City Council - Regular Meeting

here. Here. And Dan is he's coming. Yes. He was here. There he is. Say here. Just say here. I'm here. All right. Please join me in honoring our flag. I pledge Allegian to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Well, good evening and welcome everyone to the February 3rd meeting of the Ashlin City Council. To our viewers at home, thank you for joining us. Members of our audience, members of council, Mayor Miller, Attorney Bush, Director Paxton, welcome. Welcome all. Before we begin working through our agenda this evening, like to make a special announcement on behalf of the entire council, want to wish our mayor a very happy birthday. Mayor, thank you. Thank you. Look, you have it on the screen.

Thank you very much. You're welcome. Yes. We appreciate you. Thank you. First item on the agenda will be the approval of the minutes from the January 20th meeting. If there are no additions, deletions, or corrections to those minutes, I'll ask for a motion to approve as submitted. So move second. Thank you. Mson. I. Workman. I. Miller. I. Woodward. I.

Minutes will stand approved. First ordinance this evening will be an ordinance authorizing and directing the mayor director of public service to enter into a contract with vision development building company for the replacement of the former Myers Pump storm sewer including all the pertinances thereto in the city of Ashlin Ohio and declaring an emergency. Move for non-reading in full. Second. Thank you. Lawson. Hi Workman. Hi Kyle. Hi Miller. Hi Woodward. Hi.

Well, this of course has to do with our new pump house district. And at the time we were working with Vision Development to redevelop that site and the plans were being put together. We discovered that there was an old storm sewer line that ran across the property right through the center from Orange to Union. And we knew, of course, that that storm sewer probably wasn't in the best of shape. After all, it's been there for more than a century. And there's been a lot of activity on that site as we had all of those former existing structures demolished. And so it was no surprise that when Vision Development went to hook into the storm sewer, they discovered that it had pretty much collapsed all across the property. And not only had it collapsed all across the property and was non-usable, it probably hadn't been used for probably decades, maybe even 50 years ago. So with that in mind, we knew we were going to have to make repairs. And the current line that's across the property, well, no, it's not current anymore. It's gone. But it was a century old 36 inch line. It's been replaced with plastic. And it was necessary to do this, of course, so that they could continue to prepare the foundations for the buildings that will be on the property as well as the parking lot. And what I will tell you is we believe we're getting a pretty good price because we didn't have to have another contractor mobilize and come to the site to do it. So the total cost of the replacement of that line is approximately $285,537. And like I said, we knew that this would most likely be an issue as they moved forward, but weren't going to uh make any concrete decisions until we actually saw what condition it was in. So, sure enough, as was expected, it was in bad shape.

Yeah. So, tonight we're asking you to approve this repair. Very good. Any discussion, questions, concerns? needs to be done so we can move forward. Absolutely. Hearing none. Is there a motion to approve on the first reading? Move to approve. Second. Thank you. Workman. I Kyle. I. Miller. I. Woodward. I. Lawson. I. I'll move to suspend the rules for three separate readings, three separate days. Second. Thank you. Kyle. I. Miller. I. Woodward. I. Lawson. I. Workman. I. Motion to approve the ordinance. So move. Second. Thank you. Miller. I. Woodward. I. Lawson. I. Workman. I Kyle Hi,

Ordinance 5-26. We are also going to enlist the services of an outside firm to take a look at the rest of that storm sewer line even beyond that pump house district between Orange and Union because with all the planned activity in that corridor, chances are there hasn't been much flowing through that for a long time. And as you might imagine, if you're going to add a new hotel and you're going to add a what 200 market rate apartments and you're going to add potentially an athletic facility and who knows what else might go in some of those zupan properties, we need to make sure everything's in working order. Now's the time to look at it. Absolutely. Absolutely. And that was part of the urgency for us to move forward on this is because it was all going to be covered up soon,

right? So, we needed to make sure it was in good shape that would hopefully last. Yeah. I understand the old one was brick. Yes. Yes. Mason. You're right. Sewer line made of brick. Yeah. Awesome. So, so it says storm sewer. Is it the storm water drain or is it a storm? Storm line. Storm water line. Okay. Storm water. Yep. All right. Next, we have an ordinance authorizing certain land belonging to the city of Ashlin, Ohio to be sold through the community improvement corporation and declaring an emergency. Move for non-reading in full. Second. Thank you, Workman. Hi, Kyle. Hi, Miller. Hi, Woodworth. Hi, Lawson. Hi.

Okay, this is a project that we've been working on for some time. This involves the industrial park and over the last what probably since early I think it was probably midsummer of 2025, we hosted uh the new buyers of BCU Electric out in our industrial park when we discovered that they were looking to build a manufacturing facility somewhere in the United States. And uh just to give people a little glimpse of what that looked like at that particular time, it actually was a it turned out their visit happened on a day when it was a hot summer day. And as you know, when evening rolls around, the storms come up. Well, the plan was I was going to surprise them by featuring our brand new fire truck, our ladder truck out in the industrial park. They would arrive and then they would get to go up in the ladder truck so that they could see from above the land that we were going to propose to them as a future site for their facility. Well, the winds and the rain and the thunder were all there at that time and it ended up we had to delay it. But before sunset, we were able to finally complete the mission. And uh for those of you who don't know, all the land that isn't developed in the industrial park is farmed by a local farmer. So at that particular time, you had I don't know six or seven foot tall corn everywhere. So there was no way you could stand on the ground and look across the field because it was taller than you. So, we sent them up in the new truck and I don't know if they were enthralled with our land or more impressed that they were up in our truck, but I will tell you uh it evidently left a mark and when they did their due diligence, they came back and said that they would like to build their first US facility here in Ashen, Ohio. So what we are proposing tonight is that the city council move forward with the sale of 10 acres of land in the city industrial park to the company known as Meptagon. Meptagon. It

is an Israelibbased company. They have a facility in Germany, Israel, as well as Ireland. They recently acquired BCU Electric. So they will be the new owners of BCU Electric. But they do other things than just what is going to take place at BCU Electric. What they plan for this site of 10 acres in our industrial park is that in 2028 they would begin or they would I'm sorry in 2027 they would hope to begin construction on their new facility. In 2028 is when they would hope to have it up and running. Initially they expect to have 10 minute management or engineering employees and approximately 25 laborers but they plan to grow that fairly quickly to upwards of 150 to 200 full-time employees. They are just to I wrote down here their their product I know I've shared some information with you folks in executive session but their product for those that are watching I actually wrote notes down because it's so technical but they manufacture and fabricate process piping that is used for water cooling systems that are used in microchip wafer and electronic factories. So factories that build microchips, electronic components, and wafers evidently need a lot of cooling during that process. And this company, MPTagon, manufactures the processed piping that is used in all of those water cooling systems. They do other things, but those are the primary components that they manufacture. and uh their process piping is used in Intel's facilities as well as Microns where they make these chips.

So certainly it's a company like no other and we're very thankful that they showed interest. They weren't necessarily looking to build here, but once they arrived here and we got word that they were interested in having a presence in this country, we went to work to try to sell them on the area. And the good news is it didn't take much to sell them on it because we had a good good ambassador and Ben Uselton for sure. And combined with all the uh amenities and all of the quality of life that we can offer here, I think they saw a lot of promise. Sure.

So with that, we're asking you to sell to Meptagon 10 acres of land in the industrial park at a cost of $10,000 per acre. Now, someone might hear that figure and think, "Wow, that's cheap land." Well, you know what? It is a very competitive price because that is part of the reason we have an industrial park is so that we can offer that as our incentive to be there. So, that price, Amazon paid us $20,000 an acre to be there and they they um were content with that price. In this case, this was part of the negotiation is to leverage the fact that we own that land and can offer it at a discount rate.

Sure. So good. When you consider the future payoff, I think it's probably worth securing a company that could eventually have up to 200 employees in a in a industry that we probably don't play a big role in right now. Perfect use for that 10 acres. Absolutely. No doubt. As I understand it, uh, one of the features in their facility is a clean room. Yes. That was like 10 times more sterile than a hospital surgical, uh, room that for the products that they're making, it has to be that way. And that you bring up a good point. This is not a dirty manufacturing facility in any way, shape, or form. In fact, it's just the opposite. And I'm glad you brought that up.

Mr. further diversifies what is here in the way of manufacturing and industry. So

one of the things that makes Ashen strong is we do have such a diverse economic base and when you drive through that industrial park there are companies that are so unique. We make shaving cream. We make baby bottle nipples. We make electric control panels, cardboard boxes. We test pharmaceutical drugs at the other end of the town. And I think that makes us so resilient because if at any time one of those industries takes a slump or that company gets sold or someone has to downsize, we're not relying on any sole industry for this city's well-being. And here's another prime example. People will often make the comment, "Well, we need to get a company in here with a lot of jobs." Well, I'll be honest with you. Yes, if we get the opportunity to bring a company in here with 500 jobs, we're going to work hard to try to get them. But I believe it might be better to have a lot number of smaller companies here than have a great big large one because like I say then you're not totally reliant on a particular product or service for our local economy and companies in this neighborhood of 75 to 100 employees or in this case 200. That's very significant for us. And how do you how would I say that? We we um we get to grow into it. Meaning, we only have so many people that live here. We've got a lot of folks that drive into Ashlin every morning from other places. But if you open up a new company tomorrow with 500 employees, I'm not going to say you're going to struggle to find them overnight, but it could be a challenge where in this instance, we can grow with their growth. Does that make sense?

Sure does. So, but I will tell you Amazon came here and they said when they opened they they didn't want me to announce publicly that they would have 100 employees because they weren't sure how long it would take them to get there. In less than a year, they came back and said we now have over 200 employees on the payroll, right? So, somehow we're able to provide the workforce for these companies and there's a lot to be said for that. Mayor, the whole large scale company with 500 jobs. This city's had to recover a couple a couple times from th those large companies um going out and you leave a lot of you know empty pockets when you do that. Yes.

So it's I think it's a smart play and these companies are offering a living wage as well. Oh absolutely. Yes. So yes yes. When folks have been doing business in other places come and see what our local economy looks like, what our cost of living is like, usually they make a comment that, "Are you kidding me?" Because they are so used to the higher costs of living in so many other places where they have facilities. And so as long as we keep providing a a good quality workforce, I think the future is very bright for our industrial park.

Not to mention the other amenities like parks. Yes, absolutely. Have to offer. So if there's no further discussion, I'll ask for a motion to approve on the first reading. So moved. Second. Thank you. Kyle I. Miller. I. Woodward. I. Dawson. Hi. Workman. I. I'll again move for the suspension of three separate readings, three separate days. Second. Thank you. Miller I. Woodward I. Lawson. Hi. Workman. I motion to approve the ordinance. Move to approve. Is there a second? Sec. Second. Woodward. I. Austin. Hi. Workman. Hi. Kyle. I. Miller.

I. Ordinance 6-26.

One follow-up comment on this item. Although I reported that their plan is that they will begin construction in 2027 and in 2028 open their doors, their contract, their purchase contract actually says that they have to start their project within three years and it must be complete within five. And the reason we have put that in there is that way if they don't move forward, we get the land back. We can buy the land back for what they're paying us. So, we've learned over years that that's important because not everyone's plans turn out the way they thought they would. And that land is valuable to us as a community in the industrial part. All right, moving to item C. We have an ordinance accepting an easement and the subsequent dedication of a water distribution main and impertinances as a part of the Montgomery Meadows private road subdivision and declaring an emergency.

Move for non- reading in full. Second. Thank you, Kyle. I Miller. Hi, Woodward. I Lawson. Hi, Workman. Hi.

Okay, maybe by that name some people know right off where this is at, but I think for most of us when we see that name, we're not yet acclimated to it. This is the Montgomery School property out on US 250. This would be the site that Culver's is currently developing their new facility at as well as the the site where there's three other additional businesses planning to go. This is the water distribution main that Culver's team is currently building. It is necessary for fire protection. As part of their development of this particular water man distribution main, they're also going to be installing multiple fire hydrants. And as is usually the case, when they construct it, once it's complete and they have to construct it to all of our standards, then they turn over ownership to the city and we maintain it. So, this is not unusual, but uh it's an important part of that development out there on the US 250 corridor.

All right. Any discussion? I don't have any discussion, but I would like to mention the names of the roads. Oh, yes. Okay. So it says Custard Lane and Blue Scoops Drive. So won't that be fun to have that as part of Ashland? So very appropriate. Yes. We didn't come up with those names. No. It's fitting. Yes. So with that, is there a motion to approve on the first reading? Move to approve. Is there a second? Second. Thank you. Miller. I. Woodward. Hi. Lawson. Hi. Workman. Hi. Kyle. Hi. I'll move to suspend the rules for three separate readings, three separate dates. Second. Thank you. Woodward. I Lawson. I Workman.

Hi. Kyle. I. Miller. I. Motion to approve the ordinance. Some move. Second. Thank you. Lawson. I. Workman. I. Kyle. I. Miller. I. Woodward. I. Ordinance 7-26. Then we have an ordinance approving the community reinvestment area tax incentive application for Simonson Construction Services Incorporated and SCS Property Holdings LLC within the city of Ashlin, Ohio. Move for non reading in full. Second. Thank you. Miller I. Woodward. I Lawson. Hi. Workman. Hi. Kyle. Hi.

Well, we've said before in these meetings, our economic development strategy involves three different aspects. the retention of jobs, the attraction of jobs, and the expansion of jobs. And tonight, this particular item on your agenda deals with the retention of jobs and expansion into the future. This, of course, comes to us from Simson Construction Services. Simonson has continually been growing over the last several years, and this particular project that we bring forward to you tonight is expected to accommodate them for hopefully another 20 years. And basically what they intend to do is build an 11,000 square foot facility there on their footprint out on 511 and East Lake Drive. And they intend to in that new facility expand their machine rigging and steel fabrication activities. So they're going to grow the business in that regard in that particular facility. in their current shop or their current office if you've ever been out there. They hope to expand that into an equipment repair shop. So, they've got quite a bit of change going on out there at Simonson. They currently employ approximately 97 full-time permanent positions and although they were reluctant to give us a number in regard to how many they hope to grow over the future, uh the president has assured me that they expect to grow and steadily. So, this particular community reinvestment area application is requesting a 75% reduction in their taxes on this new project for 10 years. And this is in line with what we have offered to our other companies in the industrial park who have expanded their operation. So, this is one where we they have always performed in the past in in I'm not sure. I didn't check the calendar, but

it's been several years ago. They had a tax incentive for their last expansion and they always performed well, always paid on time. And of course, we all know they certainly give back to the community in many different ways. Sure. So, and if we can help facil facilitate their growth, all the better. Absolutely. They expect to invest over $3 million in this new 11,000 square foot facility. Very good. Any discussion? I think it's important to kind of note I was having a conversation recently with someone about these kinds of things. Yes.

Uh and even though we're giving them this kind of a tax discount, it is still probably more money than the tax on raw vacant land. Oh, absolutely. And absolutely. You have to have a long range picture in mind as far as the economic development of this community is concerned. And so because we're giving these abatements doesn't mean we're giving everything away.

No. And here's the deal. Today that 11,000 square foot building does not stand on that land. So like you say, that land is generating far less revenue than it will when it's completed in 10 years from now. And in theory, you could even say the 25% that they will continue to pay is an increase over what they're paying today.

The other thing to keep in mind is these incentives have been offered, different forms of incentives have been offered over decades in our community and many communities, I'd say most communities. And even though this might be a new one, I am sure, I didn't check this to be able to give you the exact number, but I'm sure that in 2026 there'll be others that will expire, right?

So all those revenues will be coming back to the city. So does that make sense? just because you might be entering into this new one today. There's probably one from 10 years ago that's expiring and now that company, we've got their multi-million dollar facility, we've got their expanded workforce, and now they're going to be paying 100%. So, the incentives do what they're supposed to do. That's all there is to it. And it's and it's the incentives only on the additional Exactly. It's only on the additional $3 million in real estate. And it's 75% of that 3 million. Yes. The rest of their $25 million Yes. property value. And that's a guess. Guess.

Great point. And with their assets and their 97 uh employees. Exactly. Contributing to the income tax. Exactly. It's it's it's not it's not as big a number as all of that. No, not at all. And you better believe other communities are offering this similar. Well, and sometimes you'd be shocked. Now, if it's a huge project, that's one thing, but sometimes you'd be shocked at how much we're talking about when you talk about 75% and so on. I mean, some of the projects, it's just a several thousand dollars. It isn't. Well, I think people get in their minds they're saving millions of dollars over the life of these.

Unless it's a huge project, that's usually not the case. But it still matters. Y I always say a dollar is a dollar. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. That's true. It works both ways and everybody wins. So with that, is there any further discussion? Hearing none. Is there a motion to approve on the first reading? So move. Second. Thank you. Woodward. I. Lawson. Hi. Workman. I. Kyle. I. Miller. I. I'll move to suspend the rules for three separate readings, three separate days. Second. Thank you. Lawson. I. Workman. I Kyle. Hi. Müller. Hi. Woodward. Oops. I Motion to approve the ordinance. So move. Second.

Thank you. Workman. Hi. Kyle. Hi. Miller. Hi Woodward. Hi Austin. Hi. Ordinance 8-26. And I'm sorry that I chime in after every one of these. That's not the plan. But I think you more or less said it. But just to reaffirm the discount is being given not on the land. No, but on that 11,000 foot building. So, they'll still pay 100% on the land just as they are today. It's just on the increased value that comes from that building. So, in other words, we're not

going backwards. The city is not getting less money. The schools are not getting less money. The county is not getting less money. It will still be getting more money than it was receiving before this project, just not the full amount that it will receive ultimately in 10 years. And if we had time for the two-hour class on millillage, you'd realize that it's not really even more money. It's just everybody pays a little less money, right? Maybe. So, mill is complicated. Been through that course. So, I don't we'll have to sit sit in the corner someday and talk about it. We're not going there tonight. All right.

No, there are no resolutions this evening. No public hearing items. No old business unless council has something to bring forward. Down to new business. We have a liquor permit. This is a new permit for Donna D Pizza Corporation. And uh what we need in this instance is a motion not to request a hearing from the state. Is there such a motion? I move that we do not request a hearing from the state for the Don liquor permit. Lawson. Hi. Workman. Hi. Kyle. Hi. Miller. Hi. Woodward. Hi.

All right. Then we have a liquor permit transfer. This is from Ashland Drive-thru number two and Car Wash LLC to Falcon Wash DT LLC. And as far as I know, there are no legal issues with this transfer. Would you agree with that, Attorney? Okay. And this is the Well, I think they all know where it is. This is on the corner of uh Sloan and Main Street or what does it turn to? Lee Lee and Main Street. So, okay. With that, is there a motion not to request a hearing as well? I move not to request a hearing. Is there a second? Second. Thank you. Lawson, Workman,

I. Miller, I Woodward. Hi. All right. I didn't think there was anyone here to speak to either one of those on the matter. Correct. No. Okay. With that then, uh, finance director's report. Larry, do you have anything this evening?

Good evening. Uh we have uh continually being been working on the 2026 appropriations uh for your consideration. Uh the uh end of 25 was a little more difficult than what we anticipated with some changes and some more costs and some of those things that had to be done at the end of the year. Uh hopefully by the next council meeting, why you should have something in front of you uh to review as far as a permanent appropriations for 26 if everything goes well.

And we'll try to get that to you well in advance so that you can see that. The mayor and his staff uh as well and the law director and the judge also need to see it. So that's uh kind of what my report is today this evening. Very good. Thank you. Any questions or comments for Mr. Paxton? Um I believe congratulations are in order, right? Um I thought I saw your picture with somebody of distinction and the mayor was that uh

you're very fortunate. The city was very fortunate. Uh it's I think the third year that we have received the auditor states uh distinction for uh good report reporting of uh the city's business. Uh it's quite uh an enduring thing to do. uh but uh there were no infractions uh within the audit and in doing that which then allowed us to be a part of uh that not a whole lot of communities across the state of Ohio receive that distinction. Uh the auditor does keep track of those things and uh it was very nice of him to take time out of his busy day to be with the mayor and I and actually come up and uh

and come to our facility to present that reward award. So, but uh yeah, there it's a staff and a city function. It's not just one department, but it's the city as a whole that is working together to do that. A lot of that does happen in my office for sure. uh that's where it rubber meets the road, so to speak. But uh at the same time, I think that's a a citywide pride award that we should all uh be uh privileged in being able to be a part of that because uh it it takes a lot to run our government. Uh today we have about 262 employees and our uh annual payroll now is over $15 million a year. So uh it's no small feat to get all that accomplished and very proud of all of our employees.

Well, I just I think it's worth mentioning that you know I've had several occasions to meet our auditor of state and he is no monkey business. This guy is serious about his job and um you know there's there's been a you know he's been the new sheriff in town for a couple years now and you can see the proofs of that labor um in the newspaper and and on the news where he is really stamping out any kind of corruption that he runs into and for him to come here and give us an attab boy that that does mean something. So, I just uh I just wanted to mention it.

So, thank you. Thank you, Larry. With that, we'll move right to council comments. Mr. Kyle. Um, well, I was just going to bring up that it was the mayor's birthday, and I would be remiss in not saying it's also my wife's birthday. So, happy birthday, Selena. And and Mayor Matt Miller. So, just so you all know this, because this is the fun part of the council meeting, let me tell you that not only is her birthday today, our mothers were in the birthing unit at the Samaritan Hospital side by side with the curtains pulled.

And I do want you to know the way my mother describes it. When I was born, I was an easy baby. I was a big baby. And people can put that on social media. The mayor was a big baby, but I was a big baby. But I was an easy delivery. All went well. My mother recounts this though that uh his wife when she was born, there was a lot of agony and screaming going on next door. And uh as fate would have it, I knew his wife from kindergarten to high school graduation and still know her now. And uh I just want you to know that we both chose to come into the world in a different spirit, in a different way. Yeah.

And I would just add that the struggle continues. So That's right. And I'm hoping she's watching. Yeah, she always listens. She always listens. So, fun fact. Yeah, fun fact, Mr. Miller. I can't top that. I'll pass. Mrs. Woodward.

Well, not on such a good note, but the last snowfall, um, I seen some of our postal workers, I seen children walking down Clare Mines because the businesses did not plow there. Many of them did not plow. So, I guess I'm addressing you and what we can do about this if we get that kind of snow again. It's not safe for people to be walking, but they have no choice. And this was days after the snowfall, not the week of or you know the week. So, any thought to address? tell you is we are um I was hoping to I wasn't hoping to but I was going to bring that up that we're still even today getting comments and phone calls about people not shoveling their front sidewalk and I know we've pointed it out many times here at these meetings that is the property owner's responsibility. The city does the city owned properties and the public properties but your business you're supposed to do it. you're home, you're supposed to do it. And I mean, technically, we could come out and issue citations, but by the time you send out a letter and get it to everyone, and then I'm not sure we're going to take everyone to court over their shoveled sidewalk, it becomes quite a chore. So, we just have to rely on people to do the right thing. And you need to shovel that sidewalk or ask someone if you're unable to do it because of just what you described. With a snow this deep, it really makes a difference.

Yeah. And today I actually when I went out to get in the vehicle, I parked across the street and when I went out to get in the vehicle, a gentleman with a cane was coming down Claremont. And he the moment he saw me, he wanted me to know that there's businesses still on Claremont Avenue that have not plowed their or shoveled their sidewalk. Yes. And so he couldn't even get through without going out in the streets. So which isn't safe. It isn't. It is not. It is not because I've seen joggers and everyone else. Yeah. In the street now because of it. Yes. Thank you for bringing that. You're welcome.

I just want to agree because this morning I saw children walking on Center Street and that's a state road with a lot of semis walking up center street because certain businesses had not cleared their sidewalk and they were going up to a bus stop and these businesses could easily afford to pay someone to clear that sidewalk. but instead the children were walking in the middle of traffic with semis coming each direction. So it is not safe for our family. But my comment want to give a shout out to my friend Michael Zigafus who's starting a brand new newly minted job with our judicial system. will be starting on Monday and at working with our at risk youth helping them to make sure that they stay on the right path that they devote their energies and their time and attention in a positive direction. It's a brand new position with our our legal system our our courts and congratulations Mike you're the best man for that job

and that must be with the juvenile court. Is it with the juvenile court? Okay, very good.

All right, mayor I'll turn it over to you. No, I would tell you what I want to say is number one, just to give you some announcements so people can start planning, the St. Patrick's Day activities will be on the Saturday before St. Patrick's Day. So that'll be Saturday, I believe March 14th. I hope that's the Saturday before St. Patrick's Day. And chances are, we haven't finalized the calendar, but like in past years, the parade will kick off at 11:00 a.m. and we'll come down here to Town Creek where we'll dye the Town Creek green. Anyone who might be planning to visit or bring their families into town on Saturday, March 14th, we expect that creek to be green all day long and then it'll flow away and likely come back on St. Patrick's Day. So, in case you're making plans, believe it or not, in these last several years, I've had a number of the businesses and restaurants downtown tell me that that is their most um that is their busiest day of the year is St. Patrick when we have our St. Patrick's Day celebration. So, it's quite a party downtown.

I was at the Summit Mall. Yes. And the lady that was working there lives in Akran. She came last year, did she? To our St. Patrick's Day celebration. And she said, "I hope I can come back this year." So, that's wonderful. Very good. Just a light-hearted way to kick off spring really. So, very good.

And then, of course, at the last meeting, I talked about our America 250 celebration. We now have more details about the parade. All of this will be coming out more officially soon, but so people can start planning. On the morning of July 4th, 2026, we will have a patriotic July 4th parade. It actually has a name now. America's 250th Birthday Bash Parade. We'll be going on on Main Street. It'll be the same parade route as we use for the Christmas parade and uh the same format, everything. And we'll plan to broadcast it just like we do the Christmas parade. We're limiting it to 75 units. Uh the cost to enter as a nonprofit is $25 and the cost of a commercial or business unit is $50. And of course, that money simply helps defay the cost of the parade. And if I'm honest with you, I mean, it probably doesn't come anywhere near the cost of defaying, but it's still it's a it's an investment in toward covering all the costs that go along with that. And uh if you want to enter, the only requirement is that you be red, white, and blue. So no matter what your business may be, all the units have to be patriotic red, white, and blue. So more details about that will be coming out here soon. And then finally, what I want to say is everywhere I travel outside of our county, whether it's a nearby county, whether it's across the state, I always get asked the question, so how are things going in the mayor business? How are things in the city of Ashlin? What's going on? And you realize we are one month into this year. And if you didn't take note, every one of the agenda items tonight deal with the growth of a business or the creation of a new business here in our community. Even the sewer line that we voted to repair or replace across Orange Street into Union

Street, all of them relate to growth and development here in this community. And we're only through the first month. And not only did we break ground on Culver's, not only did we divide the lots out there into three additional lots, and those businesses are on their way, but tonight we were able to announce that we have a new international company going to build a facility that could ultimately lead to 200 more jobs. And it's only February, so there's more to come. And we'll have more conversations about some of the other projects here soon. But I'd say that's a pretty good start to 2026. So, appreciate all of your support.

All right. Very good. Thank you, Mayor. With that, we'll move right to comments and questions from our audience if anyone has anything you'd like to address council with. Please step up to the podium, state your name, what ward you live in, and for our minutes, and let us have it. So, thank you, mayor. Let us have it. Let us have it. Yeah. All right. Nicely. Let us have it nicely. So, it looks like a friendly group. I don't. All right. With that, is there a motion to adjurnn? So, moved. Second. Thank you. I I I I I adjourned. Thank you all for coming.