City Council Regular Meeting

COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. November 9, 2023 1. Call to Order: President of Council Loughry called the Council meeting of Thursday, November 9, 2023, to order at 7:00 p.m. 2. Opening Prayer & Pledge of Allegiance: Prayer: Pastor Andy Alberts, Tallmadge Lutheran Church, Tallmadge. Pledge of Allegiance: 3. Roll Call: Mrs. Allman, Mr. Bollas, Mr. Bozic, Mrs. Kilway, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Loughry, Mr. Sisak – present. 4. Correcting and Adopting the Previous Meeting Minutes: 10-25-23 Council Meeting Minutes. Mr. Bollas moved to adopt the 10-25-23 Council minutes. Seconded Mr. Sisak. Roll Call: Mr. Bollas, Mr. Bozic, Mrs. Gutman, Mrs. Kilway, Mr. Loughry, Mr. Sisak, Mrs. Allman – unanimous. The 10-25-23 Council meeting minutes were adopted by a vote of 7-0. 5. Financial Reports: • Fire & EMS Fund Transfer in the amount of $250,000, Street Maintenance & Repair Fund Transfer in the amount of $315,000, Bond Retirement in the amount of $81,890 from the General Fund, Bond Retirement in the amount of $180,280 from the Safety Services Income Tax Fund and Bond Retirement in the amount of $52,375 from the Tallmadge Reserve Incentive Dist. TIF to Council on 10-31-23. • Appropriation Report, Fund Report and Revenue Report for the period ending 10-31-23 to Council on 11-3-23. • October Financial Reports to Council on 11-3-23. • Tallmadge Recreation Center Profit and Loss Report for the period ending 10-31-23 to Council on 11-3-23. • Income Tax Comparisons for the period ending 10-31-23 to Council on 11-3-23. • Consolidated Investment Portfolio for the period ending 10-31-23 to Council on 11-3-23. • Income Tax by Source Report for the month of October to Council on 11-3-23. • Revenue Comparisons for Major Funds for the period ending 10-31-23 to Council on 11-3- 23. Mr. Sisak moved to accept the Financial Reports submitted by Dir. of Finance Gilbride. Seconded Mrs. Kilway. Roll Call: Mr. Bozic, Mrs. Gutman, Mrs. Kilway, Mr. Loughry, Mr. Sisak, Mrs. Allman, Mr. Bollas – unanimous. The Financial Reports were accepted by a vote of 7-0. 6. Public Hearings: None. 7. Community Input: Pres. of Council: This is the point in the meeting where anyone wishing to speak to Council regarding an item that is not on our agenda may come to the podium and state your name and address. Seeing none, we will go on to Item 8. 8. Agenda Additions: Pres. of Council: Holly Miller from the Department of Community and Economic Development at the County of Summit was supposed to be here this evening. She could not make it, however, Mr. Jim Colopy is here for the presentation. He gave a short presentation of the Lead Abatement Program and the Weatherization Program. Pres. of Council: On the Forgivable Loan Program; our City, like most, have property maintenance codes and we also have officers or employees that go out and check on some homes. So that program; how does it operate? Does the homeowner have to apply or could we as a City help them through that process? Mr. Colopy: We do have to get an application from the home owner and so we do have to verify their income and there is a whole list of documents that we provide them along with the application, but I know we do work currently with the City’s Department of Development and the Planning Department very closely and they do make referrals to us on a pretty regular basis. Mayor: That is the program that Andrea Kidder operates and runs, and we just passed legislation not too long ago applying for the CDBG funds for the minor home repair and through Holly Miller’s 1  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. November 9, 2023 Mayor (Cont’d.) office and so we do quite a few of these and we also tie in the lead and the winterization on the house that applies to make sure they can get all three grants. Andrea does a good job of working with it. Pres. of Council: I was hoping, and it sounds like we are, that if we are going down the road where we are getting ready to cite somebody that at least we let them know that there is a program available. Mayor: We do try to work with them. 9. Reports of Administrative Officers: a. Mayor/Director of Economic Development: • Let me start off with Safety first. We have Thomas Smoot, Director of Public Safety, Emergency Management. Dr. Cooper, one of the things that he did prior to leaving us he created the manual and it is called, “Emergency Management Certification Package, Summit Ready.” It is a large document that I think Tallmadge was probably one of the first ones to have completed this, but I will let Tom talk about that. I tried to get Dr. Cooper here tonight to accept this acknowledgement, but he was unable to attend. Before he left, he designated the Deputy Chief in the Fire Department as the City’s liaison to this program to help administrate that. So, I do have the Fire Chief and the Deputy Chief here to accept whatever Tom wants to talk about. Mr. Smoot: I am here to present an award for the Summit Ready program. I am joined here with Jill St. John. She is an EMA Planner. He then read the award and presented it. • We also have a presentation about economic development under the Mayor’s report and I have inSITE here and Sean is here to talk to us about that tonight. Just to give an update of what we have been doing since we instituted our program with them. Mr. Joyce, from inSITE gave a brief presentation regarding their activities being the economic development team for the City. We were contracted over 6 months ago. He talked about where they are and where they are going. Are there any questions for me? Mr. Bozic: Thank you for your presentation this evening. If you could think back about all of your interactions with our business owners and leadership teams out there, if you could identify maybe your top 2 or 3 issues that the businesses are encountering right now. Can you kind of touch on those and maybe talk about how the City can play a bigger part in that? Mr. Joyce: Obviously number one has been finding a workforce. The challenges of not just finding people but finding the right people committed to working and lining all of that up, especially in the production and manufacturing area. What we are trying to do is connect those resources that we know of in the City, outside of the City, the County, the State that are trying to fund initiatives to solve this problem across the whole state. Catey Breck, Economic Developer with inSITE: I would say the top issue would be workforce and availability. I have heard from business owners who have stopped drug testing because they are just so desperate to have workers join their teams and so I think one way that the City could be supportive is perhaps look at hosting a job fair of some sort and really it could even start from having a round table bringing in employers together and working with the Chamber to come up with a way to address that but I think really just the connection of resources to the employers. There are a couple of grant opportunities that we have been presenting them that are available through Summit County that are job retraining grants and assistance to help employers train their existing staff and then also help supplement training of new workers as well. Mr. Joyce: I think the other need is just a biproduct of a lot of factors because the staffing they are getting now, the cost for that labor is also up about 25% overall and so their budgets are going to get hit pretty hard just to get people in the door and paying for recruiters to help find people. So that is bleeding into the challenges they are having of upkeep like maintenance and other needs they may have within their company. 2  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. November 9, 2023 Mr. Joyce (Cont’d.) Equipment either failing or aging out or finding new equipment to take advantage of opportunities. That is where we also try to find some grant programs that could help companies do that especially when there is a tie into trying to grow or retain jobs. Mr. Bozic: I am hearing a lot of things that you guys are doing to support businesses. Pres. of Council: I have one question. Is your company a member of the Portage Development Board? Mr. Joyce: No, we are not. Catey Breck: Our company is not a part of it, but we have been invited to the Team Portage meetings and have been participating in those when we are available and then I have been attending the area visits with Brad Airhart. Mayor: She goes with me out to Portage County. Pres. of Council: Thank you. Anything else? Mayor: • First of all, do we have any Veterans in the audience? I know that Adam is a Veteran. Thank you for your service. Tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. we will be having Veteran’s Day at the Tallmadge Circle. We have Congresswoman Emilia Sykes coming to speak. • Keep in mind that on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. is the ribbon cutting, but it is really a “Hose Uncoupling” it is a thing in the industry and Chief Underwood brought it to me and said yeah this is tradition and you don’t cut a ribbon, you uncouple a hose and you drop it on the ground. I said whatever you want Chief. So, we will be doing that at 10:00 a.m. and I would appreciate it if Council could come, and I will introduce everyone that shows up there and the contractors and then they will be showing the facilities off. They are cooking hotdogs at 10:00 in the morning, so they will have hotdogs and cider. • Happy to announce that the Joint Dispatch Center is fully operational with all members present as of yesterday. The City of Fairlawn was the last one to come in and so it is fully operational at this point. There is still a potential to expand the facility and we do think another community will come on after the 1st of the year but that is being worked on. With that being said, during the budget process tonight the Dispatch is finalizing the budget for 2024 and I know we put in the budget like $575,000 and we don’t know exactly what it is going to be until we finalize that budget so there still may be a tweak to the budget before the December 14th meeting. Outside of that, end of report. Mr. Bollas: One question. Can you remind us of the work force of the Dispatch Center in terms of the number of jobs and workers that are there. Do you have a ballpark idea on that? Dir. of Finance: Actually, I was just in a meeting about that today. So, I have some pretty close numbers. Currently there are 39 dispatchers for the COG. There are 5 supervisors, a Director, an Ass’t. Director and I think 3 IT and 2 support staff. So, a fully staffed budget is 44 Dispatchers so they are working on going towards that and they are also in the process of hiring and that does not include that there will be some part-time workers also. Akron is . . . I don’t have any numbers of how many dispatchers are in Akron’s portion of the building. Mr. Bollas: And all of the dispatchers were currently employed and have moved locations or are any of those new to the location? Dir. of Finance: So, the ones that are there right now are all moved from their previous positions and then we will have to fill in . . . because there were 45 and some chose not to come and retired or whatever the reason may be. Mayor: All 45 dispatchers were offered jobs and I think they said 4 elected to retire. I think that is what it was and so they are adding a couple of spots. Dir. of Finance: A few dropped off after they said they were going to come and didn’t. 39 out of 44 isn’t too bad. 3  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. November 9, 2023 Pres. of Council: Mrs. Gilbride, did you say that Akron is on-site? Dir. of Finance: Yes, Akron is on-site. They actually started on-site the same day that the County started on-site. Pres. of Council: So, their abatement timeline started then? Dir. of Finance: Their abatement starts I believe the way the contract was written; the abatement starts the first full year that they are operational. So that would be January 1 st. Mr. Bozic: Kind of what Councilman Bollas was mentioning about a net gain of employees, but I guess my question would be is what . . . they are all net gain as far as income tax. Dir. of Finance: Correct. They are all net gain in Tallmadge. None of them worked here. They all worked in other cities so any of those employees, whether they were employed by someone else or not, were not in Tallmadge. So, they are all net gain for income tax purposes. Mayor: The Director said that approximately 100 to 125 employees will be there, which includes the Akron side. Pres. of Council: Thank you. b. Director of Administration/Director of Safety: Thank you. In Finance, Ord. 2023-87 which is the 2024 Budget. We did make some amendments to those. I did sent Council an e-mail to that that has a pdf of the new 2024 working budget appropriation and also an explanation of those amendments. We can talk about that more when we get into committee, but I would ask that the amended budget get a 2nd Reading this evening and then the public hearing is December 14th. • In Personnel we have Ord. 2023-89 and that is the Part-Time Firefighters contract ordinance. We are hoping to get together next week so I would ask you to give that a 2nd Reading as well. • Also in Personnel is Ord. 2023-94, and that is the ordinance listing the positions. The Compensation Board met early this week and approved the bands for the new positions in that ordinance and then the ordinance went to Civil Service and they approved and recommended the ordinance as well and so again, I would just request a 2nd Reading and there is a public hearing on that as well on December 14 th and that will be at 3rd Reading too. That’s all I have for right now. Pres. of Council: On the budget; we would amend that this evening? Dir. of Law: That is correct. Mr. Bozic: With the new positions that are being talked about, do we have new job descriptions for those? Dir. of Administration: Yes, we do. Mr. Bozic: Can we get a copy of those? Dir. of Administration: Of course. c. Director of Public Service: Mr. Rorar: I would like to request Ord. 2023-95 and 96 be passed at 1st Reading if that is possible. • 89 East Howe Road. We are moving along. Once they get that footer wall down they will start working on the parking lot. The first floor is all removed but for that pile that is by the tree. Unfortunately, we found an asbestos substance underneath the gym concrete, so this was underneath the concrete 6” below. We had no idea that it was there. That is the material to the left. The material on the right is material that we are finding, and we sent it out today to get tested. It is behind the footer wall. It looks to be similar and so I am assuming that is what it is. Both of these are Category 1 not friable and definitely a change order is coming, and we don’t know once the second test comes in, we will have a better idea of what the amount is going to be. • The shelter at Lions Park one of the park employees found that the main support is rotting. You can see it there at the ground level. It is rotting below the ground. 4  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. November 9, 2023 Dir. of Pub. Service (Cont’d.) Craig Campbell and Ben Mathie were able to secure these. They made a temporary wall, and they went down and repoured the concrete and actually saved that shelter from deteriorating. It was a great catch. Excellent job with that save. • Leaf Season. So, we are through, believe it or not, Section 1 and Section 2 and they were working in Section 4 today and some of Section 3. Just trying to help clean up some of those piles. We don’t want to go all the way in Section 3 because next week we start that on Monday. But that is moving along. That does it for my report unless there are any questions. Mr. Bozic: On the Summit DD site, do we have an idea or maybe an Ad Hoc committee that we are discussing ideas for that site. Dir. of Pub. Service: Nothing yet. Dir. of Finance: A few items to point out. We did see a bump in our net profit tax this month. That had been lagging behind about 34% behind last year’s collection. So, we still are behind, but only by about 25% so we might see a little bit more of a bump in October due to the net profit filing extensions being the end of October. So, we continue to monitor that hopefully that bounces back but we are definitely running within our budgetary estimate for those figures. Also, to point out to Council, I did identify in the financial report that we will likely need a salary re-appropriation for the Fire Department due to the overtime costs that we have had to incur this year due to the staffing between the part-time and losing all those part- timers and so that is in there. I have held off and I will present that final number. I just kind of waited until as close as possible to the end of the year so we could have the best idea of what that actual impact is going to be so we didn’t over or somehow under appropriate based on something that would come up. End of report. Pres. of Council: So, will that re-appropriation be in an ordinance on the 14th? Dir. of Finance: Correct. e. Director of Law: We had another very successful Drug Takeback Program on October 28th, and I just want to thank the Police Department for all their hard work, especially Dawn Hoff who helps organize that on the Police Department side. We collected about 170 lbs. of unused or unwanted drugs. That does not count the nearly 100 lbs. of trash that came along with that. 10. Reports of Standing Committees of Council of the Whole: a. Planning and Zoning Carol Kilway, Chair Rebecca Allman, Vice Chair The Planning & Zoning Committee deals with land use, zoning, conditional uses, planning, economic and community development, and public property. i. Second Readings of Ordinances and Resolutions. A. Ord. 2023-86~Exhibit A – Tracked Exhibit A – P.H. ON 12-14-23 @ 7:01 P.M. – Amending and supplementing Section 1110.02 “Minor Subdivision” and Appendix A of the Tallmadge Codified Ordinances. Sponsor: Councilperson Kilway Mrs. Kilway: Thank you. I will call Planning and Zoning to order. We are all present this evening. We are at 2nd Reading with Ord. 2023-86~Exhibit A – Tracked Exhibit A. We do have a public hearing on this on 12-14-23 @ 7:01 p.m. The ordinance was read into the record. Is there any update on this? We just need to wait for the public hearing. Dir. of Law: The Planning & Zoning Commission did meet and reviewed this and did make a recommendation to Council and you should have received a memo from the Planning & Zoning Department with regard to that. Mrs. Kilway: Yes, we did receive the recommendation. Dir. of Law: No amendment needs to be made to this ordinance because that didn’t get 5  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. November 9, 2023 Dir. of Law (Cont’d.) incorporated. There is no unconditional and there was no change. Mrs. Kilway: So, we just basically give it a 2nd Reading and we will wait for the public hearing and see if there is any public discussion on it. Anything from Council on this. Mr. Bozic: So, just to kind of review. This is strictly a kind of rewording and adding additional wording to this section within the Code? Dir. of Law: Yeah. It really isn’t changing any of the procedures that we have operated under. It is just making it more clearly defined. Mrs. Kilway: Alright. Anything else? Anything else to come before Planning & Zoning? Hearing none, I will close committee. ii. Additional Items: None. b. Finance Craig Sisak, Chair Jonathon Bollas, Vice Chair The Finance Committee deals with budget, appropriations, reappropriations, bonds, franchises, investments, and expenditures. i. Third Readings of Ordinances and Resolutions. A. 2023-84 – Exhibit A – Tracked Exhibit A – Amended – Amended Tracked Exhibit A – Amending and supplementing Ord. 2022-81 to amend rates, charges, and fees for all recreational facilities and providing for immediate enactment. Sponsor: Mayor Kline Mr. Sisak: I call the Finance Committee to order. We currently have 3 rd Readings of Ordinances and Resolutions. Ord. 2023-84 – Exhibit A – Tracked Exhibit A- Amended – Amended Tracked Exhibit A. The ordinance was read into the record. Any questions or concerns regarding this? Pres. of Council: No question, but just something that I noticed today and that is that in the rates between blue and gold; the dollar amount bump for non-resident is the same dollar amount and I just felt that it should have been a proportional increase and not a straight dollar amount, so it is not a big deal, it only would have bumped it a little bit more in each category, but I just think that that would have been the right way to do it. Just my opinion. Mr. Sisak: Thank you. Mr. Bozic: I just want to go back to the Maca Aquatic Center Daily Admissions passes and the increases in those rates. I know that we put in there regardless of residency and I understand the operational side of that knowing the burden it puts on our staff at the gate. I guess when I went back and did a little research on the rates and the different areas, the cost of the passes for example like Waterworks and I don’t recall exactly what it is, but I think the cost was a little higher but they also offer more amenities in a way too to have a larger facility so kind of looking at that and knowing what our rate is and knowing what their rate is, I don[‘t know that we can . . . if you look at it as here is a service we are providing and here are the amenities and you look at the dollar amount and then you look at a similar facility and you look at their amenities and you look at their dollar amount. I don’t know that that justification comes out the same. So, my only thought is that at some point I understand that we are kind of pushing people maybe towards passes but there are again some big obstacles I think to overcome for some families when knowing the demographics of the families that go there, I fall into that category with my family. There are certainly a lot of families that choose not to go anymore to Maca because of the cost and I think that these increases in the daily admissions may be a bit too much for our residents. I just wanted to at least speak my mind on it because I know I have certainly heard feedback and I think that it might be a bit too much. 6  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. November 9, 2023 Mayor: The price is not really just looking at other facilities around which are very few anymore because most of them are closing, but it is the chemical costs and we do heat our pool. If we would turn the boiler off and not heat the pool nobody would come anyways, but just the amount of the gas bill there, but really the chlorine cost has gone sky high to operate that and I know the Director is here and she can probably talk more on that, but we have to look at everything and all the expenses that go into this for a 90-day operation. That is all we operate that pool for is hopefully 90 days based on the weather, but for $15 you can go stay from noon to 8:00 p.m. for less than a dollar an hour or $1.25 an hour and have a great facility, safe facility, and so I think that is what justified the rate increase. Mr. Sisak: To Adam’s point, I think if it is a child going between the ages of 3 and 12, you give them a $20 bill to go with their friends and they are going to spend it either at the concession stand or they are going to spend $15 and only have $5 left to spend. So, I think the facility will be getting all of that money at some point, but I do think, to Adam’s point, I think we may outprice ourselves here in the near future. I don’t know when the last rate increase was; a year or two ago. I think we just need to be aware of outpricing ourselves for our own residents and the public. That would just be my thoughts in the coming future. I don’t know, wouldn’t that show that we compete with any other, you know like the private pools or the private day pass activities like the Cedar Point waterparks and things of that nature which I know are much more expensive. Mr. Bozic: So, kind of going back to those comparisons and I understand that the cost increase in operations and I guess this does go back to something that I have always asked is what dollar amount we are trying to achieve. What percentage of cost are we shooting for with that facility and if it is a net zero or if . . . you know we are willing to spend you know 30% over that because we are providing a service to the community and that is what it is. So, you know in looking at those admission fees we are higher than Waterworks at least for the weekday rates. The weekend rates: Waterworks is more but we are definitely higher when you look at Monday through Thursday. Friday, Saturday and Sunday rates are I would say somewhat equivalent. They are $16 and $14 for; $14 for 16 and over and $16 for 13 to 59 so I think our rates are slightly higher than they should be and I think that if we are looking to recoup our cost, let’s recoup it on the non-resident rate and not burden our daily admission rate because a lot of those individuals are probably young families that are going to just show up on a whim and not buy the memberships or they get closed out of buying memberships which I don’t know if we have had that issue in the last couple years but we used to. Dir. of Pub. Service: Keep in mind when it comes to the memberships, we can only do the 2:1 ratio so we can’t increase the non-residents without increasing the resident rate on the memberships. That is part of that grant application. It is a rule, and we have to abide by it. Mr. Bozic: So right now, we are about halfway there because we are $100 for one pass and so we go to $200; correct? So, we could raise that $50 for one pass for a non-resident? Parks & Rec Manager: The feedback that we have heard on the pool specifically last year was more based on the clientele that were coming in on daily admission passes and a lot of people have asked repeatedly for the pool to be a resident pool or a member-only pool. Those are the two big things that we hear every year, and this raising of the daily admission rates is trying to help it not necessarily be a member only facility, but that is part of what this is pushing that towards of members and guests. We do allow our residents to purchase memberships a month before all of the non-residents, so all residents have an opportunity to get passes before them. Our limit this year is 2,250. That is how many memberships we will be selling. The most resident memberships we have ever sold was about 1,600. So, as far as our resident families go, I don’t believe we will have an issue with them being able to come to the pool. To your point with the prices, most of these resident families 7  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. November 9, 2023 Parks & Rec Manager (Cont’d.) would come with day passes and do not come on the weekends because they have issues with the people who are attending on the weekends. I do not think that we are pricing ourselves out with this increase. I think it will get more residents to purchase their memberships instead of using daily admission passes and everybody can come with a member for $5. So, if your child does want to go to the pool and their friend is a member, it is only going to be $5 for them to do that. So, this is a way that we are trying to make the pool still accessible to people who do not buy memberships, but trying to limit the number of people without memberships who are attending the pool on a regular basis. Pres. of Council: Could we have a discussion about extending the period of time from one month to maybe two months or whatever for our resident only purchase? Parks & Rec Manager: We could. I’m not sure that would make a difference because it’s not like we stopped resident memberships after that point. We still have residents coming in and buying memberships once they went on sale to non-residents as well. I believe at the time that the passes went on sale to non-residents this past year we had less than 1,000 resident passes sold. So, I don’t know if extending that would make a difference or if we just need to somehow increase that sense of residents knowing to lock in your memberships you need to get it at this point in time instead of having people call the weekend before Memorial Day and say that they got shut out because they waited until then to buy their pass. Pres. of Council: What are your methods of marketing so that our residents know that this is when we are doing that. Parks & Rec Manager: The information goes out in our brochure. It is on our marquis, and it is put out on social media both on our social media and the City’s social media, Maca Pool’s social media and we get it out through the Marlins as well. Mr. Bozic: A few follow-up questions on that. So, it sounds to me like this is not an operations cost is what you basically said this is a clientele, but who is attending is what is driving this. So, we are looking at this as the clientele who is attending, then why are we looking at this as a cost issue and not looking at it as the clientele issue? They are two different things. Parks & Rec Manager: I mean, they are and they aren’t because as Dave said, the costs are going up; that is an issue, but you can’t look at somebody and judge them based on how they look and say you can’t come into the pool because we think you will be negative clientele which is the point that I feel you are making right now. Mr. Bozic: That’s why I am posing that as a question back is if you are saying it is a clientele issue that is what you are determining is you know the individuals that are coming in and so you are making that presumption; you are making that assessment and so my point would be why not address the issues that we have experienced in the past because here is what I think would be most telling is how many passes have we sold to residents over the last 5 years? Take that timeframe from January when we open the sales to say the end of April. How many resident passes have we sold and if that number is increasingly declining then we know that there is an issue operational-wise because our costs necessarily hasn’t increased . . . Mayor: It has. Mr. Bozic: Just slightly. We increased slightly. Mayor: Jessica, what is the price of chlorine today versus 5 years ago? Parks & Rec Manager: It’s much higher. R you saying . . . Mr. Bozic: The resident is not paying for the chlorine. Mayor: Somebody has got to pay for it. Mr. Bozic: I understand, but that is my point. My point is to say . . . Mayor: We are running a business there. We have to operate it like a business. 8  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. November 9, 2023 Mr. Bozic: Is it a business or is it a public service? Mayor: It’s both. Mr. Bozic: So, that’s my question though is what is our cost for providing that service and if we are saying we want to recover 100% of our costs then we need to set that fee. Whatever it is, that is going to recover our costs. Parks & Rec Manager: Councilman, we do generally speaking with Maca either cover our costs our operating costs or come very close to covering our operating costs every year. So, with these operating costs going up, we do need to increase our rates in order to continue doing that. The other thing is on the weekends when we have a lot of people in the pool, we do need to bring on additional lifeguards to handle the number of people that are there and make sure that everyone is staying safe because at the end of the day, that is our job. So, when we do have more people coming in even though we are not . . . we are still under our capacity or at our capacity, we still have to have more lifeguards on duty to handle even 700 people as opposed to 400 or 500 people and that is an increased cost that we also need to look at and when it’s those daily admission users, we do need to make sure that we are recouping that money in what we are spending on additional lifeguard costs to have them come in. Mr. Bozic: So, if I can continue, so again this goes back to what is our cost recovery model? If it is 100% it is 100%. If we can’t answer that question then we are basically saying that well, we think this $5 increase across the board is going to recover our costs of the operational side of our costs then so be it, but I think what we are doing is we are just kind of shooting in the dark and hoping that if we want to get 100% we are going to get 100% recovery. If we are going to say that this is a public service we are providing and we are providing it to our residents which is probably the bulk of what we should be providing it to then what are we satisfied with as a City; are we OK with getting 80% recovery because honestly overall on Parks & Recreation what does that cost recovery model look like across the nation for the Parks and Recreation. Parks & Rec Manager: I mean, you know from the studies that were done . . . Mr. Bozic: It’s 30%. Parks & Rec Manager: Our cost recovery is much higher . . . Mr. Bozic: Our cost recovery is very high and so that is what I am saying is if our cost recovery is so high and other cities are at 30% and we are at 100% and we continue to increase the rates for our tax payers that are already paying the tax rate and now they are paying an increase in the admissions. That is my point. That is basically what I wanted to express to you is the frustration that some citizens are feeling in knowing that well great, I didn’t want to get a pass because every time I go, I get shut out or they don’t have enough lifeguards or this and that. All these different issues that exist and we know that they exist. It is what it is. It’s how the business is run. How the facility is run, and I can understand that but now you are going to turn around and say well I don’t want to get a pass, but I’ll just go as a daily admission. Well, now I can’t even go as a daily admission fee because if I go one time I might as well just buy a pass for the family. Mayor: You can find a friend and go for $5. Mr. Sisak: Alright, I would like to acknowledge Mrs. Kilway. Mrs. Kilway: I bring this up because Mr. Bozic you did bring up and you compared Waterworks. I have the City of Cuyahoga Falls website up with their daily rates for Waterworks and these are as of 5-1-2023 so we don’t know what their rates are going to be next year and you have to look at the non-resident rates because you are a Tallmadge resident and you are going to be going there as a non-resident. Ages 3 through 12 is $20. Ages 13 through 59 is $25. Ages 60 and over it is $20. So, our rates are lower than Waterworks. Mr. Bozic: Maybe you have to look at the amenities. What do you get out of that? 9  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. November 9, 2023 Mrs. Kilway: You are getting a swimming pool. Mr. Bozic: There are more amenities; there are more things for my child to do at Waterworks than there are . . . Mrs. Kilway: But you are talking about it being affordable so as a resident it is still more affordable to go to Maca at the new rates than it would be to go to Cuyahoga Falls as a non-resident. Mr. Bozic: And I understand that but I am just throwing this out there as when you look at the cost . . . if you are going to buy anything with the x, y, z bells and whistles and you are paying a little more for that so that is my point. I am saying that for the amenities that you get at location 1 are different than the amenities that you get at the other location. Mrs. Kilway: You get less than Waterworks is what you had stated. Mr. Bozic: We are technically for our resident rate because we don’t offer a resident, non- resident rate. Mrs. Kilway: Because we are not allowed to because of the grant that we have. Mr. Bozic: We are technically allowed to it is just we choose not to because of the operational side of it and the headaches that . . . Mrs. Kilway: No, when we received the . . . Mr. Bozic: No, that is not . . . Mrs. Kilway: It was received under a federal grant. Mr. Bozic: That’s not correct. Mr. Sisak: Mr. Bozic, if you would like to make an amendment to the grid and propose a new rate, I would entertain that. You would have to get a second and then it would have to go so forth. My one question for the administration as far as costs and stuff, can we get some maybe a grant to put in some solar panels maybe on the . . . Dir. of Pub. Service: I’m sure we could. We can look at that. Mr. Sisak: Alright. Let’s do that. Mrs. Gutman: Before we talk about amendments or anything, I would just like to say my peace that I agree with Adam pretty whole heartedly on this that I don’t have the Rec background and about cost recoveries and what is standard but I do think we are pricing out a certain segment of our residents with these cost increases. People that can’t buy a pass; they can’t come up with a couple hundred dollars all at once and maybe we don’t have rental passes in Tallmadge and that, I know for some of us that might sound funny but there are people in Tallmadge who don’t know people with passes. They still deserve a chance to go to the pool I think, so I understand there are costs and we need to cover those, but it is very well worth considering that we are pricing out people who live here and pay taxes are never going to have a chance to go to the pool because it is like $100 to take their family there for the day. So, I thank Adam for bringing that up and having this discussion. I think it is an important one to have moving forward. Mr. Sisak: OK. So, we are at 3rd Reading and either we get a motion to amend, or we get a motion to adopt. Pres. of Council: We can hold it until the December meeting. Mr. Bozic: Mr. Chair, I have a motion to amend Ord. 2023-86 for modifying the rates back to the original cost. Mr. Sisak: Is there a second? Pres. of Council: I will second it. Mr. Sisak: So, we have a motion and a second to modify the rates back to the original cost. Is there any further discussion? Mrs. Kilway: I believe he stated Ord. 2023-86, and it should be 2023-84. Mr. Bozic: Correct. 2023-84 motion to change back to the original rates on 2023-84. Dir. of Law: Point of order for Mr. Bozic; are you talking about all of the rates or are you talking about Maca? 10  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. November 9, 2023 Mr. Bozic: I am talking about the Maca rates for the daily admissions to go back to the original. Back to the original rate of I believe was $10, $15, $20 instead of $15, $20, $25 if I’m not mistaken. Mr. Sisak: OK, does everyone understand what we are voting on? Dir. of Law: Would you contemplate amending the motion to incorporate the other amendments as proposed in the version that you received for your consideration tonight? There are multiple amendments that have not been adopted since it was first introduced at 1st Reading. Mr. Bozic: So, you are saying introduce that as all amendments in one. Dir. of Law: You can do it that way or you can do it just on that one if you like. Mr. Bozic: Alright. So, I would then make a motion to amend the daily admission fees for all rates going back to the $10, $15 and making that motion be part of our previous amendments within this ordinance. Will that suffice? Pres. of Council: I would second that. Mr. Sisak: There is a motion and a second. This will go back to 2nd Reading, and we can vote on it then. Dir. of Law: Well, you are voting on it now. You can vote on the amendment tonight as suggested and then it would go back to 2 nd or stay at 2nd and then at the next meeting it would be at 3rd for the next meeting. You can adopt it at 2nd after you amend it if you would like. Jacob Reynolds: A lot of what I was going to say has already been addressed so thanks for speaking on that tonight because I wanted to say that the Maca rate increases . . . I wanted to speak tonight about that and I thought that when it was addressed the last time at the meeting on October 25th I saw that there was a lot of contentious debate for the electric vehicle charging stations which this is related because it was pretty enthusiastic to want to put up to $60,000 for that project and people wanted to consider it as a civic service and it was labeled as progressive and forward thinking to which at that same meeting they talk about the market rates going up and I thought well why isn’t that language also being used for the pool. Like the pool as talked about tonight is a civic service and I was wondering why can’t we treat them the same way and for people who don’t want to get a season pass or if the season pass is maxed then I feel that it is not necessarily fair for the citizens to have to shoulder the cost of increasing the rates just to stay relevant to other costs. So, with how the electric vehicle stations conversation went last week versus the Maca rate conversation and how that happened I felt like it was more attractive to use platitudes such as forward thinking and progressive for that but then disregarding the asset that the City already had to begin with which is the pool. So, if money was really needed for the pool, I would say that like you already have $60,000 you guys are talking about for the charging stations; why not incorporate it there. I wouldn’t know necessarily if those funds could be used for that, but just my perception of the topic there. I think it is a great way of turning people away from using the pool; me for example. I am starting a family here in Tallmadge. I moved here a year ago and this is my third meeting that I have been to and if this is the perception that I am getting, then I don’t have a whole lot of confidence that the rates are going to be affordable in the future when my daughter learns how to swim or if we have more kids. I don’t know if you can compare the Cuyahoga Falls Natatorium. I know that Waterworks was compared. I don’t know if you can compare the Natatorium to the Maca Pool, but their rates are $10 for minors and $14 for adults. I have been to the Natatorium. It is pretty cool. So, that is already cheaper than the rates that we have right now. So, why wouldn’t I want to go to the Cuyahoga Falls Natatorium which is only about 15 minutes away when I feel like I am being priced out of Maca. So, that is what I wanted to share. 11  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. November 9, 2023 Roll Call: Mrs. Gutman – yes, Mrs. Kilway – no, Mr. Loughry – yes, Mr. Sisak – yes, Mrs. Allman – yes, Mr. Bollas – yes, Mr. Bozic – yes. Ord. 2023-84 has been amended by a vote of 6-1. Pres. of Council: I would move to adopt Ord. 2023-84. Seconded Mrs. Kilway. Mr. Bollas: I just have one last thing. I haven’t seen from the Marlins use agreement but is it being considered at all . . . it is mandatory to get a Maca pass to be a member of the Marlins swim team, but is it being considered at all to just want to be a member of the team and use the pool for team events or practices and not necessarily purchase a full season pass for their personal use. I know families . . . I have been a member of the team now for 2 years and I have just heard some of that feedback as well of families that want to participate and be on the team. We are operating a championship pool there and attracting a lot of team members and children and so just while we are talking about this overall, that is some feedback that I have gotten that we might want to consider in the use agreement as it pertains to rates. I don’t really want to call it a discount, but if they are just using it for Monday through Friday practices and actually, they are not even 5 days a week depending on your age tier probably 2 to 3 times a week and then matches. There are only 5 or 6 meetings in a season total. Some are 2 weeks, so the season is very quick overall so just try to take that into consideration in the use agreement. I would appreciate it. Mr. Sisak: I would probably say that that is a sidebar right Mrs. Raber? Dir. of Law: Well, it is not part of this. Mrs. Kilway: In reference to Mr. Bollas’ comment, I know years and years ago when the Maca Marlins first started, and I was a member, we did not have to have a membership in order to be on the team. So, there is a little history there. But then my next question is since this is most likely going to pass with the new rates; what type of adjustment to the budget are we going to have to make sure that we cover the costs of the chlorine and so forth? Dir. of Finance: None at this time. We have enough money in the General Fund if I think Council’s intention here was that they are not concerned about the cost of operation; they want to keep the rates at a reasonable price and the City’s General Fund will then cover any operating overages that exist. Am I misinterpreting Council’s actions? Mr. Bozic: Before we vote on this amendment, there was another topic within the grid that talked about softball and baseball fields for all City owned ball fields and I had posed the question at the last meeting about I guess what that truly meant as far as rentals where we have our Little League teams but then there are travel teams that are still coached by some of the coaches that are part of Little League so are we therefore charging them for rentals of those fields or usage of those fields and if so how are we . . . there are many questions I have, but how are we monitoring that if I call up to the Rec Center and say that I want to rent Maca field and I go to the Rec Center, will I be able to do that and what kind of coordination are we having with Little League and/or those travel teams to know that that field is actually available. So, there are a lot of questions I have with that. So, I will just kind of turn this over. Dir. of Pub. Service: In their use agreement they have a schedule that they have to abide by and that their travel teams are covered under that umbrella and that would also cover them, so they have a schedule that starts in April and ends in October. They have the dates and the times so they get first crack at it. That is their use agreement. So, if you want to come up and reserve one of those fields, we certainly can find out whether that field is available that evening, that day or whatever date you want. Mr. Bozic: So, for example if I show up at 4:00 p.m. or 5:00 p.m. the day of will I be able to rent the field? 12  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. November 9, 2023 Dir. of Pub. Service: Probably not. Especially during the heat of the season so April through June definitely probably not, but outside of that we could probably accommodate something. Mr. Bozic: So, I guess the potential issues that I see with this are going to be exactly that. It will be someone that can walk in the day of and say can I rent this field because we have a grid that says all fields in the City are rentable now. Whereas in the past we have never . . . we have never touched any of the Little Fields. Dir. of Pub. Service: So, that is the beauty of it, we have more fields now that are available instead of just 2. Mr. Bozic: And I agree, I think that is a good thing for the City overall. Dir. of Pub. Service: So, if you would ask on the day of, I’m sure we could accommodate something. I mean, there again, that is pretty . . . you are thinking a little bit further ahead than coming in the day of but . . . Mr. Bozic: Well, things happen sometimes. I just want to make sure that operational-wise we are set up and prepared to do that and do we have perimeters in place to say that if it is a game rental are we lining and dragging that field? Is that the renter’s responsibility? Whose equipment are they using? There are so many questions that are related to that that I am not quite sure that we’ve . . . Mr. Sisak: Adam, I would like to get you back on task. We have a motion and a second on the financial pieces of this and you kind of spoke to its operational issue and I will trust that . . . Mr. Bozic: I wanted to change the wording to say all City owned ballfields as part of that amendment. That is my question. I just want to make sure that we are prepared operational-wise. Pres. of Council: We already voted on the amendment. Mr. Sisak: Right now, we are voting to adopt. Mr. Bozic: I stand corrected. We are voting on whether or not to adopt it, so I think it is a good legitimate question. Dir. of Pub. Service: So, as you know, there was never any use agreement so we could have rented those fields to whoever at any time. Those were never Little League fields. Those are always the City of Tallmadge fields so we could have rented those at any time over any year. But now there is a use agreement with Little League and some parameters are in place of what fields are open and what fields are not open. So, it is a better system than it was before. Mr. Bozic: OK. Mr. Sisak: Thank you. Roll Call: Mrs. Kilway, Mr. Loughry, Mr. Sisak, Mrs. Allman, Mr. Bollas, Mr. Bozic, Mrs. Gutman – unanimous. Ord. 2023-84 is adopted by a vote of 7-0. ii. Second Readings of Ordinances and Resolutions. A. Ord. 2023-85 – Exhibit A – Amending Section 182.03 “Imposition of Tax”, Section 182.05 “Annual Return; Filing”, and Section 182.18 “Interest and Penalties” of Chapter 182 of the Codified Ordinances of the City of Tallmadge regarding municipal income tax and providing for immediate enactment. Sponsor: Dir. of Finance Gilbride Mr. Sisak: Next we have Ord. 2023-85. The ordinance was read into the record. Dir. of Finance: I went through a pretty thorough explanation of this ordinance at the last meeting. It is at 2nd Reading so if Council has any further questions about that after they have had time to review it, I would be glad to answer them. Pres. of Council: I would be inclined to adopt unless you think that this should go to 3 rd Reading to allow any sort of resident input. Dir. of Finance: I think we should allow it to go to 3rd Reading since it is an income tax issue and there is no harm in doing it but thank you. 13  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. November 9, 2023 Mr. Sisak: Any further discussion on this ordinance at this time? B. Ord. 2023-87 – Exhibit A – Amended Exhibit A – P.H. ON 12-14-23 @ 7:03 P.M. – Adopting a budget for various funds of the City of Tallmadge, Ohio, for current expenses and other expenditures during fiscal year ending December 31, 2024, appropriating the necessary funds for the administration thereof, authorizing transfers between funds, and providing for immediate enactment. Sponsor: Mayor Kline Mr. Sisak: Next we have Ord. 2023-87 – Exhibit A – Amended Exhibit A – P.H. on 12-14- 23 @ 7:03 p.m. The ordinance was read into the record. Pres. of Council: I would move to amend this ordinance with the information that Mrs. Stritch has provided us with. Seconded Mrs. Kilway. Mr. Bozic: Just to clarify this is the amendment of the attachment that were the 4 items; is that correct? Dir. of Administration: That’s correct. Roll Call: Mr. Loughry, Mr. Sisak, Mrs. Allman, Mr. Bollas, Mr. Bozic, Mrs. Gutman, Mrs. Kilway – unanimous. Ord. 2023-87 is amended by a vote of 7-0. iii. First Readings of Ordinances and Resolutions. A. Ord. 2023-95 – An ordinance allowing the Mayor to apply for Federal Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG), Resurfacing, Carbon Reduction Program by the Akron Metropolitan Area Transportation Study (AMATS) to improve certain streets for the East Avenue Phase 2, S. Munroe Road, and Eastwood Avenue Projects and declaring an emergency. Sponsor: Dir. of Pub. Service Rorar Mr. Sisak: Next we have 1st Reading of Ord. 2023-95. The ordinance was read into the record. I believe this was requested to be passed at 1 st Reading. Mrs. Kilway: I would move to adopt Ord. 2023-95 at 1st Reading. Seconded Mr. Loughry. Dir. of Pub. Service: So, at the past 2 meetings we have gotten an opportunity to apply for some AMATS grant applications. We talked about East Avenue and the exciting thing is I was saying East Avenue Phase 1 and it appears and the Mayor brought it up the last time that we were approved to move forward in the SEMAC funding so it looks like we are probably going to score about $8.5 million in that for Phase 1. So, this is why it has changed to Phase 2. Phase 2 is from Munroe to Community Drive and so Phase 1 is from Munroe to the City limits so it appears that we got a SEMAC application that was moved forward and I am 90% sure that we should get it, but they haven’t said that yet. So, it looks pretty good. So that is the only change in this. I’m still asking for the same. On South Munroe, that is a paving project as well as Eastwood. This is about the third time that we have discussed this, and nothing has really changed other than Phase 2 now on East Avenue. Mr. Bozic: If you can just indulge me here with the project from Munroe to Community Drive; that particular project, are we speaking of just strictly . . . because I am seeing here that it says funding program and it says resurfacing and I just want to clarify. Are we only resurfacing from Munroe to Community? Dir. of Pub. Service: No. That will also include the sidewalk and curb and gutter and a third lane turning lane. The nice thing about that section is that it already has a majority of turning lanes in it. This will just put the turning lane all the way. Mr. Bozic: My follow-up question to that is do we have anywhere on our website like architectural drawings or I guess something out there about these particular projects so if residents ask us then we could reference that particular site. Dir. of Pub. Service: That link has been up there, and I have to go back and see if it is still up there, but that has been up there for about 2 years. 14  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. November 9, 2023 Roll Call: Mr. Sisak, Mrs. Allman, Mr. Bollas, Mr. Bozic, Mrs. Gutman, Mrs. Kilway, Mr. Loughry – unanimous. Ord. 2023-95 is adopted by a vote of 7-0. B. Ord. 2023-96 – An ordinance allowing the Mayor to apply for Federal Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG), Resurfacing, Carbon Reduction Program (CRP) and/or Transportation Alternatives Set Aside (TASA) Funds programmed by the Akron Metropolitan Area Transportation Study (AMATS) to improve certain streets for the State Route 91/Northmoreland Road Project and declaring an emergency. Sponsor: Dir. of Pub. Service Rorar Mr. Sisak: Next we have Ord. 2023-96. The ordinance was read into the record. Pres. of Council: I move to adopt Ord. 2023-96. Seconded Mrs. Kilway. Dir. of Pub. Service: So, this is the one for improving the traffic signal as well as the crosswalk delineators and strobes up there on 91. It is Munroe Falls, but remember we own half of that road. Munroe Falls is submitting the application but we are partnering with it so we will only pay half of that amount. Roll Call: Mrs. Allman, Mr. Bollas, Mr. Bozic, Mrs. Gutman, Mrs. Kilway, Mr. Loughry, Mr. Sisak – unanimous. Ord. 2023-96 is adopted by a vote of 7-0. Mr. Sisak: Is there anything else to come before the Finance Committee this evening? I can’t thank Jacob enough for coming in and expressing his concern. I think sometimes we kind of get stuck in silos and when I say that you know we talk about the Street Department, and we can only pave 2/3 of the number of streets because our costs have gone up. It’s more expensive for firefighters; the cost has gone up. Then now you get to the chlorine at Maca Pool and the cost has gone up. Well, let’s just pass it on to the residents or pass it onto the public. I think we have to look at wholistically kind of across the board what we want to prioritize in the community. Is it recreation? I think that was done under Mayor Grimm 20 years ago by building the Rec Center. We don’t currently have, to my knowledge, a tax on the books for recreation and so that typically comes out of the General Fund and so in order to be net zero at the end of the year, I think we need to understand what impact it could have on our community, its members, I mean we passed along a sewer rate increase over the summer and so you know there have been statements made that hey we have a pretty big General Fund so let’s use it. We are not in the business of making money or sitting on money. We need to provide services and so with all that said, I think it was a great discussion on Maca Pool and its rates and again I thank Jacob for coming in and expressing his concerns because we do often times get stuck in silos and don’t look at the big picture. Mayor: Before you close, thank you for bringing that stuff up. I don’t know if anyone read the Beacon Journal today, if not, it is going to be in tomorrow’s online and they just did a rate increase for water. We haven’t had a water rate increase since 2012 here in Tallmadge. It will be the next Council decision. Do you want to absorb that cost which you won’t be able to. You will have to pass it on. So, I’m just letting you know that it is going to affect Tallmadge about $250,000 a year increase. Mr. Sisak: So, with that I will close committee. iv. Additional Items: None. c. Personnel Jonathon Bollas, Chair Adam Bozic, Vice Chair The Personnel Committee deals with personnel, labor relations, insurance claims, Rules of Council and State Statutes. i. Second Readings of Ordinances and Resolutions. 15  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. November 9, 2023 A. Ord. 2023-89 – Authorizing the Mayor to enter into an agreement with the Tallmadge Part-Time Firefighters Association consisting of Tallmadge Part- Time Firefighters and providing for immediate enactment. Sponsor: Mayor Kline Mr. Bollas: I call the Personnel Committee to order. We have Ord. 2023-89. The ordinance was read into the record. Mrs. Kilway: Again, I am going to state that I am going to recuse myself from any discussion on this ordinance because of my husband’s employment with the Part-Time Firefighters Association. Mr. Bollas: Again, this ordinance is at 2nd Reading and based on an update that I received from the Mayor they are expecting some language in writing soon and to keep this at 2 nd Reading. Mayor: That’s correct. B. Ord. 2023-94 – Tracked – Amended – Tracked – P.H. ON 12-14-23 @ 7:06 P.M. – Establishing the number of non-collective bargaining employees by department and position pursuant to R.C. 731.08 and providing for immediate enactment. Sponsor: Mayor Kline Mr. Bollas: Moving on to Ord. 2023-94 – Tracked – Amended – Tracked – P.H. on 12-14- 23 @ 7:06 p.m. The ordinance was read into the record. There is a public hearing scheduled for December 14th at 7:06 p.m. and as Ms. Stritch provided an update today that the Comp Board met and approved the amended tracked version and then Civil Service then also approved and recommended that as well. So, tonight this will also stay at 2 nd Reading as it awaits the public hearing. Any discussion on this ordinance. Mayor: There is an amendment in front of you. Mr. Bollas: So, I do need a motion and a second to amend Ord. 2023-94. Mr. Loughry: I would move to amend. Seconded Mrs. Kilway. Mr. Loughry: What exactly are those amendments? Dir. of Administration: If you go to . . . we filled in the bands for the new positions and so if you go to page 2 under Police, the Assistant Records Manager; the band was placed in there at 5 and was approved by the Compensation Board and Civil Service. On page 2 as well, under Recreation the Sports and Fitness Coordinator the band was placed in there at a 4 and on page 3 the Assistant Utility Superintendent; the band was placed in that and that was a 7. The Compensation Board approved those and also the Civil Service Commission met to recommend and approve the ordinance as well. Mr. Loughry: So, Mrs. Stritch, the approval from the Comp Board; there was no discrepancy between the appointing authorities were asking for; correct? Dir. of Administration: Actually, the appointing authorities did not have anything to do with the placement of the bands just to clarify. Mr. Loughry: Did you? Dir. of Administration: No, no. This is actually much better than it has ever been. The new compensation plan that we had has a 10 point and we distributed it earlier has a 10- point factor manual and so when a new position becomes you take that 10-point factor manual based on education, supervision, reporting and so forth and so on and the position description is ranked on each one of those 10 points and then you receive a total number and then that number equates to a band. Once you get to that, then you take that information to the Compensation Board that is reviewed and then they also review it. Pres. of Council: So then what you did was you provided the compilation of and then the Comp Board approved that? Dir. of Administration: That is correct. Pres. of Council: That is a nice check and balance. 16  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. November 9, 2023 Dir. of Administration: Yes, I think so. Mayor: But also, the Department Head or the appointing authorities looked at the position descriptions and finalizes the position description and then we base it off of that position description. Pres. of Council: So, then moving forward Mayor, what if a job description changes or you give somebody additional duties then you do that process again and go back to the Comp Board. Mayor: Yup. Pres. of Council: OK. Mr. Bozic: A question for the Administration. Thank you for reminding us about that point value system that you are using because I was thinking about it as we were discussing it and it sparked my memory about asking for the job descriptions which obviously are being utilized when you use that point system so kind of two questions obviously you are going to get us those job descriptions. Dir. of Administration: Absolutely. Mr. Bozic: That would be great. And then the second point would be do we have or can we get just even a . . . take this grid and all those positions and just kind of identify who those appointing authorities are for each position or grouping of positions just for reference so you know I don’t think there would be . . . the reason I say that is because I am just curious if there is an overlap that would exist or . . . Dir. of Administration: You don’t have more than 2 appointing authorities for an employee. So, you can’t have Mike Rorar as the appointing authority for Recreation and you are not also going to have another appointing authority. You have the Mayor that is over Mike Rorar but the appointing authority would be the Service Director so you wouldn’t have the Service Director and a Safety person or . . . Mr. Bozic: That’s all I am asking, can you just give me a quick, because they are by departments so I would assume that each department had the same appointing authority for all those positions that are in that department but maybe that isn’t the case. Mr. Bollas: Any additional discussion? Alright, we will keep that at 2nd Reading. Pres. of Council: We have to vote on the amendment. Mr. Bollas: Alright. Please call the roll. Roll Call: Mr. Bollas, Mr. Bozic, Mrs. Gutman, Mrs. Kilway, Mr. Loughry, Mr. Sisak, Mrs. Allman – unanimous. Ord. 2023-94 was amended by a vote of 7-0. Mr. Bollas: With that, I will close committee. ii. Additional Items: None. d. Safety Adam Bozic, Chair Craig Sisak, Vice Chair The Safety Committee deals with disaster services, communications, fire, and paramedics, police and health. i. Second Readings of Ordinances and Resolutions. A. Ord. 2023-92 – Appropriating additional funds for dispatch services from the Summit Area Regional Council of Governments (SARCOG) and providing for immediate enactment. Sponsor: Dir. of Finance Gilbride Mr. Bozic: I call the Safety Committee to order. We have Ord. 2023-92 at 2nd Reading. The ordinance was read into the record. I will send it to Mrs. Gilbride. Dir. of Finance: Yes, as we previously discussed at the last meeting, we had stated numerous times throughout the year and last year’s budget process that we, with the uncertainty of when the actual Dispatch Center was going to open, we did not provide for 17  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. November 9, 2023 Dir. of Finance (Cont’d.) any payments to the COG for the 2023 Operating Year. So, this is a re-appropriation to pay for operations that have occurred since actually last quarter of 2022. They hired the Director and so the County is going to be billing us for the actual, our portion of actual costs so this would be used to cover that for the 2023 Operational Year. I did, for Council’s information, I did coordinate with the City of Stow, and we have confirmed, and we will be receiving about $100,000 refund from them for the 2023 year for dispatch services that we paid them for in July that we did not receive. Mr. Bozic: Again, I want to thank you again for the line of questioning I had about how that structure works in those meetings; that was very helpful, and I look forward to getting some of those reports on how it is working moving forward. Obviously that is a great addition to our income tax revenue so we definitely want to make sure that we are seeing the flipside of that and what the expenses are. Do you need this passed at 2 nd Reading? Dir. of Finance: I do not need it passed at 2nd Reading. I don’t believe we will be receiving the bills until December, but I don’t anticipate any further changes. Mr. Bozic: Alright. Anyone else on Council? Pres. of Council: Well, then I would move to adopt. Seconded Mr. Sisak. Pres. of Council: That is just because we are going to have a full agenda at the December meeting. Roll Call: Mr. Bozic, Mrs. Gutman, Mrs. Kilway, Mr. Loughry, Mr. Sisak, Mrs. Allman, Mr. Bollas – unanimous. Ord. 2023-92 is adopted by a vote of 7-0. Mr. Bozic: Anything else for the Safety Committee. Mr. Bollas: Yes, I’m not sure if this is the right committee to bring this up, but I just wanted to ask around the passage of Issue 2 and the effective date. What are the implications of that in terms of testing whether that be employees, or you know pulling over a driver and performing a test. What is the City’s cost impacts to that as it pertains to our budget for 2024. Do we have any idea at this point? Dir. of Finance: I don’t anticipate that there will be a budgetary concern that I can’t anticipate right now. There has always been impaired driving for drugs and so officers are trained to detect and apprehend drivers that are impaired not just by alcohol but by controlled substances so there will be a change in how they have to operate that. Everyone is in the same boat; everyone in the State is trying to access, with regard to employees, we have already had medical marijuana and we have said that that is something that is not allowed to be in anyone’s system and so we are a drug-free workplace and so I would think that this would continue down the same path. Mr. Bollas: OK. I was thinking in terms of somebody shows up with that in their system; it takes 24 hours for a test and you know whether it be PD or FD and then you have an empty shift you have to cover and so there is overtime and shift coverage and that sort of thing so again, I am just kind of thinking out loud. Dir. of Law: It is kind of treated the same way that alcohol would be now so if you have an employee that you suspect is showing up to work impaired and you have probable cause to send them for testing, then we would treat it the same way. So, it would be the same thing if we actually felt that there was someone who was impaired and so we have been dealing with that with alcohol and quite frankly with other controlled substances so it would be along the same lines. Now are there going to be things that we have to work through and figure out because of it; certainly. However there has been a lot of talk already about the potential of the legislature making changes to what was adopted and so on and so forth so I don’t know that we really know the full ramifications and again we are in the same boat as every municipality so we are watching that and we are looking for and we will be looking for informational sources as they are getting pushed out to municipalities like we do anytime that there is a change in the law. 18  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. November 9, 2023 Mr. Bollas: OK, then my last question, which is around our Zoning Code; so down the street we have a smoke shop in the JEDD that we just had a presentation on that was on the list, so based on the Tallmadge Zoning Code, could someone potentially open a business now legally in the City limits to sell that? Dir. of Law: So, those are things that we are looking at. We had prohibited medical marijuana dispensaries and manufacturers but not recreational. Under what was adopted I do not believe that we have the same level of home rule authority that they had built into the medical marijuana legislation and again I don’t know if that is something that is being looked at in Columbus when they are talking about tweaking it, so I don’t know that we know the full scope or impacts. Pres. of Council: So, regarding looking into it, is there a consortium or something that we belong to. But do we like working together with Akron, Stow, Green, whatever; are we looking at this collectively or is everyone just doing their own thing? Dir. of Law: So, the City has multiple different collective entities. They are part of the Ohio Municipal Attorneys Association, the Ohio Municipal League, and then each area of specialization so there is the Chief’s Associations and there are Fire Chief’s Associations and there are Mayor’s Associations, there are Public Service Associations, there are Finance Associations so all of us in all the different departments have connectivity. We are all on lists and we all get education pushed out to us and we all have people that we talk to. We do coordinate and talk to, and I actually had a conversation today with other prosecutors when I was up at court about this issue and so yes, those are all in the works and it is really the same every time there is new legislation in a different area we tackle it. Pres. of Council: So, like, typically then, I guess you are anticipating that there will be model legislation that gets adopted somewhere else first and gets vetted and then we will follow suit. Dir. of Law: Yeah, I mean it depends on ultimately what it looks like. Whether there is even any model legislation for a municipality to adopt. The way it was adopted, I don’t know that there are a whole lot for the municipalities to actually do that. Mr. Bozic: Good discussion. Mr. Gidden, would you like to approach the podium and state your name and address please. Wayne Goodin, 1602 Timbertop, Tallmadge. I have a quick question, I guess more for the Law Director. Alcohol has been legal for years. There are dry counties and dry cities. Has Tallmadge considered maybe making Tallmadge a marijuana-free City? Dir. of Law: The way that the legislation was adopted it would not allow for that. So, I don’t know if that is going to be an option. Mr. Goodin: OK. Thank you. Mr. Bozic: Certainly, a lot of questions spiraling from the passing of that, and I am sure our Law Department is very much on top of it as always so thank you. The only other thing I want to close with the Safety Committee is I just want to acknowledge again the City being recognized by the EMA for the Summit Ready. I know a lot of work that we had to go through in the Rec Center with EMA or the Emergency Action Plan and things like that and so congratulations on that and great work. Mayor: Keep in mind, it is not the COOP Plan. The Comprehensive Operations Plan. It is a different plan, but we do have an update for the COOP Plan too. We are floating documents around and we will be done by the end of the year, but that is a little bit of an update. Mr. Bozic: When we were talking about drug testing for employees and Law Director Raber touched on it, the City has a great policy in place for how we conduct those and the service that we utilize for that and they actually can come on site and so there are a lot of really good resources that the City utilizes when it comes to doing the testing and things like that. So, Mrs. Stritch has been great at coordinating those over the years. So, thank 19  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. November 9, 2023 Mr. Bozic (Cont’d.) you. With that I will ask if there is anything else for the Safety Committee. Hearing none, I will close committee. Thank you. ii. Additional Items: None. e. Community Issues Mary Gutman, Chair Carol Kilway, Vice Chair The Community Issues Committee deals with Parks and Recreation, civic affairs, and liaison between Council and the Recreation Board and intergovernmental affairs. i. Second Readings of Ordinances and Resolutions. A. Ord. 2023-93 – Expressing intent to sell unneeded, obsolete, or unfit real property known as Parcel #60-02371, located on Shanafelt Avenue, not needed for Municipal purposes and providing for immediate enactment. Sponsor: Dir. of Pub. Service Rorar Mrs. Gutman: I call the Community Issues Committee to order. We have before us at 2nd Reading Ord. 2023-93. The ordinance was read into the record. Mr. Rorar, is there anything you want to say about this? Dir. of Pub. Service: No, nothing. Mrs. Gutman: Do we need to keep this, or can we pass this tonight? Dir. of Law: I would just leave it for 3 readings since you are going to be getting rid of the real estate, but we haven’t been reached out to by anyone. Mrs. Gutman: OK. Is there any more discussion? Then we will move this to 3rd Reading. Is there anything else for Community Issues tonight? Hearing none, I will close Community Issues. ii. Additional Items: None. f. Public Service Rebecca Allman, Chair Mary Gutman, Vice Chair The Public Service Committee deals with streets, highways, sidewalks, buildings, and improvements: water, sewer, electricity, gas, energy resources, recycle, waste, and trash. Mrs. Allman: I call the Public Service Committee to order. We have nothing before us this evening. Does Council or the Administration have anything for the Public Service? Mr. Bollas: Just on the water announcement. Do we have a breakdown of what that means per unit of measure? Mayor: No, I just received a courtesy call from the Mayor of Akron yesterday saying that it is going to be in the paper today and more information to come. I didn’t even see it in the paper. I know it made the headlines on the on-line paper. Mr. Bollas: What is the effective date? Mayor: I don’t know. I have to read it more thoroughly. Mrs. Allman: Anything else for Public Service? Seeing none, I close committee. i. Additional Items: None. 11. Reports of Special Committees: a. Council Operations Committee i. Additional Items: None. 12. Announcements: We have a proposed calendar that typically gets adopted at the Organizational Meeting and so all we are waiting on is . . . Mrs. Raber, because of the way the Charter is written 20  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. November 9, 2023 Pres. of Council (Cont’d.) and Mrs. Raber and I had a brief conversation today. The wording in the Charter says that the Organizational Meeting has to occur following January 1 st . . . ten days following January 1st and so I didn’t know whether that means you count the 1st or you start on the 2nd. Dir. of Law: Yes. So that coupled with the Rules of Council . . . the Charter says within ten (10) days after January 1st. Then the Rules of Council though say, “shall be elected not more than 10 days after the commencement of the term. So, I would say that it needs to be 10 days. So, January 10th. Pres. of Council: So, with that we will have, or I mean we will adopt this at the Organizational Meeting, but the intent is that both meetings will be on Wednesday, the 10th of January. Mrs. Kilway: Both the Organizational Meeting and the Council Meeting. Pres. of Council: Typically, the Organizational Meeting is at 6:00 p.m. and then the Council meeting at 7:00 p.m. So, plan on that, but then . . . So, actually the last thing that I have is that we have 5 weeks between meetings and so everyone has a nice Thanksgiving, and this is a joke, so Mrs. Kilway is going to be very busy, and I am going to be on vacation. So, congratulations Carol. Mrs. Kilway: Thank you Dennis. Pres. of Council: So, is there anything else? Any other announcements? Mr. Bozic: Mr. President, do we have to approve this calendar. Pres. of Council: That gets approved at the Organizational Meeting. Dir. of Law: You may want to vote tonight to set the first meeting of the year and the Organizational Meeting at least on January 10th. Pres. of Council: I will entertain a motion to set the Organizational Meeting and the first Council meeting. Mr. Bozic: I move to set the first date of the 2024 meetings of January 10 th. The Organizational Meeting is at 6:00 p.m. followed by our Council Meeting. Seconded Mr. Bollas. Roll Call: Mrs. Gutman, Mrs. Kilway, Mr. Loughry, Mr. Sisak, Mrs. Allman, Mr. Bollas, Mr. Bozic – unanimous. The Organizational Meetings has been set for January 10th by a vote of 7-0. 13. Adjournment: Mrs. Gutman moved to adjourn. Seconded Mrs. Kilway. Roll Call: Mrs. Allman, Mr. Bollas, Mr. Bozic, Mrs. Gutman, Mrs. Kilway, Mr. Loughry, Mr. Sisak – unanimous. The Council meeting of 11-9-23 adjourned at 8:54 p.m. sb Adopted: _______________ _______________________________ __________________________________ Susan E. Burton, Clerk of Council Dennis K. Loughry – President of Council 21