City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening everyone. Welcome to the Yria City Council meeting for Monday, February 2nd, 2026. Um for the meeting tonight, would you please put your phone on silent or turn your phone off out of respect for the council chambers? We'll have a moment of reflective silence followed by the pledge of allegiance.

Mr. Donnie, would you lead us in the pledge, please? 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. Thank you.

Mr. Clerk, can we have roll call, please? Yes, Madam President. Mr. Sarah here. Mr. Van Warmer here. Mr. Armstrong here. Miss Rothgary here. Miss Davis here. Mr. Tlette here. Mr. Lipian. Mr. Oswald here. Doni here. Mr. Schneider here. Miss Mitchell here. All present. Thank you. Do we have any public hearings? There are none.

Can I get approval of the meeting minutes for I'm sorry. There are two sets for January 20th and November 17th. Please. So move. Second. It's been moved and properly second. Any other questions? Question. All those in favor say I. I. opposed. Motion carried. Reports from special, excuse me, rep remarks and reports from city officials. Mayor Brew Baker.

Yes. Thank you, Madam President. Uh couple quick items. Uh last week I had the opportunity through McCauley Associates uh to have a Zoom call with North Folk Southern. Some heavy hitters with them, including their lobbyists out of DC in regards to our five bridges. Um, I really focused with them on the east bridge one because that is a main entry point into downtown as well as our squads fire apparatus and whatnot as they go north and south. Um, my understanding from them is they do have plans um to rehabilitate the five bridges in the downtown. Um, I'll be meeting I think next week with the person's boss's boss out of DC to get more information on that, but they did advise me that there is grant dollars available through them for the painting of the bridges, the painting and the repair of the underpass uh concrete. So, we'll be working with them as we move forward on that. And that was thanks to Vince from Macaulay for getting that set up. Um but we I think we've made more um progress with them on that Zoom call than I think we've had in the past. Now it's just a matter of coming through with some of the stuff that they said that they can do. Uh once I get more information on what, when, and where on these bridges uh as far as rehabilitation, I will certainly report out to you. Also this evening out in the audience on the lefth hand side there we have two visitors. They are high school graduates. They are currently students at Laurian County Community College and they reached out about attending a city council meeting tonight for their state and local government class at the college and thanks to Miss Phillips, I was able to get them the minutes from last month's meeting or last time's meeting so they could review those. But Gabby Lateki and Scott Lateki are with us this evening as a part of their um classes at LC3. So we're anxious and happy to have them with us. I had a chance to speak with them earlier. So welcome Gabby and Scott. And at this time, that is my report. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Are there any questions for the mayor? Thank you, safety service director Pineowski.

Thank you through you. Uh road salt update. We are as of today at 3:00, we have about 1,600 tons. We've been getting deliveries um and replenishing our supply. I've instructed the street department supervisor to go ahead and order the remaining balance of our contract, which at the time was 5,400 tons. How much of that has come in since that has taken place? I'm not 100% sure, but um we should be uh good for the rest of the winter. As long as that keeps coming in, we'll continue to apply it in a more conservative way to ensure that we have salt to get us through the winter. But uh we've we've been receiving some deliveries, so right now we're we're doing okay.

Awesome. Uh and then this Saturday uh we are going to put out um five twoman crews uh after the after the street lights come on and they're going to cover the entire city using the sanitation routes and identify any street lights that are out so that we can put together a master list and report it to First Energy um through a through a spreadsheet. So instead of, you know, trying to do ones and twos and trying to figure out is it on this week and is it off next, we're going to go through and and on on Saturday night, identify all the street lights and then put in a master list and then follow up with First Energy until we get caught back up. Thank you so much. Yep. If you see vehicles out on Saturday night, that's probably what they're working on.

Thank you. Are there any questions? U Mr. Armstrong. Through you, Madam President. Um, director, I just want to send a shout out. We all should be very proud of the work that parks and w director rear and their team did for these last six days with the warming center. They went above and beyond to help at least 10 individuals every day, especially a six-month-old baby. So, I just want you to know that them going above and beyond collecting resources, going out and getting the food and even baby formula was very very very pleased with how they got the job done.

Very good. Yeah. Uh just just for everybody's information, we had more individuals take advantage of the warning warming shelter this time around than we have ever in the past during our tenure. Um so, yes, the most report I heard was nine, but 910 and and a couple with a younger child. So, um, parks and recck going above and beyond is pretty standard, but I appreciate the recognition and I'm sure they will as well. And you had community, uh, volunteers as well, did you not? We welcome them. Yes, we do try and coordinate or make contact with different organizations that might be able to provide some help when it's time to leave the shelter. Okay.

Um, I did have uh, Director Rearen asked me about, you know, if somebody would bring food, that kind of stuff. We we try and be careful with that because sometimes it can be too much. But for the people that are there at that moment, if there's somebody that wants to provide, then then we try and accommodate that or assist with that. But yeah, we try and uh do the best we can to provide what we can. Thank you, Mr. Snder. Thank you through you, Madam uh President. Uh mayor's office and safety service. Thank you for the sanitation pickup delay. I think it was wellreceived not only just as for the employee safety and the the equipment, but also for some of our residents just with getting their trash out. So, I think that that was a great move and I didn't hear any negative criticism for delaying it today. So, thank you. Sure.

Thank you, Mr. Oswald.

Uh, thank you, Mr. President. Um, so I've had a few calls and concerns and questions even myself with the snow ban and cars parking on the street. And to me, there was confusion on what you're supposed to do or not do, who you're supposed to call. And I think we need to get that kind of squared away so maybe the and maybe everybody has it squared away except me, but so we can get the cars off the street. But my question was is that is it too hard for the the guys that are running the plows to call in to the um you know to make it back to their dispatch and say, "Hey, 339 Caroline, you know, got a car out in the street." you know, so that they can let the uh people know that they have to move them or have somebody come out and say that you're in a snow band. Is there anything we can do to help the process along? Because, you know, they do a great job out there and then for them to have to curve around and it's not a new problem, but can you help me out on that one?

Yes. Uh through you, Madam President. Uh, first I think part of the confusion is that the snow ban does not apply to every city in the street or excuse me, every street in the city. So, I would like to discuss maybe expanding what it does apply to, but we're reviewing that now. That's probably a that's a that's a pretty big decision. Um, as we know, there's some or as I've been told, there's some areas of town that don't have driveways, so forth and so on. Um, but as far as the drivers calling in that are in the pickup trucks, for instance, on the side streets, I think that's a fine idea. um if in fact it is a snowband street um and getting uh the police department out to uh enforce it. Uh it's my understanding for a long time it hasn't been enforced. Well, this time we towed a total of 12 cars. And so we're starting to see some enforcement and starting to pick up on that. And I do think that the residents knowing if they're on a snowband street and in fact the towing is being enforced that I think we might see better results there as well. So, it's a number of things, but I think the plow drivers and the pickup trucks, if they could call and report them, that might be helpful, too. So, we'll we'll we'll look into that.

Thank you. Thank you. Any other questions for safety service director? Assistant finance director, Mr. Pharaoh. Thank you, Madam President. I have no report. Thank you. Any questions for the F? Seeing none. Law Director Derry.

Uh, good evening. Uh, through you, Madam President. Um, a bit of an update. Uh, the, uh, liquor control commission, uh, did, uh, convene the hearing on the city's objection to the Beastro at Taylor Street's liquor license on the 21st of January. The Beastro, the liquor license is held under Xanmar LLC. The ownership asked for continuence that morning. My office aggressively opposed that. Uh however, it was granted. It was not granted for the length of time that they had requested. So um at the end of the day, the matter has been rescheduled for February 23rd. I will say that my office is ready to go. We have a pretty uh long list and diverse cast of witnesses ready to go and uh we would consider the earlier date a dry run and um we will move forward on the 23rd and I will tell you that the administrative hearing officer made it clear that it will go forward on uh February 23rd. So I will keep you all posted.

Thank you. Any questions for the law director, Mr. Lithian? Thank you through you, Madam President. Not a question, just a comment. Um, while I'll be out of town that day, if you want to make a way for me to be present virtually, I'd be open to that. You, Madam President. Uh, I will, uh, let attorney O'Brien know that and I'm sure she will be, uh, in touch with the, uh, commission, uh, to see, um, what arrangements may be made. All right. Thank you. Any other questions? Police. Chief Wel Welsh, excuse me. Good evening. Any questions for the police chief? Mr. Armstrong

through you, Madam President. Um, not a question, just more of a comment. Very, very pleased with the department over these last six days with the weather and helping out at the warming center. Every two hour shifts is a great rotation. It made everybody comfortable. I also want to send a extreme shout out to Officer Helming for transporting a infant baby and her parents to make sure they made it to the Greyhound station to get to the state of Washington. So, shout out to that officer and is going basically letting his fatherhood kick in as an officer. So, thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Any other questions? Chief Walsh. Thank you, sir. Assistant uh fire chief Fargo. President. Thank you. Any questions for Assistant Chief Fargo? Thank you. Chief Building Official, Mr. Farcus.

Thank you, Madam President. through you. Uh it has been some time since I have advised council in regards to the construction status of the city.

I have prepared a brief snippet of some of the construction taking place. Um going back to 2024, we have uh had 194 new residential homes and 38 commercial single family style homes. Moving to 2025, the house number did decrease to 129. Uh we did have uh 16 commercial style units and this year just within last month we had 21 new single family residential homes submitted and a forplex. Uh as the projects unfold we do see an increase in commercial activity. It's a typical wave of the building department. It'll go down in residential. It'll pick up in commercial. We do see a balance. Um the the net production of the permits for revenue. We were ahead of the game due to the permit fee increases. We have seen a yield of that which is again we're working with administration for new hires. We're also working on that. Um with the construction taking place, we do foresee with what's on the horizon about 150 some odd homes with commercial right behind that.

That's very good. Thank you, Mr. Oswall. Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, okay. So, you were struggling with getting enough workers, um, codes people and inspectors. Can you tell me if you filled all your positions, how you doing there, you know, to get all your workload done?

Madam President, through you, Mr. Oswald, yes, I have good news. As council knows, we've been in this transitional phase with inspectors and with that it takes time to properly train. We have had with our property maintenance division a new hire. That person is working out quite well with internally we had a promotion from a housing inspector to a residential position that is also working out quite well. We're starting to see this balance of workload take place where it's it's uh actually starting to equal out. We are in the process of hiring a potential third property maintenance inspector which will further take additional load off the construction team and will be a little more proactive than reactive from a property maintenance standpoint.

Mr. Oswell. Um and may I ask who that person you promoted? Um actually it was Kyle Close. Oh, very good. He was property maintenance. Thank you.

Any other questions for Mr. Farcus? Thank you so much. Assistant city engineer, Miss McKillips. Thank you. Any questions for the engineer? Thank you. I think that's everybody. Okay, Mr. Clerk. any referrals and pard excuse me president's referrals and remotances. Um number one community development number two finance number three utilities item number four uh placed uh received and placed on file in the clerk's office. Now Mr. Clerk petitions and rematuses from the lobby.

We have none. Petitions and remantises from council members. We have none. Reports of standing and special committees. We have none. Resolution's first reading. We have two. The resolution is approving the collection of demolition related costs for 413 Mars sales avenue, Ohio 44035 and directing the clerk of council to certify said cost of Lraine County Auditor. Mr. Tot. Madame President, I would ask that this resolution be passed in its first reading under suspension of rules. Second.

It's been moved and properly second. Any further discussion? Question on the suspension. All those in favor say I. [clears throat] I oppose. on the passage. All in favor say I. I. Oppose. Motion carried. Resolution 2026-4.

We have a resolution finding the city as unfit for municipal use certain city property. Mr. Tlette. Madame President, I ask that this resolution be passed in its first reading under suspension of rules. Second. It's been moved and properly second. Any further discussion? Question on the suspension. All in favor say I. I oppose. On the passage. All in favor say I. I. Oppose. Motion carried. Resolution number 2026-5.

That's all. Resolutions first reading. Resolution second reading. There are none. Resolutions third reading. There are none. Ordinances first reading. We had an ordinance authorizing the safety service director of the city of Ayer to dispose of city property that is unfit for municipal use. Mr. Tatlet. Madame President, I ask that this ordinance be passed in its first reading under suspension of rules. Second. It's been moved and properly second. Any further discussion? Question on the suspension. All in favor say I.

I. on the passage. I'm pardon me. All oppose. Nay. On the passage. All in favor say I. I. Opposed. Motion carried. Ordinance 2026-14. [snorts] In order to authorize an amendment to community reinvestment area number two, CRA2 in accordance with the chapter 3735 of the Ohio Revised Code as amended by Senate Bill 33 effective April 4th, 2023 to repeal any terms contrary to those set forth in Senate Bill 33 and declaring an emergency. Mr. Snider.

Madame President, I ask that this ordinance be passed in its first reading under suspension of rules and declared an emergency. Second. It's been moved and properly second. Any further discussion? Question on the suspension. All in favor say I. I. Opposed. On the emergency. All in favor say I. I. Opposed.

On the passage. All in favor say I. I. Opposed. Motion carried. Ordinance 2026-15, an ordinance authorizing an amendment to the community reinvestment area number 3 CRA 3 in accordance with chapter 3735 of the Ohio Revised Codes as amended by the Senate Bill 33 effective April 4th, 2023 to repeal any terms contrary to those set forth in Senate Bill 33 and declaring an emergency. Mr. Snder.

Madame President, I ask that this ordinance be passed in its first reading under suspension rules and declared an emergency. Second. It's been moved and properly second. Any further discussion? Question. On the suspension, all in favor say I. I. Opposed. On the emergency, all in favor say I. I.

Opposed on the passage, all in favor say I. I. Opposed. Motion carried. Ordinance 2026-16. We've considered the following an ordinance authorizing an amendment to community reinvestment area number four CRA number four in accordance with chapter 3735 of the Ohio Revised Codes as amended by Senate Bill 33 effective April 4th, 2023 to appeal any terms contrary to those set forth in Senate Bill 33 and declaring an emergency.

Mr. Snder. Madame President, I ask that this ordinance be passed on its first reading under suspension rules and declared an emergency. Second. It's been moved and properly second. Question. Oh, sorry. Any further discussion? Question on the suspension. All in favor say I. I. Opposed. On the emergency. Any uh All in favor say I. I. Opposed. On the passage. All in favor say I. I. Opposed. Motion carried.

26-17. Sponsored by Community Development Finance, an ordinance authorizing amendment to community reinvestment area number five, CRA 5, in accordance with chapter 3735 of the Ohio Revised Code as amended by Senate Bill 33 effective April 4th, 2023 to repeal any terms contrary to those set forth in Senate Bill 33 and declare an emergency. Mr. Snder, Madame President, I ask that this ordinance be passed in its first reading under suspension of rules and declared an emergency. Second. Any further discussion? Question

on the suspension. All in favor say I. I. Oppose. On the emergency, all in favor say I. I. Opposed. On the passage, all in favor say I. I.

Opposed. Motion carried. Ordinance 2026-18 sponsored by Community Development Finance, an ordinance authorizing amendment to community reinvestment area number 6 CRA 6 in accordance with chapter 3735 of the Ohio Revised Code as amended by Senate Bill 33 effective April 4th, 2023 to repeal any terms contrary to those set forth in Senate Bill 33 and declaring an emergency. Mr. Snder. Madame President, I ask that this ordinance be passed in its first reading under suspension of rules and declared an emergency. Second.

It's been moved and properly second. Any further discussion? Question. On the suspension, all in favor say I. I. Opposed. On the emergency, all in favor say I. I. Opposed. On the passage, all in favor say I. I.

Opposed. Motion carried. Ordinance 2026-9 sponsored by financing community development in ordinance authorizing the transfer of certain vacant land real property from the city of Liry to the Liry Community Improvement Corporation. Mr. Tlette. Madame President, I ask that this ordinance be passed in its first reading under suspension of rules. Second. It's been moved and properly second. Any further discussion? Question. Mr. Oswald.

Thank you, Madam President. Um, was just curious, is this the old Mountain Jacks property? Okay. And then can I just ask what the thought process was getting it into this corporation, Mr. Mayor? Oh, excuse me. Go ahead,

Madam President. Through you, Madam President. Uh there are uh adjacent uh parcels that are already uh in ownership with the Ayria CIC and this I'll call this the straggler. Uh we would like to uh reunite this parcel with the other three. it will make it more marketable uh and uh hopefully will encourage the redevelopment over there. Um whether that would be um for uh ODOT purposes off of 57 there or or otherwise. So this is this the remaining one that that didn't join the others. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. Any further discussion?

Question on the suspension. All those in favor say I. I opposed. On the passage, all in favor say I. I. Opposed. Motion carried.

As ordinance 2026-20, sponsored by Finance. It's an ordinance authorizing the mayor to enter into an amendment number five to the agreement with CTI engineers incorporated for construction inspection services for the water reclamation facility formerly known as the wastewater pollution control u projects and declaring an emergency. Mr. Tai, Madame President, I ask that this ordinance be passed in its first reading under suspension of rules and declared an emergency. Second. It's been moved and properly second. Any further discussion?

Question

on the suspension. All in favor say I. I opposed. [clears throat] On the emergency, all in favor say I. I. Opposed. On the passage, all in favor say I. I. Opposed. Motion carried. Ordinance number 2026 dash 21 sponsored by finance. An ordinance to authorize the mayor to enter the professional service agreement with Bricker Gradon and Wyatt LLP for legal services, labor matters, and declaring an emergency.

Mr. Tot. Madam President, I ask that this ordinance be passed in its first reading under suspension of rules and declared an emergency. Second. It's been moved and properly second. Any further discussion? Question on the suspension. All in favor say I. I opposed on the emergency. All in favor say I. I opposed on the passage. All in favor say I. I oppose. Motion carried.

Ordinance 2026-22. Sponsored by finance. It's an ordinance authorizing uh pardon me an ordinance amending ordinance 2025- 214 known as the 2026 temporary appropriations ordinance. Mr. Tlette. Madame President, I ask that this ordinance be passed in its first reading under suspension of rules. Second. It's been moved and properly second. Any further discussion? Question

on the suspension. All in favor say I. I. opposed on the passage. All in favor say I. I. Opposed. Motion carried. Ordinance 2026-23.

That's all for ordinances. First reading. Ordinances second reading. There are none. Ordinances third reading. There are none.

Committee calls. Committee calls utilities uh is asked utility chair, mayor, law director, finance director, safety service director be held on Wednesday, February 4th at 2026 at 6 pm in council chambers. Committee development is committee chair, council members, committee members, mayor, law director, finance director, safety service director in council chambers on Monday, February 9th, 2026 at 6 pm. Finance is committee chair, mayor, law director, finance director, safety service director, engineer, council chambers, Monday, February 9th, 2026, immediately following CD. Strategic planning is going to be on Tuesday, February 17th, 2026 immediately find the full council meeting.

Thank you. Miscellaneous and unfinished business. Seeing none, we will adjourn. I'll take a motion to adjourn out of council and then we will go into strategic planning. So move, madam chair. Second. Moved and properly second. All [clears throat] in favor say I. I. Opposed. We'll go right into I'm sorry, Madam President. Um, it would like to kind of reconfigure that close this meeting on go

it would like to go out and close out of this particular meeting going to uh the strategic planning to have a little immediate break to kind of make that between the two meetings. Okay. So, let's take a five minute break then to give it time to get it together. We'll be back in five.