Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Are you ready?

Good evening and welcome to the Community Development Committee meeting for Monday, August 10th, 2026. There are four items on this evening's agenda with the first being the matter of approval of the Community Development Committee meeting which took place on July 13th, 2026 and circulated on July 30th, 2026. I'll entertain a motion. So moved. Moved by Mrs. Mitchell. Second. Second by Mrs. Rothgary. Question. Question's been called. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Moving on. Agenda item number two is the matter of a public hearing for an application for placement of 26.22 acres of farmland in an agricultural district. And this is referred by Jeffrey Lynette Fowle. Welcome. Okay. I'll read the legal notice and then you can come up as a proponent, Mrs. Fowle, if you need to speak. Legal notice. You are hereby notified that a public hearing will be held on Monday, August 10th, 2026 at 6 p.m. in Council Chambers, Elyria City Hall, 131 Court Street, Elyria, Ohio, to consider the following. The matter of an application for placement of 26.22 acres of farmland in an agricultural district as submitted by Jeffrey and Lynette Fowle. Are there any proponents? Yes.

Are there any proponents?

Welcome, please state your name and address for the record, sorry. And the mic, there's a little button on the front. Oh, it's on, okay.

My name is Lynn Fowle and we live at 43655 Telegraph Road. We are in Amherst Township, our part of the farm, but this part of the farm that I would like to put into the district is across the street from us and is in the city of Elyria.

Thank you. Any questions or comments from council members or committee members? All right, thank you. Are there any other proponents? Are there any opponents? Are there any opponents? Are there any opponents? I declare this public hearing has been held and I'll read the committee report. An application replacement of 26.22 acres of farmland in an agricultural district as requested by Jeffrey and Lynette Pfau. An ordinance authorizing said application of 26.22 acres of farmland in the agricultural district. I'll entertain a motion from Community Development.

So moved.

Moved by Mrs. Mitchell.

Second.

Second by Mrs. Rothgary.

Question.

Question's been called. All in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? Motion carries, thank you. Moving on to agenda item number three. is the matter of a request for a new liquor license from Ala Lim Temple, number 223, located at 1519 West Avenue, Elyria. And this is referred by Ohio Division of Liquor Control. I know the proponent is here. They can speak as well as chief can come up and speak as well if he has anything to say on the matter. So we'll call the chief up first and then we'll have the proponent step up when he's finished. Thank you.

Good evening, James Welsh, Elyria Police, Chief of Police. So in the past couple of weeks, I received a application for a new license permit for 1519 West Avenue, the former location of the Grenadiers Club. It requests for new ownership, new liquor permit under the applicant Asa Knowles. to operate a new club called the 1519 Club, and they're requesting a D4 liquor permit. Just briefly, a D4 permit is for private clubs such as VFW, American Legion, where they can only operate till one o'clock in the morning, and they're only allowed to serve beer, wine, and mixed alcohol to members or private members of that club. They can't sell to the general public. A D5 permit is... your classic bar and nightclub that can stay open till 2.30 in the morning and sell to all members of the public. This is a D4 permit. Based on my initial preliminary investigation, I do not believe that it will be in the city's best interest based on public safety and detrimental to the neighborhood that the city, not object to that new permit. I conducted my investigation and submitted findings to Division of Liquor Control and did not recommend that the liquor commission approve that new permit for the 1519 club. And that was based on a few factors. One, the applicant, Asa Knowles, has a conviction for operating a vehicle while intoxicated. The close proximity to another liquor permit In that block, there's a 1509 operates as just one more. It's a nightclub open to the public. This is in the same block of a residential neighborhood. So I believe that that will cause issues for police resources as well as just excess alcohol, liquor permits in a residential neighborhood. In addition, there were some previous issues with The Grenadiers Club, the previous owners, either having their permit suspended or taken away from the Liquor Commission based on tax issues, that I received that information from the law director's office. We had four issues at the prior club this year that included a felonious assault, assault and disorderly conduct. And when there has been other investigations where the Leary Police Detective Bureau that either surrounded that establishment or was in the general vicinity where the detectives reached out to the owners or operators of the Grenadiers Club and they were unwilling or not respondent to our request for information. So based on those factors, I don't believe it's in the best interest for the city to approve this permit. All I can do is conduct my investigation. I submitted my findings to the Liquor Commission, which I believe you received a copy of as to why I believed that the Elyria Police Department on behalf of the city should not support this new permit. but I don't have the ability to ask for a hearing that would have to come from council, but those are my reasons for objection. I've had no contact with the new permit holder, Mr. Knowles. He hasn't reached out to me. I've never met him. These are the information that I found in my preliminary investigation. Certainly open for questions.

Thank you, Chief Welsh. I'll open it up at this time for members of council to address Chief Welsh if you have any questions or concerns. Mr. Armstrong.

Through you, Chair, I'm not on this committee, but Chief, I have to have a hard time with what you are trying to say here. That club's been a social club pretty much my whole entire life since the end of the 80s, and there ain't a time where I can't remember where you had to get buzzed in. So I don't know if... what really happened on these four incidents, but on those, out of the four, it seems like three of them happened on the same day and there was one citation and one report for file. And then the other one that happened maybe a day before, two days before that, it was just a disturbance that was advised. So I don't know, you know, people get a little tough with spirits, but I don't know if somebody just had a bad disagreement at that time. And, you know, somebody else may have called, we don't know, but I know with my findings out of the last year, all the way up to today, there's only been five calls. I didn't want to go too far back, but again, I've never had a call, especially from the Riverside homes expressing that this is a disturbance to them. I have not had a call from owners of Just One More to say that there's problems. So again, I just have the hardest time understanding why four calls, again, the three calls happened on the same day, and the one happened maybe, what, a day or two before? Wouldn't make you feel that way, but to each his own. I don't feel that it should be that way. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Armstrong. Mrs. Mitchell?

Thank you, Mr. Chair, through you. Chief, you said that this club would be detrimental to the neighborhood. But I think if you go back and look at the history, there's always been something on that corner since I was a little girl. And that's been a few years ago. You know, it was Mitchell's Barbecue at one time. There was a beauty shop in there as well. I know what this club does, and they can speak for themselves, but they do bike giveaways. They do a lot of good. And I think to say because they've had four calls in one year that they shouldn't have their liquor license, well, that's penalizing them unnecessarily, in my opinion. And also, they were there before Just One More got there. Just One More was Ralph's back in the day, and this club was there. So why wasn't Ralph considered detrimental when they were already there? This is just my opinion, so thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Mitchell. Any further comments from council members? Ms. Davis?

Through you, Chair, I'm not on this committee, but are the calls that you had, Chief, spelled out, were the calls for that Pacific location or... were they in the vicinity of that location?

They were at that location.

So when the people called, they said, or they gave that address?

Yes.

So were they inside or were they out on the street?

I believe they were out front of the establishment, to the best of my recollection. I don't have the report, the specific reports in front of me. And to be clear, I don't know Mr. Knowles who's a new applicant. I don't know anybody that is associated with the 1519 Club. So I don't even know if it's going to be operated the same as it has been for decades when it was the Grenadiers Club. All I can go off is the information that was provided to me by the Division of Liquor Control that said that this was going to be changed to the 1519 Club and that Mr. Knowles was going to be the new liquor applicant. So based on the prior issues, not just the calls, but the issues with not paying taxes that suspended the permit prior. The fact that it is a block away from Just One More and Maybe you have more information than I do, but I don't know exactly what the purpose of this new club is going to be. I can just go by the information that I was provided by Liquor Control. I'm here to give you that information. I, as the police chief, felt that the preliminary investigation raised some concerns to me and that I did not vote to support the applicant's request for a new liquor permit under doing business as the 1519 Club, not the former name of what it was before, whether that be the Grenadier Club or the Temple, the Al... Adalim. Adalim Temple. So this is a different owner. It's a different club. I have concerns with it. I'm here tonight to provide that information to you, and you can make a decision whether you believe that the city should object and request a hearing for this permit. But I provided my objection to the liquor permit based on the application and sent that to the Liquor Commission today.

Thank you, council members and chief. If there's any further, we do have the applicant here. If we can have them come up, are there any further questions for chief? And then we'll have the applicant come up next. So keep it related to him and then we'll have applicant related questions second. Mr. Oswald.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So I'm not on this committee. I guess the chief's got to do his job in doing the research that he was given. That's why we got him as our chief. And he's given us the information that he has found. Now, to find out, I don't know you gentlemen and I don't know your establishments, but maybe some more homework on what the chief is wondering, what your business is gonna do would make it more comfortable. But I know in the past, I went against recommendations and sometimes why do we get a recommendation from the police department and then go against it? So if there are some issues and you're gonna wanna move on, I think, it might be good to let them know what your plans are because yeah, when I just asked about you guys that you do so much good, Donna Mitchell was telling me, you know, how much good that the place does and stuff. So I think I just wanted to put that up there. And if you come up and if you explain a little bit more, that would make people feel, you know, and let us know.

Thank you. Mrs. Roth, Gary.

through you, Chair. Chief, do you know the transfer, these instances, were they with the old owner or the current owner?

I just know they were associated with the address of 1519 West Avenue with the temple and the Grenadiers Club.

Thank you.

And just also wanted to point out that this is a D4 permit, so... it would be approved under the zoning ordinances. However, if the permit was approved as a D4 and they were selling to the public, that would be in violation of the zoning ordinances as well, because it's not a preexisting license. Thank you. Mr. Armstrong.

Through you, Chair, I just want to comment to that. We all received an email from Mr. Schoening about 4-21 today, and he expressed that he didn't have any issues as long as it stayed how it's been as a social club. So with our zoning, our city planner sending us that, telling us that, We really need to think about that. As long as it stays how it's always been, there should be no issues. Now, hey, anything could happen. If issues happen in the future, yes, we should address them immediately. But at this moment, I don't have anything that says that they were selling to outsiders in front of me or anybody stating that they have proof of this. So until we have solid evidence that they sell outside of what their license permits, They're doing what they've been doing since 1987. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Armstrong. Are there any further questions for Chief Welsh or any further dialogue from the police department? Okay, at this time, I will call the applicant up. Thank you. Thank you. Welcome. Please state your name and address first for the record.

Yes, sir. My name is Asa C. Knowles, and I'm going to say this. I am the imperial deputy of the Oasis for Alabama Temple number 223. I am not the new owner. I am just on the paperwork. to get this license through. I am the statutory agent. The new owner is still the same, LLM Temple number 223, which is a Shriners organization, and we all know what Shriners do. And Chief, I have made mistakes in the past, and you're correct. I did have an OVI, but I don't see no reason why That should stop me from being a statutory agent for an organization that has been around for 39 years in this community. I didn't reach out to you because I didn't know I had to. Nobody mentioned to me that when I went down to the state that I had to come back and talk to the chief of police. I was automatically beeline to talk to you, to let you know what we are really about and what I am about. The D4 license is for our members and our associate members. Like one of the council members stated, we have been around for 39 years. We've had some problems in the past. But not a lot. Not a lot for this council to even consider taking our license or going to the state and saying they shouldn't have one. We are a philanthropic organization. We try to do a lot for the community. All of our members that we have in our organization try to do their best to be the best that they can be. Sometimes we stumble and fall. like myself. But that doesn't mean that the organization should be penalized for one individual. We have come to this committee to ask that you give us permission to continue on with the good work that we've been doing. And the reason we are here is due to the fact that there is some lack of organization that has happened in the past, which allowed our liquor license to lapse. I went down to the state and talked to the board, and they said, go back and talk to you folks. So I'm here. And I would just hope that being a chief of police I'm all for policing. I wanted to be one once upon a time. Just didn't make it. That doesn't mean I don't like the police. That doesn't mean that I don't think the police should not go to McDonald's and buy a hamburger just because they're the police. Just like I don't think the police should penalize me for having an OVI and trying to keep an organization going that I believe should be going in this community. And with that being said, that's all I have to say to this panel.

Thank you, Mr. Knowles. Is it okay if council members ask a couple questions if they have them?

Yes.

All right. This time I'll entertain questions from the council or committee. Mr. Tillett.

I'm not on this committee. Have the tax issues been resolved to completion?

Yes, sir.

Thank you.

As a matter of fact, sir, today at 1130, the Liquor Control Board agent was at our establishment. She completed her, what you want to call it, examination of what we had, and she went through the building, and I'm pretty sure you'll be getting the results of her report. Speaking of reports, Chief, if you wouldn't mind, I would like to get a copy of the report that you gave to this committee so I could see where your concerns were at, and maybe we can sit down and discuss them. I'm saying that like it's a positive thing, that this is going to turn out positive for us, but I still would like to know what those were, those issues that you have.

Thank you, Mr. Knowles. Mrs. Mitchell.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, through you to Mr. Knowles. What safeguards have you all or will you all put in place to ensure that you're only selling to members and associate members?

Well, ma'am, actually, our safeguards were in place before. Our members who are nobles are are the core members. We have associate members that we sell our membership cards to and they have to present those cards before they get in the door or before they can buy liquor. Now, there have been times in the past when there have been somebody have rented the building and that kind of like eliminates But if we have to stop renting our building for open parties, we will do so.

Thank you. Mr. Armstrong, do you have your hand up?

For you, Chair, I just have a comment. To you, Mr. Knowles, and the rest of the brothers, I just want to say thank you for being part of the South Side my whole entire life, pretty much. And I really hope that y'all continue doing the great work you do I just, it just irks me a little bit that it had to get this far. But like you said, you're on the right path and doing the right thing. So hopefully my colleagues will do the right thing by you this evening. Thank you.

And you guys need to do a steak fry.

Thank you. Any further comments from the applicant or council members? All right, seeing none, I'll read the committee report. We've considered the matter of a new liquor license permit as requested by Club 1519 Al Aleem Temple number 223, located at 1519 West Avenue, Elyria, for a Class D4 permit. Beer and intoxicating liquor to members only for on-premises consumption until 1 a.m. I'll entertain a motion from Community Development.

Mr. Chair, I'll make a motion that the committee does not request a hearing.

All right, we have a motion on the floor to not request a public hearing. Do I have a second?

Second.

Second by Mrs. Rothgary. I'll call for the question. Question's been called. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. Moving on to agenda... Agenda item number four is the matter of review of objections to renewal of liquor license requests within the city, and this is referred by Ohio Division of Liquor Control. I don't know if law department or chief are speaking on behalf of this. It's not into anything specific. Go ahead, Mrs. O'Brien.

Miss.

Miss, sorry.

It's okay. I do have a note from Law Director Deary that she did reach out to the fire department and the police department and there were no objections, no issues.

Thank you. Any comments from council members? Does this need a committee report? I mean, there's really not any substance to it. It's just a matter of annual review of objections and we're not seeing any, so I don't see the need for a motion. there's nothing specific, there's nothing contained to it. So Mayor Brubaker.

Through you, I think what you'll have to do is very similar to what you just did for Club 1519 is to, these are for the renewals across the city. So since there are no objections and a law director got nothing from fire and police that you'd probably have to pass a committee report requesting that the city does not request

any hearings on anything we're aware of all right thank you all right if there's no further discussion i'll read the community report we've considered the matter of objections to renewal of retail retail liquor license permit requests no police or zoning issues have been brought up the city of illyria and legislation be drawn stating that we do not request a hearing i'll entertain a motion

Mr. Chair, I'll make a motion that the city does not request a hearing.

There are no known hearings. Thank you. Second?

Second.

Second by Mrs. Roth. Gary? Question? Question's been called. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Thank you. All right. Moving on to joint. At this time, I'll have Mr. Tillett call finance to order.

At this time, I'll call finance to order.

Thank you. Welcome to this evening's Community Development and Finance Committee Joint Meeting. There are two items on this evening's agenda, with the first being approval of meeting minutes from the Joint Community Development and Finance Committee meetings that was held on July 13th, 2026 and circulated on July 30th, 2026. I'll entertain a motion from Community Development.

So moved.

Moved by Mrs. Mitchell.

Second.

Second by Mrs. Rothgary.

Questions?

Questions been called. All in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? Motion carries, thank you.

Can I get a motion on behalf of Finance? So moved. Second. Motion's been made and properly seconded. Questions? Questions been called. All in favor use the voting sign aye. Aye. Opposed?

Motion carried. Moving on to agenda item number two, which is the matter of a community reinvestment area tax abatement program with Black River Forge LP. FOR A MULTI-FAMILY HOUSING DEVELOPMENT LOCATED AT 2101 WEST RIVER ROAD NORTH, ALERIA, AND THIS IS REFERRED BY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT MANAGER AMABAYAD. WELCOME.

Thank you. Through you. Yes, this evening we are presenting a CRA request for the Black River Forge project at 2101 West River Road. Black River Forge Limited Partnership is requesting a 15-year, 75% CRA tax exemption for the construction of a new multifamily workforce housing development. The project represents an anticipated investment of approximately $23 million to $26 million. The property is currently owned by Comprehensive Ventures Unlimited. Hilltide Ventures is the developer and Black River Forge Limited Partnership has been established as the single purpose entity that will acquire and ultimately own the property. The anticipated property transfer is expected to occur in connection with the project's financial closing. The required notices were provided to the effective school districts. Because the exemption is 75%, school board approval is not required. We did not receive any comments or concerns from either school district. We are requesting the legislation be passed as an emergency measure because of the project's anticipated financial closing and construction schedule. Taylor Cook with Hilltide Ventures is here this evening and can provide additional information regarding the development and project financing.

Thank you, Mrs. Almobayad. Any questions for community development from committee or council members?

All right, thank you.

Are there any questions for the applicant or proponent, or was he gonna get up and speak regardless?

He was gonna give a little presentation.

Okay, perfect. All right. Welcome, Mr. Koch. Please state your name and address for the record.

Thank you. I'm Taylor Cook with Hillside Partners. We're located, it's okay, at 528 Johnny Dodds Boulevard, Suite 201 in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.

Thank you.

As I mentioned, my name is Taylor Cook with Hilltide Partners. Tonight we're requesting your favorable recommendation for a 75% 15-year community reinvestment area exemption on the new improvements at 2101 West River Road North. Our proposed development is called Black River Forge, and it will create 122 new units on a currently vacant 6.8-acre site just north of the Black River Career Prep High School, which is at the intersection of Griswold Road and West River Road North. All 122 apartments will be income and rent restricted to serve households at or below 60% of the area median income for at least 30 years. So this CRA is a critical component of making our investment financially feasible. Like most real estate developments, our project is financed with a combination of debt and equity. The amount of debt that a real estate project can support is based on the cash flow after paying off operating expenses. SO BY REDUCING OUR PROPERTY TAXES, WHICH IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT OF OUR OPERATING EXPENSES, THE CRA ALLOWS THE PROJECT TO SUPPORT ADDITIONALLY $1.2 MILLION IN PERMANENT DEBT. AND THIS DOESN'T GO TO US, THIS GOES TO THE PROJECT. SO THIS IS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROJECT ITSELF. And even with the requested abatement, the property will contribute substantially more in real estate taxes than it does today. The vacant site currently generates about $3,400 annually. With the CRA in place, we estimate about 11 times that. So about $37,400 in annual real estate taxes during that exemption period. The city also is not the only partner in helping make this development feasible. So the Ohio Housing Finance Agency last year reserved 21.4 million in federal housing tax credits for our development, as well as 10 million in state housing tax credits. We're also working with the Lorain County Port Authority on approximately $32 million in a tax-exempt bond financing and a capital lease structure. So there's a phrase, you know, it takes a village. This really is a team of public and private partners coming together to make this deal work. So right now we're in the final stages before construction. Our zoning and land use approvals are complete. You may have heard me talk before this group back in December of this year. So that's all done. And following completion of the CRA, we're targeting closing and construction in September.

so planes coming in for a landing um and and we're excited about that so we appreciate the city's partnership respectfully ask for your favorable recommendation and i'm happy to answer any questions you might have thank you mr cook i must say um thank you for breaking down what the current tax will be in the projected tax even with your abatement it's very helpful because a lot of times we don't have a even a slightest estimate from the proponent so that was very helpful At this time, before I open up to committee members, Mayor Brubaker and Finance Director Pileski may have to speak on this, so thank you.

Yes, thank you. First, thank you, Tyler, and your organization. Don and I started having conversations with them a year ago, and as he said, you guys were before us in December. This is the second phase. If you remember, late last fall, there were three entities, five in the county, but three in the city of Elyria that had applied for these housing credits through the state. And... Miraculously, both were here in the county, came here to Elyria. We have the unit that just we broke ground on last week, the McGregor Landing Facility for affordable housing for our seniors. And now we'll be breaking ground on this one, which will be affordable housing units across the board, one and two and three bedroom apartments. This is a part of our structuring plan for providing housing for all folks here in the city of Elyria. We have the $400,000 homes. Now we're getting the ability for affordable housing. But we are also looking at it strategically on how many of these do we have in the city? Where are they located in the city? We believe this one is located in the right area of the city. As he said, it's a vacant piece of property that was providing no value to the city. We were a little worried last year that the third one in the city was right across the street from them. And I know we had discussions about traffic. They did not get financed. And the engineer did state that this particular one, the traffic over there, the road was perfectly eligible to handle it. So we're excited about this. We're appreciative of the $26 million investment to go on top of the $30 million investment that McGregor Landing had. So as we look for the redevelopment of the mall area, this is a big piece of that puzzle. So thank you for that, and I would support this.

Thank you, Mayor. Finance Director Pileski, was there anything you needed to speak on on this topic?

Through you, Mr. Chair, I'm in full support of the program and allowing them the abatement agreement.

Thank you. Council members, committee members, any discussion?

All right. Seeing none, I'll read the committee report.

We've considered the matter of a request for community reinvestment area CRA tax abatement agreement with Black River Forge Limited Partnership for a multifamily housing development to be located at 2101 West River Road. In ordinance authorizing the said community reinvestment area tax abatement agreement, please note emergency clauses requested for construction time constraints and financing commitments. I'll entertain a motion from community development.

So moved.

Moved by Mrs. Mitchell.

Second.

Second by Mrs. Rothgary.

Question.

Question's been called. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Thank you.

On behalf of finance, can I get a motion? So moved. Second. Motion's been made and properly seconded. Question's been called. All in favor use the voting sign aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries.

Thank you. If there's no further business to come before joint community development or finance, I'll take the time to, or take a, I'll entertain a motion to adjourn community development. Moved by Mrs. Mitchell.

Second.

Second by Mrs. Roth, Gary. Question's been called. All in favor? Aye. Community development adjourned. Thank you.

Good evening, everyone. I will call to order utility safety and environment. The first item on our agenda this evening is the matter of approving the meeting minutes of the Joint Utility Safety and Environment Committee and the Finance Committee meeting, which took place on July 13th, 2026. I'll entertain a motion from utilities. So moved. Second. Moved and properly seconded. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed?

Motion carried. On behalf of finance, can I get a motion? So moved.

Second.

Motion's been made and properly seconded. Question's been called. All in favor use the voting sign aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carried.

Thank you, Mr. Talaat. The next item on the agenda is a matter of authorizing the mayor to enter into an agreement with ODOT to perform overhead sign support improvements on State Route 57 and State Route 113. Engineer Schneider. Thank you, Madam Chairman.

So anytime ODOT comes to the city and they perform any work within the city corporation limits, they always ask for permission from the city to do the work. As it stated, this is for on 57, they're at 113. This is a couple overhead signs that are the big, large ones you see when you drive under them. So those are maintained by ODOT. I believe the ones they're doing work on will have like turnpike on there and things of that nature, so. and I-90, so. We're gonna ask that this also be passed as an emergency because ODOT needs this agreement. They would prefer to have it in place by early October, so. Thank you.

Mr. Oswald.

Through you, Madam Chair. Mr. Snider, this isn't costing us no money. They're just getting an approval that they can do the work? Correct. Okay, thank you.

Are there, Mrs. Vosky?

For you, Madam Chair. Mr. Schneider, did they, I haven't noticed at night, did they upgrade any of the signs that they've repaved at section?

The signs were not part of that project. As you know, we did look into other signage out there that I had our traffic technician look into that and the cause came back very high at this time. So we're hoping to work out with the city's street department if possible to take care of some of the signs that you're referring to and contract out the rest. But I believe the total was like $140,000 to complete the sign. So that you know about.

It's just tough at night.

Yes.

Mr. Armstrong. Okay, we're good. No other questions. It would be nice, Mr. Schneider, and I know this is a totally different topic, if we could get the lights replaced on 113. I know. You don't have to say anything. I know. I'm just saying. We've been fighting that. I know. We've been fighting that battle for years. Seeing no other questions, I will read the committee report. We have considered the matter of an agreement with ODOT to perform overhead sign support improvements on State Route 57 and State Route 113. And this is an ordinance authorizing the mayor to enter into said agreement with ODOT for the construction to begin May of 2027. There is no cost to the city for this project. And you did say emergency clause? Yes, please. And emergency clause is requested. Can I get a motion, please? So moved. Second. Moved and properly second. Any other discussion? Question. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carried.

On behalf of finance, can I get a motion?

So moved.

Second. It's been made and properly seconded. Question. Question's been called. All in favor use the voting sign aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carried. Thank you.

The next item on the agenda is a matter of authorizing the mayor to advertise and award a contract for the 2026 Gulf Road Water Main Improvement Project with Sheffield Village. Engineer Schneider.

Thank you, Madam Chairman. As council knows, the city has negotiated a contract with Sheffield Village to supply them water. One of the things we need to do in order to supply them water is upgrade our system as well as a little bit where they connect so that we can supply them the water they need. Also, as part of this would be installing some large vaults that will hold house meters, backflow devices, PRV valves, things of that nature. So we're asking that this be passed today so we can go out for bid. The approximate cost for this is $1 million. And we would ask that this also be passed as an emergency so that we can tie them as soon as we have the plans and EPA approval.

Mr. Talaat. Through you, Madam President, even with the million dollar expense, this will be a positive generating endeavor. Would you agree with that statement?

Yes. I mean, for the overall contract, I would say that in the beginning, obviously, we'll be underwater in the very, very beginning for a couple of years. Exactly. But in the long run, yes, it will be positive.

Yes. I wanted everybody to be aware of this.

Thank you. Mr. Oswald. you madam chair so mr snyder do we got like a timetable when all this could get finalized and get going uh through you chair uh the agreement is already essentially in place it's just a matter of getting the infrastructure in place now so it's the final designs being done for this portion of it we will be back later on for another uh project that will actually uh connect through the Metro Parks out there on Ford Road over to the other side through the river. So that's a bigger project, but we don't wanna hold that up for this. But the intent is to get it out as soon as possible. Unfortunately, when you deal with the EPA, sometimes it's not the fastest.

Thank you. Any other questions for Engineer Snyder? Seeing none, I'll read the committee report. We have considered the matter of authorizing the mayor to advertise for bids and award a contract for the Gulf Road water main improvement project with Sheffield Village for the installation of a 12-inch water main to connect with Sheffield Village. This is an ordinance authorizing the mayor to award a contract for the said project. Emergency clause is requested. Can I get a motion, please? So moved.

Second.

Moved and properly seconded. Question. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carried.

On behalf of finance, can I get a motion?

So moved. Second.

Motion's been made and properly seconded. Question. Question's been called. All in favor use the voting sign aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries.

Thank you. The next item on the agenda is a matter of authorizing the mayor to enter into a change order number one with Cargo Company for the OPWC Golf Road resurfacing project, Vista Court to Hilliard Road. Engineer Schneider.

Thank you, Madam Chairman. So last year we resurfaced from Vista Court to Hilliard on Golf Road. This was largely an Ohio Public Works project. FUNDED PROJECT. THERE WAS SOME CITY FUNDS. BIDS CAME OUT REALLY WELL. SO WE WERE ABLE TO ADD A LITTLE EXTRA THINGS TO DO OUT THERE. SO THAT'S WHY WE'RE HERE TODAY TO ASK FOR IT'S STILL WITHIN THE BUDGET ESSENTIALLY OF THE OVERALL PROJECT. IT'S JUST THE FACT THAT THE BIDS CAME IN LOWER THAN 10%. SO WE NEED TO COME BACK TO COUNCIL FOR THAT. BUT I THINK THE PROJECT TURNED OUT VERY GOOD. AND EVERYTHING THAT WE DID OUT THERE WAS NEEDED.

Thank you. Any questions for Engineer Snyder? Mr. Pileski.

Thank you, Madam Chair. So the change order, is that going to be split between the OPWC and the city and the 71% for OPWC, 29% city?

Through you, Chair. So, yeah, yes, in a way, you could say it's going to be split. I don't know if it's going to be exactly the 71%. Ohio Public Works, the way they come out, and when we've applied for funding, it caps. So the cap for Ohio Public Works funds was $215. $19,825.75. So we're gonna utilize all their funds in a little extra of ours, but we maximize basically our grants by doing that.

So I'm gonna have to amend the budget because in that particular line item, we've used up everything that's appropriate in the issue two fund. So

Do you, Chair? I believe the city portion was taken out of the community motor vehicle for that.

Correct, but we're also going to, they're going to pay part of the bill, right, OPWC? Yes. Okay, so I got to adjust that, okay. All right.

Thank you. Any other questions and or comments? Mr. Snyder?

Thank you. As the contractor's been waiting to get paid, I'd ask this to be passed as an emergency as well.

Thank you. Seeing none, I'll read the committee report. We have considered the matter of authorizing the mayor to enter into change order number one with Cargo Companies for the Gulf Road resurfacing project, Vista Court to Hilliard Road. This is an ordinance authorizing the mayor to enter into said change order for the Gulf Road project. Emergency clause is requested. Can I get a motion, please?

So moved.

Second. Moved and properly seconded. Any other questions? Question.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye. Opposed? Motion carried.

On behalf of finance, can I get a motion?

So moved. Second.

Motion's been made and properly seconded.

Question.

Question's been called. All in favor use the voting sign aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carried.

The next item on the agenda, be still my heart, is the matter of authorizing the mayor to advertise and award a contract for the reconstruction of Murray Ridge Road. Albrecht to Lowell Street. Amen. Engineer Schneider.

Thank you, Madam Chairman. So as you are aware, Murray Ridge, we have funding in place to resurface it from Albrecht Road North to Lowell Street, including the township portion, which we've secured Ohio Public Works funds for to help pay for their portion as well as our portion. So the overall cost at this time would be basically paid for by grant funds. We still do not have ODOT approval to go out for bid for this, but I'm trying to get ahead of the game because between summer recess and the hopes to get this approval from ODOT to submit our final PSD package so that we can get the final approval for federal funds to be released. That's why we're here today. And I would ask to be passed as emergency as well, just for the fact that if we do get it, I'd like to move fast, but It probably isn't the most critical thing here, but yeah, it's unfortunate. We're still waiting for the environmental to be cleared through ODOT, but we're just trying to get our ducks in a row so that when the time comes, we can pull the trigger.

There's no chance that ODOT would not approve it, is it?

No, I mean, it's not that they're not going to approve it. It's just they have to do a step, an environmental step, which they do in all their projects or we do them as part of the project. And this is the one outstanding item that's required before I can actually submit the final documents to them for approval.

Okay, thank you. Any questions for Engineer Steiner? Mr. Pileski.

Thank you, Madam Chair. So rather than amend the budget for the estimated amount, after you receive the bids, award the bid, and get ODOT approval, see me immediately so we can amend the budget at that point in time.

Okay. Thanks. Thank you. Not seeing nothing else. I'll read the committee report. We have considered the matter of authorizing the mayor to advertise for bids and to enter into a contract for the Murray Bridge Road reconstruction project, Albrecht Road to Lowell Street. And this is the ordinance authorizing the mayor to enter into a contract for the said reconstruction project. Emergency clause is requested. Can I get a motion, please? So moved.

Second.

Moved and properly second. Any further discussion? Question. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carried.

On behalf of finance, can I get a motion? So moved. Second. Motion's been made and properly seconded. Question. Question's been called. All in favor use the voting sign aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carried.

The next item on the agenda is the matter of authorizing the mayor to enter into an agreement with Brown Hall engineering and surveying for design services for plans and specifications for sidewalk and multi-use path along Burns Road and Abbey Road, Antioch to Briar Lake. Engineer Schneider.

Thank you, Madam Chairman. As you all know, the city received a grant from the state to install sidewalks, a multi-use path on Burns Road and Abbey Road. We went through the selection process and Bram Hall Engineering was selected as the best and most qualified to complete the project for us. This would provide the connectivity up north there around the college so we have sidewalks It makes it easier for the traveling public. The way this grant is received, the city received this grant, is we essentially received 1.424 million to cover the cost for engineering and construction dollars. IT SAYS IT'S A 90-10 SPLIT AS WELL, BUT 10% WOULD BE PAID FOR BY THE STATE AS WELL THROUGH THE TOLL CREDITS. SO ESSENTIALLY IT'S 100% CREDIT OR 100% GRANT FUNDS FOR THIS PROJECT. IT IS CAP, THOUGH, SO ONCE WE GO OVER THE 1.24 MILLION, IT WOULD REQUIRE CITY FUNDS. WE DON'T ANTICIPATE IT AT THIS TIME, BUT WE ARE READY TO GET THE DESIGN COMPLETED. THE CONSTRUCTION WOULD NOT START UNTIL 2028. There will probably likely be right away or easements taken as part of this project. There'll be environmental documents that will need to be covered as well because of the ditch that we're gonna have to extend in Colford there on Burns Road. But essentially this is a very good thing for the area up there to provide connectivity for people.

Mr. Schneider.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Through you, Engineer Schneider and Mayor Brubaker, thank you again. This is one of our best grants we've had. Unfortunately, it took unfortunate circumstances to trigger the series of events that happened after that. But do you know it says multi-use path? We're not going to be putting a multi-use path along Burns, right? Because some of those right-of-ways are really close to the setback. So that's just what I wanted to make sure.

The intention of the multi-use path was to extend the one that comes out of Sheffield in front of the college only, just to give it a little bit more.

Perfect. I just wanted to make sure. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Talat. Just reiterating what my colleague said. Thank you to the mayor for the work he did on this. Thank you to engineer Schneider for the work you did on this. Absolutely incredible. Thank you very much for what you did.

Any other comments? Oh, sorry.

I just forgot. I mean, once again, we also ask that this be passed as an emergency because just to get it moving forward.

Thank you. Anything else for engineer Schneider? Seeing nothing, I'll read the committee report. We have considered the matter of authorizing the mayor to enter into an agreement with Bromhall Engineering and Surveying Company for the design services for plans and specification for the sidewalk and multi-use F project at Burns and Abbey Road, Antioch to Briar Lake. And this is an ordinance authorizing the mayor to enter into said agreement. Emergency clause is requested. Can I get a motion, please?

So moved. Second.

Been moved and properly seconded. Any discussion? Question. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed?

Motion carried. On behalf of finance, can I get a motion? So moved. Second. Motion's been made and properly seconded. Question. Question's been called. All in favor use the voting sign aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carried.

And the last item on our agenda is a matter of authorizing the mayor to enter into an agreement with K.E. McCartney and Associates for Engineering Services for the Middle Avenue Community Sanitary Sewer Extension Project. Engineer Schneider.

THANK YOU, MADAM CHAIRMAN. SO THE MAYOR'S OFFICE ACTUALLY RECEIVED A NICE GRANT FROM THE CONGRESSMAN LADA'S OFFICE TO EXTEND THE SANITARY SEWERS DOWN MIDDLE AVENUE. AS PART OF THAT, THE GRANT ESSENTIALLY APPLIES TOWARD THE CONSTRUCTION DOLLARS ONLY. SO WE NEED TO FUND THE ENGINEERING COST FOR THIS PROJECT. OVERALL, IT'S A GREAT GRANT. And we're happy to have it. The city applied for statements of qualifications. We advertised for it for people, for various engineering firms. Katie McCartney was selected out of the group that submitted qualifications. And we have a scope of services with them. To extend this sewer, essentially from just south of the Colonial Oaks area, Omaha Home Park, South 2, roughly around Butternut Ridge Road. We think we can get right up to Butternut Ridge Road with this sewer, and this would open up sewer access to the township, which, as everyone knows, the more sewer customers we have, the more income we have toward our wastewater, so the less... likely what the raise rates in the future, hopefully. So that's the plan. And there is a nice size subdivision that's being proposed south on Butternut Ridge Road in the township. So this is a good thing for the city. The amount we request is $163,500. That would be for the engineering costs for Kate McCartney.

Mr. Snyder. Thank you, Madam President.

Through you, this would be sewer only for the city, right? Is that rural Lorain all the way down from this extension?

Yes, water south of Colonial Oaks is Lorain County Rural Water Authority.

Thank you.

Mr. Oswald.

Through you, Madam Chair. So I think we've been talking about doing this sewer all the way down and to get to something for this is great because of course that brings development and development brings money into our city. So I'm glad this is happening. We've been talking for a while. So thank you very much.

Anyone else? Seeing none, I'll read the committee report. We have considered the matter of authorizing the mayor to enter into a contract with K.E. McCartney and Associates for Engineering Services for the Middle Avenue Community Sanitary Sewer Extension Project. And this is an ordinance authorizing the mayor to enter into the said contract. Emergency clause is requested. Can I get a motion, please? So moved. Second. Excuse me. It's been moved and properly seconded. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carried.

On behalf of Finance, can I get a motion?

So moved.

Second. Motion's been made and properly seconded. Question. Question's been called. All in favor use the voting sign aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carried.

THROUGH YOU, MADAM CHAIR. JUST WANTED TO, AS WE'RE IN UTILITIES HERE, WANTED TO BRING SOMETHING UP. HAD A WONDERFUL COMMENT FROM A FRIEND OF MINE WHO HAD SOME DEALINGS WITH THE UTILITIES DEPARTMENT RECENTLY AND JUST WANTED TO PASS ALONG HOW WONDERFUL IT WAS DEALING WITH CORETTA AND CAROLYN. THEY HAD A WONDERFUL, CHALLENGING EXPERIENCE THAT WAS TAKEN CARE OF IN AN EXCELLENT WAY AND JUST WANTED TO PASS THAT ALONG. I DON'T THINK THOSE PEOPLE OFTEN GET THE CREDIT THAT THEY DESERVE FOR WHAT THEY DO AND THEY do a great job making everybody feel welcome and heard. Thank you.

Sorry, my mic wasn't on. There's no other business to come before utilities. I'll entertain a motion for adjournment. So moved. Second. Moved and properly second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carried. Thank you.

we're gonna do something a little bit different before we kick off my finance meeting tonight. There's been some questions about the finances for the new property annexation potential in Amherst Township. So I wanna address a couple of the inaccurate facts that have been floating around and There will be no questions or comments. If you have any after the meeting, you can address them with me.

The current property tax value of that 65 acres is $780,000. Can everybody see that?

That's the current property tax value. That's what the current owners paid for that piece of property. There were some questions about how does the city make money on this? Mr. Snyder, could you, do you have your calculator ready? I want you to do $300,000, which is the cost of a home, times 160.

$48 million.

$48 million. So what would happen if, and this is an if, none of this has happened yet, our tax valuation, if we were to tiff that piece of property and do the repairs, do the sewer, the water, and the roads. The tax valuation wouldn't be on 780,000. It would be on 48 million minus 780,000. So roughly $47 million would be the tax valuation that the city would receive. and Amherst Township would receive the tax valuation on 780,000 just like they're getting right now. They're not gonna lose anything. They're not gonna gain anything. Mr. Snyder, I'm gonna ask you to do another math problem for me. So now we have these homes. We all know that the average cost of a home, 33% of it, is labor that goes in for the construction of homes. So I would like you to take this 48 million times 0.33%. And what is that number? 1,584,000.

Okay. That's 1,584,000.

That's not right.

Sorry, I'm sorry.

$15 million should be about it.

Oh, 15. Sorry, I must have missed something.

We're going to call it $15 million even. I'm going to round low. 2.025% of that goes to the city of Elyria in income tax. Additionally, of those 160 homes, if any of those people works in the city of Elyria who buy those homes, that income goes to the city. So I wanted to make this very, very clear that if you vote against it, you're voting against positive financial income for the city of Elyria. Now, if your allegiance is to Amherst or Oberlin or Lorain, and not Elyria, I can understand that. But if you're an elected City of Elyria official with a fiduciary obligation to the City of Elyria, I'll let the numbers speak for themselves. And if you have questions or comments to that, you can address them with me after the meeting. At this time, we'll get into our regular discussion. So the official first item on the agenda tonight is the matter of approval of meeting minutes from the Finance Committee meeting, which took place on July 13th, 2026, as circulated on 7-30-2026. Can I get a motion? So moved. Without my calculator.

Second.

Motion's been made and properly seconded.

Question.

Question's been called. All in favor use the voting sign aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carried. Next item on the agenda, the matter of delinquent and final utility accounts approved by the Utility Resolution Board and to be certified to the Lorain County Auditor's Office. Superintendent Connor.

Through you, Mr. Chair. There was a list provided of 37 accounts for a total of 16,106.96 that was presented to the Resolution Board last Friday for approval. And we got approval. Are there any questions?

Are there questions for Superintendent Connor?

Mr. Schneider. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Through you, not going back in time, but has there been any resolution with the prior large bills that were addressed at the last update that we had for this? Not on this one, on the last one with the Wesleyan, with their delinquent utility, have we received any payments or anything?

Through you, Mr. Chair, no, we have not.

Okay, thank you. I would like to address one thing. Can you give that magical number we talked about earlier, please?

Yes, Mr. Chair, the late fees that we've been charging for about seven months, they've been running about $45,000 a month. So it represents about 20% of our customer base do have late fees on their bills. The total that we've billed out thus far is $315,250.

315,000 we've collected in late fees. So it's not a good thing that we have to collect them, but it's a positive thing for the city of Elyria that we're recouping our money on these late fees. Any questions from the committee? Ms. Mitchell.

Thank you, Chair. Through you, I'm not on this committee, but it's concerning to me, and Mr. Snyder asked the question, that Wesleyan Village is so far behind in their water bill, and they have such an exorbitant amount. Are we in communication with them? Are we trying to get our money? Because I know that if they're in the... assisted living, they're probably paying their bill and Wesleyan just isn't paying us. Is that correct?

That would be correct. I believe we are working with the law director's office, too, to try to make some connection with them because we've been leaning them and they've been going under their tax bill. But the county auditor is aware of the situation also.

That's very concerning, I think.

It's concerning to me, too. And, Mayor, this is one of my unfair questions that I ask on a regular basis. because they receive both Medicaid and Medicare funding, does it affect how they pay their water bills?

Through you, Mr. Chairman, I don't have an answer to that question. I know Director Panowski, before he left, was working very closely with the law director's office to make contact, because I understand they've changed leadership over there. And so between the law director's office and outgoing Director Panowski, they were trying to make contact with them, as Ms. Connor stated.

Understood, thank you. Mr. Armstrong.

Through you, Chair, I'm not on this committee. Mrs. Connor, I have a concern about 810 Middle Ave. I believe the owner of that property passed away a few months or maybe about six or seven months ago. So just having a hard time understanding why. Did his family reach out or anything? No?

No, we've not gotten any response. A final bill went out.

Thank you.

Any additional questions? If not, I'll read the committee report. We have considered the matter of inactive delinquent public utility accounts. A resolution authorizing said delinquent accounts to be certified to the Lorain County Auditor's Office as per the attached list. Can I get a motion?

So moved. Second.

Motion's been made and properly seconded. Question? Question's been called. All in favor use the voting sign aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carried.

Thank you.

Does this need to be an emergency?

Yes, it does. Thank you.

Does the motion concur? Concur. Does the second concur? Thank you. Next item on the agenda is number three, the matter of updating Elyria Codified Ordinance 109.09 for updating fees in the Parks and Rec fee schedule. Director Reardon.

Thank you, Chair, through you. So hopefully everybody got a copy of the proposed changes, highlighting what is currently there, and then in red, the proposed fee. So we're not proposing to raise any prices right now, but updating this will give us the chance to do that in the future. Some of these were pretty low compared to other communities. So again, nothing imminent in the next few months, but I would say in the next year we would look to raise some of the costs. And also we never go to... The highest, as you can see, a lot of these are not to exceed. So when we raise them, we just raise them incrementally. The last time that this was updated was 2017. So I think I was just looking at it over here and I believe only one or two of these were at the max right now. And then down at the bottom, we don't have anything on here for ballpark lights and we do charge a fee for that. So I was just adding that because it's not currently listed.

I'm happy to answer any questions.

Mr. Schneider. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Through you, Director Reardon, on the monthly rental, that is in a lease, correct? So we wouldn't even be able to, that property is in a lease.

Yeah, you're talking, I'm sorry, through you, Chair. Yeah, through Finwood. Yep, absolutely. So yeah, again, this would just be for future. Right, going forward. Yeah.

Thank you.

Are there any additional questions? I am sorry, Mr. Van Warmer.

I was just waiting for you to take your seat, Chair, through you, Chair, and just experienced renting out the pool yesterday, a wonderful experience, very cost-effective. I asked the office this morning about how many rentals we had, and we had eight in June, eight in July, and four in August. All but one of those were at East. Are people just not looking to rent the pool? Are we not marketing it enough? I feel like we could really do a good job of bringing in some funds for Parks and Rec through pool rentals, because for two hours with lifeguards included, it's a steal. Through you, Chair.

So I will say that that isn't anything that we have outwardly marketed you know over the top we typically take the reservations we get in years past we've had a hard time covering those just because staff is looking for a day off and sundays is the only day that we're not operating because we do use it as rentals the last few years we've been fully staffed so as long as we're fully staffed that is probably something we can market a little more but that's really probably the only reason any additional questions

If not, I'll read the committee report. We have considered the matter of amending chapter 109.09 of the Elyria Codified Ordinances general fee schedule for the Parks and Rec Department to increase certain fees for future. an ordinance authorizing to amend the said chapter of the Elyria Codified Ordinances and increase the said fees for future use. Would this still need to be an emergency? Okay, not an emergency. Can I get a motion, please? So moved.

Second.

Motion's been made and properly seconded. Question. Question's been called. All in favor use the voting sign aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carried. Next item on the agenda, number four, the matter of applying for a step in the swim grant to help fund swim lessons. Director Reardon.

Through you, Chairman. So this is a grant opportunity that was brought to us from Macaulay, and we looked into it. We would love to apply for it. I believe the deadline application is September, I wanna say 14, so I would ask that this be approved as an emergency. We won't find out until I think November, but the application or the deadline is coming up. So this would allow us to offer free swim lessons. We are going to, if we get this money, we have decided that it would just be a random way that we would select residents. So this would be used just for residents, non-residents would not be able to apply for this. And we're going to ask for $7,425. That would allow us to offer 135 swim lessons. The reason we chose that amount is Macaulay did some research on past awards for this grant. And the typical award was around 5,000. So we didn't want to go crazy over and ask for a lot of money. We did, I think it was 652 swim lessons this summer that we did at the pool, individual swim lessons that we did this summer at the pool. So that amount asking for all of that would have put us way over the typical award amount. So we figured this was a good amount to ask for. So that's what we'll be asking for. And this would obviously be for next summer.

Ms. Davis.

or through you, Chair. So what is the age group? Because I'm looking for us old people to learn how to swim.

Through you, Chair. So I'll be honest. We offer adult lessons every session three. We do offer adult lessons. I don't know that this doesn't have an age group on it. I believe this is for youth, this grant specifically, but we do offer adult swim lessons every summer. Thank you.

Mr. Armstrong, you're ready to explode. Go ahead.

Take it, take it.

Through you, Chair, I'm not on this committee, but to you, Mrs. Davis, me and Mr. Van Warmer will rent out East Rec if you need to apply to use this grant any time next summer. You let us know, man. We'll make you get you swimming. Thank you.

Mr. Oswald, I'm sorry. Ms. Davis, I'm sorry.

Through you, Chair. You don't need to rent it out to me. I pay taxes. I'm good.

Oh, goodness. Mr. Van Warmer.

Through you, Mr. Chair. Similar to what we did with the HVAC grant, is there a possibility of putting an income maximum on this? If you make more than X amount, you wouldn't qualify. I think this could be a benefit for lower income households. I would like to possibly see something on there if that would not exclude us from the grant.

Through you, I don't believe so. Those parameters are not on there. They do ask how you intend to give out these free lessons if you were to get the grant. So I did talk to the mayor and we thought a random way would go. We can change that again. We have not applied yet, you know, so that answer is not set in stone. We did talk about the income thing and then that would just, we would just have to verify that some way, right? Our office would have to verify what the income was. So we are... obviously we can change that.

Would we possibly scare away some people if we put an income, you know what I'm saying, people that don't, if it's known that this is for low income only, would we get some people that not apply out of something? Does that make sense what I'm saying?

Through you. Are you saying if they didn't want to give us their income?

Yes, potentially.

Through you, I guess it could. I don't know that.

Let me call on the mayor, please.

Yeah, Mr. Chairman, I don't believe we can put a financial parameter on this particular grant. Understood. I don't think we can bookend this based on what we saw in the grant. I think that's the reason why we went away from the... The income level, I appreciate what Councilman Van Warmer said. There might be another way we can look at this to provide other grants for that. But for this particular grant, I don't think we can put bookends on it.

Understood. Thank you. Mr. Snyder.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, through you. By the way, on that last topic, would that create a lot of extra work on your department's end if they had to track people's incomes?

Through you. I mean, yeah, it would be another administrative function that we would have to do, and we would have to decide how or what... You know, are we asking for pay stubs? Are we asking if they've been approved for another, you know what I mean, service? There are different ways that we can do it. It would just be deciding what would be the best and easiest for everybody, you know, also for the person applying.

Thank you. Through you, that wasn't my original question. I just piggybacked off the last question that was brought up. On the 652 or whatever they were, 650 swim lessons, do you know how many were out of residency or residency? Do you happen to know? Through you, Chair.

Not off the top of my head. I can get that for you and I can bring that back to council. I figured I was going to come to the council meeting for this and give an update about summer anyways, but I don't know that off the top of my head.

Why not? I'm just kidding. Thank you.

I should.

Any additional questions from the committee? I'm sorry, Mr. Oswald.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm not on the committee. I am 100% for having everybody learn how to swim. I grew up learning how to swim, especially kids for drowning and things. I was growing up in a YMCA. We were on the swim team and stuff, and we taught classes. And we tried to do that, so volunteered. Now, who teaches a class? Do they have to have a background? Do they go through schooling? Or do you get volunteers for some of these swim clubs and things like that to teach these kids? Thank you.

Through you, Chair. So we have instructors that we hire through the city. So to be an instructor, you do not need to be a lifeguard. You have to know how to swim and keep yourself afloat. We do put them through training. We have, I wanna say, three days of training, and then they're actually with a returning instructor for the first session, and then they're put on their own for the next two sessions throughout the summer. They are paid people. We have a junior instructor program, which are under 15 that we're not able to hire yet because of their age, and those are volunteers. So they're some of our better swimmers. Maybe they're on the swim team, but they do volunteer their time to help out with some of our bigger classes to keep our ratios down.

Thank you. Any additional questions? If not, I'll read the committee report. We have considered the matter of applying for a step into swim grant for swim lessons for the 2027 season. An ordinance authorizing the mayor to apply for and accept if offered the said grant. Emergency clause is requested for grant deadline. Can I get a motion? So moved.

Second.

Motion's been made, properly seconded. Question's been called. All in favor use the voting sign aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carried. Next item on the agenda is number five, the matter of, oops, I'm sorry, I got ahead of. Yes. Number five, the matter of authorizing delinquent stormwater utility fees past 180 days to be certified to the Lorain County Auditor's Office. Engineer Schneider.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I don't know how many of you had the list in front of you, but it's about 236 pages for stormwater collection, totaling about 159,000. We're looking to go and submit this off to the tax duplicates just to update council on this as well. Utilities as well as IT and engineers are actually looking for a way to hopefully in the future switch this over to the water bill so we don't have this issue. It's just a matter of working off the logistics as far as everything goes because it's, It is a little complicated, but that is the plan if we can. But at this time, we need this pass as emergency as well so that we can get it on the tax duplicate. This is similar to your taxes. You always pay this in arrears. So it's one of those things that people move out, they didn't know they owed it. And therefore it sometimes ends up in limbo or on the next property. So.

Mr. Schneider. Thank you, Mr. Chair, through you. I am highly in favor of incorporating this into the water bill. I've been on this list once before too. because it's such a small bill that you forget that it exists and you're so used to everything being bundled with your city services that you just don't think to pay it separately. So I got on the auto pay, so that never happened again, but confessing that. But I am glad to hear that you're looking at potentially incorporating that into the water bill. Thank you.

Mrs. Davis. And through you, Chair, with this also, then they give you a chance to pay $7 and some cents a month a 795 when it should just be totally paid a third of 180. Instead of dividing it up into a monthly payment, I never got that to understand. Instead, you know, making resident just pay, don't give them a chance to pay 795. You pay the third of 180. Simple as that.

Okay. Are there any additional comments or questions? If not, I'll read the committee report. We have considered the matter of delinquent stormwater utility charges. Excuse me. A resolution authorizing said delinquent charges to be certified to the Lorain County Auditor's Office as per the attached list, not to exceed $159,472.44. Emergency clause is requested due to filing deadline. Can I get a motion?

So moved. Second.

Motion's been made and properly seconded. Question? Question's been called. All in favor use the voting sign aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carried. Next item on the agenda, number six, the matter of levying the final assessments for the replacement of private sewer services. Engineer Schneider.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As council is aware, the city of Elyria has a program where we fund lateral replacement up to $10,000 per house if they need it. This amount then is certified to the property owner who takes out the loan, 0% interest loan to their taxes. And this is one of those things that also that It's part of our consent decree, so it's one of those things we're required to do. How we do it is up to us still, but overall, looks like nine people last year utilized this service. It's a good service to have, and I believe a lot of communities are copying off of us now.

Any questions for Engineer Schneider? If not, oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Schneider.

Through you, Mr. Chair, real quick. This is not forgivable, right? It's always six is a lien on the proper year as it come off. I get confused sometimes with community development stuff.

Yes, this is not forgivable.

Thank you.

Any additional questions? If not, I'll read the committee report. We have considered the matter of levying the final assessments for the replacement of private sewer services. A resolution authorizing the said charges to be assessed to the Lorain County Auditor's Office as per the attached list. Emergency clause is requested due to filing deadline. Can I get a motion, please? So moved. Second. Motion's been made and properly seconded. Question. Question's been called. All in favor use the voting sign aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carried. Next item on the agenda is number seven, the matter of levying the final assessments for the replacement of private water services. Engineer Schneider.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Similar to the sewer program, we have a water program as well. Last year, it looks like only two people took out the loans for this program. This program does charge a small interest rate as it was passed by council that way. And I can only assume that maybe with some of the the lead service line replacement that we're doing out there. Maybe we're taking care of some of the other bad areas and it's reducing down further and further. But at this time, we have two people that have taken out the program and we'd like to move forward with finalizing this paperwork.

Okay. Are there any questions from the committee? If not, I'll read the committee report. We have considered the matter of levying the final assessments for the replacement of private water services. A resolution authorizing the said charges to be assessed to the Lorain County Auditor's Office as per the attached list. Emergency clause is requested due to filing deadline. Can I get a motion? So moved.

Second.

Motion's been made and properly seconded. Question. Question's been called. All in favor use the voting sign aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carried. Next item on the agenda is the matter of submitting applications and accepting, if offered, Victims of Crime Act Grant and State Victims Assistance Act for the Victims Assistance Program. Law Director.

Yes, the City Law Department is requesting that the submit applications to the Office of the Attorney General, State of Ohio, and accepting if offered a Victims of Crime Act grant and a Victims of State Assistance Act grant for Victims Assistance Program. This is administered by the Elyria City Law Director's Office. These grants are used for the victim advocate salary training and equipment emergency clauses requested due to application deadline.

Thank you. Any questions? If not, I'll read the committee report. One second.

Number eight. She said emergency or problem?

Emergency. Emergency. We have considered the matter of the 2026-2027 Victims of Crime Act Grant, VOCA, and State Victims Assistance ACT Grant, SVAA, an ordinance authorizing the law director's office to submit applications to the Office of the Ohio Attorney General and to accept, if offered, the said grants. Emergency clause is requested. Can I get a motion?

So moved.

Motion's been made and properly seconded.

Question.

Question's been called. All in favor use the voting sign aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carried. Next item on the agenda is number nine, the matter of selling a vacant city-owned parcel on Ford Road to the adjoining property owners at 2001 Ford Road. This was tabled on July 13th. Mr. Craig, Attorney Craig, how are you, sir?

Good evening, Mr. Chairman. I'm fine. How about yourself? Good. So this was tabled by the director previously for some more input from the engineering department. I did have a conversation with Engineer Schneider. Engineer Schneider, do you want to tell him what your concerns are about that Ford Road parcel?

Thank you, Chair.

The only concern I had was the fact that it was on the hillside over there. Largely, the land is what I would think is being undevelopable land, and more importantly, I didn't want to see someone come in there and clear-cut the hillside, which could lead to erosion issues further for the area. So that was the only concern I had, and I believe Mr. Craig was going to work that out with the property owner.

Okay, if this is the parcel that we repaired maybe four years ago, six years ago, maybe?

I don't know. No, this is the area behind the old Toys R Us, more so, just south of that first house at the curve there.

Okay, all right. Yeah, if you could address that, please.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, this is the property. When you come up into the residential area on Ford Road, it's the first parcel on where the split is between Ford Road and Midway Boulevard. So the first house there that's got the big tree that's down? Yes. Those are the owners that want to buy the parcel immediately, too. If you're looking at it, it's to the right. And so they just want to look at having that piece of property as a buffer to their land. And to address the engineer's comments, we asked them if they would allow us to put a restriction in the deed to allow the city to have access in the event that we needed to do work over there for slope stabilization. And they're amenable to that, so we're working on that language.

Very good, thank you.

Mr. Schneider. Thank you, Mr. Chair, through you. That was actually one of my questions I had for Mr. Craig. But the second question I have may be more directed towards Engineer Schneider. If that section of Ford Road technically doesn't have any residences or... technical driveways other than to the back of Planet Fitness. So if we were ever in the future deemed to vacate the road portion for road use, does this prevent us from doing so because we'd have a private owner on that stretch of property?

No. Anytime you vacate, it goes to the neighboring property owners regardless. So half of the road would go toward, let's say, Toys R Us, Old Toys R Us. The other half would go to whoever owns on the other side of the road.

Thank you. This piece of property borders though Cherry Ridge, correct? If you were to go straight down? It actually borders the old Spring Valley. Spring Valley, okay, all right. I'm just trying to think of potential issues. Are there any other questions from the committee? If not, I'll read the committee report. Oh, there it is. OK, the pen is where.

Yes, the pen is where that parcel is up here. So they've got the first residence up here as you go around the bend into the residential area. This is the old Walmart, which is now the auto car parts. And it would be this vacant parcel over here. Okay. All right. And where we're seeing the erosion through the chair, where we're seeing the erosion is down towards the other end by West River Road. But there's no telling what could happen in the future. And again, if we could vacate this road, it would go out to the adjacent adjoining property owners. I don't know that, I'm not an engineer, but I don't know if we're gonna run into erosion issues down there or not. But the owner's intention is just to have it as a buffer area. They have no intention to do any type of improvements.

Okay. Questions? If not, I'll read the committee report. We have considered the matter of selling a vacant city-owned parcel to the adjoining property owners located at 2001 Ford Road, Tom Horstman and Dez Ann Collins. an ordinance authorizing the mayor to enter into agreement to sell the vacant parcel. Emergency clause is not requested in this or is it?

It's not requested.

Okay, thank you. Can I get a motion? So moved.

All right.

Motion's been made and properly seconded. Question. Question's been called. All in favor use the voting sign aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carried. And the final item on the agenda, the matter of amendments to the 2026 permanent appropriations. Did those change tonight during the meeting? Okay.

Yeah, there's three before you, Mr. Chairman. I'm going to add a fourth based on the discussion about the change order of Gulf Road. So in the first one in the general fund in the Joint Economic Development District Income Tax Department, adding 30,000 operating and maintenance for additional reader retainer fees. In the police levy fund, adding $11,250 to operating and maintenance, and that's to appropriate grant monies received from the Mansfield Police Department for computer equipment for the Elyria Police Department. I don't really know the details behind that. And then the third one being adding 700,000 to the 2016 half percent income tax fund capital needs. And what this is for is the underground fuel tanks and pumps at the new public works complex. it was apparently it was not included in the construction bid so the only thing that we can do i mean everything the full 21 million that we borrowed everything's been encumbered or spent with the exception of about 158 860 dollars So what we could do is front the money out of the half percent income tax fund when the five million in one year general obligation bond anticipation notes mature in December, I can bump up the five million to five million seven or six million, depending if we need any more. And then that 700,000 for the pumps will become a long-term liability. paid out of the general bond retirement fund, if you can follow that. So we're just kind of loaning money out of the half percent income tax fund until I can, the notes mature in December, then I can fix it all then. And then we can repay the half percent income tax fund. AND THEN BASED ON OUR DISCUSSION TONIGHT IN THE STATE ISSUE TWO CAPITAL PROJECT FUND GULF ROAD HILLIARD TO VISTA RESERVICING ADDING 23,824 TO CAPITAL OUTLAY AND THAT WOULD BE FOR THE OPWC SHARE OF THE CHANGE ORDER. even though we don't pay the contractor directly, we still have to flow it through our books.

Understood. Any questions for Director Pileski? If not, I'll read the committee report. Yes. We have considered the matter of amendments to the 2026 permanent appropriation and ordinance authorizing to amend the said permanent appropriations as per the attached. Can I get a motion? Second. Motion's been made and properly seconded. Question. Question's been called. All in favor use the voting sign aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. If there is no further business to come before this committee, I accept a motion to adjourn. So moved. Second. Motion's been made and properly seconded. Question's been called. All in favor use the voting sign aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Good night, everyone.

Good night. We don't have a vote.