City Council - Regular Meeting

talk that last meeting.

Don't tell him yourself, Dan. Yeah. It is 7 o'clock and I'm going to call this meeting to order. Uh, welcome everyone. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, council members, city officials. Welcome to the May 18, 2026 regular city council meeting. We are meeting at 26 South Paint Street, Chilikathy, Ohio. And I would ask the clerk to call the role.

Thank you. President Shoemaker Bennett present. Payne here. McCquart here. Barnes here. McKver here. Dement here. Preston here. Dun here. Creed here.

Uh I would now ask Mr. Creed to lead us in the pledge of allegiance. 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. Uh I have been informed by the clerk that uh the minutes for our last two meetings are not available that she's going to have those very soon and get them out to everyone. But uh it appears that we're going to have to wait till the next meeting. Uh and we'll be approving three sets of minutes at that point in time, but we really do need to get those. And so I've already talked to the clerk and she's promised that uh that will take place. Um next I'm going to go to uh reports of committees development committee. Mr. Dement. Thank you. President Shoemaker development. Uh we did not have any committee meetings tonight but we do have two items on uh tonight's agenda. Um we have item number three uh which is the second reading. It's a resolution authorizing the mayor to enter into a partnership agreement uh between the city of Chilikathi and the Ross County Commissioners for the application and administration of the 2026 community housing impact and uh preservation program if funded and declaring an emergency. And we also have item number eight which is a first reading. Um, it's an ordinance adopting text amendments to certain provisions of the city of

Chilikathy, uh, UDC, uh, pursuant to ordinance number 5925. And that concludes my report. Thank you. Thank you, engineering committee, Miss Dunn. Thank you, President Shoemaker. We have nothing to report from engineering committee.

Thank you, Finance and Technology Committee. Mr. Creed, thank you, President Shoemaker. We have one item on the agenda. Item number 10. It's first reading of an ordinance. Um repayment of $47,72844 of property taxes from the uh downtown redevelopment district fund number four. This is for the Carile building because it became a part of the nonprofit once they purchased that buildings. And those are funds that go back to 2022 that we have to refund. And that concludes my report.

Thank you, Human Resources Committee. Miss Payne. Thank you, President Shoemaker. We do have two items on the agenda this evening. Item number two, it's an ordinance appropriating $10,200 to cover the cost associated with the city's participation in the middle high regional planning commission 2026 local government internship program. And uh we put the money up front and then uh we're reimbursed um at the end of summer for that. Also item number four and it's an ordinance accepting and adopting the updated federal transit admissions or administrations um title six program for the Chilikathy transit system. That concludes my report. Thank you.

Thank you Parks and Rec Committee. Mr. Barnes. Thank you, President Shoemaker. I have one item on the agenda this evening. It is item number five. It is a resolution expressing the commitment of the council to the city of Chilik Coffee to authorize the installation of a public graffiti art wall near the New York Yak Tangi Park skate park subject to community fundraising and aical approvals. I'd like to once it gets to it uh make a motion to wave the three rules so we can get this going. Thank you. That's all for my Thank you. U uh safety service committee, Miss Preston.

Thank you, President Shoemaker. Safety service has two items on the agenda tonight. The first one is item number nine, an ordinance appropriating funds in the amount of $10,500 for the installation of GPS vehicle tracking systems and vehicles assigned to the service department and parks and recck department. Uh this is this was requested by uh safety service director Jeff Carman and it passed through committee. Um then item number 11, an ordinance creating the position of community chief community control officer for the Chilcathy Municipal Court probation department, establishing a compensation schedule and declaring emergency. Uh the court will be sharing the cost of this position. Um at the appropriate time, I will request to wave the three red rule on that item. Uh we also had a safety service committee meeting this evening. We had two items. Um 26-036 is the evaluation um of conversion of Nles Avenue to a one-way and one-sided uh parking. We just started conversations about this. Um we're going to uh further those conversations with the city engineer and the safety service director and obviously the mayor. So um that's still going to continue. We'll have another meeting on that. We also had um item number 26-037 um and it was in regards to acceptance of replacement pages for the Chilcathy codified ordinances and this is something that we do twice a year and uh this was passed on to the law director's office and that's all I have this evening. Thank you.

Thank you utilities committee Mr. McKver. Thank you President Shoemaker. Utilities has nothing on the agenda for tonight and nothing to report. Thank you. City services committee, Mr. McQuart.

Thank you, President Shoemaker. I have two items on the agenda tonight. Uh first reading of an ordinance authorizing the appropriation of 2026 transit capital funds, the transit transfer and reappropriation of said funds to the transit reserve fund due to changes in ODOT's reimbursement pro policy. And item number seven, first reading, an ordinance authorizing the appropriation appropriating of $254,212.65 to the capital reserve fund for refues and recycling in accordance with ordinance 32-24 and 33-24. That's all I have to report. Thank you. Thank you, Community Affairs Committee, Miss Bennett.

Thank you, President Shoemaker. Uh we don't have anything on the agenda tonight and we're in the process of reading um applicants for nonprofit with our opoid money. That will be tomorrow night at 5:30 in this chamber. That's the end of my report. Thank you. We'll now move to reports of officials. Mayor Feny.

Thank you, President Shoemaker. Quite a few items to touch on tonight. Um where will I start? I'll start with this weekend. This weekend is the feast of the flowering moon. Um it will uh be a fun weekend, but it will also compound some of our street issues. Uh Water Street will be uh closed from Walnut to Malberry. Uh and uh Paint Street will be closed from Second to Water. So, uh, for those of you who've been taking the high street detour, um, coming southbound, uh, you will not be able to go left and travel down Water Street like you might have been. Uh, that will be effective on Thursday afternoon and all day Friday, uh, Saturday and Sunday. Um, so just be aware of that. Um, detour. We've been considering making that intersection there, uh, no left turn uh, on water as it is. This might be an interesting test of that. Uh the the actual detour per OD dot uh sends traffic to Main Street and we haven't uh we haven't made that adjustment yet. One of the main reasons we have not made that adjustment yet is that Malberry Street is now open and we want to wanted to observe traffic patterns now that Malbury is open as well because that will likely free up a little bit of the congestion that you're seeing uh through eastbound Water Street. Uh and then the backup at the stop sign at Water and Malberry. Uh so we're going to do a little bit more observation, get through this weekend and see where we are. Uh speaking of uh the park and and festivities, the pool will open uh this Wednesday. I'm sorry, not this Wednesday, next Wednesday, the 27th of May. Uh some of you might remember that we traditionally open Memorial Day weekend. We're not opening Memorial Day weekend this year largely

because of all of the construction. So, the the feast um rides, the carnival rides are usually in the parking lot um at the base uh the entrance of the park. The feast rides are going to be in the pool parking lot uh this weekend. And uh in order to relieve some of the congestion um from traffic and the feast, we are uh delaying the opening uh to next Wednesday. So that's the 27th uh and it'll be open 12 to 6 uh that Wednesday. Uh, sticking with the park theme, um, you'll remember that we received, uh, thanks to the good work uh, the tree commission and Clint Bogs, a $300,000 grant from ODNR, uh, for tree planting. Um, this spring, 160 trees were planted on city streets and 20 in parks. That's just about probably half or so of what's been ordered. We actually have to stop planting trees now for the summer uh because of the impact on uh different types of wildlife. Uh so that the planting for the summer will stop. But we do have the arborist who's being paid through that grant who will continue through the summer and do lots of good work uh including removing hazardous trees uh and other positive things uh for the tree canopy through the summer. So, just really kudos to uh the tree commission um uh for getting those those trees in the ground. That's a lot of trees to plant in a short amount of time. Um couple other things to touch on. uh earlier this year and last year there was a lot of conversation uh about um the um I guess I'm almost reluctant to say the word but the plume associated with um former industries on the east side of

town. Uh just an update there uh from the EPA and from us uh internally. Uh as you know the um operation of the wells by the paper mill is what kept that plume in place uh and those wells continue to operate uh per the EPA. That said, uh, one of the concerns expressed by the public, uh, that I think we all share was making sure that, um, despite the EPA's reassurance that there was, uh, no reason to be concerned that we look into further testing. Uh, one of those areas that is not too far from, um, that old industrial site is Marylu Patton Park. And so we have actually received a grant uh, that will pay for a phase one assessment on that property. uh and tell us if any further explor exploration is necessary. So uh some of these things tend to move slowly at times. Uh but I wanted to just give the folks a reminder that uh in the administration we've been working on that uh for the past 6 months and keeping lines of communication open. Um lots of uh obviously construction ongoing. Uh we had communication with the Chamber of Commerce uh late last week or maybe early this week. I guess today's Monday, so it must have been late last week. Um around traffic counts and getting information out about, you know, where the backups are, where the traffic is migrating. So we'll work with the chamber to get that information out and relay it uh also to businesses so they can be informed. Um but uh really just trying to keep that process transparent and moving along. uh we're already thinking ahead to internally anyway and then communicating with ODOT about things like traffic patterns around the 4th of July because we know that there's a lot of traffic and uh we we always have to put effort into making that sure that traffic is smooth on the 4th but in case you hadn't heard this is

the 250th anniversary of the United States and we are spending a lot of money on fireworks this year and so we want to make sure that not only do people get to see them but their uh transport in and out of the city uh to see them is is as painless as possible. So, uh lots of work going on behind the scenes. We'll continue to communicate that information to the public the best we can. And of course, uh if the public or council ever have questions, just feel free to reach out. We'll get you your answers. That's it for my report today. Thank you.

Thank you. Um uh the auditor is not here this evening, so we'll turn to uh the law director's office. There it is. So, law director's office continues to tackle various pieces of potential legislation and I will also say a substantial criminal docket. That's all we have for now. Thank you.

Thank you. We'll now move to audience participation. Any person wishing to address the council must first provide his or her name and address. Comments shall be limited to five minutes and I'll give you a warning when there's one minute remaining. Just push the button there on the the mic so you'll see the green. Okay. Is it on? All right. Uh Lander Moonar 438 Laurel Street. I'm coming to you today to speak in favor of the graffiti wall. Um, I've seen some of the negative comments and things online. And a couple weekends ago, we had the opportunity to go to Dayton and paint at a mural fest on legal graffiti walls. During that event, there were 150 or 200 artists, 200 artists. With that opportunity, not only did I get to meet Cornbread from Philadelphia, the guy that started graffiti and hang out and converse with him, we also got to paint with a lady from Ukraine beside us, somebody from Chicago, someone from Vegas. There were people from Mexico painting. We could have that opportunity right here in this town. Um, I came before you last year to do the mural. Um, you gave me that opportunity. I com turned it into a community opportunity. We had 30 to 40 people down there every day for the two days that we painted it. We also went and got pizza from the local Giovani, donuts from Crispy Cream. It became a community event that also stimulated the local economy. Um, I told you that that would us doing that a mural like that would cover that graffiti and nobody would come back and tag it. Me and Officer Shipley have both checked on that. It has not been

touched. It remains the mural as pure as it was when we did it. This is a great opportunity for the city and with all the other art opportunities coming up. It could do a lot of cool things for the state. Thank you.

Thank you. Uh, my name is Dee Deacon. I live at 48 East 2nd Street, but tonight I'm going to be addressing our property at 123 Race Street. Uh, thank you board members and mayor for hearing from me. I last addressed the city council on March 23rd, 2026 regarding the community grant construction. My concern was that the city is forcing public pedestrian walkway outside of the public rideway. This remains my ongoing concern. I've not received any communication from the city engineer or the city council members. Is my understanding that the mayor's office is overseeing this project. And with that being noted, I am requesting that the city engineer, Dean Carroll, weigh in on this matter with his professional opinion. and I would like to hear the position of each of the city council members regarding the situation. That communication can happen now at the end of the meeting after my remarks or through email within a reasonable amount of time. The mayor responded to my inquiries with a letter addressing the issue and I would like to thank the mayor for looking into the situation and reaching out. The mayor is basing his response on a survey completed by the design firm American Structure Point to justify the current alignment. The mayor was kind enough to provide me with a copy of the survey. After reviewing the survey, I confirmed that it was completed before the project started and is currently inaccurate. Due to the community grant construction, the area in question has been renovated and s had significant changes. Both Race Street and Riverside have been moved. Riverside in particular has undergone an extreme shift of up to 35 ft to the north. With these road relocations, there is a change in the easement and the public rideway. This needs to be addressed and updated accordingly. It is

unreasonable of the city to put the burden of maintenance, upkeep, and liability of a public pedestrian sidewalk onto a property owner. In this case, it is neither appropriate nor necessary. Beyond the fact that it is outside of the new public rightway, it does not make sense and causes more confusion to an already complicated intersection. The city is directing foot traffic to cross race street onto my sidewalk that ends abruptly at an open field to the east. It would be more beneficial and safer to direct the flow of pedestrians from the south side of Ray Street west to Malberry Street where they can cross Malberry Street to continue west or Riverside Street to continue to the north and enter the park. The sidewalk on the north side of Riverside connects to the public parking adjacent to the flood wall access. It would be better to have no sidewalk on the south side of Riverside Street as it connects to nothing. I know your time is valuable, but I ask that you please take five minutes on your ride home to look at the area in question. I look forward to hearing from you and thank you so much for your time. I do have the survey that the mayor did send me, was gracious enough to send me if anyone wants to see that and uh I will take any questions or remarks. Thank you. Uh if there are no further comments from the public, um we will now turn to um uh old business. Uh I just once again want to reiterate that tomorrow at 5:30 the nonprofit funding committee will be meeting in these chambers uh to evaluate and uh hear some presentations from the individuals and entities that have requested funding. So that will be

tomorrow. Is there any other old business to come before council hearing? None. We'll move on to petitions and correspondence. Thank you, President Shoemaker. I've not received anything. We'll now move to new business. Um, and I would ask if there are any motions to be made. Uh, during Mr. President, I'd like to make a motion, President Shoemaker, to um, entertain the mayor's uh, request to assign Shawn Benson to the designer review board.

Is there a second? Second, Mr. Creed. Um, is there any discussion or questions of the mayor or of Miss Preston? Hearing none, I would ask the clerk to call the role. Bennett, yes. Payne, yes. McCart, yes. Barnes, yes. McKver, yes. Dement, yes. Preston, yes. Dun, yes. Creed, yes.

Sean Benson is approved. Um, next I have on my agenda the um a u an executive session. However, I think it would probably be more beneficial for us to go on to the reading of legislation and then anyone who doesn't want to stick around um because no action is going to be taken tonight relative to that uh executive session, I'm not going to ask you to leave and then come back. So, we're going to move right now to the reading of ordinances and resolutions. Thank you, President Shoemaker. This evening, we have 11 items on our agenda. Item number one is the third reading of an ordinance making additional appropriations from unappropriated balances for current expenditures of the city of Chilikothy.

The clerk will call the role. Bennett, yes. Payne, yes. McCqu Barnes, yes. McKver, yes. Dement, yes. Preston, yes. Dun, yes. Creed, yes. Ordinance is adopted. Next ordinance. Item number two is a second reading of an ordinance appropriating $10,200 to cover costs associated with the city's participation in the Mid Ohio Regional Planning Commission 2026 local government internship program. The ordinance will move to the next agenda. The next resolution

item number three is the second reading of a resolution authorizing the mayor to enter into a partnership agreement by and between the city of Chilikopy and the Ross County commissioners for the application and administration of the PY 20226 community housing impact and preservation program if funded and declaring an emergency. The resolution will move to the next agenda. Next ordinance. Item number four is the second reading of an ordinance accepting and adopting the updated Federal Transit Administration Title Six program for the Chilikoff Transit System.

Ordinance will move to the next agenda. Next resolution. Item number five is the first reading of a resolution expressing the commitment of the council to the city of Chilikothy to authorize the installation of a public graffiti art wall near the new Yctangi Park skate park subject to community fundraising and applicable approvals. President Shoemaker, Mr. Barnes, I'd like to make a motion to wave the three read rule. There a second. Second by Miss Dunn. Clerk will call the role relative to the waiver of the three read rule. Bennett, yes. Payne, yes. McCquart, yes. Barnes, yes. McKver, yes. Dement, yes. Preston, yes. Dun,

yes. Creed, yes. The three read rule is waved. The clerk will call the role relative to the resolution. Bennett, yes. Payne, yes. McCort, yes. Barnes, yes. McKver, yes. Dement, yes. Preston, yes. Done. Yes. Creed.

Yes. Resolution is adopted. Uh, next ordinance. Item number six is the first reading of an ordinance authorizing the unappropriation of 2026 transit capital funds. The trans the transfer and reappropriation of said funds to the transit reserve fund due to changes in ODOT reimbursement policy. Ordinance will move to the next agenda. The next ordinance

item number seven is the first reading of an ordinance authorizing the appropriating of254,212.65 to the capital reserve fund for refu and recycling in accordance with ordinance 32-24 and 33-24. Ordinance will move to the next agenda. Next ordinance. Item number eight is the first reading of an ordinance adopting text amendments to certain provisions of the city of Chilikothy Unified Development Code pursuant to ordinance number 5925. Ordinance will move to the next agenda. Uh the next ordinance

item number nine is the first reading of an ordinance appropriating funds in the amount of $10,500 for the installation of GPS vehicle tracking systems in city vehicles assigned to the service department and parks and recreation department. Ordinance will move to the next agenda. Next ordinance. Item number 10 is the first reading of an ordinance authorizing the appropriation of funds from downtown redevelopment district fund number four in the amount of 47,72844 the repayment of property taxes previously allocated for tax years 2022 through 2024.

The ordinance will move to the next agenda. Next ordinance item number 11 is the first reading of an ordinance creating the position of chief community control officer for the Chilikothy Municipal Court probation department establishing a compensation schedule and declaring an emergency. President Shoemaker, Mr. President, I'd like to make a motion at this time to w the three read rule on this item. Second by Miss Payne and the uh clerk will call the role relative to the waiver of the three read rule. Bett, yes. Payne, yes. McCquart, yes. Barnes, yes. McKver, yes. Dement, yes. Preston, yes. Dun, yes. Creed,

yes. The three read rule is waved. The clerk will now call the role relative to the ordinance. Bennett, yes. Payne, yes. McCquart, yes. Barnes, yes. McKver, yes. Dement, yes. Preston, yes. Dun. Yes. Creed. Yes.

The ordinance uh is adopted. Uh I would now ask um that uh we have a motion uh regarding um u legislation uh well excuse me to go into executive session pursuant to RC 121.22 G2 to consider purchase of property for public purposes. And because we don't have a room to go to and because the doors are all locked and unless the mayor has a key, I'm going to have to ask the public to step outside and this will be very brief. Um, but it'll be the last item we have before we adjourn. Is there such a motion? Motion by Miss Dunn, second by Mr. Creed. Clerk will call the role.

Bennett, yes. Payne, yes. McCort, yes. Barnes, yes. McKver, yes. Dement, yes. Preston, yes. Don, yes. Creed, yes. We are in executive session. Could you pull that door closed there? Thank Thank you.