President of Council Marjorie Harlow called Council to order on
September 16, 2009, at 7:00 p.m.
The governmental body and those in attendance recited the pledge of
allegiance. Mrs. McNear gave the invocation.
Mrs. McNear took roll call. Present were Council members Danbury,
Diehl, Galster, Squires, Vanover, Wilson and Harlow.
The minutes of September 2, 2009 were approved with seven affirmative
votes.
COMMITTEE AND OFFICIAL REPORTS
Civil Service Commission
-
no report
Rules and Laws - no report
Finance Committee - no report
Planning Commission - Mr. Galster said the only item we had was a request from Cricket for
a wireless communication tower conditional use permit for 11970 Kenn Road. They were at
the August meeting as well. There has been additional discussion concerning the height.
They claim they need the tower to provide indoor cell phone coverage. There is a lot of
debate as to whether the FCC regulations require that we permit cell towers for normal use
walking down the street or in your car, or does it require that we send a signal strong
enough to get it in your basement. We are still trying to determine what is the maximum
height they need to provide the services they want. This item was tabled until October.
Board of Zoning Appeals – Mr. Danbury reported a variance was granted for a garage
conversion into living space at 853 Tivoli Lane. A variance was granted for a produce
stand at 11093 Springfield Pike to be open year round. The stands can be no larger than 20
feet by 30 feet for two vendors. If the operator wants to add more vendors he would have
to come back to us. It passed with a 4-2 vote.
Mr. Squires asked was there any discussion as to what effect this would have on the
Farmer’s Market?
Mr. Danbury replied that was brought up but that’s not our consideration. We have to
be totally objective.
Mr. Squires said that area is zoned business. Mr. Danbury stated yes, it is general
business.
Mayor Webster said we are a free market society. However, I have grave concerns about the
whole process here. As I told both Council members on that commission, I’d like to
see us have a thorough review of exactly how that got before BZA last evening. I
don’t think it was the right place for it to be. I think it should have been directed
to Planning Commission. The Board has given them a variance so we have told this
proprietor that you don’t have to build a structure. You can operate out of a tent in
perpetuity. With all the money that people have spent, not only the City, but Maple Knoll,
Baldwin Grove and up and down the Pike, it’s a beautiful setting. But now the first
thing you are going to see when you come into the City from the south is Daisy Mae Market.
I don’t think it’s the right business at the right place. Having said that,
maybe there’s nothing we can do to stop it since it’s zoned GB, but maybe
that’s something we need to take a look at. We’re going to do what we can to
make sure all the i’s were dotted and t’s were crossed before this comes to
fruition.
Mr. Galster said the additional concern is that we allow a tent structure instead of
concrete mortar construction. Right now it happens to be for a produce stand but because
the variance continues on, if the produce market moves out we could have a tent that is
used for a flea market. My concern is that any other general business could operate out of
a tent if this particular use stops in five years, ten years, thirty years.
Mr. Vanover asked was there any move on the applicant’s part for parking lot
improvement or are they just going to pull onto the gravel?
Mr. Danbury replied it had been a restaurant. It is not going to be a place where you have
to have police out there directing traffic. He said there may be twelve people an hour. If
parking is an issue we can revoke the license if it is a nuisance.
Mr. Vanover said there is a certain upkeep we would like to see. If they are not spending
the money for brick and mortar, it’s not the entrance I would like to see.
Mrs. McNear said we do allow tents in the City from time to time on a limited basis and
we’re letting this organization do it every day. I just wonder what message that
sends when we have businesses that have been in town for years and years who have made a
commitment to brick and mortar to be part of our community and we only allow them to do it
occasionally, yet this organization can do it all the time.
Mr. Galster said not having been privy to the plans and presentation that was put before
BZA, Vincenzo’s was a pretty small restaurant to begin with, very small parking area.
I don’t know where the tents are going to be located as far as laying out for parking
and deliveries. You can’t have this going through gravel and dirt.
Mr. Danbury said we can only discuss and vote on things brought to us from the City
building. We can’t look at whether it’s in competition with anybody. This is
General Business. We allow a business to be in there. If the Building Department should
have sent it to Planning Commission first, I don’t know. We have to consider
what’s in front of us. We can’t look at parking because that’s not
necessarily BZA. It is to a point.
Mr. Galster responded you do consider parking. If the parking numbers aren’t met they
have to get a variance to allow for less parking than the use would require. I don’t
know if a proper review is able to be done if we don’t know what the impervious
surface area is, where the tents are located, or if a loading dock is contained within the
site for us to be able to figure out what parking is available to know whether it meets
the parking requirements of the City. I understand you are not acting on a parking
variance because one wasn’t before you, but at the same time, if there is a change to
the use, which of course there is, there needs to be some kind of evaluation of whether
the parking needs of that business are met. I’m hearing from you that it wasn’t
requested as a variance so it must have been okay.
Mr. Danbury said the last line from Staff’s comments is “there are no aspects
regarding this property that should make it unsuited for allowable use allowed in a
General Business District.
Mr. Galster replied that is talking about use, not about specifics to parking, etc. You
didn’t act on a variance because there was no variance request before you because
there was probably no parking analysis done.
Mayor Webster stated parking is just a prime example of why it should have been sent to
Planning Commission. The fact that some vendor or businessman says I can’t wait, if
you don’t give me what I want tonight then I’m going to another City, then the
response ought to be don’t let the door hit you on the way out. That’s exactly
the way I feel about it. We shouldn’t act in haste on these things. It should have
gone to Planning. Planning has the ability to give them a conditional use permit. They
could have done it for a year and see how it works out. If it works out, then they could
renew it for another year or give them a permanent conditional use. But BZA can’t do
that. Once you act it’s forever. I’m going to have Derrick do a thorough review
and find out exactly how it got to you last night. At the same time, I want the Law
Department to review what happened to see if there’s not some way we can overturn
this.
Mr. Diehl said Mr. Galster, the pad is still there. This business will operate on a 20
foot by 30 foot area every day. The truck will roll up to the pad, unload rolling tables,
put them on the pad, and at night they go back on the truck.
Mr. Galster said so they will set up every day and take down every night. So this tent and
all its supporting tables, etc. will be on the pad itself. The existing restaurant pad is
the only space they will be using. My other concern is that we have an applicant before
BZA who doesn’t have a signed lease. I’m not sure if there is a request from the
owner to allow the applicant to request a variance.
Mr. Diehl replied he had that. Mr. Danbury said it was all contingent on getting a
variance.
Mr. Wilson stated the only concern I have is how did he know to go to BZA in the first
place? If he went to the Building Department to get started, then the Building Department
should have instructed him as to where to go. Before we shoot it down I think we need to
find out how did it get to BZA first, what papers did they have that allowed them to
bypass Planning? I think we need to make our corrections based on what happened and what
we need to do.
Mr. Parham said everything goes through the Building Department in order to get on the
agenda for Board of Zoning Appeals as well as Planning Commission. In having my discussion
with the staff this afternoon, the corridor plan goes as far south as Baldwin Grove.
Everything south of Baldwin Grove is General Business. The ability to sell a product under
General Business is how it qualifies. If you have a product that you are attempting to
sell that qualifies under General Business, and you make application to the Building
Department and you want some relief of the restrictions and regulations, it goes to the
Board of Zoning Appeals. The relief was the variance. The variance was to be able to
operate this business without a building or structure. The Board of Zoning Appeals had the
ability to say no, we will not allow you to operate in a tent or truck without four walls
and a building. Based on the information they heard last night they made the decision to
permit that. So the Building Department examined the information and delivered it to the
Board of Zoning Appeals.
Board of Health – Mr. Squires stated the first case of West Nile Virus was reported
in August. The license fees for food service operations were given to the Board. They are
lower than Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Norwood and Sharonville. The Health Department is
receiving PHER (Public Health Emergency Resource) funding for H1N1 planning. The Ohio
Department of Health will provide pandemic supplies at no cost to the states. Jarod’s
Law that went into effect for school inspections has been repealed by the State. The
Boulevard has been fined $1,000 for smoking violations and they have appealed. A rabies
clinic will be held September 26 and the seasonal flu clinic is scheduled for September
24.
Mr. Diehl stated we had the Health Commissioner in several months ago to give us an update
on the flu. I wonder if she could come back for a current update.
Veteran’s Memorial Committee – Mr. Wilson said they decided to have the next
memorial service on Veteran’s Day, November 11, 2010. The Parks and Recreation
Department was asked to prepare an agenda for review. The next item was the story stones
to honor minorities and women who served honorably in the military. We will prepare a
packet and present it to the engraver. The third item was to honor military personnel who
died while on active duty but not in combat. Our committee will meet on items 1 and 2 when
they are ready to be discussed and then we will decide on item 3. A check for $500 was
donated by the All State Insurance Company which will be used for the story stones for the
minorities and women. Some of the committee members met today at the memorial to discuss a
site for those who died on active duty but not in combat.
O-K-I - no report
Mayor’s Report - no
report
Clerk of Council/Finance Director -
no report
Administrator’s Report – Mr. Parham stated we applied for Community Development
Block grant dollars to institute the home improvement program. We were successful in
receiving $20,000 for years 2009, 2010 and 2011. The program is based upon the Community
Development Department’s fiscal year which is March to March. We received
authorization after forwarding our plan to the Community Development Program. We received
authorization in May. We actually began to roll out our information with the June
newsletter and some announcements from here. So, September 1 is when the program really
began to take off. As of September 1 we had fourteen applications. Twelve had been
approved, one had been denied and one pending. We are also committed to $10,308 for the
approved projects. The grant is limited to $1,000 and must be used for the exterior of the
home. After the work is done you submit your receipts to the City for reimbursement, and
we apply back to the Community Block Grant Program who reimburses us. The program has
enabled a number of low income families and individuals to have improvements to their
homes that may not have been able to afford otherwise.
Mr. Galster said I thought SOS was floating that money.
Mr. Parham responded the City has to reimburse the individual up front, then we get our
money back from the County. For those individuals who cannot perhaps find the dollars
somewhere else, SOS is a last resource.
Mayor Webster said the only time SOS would come into play is if someone was approved for
the grant but didn’t have the money to do the work. Then SOS would front the money
and once the City was reimbursed that money would go back to SOS.
Mrs. Harlow said the Hamilton County Home Improvement loan had been available for awhile.
It went away and now it is back. It’s a wonderful tool for people who want to improve
their homes. You do have to qualify based on your own credit scores. You have to get a
building permit and have the work inspected.
Law Director’s Report -
no report
Engineer’s Report – Mr. Shvegzda said the signal is working at the SR
4/Crescentville Road intersection. They’ve begun the grinding and resurfacing. The
current completion date is September 30. The new signal poles have been installed for the
SR 4 pavement widening and I-275 ramp pavement widening. Work is underway on the
Crescentville Road improvements at I-275. The new completion date is October 6. ODOT
paving of SR 747 from Kemper Road to I-275 eastbound now has a construction completion
date of October 15. Construction for the SR 4 southbound lane addition at I-275 is
scheduled to start in April 2010. Construction on the Northland Boulevard repair and
repaving is scheduled to begin April 2010 also.
Mrs. McNear asked will they be grinding at SR4 and Crescentville this evening?
Mr. Shvegzda replied that’s what the schedule says.
Mrs. McNear stated last night I was driving through there at 8:30 p.m. heading north on SR
4 to turn left onto Ray Norrish Drive and I sat through ten cycles of the light.
Mr. Shvegzda said I’ll contact the project engineer in the morning or I will stop by
there on the way out tonight
Mayor Webster said I can’t believe this company has ever done a road project before.
When they activated the new signals they didn’t bother to put a new stop bar in on
the first day. You still have the old stop bar there. You have the light and the lane off
to your left behind you. They are dealing with people’s lives and people’s
property and it’s like they’ve never done a street. Last night, as Mrs. McNear
said, ten cycles of a light and no police officer. They have trucks going back and forth
across the intersection with a flagman at 8:30 p.m. It’s a good way to get someone
killed. I called the Police and asked them to dispatch an officer up there. The contractor
should be providing an off-duty police officer to direct traffic. Everything they do is
wrong. They have done nothing right and there’s no way that project is going to be
done in another two and a half weeks.
Mr. Galster said, for clarification, SR 4 northbound at Crescentville Road, the left turn
lane onto Ray Norrish Drive, that signal head is going to be moved to some other location.
Mayor Webster stated it has been moved.
Mr. Shvegzda responded we have had so many issues with the contractor in not performing in
a timely manner, if nothing else. That instance with the left turn signal head, we had to
call them and repeatedly point out that that was in the contract. That was their
requirement to provide that when the existing pavement markings were still in place. It
seems like everything is double effort with them. We will try to get in touch with the
ODOT project engineer to raise those same issues.
Mr. Galster said whenever we did these last signal pole replacements we went with black
heads. Is there any reason why these poles have yellow heads instead of black?
Mr. Shvegzda replied we haven’t established a City-wide policy on those colors even
though we know it here. In this case, Fairfield’s the lead agency. They looked to the
north and east on Crescentville and they are all yellow heads. They didn’t send up
any shop drawings and that’s why they are the color they are.
Mr. Vanover said kudos to the contractor at Crescentville and SR 747. It’s wonderful
to have those concrete barriers gone.
Mr. Parham stated the staff had a discussion on changing the color of the signal heads.
When he requested a costs estimate, it was approximately $10,000 to replace them.
COMMUNICATIONS
Mrs. McNear read a letter to Mayor Webster dated September 3, 2009:
“As a resident of Crossings at the Park for almost three years, I moved here because
of the assisted living phase of construction. With the housing market decline Phase 2 of
construction ceased and the sale of condos in Phase 1 declined. Thus I want to enter my
support for a property tax abatement of 100 percent for Crossings at the Park. Buyers tend
to not purchase in Phase 1 without assurance that Phase 2 will be built. If Phase 2 were
begun it would stimulate interest in Phase 1. Both phases would benefit the City of
Springdale. Phase 2 would employ persons who would pay taxes and perhaps even consider
moving to the City if they lived elsewhere. The abatement would be accomplished with
little effect on the City. Without the units being sold or built you get no tax and no
people to live here and influence the economy. There would be no loss to schools since
there would be no children involved attending the schools. With the assurance of the
abatement construction could begin. The workers would begin to pay taxes and the local
economy would benefit. Everyone would benefit, especially the residents now living at
Crossings at the Park. The senior community is a definite asset to the City of Springdale
and should continue to be. Thank you for your consideration. Lester and Ida Schmerr, 315
Bern Lane”
COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE AUDIENCE - none
Mrs. Matheny said the Taste of Springdale will be held October 11. It
will be tied in with the Business Expo and a tailgate party. There will be several food
vendors and several businesses present.
ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS
ORDINANCE NO.23-2009 “AUTHORIZING THE CITY OF SPRINGDALE’S PARTICIPATION IN THE
MIAMI VALLEY RISK MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION (MVRMA) WORKERS’ COMPENSATION GROUP RATING
PLAN FOR 2010 AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY”
Mr. Vanover made a motion to adopt and Mr. Wilson seconded.
Ordinance 23-2009 passed with seven affirmative votes.
ORDINANCE NO. 24-2009 “AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR AND CLERK OF COUNCIL/FINANCE DIRECTOR TO
ENTER INTO A CONTRACT WITH TEC ENGINEERING, INC., TO PERFORM DESIGN TASKS ASSOCIATED WITH
THE SPRINGDALE TRAFFIC SIGNAL UPGRADE PROJECT AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY”
Mr. Danbury made a motion to adopt and Mr. Vanover seconded.
Mr. Parham stated this is the design engineering work that we are hopefully contracting
with TEC Engineering. We were awarded a grant for $836,000 through the CM/AQ program for a
complete upgrade of our traffic signals. There are twenty-nine intersections that will be
upgraded with signal controllers, plus we will upgrade with LED signal heads at thirteen
intersections. The point, zoom and tilt or PTZ cameras, at a number of intersections and
will be a part of this project. It is 80/20 funding and our share comes out to $209,165.
We budgeted $60,000 for 2009, $50,000 for 2010, and an additional $10,000 in 2011 for the
design and engineering services. As you see in the proposal, TEC believes they can have
the work complete by July 2010.
Mr. Galster asked is the design engineering in addition to our twenty percent share?
Mr. Parham replied it is in addition to the twenty percent.
Ordinance 24-2009 passed with seven affirmative votes.
RESOLUTION NO. R16 -2009 “AUTHORIZING THE CITY ADMINISTRATOR TO FILE AN APPLICATION
WITH THE OHIO PUBLIC WORKS COMMISSION FOR LOCAL TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM FUNDS
AND/OR STATE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM (SCIP) FUNDS, AND AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR AND CLERK
OF COUNCIL/FINANCE DIRECTOR TO EXECUTE ALL CONTRACTS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS”
Mr. Vanover made a motion to adopt and Mr. Squires seconded.
Mayor Webster asked what kind of turn around will we get for an answer on this?
Mr. Shvegzda replied usually they will rate and rank these so that we should know by early
November. If we are successful the money would become available in July 2010.
Mayor Webster stated this is a project we did not have on the radar at all. We discovered
that Merchant Street really needs some attention. Repairing one section and doing an
in-depth reconstruction on others is about $400,000. It’s really important that we
get some help with this.
Mr. Parham said part of this program is to illustrate how this improvement will help with
economic development and other activities. We have enlisted the help of our economic
development director, Mr. Tulloch and he is going to a number of business owners and
tenants in that area to solicit support from them. They have provided letters of support
for this particular project. This is a part of the community that we really need to focus
on. It is the area where we are going to lose a portion of the General Electric jobs at
the end of this year. In an effort to help recruit new business to that area, we really
want to make sure we keep the infrastructure in good condition.
Mr. Shvegzda reported we did get letters back from five of the businesses along Merchant
Street. They will be included with the application.
Mr. Wilson asked at what point in dollars do we say it’s a no go if we don’t get
that dollar figure?
Mr. Parham replied it goes to whether or not we believe it is important enough to us to be
able to do whatever it takes to recruit business into this community, and in particular,
into our office district. We know we are going to lose about 2400 jobs by the end of 2011
which is real income that we will lose. Think back to the Town Center where we purchased a
number of properties in that area and we spent x number of dollars. We sold it for a far
less amount but we understood that in order to get the improvements that we now see there,
we had to make some commitments and investments. Right now, this is another one of those
decisions we have to make. We have to determine if we don’t get the OPWC funding
whether it is important enough to invest that $400,000 to assist in retaining or bringing
in like kind type of jobs to bring that revenue back.
Mr. Wilson asked will that be on our 2010 budget?
Mr. Parham replied yes. Right now, we are thinking positive and think we may have to
expend $117,000 in order to keep those jobs.
Mayor Webster said by the time we hear back from this request we should be far enough
along in the budget process to give you a list of items of what we could take out of the
budget to offset that if we have to come up with all the money.
Mr. Diehl asked is there any federal money available?
Mr. Shvegzda replied probably not. This project does not fit into any of the categories we
have seen to date. We are continuing to look at other special funding as it comes out.
Mayor Webster said we are getting $950,000 in federal funding for Northland Boulevard.
Resolution R16-2009 passed with seven affirmative votes.
OLD BUSINESS
-
none
NEW BUSINESS
Mrs. McNear said there is a request for a C1/C2 liquor license for
Walgreen’s. There were no objections.
Mayor Webster said Mr. Parham and I would like to present you with a
situation that has come up regarding some funding coming from ODOT and OKI and ask about
the possibility of having a resolution in support of this. We’d also like to solicit
Mr. Schneider’s input to see if any other communities have asked for a resolution in
support of this.
Mr. Parham said we received correspondence from Kim Lapinski who used
to be with Madeira but is now Executive Director of Warren County Regional Planning
Commission, who had attended a meeting of OKI and at that meeting it was made clear that
ODOT has taken a position that they are looking to redirect some of the dollars from what
they define as the MPO (Metropolitan Planning Organizations). These are federal funds that
come to the State of Ohio and are then distributed through various programs to the local
jurisdictions. The signal upgrade is a project that was funded by one of those programs.
Other things they are looking to reduce are the Surface Transportation Program (STP),
Congestion Mitigation Air Quality (CM/AQ) funds and the Transportation Enhancement (TE)
funds. The sense she received from attending that meeting is that ODOT is moving in a
different direction to redirect dollars from OKI. We have benefited tremendously in funds
from OKI. With the grade separation, a couple of times when we thought we were going to be
short in dollars we were able to go back to OKI and they were generous enough to award us
additional funding to help with that project. There is some sense that ODOT is looking to
redirect these programs to assist with a program in the northern part of the state. If you
start moving in that direction for this particular project, then you’ll begin to
siphon away other dollars from our region over time. The Mayor and I talked about having a
resolution opposing this position on ODOT and being supportive of the funds continuing to
come through OKI to support the jurisdictions in this region.
Mayor Webster asked Mr. Schneider, have any other communities you
represent requested that?
Mr. Schneider replied no.
Mr. Danbury asked do you know what kind of money they are looking at
and what criteria they use to evaluate?
Mr. Parham replied they indicated in this memo that it could mean a
loss of over $13 million.
Mayor Webster asked is Council in favor of a resolution opposing this?
Council responded yes.
Mrs. McNear said there is going to be a 50 mile bike ride for fallen
officers and some of the officers in our Police Department will participate. The ride will
be October 10. If you care to donate I have an envelope ready.
Board of Zoning Appeals
-
October 20
Board of Health
-
October 8
Planning Commission
-
October 13
Fire Department Open House
-
October 3
Mrs. McNear said I attended the School Board Meeting this week. We had
four schools with an excellent rating and several of the schools jumped two levels this
year. Springdale Elementary improved five percent which was the highest of any of the
schools in the district.
MEETINGS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE AUDIENCE -
none
UPDATE ON LEGISLATION STILL IN DEVELOPMENT- none
RECAP OF LEGISLATIVE ITEMS REQUESTED
Resolution opposing ODOT position on funds -
October 7
Council adjourned at 8:25 p.m.
Respectfully
submitted,
Kathy
McNear
Clerk
of Council/Finance Director
Minutes Approved:
Marjorie Harlow, President of Council
__________________________, 2009