Committee of the Whole

City of Groveport 655 Blacklick St. Groveport, OH 43125 614.830.2052 www.groveport.org Meeting Minutes - Final Monday, March 18, 2013 6:30 PM Council Chambers Committee of the Whole Mayor Lance Westcamp Council Members - Ed Rarey, Jean Ann Hilbert, Donna Drury, Ed Dildine, Shawn Cleary and Jan Stoots Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes - Final March 18, 2013 I. Call to Order by Committee Chair Dildine at 6:30 p.m. Staff Present: Marsha Hall - Administrator, Kevin Shannon - Law Director, Jeff Green - Director of Finance, Linda Haley - Community Affairs Director, Steve Farst - Engineer, Dennis Moore - Public Works Superintendent, Kyle Lund - Parks and Recreation Director, Tom Walker - Director of Golf, Ralph Portier - Chief of Police Guests Present: The Guest Book is on file with the Clerk of Council. II. Moment of Silence Committee Chair Dildine asked everyone to join him in a moment of silence. III. Pledge of Allegiance Chief Portier led the Pledge of Allegiance. IV. Roll Call Council Member Rarey arrived at 6:37 p.m. Absent: 1 - Council Member Hilbert Present: 5 - Council Member Cleary, Council Member Dildine, Council Member Drury, Council Member Rarey, and Council Member Stoots V. Approval of Minutes Approved as submitted. 3/18Minutes February 19, 2013 Attachments: 2-19-13 Committee Minutes VI. Business of Guests A. Madison Township Fire Chief Bates Update Chief Bates updated Council on the amount of fire runs and EMS responses the Madison Township Fire Department handled City of Groveport Page 1 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes - Final March 18, 2013 for February. Council thanked Chief Bates for his time. B. Bruce Smith, Kessler Street, Groveport Resident Bruce Smith voiced his concerns regarding speeders on Kessler Street. He said the cars fly down the street and speed down Madison Street taking the curve onto South Street too fast. He explained during Halloween last year he tried to tell one driver to slow down by walking in front of their car. He believes the speeders are primarily young drivers and stressed that something bad is going to happen if the situation is not addressed quickly. Mr. Smith believes the drivers are using Kessler and Madison streets to avoid the series of stop signs on nearby Tallman Street. Chief Portier said he will instruct his officers to increase patrols on Kessler, Madison and South streets. He said that they will have a higher police visibility in that area. The Mayor and Council thanked Mr. Smith for bringing the information to their attention. *Council Member Rarey is now present. VII. New Business 3/18AquaticCe 2013 Aquatic Center nter Attachments: CR 3-18-2013 Mr. Lund requested Council to consider revisions to the Aquatic Center’s Seasonal Pass Rates, as well as Daily Fees for Non-Pass Holders. He said Staff does not recommend the increase of any fees and the only new fee is the fee linked to the Senior Couple classification. He said the proposed changes are: - Senior Couple (55 years of age & above) – Although this has been offered at the Groveport Recreation Center, this classification has not been offered at the Groveport Aquatic Center. - Household is replacing the word “Family”. Staff feels that by City of Groveport Page 2 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes - Final March 18, 2013 changing this classification to “Household”, we are adapting to the times and becoming less restrictive. Traditional families are no longer the norm or majority. Household of 2… previously called “Family of 2” Household of 3… previously called “Family of 3” Household of 4+… previously called “Family of 4+” Mr. Lund indicated that passes traditionally go on sale April 1, so he requested that Council consider emergency language. Council did have any objections with the revisions and directed Mr. Lund to move forward with the legislation. VIII. Unfinished Business None IX. Ordinances and Resolutions A. 3rd Readings None B. 2nd Readings None RES. 13-003 A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE USE OF A PORTION OF THE PROCEEDS OF BONDS OR BOND ANTICIPATION NOTES OF THE CITY OF GROVEPORT, IN THE ESTIMATED PRINCIPAL AMOUNT OF NOT TO EXCEED $___________, TO BE ISSUED FOR THE PURPOSE OF ACQUIRING REAL ESTATE FOR MUNICIPAL PURPOSES, AND CONSTRUCTING SITE IMPROVEMENTS AND APPURTENANCES THERETO IN CONNECTION WITH THE GROVEPORT TOWN CENTER PROJECT, TO REIMBURSE THE CITY'S GENERAL, PERMANENT IMPROVEMENT, OR BOND CONSTRUCTION FUND FOR MONEYS PREVIOUSLY ADVANCED FOR SUCH PURPOSE Sponsors: Jean Ann Hilbert Finance Director Green said this legislation is a Reimbursement Resolution, which authorizes the City to seek financing through bonds to cover the costs for Front and Main Street sidewalks City of Groveport Page 3 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes - Final March 18, 2013 and parking lot area for the Town Center Project. He said a smaller portion of the money will be used for the purchase of the property next to the Municipal Building that was discussed at the last meeting. He said they are still waiting to hear back regarding the purchase. He explained this legislation basically allows the City to spend money out of the general fund and then reimburse at a later date with the proceeds of the bond. Mr. Green said they handled the golf course in the same way. Council Member Rarey asked if the money would be reimbursed this year. Mr. Green responded yes. Administrator Hall said they are still unsure of the amount and noted they are working diligently with the engineers to get an estimated total. She said they added a few things to the scope of the project, which changed the initial costs. She said they added the pocket park at Front and Main and some additional work leading up to the bike path. She said a portion of that money will also be reimbursed to the City by the developer of the property. She said they are also looking at the possibilities of some grants. She said they can't really do anything this year with the pocket park due to the contamination, but there are grants available through Nature Works, etc. for both the park and the bike path. She said they are also looking into a rain garden. She said currently there is a County grant request for three rain gardens. Ms. Hall said once they get each section of the project isolated then they will go back and compare the original cost estimate with the new cost estimate and why there is such a dramatic difference in those amounts. She said they will discuss it later on an item by item basis once all the numbers are submitted. Council Member Rarey said he would like to see the bike path extended to Rager Road. Mr. Green said that they don't plan on doing anything with the bike path this year unless the grants are awarded to the City. After discussion on the matter, Council decided to hold off on making any recommendation since they don't know the amount yet. Committee Chair Dildine read the Resolution by Title. No recommendation was made. X. Financial Report City of Groveport Page 4 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes - Final March 18, 2013 Finance Director Green said income tax is up 16% for the year. He said he hopes that continues. 3/18FinanceRe Finance Report port Attachments: Finance Report XI. Other Business XII. Reports 3/18MonthlyRe Monthly Report port Attachments: CR 3-15-2013 A. Mayor - Lance Westcamp Mayor Westcamp said to contact Marsha Hall or Stephen Moore if Council or residents have any complaints regarding neighborhood concerns. He said he would like to see certain areas in the City cleaned up. He encouraged everyone to call them and they will try to resolve any issues. B. Administrator - Marsha Hall Administrator Hall said she introduced Tom Byrne, the new Director of Facilities Management, to Council Members prior to the meeting; however, Council Member Rarey and Committee Chair Dildine did not get to meet him. She will introduce Mr. Byrne to them after the meeting. She said he is already started n several projects. She welcomed him to the City. Ms. Hall reported she asked Finance Director Green to include an extra $3,000 in the amended appropriations for the Heritage Society to help fund an oral history interactive exhibit project. She said the current grant Ordinance allows for an application for grants from the City anytime throughout the year. She said she was asked about this funding after they already had appropriated grant money for the year. At a later date, she said she would like to review the grant application process and implement an application period so that they can plan better on which organizations request grants. City of Groveport Page 5 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes - Final March 18, 2013 Ms. Hall indicated that Mr. Rarey had asked for a report from AEP that shows where certain outages are in the City. She said she attached that report to her Council Update. She said if anyone has other questions to let her know. Basically, she said the report segmented three sections of the City and AEP provided 2012 outage reports that detailed what the outages were for and how long the outages were and what caused it. Council Member Rarey asked if they had any recommendations on how to solve the problems in the future. She responded that what she can tell from the reports is that most of them were noted as momentary events, a few that have problems due to trees, bird issues and some caused by weather. She said it would be hard to prevent all of the problems. She said one area is more of a concern, which is designated as area three in the report. That area is Main Street down to the canal and Lesleh over to College. Ms. Hall said those outages were longer periods of time. She said they will discuss that with AEP at a later date. She said she would go over the report with Council Member Rarey after the Meeting. He thanked her for getting the information. C. Director of Law - Kevin Shannon No report D. Director of Finance - Jeff Green Finance Director Green said he submitted to Council amendments that need to be made to the 2013 Appropriations. He said they will be bringing that legislation to Council at the next meeting. He said these changes insure the City is in compliance with Ohio Revised Code, which requires that appropriations do not exceed total estimated resources available as well as provides appropriated dollars in the correct funds/expenditure line items. He said they will have to do this every year due not knowing where they fall in terms of revenue or expenses. He said the amendments outlined in his report need to be filed with the County as soon as possible. He said one item that was not included was the school revenue sharing and that will be decreased by $149,989 and they had estimated $1.3 million to the schools this year. Council did not have any questions or comments. Committee Chair Dildine thanked him for the information. City of Groveport Page 6 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes - Final March 18, 2013 3.18AmendAp Amend Appropriation Ordinance Attachments: Amend Approp E. Chief of Police - Ralph Portier No report. Council Member Rarey expressed his concerns that the police department is too cramped in the municipal building. He said they need to take a look into finding a building or property in the City for the police department. Mr. Green said they are running out of space in the municipal building in general and are experiencing some real space restrictions. Administrator Hall agreed noting that it's often difficult to hold meetings in the municipal building due to the lack of space. She explained the auditors will be coming in to do the audit soon and they will be here three months and leaves them without a conference room during that whole time frame. Administrator Hall said there have been discussions about possibly reconfiguring the council chambers to create an additional conference room. She also said Staff have looked at the vacant brick house on Front Street, located next door to and just south of the municipal building, as a possible place to add office space. Mr. Green said it is on their radar screen and agreed there is definitely more space needed in the police department. He noted that these matters will be discussed at the facilities meeting in June. He indicated that the city needs a long range facility plan to evaluate what properties we have, how to use them and how best to maintain them. Committee Chair Dildine asked Chief Portier if there were any grants through National Police Organizations or FEMA for police station grants. Chief Portier said the last two years they have been going through all the grants and which ones apply to the City. Council Member Cleary said he worries about confidentiality with witnesses with the police department being so crowded. City of Groveport Page 7 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes - Final March 18, 2013 Committee Chair Dildine said that having Tom Byrne on Staff will help us figure out current facilities uses/needs and what we need in the future to accommodate the City's needs. He said having the meeting in June will give him time to get familiar with the City facilities. F. Public Works Superintendent - Dennis Moore No report G. Chief Building Official - Stephen Moore Out H. Director of Golf - Tom Walker Mr. Walker reported that the new walk in cooler was installed today, the hood was delivered but it was damaged, but everything else seems to be running smooth. Mr. Walker said they started working on the engineering on Hole 13 and the design of the support wall. He said he should have a time line in the near future. Council Member Rarey wanted to know the cost. Mr. Green said they would not know until the engineering is complete. He asked if Public Works will be involved in the project. Administrator Hall said no. She said the cost will be less than they thought and will come in around $40,000 or $50,000. I. Parks & Recreation Director - Kyle Lund Mr. Lund said they Boy Scouts would like to do a joint flag retirement ceremony again this May. He said once he knows the date and time he will be back to Council. He reported that over 1,100 people have enrolled in Silver Sneakers since May of 2012. Council Member Rarey wanted to know when the signs were going up and was not happy that the wrought iron fence was taken down. Administrator Hall said there was a digital sign approved for up by Hendron Road and then over by the City of Groveport Page 8 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes - Final March 18, 2013 Recreation Center as part of the appropriations. He thought that was to replace the existing sign. Administrator Hall said the sign was moved out and they discussed putting that wrought iron arch way at Front and Main Streets. Mrs. Haley said they have a meeting in the morning to discuss getting her sign up. Mr. Lund said he is in the process of putting up their sign, but it was delayed by the Board of Zoning Appeals due to thirty day appeal window before they could place the order for the sign. J. Community Affairs Director - Linda Haley No report K. Engineer - Steve Farst No report L. Clerk of Council - Kimberly McWilliams No report Committee Chair Dildine thanked Clerk McWilliams for getting the new software on the iPads. He noted he liked it and it's easy to operate and definitely has saved on the cost of paper. M. Council Members - Ed Rarey, Jean Ann Hilbert, Donna Drury, Ed Dildine, Shawn Cleary and Jan Stoots Council Member Rarey applauded Linda Haley for a program he attended at Town Hall. He said it was renovating historical homes and he was very pleased with the number of people who attended. XIII. Adjournment Council Member Rarey made a motion, seconded by Council Member Cleary, to adjourn at 7:22 p.m. All in favor stated AYE, None Opposed. Motion passed. __________________________________________ Edward G. Dildine, President Pro-Tem __________________________________________ Kimberly McWilliams, Clerk of Council City of Groveport Page 9 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes - Final March 18, 2013 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 10