NEW ALBANY CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
August 4, 2015
CALL TO ORDER:
Mayor Ferguson called to order the New Albany City Council Meeting of August 4th,
2015 at 6:30 p.m. at New Albany Village Hall, New Albany, Ohio. Attending were City
Manager Joseph Stefanov, Deputy City Manager Debra Mecozzi, Police Chief Greg
Jones, Finance Director Chad Fuller, Public Information Officer Scott McAfee, Law
Director Mitchell Banchefsky, City Engineer Ed Ferris, Clerk of Council Betty Bosko,
and assistant clerk Jennifer Mason.
Mayor Ferguson led the assemblage in the Pledge of Allegiance.
ROLL CALL:
The following Mayor/Council Members answered Roll Call:
Mayor Nancy Ferguson
CM Colleen Briscoe
CM Chip Fellows
CM Glyde Marsh
CM Michael Mott
CM Steve Pleasnick
CM Sloan Spalding
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ACTION ON MINUTES:
July 7th, minutes: Council Member Pleasnick noted that the Agenda stated the
minutes were from the July 21st meeting, however the July 21st meeting was
cancelled, so the actual minutes being voted on were the July 7 th minutes.
Mayor Ferguson moved, Council Member Pleasnick seconded and Council voted
with four yes votes to approve the July 7th, 2015 minutes.
ADDITIONS OR CORRECTIONS TO THE AGENDA:
NONE
HEARING OF VISITORS:

A Proclamation was read by Mayor Ferguson declaring September as National
Prostate Health Month in the city. Linda Hoetger accepted the proclamation and
spoke about prostate cancer awareness. Her husband, Ray, was diagnosed with
an aggressive form of prostate cancer 6 years ago. He was treated and is doing
well. Ray Hoetger attended the Council with Linda who is reaching out to all
cities, towns, and villages to advocate for a resolution or a proclamation from
each one to promote prostate cancer awareness. She brought Petey the
Prostate Cancer Crusader. Petey is a mascot made from a walnut and crafted
with arms and feet to remind people that the prostate is the size of a walnut.
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NEW ALBANY CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
August 4, 2015
The Mayor thanked Linda for bringing this to our attention and told Linda we
support her goals.

Dave Rau, of Columbia Gas of Ohio spoke on the importance of notifying utilities
prior to digging on property. Many damages and outages are caused by failing to
have utilities located before excavation.
In Ohio lives are endangered and
property is destroyed by failing to have underground utilities located. 8-1-1 is the
general number in Ohio that contractors can use to request utility companies to
locate lines. Therefore in order to increase public safety and continuity of utility
and communications services, the City New Albany, Ohio in cooperation with
Columbia Gas of Ohio is declaring August 11, as National 8-1-1 day.

Bill Conner representing CAPA spoke to Council regarding McCoy Center for the
Arts and the success of the programs presented this year and plans for
expanded services to the school and future events.
Jill Beckett Hill also spoke of the success of the Arts Center and noted that
Council will need to appoint a member to the board upon the resignation of one
of our appointees.
Mayor Ferguson thanked both Mr. Connor and Ms. Hill for their great leadership
of the Arts Center.

Mayor Ferguson welcomed Aaron Underhill to give tribute on the loss of Ben
Hale Jr., one of the most beloved men in New Albany.
Mayor Ferguson said it is so important to us to us to show our respect to
someone who has had such a huge impact on the New Albany community. She
said she has many memories of Ben over the 18 years she has worked with him,
he was such a big part of New Albany that he will live on in spirit and in our
memories.
The Mayor said long before there was a City of New Albany and when there was
just a small group of 300 or 400 residents, Ben was already practicing law in
Ohio, and making his impact all over the suburbs. She remembered (when she
was) in Law school reading his name in the paper and being very impressed by
the work that he was doing. She remembered in particular in the Sawmill area
when Macy’s was trying to establish themselves and contractors would be
brought in and they would make no progress, and then Ben Hale was brought in
to try to straighten it out and listen to the residents in the area and try to work out
a compromise and he was always up to the challenge no matter how difficult that
challenge might be. He would somehow work with the residents, listen to them
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NEW ALBANY CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
August 4, 2015
and come up with one of his great compromises. She referred to Muirfield as
legendary in Central Ohio and has heard it said that Muirfield might be in
Shawnee Hills if it weren’t for Ben Hale who was able to work with the Delaware
County Commissioners and the local residents that it would be better if Muirfield
was connected with Dublin.
“He was just able to accomplish so many things”. She said she thinks he played
a role in every significant development in Central Ohio in the last 48 years. He
had such a way with people, he came to New Albany in the late 80’s or early 90’s
to help with the New Albany Company’s development and was such a great
listener. Whenever residents would come in with concerns about development,
he would say “Let’s just take a few weeks off and I want to meet with the
residents”. Sometimes he would meet with residents once, sometimes he would
meet with them over months, several times. He would keep meeting with them,
keep listening to them until he was able to work out a compromise with them.
The projects that he worked on and the developments that he had a hand in were
always a lot better after he worked on them. He tweaked them and made them
more acceptable to the residents who were concerned but he also made them
much better developments.
She continued by saying Ben had a great sense of humor and had a million
stories, she also admired Ben Hale for his honesty. If he told you something, that
would be the way it was, and you can’t say that for many people. He was a true
professional. She said she has many memories of Ben that will stay with her
forever, but her favorite quote from Ben was “ It’s hard to get things right”.

Steve Pleasnick said Ben was truly his best friend, and one of the amazing things
about Ben Hale is that there are probably 50 guys in this community that think
Ben was their best friend. That was part of what Ben Hale was. As Mayor
Ferguson pointed out, Ben was a person of the highest integrity. Steve said he
knew Ben long before he came to New Albany because of the field of disability.
Ben contributed to so many things but people will never know the impact that he
had in this state in the field of disabilities. They worked together for so many
years while Ben was on the board and he (Steve) was superintendent, and he
had a knack for getting things done. Steve remembered early on when he asked
Ben to find us (MRDD) four large pieces of property throughout the county so
that we could build residences for parents of children who were becoming adult
and wanted to live on their own. He had incredible insight into being able to
select four of those properties one in each quadrant of the county so that those
parents would be able to visit their sons and daughters. They turned out to be
incredible places.
Steve concluded by saying Ben was also a man of great compassion, he could
bring people together. No matter what the difficulty of the task, he had the unique
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NEW ALBANY CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
August 4, 2015
(quality) to be able to talk to both sides and find the middle ground and bring it to
a happy conclusion. Steve said another thing he will remember about Ben is his
love of family. He had incredible love for his family and talked about them all the
time.

Mike Mott said he attended meetings in the late 80’s and Ben was always there
representing the New Albany Company. At that time there was friction between
the New Albany Company and the residents, but after getting involved, getting on
Council he got to know Ben, and came to respect him. He said he was always
glad to see Ben at the Council meeting, “he was probably going to talk us into
something, but we were going to have a good time getting there”.

Sloan Spalding said as a Junior member of Council he hasn’t known Ben long.
“At one of my first council meetings, Ben was there and pulled me aside, put his
arm around my shoulder like we were old friends and really welcomed me to
serving on the Council and said I was going to do fine. I honestly had no idea
who he was. But that made me feel really good and that was just the kind of man
he was”. He was so smart but he never made anyone feel stupid. You could ask
him anything and he would explain it to you. He continued by saying he did get
to attend the Commercial Real Estate Development Association last year where
they paid tribute to him and every and successful person in Central Ohio stood
up in that room and thanked Ben for his influence on their success. He said he
wishes he had a list of Ben Hale “isms” the one he remembers is one Ben used
in a meeting with him, and they were working on something and Ben said,
“Sloan, that dog won’t hunt” Sloan said he thought that was a great one and now
uses it himself.

Mayor Ferguson said we don’t give out many awards in New Albany and we
have invented one and Ben is the first recipient. On that note she read a
Proclamation declaring Ben Hale Jr. the 2015 Outstanding Citizen of the Year.
The Mayor presented the proclamation to Aaron Underhill who is Ben Hale’s sonin-law.

Aaron thanked the Mayor and Council for the award and said he has some big
footsteps to follow in. He said as a resident of New Albany when he drives
around he sees things that Ben had a hand in and hopefully in the future he will
be able to finish things that Ben was working on. He said Ben never said “if” we
get something done, it was “how”. Aaron also said he looks forward to working
with the city to complete those projects
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NEW ALBANY CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
August 4, 2015
BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS:
PLANNING COMMISSION: Mr. Spalding said they had a meeting on July 20th, and
heard four items. The first two were on a connected issue the FDP for the New
Albany Ballet Co. Sloan passed around the renderings from the architect. It will be
located by the Courtyard (Marriot) and will replicate an old warehouse that has been
repurposed for a new use. It was approved with conditions by the Planning
Commission.
The second issue was a plat modification of the Chabad House. The architect
design has been approved by the ARB some time ago. There are some minor
changes.
There were some zoning changes on Beech Road to conform to the surrounding
area there was a one acre lot that was not part of the original but has since been
purchased by the applicant.
PARKS AND TRAILS ADVISORY BOARD: No meeting.
ARB: The next meeting is scheduled for August 10th.
BZA: No meeting.
BOARD OF CONSTRUCTION APPEALS: No meeting.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION: No meeting
PUBLIC RECORDS COMMISSION: No meeting.
CORRESPONDENCE AND COMMUNICATIONS:
NONE
SECOND READING AND PUBLIC HEARING OF ORDINANCES:
NONE.
INTRODUCTION AND FIRST READING OF ORDINANCES:
ORDINANCE O-26-2015
Mayor Ferguson read by title AN ORDINANCE TO ACCEPT THE EXPEDITED TYPE 1
ANNEXATION OF 0.929+/- ACRES FROM JERSEY TOWNSHIP, LICKING COUNTY
TO THE CITY OF NEW ALBANY
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NEW ALBANY CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
August 4, 2015
Mayor Ferguson scheduled this ordinance for Second Reading and Public Hearing at the
August 18, 2015 meeting.
ORDINANCE O-27-2015
Mayor Ferguson read by title AN ORDINANCE TO ACCEPT THE EXPEDITED TYPE 1
ANNEXATION OF 207.4+/- ACRES FROM JERSEY TOWNSHIP, LICKING COUNTY
TO THE CITY OF NEW ALBANY
Mayor Ferguson scheduled this ordinance for Second Reading and Public Hearing at the
August 18, 2015 meeting.
ORDINANCE O-28-2015
Mayor Ferguson read by title AN ORDINANCE TO ACCEPT THE EXPEDITED TYPE 1
ANNEXATION OF 1.7+/- ACRES FROM PLAIN TOWNSHIP, FRANKLIN COUNTY TO
THE CITY OF NEW ALBANY
Mayor Ferguson scheduled this ordinance for Second Reading and Public Hearing at the
August 18, 2015 meeting.
RESOLUTIONS
RESOLUTION R-35-2015
Mayor Ferguson read by title A RESOLUTION TO AUTHORIZE THE CITY MANAGER
TO EXECUTE AMENDMENTS TO THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT
WITH THE CITY OF COLUMBUS AND RELATED MODIFICATIONS TO THE WATER
SERVICE CONTRACT AND SEWER DISPOSAL CONTRACT WITH THE CITY OF
COLUMBUS, ALL IN ORDER TO FACILITATE FUTURE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Mayor Ferguson moved, Council Member Mott seconded and Council voted with
four yes votes to approve Resolution R-35-2015.
RESOLUTION R-36-2015
Mayor Ferguson read by title A RESOLUTION TO Authorize the city manager to
enter into a road maintenance agreement with the licking county board of
commissioners for the maintenance of sections of Harrison Road and Jug Street
Council Member Pleasnick moved, Council Member Spalding seconded and Council
voted with four yes votes to approve Resolution R-36, 2015.
RESOLUTION R-37-2015
Mayor Ferguson read by title A RESOLUTION TO AUTHORIZE THE CITY
MANAGER TO ENTER INTO AN AMENDED GROUND LEASE ON BEHALF OF
THE CITY OF NEW ALBANY LEASING THE PROPERTY KNOWN AS SWICKARD
WOODS PARK TO THE NEW ALBANY PLAIN LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT
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NEW ALBANY CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
August 4, 2015
Council Member Pleasnick moved, Mayor Ferguson seconded and Council voted
with four yes votes to approve Resolution R-37-2015
STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS:
A. Finance Committee- No report
B. Safety Committee- No report
C. Public Utilities-No report
D. Service and Public Facilities Committee-No report
E. Planning and Economic Development Committee-No report
F. Administration Committee- No report
G. Grants and Non-Profit Funding-No report
REPORTS OF REPRESENTATIVES:
A. Council Representative to MORPC: No report.
B. Representative to Plain Local Schools- No report.
C. Council Representative to Plain Township- The Plain Local school district decided
not to go on the ballot this fall.
REPORTS OF VILLAGE OFFICIALS:
A. Mayor- No report.
B. Clerk of Council- The clerk noted a request from the Department of Liquor
Control to poll Council regarding requesting a hearing for the application of a liquor
license by the new hotel on Forest Drive.
Council Member Pleasnick moved and Council Member Mott seconded and Council
voted not to request a hearing on the request of the for a hearing on a liquor permit
application.
C. Finance Director- No report.
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NEW ALBANY CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
August 4, 2015
D. City Manager- Mr. Stefanov showed photos of the renovation that is going on in
Village Hall to convert the downstairs for the relocation of the Community
Development Department
E. City Attorney – No report
OTHER BUSINESS:
NONE
POLL FOR PUBLIC COMMENT:
NONE
POLL FOR COUNCIL COMMENT:
NONE
EXECUTIVE SESSION:
Mayor Ferguson moved, Council Member Pleasnick seconded and Council voted
with seven yes to go into Executive Session pursuant to ORC 121.22 (G)(1) to
discuss personnel, with no expectation of action.
Mayor Ferguson Moved, Council Member Mott seconded and Council voted with
four yes votes to exit Executive Session and reconvene the regular meeting.
ADJOURNMENT:
With no further comments and all scheduled matters attended to Mayor Ferguson
moved, Council Member Pleasnick to adjourn August 4, 2015 Regular Council
meeting at 8:50 p.m.
ATTEST:
_________________________
Betty Bosko, Clerk of Council
_____________________
Nancy I. Ferguson, Mayor
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