City Council Regular Meeting

REGULAR MEETING in Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. March 12, 20 1. CALL TO ORDER. President of Council Kilway called the Regular Council meeting of Thursday, March 12, to order at 7:00 p.m. 2. PRAYER: Fr. Mike Matusz, Our Lady of Victory Church, Tallmadge, PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE. Pres. of Council: We have Max from Boy Scout Troop 412; would you lead us in the pledge? 3. ROLL CALL: Mrs. Allman, Mr. Bollas, Mr. Carano, Mr. Donovan, Mrs. Kilway, Mr. Loughry, Mr. Sisak – present. Also present were Mayor Kline, Dir. of Admin. Cooper, Dir. of Pub. Service Rorar, Dir. of Econ. Development Springer, Dir. of Law Raber, Dir. of Finance Gilbride and Clerk of Council Burton. 4. MINUTES: 2-27-20 Regular Council Meeting minutes Mr. Sisak moved for the adoption of the 2-27-20 Regular Council Meeting minutes. Seconded Mr. Donovan. Voice vote 7-0. The Regular Council Meeting minutes for the 2-27-20 Regular Council meeting were approved by a vote of 7-0. 5. FINANCIAL REPORTS: • Fire & EMS Fund Transfer in the amount of $255,000 to Council on 2-28-20. • Street Maintenance & Repair Transfer in the amount of $100,000 to Council on 2-28-20. • Bond Retirement Transfer in the amount of $94,700 to Council on 2-28-20. • Fire/EMS Capital Transfer in the amount of $155,000 to Council on 2-28-20. • Appropriation Report, Fund Report and Revenue Report for the period ending 2-29-20 to Council on 3-6-20. • February Financial Reports to Council on 3-6-20. • Tallmadge Recreation Center Profit and Loss Report for the period ending 2- 29-20 to Council on 3-6-20. • Income Tax Comparisons for the period ending 2-29-20 to Council on 3-6-20. • Revenue Comparisons for the period ending 2-29-20 to Council on 3-6-20. • Consolidated Investment Portfolio for the period ending 2-29-20 to Council on 3-6-20. Mr. Sisak moved for the acceptance of the financial reports. Seconded Mr. Donovan. Voice vote 7-0. The Financial Reports submitted by Dir. of Finance Gilbride were accepted by a vote of 7-0. 6. PUBLIC HEARINGS: None. 7. COMMUNITY INPUT: • Mr. Pat Hunt, Sr., Running for Sheriff will be here to introduce himself. Pres. of Council: We were supposed to have Mr. Pat Hunt here this evening who is running for Sheriff and he has not arrived yet, but we are very fortunate to have Scott and Lisa Heilman from the Rubber City Kennel Club to present a donation to the City. Lisa Heilman, 1013 East Avenue, Tallmadge. Scott Heilman, 1013 East Avenue, Tallmadge. You would think that after as many times that we have been down here that I would learn how to talk in front of this thing, but I still stumble, so I am sorry. Once again, we are pleased to come down to represent Rubber City Kennel Club and as just a side note; I was very pleased to read the other day where one of the other kennel clubs that also shows at the Fairgrounds gave a very generous donation and I don’t want to try to take any kind of credit, but we are very happy to try to bring as many dog clubs as we can to the Fairgrounds because we feel that is very good family friendly entertainment. So, we appreciate everything the City does; the City puts a sign on the Circle; we have very good cooperation with the Tallmadge Police Department at our shows. You have been very supportive of us and we want to show our support to you. So while we wish we could give a bigger check, because we plan our finances ahead of time and then when something happens it kind of surprises us and we have to kind of shift a few things around and at this time we are very pleased to present a check of $1,500 to the Tallmadge Police Department. Pres. of Council: Thank you very much. Officer Ickes: I just want to say thank you to the Rubber City Kennel Club. While Ravenna was here last month, and they also helped out the K-9 unit. The Rubber City Kennel Club has been here since day one; since 2012 and they have donated repeatedly over and over and over and they were the first ones in Summit County; in Northeast Ohio, with the GoPro and that was all donated by them; all of the accessories, the camera, etc., and I just want to say thank you for always being there. Pres. of Council: OK, so this is the time when anyone else in the community can come forward and say a few words if they have anything to say. No.  REGULAR MEETING in Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. March 12, 20 8. ANNOUNCEMENTS: There will be an Investment Board meeting. 9. AGENDA ADDITIONS: None. 10. REFERRALS OF FIRST READING ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS: a. The following shall be referred to the Finance Committee: • Ord. 30-2020 • Ord. 31-2020 • Ord. 32-2020 • Ord. 33-2020 b. The following shall be referred to the Planning & Zoning Committee: None. c. The following shall be referred to the Personnel Committee: None. d. The following shall be referred to the Community Issues Committee: None. e. The following shall be referred to the Safety Committee: None. f. The following shall be referred to the Public Service Committee: • Ord. 28-2020 • Ord. 29-2020 11. REPORTS OF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERS: MAYOR, DIR. OF PUBLIC SERVICE, DIR. OF ADMINISTRATION, DIR. OF ECONOMIC DEV., DIR. OF FINANCE AND DIR. OF LAW. Mayor: Thank you Madame Chair. First of all, I would like to thank the Tallmadge employees and the entire staff for this outbreak that is going on; this now called pandemic of the Coronavirus. Hats off to Dr. Cooper for putting a lot of this stuff together; Mollie, Megan and myself and Don and a group of us have been meeting almost hour by hour on different events; how to handle it and what to do to make sure the citizens of Tallmadge are safe and informed and our employees informed of what to do. You can see the big signs out on the doors. That is on every public building coming in and we ask you to abide by that. As I said this morning in a little staff meeting here at City Hall; things change hour by hour. I don’t know how many listened to the Governor’s talk this afternoon and he did shut down all public schools in Ohio effective Monday after school is out. Tallmadge City Schools is taking that one step further and they will close after tomorrow; it will be the last day of school for Tallmadge Public Schools until Friday, April 3rd. So, from Monday until April 3rd is the 3-week shutdown for Tallmadge Schools. At that point they will make a determination of what to do going forward from that. It is a day by day situation and we will do everything in our power to keep our employees informed and the public. Social media: we are trying to put the right stuff out at any given time that is appropriate. With that, any questions from Council at all? Mr. Loughry: There were several comments this morning at the Rec wondering what the threshold will be? Mayor: Before I turn it over to you I should have . . . tomorrow morning at 8:30 a.m. the team will pull together to discuss what steps are going to be taken at the Rec Center and I instructed Jessica and Adam to come to that meeting prepared to have different options going on based on the safety and that and then we will also make that determination; anything from shutting it down totally to restricted access to it to eliminating child care . . . we don’t know what is going to go on, but we will make that determination by 9:00 a.m. as to what is going forward. Mr. Loughry: Then on social media as you can imagine this afternoon everyone was scrambling for childcare. Mayor: That is why we have . . . so where do you think they are going to go? Mr. Loughry: I don’t know. Mr. Sisak: We have employees too that are in probably the same boat. I know Megan and Mollie and other employees around the City so, yeah it is going to be a challenging time for everyone. Mayor: Yup. We will be working on that. End of report. Oh, I did not introduce Matt Springer. I’m sure he will introduce himself, but it has been a pleasure having Matt. He started here on Monday as a new Economic Developer for the City of Tallmadge and so we are really excited to have you on board and when it is your turn, you can tell them about yourself. Dir. of Pub. Service: I changed up the report a little bit for the month of March. Just a couple of highlights. I just wanted to show that the Memorial Day parade route has changed. I was hoping the press could get this out early. We used to come down from Our Lady of Victory and come down the Circle and go to Southwest counterclockwise and now we are going to go from the “Hole” (Mack Burleson) up to West Avenue clockwise around the Circle and get to the cemetery on Southwest that way. So, you 2  REGULAR MEETING in Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. March 12, 20 Dir. of Pub. Service (Cont’d.) can see up there that on Monday, May 25th the parade starts at 10:00 a.m. and inform folks because they will put their chairs out in the wrong spot, and we don’t want them to miss the parade. Mayor: Do you hear that Father Mike? Dir. of Pub. Service: I sent out an e-mail, but we have a lane closure on East Avenue right at the splitter island and that is inwards westbound into the Circle. That was scheduled for March 23rd. I am going to reach out to the contractor and see because we did that during spring break to avoid the busses and maybe we can adjust that a little bit and get it done sooner. But it is scheduled to take 10 hours so it could start at 7:00 a.m. and end at 6:00 p.m. It all depends on when they start; it’s 10 hours. It is that manhole right there; there is a severe depression right there and the next picture will show . . . see the ice buildup; I mean that is . . . what is happening is that is going to start eating into the chimney part of that manhole and it could end up with a severe collapse and before it gets to that point; let’s correct it now. That is the detour so Community Drive and then any people that can’t read the signs, Erie would be the next, but then that is the last one, so we are hoping to get that out in the press releases. Streets: we got the paving back . . . remember we went out with the County for the paving program? Those are the streets that are in the base bid, the top ones. North Star was the low bidder and we are working right now talking about if there are any alternates that we could pick up, but those are definitely in the base bid those top ones there. Concrete: that also went out to bid. The Spano Brothers got that. Those are the streets that are going to get the concrete work done on them. Quite a bit of concrete. Those are the sidewalks. That is 340 sidewalk slabs that are getting done this year. How did we come up with that? Keep in mind that we did that pavement rating back in 2018 and that shows the streets; it color codes them and scores them or ranks them and you can see the two boxes down there; the blue and the green is where we want to be; we don’t want to be in the yellow and orange at the top wring is asphalt. The bottom rings are concrete roads and that is why we are doing more concrete than we are asphalt. Our concrete roads are in pretty bad shape, but there are getting better. That’s the end of the report. Any questions? Mr. Sisak: I have a question. Last fall we put up the crosswalk signs along the Hike and Bike Trail. I just realized the other day that there are not there anymore. Are we going to reattempt that again? Dir. of Pub. Service: Yes. We took them down for the plows, so we didn’t plow over them. We are back to putting them up. Mr. Sisak: OK. Dir. of Pub. Service: We are probably going to do it in April. We might do it sooner because the weather is breaking, but yes, they are going back up. The only one that we are not putting back up is on Howe Road. We are going to add that one down on Southwest because we did not have one down there before at that crossing. Mr. Sisak: OK. Mr. Bollas: I just had a quick question; will the job on the Circle be posted on the Tallmadge Facebook page or social media and at what point will that happen? Dir. of Pub. Service: As soon as we pick the day. I mean, we were looking at March 23rd and I am going to reach out to the contractor and see if we can get it in sooner. I mean, we are really avoiding the busses now that the schools are closed for 3 weeks. We can do it and we will get that out there as soon as we can once the day is picked. We are going to look at the weather forecast and try to pick like the best day to do that because that is all concrete work and so we are doing the early set stuff but still that takes 10 hours. Thank you. Dir. of Administration: No report this evening unless you have any questions. Pres. of Council: Thank you for the great job you have been doing. I really appreciate it with all of the information on everything that is coming out and you are getting it to us very fast and I do appreciate that. Thank you. Dir. of Econ. Development: Well, as the Mayor had said, this is my fourth day. It is great to be here. The Mayor has been very good to me and showing me around the town and so I am trying to get my feet underneath me. I am excited to start contributing. I appreciate the warm welcome into the community. 3  REGULAR MEETING in Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. March 12, 20 Dir. of Econ. Development (Cont’d.) I come from Copley. I had been there for almost 12 years serving as their Economic Development Director over there. I oversaw their Community Improvement Corporation as well and so I think there are some valuable things that I can help bring to the Tallmadge community and I am excited to be part of it. Dir. of Finance: Thank you. Everyone should have received their February financial reports. I did want to point out that you will notice that we did establish a new fund for the .25% revenue that is now coming in; the Safety Service Income Tax Levy Fund, and so you will see that revenue broken out. It will not be part of the General Fund and so I just wanted to bring that to everybody’s attention. We continue to work through our audit and our financial reports in between other meetings. End of report. Dir. of Law: Thank you. I have no report this evening, but I can assure you that I am very busy. 12. REPORTS OF STANDING COMMITTEES OF COUNCIL OF THE WHOLE: a. PERSONNEL Michael Carano, Chair Rebecca Allman, Vice Chair Jonathon Bollas No legislation at this time. Mr. Carano: I call the Personnel Committee to order; Vice Chair Allman, Jonathon Bollas and I are present. We have nothing before us today. Does anybody on the committee have anything? No one responded. Council? No one responded. Administration? Mayor: The position for a mechanic; they did have a test and they have been interviewing. I think they have it pinned down between two folks that they will continue testing and we should be able to make an offer on the new Garage Mechanic coming up here in the next day or two I think and so we are pretty excited about that. That is due to Denny LaHurd, who was with the City for quite a few years has retired and his last day was last week and so if you see Denny LaHurd out and about congratulate him on his success and his future coming up. The Rec Center full-time position. That was also posted and they have gone through multiple interviews and I think they are close to making an offer sometime near the end of the week which is tomorrow or the beginning of next week and so that is coming along up at the Rec Center. In the Police Department, the full-time Police Officer; that is also . . . a tentative offer will be made as of probably tomorrow. That is just tentative until they go through all of the other stuff. Mr. Carano: Just to reiterate, welcome Matt on behalf of the committee of Council. If there is nothing else, I will close committee. b. COMMUNITY ISSUES Dennis Loughry, Chair Jonathon Bollas, Vice Chair Rebecca Allman No legislation at this time. Mr. Loughry: Thank you. I would like to call Community Issues to order; myself, Mr. Bollas and Mrs. Allman are present. We have no legislation. Does anybody within the committee have anything? Mr. Bollas: I just have some quick updates from the State of the City speech at the Primetimers and I just wanted to call attention to . . . I did not catch the resident’s name, but on East Avenue and Washburn there was a complaint about a pine tree trimming request due to line of sight and visibility of oncoming traffic and the second was also regarding Washburn about potentially painting the lines to see more clarity in the lanes. But, again, I apologize, I did not get the resident’s name. Dir. of Pub. Service: Councilman, we will look into both matters. Mr. Sisak: I have something Mr. Loughry. Does the City . . . let me start over; are we sponsoring anything in the next 3 to 4 weeks that would be a problem with what is going on with the Coronavirus? Like I know that . . . Mayor: An event? Mr. Sisak: Yes, an event. 4  REGULAR MEETING in Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. March 12, 20 Mr. Loughry: The Little League Parade used to be the fourth Sunday of April. Mayor: We haven’t gotten that far yet on the Little League Parade, but the Primetimers Coffee Talk that was scheduled for next Thursday has been already cancelled as of yesterday. I think the Chamber, but that is the Chamber and Little League is on Little League. They did call and ask, and I said that the National League is shutting down and you guys decide what to do with Little League. Mr. Sisak: We just don’t have anything on the calendar? That’s great. Thank you, Mr. Loughry. Mr. Loughry: You’re welcome. Administration? No one responded. Well, just because this is my committee and I am going to throw it in here; we have a lot of ordinances that in the body of the ordinance it will say, Council shall review every two years or Council shall review or this will be looked at every 5, or 10, 25 or 30 years; some are contractual and so . . . and sometimes those sneak up on us and so what I have been working on on all of our behalf is to make a list of those and so the intent is just like in June prior to when those are supposed to be looked at, we would just send an e-mail; an e-mail to Mayor Kline; an e-mail to Megan or Mr. Rorar, or whomever; just an F.Y.I. that Council is supposed to look at this next year and it is June and I just wanted to let you know in case it impacts the budget. That is the whole intent of it. Budget and scheduling; that’s all. With that, I will close committee. c. SAFETY Jonathon Bollas, Chair Michael Carano, Vice Chair Craig Sisak No legislation at this time. Mr. Bollas: I call the Safety Committee to order; myself and Mr. Carano and Mr. Sisak are all present. We have no legislation this evening. Does the committee have anything regarding safety? Mr. Sisak: I have a couple things. First off; are we doing anything different in our approach throughout the community with our employees as they go out into the community or they go to do a water meter swap out or they have to go into a home to check a flooded basement; are we taking any precautions there as far as what we are and aren’t doing currently and then secondly; for the first responders; do they have the appropriate personal protective equipment? So, it is kind of a two-fold question. Dir. of Administration: So, for the first part; what are we doing? I think you all received the e-mail to all employees that went out last night, I think. That instructs employees in certain behaviors that should help prevent their unnecessary exposure to anyone even though the risks are very low in such situations. In terms of first responders, the Police and Fire Chiefs are meeting and have met I think even today to discuss how they can kind of exchange expertise in certain areas. For instance, cleaning EMS units and disinfecting the inside of an EMS unit is something that has been done for a very long time and infectious disease is not unknown to EMS. It is a little less frequently acquired or understood in a law enforcement setting and so they are working together and sharing that expertise so that the Police cars can be cleaned in a similar fashion to the EMS units is one example. I have been talking to both Chiefs and they assure me that either they are procuring or have what they need to keep their personnel safe and also the public. Mr. Sisak: Good. Thank you. Mr. Bollas: Is there anything else for the Safety Committee? No one responded. I will close committee. d. PUBLIC SERVICE Rebecca Allman, Chair Dennis Loughry, Vice Chair James Donovan • Ord. 27-2020 (2nd Reading) – Authorizing the use of sodium chloride, calcium chloride, and magnesium chloride by the City of Tallmadge and requiring Council approval for the purchase or use of any other deicing agent and providing for immediate enactment. Mrs. Allman: I call the Public Service Committee to order; myself, Mr. Loughry and Mr. Donovan are present. We have before us Ord. 27-2020 at 2nd Reading which is authorizing the use of sodium chloride, calcium chloride, and magnesium chloride by the City of Tallmadge and requiring Council approval for the purchase or use of any other deicing agent and providing for immediate enactment. Committee: do you have anything? 5  REGULAR MEETING in Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. March 12, 20 Mr. Loughry: Mrs. Allman; my initial concern when we had 1st Reading was; how many vendors there are that supply this so that by us passing an ordinance, I didn’t want to create a sole source issue where the price could go up tremendously because we didn’t have any alternatives. So, I just asked Mr. Rorar to think about that and that was all. Mr. Carano: I spoke to Mr. Rorar about that precisely and he said that there shouldn’t be any problem and those are the things that basically the salt that they will be using. My concern for bringing the ordinance up was that I just thought it would be Council’s responsibility to oversee in case there is any change in what is put on the roads seeing how there is sort of a mixed bag; personally I don’t believe it is a mixed bag, I believe that the data shows that some of the stuff that they are using would be fluid that . . . they don’t like the term, but fracking fluid issues on the roadways is dangerous and has harmful chemicals in it that could build up over time. So, that is why I brought it together so that Council can be apprised, and they can make the decisions. Of course, as Mr. Kline spoke briefly and he said, well there could be change anytime in Council, which is true, but my hope would be that Council would take the responsibility in the future of overseeing what is being put on the roadways to protect us and the safety of our citizens and so that was the purpose of the thing and I think the onus should be on Council to be apprised of what is going on in terms of what is on our roads and to take responsibility for the safety. Mrs. Allman: Is there any other discussion? Mayor: I think this is an OK ordinance. I commend Councilman Carano for coming forth with the idea and putting it forth. We are abiding by what that ordinance is today. It is at 2nd Reading and Council can . . . if you went to 3rd Reading, that would be OK with us because hopefully we won’t need any of this stuff for the rest of the year, but if you want to get rid of it; we do not have Council this last meeting for the month if you want to clean it up; I am OK with that too. Mr. Loughry: So, Mayor, this is an ordinance that you support? Mayor: I support it. Mr. Loughry: Then I would be fine with adopting it. Mrs. Allman: We recommend adoption of Ord. 27-2020 at 2nd Reading by a vote of 3-0. • Ord. 28-2020 (1st Reading) – Amending the cross reference for Chapter 557 and Section 557.01 Weeds of the Tallmadge Codified ordinance and providing for immediate enactment. Mrs. Allman: We also have Ord. 28-2020 at 1st Reading amending the cross reference for Chapter 557 and Section 557.01 Weeds of the Tallmadge Codified ordinance and providing for immediate enactment. Committee; do you have anything? No one responded. Dir. of Pub. Service: Yeah, right now it lists plant species that aren’t noxious weeds and it is really the noxious weeds that are spelled out by the Ohio Revised Code that really are noxious weeds. I mean they have got milk weed and goldenrod . . . I mean those aren’t noxious weeds and people grow those in gardens to attract butterflies and things like that and so really, we should be abiding by the Ohio Revised Code instead of noxious weeds. That is really clearing that up. I mean you could go for three readings and I am fine with that, but really, we should be trying to clean that up. Mr. Loughry: I am good with actually adopting this at 1st Reading as long as Mrs. Raber doesn’t have any issues. It is just a cleanup, and everyone is on the same page. Dir. of Law: No, it is just really just a cleanup and it makes sense to me to maybe do it now because when spring comes is when you get the issues with the grass and weed complaints and stuff and it may be worth looking at adopting it this evening. Just for clarity, that Code section is actually in the Ohio Administrative Code and not the Revised Code. Mrs. Allman: I recommend adoption of Ord. 28-2020 by a vote of 3-0. • Ord. 29-2020 (1st Reading) - Amending Section 1117.02 Storm Sewers of the Tallmadge Codified Ordinance and providing for immediate enactment. Mrs. Allman: Next we have Ord. 29-2020 amending Section 1117.02 Storm Sewers of the Tallmadge codified Ordinance and providing for immediate enactment and this is at 1st Reading. Committee: do you have anything? No one responded. Council? No one responded. Dir. of Pub. Service: It is the same thing. It is just cleaning it up. In the ordinance it is spelled out, Tallmadge Storm Water Management Manual and there is no such thing. We abide by the Summit County Engineer’s Storm Water Drainage Manual and I would like to ask that that is passed at 1st Reading. It is kind of important. I mean, there again, we are stating one thing and it doesn’t exist, so we really need to abide by what is there. Mr. Donovan: I move that we adopt. Mr. Loughry: I agree. Mrs. Allman: I recommend adoption of Ord. 29-2020 at 1st Reading by a vote of 3-0. I close committee. e. FINANCE Craig Sisak, Chair James Donovan, Vice Chair Michael Carano • Ord. 23-2020 (2nd Reading) - Authorizing the Mayor to apply for and receive funding from the 2020 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program Year and to enter into a contract for the same and providing for immediate enactment. 6  REGULAR MEETING in Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. March 12, 20 Mr. Sisak: I call the Finance Committee to order; myself, Mr. Carano and Mr. Donovan are present. We currently have Ord. 23-2020 at 2nd Reading, and it is authorizing the Mayor to apply for and receive funding from the 2020 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program Year and to enter into a contract. I believe this is kind of housekeeping. Mayor: This is housekeeping. This just allows us when an opportunity comes up to apply for it for the housing programs and such. Mr. Sisak: Mr. Carano; Mr. Donovan any comments? Mr. Carano: Yes, I would adopt. Mr. Donovan: Yes; adopt. Mr. Sisak: OK, we will recommend adoption by a vote of 3-0 of Ord. 23-2020. • Ord. 26-2020 (2nd Reading) – Authorizing the Mayor to enter into a contract with the Tallmadge Chamber of Commerce for economic development assistance and to maintain Chamber personnel at the Community Center and providing for immediate enactment. Mr. Sisak: We have Ord. 26-2020 and tracked Exhibit A at 2nd Reading authorizing the Mayor to enter into a contract with Tallmadge Chamber of Commerce for economic development assistance and to maintain Chamber personnel at the Community Center. So, do we still need this since we have Mr. Springer? Mayor: Let me explain what this is. This is not about . . . the Economic Development is allowing the Chamber to be in the Community Center; it is a contract that was entered into multiple years ago, but what this is really doing to amend it is to allow us to be able to let the Chamber get onto a computer that is the City’s computer and the internet that is already in the Community Center by the City and they also have their own internet in there and this allows them to tie into ours with all the safety precautions. The printer over there is the City’s and it is part of the Primetimers and they are also on that and this just cleans up the whole telecommunications stuff that is at the Community Center instead of them paying their side and us paying our side; it is combined to save money. Mr. Sisak: OK. Mayor: Then that contract would also be them paying us more money for their lease. Economic Development is strictly allowing them in the Community Center. Mr. Sisak: OK. Sounds good. Again, it sounds like housekeeping. Mrs. Allman. Mrs. Allman: Since I work for the Tallmadge Chamber of Commerce, I will not be participating in any discussion or voting on this. Mr. Sisak: Thank you very much. Mr. Carano and Mr. Donovan? Mr. Carano: Yeah, I agree. Mr. Donovan: Yeah. Mr. Sisak: Is that an annual contract or is it like a 5-year or . . . or continues until it doesn’t exist or . . . Dir. of Finance: Five years. Mr. Sisak: OK. Sounds good. So we will recommend adoption of Ord. 26-2020 by a vote of 3-0. • Ord. 30-2020 (1st Reading) – Accepting donations from the Tallmadge Historical Society for the replacement of windows at Old Town Hall; appropriating funds; transferring funds and providing for immediate enactment. Mr. Sisak: We also have Ord. 30-2020 and it is accepting donations from the Tallmadge Historical Society for the replacement of windows at Old Town Hall and appropriating the funds; and transferring the funds. Mayor: Mr. Sisak, if you recall last year, we also had a similar ordinance to this one for the Historical Society donating money to help purchase the windows and install them. Those windows are not installed yet, but they are sitting inside Old Town Hall. This is to add an additional four windows and the siding on the west side. If you remember, they also replaced some of those windows, or sashes on the west side; that is where it gets most of the weather where the floors were rotted out; the walls were rotted out and they had to repair some of that and they want to complete the siding going all the way up to the soffit on that side and replace those upper windows at that same time. So, they did donate another $8,000 for that project and then we agreed that we would also help with the installation and so it is a donation of $8,000 and the transfer from the fund $10,228 for a total of $18,228.00. We did order the windows from the fund that was already in there and this would allow us to actually do the installation of those windows. Mr. Carano: That includes the installation cost too? Mayor: Yes. Mr. Sisak: Mr. Carano; Mr. Donovan? Mr. Carano: Yes. Mr. Donovan: Yes. Mayor: It takes a long time to order those windows. We did this last . . . six months ago and the windows are now painted and sitting in there waiting to be installed, but these other four will take about another four months to get them in. Mr. Sisak: So, we are going to recommend adoption of Ord. 30-2020 at 1st Reading. 7  REGULAR MEETING in Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. March 12, 20 e. FINANCE (Cont’d.) Craig Sisak, Chair James Donovan, Vice Chair Michael Carano • Ord. 31-2020 (1st Reading) – Appropriating funds to the K-9 Unit Donations Fund #792 and providing for immediate enactment. Mr. Sisak: We also have Ord. 31-2020 and it is appropriating funds to the K-9 Unit Donations Fund #792 and providing for immediate enactment. This is accepting donations . . . Mayor: In the K-9 Fund, donations keep coming in, but we can’t spend them unless we appropriate them. This is allowing us to take that money and appropriate it for the purpose of only the K-9 Unit. Mr. Sisak: Mr. Carano; Mr. Donovan? Mr. Donovan: Adopt. Mr. Carano: I agree. Mr. Sisak: I agree as well and so we will adopt Ord. 31-2020 at 1st Reading. • Ord. 32-2020 (1st Reading) – Authorizing the Mayor to enter into a contract for the lease/purchase of a street sweeper through the State Purchasing Program and providing for immediate enactment. Mr. Sisak: We also have Ord. 32-2020 and it looks like we are going to enter into a contract to purchase a street sweeper; is that correct? Mayor: Yes, this was in the 2020 Budget. This allows us to authorize us to go out to bid for it and purchase it through the State Purchasing Program. Mr. Carano: By going through the state thing; it is a lot cheaper that way? Dir. of Finance: What happens is the State actually does the bidding process and so it saves us time and we don’t have to advertise and do all those steps. They actually go out and obtain all of the bids and get the best price through the State and then through cooperative purchasing, we are able to use those bids to obtain those items for the prices that the State receives. Mr. Carano: The same with Ord. 33. Dir. of Finance: Yes. Mr. Loughry: Mrs. Gilbride, you may have answered this before, but I have forgotten. Years ago there was a difference because of the impact of the City’s debt back when the Mayor and I were on Council whether you leased or purchased and so often times sometimes that decision was made based on that, but I believe that that has changed; correct? Dir. of Finance: Correct. These leases do not go against our legal debt limitations. Mr. Loughry: They do not? Dir. of Finance: No, they do not. Mr. Loughry: So, how will you determine then whether or not you want to lease it or if you want to buy it? Dir. of Finance: We are leasing it. This and Ord. 33-2020 will both be combined; I actually have requests for proposals out right now and we will do a 5-year . . . it is called a lease, but it is really 5-year financing of those directly through a bank. Mr. Loughry: Then we will buy it out at the end of the 5th year? Dir. of Finance: At the end of the 5th year we will have paid down the entire lease and we will own the vehicle. Mr. Sisak: Mr. Carano and Mr. Donovan; thoughts? Mr. Donovan: Adopt. Mr. Carano: I think the lease process is a good one that they have instituted, but I would recommend adoption. Mr. Sisak: No, I think it is fine to adopt it at 1st Reading? So you are in agreement Mr. Carano? Mr. Carano: Yes. Mr. Sisak: OK, so we will adopt Ord. 32-2020 at 1st Reading. • Ord. 33-2020 (1st Reading) – Authorizing the Mayor to enter into a contract for the lease/purchase of a Vactor Combination Sewer Cleaner through the State Purchasing Program and providing for immediate enactment. Mr. Sisak: We also have Ord. 33-2020 at 1st Reading authorizing the Mayor to enter into a contract for lease/purchase of a Vactor Combo Sewer Cleaner. Again, probably the same thing. It was in the budget last year. Mayor: That’s correct; this year. Mr. Sisak: Well, yeah, this year. Mr. Carano; Mr. Donovan? Mr. Donovan: Yes. Mr. Carano: Yes. Mr. Sisak: OK, so we will recommend adoption of Ord. 33-2020 at 1st Reading. Is there anything else to come before Finance? No one responded. I do have a real quick report. I did meet with Mrs. Gilbride this week and she had mentioned at the last meeting that she was going to refinance some debt; roll some debt over and then 8  REGULAR MEETING in Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. March 12, 20 Mr. Sisak (Cont’d.) potentially finance the new fire truck and basically she did this several years ago; she used a gentleman out of Columbus to help navigate the system and interest rates are low and so we are going to save ourselves I think about $25 or $26,000 a year over the course of ten years and so a little bit of change should go back into the General Fund. Interest rates are so low, and I didn’t want to ask questions last time because I kind of knew what she was talking about. I just went to her myself. I will go ahead and close committee. Thank you. f. PLANNING & ZONING James Donovan, Chair Craig Sisak, Vice Chair Dennis Loughry No legislation at this time. Mr. Donovan: I call Planning & Zoning to order; Mr. Sisak, Mr. Loughry and myself are here. We do not have any legislation at this time. Committee; anything? Mr. Loughry: I have something. Actually it is nice that we have a small group tonight. These are just my thoughts on, after a lot of years doing a lot of things regarding future housing in the City and specifically R-6, and what I think is a lack of upper high-end housing; specifically, anything over $400,000. So after Ripley Farm gets final approval and I think that is perfect; I think that is a perfect use and a perfect location, but after that, we are going to have about 800 acres zoned R-1 vacant land and that is our highest and best use. I personally feel that that is an economic development tool and the way that land gets developed will determine the financial future of our City. I think that we are in a very fortunate position to have that many vacant acres all touching each other to develop. Most communities aren’t in that type of position as we are. Chief Passarelli, my percentages here aren’t going to be exactly right, but they will be close for conversation; so 50% of our residents are over the age of 65 and they are not paying the ¼% income tax, but 60% roughly of our EMS calls go to that demographic. 25% of our students in our school district are on free and reduced lunch and when I first got on the school board 18 years ago, that was 11%. So, in about 20 years that demographic has doubled, and we continue to age. So, it is just my opinion that we need to balance our demographics and our housing to support the school district with property tax and pay for City services with income tax and our residential property tax and income tax needs to increase for future development and I believe the higher end residential development is our most untapped economic development tool. Demographics drive commercial and institutional development and so by that I mean that if you have a bunch of higher end incomes you get businesses that cater to higher end people, whether that be a Flemings compared to a corner diner or dermatologist or whatever, business follows revenue. So, with that, I believe that our existing R-6 option, if it were continued to be used as it is now in R-1 development caps that revenue potential . . . and so I just believe that the need for higher end housing is just as important to our future as the JEDD and as the ¼% income tax is. We have land that is going to be developed some day and we need to have a plan in place I believe to help balance our demographics. Just as an example of that last year, and I could have got a bunch of these, but I only got four; last year we had one sale; one home was sold for $400,000 or up. Stow had 15; Green had 23; and Revere had 95 and obviously if I would have included Aurora and Hudson and Jackson Township; all I am saying is we have an opportunity to determine our future and to kind of balance us out. So that’s all. It was just for you guys to think about and Mrs. Raber and others with Mrs. Hussing, are working hard on that Zoning Code update and I just think that we have an opportunity to determine what kind of community we are going to be 30 years from now. That’s all. Thank you. Mr. Carano: Does the type of housing like that generate more income tax revenue than say a smaller lot? Mr. Loughry: Yeah, and I will be real brief, but I will give you a couple of examples. We connected Jennifer Trail right; those four houses, actually there are three now; they are all $400,000 and up for sure. Two of them are over $500,000. Starline; that house was big; a house on Howe Road right now has to be $700,000 to $800,000. So, if we were to look at Ripley Farm and let’s say that it was a traditional Fox Ridge where Mr. Sisak and Mrs. Gilbride bought. If that would have been a Fox Ridge allotment in today’s market, because you guys’ allotment is about ten years old now right; so, in today’s market, those homes would all be over $400,000. When we went smaller lots and I get it because that is the lifestyle for a lot of young families, but what it does is twofold things I believe. One is it caps the price point of the house on the lot so instead of getting $400,000 or $500,000 you are capped at maybe $325,000 let’s say. Then I also think that to some degree it also dictates the profession that the buyer does that lives there. You know, how many orthopedic surgeons do we have; how many dentists; the Mayor and I can tell you four or five that have moved out to build bigger houses and even if you are someone like me that is looking to retire, I know a lot of people that 9  REGULAR MEETING in Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. March 12, 20 Mr. Loughry (Cont’d.): would like, even a cluster home, but at just a little bit higher price point. Just a little bit higher price point and if we don’t have it, they go elsewhere and again, I’m not saying that . . . I don’t want this to come across as being an elitist; all I am saying is when you look at all of our housing stock; all of it, and you would just see how many do we have that live here and this is the income and this is the price point and how many here and how many here . . . I’m just saying that we need to balance a little bit; that’s all. Mr. Donovan: It is hard now for anybody who even wants to build a house to get appraisals even close to that. Dir. of Finance: Can I make a point of clarification just . . . a home . . . a $400,000 home and someone living in a home with a high-paying job does not mean the City is going to collect income tax. They are going to collect property tax. Where the person who lives in that home works depends on where the property tax or the income tax is paid. So, I just wanted to make sure that that is clear because I feel like that was getting a little muddy. Mr. Loughry: I apologize. I work from my house. Dir. of Finance: Right, so if that person moving into that large home had a high paying job that was being done in the City of Tallmadge; yes that would also translate to income tax dollars, but if that person works at a hospital in Akron, we only receive property tax from the home from that person. They would not pay income tax to the City of Tallmadge. Mr. Loughry: I stand corrected on that, but I still do believe though that those higher income earners do attract commercial investment. Mr. Carano: If I can just make one more comment. The fact that students . . . this is sort of a sidebar; that fact that more students are getting the food lunch program; a lot of that has to do, in my opinion, from what I’ve read over time, is that over the last 40 years there has actually been a great transfer of wealth to the upper incomes away from the middle class if you look at any charts, middle class wages have been dropped relatively flat and profit has gone like this and all of that extra income is swept up by the . . . so there has been sort of a degradation of jobs and so I mean that is one of the reasons why possibly there are more students needing school student lunches. Thank God we have that program. That’s all. Thank you. Mr. Donovan: Is there anything else for Planning & Zoning this evening? No one responded. I will close committee. 13. REPORTS OF SPECIAL COMMITTEES: We have none this evening. 14. Third Readings of Resolutions and Ordinances: None. 15. Second Readings of Resolutions and Ordinances: a. Ord. 23-2020 (Finance) – 2nd Reading. Authorizing the Mayor to apply for and receive funding from the 2020 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program Year and to enter into a contract for the same and providing for immediate enactment. Mr. Sisak move for the adoption of Ord. 23-2020. Seconded Mr. Donovan. Roll Call: Mr. Bollas, Mr. Carano, Mr. Donovan, Mrs. Kilway, Mr. Loughry, Mr. Sisak, Mrs. Allman – unanimous. Ord. 23-2020 is adopted by a vote of 7-0. b. Ord. 26-2020 (Finance) – 2nd Reading. Authorizing the Mayor to enter into a contract with the Tallmadge Chamber of Commerce for economic development assistance and to maintain Chamber personnel at the Community Center and providing for immediate enactment. Mr. Sisak moved for the adoption of Ord. 26-2020. Seconded Mr. Donovan. Roll Call: Mr. Carano – yes, Mr. Donovan - yes, Mrs. Kilway – yes, Mr. Loughry - yes, Mr. Sisak – yes, Mrs. Allman – abstain, Mr. Bollas – yes. Ord. 26-2020 is adopted by a vote of 6-0-1. c. Ord. 27-2020 (Public Service) – 2nd Reading. Authorizing the use of sodium chloride, calcium chloride, and magnesium chloride by the City of Talmadge and requiring Council approval for the purchase or use of any other deicing agent and providing for immediate enactment. Mrs. Allman moved for the adoption of Ord. 27-2020. Seconded Mr. Donovan. Roll Call: Mr. Donovan, Mrs. Kilway, Mr. Loughry, Mr. Sisak, Mrs. Allman, Mr. Bollas, Mr. Carano – unanimous. Ord. 27-2020 is adopted by a vote of 7-0. 16. First Readings of Resolutions and Ordinances: a. Ord. 28-2020 (Public Service) – 1st Reading. Amending the cross reference for Chapter 557 and Section 557.01 Weeds of the Tallmadge Codified Ordinance and providing for immediate enactment. Mrs. Allman moved for the adoption of Ord. 28-2020. Seconded Mr. Donovan. Roll Call: Mrs. Kilway, Mr. Loughry, Mr. Sisak, Mrs. Allman, Mr. Bollas, Mr. Carano, Mr. Donovan – unanimous. Ord. 28-2020 is adopted by a vote of 7-0. 10  REGULAR MEETING in Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. March 12, 20 b. Ord. 29-2020 (Public Service) – 1st Reading. Amending Section 1117.02 Storm Sewers of the Tallmadge Codified Ordinance and providing for immediate enactment. Mr. Sisak moved for the adoption of Ord. 29-2020. Seconded Mr. Loughry. Roll Call: Mr. Loughry, Mr. Sisak, Mrs. Allman, Mr. Bollas, Mr. Carano, Mr. Donovan, Mrs. Kilway – unanimous. Ord. 29-2020 is adopted by a vote of 7-0. c. Ord. 30-2020 (Finance) – 1st Reading. Accepting donations from the Tallmadge Historical Society for the replacement of windows at Old Town Hall; appropriating funds; transferring funds and providing for immediate enactment. Mr. Sisak moved for the adoption of Ord. 30-2020. Seconded Mr. Donovan. Roll Call: Mr. Sisak, Mrs. Allman, Mr. Bollas, Mr. Carano, Mr. Donovan, Mrs. Kilway, Mr. Loughry – unanimous. Ord. 30-2020 is adopted by a vote of 7-0. d. Ord. 31-2020 (Finance) – 1st Reading. Appropriating funds to the K-9 Unit Donations Fund #792 and providing for immediate enactment. Mr. Sisak moved for the adoption of Ord. 31-2020. Seconded Mr. Donovan. Roll Call: Mrs. Allman, Mr. Bollas, Mr. Carano, Mr. Donovan, Mrs. Kilway, Mr. Loughry, Mr. Sisak – unanimous. Ord. 31-2020 is adopted by a vote of 7-0. e. Ord. 32-2020 (Finance) – 1st Reading. Authorizing the Mayor to enter into a contract for the lease/purchase of a street sweeper through the State Purchasing Program and providing for immediate enactment. Mr. Sisak moved for the adoption of Ord. 32-2020. Seconded Mr. Donovan. Roll Call: Mr. Bollas, Mr. Carano, Mr. Donovan, Mrs. Kilway, Mr. Loughry, Mr. Sisak, Mrs. Allman – unanimous. Ord. 32-2020 is adopted by a vote of 7-0. f. Ord. 33-2020 (Finance) – 1st Reading. Authorizing the Mayor to enter into a contract for the lease/purchase of a Vactor Combination Sewer Cleaner through the State Purchasing Program and providing for immediate enactment. Mr. Sisak moved for the adoption of Ord. 33-2020. Seconded Mr. Bollas. Roll Call: Mr. Carano, Mr. Donovan, Mrs. Kilway, Mr. Loughry, Mr. Sisak, Mrs. Allman, Mr. Bollas – unanimous. Ord. 33-2020 is adopted by a vote of 7-0. Pres. of Council: Prior to Item 17, I just want to remind everyone that we will not be meeting again this month for Council due to Spring Break/Vacation and so we will be back on April 9th. But, if there is anything that the Administration needs from us prior to that; we will make ourselves available. 17. ADJOURNMENT: Mr. Donovan moved to adjourn. Seconded Mr. Sisak. Voice vote 7-0. The Regular Council meeting of 3-12-20 adjourned at 8:04 p.m. sb Adopted: _________________________________ _________________________________ Susan E. Burton, Clerk of Council Carol A. Kilway, President of Council 11