Council Planning Committee

Summary

Meeting Overview

The Urban County Council Planning Committee met on May 12, 2009, at 1:00 PM, with CM Gorton presiding. The committee worked through a five-item agenda covering a mix of action items and informational presentations. Two items resulted in approvals — the Newtown Pike Design Ordinance and Items Referred to Committee — while three items were presented for informational purposes: the Family Care Center Audit, Newtown Pike Status, and Liberty Rd. Widening Status. Over the course of the meeting, the committee took 4 votes, received 3 informational presentations, and heard 1 public comment.

Attendance

All ten council members were present at the May 12, 2009 meeting. No members were recorded as absent or late.

Members Present: - Gorton - Blues - Gray - Ellinger - James - Lawless - Beard - Feigel - Stinnett - McChord

Votes and Decisions

The committee took four unanimous votes during the May 12, 2009 meeting, all of which passed without dissent.

• Family Care Center Audit Report 38:45: CM Blues moved, and CM Beard seconded, a motion to adopt the Family Care Center audit report and forward it to the full council for review. The motion passed unanimously.

• Newtown Pike Design Ordinance 48:04: CM Blues moved, and CM Feigel seconded, a motion to refer the Newtown Pike Design Ordinance to the full council for review. The motion passed unanimously.

• Electrical Inspector Fees 1:11:37: CM McChord moved, and CM Beard seconded, a motion to remove electrical inspector fees from the list of referred items. The motion passed unanimously.

• Hisle Property Master Plan 1:13:15: CM Stinnett moved, and CM Blues seconded, a motion to remove the Hisle Property master plan from the list of referred items. The motion passed unanimously.

No roll call votes were recorded for any of the four motions. All decisions were reached by unanimous consent.

Public Comment

One member of the public addressed the Council during the public comment period. 29:43

• David Stevens spoke in connection with the Family Care Center audit. Stevens directed a question to Blue & Co. LLC, asking the firm to provide an estimate of the costs associated with the substandard findings identified in the audit, as well as any lost revenue resulting from those findings.

No other public comments were recorded during this portion of the meeting.

Family Care Center Audit

4:06

The Council received a presentation on the Family Care Center Audit as the first item of discussion. Two key speakers addressed this item: Marlene Helm, who provided historical background on the audit, and Dale Skaggs, who presented findings on behalf of Blue & Co. LLC.

Helm opened by offering context on the audit's history, setting the stage for the findings that followed. Skaggs then presented Blue & Co. LLC's conclusions, indicating that an unqualified clean audit could not be issued due to various issues identified during the review process. An unqualified opinion is the highest standard of audit result, meaning the inability to issue one signals that auditors identified material concerns or irregularities that prevented them from certifying the financial statements without reservation.

The specific issues underlying the qualified audit result were noted as part of the presentation, though the item was informational in nature and no formal action or vote was taken by the Council at this time. The discussion served to bring Council members up to date on the status and findings of the Family Care Center Audit.

Newtown Pike Design Ordinance

39:50

The Council took up Agenda Item 2, a proposed design ordinance for the Newtown Pike corridor.

Chris King led the discussion, explaining the intent of the ordinance as a framework to guide redevelopment along Newtown Pike. King noted that the ordinance was modeled after the existing Richmond Road ordinance, drawing on that established framework as a template for the new corridor standards. He also indicated that a separate study for commercial design would be needed as part of the broader planning process for the area.

The ordinance was approved by the Council.

Newtown Pike Status

49:14

Andrew Grunwald provided the Council with a status update on the Newtown Pike project, covering several key areas of progress.

Grunwald's presentation addressed the following topics:

• Right of Way — Current status of right of way acquisition along the Newtown Pike corridor
• Utilities — Updates on utility work associated with the project
• Construction Phase 1 — Progress on the first phase of construction activities
• Parcel Acquisition and Relocations — Status of acquiring necessary parcels and managing any associated relocations

The item was informational in nature, and no formal action or vote was taken by the Council. The update served to keep Council members current on the various moving parts of the Newtown Pike project as it advances through its different phases.

*Note: Detailed figures, specific parcel counts, utility timelines, and construction milestones were discussed during this agenda item but are not reflected in the available structured data. Readers seeking the full details of Grunwald's presentation are encouraged to view the meeting video beginning at the 49:14 timestamp.*

Liberty Rd. Widening Status

1:07:56

Under Agenda Item 4, the Council took up a discussion on the status of the Liberty Road widening project. Bob Bayert addressed the Council, responding to questions regarding the timeline and current progress of the project.

The item was informational in nature, with Bayert's remarks focused on providing an update on where the widening effort stands. No vote or formal action was taken as a result of the discussion.

Items Referred to Committee

1:11:37

The Council took up Agenda Item 5, addressing the list of items previously referred to committee. CM Gorton led the discussion, which focused on removing several items from the referred items list that were no longer pending or required further committee action.

Specifically, the discussion centered on removing the following items from the list:

• Electrical inspector fees
• The Hisle Property master plan

The Council approved the removal of these items from the referred items list.