City Council Regular Meeting

COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. December 12, 2024 1. Call to Order: Vice-Pres. of Council: It is Thursday, December 12, 2024, and this is our regularly scheduled 7:00 p.m. Council meeting. 2. Opening Prayer: Pastor Jim Case, Tallmadge Lutheran Church. Pledge of Allegiance: Vice-Pres. of Council: I just wanted to take a moment to introduce our newest At-Large Councilwoman; Christine Cipa who was elected by our Republican Central Committee and sworn in today by Judge Stevenson, so welcome Christine to Council. 3. Roll Call: Mr. Bollas, Mrs. Cipa, Mrs. Epstein, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mr. Roy, Mr. Rubino – present. 4. Correcting and Adopting Previous Meeting Minutes: 11-14-24 Council Meeting Minutes: Mr. Pavlik moved for the adoption of the 11-14-24 Council Meeting minutes. Seconded Mr. Rubino. Roll Call: Mrs. Cipa, Mrs. Epstein, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mr. Roy, Mr. Rubino, Mr. Bollas – unanimous. The 11-14-24 Council Meeting minutes were adopted by a vote of 7-0. 5. Financial Reports: • Fire & EMS Fund Transfer in the amount of $415,000, Street Maintenance & Repair Fund Transfer in the amount of $420,000, OEMA ARPA First Responders Grant to General Fund in the amount of $105,168 to Council on 11-27-24. • Appropriation Report, Fund Report and Revenue Report for the period ending 11-31-24 to Council on 12-5-24. • November Financial Reports to Council on 12-5-24. • Tallmadge Recreation Center Profit and Loss Report for the period ending 11-31-24 to Council on 12-5-24. • Income Tax Comparisons for the period ending 11-31-24 to Council on 12-5-24. • Income Tax by Source Report for the month of November to Council on 12-5-24. • Revenue Comparisons for Major Funds for the period ending 11-31-24 to Council on 12-5- 24. • Consolidate Investment Portfolio for the period ending 11-31-24 to Council on 12-5-24. Mr. Pavlik moved to accept the Financial Reports. Seconded Mr. Roy. Roll Call: Roll Call: Mrs. Epstein, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mr. Roy, Mr. Rubino, Mr. Bollas, Mrs. Cipa – unanimous. The Financial Reports submitted by Dir. of Finance Gilbride were accepted by a vote of 7-0. 6. Public Hearings: FINANCE At 3rd Reading. P.H. ON 12-14-24 @ 7:03 p.m. Ord. 2024-65~Amended Exhibit A Adopting a budget for various funds of the City of Tallmadge, Ohio, for current expenses and other Expenditures during fiscal year ending December 31, 2025, appropriating the necessary funds for the Administration thereof, authorizing transfers between Funds, and providing for immediate enactment. Sponsor: Mayor Carol A. Kilway. Pres. of Council: We have 2 public hearings this evening. The first one is Ord. 2024-65 – Amended Exhibit A. At this point, I will turn the meeting over to the Finance Chair, Mr. Donald Pavlik. Mr. Pavlik: Thank you. I call the Finance Committee to order. Everyone is present. We have Ord. 2024- 65 – Amended Exhibit A before us this evening. The ordinance was read into the record. It is 7:06 p.m. and I call the public hearing open for Ord. 2024-65. Is there anyone who would like to speak in favor of Ord. 2024-65? 1  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. December 12, 2024 Mr. Pavlik (Cont’d.) Is there anyone who would like to speak in favor of Ord. 2024-65? No one responded. Is there anyone who would like to speak against Ord. 2024-65? No one responded. Is there anyone who would like to speak for Ord. 2024-65? No one responded. Is there anyone who would like to speak against Ord. 2024-65? No one responded. For the third and final time, is there anyone who would like to speak in favor of or against Ord. 2024-65? Hearing none, it is now 7:07 p.m. and I will close the public hearing. I will open the Finance Committee. Is there anything from Council or the Administration? Is there a motion for Ord. 2024-65? Mrs. Epstein: I move to adopt. Seconded Mrs. Gutman. Mr. Pavlik: Are there any comments or questions? Hearing none, Madame Clerk, please call the roll. Roll Call: Mrs. Gutman - yes, Mr. Pavlik - yes, Mr. Roy - yes, Mr. Rubino - yes, Mr. Bollas – yes, Mrs. Cipa – abstain, Mrs. Epstein – yes. Ord. 2024-65 is adopted by a vote of 6-0-1. Mr. Pavlik: I now call the Finance Committee closed. PERSONNEL At 3rd Reading. P.H. ON 12-14-24 @ 7:05 p.m. Ord. 2024-66 – Tracked. 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 Carol A. Kilway. Vice-Pres. of Council: Alright, moving on to our 2nd public hearing this evening we have at 3rd Reading Ord. 2024-66 – Tracked. I call the Personnel Committee to order. We have Ord. 2024-66 before us. The ordinance was read into the record. It is now 7:09 p.m. and I will call the public hearing to order. Is there anyone here this evening who would like to speak in favor of Ord. 2024-66? No one responded. Is there anyone who would like to speak against Ord. 2024-66? No one responded. For the second time, is there anyone who would like to speak in favor of Ord. 2024-66? No one responded. Is there anyone who would like to speak against Ord. 2024-66? No one responded. Third and final time, is there anyone who would like to speak in favor or against Ord. 2024-66? No one responded. It is now 7:10 p.m. and I will close the public hearing and open the Personnel Committee. So again, this evening at 3rd Reading we have Ord. 2024-66 – Tracked. Do we have a motion and a second? Mr. Pavlik: I will make a motion to approve. Seconded Mr. Rubino. Roll Call: Mr. Pavlik - yes, Mr. Roy - yes, Mr. Rubino - yes, Mr. Bollas - yes, Mrs. Cipa – abstain, Mrs. Epstein – yes, Mrs. Gutman – yes. Ord. 2024-66 Tracked is adopted by a vote of 6-0-1. Vice-Pres. of Council: At this point I will close the Personnel Committee. 7. Community Input: • Julia Lewis, 63 Nottingham, Tallmadge. Would like to speak on the West Avenue Overlay. Vice-Pres. of Council: This evening we have Julia Lewis who lives at 63 Nottingham who would like to speak regarding the West Avenue Overlay. Come to the microphone and state your name and address. These meetings are recorded and you have approximately 2 minutes. Julia Lewis, 63 Nottingham St. I need to speak fast, and 2 minutes is totally inadequate for the project in front of you, so you are going to be seeing me at every meeting, and I am going to take 2 minutes in every meeting. But tonight, I am going to give you the big idea and here is the big idea. Up until now our residents . . . and I am going to talk about “the field.” The field which is what I am talking about is run by West Overdale and Nottingham which is behind the old Rocco’s Plaza. That is the field that I am talking about. Residents never wanted anything there. But now it has come down to crunch time and you guys are going to put something back there that is going to affect our lives, the rest of our lives. 2  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. December 12, 2024 Julia Lewis (Cont’d.) I read from your website, and I quote, “responsibilities of the Council – legislation that promotes the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of Tallmadge.” So, what you put back there in my back yard has to promote my health, welfare and safety. You have to think about what that is going to be because you have a huge choice here and you have a great opportunity. If you choose the overlay, if you vote for that overlay, you could have a wonderful community back there. You can make a great community, and it would uplift, and it would promote that entire neighborhood. It would help Nottingham; it would help West Overdale, and it would ripple into Mark and Smith Drives. It would help Garden Street. It would help Maryann but if you vote yes, we get nice ranch single-family homes, condos, you build a park and you get trails. It would be great. It would be fantastic. If you vote no, you are doing nothing to promote. You are breaking your responsibility to me. Your responsibility to me. You are responsible to me for my health, safety and welfare. If you vote no and I keep pointing this way because that is the way the field is from my house. If you vote no, the setback right now is 25 feet for residential and commercial. You can add 10 feet for a road and you have 35 feet. Do you know the dimensions of this room because I know it. I checked with your custodial staff. You have 46’ x 30’. So, if you are sitting at my back property line, if you vote no, you are going to have a four-story residential building right there. Right there and you are not going to have the front of it because the front is going to face West Avenue. We get the backs of the buildings. Do you know what is at the back of a commercial building? Trash, dumpsters, delivery doors, and lights. 35 feet from my back property line does not promote . . . you would be violating the oath you took. You ran for this position. You were appointed and you accepted it. You have a promise to promote the health, safety and welfare of everyone in that community and now that something is going back there you have to think about this. This is a big idea. You are going to promote it; you are going to get residential back there . . destroy it. Think about that. Vice-Pres. of Council: Thank you very much. Mrs. Lewis: 2 minutes isn’t enough . . . I’ll be back. Vice-Pres. of Council: Any comments from the Administration or Council for Ms. Julia Lewis? Mayor: I would just like to thank Ms. Lewis and sharing her passion for this. Thank you very much for coming in. I appreciate that. I am looking forward to hearing from you again soon. Thank you. Vice-Pres. of Council: I appreciate you coming in as well and sharing your thoughts. 8. Agenda Additions: • Council’s confirmation of Regeana Cochran to the Civil Service Commission. Vice-Pres. of Council: We were given a short bio by Mayor Kilway regarding Ms. Cochran. Would anyone like to make a motion to confirm or would Mayor Kilway like to present any additional information for Ms. Cochran? Mayor: So, you do have her bio and so you have all of her professional information. She is a very, very bright shining young star in our City. She does a fantastic job with her job at SUMMA, but she is also a great mother, wife, and friend to the community. I see her family at all of the community events. They come to as many as they can. They are transplants into Tallmadge. They are not Tallmadge homegrown as I like to call them but her and her family are just very new Tallmadge people that love our community and they want the best of our community and I think she will be a great asset and she is also . . . she is young and so I am trying to foster those that are young in their 30’s and so I am trying to foster that age group in order to get involved in our City and so I would just love to add her on to the Civil Service Commission. She has the experience needed with contracts and human resources that can help out the commission a lot. Vice-Pres. of Council: I appreciate the biography information. For those on Council and the audience and those at home, this was brought upon us by a vacancy that is forthcoming from an expired term; right? 3  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. December 12, 2024 Mayor: So, her term would not begin until January 1st. We do have 2 members of the Civil Service Commission retiring at the end of this year. Vice-Pres. of Council: So, we should anticipate another . . . Mayor: Yes, I am still waiting to hear back from another individual that I have asked. Vice-Pres. of Council: Alright. Thank you for that. Are there any comments or questions from Council? Mr. Pavlik: I will make a motion to approve Ms. Cochran. Seconded Mrs. Gutman. Roll Call: Mr. Roy - yes, Mr. Rubino - yes, Mr. Bollas - yes, Mrs. Cipa – abstain, Mrs. Epstein – yes, Mrs. Gutman – yes, Mr. Pavlik – yes. Ms. Cochran is approved as a member of the Civil Service Commission by a vote of 6- 0-1. Vice-Pres. of Council: Next up for Agenda Additions we have Council’s confirmation of the 2025 Council Meeting Dates. Everyone should have had time to look these over and you have a copy in front of you this evening. Are there any comments or questions regarding the proposed dates? This is our time to make any amendments to this. Looking at your 2025 vacation plans throughout the spring and summer months and any conflicts where we would not have a quorum of Council for either spring or summertime. Mayor: Mr. Bollas, the only thing I would ask for you to double-check and I don’t know what the date is off the top of my head, but Tallmadge High School graduation. I know it is in May. I think it always used to be on a Thursday. I’m not sure if it changed or not in the last couple years. I don’t know that it will affect anyone on Council either. Mrs. Gutman: My daughter’s graduation is that May 22nd meeting. She doesn’t go to Tallmadge, but I will be absent so if there is another high school graduation that could also be a conflict. Mr. Roy: I will also be out of town. Vice-Pres. of Council: Alright so the May 22nd date is in question at this moment? Again, this is just to make sure that we have a quorum of Council. I know I will not be here the week of July 21 st. So the July 24th date I will be absent. Mr. Pavlik: Tallmadge graduation will be May 20th. That is on a Tuesday. Vice-Pres. of Council: With the May 20th date for the Tallmadge graduation; are there any other high school graduations that week. So right now, we have 2 Council members absent that week; is that right? Ok. So, we still have a quorum. Any other dates in question for anyone? Obviously we have Spring Break and the meeting is not in session for that week. We typically have a budget work session some time in November so we should set that as well today if possible. We can always amend it. Mr. Pavlik: Do we set that now or do we set that later? Mayor: It’s up to you. Whatever you would like. If you want to set it up later, I think that would be fine too. Mr. Pavlik: I think we should set it up later. Vice-Pres. of Council: Alright. So, we will set the Budget Workshop for next year at a later meeting. Then we have the week of Thanksgiving and Christmas off so if we are OK . . . I’m not hearing any dates where we would not have a quorum, so . . . Mr. Pavlik: I would like to make a motion to approve the dates as presented. Seconded Mr. Rubino. Roll Call: Mr. Rubino, Mr. Bollas, Mrs. Cipa, Mrs. Epstein, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mr. Roy – unanimous. The 2025 Council Meeting Dates are approved by a vote of 7-0. 9. Reports of Administrative Officers: a. Mayor/Dir. of Pub. Safety • First of all, I would like to welcome Christine Cipa to the City of Tallmadge as our newest At-Large Councilperson. Thank you very much for putting your name in and I am very happy that you were selected. I also want to thank Councilman Bollas for the Outlook invite to your Precinct Committee Meeting. I think that was where you guys did select Mrs. Cipa for the replacement. I think that shows great bi-partisanship and stability in politics and so thank you very much for inviting me to that. I really appreciate that. • Everyone should all be in receipt of the Planning & Zoning Activity Report for November, the Tallmadge Police Department Traffic and Safety Initiative, Tallmadge Fire Department Run Stats and Station Reports and the Parks and Recreation November Report. You should have received all of those. 4  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. December 12, 2024 Mayor (Cont’d.) Some updates from the Tallmadge Fire Department. Tallmadge Fire- fighter/Medic Tanner Baker, who is a Technician Level Member of the Summit County Technical Rescue Operations Team, they call it the “TROT Team,” responded using the County’s Rescue Unit that is housed at Station 2 and this unit provided essential equipment and workforce to assist in the rescue efforts. Also, our Tallmadge Battalion Chief, Andy Miller, who is a member of the Tallmadge Summit County Technical Rescue Team and the Ohio Task Force, also reported to the scene and they were both involved in the successful recovery of the three hikers at Brandywine Falls and Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The three individuals who were stuck down at the bottom of the falls when it was cold and they couldn’t get back up; they were evaluated on the scene and released but it was really nice that we were able to send a couple responders to help them with that so thank you very much for them risking their lives and their safety to help out those that needed the help. • Also with the Tallmadge Fire Department Hazardous Materials Technician, Brittany Gemind, has been appointed as the HAZMAT Coordinator for the Summit County Hazardous Materials Response Team and in this leadership role Brittany will help coordinate training, assist with equipment maintenance and procurement and contribute to research and securing grant opportunities for the team. Since joining the County team in August of 2023, Brittany has consistently demonstrated her dedication and expertise making her an invaluable asset to both the County and the City of Tallmadge so congratulations to Brittany on this very well-deserved appointment. • Some updates from Tallmadge Police Department. We have 3 members of the Tallmadge Police Department who received the Distinguished Service Medal. The Distinguished Service Medal is the second highest award that is given out to officers and Sergeant Ralph Stover and Officers Jason Corzine and Bernie Cirullo were awarded this distinguished service medal for demonstrating exemplary initiative and service bringing positive regard to themselves and the department and the City of Tallmadge. Their actions led to the apprehension of a wanted felon; a violent felon who had threatened law enforcement officers and was considered armed and dangerous. Through excellent leadership and superb performance during a rapidly evolving and stressful life-threatening situation, these officers exemplified the highest virtues of law enforcement. Their actions upheld the highest values and traditions of the Tallmadge Police Department. So this is the first distinguished service medal for Sergeant Stover and Officer Corzine and a special note that this is the 3rd Distinguished Service Medal awarded to Officer Bernie Cirullo. So, congratulations to all of them as well. • I also want to congratulate our Law Director, Megan Raber, on receiving the “Investment in the Future Award” at the Tallmadge Chamber of Commerce Annual Awards last night. So, thank you very much for all that you do for our community but especially for our children and helping them to become better people. • As you all know, we did have our tree lighting on December 1st and it was just an absolutely beautiful night. I want to thank the Tallmadge High School A Cappella Singers, Tallmadge Rotary and Historical Society for providing hot chocolate and cookies for everyone. I would like to thank the Tallmadge Historical Society, the Police and Fire Departments and all of the City staff and all of the Council members that came, volunteers, residents and visitors who made the tree lighting a very special event. A special thank you to Mike Rorar and his team for making the Circle looked exceptionally beautiful as well as Jessica Simons and her team for coordinating the event with activities and we cannot forget to thank Santa and Grinch for making the night very, very magical. • We are still collecting cold weather gear for the Peter Maurin Center. We have been collecting cold weather gear for a while. It goes through December 15 th. We joined forces with Cuyahoga Falls, Hudson, Munroe Falls, Silver Lake and Stow. The collection 5  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. December 12, 2024 • Mayor (Cont’d.) is going very well. This past Saturday we had a drive-thru drop-off at City Hall. I want to thank the Tallmadge Middle School Builders Club and the Knights of Columbus for volunteering during the City Hall drop-off. I also want to thank several businesses that supported this event individually by holding their own internal cold weather gear drive. Thank you to Root Salon and Spa and SDMyers for collecting a lot of coats and sleeping bags and hats and mittens and everything and they brought carloads of items to City Hall, and some went directly to the Peter Maurin Center. So, I want to thank everyone involved for supporting this worthy cause. • McDonald’s is now open for business. They did have their soft opening this last week. They are at 2 East Avenue just off the Circle. The ribbon cutting will be scheduled sometime in the near future. • We also held our bi-monthly meeting with the Tallmadge City Schools, and we are continuing the Tallmadge Circle Newsletter for 2025. This information we will be providing is going to be expanding and we are going to include the Parks & Recreation Program Guide in the future newsletter. There is going to be more to follow in January. • I also want to thank everyone who took part in the Town Hall World Café Style Meeting on November 19th as well as the over 1,000 participants that completed the survey. I did receive a very nice e-mail from a resident today saying how excited he is “about the future of Tallmadge. I love the recent community engagement and the survey that was sent out.” We get a lot of e-mails, and they are not always that nice so it was really nice to get that especially because of all of the initiatives that we are putting out right now. • Then After Hours with the Mayor will resume on the second Thursday of the month and they will be starting on January 23rd. Are there any questions from Council? Hearing none, end of report. b. Director of Administration/Economic Development: Good evening. I just have a few updates this evening. • Negotiations continue with the Fraternal Order of Police/Ohio Labor Council for our Patrol Officers and Sergeants. Then we also continue with the International Association of Firefighters. Those are ongoing. • This evening, Ord. 2024-73 we would ask for your approval of this ordinance. It is for Teamsters Local 436. They passed their contract with the City and we can conclude that and sign the contract with them if that ordinance is passed this evening. Additionally, the Tallmadge Part-Time Firefighters Association have passed their contract and this ordinance is Ord. 2024-74 and we are also requesting approval of that ordinance this evening so that we can sign that contract. • We continue our business engagements. We have conducted 3 since our last Council session. We are on track to hit 50 for the year. That is the target. We visited Owens Corning, Mod Wash and Marik Spring and it is good to see the growth going on in the City of Tallmadge and it is good to get out there with the Mayor and inSITE and engage with our businesses. • Finally I want to thank the Mayor, the Director of Finance, Director of Law, fellow Directors, Chiefs, Managers, City staffing and Council for your support and guidance as we worked through this past budget as my first year back with the City especially in this position and a special thank you to Finance Director Raber who I know I asked numerous questions to constantly so thank you. Mayor: I think you meant Dir. of Finance Gilbride. Director of Administration: That is what I wrote here. Thank you and pending your questions, that’s all I have. 6  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. December 12, 2024 c. Director of Public Service: Good evening. I would like to request if Council would consider passing Ord. 2024-85. • Real quick, since it is wintertime, I just want to go over the snowplow routes. There are 3 types; the primary which are the mains, those are thoroughfares, traffic counts, traffic routes, businesses, schools, terrain and the pavement type that makes those. The secondary routes are cut throughs through residential and then the allotment which are the residentials, and cul-de-sacs. Keep in mind that you might not get off the primary routes during a snow event so it depends on you know the snow event or how soon you can get your road hit. If you are on a cul-de-sac, you are the last one to get hit. I mean that is just the way it works. So, I mean we can’t be on every road at the same time, and you can’t get off the mains because if you get off of them too fast the snow backs over and you will never get them back. So, there is a method to it, and you just have to be patient and so I just wanted to go over that. • The second thing we talked about was outdoor basketball courts in the City. There are . . . there is a full court at Lions and there is a half-court at Howe and I would encourage everybody to get out of there. We are planning on doing some pavement coloring and some striping on that but that in my opinion is probably our best park right now so definitely it is a secret that there is a half basketball court there. Then the Park Master Plan called for a half court at Kent and a half court at Washburn or Indian Hills. Keep in mind that those are sister parks that are connected by a bridge and then a full court at Maca so we are looking into that, and we will keep everybody posted. That half court there at Howe Road Park definitely could be something that we could improve next summer. • The last thing, we had a resident come in and I believe Councilman . . . I can’t remember which Councilman . . . Pavlik, I think Councilman Pavlik brought this up that West Avenue from Sperry to the old Circle K, people cheat going up that inside lane acting like they are going to turn into the bank or the tattoo parlor and then all of the sudden they cut over. We asked some engineers how you can correct that, and they came back with a turn lane there so you will have a turn lane and then you can enforce it with the Police Department because it is not a cut-through lane. It is nothing but pavement marking and some signs and then obviously enforcement by the Police Department so it should be an easy remedy. Mr. Pavlik: I think that is what they asked for was why can’t that be a turn lane. Dir. of Pub. Service: So, we are looking at that and we will probably add that to next year’s pavement marking list to get that done. Mr. Rubino: Is that going to be just a turn going left or is that going to be like a double arrow? Dir. of Pub. Service: It will be a double left depending on . . . so it will be a double left. Mr. Rubino: So, the yellow line will be moved one lane over? Dir. of Pub. Service: Yup. Mr. Rubino: Got you. Dir. of Pub. Service: That’s it for my report unless there is anything else. d. Director of Finance: Good evening. Everybody received your financial reports for the month. Mrs. Cipa, I just forwarded them to you now, so you have copies for your reference at a later time. Everything is going well. We are preparing right now in my office to wrap up the year and close out our final payroll and prepare obviously now that we have the new budget and get ready for that. We had a pretty good year financially. Our income tax has been coming in better than expected and for the most part, without a few other things that we brought to Council throughout our budget . . . we have been able to keep everything within budget. That’s all I have this evening unless anybody has any specific questions about any of the finances. e. Director of Law: Thank you. I am very happy to be able to report tonight that we were able to finally finish the last title for the recodification and we are reviewing that. That has 7  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. December 12, 2024 Dir. of Law (Cont’d.) now been all sent to the codifier and it will take several months to refresh everyone’s memory and to bring everyone up to speed, that project is taking the entire Tallmadge Codified Ordinances which I say this because the print off of the Code is like this in two different binders but we reviewed the entirety of the Code and we are trying to clean up obsolete provisions and provisions that have been superseded by Ohio Revised Code, reconcile provisions that need reconciled with the Ohio Revised Code and then clean up some of the things that we internally wanted to clean up. You will have all of that in front of you, not for several more months. We are looking at probably the end of quarter one or into quarter two at this point. We don’t know exact dates because the codifier has still a lot of work to do on their end. They are also going to be trying to make sure all the numbering is uniform and really cleaning it up so that it looks and reads easier for everyone so when they go to try to find something it looks consistent and clean and so I have been very excited about this project. We have been working very hard on it and I again want to thank all the Directors that have worked on this, the Chiefs, all the Department Heads. We kind of sat down with all of our Department Heads and have gone through it but this latest round I especially want to thank Mr. Rorar and Mrs. Hussing who were instrumental in helping me finish that big piece. So, thank you. Dir. of Pub. Service: I would like to say good times. 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 7 ordinances at 1 st Reading and if there are no objections because these are all related, I will just read them all into the record and then will ask for discussion or comments if that is OK? OK. Thank you. i. First Readings of Ordinances and Resolutions A. Ord. 2024-78 – Exhibit A – P.H. on 1-23-25 @ 7:01 p.m. – Amending and supplementing Section 1102 – “Administration and Procedures” of the Tallmadge Codified Ordinances by adding Section 1102.09.1 “Certificate of Appropriateness.” Sponsor: Mayor Carol A. Kilway Mrs. Gutman: The first is Ord. 2024-78- Exhibit A – P.H. on 1-23-25 @ 7:01 p.m. The ordinance was read into the record. B. Ord. 2024-79~Exhibit A – Tracked Exhibit A – P.H. on 1-23-25 @ 7:02 p.m. – Amending and supplementing Section 1103.14 “Neighborhood Center Overlay District” of the Tallmadge Codified Ordinances. Sponsor: Mayor Carol A. Kilway Mrs. Gutman: Next we have Ord. 2024-79~Exhibit A – Tracked Exhibit A – P.H. on 1-23-25 @ 7:02 p.m. The ordinance was read into the record. C. Ord. 2024-80~Exhibit A – P.H. on 1-23-25 @ 7:03 p.m. – Amending the Zoning Map, approving the General Development Plan with associated text and adding Appendix B.2 Neighborhood Center Overlay District – portion of Northwest Avenue of the Tallmadge Codified Ordinances. Sponsor: Mayor Carol A. Kilway Mrs. Gutman: Next we have Ord. 2024-80~Exhibit A – P.H. on 1-23-25 @ 7:03 p.m. The ordinance was read into the record. D. Ord. 2024-81~Exhibit A – P.H. on 1-23-25 @ 7:04 p.m. – Amending the Zoning Map, approving the General Development Plan with associated text and adding Appendix B3 Neighborhood Center Overlay District – portions of West Avenue, Wright Road, and Southwest Avenue of the Tallmadge Codified Ordinances. 8  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. December 12, 2024 Sponsor: Mayor Carol A. Kilway Mrs. Gutman: Next we have Ord. 81~Exhibit A – P.H. on 1-23-25 @ 7:04 p.m. The ordinance was read into the record. E. Ord. 2024-82~Exhibit A – Tracked Exhibit A – P.H. on 1-23-25 @ 7:05 p.m. – Amending and supplementing Section 1103.15 “West Avenue Overlay” of the Tallmadge Codified Ordinances. Sponsor: Mayor Carol A. Kilway Mrs. Gutman: We have Ord. 2024-82~Exhibit A – Tracked Exhibit A – P.H. on 1-23-25 @7:05 p.m. The ordinance was read into the record. F. Ord. 2024-83~Exhibit A – P.H. on 1-23-25 @ 7:06 p.m. – Amending the Zoning Map, approving the General Development Plan with associated text and adding Appendix B.4 West Avenue Overlay District – portion of West Avenue of the Tallmadge Codified Ordinances. Sponsor: Mayor Carol A. Kilway Mrs. Gutman: Next we have Ord. 2024-83~Exhibit A – P.H. on 1-23-25 @ 7:06 p.m. The ordinance was read into the record. G. Ord. 2024-84~Exhibit A – Tracked Exhibit A – P.H. on 1-23-25 @ 7:07 p.m. – Amending and supplementing Section 1103.29 “Typologies-Height Transition Zone” of the Tallmadge Codified Ordinances. Sponsor: Mayor Carol A. Kilway Mrs. Gutman: Finally, Ord. 2024-84~Exhibit A – Tracked Exhibit A – P.H. on 1-23-25 @ 7:07 p.m. The ordinance was read into the record. With that I will just make the comment that I want to thank everyone who has been involved with this project over quite a while now. Our Administration, the residents and the business owners have taken the time to comment and give their input for this substantial change. I think there are so many good things about it, and I appreciate all the feedback that we have gotten as well. For the different aspects and understanding that it is very high stakes for some of our residents and Mrs. Lewis, I appreciate what you had to say tonight and being here. I know from other comments that I have received that there are people who aren’t here tonight who have similar feelings as well so obviously our public hearing is in January and we have a meeting before that and so I invite anybody who has feedback for us to come and speak or send us e-mails. That really is important to hear everybody’s thoughts. Would anyone else like to make a comment tonight? Mr. Bollas: I just wanted to thank all of Council for your attendance at the Planning & Zoning meeting this week. That was great to see our engagement there. Then just thanking the Administration. I know I have sent several e-mails regarding the strategic plan survey and in parallel to the overlay the Planning & Zoning survey that is active and I believe that the strategic plan survey is closed as of today or yesterday. But West Avenue is still active; is that correct? Yes. OK. Mayor: Mr. Bollas, I believe the survey for the West Avenue Overlay and the Neighborhood Center Overlay will close I believe on December 20th. Mr. Bollas: OK. So, we have until December 20th to still get responses from our residents on that. Mr. Roy: I just want to say that I know a lot of people put a lot of time and energy into this and it could be a great project, but we definitely have to make sure we take care of our people. There has got to be a way we can work this out. Like you said, 45 feet is not a whole lot. Businesses and stuff are back there, and I know there is a lot of thought going into that and hopefully we can work out something that we can keep the neighbors happy as well as make the project work. That is all I want to say. Mayor: I do want to add that I not only want to thank Mrs. Hussing and Mrs. Raber because they put a lot of work into the specifics and the legality of this whole project, but I want to thank previous administrations. I know former Mayor Kline who is in the audience right now and none 9  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. December 12, 2024 Mayor (Cont’d.) of this would be possible if it wasn’t for his forethought and redoing the Comprehensive Plan from 2017 and the Zoning Code in 2022, I believe it was. All of this is just a culmination of all of that and so I want to thank everyone for all of that and just giving us the opportunity to be where we are at today. So, thank you. Mrs. Gutman: Would anyone in the audience like to speak at this time. I want to make sure that you have your chance. Mrs. Lewis: Thank you for allowing me 2 more minutes on this. I just want to give you an opportunity or you can think of it as an opportunity or challenge or however you want to think of it, homework . . . I was a teacher my whole life, and I am used to giving out homework. Two things. I welcome you to come to my home. Come to my home and stand at the back of my property and see what it looks like from my point of view please. I want to thank Ted Roy because he has done that. I invite the rest of you to do that. Don’t try to back out of my driveway onto Nottingham Street. You know I want you to look at the Tallmadge Police Department’s traffic report that they did on Nottingham Street. They did that this summer. If you could please look at the results of that and I will talk about that the next time that I see you so if you have that information with you that would be very helpful for that discussion. I thank you for your interest in this. This is our lives; this is our future, and you basically hold that in the palm of your hand. So, thank you very much. Mrs. Gutman: Thank you Ms. Lewis. Any further comments or discussion? Dir. of Administration: Councilwoman Gutman, I am having a bad day, but the budget passed. In regards to . . . for everybody’s awareness in regards to the traffic study, the Tallmadge Police Department has to place a radar unit that they set up on streets and they are out there all the time based on when neighbors or when residents call and complain about speeding, it is out there and it is for usually 5 to 7 days and usually they try to do it a full week and it will do a very detailed analysis of the cars and the vehicles and the traffic and speed and the times of the day and so Chief Bohon had that done on Nottingham because of residents request and we will get that to you prior to the next Council meeting. Mr. Pavlik: So, this just collects data; it doesn’t ticket? Dir. of Administration: That is correct. That is why I say passive. It sits there and it collects data, and it gives a report. It is not transmitting. We have the cheap ones. Mr. Rubino: Has there been a traffic study done prior to what we are talking about now? Dir. of Administration: When you say prior, that came up . . . Mr. Rubino: Let’s say in the last 5 years. Dir. of Administration: No. These pieces of equipment have been purchased within the last I believe 2 years. I think this year was the second year for their use. So, and as I said, the department goes by the requests that they get and they basically have a waiting list. Mr. Rubino: I’m not sure whether you are the person to answer or if there is someone else in the Administration, but currently the way the overlay regardless whether it is the West Avenue commercial portion or residential portion; is there anything that currently says that anything that is developed on that land has to exit out to West Avenue or is there current availability to where whether it be West Overdale or Garden Street could be connected to in this plan? Dir. of Law: So, that is two separate things. So, what you are describing would typically be part of a site plan review that would be attached to the actual development of a particular parcel or parcels. So that is not what the overlay is. The overlay is dealing with what the uses are within the zones within the overlays. Mr. Rubino: Could there not be something built into those overlays that state that anything within the overlay has to exit out to West Avenue. I am concerned and I am sure I have talked to neighbors on West Overdale and Nottingham that are very concerned about Garden Street becoming a new access point to whatever could be developed in that area. I would highly recommend the Administration and the Council to consider finding a way to include something so that that can’t happen. In my opinion, I would agree that Nottingham doesn’t need the 10  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. December 12, 2024 Mr. Rubino (Cont’d.) additional traffic and if and when that area is developed that West Avenue should feel the burden of that and not our side streets. So, I hope that that is something that could be considered. Dir. of Law: So again, typically what happens with ingress/egress and those sorts of things is when there is the actual development plan, they will put in place different conditions or restrictions on that development plan and where they are allowed to ingress/egress. I will say that for fire purposes we typically like to have at least 2 methods so that if one method is blocked off there is another method. We have historically, when there is concern for the amount of traffic, there have been examples where it is only for fire department access in an emergency and so there is a gate or there is a situation where they can access it but other traffic would not be able to. So, those sorts of things have . . . Mr. Rubino: More of a gate or something? Dir. of Law: Yes. We have different examples throughout the City. So, again I . . . we can certainly explore that and we will look at that but typically speaking that would be something that is attached to the actual development plan when it comes forward and again the reason for that is because we want to make sure that there is also safety for whoever is potentially utilizing the property that there would be points of ingress and egress depending on emergency circumstances that people could get in and out. So, we will take a look at that and look at what we could possibly do but again normally that would be attached to a site plan review. Mr. Rubino: I understand that that could be attached to anything on that area of the project but rather than wait for that to happen and hope it goes in that direction, I would think that putting something in place that just prevents it from the get-go so that the neighborhood isn’t further disrupted and the streets aren’t further disrupted. Like I said, there is the side street, what is that, Sunrise that can be connected to additional streets depending on how those properties are developed can be added. You know, I know this is not the first time I have brought up concerns about commercial traffic going down residential streets or other increased traffic but again I have talked to multiple residents that live in the West Overdale and Nottingham areas and that is one of the biggest concerns is people on Garden Street connecting into that because that is technically the access right now. Dir. of Law: We can take, like I said, we will take a look at it. The other thing that we have to be keeping in mind is whatever we are writing as applicable to that entire overlay so we have to kind of be thinking through does that make sense for every parcel so we can’t just be thinking about one parcel, you have to think about the entire overlay so we would need to be very . . . we would have to exercise a lot of caution and again that would be normal to do that sort of thing at that level but we will take a look at it. Mr. Rubino: Thank you. Shelby Wemmer, 105 Nottingham, Tallmadge. My property abuts the Garden Street extension and that is my main concern. I do believe that any type of emergency vehicle to be pulling in there you have to build the street. Once you build the street you have the toothpaste out of the tube. This Administration is not always going to be here. Something could happen 5, or 10 years from now or something changes and somebody wants access from where they are at on West Avenue onto Nottingham Street. Once you open it up, you can’t close it back up. I actually, this summer, when I heard about this sat on my front porch and the paramedics come down the street all the time and I sat on my front porch and counted until they got down to the bottom of the street so they could turn at the light and it was 5 seconds from where my house was before they got to that intersection. I don’t have a problem with the Fire Department; I support the Fire Department, the Police Department, the paramedics but once you do it you can’t take it back. Thank you very much. Mr. Pavlik: I have a question for both Ms. Wemmer and Ms. Lewis if you both could come to the podium. Ms.Wemmer, you first; how long have you lived at your current address? Mrs. Wemmer: Sad as it sounds; my whole life; 64 years. 11  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. December 12, 2024 Mr. Pavlik: OK. In your 64 years have you ever had any water issues at the back of your property? Mrs. Wemmer: No, I have not but my home . . . Mr. Pavlik: Ms. Lewis, how long have you lived at your current property? Mrs. Lewis: Actually the 7th longest longevity on that street which gives you an idea of the stableness of that community at the moment; 23 years. Mr. Pavlik: OK and do you have any water issues in the back of your property? Mrs. Lewis: No because again it is a slope and when it rains hard, I get a stream running through but when it stops raining it dries up. Nothing; standing water – no but I did have to have my basement totally redone and put a sump pump in. So, that is not in my back yard, but that is where my home sits. So, I had to do that renovation for my home to keep my basement dry. Mr. Pavlik: OK. Thank you. Mr. Kline, 1178 Grovewood Drive, Tallmadge. Just to give you a little history of West Overdale. The property that is the stub street that is on West Overdale. The property owners there elected to buy the acreage behind them so the road would not go through. So it cannot go through unless she sells her property back to the developer. The one on Nottingham is a 3-acre strip of land behind all of those homes that is not owned by the big parcel so that property owner would have to relinguish those 3 acres which is a buffer before Garden Street could ever go through so just to give you a little history if you didn’t know that. There is a lot of protection on that area right now. Mrs. Gutman: Thank you. That is good background. My name is Lisa Shauver and I live at 125 Nottingham, Tallmadge. I just wanted to say that that is a great concern for us to have a road there. It is not the type of property I would have purchased when I moved in. I wasn’t looking for that type of home. I was looking to be in a nice comfortable neighborhood. Right now, I think that Nottingham Street is a wonderful neighborhood. We often joke that we have such a nice neighborhood, and we all love each other on the street. We also have that nice back area behind our properties that was just a big field and we understand that there are changes, however, I would like to keep that community feel that we have there and would very much push for having only residential builds back in that area rather than a commercial back of a property that we would be seeing right up against our property that was previously looking out to a beautiful field. So, if they are going to go with something commercial with big trucks coming by with trash cans and that type of thing was really not what I was hoping for with my property. Thank you. Mrs. Gutman: Thank you so much for your input. I understand that when we are looking at development changing or new projects coming in and out there are a lot of unknowns that we can’t directly address because we don’t have plans in front of us, but I just want to assure the residents that everyone sitting here is listening and will take that into account when there are projects in front of us at that time and we can look at specific details that no matter how this works in the future, we still have that discretion. So, you have been heard and thank you for that. Is there anything else before we move on? Mr. Bollas: Yes, Madame chair, is there an individual wishing to speak on different items on the agenda? I will hold off until you close the committee, but I wanted to ask if Mr. Jim Case wanted to comment on these specific ordinances or if it was a specific item. Right, but if it was pertaining to Planning & Zoning ordinances, or not? OK. So we will close the committee. Mrs. Gutman: OK. Thank you. Vice Pres. of Council: OK. Mr. Case, if you would like to speak, please? Jim Case: My concern is nothing about zoning, but it is about people. I lived in Tallmadge Woods at 204 Tallwood and it is at the corner of Tallwood and Timothy. This last summer while mowing the lawn a lady fell trying to go across the street and I helped her get up. She continued not hurt, just a scratch on one knee and she was fine. It bothered me because a lot of people 12  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. December 12, 2024 Rev. James Case (Cont’d.) would come up to my intersection which I am right there on the corner and they would make an attempt to go across and they would have to take their canes, their walkers, their wheelchairs, their buggies, their dogs and we have a lot of dogs and the community used to be of 60 and 70 year olds and now it is a community of one-month olds to who knows how old; God bless your parents. We all need help. I would like to ask Mike to consider bringing in and putting in a handicapped crossing at our street and the curb so that they don’t have to go over the curb. What are we talking about; 3 or 4 inches. I don’t know. But it is 3 or 4” is a 20’ drop if you have a child in your hand and you are trying to get across. I will help finance it if the City needs help but God bless the zoning, I care about the people. So, I thank you for hearing my concerns. God bless. Vice Pres. of Council: Thank you very much. Before I move on to Personnel, have we called upon Nathanial Adams? You can come to the mic and state your name and address if you would like to. Mr. Adams: (inaudible) from audience. He did not want to speak. 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. i. Third Readings of Ordinances and Resolutions. A. Ord. 2024-67~Amended Exhibit A – Tracked Amended Exhibit A Amending and supplementing Ord. 2023-84 to amend rates, charges, and fees for all recreational facilities and providing for immediate enactment. Sponsor: Mayor Carol A. Kilway Mr. Pavlik: I call the Finance Committee to order. We have one ordinance at 3 rd Reading. This is Ord. 2024-67. The ordinance was read into the record. Do I have a motion for adoption? Mr. Roy moved for the adoption of Ord. 2024-67. Seconded Mrs. Gutman. Roll Call: Mr. Bollas – yes, Mrs. Cipa – abstain, Mrs. Epstein – yes, Mrs. Gutman – yes, Mr. Pavlik – yes, Mr. Roy – yes, Mr. Rubino – yes. Ord. 2024-67 is adopted by a vote of 6-0-1. ii. First Readings of Ordinances and Resolutions A. Ord. 2024-85 – Authorizing the Mayor to enter into a contract for the purchase of a HVAC system heat exchangers through Sourcewell Cooperative Purchasing Program. appropriating necessary funds and providing for immediate enactment. Sponsor: Dir. of Pub. Service Rorar Mr. Pavlik: Next we have Ord. 2024-85. The ordinance was read into the record. Do we have a motion to adopt? Mr. Rubino moved to adopt Ord. 2024-85. Seconded Mr. Bollas. Dir. of Pub. Service: Those heat exchangers were part of the original building when the building was constructed so they are over 20 years old and they can’t be repaired and the problem with them is they could release carbon monoxide and right now we are testing them daily and they are not but they could easily do it at this time of year and now is the time when you need your heat exchangers. It is important we get moving on this. It is technically an emergency and Sourcewell is one of those purchasing programs that we don’t have to go out to bid for. Mr. Pavlik: How long will this take to get done? Dir. of Pub. Service: Maybe a month. That is why we want to order them now. Mr. Pavlik: Do they have them in stock? Dir. of Pub. Service: I don’t know. They are ready to send them. Mr. Rubino: What is the cost involved? 13  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. December 12, 2024 Dir. Of Pub. Service: It is $70,000. Vice-Pres. of Council: I just have a question. This was a 2003 HVAC system heat exchangers operated over 20 years and have become outdated and so is that the average useful life? Dir. of Pub. Service: That is a good run on them. So, if you can get 20 years out of them that is awesome. The problem is is that everything in that building is 20 years old. So, we have been doing this on everything from HVAC throughout. Everything is 20 years old. Roll Call: Mr. Roy, Mr. Rubino, Mr. Bollas, Mrs. Cipa, Mrs. Epstein, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik – unanimous. Ord. 2024-85 is adopted by a vote of 7-0. Mr. Pavlik: Is there anything else to come before Finance? Hearing none, I will close committee. iii. 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. i. Second Readings of Ordinances and Resolutions A. Ord. 2024-73 – Authorizing the Mayor to enter into an agreement with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 436, and providing for immediate enactment. Sponsor: Mayor Carol A. Kilway Vice-Pres. of Council: This was requested for adoption for the adoption of the contract. Is that correct? Dir. of Administration: That is correct. They have approved the contract we negotiated. Vice-Pres. of Council: Regarding Ord. 2024-73 you have requested adoption at second reading this evening. Do we have a motion and a second? Mr. Pavlik: I will make a motion to approve. Seconded Mr. Rubino. Dir. of Pub. Service: I would just like to state how good the Teamsters were to work with with these negotiations. They were excellent and very cooperative and very forthcoming. I enjoyed it. Dir. of Administration: I would echo Dir. Rorar’s comments. It was an open and honest endeavor and due to overall timing meeting-wise there were not many meetings. It went very smoothly. Roll Call: Mr. Bollas – yes, Mrs. Cipa – abstain, Mrs. Epstein – yes, Mrs. Gutman – yes, Mr. Pavlik – yes, Mr. Roy] – yes, Mr. Rubino – yes. Ord. 2024-73 is adopted by a vote of 6-0-1. B. Ord. 2024-74 – Authorizing the Mayor to enter into an agreement with the Tallmadge Part-time Firefighters Association consisting of Tallmadge Part-time Firefighters and providing for immediate enactment. Sponsor: Mayor Carol A. Kilway Vice Pres. of Council: Next we have Ord. 2024-74. The ordinance was read into the record. Is there a motion? Mr. Rubino moved for the adoption of Ord. 2024-74. Seconded Mr. Pavlik. Dir. of Administration: I would just like to inform Council that negotiations with the Part- time Firefighters Association went well and quickly and actually it was done in 4 sessions. 14  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. December 12, 2024 Roll Call: Mrs. Cipa – abstain, Mrs. Epstein – yes, Mrs. Gutman – yes, Mr. Pavlik – yes, Mr. Roy – yes, Mr. Rubino – yes, Mr. Bollas – yes. Ord. 2024-74 is adopted by a vote of 6-0-1. C. Ord. 2024-75 – Authorizing the Mayor to enter into an agreement with the International Association of Firefighters, Local 2764 and providing for immediate enactment. Sponsor: Mayor Carol A. Kilway Vice-Pres. of Council: Next we have Ord. 2024-75. The ordinance was read into the record. We will keep this on hold since negotiations are continuing. D. Ord. 2024-76 – Authorizing the Mayor to enter into an agreement with the Fraternal Order of Police (F.O.P.) consisting of Tallmadge Patrol Officers and providing for immediate enactment. Sponsor: Mayor Carol A. Kilway Vice-Pres. of Council: Next we have Ord. 2024-76. The ordinance was read into the record. We will keep this on hold since negotiations are continuing. E. Ord. 2024-77 – Authorizing the Mayor to enter into an agreement with the Fraternal Order of Police (F.O.P.) consisting of Tallmadge Police Sergeants and Tallmadge Police Lieutenants and providing for immediate enactment. Sponsor: Mayor Carol A. Kilway Vice-Pres. of Council: Next we have Ord. 2024-77. The ordinance was read into the record. We will keep this on hold since negotiations are continuing. ii. First Readings of Ordinances and Resolutions A. Ord. 2024-86 – Suspending Ord. 2023-77 Section 3.A. for fiscal year 2025 until certain conditions are met and providing for immediate enactment. Sponsor: Mayor Carol A. Kilway Dir. of Finance Gilbride Dir. of Law Raber Vice-Pres. of Council: Next we have Ord. 2024-86. The ordinance was read into the record. Dir. of Finance: Just to explain to Council what we are doing. The way our ordinances are currently read, non-bargaining employees get the average of the union contracts increase. That is how non-bargaining employees get wage increases. Due to the fact that we are ending the year we have basically 2 contracts, Police and Fire that have not been negotiated and this is a way to not kind of hold our non-bargaining employees . . . we have 2 union contracts that have passed and this is a way of getting them something until everything is settled and not making them have to sit back and wait for an annual wage adjustment until we have settled those other 2 contracts. At the end of when those 2 contracts are settled we will reconcile and make sure they are adjusted appropriately . This just gets them something at the beginning of the year so that they are kind of not stuck with anything until the rest of the union contracts settle. Mr. Pavlik: So, seeing this is the last Council meeting of the year, this is something that you want. Dir. of Finance: It would be nice if you could pass it at 1st Reading. If you do not, after the 1st comes, I would at least like to get it at 2nd Reading. If you would be willing to consider it at 1st Reading. Mr. Pavlik: Since this is my first time on Council, the veteran Council people, the Mayor; is this standard? Mayor: Yes. This is standard. This has been going on for the last 13 years that I have been around. Vice-Pres. of Council: I think it is dependent upon ongoing negotiations. Mayor: It is really just contract negotiations years. 15  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. December 12, 2024 Dir. of Finance: Right. We don’t normally . . . if we had settled on the contracts we wouldn’t be here but based on the experiences that we have had, we have had contracts go until November of the next year so it is just a way to kind of let the non-bargaining members have some kind of wage increase. We know we are going to be giving them something. We just went ahead and used the 3% that we had incorporated into the budget. Vice-Pres. of Council: So, this is typically dependent upon negotiations. There are not annual wage adjustments each year. Dir. of Finance: So, there is an annual wage adjustment. So once the union contracts are established there is three years of wage adjustment.. Vice-Pres. of Council: Right, but it doesn’t . . . Dir. of Finance: No, once the contracts are passed, we go back to Ord. 2023-77 which dictates what we give to the non-bargaining increases. Vice-Pres. of Council: This is in the ordinance as well. This excludes all elected officials as well. Dir. of Finance: Correct. Elected officials will not get theirs because you can’t vote for an increase so we have to wait until the union contracts are settled and then they will receive it. Vice-Pres. of Council: Just wanted that stated. Any questions? Mr. Pavlik: I will make a motion to adopt the ordinance. Seconded Ms. Epstein. Roll Call: Mrs. Epstein, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mr. Roy, Mr. Rubino, Mr. Bollas, Mrs. Cipa – unanimous. Ord. 2024-86 is adopted by a vote of 7-0. iii. Additional Items: None. Vice-Pres. of Council: Before closing Personnel, I just wanted to add a point of order for the Organizational Meeting to set a date for that. I meant to do that under Additional Items. Should we just wait until the conclusion of the meeting or is that appropriate to do in Personnel? Dir. Of Law: You can do it in Personnel or you can do it just prior to adjournment; either way. Vice-Pres. of Council: Let’s just do it now. Dir. of Law: You will need a motion and second and then a vote. Vice-Pres. of Council: So, again as we had received a resignation from the Pres. of Council, we therefore, pursuant to TCO 11.01 Rule 3, we must set a re-organizational meeting that will be chaired by the Dir. of Law for the purpose of electing the Pres. of Council. I would like to make the motion to set that for 6:30 p.m. on January 9 th. Seconded Mr. Pavlik. Roll Call: Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mr. Roy, Mr. Rubino, Mr. Bollas, Mrs. Cipa, Mrs. Epstein – unanimous. The Re-organizational Meeting is set for January 9, 2025, at 6:30 p.m. 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 have no legislation before us this evening. Is there anything for the Safety Committee this evening? Hearing none, I close committee. i. Additional Items: None. 16  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. December 12, 2024 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? Hearing none, I will close committee. i. Additional Items: None. 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. We have no legislation before us this evening. Is there anything for Public Service this evening? Dir. of Pub. Service: I just have one. I just want to announce that Winter Shifts start on January 5th so at that time we will have 24-hour coverage for the snowplows. Mrs. Epstein: Anything else? Hearing none, I will close committee. i. Additional Items: None. 11. Reports of Special Committees: a. Council Operations Committee Vice-Pres. of Council: As Chair, I have nothing to report following the approval of the budget this evening. We can execute the contract with Dove AV for another year of live-streaming. Any comments or questions for Reports of Special Committees? Hearing none, I will close the committee. i. Additional Items: None. 12. Announcements: None. 13. Adjournment: Mr. Pavlik moved to adjourn. Seconded Mrs. Gutman. Roll Call: Mr. Rubino, Mr. Bollas, Mrs. Cipa, Mrs. Epstein, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mr. Roy – unanimous. The Council meeting of 12-12-24 adjourned at 8:34 p.m. sb Adopted: ___________________ ___________________________________ ______________________________________ Susan E. Burton, Clerk of Council Jonathon D. Bollas, Vice President of Council 17