Council - Regular Meeting

So I'm assuming something's not working right. Oh, Barb's right there.

It wasn't working. It wasn't working? No.

So were you going to watch it online and it didn't work so you came?

Yeah. So if it's back on, I'm going to go back to it. Okay.

I don't think it's back on. Oh, no, it is. Heather said it is.

You're good then. It's back on.

Lucas had to come save the day.

Oh my God, I forgot to bring a pen.

Does John have a pen?

Where do you get those pens from?

Kelly Buckle's office. I like these kinds.

I snipe one of those, I think. That one time. All right, we good, Heather?

All right, we're going to call the meeting to order.

Heather, if you take a roll, please.

Morgan Johnson, first ward. Here. Lucas Stansbury, second ward. Present. John Lee, third ward. Darrell Westlaw, fourth ward. Here. We have a quorum, Mr. Mayor.

All right, everybody please rise for prayer, and I pledge allegiance. We ask that you be with us tonight. Help us do what is best for this city. Amen.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

I have a motion and acceptance of the agenda.

Mr. Mayor, I move that we accept the agenda as presented.

I think weren't you getting rid of item A?

Hold on a second. I'm going to make a motion to remove item A from regular business.

Hey, Morgan, while you're at it, will you change D to a resolution instead of ordinance?

B?

D. To a resolution?

Should you get the resolution over here. Removing a and changing D to resolution from ordinance. No.

Make a motion.

You might wait for Heather because she's going to write or she's keeping minutes to a resolution.

Yeah.

I second it.

Okay, all in favor? Aye. Opposed? Okay, motion passed. We have a motion to accept the consent agenda.

Mr. Mayor, make a motion that we accept the consent agenda as presented.

Before we do that, I don't think we passed the agenda.

We got to do the agenda first.

Oh, yeah, we did not do that.

Mr. Mayor, make a motion to accept the agenda as presented.

Second. Okay. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passed.

The mayor makes a motion that we approve the consent agenda as presented.

Second. All in favor? Aye.

Opposed? Motion passed.

I'm sorry, that was my job.

All right, so now we're going to move on to, excuse me, item B, executive session for an elected personnel to discuss employee discipline.

Mr. Mayor, I make a motion. We go into executive session for non-elected personnel to discuss employee discipline. Recommend 10-minute session to include mayor, council, city attorney, city administrator, and fire chief.

The fire chief isn't here.

All in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? Okay, motion passed.

. . . . . . . . . . By July 1st, they'll hold them. They really haven't started. Here you go. Here today. I'll hold them.

All right, let's call the meeting back to order.

I know. Daryl, I'm texting you. I realized that as soon as we came back in. Oh my gosh.

Mr. Mayor, I make a motion that we terminate part-time firefighter Andy O'Connell due to, what's the right time to say, dereliction of duty.

Second. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Okay, motion passed. Moving on to item C, discuss police department purchase of used car.

Hello, I've recently been offered a 2013 Ford Explorer. It's right out of 100,000 miles. It was previously... Owned by Derby Police Department for pretty much its entire life. Had it looked over, we only noticed one issue. The seller's willing to drop the price to make up for the cost so we can get those fixed and not be out any more money. It already has all the wiring ran in it. It has lights hooked up to it. It doesn't have an overhead, but we have an extra we can put on that. It has the back seats replaced with the hard plastic so they're easy to clean. I think it's just a really good deal, hard to pass up at this time. Hopefully one day it'll be a patrol car. Yeah, we have almost all the equipment we need for it. We just have to have it hooked up. I think altogether our estimate is about 1,000 to 1,500 altogether into it. We'd have someone professionally put everything together. We just need the overhead lights put on it and order a radio, and it'll be ready to go. It'll be a backup. Our two cars we have now are constantly rotating through the shop, so hoping to release some of that stress on them.

What was the cost?

It's been lowered to $3,600. It's a really good deal. That's what I said. That's a really, really good deal.

He's got it and drove it and looked at it and all that stuff, too.

Yeah, the original price he had on was $4,200 and he dropped it to $3,600. So we can get the, it just needs a line and new tires to make up for the damage done to him.

So most it would be, by my calculations, $5,100 with $1,500 to put in it?

That's our rough guess, yes.

I actually don't even think we need a motion since it's in my spend authority. But since he was buying a car, we wanted to let you guys know. Right.

Yeah.

So if you guys are fine with it, we'll just do it. Yep. All right.

Thanks. Thank you. Thank you. All right. I'll move on to item D. Consider a resolution for extended alcohol sales.

Well, we didn't realize that the state had passed a law regarding alcohol, alcohol sales from July 11th to June 11th to July 19th for.

The soccer games, the World Cup, it's not soccer football.

But the convenience stores. The convenience stores had been calling Heather and asking I think that was last week So we decided to put it on the agenda and I had originally looked at City of Pittsburgh's They had an ordinance you can either opt in or out and it was really Detailed obviously they have a lot more bars and address caterers and all that stuff So I found this one from the City of Merriam and just converted it for Gerard. Obviously, we won't be June 11th, but June today till July 19th

What are the extended hours?

6 a.m. to 5 a.m.

Round the clock.

Minus an hour, right? Minus an hour. Minus an hour.

Jesse, you have any problem with the extended liquor sales? I do not. I'm just thinking of some dude at 4 a.m. that doesn't need another one. Stop and get him some more.

That's against the law to drive and drink. They'd be walking up there to get it Hey Steve in this resolution, do you think I should have put June 15th on that?

Well, I did put the I put June 15th down in the section one, but I kept the top part what the State statute said okay when i first did it i thought it sounded correct and then to do the june 15th at the bottom but now that i'm looking at it questioning myself i think it's probably fine okay the only place i think we have actually is pete's what you said it's called like yeah they've called a few times But, I mean, they probably are trying to do it across the board, I'm assuming. I didn't hear about it until Pete's called. I don't think any of us did. Nope, did not.

You have to make a motion to opt in. Resolution, okay. That's what I thought.

You've got to pass it if you're going to do it or you're not going to do it.

Mr. Mayor, make a motion that we pass a resolution for extended alcohol sales.

That's resolution number 2026-10.

That would be resolution 2026-10. Second.

All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Okay, motion passed. Oh, okay.

All right, move on to item E, discuss square bump-outs.

All right, so if you guys want to go to, I don't know how many of you guys saw this, because I didn't do this until this afternoon. If you go to regular on... Dropbox and go down to Square. There's some information on there we'll talk through. All right, so I met with a few businesses around the Square, some of them I haven't been able to get ahold of. The ones I talked to wanted a larger rock than the River Rock, ideally. They also didn't want any more benches put up around the square. So these are some options I called this morning. I thought they'd get back, and usually they get back with you in a couple hours. They did not. These are some options, the top three, that are pretty big. Pretty good size, like the biggest ones they have. So they wouldn't move around as much as that river rock, and it'd be less likely, I think, to cause a mess. And more likely, whatever we use up there, we're probably going to use around City Hall also. The river rocks $55 a ton, and it's going to cost around $9,500-ish to bring it in just through the square. But we don't know what the other ones will cost?

We don't know what the other ones will cost because they didn't get back.

Usually they get back with you within a couple hours, and they did not. um so if the other ones are we'll have to look at pricing and then some of this we've already gone over the this is messed up these two pots were the ones we talked about a month or two i don't know what it was a month or so ago um they are one of them's 37 inches wide they're 20 inches tall the other one's 48 inches wide 24 inches tall and the smaller one weighs 600 pounds and the other one weighs 1200 And then, so once you get them there, people aren't going to be able to pick them up and do anything. I mean, I guess they could do other stuff to them, but more than likely, nothing's going to happen. Because you can use them as barricades, like you don't want people getting in places. It says in there you can use that. And those are the prices. And then there's different options with colors and stuff. In my opinion, we need around $10,000. think at least go around the end to put two on every corner on the inside of the square and then on the outside i think there's enough stuff if we we're going to leave those square brick um flower beddy things and then maybe put a couple or two down here on the northeast corner um you guys have any opinions on that no those photos

I just came off their website. You're saying of any of them?

As far as rock, I prefer the Colorado salt and pepper. Or pots, planters, whatever you call them. I really don't care one way or the other.

Okay. Either one is fine with me. Yeah.

That's my opinion.

um are you still gonna put and whatever you were talking about some kind of like adhesive in the rock or something oh and then when i was talking to them we can either put the glue maybe on top i forgot to look that up actually but there's this polyurethane stuff but it's very expensive you can mix in like a cement grinder thing and it's pretty much like cement like they do floors yes but i think that would cost he said it was very expensive and i didn't know you could even do that So I don't know if that's really an option anyways, because I think it would cost a small fortune. Do what? Well, the spray they do, but the polyurethane they do.

Cliff, is that not how you did the electric department floors?

It happens.

Epoxy or? Oh, okay.

It's all kind of close, right? I think so. I don't know. It wasn't super expensive, was it, Cliff?

I forgot to look that up.

so how big how many square feet was that you know wrong places we'll put like a quick creep powder down and wet it down and let it solid up and then put the rock on top of it i keep squeezing coming up too or bentonite a lot cheaper

We just need to get some more numbers, do you think, on their options?

Maybe what if I don't even know if we ought to do that? Oh, so that costs that's at $10,000 on that, probably. That's not doable. The cement. What else did you say?

What? Either by Quikri or midnight.

What's midnight?

It's a powder. After it gets wet, it turns hard. It's not as hard as concrete, but it'll keep the weeds from coming up.

It's pretty cheap. We use it in ponds, sewage ponds when you build them to keep the water. I think it's fairly cheap to get. Okay.

You guys have an opinion on the rock? The Colorado?

Like what Daryl said.

majority about movement right yeah because i think the bigger it is like i have this i think 2.5 this looks like what i have in my and that stuff doesn't move yeah it's a pain that we're gonna shovel but all right Painting area shovel. Alright, so we had some prices on that, but more likely that rock up there not counting this is going to be it's going to be around $10,000, but this is that's the cheapest thing. The cement was $30,000 a corner taking amounts $30,000 a corner. This is the cheapest way and if we there's not a lot of stuff in it, you can just if we do that and then you spray it, it should be easy to take care of. Then up here, if you scroll down, this is all messed up. I don't know what happened. Long City Hall, the north side over here, they took all the box, woodish things out. So we're just gonna put rock over there. And then the south side over here, put rock and some kind of plants like those pictures that are on there. And then the front where that tree is, I think we're just gonna put rock. because if you put plants in and they're still alive and that tree gets big, they're all going to die because they're not going to get any sun. So we'll have to have some kind of edging around that. And then I think up at the front, if we use railroad ties, they'll be cheap. They'll be there forever. They're not going anywhere. It'll cost like $75. You need like three of them, I think, if I measure correctly this morning with a tape measure. And then the bottom part of the building, the cement, I guess we could say, we might have to get some estimates on that because that's all the paint's peeling off of it. So might as well, you know, what the price is and where we're at with money. I might have to wait, but... so you guys have any questions are you good with us kind of go ahead and doing that it's nice because the goal was to have all this done by fall festival so we saw a few months but that was kind of the goal so is city doing the work yeah and then like he he said he's got they're gonna have to go in and dig out a bunch of that dirt to lower the dirt down where it'll be a couple inches up here and up there so but if we're doing this you'll be able to take all that water stuff out right Theoretically.

Or leave it.

Or leave it. Whatever's easier, let's put it that way.

Yeah, whatever's easier. Yeah. We'll just terminate the water before it gets there and leave the line.

Yeah.

Unless they're in the way and they hang them out.

Hang them out. And were the fire hydrants, were those getting, are they part of the water project, right?

Yeah. Both of them? I wouldn't do those until they get that line.

Is that both of them? Or is there one in every corner? I can't remember.

I think there's one on every corner, and they're going to do all of them.

All of them? Okay.

Because they're all on cast iron. All right. Okay.

We'll have to look at that then. I didn't even think about that until just now. All right.

So, Nick? No. The only question I have. is if we're going to do the plan or do we have a plan going forward how to keep them looking nice? If we're going to use real vegetation?

Yes and no. I was going to go around and see if some of the businesses were doing the ones that are in front of them. And then the brick ones put perennials in them. Usually they're, once they get established, ideally they don't die. You still got to maintain them, but they're not going to, they're less, you don't have to water them every day. so that the watering the flowers i don't know we haven't i don't know what you do with that yeah in july yeah you're gonna have to water them every day yeah and they don't really need anything added to their list so i don't know but the ones around the square there's no businesses there either and that's where most of them are going to be so

So I don't know if we give them an option, like the businesses that they want to do a planner or not. We could keep it. We do something different. Yeah.

Yeah. Cause another option that I was told was doing some kind of cement curbing on the ground, making like small ones, like small like beds on the ground that are about the same size as these. And you can put annuals in them or perennials. Sorry. But I don't know, like, these are going to be here forever. I mean, yeah, they're kind of pricey, and the shipping's like $2,300 or something for all of them, but... You're saying for the... The shipping costs more than the planners do.

But you're saying for the forever around the square unit? Or here at the...

I mean, like, no, like at the... I mean, they're going to... Once these... But here, I don't see anybody moving those unless they... No, I don't either.

I just wonder about the vegetation. Yeah, I don't know.

That's going to be... Because we've been throwing that around... But I don't know what to do with that. Because if you try to get groups to do it, then they do it for a couple years, like what happened up there, and then they fall apart or whatever. I don't want to say disintegrate. That's not the right word. Disband? I don't know.

Lose interest.

Lose interest. Yeah, I don't know. So that's one thing I have not figured out yet, or we have not figured out yet. Thank you, statues.

I don't know. Of all of our department heads. Yeah, there you go. No. Statues of all the former mayors.

Are you going to pose for a statue? Are you going to pose for a statue on the corner? He is right now. Yeah.

We have pictures of him.

Oh, that's true. We can just use that, yeah. We'll make head shots like that. It's a football of fame. You have the bus up everywhere. See him in a man. Yeah, I don't know about the water and that stuff. I have no idea.

Like I said, let's get a better plan and we can talk about it next time around.

We don't have a water truck, right? Or anything like that?

Got a whole bunch of fire trucks that carry water.

Yeah, he left.

It marks outside. He left. He's on the phone right outside the door.

Because I was told they were the ones with the water. Oh, right. They never were. He might have knew you were going to say that. That's what I was thinking. He's like, I'm out. City council member. The truck that carries water. He's got a whole building full of them. Okay, so in two weeks I'll come back with, they'll call me back on the prices on that, and then I'll try to go around to some more businesses and see if they will connect me back with them. to take care of these planters because the other ones i think once they're established the ones that are already there if you put perennials in them all i can say is good luck johann do you care if we move forward with the rock since that's going to be that's going to probably be something we do no matter what yeah we just can't touch the ones that those there's four of them right with the, with the, uh, yeah, we can do everything, but those just don't do the ones that the fire hydrants are in. Right. Right. We can do all the other ones.

Okay. So we can do all of them, but those four. Okay.

What about the other sections of it that don't have fire hydrants? Are they going to get dug up too?

No.

I like the bigger rock. Okay. 1.5 called that. Okay. Small stuff just gets kicked around too much.

All right.

Not if you put that epoxy stuff on it.

Then it's not going anywhere.

They got a spray that people use at their houses. It's fairly reasonably priced. I just don't know how long that lasts.

And I was told if you walk on that a bunch, it tears it up. It's not, like I thought you could like walk over it, but you can't. It's not good for foot traffic. But yeah, we're gonna do that anyway, I think.

Well, how many people walk through the rocks?

I don't have a clue. I wouldn't think very many. I haven't seen very many. That's what's going on up there. I haven't seen very many people walking up there. And some of the businesses wanted the benches removed in front of their buildings also. I told you that. They want the benches gone? Yeah. They don't want people in front of their businesses and they're scared they might get thrown through their windows.

There might be a riot here someday.

Aren't they bolted down?

That's what I kind of thought. Are they not bolted down? I have no idea. Yeah, they are bolted down.

Oh, then never mind. He probably didn't know that. I didn't know that. I didn't know they were bolted down. So those aren't going anywhere.

They would take them a lot of effort.

Oh, so they're not going. Nobody's going to do that, I would think, unless there's a riot. So... You did miss it.

Well, the baseball team did this morning. These are big flower pots.

We were talking about having something that carried water.

They said the fire truck carries water. It's not very nice water. It's pretty nasty.

It might blast all the flowers off.

I mean, it's a flower pot. All right, dear.

Did you say that again? I'm sorry. What'd you say?

I said, you would think most people would have enough common sense not to blast everything everywhere. But I think no guarantees for everybody.

Okay. Was he looking to possibly putting pavers in there?

Like this one picture.

Jackie and I talked about that.

But I didn't I did not. But we can though. Since you're looking, let's look at that too. Because we were going to look at some options with that. And like, and then eventually if we're going to cement, I was not stenciling stuff in, but whatever, like stamp concrete. And then once it was going to cost $30,000 to do every corner, we're like, yeah, it's out. No, no, it's out. This might not. I don't know. I just heard that was going to be too, but I can look it up. It wouldn't take much time.

All right.

I'll forget.

Table that till next time. Yeah.

All right. just got to write that down i forget to do it all right item f right yep item f approve april 2026 judges report showing total collected of 4 823.13 with a total to the city of 4 376.63

Mr. Mayor approved. Next motion, we approve the April 26th judges report showing total collected 48, 23, 13 with a total of the city of 43, 76, 63. Second.

All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Okay, motion passed. Item G, approve May 2026 judges report.

Mr. Mayor, I move that we approve the May 2026 judge report. Total collected $3,108.46. Total to the city is $3,131.46. Second. All in favor?

Aye. Opposed? Okay, motion passed. Move on to governing body comment. Morgan?

I'd like to thank the city employees and the police department and the fire department for everything they do. I'm excited to see these projects the city has get going. Looks like we're going to see some stuff moving pretty quick with all the pipe and hydrants sitting out there. Summer is getting the full effect now, so make sure everyone is keeping their cars locked and watch out for kiddos playing outside. That's all I have, Mr. Mayor. Okay. Lucas?

Mr. Mayor, I have no comments tonight. Thank you.

Daryl? As usual, I want to thank the employees. office, electric, public works, police department, fire department, for all they do. We've got a big weekend coming up at the golf course. We've got Friday is the Fallen Trojans Tournament where they honor, I think this year there's six or seven honorees for past athletes and students of Girard High School that have passed away. and it's a very good thing. They give away anywhere from, I should say we, anywhere from eight to 12 scholarships each year. So that's on Friday and then Saturday is the big one with the Craig Crispino Memorial Tournament. So there'll be a lot of people in town and hopefully the railroad tracks are fixed by then, they're supposed to be.

And the golf course could stay up until 5 a.m. Go right ahead.

I will not be there. And that's all I have, Mr. Mayor.

All right. I just have one thing here. I want to thank Dennis Everett for buying the pump for the water feature up front and installing it. And then he also fixed the broken light for the flagpole up front.

Thank you, Dennis.

And then also a reminder, there's a budget meeting on June the 22nd at 4 p.m., which is next Monday.

All right. You have a motion to adjourn. Mr. Mayor, I make a motion to adjourn. I second. All in favor? Aye. Opposed?

Okay, motion passed.