Committee of the Whole

City of Groveport 655 Blacklick St. Groveport, OH 43125 614.830.2052 www.groveport.org . Meeting Minutes Monday, June 15, 2020 5:30 PM Council Chambers Committee of the Whole Mayor Lance Westcamp Council Members - Jean Ann Hilbert, Ed Dildine, Shawn Cleary, Becky Hutson, Scott Lockett & Chad Grashel Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes June 15, 2020 I. Call to Order by Committee Chair Hilbert at 5:30 p.m. Staff Present: BJ King - Administrator, Kevin Shannon - Law Director, Jason Carr - Director of Finance, Kurt Blevins - Police Captain, Tom Walker - Director of Golf, Steve Farst - City Engineer Guests Present: The Guest Book is on file with the Clerk of Council. II. Moment of Silence Committee Chair Hilbert asked everyone to join her in a moment of silence. III. Pledge of Allegiance Ed Dildine led the Pledge of Allegiance. IV. Roll Call Present: 6 - Cleary,Dildine,Grashel,Hilbert,Hutson, and Lockett V. Approval of Minutes - May 18, 2020 Approved as submitted. #118-2020 COTW Minutes 5.18.2020 Attachments: COTW Minutes 5.18.2020.pdf VI. Business of Guests A. Madison Township Fire Chief Robinson Not present. #119-2020 MTFD Monthly Report Attachments: MTFD Monthly Report.pdf B. The Paddock Pub Under New Ownership Paul Clark, 8762 Reed Road, Strasburg, Ohio introduced himself and his wife, Shelly, as the new owners of The Paddock Pub at the Groveport Municipal Golf Course with Council approval. Mr. Clark City of Groveport Page 1 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes June 15, 2020 spent the last 30 some years in various managerial capacities within the manufacturing sector at two different rubber molding facilities. Mr. Clark earned his bachelor's degree in business management from Kent State University and went on to gain his Master of Business Administration degree (MBA) from Kent State as well. In late 2019, he left his most recent role as President of Group 31 Incorporated, located in Newcomerstown, Ohio. Mr. Clark and his family wanted to fulfill a lifetime dream to own and operate a restaurant. Looking for restaurant opportunities they came across The Paddock Pub. Scott Heimlich has been extremely helpful through the entire process. From the Clark’s side it is a fantastic fit and they are really excited to take over the reins. The two of them have temporarily moved to a camper at Buckeye Lake to be closer to Groveport but are looking for something closer. Shelly Clark has minimal experience in the food industry but Mr. Clark’s oldest son is an executive chef at Virtues Restaurant, the main restaurant at Akron City Hospital, and his youngest daughter has 10 years in running banquet facilities. Neither are initially joining this business venture but there have many phone calls to work on that plan. The Clarks intend to keep Scott Heimlich’s staff onboard at their current pay but will most likely not bring everyone back full-time right away due to the COVID-19 circumstances. The menu will be limited at first to see the response they get from the public. Council thanked Scott Heimlich for all he has brought to Groveport and welcomed the Clarks. VII. New Business None. VIII. Unfinished Business None. IX. Ordinances and Resolutions A. 3rd Readings None None. B. 2nd Readings Ord. 2020-025 City of Groveport Page 2 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes June 15, 2020 AN ORDINANCE ACCEPTING AND DEDICATING AS A PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT THE WATER MAIN CONSTRUCTED IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE STARTECH DEVELOPMENT AT 4450 S. HAMILTON ROAD AND 4490 S. HAMILTON ROAD, PARCEL NUMBERS 185-002993 AND 185-002994 Sponsors: Dildine City Engineer Steve Farst pointed out that this is the water main at the Pizzuti development where they built a new water main to make space to accommodate the larger building currently under construction. All the punch list items have been addressed and Columbus has chlorinated the water main making it ready for the City to accept as public infrastructure. Clerk of Council Ross read by title Ordinance No. 2020-025. A motion was made by Council Member Dildine, seconded by Council Member Cleary, to recommend approval to the City Council. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 6- Cleary,Dildine,Grashel,Hilbert,Hutson, and Lockett Res. 2020-002 A RESOLUTION ADOPTING THE TAX BUDGET FOR THE CALENDAR YEAR 2021 Sponsors: Cleary Attachments: Res. 2020-002 Exhibit A.pdf Finance Director Jason Carr stated this legislation is based on the same methodology the City has used in past years. The attachment was prepared based on estimates. Clerk of Council Ross read by title Resolution No. 2020-002. A motion was made by Council Member Cleary, seconded by Council Member Hutson, to recommend approval to the City Council. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 6- Cleary,Dildine,Grashel,Hilbert,Hutson, and Lockett X. Financial Report #130-2020 Financial Report Attachments: Financial Report.pdf XI. Other Business None. City of Groveport Page 3 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes June 15, 2020 XII. Reports A. Mayor - Lance Westcamp Mayor Lance Westcamp commented that if social distancing is the new normal, he wanted to recommend that all members of Council come to the Council meetings. Mr. Cleary has done a good job distancing everyone and if all are comfortable, the Mayor would like to have everyone present. If large crowds show up to a meeting, BJ King will have to come up with a plan to adhere to the social distancing. The Mayor personally thanked Scott Heimlich for the work he has done. Mr. Heimlich and Mr. Clark verified that the certificates previously handed out will be honored by the new owners. The Mayor gave kudos to the Groveport Police Department; Sergeant Josh Short and Captain Kurt Blevins put all that together Saturday during the protest march in Groveport. The march was peaceful and everyone went home safe. He thanked Council for supporting the event; especially Mr. Grashel for being his right arm to help him work through a few things. Mayor Westcamp welcomed the Clarks to Groveport and assured them they will see a lot of these faces at The Paddock Pub. B. Administrator - BJ King Administrator BJ King updated Council on the trees on Front and Elm Streets. The lower of the two bids to remove the trees was $10,300. After what happened with the police officer and his cruiser, Mr. King recommends the City proceed with getting these trees removed. He and Walt Wagner will be hand delivering letters to each property owner explaining why the tree in front of their house needs to be removed and talk to the home owners about the replacement of trees. They will be talking to an arborist to see what trees will be good for those areas on Front Street. Mr. Cleary was made aware that some people were going up and down Elm Street approaching homeowners telling them their tree had to be removed. Mr. Cleary would like it to be very clear to the public that they were not with the City. He asked Rick Palsgrove to make that very clear in the paper and if residents have questions to direct them to call the City. Mr. King added the City will not remove any tree without having first talked to the owner directly. Mr. King introduced the City’s new Public Services Director, Brian Strayer. Brian lives in Groveport and will start with the City on July 13, 2020. Community Affairs Director Patty Storts is working on getting the City of Groveport Page 4 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes June 15, 2020 Farmers Market ready to go. The first Farmers Market is scheduled for June 30th and will look a little different. There will be no entertainment and no themes, with one way in and one way out as required. The 10 x 10 booths will be spaced six feet apart. There are six vendors lined up to date. The second SWACO bid opens June 25th. Mr. King had been directed to check with SWACO to see if the City could use a combination of the wheeled carts and bins. SWACO advised that if the City is going to participate in SWACO’s cart program through the grant, everyone will get the wheeled recycle cart. That is how their grant program is setup, it is all or nothing. If the City went with the wheeled carts, all the recycle bins would be picked up and every customer would get a wheeled cart. Mr. King would like a decision by July so contracts can get signed. He will also check with SWACO on purchasing the wheeled recycling carts all at once for every resident and storing them at the Public Works facility. Council thinks once people see the recycling carts their use will catch on and more residents will want them. #120-2020 Admin report to Council June 15 2020 Attachments: Admin report to Council June 15 2020 Committee.pdf 1. SWACO Trash Bid 2. Street Trees C. Director of Law - Kevin Shannon Nothing further to report. D. Director of Finance - Jason Carr Finance Director Jason Carr commented on Resolution 2020-004 that Council passed regarding the COVID-19 Relief Funds. The Resolution references SB310. The final legislation adopted was HB481. Municipalities that have already passed the resolution referencing to SB 310 do not need to pass a new resolution. Mr. Carr added to the Financial Report for May 2020 a comparison of the Recreation Fund and Golf Course Fund operating receipts Y-T-D January through May 2020 and 2019. Mr. Carr wanted to give Council an idea of the impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on the City’s receipts. Not including what was transferred to that fund from the General Fund but just from operations. The Recreation Fund is down $289,000 and the Golf City of Groveport Page 5 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes June 15, 2020 Course Fund is down $158,000. For the rest of this year, Finance will take this into consideration as the City looks at the budget. When asked if the numbers were higher or lower than what Mr. Carr expected, Mr. Carr responded that he hadn’t really known what to expect but he knows he doesn’t expect the City to get back to where it should be when these numbers get compared to next year. He thinks the budget estimates for transfers to those funds were conservative. In years past the City has not transferred 100% of the dollars to those funds; this year that might be a different story. Mr. Carr expects the General Fund will see an additional hit because of this pandemic. E. Chief of Police - Ralph Portier Chief Portier was not present. Captain Blevins gave credit to Sergeant Josh Short for his professionalism during the protest march on Saturday. Sgt. Short did a great job running the event and made the department proud. Captain Blevins thanked the Mayor and Council for their support during this time. It is very important and much appreciated. #121-2020 PD Council Report Attachments: PD Council Report.pdf F. Asst. Admin. / Development Dir. - Jeff Green Not present. G. Chief Building Official - Stephen Moore Not present. #122-2020 B&Z Council Report Attachments: B&Z Council Report.pdf H. Director of Golf - Tom Walker Nothing further to report. #123-2020 GOLF Council Report Attachments: GOLF Council Report.pdf City of Groveport Page 6 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes June 15, 2020 I. Recreation Director - Kyle Lund Not present. #124-2020 REC Council Report Attachments: REC Council Report.pdf J. Community Affairs Director - Patty Storts Not present. #125-2020 CA Council Report Attachments: CA Council Report.pdf K. Director of Parks & Facilities Management - Tom Byrne Not present. #126-2020 P&FM Council Report Attachments: P&FM Council Report.pdf L. City Engineer - Steve Farst ODOT invited City Engineer Steve Farst and Mr. King to sit in on a project kick-off meeting giving an update on what ODOT has been up to. ODOT has retained a consultant to do a comprehensive study of US Route 33. The study will start to the west where Watkins Road crosses US 33 moving all the way east to Pickerington Road. The study will look at everything from safety studies, interchanges, traffic counts, identifying measures to help reduce congestion, and looking at a major interchange modification feasibility study at US33 and I270. Council Member Dildine asked Mr. Farst for an update on the intersection at South Hamilton Road and Higgins Boulevard. The completion of the intersection is to be part of Phase 2 of the project. Council Member Cleary commented the paving on Old Hamilton Road and Bixby Road looks great and is a big improvement. He also wanted to know if the gas company was going to dig up any more of Main Street. Mr. Farst noted that it is out of the City’s control. The last two excavations were abandoning services to the filling station. City of Groveport Page 7 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes June 15, 2020 #129-2020 ENG Council Report Attachments: ENG Council Report.pdf M. Director of Transportation - Bob Dowler Not present. #127-2020 DOT Council Report Attachments: DOT Council Report.pdf N. Personnel Director - Sue Wadley Not present. #128-2020 HR Council Report Attachments: HR Council Report.pdf O. Clerk of Council - Ruthanne Sargus Ross Nothing to report. P. Council Members - Jean Ann Hilbert, Ed Dildine, Shawn Cleary, Becky Hutson, Scott Lockett and Chad Grashel Council Member Grashel reinforced the Mayor’s comments on the professionalism everyone has come to expect from the Groveport Police force on display Saturday and the coordination was fantastic. Thank you to Sgt. Short and all the officers. Council Member Dildine raised the matter of conflicting information coming through the police department, building department and residents regarding food trucks. A resident in Bixby Ridge wanted to have a food truck in their neighborhood. Sgt. Adams advised them to stop in the police department and get a permit; the police department said no you don’t get a permit here that is a zoning matter. The matter needs to be addressed. It is the same issue as with the truck parking; if it is parked on the street it’s a police matter, parked in the driveway it is a zoning matter. Zoning ordinances need to be compared to police ordinances to remedy any and all conflicts in the City’s codified ordinances. Council Member Lockett commended the Mayor for the good job he did getting out in front of the request for last Saturday. Mr. Lockett City of Groveport Page 8 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes June 15, 2020 thinks it was handled well. Council Member Cleary asked Scott Heimlich, The Paddock Pub, about the transfer of the liquor license. The transfer of the liquor license is still being processed. The management agreement between Mr. Heimlich and Paul and Shelly Clark will allow the new owners to use the current license under Scott Heimlich’s name during the transition. The City doesn’t need to have any input on the matter. Mr. Cleary thanked Mr. Carr for the report on the tax budget. Council Member Hilbert thanked staff for their reports that keep Council up to date on each department. She extended her thanks and appreciation to Administration for making it possible for her to attend meetings from home since she is the elder of the group. She thanked staff for the great job everyone has done during a hard situation. Mr. King would like to get the Department Heads integrated back into the Committee of the Whole meetings through the Zoom application. It would be good for Council to hear from all of the Department Heads and to get them all back into the groove. They are all eager to get back to participating as well. Mr. King would like for this to happen for the July 20th Committee of the Whole meeting. XIII. Adjournment A motion was made by Council Member Hutson, seconded by Council Member Dildine, to adjourn at 6:22 p.m. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 6- Cleary,Dildine,Grashel,Hilbert,Hutson, and Lockett __________________________________________ Jean Ann Hilbert, President Pro Tem __________________________________________ 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 9