City Council Regular Meeting

COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. January 25, 2024 1. Call to Order: President of Council Bozic called the Council meeting of Thursday, January 25, 2024, to order at 7:00 p.m. 2. Opening Prayer: Rev. Phil Anderson, Bethel Church of Tallmadge Pledge of Allegiance: Ceana Birgen, 5th grade student at Tallmadge Elementary School. 3. Roll Call: Mr. Bollas, Mr. Bozic, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Jessica Epstein, Mr. Roy – present. 4. Correcting and Adopting Previous Meeting Minutes: Regular Meeting 12-14-23 Minutes: Mr. Bollas: Can I make a motion to adopt the minutes together or does it have to be separate? Dir. of Law: You can do either or. You might want to do it separately. Mr. Bollas: I make a motion to adopt the 12-14-23 minutes as presented. Seconded Mrs. Gutman. Roll Call: Mr. Bozic, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mrs. Epstein, Mr. Roy, Mr. Bollas – unanimous. The Council meeting minutes for the 12-14-23 meeting are adopted by a vote of 6-0. Organizational Meeting 01-10-24 Minutes: Mr. Pavlik: I will make a motion to approve. Seconded Mr. Roy. Roll Call: Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mrs. Epstein, Mr. Roy, Mr. Bollas, Mr. Bozic – unanimous. The 1-10-24 Organizational meeting minutes are adopted by a vote of 6-0. 5. Financial Reports: None. 6. Public Hearings: COMMUNITY ISSUES Third Readings of Ordinances and Resolutions P.H. on 01-25-24 @ 7:05 p.m. 2023-103 – Imposing a six-month moratorium on acceptance of any Zoning application for an adult use cannabis operator and providing for immediate enactment. Sponsor: Mayor Kline Pres. of Council: This evening we have a public hearing under Community Issues, and I will turn this over to our Community Issues Chairman, Mr. Roy. Mr. Roy: I want to open the public hearing. It is 7:06 p.m. The ordinance was read into the record. What we will do is have the public who either want to speak for it or against it come up to the podium and state your name and address. Is there anyone who would like to speak in favor of Ord. 2023- 103? Lee Gidden, 1602 Timbertop Drive, Tallmadge. I am for the moratorium. The reason is that I don’t believe our state is ready for this to be enacted let alone our community and there is going to be a very large impact if you look at the data from the states that have already passed the law. So, I am fully for the moratorium, and I look forward to talking to you when we are ready to put them up. Mr. Roy: Is there anyone else who would like to speak for Ord. 2023-103? No one responded. Is there anyone who would like to speak against Ord. 2023-103? No one responded. Second time, is there anyone who would like to speak for Ord. 2023-103? No one responded. Is there anyone who would like to speak against Ord. 2023-103? No one responded. Third and final time, is there anyone who would like to speak for or against Ord. 2023-103? No one responded. It is now 7:08 p.m. and I call the public hearing closed. Mr. Pavlik made a motion to adopt Ord. 2023-103. Seconded Mrs. Gutman. Mrs. Epstein: So, this is for 6 months and a lot of that is waiting for some more information from the State. If we don’t have all of that information at the end of the 6 months, could you talk about what that process would look like? Dir. of Law: Yes, so there is a way to extend that and it would have to come back for Council’s action to approve that to extend the moratorium and we could extend it for another 6 months if need be depending on where the State legislature is with adopting rules and regulations and where we are internally with regard to what we have looked into. Typically, when we extend a moratorium, you just need to have some kind of justification for doing so, so we would need to have that reason and then not having everything lined up at the State could be one of those reasons. 1  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. January 25, 2024 Mrs. Epstein: Is there any other type of criteria outside of waiting on the State that you would be looking at to make that assessment? Dir. of Law: Internally if we didn’t feel as a City or as a community that we weren’t ready to proceed in one direction or the other, that could also be a reason why we would extend it as well. I just wanted to make sure again for the purpose of the public that they understand that this is applicable only to the zoning and not to the rest of regulations that were adopted by the State. Mr. Bozic: So, I have a question for the Administration. Are we forming any kind of internal committee or ad hoc committee to look at the zoning issues that might come up and make recommendations to the Planning & Zoning Committee? Dir. of Law: So, how we have handled it previously when we have had these is that we have had a small group of people who looked at it. Obviously, with this situation we are kind of hoping that we have some more guidance as to the direction that the State is going with their regulatory scheme. So, we may hold off on having those meetings for a little bit to see where the State is going so, we may not implement that right away. When we do, we will probably have one of the Council members that would participate, preferably the zoning person, and then anybody else that is interested in that. So, if you want to let us know, I know that we will be working with Helene and the Mayor in trying to get that together, but again, probably not immediately because of the circumstances in this case. Mr. Bozic: I know just from my own research that there is quite a bit of information and I believe it is the Secretary of State’s website for Ohio in regard to the number of licenses that they are going to issue through the State and kind of how that process is going to take place. There is quite a bit of information out there already. It is just again; it is just a matter of getting that completely finalized. So, for any Council members that want to learn more there is a lot of information online. Mr. Pavlik: It is kind of like a liquor license. Mr. Bozic: Yes, that was my interpretation of it as well. Roll Call: Mr. Pavlik, Mrs. Epstein, Mr. Bollas, Mr. Bozic, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Roy – unanimous. Ord. 2023-103 is adopted by a vote of 6-0. Mr. Bozic: I look forward to meeting with the Administration to finalize what we hope we will have in the City here or not have. 7. Community Input: Pres. of Council: It is at this time that we open it up to anyone in the audience who would like to address Council. We ask that typically you should discuss comments not currently on the agenda. If there is anything you would like to discuss when we get to those ordinances, you are allotted 2 minutes time, and we could stretch that a little if we need to. Is there anyone who would like to address Council? Seeing none, we will go on with the agenda. 8. Agenda Additions: Discussion and adoption of the 2024 Meeting Dates. Pres. of Council: We will discuss the adoption of the 2024 Meeting Dates, and we did overlook assigning a Chairperson for the Fire Fighters’ Dependents Fund. We did assign a secretary. We have to go back and rediscuss that. First off let’s discuss our meeting dates. You should have in front of you or through your e-mail the 2024 Meeting Dates. Do we have to make a motion to approve these? Dir. of Law: Yes. You have not done that. Mrs. Gutman: I will make a motion to adopt the meeting dates for 2024. Seconded Mrs. Epstein. Mr. Bollas: Historically have we added an extra meeting if needed for the budget meeting because is it on the schedule or . . . Dir. of Law: I think we just started doing that last year or maybe the year before. So, typically we did not have that date and then I think at times there were concerns that we may need to have an extra meeting and then people did not have that date blocked out. So, it was like kind of just a hold the date kind of thing. Mr. Bollas: OK, so if it is approved tonight, is it technically a regular Council meeting that you have the ability to cancel? 2  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. January 25, 2024 Dir. of Law: No, it is called out as a possible extra meeting so it would be set just like a special meeting. I don’t know if you want to make it more clear that this is just a tentative meeting date, or I don’t know . . . Pres. of Council: I feel like last year we had previously said that we were going to set this date in July or something. Dir. of Law: Yeah, I think it was on the calendar last year I think maybe for the first time. Pres. of Council: Is there any further discussion on this? Lee Gidden, 1602 Timbertop, Tallmadge. Is there any way I could get a list of those meetings? Pres. of Council: Yes, once these are adopted those dates will be put into our City calendar. Mr. Gidden: Will there be a form like this? Deputy Clerk of Council: It is there now even though we didn’t approve them yet. But it is in the City Document Center and actually there is a link on the website if you go to City Council, on our City Council page we have a link that says Meeting Dates for 2024. Mr. Gidden: Thank you. Mr. Pavlik: Mr. President, these are the 2nd and 4th Thursdays? Pres. of Council: For the most part. Mr. Pavlik: It was denoted that January 10th was on a Wednesday. Dir. of Law: So technically you wouldn’t even need to adopt these because according to Council rules you meet on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays, however because there are times when there is a break or there are times when sometimes, which I don’t think it falls that way this year, but sometimes Trick or Treat falls on Thursday and we bump that or whatever. So, there are those little things and so because of that that is why you adopt those is for the changes. Mr. Pavlik: So, Mrs. Law Director, so this can be changed throughout the year? Dir. of Law: It can be. So, we can . . . you can call a Special Meeting for purposes if need be if something comes up that I know one time there was a concert on the Circle and we wanted to change it so things could happen but in general, Council meets the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of the month and there are these few holidays. Pres. of Council: The only thing that I would have for us on Council and the Administration is because if there is a summer break at one point, and I don’t know if that is something that you can necessarily see the movement of legislation on the agenda that we should go back to that? Dir. of Law: So, historically, and I have been here for a while; almost 20 years, and so historically there was a summer break or summer recess, however, there is often, although we can’t guarantee it like when we switched back to not having a summer break there are often things moving through the Zoning process because it is a very busy construction time and so we didn’t want to delay those types of things and it seemed like Council was not necessarily taking their vacations during that time and they would miss other times anyway so the last few years again Council had decided not to take a break and that is your prerogative as Council to look at that and decide. Mrs. Epstein: If I could ask what the date is because we all have kids now and it is not as flexible for us. So, can I ask the date? Mr. Pavlik: June 27th. Mrs. Epstein: June 27th. So, that would give us 3 people that wouldn’t be here. Dir. of Law: You need 4 people from Council for a quorum. Then you cannot pass things at 1 st Reading. Well, you can but it won’t go into immediate effect. If you want to wait and see everyone’s calendar you can always come back and change the time if you want to make that decision now, you can do that now. Obviously, we still need one Council member. I’m not sure how you want to proceed. Pres. of Council: We will kind of regroup as a Council and make sure our dates line up or not line up. Mr. Pavlik: Ms. Law Director, can you call in or be on video? 3  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. January 25, 2024 Dir. of Law: No. The Ohio Legislature for a brief period of time during Covid allowed for those kinds of virtual meetings, but now they do not allow for them. Pres. of Council: OK, so I say go ahead and call the roll. Roll Call: Mrs. Epstein, Mr. Roy, Mr. Bollas, Mr. Bozic, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik – unanimous. The meeting dates are adopted by a vote of 6-0. Pres. of Council: We will move on to the appointment of the Firefighters’ Dependents Fund Chairperson. During our January 10th meeting we had appointed Mary Gutman as the Secretary to the Fund. We also need to appoint a Chairperson to the Fund. I would like to make a motion to move Mrs. Gutman to Chairperson and move for the Secretary to be one of us on Council. So that is my nomination. Mayor: Mr. Bozic, I think these are your appointments. I don’t think you need to have a motion. Mr. Bozic: I think we did vote but I think it was a semi kind of appointment. Alright, so we have a motion for Mary Gutman to become the Chairperson of the Firefighters’ Dependents Fund. Do I have any nominations for Secretary? OK, let’s vote on the first one. Roll Call: Mr. Bollas, Mr. Bozic, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mrs. Epstein, Mr. Roy – unanimous. Mary Gutman was appointed to be the Chairperson of the Firefighters’ Dependents Fund by a vote of 6-0. Pres. of Council: Do I have any nominations for Secretary? Mr. Bollas: I would nominate Donald Pavlik. Seconded Mr. Bozic. Roll Call: Mr. Bozic, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mrs. Epstein, Mr. Roy, Mr. Bollas – unanimous. Mr. Pavlik was appointed as Secretary to the Firefighters’ Dependents Fund by a vote of 6-0. 9. Reports of Administrative Officers: a. Mayor/Director of Economic Development: Thank you, Mr. Bozic, I appreciate that. • I have an update on our staff. I have hired our H.R. Administrator, Allie Schwartz and she comes to us from the University of Akron. She comes extremely qualified. We were blown away by her qualifications and then we happened to look at her address after we offered her the position and she just happens to live in Tallmadge. So, to me that is a bonus as well. • We did have social media training today through the Ohio Municipal League. It prompted a lot of great discussion and review of our policy. They are going to make this presentation available to us because I said I would really like to share that with Council because I think it would be a good video for you guys to watch because it does affect our lives as public officials. As soon as we get that video and instruction, I will send it out to you guys. • Congresswoman Emelia Sykes did sponsor a First Responders Grant Summit where she had FEMA come in and do a seminar on applying for grants. It was primarily for First Responders but there was also information for Police so both of our Chiefs were there and there were a lot of other supporting staff as well. We were fortunate to have it at our Summit Emergency Communications Center so that was a great bonus for us as well. • Chief Bohon did set up and included some of us in a Pradco Leadership Seminar and it was very informative with some very good information. There were quite a few employees and staff that attended it. • I had a meeting at Portage Development Board today. There are a lot of good things happening in the JEDD and as soon as I get the OK, I will discuss that with you guys. I am going to keep a close watch on what is going on in Portage County because that is very important to us. • Finally, it is just a couple of months away, but April 8th is the total solar eclipse, and due to our strategic location, we can expect to have a big tourist surge in the area, and we do have on the Community page of our website some information about that. I do want to set up a meeting with Police, Fire, Rec and Service to discuss the impact and to make sure 4  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. January 25, 2024 • Mayor (Cont’d.) that we are all on the same page. The fairgrounds are selling parking spaces to people who want to come and view that. So that will have a big impact on our safety services. Any questions from Council? b. Director of Administration/Director of Safety: Mayor: I addressed everything in my previous report. c. Director of Public Service: I would like to request 1st Reading adoption tonight of Ord. 2024-15, 17, 18, 19, and 20. Just to go over the snowplow routes again. Keep in mind that there is a strategy. We have the blue ones which are the mains, and we stay on those until we can get off of them. Then we move to the secondary routes which are the red routes. Those are a way to get everybody in and out of the developments. Then lastly are the allotment roads and those are the dead ends or roads that are small enough that unfortunately they are last. Some snow events depending on a snow event, we may not get off of the mains. That is just the nature of the beast. I want to commend all of the plow drivers for the last two weeks they did a great job. The roads were good in my opinion. • Moving on, some great news, back on the November 9th Council meeting, Ord. 2023-95 we applied for 4 grants, and we scored 2 of them actually and that is good news. Big dollars there. I mean it is $1 million for Munroe Falls from East Avenue down to Perry and then the No. 3 few scored $646,000 and that is for Eastwood to Munroe to the City limits. Keep in mind that our paving budget is $1 million and so that is huge that we scored these. Thanks to AMATS, they did a great job for us. That first one, when the application resurfaced, East Avenue came in 4th, so we almost made it. They felt pretty confident that we got the points and next year hopefully we score on that. Excellent news. So next year, 2025, those roads should get paved, and we are going to start doing reconnaissance on all of the infrastructure; the pipes and the sanitary sewers and make sure that nothing needs replaced on the roads before we pave them. End of my report unless there are any questions. d. Director of Finance: Thank you. It is tax season, and we are getting ready to start up. We are starting to see visitors in City Hall to do their City tax returns so we do use R.I.T.A. for our collections. They have a lot of great resources on their website, which is RITA-ohio.com and if any resident needs any help or has any questions you can direct them there or send them to my office and we will be glad to help them. End of report. e. Director of Law: Thank you. I just want to state for the record that I am going to be asking for an Executive Session this evening to discuss pending litigation and I will ask for that at the end of the meeting prior to adjournment but we will not be coming back to take any action. Pres. of Council: So, when we get to that time, you may see the screen go off, but we will be back and then do adjournment. Technically the meeting is over at that point. Let’s move on to our committees. 10. Reports of Standing Committees of Council of the Whole: a. PLANNING AND ZONING Mary Gutman, Chair Jessica Epstein, Vice Chair The Planning & Zoning Committee deals with land use, zoning, conditional uses, planning, economic and community development, and public property. Mrs. Gutman: I call the Planning & Zoning Committee to order. We have no legislation before us tonight. Does anybody have anything for Planning & Zoning? Seeing nothing, I will close committee. i. Additional Items: None. 5  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. January 25, 2024 b. FINANCE Don Pavlik, Chair Jonathon Bollas, Vice Chair The Finance Committee deals with budget, appropriations, reappropriations, bonds, franchises, investments, and expenditures. i. First Readings of Ordinances and Resolutions. A. 2024-17 Expressing intent to sell unneeded, obsolete, or unfit municipal personal property including but not limited to vehicles and equipment by internet and/or auto auction in calendar year 2024 and providing for immediate enactment. Sponsor: Director of Public Service Rorar Mr. Pavlik: I call the Finance Committee to order. We have Ord. 2024-17 at 1st Reading. The ordinance was read into the record. Does the Service Director have any comment on this? Dir. of Pub. Service: Yes, this is the time of year we may do 2 or 3 auctions for furniture or whatever we are dealing with, and we do bring that back to Council before we sell it so we give you guys a list of what we are selling. So, you guys have another chance to look at that list. Mr. Pavlik: Do any Council members have any comments? Mr. Bozic: Are we still utilizing the online auction? Dir. of Pub. Service: GovDeals; yes. Mr. Pavlik: Is there a motion? Mrs. Gutman: I will make a motion for the adoption of Ord. 2024-17. Seconded Mr. Bollas. Roll Call: Mr. Pavlik, Mrs. Epstein, Mr. Roy, Mr. Bollas, Mr. Bozic, Mrs. Gutman – unanimous. Ord. 2024-17 is adopted by a vote of 6-0. B. 2024-21 Accepting donations to the City of Tallmadge for 2023 and providing for immediate enactment. Sponsor: Director of Finance Gilbride Mr. Pavlik: Next, we have Ord. 2024-21. The ordinance was read into the record. Does the Finance Director have any comment on this? Dir. of Finance: This is just standard procedure that we have to go through every year listing out any donations that the City has received from outside sources. They are all included in there and I am just asking Council to accept those donations. Mr. Pavlik: Any other comments? Mrs. Gutman: I will make a motion to adopt Ord. 2024-21 at 1st Reading. Seconded Mr. Roy. Roll Call: Mrs. Epstein, Mr. Roy, Mr. Bollas, Mr. Bozic, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik – unanimous. Ord. 2024-21 is adopted by a vote of 6-0. C. 2024-22 Authorizing the Mayor to enter into a contract without competitive bidding and through the state purchasing program, or as authorized by R.C. 125.04(c), with MNJ Technologies for the purchase of computer equipment, software licenses, and related equipment and providing for immediate enactment. Sponsor: Mayor Kilway Mr. Pavlik: Next, we have Ord. 2024-22. The ordinance was read into the record. Mayor Kilway, do you have any comments? Mayor Kilway: First of all, when you were reading it into the record, you said “enter into a contract with competitive bidding” but it is without competitive bidding. This is through the State Purchasing Program, and this is just a housekeeping ordinance, and it just allows us to continue with the licensing with Microsoft and so forth. Dir. of Law: And if I could just clarify on this one, they also allow for us to use another co- op if need be. In case there is one with a lower price we are allowed to do that under the 6  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. January 25, 2024 Dir. of Law (Cont’d) Ohio Revised Code. We called out Sourcewell on the one and on this one we just kind of left it generic because we don’t know which one we will be able to use. Mr. Pavlik: Madame Finance Director, is there a number budgeted for this? Dir. of Finance: Right, so all of these ordinances are constrained by what the appropria- tions are that were already passed by Council in the budget. Mr. Pavlik: Is there a motion? Mrs. Gutman: I would make a motion to adopt Ord. 2024-22 at 1st Reading. Seconded Mr. Bollas. Roll Call: Mr. Roy, Mr. Bollas, Mr. Bozic, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mrs. Epstein – unanimous. Ord. 2023-22 is adopted by a vote of 6-0. D. 2024-23 Authorizing the Mayor to purchase online subscription services with Microsoft Corporation which are special in nature and not requiring a competitive bid and providing for immediate enactment. Sponsor: Mayor Kilway Mr. Pavlik: Next, we have Ord. 2024-23. The ordinance was read into the record. Mayor Kilway do you have any comments? Mayor: No, not really. It is in the budget. Mr. Pavlik: Does Council have any comments? Hearing none, is there a motion? Mrs. Gutman: I would make a motion to adopt Ord. 2024-23. Seconded Mr. Roy. Roll Call: Mr. Bollas, Mr. Bozic, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mrs. Epstein, Mr. Roy – unanimous. Ord. 2024-23 is adopted by a vote of 6-0. E. 2024-24 Authorizing the Mayor to enter into a contract without competitive bidding and through the state purchasing program or Sourcewell, or as authorized by R.C. 125.04(c), with Johnson Control, Inc for the purchase of integrated security, software licenses, and related equipment and providing for immediate enactment. Sponsor: Mayor Kilway Mr. Pavlik: Next, we have Ord. 2024-24. The ordinance was read into the record. Mayor Kilway, do you have any comments? Mayor: Just again, this is another housekeeping ordinance item that is in the budget. Mr. Bozic: Just for anyone watching at home because we are flying through these is that when we say housekeeping; these are ordinances that we discuss on an annual basis. They are things that help the operations of the City Administration do their day-to-day operations so a lot of these are just what we call them, housekeeping, and they need to be taken care of at the beginning of the year. Mr. Pavlik: Is there a motion? Mrs. Gutman: I move to adopt Ord. 2024-24. Seconded Mrs. Epstein. Roll Call: Mr. Bozic, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mrs. Epstein, Mr. Roy, Mr. Bollas – unanimous. Ord. 2024-24 is adopted by a vote of 6-0. F. 2024-25 Authorizing participation in the National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO) and NASPO Valuepoint for the purpose of contracting with Verizon Wireless for telephone and internet services and providing for immediate enactment. Sponsor: Mayor Kilway Mr. Pavlik: Next, we have Ord. 2024-25. The ordinance was read into the record. Mayor, do you have any comments? Mayor: Just again that this is a housekeeping item, and it is in the budget. Mr. Pavlik: Hearing none, is there a motion? Mrs. Gutman: I move to adopt Ord. 2024-25. Seconded Mr. Roy. Roll Call: Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mrs. Epstein, Mr. Roy, Mr. Bollas, Mr. Bozic – unanimous. Ord. 2024-25 is adopted by a vote of 6-0. 7  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. January 25, 2024 G. 2024-26 Authorizing the Director of Public Service to advertise for bids and the Mayor to enter into a contract for the replacement of the culvert and deteriorating storm sewer on Elton Drive and providing for immediate enactment. Sponsor: Director of Public Service Rorar Mr. Pavlik: Next, we have Ord. 2024-26. The ordinance was read into the record. This is sponsored by Dir. of Pub. Service. Does the Service Director have any comments on this? Dir. of Pub. Service: Yes, this is a two-year project going back into 2023 actually and we needed engineering and so we are back on track, and we should be able to get this job done. I would like to get this job done before we pave because Thomas Road is going to get paved, and this is where that cross is occurring. It was budgeted for as well. Mr. Pavlik: Does Council have any questions? Dir. of Law: I just wanted to point out for the record that we did . . . a typographical error was brought to my attention that this should be Elton Avenue instead of Elton Drive. There is no other Elton in the City so we don’t think there would be any misidentification to be discussed, but we will make that correction to the ordinance before it is fully adopted and journalized. Mr. Pavlik: Do any Council members have any comments? Mr. Bozic: What is the budgeted amount for this project? Dir. of Pub. Service: I think it was $150,000. Mr. Pavlik: Do I have a motion? Mrs. Gutman: I move for the adoption of Ord. 2024-26. Seconded Mrs. Epstein. Roll Call: Mr. Pavlik, Mrs. Epstein, Mr. Roy, Mr. Bollas, Mr. Bozic, Mrs. Gutman – unanimous. Ord. 2024-26 is adopted by a vote of 6-0. ii. Additional Items: None. c. PERSONNEL Jonathon Bollas, Chair Don Pavlik, Vice Chair The Personnel Committee deals with personnel, labor relations, insurance claims, Rules of Council and State Statutes. i. Second Readings of Resolutions and Ordinances A. 2024-15 Tracked PH 02-08-24 @ 7:05 pm 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 Kilway Mr. Bollas: I call the Personnel Committee to order. We have one ordinance before us this evening. That is Ord. 2024-15. The ordinance was read into the record. Mayor: Just to remind you that this takes the last Administrative Assistant in the City from a classified position to an unclassified position. So, all of the Administrative Assistants in the City will then have the same classification, not in the City, but in the Service Department. Mr. Bollas: Any discussion from Council regarding this ordinance? Mr. Bozic: Does the Administration have any future updates on the grid that are coming down the line that we should be aware of that we may want to include in the near future? Mayor: No, I do not. Not in the near future. Mr. Bollas: Alright. That will stay at 2nd Reading. Is there anything else to come before the Personnel Committee this evening? Hearing none, I will close committee. Thank you. ii. Additional Items: None. 8  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. January 25, 2024 d. SAFETY Vacant, Chair Ted Roy, Vice Chair The Safety Committee deals with disaster services, communications, fire, and paramedics, police and health. Mr. Roy: I call the Safety Committee to order. We have no legislation at this time. Do we have any additional items? Hearing none, I will go ahead and close the Safety Committee. i. Additional Items: None. e. COMMUNITY ISSUES Ted Roy, Chair Mary Gutman, 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. First Readings of Resolutions and Ordinances A. 2024-27 Authorizing the Mayor to appropriate funds from the Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG) for the Minor Home Repair Program and providing for immediate enactment. Sponsor: Mayor Kilway Mr. Roy: I call the Community Issues Committee to order. We have a 1st Reading of Ord. 2024-27. The ordinance was read into the record. Dir. of Finance: So, at the end of last year we were going through the process with CDBG of running a minor home repair program. Through the end of last year we had appropriated some funds. We were not able to complete those projects where we could encumber the funds and so those funds are now carried forward and we need to re-appropriate those into the 2024 budget. Mrs. Gutman: Mrs. Gilbride, do you want this passed tonight? Dir. of Finance: If you could that would be helpful so we can move forward with the contracts and then start the repairs on the individual’s homes. Mrs. Gutman: I would make a motion for the adoption of Ord. 2024-27. Seconded Mrs. Epstein. Mr. Pavlik: Question. Whose homes and how do they apply? Dir. of Finance: So, CDBG are Federal funds and so they apply through our office through the Community Development Director, and she works very closely with Summit County who provides us with the CDBG funding reimbursement. So, residents of the City of Tallmadge can apply their criteria and income guidelines and different things that they have to meet and then the County will identify the repairs to their home that can be funded by the grant such as windows, roof replacements and things to make their home safe and secure and that is all in coordination with the County and then the funding is run through the City because we do have a matching portion towards that grant. Mrs. Epstein: If I may ask a question as well. Would that information be on the website if someone did want to apply? Dir. of Finance: Yes. It is on the website. Mr. Pavlik: Is there a cap on what they can apply for? Dir. of Finance: So, yes there are . . . it is not a hard cap, but it is not . . . most of the projects cost between I would say $10,000 to $17,000 with half of it being Federally funded and half being matched by the City. Mr. Pavlik: So, we had money that was left over from last year and we are putting it over in the 2024 fund? 9  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. January 25, 2024 Dir. of Finance: Correct. This is all money that we had left over from last year’s program, and we were trying to get rid of the remaining dollars and we just were not able to get the contracts in place with the contractors to do the repairs. So, the appropriation lapsed, and the money is still available in the fund, and we are just asking you to appropriate it to spend. Mr. Roy: Are there any further questions? Mr. Gidden, 1620 Timbertop Drive. When you were talking about how the appropriation goes through the County, Tallmadge is divided into two counties. Do they also work with Portage County or is it just Summit County residents? Dir. of Finance: I believe the program is only for Summit County residents, but I don’t know that for a fact so I can get that information and provide it. But I don’t know if the Portage County portion would be eligible because it is a Summit County funded program. Mr. Roy: Roll Call please. Roll Call: Mrs. Epstein, Mr. Roy, Mr. Bollas, Mr. Bozic, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik – unanimous. Ord. 2024-27 is adopted by a vote of 6-0. Mr. Roy: Is there anything else for Community Issues? Hearing none, I will close committee. ii. Additional Items: None. f. PUBLIC SERVICE Jessica Epstein, Chair Vacant, Vice Chair The Public Service Committee deals with streets, highways, sidewalks, buildings, and improvements: water, sewer, electricity, gas, energy resources, recycle, waste, and trash. i. First Readings of Resolutions and Ordinances A. 2024-18 Authorizing the Director of Public Service to advertise for bids and the Mayor to award a contract for trucking and hauling and providing for immediate enactment. Sponsor: Director of Public Service Rorar Mrs. Epstein: I call the Public Service Committee to order. We have Ord. 2024-18 at 1st Reading. The ordinance was read into the record. Mr. Rorar, would you like to speak to this? Dir. of Pub. Service: Yes, so at times throughout the year we need some larger trucks to do some hauling such as leaf season or if a storm blows through and this gives us an opportunity to get a company that can do that for us. Mrs. Epstein: Can I have a motion to approve Ord. 2024-18? Mr. Pavlik: I will make that motion. Seconded Mrs. Gutman. Mr. Bozic: What amount are we anticipating? Dir. of Pub. Service: Hopefully less than $50,000. Roll Call: Mr. Roy, Mr. Bollas, Mr. Bozic, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mrs. Epstein – unanimous. Ord. 2024-18 is adopted by a vote of 6-0. B. 2024-19 Authorizing the Ohio Director of Transportation to complete the mowing of IR76 within the City limits and providing for immediate enactment Sponsor: Director of Public Service Rorar Mrs. Epstein: Next, we have Ord. 2024-19. The ordinance was read into the record. This is sponsored by Dir. of Pub. Service Rorar. Do you have any comments? Dir. of Pub. Service: Yes. So, this is so we don’t have to mow the interstate. So, the section that runs through the City, we are responsible for mowing and this allows us to have the State do it for us. Mr. Pavlik: Mr. Rorar, do we pay . . . so we are just . . . 10  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. January 25, 2024 Dir. of Pub. Service: We are just asking them to do it. It is just housekeeping. It is along the ramps and everything. Mr. Bollas: I have one question, on behalf of the residents, in prior years we have discussed sound barriers and ODOT not being able to explore that without an existing project; technically this ordinance has described this work as a project. Would this project qualify for them to review that sound barrier? Dir. of Pub. Service: No. Mr. Bollas: OK. Dir. of Pub. Service: So, it would have to be something like widening the lanes or adding a ramp or something of that nature. Mr. Bollas: Just doing my due diligence on their behalf because I got that call; it is the second biggest complaint I get in Ward 3 right now. Mr. Bozic: I have a question with the work that has taken place in Brimfield as you get off of 76 on East Avenue, they changed the route; the exit on Mogadore Road and I believe they are going to do some work on the other side; would that qualify as a project and how do they . . . is there a mileage they allow from the distance from the project site? Dir. of Pub. Service: I don’t know that answer, but I am going to say that since it is not in Tallmadge . It is not going to work on our side. Mr. Bozic: Worth a phone call for us? Dir. of Pub. Service: Yes, I will find that out. Mr. Bollas: For those that are watching, we followed up on this with our State rep as well. Mr. Pavlik: Mr. Rorar, do you know when they diamond cut that road because I didn’t live there at that time. Did they ever talk about putting sound barriers up? Dir. of Pub. Service: That was before my time. Mrs. Epstein: Can I have a motion? Mr. Pavlik: So moved. Seconded Mrs. Gutman. Roll Call: Mr. Bollas, Mr. Bozic, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mrs. Epstein, Mr. Roy – unanimous. Ord. 2024-19 is adopted by a vote of 6-0. C. 2024-20 Authorizing the Mayor to enter into contract for CCTV inspection and cleaning consulting services related to City sewers and providing for immediate enactment. Sponsor: Director of Public Service Rorar Mrs. Epstein: Lastly, we have Ord. 2024-20. The ordinance was read into the record. This is sponsored by Mr. Rorar; do you have any comments? Dir. of Pub. Service: Yes, so what we will do here is we will solicit three or four companies; there is not a lot in the area that do this business. So, this is where they go through and jet the sanitary sewer lines and clean them and then televise them, so we have a record of how good the lines are. So, this just gives an opportunity to do that, and it is really just housekeeping. Mr. Pavlik: Is this the entire City that is done or just a certain location? Dir. of Pub. Service: We are hopeful that we can do it in 4 years. We will probably end up doing the whole City looped. It is quite a bit of work. Mrs. Epstein: Can I have a motion to approve Ord. 2024-20? Mr. Pavlik: So moved. Seconded Mr. Bollas. Roll Call: Mr. Bozic, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mrs. Epstein, Mr. Roy, Mr. Bollas – unanimous. Ord. 2024-20 is adopted by a vote of 6-0. Mrs. Epstein: Is there anything further for the Public Service Committee this evening? Mr. Bollas: In the fall I believe we submitted a resolution regarding Akron exploring a water treatment facility that could substantially increase the water rates if the project was given the green light. Is there any update on that project or that proposal as to where it sits right now? Dir. of Pub. Service: I have not heard anything. So that was . . . 11  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. January 25, 2024 Mr. Bollas: It was a resolution against. Dir. of Pub. Service: It was for treatment. It was for sanitary water. I have not heard anything back from them, so I am going to guess that since I am not hearing anything that maybe it had died out. I will follow up and see if the EPA is still in Akron. That was an EPA. requirement that they were asking Akron to do. Mr. Bollas: OK, and then are there any other updates regarding water, sewer, gas, electric rates for 2024? I know we had various rate discussions last year and there was some stuff coming up in the future. Any updates come across your desk? Dir. of Pub. Service: No, but all the aggregation, the electric and the gas is up I believe this year so we will be talking about it more. There is probably some increase coming with the water but we have not been in contact with Akron at all with that. They have not reached out to us, but I know they want to negotiate with us. Mrs. Epstein: Is there any other discussion for the committee this evening? Hearing none, I will close committee. ii. Additional Items: None. 11. Reports of Special Committees: a. Council Operations Committee Mr. Bollas: We had a really good meeting this week with Dove AV and the Mayor and Finance Director and various representatives from the City. Moving forward, we are continuing to upgrade Council chambers regarding the main display as well as our microphones so those have all been budgeted for in 2024. Dove is also exploring our audio speaker system. i. Additional Items: None 12. Announcements: Pres. of Council: I know Councilwoman Epstein has an announcement she would like to make as well. Mrs. Epstein: I have been working with my other At-Large counterpart, Mr. Bozic, and we are excited to announce that we will be co-hosting an event. The event will be called Hearts for Heros, and it is the letter writing campaign to our troops currently deployed overseas and so we would like to invite all of our community members out to join us at the library. This will be taking place on Saturday, February 10th at the Library Community Room and that is going to be from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Mr. Pavlik: What would that entail? Is it card making or letters or . . . Mrs. Epstein: We will be providing the supplies so you have the option; you can make a home- made card, or you can write a letter; you will have different options available. Mr. Roy: Can you open that up to the schools or anything? Mrs. Epstein: Yes, a great question. So, we will be making some outreach to the schools because I think this would be a great event to engage with them and we have also made contacts with our Scout troops and here on Council. Pres. of Council: Thank you for bringing that up. I think it is a great project and something that we can do together as a community. So, really looking forward to it. Are there any other announcements? Mayor: I am only announcing this because if you have not watched the news or anything, I don’t want you to get blindsided by it but we didn’t say anything because we weren’t sure if it was going to get aired or not, but Isabel Lawrence from WKYC 3 News did come in and I had mentioned the last time that there was going to be a nice feel-good piece that was going to come out regarding Tallmadge and so it did highlight the Law Director, the Finance Director and myself as being women leaders of the City and they found just 2 communities in Ohio that have all female leadership and it was a nice little piece and so I am sure it is getting pushed out on social media and so I just 12  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. January 25, 2024 Mayor (Cont’d.) wanted to let you know that you will probably be seeing something about it. Mr. Bozic: I am looking forward to watching it. We did get an e-mail. At this time, we will not take a motion for adjournment because we have an Executive Session so the time currently is 8:05 p.m. and we will break for Executive Session and will be back only to close out for adjournment. So, if you are watching at home the meeting is pretty much over other than adjournment. Dir. of Law: You have to vote to go into Executive Session. Mr. Bozic: We have to vote to go into Executive Session. Dir. of Law: And you have to state the reason. Mr. Bozic: We will be going into Executive Session to discuss Pending Litigation. Dir. of Law: That is the motion and then we need a second. Mr. Pavlik: I will second that. Roll Call: Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mrs. Epstein, Mr. Roy, Mr. Bollas, Mr. Bozic – unanimous. Council voted 6-0 to go into Executive Sesson for the purpose of discussing Pending Litigation. Mr. Bozic: The time is 8:53 p.m. and we are back on the floor. 13. Adjournment: Can I have motion to adjourn? Mr. Pavlik moved to adjourn. Seconded Mr. Bollas. Roll Call: Mr. Pavlik, Mrs. Epstein, Mr. Roy, Mr. Bollas, Mr. Bozic, Mrs. Gutman – unanimous. The Council meeting of 1-25-24 adjourned at 8:54 p.m. sb Adopted: _______________ _______________________________ __________________________________ Susan E. Burton, Clerk of Council Adam M. Bozic – President of Council 13