City Council - Regular Meeting

Tonight's opening prayer will be delivered by Reverend Tom Cow of Faith United Methodist. Please rise and remain standing for the pledge of allegiance. Let us pray. Gracious God, please help us to pause for our busy day for a moment to say thank you. Thank you for this spring day in Ohio with snow flurries and all that you have given us to enjoy. Thank you for the way that you work in each of our lives. For the times we recognize you are at work and the times that go by so quickly without us realizing all the places you are at work. Thank you for all the people in this room, for the the mayor and the council members and the administration and the support staff that work hard for the benefit improvement of our community and our citizens. Thank you for our first responders and our maintenance and utility crews who work tirelessly to take care of us and keep us safe each and every day. Thank you for the members of our community who come to share their ideas and wisdom in an effort to make our community even stronger. And now, God, we ask that you be with us in this evening. Help us to feel your presence and hear your voice as we discern how to make a better tomorrow for all of the residents and businesses of North Cam. Help us to do our part to listen and cooperate and encourage each other for the benefit of our community. In your name we pray. Amen.

Aliance 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. Mr. Aunt, would you call the role? Member Pon here. Member War here. Member Wyrick here. Member Mini here. Mlester here. Member Craft here. Member Stock here. Present. Excellent. I will make a motion to approve the minutes from March 9th, 2026 city council meeting. A second. Second. All in favor? I

opposed. Motion to approve. No one is on the list for public speaks on agenda items. So let's move into our first item. Mr. Please read the title of ordinance 122026, an ordinance amending chapter 155, personnel regulations, specifically subsection 1554E, full-time schedule of compensation of the codified ordinances of the city of North Canton, to add a full-time parks development administrator and to retitle superintendent and operation manager positions related to streets and sewer and declaring the same to be an emergency. Good point. It's not.

Okay. So, there's two parts to this ordinance. The first is adding the new parks uh development administrator position. The second is where we want to retitle the superintendent and operation manager positions to reflect streets and sewer. So, the recommendation also as you heard is pass this one on emergency. Um but before we hop into discussion, is there anything you want to cover Katherine on this? um just that I did email you um that there was a change that the position originally was going to be titled parks um planning and development and I thought it was a long title so we kind of cut the planning out and I felt like last week when we had conversation in committee we focused a lot on just being called parks development and about like just getting grants and getting money but planning is a key core component of the job really strategic planning and leading a parks department. So, I wanted to uh put that word back into it and call it what the original working title was, which is parks planning and development. I also gave you some information tonight to kind of show you uh we talked also with the consultants leading our master plan. Brand Carol is their name and they did uh kind of site this is uh something from the master plan. I also included a draft preliminary uh improvement projects that they have and again this is just draft preliminary. They will present an entire plan. Um, I also want to say last week I did say, you know, the end of the month. I don't remember where my brain was that it's not the end of I was thinking we were end of we were in April and I think Christina corrected me too that when you came around to you it's not the end of March. So it's not next week that they're doing this. It's the end of April where they will present a more complete draft of the master plan. But this was I gave you just to I think some people asked what have they been doing since November. So, it's a little bit of and you'll see it's categorized into um short, medium, long, and ongoing. So, that's kind of the strategic objectives in each one of our parks throughout our

park system. And in the memo, what they just discussed was in that the position that we're talking about um was just that in cities our size between 15 to 20,000 population, they typically do operate with a professional. They say director level position. This is we're calling administrator, not director. Um they do say that it's uh you know not a simply a maintenance focused superintendent as what Brian Hill was and then he retired. So remember we still did lose a 40hour body a full-time person. Um and like I said on the water distribution side the other half of Brian's job we were able to absorb that you know through an internal promotion over there and not have to backfill his superintendent of water distribution. But in the park side, um, and it does say like that they really do think a system, you know, if you do want to have, um, you know, more of the, you know, community interaction, engagement, uh, you know, consider, you know, time developing partnerships and, you know, largescale capital projects, um, looking at funding sources and and the whole development side that does need to be led by. That was their recommendation. Um otherwise like I said last week we would leave it more just a you know maintenance let our parts just be in the maintenance level. So that's just uh the memo with information. Um it breaks it into categories. You'll see what a director would provide and they have like strategic system management financial operational accountability partnerships community lison capacity community engagement public communication oversight of our contracts. We have one at the municipal golf course and and the other one at the municipal swimming pool. And they kind of sum it up with saying, you know, a director is it's not a luxury. It's a strategic and operational necessity. And um it ensures your assets are functional today. And I'm sorry, it says put simply, a superintendent, what we had before, ensured your assets were functional today. A director level ensures the assets are sustainable into the next 20 years. So just food for

thought on that. And again, like I said, a little bit to go over until you get more of a form of delivery from the from the consultants. Do you think we should add parks and recreation because you do have golf courses, two swimming pools? Yes, I think park planning development and part of that the job of that will be to um you know analyze if we're bringing recreation back and if we are how much are we bringing back? We're going to have to bring it back because we have softball fields, we have pickle ball courts, we have We do have a lot of recreation amenities that we are not really um we're not making our money.

Yeah. Maybe not managing to their full capacity. So, I mean they do notice they they share that with us and it is in here in developing they say in developing the parks recreation master plan for North Canton it became very clear North Canton system is more complex than most cities its size with amenities that include two municipal pools. A lot of cities our size have none. An 18hole golf course, event center, 10 pickle ball courts. Some cities wish they had one. We have 10. Multiple neighborhood and community parks and a high demand for athletic fields and numerous other groups competing for space. So that's some of the preliminary that they have found. So, but that is a good point. At some point, we may want to have that added in.

Any questions for me? I appreciate that you did send that further communication over along with the job description. That was helpful to me. I know. Um and based off of our conversation in committee last week, we have an opportunity here to keep this in the one ordinance as is. We also have a second option was included on the agenda where we could pull it apart into two separate ordinances. So, um I don't know how others feel. I totally understand the need for the role. Um, I do like that comment and hear about it being a necessity, a strategic necessity. I would agree with that. And to your point, we do have a lot of things that a lot of other cities don't have and we don't think about that every day, right? Um, I don't know that I want to pass it on emergencies. So, I am going to lean towards breaking it out and I'll leave my colleagues here to voice their opinions on the same parks. Um, I guess, you know, I'm not I'm concerned that the position gets created. I don't care if it's created as part of um, you know, the block tonight or not. And I guess, you know, one thing that I just wanted to kind of look back on is whenever we decided to move forward with the parks master plan, part of the rationale for that, um, those of you who were on council then, I passed out kind of a spreadsheet of money that had been invested with architects, um, with planners on projects that never got completed, never even got started beyond kind of, you know, paying for the plan for them. And that was roughly $150,000. And so we've just kind of been, I always say, you know, grabbing on to the next shiny thing that we see and opportunity comes, we're like, great, yes, let's do this. Um, but we've left a lot of money out there that didn't get used. And so in 2025, we invested $123,000 in a parks master plan. And so I guess my fear is what are we going to do with

that if we don't have a staff person who's dedicated to making sure that that work gets done. So I guess I just wanted to kind of add a little bit of that history there. Um but I don't I don't have an opinion on I'll go with you know majority on how we get it done. I think it should be separate already at the water and street. He's already in that position. Correct. He's doing it. So that should be you know I don't think she means the position separate but more of like separate or separate or sorry separate ordinances.

Yes, it should be separate ordinances and the the the one uh for the street and water department should be an emergency. Yeah, I think what you're saying is that we don't want to delay the ability to change those titles and pay them accordingly right away. I don't think that anyone's viewing that here. I agree with that. I personally think we need to make sure that we're moving those roles forward. Hang on to the parks thing. I think every week we're learning more and I think so is the public and I'm getting some feedback. I'm sure others are and I just think we keep it going the way it is. The parks.

And just as a point of order, if you do break it out into the separate ordinance, that ordinance will still be an emergency just so that it can take immediate effect. Um, you'll give it a first read tonight. Um, but you're under no obligation to pass it on first reading, second reading, even give three if you want. Uh, it'll just be that once it's passed and signed, it takes immediate effect so we don't have to wait the extra 30 days. So, it will still read and declaring the same to be an emergency.

Any other thoughts? I I was just going to say that I think it's um extremely important as as member war points out that there's a lot of complicated issues that are in front of us and you know John John makes some very good points but I think those points are frankly addressed by a director level person and it's hugely important. Um I I don't quite share member Purp's same concern about about splitting uh the issue here for discussion. I just feel that we need to be moving it forward as rapidly as we can. And I appreciate the fact that that you've given um this preliminary report tonight to give us a little bit more to go on.

Actually, I'll echo what you said about getting this report. So this was nice getting this. we have a little more of a taste of what what they've been working at. And I like I said last week, I I'm not opposed to the position. I was concerned about the the rapid pace it seemed to be moving in. Um and then also moving forward without seeing what they're working on. Granted, we still don't have the benefit of having the full plan, but you know, I believe that it is an important position and I and I and I do support moving forward. That said, I think it's one of those situations where it would be up for, as I would think a lot of rules in the city would be up for re-evaluation down the road if they are not panning out, if they're not economically viable. I mean, I don't necessarily mean to say that this person needs to bring in three times what their salary is. I'm not saying that, but you know, if we get to the point next year at this time and this person's doing a lot of heavy thinking at city hall, um, you know, we would have the flexibility of altering it position down the road. So, as it stands now, I'm okay moving forward. Um, I echo what some of my colleagues have said. I don't know that I'm in love with doing it on emergency, but I don't want to see it held up.

Sounds to me like the majority of council definitely wants to move forward with this, but maybe not tonight. that we can pull that position out of the ordinance, create another ordinance. We can have a council meeting following April 6 committee meeting and have a second vote on the ordinance for this position, allowing us time to ask any questions on the information we've received tonight and the information on the job description. And then if any of the residents have other questions, but I think I think we do need to give it its fair shake in times of time and and discussion. I don't think there's anybody that's going to be against it, but it's best to have it out there on the floor. So,

I I think there'd be even offer if we're at one point I was floated having a meeting next Monday as well, even though it's the 5th. I mean, I'd be open to coming back next Monday and do another meeting. So, we're not going to do next Monday, but we can do one uh not enough people to pass an emergency. So, and I'm not going to be here either. So, I'd let Liam know that we could add a council meeting after the 6 since you'll already be here that night anyways. Make sure you're here for the second vote on the position and decide to pass. Okay. Who was missing on next Monday? Just you. It's the fifth Monday. So, there wasn't anything on the calendar be out of the country. Well, we'll call in a meeting on the sixth, you know, meeting sometimes. We're flexible Dave. So, um

right this six months ago and I made a decision. We're going to have the second meeting on the sixth. So, okay. You out on the 13th of your s. Okay. I would like then to make a motion to amend and retitle ordinance 12 2026 to remove all provisions relating to the parks development administrator position. There a second. I'll second. All in favor? I opposed. Motion passes. Can I get a motion to adopt the first reading of ordinance 12 2026 as amended? Motion. Can I get a second? Second.

All in favor? I oppose. Motion carries. And then is there a motion to suspend the rules of council requiring three readings? And I will make that motion. Is there a second? Second. All in favor? Opposed? Motion carries. And then is there a motion to adopt ordinance 1226 under suspension of the rules? Motion. And can I get a second? Second. All in favor? I

opposed. Carries under suspension of rules. Liam, will you please read the title of ordinance 08 2026? an ordinance continuing the community reinvestment area tax incentive agreement between city of North Canton and 13031305 North Main Street and declaring the same to be an emergency. Okay, so this is the ongoing agreement, the last year of the agreement. Anything administration or finance would like to add to that? Quiet. All right. Anything from council? Then I will make a motion to suspend the rules of council. Oops.

You'll do first reading. What's that? Yep. Missed it. I will make the motion to adopt the first reading of ordinance 082026. Is there a second? Second. All in favor? I opposed. Motion carries. And then I will make a motion to suspend the rules of council requiring three readings. Is there a second? Second. All in favor? Opposed? Motion. Motion carries. And can I get a motion to adopt ordinance 082026 under suspension of the rules? Motion. Is there a second? Second.

All in favor? Opposed? Motion carries. Okay. Moving on. Mr. O, please read the title of ordinance 092026. an ordinance establishing a new special revenue fund titled no grant fund and authorizing appropriations for current expenses and other expenditures for the period beginning January 1st 2026 and ending December 31st 2026. Mr. Mlester.

Yes. So we discussed this last week in regards to establishing no grant fund and there's also some other appropriations in there. I am unaware of any changes. Anything changed? Okay. All right. Perfect. Let's go. Is there any mo can I get a motion to adopt the first reading of ordinance 092026? Is there a second? All in favor? Post carries. I will make a motion to suspend the rules of council requiring three readings. Can I get a second? Second. All in favor?

I opposed. Motion carries. And is there a motion to adopt ordinance 0926 under suspension of the rules? Motion. Is there a second? Second. All in favor? I opposed. Motion carries. Excellent. Moving on. Mr. Odds, please read the title of ordinance 10 2026. An ordinance authorizing the mayor of the city of North Canton to enter into a grant agreement by and between the city of North Canton and the Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council in order to accept one or more NOCE Energized community grants and declaring the same to be an emergency. Excellent. Grants are always good. Mr.

Yes. So, we talked about this last week as well and this is NOEC wanting to give us a grant. We're going to use it for some energy efficient uh lighting at parks garage. Um, shoot. What was the other I guess I could open them up, but u service garage in Price Park. There you go. Thank you so very much. So, um, yeah, if somebody wants to give us money, um, I will happily accept with a smile on my face. So, um, with that, I would, uh, move that we adopt the first reading of ordinance 10, 2026. And I will second. All in favor? I opposed. Motion carries. Is there a motion to suspend the rules of council requiring three readings? Motion to suspend and we get a second. Second.

All in favor? I opposed. Motion carries. And I will make a motion to adopt ordinance 10 2026 under the suspension of the rules. Can I get a second? Second. All in favor? I post.

Moving on to 11 2026. Mr. Will you read the title, please? A resolution to proceed in declaration of official intent to finance the purchase of one 2026 Worchin W60RI milling machine and corresponding equipment with a maximum principal amount expected to be financed of $299,558.78 and declaring the same to be an emergency. Finance, Mr. McLeester.

All right. This is another item we discussed last week and uh just as it says in the uh in the title that Mr. read. So, we're purchasing a milling machine, which will complement our milling machine very nicely. So, I'm not unaware of any changes. And with that, I would move that we uh pass the first reading of resolution 11206. How many more streets would that affect, you think? What do you mean on the milling machine?

Oh, how many more? Well, uh they're going to start off by practicing, you know, they this is brand new equipment. They've always contracted out milling. So, we are saving money. Our parks service garage has a very terrible parking lot. We're talking huge holes. So, we did get a price from a contractor um to do that. And then we thought, well, let's wait, get the milling machine. And uh we're going to

practice there. And then they have the asphalt, the the um um machine that we purchased a few years ago, the paper, forgot the word for it. Um I don't know. It does smaller jobs, so we can we'll have to see what their pace what their pace is. could kind of kind of preliminary work the bugs out, see how how fast they move, you know, grinding it up and then coming in and filling it with the asphalt and then going over it with the paper machine. So, you can find out from Matt what his kind of estimate is after they get it. Keep in mind it's brand new. They've never had something like this before. I'm assured, I was very worried from a safety standpoint when I saw what this machine does. It's a lot of grinding. I'm saying workers come. Uh but they said uh very safe, very contained, you know, and they will receive a lot of training on operating it.

Since you brought that up, that really would be neat to see what uh you know what the estimate was from the contractor, what we were able to accomplish it with. So uh Oh, yeah. Start to show the savings. And if I remember correctly, the paper goes what about 10 feet, 11 feet, something like that wide. Yeah, it's not real wide. That's how we used it on alleys. We're not going to go down main street or ever hardware that thing. But um it would be neat to be able to see if we can do smaller jobs or even in place of maybe even some potholes, maybe small sections of streets, right? If you remember, Baker Court was one of the first ones they used the PA machine on. It was perfect. And Baker was their first learning experience. And that was what a couple years ago. So they've been they're more wellversed on the paper. They'll get well versed on the milling machine. And then, you know, we've got our guys doing the work.

They're doing curbs. So, and let me tell you, they appreciate that. They appreciate that we have that trust in them that they can learn new skills and and do this type of work, you know, and not always just be farming it out. Well, be sure to tell us when they do that parks parking lot so we can swing by. Maybe not day one, but look out our chairs and watch. Yeah, we have a motion on the floor for resolution 20 26. Can I get a second? Second. All in favor? Oppos? Motion carries. I will make a motion to suspend the rules of council requiring three readings. Can I get a second? Second.

All in favor? I opposed. Motion carries. And is there a motion to adopt resolution 112026 under the suspension of the rules? Motion. Is there a second? Second. All in favor? I opposed. Motion carries. Okay, now we're moving on to needing a motion to suspend council rule 23 to allow consideration of ordinance 1326 without a committee report. This will be the ordinance for the parks planning positions. Can I get a motion to suspend the rules council rule 23? Motion.

I get a second. Second. All in favor? I oppos carries. Mr. and will you agree with the title of ordinance 13 2026 an ordinance amending chapter 155 personnel regulations specifically subsection 155.04E full-time schedule of compensation of the codified ordinances of the city of North Canton to add a full-time parks planning and development administrator and declaring the same to be an emergency. Thank you. Okay. Falls back on personnel, but we've had a solid conversation. You want to add anything else to this?

It's still going to be considered an emergency. Yeah. So, it will take immediate effect whether you give that one, two or three readings. Uh so, the purpose of the emergency is that it just takes immediate effect. Uh normal things where the emergency clause is not included, it's 30 days from the date of passage, right? Okay. U passing it on emergency. Whether you do that first, second, or third reading, you're under no obligation to do it on first. Um so the first reading's tonight. The second reading would be at whatever the next council meeting and then the third reading

if you chose to do a third reading if you guys are comfortable passing it on second. You're welcome to. It would still be under suspension of the rules requiring three readings. uh but then upon passage it will take immediate effect so they can post the job immediately rather than have to wait another 30 days. So, Councilman or what we're doing is giving it more time for the community to weigh in, more time for council to consider. Um, and like Liam suggested, you know, you can pass it on the second reading or go all the way to the third, but it is for the recruiting purpose of not having to wait then 30 days after it has been approve approved to get it posted to get job interviews lined up because, you know, that process can take a couple of months,

right? Um, okay. I'm not sure I've witnessed the situation before. So, a yes vote tonight uh is for emergency tonight. A no vote tonight moves it to second reading. So, a affirmative vote will move it to the second reading. If you vote it down no um then it dies right here. Um but moving it on to the second reading is perfectly fine and we'll talk about it the next council meeting and you guys can choose to suspend the rules at that time or wait for the third. Okay. Thank you.

Right. Not in favor of suspending rules and passing it on an emergency tonight. So, okay. Is there a motion to adopt the first reading of ordinance 13 2026? Motion to adopt. Is there a second? Second. All in favor? I oppose. Motion carries. Excellent. Was there anyone on the agenda? No one on the agenda speak for that brings us to our department reports. Mr. Mayor.

All right. Um I don't have too much, but I appreciate the discussion that you guys took time to uh weigh in on on whether we're going go to go forward with that. Um, in my opinion, if you look at a a city our size and look at the complexity of our park system, it is an absolute necess necessity. Um, but uh that's up to you guys. So, um, I do want to make a uh an announcement about the community walk since Pat was not here. Um, so the next one is the 29th, which is this Sunday at 8:00 am on the portico. So, please join us. Grill me.

What's the weather? What's the weather supposed to be? Oh my god. I'm not going to make a prediction of weather in Ohio. This has been all four seasons in 12 hours lately. So, yeah. Yeah. You guys could pass an ordinance to make better weather though, right? What's that? Talk about what you just did. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So, um yeah, we previously pre previously just did the swearing in of uh of Off Officer Canam and um Jason Anderson and uh thank you for joining us and um looking forward to them. What's that say?

Well, yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, Officer Canam, everybody um I think he's pretty popular. Everybody knows him. So, he was he was promoted to sergeant and uh we're looking forward to having him in that role. So, very excited about that. Yeah. Thanks for pointing that out.

Thanks for swearing them in. They were everyone was very excited. We went from a new guy coming in to a current guy that got promoted and everybody likes to see that. So, that was really great. Um, I did want to say something very important tonight and I will give you guys I'm going to give you this flyer because this is going to get posted. Um, as you know, city hall is going to be under some renovation, police department renovation as well as a replacement of a 55year-old HVAC system. So, it's currently 85 degrees in city hall right now. And while you think when it's cold out that might be nice, it's not. We're sitting in there sweating to death. Um, so, uh, that renovation um is starting. And so, uh, beginning Monday, that is next week, the 30th. Uh, we are going to have to shut down city hall. We're going to have to close it to the public. Thankfully, CO taught us kind of the road map on how to do this. Uh, so that is going to be Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. That's April 30 or March 30th, 31st, April 1st and 2nd. We were already closed Friday. Friday is April 3rd, Good Friday. So, city offices were already closed. Um, and this is preliminary. We we have been told hopefully it will just take the five days if they run into problems as with construction projects. You never know. Um, we will keep you posted. We'll let you know Friday if we can reopen on Monday. So, we'll post signs around. Um, some positions can work remotely because we do have our computer VO phones now go to they can call the city main number and reach people on their cell phones from remote remote locations. Their computers can all log on, get emails, they can do work orders. Um, we realize there are some areas that are still very public facing. So, this area of of civic center will be open and that's what it's it's going to have some instructions. There's going to be social media blast. There'll be the text alerts. Um, so as far as like the permitting department, if contractors need to come in or anyone doing a project that needs a permit, the permits office will be in here. Um, our inspectors will still be out inspecting, doing their job, code enforcement, doing

their job. We'll have administration, administrative assistants here to answer if we have any administration questions. Um, utilities, um, as far as if anyone wants to pay, you know, their water utility bills, multiple ways to do that that we've said a lot. We have the Dropbox. We have two kiosks. You can pay online and they will still come in and they will apply payments anyone that's dropping anything off. Um and again, you know, can always call and reach us. And uh so that uh we like I said, we we will post actual physical signs on doors if they come in. The police department's still open on the first floor. All of that still we're just talking the upstairs floors. That's engineering and they can work remotely as well and they're out in their jobs. engineering, finance, administration, and the building department will not be on the second floor. So, and then we'll get that out everywhere, you know, letting people know that. So, I'll give you these flyers in case you get any calls or questions. So, um also wanted to say, uh this next week is April 1st and you may have noticed Lo's open. Lo's Crouses huge success. I mean, the parking lot's packed. He wanted to do an official ribbon cutting on April 1st, but he went ahead to open up kind of get the bugs out. Um, but that is happening. Um, if anyone wants to come to that, we can get you the information on the time. I don't know the time, but

it's during the day at some point. You know, it's risky to do it on April Fool's Day, but I'm thinking he's going to do all right. Yeah, I got something. Um, my guard's up. I just about to walk through a little bit tomorrow. Yeah, I can talk to Okay, I'll let I'll kick that to Jason. But uh tomorrow, you know, the Amler Grant, we have we have OD DNR coming down for a walkthrough on that. Um and I think just one other thing is uh I think it's this this uh weekend is the a the Easter egg hunt, the community Easter egg hunt. So I didn't know if Christina, you were going to mention it. One of those community things we do. So information's out on that. So uh all right, I'll pass it over to Jason then.

Okay, great. And I'll start with what Katherine mentioned. So, um, we still don't have a lot of detailed information to report yet on the Amler grant, the $3 million grant we received for mine investigation and remediation on our Stratavan and Orian properties. But, um, as we talked about before, we are proud it was the largest award in the state of Ohio at $3 million. And tomorrow, we will have a couple representatives from Ohio Department of Natural Resources to meet with us. We're going to go out to the site and look around a little bit. Um, Mr. Graham, our engineer, and myself are going to go down to Columbus in April for an all day uh, meeting with ODNR to get into all the nitty-gritty of the grant and how it works. And, uh, I'm be able to plug in, you know, our other finance and our other departments that'll be involved with it. But, it is exciting. I think it gives us a great opportunity to unlock the potential of that land that's west and north of Meyer. Um can't tell if the snow is still falling, but I wanted to take this opportunity to thank um all of the personnel in our service departments. I think they did just a fantastic job on snow and ice removal. Hopefully, it's coming to an end soon. Um if you were curious, we average 47 inches of snow in a winter. We've gotten 48 so far. So, you know, compared to our average, this is kind of an average winter, but as you all know, we've had pretty mild winters lately. I think we had a 15 inch snow year a couple years ago. So, um you know, I notice it every day when I come into work the difference in North Canton compared to other jurisdictions that I come through. So, um really fantastic job. And then final thing was I just wanted to kind of build on what Katherine and the mayor said. Um most of my career I've been a director of

planning. So I suppose it's something that is near and dear to my heart. But um I do think having a strategic planning role really having those kind of roles at the city in general. You know, tonight we talked about parks, but being able to have people who can look longterm and I mean, everyone is capable of that, but I think the issue becomes a lot of times, and you all know from your jobs, um it's really easy to get caught, you know, putting out fires or um thinking for the short term, and there's nothing wrong with that. I mean, it's part of life, but I do think it's important that we think about having roles where we can have people on the staff who are tasked more at strategy. And of course, if that roles approved, certainly they're going to look at day-to-day things with um uh Steve Shank and our parks department. But, you know, we do have a lot of potentially momentous decisions about the future of some of our parks assets moving forward. So I just wanted to encourage you again to think that you know having somebody who wakes up every day and is kind of tasked with that function is a pretty important thing as our consultants mentioned in the master plan. So with that that was all I had.

Thank you.

File your taxes. Thanks, Jim. See, that's why he's your backup. It was a very enthusiastic response, right? She does it every year.

Anything to add to that?

Uh, nothing official. Um, just as Catherine mentioned, the Easter egg hunt is this weekend. I have it on good authority that a giant pink rabbit will be there. Uh so come out and get some pictures. Let's move on to council reports. Mr. or will you take us off? Sure. Um I was able to drive around the board today. There's two main streets that really need when we can get the streets deeper out. It's out today. Could you refer to it as the award 3000? Was may not have been your area. Cordelia

all the way up and down especially across from where Dominic lives. Okay, that needs done. Middlesorth is another one that really really needs done. Um I'll come uh the next meeting with my pothole concerns. You let me on the street. that that one really. Uh you can actually direct those to me and I'll put work orders in our system and uh have the street department. Can I ask her why we were on the phone yesterday and uh Yeah, the Meyer one because that's a terrible one. I saw those nice. Did they do it? Oh, they're done. Oh, they're they're done. We didn't do it. I know.

Oh, that's good. Meer finals. But uh uh other than that, that's all I have. Thanks.

Thank you, Mr. Pratt. Yeah. Uh, thanks. Anyone that was involved with the, uh, Easter egg hunt, setting that up, uh, appreciate that. Um, a lot goes into that beard and appreciate it once time the, uh, uh, parks information from the master plan. Um, thanks for that. um every week, uh we and the public seem to be getting more information about it and that's really what's important to me because then we all understand the needs of the city and what what's happening in it and u I really appreciate that and u the thought that's going into it. Uh, I appreciate that. And on this on the permits end, um, the city's hired a fourth, uh, zoning officer for compliance,

a second code enforcement officer. Yeah. And we have four backer that No, we we only have two in code enforcement and then we have a full-time inspector and then Marty is the chief building official. So, four people and then a permit tech. Okay. Uh Jim Donahghue. He's a retired or former state trooper.

Um I met him myself this week. Uh nice guy. There's a there's a um it's a really good vibe in back in the perance department. And um I just want everyone to know that um they're really good to work with, talk with um talk to them before you have any concerns if you're worried about something, if you're getting a permit or whatnot. They're really good to work with. Um, and um, you know, it's compliance, not punishment. So, you know, they're they're there to help you. And I just want people to people to know that and uh, I appreciate what they do and um, all I had today.

Thanks, Andy, for coming in and meeting them. They appreciated you. No. Good. Thank you, Mrs. Per. Okay. Um, thank you to those in the audience today. um recognize our Boy Scouts who came and I I think it's a communication merit badge you're working on. So that's why you're here. So

exciting to have you here. Thank you. Um congratulations again to the two officers sworn in prior to the meeting. U welcome to Officer Anderson who's new to the PD and his full-time position and then the promotion of course of officer uh Canam to sergeant. That's exciting. I think we're all happy about that. Um, I'll just say on a personal note, I was uh really honored to chaperon our Hoover High School choir program to the city of Chicago over the weekend. Um, they got to do some work with um the Vander Cook School of Music and then performed at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. And not only were they talented and amazing as always, but they were so mature and respectful and just demonstrated a level of everything we'd want North Kenton to be represented by. And so I just wanted to acknowledge that here and I think the future is really bright by those people representing us. So that was exciting. Um and then I'm going to read the streets department probably every uh council report I've got. Um to your point, we did have a really rough winter and I think because of that they're having more work now. I think that you know I saw them out again today around the corner from my house. I saw them on Apple. They're everywhere. So kudos to them um and the streets department. I know that they're doing everything that they possibly can with what they have right now and I just want to acknowledge that and so I know we'll continue to place on the streets as we continue on. That's my report.

Thank you, Mr. Stalker.

Thank you. Um, thanks to everyone who has attended tonight, especially our sport scouts and the leaders. Appreciate your presence. Thank you. Wanted to congratulate Sergeant Penam and Officer Anderson for their swearing in. It's nice to be a part of that. I appreciate being asked and you know their dedication to our community and to um public safety is incredibly appreciated. So, thank you chief. Um wanted to remind everyone that North Canton uh North Canton's American 250 gala is being held on Friday, May 1st and that's at Arrowhead. And I want to thank uh Trisha Astraag incredible efforts on planning and organizing this event as well as all the other events that we're going to be having year round. The gal promises to be an incredible event. Um I'm particularly interested in having my my one-on-one discussion with Thomas Jefferson at the same time. But uh I believe that there are actually sponsorship available uh sponsorship um options still available and as uh reported tickets are going fast but they are still available. There's lots of different opportunities for purchase. So just wanted to point that out. Um this week uh kind of marks um I think the official or what you might call the official unofficial start of spring sports. um fall sports, football and such get a lot of publicity, rightfully so. Basketball in the winter gets a lot of folks to come watch and that's great as well. But the spring springtime brings a lot of challenges. It brings prom, graduation, extra yard work, all that stuff. So, I just wanted to shout out, you know, the softball and baseball teams, the track and field teams, the the boys and girls lacrosse teams, you know, um their softball and baseball um are free admissions. There's modest um

admission fees for track and field and for lacrosse similar to football and basketball. So, you know, hopefully uh people get a chance to to go witness some of that. I I I enjoyed the softball scrimmage Saturday was a little chilly, but uh other than that, the the 16 or so nothing victory by Uber was uh pretty outstanding. So, we like that. And then lastly, um I I want to join uh member Pratt here in talking a little bit about um our permits and inspection process. And I have a bit of a personal story. So last Friday or last Friday, last February, my wife and I, we had a new furnace and air conditioner installed. And the permit um was was pulled by the vendor. The work was done fine and everything was complete. Well, fast forward to last week and I got an email from our city's permit tech, Julie Durjinski, and she emailed me to inform me that we had failed to have the final inspection of our furnace and uh and air conditioner. Um, probably something that the vendor, who is a very well-known, highly reputable uh company, they just forgot to mention. So, I set it up for this past Friday. Inspector Mike Porter came out um and And it turns out he did uncover a bit of an issue. Uh thankfully not a major safety issue, but some very small portion of the work is not done to code and ultimately would have caused the the furnace to prematurely go put and uh yeah and so um Miss Porter even took the time to to consult with u Mr. Van Gundy uh in terms of making certain that what he was seeing was outside of code. Um, so I just wanted to take a minute to to thank um the entire U permits and and building uh crew uh for

everything that they do. Um I forget what nice phrase you used. It's about compliance, not punishment or something like that. I think it's about safety and about, you know, frankly looking out for our residents. So I appreciate uh that level of detail. slightly embarrassing that we didn't get it inspected nine months ago or whatever 10 months ago, but all is well but ends well. So, thank you. Thank you.

All right. I will just give a little more details about the Easter egg hunt that that several people have mentioned, the Easter egg extravaganza. Um it will be held here at the Civic Center on Saturday starting at 10:30. And the way it works is um kiddos go off in age groups starting I believe with the youngest and do their egg hunts and then the volunteers all rush to like spread eggs at the next spot. Um so there'll be activities. The Easter Bunny will be here. There'll be adoptable bunnies from a hoarding situation who need homes. So that that's special to me. Um and some really great partners putting that on. The YMCA is um doing games. Mission View Church is coming and doing games. Meyer donated eggs and candy. The Chamber of Commerce is involved. The library is involved. So, a really great just kind of community effort. And then that's preceded by a pancake breakfast here at the Civic Center. It's $10 um 9:00 a.m. and you can make reservations by calling Arrowhead if you want, but I think you can also walk into I don't know. I did last year, so I feel like you can walk in as well. Um then since we've kind of been talking parks and recreation, the Lions are accepting um floats entrance for their Memorial Day parade. So if anyone's interested, you can reach out to the Lions about that. And going way way far ahead to July 4th, um there will be that festival happening in the afternoon that Trisha is planning and has mentioned, but booths are available for that now. So, and any nonprofit is welcome to come um at no charge for that if they do a children's activity. So, there are paid booths and and free ones for nonprofits. That's all.

Great. Thank you, Mr. McLeister.

All right. Well, I wasn't going to talk about permits today, but since the two gentlemen to my left decided to, I will share my recent experience uh with the permit process. So, um not to be confused with my love of American sports cars and the V8 engine, my employer is uh going to be issuing me a plug-in electric hybrid, which required the installation of a charger. Um the the contractor got the permit, and it was the smoothest process possible. Mr. reporter was lovely when he was out. They inspected it and so but no, I was just going to say because a lot of times um I hear comments from people about the permit process and how heavy-handed in North Camp and when in fact we're following state law or that the process is difficult and um I found it to be pretty easy. So just figured I'd defin you guys a second. Um, the other thing I wanted to share, I wanted to share that uh, Katherine and the administration um, has been wonderful on a couple uh, issues I've had uh, residents reach out to me about. So, thank you guys very much. Um, and I definitely want to thank you guys for that. Uh, the other one is again I want to thank uh, Mr. Enzetta. Um, I I feel like I have shared this already, but I guess I'm looking at the calendar. We had a committee meeting last week. So, just wanted to share that we did have uh just under 25 folks show up for the quarter one uh meeting, quarter one meeting. And I think that that is too much to roll off the tongue. So, I'm going to change these to spring, summer, and fall. And I've talked with my um with my other atlarge uh colleagues. And I think that uh Jeff and Holly may uh join me at the the ones here this year. Maybe we'll have a summer one and a fall one. But it was very wellreceived. I've already passed on some suggestions from the residents or everything that was discussed uh to the mayor and the administration and I do look forward to having conversations about that down the road. And um with that, I think that's all I have.

Thank you. I know the the the Boy Scouts have been recognized as being here. Um very near and dear to my heart back when my my boys were young. I did the Cub Scout version of that of the young ones and was even cub mastered for a few years and it's an excellent program. If you don't mind, if you would give us your name and how many years you've been involved with the Boy Scouts, we'll get it on permanent record here, but if we could go around, I would love to hear.

I'm a scout master. My name's Austin Vince. Uh, I've been involved with this troop, troop one, bring me over at Zion UC on North there. Uh, I've been involved with this troop for about three years or two years now. Um, but all my life I've done scouting since I was in first grade. Awesome. Eagle scout. And Eagle Scout. All the other adult leaders. Uh, I'm Joe Bistler. I'm one of the other adult leaders. Uh, I was with Troop One when I was their age. got my eagle through troop one in 2005 and then I kind of went away did did adult things, you know, and then now my youngest son, he's uh he's in with troop one. So

you're back. I'm back. In the front row. Um I'm Diana Grover and I've been involved with scouting since 2014 when we moved here from Charlotte. my youngest son, Nick, who is an Eagle Scout and now in his second year of college, um still very much involved with scouting. It was just something we did together and I just still enjoyed it. So, um I hang around and help these guys out. Yeah. Thank you. In the background.

My name's Eric Campbell and the lights. So, that's like the one like right before Eagle. And I've been not really sure how long. I think since like sec or first or second grade. So, probably like like eight or nine years now. Fantastic. I'm Graham Wakefield and I just recently did scouting like a month ago and I got my first rank of scout. Cool. Excellent. Uh I'm Joseph and I've been involved in scouting for about a year now. Um You just got your tender foot award. Yeah.

Well, thank you all for coming. It's an amazing program and the effect that the leaders are having on our youth in the community. Can't thank you enough for that. And if you're not an Eagle Scout, as an employer knows that background and the amount of work that goes into that, that's a huge resume builder right there. So, I encourage you to continue on that path and you'll be grateful. Thank you for coming out tonight.

President, if I may, since you brought up Eagle Scouts, and we've talked a lot about our parks department, we've had many great Eagle Scout projects in North Canton City Parks, the Gaga Pit that is at Price, that was an Eagle Scout project. If you come into city hall, most recently, we have this retired flag. A lot of people have asked what to do with a flag that's worn or tattered and built a case for that. And I'm I'm always open to come on in if you're looking for a project. I'll help you come up with something that you can do at our parks. This daddy's over here. Come on. Right over when we're done. I got something already. Where's that at? Any any one of our parks. Oh, where'd you come in to talk to you guys? Right here. Right when you're done. City Hall. On the spot tonight.

We can get you some contact info. Yeah, that's excellent. So, again, thank you for coming out. It's an amazing program. So, With that, we shall move on. Final call for new business.

Yeah. I'd like uh I talked to u Katherine yesterday. Um I would like someone from the city. What are our top priorities in this city? Really, what are our top priorities? We're going to be getting the the parks coming in. We have the city, but you know, we have the master plan from the city, but what are the things that we should be looking at? You know, we got roads, we have all this stuff, but what are our priorities staying within our budget? I think that's very important to know. You know, we have uh they're giving us a shortterm, long-term, I'm sure they have uh you know, three years, five years, whatever. But we really need to know what it is.

An update from the administration and the mayor on our master plan and where we're at and what else we can do because Right. Okay. Thank you so much. Okay. Okay. So, moving on to the meeting calendar. I'm going to make a motion to amend the meetings calendar at a city council meeting on April 6, 2026 immediately following the committee of the whole meeting. Can I get a second for that? Second. All in favor? I post. We got to add that if you want that to the calendar.

That puts us with no meeting on the 30th of this month. It's the fifth Monday. We will have a committee of the whole meeting on the 6th at 7 p.m. with a council meeting following that and then uh April 13th will be a city council meeting public speaks involved there and 20th a committee of the whole meeting. Have you done any more thinking about what we discussed uh amongst a couple of us on on the calendar thing? I think I'm going to bring it up in the next committee meeting. Okay. Because then we could expect that next. Great idea. Yeah, we'll have a good discussion about that. Thanks. Thank you, J. Seeing nothing else, I'll make a motion to adjurnn. Do we have a second?