City Council

NEW PHILADELPHIA CITY COUNCIL MET IN REGULAR SESSION IN COUNCIL CHAMBERS ON DECEMBER 23, 2024 WITH PRESIDENT DON KEMP PRESIDING. COUNCILMAN RIPPETH OFFERED A PRAYER, AND ALL IN ATTENDANCE RECITED THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE. COUNCIL MEMBERS IN ATTENDENCE MR. KRIS KREINBIHL MR. DAN LANZER MR. MITCH PACE MRS. CHERYL RAMOS MR. STEVE RIPPETH MR. TOM SIMMELINK EXCUSED ABSENSES: MR. MICHAEL WALKER LAW DIRECTOR MARVIN FETE  MR. RIPPETH MOTIONED TO ADD ORDINANCE 35-2024, ORDINANCE 36-2024, AND RESOLUTION 23-2024 TO TONIGHT’S AGENDA MR. LANZER SECONDED THE MOTION 6 YEAS ORDINANCE 35-2024, ORDINANCE 36-2024, AND RESOLUTION 23-2024 HAVE BEEN ADDED TO TONIGHT’S AGENDA  MR. RIPPETH MOTIONED TO APPROVE TONIGHT’S AGENDA WITH THE ADDITIONS MR. LANZER SECONDED THE MOTION 6 YEAS TONIGHT’S AGENDA HAS BEEN APPROVED  MR. PACE MOTIONED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES FROM THE REGULAR SESSION OF COUNCIL ON DECEMBER 9, 2024 MR. RIPPETH SECONDED THE MOTION 5 YEAS (MR. KREINBIHL ABSTAINED) MINUTES FROM THE DECEMBER 9, 2024 REGULAR SESSION OF COUNCIL HAVE BEEN APPROVED CORRESPONDENCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CLERK, JULIE COURTRIGHT 1. To Councilman Rippeth from President Kemp dated December 9, 2024. This is an email titled “Please Assign to Mr Rippeth’s Committee with Ordinance 35-2024 as the Attachment. 2. To Councilman Lanzer from President Kemp dated December 23, 2024. This is an email titled “Please Assign to Mr. Lanzer’s Committee with Resolution 23-2024 as the Attachment. 1  3. To Council and Administration from Auditor Heather Denham, dated December 23, 2024. This is an email titled 2025 Temporary Appropriations. 4. To Councilman Rippeth from President Kemp, dated December 23, 2024. This is an email regarding Resolution 23-2024 that was previously assigned to Mr. Lanzer’s Committee. President Kemp stated that he is reassigning the legislation to Mr. Rippeth’s Committee for immediate action since Mr. Rippeth is the only Councilmember having a Committee meeting this evening. 5. To Council and Administration from Mayor Day, the Mayor’s Report. MAYOR’S REPORT/REQUESTS ….MAYOR JOEL B. DAY Mayor Day had the following report: 2024 was Another Year of Progress in New Philadelphia I want to thank City Council members for their efforts this year to improve the City. It takes teamwork to move projects forward. I am grateful for your help. Among the accomplishments this year: • Completed construction of the Kent State Connector Trail bicycle path • Completed the Franklin Square storm sewer project (4th Street and West High) • The City Health Department achieved national accreditation from the Public Health Accreditation Board after a three-year process. • New taxiways were constructed and lighting installed at Harry Clever Field None of these would have been possible without Council members’ commitment to improve New Philadelphia. Looking Ahead to 2025 The dirt will continue to fly next year as we plan to begin several new City projects primarily funded by grant money, such as: • Construction of the redesign of three of the four downtown quadrants. The City received a $2.9 million Appalachian Community grant to fund the project. The redesign will make the quadrants easier to use for downtown events. There will be new seating areas and lighting and more green space. You will want to hang out in our downtown area in the good weather months to meet friends, shop and enjoy entertainment and atmosphere. Downtown will have a new vibe I think everyone will enjoy and will want to be a part of. • Construction of the second phase of the Southside Community Park's development. If we receive a $300,000 grant from the Ohio Dept of Natural Resources, we will use it to match the $300.000 already secured for the project to build a multi-use building near the high school soccer fields. The building will house restrooms, a concession stand and park maintenance equipment. It will also have an attached pavilion for outdoor seating and shelter from the weather. Two Tuscora Park projects that are being funded primarily through private donations are: • the renovations at Field #1, the high school baseball field. • Installation of three new vintage kiddie rides by RTY In private business, by late summer, Chick-fil-A should begin construction of a new 85-seat restaurant on Bluebell Drive NW, where the Travelodge is presently located. And the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District should begin construction of its new headquarters buildings on Tech Park Drive SE. Best Wishes to Councilman Mitch Pace Tonight (Monday) is the final regular City Council meeting for Ward 2 Councilman Mitch Pace. As we all know, he will become Tuscarawas County’s next County Commissioner on New Year’s Day. As he has shown as a City Council member, the County is gaining a young, enthusiastic leader who strives to improve our quality of life and champion pro-family and pro-business initiatives. I urge Commissioner Pace to have the county government take a leading role in economic development and land use planning in Tuscarawas County. And I will continue to urge the County to become more active in improving downtown New Philadelphia, because it’s your home too. A Christmas Message… I’d like to share my favorite Bible verse that sums up why we celebrate Christmas: Isaiah 9:6 “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” And a verse from my favorite Christmas hymn: O Holy night! The stars are brightly shining It is the night of our dear Savior's birth Long lay the world in sin and error pining 'Til He appeared and the soul felt its worth A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices 2  For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn Fall on your knees; O hear the Angel voices! O night divine, O night when Christ was born O night, O Holy night, O night divine! It’s the good news: messages of love, comfort and encouragement. In the New Year keep the faith and carry the messages. Many people in our community will need your help and your love. We have much to do together in 2025! Merry Christmas New Philadelphia. And Happy New Year. Mayor Day gave the remainder of his time to Tom Farbizo with Quaker Digital Academy. Tom Farbizo of 936 3rd St NW New Philadelphia made the following statement: It’s my honor to be here representing Dr. Richard Varatti and the Quaker Digital Foundation. I’ve been making this an annual trip. It’s Christmas time and I have some gifts to give you. Thank you to the Mayor and Council for their foresight. We were able to make available at this year’s commencement 9 scholarships and we were able to award $9,250. I’m happy to tell you eight of the students have used the money they were awarded. We offer these as a one time scholarship. I’m happy tonight to present to the Mayor two checks. For the ads on the airport windows we got a check for $3,840.00. For the ads on the City Sanitation Trucks I have a check for $2,880.00. I hope we get some more economic development so we can get a few more sanitation trucks on the road so I can sell some more advertising. Another thing I’d like to tell you, since the program was initiated we paid to the City of New Philadelphia $37,300.00. That’s a pretty nice gift, plus you received all new energy efficient windows at the airport. Mr. Lanzer had the following comment: Thank you for this. When it first began it wasn’t voted in unanimously and I think it’s a great thing. Mr. Pace had the following question: Do all the sanitation trucks have ads on them? Mr. Farbizo: Yes, they all have ads on them. I think we have a couple out of service that we left ads on. When we first started this program Buckeye Career Center supplied the material and the electrician students did all the wiring and lit the parking lot, not only to display the ads at night but also for safety. SERVICE DIRECTOR………….. Service Director Ron McAbier: Mr. McAbier had the following report: 1. Leaf pick-up is wrapping up. We just have the large truck running at this time and are picking up remaining leaves. We’d like to wrap it up by the first of the year. After that we’ll be doing trees and cold-patching. 2. We’ve been cutting trees over the past few years now we’re starting on stumps. 3. At the last meeting we had the issue with the line on North Ave NE that was leaking. The line was fine, they just didn’t prepare it right for the air test. 4. Franklin Square wrapped up. We’ll do a final walk-through. 5. We’ll be doing a final walk-through of the Connector Trail. 6. You’ll see some legislation come through for a grant for $250,000. We had to go through a full grant application after being awarded an abbreviated one. We finished it on Friday so there will be legislation coming. What that is for, down on 21st Street that line is better than the one we did a few years ago. The total on the project is $590,000. 7. Also, with patching, a lot of the stuff now is in alleys. If you see anything like that just call in. AUDITOR ……………MRS. HEATHER DENHAM Mrs. Denham had the following comment: Thank you everyone for your support and I apologize that’s it’s taken so long to get the temporary appropriations to you. We have to get through 2024 first. 3  SAFETY DIRECTOR ………..MR. GREG POPHAM…………..NO REPORT TREASURER . . . . MR. TOM GERBER……….NO REPORT LAW DIRECTOR……MR. MARVIN FETE………..EXCUSED ABSENSE BOARD/COMMISSION REPORTS: PLANNING COMMISSION……………….MAYOR JOEL DAY The Planning Commission will be meeting on the second Tuesday of January in Council Chambers At 1:00pm. We’ll be continuing our discussion with the School Administration. BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS…….MR. RON MCABIER The Board of Zoning Appeals will meet January 14, 2025 at 5:00 PM here in Council Chambers. . AIRPORT COMMISSION…….MR. DAN LANZER The Airport Commission will be meeting the second Tuesday of January at 6:00pm in the Harry Clever Airport Meeting Room. PARK BOARD………………….MR. MITCH PACE The Field One Project the Backstop is almost completed. The committee received a $50,000 grant from The Reeves Foundation. That will be used toward the dugouts and will be completed after the 2025 Season. RTY had received $135,000 for three new rides where the old batting cages were. 4  CEMETERY BOARD…………………….MR. MITCH PACE…………NO REPORT HEALTH BOARD ………………….…. MR. TOM SIMMELINK The Health Board will meet on the 8th of January in Council Chambers at Noon. STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS: FINANCE COMMITTEE ………………MR. STEVE RIPPETH Mr. Rippeth had the following report: The Finance Committee met tonight at 7:00 here in Council Chambers. We had three major issues in front of us: Resolution 23-2024, Ordinance 35-2024 and Ordinance 36-2024. The Committee voted unanimously to add those to the Agenda and to ask for passage on 1st Reading if possible. We adjourned at 7:23. I’d like to thank everybody here at Council for a great year, and I hope everyone has a very happy and safe Holiday. PUBLIC WORKS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE…MR. DAN LANZER….NO REPORT SAFETY, HEALTH, AND SERVICE COMMITTEE……MR. TOM SIMMELINK…..NO REPORT ZONING AND ANNEXATION COMMITTEE……MRS. CHERYL RAMOS…….NO REPORT SALARY COMMITTEE………..………MR. KRIS KREINBIHL……….NO REPORT 5 PARKS AND CEMETERY COMMITTEE……………MR. MITCH PACE Mr. Pace had the following Comment: The Cemetery Committee met last Thursday. They’re working with the VFW Post 1445 on a project to have a memorial for veterans in the City of New Philadelphia. This is something I feel is needed, and the VFW gives a lot back to the community for various projects. Mr. McAbier had the following comment: I just had a phone call today that $20,000 was committed to the memorial. Mr. Kreinbihl asked where the memorial would be located and Mr. McAbier said right now they are trying to pick out a spot, but it will be in the new cemetery. SPECIAL AND CONTACT COMMITTEE……MR. MIKE WALKER…….EXCUSED ABSENSE VISITOR’S COMMENTS_....................NONE Council Comments Mr. Pace had the following comment: Thank you everyone for the nice comments tonight. I know being an elected official is not something that everyone wants to do, but I know everyone sitting in this room makes sacrifices. Being a citizens of New Phila I certainly appreciated it and looking forward to serving as your County Commissioner I’ll be right across the street. I’ve got a lot to learn but I’m looking forward to it and I’ll be working hard for you, and I won’t be leaving the baseball or the trout derby. Mr. Simmelink: I want to wish you great success. I appreciate all your help and guidance on my first year. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Mr. Kreinbihl: I want to wish Mitch good luck and thank him for all his help. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everybody. President Kemp: It’s time to take time to celebrate the Christmas Season with families. Merry Christmas to everybody. READING OF ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS ORDINANCES: 6  35-2024 AN ORDINANCE BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEW PHILADELPHIA, OHIO, AMENDING AND ADJUSTING THE PERMANENT APPROPRIATIONS ORDINANCE FOR THE YEAR 2024. 1st Reading MR. RIPPETH MOTIONED FOR SUSPENSION OF RULES ON ORDINANCE 35-2024 MR. KREINBIHL SECONDED THE MOTION 6 YEAS RULES HAVE BEEN SUSPENDED ON ORDINANCE 35-2024 MR. RIPPETH MOTIONED FOR APPROVAL OF ORDINANCE 35-2024 MR. KREINBIHL SECONDED THE MOTION 6 YEAS ORDINANCE 35-2024 HAS BEEN APPROVED 36-2024 AN ORDINANCE TO MAKE TEMPORARY APPROPRIATIONS FOR CURRENT EXPENSES AND OTHER EXPENDITURES OF THE CITY OF NEW PHILADELPHIA, STATE OF OHIO, DURING THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2025 1st Reading MR. RIPPETH MOTIONED FOR SUSPENSION OF RULES ON ORDINANCE 36-2024 MR. KREINBIHL SECONDED THE MOTION 6 YEAS RULES HAVE BEEN SUSPENDED ON ORDINANCE 36-2024 MR. RIPPETH MOTIONED FOR APPROVAL OF ORDINANCE 36-2024 MR. KREINBIHL SECONDED THE MOTION 6 YEAS ORDINANCE 36-2024 HAS BEEN APPROVED RESOLUTIONS: AMENDED 21-2024 A RESOLUTION BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEW PHILADELPHIA, OHIO TO AUTHORIZE AND DIRECT THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO A LEASE AMENDMENT WITH THE TRANZONIC COMPANIES FOR THE CITY OWNED PROPERTY LOCATED AT 444 BANK LANE SW, NEW PHILADELPHIA, OHIO. 2nd Reading 23-2024 A RESOLUTION ENACTED BY THE CITY OF NEW PHILADELPHIA, TUSCARAWAS COUNTY, OHIO, AUTHORIZING THE SERVICE DIRECTOR TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE DIRECTOR OF TRANSPORTATION FOR THE COMPLETION OF A PROJECT FOR PAVEMENT REHABILITATION FOR MULTIPLE ROADWAYS 1st Reading MR. LANZER MOTIONED FOR SUSPENSION OF RULES ON RESOLUTION 23-2024 MR. RIPPETH SECONDED THE MOTION 6 YEAS RULES HAVE BEEN SUSPENDED ON RESOLUTION 23-2024 MR. LANZER MOTIONED FOR APPROVAL OF RESOLUTION 23-2024 MR. RIPPETH SECONDED THE MOTION 7  6 YEAS RESOLUTION 23-2024 HAS BEEN APPROVED UNFINISHED OR OLD BUSINESS: NONE NEW BUSINESS: NONE With no other business to discuss Mr. Lanzer motioned to adjourn at 8:02 PM. CLERK OF COUNCIL______________________________________________________ Julie Courtright APPROVED ______________________ PRESIDENT OF COUNCIL __________________________________________________ Don Kemp 8