PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE MINUTES
MARCH 20, 2006
The meeting was called to
order by Ms. Sellers at 6:45 p.m.
Members present: David Burke, Leah Sellers Excused: John Marshall
Others present: Kathy House, Brian Dostanko, Rowland
Seymour, David Creviston
AGENDA:
1)
Veteran’s
Memorial
Ms. Sellers welcomed Mr.
Rowland Seymour to the meeting to talk about the proposed Veteran’s
Memorial.
Mr. Seymour updated the
Public Affairs Committee on the progress to date. For the month of March, the Veteran’s
Memorial Committee has received contributions totaling $41,900, which brings the
potential total with pledges to $396,000.
This total includes a pledge from the VFW. There have been well over 550
contributors to this project.
He
noted some changes that have been proposed to the monument. The covers on the end were designed to
make the monument compatible with the Court House. These will be red granite and the caps
on them will be exactly like those on the Court House pillars. They will not be set adjacent to the
monument, but will set out about 3 to 6” to eliminate weather damage due to
freezing and thawing. Design
changes will not be made until they get a cost. Because this memorial will be a proud
asset to the community, the City and the County, the Veteran’s Memorial
Committee would like the city to be involved in some way. They look for this memorial to attract a
lot of visitors, as well being used for educational purposes, such as history
classes. There will be about 600
pavers in the plaza.
As
far as City involvement, Mr. Seymour said the committee would like to see the
City fund the kiosk. The kiosk will
be the computer which will house all the military information for all Union
County Veterans who served in any military aspect. If the City would fund this kiosk, the
Veteran’s Committee would construct a plaque to put on the kiosk recognizing the
City, including names of the current Council persons and current
Administration. Cost of this kiosk
is estimated to be $15,000. Would like the City to consider funding this kiosk.
Ms. Sellers spoke on behalf
of the rest of Council. This
monument is long over due and the Union County Veterans need to be
recognized. She personally is not
as concerned about the City’s recognition as much as the Veteran’s
recognition. She asked for more
detail on the kiosk, where it would be placed, etc. Mr. Seymour stated it will set on the
back side of the plaza in back of the monument. Visitors can type in the name of a
veteran to bring up the following information: a photo and all data on that veteran
i.e. time
served in military, rank, tour of service, metals received, etc. All of this information is also
available on the web. Veteran’s
Committee has no knowledge of other communities having a data bank. Ms. Sellers asked who would be
responsible for maintaining this computer.
Mr. Seymour stated there is one contractor responsible for the entire
project. Wade ___________ of the
The Committee’s goal is
$500,000, which includes perpetual future maintenance. $450,000 would go in the project.
Ms. Sellers asked if any
other governmental entities in
Mr. Burke asked Ms. House
if the City has the funds for this project. She will check with the Finance
Director. Ms. Sellers stated as a
responsibility to our taxpayers, we must make sure we have the money to make a
contribution, along with the support of the rest of Council and the Mayor.
Mr. David Creviston
commented that you can trust completely any project that Mr. Seymour is involved
in. He asked about the two grants
that were applied for, which were mentioned in the Hometown Connection and how
much those grants were for. Mr.
Seymour said the amount was unknown and it also is not known if the grant money
would even be received. Grants
could range anywhere from $25,000 to $75,000. One grant request is being handled by
Deborah Pryce’s office. Mr. Seymour
noted a lot of letters from individuals were requested to help obtain this grant
and a lot of letters have been submitted thus far. Ms. Sellers asked Mr. Creviston if he
would be interested in assisting with this letter-writing campaign. He declined.
Mr. Seymour thanked the
Committee for allowing him to attend the meeting.
2)
Retreat
Ms. House explained this is
more a strategic planning event than a retreat. They are currently in the process of
looking for a facilitator for this event.
The Mayor and Mr. Gore agree that the City is at a juncture where it
would behoove the City to have a long range and short range strategic plan in
place. City currently has growth
issues and more will be coming up in the future. The Mayor and Mr. Gore agreed to sponsor
legislation for funding this event.
This off-site setting would allow dedicated time of significant length to
be put into making plans. A
professional facilitator could guide everyone through this process. The dollar figure in the ordinance is a
high-end number.
Ms. House distributed
Requests for Proposals for facilitation services. The Mayor and Mr. Gore will
interview the perspective facilitators.
Ms. Sellers stated she has
mixed feelings about this event.
She appreciates the Mayor and Mr. Gore working together on visions for
the City. She would like to hear
the collective vision for the City.
Feels the $9,000 is too much.
She wonders if the same thing could be achieved locally. Is it possible to do it for less? Ms. House stated the City is woefully
behind when it comes to planning.
Comments have been made that the City needs a city planner and a planning
department. We need to make a plan
and work a plan. This would be a
beginning step. Ms. House
stated this event is not an attempt to avoid the public or the press. The product that would come out of this
event would be public record. The
goal would be not only to put together a strategic plan but to know what other
council members are thinking. Ms.
House said this event could be held locally, but her experience has been that
the more intense and the more concentrated you can make your effort and time,
the better the end product. It is
very easy to be distracted from the task at hand if done
locally.
Mr. Burke feels $9,000 is a
bit high as well. Feels a lot of
leg work could be done before the retreat.
A survey could be done of the public and council people. Ms. House stated the $9,000 is on the
high side. It could be half
that. The room and meeting package
is less than a local/semi-local hotel could provide. Mr. Burke has attended off-site meetings
for his business and finds them to be beneficial. If done correctly, $9,000 could easily
save the City a lot of money, such as with issues with wastewater or water
treatment plant. It’s good to have
a general plan.
Ms. House noted an
important part of this event is for the Administration team to also participate
in this event. The Law Director and
Assistant Law Director and Economic Development Director have also been
invited.
For this event, Ms. Sellers
anticipates a very tight agenda and the more leg work done ahead of time, the
better. She suggested contacting
the Ohio Commission on Public Dispute Resolution. This organization offers free mediation
or partial support for mediation services for government entities. Ms. House stated Maggie Lewis of that
organization had been contacted and she is not available, but they have a list
of people who could do the same thing.
Ms. Sellers stated they also offer grants to help out for things like
this.
Mr. Creviston asked if
there would be interaction between Administration and Council. Ms. House stated yes. He stated the Ohio Revised Code under
the Sunshine Law states if there is a discussion that takes place, it is
considered a Council meeting and must be held within the geographical
jurisdiction of the parties involved.
He suggested researching it to see if the group could go outside the
corporate boundaries of Marysville.
He
also noted that the legislation should have appeared before Council first, then
assigned to Committee by the President of Council.
Although Mr. Creviston said
that he was not commenting whether this was a good or bad idea, he did add that
using taxpayer dollars for this event should be taken into consideration. Should be kept as
frugal as possible. There
are places in Marysville where it could be held. Ms. Sellers said it had been noted by
Ms. House that this has been thoroughly researched and she is being diligent
with the cost.
3)
Charter Review
Process
Ms. House stated Mr. Gore
had commented after the last election that the Charter review process should be
looked at by Council over the course of next year. She noted Administration has a
perspective on this issue as well.
Further discussion is needed with City Council.
4)
Ordinance 27-94 –
Organization for the City of
Mr. Dostanko explained that
this ordinance and the City Charter are in conflict. The City is not structured as this
ordinance is written. Ordinance
27-94 was written how the City is currently structured within the confines of
the Charter. City structure is not
entirely within the Charter because Ordinance 27-94 was enacted in violation of
the Charter. Charter states there are only 3 departments, it establishes
departments, where as the Charter mentions that the Mayor can establish
divisions as he/she sees fit. The
Charter handcuffs Administration in terms of structuring.
This proposed amended
ordinance is an attempt to update Ordinance 27-94. This ordinance ties to the Charter. This document has been reviewed by
Staff personnel.
This draft ordinance
depicts how the City is currently organized. The City does not do business as
Ordinance 27-94 is currently written.
Mr. Dostanko explained the
differences between public and private sector org charts. In the private sector, divisions are
generally larger than departments.
Public Sector is reversed.
The proposed amendment does
violate the Charter in as much as it does continue to have the Department of
Public Service, which was in 27-94.
Mr. Creviston suggested
repealing ordinance 27-94 instead of amending it. Feels department titles should
be changed to follow the Charter.
Mr. Dostanko feels the City
cannot operate the way the Charter now exists.
This draft amended
ordinance reflects how the Charter should be changed – the way the City is
structured.
Mr. Creviston feels that
Council must do the actual work on any amendment that goes on the ballot.
5)
Strategic Workforce
Plan
Ms. House stated the City
needs an assessment of where we are with our workforce and where do we propose to go. This plan is not in this year’s
budget. Mr. Dostanko
distributed a copy of the Strategic Workforce Plan. No two cities are structured the same;
it depends on local needs and services. This plan is a result of in-depth
interviews with division heads, and depicts how we’re currently structured,
where we see ourselves going and how we’re going to get there workforce
wise. Plan will have to be
revisited every year. Some
firefighter positions may be funded through Homeland Security. There needs to be a formula of
people to police officers and firefighters. Ms. Sellers stated she specifically
wants to see the cost per rooftop of any new house that comes in the City. Mr. Dostanko stated the police spend 80%
of the time on specific calls and 20% patrolling. Based on that, Marysville needs a few
more police officers.
Ms. Sellers stated that it
has been brought to her attention that Marysville needs to look particularly in
the police area and more into the grant-writing process. Ms. House stated both the chief and
assistant chief have been very active in writing grant applications; it’s just
that they haven’t received any of the grants.
Mr. Burke asked if the
issue of comp time/overtime has indicated the need for more people. Mr. Dostanko
feels comp time is insignificant in the terms of manning numbers. He noted a concern for sick leave. Sick leave usage in four years is
63%. Comp time, vacation and sick
leave do drive how many people you need.
Ms. House referred to Pg.
7, Engineering, Planning and Development.
Plan shows City will be adding an assistant engineer in 2006 in
anticipation of the assistant to the engineer’s retirement. Also, current City Engineer is a retiree
that was rehired with the City, so at some point, he’ll be retiring. Would like Council to consider to allow the City to begin a search for an assistant city
engineer prior to the retirement of the assistant to the city engineer, and
possibly hire that assistant city engineer prior to retirement, to allow for
some transition of duties and for the opportunity to have a second for the City
Engineer.
Mr. Burke feels to have
those two individuals leave at the same time would be significant with
everything going on in the City.
You can’t be too early to act.
A year is probably the minimum amount of training required. Mr. Burke endorsed the idea of hiring an
assistant city engineer. This
position was not included in the 2006 budget because City was not aware of
assistant engineer’s intent to retire until after the budget was approved. An appropriation will be needed to put
this salary together. Assistant
city engineer would be a step up from the current assistant to the city
engineer, which would mean a higher salary but fewer benefits. Position would be an unclassified
position.
Ms. Sellers asked if the
City needs two engineers on staff.
Response was yes, especially without a planner. The engineer is a much more vital role
than a planner. What percentage of
Mr. Roush’s work is planning? It
was unknown. It was decided that
two P.E.’s are more important than one P.E. and a planner. A planner should be in the plans in the
future.
Ms. Sellers feels a fall
hiring would give a couple months training with current assistant engineer,
depending on experience of individual to be hired. Mr. Burke feels more training time may
be needed since there is so much going on in Marysville. The Committee supports hiring an
assistant engineer in 2006.
Administration will draft
legislation in the near future.
Mr. Dostanko stated the
Policy Manual will be revised later in the year.
Ms. House stated the
3rd Annual Manager’s Workshop will be held this
week.
Meeting
adjourned.