City Council

City of Groveport 655 Blacklick St. Groveport, OH 43125 614.830.2052 www.groveport.org . Meeting Minutes Monday, February 10, 2025 6:30 PM Council Chambers City Council City Council Meeting Minutes February 10, 2025 I. Call to Order Mayor Lance Westcamp called the City Council meeting to order at 6:35 p.m. Staff Present: BJ King - Administrator, Kevin Shannon - Law Director, Jason Carr - Director of Finance, Casey Adams - Chief of Police, Michael Loges - Development Director, Mike Poirier - Chief Building Official, Annie Short - HR Generalist, Mindy Kay - 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 Absent: 2 - Scott Lockett, and Shawn Cleary Present: 6 - Edward Dildine, Edward Dildine, Becky Hutson, Jack Rupp, Jean Ann Hilbert, and Lance Westcamp V. Approval of Minutes The January 27, 2025 City Council Minutes stand approved as submitted. #008-2025 January 27, 2025 City Council Meeting Minutes Attachments: 2025.01.27 City Council Meeting Minutes.pdf VI. Business of Guests A. Rachel Ricker - Citizens Academy Presentation Mayors Court Clerk Rachel Ricker presented her proposal for the Citizens Academy. Council and staff expressed their excitement and briefly discussed ideas and opportunities for the program. #009-2025 Citizens Academy Proposal Attachments: Citizens Academy Proposal.pdf City of Groveport Page 1 City Council Meeting Minutes February 10, 2025 #010-2025 Citizens Academy Presentation Attachments: Citizens Academy Presentation.pptx B. State Representative Meredith Lawson-Rowe State Representative Meredith Lawson-Rowe expressed her gratitude for the opportunity to represent Groveport. She said she may be located downtown but she's still our neighbor and is only a phone call, email, or text away. She gave kudos to Mrs. Ricker on the Citizens Academy proposal and said community engagement and educating the next generations of what we do in the community is very important. She said she'd be interested in sitting in on a class or two, and shared that the City of Reynoldsburg instituted a Citizens Police Academy. She spoke about the importance of educating and building a relationship. She shared insight from the three committees she serves on, one being Local Government. She said she started in local government as a ward representative and council president. Another one of her committees is Community Revitalization, where, intuitively, she thought the topics of discussion would be community reinvestment, housing, and beautification. She said she was educated that House Speaker Huffman actually brought this committee from the Senate and that it has a lot of discussions about mental health and addiction services. The third committee she is involved with is Veterans and Military Development. She said she raised her hand for this committee, and she does not take it lightly. She went on to say that her office will be sending out newsletters each month and encouraged all to go to her member page and reach out with any questions or concerns anyone may have. She concluded by sharing her plans to create a district directory, where, like the yellow pages, anyone can find email addresses and websites for our federal and state governments and agencies. She stressed how important it is to her to know each community's priorities and challenges so she can properly represent and build relationships with everyone. VII. Ordinances and Resolutions A. 3rd Readings Ord. 2024-061 AN ORDINANCE GRANTING A VARIANCE AS TO THE PERMITTED USES IN THE ESTABLISHED ZONING DISTRICT FOR THE PROPERTY LOCATED AT 4685 HOMER OHIO LANE, PARCEL NO. 185-001424, CURRENTLY ZONED PLANNED INDUSTRIAL PARK (PIP), NEXGREEN, APPLICANT City of Groveport Page 2 City Council Meeting Minutes February 10, 2025 Sponsors: Dildine Attachments: Ord. 2024-061 Exhibit A.pdf Law Director Shannon read aloud a proposed amendment to include conditions set forth by the Planning & Zoning Commission pertaining to this ordinance. A motion was made by Council Member Dildine, seconded by Council Member Hilbert, to amend Ord. 2024-061 to include conditions set forth by the Planning & Zoning Commission. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 5- Dildine, Hutson, Rupp, Hilbert and Westcamp A motion was made by Council Member Dildine, seconded by Council Member Hutson, to adopt. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 5- Dildine, Hutson, Rupp, Hilbert and Westcamp B. 2nd Readings C. 1st Readings Ord. 2025-002 AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING MEMBERSHIP FEES FOR THE RECREATION CENTER THEREBY AMENDING THE FEE SCHEDULE SET FORTH IN ORDINANCE NO. 2019-018 Sponsors: Hilbert Attachments: Ord. 2025-002 Exhibit A.pdf This Ordinance was referred to the Committee of the Whole Ord. 2025-003 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING PART ONE - ADMINISTRATIVE CODE, CHAPTER 143, EMPLOYEES GENERALLY OF THE CODIFIED ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF GROVEPORT, OHIO Sponsors: Cleary Attachments: Ord. 2025-003 Exhibit A.pdf This Ordinance was referred to the Committee of the Whole VIII. Reports A. Mayor - Lance Westcamp Mayor Westcamp spoke about Groveport's friendly rivalry with Canal Winchester and how he was presented the Mayors Cup after our win at the last Groveport vs Canal Winchester football game. He informed State City of Groveport Page 3 City Council Meeting Minutes February 10, 2025 Representative Lawson-Rowe that he meets quarterly with the Mayors of Canal Winchester, Lockbourne, and Obetz. He said he would send her their schedule and hopes she can join soon. B. Administrator - BJ King Administrator King reminded Council that the State of the Schools is on March 6th, and that we are going to have a table there from the Rec Center to try to recruit workers. He then said we will be doing maintenance on a lot of facilities when we get into better weather, the current work being done on the Rec Center should be done by the end of February, and the window replacement at Town Hall is taking some time to finish in order to be historically sound. C. Chief of Police - Casey Adams Chief Adams referenced the recent tragic events at the KDC warehouse in New Albany that involved an active shooter and spoke about the training our officers are implementing in conjunction with Madison Township Police, Madison Township Fire Department, and Fairfield County Sheriffs Department. This is free training provided by the state, and further trainings will be done in July and August. He added that Officer Herrera has made his rounds conducting safety checks and testing panic alarms at all the City buildings, and commended Sergeant Bell for his quick response and efforts to make sure everyone was safe at our KDC warehouse the night the incident occurred. Sergeant Bell assigned an officer to our KDC building immediately, and that one of our camera trailers was deployed there as a safety precaution. Chief Adams said there is still an officer working special duty there. Mayor Westcamp asked how long an officer will be assigned at KDC. Chief Adams replied that it was supposed to end tonight, but we haven't heard anything from KDC. He said they may want to re-up having the special duty officer for another five days or they could be done, we don't know yet. Mayor Westcamp then made sure that the Police Department still has enough help without that officer. Chief Adams said we've also relied on the Madison Township Police Department to fill in some of the gaps in shifts at KDC. Mrs. Hilbert stated she appreciated having a police car at the schools in the morning, as it slows traffic down. D. Director of Finance - Jason Carr E. Director of Law - Kevin Shannon City of Groveport Page 4 City Council Meeting Minutes February 10, 2025 F. Development Director - Michael Loges G. Council Members - Jean Ann Hilbert, Ed Dildine, Shawn Cleary, Becky Hutson, Scott Lockett and Jack Rupp Mr. Rupp reported that the Board of Education has changed their meetings from Wednesday to Tuesday, and that he plans to attend next week. Mr. Dildine informed Council and staff that he will be absent from next week's Committee of the Whole meeting, and that Mrs. Hutson will be sitting in as Co-Chair. H. Clerk of Council - Mindy Kay I. Standing Committees IX. Other Business X. Adjournment Council Member Dildine made a motion, seconded by Council Member Hutson to adjourn at 7: 08 p.m. All in favor stated AYE, None Opposed. Motion passed. __________________________________________ Lance Westcamp, Mayor __________________________________________ Mindy Kay 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 5