meeting Minutes April 10, 2023 Attachments: 2023.04.10 City Council Meeting Minutes.pdf VI. Business of Guests Administrator BJ King invited Recreation Center Director Seth Bower and our new Recreational Manager Kenny Hill to the podium for a formal introduction to Council. Mr. Bowers introduced Mr. Hill and went on to say that he came highly recommended to us, has fifteen years of campus recreation experience at Ohio State University, seven years at Cornell and has hit the ground running with us and has a lot of great ideas. Mr. Hill said that he is enjoying his new position and the City reminds him of his hometown back in Oklahoma. He is happy to be here and is open to any suggestions at the Rec Center. City of Groveport Page 1 City Council Meeting Minutes April 24, 2023 A. Jeffrey Ruehle Mr. Ruehle introduced himself to Council and stated that he’s been a resident of Elmont Place for about five years. He explained that he and his family enjoy coming into the older part of Groveport via the Blacklick Bike Trail and how the trail stops right at Ebright Road just before town. He said you have to cross the street and then there’s a blind corner until you get onto Front street and eventually onto the sidewalk. He added how difficult it is walking with dogs or children, as there is no berm, sidewalk or bike path. Therefore, many residents of his community see Ebright Road as a stopping point. He proposed the idea of extending the bike path or putting a sidewalk in to connect his community with the City. He said that it is a very accessible bike path and it would be very convenient if it came all the way into town so that he and his community could enjoy it more. He added that the blind corner can be quite a challenge. Administrator King commented that the property in question is in Madison Township but then assured Mr. Ruehle that the City would reach out to them and see what we can do to make his request happen. Mr. Ruehle then said that if we were able to do this and advertise it there would be a lot of people who would use the path and come into town. There are a lot of healthy and active people who walk that path but it just dies right at Ebright. Mr. King assured him that the City would be in touch. Council Member Cleary said that he rides his bike on that path and agreed that the blind spot on that curve is scary, as well as a bump in Corbett Road nearby. He said certainly we could look into a grant to extend the path. Council Member Dildine added that it would be a great way to get into town, especially for events like the Fourth of July. It would lessen the amount of cars parking in town as well. Council member Rupp inquired if there could be any type of easement there. Mr. King said he was unsure, with it being in Madison Township. #086-2023 Jeffrey Ruehle Presentation Attachments: Jeffrey Ruehle Presentation.pdf VII. Ordinances and Resolutions A. 3rd Readings B. 2nd Readings C. 1st Readings City of Groveport Page 2 City Council Meeting Minutes April 24, 2023 Ord. 2023-015 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE 2022-036 ESTABLISHING THE CITY OF GROVEPORT’S POLICE DEPARTMENT STRENGTH OF STAFF. Sponsors: Rupp This Ordinance was referred to the Committee of the Whole Ord. 2023-016 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING PART FIFTEEN - FIRE PREVENTION CODE OF THE CITY OF GROVEPORT CODIFIED ORDINANCES, CHAPTER 1519, FIREWORKS Sponsors: Lockett Attachments: Ord. 2023-016 Exhibit A Amended.pdf This Ordinance was referred to the Committee of the Whole Ord. 2023-017 AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE ADMINISTRATOR TO PURCHASE SIXTEEN (16) BODY CAMERAS FOR THE POLICE DEPARTMENT UNDER THE SOURCEWELL COOPERATIVE PURCHASE PLAN, FUNDED BY A GRANT FROM THE OHIO DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY, THEREBY WAIVING COMPETITIVE BIDDING PURSUANT TO GROVEPORT CITY CHARTER SECTION 9.02(B) AND THE DECLARATION OF AN EMERGENCY Sponsors: Dildine Mr. Cleary inquired if sixteen would cover every officer, for example at the Fourth of July. Police Chief Casey Adams stated that this would actually give us one additional camera in case one goes down, and also purchased with this grant is a backup battery that gives us an additional four hours of battery life. Mr. Cleary then inquired if each camera is assigned to a specific officer. Chief Adams confirmed each officer will be assigned their own individual camera, and it will also work with the in-car video systems where they are not wearing a body mic. The body cam will double as a body mic. Council member Rupp then asked what the performance period is on the grant. Chief Adams said it needs to be spent by June 30th and added that the cameras should give us a five-year lifespan where they will be transitioned out every two and a half years for a newer model. Administrator King said that this is a $58,000 purchase through the Sourcewell Cooperative Purchasing, which we’ve done before. This purchase is 100% grant funded, the purpose of the emergency language is just for the timing we have to spend it. Mr. Cleary inquired about the amount of cloud space the cameras would take up. Chief Adams said that we get City of Groveport Page 3 City Council Meeting Minutes April 24, 2023 60GB of data per camera per month and that out IT Director Trevor Swackhamer has already built in server space within the department. We can add on if we need to do so. We run out of space with the Axon body cameras constantly, and it seems they nickel and dime us when we try to add more storage. GETAC is more of a one stop shop. Mr. Cleary then asked when we would receive them, to which Chief Adams replied anywhere between thirty to forty-five days. A motion was made by Council Member Dildine, seconded by Council Member Hilbert, to adopt. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 6- Cleary, Dildine, Hilbert, Hutson, Lockett and Rupp Ord. 2023-018 AN ORDINANCE CREATING THE POSITION OF PART-TIME ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT AT THE SENIOR CENTER, ACCEPTING THE POSITION DESCRIPTION AND PAY GRADE. Sponsors: Hilbert Attachments: Ord. 2023-018 Exhibit A.pdf This Ordinance was referred to the Committee of the Whole VIII. Reports A. Mayor - Lance Westcamp Mayor Westcamp thanked Jessica Wyke and her staff as well as the Public Service and Parks Departments for their combined efforts in putting together the Tree City USA event at the Golf Course. He said it was a great day to show off our City. He then reminded Council of the City’s Arbor Day celebration this Friday the 28th. Tree planting will be at 1:30 at Glendening Elementary and 2:30 at Groveport Elementary. B. Administrator - BJ King Administrator King spoke in regards to Arbor day and said it is always a good time with the students and planting trees. We all learned a lot about the importance of trees last week at Tree City. He said he took pride in an email he received about the Tree City event that stated that moving forward, anyone else who hosts the event is going to have a hard time doing better than we did. He added that some of our guests who will be hosting in the future were asking about how we put it all together. He then said that if there’s one thing we like to do and are good at, it is hosting. He went on to say that we received three awards that day, one being a recognition for hosting which will be hung in the lobby of the municipal building. Another was our thirty-year Tree City City of Groveport Page 4 City Council Meeting Minutes April 24, 2023 Award with a new sign and new flag. We also received a growth award, which is awarded for efforts to grow our tree program. Meaning education for staff, investing in inspections, maintenance, plantings and proper disposals. He concluded by saying it was a really good day for our City and it was nice to walk outside and hear people asking Public Service Director Brian Strayer about the Golf Course. He was very proud of the City that day, as he is every day. Council Member Dildine said it was well attended. The Mayor and Council all agreed that the Paddock Pub did an excellent job. Mr. King said that we had lunch ordered for 150 people who RSVP’d and told Council not to be surprised if we’re asked to host again after this year being such a success. C. Chief of Police - Casey Adams Chief Adams informed Council that Lieutenant Short and Detective Gilbert have been really busy working with the schools. They have been doing women’s self-defense classes that the school district had asked to have for their staff members. Detective Gilbert also worked with the Administrative Staff and some of the teachers on how they can help us during a criminal investigation. Mr. Cleary inquired about the cameras up at Elmont. Chief Adams said that Detective Gilbert attended the HOA meeting there and the original camera system that they were going to go with from Motorola Solutions had fallen through. They will be moving forward with Flock. The Sheriff’s department and most communities are going with that. There will be three cameras put up in their neighborhood at their cost. However, Detective Gilbert had come to him with some of the criminal forfeiture money the department had received from investigations. He would like to reutilize some of that money to get six to eight cameras put around Groveport, which then would tie in with their camera systems at Elmont Place. Thus, being able to use our investigative funds to keep from having to use money in the general fund. It would be a great investigative tool to put them in our major areas to document license plates and vehicle descriptions. D. Director of Finance - Jason Carr Finance Director Jason Carr stated that for the eleventh year in a row the City was awarded the certificate of achievement for excellence in financial reporting for the 2021 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. He then informed Council that the 2022 audit is wrapping up now and he should have something to report from it in the next month or so. City of Groveport Page 5 City Council Meeting Minutes April 24, 2023 E. Director of Law - Kevin Shannon F. Development Director - Jeff Green Development Director Jeff Green informed Council that he will have meetings on May 10th at 10:00 with Shaklee and at 11:00 with CaaStle, which used to be Gwynnie Bee. He said he would be sending the information out to Council if a few members would like to join the meetings. Mayor Westcamp inquired if CaaStle does the same thing as Gwynnie Bee, to which Mr. Green replied that it is the same company, they just changed the name. He went on to say that it is a subscription clothing service and that it would be good for Council to come out and see the operation. G. Council Members - Jean Ann Hilbert, Ed Dildine, Shawn Cleary, Becky Hutson, Scott Lockett and Jack Rupp Council Member Rupp expressed how much he enjoyed the Tree City USA event. He went on to speak about the future levies the school is discussing. He said Mr. Cleary and Mr. King were at the last meeting with him and got a chance to go over the budget. He reminded Council that while there have been renewals, the last time that they actually passed a levy that brought additional revenue to the school district was about a decade ago. He said he thinks that will be an important piece of information they will use in any upcoming levies. Council Member Lockett said he attended the Princess Tea Party at Town Hall with his granddaughter. He said Community Affairs did a great job. They had forty spots and they were filled within an hour and a half of opening registration. Mayor Westcamp commented that he’d seen the photos they posted. Administrator King added that everything that happens at Town Hall and at the Senior Center gets filled up. Council Member Hutson said she really enjoyed the Tree City USA event. She said it was a great day to show off our little City and we were shining. Council Member Cleary inquired if we would be honoring the Valedictorians at the Pub this year. Mayor Westcamp said he did not know if it’d be at the Pub but we do usually honor them. He said he has not yet heard back about a list but needs to find out. He then said that he and Assistant Clerk of Council Mindy Kay are working on a Proclamation for the cheerleaders that will be presented at the Council meeting May 8th, and will follow up with Mr. Cleary about the Valedictorians. Mr. Cleary then addressed Mr. Carr and said eleven years is fantastic. He congratulated Mr. Carr and the Finance Department staff. He then said he had a chance to speak with the new City of Groveport Page 6 City Council Meeting Minutes April 24, 2023 Principal at the High School, Mr. Altman. He says he thinks we have the right person in place now but he’s going to need a lot of help and support from everybody. Council Member Dildine spoke on behalf of the Trees and Decorations Committee and said they enjoyed Tree City USA and being the focus of the event. The event went very well and was well attended. He added that it’s nice to hear what other communities do and how long some of these communities have been a part of Tree City USA. He said we are at thirty years and thinks the highest there was forty-seven. He then said if anybody has any suggestions let’s get to them. He said he knows Brian Strayer is focused on the overall health of the trees and as we move forward with better developments we will have a better idea of what we should be planting. He then said that networking with other communities in these types of events is beneficial for money saving purposes and getting as much information as we can. He added that he was surprised at the attendance and was glad to be there. Council Member Hilbert added that Tree City USA was a great day and the nicest thing of all is how we can showcase our community and the facilities that we have. She said people come to Groveport and say “Wow, I didn’t know this was here!”. She added we have so many wonderful employees that keep everything so nice and our residents keep their places nice. This really is a good place to live and the more people who move in here the better. Mayor Westcamp said that Canal Winchester’s Mayor Ebert and his staff attended the Tree City USA event and they really enjoyed it. H. Clerk of Council - Ruthanne Sargus Ross I. Standing Committees Mr. Cleary stated that over the last six weeks since we’ve cleaned up the Cemetery we have received a lot of positive comments. A lot of people have asked for different things to be added to the Cemetery. A couple people want to put 24hr lights at gravesites and buy benches. He said the next Cemetery meeting is going to be very interesting and maybe we’ll see some changes. He added it may be about time for some changes and the committee likes to keep an open mind. City of Groveport Page 7 City Council Meeting Minutes April 24, 2023 IX. Other Business A motion was made by Council Member Hilbert, seconded by Council Member Cleary to go into executive session pursuant to Ohio Revised Code Sections 121.22(G) at 7:01 p.m. to discuss the employment of a public employee and/or public official, land acquisition, and pending and/or imminent litigation and invited the Mayor, Council, Law Director, Administrator and Finance Director. X. Adjournment A motion was made by Council Member Cleary, seconded by Council Member Hutson, to come out of executive session at 8:52 p.m. with no action taken. Council Member Cleary made a motion, seconded by Council Member Hutson to adjourn at 8: 52 p.m. All in favor stated AYE, None Opposed. Motion passed. __________________________________________ Lance Westcamp, Mayor __________________________________________ Mindy Kay Assistant 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 8