City Council - Regular Meeting

February 18th council meeting to order with um we have public hearing. department for those that are program. We have three national objectives. We have three national objectives in the city's 5-year consolidated plan. The first is targeted infrastructure in low to moderate income neighborhoods. The second is safe and decent housing by providing housing assistance to low to moderate income households. And then uh supportive services provided to low to moderate income households. The city has not received word yet on its allocation, but last year's allocation was 264,000.

Thank you, Bridget. Anybody from council have any questions? Anybody from the audience? Thank you. Okay. Um, would the clerk rec please? Miss Elco here. Mr. Clapper here. Mr. Dger here. Mr. Hook here. Miss Schaeerbish here. Mr. Typton here. Mr. Turner. Mr. Turner's asked to be excused. Move to excuse. Second. All those in favor? I opposed. Thank you. Miss Wallik, Miss Wesley here. Wik, do you have any opening remarks?

Yeah, I'll say the Would you please stand for the 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. At this time, I would be remiss if I did not mention that we have lost two important individuals in our community. Uh, Judge Mark Fankhauser passed away the other day and um, Dr. Jerry Lewis from Kent State University passed away a few days ago. These two men are were very important in our community and um, take a minute moment of silence to remember them, please. Thank you. Happy public comment.

Yes, we have two speakers tonight. Um, first is uh Chris Untrower.

Before you start, I need to read something, please. Although public comment is not required by law, the council has long upheld the practice of inviting citizens to share their remarks. We value and appreciate the contribution of all residents who wish to address matters of public concern. Please be advised that council will not engage in dialogue or debate during this portion of the meeting. As president of council, I reserve the authority to suspend comment that is disruptive, inappropriate, or otherwise inconsistent with the decorum of the proceedings. When approaching the podium, please clearly state your name, your address for the record, and each speaker will be allotted three minutes to present their remarks. And your time is down here. So,

Chris Untrower, my address is 957 Murray Avenue, Revena, Ohio. And I'm here tonight. I want to thank you for the opportunity to speak to you. We're with the Veterans Grave Marker Project. So, what we do is we find veterans graves in local cemeteries that are unmarked. We do the work to um order the VA markers and when they come in, we pay for the installation. We've been lucky to work with your cemetery here in Standing Rock and we've ordered two markers so far. We're well on our way to doing more work, but obviously there's been snow on the ground, so we haven't had a chance to go in and explore much in the county. We're working in 15 cemeteries at this time. We have 130 markers that um have been in the stage and also installed. Um our goal is to make sure that no veterans are forgotten that we make sure that we remember each one of them because this is the last thing we can do for the people who said I will die for this country. The main reason I'm here tonight is to let you know that we're going to be here so if someone in your in your community says what is this lady doing here? You can say she's here to make sure our veterans are taken care of. It's very important for us to do this because people have asked me why hasn't someone done this before and I can't answer that question but I can tell you that we will take care of this. One thing we're looking for in your community is if we can get some volunteers. Maybe you have some genealogy um people that are great at at resourcing or using resources to to find records. We could use them. We could also use any groups. if you have a high school group that wants to go in and walk the cemeteries and help us upgrade um the find a grave app and they can help us so we can get that part of it done and then I'll work with the list in the cemetery and that's going to tell us where your unmarked veterans are. I guarantee you after working with Maple Grove and Revena I know that there are so many that have been in unmarked graves we found a number of Civil War veterans who died back in the mid 1860s that haven't had a flag on their grave on Memorial Day. there's been nothing to acknowledge their service. This is an

injustice to them and we really need to work at this. So again, I appreciate you h letting me come in tonight and address you. Um I know that there was a flyer that was put out to each one of you. So please, if you have anyone you can think of that could be helpful to us, have them reach out to me. My number's on there. We'll be more than happy to to work with them and get them trained and and have them help with the project. One other thing is we're going to be having a fundraiser um in your community at the American Legion in Kent on May 2nd and that's going to be uh a a music event and it's all to benefit the Veterans Gray Market Project. Again, if you'd like tickets, you can call me there. The number's there, but I appreciate you allowing me to be here today and thank you.

Thank you. And may I suggest you get in touch with the Kent Historical Society? I know they have quite a bit of information there. I would be happy to. Thank you. All right. Next is Rich Hager. Rich, your name. Yeah, we have your name, your address, please.

Yes. 5873 Horning Road. What is a crisis? A crisis is an unexpected event that can lead to a dangerous situation for individuals, communities, or the environment at large. be defined as a disruption in a person's normal functioning that can't be resolved with their usual problem solving skills. They are characterized by intense anxiety, confusion, and a need for immediate critical decision making. Ladies and gentlemen of the council, I am in a crisis. My well went out on January 26th. It's been 23 days since I've had running water in my home. Since then, I've reached out to Kent Engineering and recently to the mayor and to others at Kent, calling and emailing every other day with vastly delayed responses and sometimes no response at all to my questions. To address a crisis, immediate action is required to address that crisis. I've been told that my application for tapping into Kent's water supply won't be addressed until mid-March. I ask all of you to please take immediate action. I have a wife. I have two kids under the age of 5 years old. When my daughter asks for a bath and then says, "Uh-oh, water broken. Daddy, fix it." I can't explain to her why we don't have water and why I can't fix it. A crisis requires immediate action. Imagine if we treated fires in this regard or a dangerous domestic dispute in the same way. Fill out a form and we'll get back to your decision in a few weeks. Rules, procedures, standards, whatever it is are helpful when there is a status quo, when there isn't an emergency, when

there isn't a crisis. Not having access to running water does not require these procedures and rules in this way. I ask you again, ladies and gentlemen of the council, please take immediate action on the crisis that my family is facing. Hold an emergency meeting. Hold a crisis meeting. Create a new board. Whatever you have to do, please. My family needs your help. You hold the power to not only approve me tapping into Kent city water supply, which I've lived in Kent since 2010, but you also have the power to do this in a timely manner before the middle of March. So once again, please I need your help. Please approve this. Please do whatever you can to prove me tapping in and so I can get my family some water. Thank you.

Thank you. written communication. On January 26, 2026, the agenda for the February 3rd planning commission was received and posted in the foyer of city hall. Between January 27th and February 2nd, the clerk's office was CCed on multiple emails between Rick Hoxley and Bridget Susil regarding snow removal efforts in the city. These were shared with council. Between February 2nd and 4th, the clerk's office was CCed on multiple emails between concerned residents of the Forest Lake subdivision and Bridget Susil regarding the agricultural district application at 100 Johnson Road. These were shared with council. On February 2nd, 2026, an email from Lynn Harvey of the Kent Historical Society was shared with the clerk's office requesting that the building at 237 East Main be designated a local historic building. This email was shared with council on February 4th, 2026. The January minutes and February agenda for the Standing Rock Cemetery Board of Trustees meetings were received and posted online. Received after agenda notification and email from Rick Hoxley on February 17th regarding ICE and a suggestion to pass a resolution regarding immigr immigration enforcement. This email was shared with council. Thank you. second by Tracy. All those in favor? Oh, Dave, do you have anything to add? The city manager's report. Okay.

Okay. I was just going to say we did get the application for the uh Franklin Township resident and any time for us to extend water out in the Franklin Township one, we got to make sure it's there. Um the application, he just pulled it up, came in February 10th and Jim has already talked to me and he's got it on the agenda. Now, um it's, you know, I suppose if you felt a sense of urgency, you could make a motion to approve it tonight and skip the council meeting discussion. I I tried to see if Jim had any concerns. We don't believe we have any concerns. The water line is out there. There is a process, but like you said, if there's an emergency, if you want to take that motion, uh move it tonight. I don't think that's going to be a problem.

That's all I had. Do we want to end? Let's Let's Well, let's do it now. Well, you you could add it to Dave's Dave's communication. Just amend it. Yeah. Okay. I'll move it one through 12 mission board have added with the addition at city uh connect city water to 5873 Horning Road. Second right address 5873. Okay. Okay. You second it. Heidi, any discussion? All All those in favor? I

post. Thank you for coming. Okay. Sent agenda. That going to be part of the consent agenda. My mic isn't working. So, you got Sorry, I didn't hear you at all. Yeah, my mic isn't working, so you have to bear with me. Can we split out the February 4th meeting minutes, please? Okay.

The consent agenda includes improve approval of the January regular council meeting minutes. Approval of the of both the meetings on the Did you want to remove both of the meetings?

Okay. Approval of the January regular council meeting minutes. Draft 202611, an ordinance authorizing the finance director upon the issuance of a certificate of availability of funds to pay certain purchase orders made that exceed $3,000 and declaring an emergency. Draft 202612, an ordinance amending ordinance 202511, the current appropriation ordinance, passed December 17, 2025, so as to adjust appropriations, transfers, and advances from the various funds of the city of Kent to individual accounts for the current expenses of the city for the fiscal year ending December 31st, 2026, and declaring an emergency. Draft 202613, an ordinance affirming the Kent Design and Preservation Committee's designation of the Kent Historical Society building located at 237 East Main Street as a local historic property and declaring an emergency. 202614, an ordinance authorizing the city manager or his designate to enter into an acquisition assistance agreement with Cop and Machine for the purchase and future development of the 200 West William Street property and declaring an emergency. RF 202615, an ordinance authorizing the city manager or is designated to enter into an amendment of the dual use cannabis operating agreement between the city of Kent and Slightly Toasted LLC DBA Bliss, Ohio to modify its operating hours in accordance with the Ohio Administrative Code and declaring an emergency. Draft 202616, an ordinance authorizing the city of Kent Service Department to apply for grant funds from the Ohio Department Transportation in the amount of $800,000 and to accept the grant if awarded with corresponding appropriation of funds and declaring an emergency.

Move suspension. Mr. Clapper, yes. Mr. Drager, yes. Mr. Hook, yes. Miss Schaefer Bish, yes. Mr. Typton, yes. Miss Wallik, yes. Miss Wesley, yes. Miss Selco, yes. Adoption. Second. Uh, Mr. Drager, yes. Mr. Hook, yes. Miss Schaerbish, yes. Mr. Typton, yes. Miss Wallik, yes. Miss Wesley, yes. Miss Silka, yes. Mr. Clapper, yes. Consent agenda passes.

So we need a motion for the February 4th minutes. So moved. Second. Okay. All those in favor? I Iostain one abstension that all. Okay. All right. Standing committees and legislation. Committees of the whole, not no business. Community development, no business. Finance committee, no business. Health and safety, no business. Land use committee. Mr. Clapper.

Yep. Uh, will the clerk read draft 202617? 202617, a resolution rejecting the application of Eric Cole/Cobacres LLC for placement of property in an agricultural district pursuant to Ohio Revised Code Chapter 929 and declaring an emergency. Move suspension. Second suspension. Please call the roll for suspension. Mr. Hook, yes. Miss Schaefer Bish. Yes. Mr. Typton, yes. Miss Wallik, yes. Miss Wesley, yes. Miss Selco, yes. Mr. Clapper, yes. Mr. Drager, yes.

Move an option. Second. Miss Schaefer Bish. Yes. Mr. Typton, yes. Miss Wallik, yes. Miss Wesley, yes. Miss Selco, yes. Mr. Clapper, yes. Mr. Drager, yes. Mr. Hook, yes. Draft 202617 passes. Not no business for recent sidewalk. Um, is there any unfinished business we need to discuss? Any new business from council? Council members comments have

Yeah, I'm not raising this as a new business or an old business because this has been somewhat established, but it's just a comment. um to property owners in our community. Um we had a heck of a snowstorm and then it was cold and it didn't melt for a very long time and um we took a walk the other day. Uh and most of the sidewalks were passable. So that was good to see. But there were some that were not and it was really sad to see um that not everybody participates in removing snow and ice from sidewalks. um even though it's really the right thing for people to do for them their neighbors. We live in a neighborhood with a lot of dog walkers. I know that the city was overwhelmed with uh uh taking care of the state route sidewalks um and that equipment was broken. Uh but we really need to get a whole uh we really need to do our part as a city to model the right thing to do and also maybe we need to put our heads together to think of some ways that we can uh honor people that really do the sidewalks and and sometimes for the entire block

which I have observed as well. Um, I'm speaking from somebody who probably has the longest sidewalks in the city uh for a for a private uh residence. So, um, it is it it's it's it's something that, you know, it's a challenge to do, but it's really well worth it for the benefit for the good of the the whole. Thank you. Further,

actually, I want to I want to piggy back on top of yours. Um, I work on the east side of Kent and we do need some type of campaign or I don't more communication because those university students. I felt so bad for them. I mean, a lot of them don't have boots and you know, that's another discussion, but they're walking through with their little Nikes on that are this big or their Uggs with no backs through

I mean actual snow piles. So, we do need to put our heads together and come up with a campaign of some sort to try to encourage the the shoveling of walks, even if it might not belong to you because it's the right thing to do for not just for our students, but we have o uh older people, younger people, dog walkers on that side. and and they were going through a path that the students and other walkers made which was this big and and full of ice. So, we do need to do something some type of campaign as a council to to encourage more um community service, let's say, to clear to clear what what is in front of you and what helps our community members too. Thank you.

I don't have the pending list from I think it's an ongoing ongoing.

Any further comments from council? All right, mayor's report. I've been tr I truly have enjoyed this past month and would like to share a few highlights. Uh we welcomed a field trip from Ken State's Child Development Center where I had the opportunity to speak with Mrs. Knap's class uh of uh four, five, and six year olds, which was very very uh enjoyable. Uh they were great kids to work with. uh I had the opportunity to uh talk with them about they're creating Lego uh cities and they wanted to know what kind of um functions or what kind of services the cities have. So we talked about that and they've invited me to come and look at their cities when they're done and I'm very excited to do that as well. Uh the students toured city hall and met city manager and the clerk of council and the economic development director and it was a very very enjoyable day. Also met with family and children first alongside health director Joan Sidell on on February 11 to discuss ongoing community initiatives and additionally I attended the fire and police awards hosted by the American Legion. I was very proud to represent the city and congratulate the well-deserving recipients for their service and their dedication. Looking ahead, I will be attending a safety meeting tomorrow with Ken State University along with the police chief and the fire chief and to and city manager and uh to continue our collaboration collaborative efforts to keep our communities safe. So that's all I have. that initially that one behind us because it was

it's off the record because we're journing. Um my neighbor and I live on Johnson Road and she saw this item 3.2.3 2.3 about the uh application at 100 Johnson Road and what is that