City Council Regular Meeting

COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. August 22, 2024 1. Call to Order: Pres. of Council: It is Thursday, August 22, 2024, and this is our regularly scheduled 7:00 p.m. Council meeting. 2. Opening Prayer: Pastor Kurran Bishop, SPAN Ministries, Tallmadge. Pledge of Allegiance: Girl Scout Troop 91529. 3. Roll Call: Mr. Bollas, Mr. Bozic, Mrs. Epstein, Mr. Pavlik, Mr. Roy, Mr. Rubino – present. Mrs. Gutman was excused. 4. Correcting and Adopting Previous Meeting Minutes: 8-8-24 Council Meeting Minutes Mr. Pavlik moved to adopt the 8-8-24 Council meeting minutes. Seconded Mr. Bollas. Roll Call: Mr. Bozic, Mrs. Epstein, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mr. Roy, Mr. Rubino, Mr. Bollas – unanimous. The 8-8-24 Council meeting minutes were adopted by a vote of 6-0. 5. Financial Reports: None. 6. Public Hearings: None. 7. Community Input: Pres. of Council: We will be starting with Councilman Bollas, and he will be presenting Certificates of Appreciation to the Tallmadge Girl Scout Troop Leaders, Erin Oliver and Sarah Knowles. Mr. Bollas: He gave a brief bio of the two troop leaders and then talked about notable accomplishments. The Tallmadge Service Unit, which is made up of all the girl scout troops in Tallmadge had a contest to see which troops could clear the most fire hydrants of snow. At the time the girls were Daisies, and they won the contest with a total of 46 hydrants. They earned a pizza party for their efforts and last year our troop completed an entire list of requirements to be recognized as a Super Troop and received a very cool patch for it. Over the past few years, our troop has made many donations to different organizations such as pet supplies to the Summit County Humane Society, books to Akron Children’s Hospital, a monetary donation to the Summit County Children’s Services Beds for Kids Program and many, many pull tabs for the Ronald McDonald House. Mr. Bollas: I would like to present them for outstanding service to the residents of the City of Tallmadge, Ohio. Pres. of Council: We are going to continue with our Community Input section of our agenda this evening. If you have anything that you would like to bring up to Council this evening that is outside of anything that is on our agenda, you may do so now. Each speaker will be given 2 minutes, and we ask that you give your name and address. Be sure to sign in as well. Scot Silbaugh, 835 Penn Wood Drive. I want to talk about the property next door to us that was taken over by trespassers about a month ago. The man staying there has a criminal record of violent crimes with a handgun. The woman there was pulled over, thanks to the diligent work of our Tallmadge Police Department, with a stolen handgun in her car. She was charged with receiving a stolen weapon, stolen goods and is going through that process now but they continue to stay there. This is . . . I recognize that the City and the Police Department’s hands are somewhat tied because Open Door that owns the property has to take action for the Police and the City to take their actions. When this first happened there was a significant police presence on our cul-de- sac and in the area that resulted in the woman being pulled over and those charges coming up but recently, in the last week or two weeks, there has been very little presence and that is something that is within our control and the Police presence is a deterrent to criminal activity. I think that is a fair statement and my concern is for the safety of my family and our neighbors. 1  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. August 22, 2024 Mr. Silbaugh (Cont’d.) They are more comfortable here. They feel like they can take more activities. I don’t know what thing was years ago, but they are carrying around a stolen gun in their car. I called the Police non-emergency line and asked for increased presence on the street. One patrol car drove through the cul-de-sac and was there for 3 to 4 seconds. There wasn’t a chance for these people to see that there were cops in the area. Ideally, I would love it if a patrol car sat in my driveway 24/7 but I know that is not realistic but there is somewhere in between 3 seconds and regular presence there. So that is disappointing that that is not happening more. I think . . . what it is that we can do as citizens in that neighborhood to help protect ourselves and what can the City do to help protect us? Pres. of Council: Thank you Scot. I gave you definitely more than 2 minutes there, but it is well worth what topic you are discussing this evening. So, to kind of address or actually before we give our input on anything, is there anyone else in the audience that has input regarding this matter? Mr. Hurst: It would be nice to hear your response to Scot. Pres. of Council: Sure. Mr. Pavlik: So, one of the questions, after talking to many of the residents, is how did the water get into the name of the individual that is living there and can the water be shut off if the property owner contacts the City and states that it wants it shut off? Dir. of Law: So, if the property owner takes action, we would certainly look into the matter and then we would investigate what information was provided to us about the legitimacy or illegitimacy of that. That suggestion has been made to the property owner and it is really at this point in their court to take the next step. Mr. Pavlik: I think it was relayed to Mr. Silbaugh that Open Door has stated to him that it is giving the Police permission to enter the property because of the criminal activity and the finding of the stolen handgun. Do we know of any other issues where the Police have stepped onto the property for any kind of illegal activity? Dir. of Law: I don’t believe there have been any other arrests. Mr. Pavlik: In the process of filing, I believe it was communicated by the City, correct me if I am wrong, that they, Open Door, would have to file a restraining order or eviction notice or trespassing notice; is that correct? Dir. of Law: The property owner is the victim in this matter, and they have to take action and really at this point they are the ones that need to take the next step. Mr. Pavlik: OK, what was communicated to them by the City? Dir. of Law: They . . . we have authorized the possibility of charges. I am not going to get in depth with regard to an ongoing investigation in a public forum like this. We have had conversations with the neighbors, and we have shared what we are able to, but again, I am not going to get into that in a public forum. Mr. Pavlik: OK. Final question. If they are trespassing and they are cited for trespassing and they keep going back to the property can trespassing charges be brought against them again? Dir. of Law: Yes. You can have multiple trespassing charges but again, you have to understand that the property owner has to take that action to sign those complaints and then appear and prosecute the case. Mr. Pavlik: OK. Thank you. Pres. of Council: I just have some follow-up questions about that. So, you said there have been no other arrests at the property, but how many times have there been calls for the presence of a Police Department representative to come on site? Dir. of Law: I don’t know. I know there have been calls for service due to various activities and the Police have been monitoring and are aware of the situation and have been out there, but I don’t know the number of times. Pres. of Council: You had mentioned that if the property owner had requested that the water be turned off that we would look into that. What does that mean? What does that mean by look into it? I guess my question is as a property owner if I call and say I want my water turned off . . . 2  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. August 22, 2024 Dir. of Law: We would talk with the property owner. That is what I am saying. You would work with the property owner to resolve whatever issue there may be with regard to that. Mr. Pavlik: So, it is highly likely that the water would be turned off if they requested that? Dir. of Law: That is correct, but you do have to keep in mind that they may decide that they don’t want to necessarily have that situation. For some people that may be a reason to leave a property and for others that may be reason to do more damage to a property. So, that property owner is going to have to make that decision. Mrs. Epstein: Can you explain the process, and this sounds like a squatting situation; they have essentially taken over the home; right, so can you just explain in general terms, not necessarily talking specifically but what . . . because it is not like if somebody doesn’t pay their rent, you can put a 3-day notice on the door and you file and you get the rent and it is a process but my understanding is it is a little bit different in a squatter situation. Can you just explain a little bit of what that looks like? Dir. of Law: So, it depends on the facts and circumstances of each case. We evaluate each case based on the facts. This one did present a different situation initially. Information came out differently and so things kind of evolved with this and so again there is not a one size fits all outcome to these sorts of situations. They can be complicated. Mr. Rubino: If there are further legal issues or crimes being committed because of the situation going on at that house right now could the property owners be held liable for any of that for not taking action? Dir. of Law: I would doubt that that would be a situation where at least, not in the City’s eyes. I don’t know whether . . . I mean the neighbors are able to seek their own private counsel and ask that question of a private attorney. There is not a criminal act that the City would be involved with. Mr. Bollas: As a result of this, have we evaluated any of our processes for getting water turned on and evaluating those requests maybe making some revisions? Dir. of Finance: The contract that we have in hand I reviewed, and it appears to be, based on my research, has actually been opened by an Open Door employee. We have discussed with Open Door that they may want to evaluate if that is a legitimate employee or not. Mr. Pavlik: So, our process is I believe that a tenant can get a form off the internet and take it to the property owner to make the decision where the water bill either stays in the name of the property owner or the name of the tenant. Is that correct? Dir. of Finance: That is correct. The water bill is not actually; the water bill is currently in Open Door’s name. Mr. Pavlik: OK. Does that form need to be notarized? Dir. of Finance: Typically, we are dealing with landlords that are on a regular basis so no, we do not have them notarize the form. We are aware of what properties around the City most of the time are being rented. It is kind of the same people all the time. Like I said in this situation, that form has not been filled out or presented to us. The water is in Open Door’s name. Mr. Pavlik: It is in Open Door’s name. OK, so it is going to Open Door? The bill is going to Open Door? Dir. of Finance: I will have to re-double check where the bill is being mailed to, but we have an address to Open Door with the water in their name and a contract as I stated that appears to be signed by someone who . . . Mr. Pavlik: Who is employed by Open Door. Dir. of Finance: Is employed by Open Door. Mr. Pavlik: OK. Alright. So, because of that if they request that water to be turned off, that is an easier solution, or it is an easier way to have the water turned if they request that to be turned off. Dir. of Law: Again, we work it out with them; is this what you want, etc., etc. And again, there may be factors that they would be weighing as a property owner as to whether or not that is the best next step for them to do. 3  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. August 22, 2024 Pres. of Council: So, has the City, anyone from the City been in contact with the property owner and has had a physical conversation with them? Dir. of Law: Yes, we have had multiple conversations, and we have ongoing contact. Pres. of Council: OK, alright thank you. So, continuing with our community input; are there any other members or citizens here in the chambers that would like to speak? Please come up to the podium. Bob Hurst, 780 Penn Wood Drive. The difficulty that I am having with this is, and with all due respect Megan, you talk about Open Door being the victim. Yes, they are one of the victims but the victims that are being overlooked in this situation are the people in the neighborhood. There are people on our street that are scared to death. They don’t know what to do. There are criminals living next door to them. There is extremely limited Police presence. Our property values can take a major hit with these types of things. Unfortunately, aside from a conversation here, I haven’t heard any responses to Scott’s concerns. Have we dealt with the squatter situation in Tallmadge previously? Dir. of Law: This is a unique situation for us; however, it has happened all over the country, it happens all over unfortunately Ohio, etc. It does happen. Mr. Hurst: I am asking you about Tallmadge. Dir. of Law: Right, I just said that no, I don’t think that we have experienced one before. Mr. Hurst: OK. Thank you. Dir. of Law: Let me just say that I totally understand the neighbor’s frustration. I get that. Unfortunately, we do have people who are bad actors that are embedded in our community, and we try to do the best we can to patrol and take the steps that we can, and we are doing that in this situation. Mr. Hurst: We are not getting that impression. Dir. of Law: OK, well we will . . . Mr. Hurst: I agree, I completely agree that we . . . Dir. of Law: I’m sorry, if we can . . . if you want to come back to the podium you will have to do that. Thank you. Pres. of Council: Typically, by Council rules, direct all of your questions to me and I can defer to Megan. Mr. Hurst: I completely agree that we have to draw the line at harassing people. Even criminals. We have to draw the line there, but we can also use some street savvy to make things inconvenient for people who are breaking laws besides stealing a house. Take a look at their vehicle folks. Take a look at blacked-out windows. These are things that people get tickets for all the time. But we know that there are things that are going on, but we just let it go. I won’t say anything else. Dir. of Law: I do just want to point out that we did you know, and I think Council is aware of the safety initiatives that we take and the directives that the Chief does give to the officers who do extra patrols. This neighborhood has been on the list, and I believe they are trying to do their best to get there. They do have to respond to other calls and so I don’t know that they can you know again as the one gentleman said, you can’t necessarily have them there all the time but I do know that they have been advised by the Chief to make those actual patrols in that neighborhood. We will be passing on the information to the Chief again just to reiterate that. Pres. of Council: Thank you. Are there any other members in the audience that would like to speak? I think there was one other . . . I’m sorry . . . Man from audience: About the same topic or something different? Pres. of Council: Or something different; yeah. About the same topic or something different. Any other input? Come up to the podium. Mrs. Epstein: I’m sorry, I just had one additional comment unless this is related to the Penn Wood issue. If I could just ask a couple of follow-up questions if that is OK with you sir? Thank you. I just wanted to go back to my original question about squatting because I am still not exactly clear of the process. I have been a landlord in my previous life, and I haven’t had squatters but I have 4  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. August 22, 2024 Mrs. Epstein (Cont’d.) completed a lot of evictions so I am familiar with that process and my general understanding is that the property owner would need to obtain their own legal counsel and file an eviction specific and the reason being squatting. This is where my familiarity isn’t as much because most of the evictions that in my previous life were for non-payment of rent. So that is where it gets a little bit different. That property owner would have to file and there would be a court hearing and those squatters would need to come to court and they would be told that this is the date whether they show or not; usually they do not show, and then there is a writ issued and a bailiff comes out and changes the locks and they are removed from the property. That is my experience with non-payment of rent. That is public record if an eviction of any kind is filed. Is there anything on public record that anything has been filed to date? Dir. of Law: The last communication that I had with them they were working with their legal counsel and I’m not sure exactly where in the process they are with the eviction but that was going to be a step that they needed to take and then we explore the possibility of potential criminal charges which we again have authorized in this matter. That in and of itself is not likely to resolve the situation. The eviction is the way to resolve the situation and so that process, to our understanding, is underway but exactly where in the process it is, I’m not 100% certain right now but they have indicated that they are taking those steps. Mrs. Epstein: OK. What is the time period in a non-payment of rent; it is 3 days from the time you post something on their door to the time where you can take action. Dir. of Law: They have already posted a three-day notice, so they have the ability to move to the next step, which is filing in court. Mrs. Epstein: OK. And I believe the gentleman said this has been over a month. We do know that they have posted a three-day notice, and they have not filed since that three-day notice has been posted is what it appears to be. Dir. of Law: Again, in this particular case there was some indication that there was potentially a victimization of the people as well and so that was being discussed. The veracity of that at this point is questionable but again I don’t want to get into the specifics of this particular case but there were reasons that I believe that the property owner chose to wait on that process. I don’t believe that they are waiting any longer. Mrs. Epstein: OK. That helped clear it up a little bit. Thank you. Mr. Pavlik: Mayor, as Director of Public Safety, can we ensure that we have increased Police presence at 825 Penn Wood? Mayor: I believe you were also copied on the communication from our Police Chief on our initiatives with our extra patrols and it does indicate on that that 825 Penn Wood says it is in the process of evicting subjects so it is on the list and they are doing extra patrols and I just want to say to all the residents that this is something that we do not want in our City at all; anywhere. This is horrific and I do believe that you guys are victims; I really do, and I am very sorry for that too. We are working on this. We are having daily discussions on this. It is not that we are trying to hide behind anything. We are working to the best that we can but at this point in time it is in Open Door’s ball court right now and so I am sorry that you guys have to deal with this. We are doing everything that we can on our end, and we are trying to push the envelope as much as we can. So, again I am sorry that we are all dealing with this, and you guys have to live by it. Mr. Pavlik: I would like to add that I did see the report and I did see that in there, but the people here today have said that they have not seen that police presence in the last week or two. Thank you. Pres. of Council: I believe we have another person that would like to speak. Pat Wahl, 834 Penn Wood Drive. I guess my question is, you say that you are having discussions with these people, Open Door or whomever, how hard are you pushing them? I mean, we are talking to them and all of that, but this is our neighborhood and you guys go home to your homes and you don’t have to deal with it. You deal with it maybe tomorrow or maybe tomorrow afternoon, or maybe you don’t if something else happens. We are there all the time. I drive down and I see 5  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. August 22, 2024 Pat Wahl (Cont’d.) the truck: I hear the truck. I see 4 cars like Bob said, we have blacked out windows: front and back. Nobody blacks out windows in their house. Give me a break. I think all of us . . . we are really frustrated, and I guess I don’t sense and maybe you couldn’t have . . . I don’t sense the same frustration from any of you. I don’t. Dir. of Law: Sir, we have gotten the answer yes, we are taking the action and so we have gotten that answer with regard to the eviction process. Mr. Wahl: Does somebody . . . Dir. of Law: I don’t know how much more . . . they said they were working with their legal counsel and so I can’t, I can’t make . . . Mr. Wahl: Sure, you can. Dir. of Law: . . . make their legal counsel . . . Mr. Wahl: Sure, you can. Dir. of Law: No, I really can’t. We have asked; we have said that it is a problem, and we have said it is an issue and we have gotten the answer that we are in process so that . . . Mr. Wahl: Do you believe that? Dir. of Law: I do believe that. They have a property interest in getting these people out of the house. They are not able to sell the house while they have the people in the house, so they have a property interest in that. Mr. Wahl: They don’t seem to be concerned. I called them and I talked to them and they guy said well, you know we are regional and we have 80 different cities and things like that and I said to the guy, I don’t care if you are in 200, if I have houses in 200 I would want to know what my rights are as the owner to throw somebody out. I mean, and I’m not an attorney, but I am a pretty common- sense kind of guy. It seems to me that this is breaking and entering; plain and simple. Dir. of Law: Unfortunately, it doesn’t meet those elements given the facts and circumstances of this case. Mr. Wahl: Well, I guess at least speaking for me and hopefully most of these other people, our neighbors, it is getting past frustration. I mean it is a month and nothing has happened. We are talking to them and this and that and . . . but we are not getting anywhere. We all know that tossing somebody out can take three months. So, are we going to invite them over for Thanksgiving dinner? That’s all I got. Mayor: Just to let you know too, I am very much invested in this situation. As you probably know, my sister-in-law is sitting in the back row and my niece. It is affecting my family. So, we are doing everything we can within the letter of the law to get this thing expedited. Mr. Wahl: Thank you. Donna Hurst, 780 Penn Wood Drive, Tallmadge. I did call the Police and tell them the main truck, the main traffic on our street, there are no license plates front or back. Police have been notified. Why don’t they do anything? They can pull in any of our driveways and catch him every morning when he leaves. We would get arrested if we didn’t have a license plate. The other thing is that since we are not getting anywhere to resolve this maybe we will get media involved; newspaper, tv, maybe they will go talk to Open whatever or somebody. We don’t know what else to do. Nobody seems to want to help us. Thank you. Pres. of Council: Thank you. Karen Brown, 824 Penn Wood Drive, Tallmadge. I am the sister-in-law she was talking about. I also have my 4 little grandkids now living in our house. They have been there all summer. We had to cage them and tell them they had to stay in the back of the house because of the traffic flow since they moved in, and it was around July 4th. The following Monday after July 4th the week after, another young couple was getting out of their car and going up to the house along with another gentleman and I thought oh, these are our new neighbors. The For Sale sign went down and we saw people moving in and so I went over, and I said hi, welcome to the neighborhood. When you get settled a little bit come on over and your kids can play in the back yard with our kids. The people who used to live there had a little girl and she was over all the time. She goes, what do you 6  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. August 22, 2024 Mrs. Brown (Cont’d.) mean, we are here to buy the house? I said, buy the house? She said, well, no, no, no and that is how it got reported. Now, I don’t know what you guys are going to do in the future, but you need to do something to screen the business before it gets into the neighborhoods. Are you screening these outside with everything being online like electronic signatures? Everything is getting falsified so quickly and so easily that this has just now become a (she clicked her fingers) they are embedded, and you can’t get them out. Do we have anything in place here in the City of Tallmadge to screen businesses before they open their doors or just come in and start selling properties or what not or do we just have an open door and just come on in? Do we? Dir. of Law: Again, by law if they are a legal entity, they are allowed to buy property. So, if they are a corporation and if they have incorporated or have an LLC or have some kind of proper business entity then they are allowed to transact business. Mrs. Brown: So, we have nothing in place to protect our City at all? Dir. of Law: Anyone . . . I mean any person and corporations are deemed to be persons under the Supreme Court has ruled that they are deemed to have the same level of constitutional rights as real human beings then they can buy property. Mrs. Brown: It’s not just buying the property; they bought it to resell it, but they are a business, and they are doing transactions here in our City and so where do our rights end up; on the very bottom? Dir. of Law: You know, I would just encourage people to be aware of what companies they are dealing with and making sure they are doing their research and always looking up anybody whether it is a contractor that they are using or who they are doing business with and just trying to make sure that they have screened them appropriately, but yeah, there is not anything legally that we can do to keep a legal corporation from purchasing a property. Mrs. Brown: How much screening did you go through when you put the water into Open Door’s name? Dir. of Law: That was already discussed. Mrs. Brown: No, did you act to approve that the person who is saying that they were the employee that they were actually an employee? Dir. of Law: So, they are required to provide identification and go through the steps that are outlined in our policies and procedures and that was already discussed by the Finance Director. Pres. of Council: Thank you Karen. So, I understand the line of questioning that Karen or Mrs. Brown has and I think from the City’s standpoint what can we do, and correct me if I am wrong Karen, what can we do about businesses that are the bad actors or that are conducting in a way that is not protecting either the homeowner’s rights or the individual who is taking ownership or temporary ownership if it is like a renter that is having issues; what can the City do legally against corporations like that or a businesses like that? Dir. of Law: I mean, when people have a problem with a business, they can report to the Better Business Bureau; they can report to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office. The Ohio Attorney General’s Office compiles that and if there are multiple complaints, consumer complaints, they have a whole division that handles consumer complaints and they actually have a wider reach because they can compile information from not just like our community alone but from throughout the State of Ohio and then if they have enough evidence of a criminal action then they have taken criminal action against some of these entities. Pres. of Council: So, as a City entity, have we gone through any of those steps to report that business? Dir. of Law: Well, at this point in time there is nothing . . . I mean, again, that entity has not done anything illegal that now . . . Pres. of Council: It sounds like perhaps they may have because they . . . Dir. of Law: I don’t think so and again I don’t want to get into . . . 7  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. August 22, 2024 Pres. of Council: They have a document that they are presenting to a City government to . . . that is fraudulent whether that is the individual . . . Dir. of Finance: There is no evidence that the document that they opened up their contract with is fraudulent. Pres. of Council: OK. Dir. of Finance: What I stated was it appears to be a legitimate contract that was opened by someone who is employed by Open Door. So, the water, when they purchased the property, appears to have been legitimately opened by Open Door to be in their name. That is what I stated that the contract . . . Pres. of Council: So, . . . Dir. of Finance: They would have to identify if the person who presented the contract was being fraudulent in their representation as being employed by Open Door. What I have right now was a contract presented to me and signed by a representative of Open Door to put the water into Open Door’s name. Pres. of Council: And so, I guess that is what I am asking is the question of is . . . has that employee been verified with Open Door? Dir. of Finance: Megan has . . . directed them that if they are interested to look . . . talk to us and ... Pres. of Council: But I guess why are we giving them an option? Shouldn’t we be saying is this a legitimate employee or yours or not? Because if not, then how do we know, as a City entity, whether or not this employee could be coming here and opening up water bills for properties that . . . and be doing this whole thing . . . across the entire community. Dir. of Law: Because at the end of the day they have to take action. If they want it . . . if they don’t take action, then what are we . . . Pres. of Council: I think that that is the City . . . Dir. of Law: And again, I will say also that we have to be very careful that there are different roles and so we have to follow the procedures for the utility department; we have to follow the procedures for the Police Department. We can’t have Police intervention reaching their hand into the Utility Department and so we have made the suggestion . . . we have been saying . . . we have made the suggestion and we have offered that as a possible route that they should explore and they need to decide whether or not they want to take the steps to explore that. Pres. of Council: See, I think we can do more in that situation. When we have someone that has those documents, the proper documents to request that the water be turned on, what forms of identification do we require? Are there any forms of identification? Dir. of Finance: Yes, we require them to submit a copy of their driver’s license. Pres. of Council: OK, so that particular driver’s license; have we verified that that is legitimate driver’s license? Dir. of Finance: The driver’s license matches the name of the person who signed the document. Pres. of Council: I guess my question then would be that if it is determined that that is a fraudulent document, is that not one step that the City can take against that individual and/or company because they are an actor of that company. They are presenting fraudulent information to a City entity. Dir. of Law: Which is a possibility depending on the next steps that the victim in this matter would be the property owner would take. I will also point out that we take far more steps than most utilities do so if you look at what Ohio Edison requires or what Dominion requires when you move or what the telephone company requires, you don’t even have to sign a contract or come and present i.d. I have done all those transactions when I moved via a phone call and so I will just point out that we already go above and beyond what most utilities would require. Pres. of Council: I think that is something worth looking into. Dir. of Law: Thank you. Mr. Pavlik: Let me ask the question this way, if Open Door were to communicate to you that that 8  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. August 22, 2024 Mr. Pavlik (Cont’d.) person that signed that contract is not an employee of Open Door, can we, without Open Door’s permission because we know at that point that it is a fraudulent document that was signed; can we act on that on behalf of Open Door because Open Door has said that this person is not a legitimate employee can we shut the water off? Dir. of Law: We would have a potential for criminal action and again there is a risk of harm to the property owner. They have to weigh that so whether they want to continue water service if we get to the point where no one is paying a bill, that is the next step. Mr. Pavlik: Yeah, I . . . Dir. of Law: So, when all those things are on the table, we are aware of all these things, and we have had discussions of all these things, and we are looking at all of these things and we are doing the best we can to address the situation. Mr. Pavlik: And I get that . . . I get your thought . . . train of thought where you say that if the water is turned off then the people that are in there are going to cause more damage to the home; right? I get that but that is on Open Door because the water would have never been turned on because it is a fraudulent document. If the water was already off, right? Open Door didn’t turn that water on because the form is signed by someone who is not of Open Door and that might . . . Dir. of Finance: You guys are stating that and there is no evidence at this point in time . . . Mr. Pavlik: I understand that. Dir. of Finance: . . . that the person who signed that contract does not work for Open Door because you guys keep repeating and saying . . . Mr. Pavlik: I said if it comes back. Dir. of Finance: OK. Mr. Pavlik: If it comes back, if it comes back . . . if it comes back that that person is not an employee of Open Door and that is not their signature then we can shut that water off because that document is not legitimate. (Someone from the audience): I know this is out of order and I apologize but can someone clarify this; what was the order in which the water was shut off and turned over to Open Door. Did Open Door . . . Dir. of Finance: Open Door contacted . . . my understanding is that the water was never shut off at the property. This all occurred when the property transferred. There was never . . . there was never . . . we went out and turned off the water because somebody moved, and we turned it back on. Typically, that doesn’t happen when people move. There is a . . . it is a seamless transition. We don’t typically do that. So, there was never a time where we went out and shut off the water and so that is why I am saying that there is no evidence at this time that there was a fraudulent contract and then it would be up to . . . if Open Door revealed that, then it would be up to them if they wanted to pursue having a contract to keep the water on. Mr. Pavlik: But we don’t know where that water bill is going as of right now. That is something to be . . . Dir. of Finance: I will have to look that up. I don’t have that information. Mr. Rubino: Law Director Raber, am I correct in assuming that this originated through . . . they gained access to the house through somebody giving them the code to the box without a realtor actually being there? Dir. of Law: They gained access through illegal means; yes. Mr. Rubino: OK. Are there currently any laws in the City of the State that prohibit showing without a licensed agent present? Dir. of Law: No, and in fact I think there is . . . I was just reading an article actually that just came out that there is a new change to some of the real estate rules that in fact they are moving towards having only seller agents and not buyer agents and so I don’t know how that will be working in the future. Like at least for the fees that the seller agents are supposed to be getting paid now or some kind of change like that which I know that this circumstance was very curious how that would . . what the long-term impacts of that would be. 9  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. August 22, 2024 Mr. Rubino: Would there be anything stopping the City from drafting an ordinance requiring any showing within the City limits to have to have a licensed agent present and sort of cut this off for any future events. I mean it seems like a pretty simple fix, not as much for you people that are obviously going through a lot right now but perhaps to prevent this in the future, I feel like . . . Dir. of Law: I am willing to explore that as an option. I don’t have an answer right now for you. Mr. Rubino: I would encourage us to look into that or if you guys can look into that and it seems like it could be fairly simple legislation that could prevent us from future issues like this just requiring a licensed agent has to be there for a showing. No more giving out codes and cutting some of these internet sellers off at the knees, which would probably help. Pres. of Council: I do know that there are some laws related to the real estate agents and when they cannot enter the home and it has to be in the presence of a licensed real estate agent and the seller agent has to be aware that they are going to enter that home. So, if they were unaware then that is an illegal entry. But I also wanted to make mention too that the State of Ohio is actively working towards drafting or there has been drafted legislation already. There are 2 bills currently in the works: House Bill 478 and House Bill 480. Both bills address homeowner’s rights in favor of obviously the squatter’s rights and so they are actively discussing this and the one bill if it does get approved, all it needs is a signature by the Governor and it takes effect. So, it can literally happen any day. So, obviously it doesn’t quite help the situation at the moment but just know that there are some bills out there that are being discussed. (Someone from the audience): Excuse me, what about the other utilities . . . did they not inspect them like cable, tv and . . . Pres. of Council: If you can come up to the mike. (Someone from audience): So, they just had Spectrum installed last week. Who is paying for that and whose name is that in and why are they allowed to do that? And then they use our trash. I mean maybe they are paying for trash, I don’t know, but somebody is paying for the utilities and trash. Are we paying for the trash because they are stealing it? Pres. of Council: I think those are all good questions and I think this . . . Dir. of Pub. Service: Let me take a crack at that. Pres. of Council: It will certainly need to be looked at and go ahead. Dir. of Pub. Service: It is easy. Water is the only utility, sanitary sewer and water are the only utilities we run. I mean the rest of them we have no control over them. That is First Energy, Dominion . . . (Someone from the audience): But can you do something about driving without a license? Dir. of Pub. Service: But the trash though, trust me, Kimble wouldn’t pick it up if they weren’t getting paid. That’s a fact. Mr. Pavlik: Law Director Raber, as we get further developments in this because I know you have been in contact with them and they can contact us at any minute; how do we keep the citizens that live around 825 Penn Wood up to date with the current information that we are getting? Dir. of Law: I mean it will become public record once these actions are taken if actions are taken. They are welcome, like I said, I have been . . . we have been responsive to phone calls. I have had phone conversations when they have called in. They are welcome to contact the Police Department as well and ask . . . like there is not . . . unfortunately we have these situations and I don’t know who wants to be contacted, when they want to be contacted, so if you want to leave your name and information with me, we can attempt to do that however keep in mind again that I mean we only can know what we know and so we may not have all the information. Some of these things are beyond our control but you are welcome to reach out or do any of the above. Mrs. Epstein: As Council members, I know there are several of us that obviously live in Ward 2 and this is our neighborhood; right. If we would want and this has been almost an hour-long conversation and I do think that the residents, there are quite a few people here in the audience that are looking for a lot of information and updates. If anyone would want to entertain hosting a town hall with me, I would be happy to do that, and we can relay information and take questions 10  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. August 22, 2024 Mrs. Epstein (Cont’d.) and kind of be that little person between the City Administration and Council and our neighbors. Mayor: Mrs. Epstein, just to let you know too that I did have my After Hours with the Mayor right before this Council meeting and I did field quite a bit of information from other residents that live in the Penn Wood area that were not here today so there has already been a lot of lengthy talk. Mrs. Epstein: Yes, and I suspect that they will want to continue these conversations probably even before . . . I know you do that every single month which is wonderful, so if that is a service that the residents would be interested in, I am happy to do that, and I am happy to welcome anyone else to do that. Mr. Bollas: I would be happy to do that as well. Mrs. Epstein: We can only have 3 though from Council. Mr. Bollas: Yeah, we can’t be the majority in a room, but this neighborhood used to be Ward 3 and then it was re-districted with the Charter in 2020 and so I am literally around the corner so I would be happy to do that. Mr. Pavlik: The same because I have talked to a lot of these residents and the residents are ready and so I would be more than happy to do that. Pres. of Council: Thank you. Any other comments from the audience related to this topic? Mr. Roy: I just want to say one thing, people we feel your pain. I’m sure these people are working, and we are going to do everything we possibly can, but the biggest thing is that we have to do it the legal and the right way. I think the biggest thing that we can do as a City is to have more Police presence there. I think that would make them feel a lot more comfortable and if we have to pay some overtime or whatever, we need to get more Police out there to show a presence because if we are there a lot and illegal stuff is going on, that might be a deterrent so that it doesn’t continue. We feel your pain believe me. We just have to come up with the right answer to get it done. Thank you. (Someone from the audience): Ted, you don’t feel like you have to go home right now being concerned that something might be missing from your house. Mr. Roy: Oh, I agree, but we understand what you are going through, but we have to go through the right legal things believe me. Pres. of Council: Thank you. I guess my last remaining question related to this topic is, and I completely understand maybe why or why we didn’t but, and perhaps I missed it, but this has been going on for like 30 days roughly maybe a little more. I guess for those of us on Council when did we discover that this was an issue? Mr. Pavlik: I got a call from Ron Latimer who lives behind on Laurann about a week ago. That was my first dealing with this. Pres. of Council: Right. And so, I guess as, and again I am not trying to shame the legal department, I’m just asking why . . . Dir. of Law: I will tell you exactly why. Because there is a lot of crime that happens in our community, and we do not inform Council of everything that is going on in our community. I am sorry. The fact is that you are coming at me right now asking why you didn’t get notification . . . you are not going to be aware of everything that happens in our community. When it rises to the issue . . . initially we thought this was going to be resolved quickly and it wasn’t and so now it is continuing . . . we are continuing to deal with it, but this is not that the Law Department is supposed to notify you when things are happening. Things happen all the time. There is a lot of stuff that happens and no, we are not going to be notifying Council members every time that there is an issue. Pres. of Council: Well again, I will go back . . . I am not trying to shame the legal department. My only question is when it appears that there are multiple residents within the same street, the same ward, bringing up issues at least notify the President of Council or the Ward Council member. Dir. of Law: With all due respect, it is a Police matter at the end of the day. The Police Department has to investigate. That is the role the City is playing in this. Otherwise, it is a civil issue. The 11  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. August 22, 2024 Dir. of Law (Cont’d.) issue of the property owner having this and how they are going to deal with this is a civil matter. This is not something that the City can interject itself in. That is why we need them to take action and that is why we have been in communication with them. I understand the frustration of these folks. I have myself lived next to a person who is a criminal. I have myself dealt with living next to a drug trafficker who was arrested on 3 separate occasions and had a pending case for months and months and months with charges that were very significant, felonies and crimes of violence and having weapons. I had to wait for the justice system to work and it is hard, and it is challenging, and it was troublesome to me, and I did not like it, and I did not like that feeling. I understand. I can relate to you. I get it. I understand your frustration, but I also want to tell you that we are doing what we can, but we have to work within what the confines of the law are, and we are doing our best to do that. So, that is where I want to end it. Pres. of Council: Thank you and for anyone watching at home and anyone in the audience, please any other future issues related to this or not related to this, contact your Council members as well. We are willing to help be that voice for you. That is why we were elected by you guys. That is part of our position to help advocate for our citizens and so by all means please contact us. So, I will continue moving forward with our community input. John Franks, 453 Regency Park Drive, Tallmadge. Three small little items here. First is West Avenue getting onto the Circle. You know you used to pass what used to be A&W and get onto the Circle and it is a double lane there and a month or so ago, and this happened a couple of times, people always try to drive up, not to wait in the line, and squeeze in up front. I have witnessed twice somebody not letting them in and they drove clear up on that berm almost into the Circle and one time they had kids there collecting money for whatever and if there were kids there, they would have been hit. You need to put some type of barrier to not allow them to cut across there to get into that lane because that is the one road that works and they want to go up there because they don’t want to wait and they are assuming someone is going to let them in and someone doesn’t let them in and they don’t force it. I have seen twice cars drive clear up on that thing and so if it was some type of barrier, I think you would solve that especially if you are putting kids there. I just don’t think it is smart to have kids going onto that Circle especially the Circle today because it is much busier than it was. I have been here since 68. Another thing is door to door salesmen where I live, and it is getting old. They are belligerent, they come and I have gotten a lot of them and I have a no soliciting sign and this isn’t the 70’s anymore and I don’t like people that I don’t know uninvited come up to my door and not paying attention to my sign and ring my doorbell and I have been patient and the house across the street, his house was hit and we are in a different era now. I have some street smarts, and I know some of the tactics on that and I grew up in a Norman Rockwell era here in 68. We didn’t have the problems that we have today. I don’t know if there is a no-knock policy, but they don’t follow it. So, I just wanted to say that it gets irritating. If it was just one person a summer but it is all the time, and they are on private property. I shouldn’t have to be put into that all the time. Then they lie to me. They sell fear and I won’t even go into some of the things. I have been patient with them so if there is a no-knock policy; do you think they follow it? I would like to be on it. I don’t know what you have to do but that is it. The very last thing is I just want to mention that on a lot of the campaign literature you are not putting your party denomination on there. Paid for by friends and stuff and I just find that a little strange. I would like to know why. If you are a Democrat, say you are Democrat. Be proud of your party. If you are a Republican say you are a Republican and be proud of your party. I feel like you are a car salesman, and they don’t want to tell me what dealership he works for and what car. What are you trying to hide? It’s politics. Let the chips fall where they fall. I don’t understand you don’t do that. Pres. of Council: Thank you sir. I have to cut you off. To help answer some of your questions, you had three main concerns it sounds like wanting to help protect the safety of the money collectors on West Avenue. 12  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. August 22, 2024 (Someone from audience) These are kids, but anybody. They are right there on that Circle. Pres. of Council: Correct. Then the door-to-door sales and those are 2 topics that I think we probably already have; I know we already have some no solicitation . . . Dir. of Law: We have a peddler solicitor permit that they are supposed to have and so you can always ask whether they have a permit. You have a no solicitation sign, and they should not be coming and approaching your house if you have the no solicitation sign. There is a no knock now list that we do keep that they are supposed to avoid the houses on the no knock list and so if there are solicitors in your neighborhood that are not following those rules, you can make contact with the Police Department. (Someone from audience) OK. Pres. of Council: To answer your last question, we can’t control political literature and what they do and do not put on there. (Someone from audience) I know, it seems like a pretty small thing, but I remember you came, and I got to know Kilway. We didn’t let politics get in the way. I just wanted to know because I don’t always know, and politics is pretty divided today. It’s not like it used to be. I was just wondering because they used to put it on all the time. Pres. of Council: Great. Thank you, sir. Mr. Pavlik: I have a question on his first point. Service Director Rorar, similar to the smaller Circle on Howe and Munroe and 261 there were posts that were added into the right lane to stop people from going into the left lane because we took that turn lane away. Is there something similar that we can put on West Avenue as you are going into the Circle? I know that it is a left turn lane into Huntington, but right after that is where posts that we can put up that prevents people from getting over into that right lane? Dir. of Pub. Service: So, the problem is like everything else. We just can’t go do it. We have to get an engineer to approve it and as you and I talked, we are soliciting an engineer, and he should give me a quote to at least look at it. The big problem that he saw was the businesses drives are there and so if you go back to the Roundabout that we put those posts in, there are no driveways. It was pretty easy to close that lane down. How far back are you going to close that lane down? You are probably going to have to go back to the power station. (Someone from audience) But if you put a concrete barrier where it turns though and if they go at least they would hit that and not go up there. Dir. of Pub. Service: That is why we are having the engineer looking at it. Mr. Pavlik: So, even putting posts because I know the engineer study was making that lane into a turn lane; right? But even posts like at the Circle where the brick is that divides the street as you get on the Circle, that would need to have an engineering study done? Dir. of Pub. Service: Anything in that right-of-way. Pres. of Council: Thank you sir. 8. Agenda Additions: None. 9. Reports of Administrative Officers: a. Mayor/Dir. of Pub. Safety: • First, we will start with the Police Department. As I have already alluded to, members of Council have already received the Safety Initiative that is going out for the next 2 weeks and as you will notice, Penn Wood Drive is on there as well as other items for extra patrols and traffic issues. • A little bit of an update on our Flock system. We do currently have 2 sites that are active and 3 more should be installed over the next couple of weeks and so it looks like it is going to be ramping up and getting done pretty quickly. • You were also copied on some information I think it was through social media on the Citizens Police Academy in coordination with area Police Departments. The Tallmadge Police Department is again participating in this this fall. It has various topics over an 8- week course, and they are scheduled on Wednesday’s starting from 9-25 through 10-13 13  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. August 22, 2024 Mayor (Cont’d.) and they begin at 7:00 p.m. If anyone is interested in attending those, please reach out to Chief Bohon if you are interested. • Again, as you are all aware. Circle Fest was a great success. I want to thank everyone who supported or participated especially the Tallmadge Chamber of Commerce, Tallmadge Public Services, the Tallmadge Police Department as well as Springfield, Munroe Falls, and Mogadore Police Departments, the Tallmadge Fire Department, the Summit County Executive’s Department of Public Safety and its Emergency Management Agency and Summit County Sheriff’s Office. We did have an increased Police presence at our Circle Fest this year and I think it was exceptional and we had a few incidents that were deemed minor and I thought it was an extreme success so I want to thank all of those agencies for their support and I think we pretty much put on a model public engagement for our citizens that everyone else should take a look at what we did and we can have public engagements throughout the State if they would just follow our model because it worked out well. • Some updates with Parks and Rec. The Rec Center as we know was closed from August 9th through the 11th for the annual cleaning. There was new floor that was installed in the office area. So, they went from carpet to much nicer LVF flooring. It will last much longer than the carpet and be much easier to keep clean as well. They refinished the aerobics rooms. Those were shut down for a couple of extra days just because of the refinishing process. • Doggie Dip is scheduled at Maca Park this Saturday, August 24th from noon to 3:00 p.m. Please make sure you are going to attend that you pre-register for the event. • Howe Road Park ribbon cutting is scheduled for Tuesday, September 3rd at 3:00 p.m. and this includes the opening of the Dog Park which I know many of us are excited about. • We also have the Tallmadge Fall Festival scheduled for Saturday, October 25th from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. Also, kind of along that same line that Tallmadge Parks and Rec is hosting a Fall Event Survey on their social media pages. This feedback will be used to plan future fall and Halloween events that will begin in 2025 so if you have any opinions as to what you would like to see for our Fall Events please make sure you take the survey and encourage your family and friends to also take it so we make sure we have programming that our community would like. • I’m sure many of you have heard, but the demolition for 1128 Woods Drive has occurred and the land is still being readied for seeding. • Tallmadge City Schools did, as everyone knows, start this week. I was able to attend the City’s convocation which was a great event. It is a way for our Superintendent to get all of the staff together and kind of start the school year off on a great note and so it was really nice for me to see it as my first time as the Mayor. • I did have my After Hours with the Mayor today and I had people here right at 3:55 p.m. and all the way to 6:00 p.m. Again, I did have a lot of people come in about the Penn Wood issue and gave them all the same information that was given today at this meeting. There were a couple of other little issues and that is how we just increase communication within our City is by having time for people to come out and talk with us and let us know what they are feeling and what they are doing. We are here to help serve them. So, I appreciate everyone that comes. Any questions? Pres. of Council: I can speak to you about professionalism and just the organization that goes into planning the Circle Fest. Joe took me through the trailer over there and the command center so to speak and it is quite the operation. I don’t think . . . I wasn’t even expecting the amount of technology that we utilize to help protect our citizens and protect our workers and you know from a personal standpoint, I appreciate everything that was done to have a very well run and organized event and even had to kick in my own first aid 14  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. August 22, 2024 Pres. of Council (Cont’d.) response there with a young lady who could have had some issues while standing in line and within 20 seconds Chief Underwood was there. Actually, former Mayor Kline was there as well and so he was on the spot still serving the City. So, I just want to thank the City, the Chamber and all of the departments involved for an absolutely fantastic event. b. Director of Administration/Economic Development: Mr. Ignazzitto: Not to belabor the point, but coming in 90 days before Circle Fest and seeing the comradery and the teamwork that is done between public services, Police and Fire, the Chamber; it was amazing. It reminded me of Tallmadge 20 years ago when I left and just the way that it was carried off like you say, was just really amazing to see coming from the outside. • Just one update tonight coming from Economic Development from me. The Mayor and Planning & Zoning are on September 17th at 5:30 p.m. and will be hosting another community engagement to discuss the West Avenue Overlay. Based on the input that Planning & Zoning has received, they have done some tweaks to different parcels and the invite hasn’t gone out yet, but it will be going out shortly. They have tweaks and then the letters will be going out like it did the last time for those impacted within 500’ of any changes to the overlay to businesses and homeowners and so once again as in the previous 2 open meetings that we have had, Council is invited and that will be at 5:30 p.m. on September 17th. I believe that is a Tuesday. So, pending your questions, that concludes my report. c. Director of Public Service: • Next Monday between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Southeast Avenue will be shut down for McDonald’s like it was earlier for the week. They should be done by 5:00 p.m. • Some bad news, the Perry Road crossover which was engineered this year was going to be put in the 2025 Budget and it needs to get replaced soon like really quick. If you look at the map here that is Munroe to the right and it is about 300 feet from Munroe. The road to the far left is Beechler and it is about 800’ from there. Sunday night we had a large amount of slumps occur and we were able to look at that closer on Monday. The other culvert seems fine, however if you look at the bottom it is getting roached and that is all holes that are rusted. It is a galvanized culvert and if you look at it some more, it should be smooth. So, it is definitely falling apart. We had an engineer go out there yesterday and recommended a half lane closure and when he got done with the inspection today, it is a full road closure at this point. It is a safety issue. • It is a descent size water shed. It is actually broken into 2 water sheds. Everything down there to the left, so you have Summit Racing, and you even have Fire Station No. 2 that drains to this culvert. So, it is a decent size water shed. What is going to take me the most is I need 4 easements off of the 4 property owners’, so you have to get a headwall on it. It had no headwall on either end of it and so that ends up causing undercutting as well as around the pipe during hard rains and storms. So, I have stopped at all 4 property owners and made good contact with 2 of them and the other 2 I have not heard back from. I will do this on a daily basis, so we get somewhere with it. That is going to take the most time and I have reached out to 3 contractors to give me a price. I’ve got till September 2nd. The pipe is readily available. It should be delivered in 5 to 6 days and so that is good. The slowdown is going to be these easements. I have to come back to Council and there is going to be a re-appropriation, and I think I have about $65,000 in the Storm Water Fund and I probably, since we had the engineering done, I know that a ballpark is $120,000 to do this job. So, I am a little short and like I said, the easements I have to get these 4 easements approved as well, but if you look at those 4 easements, they are small. They are like 400 square feet, and I think one of them is as small as 200 square feet. So, they are not very big easements, and I don’t believe the property owners should have problems 15  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. August 22, 2024 Dir. of Pub. Service (Cont’d.) with those easements going in there. It really just allows us to set a headwall at the edge of the road. Any questions on that? Pres. of Council: I have one question related to that. I know in the past we have had some discussion about this particular area. Did we investigate this previously? Dir. of Pub. Service: That is why it got engineered. Pres. of Council: That’s why; OK. That’s what I was assuming, that that is how that . . . Dir. of Pub. Service: Because those residents pointed that stuff out. I think, Councilman Bollas, 4 years ago. Mr. Bollas: Yes. Dir. of Pub. Service: So, yeah, we know the area well. That is why we have that water shed map. I mean we have gone through all of this and the cross-over pipe that is failing was going to get replaced in 2025. Pres. of Council: Good. That is what I just wanted to make sure that this was . . . Dir. of Pub. Service: Saturday’s rain events did it in. Those back-to-back rain events on Saturday and Sunday did that pipe in unfortunately. Anything else? Thank you. Pres. of Council: I just want to say thank you to Mr. Rorar because of the amount of hours I’m sure he is putting in above and beyond because I know just responding to my text messages and calls even when they are mistaken texts on either one of our parts, but thank you for always being responsive and addressing all our citizens. You are doing a fantastic job over the last numerous years, but certainly over the last week for sure. d. Director of Finance: I have no report this evening. I will be glad to answer any questions if anybody has any. e. Director of Law: Thank you. We continue to work on the recodification and again as I reported last time, it looks like this is going to be more coming to you towards the end of this year or the beginning part of next year before we are actually able to present. End of report. 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. i. First Readings of Ordinances and Resolutions. A. Ord. 2024-54 – P.H. on 9-26-24 @ 7:03 p.m. Amending the zoning map by rezoning the property of applicant, Brady Bissonette for Living City Farms LLC, Scott Myers, owner, located at 683 North Avenue (PN 6000949) and 695 North Avenue (PN 6000803), consisting of approximately 8.03 acres, from R-3 Residential District to R-1 Residential District and approving the General Development Plan. Sponsor: Councilperson Gutman Mrs. Epstein: I call the Planning & Zoning Committee to order. We have Ord. 2024-54 before us. I will choose to put this at 1st Reading and there is a public hearing on 9-26-24 @ 7:03 p.m. The ordinance was read into the record. Dir. of Law: This is before Planning & Zoning next month so they will have it at their September meeting, September 5th and they are on North Avenue adjacent to the new dispatch center/COG center/soccer field area. They were originally established; they are zoned for residential right now and they had an accessory use of a garden and a farm, and they are now asking that it be the primary thing which really, they have kind of been converting over to that. You can only have the agricultural in an R-1 which is why they are requesting that. So, again the hearing would be at the beginning of September and will then come to you with a recommendation coming out of that meeting and then have that in front of you for the end of September for the public hearing. 16  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. August 22, 2024 Mr. Roy: Can you please really quick explain the difference between an R-1 and R-3? Dir. of Law: The size of the lots and the primary difference with this particular one is the agricultural use so again, you can’t have that in an R-3, but you can in an R-1 as a primary use. Mrs. Epstein: Are there any other questions or discussion? Pres. of Council: Yes, I have one question. It currently has some temporary structures in place. I guess you call them like green house . . . I don’t know what you call them, but there are currently some structures there, so I am assuming that the reason for requesting this is because they are already operational; they are operating under their R-1 status even though they are considered an R-3. Dir. of Law: They need to become conforming. They are non-conforming right now. Pres. of Council: So, when in this particular situation was this applicant . . . did they put in their own application, or did they put their application in like a zoning violation that the City issued? Dir. of Law: They again, originally came in and said that they were going to be doing this as an accessory use and over time it has morphed and so there were discussions and they had come about discussions about what they could do and I believe they had neighborhood meetings with the residents around that area and they are now officially applying. Mayor: If you could also set the public hearing. Dir. of Law: I believe she did that earlier. Mrs. Epstein: I read that earlier. September 26th at 7:03 p.m. B. Ord. 2024-55 – Exhibit A – Exhibit A Tracked – P.H. on 9-26-24 @ 7:05 p.m. Amending and supplementing Part Eleven, Planning and Zoning Code, Section 1104.05 Use Regulation Tables, Section 1104.07E2.1 “Use Regulations: Adult Use Cannabis and Medical Marijuana Operators”, and Appendix A of the Tallmadge Codified Ordinances and repealing Tallmadge Codified Ordinance Chapter 766, Medical Marijuana cultivation, processing and retail dispensing. Sponsor: Councilpersons Mary Gutman, Donald Pavlik and Ted Roy Mrs. Epstein: Next we have Ord. 2024-55 at 1st Reading. The ordinance was read into the record. There will be a public hearing on this on 9-26-24 @ 7:05 p.m. We will leave this at 1st Reading. Would the sponsors like to speak to this ordinance? Mr. Pavlik: I’ve got nothing to add. Mr. Roy: I think we are good right now. Mrs. Epstein: Any additional discussion? Dir. of Law: Just to note to the public that this would be in front of Planning & Zoning as well at their next meeting. They will be discussing this and making a recommendation and then it will be back in front of Council for the September 26th public hearing and also for the public. They are also set earlier than what they actually start. Pres. of Council: Madame Chair, I have one question. So, does this . . . did we kind of tie this together to make sure that it ties together with the West Avenue Overlay? Do the two coincide with each other? Dir. of Law: So, what the discussion . . . yes, I mean so what we did is not tied specifically to the West Avenue Overlay, instead it is . . . we discussed where it would be and it very much models itself after what the State regulations are with the addition of just spelling out the parks to make sure we have included all the parks including the Freedom Trail so it takes that into consideration because it wasn’t 100% clear in the State’s definition and it is very much similar to that. The benefit of us spelling it out as was discussed when we met is that then if the State changes their code to permit them in different places or it changes things then we have ours codified so that it would still have those regulations with distances to schools and churches and things like that. 17  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. August 22, 2024 Pres. of Council: Is there, and again without diving too deep into this; do we include anything in there about any like children related type business. So, whether it be like a dance school, or would that be considered a . . . it says private or public school; is that considered a private school if it is like a dance studio or . . . Dir. of Law: So, I don’t think that would meet the definition. I think it is more like considered like a day care that meets the definition under the Ohio Revised Code of schools and so I don’t think that that is part of what is envisioned here. Pres. of Council: OK. Mrs. Epstein: Is there any other discussion? Are there any additional items for Planning & Zoning? Hearing none, I will close committee. ii. Additional Items: None. b. FINANCE Donald Pavlik, Chair Jonathon Bollas, Vice Chair The Finance Committee deals with budget, appropriations, reappropriations, bonds, franchises, investments, and expenditures. Mr. Pavlik: I call the Finance Committee to order. We have no legislation before us this evening. Is there anything that Council wishes to discuss? Hearing none, I close committee. i. Additional Items: None. c. PERSONNEL Jonathon Bollas, Chair Donald Pavlik, Vice Chair The Personnel Committee deals with personnel, labor relations, insurance claims, Rules of Council and State Statutes. Mr. Bollas: I call the Personnel Committee to order. We have no legislation before us at this time. Does anyone on Council or the Administration have anything to come before the Personnel Committee? Hearing none, I will close committee. i. Additional Items: None. d. SAFETY Nicholas Rubino, Chair Ted Roy, Vice Chair The Safety Committee deals with disaster services, communications, fire, and paramedics, police and health. Mr. Rubino: I call the Safety Committee to order. We also have no legislation before us this evening. Is there anything for the Safety Committee? Hearing none, I close 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. Mr. Roy: I call the Community Issues Committee to order. We have no legislation before us this evening. Is there anything for Community Issues? If not, I will close committee. i. Additional Items: None. 18  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. August 22, 2024 f. PUBLIC SERVICE Jessica Epstein, Chair Nicholas Rubino, Vice Chair The Public Service Committee deals with streets, highways, sidewalks, buildings, and improvements: water, sewer, electricity, gas, energy resources, recycling, waste, and trash. Mrs. Epstein: I call the Public Service Committee to order. Is there anything additional? Mr. Bollas: I just had one thing. I looked up in my notes from August of 2021 with the Munroe/Perry flooding complaints and the hydraulic engineer came out on September 2 nd and I do remember all of that now. So, that’s all I have. Mrs. Epstein: Any additional discussion? Hearing none, I will close committee. i. Additional Items: None. 11. Reports of Special Committees: a. Council Operations Committee Mr. Bollas: Just an announcement from IT to remind Council that occasionally they need to bring in their laptops so they are getting the updates required for the IT Department. And lastly, if you haven’t picked up your mobile device please contact the IT Department. Pres. of Council: I just want to mention too let’s get our training up to date. I know I get those e-mails every, almost every day. We did just get some new outlets installed as well by the IT Department. So, thank you for that and the new mics are working out great as well. Dir. of Law: If I may also add in regard to trainings, just . . . Allie just sent another e-mail reminder to everyone but please make sure you do your fraud training. Tthat is now required through the State Legislature for every current employee and elected official to do. It really is very easy, and it takes less than 10 minutes to do, and you just need to have a copy of your certificate, so it is on file. So, hopefully everyone gets that done before August 30th. i. Additional Items: None. 12. Announcements: Mr. Pavlik: Yes, I have one. This is from the Girl Scouts. One of the troop leaders wanted me to remind you and is inviting the City and Council to an October 17th event at 6:00 p.m. It is the Tallmadge Girl Scouts Unit Bridging and Rededication. It is their awards ceremony. The place is to be determined right now, but as soon as we get that, they are inviting the City Administration, Council and the public to attend the ceremony. 13. Adjournment: Mr. Pavlik moved to adjourn. Seconded Mr. Bollas. Roll Call: Mrs. Epstein, Mr. Pavlik, Mr. Roy, Mr. Rubino, Mr. Bollas, Mr. Bozic – unanimous. The Council meeting of 8-22- 24 adjourned at 8:39 p.m. sb Adopted: ___________________ ___________________________________ ______________________________________ Susan E. Burton, Clerk of Council Adam M. Bozic, President of Council 19