City Council

NEW PHILADELPHIA CITY COUNCIL MET IN REGULAR SESSION IN COUNCIL CHAMBERS ON SEPTEMBER 8, 2025 WITH PRESIDENT DON KEMP PRESIDING. MR. RIPPETH OFFERED A PRAYER, AND ALL IN ATTENDANCE RECITED THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE. COUNCIL MEMBERS IN ATTENDENCE MR. KRIS KREINBIHL MR. DAN LANZER MRS. CHERYL RAMOS MR. STEVE RIPPETH MR. TOM SIMMELINK MR. MICHAEL WALKER EXCUSED ABSENSES: MR. BRIAN SEARS LAW DIRECTOR FETE  MR. SIMMELINK MOTIONED TO ADD RESOLUTION 22-2025 TO TONIGHT’S AGENDA MR. WALKER SECONDED THE MOTION 6 YEAS RESOLUTION 22-2025 HAS BEEN ADDED TO TONIGHT’S AGENDA  MR. KREINBIHL MOTIONED TO APPROVE TONIGHT’S AGENDA MR. WALKER SECONDED THE MOTION 6 YEAS TONIGHT’S AGENDA HAS BEEN APPROVED  MRS. RAMOS MOTIONED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES FROM THE AUGUST 25,2025 REGULAR SESSION OF COUNCIL MR. RIPPETH SECONDED THE MOTION 5 YEAS 1 ABSTAINED (MR. KREINBIHL) MINUTES FROM THE AUGUST 25, 2025 REGULAR SESSION OF COUNCIL HAVE BEEN APPROVED CORRESPONDENCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CLERK, JULIE COURTRIGHT 1. To Council and Administration from Income Tax Administrator for the City Carly Loos, dated August 29, 2025. This is the Month-End Report for August from the Income Tax Department. 2. To Council and Administration from Executive Administrative Assistant to the Mayor Jami Bailey, dated September 2, 2025. This is the August Month-end Report for the Mayor’s Office. 3. To Council and Administration from Danielle DeMatteo with the Auditor’s Office, dated September 3, 2025. This is the August Month-end Report for the Auditor. 4. To Council Clerk from the Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Liquor Control, dated August 25, 2025. Responses must be postmarked no later than September 24, 2025. This is a permit class C1 Liquor License Request from 24/7 Foodmart LLC located at 1219 East High Ave. I forwarded the Liquor License Request to President Kemp. He asked Mr. Walker to take this into his committee. 5. To President Kemp from Safety Director Milligan dated September 5, 2025. This is an email asking President Kemp to assign Legislation 1  about a proposed collaboration with the City of Dover to purchase a special response tactical transport vehicle for the New Phila/ Dover SRT Team. President Kemp assigned the issue to Mr. Simmelink’s Committee. 6. To President Kemp from Law Director Fete, dated September 5, 2025. This is an email asking that Proposed Resolution 23-2025 be assigned to Mr. Rippeth’s Committee. President Kemp asked Mr. Rippeth to take the issue into his Committee. 7. To President Kemp from Law Director Fete, dated September 5, 2025. This is an email titled “Please assign to Mr. Lanzer’s Committee” with Resolution 24-2025 as the attachment. President Kemp assigned the issue to Mr. Lanzer. 8. To Council Clerk from Treasurer Gerber, dated September 5, 2025. This is the Investment and Savings Report for August of 2025. I forwarded this report to Council and Administration. 9. To Council and Administration dated September 8, 2025. The Mayor’s Report. MAYOR’S REPORT/REQUESTS ….MAYOR JOEL B. DAY….EXCUSED ABSENSE Mayor Day had the following report: The John Glenn Warbirds to Return to Harry Clever Field: Another celebration of our City’s aviation history will happen this Saturday (September 13) at 11am as the T-34 Association’s John Glenn Warbirds bring another air show over the skies of New Philadelphia. The event organizer Don Whittingham says the demonstration by the Warbirds squadron will include white smoke. Everyone is invited to view the show from Harry Clever Field on East High Avenue. A visit by the T-34 Association’s pilots and their Beech T-34’s has become an annual event at our municipal airport. More information on the T-34 squadron can be found here: https://t-34.com. NPAct Wants to Make You more Aware of Available Downtown Parking Areas: A subcommittee of the NPAct organization is working to boost awareness of the downtown lots available for public parking after 4pm on weekdays and all day on Saturdays and Sundays. At its monthly meeting last week, there was much discussion about the need to make the public aware of the County and City parking lots that can be used after hours and on weekends. So, I used maps from the County Auditor’s office to show where these downtown lots are located. On the first map, I outlined the three County lots at Ashwood Lane and 1st Drive NE and at 2nd Street and Fair Avenue NE that can be used once county offices close for the day and during the weekends. On the second map, I outlined the City parking lots on East High Avenue and South Broadway, and the City and County lots between Allen Lane and Front Avenue SE. These lots put you within easy walking distance to downtown entertainment venues, your favorite restaurants and downtown shopping. NPAct members also plan to meet with downtown property owners to encourage them to join the group and help with their efforts to make our downtown more attractive and vibrant. City Planning Commission to Discuss Revising Business Zoning on West High Avenue At tomorrow's (Tuesday) City Planning Commission meeting, City Code Administrator Josh Mathias wants to discuss revising the neighborhood zoning of parcels from the Five Points intersection to the railroad tracks on West High Avenue. Because there is interest in locating new businesses in that area, it may be wise to reclassify it as a regional business district that would match the zoning on the other side of the tracks to the western City limits. Thank you Rainbow Connection! I want to thank the Rainbow Connection’s board of directors for the donation of $125,000 to help finance construction of the Inclusive Playground at Tuscora Park. SERVICE DIRECTOR………….. Service Director Ron McAbier: Mr. McAbier had the following report:  Glen Drive: The major earthwork has been done and it’s been paved. They’ve got some work to do on some topsoil and grass seed along the edges, which should be done on Wednesday. On Thursday the 18th there will be a final walk through. It’s done approximately three weeks early and on budget with no change orders. Great job.  Still waiting on the permanent markings on the Small Cities Paving downtown, Union Avenue, Fair Avenue, all that stuff still needs done. Haven’t heard back from Superior, a subcontractor for them. Hopefully it will be done by next meeting but if not I’ll update at that time where we’re at with the permanent markings. 2   Most of the gas line projects; Beaver Ave. and Crider Ave are almost completed. The one on the Southside will last another four to six weeks. Be cautious going through those areas.  Hydrant flushing will be coming up. I’ll bring it up again at the next meeting. That will start on the 28th of this month and work through the 5th. We’ll start on the Southside as usual. President Kemp asked Mr. McAbier to put information about hydrant flushing on the City website. AUDITOR ……………MRS. HEATHER DENHAM……..NO REPORT TREASURER………..MR. TOM GERBER……………NO REPORT SAFETY DIRECTOR ………………………….MR. KEVIN MILLIGAN………EXCUSED ABSENSE LAW DIRECTOR……MR. MARVIN FETE………….EXCUSED ABSENSE BOARD/COMMISSION REPORTS: PLANNING COMMISSION……………….MAYOR JOEL DAY The Planning Commission will be meeting on September 9th at 1:00pm in Council Chambers. On the agenda is a transfer of CIC land on Rieser Ave. The CIC would like to transfer that to the City. Also, Code Administrator Mathias wants to discuss revising the neighborhood zoning parcels from the Five Points intersection to the railroad tracks on West High. There are some businesses interested in moving to that location and it might be wise to classify it as a regional business district that would match the zoning on the other side of the tracks. BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS…….MR. RON MCABIER The Board of Zoning Appeals will be meeting tomorrow at 5:00 PM in Council Chambers with one variance request to be heard. AIRPORT COMMISSION…….MR. DAN LANZER The Airport Commission will be meeting on September 9th at 6:00pm at the Harry Clever Field Meeting Room. 3  PARK BOARD……………………….MR. BRIAN SEARS…………..EXCUSED ABSENSE CEMETERY BOARD…………………MR. BRIAN SEARS……..EXCUSED ABSENSE HEALTH BOARD ………………….…. MR. TOM SIMMELINK The Health Board will be meeting on Wednesday, September 10th at Noon in Council Chambers. STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS: FINANCE COMMITTEE ………………MR. STEVE RIPPETH…………..NO REPORT Mr. Rippeth asked to schedule a Finance Committee meeting on Monday, September 15, 2025 at 6:00pm to discuss Resolution 23-2025 regarding the firefighter contract. 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 Mrs. Ramos had the following report: The Zoning and Annexation Committee will meet on Monday, September 22, 2025 at 6:45 PM to discuss revisions to the Zoning Code. 4 SALARY COMMITTEE………..………MR. KRIS KREINBIHL Mr. Kreinbihl had the following report: I’ll be looking to schedule meeting either the next one in September or the first one in October. PARKS AND CEMETERY COMMITTEE……………MR. BRIAN SEARS………..EXCUSED ABSENSE SPECIAL AND CONTACT COMMITTEE……MR. MIKE WALKER Mr. Walker had the following report: I will need to schedule a short meeting for Monday if I can, 10 or 15 minutes. The purpose is for a liquor license request. VISITOR’S COMMENTS_ Marissa Lautzenheizer of 833 North Broadway had the following comment: I had previously contacted my Council Representative Mr. Sears earlier today and I understand he’s away on business. I had reached out earlier this month to discuss the intersection at Tuscora Park and Broadway. We bought our house on Broadway and moved there so we could raise a family and go to the park often. I have been trying very hard to teach my kids safety at the cross walks, and I had asked Mr. Sears about crosswalk improvements and I had heard that ODOT is going to support the grant, so I am aware of the crosswalk improvements at the lagoon. I personally stop all the time and I see other people stop when the lights are flashing. I think it’s a really nice improvement for pedestrian safety. I hope you understand my surprise that after I had reached out about my safety concerns at that crossing when I saw the new Tuscora Park sign that went in at that intersection. I’m here because I have three main concerns about that sign. I’m not discussing the static sign that went over the brick sign, I’m addressing the electronic messaging center, the digital sign that went on top of it. My first concern is for safety. I think digital signs work because they draw your eye. They are in essence wanting you to look at them. So, when motorists are at that intersection 5  they’re going to look at that changing, brightly lit sign. They might not look at the people trying to cross the road. Even when those safety improvements come and the flashing lights turn on they’re going to have to compete with the digital billboard. I also worry about having a digital sign so close to a pedestrian crossing. I also wanted to bring up the rules that I, as a citizen, would have to follow, in order to put up an electronic messaging sign. In your zoning regulations that the City has adopted it speaks to some best practices and rules. In Section 112.08 it states all electronic signs need to be at least 200 feet away from the nearest residential property lot. The electronic sign at that corner is within 200 feet of 10 residential property lots. It’s within the view of even more of them, including my house. I really would like to understand the considerations when those rules weren’t followed when placing that sign. Finally, I would like to talk about the process. I consider myself a very well informed citizen. I work in government and I know how to navigate the internet. As I spoke to people about this sign the Park Board was brought up quite a few times. I understand that this project is probably a project of the Park Board. I want to point out that when I go to the City website and I look at the Park Board minutes they haven’t been updated since last year. It doesn’t appear that the Agenda is ever posted. I could not easily find out when the Park Board meets or where they meet. I’m not quite sure how citizens would have had the opportunity to comment on this project. Without a formal opportunity to comment I’m not quite sure how we would have a voice in the process. If a permit was applied for the sign, it sounds like they would have needed a variance because of how many residential lots were affected. Those landowners would have had the opportunity to attend a meeting and voice either their support or their concerns or ask questions. I don’t believe that that has happened. I’m going to close with some requests. I understand it’s quite important to keep people informed as to what’s happening in our park and our community. I would like to ask Council and the Administration to move the digital sign to an area that’s further away from residential properties. It’s going to be difficult because Tuscora Park is surrounded by so many residences, but I think that their could be better spots on the park property that would minimize its infringement on the zoning regulations. I would like to ask that we make the sign a dawn to dusk sign to minimize the brightness of the sign at nighttime when lighting is even more critical to crosswalks. The sign has been dimmer, potentially better every night. It’s still very bright and a big distraction at one of the busiest intersections leading to Tuscora Park. I think it would be beneficial for the City to adopt manual and some guidelines on sign lighting and the slide design just to formalize the lighting amounts, the colors on the slides, things like that. Finally I would like to request that there are no sponsorship or advertisements on the sign. To me that would cross the line from informing people about park opportunities to a commercial sign that’s simply allowed to be placed in a park area. I also would like to point again to your zoning regulations, section 1112. 02 section G4 talks about some signage inside of park being out of view from the public right of way viewed from the park user’s perspective. I think that your own rules could be used as some best practices. President Kemp had the following comment: I will give your name and phone number to our Safety Director Mr. Milligan. I know a lot of that signage went through the Park Foundation Board and the Park Board. Ms. Lautenzheizer asked Zoning Code Administrator Mathias if their was a variance request for the sign. He said there was not. COUNCIL COMMENTS NONE READING OF ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS 6  ORDINANCES NONE RESOLUTIONS 22-2025 A RESOLUTION BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEW PHILADELPHIA TO AUTHORIZE THE NEW PHILADELPHIA POLICE DEPARTMENT TO HOLD THE ANNUAL CITY AUCTION ON OCTOBER 23, 2025 AT 5:00 P.M., AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. 1st Reading MR. SIMMELINK MOTIONED FOR SUSPENSION OF RULES ON RESOLUTION 22-2025 MR. KREINBIHL SECONDED THE MOTION 6 YEAS RULES HAVE BEEN SUSPENDED ON RESOLUTION 22-2025 MR. SIMMELINK MOTIONED FOR APPROVAL OF RESOLUTION 22-2025 MR. WALKER SECONDED THE MOTION 6 YEAS RESOLUTION 22-2025 HAS BEEN APPROVED UNFINISHED OR OLD BUSINESS: NONE NEW BUSINESS: NONE With no other business to discuss Mr. Lanzer motioned to adjourn at 8:01 PM. CLERK OF COUNCIL______________________________________________________ Julie Courtright APPROVED ______________________ PRESIDENT OF COUNCIL __________________________________________________ Don Kemp 7 8