City Council

City of Groveport 655 Blacklick St. Groveport, OH 43125 614.830.2052 www.groveport.org . Meeting Minutes Monday, April 14, 2025 6:30 PM Council Chambers City Council City Council Meeting Minutes April 14, 2025 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, Michael Loges - Development Director, Seth Bower - Recreation Director, 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 Present: 7 - Edward Dildine, Edward Dildine, Becky Hutson, Scott Lockett, Jack Rupp, Jean Ann Hilbert, and Shawn Cleary V. Approval of Minutes The May 24, 2025 City Council Minutes stand approved as submitted. #072-2025 May 24, 2025 City Council Meeting Minutes Attachments: 2025.03.24 City Council Meeting Minutes.pdf VI. Business of Guests VII. Ordinances and Resolutions A. 3rd Readings Ord. 2024-062 AN ORDINANCE GRANTING A VARIANCE AS TO THE PERMITTED USES IN THE ESTABLISHED ZONING DISTRICT AND AN AREA VARIANCE FOR THE EAST BUFFER YARD FOR THE PROPERTY LOCATED AT 6031 GROVEPORT ROAD, PARCEL NO. 185-000916, CURRENTLY ZONED COMMUNITY COMMERCIAL (CC), AUTOZONE City of Groveport Page 1 City Council Meeting Minutes April 14, 2025 DEVELOPMENT, LLC, APPLICANT. Sponsors: Hilbert Attachments: Ord. 2024-062 Exhibit A.pdf Ord. 2024-062 Exhibit B.pdf Ord. 2024-062 Exhibit C.pdf Ord. 2024-062 Exhibit D.pdf Law Director Shannon stated that staff and the applicant are requesting that Council consider making a motion to postpone the third reading of this Ordinance to our next City Council meeting on April 28th. Council has been given a lot of information tonight at the Public Hearing, and that would give us the opportunity to review and exchange feedback. A motion was made by Council Member Hilbert, seconded by Council Member Dildine, to postpone to the April 28th City Council Meeting. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 6- Dildine, Hutson, Lockett, Rupp, Hilbert and Cleary B. 2nd Readings C. 1st Readings Ord. 2025-018 AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING PARTICIPATION IN THE ODOT WINTER CONTRACT FOR ROAD SALT AND THE DECLARATION OF AN EMERGENCY Sponsors: Dildine Administrator King requested this Ordinance be referred to the April 21st Committee of the Whole meeting and informed Council that the adoption by emergency will be requested at the April 28th City Council Meeting. This Ordinance was referred to the Committee of the Whole VIII. Reports A. Mayor - Lance Westcamp Mayor Westcamp expressed his appreciation for Chief Adams and all he does for the community. He spoke about the upcoming Fourth of July event and how staff already has everything all planned out. He said that speaks to the quality of staff we have. B. Administrator - BJ King City of Groveport Page 2 City Council Meeting Minutes April 14, 2025 Mr. King announced two new hires, Kirk Evans in the Parks Department, and Richard Harris in Facilities. They will both be introduced to Council at the April 21st Committee of the Whole meeting. He then informed Council that on Friday we opened up bids for the Port Road reconstruction project, and that we have already received seven bids. Nothing is confirmed yet, but it looks like Strawser Paving may be the lowest, most responsive and responsible bidder. They came in at about $260,000-$270,000 lower than the Engineer's estimate. He went on to report that outdoor pool prep is underway and going well. We've done some tile and concrete work. Brush pickup has also started. He updated Council on the City's collaboration with local digital marketing agency Choptank, starting with a meeting with the Directors. Choptank owner Meg Mannion would also like to schedule time with Council as a group for a couple hours to go through her presentation and start work on our re branding project. He recapped on the July Fourth planning meeting and announced that the headliner this year is a Jimmy Buffet tribute band. There will be three bands on the third and it's the same schedule as last year. He thanked Council for increasing the budget for a bigger fireworks display this year. Mr. Cleary spoke about the closing of the Southeast Messenger. He said the Southeast Messenger was an excellent source of information for the citizens of Groveport and surrounding communities. He added that we could not have asked for anything better from Rick Palsgrove and expressed his gratitude. He asked with moving forward, if we should increase our social media and where we stand on a publication source. Mr. King said he has an idea of what he thinks we should do but would like to discuss publication at the Committee fo the Whole meeting. Mr. Dildine inquired if we need to consider changing anything in the Rules of Council or the City Charter about notifications. Mr. Shannon said that is not necessary, because the language states it must be a paper of general circulation, and that we have taken steps to move on to the Daily Reporter for the advertising we are required to do under law. Mr. Rupp proposed a Proclamation in honor of Mr. Palsgrove. The Mayor, Council, and staff all agreed. C. Chief of Police - Casey Adams Chief Adams thanked Mayor Westcamp, Council, staff, and the community for their ongoing and overwhelming support. He shared how he was with a potential Police Department recruit at Delaney's Diner, and during their time there four people had come up to him expressing their gratitude and support. He said it went a long way in making an impression on the recruit. He reported that two of the three new hires are out of their FTO programs and the third should finish in the next ten days. Two of the officers hired about eighteen months ago are volunteering at Westerville's Cops and Kids program in June, and another is volunteering at a KidSpace event this coming Wednesday. He added to City of Groveport Page 3 City Council Meeting Minutes April 14, 2025 the Fourth of July preparation discussion by stating the Madison Township Police Department will be working with our Police Department at the event. Mr. Lockett mentioned that he noticed there was no police presence at the Easter egg hunt, and asked how we determine if there will be police at an event or not. Chief Adams replied that it was not intended, however there were issues with the schedule and officers being busy with calls that day. D. Director of Finance - Jason Carr Mr. Carr stated that he, Mr. King, and Mayor Westcamp met with Adam Collier last week and presented the school sharing check for 2024, payable in 2025. It was $76,161.00 higher than last year, totaling $1,244,949.85. Since 2005 we've given the school $23,400,377.00. He then told Council that he and Recreation Director Seth Bower have been working together on the items discussed regarding the rate study and will present their findings at next week's Committee of the Whole meeting. He asked Council to review the cost memo he had provided and asked for any feedback. Mr. Rupp inquired if the substantial decrease in utilities between 2023 to 2024 was due to water at the pool. Mr. Carr said that was the biggest factor because of how many times we filled the pools, both indoor and outdoor. Mr. Rupp asked if the decrease in electric at the time is also a reflection of that, to which Mr. Carr replied that is more than likely the case. E. Director of Law - Kevin Shannon F. Development Director - Michael Loges Mr. Loges extended an invitation to Council, the Mayor, Mr. Shannon, and Mr. King this Friday at 10:00am to attend a site tour in Delaware with the developer who is moving forward with the annexation request here in Groveport, being cautious of not creating a quorum of Council. He said it is an active construction site and the roads are constructed, adding that the roads are a similar degree of quality that we'd expect to see in Groveport. He went into a little more detail about the development, noting that it is slightly smaller than the acreage they are looking at here. The development team is slated to meet with Council for executive session at next week's Committee of the Whole. He then spoke on what employers in central Ohio are saying in regards to the recent federal changes in immigration and tariff policies. He reported about an employer in another community who's entire second shift staff are Venezuela, and were asked to self deport under the temporary protected status that had been revoked by executive order. A second employer in another community has been effected by half of its workforce being dismissed as a result of City of Groveport Page 4 City Council Meeting Minutes April 14, 2025 the impact of tariffs. A third is completely removing operations in the United States. He went on to say that Groveport has many employers who are dependant on our proximity to Rickenbacker Airport, and will be significantly impacted by the tariffs. He said we don't know how this will all sort itself out or how it will effect our footing. We are working on setting up conversations with our local employers and of the ones we've already met with, some are taking a wait and see approach and some have chosen to outsource products to other markets. He went into further detail about the fluctuations and hopeful realignments or markets under the effect of tariffs during a substantial amount of time. He stated that he, Mr. King, and Mr. Carr will be watching financial reports closely. G. Council Members - Jean Ann Hilbert, Ed Dildine, Shawn Cleary, Becky Hutson, Scott Lockett and Jack Rupp Mr. Rupp said he, Mr. King, and Mr. Lockett had the opportunity today to go through the new KidSpace and that it is going to be remarkable. He confirmed with Mr. King that the doors will open mid to end of May. Mr. Dildine recognized the amount of time and effort staff has put into the Rec Center rate study and encouraged Council to bring all their questions, concerns, and ideas to the forefront at the Committee of the Whole meeting. He said there's a lot of important information to digest and we'll all need to figure out together how we move forward with it. H. Clerk of Council - Mindy Kay I. Standing Committees IX. Other Business X. Adjournment Council Member Cleary made a motion, seconded by Council Member Dildine to adjourn at 6: 55 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 City Council Meeting Minutes April 14, 2025 City of Groveport Page 6