City Council - Regular Meeting

I pledge allegiance 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.

All right. Thank you to everyone for being here this evening. Could you please call the roll, Jody?

J. Dennis.

Here.

K. Dennis. Here. Elliot. Here. Harold.

Here.

Hollenbaugh.

Here.

Musgrave.

Here. All right. The minutes from our meeting on July 20th were distributed for you to review. Are there any additions or corrections to those minutes? Hearing none, do I have a motion to approve? So moved. Second. Properly moved and seconded. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, same sign. Okay. Do we have any correspondence this evening?

We have one item received from the Ohio Division of Liquor Control, an application for a D1 liquor permit for Chipotle Mexican Grill of Colorado, LLC, 1187 South Main Street. Records have been requested.

Okay.

That's it.

Thank you very much. That brings us to the lobby visitation portion of our film this evening. Has anyone signed up?

No one signed up tonight.

Okay. Introduction of new legislation.

Mr. President. Mr. Harold. I have an ordinance amending section 95A.01C2 of the codified ordinances of the City of Bowling Green, Ohio to reallocate income tax funds to provide needed additional funding for street repair. Okay.

Mr. President. Mr. Musgrave. From the Parks, Rec, and Public Land Committee, I have a resolution authorizing the City of Bowling Green to participate in the local park improvement grant program and to file an application and accept grant funding upon grant application approval. Very good.

And I have two ordinances from the Finance Committee. I have ordinance providing supplemental and or amending the appropriations for the current expenses and other expenditures of the City of Bowling Green, Ohio during the fiscal year beginning January 1st, 2026 and ending December 31st, 2026. And I have an ordinance authorizing the municipal administrator to sell vehicle no longer needed for municipal purposes. That will bring us to official reports. Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Mr. President. Good evening, Council. I have no report subject to any questions that you may have. Does anyone have any questions for the Mayor this evening? Mr. President? Yes.

I don't have a question, but I have a deeply held compliment for the Mayor. He was gracious to spend an hour with me last week. And anybody that knows me know that that means he was gracious. And I had made a request to see the draft, since the final report wasn't finished yet, the draft of the consultant, the West Worcester Street Corridor Consultant's Report. And initially, Mike was hesitant to do that for very good reason. You don't want different versions of a draft report getting out and being misconstrued as official and so forth. So he was hesitant but then changed his mind and decided to issue it knowing that it would help us all make a more educated decision on what's before us tonight. So I wanted to really acknowledge that that was very impressive. I want to thank you for that.

OK. Municipal Administrator, Ms. Tretter.

Good evening. I've asked Mick Murray to join us this evening to give an update about our public services area and what's been going on this summer. And so I'll turn it over to Mick.

Good evening, Council. A few things to go over with you this evening. Public Works has completed several sidewalk and accessibility improvement projects this summer. They completed a Leroy Avenue sidewalk infill project. That was approximately 345 feet of new sidewalk on the north side of Leroy Avenue. The project also included ADA ramp upgrades. Prior to this project, there was no sidewalk on either side of that street in this section. They also replaced approximately 400 feet of sidewalk on South Summit between Wooster and East Clough. Public Works crews have continued repairing utilities, street, and sidewalk cuts throughout the community this year. And in July, we completed the 2026 Mandatory 50-50 Program, a $75,000 investment targeting sidewalks identified as the highest priority. through our sidewalk condition index, which considers both sidewalk condition and proximity to schools in the downtown. The project replaced sidewalks at 12 mandatory properties and one voluntary 50-50 property. Based on the program's success, funding will be increased in 2027 to $125,000, and staff are currently evaluating properties for next year's program. For capital improvement projects currently under construction, we have the 2026 residential paving program. Streets have been milled and the base course has been installed. Currently, crews are installing catch basins and ADA ramps prior to the final paving. These streets include Buttonwood from Worcester to Sand Ridge, Grove from Worcester to Ordway. That one was supposed to go to Sand Ridge as well. but there was a conflict with a Columbia Gas project, as you're probably aware, so we're gonna hold on finishing that off until 2028. Ordway Avenue from Maple to Main, Adams Street from Maple to Grove, and Rudolph from Gypsy to Sandridge. We also completed an asphalt rejuvenating program, to Pearl, Sand Ridge, West Gypsy, East Gypsy, Lafayette, South Mitchell, and Woodgate Drive, North Mitchell. The final 600 feet approaching Conneaut Avenue was intentionally excluded at this area to serve as a control section. This will allow us to monitor and compare the long-term performance of pavement treated with the rejuvenating agent against untreated pavement, helping evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment for future pavement management decisions. A lot of residents have reached out to me asking me about this. They mostly just want to know what it is and why we're doing it. And so the asphalt rejuvenating agent is a liquid application that restores some of the natural oils and flexibility that the asphalt loses as it ages. By slowing oxidation and reducing cracking, it helps extend the pavement life and delays the need for more costly repairs. Active and upcoming projects. Construction's ongoing on the brim shared use path. extending from the high school to Cogan's Crossing. That project will be completed this fall. Construction of the Conneaut Avenue sidewalk infill from Winter Garden to Cedar is scheduled to begin this month. The portion along the west side of South Winter Garden Road was delayed due to the right-of-way acquisition and is now scheduled for construction in 2027. along with the Winter Garden sidewalk infill from Winter Garden Park to North Street. Construction of the Gypsy Lane pedestrian hybrid beaking is scheduled to begin in the spring of 27. Right-of-way acquisition for the Crim shared use path is nearing completion, with construction anticipated in 27. And we are currently in the design phase of both the Brim and Bishop roundabout and the Dunbridge-Booster roundabout. For waste management, Public Works implemented RouteWare this year. It's routing and fleet management software that significantly improves our operational efficiency by providing turn-by-turn navigation, helping our substitute drivers complete the routes accurately. And it tracks their stops and notifies them if they miss anything. We also use it for our downtown refuse collection and large item pickup. And drivers can document service exceptions such as carts not placed at the curb or contaminated recycling and containers With photographs and these images allow staff to quickly resolve complaints and provide targeted education outreach to residents when needed In addition Public Works has created a new supervisory position responsible for both refuse and recycling and grounds maintenance and This organizational change has improved oversight, communication, and operational efficiency in both service areas. For the Oak Grove Cemetery Digitization Project, the city is nearing completion of that project. Over the past year, ground penetrating radar was completed in the remaining cemetery sections, and staff have also field verified vault locations and coordinated with the GIS department to refine the plot alignments. Paper cemetery records are now being converted to digital records. Upon completion, staff and residents will have access to an interactive digital cemetery map displaying every burial plot along with searchable electronic records. Facilities and grounds. This year we completed a $1.5 million fluid applied roof replacement at the community center. We completed a $220,000 roof replacement at the public works garage. We replaced carpet at the municipal court prosecutor office area. Completed the final two exterior renovation projects at the municipal court. We completed $200,000 in HVAC improvements at the community center. We completed 129 facility maintenance work orders. That's for work orders within the organization. and the construction of the two new fire stations is underway. As part of the recent Public Services Bureau reorganization, facility and ground maintenance responsibilities have been consolidated to improve efficiency and consistency. Public works facilities and ground staff now provide centralized oversight of these operations across all city facilities. For urban forestry in May, we promoted Bill Branham to urban forestry supervisor. Bill's a ISA certified arborist, and he's become a valuable resource in assisting the urban forester with customer inquiries, field evaluations, and hazard tree assessments. The urban forestry division continues to focus on proactive tree maintenance, public safety, and preservation of the city's urban canopy, while supporting infrastructure projects throughout the community. And that completes my report. Subject to any questions.

Does anyone have any questions for Mick this evening?

Yes, I do, Mr. Murray. I'm wondering, I've noticed that the rejuvenation solution on Pearl and the other roads, it kind of obscures the pedestrian crosswalks. Will that eventually wear off, or is there plans to refresh those crosswalks?

It will wear off, and we also have our pavement striping program scheduled to begin here this fall.

Okay, thank you. Anything else? Okay. Thank you very much. Ms. Tretter, do you have anything?

I don't have anything additional subject to your questions.

Any questions for Ms. Tretter this evening? Okay. Thank you very much. Mr. Brown is not here. Public infrastructure director, Mr. O'Connell.

Just a quick update about some water treatment plant work. So last week we did change out six of the granular activated carbon tanks. So that's a... filtration process that basically removes organic material as the final stage of the conventional lime softening plant. We have 12 tanks total. We typically do six, replace GAC in six of those tanks before the summer begins, and then about midway through the summer, we do the other six, and that's been a process we've done for the last several years, and it's resulted in Pretty good quality numbers for THMs and HA5s. Those are just contaminants that can develop in the system between the reaction of chlorine and organics. And so the GAC helps to remove some of those organics to reduce the THM levels that we can experience in the distribution system. Also related to THMs. We had the THM aerator that was in the Newton Road water tower. It needed some maintenance, and so we did remove that unit earlier this year, shipped it back to the manufacturer. They repaired it, brought it back, and on Friday, we had a crane on the site, and we reset that THM aeration unit, and so that's been operational since Friday. But that's a system where if you aerate the water in the towers, the THMs will just they'll be removed through that aeration process and then they ventilate out the top of the tank and nothing more fancy about it. It's just an aerating unit that sits inside the tank. We don't have those in the The two tanks at the south end of town, the western tank and the Carter Park tank, but when the renovations occur after that contract is out for bid, those units will be put in those tanks as well. So we'll have THM units in all three tanks at that time. That's all I have for you tonight, unless you have questions.

Does anyone have any questions for Mr. O'Connell?

Just a... Quick question. We've got some legislation before us today reallocating a portion of the income tax. When we discussed this previously, you had had some numbers for us on the impact that that would have to water and sewer rates. Would it be possible to get updated figures based on the legislation we've got now? Yeah, I can go back and refresh that information for you. Thank you.

And if I could piggyback on that. the the figures that were given about a year ago were under the assumption that it was an addition to the base rate and I would be very interested in seeing how that difference could be incorporated into more of a usage rate as opposed to the minimum that everybody pays. Is that something that could be ballparked? Wouldn't have to be exact. I don't understand. You said the base rate. What do you mean by that? When the figures were given, it was a certain amount that would be added on average for rate payers. So you figure out what the difference is, divide by the rate payers, and do that calculation. If it's tied to usage, those that use more water and sewer would pay a higher rate. than those that don't.

So instead of having it be per... You're saying instead of being tied to the monthly customer charge or a meter capacity charge, you're tied to the usage charge? Yes. Yeah, I think you're talking, you're getting into more of a rate setting philosophy than what I can, I'm not sure I can answer your question or give you the information you want. I can give you a number of what that would be, but those numbers always tend to be wrong because the usage numbers are never what we estimate or what we calculate. And what we found is with the last, and we're going through a cost of service study right now on the sewer side, and so we'll have information for the Board of Utilities here later this year about a sewer cost of service study and a rate plan for that. I think what it will show is that the current cost Monthly customer charge or the fixed charge component of the bill is too low and that should be higher to better align with our actual expenses and so when you start to Try to target and say we're only going to increase rates on usage and you're not trying to target them towards what your actual expenses are based on fixed or variable expenses and then you get a little bit out of sync with where things should be. So I'm not sure it's appropriate to say that we would target all that towards the usage charge or try to just direct it towards that, at least at this point in time, because I don't know what that number would or what the results of the study would be. But when we get done with the sewer cost of service study, our plan is to roll into a water cost of service study as well. Next, that probably won't happen until 2027. But then, you know, a... RATE CONSULTANT WOULD BE ABLE TO HELP US EVALUATE WHAT THE APPROPRIATE DISTRIBUTION SHOULD BE OF ANY REVENUES IT MIGHT NEED TO BRING IN. OKAY.

SO IF THERE WERE BASICALLY TWO FIGURES, ONE WOULD BE PER HOUSEHOLD OR PER RATE PAYER AND THEN THE OTHER, WHICH WAS SIMILAR TO LAST YEAR, AND THEN THE OTHER WOULD BE BASED OFF OF ESTIMATES AS TO USAGE AND FOLDED INTO TOTAL USAGE. how that would, and again, I'm not looking for an exact number.

Yeah, I'll do my best, how about that? I think I understand what you're saying. I always appreciate your best. Sure.

Okay, any other questions for Mr. O'Connell? Okay, thank you very much. That brings us to council committee reports. Are there any council committee reports this evening?

Mr. President.

Ms. Elliott.

Just a reminder that the Planning, Zoning, and Economic Development Committee will be holding three public hearings on September 8th.

Okay. And I would like to announce that it's that time of year again for City Council's annual strategic planning meeting. And that will be on Thursday, September 10th at 6 p.m. here in Council Chambers. It is open to the public, of course, but it is a work session and no public input will be provided. accepted during that time. If you have wonderful ideas, feel free to reach out to your council members ahead of time. Anything else for council committee reports? Okay. That brings us to the reading of legislation.

Legislation for first reading. Resolution 3913 for first reading. resolution authorizing the city of Bowling Green to participate in the local park improvement grant program and to file an application and accept grant funding upon grant application approval. Ordinance 9371 for first reading. Ordinance providing supplemental and or amending appropriations for the current expenses and other expenditures of the City of Bowling Green, Ohio during the fiscal year beginning January 1, 2026 and ending December 31, 2026.

I would like to make a motion to suspend the rules and give Ordinance 9371 its second and third readings. Second. Properly moved and seconded. Jody?

Kay Dennis? Yes. Elliot? Yes. Harold? Yes. Hollenbaugh? Yes. Musgrave? Yes. Jay Dennis?

Yes.

Okay, the rules are suspended for Ordinance 9371. Ordinance 9371 for second and third readings.

ordinance providing supplemental and or amending appropriations for the current expenses and other expenditures for the City of Bowling Green, Ohio during the fiscal year beginning January 1, 2026 and ending December 31, 2026.

I would like to make a motion to adopt Ordinance 9371. Second. Properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Jody?

Elliot. Yes. Harold.

Yes.

Hollenbaugh.

Yes.

Musgrave.

Yes.

Jay Dennis.

Yes.

Kay Dennis. Yes.

Okay, ordinance 9371 is adopted.

Ordinance 9372 for first reading. Ordinance authorizing the municipal administrator to sell vehicle no longer needed for municipal purposes. Ordinance 9373 for first reading. Ordinance amending section 95A.01C2 of the codified ordinances of the City of Bowling Green, Ohio to reallocate income tax funds to provide needed additional funding for street repair. Legislation for second reading. Resolution 3912 for second reading. Resolution amending and adopting chapter 156 of the codified ordinances of the City of Bowling Green, Ohio regarding access management policies and guidelines. Ordinance 9368 for second reading. Ordinance amending the zoning district map of the City of Bowling Green for approximately 22 acres at the southeast corner of South Dunbridge Road and Expressway Drive from interstate commercial to institutional zoning. Ordinance 9369 for second reading. Ordinance accepting annexation of approximately 0.84 acres of land located at 1200 Sandridge Road in Plain Township, Wood County, Ohio from Michael Q. McNamara, agent and petitioner. Ordinance 9370 for second reading. Ordinance establishing interim zoning of R1 low density residential zoning for the approximately .84 acres of land located at 1200 Sandridge Road and recently annexed to the city as petitioned for by Michael Q. McNamara. Legislation for third reading. Resolution 3911 for third reading. Resolution authorizing an application and a contract with the Ohio Department of Transportation, ODOT, for congestion mitigation and air quality funds for the installation of a roundabout at the intersection of West Wooster Street and Winter Garden Road.

Mr. President. Mr. Dennis. I move to adopt Resolution 3911. Second. Okay. Okay, properly moved and seconded. Any discussion?

Mr. President. Mr. Harold. I'm not convinced that the proposed roundabout is needed. I realize that there is an advantage to using outside money, but roughly a million dollars of city street repair money does present a potential opportunity cost. There may be better, more needed projects that could use the money. In addition, we have ongoing regular street repairs that are needed. Even with the expense spread out over time, I do not want to spend money on, in my estimation, what would be a lower priority or unneeded project at the expense of other greater needs. I understand the rest of Council may think otherwise, and I understand that. I don't have a problem with it. But for me, I just needed more convincing on that. We do have legislation that was introduced tonight that would greatly help the funding of this and future projects. I do hope that those of you all that vote to apply for the roundabout money and as a result commit to constructing it, if we get the money, will seriously consider that legislation as a means to pay for this and future street repair projects.

Okay. Any other discussion? Hearing none. Jody?

Harold?

No.

Hollenbaugh?

Yes.

Musgrave?

Yes.

J. Dennis?

Yes.

K. Dennis? Yes. Elliott? Yes.

Okay. Resolution 3911 is adopted.

ORDINANCE 9367 FOR THIRD READING. ORDINANCE AMENDING AND ADOPTING SECTION 72.39B2 OF THE CODIFIED ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF BOWLING GREEN, OHIO REGARDING LOW SPEED MICRO MOBILITY DEVICES.

MR. PRESIDENT. MR. DENNIS. I MOVE TO ADOPT ORDINANCE 9367. SECOND. PROPERLY MOVED AND SECONDED PROPERLY MOVED AND SECONDED DISCUSSION. DISCUSSION. MR. PRESIDENT, I MOVE TO MR. PRESIDENT, I MOVE TO AMEND ORDINANCE 9367 BY AMEND ORDINANCE 9367 BY SUBSTITUTION. SUBSTITUTION. LANGUAGE WAS SENT OUT FRIDAY TO LANGUAGE WAS SENT OUT FRIDAY TO MEMBERS OF COUNCIL. MEMBERS OF COUNCIL.

SECOND. SECOND. SO RIGHT NOW WE'RE VOTING ON SO RIGHT NOW WE'RE VOTING ON THE MOTION TO AMEND. Yes.

Musgrave.

Yes.

J. Dennis.

Yes.

K. Dennis. Yes. Elliott. Yes. Harold.

Yes. Okay, so ordinance 9367 has been amended by substitution.

Mr. President.

Mr. Dennis.

If I may just give an overview of the amended legislation. A few additional changes beyond what was initially proposed. This legislation currently before us would ban low-speed micromobility devices from the downtown area regardless of whether the motor is engaged or not. It would ban the operation of low speed micromobility devices on sidewalks throughout the rest of the community whenever the motor is engaged. That is currently state law regarding e-bikes. This would expand, it would update our local ordinances to match state law and expand those regulations to also include e-scooters.

Okay, any other discussion?

I just want to say that I know that Jeff, Caitlin, City Attorney Brown, and myself have spent a lot of time on this issue. It's a great example of going down a rabbit hole. And I want to compliment Jeff on trying to fashion some sort of a solution. The state code is an unwieldy mess of confusion, contradiction, and complication. In large part as a result, the current city code is also tangled. It's kind of cobbled together because we change our technology over time, and the code is tough to keep up with. And I could give multiple examples. So trying to make adjustments is quite the challenge. With this as a backdrop, And with due respect, it basically, in my estimation, boils down to having low-speed micromobility devices on sidewalks, whether the motor's engaged or not, isn't isn't the issue. The type of device on the sidewalk's not the issue. And this legislation goes part way to meet that by saying you can have an electronic vehicle, scooter, bike on the sidewalk. You just can't have the engine engaged or the motor engaged. But the issue isn't the type of device. The issue is the speed. And a way to try and get to that is to prohibit using the motor. But you can still have a situation where you can use the motor and go at a lower speed. So to me, it's a noble attempt, but the issue is the speed. And so although there is quite a bit of good that's in this legislation, I can't quite bring myself to vote for it because it's not tackling the issue. That is with all due respect to the amount of effort that has gone into this. I won't tell you the number of hours or even guess because it's a lot. So it's not that. It's just that what we need to do is we need to take a more comprehensive look at our code that relates to micromobility, bicycles, et cetera. Because right now, there are sections of the code, and again, I won't give examples, sections of the code that actually contradict the prevailing thought of bikes may use full lane, the prevailing thought on a number of issues. There is a belief that 90% of bicycle-related accidents occur on sidewalks. And that may be the case in some communities, but I studied it for Bowling Green and it is not the case here. So one of the potential reasons for the legislation is not present. Again, There's a lot that's good with this legislation, and I commend Jeff for his efforts in improving it, but it's not quite, I think, what we need.

Mr. President, I will address some of those concerns. Yeah, speed, I think, is... Is the issue, we and I think most local municipalities are not equipped nor I think would we want to start posting and enforcing speed limits on sidewalks. So it would be fair to say that the easier way to address it would be to take fast moving vehicles off of the area that we designate for pedestrians I'm not sure where the 90% figure comes from. That certainly was not my rationale for drafting this legislation. Bicycle Safety Commission maybe has explored that. I do know that if you attend their meetings or speak to their members, they will be very quick to tell you that there is ample research available suggesting that you are at greater risk, whether you are a pedestrian, a cyclist, somebody on a scooter, if you are on the sidewalk and attempting to cross many different driveways. There is a greater number of accidents that occur there. The people that are using the sidewalk are at greater risk, particularly our more elderly residents who maybe are not able to jump out of the way as quickly, maybe not able to hear a scooter coming up behind them. Those are the residents that I hear from primarily that have been extremely concerned, particularly as we are seeing more and more of these on our streets and our sidewalks. So that I think was my main motivation for revisiting this legislation. So I'm not sure where the 90% figure comes from, but I certainly do appreciate Councilman Harrod looking into the local data and shedding more light on that.

And again, I don't... As much as I enjoy talking with Jeff about issues like this, we already have in our code a speed limit on sidewalks. I don't think it's probably enforced. Plus, it's like 20 miles an hour. Again, his point's well taken. It is an issue of speed. there are areas of the city. I was out mowing my lawn about a week ago. And as I was mowing the front yard, across the street from me is the a church property where there's a long stretch of sidewalk without any driveways or anything. And there was an e-scooter going at a decent rate, it wasn't going fast, on the sidewalk. And I thought, you know what, he and everyone else is safer because he's on the sidewalk. Now he was engaging the motor. If we, when this legislation is passed, this person will not be legally allowed to do that, which means he'll have a choice of doing it manually on an e-scooter or going in the street on Cognac. And it's safer for everyone if he's on the sidewalk. And again, it's safer for everyone because he wasn't going fast. So that circles back to the whole speed thing.

It would be safer for everybody except for a pedestrian that he encountered on that same stretch of sidewalk. But he did not encounter a pedestrian.

But he can still use the scooter or the e-bike without the motor on the sidewalk, and then he can be safe and watch out for pedestrians.

Well, he would watch out for pedestrians if he was following the law with an audible signaling device. And then also as far as if certain people have the choice of, using an e-scooter manually, although it's feet, or using the street, I'm not sure that they would choose to use the manual, which means they'd be in the street, which means on certain streets, county I would include, It's not safer. So there's a safety issue involved. It's a trade-off. I mean, that's all we ever deal with nowadays are trade-offs. And so for me, the trade-off isn't worth voting yes. Again, everyone else that's going to end up voting for it, I fully respect that. The trade-off just isn't there for me. Regardless, I think we should at some point have... short straw drawn for someone to look into comprehensive review of what we have currently. It's the entire code, not just this.

Right. I mean, nothing is going to be perfect because the technology keeps changing constantly. I mean, next year this time we might be talking about kids with hoverboards. I mean, it's entirely possible. And then we'll find out that our legislation that we passed tonight is woefully inadequate yet again. So, but... I think that this addresses a lot of the issues. Of course, there's nothing we do that cannot be undone. So, you know, I think this is a very good attempt at dealing with the situation as we're faced with it right now and cleaning up some of that state language that is state language. And I guess I'll leave that there. Is there any other discussions? Okay, Jody.

Musgrave.

Yes.

Jay Dennis.

Yes.

Kay Dennis. Yes. Elliot. Yes. Harold.

With all due respect, no.

Hollenbaugh.

With all due respect, yes. All right, Ordinance 9367 is adopted. Do I have a motion to excuse Councilman Odoristio? Yes. All right, seconded? Properly moved and seconded. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, same sign. Is there any other business to come before council this evening?

God, I hope not.

All right. Editorializing aside, is there a motion to adjourn? So moved. With all due respect, second. All right. Properly moved and seconded. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, same sign. We are adjourned. Thank you very much.