City Council - Regular Meeting

to the flag of the United States of America and the republic it represents, a nation under the aegis of God, indivisible, with freedom and justice for all. Thank you all for joining us tonight. Jodie, could you make the call, please?

J. Dennis.

Present.

K. Dennis. Present. Elliot. Present. Harold.

Present.

Olambo.

Present.

Musgrave.

Present.

Audrey Scholl.

Present. Very well. The report of our 3rd of August meeting has been distributed so that you can examine it before tonight. Are there any additions or corrections to be made to the report? N'envoyant pas, ai-je une motion pour approbation ? Motion adoptée. Appuyé. Dûment proposé et appuyé. Que ceux qui sont pour disent « pour ». Pour. Ceux qui sont contre, de même signe. Avons-nous de la correspondance ce soir ?

Non, aucune.

D'accord. Avons-nous des visites de lobby ce soir ?

Pas ce soir. Non.

Very well. In this case, I have a bill from the Finance Committee. Ordinance providing additional credits and or modifying credits for current expenses and other expenses in the city of Bowling Green, Ohio, during the fiscal exercise starting January 1, 2026 and ending on December 31, 2026. Official reports, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Mr. President. Good evening to the council. I wanted to take a moment tonight to highlight a very important success that was recently accomplished by our firefighters division. You may have already heard us talk about the past of the distinction and the award awarded by the American Heart Association for cardiac care and our emergency intervention. This award is called the Heart Association Mission Lifeline Award. And I am very happy to announce tonight that once again, the Bulling Green Fire Department has obtained this very important distinction. Lieutenant Brandon Westerman, who could not be with us tonight, is responsible for the coordination and reporting of the data. To respond to all the requirements of this award, and I quote a letter I received from Lieutenant Westerman, I think it is important to note that this award reflects the dedication, professionalism and continuous commitment of all our firefighters and ambulances to provide the highest level of emergency medical care to citizens and visitors of Bowling Green, Ohio. We know it's true, but I think it's very important for us to highlight this success when others recognize it. So, the Mormon chief is among us tonight. I wanted to give him the opportunity to say a few words, if he is of course willing to do so. Thank you. Good evening. I just wanted to take the floor in front of you today. This is the fifth year that we have received this distinction. This year is a little different because we have achieved the level, or, for heart attacks and stroke, but with mention, which is quite difficult to achieve. Comme le maire l'a mentionné, le lieutenant Brandon Westerman a été l'inspiration derrière la collecte de toutes ces données, ces nombreuses heures de travail, pour ensuite les soumettre à l'American Art Association. Mais ce n'est pas le travail d'une seule personne, c'est bien plus vaste. Cela concerne tous les pompiers que nous avons là-bas à Bulling Greenfire. Les hommes et les femmes là-bas se consacrent quotidiennement au service des citoyens. Chaque jour, ils s'entraînent là-bas pour devenir les meilleurs possibles. A Bowling Greenfire, correct, n'est pas suffisant pour nous, d'accord ? Nous visons ce professionnalisme et cette excellence dans tout ce que nous faisons, et nous avons un groupe fantastique qui accomplit un travail incroyable, et je voulais que vous l'entendiez de ma bouche car je suis très fier de tout ce qu'ils font. Alors, merci beaucoup. Félicitations. Merci de nous faire briller. Yes, thank you, boss. As I mentioned, I think it is very important for us to recognize this accomplishment when it occurs, because it is a really important recognition for them, and it directly reflects the work of all our ambulances, their professionalism and their continued training. I am therefore very proud of them. This concludes my report, with questions that you could have tonight. Does anyone have any questions for the mayor tonight? D'accord. Administratrice municipale, Madame Traiteur.

Bonsoir. Je veux commencer cette soirée par une note un peu douce amère. Il s'agit de la dernière réunion de notre directrice financière, Dana Pinker. Dana nous a rejoint en juin 2021 et je ne pense pas avoir besoin de vous dire que vous êtes tous conscients qu'être directrice financière est un travail exigeant. This person must manage both small details and be responsible, while understanding the global financial situation. The director has many functions that require to be precise, responsible, reliable, constant, and to have the ability to work throughout the organization, as well as to make public presentations in front of you, as she does regularly. During her term, Dana has done an exceptional job on all the points I mentioned, and even more. As you know from her quarterly reports to the council and her other presentations, Dana has a pragmatic style. She is essential to the understanding of the financial situation of the city of Bowling Green and is responsible for the key elements of the management of a large financial service. Here, at the town hall, we relied on Dana's firm hand to manage the financial details, and we asked for her expertise and her analysis of the overall issues. She has been a precious member of our management team and of this administration and has made many significant contributions to our operations and to the global financial situation of the city. It is important that our community is confident in our financial professionals and Dana showed the way by proving her respect for the job, by taking her responsibilities very seriously, by showing her commitment to transparency and financial responsibility and by always working with the greatest professionalism. Dana, we really enjoyed working with you. We wish you a lot of success in your future projects, but my God, we hate to see you leave. Just know that this place is better because you were here, and we sincerely appreciate everything you have done for the city of Bowling Green. So, thank you. Very well, on this, I will ask Amanda to finish my report and give you some information about an event to come. We are in the middle of the season of events here in Bouligne-Greene and the municipal staff has been collaborating with the University of Bouligne-Greene for six years now to organize the event Rally BG en Main. We are delighted to announce that the event of this year will take place on Saturday, August 29. I have October in mind and the lathes to the pumpkin, I imagine, but on August 29 from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Main Street will be closed to car traffic. We will have the return of the famous Tyrolean. The gathering will take place at 6 p.m. And if you thought that the fanfare of the BGSU was great last year, we are told that it has grown by a hundred additional students this year. This should be a great performance. We sincerely hope that you will join us in the next two weeks or so. Thank you. This concludes my report, reserved for your questions.

Very well, I have a question. Hum, too many competent and qualified people leave our service, and I was wondering if we could set up a moratorium on departures. I would support this idea.

If only. If I didn't want them to be happy, then we would, but we wish the best for our employees. Okay.

Well, Dana, I hope I'm not in your way of wanting to leave. So, okay. Thank you for all your hard work. Yes, Mr. President. Yes. Two things. First, I want everyone to know that the mayor has a series of victories at the Tirolienne. And so, he puts his series of victories at stake during the next meeting. So, we should encourage him. And also, I can tell you what everyone already knows, namely that we have been really blessed to have incredibly good financial directors over the decades. I mean, when you look back, it's like a temple of renown. And I can tell you that, Dana, you have your place in this temple of renown. So, thank you very much. Other questions or comments? Very well, thank you. This brings us to the lawyer of the city, Mr. Brown. Good evening, the council. No report. Does anyone have any questions for Mr. Brown tonight? Okay. Director of Public Infrastructures, Mr. O'Connell. Very well, good evening. I just want to give you a point on a violation opinion that we received from the Ohio EPA for the cleaning station. Nous avons reçu la lettre le 11 août et nous sommes tenus de notifier les clients à partir de cette date. Nous sommes donc en train de le faire actuellement. Les lettres sont envoyées aux clients via leur facturation, par un encart dans la facture. C'est donc ainsi que nous informerons les clients, mais le libellé de la lettre est très spécifique et nous ne sommes pas en mesure d'ajuster ou d'adapter la lettre aux choses que nous aurions préféré dire. L'EPA nous fournit pratiquement ces informations et nous dit, voici ce que vous devez envoyer. Ces lettres seront donc envoyées en août et en septembre. La violation concernait un défaut de maintien de l'orthophosphate dans la plage requise. Cela s'est produit fin janvier et début février, mais nous venons de recevoir la lettre de violation ici en août. because they have a 6-month monitoring period to examine these requirements. So, you may be wondering what is orthophosphate? Orthophosphate is a chemical product that we add to water to reduce the corrosion of water conducts in customers. It is only one element among the multiple parameters of water quality that we study in corrosion matter. L'orthophosphate fait donc partie de ces éléments. Il y a aussi le pH, l'alcalinité, et quelques autres facteurs que nous prenons également en compte. Ils se situaient tous dans une plage acceptable. Nous étions donc tenus de maintenir au moins 1,5 mg par litre d'orthophosphate dans l'eau potable. Le taux est tombé entre 1,2 et 1,4 mg par litre pendant la période où nous étions hors conformité. There was no risk at all for the health of customers. The water was safe. The water was perfectly consumable. Orthophosphate is analyzed by a lab every 14 days. But it is not allowed to be out of conformity for 9 days only. Thus, if you perform tests every 14 days, it obviously exceeds the 9 days allowed. We have been using a equipment for many years that gave us immediate readings of orthophosphate, which allowed us to do daily monitoring. This equipment has begun to fail at our discretion. The rate of orthophosphate has therefore begun to decrease, while we thought it was at acceptable levels. And we were not really informed about it. We only learned about the problem at the reception of the official results of the lab. But as it takes several days to obtain the results of the laboratory, a second sample had already been sent for analysis. This is how the problem lasted until February, so to speak. This is why the period exceeded the usual 14 days. As soon as we found that the laboratory results were lower than 1.5, we immediately looked for the cause of the problem and identified the defective equipment that provided inaccurate results. We have therefore ensured that the dosage of the orthophosphate is maintained at 1.5 mg per liter or more. We have ceased to use this defective testing device and we are now using a more precise laboratory testing equipment while obtaining results on the spot. We have therefore corrected the problem as soon as we knew about it. There should be no more problems in the future. This also forces us to, e.g., resume an increased supply of copper and lead in the distribution network. e.g., we were perhaps on an annual basis, but now it forces us to return to 60 samples every 6 months, which is in a way what they do every time someone has a change in treatment technique or an infraction, you have to come back to monitor your system according to a more rigorous calendar. So, we are doing it now too. We are starting, we are starting to do it. I think we have until the end of December to finish our 60 samples. But this is not unusual compared to what we have done in the past for lead and copper tests. So, once again, we have tried to deal with the problem. But as letters are sent and that you will receive one at home too, you will probably wonder what that means. So, here is a brief explanation on this subject. Once again, I would like to emphasize that there was no risk to the health of customers at any time. And if there had been, we would have obviously informed people much faster than today. But we couldn't really inform customers until now because we didn't have the letter of infringement. And we can't do anything as long as the PA doesn't tell us what the problem was. We worked with Amanda to put information on the website. It's in progress at the moment. I'm not sure it's already online, but it will be this week. And customers who want to get information or see the letter can also go and get it on the web page. So that's what I have on this point, unless you have any questions to ask me about it. Regarding Mr. Dennis and Mr. Harold's questions last week about income tax. I have not yet finished my exam and my evaluation. I hope to finish it this week and give you more information as soon as possible. Thank you. This is my update. Okay. Questions for Brian? Okay. Thank you. Thank you. This brings us to the Council Committee report. Does anyone have a Council Committee report? Okay. I will take this moment to remind people that September 7, which is the first Monday of September, is a holiday. C'est le jour de la fête du travail. Alors, notre première réunion du Conseil en septembre aura lieu le mardi 8 septembre. Cela nous amène à la lecture des textes législatifs.

Législation en première lecture. Ordonnance 9374 en première lecture. Ordonnance prévoyant des crédits supplémentaires ou modifiant les crédits pour les dépenses courantes et autres dépenses de la ville de Bowling Green, Ohio, au cours de l'exercice fiscal commençant le 1er janvier 2026 et se terminant le 31 décembre 2026.

Je propose de suspendre le règlement et de procéder aux deuxième et troisième lectures de l'ordonnance 9374. Appuyez. Proposez et appuyez dans les formes. Jody.

Bien, le règlement est suspendu pour l'ordonnance 7 ou 9374. Ordonnance 9374 pour deuxième et troisième lecture. Ordinance providing additional credits or modifying credits for current expenses and other expenses in the city of Bowling Green, Ohio, during the fiscal exercise starting January 1, 2026 and ending December 31, 2026. Very well.

I would like to present a motion to adopt Ordinance 9374. Supported. Proposed and supported in the forms. Are there any discussions? Jodie?

Elliot? Oui. Harold?

Oui.

Olambo?

Oui.

Musgrave?

Oui.

Audrey Scholl?

Oui.

J. Dennis?

Oui.

K. Dennis? Oui.

Bien, l'ordonnance 9374 est adoptée.

Legislation in second reading. Resolution 3913 in second reading. Resolution authorizing the city of Bowling Green to participate in the program of subsidies for the improvement of local parks, to submit a request and to accept the financing if the request is approved. Ordinance 9372 in second reading. Ordinance authorizing the municipal administrator to sell vehicles that are no longer necessary to the needs of the municipality. Ordinance 9373 in second reading. Ordinance modifying section 95A01C2 of the codified ordinances of the city of Bowling Green, Ohio, in order to reaffect tax funds on income to provide additional funding necessary to repair the streets. Legislation in third reading. Resolution 3912 in third reading. Resolution modifiant et adaptant le chapitre 156 des ordonnances codifiées de la ville de Bowling Green, Ohio, concernant les politiques et directives de gestion des accès. Monsieur le Président.

Madame Elliot.

Je propose de mettre en attente l'ordonnance 3912 jusqu'à l'audience publique du 8 septembre.

Appuyez. Proposez et appuyez dans les formes. Jody.

Harold.

Oui.

Olambo.

Oui.

Musgrave.

Oui.

Audricio.

Oui.

J. Dennis.

Oui.

K. Dennis. Oui. Elliot. Oui.

Très bien. La résolution 931 ou 3. La journée a été longue. La 3912 est mise en attente jusqu'au 8.

Ordonnance 9368 en troisième lecture. Ordonnance modifiant le plan de zonage de la ville de Bouline-Green pour environ 22 acres à l'angle sud-est de South Dunbridge Road et Expressway Drive, passant d'un zonage commercial inter-État à un zonage institutionnel. Monsieur le Président, Madame Elliot, je propose de reporter l'ordonnance 9368 jusqu'à ce que l'audience publique puisse se tenir le 8 septembre.

Appuyez. Dumont proposed and supported. Jody?

Olambo?

Yes.

Musgrave?

Yes.

Odericio?

Yes.

J. Dennis?

Yes.

K. Dennis? Yes. Elliot? Yes. Harold?

Yes. Very good. Ordinance 9368 is reported on September 8.

Ordinance 9369 in third reading. Ordinance accepting the annexation of about 0.84 acres of land located at 1200 Sand Ridge Road in the Canton of Plain, County of Wood, Ohio, by Michael Q. McNamara, agent and petitioner. Mr. President, Madam Elliot, I propose to adopt Ordinance 9369.

Supposedly proposed and supported. Are there any discussions? N'entendant rien, Jody.

Musgrave.

Oui.

Odorizio.

Oui.

J. Dennis.

Oui.

K. Dennis. Oui. Elliot. Oui. Harold.

Oui. Olambo. Oui. L'ordonnance 9369 est adoptée.

Ordonnance 9370 en troisième lecture. Ordinance establishing a provisional zoning R1 residential with low density for about 0.84 acres of land located at 1200 Sandridge Road, recently annexed to the city as requested by Michael Q. McNamara. Mr. President.

Madam Elliot.

I propose to report Ordinance 9370 until the public hearing can be held on September 8. Supported. Proposed and supported.

Jody.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Yes.

Yes. Yes. Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

N'entendant rien, y a-t-il une motion pour lever la séance? Appuyez. Dûment proposer et appuyer. Tous ceux qui sont pour disent pour. Pour. Ceux qui sont contre. La séance est levée. Merci beaucoup. Paye.