Committee of the Whole Meeting - August 11, 2025
Committee of the Whole Meeting - August 11, 2025
The Gahanna City Council Committee of the Whole met on Monday, August 11, 2025, at 7:28 PM in Council Chambers. Chair Trenton Weaver presided. Councilmember Michael Schnetzer was absent. The meeting covered tax incentive recommendations, an intern presentation, the strategic plan, a staffing advance, a park renovation, construction updates, a furniture contract, and a Creekside redevelopment proposal. The meeting adjourned at 9:32 PM.
Consent Calendar
- ORD-0035-2025 (TIRC Recommendations): Introduced and placed on the regular agenda for August 18, 2025, with second reading/adoption on the consent agenda for September 2, 2025.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public comment period was held. Presentations and discussion items included community input opportunities.
Discussion Items
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ORD-0035-2025 – Tax Incentive Review Council (TIRC) Recommendations Director Jeff Gottke reported that TIRC found all post-1994 abatements in compliance and recommended continuation. Key statistics: new job creation exceeded agreements by 22 jobs; retained jobs (710) met the target; retained payroll exceeded commitments by $9.7 million; new payroll exceeded by $15.7 million; projected income tax collections exceeded agreements by approximately $640,000. Regarding Premier Holdings, staff confirmed that 90% of jobs are within Gahanna, meeting agreement expectations. Council will vote on the recommendations in September.
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Council Office Internship Presentation – Nathan Graves Intern Nathan Graves summarized his summer work: digitized 959 files for the Charter Review Commission (CRC), updated amendment records, created a formal rules of procedure document, and developed an onboarding packet for the 2026 CRC. He will complete his MPA and begin a fellowship with the American Maritime Congress in Washington, D.C. Council thanked him and expressed support.
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Our Gahanna Strategic Plan Update Miranda Vollmer, Senior Director of Administrative Services, reported that Round Three engagement began in August 2025. Key dates: Sweet Celebration on August 26, 2025 (4:00-7:00 PM at Creekside); online survey open August 26 – September 20, 2025; Council survey due September 7. Adoption schedule: Committee of the Whole on October 13, first reading October 20, possible discussion October 27, second reading/vote November 3, 2025. The economic development strategy will be integrated as a chapter. Council asked about prioritization criteria; Vollmer confirmed an implementation piece will tie budget items to strategic priorities.
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Staffing Update – Network Analyst Position Vollmer requested advance hiring of a network analyst (IT Analyst II) for the IT department, citing House Bill 96 cybersecurity requirements effective January 1, 2026. The position requires no change to the salary ordinance and no supplemental appropriation due to savings. Hiring timeline: post in August, background check (30–60 days), expected hire by late November/early December. Council concurred, noting it is an unfunded state mandate.
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ORD-0036-2025 – Price Road House Renovation (Exploration Center) Director Stephania Ferrell presented the project: the 5,500 sq. ft. residential property acquired in 2010 will be renovated into a community recreation space with after-school, adult, and rental programs. The 2006 and 2023 Parks Master Plans identified indoor recreation as a deficiency. After an initial nonviable bid in 2023, the project was rescoped and received five viable bids; HGC Construction is the apparent low bidder. A funding gap of $335,547 remains. Council placed the ordinance on the August 18 regular agenda with a waiver of second reading (no emergency needed).
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Gahanna Civic Center (825 Tech Center Drive) Update Senior Director Kevin Schultz reported 73% completion with 34 weather days. Exterior: construction fences removed, front parking lot paved, solar carport footers installed, bioswale completed. Interior: casework, bathroom finishes, carpet/LVT on third floor; UPS installed. Financial: 31% invoiced as of June (estimated 65% for July); 52% of allowance and 53% of contingency used ($2.5 million total approved). Council praised progress.
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ORD-0033-2025 – Winsted Company Contract for 911 Dispatcher Consoles Schultz presented a $185,000 contract for 911 consoles (includes $12,000 contingency), using $160,000 from an existing CIP project and $25,000 from remaining FF&E budget. Because price is only fixed upon signing, the administration requested a waiver of second reading and an emergency declaration. The ordinance was placed on the August 18 regular agenda.
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Creekside Flood Mitigation and Plaza Improvements Mayor Jadwin and Director Schultz presented the project. FEMA requires floodproofing along the embankment from Building A to C, including a clay liner and sealing. The project also includes plaza improvements: reduce the lagoon to create over 5,000 sq. ft. of programmable space, amphitheater seating, two stages, ADA ramp, trail improvements, upper plaza dry floodproofing (replacing red pavers), streetscape enhancements (tabletop geometry, bistro seating). Estimated timeline: 18–30 months depending on phasing. An economic impact analysis is underway by Montrose Group. Next steps: public engagement via web page, community events, focus groups with businesses, Chamber, and Visit Gahanna.
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Councilmember Bowers – Share the Road and Distracted Driving Awareness Month President Bowers introduced a joint resolution/proclamation designating August 2025 as Share the Road and Distracted Driving Awareness Month. She highlighted statistics on cyclist/pedestrian crashes and the recent death of a triathlete. Councilmember McGregor asked about e-bike/scooter regulations; Chief Spence reported the Police Department is reviewing code and compiling guidance. The resolution will be presented at the next regular meeting.
Key Outcomes
- ORD-0035-2025 set for introduction on August 18 and adoption on consent September 2.
- ORD-0036-2025 set for introduction with waiver of second reading on August 18.
- ORD-0033-2025 set for introduction with waiver and emergency on August 18.
- Network analyst position approved for advance hiring; position to be posted in August.
- Creekside project to proceed with further community engagement and focus groups; staff to provide updates.
- Resolution for Share the Road and Distracted Driving Awareness Month to be formally presented on August 18.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening, everyone. Today is Monday, August 11th, 2025. I've got 728, so we will go ahead and call this meeting of the committee of the whole to order. We will start first with items from the Department of Economic Development. Good evening, Director. I think so. I think we're all set. This is two times in a row that I'm talking about abatements. I was hoping to come in front of you without having to just be. I don't want to get tight casts as the abatement guy, right? So much more to economic development and just today. We're talking about the Turk recommendations. There you go. Okay. So today we're talking about Turk recommendations. This is for tax year 2023. I have I'll make this very brief. I have a couple of slides about just general Turk overview. You all received the minutes from the Turk meeting held last August. So basically what you're doing here is making your decision to continue, modify, or cancel the recommendations that Turk made last August. Make sense. We're a little bit we're operating the year behind because it's tax years, right? Not calendar years. Okay. So tax incentive review council or TURC, as we called it, call it is statutorily required by the revised code. It exists anywhere that there is a CRA enterprise zone or TIFF area within the state. Turk also receives reports, although doesn't make recommendations on them on pre-94 projects and any TIFF area activity. So you can see the makeup of it. This is statutorily required. The county auditor is the chair. This is representative of all of the taxing entities within the area. So behind the scenes, maybe what you don't see is uh Rachel does the lion's share of the work on this. So we, the city are required to report on the status of the abatements every year by March thirty-first. We report to the higher department of development. Um so there's a lot of work that goes into that. We begin mailing the reporting forms at the at the end of the year prior, uh set a deadline on those to be returned, and if they don't meet the deadline, we make phone calls, we send emails, we'll drive out to the company and hand deliver them if we have to not returning those forms by March thirty-first. The CRA Housing Council meets as well. The last few years it's met at the end of the year. I want to reverse that for next year and have the CRA housing council meet before the Turk meeting. I'll show you why in a second. And then Rachel is busy preparing uh the reports uh that she will present to TURC scheduled to meet a week from today, actually. So your role, like I mentioned, is to pass legislation. This is every year uh to continue modifier, modify or cancel the abatement agreements, and you have used traditionally the housing council and Turk's recommendations as guidance on that. So I put that little flow chart down at the bottom uh to kind of show how all these things interact with each other. Company makes its report, the staff prepare and submit their reports to Department of Development. The Housing Council reviews the projects and makes a recommendation. It's unofficial, but we'd like to have them meet before TURC so that these projects have been vetted, questions have been answered, and we're bringing our best case and our best information to TURC in August. And if we can have kind of an unofficial recommendation from that body as well that we can take to TURC, that gives us a little more uh heft to our report. And then of course, TURC meets, they make their recommendation uh to you all uh, which is done shortly after uh their meeting in the summer. So that's kind of how all these things interact together.
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