City Council Regular Meeting

COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. January 9, 2025 1. Call to Order: Pres. of Council: It is Thursday, January 9, 2025, and this is our regularly scheduled 7:00 p.m. Council meeting. 2. Opening Prayer: Pastor Andy Alberts, Tallmadge Lutheran Church. Pledge of Allegiance: Pres. of Council: The pledge will be led by Mr. Lee Gidden representing Alpha II Veteran Logistics Inc. 3. Roll Call: Mr. Bollas, Mrs. Cipa, Mrs. Epstein, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mr. Rubino – present. Mr. Roy was excused. 4. Correcting and Adopting Previous Meeting Minutes: 12-12-24 Council Meeting Minutes Mr. Pavlik: I move to adopt the 12-12-24 Council Meeting Minutes. Seconded Mrs. Cipa. Roll Call: Mrs. Cipa, Mrs. Epstein, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mr. Rubino, Mr. Bollas – unanimous. The 12-12-24 Council Meeting Minutes were adopted by a vote of 6-0. 5. Financial Reports: • There were no transfers in the month of December. • Appropriation Report, Fund Report and Revenue Report for the period ending 12-31-24 to Council on 1-7-25. • December Financial reports to Council on 1-7-25. • Tallmadge Recreation Center Profit and Loss Report for the period ending 12-31-24 to Council on 1-7-25. • Income Tax Comparisons for the period ending 12-31-24 to Council on 1-7-25. • Income Tax by Source Report for the month of December to Council on 1-7-25. • Revenue Comparisons for Major Funds for the period ending 12-31-24 to Council on 1-7- 25. • Consolidated Investment Portfolio for the period ending 12-31-24 to Council on 1-7-25. Mr. Pavlik moved to accept the Financial Reports. Seconded Mrs. Gutman. Roll Call: Mrs. Epstein, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mr. Rubino, Mr. Bollas, Mrs. Epstein – unanimous. The Financial Reports submitted by Dir. of Finance Gilbride were accepted by a vote of 6-0. 6. Public Hearings: None. 7. Community Input: Pres. of Council: Tonight, I would like to call Mr. John Blickle, President of Rubber City Arches LLC to the podium and just reminding everyone that you will be given 2 minutes to speak and then we will move into a discussion. John Blickle, 55 Ernest Street, Akron, OH 44308. Thank you for your time and indulgence this evening. I am here to hopefully put a cap on the probably 8-year journey for the McDonald’s Restaurant at Tallmadge Circle. We presented numerous times to both City Council and to the Planning Commission and Planning Department a proposal to rebuild that restaurant. It was, I guess, for the lack of a better word, stopped 3 times. The pandemic, supply chain and then finally we got it to go through in April of this year where I believe I appeared in front of Council to explain what we were trying to do. We purchased from 2 independent parties the land in front of the original McDonald’s Restaurant, one of which had a Sohio Station on it and then the 2 nd one had the testing module for the Sohio Station when it went under remediation and those two parcels combined with the original parcel would be the site of the revised and renovated McDonald’s Restaurant. It started in 1987 and coincidentally it was my very first franchise that I was able to be on the franchise. It has been a very difficult process. In terms of negotiations with the City, it has been relatively smooth; there were things I wanted that they didn’t and there were things that they wanted that I didn’t want. But I think we ended up to what I call the midpoint, or the example of a good negotiation conclusion is that both sides were relatively unhappy with the results and mostly from 1  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. January 9, 2025 Mr. Blickle (Cont’d.) our perspective we really wanted access directly from the Circle. Our competitors enjoy it; Dunkin Donuts, Taco Bell and we understand that the City didn’t want that and we were prepared to give that up and in exchange we were hopeful that the City would accept a gift of the land immediately south or east of the original parcel that would be used by the City or somebody else to construct a trail head that would complement the Freedom Trail that runs directly behind there. When the parcel was platted with the City, or excuse me, Summit County, we identified the parcel that would be where the McDonald’s Restaurant would be and then we separated that and then identified a parcel where hopefully that would transfer by gift to the City of Tallmadge. In all of my meetings that I have had with the Council, the Commission and the Planning Department, they have been pretty transparent and said that our goal was to transfer by gift that parcel of almost a ½ of an acre for use by the City. Subsequently and prior to the building permit being issued, the City of Tallmadge entered into a development agreement with McDonald’s Corporation, not with my company, but with McDonald’s Corporation and I will tell you on the side that there is only one thing that McDonald’s takes more seriously than French fries and that is real estate. So, they are very, very committed to when they sign development agreements to make sure they are executed. We will probably end up with the responsibilities under that development agreement and they are extensive of maintaining the property and making sure that the storm water system is working and so on and so forth. We have had some of these development agreements with cities; Tallmadge is hopefully executed, Green, City of Akron, Mogadore, Cuyahoga Falls and they all pretty much run the gamut of they are responsible for making sure that all the elements of that development agreement and maintenance agreement are maintained and accomplished and then for whatever reason it hasn’t happened in the 40+ years that I have been associated that McDonald’s would step in; a multi-billion dollar corporation out of Chicago and I think you can rest assured that whatever is required to maintain that property will be done. It is in a rather raw state right now. Pres. of Council: Mr. Blickle, I didn’t mean to interrupt you, but I know that we have reached time but this is a very important matter and I would like to request if there are any comments or questions from the Council or Administration on this matter just to continue on this matter. Does anyone have any questions from Council? Mr. Rubino: Yes sir, just one question for you. I had seen a 2002 rendering like conceptual rendering of what was going to happen there and obviously this doesn’t quite match. Was there a reason for that? Mr. Blickle: Well, I can be candid with you, every City in Summit County has decided to use the Summit County Planning Department to do building permits, storm water analysis and so on and so forth. I have gone through this process with multiple cities, and we hired an engineering firm, Solar Testing, out of Cleveland, and they do a fine job. They submit a report to Summit County explaining what should be done in terms of storm water retention and invariably the requirements are doubled or tripled. If I had the luxury of time, which I didn’t in the case of Tallmadge, we could usually negotiate that to a more reasonable level but candidly I was running out of time. As you can see, we opened like the 9th of December and I just didn’t have the time to negotiate and so I had to accept the recommendations or the directive of Summit County’s Storm Water Retention System experts to do that and the result was not what I expected. Mr. Rubino: And it had to be on the street side of the property; correct, based on what Summit County was recommending? The retention pond? Mr. Blickle: It had to be on the trail head side; it had to be on the easterly portion of the . . . Mr. Rubino: Yeah, well on the . . . Mr. Blickle: I’m sure I am not doing the directions, but . . . closest to the trail head. Mr. Rubino: Closest to Southeast? I guess it would be your rear entrance now. 2  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. January 9, 2025 Mr. Blickle: Yes. Mr. Rubino: Rather than further up towards say the rear of Arby’s. Mr. Blickle: Yes, that was the plan that was submitted and in terms of the parcel split; yes. Mr. Rubino: The only reason I ask is again that conceptual site plan it looks like there was a water or maybe it says nature play area that was more towards East Avenue behind Arby’s and then a boardwalk or something down below it and then the schematics of it . . . it just changed a little bit and I wasn’t on Council at the time and so I was just interested in how that progressed. Mr. Blickle: Again, to be as transparent as I can, I don’t like what ended up there. I think it is still functional and candidly it was . . . if anything else it ends up being green space, but it is certainly better than what was there before. In front of the restaurant there was a polluted piece of land that we had to remediate, and we moved everything and justified it to the Circle and the remaining property beyond us what is now the property that we were hoping to gift is clean. It is not polluted in any way, shape or form. It . . . I believe it is still functional as a public space area. It may not be represented accurately there when we end up with the whole thing being done, but I do believe it is a fine public space area for the City of Tallmadge. Mr. Rubino: Thank you. Pres. of Council: Thank you. Mrs. Gutman: Thank you for coming. If you could just speak about what the consequence would be for your company if the City doesn’t accept the parcel as originally discussed? Mr. Blickle: Well, it is not good. I felt it was part of a negotiated process that we gave up things and the City gave up things and we ended up with where I thought from the very beginning we offered that as a gift and it is a part of our financial structure and it is a charitable contribution that will save us some income taxes in time. McDonald’s does not allow its franchisees to own property contiguous to the restaurant period. You will have no choice if it doesn’t go to the City, it will go someplace else. I can’t control that. I must . . . I just . . . I can’t control it. It is a part of my franchise. I can’t own land contiguous so if it is not the City, I don’t know where it is going to go. Is it viable as a commercial piece of property; perhaps? I don’t think that is the best use of it but on the other hand I go back to my original statement that never after anything from day one did we consider anything other than donating it to the City and I felt that was an important element of the transaction. Mrs. Gutman: Thank you. Pres. of Council: Thank you. Are there any comments from the Administration? Alright, on behalf of the City and Council I just wanted to sincerely thank you for your investment in the City and also thank you for being here this evening. Mr. Blickle: Can I ask you what the next step is? Pres. of Council: I would defer to the Law Department on that. Dir. of Law: Since I just heard about it today and they had received some correspondence from you previously and I will take it under advisement and then one of them would have to sponsor legislation to move forward with the acceptance of the parcel. That is the only way that the City would be able to accept it is through legislative action. Mr. Blickle: Can I ask when that would occur? Dir. of Law: If anyone wants to move forward, they will request legislation from me and then we would draft legislation which would have all of the necessary terms and conditions . . . Mr. Blickle: Who would request it? Dir. of Law: It would have to be a Council person. Pres. of Council: So, a member of Council would have to sponsor an ordinance and then it would have to go to a roll call vote and be adopted; is that right? Dir. of Law: Yes, that’s right. Mr. Pavlik: You would potentially have 3 readings to put an ordinance in place. So, every Council meeting is a reading and so if it were introduced today, it would be 6 weeks from now. 3  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. January 9, 2025 Dir. of Law: Depending on how the calendar falls but obviously it is not today. Mr. Blickle: What . . . I understand that this has been in front of Council multiple times . . . Dir. of Law: I do just want to point out that it has not actually been in front of Council that the bodies you were in front of previously were Planning & Zoning bodies. Mr. Blickle: No, I was in front of Council back in April. I have it on my . . . I was second on the agenda and the person at the car wash at Evans and Tallmadge Avenue was in front of me. I was in front of Council. Dir. of Law: I believe that would have been Planning & Zoning Commission sir. Mayor: That was the Planning & Zoning Commission. That wasn’t Council. Mr. Blickle: I guess I would need . . . I would like to ask what is the timeline? How do I understand whether I have to find an alternative user of that property as opposed to the City of Tallmadge? Mrs. Gutman: Mr. Blickle, as your Ward representative I do believe that I can work with you on this and at the very least give you a more definitive answer. I will work with the Law Director so that we can move forward. So, I do think that for your purposes, at least you have that vote. Mr. Blickle: OK. Thank you. I appreciate that. I hate to be prissy, but it is incredibly important. I have got a franchise who says why hasn’t this transferred. They are not patient people, but I understand that you are you and I would appreciate the progress. Mrs. Gutman: For sure. Mr. Bollas: Thank you again. Next I call Julia Lewis. Please come to the mike and state your name and address. Julia Lewis, 63 Nottingham, Tallmadge. I was here at the last meeting a month ago and I got a little emotional because this is an emotional issue for me, and I believe I misspoke at one point in time. I want to make it very clear that I am in support of the entire overlay project and specifically the residential part. I also challenged this board and each of you individually to come to my home and see this from my perspective and my point of view. Two of you took me up on that and I would like to thank you right now, Mr. Pavlik and Ms. Epstein, for coming to my home and seeing what this is from my point of view and from the point of view of people on Nottingham Street. I am going to extend the invitation to those of you who have not come yet because in 2 weeks you are going to vote and in 2 weeks you have to look me in the eye and you have to say, Ms. Lewis, either yes, this was a great thing; the Mayor wants to do good things down there to an area that has been totally ignored by this City and you can see it every time you drive through. Planning & Zoning said this is whoo-hoo; a great idea; let’s go with it. They have handed it to you on a silver platter. There is nothing negative about these proposals and I want you to vote yes, and I want you to see it from my point of view. I sent you all a text with a picture of the lights at night. That is to clarify that; that is just from one plaza; the one plaza that is currently in that field. That is just one plaza. Now you multiply that by whatever you are going to put back there, whatever you think will go back there commercially, you know we have had these City meetings where people are saying you know; why do you come to Tallmadge and why do you stay here and why do you live here? Has any comment been I love Tallmadge because I am hoping that City Council votes to put commercial in my back yard. Do you think that is happening? Do you want to go read all those? That is happening because it is not true. No one wants that. It drops the property values; it is going to ruin us financially; it is going to destroy that neighborhood. If you don’t think commercially encroaching on residential doesn’t ruin residential, go up to Brittain Road there is an Aldi’s up there. Everybody knows the Aldi’s on Brittain Road and there is a Salvation Army next to it. Look across the street and look and see what commercial that encroaches on residential does to the residential. We will see it firsthand. I ask you to come to my home to see it firsthand and I ask you to look at the road there firsthand and I ask you to support these overlays. They are a great thing. They are the reasonable thing to do. They are the intelligent thing to do. They are the humane thing to do, and they confirm the oath that you took when you decided to serve on this Council to promote the health, safety 4  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. January 9, 2025 Mrs. Lewis (Cont’d.) and the welfare of the citizens and that is what this legislation does. I’ll see you in 2 weeks. Pres. of Council: Thank you Ms. Lewis. I will accept your invitation. Mr. Rubino: I also will if you are here at the end of the meeting, we can get together and plan a day. Mrs. Lewis: Absolutely. Mrs. Cipa: Are you normally home on Saturdays? Mrs. Lewis: Not this Saturday morning, but in the afternoon; yes. Mrs. Cipa: OK, I’ll be by. Mrs. Lewis: Thank you. Pres. of Council: Thank you Mr. Pavlik for giving us that sign-in sheet. I just wanted to go down the list and next up we have Mr. David Jones. If you wish to speak you can approach the mike. Please state your name and address and you will have 2 minutes. David Jones, 206 W. Overdale Drive, Tallmadge. I am around the corner in that part of West Overdale. So, I have also reviewed the West Overlay Project and where we sit on that west end of Overdale, we are just concerned about the traffic on that street. As it is, it is a highly trafficked street obviously as it is a shortcut for the Circle. We all know that. So, one of our sticking points is the potential of Garden Street being a connection back . . . I know in some of the overlays it shows a connection, and I think I read through the minutes from last time and it kind of talks about well we have to see what the development plan is and what the connection might be. I’m not sure most of the residents actually know that Garden Street is a street and that it is actually City property that can be used as a connection into this future commercial district and in our opinion, it should be vacated. I don’t know what that process would look like. I don’t know if it would be owned by the adjacent owners at that point or if the City would sell it in some way but we don’t like the possibility of another way to divert more traffic down that street. So that is one of our concerns as well as the overlay district has a lot of different topologies in the study. When you get to town homes; that was also a concern for us from our standpoint of having two school-age kids we feel like there is already kind of a student to teacher problem as far as the ratio goes adding more housing and more students it just seems to be a taxing thing with the school system that was just built which already seems to be at capacity after 4 years of being open or however long it has been open. So, those are the concerns that I wanted to bring up about this at this time. Pres. of Council: Thank you Mr. Jones. I appreciate your time and you coming in here. Does Mr. Lee Gidden wish to speak to Council or Mr. Rich Sweet? Neither wished to speak. Mr. Andy Alberts, do you wish to speak? Mr. Vincent Putaturo? Vincent Putaturo, 1435 Northeast Avenue, Tallmadge. I just have a couple of comments so I will be pretty brief. One thing is that there was a gentleman with inSITE and I apologize, I forget his name, and he presented . . . he was one of the presenters from inSITE and he had made reference to a market study that was done regarding the apartments for that area there on West Avenue and not just apartments but I think what was discussed was higher end apartments out there so I would like to request if we could have that study posted on line on the City’s website so everybody can take a look at that. I think that would be helpful for everyone to kind of understand that. Pres. of Council: I appreciate the question. Dir. of Law: Mr. Putaturo, just to make clear that that was a reference to a study that had been done by a possible developer. They have not actually submitted a site plan yet and so we don’t have any of those public . . . those are not records that are in our possession at this point. Mr. Putaturo: So, it was not a study actually done. Dir. of Law: No, it is just not submitted to us. There is no submittal so again this is . . . the ordinances in front of Council are for the overlays so for the text amendments and then in the 5  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. January 9, 2025 Dir. of Law (Cont’d.) future there is a possibility of development and that was an example that was given at that meeting, but that has not been submitted so there are no records for that. Mr. Pavlik: He was citing a study, I think. Dir. of Law: I think he mentioned something about the study in the discussion and I think based on the discussion that he had had with the developer, but we don’t have that because they haven’t submitted that yet. Mr. Putaturo: OK. Pres. of Council: So, my understanding is that cannot be posted because there was not . . . Dir. of Law: We can only post things that are records. We don’t have that record. Pres. of Council: Understood. Mr. Putaturo: OK, thank you and secondly just looking at some of the documents online here of . . . and in the typologies height transition area there was this image that was on site here that shows a multi-story building, some setbacks but the question I have here is that the screenage here is only indicated to be 6 to 10’ wide for a vegetation screenage and this would be between the residential area and the multi-use commercial possibly multiple-story area so it is only 6 to 10’ wide it looks like here as a barrier between the two areas and I would request consideration to increase that to 50’. When you are looking at acreage out here; big open spaces and a lot of acreage you know a 50’ wide buffer of vegetation I think would be appropriate for what you would be trying to do here. This is the barrier between residential and this multi-use business area. Pres. of Council: OK. Thank you very much for that recommendation and also just again this is just more for everyone’s knowledge that in order to make an amendment to Planning & Zoning’s recommendations it would take a super majority of Council so that would be 5 votes. Just so everyone is aware. Mr. Putaturo: OK, and lastly there were several images with the neighborhood center overlays on the West Avenue, Northwest Avenue and so forth and I don’t know if those images are intended to be final images; final documents. They seem to be quite preliminary and still need a lot of work and development. When you look at the legend and what is shown; they don’t match and on one of them on the Northwest Avenue Neighborhood Center Overlay from Northwest Avenue, the legends still reference Zoning Code R-6 which should not be on there. Pres. of Council: OK. I know that we have on the Planning & Zoning Committee this evening; I know they are at 2nd Reading on all these ordinances and there will be a public hearing on this again on the 23rd and we can review the diagram you are referring between now and then and I welcome you to come back and speak to that. I appreciate you very much coming in and speaking to Council. Does anyone have any questions or comments for Mr. Putaturo? Mayor: Mr. Putaturo if you would like to set up a time and I can meet with you, and we can get Helene Hussing together and explain all of that to you. So just contact my office and we will get you in within the next week or so and we will explain it all to you. Mr. Putaturo: Thank you very much and thank you everyone for allowing me to speak here. Pres. of Council: Absolutely. Thank you. Lastly, is there a Shelby Wemmer that would like to speak? Shelby Wemmer, 105 Nottingham Street, Tallmadge. I just have more of a question about procedure and maybe I am just kind of being a little nosy too, but we are going to have a meeting on the 23rd where this is going to be discussed and either passed or not passed and you guys have your meetings but I’m not reading very well to find out what anybody is even thinking about these proposals. We are not privy to the meetings and you guys don’t really discuss it here. When will that in the meeting on the 23rd the community speaks and then everybody votes at that time. Do you speak about what you are thinking about it a yes or a no? 6  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. January 9, 2025 Pres. of Council: Correct. At the public hearing on 3rd Reading is when we would . . . the ordinance would go to a vote. Then there would be discussion. There could be a discussion this evening. The public speaks first; yes. Mrs. Wemmer: Because I was just curious because I might have some questions but if I speak first and then you have the discussion, I might have a question about what you discussed. Then we can come back up again? Pres. of Council: Yes, and just . . . we actually went a little out of order this evening because we usually call for community input during the committee. I kind of went out of order today because I was going through the sign-up sheet because we had a special presentation this evening. So, I apologize for that confusion. But, yes, you would be welcome to come back and speak at the public hearing and then they would open the committee for Planning & Zoning and then we would go into our discussion and then it would go to a vote. Mrs. Wemmer: I would say that this is not disrespectful at all but you guys all have really good poker faces! Pres. of Council: Alright. That concludes our community input. Does anyone in the audience want to speak who has not signed in? Alright we will move on. 8. Agenda Additions: Pres. of Council: These are appointments that Council will have to make and approve. Civil Service Commission: • Appointment of Mark Salerno to the Civil Service Commission. Mayor: As you are all well aware, Jan Naso and Tom Kot have both recently retired from the Civil Service Commission and you did approve Regeana Cochran as one of the appointments and Mark Salerno would be one of the other appointments. I did forward his biography to all of you about 2 weeks ago. He is a Tallmadge resident, and he is an attorney here in Tallmadge. He is very active in our community and his background is in law and business administration from Kent State University and the University of Akron, and I think he would be very beneficial to our Civil Service Commission. I think he would be a very smart appointment. Pres. of Council: OK. Thank you. Do we have a motion? Mr. Pavlik: I make a motion to approve Mark Salerno to the Civil Service Commission. Seconded Mrs. Cipa. Roll Call: Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mr. Rubino, Mr. Bollas, Mrs. Cipa, Mrs. Epstein – unanimous. Mark Salerno is appointed to the Civil Service Commission by a vote of 6-0. Richardson Trust Fund: • Appointment of Chairperson: Pres. of Council: Last year this was Mr. Donald Pavlik. Again, we would need a motion and a second if Mr. Pavlik would like to remain on the Richardson Trust Fund. Mr. Rubino: I make a motion for Mr. Pavlik to remain on the Trust. Seconded Mrs. Gutman. Roll Call: Mr. Pavlik, Mr. Rubino, Mr. Bollas, Mrs. Cipa, Mrs. Epstein, Mrs. Gutman – unanimous. Mr. Pavlik will remain the Chairperson for the Richardson Trust Fund by a vote of 6-0. Firefighters’ Dependents Fund: • Appointment of Chairperson from Council: Pres. of Council: Last year this was Mary Gutman. Do I hear a motion and a second for Ms. Gutman to remain on the Fund? Mr. Pavlik: I will make a motion for Ms. Gutman to remain on this committee. Seconded Mr. Rubino. Roll Call: Mr. Rubino, Mr. Bollas, Mrs. Cipa, Mrs. Epstein, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik – unanimous. Mrs. Gutman is appointed as Chairperson of the Firefighters’ Dependents Fund by a vote of 6-0. • Appointment of Secretary from Council: Pres. of Council: Last year this was Mr. Pavlik. I assume Mr. Pavlik would like to stay at that appointment. If so, is there a motion? 7  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. January 9, 2025 Mrs. Gutman: I will make a motion for Mr. Pavlik to remain the Secretary. Seconded Mrs. Epstein. Roll Call: Mr. Bollas, Mrs. Cipa, Mrs. Epstein, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mr. Rubion – unanimous. Mr. Pavlik will remain as Secretary to the Firefighters’ Dependents Fund by a vote of 6-0. • Appointment of Sandy Ray and Brian White as Board Members to the Firefighters’ Dependents Fund. Elected by the Fire Department. Pres. of Council: Next is the appointment of Sandy Ray and Brian White to the Firefighters’ Dependents Fund. They are elected by the Fire Department. Can I get a motion? Mr. Rubino: I make a motion to accept. Seconded Mrs. Gutman. Roll Call: Mrs. Cipa, Mrs. Epstein, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mr. Rubino, Mr. Bollas – unanimous. Sandy Ray and Brian White have been appointed board members to the Firefighters’ Dependents Fund by a vote of 6-0. • Appointment of Chip Billows to serve as At-Large Member. Appointed by Council. Mr. Pavlik made a motion for Chip Billows to serve as the At-Large member. Seconded Mr. Rubino. Roll Call: Mrs. Epstein, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mr. Rubino, Mr. Bollas, Mrs. Cipa – unanimous. Mr. Chip Billows will serve as the At-Large member by a vote of 6-0. Veteran’s Committee: • Council’s Appointment: Mrs. Gutman: I move for Jessica Epstein to replace Adam Bozic on the Veteran’s Committee. Seconded Mr. Pavlik. Roll Call: Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mr. Rubino, Mr. Bollas, Mrs. Cipa, Mrs. Epstein – unanimous. Jessica Epstein is appointed to the Veteran’s Committee to replace Adam Bozic by a vote of 6-0. • Council’s Appointment: Pres. of Council: Next is the replacement of Terry Fitzpatrick who passed away last year. Mr. Pavlik: I move for Lee Gidden to replace Mr. Fitzpatrick. Seconded Mr. Rubino. Roll Call: Mr. Pavlik, Mr. Rubino, Mr. Bollas, Mrs. Cipa, Mrs. Epstein, Mrs. Gutman – unanimous. Mr. Lee Gidden is appointed to the Veteran’s Committee to replace Mr. Fitzpatrick by a vote of 6-0. Community Reinvestment Area Housing Council: • Jonathon Bollas’ term ended 12-31-24. Will need to choose his replacement and/or he could serve another term. Mr. Pavlik: I make a motion to appoint Jonathon Bollas to another term on the Community Reinvestment Board. Seconded Mrs. Cipa. Roll Call: Mr. Rubino, Mr. Bollas, Mrs. Cipa, Mrs. Epstein, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik – unanimous. Mr. Bollas is appointed to another term on the Community Investment Area Housing Council by a vote of 6-0. • Donald Pavlik was appointed previously to a term ending 12-31-26. 9. Reports of Administrative Officers: a. Mayor/Dir. of Pub. Safety: • First of all, I want to give a big shout out to Mr. Weigand and his Street Department for their work with the snow. • Today, January 9th, we celebrate National Law Appreciation Day. Here in Tallmadge, we do feel safe because of them. We do appreciate everything you do to keep us safe. Your hard work does not go unnoticed, and we appreciate everything you do to keep us safe. • The Fire Department responded to 43 calls from 4:00 p.m. Friday to Monday at 7:00 a.m. That is an exceptional amount of calls. One of those calls was at 265 N. Thomas at one of the apartments. It was a fire caused by cooking and thanks to the fast action of our fire department it was contained to just the one apartment and there was smoke damage in another apartment. That family was displaced out of that apartment, so we were very fortunate that it was only one unit that was severely damaged. • We have the Tallmadge Circular that we started last year and I am happy to announce that thanks to Council’s support in the budget, we are going to continue that. The Rec 8  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. January 9, 2025 • Mayor (Cont’d.) Center magazine that was going out once a year will be going out twice a year and the schools are still a part of that newsletter. I really want to thank Kelly Christopher from Tallmadge City Schools for all of her hard work. She did a lot of work in the first year helping in designing and editing the newsletter and I really appreciate all of the hard work that she did for us. The first one will come out in mid-February. • I know you guys are all familiar with the Summiteer that has come out. It is a monthly newspaper that is coming out. We are in contact with them quite regularly and so if you do have anything that you do want to get into a newspaper form, please let us know and we will get you in contact with the editors and reporters. • I thank you very much for your confirmation of Mr. Salerno. Our Civil Service Commission is now full. Tish Rowland is taking over Allison’s responsibilities because she did retire as well. I am very confident with our new commission, and I think we will be having a busy year. • Rec Center events. We will be having the Winter Wonderland Dinner/Dance Sat, Feb 8, 2025 from 5:00 to 10:00 p.m. at the Venue. • Maca memberships go on sale February 15th and Family Fun Night is February 28th at the Rec Center and you can get those tickets on the website, and you can view that at our new Tallmadge website at tallmadgeoh.gov. I was really happy to get the .gov. It does give us some credibility as a government entity so as soon as that became available, we grabbed it. That’s all I have for this evening. Pres. of Council: I just had one question regarding the Tallmadge Circular and incorporating the Rec Center Magazine, just like going into the editing and just trying to get clarity on the roles. Does the City take point in that publication or is it the Tallmadge City School District? Mayor: It is a true cooperation between Tallmadge City Administration, Jessica at the Rec Center and Tallmadge City Schools. So, it is a three-way cooperation. Jessica was only able to put her publication out twice a year because of cost restraints and she is very happy that she can now put her information out quarterly and keep her costs relatively the same and she can have more information brought out that way too. Pres. of Council: We will move on to the Director of Administration. b. Director of Administration/Economic Development: Just a couple of updates. • We are working on the Strategic Plan. We are working with our consulting firm and the strategic planning team and that will be released by the State of the City in March. • Just an update the negotiations are continuing, and I am requesting an Executive Session prior to adjournment of the Council meeting on January 23 rd to discuss contract negotiations. Pending your questions that is all I have for tonight. Mr. Pavlik: Mr. Ignazzitto, I would like to request a committee meeting, I guess, with Finance and Personnel, with you and anybody else in the City Administration just to go over what has been going on if that is OK with you. Dir. of Administration: Yes, I can coordinate a meeting for you and Councilwoman Cipa. c. Dir. of Pub. Service: Thank you. Happy New Year and I have no report. d. Director of Finance: Good evening. Everybody received their financial reports. We had a very good year, and that growth was in our withholding which is our main source of income tax. The General Fund also received just over $1.2 million in interest so we have enjoyed that the last couple of years but that will not last forever, but it will allow us to do some projects and cash finance those projects instead of debt for those items. • The Fire Department saw a lot of growth in their ambulance fees this year; much more than anticipated but as Mayor Kilway just stated that is pressing them with their personnel but otherwise, I think we had a great financial year and hopefully that will continue into 2025. If anybody has any questions, I will be glad to answer those. 9  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. January 9, 2025 e. Dir. of Law: Thank you. I just want to take a brief moment to kind of clarify tonight’s agenda. You will get to the Zoning section, and you will see all the “housekeeping” ordinances so just for the public as we go through the meeting those are ordinances that typically appear every year. They have appropriations. We have kind of broken up some of the Zoning ordinances because there are so many of them. In years past we put all of them at the beginning of the year and this year we are going to divide them up into two meetings: maybe three. We have public hearings next meeting and so we kind of want to break those up. So, tonight there will be quite a few housekeeping ordinances and so when you hear that term that typically means that it is a standard thing that we do every year and so we are asking for 1st Reading adoption. 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. Second 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.” Mrs. Gutman: First we have Ord. 2024-78 – Exhibit A with a public hearing on 1-23-25 @ 7:01 p.m. The ordinance was read into the record. We will wait until the next reading for the public hearing. Sponsor: Mayor Carol A. Kilway 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. Mrs. Gutman: Next we have Ord. 2024-79~Exhibit A with a public hearing on 1-23-25 @ 7:02 p.m. The ordinance was read into the record. We will wait until the next reading for the public hearing. Sponsor: Mayor Carol A. Kilway 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. Mrs. Gutman: Next we have Ord. 2024-80~Exhibit A with a public hearing on 1-23-25 @ 7:03 p.m. The ordinance was read into the record. We will wait until the next reading for the public hearing. Sponsor: Mayor Carol A. Kilway 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. Mrs. Gutman: Next we have Ord. 2024-81~Exhibit A with a public hearing on 1-23-25 @ 7:04 p.m. The ordinance was read into the record. We will wait until the next reading for the public hearing. Sponsor: Mayor Carol A. Kilway 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 10  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. January 9, 2025 Ord. 2024-82~Exhibit A – Tracked Exhibit A (Cont’d.) Tallmadge Codified Ordinances. Mrs. Gutman: Next we have Ord. 2024-82~Exhibit A - Tracked Ex. A with a public hearing on 1-23-25 @ 7:05 p.m. The ordinance was read into the record. We will wait until the next reading for the public hearing. Sponsor: Mayor Carol A. Kilway 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. Mrs. Gutman: Next we have Ord. 2024-83~Exhibit A with a public hearing on 1-23-25 @ 7:06 p.m. The ordinance was read into the record. We will wait until the next reading for the public hearing. Sponsor: Mayor Carol A. Kilway 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. Mrs. Gutman: Next we have Ord. 2024-84~Exhibit A – Tracked Exhibit A with a public hearing on 1-23-25 @ 7:07 p.m. The ordinance was read into the record. We will wait until the next reading for the public hearing. Sponsor: Mayor Carol A. Kilway Mrs. Gutman: I appreciate all of the comments that were made by the public this evening and would like to first open the discussion to Council and then if there is anyone who has not yet spoken from the audience who wishes to, we will invite you up at that point. Councilors. Mrs. Epstein: Yes, I do have an announcement related to the legislation that you have just read, and I have prepared a written statement if you will allow me to read that now. Mrs. Gutman: Of course. Mrs. Epstein: I would like to begin by publicly inviting all residents and Administration and up to 2 additional Council members to attend a town hall meeting scheduled this Saturday at 10:00 a.m. in Council chambers which is in this room. The purpose of this meeting is to provide residents with an additional opportunity to express their thoughts on the proposed zoning legislation before us. This would be beyond the constraints of the 2-minute time limit set during our Council meetings. By offering this forum I hope to create more space for meaningful dialogue and to provide alternative days and times for engagement, recognizing not all residents are available to attend our regular 7:00 p.m. Thursday meetings. To clarify, this town hall is not intended to replace the legal requirement of the public hearing scheduled for January 23, 2025, but rather to supplement it by giving an additional opportunity to gather resident feedback. This input will be invaluable as I am considering these 7 pieces of legislation currently before us. I want to ensure that my decision making reflects the needs and concerns of those most directly affected. To ensure that those living closest to the area were well informed I advertised the town hall meeting through a variety of channels including Facebook posts and direct mailing to some residents adjacent to the overlay area. In full transparency to the residents and to Council, I would like to disclose that upon learning of Council Rule Number 43 which requires Council President’s approval for correspondence consisting of more than 10 pieces, I recognized an oversight as I sent an additional 165 pieces of mail. This totaled $120.75. I was not aware of this rule at the time of the mailing, and I would like to express my regret for not following that procedure. Once I became aware of the rule, I took immediate steps to address the situation by personally covering the cost of the mailings. I believe that this was the most equitable way to rectify this while still ensuring that our residents have access to vital information about the meeting. It is my belief that one of our 11  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. January 9, 2025 Mrs. Epstein (Cont’d.) primary responsibilities as Council members is to hold space for residents to advocate for themselves and our community. The proposed legislation could have significant implications for the character and function of this neighborhood. It is essential that we provide residents many opportunities to share their perspectives, ask questions and offer input. I deeply value transparency, accessibility and the importance of engaging our community in decisions that affect their daily lives. Hosting this town hall aligns with those values and provides an avenue to engage with residents. Moving forward, I will ensure any future correspondence is in full compliance with Council Rule 43 and I am committed to working collaboratively with my colleagues to strengthen this process. Thank you. Mrs. Gutman: Thank you Mrs. Epstein. I appreciate that. Are there any other comments this evening? Mr. Pavlik: I have a few. I will take you up on your offer and will attend that meeting, Ms. Epstein. Thank you. Question for the Law Director, seeing that now everyone in the City has been invited because they have access to this, does it make sense to consider moving it from this facility because it won’t hold the appropriate amount of people and would also someone from the Police Department and the Fire Department be present at this meeting? Dir. of Law: So, we have done multiple engagements sessions, and I don’t know how frequently we will get people, especially on a Saturday, to come out at that time and place but I don’t know the answer to that. That is really not a decision that I need to make but it is something that you all can access for yourself. We can ask for the Police Officers to be present, and we have done so in the past if we think that there is a need for crowd control, so we have done that in other circumstances. Mr. Pavlik: Because I go back to 2022 with the R-6 and Mindale Farms that we moved the Planning & Zoning to the Community Center and moved the City Council meeting to the Community Center. But I think you were also made aware of who was showing up at that time. Dir. of Law: We knew at that point based on the feedback that we had gotten and the amount of correspondence that we received that we anticipated a large crowd. So, that was the only time in our history that I am aware of that we have relocated. Otherwise, we have not and we see the number of people engaged now and hopefully there will be more people that come out and there have been people who have been engaged in various parts of the community engagement process but I think we will not have more than what we have typically seen in the crowds that we have already had with regard to this subject. But that is . . . Council can decide that for yourselves. Mr. Pavlik: Second question, is in your opinion, does the meeting and the letter that went out could potentially cause confusion with the public notice letter that went out by the City? Dir. of Law: I mean, legally they are on two different dates and times so there is not a legal issue with it overlapping. I think people will end up getting them somewhat in close proximity and so hopefully they can distinguish between the two meetings based on what the content of the correspondence is. Mr. Pavlik: Thank you. Mrs. Gutman: Is there anyone else? I would like to comment on Mr. Pavlik’s question I guess for the other meetings related to the overlays; have we needed or asked for a Police presence? I could not think back myself. Dir. of Administration: We have not requested law enforcement or EMS or fire for any of the 3 prior engagements. Mrs. Gutman: Thank you. And have we seen any behavior at the meetings that would lead us to think that we might have needed it? Mayor: No, I don’t think so. Everyone has been very amicable so . . . 12  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. January 9, 2025 Mrs. Gutman: OK, that’s good feedback. Thank you. Mrs. Cipa: What was your typical number of people showing up for those meetings? Mayor: I think the one meeting we had 58; is that right? Dir. of Administration: We had 70 to 72 would be probably tops. That is our biggest number that we have had for strategic planning, and we had even more publicity if you will on that meeting and direct contact via e-mail and multiple community organizations. Mayor: That was for the strategic plan which is completely different than this. Dir. of Administration: So even when we reached out for more important issues that we are dealing with that has been the highest in the last 8 months since I have been here. Mayor: I believe for the West Avenue Overlay the biggest attendance was like 58. Mr. Pavlik: Does anybody from the City plan on being there on Saturday or from Planning & Zoning? Mayor: This is a Council meeting; I mean this is a Council run meeting. I was just made aware of it a couple of days ago and I have to be out of town in the morning, so I am sorry; I can’t be there. Mr. Rubino: Is this considered a Council run meeting? Pres. of Council: So, that is a good question. Just to clarify there can only be 3 Council members present at the meeting. That is one of the rules of Council. Mayor: So, this is the same as some of us, when I was on Council we would have like donuts with your Council person, and we would meet at Dunkin Donuts and be there for our constituents to be there and voice their concerns. This is that same type of a meeting. At that time, it was usually just Mary and I at that point in time. I have several, when I was a Council person, I had several Ward meetings. I even had one in my backyard, but it was in reference to some safety concerns, so I did have the Police there because they were the ones doing the presentation. I have had a number of board meetings throughout my tenure as a Council person and I have never had any issues. Mr. Rubino: If that is the case, and it is more of a sponsored event by the Council lady, not Council; is it appropriate under Rule 44 – Ethics to use City resources for that as in this building as of the mailing even though money was paid back. That kind of sounds to me like it violates Rule 44. Mayor: When I had a couple of my Ward meetings, we did have them here in Council chambers and it was allowed. It was asked upon at that point in time and was permitted. Mrs. Gutman: Mrs. Raber, my understanding is that the Ohio law actually permits the use of public funds for representatives to communicate with and interact with their residents as long as it is not related to a political campaign. Is that correct? Dir. of Law: I mean there are a lot of different forms of communication that we all receive from various elected officials. The Rules of Council in this particular instance don’t say per say that they are not allowed to come out. It actually leaves . . . it lends it to the President of Council . . . you have to get authorization from the President of Council and really for your sake, like Jonathon, or Mr. Bollas, that the reality is that that is not real clear when you are supposed to grant it and when you are not. Historically I think it has been a practice but I would recommend that based on just this and looking at that that we review the Rules of Council and kind of strengthen that so it is very clear when it should be approved and when it shouldn’t be approved. Pres. of Council: Yeah, so just a couple of things. I would like to know this evening the Council members that plan to be in attendance so that we have 3 or no more than 3 and in light of violation of Council Rule 43, I will be forming a sub-committee to review the Rules of Council and amend areas where needed to provide better clarification. This is also fairly common practice I know in 2021, in my first term, we met and again it is a good time to dust off the rules and I encourage everyone to review them and again ahead of that because that will then lead. 13  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. January 9, 2025 Pres. of Council (Cont’d.) to an ordinance for all of us to then go to a vote to amend the Rules of Council so that will be forthcoming. Mrs. Epstein: Councilman Bollas, I would like to request to be part of that sub-committee as this has come up. It raised some additional questions for me as well in regard to the rules and I would agree with you that there is some opportunity for clarification to protect everyone. Mr. Bollas: Agreed. We are still in committee. Mrs. Gutman: You had asked what Council members intended to attend on Saturday. As Chair of Planning & Zoning, I certainly would like to go but I would also defer to others who might feel they need more time and feedback, I can always get an update. So, is anyone else planning to attend other than Mr. Pavlik? Mr. Pavlik: I am happy to go but I would defer to the other two At-Large Council members if they want to attend instead of me. Mr. Rubino: I am busy and unable to attend also after viewing the letter, to me it looks like a campaign letter. It has one person’s picture and one person’s name, and it appears to be more of a campaigning item which I again I feel violates Rule 44 – Ethics especially since City funds were originally used, but I will not be attending. Pres. of Council: I am unfortunately not available to attend, so that would leave Mr. Roy is not here, . . . Mrs. Cipa: I can attend. Pres. of Council: Ms. Cipa would like to attend so that is 3. So, it will be Ms. Epstein, Ms. Cipa and Councilman Pavlik. And in closing on that topic too, just again, we will be forming a sub-committee to look at the Rules of Council again and just encourage open communication with the President of Council for similar scenarios in the future. Mrs. Gutman: Thank you Mr. Bollas and I appreciate that you would like to close the topic, and I intend to as well, but I don’t want to let Mr. Rubino’s comment about an ethics violation sit without comment. I would just like to say that communicating with residents and seeking their feedback is an essential function of our job that is our responsibility to do so and I don’t think that we want to get to the point where any resident communication with our name on it is considered campaigning. Legally I know that that is not true and for consideration I would hope that we all seek opportunities to communicate with our residents without fear that we will be seen as a partisan or unethical light. So, I hope that we don’t start that trend. We should all be able to freely communicate and I do think that when we consider the rules that we encourage that in our rules. That is all I have to say for now. Thank you. I will move into whether we have any discussion on the legislation before us specifically. Council or the Administration at this point? How about from the public, is there anyone who has not yet commented who would like to come forward? Thank you then. I think these will sit at 2 nd Reading and then at our next meeting we will have our public hearings and votes. Is there anything else to come before Planning & Zoning this evening? Hearing none, I will close committee. ii. Additional Items: None. b. FINANCE Donald Pavlik, Chair Christine Cipa, Vice Chair The Finance Committee deals with budget, appropriations, reappropriations, bonds, franchises, investments, and expenditures. i. First Readings of Ordinances and Resolutions: A. Ord. 2025-8 – Authorizing the Mayor to enter into a contract without competitive bidding through the State Purchasing Program, or as authorized by R.C. 125.04(C), with MNJ and Technologies for the purchase of a computer equipment, software licenses, and related equipment and providing for immediate enactment. 14  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. January 9, 2025 Mrs. Gutman: I move for the adoption of Ord. 2025-8. Seconded Mrs. Cipa. Roll Call: Mr. Bollas, Mrs. Cipa, Mrs. Epstein, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mr. Rubino – unanimous. Ord. 2025-8 is adopted by a vote of 6-0. Sponsor: Mayor Carol A. Kilway B. Res. 2025-1 – Authorizing the Portage County Auditor to advance payment of local taxes collected for the 2024 tax year payable in 2025 and providing for immediate enactment. Mrs. Cipa made a motion to adopt Res. 2025-1. Seconded Mrs. Epstein. Roll Call: Mrs. Cipa, Mrs. Epstein, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mr. Rubino, Mr. Bollas – unanimous. Res. 2025-1 is adopted by a vote of 6-0. Sponsor: Dir. of Finance Gilbride C. Res. 2025-2 - Authorizing the Summit County Fiscal Officer to advance payment of local taxes collected for the 2024 tax year payable in 2025 and providing for immediate enactment. Mrs. Gutman moved for the adoption of Res. 2025-2. Seconded Mrs. Cipa. Roll Call: Mrs. Epstein, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mr. Rubino, Mr. Bollas, Mrs. Cipa – unanimous. Res. 2025-2 is adopted by a vote of 6-0. Sponsor: Dir. of Finance Gilbride ii. Additional Items: None c. PERSONNEL Christine Cipa, Chair Donald Pavlik, Vice Chair The Personnel Committee deals with personnel, labor relations, insurance claims, Rules of Council and State Statutes. Mrs. Cipa: I call the Personnel Committee to order. Dir. of Administration: If I may, I would like to ask for an Executive Session at our next meeting prior to adjournment to discuss contract negotiations. Thank you. i. Third Readings of Ordinances and Resolutions A. Ord. 2024-75 – Authorizing the Mayor to enter into an agreement with the International Association of Firefighters Local 2764 and providing for immediate enactment. Mrs. Cipa: The first ordinance before Personnel this evening is Ord. 2024-75 at 3rd Reading this evening. The ordinance was read into the record. We will just leave this at 3rd Reading until the next meeting. Sponsor: Mayor Carol A. Kilway B. 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. Mrs. Cipa: The second ordinance before Personnel this evening is Ord. 2024-76 at 3rd Reading this evening. The ordinance was read into the record. We will just leave this at 3rd Reading until the next meeting. Sponsor: Mayor Carol A. Kilway C. 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. Mrs. Cipa: The next ordinance before Personnel this evening is Ord. 2024-77 at 3rd Reading. The ordinance was read into the record. We will just leave this at 3 rd Reading also until the next meeting. Sponsor: Mayor Carol A. Kilway ii. Additional Items: None. 15  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. January 9, 2025 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 Safety this evening. Is there anything for Safety? Hearing none, I will 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. Mrs. Gutman: I call Community Issues 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. i. First Readings of Ordinances and Resolutions: A. Ord. 2025-1 – Authorizing the Director of Public Service to advertise for bids and the Mayor to enter into contract for pavement maintenance and providing for immediate enactment. Mrs. Epstein: I call the Public Service Committee to order. We have 7 ordinances at 1st Reading this evening. First off, we have Ord. 2025-1. The ordinance was read into the record. Can I have a motion? Mr. Pavik: I make a motion to adopt. Seconded Mrs. Gutman. Roll Call: Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mr. Rubino, Mr. Bollas, Mrs. Cipa, Mrs. Epstein – unanimous. Ord 2025-1 is adopted by a vote of 6-0. Sponsor: Dir. of Pub. Service Rorar B. Ord. 2025-2 – Authorizing the Director of Public Service to advertise for bids and the Mayor to enter into a contract for pavement marking and providing for immediate enactment. Mrs. Epstein: Next, we have Ord. 2025-2. The ordinance was read into the record. Do I have a motion? Mr. Pavlik: I make a motion to adopt Ord. 2025-2. Seconded Mrs. Gutman. Roll Call: Mr. Pavlik, Mr. Rubino, Mr. Bollas, Mrs. Cipa, Mrs. Epstein, Mrs. Gutman – unanimous. Ord. 2025-2 is adopted by a vote of 6-0. Sponsor: Dir. of Pub. Service Rorar. C. Ord. 2025-3 – Authorizing the Director of Public Service to advertise and solicit bids and providing for immediate enactment. Mrs. Epstein: Next, we have Ord. 2025-3. The ordinance was read into the record. There was a correction to the title which was changed on the floor. Is there a motion? 16  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. January 9, 2025 Mr. Pavlik: I make a motion to adopt Ord. 2025-3. Seconded Mrs. Gutman. Roll Call: Mr. Rubino, Mr. Bollas, Mrs. Cipa, Mrs. Epstein, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik – unanimous. Ord. 2025-3 is adopted by a vote of 6-0. Sponsor: Dir. of Pub. Service Rorar D. Ord. 2025-4 – Authorizing the Mayor to contract with GPD Group for general engineering and consulting services and providing for immediate enactment. Mrs. Epstein: Next, we have Ord. 2025-4. The ordinance was read into the record. Do I have a motion? Mrs. Gutman moved for the adoption or Ord. 2025-4. Seconded Mrs. Cipa. Roll Call: Mr. Bollas - yes, Mrs. Cipa - yes, Mrs. Epstein - yes, Mrs. Gutman - yes, Mr. Pavlik - abstain, Mr. Rubino – yes. Ord. 2025-4 is adopted by a vote of 5-0-1. Sponsor: Dir. of Pub. Service Rorar E. Ord. 2025-5 – Authorizing the Mayor to contract with Burgess & Niple, Inc. for engineering and consulting services relating to water system development, general engineering services, and planning and zoning consulting and providing for immediate enactment. Mrs. Epstein: Next, we have Ord. 2025-5. The ordinance was read into the record. Can I get a motion? Mr. Pavlik: I move to adopt Ord. 2025-5. Seconded Mrs. Gutman. Roll Call: Mrs. Cipa, Mrs. Epstein, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mr. Rubino, Mr. Bollas – unanimous. Ord. 2025-5 is adopted by a vote of 6-0. Sponsor: Dir. of Pub. Service Rorar F. Ord. 2025-6 – Authorizing the Mayor to contract with Environmental Design Group, Inc. for general engineering and consulting services and providing for immediate enactment. Mrs. Epstein: Next, we have Ord. 2025-6. The ordinance was read into the record. Can I get a motion? Mrs. Cipa: I move for the adoption of Ord. 2025-6. Seconded Mr. Pavlik. Roll Call: Mrs. Epstein, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mr. Rubino, Mr. Bollas, Mrs. Cipa – unanimous. Ord. 2025-6 is adopted by a vote of 6-0. Sponsor: Dir. of Pub. Service Rorar G. Ord. 2025-7 – Authorizing the Mayor to enter into the necessary contract or resolution for the City’s participation in the Sourcewell Cooperative Purchasing Program and providing for immediate enactment. Mrs. Epstein: Lastly, we have Ord. 2025-7. The ordinance was read into the record. Do I have a motion? Mrs. Gutman: I move to adopt Ord. 2025-7. Seconded Mr. Pavlik. Roll Call: Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mr. Rubino, Mr. Bollas, Mrs. Cipa, Mrs. Epstein – unanimous. Ord. 2025-7 is adopted by a vote of 6-0. Sponsor: Dir. of Pub. Service Rorar ii. Additional Items: None. 11. Reports of Special Committees: None. a. Council Operations Committee i. Additional Items: None. 12. Announcements: None. 13. Adjournment: Mr. Pavlik moved to adjourn. Seconded Mrs. Gutman. Roll Call: Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mr. Rubino, Mr. Bollas, Mrs. Cipa, Mrs. Epstein – unanimous. The Council meeting of 1-9-25 adjourned at 8:32 p.m. 17  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers @ 7:00 p.m. January 9, 2025 sb Adopted: ___________________ ___________________________________ ______________________________________ Susan E. Burton, Clerk of Council Jonathon D. Bollas, Vice President of Council 18