City Council

NEW PHILADELPHIA CITY COUNCIL MET IN REGULAR SESSION IN COUNCIL CHAMBERS ON OCTOBER 27, 2025 WITH PRESIDENT DON KEMP PRESIDING. MR. WALKER 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. BRIAN SEARS MR. TOM SIMMELINK MR. MICHAEL WALKER EXCUSED ABSENSES: NONE  MR. RIPPETH MOTIONED TO ADD ORDINANCE 20-2025 TO TONIGHT’S AGENDA WITH RECOMMENDED PASSAGE UPON 1st Reading MR. KREINBIHL SECONDED THE MOTION 7 YEAS ORDINANCE 20-2025 HAS BEEN ADDED TO TONIGHT’S AGENDA  MR. RIPPETH MOTIONED TO ADD ORDINANCE 19-2025 TONIGHT’S AGENDA MR. KREINBIHL SECONDED THE MOTION 7 YEAS ORDINANCE 19-2025 HAS BEEN ADDED TO TONIGHT’S AGENDA  MR. RIPPETH MOTIONED TO ADD RESOLUTION 26-2025 AND RESOLUTION 27-2025 TO TONIGHT’S AGENDA MR. KREINBIHL SECONDED THE MOTION 7 YEAS RESOLUTION 26-2025 AND RESOLUTION 27-2025 HAVE BEEN ADDED TO TONIGHT’S AGENDA  MR. LANZER MOTIONED TO ADD ORDINANCE 17-2025 TO TONIGHT’S AGENDA MRS. RAMOS SECONDED THE MOTION 7 YEAS ORDINANCE 17-2025 HAS BEEN ADDED TO TONIGHT’S AGENDA  MR. WALKER MOTIONED TO APPROVE TONIGHT’S AGENDA WITH THE ADDITIONS MR. SIMMELINK SECONDED THE MOTION 7 YEAS TONIGHT’S AGENDA HAS BEEN APPROVED  MR. SIMMELINK MOTIONED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES FROM THE OCTOBER 13, 2025 REGULAR SESSION OF COUNCIL MR. WALKER SECONDED THE MOTION 6 YEAS, 1 ABSTAINED (MRS. RAMOS) MINUTES FROM THE OCTOBER 17, 2025 REGULAR SESSION OF COUNCIL AND OCTOBER 8, 2025 SPECIAL SESSION OF COUNCIL HAVE BEEN APPROVED 1  CORRESPONDENCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CLERK, JULIE COURTRIGHT 1. To New Philadelphia City Council from Pro Via LLC, dated October 21, 2025. This is an Enterprise Zone Application. I forwarded the application to Council Members. 2. President Kemp from Law Director Fete, dated October 24, 2025. This is an email titled “Please assign to Mrs. Ramos’ Committee” with Proposed Ordinance 21-2025 and Proposed Resolution 30-2025 as the attachments. President Kemp asked Mrs. Ramos to take this legislation into her Committee. 3. To President Kemp from Law Director Fete, dated October 24, 2025. This is an email titled “Please Assign to Mr. Rippeth’s Committee” with Proposed Ordinance 19-2025 and Proposed Ordinance 20-2025 as the attachments. President Kemp asked Mr. Rippeth to take the legislation into his Committee. 4. To President Kemp from Law Director Fete, dated October 24, 2025. This is an email titled “Please Assign to Mr. Walker’s Committee” and it has Ordinance 18 as the attachment. President Kemp asked Mr. Walker to take this legislation into his Committee. 5. To Council and Administration from Mayor Day, dated October 21, 2025. This is an email titled “Draft New Philadelphia Vision Plan Volume 3. 6. To Council and Administration from Mayor Day, dated October 21, 2025. This is an email titled “Draft New Philadelphia Vision Plan Volume 3 Educational Facilities” 7. To Council and Administration from Mayor Day, dated October 27, 2025. The Mayor’s Report. MAYOR’S REPORT/REQUESTS ….MAYOR JOEL B. DAY Mayor Day had the following report: New Appointment to the City Planning Commission I have appointed outgoing New Philadelphia School Board member Todd McMath to the City Planning Commission. He replaces former City Councilman Dean Holland, who resigned from the position for personal reasons. The term expires on December 31, 2026. Mr. McMath is the chief operating officer of Off the Wall Ministries, which owns three downtown properties and several residential homes in the City. He is an experienced construction project manager. Share Your Thoughts on Property Tax Legislation with Senator Al Landis Last week the Ohio House passed two pieces of legislation aimed at lowering property taxes. House Bill 335 would cap the growth of unvoted millage by allowing county budget commissions to limit any increase to GDP (gross domestic product) deflator growth over the three preceding years. The GDP deflator growth rate measures the change in the price level of all goods and services produced in an economy, providing insight into inflation and real economic growth. House Bill 166 focuses on school property taxes by limiting the growth of revenue for districts on the 20-mil floor to the rate of inflation. Follow these links to read an analysis of each bill: https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/download?key=26248 https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/download?key=26242 Both bills moved on to the Ohio Senate for consideration. I urge you to learn more about them, then contact our State Senator Al Landis to share your thoughts. Design Review Board Wants to Revise Downtown Sign Regulations A list of recommended guidelines for signage design and placement in the downtown Central Business District has been submitted to City Council by the City’s Design Review Board. The City’s zoning code must be amended to include the guidelines, which are written into proposed Ordinance 31-2025. I’m urging Council to adopt the ordinance to amend the code. The guidelines will bring uniformity and consistency to storefront signs in the district and will make the look of our downtown more attractive. Support Issue 19 I’m encouraging you to support Issue 19, the New Philadelphia Schools bond Issue. Our kids and this town desperately need new schools. We are competing with every other community in Tuscarawas County for families and businesses. The state of our schools puts New Philadelphia at a clear disadvantage. Those of us who graduated from the New Philadelphia Schools system are products of our parents and grandparents’ investment in our education and school facilities. It's 2  our turn to do the same for our children and grandchildren, and to keep and attract families in our community. The same goes for businesses. They want to stay and locate in thriving communities with modern school facilities and curriculums. Early voting is underway. Election Day is November 4th. Vote “YES” on Issue 19. The New County Planning Commission Holds Its First Meeting The Tuscarawas County Commissioners have taken the first step in creation of a County Planning Commission. Last Wednesday the inaugural meeting of the new eight-member Commission was held, and officers were selected. Mike Jones of the County Metropolitan Sewer District was elected as president, Lee Finley of the County Soil and Water Conservation District was elected as vice-president,and Marla Akridge of the County Economic Development Corporation was elected as the Commission’s secretary. The others serving on the Commission are the mayors of New Philadelphia, Dover and Newcomerstown, Sugarcreek attorney Doug Frautschy, and Franklin Township trustee Brent Metzger. The first order of business will be assisting the Commissioners in hiring a director to oversee the Commission’s duties. In addition to creating and implementing a county land use plan, the Commission director will enforce the county’s subdivision regulations. The Quakers Gave Us Another Rivalry Game to Remember Last Friday night’s rivalry game at the Brick House was a nail biter: the winner being decided in the last minute of the contest. That level of excitement and drama are reasons why the game is so memorable to both towns. Our Quakers came up short on the scoreboard, but their effort was inspiring. Seniors, remember that there are losses on the way to achieving excellence. Use them for motivation. Go Quakers !!! Dates to Remember… Saturday, November 1st, 9 am to 1 pm – Annual Tuscora Park Fall Trout Derby Sunday, November 2nd, 2 am – Daylight Saving Time Ends. Fall Back 1 hour. Tuesday, November 4th – Election Day Sunday, November 23rd, 5 pm - Downtown Christmas Lighting Ceremony Friday, December 5th, 6:30 pm – Annual Christmas Parade SERVICE DIRECTOR………….. Service Director Ron McAbier: Mr. McAbier had the following report:  The 2025 City Paving has been completed through Newton’s Asphalt last week. There were a couple streets and an alley that needed finished. Striping needs done on Front St. and Fair Ave. NW.  Gas Line: I spoke with Mushrush today on the progress. All gas line work will be completed by Tuesday of next week, all the concrete curbings etc. will start after that. They should wrap everything up by the third week of November.  They moved the starting date of the Quadrants to next Monday.  Mr. President, please assign the water and sewer rates to a Committee. President Kemp asked Mr. Lanzer to take the water and sewer rates into his Committee. AUDITOR ……………MRS. HEATHER DENHAM Mrs. Denham had the following report: We finished our audit and I asked the team from Rea and Associates to do a post audit report. This hasn’t been released by the State yet and it may not be released until late December, so we will need to ask for an Executive Session to release the findings until that can be released to the public. MR. RIPPETH MOTIONED FOR AN EXECUTIVE SESSION ON BEHALF OF THE AUDITOR MR. WALKER SECONDED THE MOTION 7 YEAS THE EXECUTIVE SESSION HAS BEEN APPROVED 3  COUNCIL ADJOURNED INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION AT 7:43 PM. AT 8:03 PM COUNCIL RECONVENED INTO REGULAR SESSION. TREASURER………..MR. TOM GERBER……………NO REPORT SAFETY DIRECTOR ………………………….MR. KEVIN MILLIGAN Mr. Milligan had the following report: I heard heard there was some outstanding performance from our police and fire department from the incident that occurred on Sunday in the saving of property and some lives. I look forward to gathering some more details from Chief Pohovey and Chief Parrish and speaking in more detail about it for our next Council meeting. LAW DIRECTOR……MR. MARVIN FETE Mr. Fete had the following report: The agreement you have before you about the Lenco Bearcat is one that I actually drafted, and I negotiated it with the Dover Law Director. There were three changes that were made to it. If anyone has any questions about the changes, I will happily answer them. I got a call on Sunday from the Fire Chief regarding a fire we had in a trailers. Apparently, there were homeless people living there. A fire was started, and people were in danger. We could not get ahold of the people who owned the trailers even though we used their emergency contact numbers. I gave the authorization to remove those, otherwise I was told by the fire chief that there was going to be another fire there. I felt that this was an emergency situation and I wasn’t going to risk people’s lives. I was involved in issuing a legal opinion about the mattere. BOARD/COMMISSION REPORTS: PLANNING COMMISSION……………….MAYOR JOEL DAY The Planning Commission will be meeting on Tuesday, November 11th provided there are items on the Agenda. I want to remind everybody I sent you links to the Vision Plan Drafts, the drafts of the final two sections. Please review those and send feedback to Michael McInturf so we can wrap up the Vision Plan and have Council approve it. BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS…….MR. RON MCABIER The Board of Zoning Appeals will meet November 11th at 5:00pm in Council Chambers, if there are any variances to be heard. AIRPORT COMMISSION…….MR. DAN LANZER The Airport Commission will be meeting November 11th at 6:00pm at the Harry Clever Airport Meeting Room. 4  PARK BOARD……………………….MR. BRIAN SEARS I just want to remind everybody that the Fall Trout Derby is Saturday, November 1st from 9am to 1pm at Tuscora Park. CEMETERY BOARD…………………MR. BRIAN SEARS……..NO REPORT HEALTH BOARD ………………….…. MR. TOM SIMMELINK The next meeting of the Health Board is on Wednesday, November 12th at Noon in Council Chambers. STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS: FINANCE COMMITTEE ………………MR. STEVE RIPPETH The Finance Committee met tonight in Council Chambers at 7:01pm. We had several issues that had to be discussed. We talked about Ordinance 19-2025 and Ordinance 20-2025. We recommended those be added to the Agenda tonight, as well as Resolution 26-2025 and Resolution 27-2025. The Meeting adjourned at 7:18pm. PUBLIC WORKS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE…MR. DAN LANZER Mr. Lanzer had the following report: The Public Works and Economic Development Committee met this evening at 7:18pm and we had one item to discuss which was Ordinance 17-2025. The Committee had a short discussion on it and we voted unanimously to add it to tonight’s Agenda. SAFETY, HEALTH, AND SERVICE COMMITTEE……MR. TOM SIMMELINK Mr. Simmelink had the following report: 5  The Ambulance Committee met and recommended the Safety, Health, and Services Committee consider an Ordinance regarding ambulance rates in 2026. ZONING AND ANNEXATION COMMITTEE……MRS. CHERYL RAMOS Mrs. Ramos had the following report: The Zoning and Annexation Committee will have a meeting on November 10th at 7:00pm to discuss the signage changes for the Zoning Code and the CIC land donation. SALARY COMMITTEE………..………MR. KRIS KREINBIHL………….NO REPORT Mr. Kreinbihl had the following comment: The Salary Committee met tonight at 6:31pm to discuss non-bargaining employee wages. We had a good discussion that took up a full half hour. We did discuss some of the employee’s wage adjustments. We will continue the conversation going forward, and hope that we can do something in the future to help the great employees of the City with some raises. The meeting ended at 7:00pm. PARKS AND CEMETERY COMMITTEE……………MR. BRIAN SEARS Mr. Sears had the following report: The Cemetery Committee did not meet in October. SPECIAL AND CONTACT COMMITTEE……MR. MIKE WALKER…………No Report Mr. Walker commented that he needs to schedule a meeting for November 10th. 6  VISITOR’S COMMENTS_ NONE COUNCIL COMMENTS NONE READING OF ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS ORDINANCES 15-2025 AN ORDINANCE BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEW PHILADELPHIA, OHIO TO AMEND ORDINANCE 753.08(b) OF THE NEW PHILADELPHIA CODIFIED ORDINANCES, AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. 2nd Reading 17-2025 AN ORDINANCE BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEW PHILADELPHIA, OHIO TO DESIGNATE APPROXIMATELY 275 FEET OF AN UNNAMED ALLEY RUNNING FROM 2ND STREET NE TO 2ND DRIVE NE, AS CRAWSHAW LN NE, AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. 1st Reading 19-2025 AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE SAFETY DIRECTOR OF THE CITY OF NEW PHILADELPHIA, OHIO, TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE CITY OF DOVER, OHIO FOR THE JOINT PURCHASE AND MAINTENANCE OF A LENCO BEARCAT TO BE USED EXCLUSIVELY BY THE JOINT DOVER AND NEW PHILADELPHIA SWAT TEAM, AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. 1st Reading MR. RIPPETH MOTIONED FOR SUSPENSION OF RULES ON ORDINANCE 19-2025 MR. KREINBIHL SECONDED THE MOTION 7 YEAS RULES HAVE BEEN SUSPENDED ON ORDINANCE 19-2025 MR. RIPPETH MOTIONED FOR APPROVAL OF ORDINANCE 19-2025 MR. KREINBIHL SECONDED THE MOTION 7 YEAS ORDINANCE 19-2025 HAS BEEN APPROVED 20-2025 AN ORDINANCE BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEW PHILADELPHIA, OHIO, AMENDING AND ADJUSTING THE PERMANENT APPROPRIATIONS ORDINANCE FOR THE YEAR 2025 AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. 1st Reading MR. LANZER MOTIONED FOR SUSPENSION OF RULES ON ORDINANCE 20-2025 MR. KREINBIHL SECONDED THE MOTION 7 YEAS RULES HAVE BEEN SUSPENDED ON ORDINANCE 20-2025 MR. LANZER MOTIONED FOR APPROVAL OF ORDINANCE 20-2025 MR. KREINBIHL SECONDED THE MOTION 7 YEAS ORDINANCE 20-2025 HAS BEEN APPROVED 7  RESOLUTIONS 26-2025 AN RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF NEW PHILADELPHIA, OHIO, TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE TUSCARAWAS COUNTY PUBLIC DEFENDER'S OFFICE FOR THE PROVISION OF LEGAL REPRESENTATION FOR INDIGENTS CHARGED WITH VIOLATIONS OF NEW PHILADELPHIA CITY ORDINANCES IN THE MUNICIPAL COURT WHERE SUCH OFFENSES CARRY A POSSIBLE LOSS OF LIBERTY, ESTABLISHING COMPENSATION AND TERMS THEREOF, AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. 1st Reading 27-2025 A RESOLUTION TO AUTHORIZE THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF NEW PHILADELPHIA, OHIO TO ENTER INTO A CONTRACT WITH THE TUSCARAWAS COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AND THE TUSCARAWAS COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE FOR THE HOUSING OF INMATES IN THE TUSCARAWAS COUNTY JAIL AND PAYMENT OF HOUSING COSTS TO THE TUSCARAWAS COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. 1st Reading UNFINISHED OR OLD BUSINESS: NONE NEW BUSINESS: NONE With no other business to discuss Mr. Lanzer motioned to adjourn at 8:15 PM. CLERK OF COUNCIL______________________________________________________ Julie Courtright APPROVED ______________________ PRESIDENT OF COUNCIL __________________________________________________ Don Kemp 8 9