City Council Regular Meeting

Council Chambers 7:00 p.m. March 13, 2025 1. Call to Order: Vice Pres. of Council: It is Thursday, March 13, 2025, and this is our regularly scheduled 7:00 p.m. Council meeting. First, I want to state that for those listening at home and watching at home and those in the audience, we do have an Executive Session planned for tonight prior to the adjournment of tonight’s Council meeting and it is regarding Pending/Imminent Court Action. 2. Opening Prayer: Rev. Jim Case, Tallmadge Lutheran Church. Pledge of Allegiance: Girl Scouts Tallmadge Service Unit 935 led by Ms. Emily Bush will be conducting a flag ceremony and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. 3. Roll Call: Mrs. Cipa, Mrs. Epstein, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mr. Roy, Mr. Rubino – present. Jonathon Bollas was excused. 4. Correcting and Adopting Previous Meeting Minutes: 2-27-25 Council Meeting Minutes Mrs. Epstein: I move to accept the Council meeting minutes dated 2-27-25. Seconded Mrs. Cipa. Roll Call: Mrs. Epstein, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mr. Roy, Mr. Rubino, Mrs. Cipa – unanimous. The Council meeting minutes from 2-27-25 were adopted by a vote of 6-0. 5. Financial Reports: • Fire & EMS Fund Transfer in the amount of $401,000, Street Maintenance & Repair Fund Transfer in the amount of $350,000, and Police Pension in the amount of $87,500 to Council on 2-25-25. • Appropriation Report, Fund Report and Revenue Report for the period ending 2-28-25 to Council on 3-7-25. • February Financial Reports to Council on 3-7-25. • Tallmadge Recreation Center Profit and Loss Report for the period ending 2-28-25 to Council on 3-7-25. • Income Tax Comparisons for the period ending 2-28-25 to Council on 3-7-25. • Income Tax by Source Report for the month of February to Council on 3-7-25. • Revenue Comparisons for Major Funds for the period ending 2-28-25 to Council on 3-7- 25. • Consolidated Investment Portfolio for the period ending 2-28-25 to Council on 3-7-25. Mrs. Cipa: I make a motion to approve. Seconded Mr. Roy. Roll Call: Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mr. Roy, Mr. Rubino, Mrs. Cipa, Mrs. Epstein – unanimous. The Financial Reports submitted by Dir. of Finance Gilbride were accepted by a vote of 6-0. Vice President of Council: Next on the agenda is a public hearing. We will be discussing Ord. 2025-32 which is in the Planning & Zoning Committee, so I will call on the Planning & Zoning Chair, Ms. Mary Gutman, to run this committee. 6. Public Hearings: Ord. 2025-32 At 3rd Reading. PLANNING & ZONING Imposing a six-month moratorium on P.H. on 3-13-25 @ 7:01 P.M. acceptance of any zoning application for vape and/or smoke in Tallmadge establish- ments or shops within the City of Tallmadge and providing for immediate enactment. Sponsor: Mayor Kilway Mrs. Gutman: Thank you. I will call Planning & Zoning to order, and we do have a public hearing tonight. I will open that at 7:05 p.m. The ordinance was read into the record. We will start with public commentary, and I would ask for comments for or against and if you would approach the podium and give us your full name and address. I believe it is 2 minutes to speak. First if there is anyone who would like to speak for Ord. 2025-32 to please approach the podium. If there is anyone who would like to speak against Ord. 2025-32, please approach the podium. Again, anyone for Ord. 2025-32 may approach the podium. Anyone against 2025-32 you may approach the podium. For the last time, anyone for or against Ord. 2025-32 may approach the podium. OK, seeing no comments then I will close the public hearing at 7:07 p.m. 1  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers 7:00 p.m. March 13, 2025 Mrs. Gutman: If anyone from Council or the Administration would like to speak regarding the ordinance at this time? Mr. Pavlik: Just one question, Ms. Raber, the moratorium is 6 months and it kind of resembles what we did with the cannabis. Is there any discussion in that 6-month timeframe to figure out the parameters of what we want to do? Dir. of Law: Correct, so the moratorium lasts for 6 months and during that time our goal is to come back with legislation if it is determined that that is appropriate. We just want to give ourselves an opportunity to explore. The reason this issue came up is because we were receiving inquiries about the regulations that we had on the books with regard to these shops and that provoked us to look around and see that other communities did have regulations that kind of correlated more along the lines of what the cannabis type regulations would be. So, we just want to have an opportunity to be able to explore that and see whether or not that is appropriate for our community and bring them back to you. So, the legislation will sunset as soon as we have something earlier than the 6 months or if for some reason we run into a snaffoo which I don’t really foresee, and we can’t get it done in the 6 months, then we could ask for an extension but our goal is to have that done within that timeframe. Mrs. Gutman: Any further commentary? I do appreciate your being proactive on this. It seems like an evolving issue. It is important to address sooner than later for sure. Seeing there is no further commentary could I have a motion to approve Ord. 2025-32? Mrs. Epstein: So moved. Seconded Mrs. Cipa. Roll Call: Mr. Pavlik, Mr. Roy, Mr. Rubino, Mrs. Cipa, Mrs. Epstein, Mrs. Gutman – unanimous. Ord. 2025-32 is adopted by a vote of 6-0. I will close Planning & Zoning. 7. Community Input: Vice Pres. of Council: Next up on the agenda is Community Input and anybody in the audience that would like to speak on anything regarding anything in the City that is not being addressed further in the agenda can come up now to speak. 8. Agenda Additions: Vice Pres. of Council: Next up is Agenda Additions. If there are any agenda additions that need to be brought forth? 9. Reports of Administrative Officers: a. Mayor/Dir. of Pub. Safety • Thank you very much. I just want to announce that as the Director of Public Safety I did spend a day last week with our Tallmadge Fire Department. I am very familiar with the Tallmadge Fire Department, but I have never spent any more than 5 or 10 minutes at the Fire Station at a time so spending the day there was not so much enlightening, but it was an eye opener on how busy they really are. I was able to go on a couple EMS calls, I did even get to go on a fire call, and I got to ride in the tower. I did go into the hospital to witness behind the scenes in an emergency room and what our EMS are facing when they bring patients in. So, just a better understanding of what is going on within our Fire Department. Just trying to get their thoughts on day to day where improvements can be made and so forth. I also witnessed at that time that the Fire Department is going through a period of time where they are increasing their training and so during that time they had training scheduled and because they had calls they had to move it and reschedule it about 3 times, but they did get their training in so that was really nice too. • I am also proud to announce that we have 2 new Police Patrol Officers. They are going to be joining the Police Patrol this month. On Wednesday, March 5th I had the privilege of swearing-in the City’s newest Police Officer, Hunter Chapman. Officer Chapman is a lateral hire from the Springfield Township Police Department and his first shift with Tallmadge is going to be on Monday, March 17th. • I will also be swearing-in Jacob Oberlin this next Wednesday the 19th at 3:00 p.m. here in Council Chambers. Jacob is a member of the U.S. Army National Guard. His first day 2  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers 7:00 p.m. March 13, 2025 Mayor Kilway (Cont’d.) is going to be March 24th so anyone on Council who would like to come for the swearing-in you are more than welcome to do that. • We did attend the Team NEO Economic Development Annual Summit that they have. It was at Kent State Stark Campus. I did go with the Dir. of Administration to a presentation presented in collaboration with the Ohio Economic Development Association and targeted elected officials and community leaders emphasizing strategies to enhance regional competitiveness and attract business investments. It was about half of a day really diving into economic development and the things that are going on around our state and how they impact Northeast Ohio. • The State of the City is going to be held next Thursday, March 19 th at the Venue. The doors are going to open at 11:15 a.m. and if you would like to register you can register at the event through tomorrow at the Tallmadge Chamber of Commerce website. • Since there is no Council meeting on March 27th due to Council’s recess, I will not have my After Hours with the Mayor because that coincides with your Council meetings. The next After Hours with the Mayor is going to be April 24th from 2:00 to 4:00 or I’m sorry, 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. • Then on Friday, March 7th, I participated in a ribbon cutting ceremony at Avala Grill that is located at 338 Northeast Avenue. I would like to thank Councilwoman Epstein for being in attendance along with Kim Polatas as the Executive Director from the Tallmadge Chamber of Commerce and also our whole team from inSITE. • Yesterday I participated in, well I didn’t participate in the ribbon cutting, but I did visit the Tallmadge Brimfield JEDD for the opening of their new Dunkin Donuts. • I also met with the Girl Scouts that you saw here today at the Tallmadge Rec Center, and they had a ribbon cutting for a new recycle receptacle which will be located at the Rec Center. I was joined by Dir. of Finance Molly Gilbride and Councilwoman Epstein. • Finally, I visited with the Tallmadge Ministerial Gathering and shared a City update with them as well this last week. Any questions? b. Director of Administration/Economic Development: Good evening, everyone. Thank you for the opportunity to provide a brief update. We have scheduled in-person interviews with 3 economic developer candidates. It is posted until filled and so we continue to conduct a few more phone interviews and I think by mid-April we should likely have an offer out. We are also scheduling interviews for a candidate for the combined Civil Service Clerk and Administrative Assistant. Then finally we continue to conduct business and retention expansion visits. Since last meeting we met with Steere Enterprise and NZ Manufacturing. We do have additional visits scheduled in the JEDD coming up so I will have several reports over the next couple of meetings. We are working with the Portage Developer and also Brimfield’s Economic Developer. Pending your questions, that’s all I have for this evening. c. Director of Public Service: • I just wanted to announce that on March 15th the Maca passes go on sale to non- residents. They have been on sale for a month now to residents. So, you might want to let people know that there is some competition starting now. • I also understand that there might be some confusion about the trash bids that went out. We said the last time that we are awarding it to Rumpke. If you look at the bid tabulation sheet there was a lower bid, Waste Management, but they withdrew their bid. So, you have to go to the next bidder then so just in case you hear anything or see anything like that, that is why that is. There is no sense in putting a withdrawn bid on our slideshow. • The last thing I want to talk about is our salt supply for 2025/2026 so that is for next 3  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers 7:00 p.m. March 13, 2025 Dir. of Pub. Service (Cont’d.) winter and usually how this happens is we have a 3,400- ton barn and we order 3,200 tons each winter and with that 3,200 tons we fill the barn. Because the last two winters weren’t bad, we have no where to put the extra salt so we ordered 1,500 tons and it was a bad winter and I am out of salt and we already ordered the 1,500 and it didn’t fill that thing up at all and I probably still have maybe another month and a half; maybe two months of winter to go and so I need 3,400 tons before next winter starts. They have things called summer fill. I have never done it, but I am just prewarning Council now that I’m coming back and asking for a reappropriation. I have already spent the money on salt that I was budgeted for; that was the 1,500 tons and I need to fill that barn and then next year I am probably going to order 2,200 tons. So just letting you know that I am going to be asking for a reappropriation for salt because I cannot start next winter with a salt barn like that. If you look to the right, you can see the prices and from 2006 to 2024 they stayed pretty consistent. There are those couple years there in 2019 and 2020 that they were around $70 a ton and 2018, $79 a ton. We actually used two programs; ODOT which is the State Purchasing Program and then the CUE which is the University Program there. The reason why we do that is why would you put all your eggs in one basket. Sometimes you have problems with one supplier and maybe they have a different supplier than the other ones. It depends on how the bids go. So, we use both programs, and I just wanted to give you guys a heads up that I will be asking for a reappropriation. I am actually going to order it. So, I know how much I need; 3,400 tons but I don’t know the price going into next year because they haven’t awarded it yet. I am going to order it anyways. Just letting you guys know. That’s it. Mr. Rubino: Is there going to be a communication coming out by the City on the change of trash service? Dir. of Pub. Service: Yes. So, the trash company, Rumpke, is actually doing that. Keep in mind that that doesn’t happen until July. So, we have plenty of time. New trash cans are coming and keep in mind that these trash cans are just going to have the City logo on them. After this switch-out, we will never switch trash cans again. d. Director of Finance: Good evening. You received the February financial reports and everything is going well. Our income tax is coming in a little slower this year than it has in the past few years but even looking at March’s numbers I think we are going to see a little bit of a rebound. I know in the previous report I had mentioned that every couple of years we go through a process of sending out non-filing letters to residents who have not filed their taxes. We did that at the end of last year so I just received a report from RITA so I thought it would be interesting for Council to know that we sent out I think in October or November 3,307 non-filing letters and that resulted in returns being filed with $98,000 of tax liabilities and penalties and interest. Of that we have collected $42,000 so far. After the letter is sent, if they do not respond, we go through a process of sending out what are called Administrative Subpoenas. This is to subpoena them to give their tax documents to RITA so that their returns can be filed. We went through that process and we sent out 2,596 subpoenas that resulted in $215,208 of additional tax liabilities that were recovered and of that so far we have collected just over $56,000 so RITA will not be in the process of working through getting those collected maybe through payment plans or whatever action needs to be taken. Sometimes they will do Civil filings to collect those, but just to give you an idea of the process we go through and the importance of that. That is a significant amount of revenue that we need to collect to make sure that we can provide all of our services. End of report and I will be glad to answer any questions. Mr. Rubino: Is there an additional financial burden to the City when we have to send out those notices? 4  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers 7:00 p.m. March 13, 2025 Dir. of Finance: It cost me $1 per subpoena. So, I basically spent $2,569 to recover a total of $313,000 worth of assets. e. Director of Law: Thank you. Just two quick items. I wanted to just point out for the record that we did have an Agenda Addition tonight. It is Ord. 2025-46, and it was assigned to the Public Service Committee. So, we will be addressing that in that committee. Then I also wanted to note that I had requested an Executive Session tonight, and I am not going to be requesting that. I thought it might be necessary but at this point in time it is not necessary and so I will not be asking you to go into Executive Session this evening. 10. Reports of Standing Committees of Council of the Whole: a. PLANNING AND ZONING Mary Gutman, Chair Jessica Epstein, Vice Chair The Planning & Zoning Committee deals with land use, zoning, conditional uses, planning, economic and community development, and public property. i. First Readings of Ordinances and Resolutions. A. Ord. 2025-44 – Exhibit A – Tracked Exhibit A – P.H. 4-24-25 @ 7:01 p.m. – Amending and supplementing Sections 1104.06 “Accessory and Temporary Use Table” and 1104.08N “Outdoor Storage of Vehicles and Equipment” of the Tallmadge Codified Ordinances. Sponsor: Mayor Kilway Mrs. Gutman: I call the Planning & Zoning Committee to order. We have before us at 1 st Reading Ord. 2025-44 with Exhibit A. Setting a public hearing for 4-24-25 @ 7:01 p.m. The ordinance was read into the record. Would the Mayor or anyone else like to comment on this? Mayor: This is primarily to allow an limited access to thoseoutdoor storage containers. We are just, as you can see, just changing some parameters and they are currently not allowed in the City and so we would like to allow some of our businesses only to use them on a limited basis as approved by Council. Dir. of Law: And only in Industrial. And not in any of the overlay areas. Mrs. Gutman: Thank you. Any questions or comments from Council at this time? OK. Dir. of Law: Then we will need a public hearing on 4-24. Then this matter will be in front of Planning & Zoning next month. Mrs. Gutman: I believe that I said that at the beginning of the meeting, but I will just say it again. There will be a public hearing on 4-24-25 @ 7:01 p.m. Anything else for Planning & Zoning? 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. 2025-38 – Setting a fee for utility construction permits per TCO 961 Management, Administration and control of the use of the City’s public rights-of-way for the City of Tallmadge and providing for immediate enactment. Sponsor: Dir. of Pub. Service Rorar Mrs. Cipa: I call the Finance Committee to order. We have one piece of legislation before us this evening. We have Ord. 2025-38. The ordinance was read into the record. The sponsor is Public Service Director Rorar. Dir. of Pub. Service: If you guys would, I would like to ask that this ordinance be passed at 5  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers 7:00 p.m. March 13, 2025 Dir. of Pub. Service (Cont’d.) 1st Reading. This is the management of the administration controlling the City’s public rights-of-way and it is not a new chapter. We are actually . . . It has been in books for a while now but we are actually enforcing it and starting to use it and so we need to start setting fees for it. The reason why is we have a pretty aggressive utility fiber coming into town and they are taking up a lot of resources that we didn’t anticipate. When you think about utilities, you have a gas company tying into one house or maybe 2 houses which didn’t take up a lot of our time to review and now the fiber is going coast to coast. It is going a mile in all directions and now you have to take time to review the plans and it is taking up a lot of time so that is why if you read that ordinance, in the first . . . the setting of it is $200 for the first 200’ and so that is for an individual house. Then it is $20 for each additional 100 feet after that for that purpose. So, now we are talking about the utilities that are running coast to coast so that is really what this is. We never had the fees set before, but we need this. Dir. of Law: I just wanted to point out that this would apply to any utility that would be in the right-of-way that extended that way. So, right now it happens to be a particular type, but it could apply to anybody. Mr. Pavlik: So, we have our normal fees, and this would just be added to our fee structure? Dir. of Pub. Service: Correct. Mr. Pavlik: Can these utility companies in this particular case, are they going to get a bond? Dir. of Pub. Service: Yes. Mr. Pavlik: OK, so they have a performance bond. Mrs. Cipa: Is there any discussion? Mrs. Gutman: I would make a motion to approve Ord. 2025-38 at 1st Reading. Seconded Mr. Roy. Roll Call: Mr. Roy, Mr. Rubino, Mr. Cipa, Mrs. Epstein, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik – unanimous. Ord. 2025-38 is adopted by a vote of 6-0. B. Ord. 2025-39 – Authorizing the Mayor to accept the Bureau of Justice Assistance Fiscal Year 2024 Rural and Small Department Violent Crime Reduction Program Grant; creating the necessary funds; appropriating the necessary funds; and providing for immediate enactment. Sponsor: Mayor Kilway Mrs. Cipa: Next we have Ord. 2025-39. The ordinance was read into the record. Mayor Kilway, do you have anything? Mayor: Basically this is just a grant that we apply for in cooperation with the Village of Lakemore, Cuyahoga Falls, Stow and the Village of Mogadore and our portion would be receiving approximately $56,917 in funds during the grant period to purchase equipment and cover training and to protect costs. Mrs. Cipa: Do I have a motion to approve? Mrs. Gutman: So moved. Seconded Mr. Rubino. Roll Call: Mr. Rubino, Mrs. Cipa, Mrs. Epstein, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mr. Ray – unanimous. Ord. 2025-39 is adopted by a vote of 6-0. C. Ord. 2025-45 – Authorizing the Director of Public Service to advertise for bids and the Mayor to enter into contract for the improvement of East Howe Road from North Avenue to the roundabout and providing for immediate enactment. Sponsor: Dir. of Pub. Service Rorar Mrs. Cipa: Next we have Ord. 2025-45. The ordinance was read into the record. Mr. Rorar, do you have anything? Dir. of Pub. Service: This is the reconstruction of Howe Road . . . East Howe Road between North Avenue and the Roundabout. It’s in the budget. It doesn’t have to be adopted at 1 st Reading. Mr. Rubino: I thought we had plans ready for that. Isn’t that supposed to happen this year? Dir. of Pub. Service: So, this is just authorizing us to go out to bid. Mr. Roy: Any idea when they will start the project? 6  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers 7:00 p.m. March 13, 2025 Dir. of Pub. Service: As soon I get the bid out. Mr. Rubino: I will make a motion to adopt Ord. 2025-45. Seconded Mrs. Epstein. Roll Call: Mrs. Cipa, Mrs. Epstein, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mr. Roy, Mr. Rubino – unanimous. Ord. 2025-45 is adopted by a vote of 6-0. Mrs. Cipa: Are there any additional items for the Finance Committee? Hearing none, I will close committee. 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. Ord. 2024-75 – TABLED until 6-26-25. Ord. 2024-76 – TABLED until 4-10-25. Ord. 2024-77 – TABLED until 4-10-25. d. SAFETY Nicholas Rubino, Chair Ted Roy, Vice Chair The Safety Committee deals with disaster services, communications, fire, and para- medics, 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? 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. 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 the Community Issues 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. 2025-40 – Authorizing the Mayor to contract with HZW Environmental Consultants for environmental remediation and consulting services for the property located at 892 Northwest Avenue and providing for immediate enactment. Sponsor: Dir. of Pub. Service Rorar 7  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers 7:00 p.m. March 13, 2025 Mrs. Epstein: I call the Public Service Committee to order. We have before us at 1st Reading this evening Ord. 2025-40. The ordinance was read into the record. This is sponsored by Dir. of Pub. Service Rorar. Do you have anything to add? Dir. of Pub. Service: Good evening. This also can go 3 readings. This is to hire the consultant. So, keep in mind that we purchased the property up there at Barney’s Busy Corners. It was the old muffler shop. It was a gas station at one time. It had some issues, and we cleaned it up. They were minor but still you have to hire them to make sure that it is done right. Mr. Pavlik: Phase I was done; environmental? Dir. of Pub. Service: Yeah. Mr. Pavlik: So, they recommended a Phase 2 or findings? Dir. of Pub. Service: Yup. Mrs. Epstein: So, this can just go to the next reading unless there is a motion. B. Ord. 2025-41 – Authorizing the Director of Public Service to advertise for bids and the Mayor to enter into a contract for the Cremation Park Improvement at the Tallmadge Cemetery and providing for immediate enactment. Sponsor: Dir. of Pub. Service Rorar Mrs. Epstein: Next we have Ord. 2025-41. The ordinance was read into the record. This is sponsored by Dir. of Pub. Service Rorar. Do you have anything? Dir. of Pub. Service: Also, this one does not have to be passed this evening. It can go 3 readings. Keep in mind that we are running out of room at the cemetery and so in the remaining space we are trying to do cremation parks or plazas. We have the columbarium, but this is different. The headstones are on the ground. It is very nice. It will be a very nice park decorated with concrete walkways and landscaping. Mrs. Epstein: Alright we will go to 2nd Reading unless there is a motion for that one as well. Mrs. Gutman: I would like to make a motion to approve 2025-41. Seconded Mrs. Cipa. Roll Call: Mrs. Epstein, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mr. Roy, Mr. Rubino, Mrs. Cipa – unanimous. Ord. 2025-41 is adopted by a vote of 6-0. C. Ord. 2025-42 – Authorizing the Director of Public Service to advertise for bids and the Mayor to enter into a contract for the Community Center roof repair and providing for immediate enactment. Sponsor: Dir. of Pub. Service Rorar Mrs. Epstein: Next, we have Ord. 2025-42. The ordinance was read into the record. Mr. Rorar, do you have anything on this? Dir. of Pub. Service: This one also doesn’t have to be passed at 1st Reading. It can go through 3 readings. This is for the . . . there is a repair that is needed on the Community Center roof. It has been budgeted, and the engineering is done, and we are ready to go out to bid for it. Mrs. Gutman: I would say that since it is budgeted that I would make a motion to approve this as well at 1st Reading. Seconded Mr. Rubino. Roll Call: Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mr. Roy, Mr. Rubino, Mrs. Cipa, Mrs. Epstein – unanimous. Ord. 2025-42 is adopted by a vote of 6-0. D. Ord. 2025-43 – Authorizing the Mayor to enter into a contract with O.R. Colan Associates, LLC to provide right-of-way acquisition services for the SUM-CR630- 2.4PID 112869 East Avenue Phase I Project and providing for immediate enactment. Sponsor: Dir. of Pub. Service Rorar Mrs. Epstein: Next we have Ord. 2025-43. The ordinance was read into the record. Mr. Rorar is the sponsor. Do you have anything you want to add? Dir. of Pub. Service: This is one that I would like to have passed at 1st Reading. So, this is to hire O.R. Colan Associates for the right-of-way acquisitions along the East Avenue Project so that is from all the way out there by Brimfield all the way to Munroe up by the 8  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers 7:00 p.m. March 13, 2025 Dir. of Pub. Service (Cont’d.) Rec Center. Keep in mind that that project is to start in 2027, and this acquisition and right-of-way stuff needs to get going this year and it is just all part of the project. We did follow the ODOT procedures. Mrs. Cipa: I make a motion for the adoption of Ord. 2025-43. Seconded Mr. Roy. Roll Call: Mr. Pavlik, Mr. Roy, Mr. Rubino, Mrs. Cipa, Mrs. Epstein, Mrs. Gutman – unanimous. Ord. 2025-43 is adopted by a vote of 6-0. E. Ord. 2025-46 – Authorizing the Director of Public Service to negotiate and the Mayor to enter into an amendment to the aggregation agreement for gas aggregation services with Eastern Power & Gas (EPNG) and providing for immediate enactment. Sponsor: Dir. of Pub. Service Rorar Mrs. Epstein: Next we have Ord. 2025-46. The ordinance was read into the record. This is sponsored by Dir. of Service Rorar. Dir. of Pub. Service: I would like to request that this one is passed this evening. We are in a timeframe with this and what ended up happening was that we got an aggregate going with natural gas last year. We signed the agreement with Eastern Energy. It was at a fixed rate, and we made it through the winter, and we got a phone call last week from Eastern Energy that due to circumstances out of their control, technically they overextended themselves. They have to cut so many customers loose and they have to offer this change in the agreement which puts us on a variable rate now. At the end of the day, if we don’t sign this, we lose our aggregate and everybody in the whole City is on their own. That is the importance of this. If we do sign this we stay on the aggregate and when the prices of gas drop, they are high now because we are in the middle of winter because people are using gas; they will drop in the summer and at that time we would go for a fixed rate. We will get this re-addressed again. Dir. of Law: I also want to point out that the amendment offers a discount on the variable from the market rate of 5¢ less and it guarantees that in the meantime until we can lock it in again. We did do our due diligence on this issue and did explore all of our options including . . . we did retain outside counsel to review this matter as well and this at this time is the smoothest option. It is not a great option, but this is the option that we have. Dir. of Pub. Service: It keeps us in the aggregate. Keep in mind that you can opt out at any time. This is just an opportunity to get a good price and unfortunately this happened to this company. Dir. of Law: And to be clear too that this is happening with all the communities that have contracted with this particular provider, so everyone is in a similar situation. It is our understanding that if people were contracted with them independently and not part of the aggregation, they are being told that they are being cancelled from their plans. Dir. of Pub. Service: They are being cancelled. They don’t have this option. Dir. of Law: They just go back to the Enbridge rate. Mr. Pavlik: The variable rate is with Enbridge? Dir. of Pub. Service: Yes. Mr. Rubino: What is our current rate? Dir. of Pub. Service: 3.85. Mr. Rubino: What is it going to go to once we hit variable? Dir. of Pub. Service: Variable I heard the first month is 4.10. We will get 5¢ less so it will be $4.05. Mr. Rubino: Where are we hoping realistically to lock in possibly in the summer for fixed? Dir. of Pub. Service: High 3’s. Unfortunately, this company just overextended themselves. Mr. Pavlik: That starts April 1st if we approve this tonight and sign it and give it back. This would start on April 1st. Dir. of Pub. Service: What happens is that they have so many days that they have to notify everybody. That clock is ticking. I mean, it is already March 13th and so they have to get their letters out. 9  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers 7:00 p.m. March 13, 2025 Mr. Rubino: Do you have an estimate of the average increase in cost per household that could create going from where we are now to that variable rate? Dir. of Pub. Service: Actually, it was less than our 3.85. Dir. of Law: I think the issue is that we are thankfully going into warmer months where people are not using as much gas so hopefully our goal is to before we get back into a cold season to have a fixed rate option for people, but again, they can shop and they may find better rates out there that are different than what the aggregation offers. Dir. of Pub. Service: You don’t want to set the price now because obviously it is winter, and you want to wait until you are not using gas. Mrs. Epstein: So, just to clarify so looking at the ordinance it says that it is for the period of April, 2025, to March, 2026. But come summer, we would be able to go and renegotiate for a better rate? Dir. of Pub. Service: Oh yes. Yes. Dir. of Law: The agreement that we would sign indicates that we would have the ability to lock it in at a fixed rate if that becomes a good option. The term is shorter than what it originally was as well, so I mean we are dealing with that too. It was virtually going to run through September of 2026, and March, 2026, but again what we anticipate is that we will be able to lock in before that. It’s frustrating and you can see what is in the one WHEREAS clause section is what they told us so they put it in writing to us which we just received today and the reason for why they needed to cancel and that is cited in the WHEREAS. Not cancel but amend. Dir. of Pub. Service: At the end of the day, we have been dealing with this since last Wednesday and the Mayor and the Law Director have been at this almost the entire time. I have even talked to them late in the evening about this thing. Not fun, but I mean this is the deal. Mrs. Gutman: I would like for our viewers who don’t have the legislation in front of them, I would like to read that part of the WHEREAS just for their information about what is going on. “WHEREAS EPNG has notified the City that due to a “series of unforeseen circumstances including an unexpected cold winter and unforeseen tariff /trade war, and an unexpected capacity assignment charge from Enbridge Gas Ohio” that it needs to make this amendment in that “ when EPNG learned that the amount of the capacity charge that Enbridge was planning to assign to EPNG and the timing of that assignment and the context of the highest natural gas price volatility EPNG quickly determined that it could not incur Enbridge’s proposed capacity assignment obligation unless Eastern reduced its total served customer load for the remainder of 2025.” That is basically why they wantingto do this. Dir. of Law: We have explored, if we don’t allow this to occur, and basically what would happen is there will be a drop and so everyone would drop and go to that SCO rate which was what we were talking about earlier but this at least locks in and we will get the 5¢ difference. Which again is not ideal, but it is better than dropping and having people have to go to the market rate for now. They can choose to opt out. If they find a better rate that they want to choose, they do not have to participate in the aggregation so they can make those selections. Mr. Pavlik: The main driver of this was EPNG just missed the mark of how much gas was going to be used based on the cold winter. Dir. of Pub. Service: They underestimated. Mrs. Epstein: Thank you for that. I would also just point out the City does have a page dedicated to this information with the link for those who are potentially watching at home to “Apples to Apples” if you did want to shop on your own. There is some pretty good information on that website; the City of Tallmadge website so if you are interested, I would encourage anyone to check that out. Dir. of Law: Mrs. Epstein, as this develops we will be able to supplement that information with additional information but again this is very, very short timeframe to try to get everything lined up so we are doing the best we can to get that information pushed out to everybody. 10  COUNCIL MEETING Council Chambers 7:00 p.m. March 13, 2025 Mrs. Epstein: Yeah, and the information on there is a nice starting point for people. Do we have a motion? Mrs. Gutman: I would make a motion to adopt Ord. 2025-46 at 1st Reading. Seconded Mrs. Cipa. Roll Call: Mr. Roy, Mr. Rubino, Mrs. Cipa, Mrs. Epstein, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik – unanimous. Ord. 2025-46 is adopted by a vote of 6-0. Is there anything else to come before Public Service this evening? Hearing none, I will close committee. ii. Additional Items: None. 11. Reports of Special Committees: a. Council Operations Committee Mr. Pavlik: Mr. Bollas isn’t here, and he is usually the one that runs the operations committee. i. Additional Items: None. 12. Announcements: Mr. Pavlik: Any announcements that need to be brought up? 13. Adjournment: Mr. Roy made a motion to adjourn. Seconded Mrs. Gutman. Mr. Pavlik: Before we call the roll, it was noted by Dir. of Law Raber that we do not have an Execution Session tonight. Roll Call: Mr. Rubino, Mrs. Cipa, Mrs. Epstein, Mrs. Gutman, Mr. Pavlik, Mr. Roy – unanimous. The Council meeting of 3-13-25 adjourned at 7:53 p.m. by a vote of 6-0. sb Adopted: ___________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Susan E. Burton, Clerk of Council Donald J. Pavlik, Vice President of Council 11