OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Gahanna Committee of the Whole Meeting Summary - October 15, 2025

City Council & Commissions — Wednesday, October 15, 2025
BodyGahanna, Ohio
SessionCity Council & Commissions
DateWednesday, October 15, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 2:32:03

Transcript — Verbatim
0:01

Good evening, everyone.

0:02

Today is Monday, October 13th, 2025.

0:05

I've got uh 602, so we will go ahead and call this meeting of the committee of the whole to order.

0:11

We will get started first with items from the senior director of administrative services.

0:15

Good evening, Director.

0:16

Good evening, everyone.

0:19

It's my honor to be here today to uh present our Gehana Strategic Plan and Economic Development Plan to everyone here today.

0:26

First, I just want to do some introductions with us today.

0:29

We have Bailey and Sarah from Planning Next.

0:32

They were our consultants who have been with us uh on this plan.

0:35

And on this side, we have John Heilman and Ethan Barnhart.

0:38

They were two active members of our steering committee, and they'll be participating in this evening's presentation.

0:45

At the end of today, we will be recommending that council passes a resolution to adopt Gehanna Strategic Plan and Economic Development Strategy.

0:54

This initiative reflects a comprehensive and inclusive planning process designed to guide the city's future, growth, development, and priorities.

1:02

Before we get started, I just wanted to have a send a couple thank yous.

1:06

First and foremost to Mayor Jadwin for asking me to lead this initiative to the council members for participating throughout the planning process.

1:13

At the back of the room is Kelsey Bartholomew Management Analyst 2 and DAS and Rachel Zarek, economic development administrator.

1:21

They were on the project team with me.

1:23

They helped keep me organized, they helped keep the steering committee organized.

1:27

They were vital to the success of this project.

1:29

So if we could give them a round of applause.

1:51

So for the agenda for this evening, um, the folks in front of you will go over the process.

1:56

Um we are asking for a public hearing on the 20th, and then for a council vote on the third.

2:03

Uh we'll then cover the steering committee and their role in this process, the public engagement, and then the plan overview.

2:10

I did email you a link to the plan on Saturday morning as well.

2:14

So after adoption of that plan in its final format, we will get those professionally printed, because as you may have seen, they are it is a very large document.

2:22

Um I would ask that questions be held to the end, and then I'll return to the microphone to answer any questions that you might have.

2:28

So with that, I'll turn it over to planning next.

2:34

Thank you, Miranda.

2:35

Um, good evening, everybody.

2:36

Thank you for having us.

2:38

Um we're just gonna do a little bit of review here.

2:41

Um, and um then we'll get right into our presentation uh on the plan overview.

2:47

So this is a uh slide we've had in this deck before as we presented just a reminder for folks about what a strategic plan is.

2:54

Um it's really a long-term framework that outlines a roadmap for the future.

2:59

Um it oftentimes does um involve collaboration, you know, beyond the city.

3:03

Um, and it's really a guide for decision city decision makers.

3:07

Um, and this one specifically uh was really based on input from the community.

3:12

We really put a lot of intentionality and effort and making sure that everyone in Gehenna knew it was an opportunity to get involved and have their um voice heard.

3:20

Um, you know, our our scope or our charge at the beginning of this process was really kind of three components.

3:25

So we did some preparation to get to get ready for a robust process.

3:29

Um we had three rounds of engagement, and then we went um into plan development.

3:33

And I think it's best illustrated um on this process timeline, where you can see our three rounds of community engagement there at the bottom, but how they with those arrows kind of um uh informing the plan development as we went along.

3:46

So each round of engagement was iterative.

3:49

Um, each round that we went out to uh seek community input.

3:52

Uh we would hear from folks, and then we would test what we heard in the next round.

3:56

And that was really important for um developing a plan that was really from the community, and and you'll you'll see when we get to the plan framework and the plan um uh itself, the recommendations of how that kind of all comes together, then for the the plan itself and adoption and implementation.

4:13

So I'm gonna hand it over now to Ethan and John as our two of our steering committee members who are gonna talk um a little bit more in detail about the steering committee and their role.

4:30

All right, good evening, members of council.

4:31

It's a pleasure to be before you today to kind of talk a little bit about the roles and responsibility of the uh the steering committee.

4:37

Uh, like I said, my name's Ethan Barnhart, and I've been a member of the uh our Gehanna Steering Committee over the past year, and it's been a real honor to be able to help be a part of this process.

4:47

Uh so really our main goal was really just to be the champions of this process and uh to make sure that we were using our personal networks to get people engaged uh and really uh excited about participating in our Gehana.

5:04

Additionally, we uh worked to be the faces uh out at all the public engagement events as well, uh, making sure that uh people showed up, uh, making sure that we were able to help facilitate different uh community conversations uh and really just encourage people to uh share their input into the plan because we really wanted to make sure that uh all of Gehanna was really representative and uh people were making sure that their input was heard.

5:31

Um additionally, uh steering committee members, we wanted to get the word out.

5:36

Uh so this really included a lot of uh uh things like uh dropping off uh pamphlets and flyers at different public locations throughout the city, uh sharing opportunities on social media to be able to make sure people uh heard about them and how to be engaged and sending out emails, text messages, phone calls, whatever it took to be able to just really get the word out to people uh and to get them engaged in this process.

6:01

Uh and then uh really an important part of what we did also, and one of the reasons that uh you know the steering committee existed was to make sure that it was really going to be a representative of what the community um is and uh make sure that we were tapping into underrepresented uh areas of the community just to make sure that the uh the feedback was going to be grounded and really representative of of who we are.

6:28

Uh the involvement that we had.

6:29

I'm John Hallman, uh in a resident.

6:32

Sorry.

6:33

Thank you.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Planning And Development████████████████████████████28%
Public Engagement████████████████████████24%
Economic Development███████████11%
Strategic Planning██████████10%
Procedural██████6%
Engineering And Infrastructure████4%
Community Engagement███3%
Capital Improvement███3%
Active Transportation███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Gahanna Committee of the Whole Meeting Summary - October 15, 2025

Note: The meeting agenda and transcript indicate the meeting occurred on Monday, October 13, 2025; however, per user instruction, this summary uses the date October 15, 2025.

The Gahanna City Council Committee of the Whole met to discuss several major items, including the adoption of the "Our Gahanna" Strategic Plan and Economic Development Strategy, a proposed development agreement for the Creekside District redevelopment, and various infrastructure and parks items. The meeting featured extensive presentations, public engagement data, and council deliberation. No final votes were taken; most items were scheduled for future readings or placed on the consent agenda for the next regular meeting on October 20, 2025.

Consent Calendar

Items placed on the consent agenda for introduction/adoption at the October 20, 2025 regular meeting included:

  • MT-0013-2025: Authorizing bidding for Clotts Road and Serran Drive sanitary sewer improvements
  • ORD-0045-2025: Accepting an access easement at 135 Serran Drive
  • ORD-0047-2025: Accepting a sanitary sewer easement for properties at 490 and 495 Crescent Circle
  • ORD-0048-2025: Accepting public sanitary sewer infrastructure along Crescent Circle
  • RES-0048-2025: Amending the 2026 sidewalk maintenance program area (to include Hamilton Road and Granville Street work in coordination with ODOT)
  • RES-0049-2025: Determining necessity for sidewalk repairs in the 2026 urban paving sidewalk program area
  • MT-0014-2025: Authorizing bidding for White Swan Court & Embassy Court street rebuild and waterline replacement
  • ORD-0044-2025: Authorizing an easement agreement with Columbia Gas for a cell tower generator at Lower McCorkle Park (first reading Oct 20, second reading/consent Nov 3)
  • RES-0045-2025: Authorizing application to MORPC for FTA Section 5310 funding for senior center transportation (consent)
  • RES-0050-2025: Resolution of support for state capital grant application for the Creekside Plaza and Flood Improvement Project (consent)
  • RES-0047-2025: Recognizing October as National Arts & Humanities Month (consent)

Discussion Items

1. RES-0046-2025 – Adoption of the "Our Gahanna" Strategic Plan and Economic Development Strategy Miranda Vollmer, Senior Director of Administrative Services, presented the plan, joined by consultants from Planning NEXT and steering committee members Ethan Barnhardt and John Heilmann. The year-long process included more than 1,800 participants, over 9,000 pieces of input, 86 table talks, six in-person events, business focus groups, and three online surveys. Outreach involved 29 city email blasts, 77 social media posts, mailed postcards, and engagement at community events. The plan is organized into two parts (strategic plan and economic development strategy) with four goal chapters: elevating unique places, serving the community, connecting the community, and celebrating identity. Council members praised the process and requested an appendix with aggregated data. A public hearing was set for October 20, 2025, with a council vote scheduled for November 3, 2025, and additional committee discussion on October 27, 2025.

2. ORD-0042-2025 – Development Agreement for Creekside District Redevelopment (Connect Realty LLC, Benson Capital LLC, and Gahanna CIC) Director of Economic Development Jeff Gottke reviewed the project details: 263 apartments, two restaurants, a parking garage, a hotel, and townhouses (phase two). He emphasized the project is privately funded, not a public-private partnership. A parking utilization study of 667 marked surface spaces showed 28% average utilization citywide and 27% on the High Street lot. Accountability measures include semiannual reports, a completion guarantee, a reconveyance clause, and loan step-in rights. Council members raised numerous questions about parking, phase separation, demolition funding, TIF inclusion for Mifflin Township, internship commitments, and construction impacts. President Bowers stated she was not ready to vote on October 20 due to the need for a final development agreement and fiscal impact analysis. The vote was postponed; a redlined version is expected by the end of the week, with the item returning to committee on October 27, 2025.

3. ORD-0046-2025 – Supplemental Appropriations for Gahanna CIC (Demolition Contingency) Director Gottke explained that this ordinance provides a protective measure ("Plan C") to ensure timely demolition of Creekside properties using grant funds. If needed, the CIC would receive city funds and later reimburse the city from grant proceeds. After discussion, council agreed to introduce the ordinance on October 20 with a waiver, adding language specifying reimbursement. City Attorney Tamilarasan noted the existing CIC agreement expires December 31, 2025, and reimbursement obligations could be included in a new agreement.

4. Engineering Items Director of Engineering Tom Komlanc presented seven items. The first pair (MT-0013-2025 and ORD-0045-2025) addressed sanitary sewer improvements on Clotts Road and Serran Drive. The next two (ORD-0047-2025 and ORD-0048-2025) concerned sewer easements and acceptance of infrastructure along Crescent Circle. Items five and six (RES-0048-2025 and RES-0049-2025) amended the 2026 sidewalk program to advance work on Hamilton Road and Granville Street in coordination with ODOT’s urban paving project. The final item (MT-0014-2025) authorized bidding for White Swan Court & Embassy Court street rebuild and waterline replacement. All items were placed on the consent agenda.

5. Parks & Recreation Items Director Stephania Ferrell introduced ORD-0044-2025, authorizing an easement for Columbia Gas to provide natural gas service to an emergency generator at a cell tower in Lower McCorkle Park. Councilmember Schnetzer asked about land repurposing; Ferrell confirmed the easement does not impair future use. RES-0045-2025 authorizes an application to MORPC for FTA Section 5310 funding for a pilot transportation program for senior center members (to/from the center only). Both items were placed on the consent agenda.

6. Items from Senior Director of Operations Kevin Schultz presented RES-0050-2025, a resolution supporting the city’s application for state capital grant funding (2026-2027) for the Creekside Plaza and Flood Improvement Project. The city may request up to $6 million. Councilmember McGregor suggested emphasizing flood mitigation, but Schultz noted legislators favor visible downtown revitalization projects. The resolution was placed on the consent agenda.

Key Outcomes

  • Strategic Plan (RES-0046-2025): Public hearing set for October 20, 2025; committee discussion on October 27; council vote on November 3.
  • Creekside Development Agreement (ORD-0042-2025): Vote postponed from October 20; redlined agreement to be provided by end of week; further committee discussion scheduled for October 27.
  • Supplemental Appropriations (ORD-0046-2025): To be introduced on October 20 with a waiver and reimbursement language; second reading waived.
  • Engineering and Parks items: All placed on consent agenda for October 20 (with some requiring second reading on November 3).
  • State Capital Grant Resolution (RES-0050-2025) and Arts & Humanities Resolution (RES-0047-2025): Placed on consent agenda for adoption.
  • No other formal votes were taken at the meeting.

Meeting Transcript

Good evening, everyone. Today is Monday, October 13th, 2025. I've got uh 602, so we will go ahead and call this meeting of the committee of the whole to order. We will get started first with items from the senior director of administrative services. Good evening, Director. Good evening, everyone. It's my honor to be here today to uh present our Gehana Strategic Plan and Economic Development Plan to everyone here today. First, I just want to do some introductions with us today. We have Bailey and Sarah from Planning Next. They were our consultants who have been with us uh on this plan. And on this side, we have John Heilman and Ethan Barnhart. They were two active members of our steering committee, and they'll be participating in this evening's presentation. At the end of today, we will be recommending that council passes a resolution to adopt Gehanna Strategic Plan and Economic Development Strategy. This initiative reflects a comprehensive and inclusive planning process designed to guide the city's future, growth, development, and priorities. Before we get started, I just wanted to have a send a couple thank yous. First and foremost to Mayor Jadwin for asking me to lead this initiative to the council members for participating throughout the planning process. At the back of the room is Kelsey Bartholomew Management Analyst 2 and DAS and Rachel Zarek, economic development administrator. They were on the project team with me. They helped keep me organized, they helped keep the steering committee organized. They were vital to the success of this project. So if we could give them a round of applause. So for the agenda for this evening, um, the folks in front of you will go over the process. Um we are asking for a public hearing on the 20th, and then for a council vote on the third. Uh we'll then cover the steering committee and their role in this process, the public engagement, and then the plan overview. I did email you a link to the plan on Saturday morning as well. So after adoption of that plan in its final format, we will get those professionally printed, because as you may have seen, they are it is a very large document. Um I would ask that questions be held to the end, and then I'll return to the microphone to answer any questions that you might have. So with that, I'll turn it over to planning next. Thank you, Miranda. Um, good evening, everybody. Thank you for having us. Um we're just gonna do a little bit of review here. Um, and um then we'll get right into our presentation uh on the plan overview. So this is a uh slide we've had in this deck before as we presented just a reminder for folks about what a strategic plan is. Um it's really a long-term framework that outlines a roadmap for the future. Um it oftentimes does um involve collaboration, you know, beyond the city. Um, and it's really a guide for decision city decision makers. Um, and this one specifically uh was really based on input from the community. We really put a lot of intentionality and effort and making sure that everyone in Gehenna knew it was an opportunity to get involved and have their um voice heard. Um, you know, our our scope or our charge at the beginning of this process was really kind of three components. So we did some preparation to get to get ready for a robust process. Um we had three rounds of engagement, and then we went um into plan development. And I think it's best illustrated um on this process timeline, where you can see our three rounds of community engagement there at the bottom, but how they with those arrows kind of um uh informing the plan development as we went along. So each round of engagement was iterative. Um, each round that we went out to uh seek community input. Uh we would hear from folks, and then we would test what we heard in the next round. And that was really important for um developing a plan that was really from the community, and and you'll you'll see when we get to the plan framework and the plan um uh itself, the recommendations of how that kind of all comes together, then for the the plan itself and adoption and implementation. So I'm gonna hand it over now to Ethan and John as our two of our steering committee members who are gonna talk um a little bit more in detail about the steering committee and their role. All right, good evening, members of council. It's a pleasure to be before you today to kind of talk a little bit about the roles and responsibility of the uh the steering committee.

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