City Council - Regular Meeting

Hi, Matt. It's Maureen.

Hey, Maureen. How are you?

Oh, great. I can hear you loud and clear.

That's great.

I cannot see you yet, though.

Let's see here. Let's see. I'm going to stop and start video and see if that helps.

see what you mean about spirit because it was showing up on my end i mean it's preferred that you're able to be seen but i guess more important that you're able to be heard yeah yeah i'm gonna keep working on it here let's see

I think maybe I'll leave and come back real quick and see if that works.

Okay.

Be right back.

Oh, there you are. Good.

I'm here.

OK. Seen and heard.

I tried to blow my background. I don't know if I succeeded.

It just looks kind of like.

Actually, the woodwork.

You have succeeded. Can you hear me, Matt?

That's Tom speaking.

The woodwork kind of looks the same as in the background of the dice. So maybe that works.

Can you hear me, Matt?

Yes. Can you hear me okay?

Yep, I do. Thanks.

Okay. I'll probably be muted most of the time, but I appreciate you helping accommodate this. I know it's just one more thing you have to worry about.

No, thanks for taking time out of your schedule. I know it's hard when you're having to do work, right?

It's not a big deal. Thankfully, there's 10 of us, but most of them are out hiking so it's quieter here and that means less competition for the wi-fi so that's awesome i'm hopeful that i'll actually be able to stay connected

you

OK, it's 630 and all members of the committee are here. I will call the July 20th Public Safety Committee meeting to order. Pursuant to Lakewood Quotified Ordinance 109.01B, Section B, Section 1, as chair, I am calling for this evening's Public Safety Committee to be held partially by video conference. Under Ordinance 109.01, council members participating remotely may not be present for the purpose of voting and determining a quorum. So with that, all members are present. And we have two items on the agenda. The first is approval of the March 9, 2026 Public Safety Committee meeting. Do I have a motion? So moved. Do I have a second?

Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Aye.

Aye.

That motion carries. So the second item on the agenda is a communication from Chief Fairbanks requesting an audience to share an update on the neighborhood paramedic program. I look forward to hearing this update. And so if we don't have any other objection or discussion, I'm ready to turn things over to Chief Fairbanks of Paramedic Harper for their presentation.

Thank you. Good evening, everyone. This is our annual Neighborhood Paramedic Program update. This is something that we've been doing probably the last three to four years, just so we can get in front of the Public Safety Committee and Council to ensure that we explain exactly what the Neighborhood Paramedic Program is up to. And we also like to discuss roadblocks and any pinch points that we found along Along the way, well, Oliver's been out there doing an amazing job. So tonight, Oliver is going to be our key presenter. But we also have Nicole Zierenberg from Human Services. These two have been working pretty well together over the last several months. And then we also have Captain Michael Tripodi from the Fire Department. He is our health and safety officer, but also on the side he is a physician's assistant, and he has been a resource for Oliver while he's been running this program essentially. So without further ado, I will turn it over to Oliver so he can get started with his presentation.

All right. And just a little more, Mike actually works at a mental health facility too. So he can give a little more insight later on here where the issues we're finding of people going to ERs and EDs with mental health problems, getting chewed up and spit out has been a recurrent problem. So he'll shed a little more light on that in a bit here. But you can go to the next slide, please. So since the last year, it's been a very busy year. I partnered with Cleveland Clinic Fairview. They've started doing kind of a pipeline with discharge patients that have chronic conditions, congestive heart failure, COPD, diabetes. So they'll send me referrals to these patients that live within the confines of Lakewood. and send me some information about what they were held with, and then some ideas of what they think will help bridge the gaps in their care when they get back home. So I kind of get a little spiel, and I can go and visit them and see where they're at. And it's been enlightening to see the people that get lost between going to the hospital, coming home, and having nothing to show for it. So it's been super helpful to have them in our back pocket, some of those patients. The Centers is a mental health urgent care we're working with. We would send some of the lower acuity mental health folks there. They would send an Uber out. Instead of having an ambulance take them to the hospital for them having a minor mental health crisis, they would send them to this facility that was kind of a one-stop shop, and it was awesome. They would do same day care. They'd walk in. They'd have a psychiatrist. They'd have case management, pharmacy, everything they needed to do all wrapped up into one and not get in an ER and sit there for eight hours and not get any definitive care. Human Services, Nicole here, she's been super, super helpful. She's managing the 18 to 59 age group that has been underserved, and it's really hard to find resources that are better for them specifically. And then with VA patients, she spent a number of years at the VA, so she's been super helpful navigating these patients' care in the field. With the Cleveland Clinic access, they gave me access to Epic so I can send messages directly to doctors and kind of help them set up patient care appointments, let them know that I visit these patients and kind of help them transition back into the community. I have contractor status with the clinic so I can go to the facilities and visit patients on site while they're still admitted and let them know that they have access to resources here in the community. And I've been having some doctors, nurses, and case managers ride along with me in the field so they can see the patients that we're caring for and witness the roadblocks to care happen live. And it has happened. Every time they ride with me, they'll call nurse triage line. Calls get dropped. They send us to the ER for things that are innocuous that are easily managed in the field. So it's been super helpful to have them watch the things that fall apart fall apart. Next slide. This is a recap of what I said already. There's just a ton of things that get lost when people leave the hospital in the first week or two when all the things, all the resources are getting sent to them. Phones disconnect. People don't answer their phone ever. So they're not getting home care. They're not getting follow-up care. They're not getting transportation. So this has been a really important part, I think, in the last year is helping people connect with the services that are being sent so they have access to that information. I've made an effort to kind of help, this is an effort to prevent people from calling an ambulance, but helping them educate themselves on symptoms and giving them a green, yellow, and red range to know that if we're visiting them and they're at a green, to know that if you're at a yellow, we can manage it at home and not get to a red. And I think it's been an important part of what I'm doing is helping them be more involved in their own care at home. I hope you'll register for my chart, which is one of the more arduous tasks, is helping someone who doesn't know how to use their phone log in 15 different ways with emails and all that. I organize their medications. I use grant money to buy pill organizers to help people get that set up because adherence is incredibly low for people taking a ton of meds. So it's one less step for them at the beginning of the week. Decluttering has been super important for fall prevention, helping people set realistic goals between visits to say, next time I come, I'd like to see your kitchen table clear of things. I'd like to see your bed decluttered. And again, empowering patients to be a little more involved in their own care, because I don't think they have many advocates when they're lost between the cracks there. Next slide. Pain points has been, I can only see so many patients a day, and a lot of these folks need a lot of touch points to handle a lot of their complex needs. Other hospital systems, other than Cleveland Clinic, have been incredibly hard to get into. They don't send referrals. They're not super responsive to emails or phone calls from me. Transportation, universal issue. It's been challenging to make sure people get to appointments that are homebound. A lot of transportation services won't touch patients to help them get downstairs. So again, just another way, it eats up time, but I go to their home and make sure they get down their steps, into the cars, et cetera. PROGRAM EXPANSION CONSTRAINTS, OBVIOUSLY THE FINANCIALS OF IT. IT'S HARD TO REPLICATE WHAT I'M DOING FOR ANOTHER PERSON WITH AN OUTSIDE AGENCY. I HAVE PARAMEDICINE, I KIND OF DO A LITTLE BIT OF SOCIAL WORK, A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING. SO IT'S BEEN CHALLENGING TO to grow with outside agencies that aren't involved in the fire service, too. Mental health follow-up protocol, we really don't have anything standardized to say that if someone's having a mental health crisis, what are the next steps that we can do? They're a hard patient population to get in front of and to contact, unfortunately. And one of the huge ones, hoarding assistance, has just been rampant. I don't know what happened in the last month, but there's been six or seven different hoarding people. And I'm not sure what to do, but we're working on it to get creative and see what we can do. Next slide, please. So mental health calls have been something we've been trying to get a better grasp on. Currently, we did about 300 last year of varying degrees of severity. And like I said before, we were sending people to the centers to kind of get that wraparound care. And those are for folks who are nonviolent, not actively trying to harm themselves or somebody else. And moderate severity was also these folks who are having a crisis, but again, not an immediate risk of violence to anybody else. So it kind of has been a hard... to find a different facility with the same access that doesn't eat up an ambulance and cause this person to sit in the ER for an entire evening and actually get definitive health care. So that's actually, Mike, if you want to chime in here a little bit, if you may, just a little bit of kind of how the process looks right now when we transport mental health folks.

Hear me? So a lot of people have a very poor understanding of what happens to a mental health patient when they get sucked into the emergency system. Unfortunately, it's not a great access to care, but it's built on the principle to protect. the providers, the physicians, the PAs. It all kind of covers all of the malpractice in case the patient leaves the facility and harms himself. So the protection is provider first. And what happens when you enter the emergency room is you can sit eight, 12, 16. Flu season could be two days. They sit and rot in the emergency room under pink slip. with minimal medication adjustment and no therapy, then they get moved to a facility where their pink slip actually starts, and 99% of the time they don't get that information. On any given patient, three to five days is reasonable, but you could disrupt your life for the better part of a week for saying something or feeling a certain way.

Excuse me, Chair. I'm sorry, could you back up again and explain to me what you mean by rotting away in the ER room?

To give you a picture of what happens, if you threaten to harm yourself or you have feelings of harming others and you come into the emergency room, they'll do what's called medical clearance. They do some laboratory workup. They ask you why you're there. And you enter this process called central intake. That's what Cleveland area uses. And it uses all the mental health facilities and it tries to access you care. And it doesn't matter where you go, but they'll say, we can get to them in two days or a day or 18 hours. And the patient will just sit there with no assistance for that amount of time until they can be transferred to whatever facility they're going to. And that time is just lost time. And you can imagine if you're having a mental health crisis that there's no help there. Arguably worse. So a lot of what Oliver's been trying to do is find this spread, this low, medium, high, to find those patients that maybe don't need to go sit in an emergency room and wait and disrupt an entire week of their life to get minimal care. That's not even the beginning of the process. They go to a facility where they sit. They talk to a psychiatrist for a very short amount of time for acute stabilization, some medication adjustment, and then they come up and meet social work. And social work gives them a plan for discharge. And that's really when their foot exits the door. We're talking five to seven days later. That's about when their plan starts. Worst case scenario. I think what we're at is that Oliver, through the centers, which I know there's been some issues there, we're trying to find a solution to a problem for these patients that doesn't end up in disrupting a week of their life and potentially making their mental health crisis worse. Because that's the road that you get on when you call the ambulance and you say, I want to harm myself, or I'm thinking of jumping off a bridge, or something terrible. to yourself, that's the road you walk down, and it's kind of an ugly one. If you do any research on community paramedicine, this started a number of years ago. It started out west, and all of the research on it kind of comes to the conclusion, yeah, it's great, it costs money, it's good for people, but by the way, it doesn't work for mental health. I think that we understand that, but we're trying to find a solution to make that not true for us, if that makes sense. Be happy to expand further if that's not clear.

Thank you. Could you define pink slip?

Sure. Pink slip is when either a police officer, social worker, or a physician feels that you don't have capacity to make decisions for yourself, and they take your rights for 72 hours. That time is not a clock, I've found out. It has a lot to do with the courts being open. It has a lot to do with holidays and whether or not there's a physician or psychiatrist available for evaluation. A lot of times, I was saying worst case scenario, say July 4th is on a Friday. You end up in the emergency room. You sit there until Monday. You don't get transferred until Tuesday. Your 72-hour starts Tuesday. You might not leave until Friday, Saturday. So that's an entire week of your life because I had a bad day. Yeah. Sure.

I would feel like that would discourage people from calling again.

Correct. It does. It definitely does.

Thank you.

Short interjection. This is a This is a great briefing, thank you. I don't want to interrupt the flow. I do want to get a clarification. Are we saying that Lakewood's community paramedic program is primarily or exclusively mental health at this point? Maybe I missed the opening.

No, I would say quite the opposite. There's a wide spectrum of growth there. He does a lot of things for a lot of our elderly people. A lot of assisted living. I would say this is the reason that we're talking about this is because this is where we think we can make a difference where he has not been accessing enough for our residents. Oliver, I don't speak for you. Do you feel that's appropriate? Yep.

I think it's it's kind of that it's built into the system currently. I think that's we're trying to change the paradigm that. These people don't need to be in an ER, as you heard. It's super intrusive, but that's just the way that they get to something. It's hard to get them to the definitive care another way, especially if they're having a crisis. And it's even happened that they call the crisis line, and the crisis line calls 911. So even with the other agencies that are out there, it seems like all roads lead to the emergency room, and we're trying to find the alternate route. Because, again, there's no treatment that happens there. They're just kind of locked away and sequestered until they get to the next stop.

I mean, there are times when somebody may be in the midst of a psychotic episode, and they do need to safely be hospitalized. But there are other times where someone may have had passive suicidal ideation without intent, without a plan, without access to lethal means. And in that case, when they're going in, that's not really appropriate. That's more so something that Oliver and I work on. I would follow up, what resources do you need? What led you to this? How did you get to this place? What are the barriers in place? So having that prevention from reaching that crisis again and following up with them. He and I have worked together and spent many, many hours with multiple people where It's a lot of time that you're working with them, one-on-one, talking about their needs and developing a plan together. It's not this quick discharge plan. Oh, you just need to have access to this benefit, and it'll make your life better. No. There's reasons you got to this place, and having that support in your home to find out how you got there and what you need to do next is critical.

I think that's kind of the thing we're looking to do is like if we're going to their home post-crisis and we're meeting them in their own space and there's always more, it could be cluttered, it could be they can't get their medication because they can't get transported, they have no other social support. So we're trying to do the things in the back end and I think that's where the future plan is to get more creative with follow-ups for mental health things to prevent the need for activating the crisis options.

Yeah, and to support that, Human Services, we did obtain a $100,000 grant for a two-year term where we are helping. We're working on the transportation component where we'll have our own Uber health account to help these people when they need to get to that next day appointment where Oliver will be able to tap into that You know if there are specific resources that they need we'll have specialists that will be able to go out to the home and hop navigate that as well as well as additional support services that we're working on too because of all the work that he's done and A lot of these pain points that have been brought up. We're working on developing a better model to address the mental health needs I

You go to the next slide.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Yeah, hoarding has been, again, it is the thorn in our side here. It's a hazard to the resident. It is a fire hazard for the people in the home, the homes adjacent. It's a problem for us getting in and us getting out. I think we had a meeting with folks so you can cite these people. And again, a lot of these folks are immobile. They're unwell. They have no transportation. So the citation that requires them to leave their home to go to an appointment or a court date, and they can't get to it. And then they're like, well, we'll send someone. We'll send mental health to you. And a mental health person's like, I'm not going to that house. That is a hazard. And with the hoarding, there's pests. There's bed bugs. And it just has turned into this bloated problem that has so many multifactorial issues that it seems impossible right now. So currently what I do is take a contractor bag, and I take one bag at a time of agreed upon things, and it's not enough to make a dent, but it's something. So, yeah.

Vice President Baker, yeah.

Thank you. Sorry, I didn't mean to knock my glass over. But yeah, so I serve ex officio on the Lakewood Alive board, and the problem that they've, I'm sure you've coordinated a lot with them, One of the problems is like allegations of stealing, right? So you're trying to help, and then they're like, you took this really important thing, and police reports and everything. So I mean, I'm interested in ways you can help. And it sounds like you're throwing a bucket into the ocean. But sorry.

And there's been times where it's kind of like storage wars, where one of those shows where once they get them to buy something, then they're like, okay, I can get rid of that. I can get rid of this. Again, my goal is usually just to get a path. I'm okay with we can get in, we can get out. Should there be a fire, there's an exit. So mitigating as much risk as we can. But, yeah, it's complex, and there's not a lot of – agencies that are willing to be involved because of those other complex issues. Next slide, please. Oh yeah, just a recap with some cute pictures. Bed bugs galore. Another issue has been, I don't know what the treatment plans look like in some of these high rises, but it's ineffective. Whatever they do, it's room to room. They'll spray once every two weeks. The sprays don't work. There's clutter that exists. So that's been a huge amount of time trying to help folks navigate and talking to management and That's a very ugly situation as well. But again, trying to get creative, but it seems like an endless problem. Next slide, please. Yeah, I think this is.

I did send an email with the additional slides that came up missing. It's a little busy week, so it was trying to get it to Marine in a timely fashion. A little mistake was there.

It's kind of, do you guys have access to it? It's kind of just a recap of what Nicole was saying and Mike was saying, but we're trying to bridge the gap in mental health care. Currently, I think after hours access has been an issue. Transition of cares and post-discharge finding a plan and working together with Nicole to get folks connected after these incidents. The practicality of outpatient plans, sometimes they have these several meetings a week that they can't get to. They have medications they can't afford to get to. So again, just big picture things where we're trying to work through. An issue has also been that it eats up a lot of time with the MS, a lot of the CIT officer time. with these repeat folks who are having crisis. So the hope is to be, is to work together to prevent them from having repeat crisis, or at least if they have 10 this year, they'll have eight the following year and six the following year. But we're not trying to set too lofty of goals, but we're trying to take a bite out of the mental health issues because it is frequent. You go to the next slide. Was there, which one did you send? That was it, yeah. Yeah, that was it.

Yep.

And that's the long and the short is that hopefully the next year will be the year where we can put our heads together and try to work more towards the mental health things and taking the pressure off the system here with those.

From an administration side, what this team is doing is incredible. Except until we can legalize cloning of Oliver, it's extremely difficult. He's busy all day. He's at capacity. He's probably working at 110% capacity. So administratively, we've been looking at other ways of securing funding. We've been speaking with the Cleveland Clinic about a partnership, more grant dollars to secure another position to not clone Oliver but have another neighborhood paramedic. So even diving into the data, a lot of things are driven by data and they'll say, well, are your EMS calls reducing? That answer is no. Our call volume will always be going up. It's just the nature of the American Fire Service as it is. The one key metric that I look at is the patient or the resident that was calling 50 to 100 times a year, they're now calling 10 times a year. So those folks that Oliver is actually going out and making an impact with, their frequency of EMS usage is considerably down. So that, in my book, is a win, and it shows the effectiveness of the program and what Oliver and Nicole are doing. So we've been trying to come up with a creative way to find funding, secure funding, to increase Oliver's team at least by one. Unfortunately for me, in the grand scheme, a lot of my budget is tied up with emergency operations, and I can't start pulling people out of those emergency operations. to assist Oliver. So that's kind of where we're stuck between a rock and a hard place. We do have a meeting with the Cleveland Clinic on Friday. Hopefully they have some good news for us. But we will also be reaching out to university hospitals. It's more than a Cleveland Clinic issue. It's a global issue. So anything that we can do to try and bolster this program to make more of an impact, like the amount of impact that Oliver's make Oliver has made is incredible. But just think about what we could do with another Oliver. So that's where we're looking internally and administratively. It's just been difficult. But he's doing a great job. This whole team, they're impressive. I can't say enough about them. and the impact that they're having and the relationships they're building with our residents and with other stakeholders in the community. Anything else? Any questions?

Thank you, Chief Fairbanks, and thank you, Paramedic Harper. This was great. This was a great overview. And I'm sorry I did not ask this at the beginning. I should have. Just for people that may be tuning in and watching this or watching this back on playback, if you could just give us a brief history of the Neighborhood Paramedic Program and how it started, that might be helpful. And then I have some questions.

Actually, the perfect person to give us the history of the neighborhood paramedic program is Assistant Chief Sambula. This was a brainchild of his several years ago.

Good evening. Is this working? Can you hear me? OK, so years ago, we had the first iteration of the community paramedic program. And that was in partnership with the Cleveland Clinic, but it was hospital-based. The goal of that program was to reduce hospital readmissions, which is hugely beneficial for the hospital system itself, not as beneficial for the patients, the population at large when you're looking at the global program as it's laid out. That was not as successful and it had shut down. And so years ago, I think actually it was brainchild again at one of the fire department members' weddings, former human services director Jill Cimino was there and her and I got to talking about a rebirth of the program through the fire department because that's where if you look at research and the fire department based community paramedicine programs were most successful and most impactful. So we partnered with the team from UH and that's actually who our current medical direction for that program is still under and we decided to narrowly scope the population that we can make the most impact with which was the elderly population that were fall risks. By doing a fall prevention program, it gave us access to the home and when we get the access, Why do people fall? Well, it could be a number of reasons, whether it's trip hazards, if it's a hoarding condition, so if there's social needs. But it also opens the door for Oliver or whoever the community paramedic is to identify some of those needs. So food insecurities, if there's other medication in compliance and stuff that's going on in their actual patient care, They could make an impact that way. So that's where it started We we went for what we call the low-hanging fruit and we got into a lot of patient access there was progress made with the previous and now fire marshal birth when he was the neighborhood paramedic and And then since Oliver took over, the relationships, as Chief mentioned, with the stakeholders and different hospital systems, the centers, Oliver and I would take drives down and talk to people to get different access points. And he's expanded it well beyond what I thought could happen in such a short period of time when this, when this brainchild, uh, you know, idea happened. And, um, I think, you know, what he's doing now is, as, as, uh, Captain Tripodi identified was, you know, the mental health piece has, has always been something that, you know, we knew that there's a need there and we got to figure out how to kind of have that paradigm shift a little bit so where we can have an impact and get these people into the proper pathways to care and not the rinse and repeat of getting brought to the ER, discharged, they go home, and then it happens again a week later, a month later, two months later. So I hope that answers the history of it.

Yes, thank you so much. Thank you.

And I was hoping not to have to speak tonight, but thank you. Thank you.

Sorry about that. You did well. So I just have one question, and I want to give time for my colleagues. I mean, I could probably talk with you for hours about this, and as you're talking, I just had all sorts of wheels turning in my head. So maybe we could have, you know, even a follow-up meeting. So does the centers offer partial hospitalization programs? And you're familiar with partial hospitalization, right? No? OK. Yeah, PHP. So essentially what a PHP program is, is it's a step down from a full hospitalization. So it would address a lot of the needs where the people, they don't need to be in, have a psychiatric 72-hour hold, but they definitely need some sort of intensive care and support. Because when you're in a hospitalization and you're in there for however long that they're going to have you you have that intensive therapy that's happening, you're having that psychiatric medication that's being monitored, and you're having even group sessions that are happening. So the partial hospitalization program takes what would happen over three days. And there are some people that, you know, they may need that. But then once they're out, they may have another episode. But that episode may not deem them eligible to be hospitalized again. So they need something else. And so the partial hospitalization, they essentially can be from eight to five, eight to six, depending upon the program. And they're in there and they're getting that. They're getting that group therapy. They're getting that. one-on-one therapy, they're getting a care plan, they're having that support and resources and they're having their medication monitored. So it can be anywhere from six to eight weeks and then they'll evaluate them again and see if they need to stay longer or they graduate out of that program and then from there they can do an intensive outpatient therapy or they're getting their regular psychiatric care and their therapy as well. So I don't know if the centers has that, but that might be something that we can look at partnering with agencies and making sure that we can help patients get access to partial hospitalization and the the people that need that care might not be aware that there is this option available as well. So that may be something to look into.

I think we were using it for the, we'll call it having a bad day folks. They called an ambulance because, again, this is the normal route to care. And we would get on scene and say, hey, I think you're actually a really good fit for centers because you're having a bad day. You're not. a risk to yourself or other people. And the beauty was we kind of could get them to this place and they managed all the, they had case management and all that and the pharmacy. So it was our way of keeping this person safe from the ER routine and hopefully coaching them that this is the new way to manage those moments. But I think what you're describing sounds actually super helpful. Yeah.

There's a number of PHP programs around the area. I'm not sure if there's one in Lakewood, maybe Signature Health offers something like that. The problem is that you still run through that same washing machine because if you go to be direct admitted to a PHP program and you threaten to harm yourself, then there's the liability piece of the coin that punches the button, that gets the ambulance call, that drags you to the ER, that starts the motion forward. And I agree. We have a PHP program. Everybody's always happy there. The patients that are coming to that, they're in a good mood. They're happy to be there. They're happy to participate. They get to go home at the end of the day. They're fantastic. I think it's a good idea if we could find somebody who'd be willing to accept people into a partial hospitalization for a low-risk situation. But I'm not sure if... Senior Health's the only one I could think of. But, I don't know. We take people out of that building, I feel like, every day. They pink slip people quite a bit over there. Metro has one.

Yeah, so I think, in my mind, it would almost have to be a specific candidate. So someone that might have cycled through the hospitalization and they're having another episode, but they're not But they're not threatening to harm themselves. Because obviously, once you start doing that, then you take that serious. Even if they're like, oh, I was just joking. No, we don't joke about that. That's not something we joke about. So then that's when they might get cycled back through, and then the hospital might say, okay, they're, they just, you know, they've done that, and so maybe the hospital recommends that a partial hospitalization day. So I think there's some opportunities. We just might have to do a little bit more digging and research to see, especially for, I know there's, I know there's ones specifically for young people. I'm not familiar if there's, you know, for the 18 to 59.

We'll put our guys together. We'll sort it out. Okay. Thank you.

All right, so any vice president? Oh, okay, I'm going to start with Councilman Evans.

Thank you, Chair. First of all, I just want to say thank you to everybody. I'm incredibly proud to be sitting here to have this conversation. This is a huge issue in our community, and I'm glad we're tackling it in this way. And the work that LFD and the administration have done is just amazing, and I'm really excited to see what more we can do and how we can support you. So thank you for that. And just so you know, I mean, a council priority of I think all of ours, but a few of us are working on it, are ways to how can we keep people out of that loop. Really understanding that, yes, ER is not the best place. Jail is not the best place. So what more can we do to help? And I'm really excited to have more conversations with LFD, LPD, and obviously Health Human Services Department to see, all right, where are the gaps and how can we help close them through additional resources? So, I mean, mainly I have a ton of questions, but we're running short on time, so my main message is thank you. I mean, I'm really appreciative of the thoughtful approach we've taken to this and the understanding of the need in the community. And I think you'll find very willing partners on these days to help you advance these causes because I think mental health is not going away. And it's a really important issue to me personally as well. So thank you. I hope to be of service in any way that I can moving forward.

Thank you, Councilman Evans. Councilman Bixenstein, did you have any questions?

yes uh thank you uh first of all for um being here today thank you chair uh thank you for accommodating my absence um and thank you very much for the you know i've heard this program described as innovative and vital and those seem like appropriate uh adjectives in this case so thank you very much uh lfd and oliver for for all that you do my question is um in this circumstance we found ourselves in of late with um power outages affecting a particular grid, have you found that the services you provide are of use in this circumstance in any particular way?

I don't think as much. I'm kind of on the back end when the power outages have been in the evenings and I'm off duty. I get back to work and there's voicemails and texts from residents that are curious on how to prepare for the next ones. I've kind of been trying to navigate finding inexpensive home generators that are battery operated that will stay plugged in until the time of an outage to give them six, 12 hours on their concentrators and things like that. I helped them call their durable medical companies to get backup cylinders for oxygen, which seems to be one of the biggest problems is their machines go out. They have only a couple of breaths left before they're sitting on the top floor with no elevator access. So that's been, I think, one of the ways is just preparing for the follow-ups. Yeah.

Thank you, Oliver. And I look forward to supporting the program as much as we can moving forward. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilman Bixenstein. Committee Member Strubeck?

Thank you. I did have one quick question, but I also wanted to extend my thank yous to all of you that are working in this area because this is an unsolvable problem, right? I mean, it's basically maintenance and management, and I think you're doing a very, very fine job of that. Thank you. I APPRECIATE ALL THE WORK THAT YOU DO. I JUST WANTED TO GO BACK TO NICOLE. I'M SORRY I DIDN'T GET YOUR TITLE. IF YOU COULD JUST TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE UBER. I THINK YOU SAID THERE WAS AN UBER PROGRAM FOR TRANSPORTATION. IF YOU COULD JUST TALK ABOUT THAT FOR A MINUTE. SURE. THANK YOU.

My name is Nicole Zierenberg. I'm a licensed independent social worker. I work for Human Services. Thank you. I, in this capacity, I provide support services to those who are 18 to 59 who are in crisis. At this point, what that looks like is accepting people who may walk into Cove, who may have been referred from the prosecutor's office, from the police station, who there was a resident who saw someone who was homeless. They needed support with that or mostly working with Oliver, so providing that support. So he had identified that when individuals are coming home from the hospital, a lot of times there's a follow-up appointment the next day. And you need to get to that appointment that day where it's six months later, right, as we've all kind of experienced with our health care system. So something that I've been in process with is modeling something similar that other health care systems do, which is utilizing a program called Uber Health, where you can have an account. It's a universal account. For our organization, it would be for generally the city of Lakewood, where Oliver, maybe our other partners with the police department would be able to help if they saw, oh, this person has an appointment tomorrow. This is causing an immense amount of stress. They can't get there. They don't know how they're going to get there. So what can we do? We can maybe reduce that barrier by just providing a ride there. So that's something that we're working on right now.

So this goes through the city, not through the person. We have an Uber account.

no so we human services was awarded a grant through the healthy lakewood foundation for the crisis response and one of the interventions that we're going to do is have an account through that grant where we can provide that transportation for individuals but currently you're just helping them basically set up an uber Right now, yeah. Or we're providing bus passes, or we're getting an Uber gift card. But to make it more cost effective, if we know it's going to cost $17 to get to their appointment, we'd rather have a direct account that uses the funding through that grant.

And our vans are not available.

If they are a senior, they can sign up for senior transportation connection. However, there's a limited amount of space that they can go to with that. If they are going to, say, Cleveland Clinic downtown, they can't use that service. So it's a very small radius. I have worked with other people with connecting them with other community resources, like Paratransit, and connecting them with their Medicaid. providers to show them these are the different transportation options available through your managed care plan. But sometimes there are people who fall through that crack and they don't fit that. Where even with those managed care providers or paratransit usually requires a three-day notice to set up that appointment. If someone came home Sunday, their follow-up's Tuesday, they're not going to be able to arrange that. So if we can have something for those emergency times like this, you know, that's where it comes into effect.

Thank you. I appreciate that. SURE.

VICE PRESIDENT BAKER?

THANK YOU. I'LL ECHO ALL MY COLLEAGUES' COMMENTS ABOUT THIS PROGRAM. MY QUESTION THE PAST FOUR YEARS WHEN I'VE HEARD IT IS, HOW CAN WE DO MORE? SOUNDS LIKE YOU GUYS ARE LOOKING TO DO MORE. THAT'S REALLY GOOD. SO AS I'VE HEARD THESE PRESENTATIONS, I SEE THE TWO BARRIERS THAT WE HAVE IS, LIKE, finding the right way to show the data and the metrics of the good we do, because I think we can all recognize it. Because what that data and metrics does is it helps you get more funding, which is the second problem I think we have. Now, what I will say is that, like my colleague said, however we can be more supportive on the funding side, I will say, just understanding the city budget, there's CBDG funds, there's opioid funds, THERE'S CANNABIS FUNDS THAT ARE NEW THAT I THINK COUNCIL DIRECTED THAT THEY BE SPENT ON A COUPLE ISSUES. I THINK MENTAL HEALTH IS ONE OF THEM. AND SO I THINK THERE'S PROBABLY A FUNDING FORMULA BY WHICH THE CITY CAN PUT UP SOME FUNDS AND THEN SEEK OUTSIDE FUNDS FROM OTHER ENTITIES. SOUNDS LIKE HEALTHY LAKEWOOD HAS ALREADY BEEN A TREMENDOUS PARTNER. I JUST SEE THIS AS SOMETHING AS RIPE TO TO YOUR POINT, CHIEF, WE CAN'T SHOW THAT CALLS FOR SERVICE ARE GOING DOWN, BUT I THINK A REALLY GOOD CHART ABOUT CALLS FOR SERVICE FOR PEOPLE IN EXTREME NEED, RIGHT, GOING DOWN IS A HELPFUL METRIC, RIGHT? SO IT'S NOT JUST THE OVERALL TREND. OR SIMILAR COMMUNITIES HAVE GONE UP 15%, WE'VE GONE UP 10%. OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, RIGHT? SO I THINK THAT THERE ARE WAYS TO USE THAT DATA TO SHOW THE BENEFIT. I THINK IT'S CLEAR TO US AND THE PEOPLE THAT LIVE HERE THAT THERE'S A BENEFIT TO THIS PROGRAM. I THINK THE KEY IS SHOWING THAT WITH DATA AND METRICS. AND SO HOWEVER WE CAN BE HELPFUL TO SHOW THAT, I THINK WILL THEN UNLOCK THE NEXT SIDE, WHICH IS FUNDING. ASSUMINGLY, WE WANT A FULLY LOADED POSITION, RIGHT, TO ADD TO THIS. So however, council can be helpful. But I do think that the cannabis funds, potentially CBDG, and then potentially some of the opioid funds might be able to help depending on what the rules and regulations are with those funds. So thank you.

Councilman Bullock.

Thank you. So I'm just going to echo a couple key points. So first, thanks to the team, it sounds like we've got really high performers. In Captain Tripodi, Oliver, and Christine, right? No.

Nicole.

Oh, I'm sorry. I just lost my slide. Nicole Zierenberg. OK. So I just want to acknowledge that what the chief said is that when you've got a high performing team, then you're helping more people. And also, it bestows confidence that we could do more of what some of my colleagues are saying. I also acknowledge Assistant Chief Nick Zambula for his long leadership on this and engagement. So you guys have been willing to go the extra mile and then work hard at it. And that's a big deal. It doesn't always happen. So thank you for doing that. And I also heard the captain say, but I'm clear that other agencies view the difficult mental health nut is too difficult to crack, but we're giving it a shot. And so I think Councilman Baker kind of anticipated where my head was going, which is, after the meeting, maybe it would be great to get, at least for me, the macro numbers as we have. You don't have to prepare them in any special way. But it is good to know. So there's non-mental health patients, too. What's that picture look like overall? I know we've been focusing on mental health tonight. And then, as Councilman Baker said, if we understand The justification I think is twofold. One is we're delivering service to people and people that need it and it's important service and it sounds like in many ways there's few to no other alternatives or we're expanding THE REACH OF AGENCIES THAT ARE TYPICALLY PRETTY UNDERSTAFFED AND THE DEMAND WAY OUTPACES IT. SO THAT MAKES SENSE. BUT THEN INTERNALLY, ASSISTANT CHIEF SAMBULA SAID, AT ONE POINT WE WERE TRYING TO REDUCE HOSPITALIZATIONS. THAT'S A LEGITIMATE GOAL BECAUSE THAT'S VERY HIGH COST. WE'RE TRYING TO LOWER THE COST IN THE HEALTH CARE SYSTEM. LOGIC OF TARGETING FALL REDUCTIONS BECAUSE THAT IS A BIG DEAL AND THEN IT ALSO GETS YOU EYES ON IN THE HOME. SO THERE'S A LOGIC THERE I THINK THAT'S BEEN SOUND. IF WE CAN UNDERSTAND THAT, JUST AS COUNCILMAN BAKER SAID, I THINK THAT DOES HELP. AND I COULD EASILY SEE MYSELF SUPPORTING THE CANNABIS FUND COMMITMENT OF certain portion and then it's always helpful to leverage it with other other sources so maybe that would be skin in the game madam chair that the city could show then to other agencies that we are serious and then we can find another high performer like oliver and you've got a cousin or a brother or a niece or something that we can make it a family business thank you president keppel

Thank you. And I'll just echo my colleagues. Thank you for all the good work, always. I have a couple questions. One is, how much of the issue is lack of mental health care providers and services? So even if you get a hold of someone and you're able to, OK, we don't have to go to the ER. We can get you. But there's still a lengthy wait. Is that still an issue? Or finding the right services? So how much of that is the issue?

There's a lot of virtual places that have reached out to me that do three times a week individual visits and a fourth visit for group. Now, the issue is it requires the literacy of technology, which is a barrier. There's a lot of providers. I think it's getting all the pieces to link up, I think, is the overall theme. There's virtual visits aplenty. There we have Signature Health right around the corner here.

people getting getting to appointments i think there's too many factors to say there's not enough providers unfortunately but there's there's plenty of help there and i think access points are are the the thorn inside right now thanks and then um i had a question too about how does the role of the neighborhood paramedic continue to be defined moving forward because you're doing so many different things and how do you and the department triage that? How do you choose and how do you manage that?

If I went to my mom's house and she was bedridden, everything's important when I'm in there. She has kitty litter overflowing, there's trash, the food's rotting, and I think everything's important to her health and her well-being. The warm and fuzzy stuff is still part of the healthcare. Because it's a person. I'm in their space. And whether or not they need to go to the doctor or not, I think everything that I can help to do, I do. And I think that's where the bandwidth gets stretched thin. It's like every person needs so much help. And the difference from a hospital-based system is they don't do that. There's so much red tape. And if their visit is for a lab draw, they walk in. They draw labs. See you later. So I think I do more because I care about the people that I visit. So that's where it stretches me thin because you have a lot to accomplish with every patient. So every new problem is still my problem. I think that's how it keeps expanding itself. I'm trying to do the most good for every person and there's an endless list of things in every house.

Thank you. And along with that, I'm just thinking of, I mean, I recently went through this with my own elderly parent. They were in the hospital and the ICU, got discharged directly to home and were like, good luck. And if I hadn't been there to help set up the appointments and get them connected to this, and there were resources available, but that wasn't explained well at the hospital. And so it was a lot to navigate, really a full-time job. And I already have to. So I just think there's probably unlimited need out there and also if there are other ways to support your work in addition to like we talked about the potential for funds in another neighborhood paramedic but also if there's clerical help or there's technological help and some things may or may not require a paramedic but might require someone with different skills and free you up. So I'm just thinking through all those things as well as we talked about the metrics of, you know, that's kind of my wheelhouse of thinking about outcome-based versus outputs and how we can creatively measure things in terms of patient outcomes that aren't necessarily the same. So be interested to see that. I mean, I know you're sort of, you've got so much going on to try to manage it all. So any way that we can be supportive, we definitely want to be.

There's definitely a lot of things that are hard to quantify. The clinic does keep track of readmissions for the patients they send me, so we can probably get that updated info. I know that the The pat on my back was that the low acuity folks they send or the low readmission risk that they score on their own kind of proprietary system, zero of the low people they've sent to me have been readmitted. And it's like new diagnosis would be a low acuity, which is still a very serious thing. So the education provided in the home after discharge has been enough from what I'm doing to give them the support to treat their symptoms without needing to go back. So that's been a big win, I think, on the clinic side. So we can provide that for sure.

Yeah, I think that's great. I just think there could also be, you know, the potential to interview folks who've interacted with you and do surveys and things like that about patient-based outcome and their response. So there's a lot that can be done with enough resources. That's always the question, but we appreciate. And same to you, Nicole. Thank you for your work.

Are there any other questions, comments? Councilman Bixenstein, do you have anything else?

OK. Councilperson Striebeck?

OK. Okay, so with the presentation being completed, if no one had any other follow-ups or if we feel that this discussion is, as far as this communication, is complete, I will make a motion to receive and file this communication. Second. All right, that carries. So without any other objection, this concludes the business in front of us today for public safety. And this concludes our meeting today.

Thank you. We'll have about six minutes and we'll start for counsel.

Okay, people better be ready to read their own stuff.

I'll be ready to read my own stuff. Yeah, that's other people.

I have it in front of me so I can read stuff.

I've got a lot of stuff to read today. Okay. How was the conference? Where was it at? In Columbus? Yeah, it's the old nationwide . Oh, really? Oh, no. The Ohio Environmental Law Conference is there every year.

So I've gone there for like the past eight years.

You can jog next door at High Lane Convention Park if you really want to cross that crazy street. Yeah, it's a nice setup.

Was the pub done yet?

Because when I was there in March or April, it was still under construction. When is the ? Yeah. These chairs are terrible. These chairs are terrible. They're meant to look like. They're bad chairs. I think they're just meant to look, yeah. It's like 90% looks, 10% comfort. Oh, these are terrible chairs. Oh, stop it. Sorry, old hat here. When Tom started, they seriously, police officers would bring me to him.

Last thing I need, I'll just turn around backwards.

My gingham checks are much bigger than his gingham checks.

How dare you? Yeah.

All right, we'll call the full council meeting of July 20th to order. If you're able, please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. We'll now pause for a moment of silence.

Madam Clerk, please call the roll. Vice President Baker?

Here.

Council Member Bixenstein?

Here.

Councilmember Bullock.

Here.

Councilmember Evans.

Here.

President Keppel. Here. Councilmember Hamilton-Steiner. Here. Councilmember Strebeg.

Here. Pursuant to Lakewood Codified Ordinance 10901B1, as chair, I am calling for this evening's meeting of council to be held partially by videoconference. Under Ordinance 109.01C, councilmembers participating remotely need not be present for the purpose of voting and determining a quorum.

A reading and disposal of the minutes of the regular meeting of council held July 6, 2026.

Move to approve without the necessity of a reading. Second. Motion's been made and seconded. Any discussion?

Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. And that motion passes. Reading and disposal of the minutes of the July 16, 2026 council community conversation.

Move to approve without the necessity of a reading.

Second.

Motion's been made and seconded. Discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor, aye. And that motion passes. Without objection, I'd like to move items 10 through 12 to the top of the agenda.

Item 10, communication from Vice President Baker, Council Member Evans, and Mayor George recognizing the 2026 Lakewood High School varsity baseball team. Vice President or Mayor George?

Vice President Baker.

DEAR COLLEAGUES, WE ARE PLEASED TO INTRODUCE THE ACCOMPANIED RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING THE REMARKABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE 2026 LAKEWOOD HIGH SCHOOL VARSITY BASEBALL TEAM AND CONGRATULATING THE PLAYERS, COACHES, FAMILIES, VOLUNTEERS, AND SUPPORTERS WHO MADE THE HISTORIC SEASON POSSIBLE. THE RAGERS COMPLETED ONE OF THE GREATEST SEASONS IN SCHOOL HISTORY, FINISHING 27-1 OVERALL AND 14-0 IN THE CLEVELAND WEST CONFERENCE TO CAPTURE THE CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP AND A SECOND CONSECUTIVE OHSAA DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP. They also became the only high school baseball team in Ohio to complete the regular season undefeated, finishing 25-0 before postseason play. Under the leadership of head coach and Lakewood High School graduate Grant Graves and his tremendous coaching staff, the Rangers established a culture of excellence built on hard work, discipline, and teamwork. Their success reflects not only on the dedication of the players and coaches, but also the parents, volunteers, the Lakewood High School Athletic Department and the Lakewood Community Baseball and Softball Association, youth baseball programs, and the many community members who support Ranger Athletics. The team's accomplishments inspired pride throughout Lakewood, culminating in their selection as grand marshals for the 2026 Lakewood Fourth of July Parade. This resolution celebrates not only an outstanding championship season, but also a team that represented Lakewood with integrity, sportsmanship, and pride. We respectfully ask for your support in recognizing one of the finest teams in the history of Lakewood High School Athletics. And I will say it's not in the agenda, but I'd like to thank Coach Graves for bringing so many players here this evening. And it's kind of fun and sad to say that as a 43-year-old man, short of my wedding day and the birth of my three children, beating St. Ed's and St. Ignatius in the same season is the greatest accomplishment I've ever had. And now you guys get to say that too for the rest of your life when you're 43-year-old men. So thank you, and I'll make a motion to receive and file this communication.

Second. Motion's been made and seconded. Any discussion? Council Member Strebeck.

Thank you. Oklahoma Sooners softball head coach Patty Gasso has taken her team to the NCAA tournament 32 times. She's been to the Women's College World Series 18 times. and has been a national champion eight times, one of which I get. I get to witness in 2013 and she said. The championship mindset is not so much about winning games. It's a way to live. It's a way to train. And it's a way to treat people. And I believe you all have gotten there this year, so congratulations on your success.

Councilmember Evans.

Thank you, President Keppel. Yeah, just amazing job. I mean, you brought so much pride to this community. What a fun spring and summer it was to follow the team. So the student athletes, coaches, everybody, I mean, congrats. And then I also just want to say, Again, I hope we can do this every year, talk about how great the baseball team is. But it goes just, as everybody knows, it goes beyond just this team and just this season. There are so many folks in the community who have committed to building a baseball culture in this community. Vince France is there who's been doing this for years and so many other folks out there. So thank you to all that hard work to be able to build up a program that's doing so amazing and gives us that community pride. So I really appreciate it and thank you to everybody.

Thank you. Other council members? I'll just add, to echo those remarks, your success really gives the community hope, and it was really palpable during the 4th of July parade. I have the pleasure of announcing it, and seeing you guys all come down, the community was just so proud, and it was really awesome. And also that you help us justify all the money that we spend on the baseball field. So it has results, right? You know, you guys probably all played as kids in rec leagues, right? So we appreciate that, and we're very proud of you. All right, so with that, we have a motion and a second to receive and file the communication. All those in favor? Aye. And that motion passes.

Item 11, Resolution 2026-38, a resolution recognizing the Lakewood Rangers high school varsity baseball team on its historic 2026 season, capturing back-to-back district championships, winning the Cleveland West Conference Championship with an undefeated conference record, and completing one of the greatest baseball seasons in Lakewood high school history.

Move to adopt. Second. Motion's been made and seconded. Any discussion? Councilmember Bullitt.

Madam Chair, thanks. I'll add my congrats and say also I've got a fifth grader in baseball. He's top of his league. We'll play Tuesday thanks to the Canadian Forest Smoke got the schedule pushed back. And I've got another son maybe interested in joining too. So we hope to replenish the ranks. I also want to acknowledge the France family over there who have been leaders in have told me before it happened, and now I'm experiencing it as a parent with younger kids, that recreation is not just recreation. It's community. It's economic development. It's community pride. It's emotional development. It's ties to one another. And boy, have I seen that come true. And I love that Lakewood, as we're improving our housing stock and our parks and all kinds of things we do normally in City Hall, we're also starting to really be competitive in sports. And I look forward to the day when we're acing all the West Side communities. Thanks.

Thank you. All right. Any further discussion? Hearing none, on the motion to adopt, all those in favor? Aye. And that motion passes. We have a ceremonial copy of this resolution we want to present to you, but we're about to do the 4th of July parade winners too, so if we can do them, and then we'll bring everybody in for pictures and do all that. Item 12.

Item 12, communication from Mayor George regarding 4th of July parade winners.

Mayor George. Good evening. The 4th of July parade is one of Lakewood's proudest traditions, and this year's turnout was incredible yet again. It's always wonderful to see our residents, neighbors, and local businesses show up with so much energy and creativity to make the day special. I'm thrilled to recognize and congratulate this year's official 4th of July parade category winners. These groups went above and beyond, putting in tremendous effort to make this year's event spectacular. The best color guard was 82nd Airborne Association John Towle Medal of Honor Cleveland actor and chapter. Best Float Stem Handmade Soap, Most Original Entry Sew for Service, Best Bicycle Tricable Treats, Most Spirited Dance Lakewood. Following our presentation to the 2026 4th of July Parade Grand Marshals, the Lakewood High School Rangers Varsity Baseball Team and coaching staff, I invite representatives of the winning parade entrance to come forward to receive their plaques and be recognized by the members of Lakewood City Council. And I just want to add how proud all of us are to the Lakewood varsity baseball team. You are such a sense of pride for everyone in the community and really, truly. a job well done. To have a season that goes without a loss is a major accomplishment. So congratulations to all you, your coaching staff, and the parents and all the support in the community. And so with that, we can invite the Grand Marshal to come on up. We'll take a picture with the resolution and then your plaque. Up next, Best Color Guard, the 82nd Airborne Association, John Towle Medal of Honor, Cleveland-Akron Chapter. Thank you. All right, best float, stem handmade soap.

Thank you.

Most original entry, so for service. Best bicycle trike-able treats. And finally, most spirited, Dance Lakewood. All right, after all that, we still need to move to receive and file the communication. Second.

Motion's been made and seconded. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. And that motion passes.

Item number one, report from Housing Planning and Development Committee regarding meeting held July 13, 2026. Council Member Evans.

Thank you, President Keppel. Dear colleagues, on Monday, July 13th, the Housing Planning Development Committee met to discuss the topic of short-term rental regulation. COUNCILMEMBER BULLOCK SHARED A PROPOSAL TO CLARIFY EXISTING BED AND BREAKFAST REGULATIONS WITH ADDITIONAL CRITERIA TO BE APPLIED TO SHORT-TERM RENTALS AS DESCRIBED IN PROPOSED ORDINANCE 28-2026. THE COMMITTEE TOOK INTO CONSIDERATION FEEDBACK FROM CONSTITUENTS AND THE VARIOUS IMPACTS OF SHORT-TERM RENTALS BOTH POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE ON NEIGHBORHOODS AND THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE. THE COMMITTEE REVIEWED REGULATIONS ADOPTED BY NEIGHBORING COMMUNITIES. I agree that it will be essential for council to continue to carefully evaluate all factors in the process of determining the best path forward for Lakewood's specific needs. Considerations discussed include fees and taxation, safety concerns, local management requirements, and impacts on affordable housing as well as administrative requirements for enforcement. The committee will continue to collect data and feedback on all aspects of short-term rental regulation and will work with members of the city administration as they consider the best path forward for Lakewood. SINCERELY, BRYAN EVANS, WARD 2. I'LL MAKE A MOTION TO RECEIVE AND FILE THIS COMMUNICATION.

SECOND. MOTION'S BEEN MADE AND SECONDED.

DISCUSSION? COUNCILMEMBER STREBEG. THANK YOU. I DID HAVE ONE QUESTION, AND I APOLOGIZE THAT I WAS NOT ABLE TO MAKE THIS MEETING. HOWEVER, I HAD A STANDING OBLIGATION WITH THE TENNENDER GIRLS SOFTBALL TEAM THAT I SPONSORED THIS YEAR. I ACTUALLY MADE ONE GAME. BUT I WANTED TO ASK YOU ABOUT The neighboring communities that you're looking at, could you maybe tell me a little bit more about who we're looking at to compare what we're going to create?

Yes. So, I mean, we're looking at that for guidance, not necessarily looking at neighboring communities for so much as a template. We did look at Cleveland who usually passed some legislation recently. And also we talked to the building department at Shaker Heights, and that was very informative being a similar community to our own. And this ranges from the kind of software they use to identify these to STR, short-term rentals, to how they're dealing with it on the back end, including enforcement. So they're all things we're taking into account. And I'll also mention here that Councilman Bullock, who's been carrying the majority of the load on this, has also logged a lot of FaceTime with other folks, including the building department, Building Commissioner Parmalee, and has talked to the Police Department as well.

So those discussions will continue Thank you Thank you, all right, we have a motion a second to receive and file the report any further discussion Hearing none all those in favor. All right, and that motion passed

Item 2, Ordinance 28-2026, an ordinance to take effect immediately clarifying that short-term rentals are a form of bed and breakfast establishment pursuant to Lakewood Codified Ordinance 116103C and establishing additional criteria regulating this conditional use.

Move to defer. Second. Motion's been made and seconded. Discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. And that motion passes.

Item three, report from Public Safety Committee regarding meeting held today, July 20th, 2026. Councilmember Hamilton-Steiner.

Thank you, President Keppel. Dear colleagues, the Public Safety Committee meeting met earlier this evening, which all of us were there for. Chief Fairbanks and paramedic Oliver Harper shared with us the neighborhood paramedic program update for 2026, sharing the program growth that has occurred since 2025. So the neighborhood paramedic program, originally starting as a fall prevention program in safety and health, ACCESS POINT TO ADDRESS UNMENT NEED HAS GROWN TO ASSIST RESIDENTS OPERATING FROM THEIR POINT OF DISCHARGE TO HELP BRIDGE THE GAP IN CARE FOR THE 18 TO 59 POPULATION. THE PROGRAM, HOWEVER, FACES LIMITED CAPACITY, SUCH AS STAFFING, OUR RESIDENTS FACE TRANSPORTATION ISSUES, AND THEN JUST OVERALL PROGRAM EXPANSION CONSTRAINTS. ADDITIONALLY, AS WE HAVE SEEN AND KNOW IN THE COMMUNITY, THAT THE MENTAL HEALTH NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY IS GROWING AND THERE ARE SYSTEMIC CHALLENGES WHICH EXIST. THE NEIGHBORHOOD PARAMEDIC PROGRAM HAS SEEN 300 MENTAL HEALTH RELATED CALLS IN 2025. IN ADDITION, THEY CONTINUE TO SEE HOARDING AS AN ISSUE IN THE COMMUNITY, AND THAT IS ACTUALLY, THEY'RE SEEING AN INCREASE IN THAT AS WELL. A LIVELY DISCUSSION FOLLOWED AFTER THE PRESENTATION WITH QUESTIONS AND COUNCIL MEMBERS EXPRESSING INTEREST IN CONTINUING TO SUPPORT THIS PROGRAM, INCLUDING DISCUSSION OF POTENTIAL FUNDING SOURCES, WHICH COUNCILMAN BAKER SHARED SOME POINTS AND COUNCILMAN BULLOCK AS WELL, AND SO WE MOVE TO RECEIVE AND FILE THE COMMUNICATION AND LOOK TO CONTINUE THIS WORK AS THIS ALSO ALIGNS WITH AN EXISTING COUNCIL PRIORITY. SO I MOVE TO RECEIVE AND FILE THAT REPORT.

SECOND. MOTION'S BEEN MADE AND SECONDED. DISCUSSION? HEARING NONE, ALL THOSE IN FAVOR? AYE. AND THAT MOTION PASSES.

ITEM FOUR, REPORT FROM VICE PRESIDENT BAKER REGARDING COUNCIL BUDGET PRIORITIES FOR 2027. VICE PRESIDENT BAKER.

THANK YOU, DEAR COLLEAGUES. FOLLOWING PRESIDENT KEPPEL'S JUNE 15, 2026 COMMUNICATION REGARDING COUNCIL BUDGET PRIORITIES, THE FINANCE COMMITTEE MET ON JUNE 22, 29, AND JULY 6 TO CONDUCT AN INITIAL REVIEW OF EVERY PROPOSAL SUBMITTED BY MEMBERS OF COUNCIL. DURING THOSE MEETINGS, COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENTED THEIR PRIORITIES, ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICIALS PROVIDED INITIAL FEEDBACK, AND THE FINANCE COMMITTEE DISCUSSED IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES, ESTIMATED COSTS, OPERATIONAL IMPACTS, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR COLLABORATION. THE MINUTES OF EACH OF THESE MEETINGS ARE INCORPORATED HERE AND BY REFERENCE AND PROVIDE A GOOD IN-DEPTH REVIEW OF THE BUDGET AND POLICY DISCUSSIONS. THE PURPOSE OF THESE MEETINGS WAS NOT TO DETERMINE WHETHER EACH PROPOSAL SHOULD ULTIMATELY BE FUNDED BUT RATHER TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE SCOPE OF EACH PROPOSAL AND DETERMINE WHERE IT BEST FITS WITHIN THE CITY'S ONGOING PLANNING PROCESS. AS DISCUSSED OFTEN, THE BUDGET IS NOT COUNCIL'S BUDGET OR THE ADMINISTRATION'S BUDGET, BUT THE CITY'S BUDGET. THROUGHOUT BOTH MEETINGS, SEVERAL THEMES CONSISTENTLY EMERGED. ONE, COUNCIL ADMINISTRATION AGREED THAT MANY PROPOSALS REMAIN IN THE CONCEPTUAL STAGE AND WILL REQUIRE ADDITIONAL RESEARCH BEFORE THEY ARE READY FOR IMPLEMENTATION. SEVERAL PROPOSALS ALSO DEPEND ON PARTNERSHIPS WITH OUTSIDE ORGANIZATIONS, GRANT OPPORTUNITIES, LE TWO, THERE WAS A BROAD AGREEMENT THAT COUNCIL SHOULD COMMUNICATE ITS PRIORITIES TO THE ADMINISTRATION WELL IN ADVANCE OF THE FORMAL BUDGET DELIBERATIONS. EARLY COLLABORATION ALLOWS DEPARTMENTS SUFFICIENT TIME TO EVALUE PROPOSALS, REFINE COST ESTIMATES, IDENTIFY OPERATIONAL IMPACTS, AND DETERMINE WHETHER EXISTING WORK ALREADY ADVANCES COUNCIL'S OBJECTIVES. THIS IS PART OF THE REASON FOR STARTING THE PROCESS SO EARLY IN PROVIDING THIS DETAILED COMMUNICATION. THREE, THE FINANCE COMMITTEE RECOGNIZES NOT EVERY WORTHWHILE IDEA SHOULD NECESSARILY BE VIEWED AS A 2027 BUDG SOME PROPOSALS ARE PRIMARILY POLICY INITIATIVES REQUIRING COMMITTEE WORK OR LEGISLATIVE DEVELOPMENT BEFORE FUNDING DECISIONS CAN BE MADE. OTHERS REPRESENT LONGER-TERM STRATEGIC INVESTMENTS THAT WOULD REMAIN PART OF THE CITY'S PLANNING DISCUSSIONS OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL BUDGET CYCLES. ACCORDINGLY, RATHER THAN TREATING EVERY SUBMISSION AS AN IMMEDIATE BUDGET REQUEST, THE FINANCE COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS ORGANIZING COUNCIL'S PRIORITIES INTO THREE CATEGORIES. ONE, 2027 BUDGET PRIORITIES, INITIATIVES SUFFICIENTLY DEVELOPED TO BE CONSIDERED DURING PRE Two, policy priorities, initiatives that should proceed through committee review, legislation, and administrative collaboration or additional study before significant budget appropriations are considered. And lastly, future budget priorities, worthwhile initiatives that merit continued work but are unlikely to be fully developed for inclusion in the 2027 budget. This framework reflects the discussions held by finance committee and is intended to provide direction to the administration as it works through, or as it works with council to prepare the proposed 2027 budget. The process is intended to avoid proposed late change, Proposed changes late in the process, although that is still something that is within council's authority to do under the city charter. The finance committee further encourages individual council members to continue to work directly with city departments throughout the summer to refine proposals, improve cost estimates, identify outside funding opportunities, and resolve implementation questions. The finance committee also encourages referrals to the appropriate committee where additional policy development is warranted. Attachment A is a summary that reflects what I believe to be the Finance Committee's consensus regarding where each proposal currently fits within the city's planning process. As work continues throughout the remainder of 2026, individual proposals may naturally move from one category to another. The Finance Committee recommends that this report be accepted and filed and that the administration utilize this framework as one tool in developing the proposed 2027 budget. I'll make a motion to receive and file this communication.

Second. Second.

And I will also note that this is my attempt to exhibit A to put things into buckets. I take no pride in authorship and would be willing to amend this on the floor tonight if people think that I incorrectly put things into the wrong bucket.

I'm not hearing any objections. Thank you, President Keppel. I'm not objecting. I actually appreciate that you did this. This is very helpful. I'm actually going to print this out and use this as a guide. I looked over mine specifically, and I think you captured the essence of where I was at and where I was thinking in that discussion. So I appreciate you for doing this. I think this is very helpful. It's a great project management tool.

Thank you. Other? Councilman Bullock.

Thanks, Madam Chair. I also appreciate the work. First of all, the committee and all of council, council staff, and the collaboration with the administration, including Director Mahoney and others. I don't know if we ever refer a report to a director, perhaps the director of finance, and I could get this report referred to them unless, Director Mahoney, you don't think that's necessary that you've got the information here on the record?

Yeah, just having it here is fine.

Thank you. So I do have a question, if I may, to the administration, the mayor, and the finance director, or either of you as you prefer. Does this process work for you as envisioned in this letter from the finance chair or this report from the finance chair, which to me is a sensible option on how we go forward? Is it agreeable in the broad sense? And what information would you need for clarity from counsel on the various points? I think what we have here is an affirmation of the work to date. and then a continuation of the one-on-one consultation between an individual council member or perhaps a pair with the administration to continue detailing and putting operational legs and budgeting specifics underneath any given proposal. And there's advantages to that. The other view, which isn't proposed here, would be that City Council would take a clear vote on date X, whether today or another date, and say we're affirming our support for some of these or all of these or whatever the vote would be. So at the current moment, the CONTEMPLATED PROCESSES, CONTINUED DIALOGUE. WE'RE ABOUT TO GO INTO AN AUGUST BREAK, AT LEAST AS FAR AS FORMER COUNCIL MEETINGS GO. SO IS THAT WORKABLE AND FEASIBLE FROM THE ADMINISTRATION'S PERSPECTIVE? I MEAN, I THINK THIS IS ALL JUST A GOOD FAITH DISCUSSION HERE, AND THERE'S GOING TO BE MORE WORK TO DO AND PROBABLY ALSO SOME DIFFERENCES IN JUDGMENT, AND THAT'S PROBABLY OKAY. BUT SINCE THIS IS NEW, I'M TRYING TO GET A LITTLE BIT OF FEEDBACK, IF POSSIBLE.

I mean, I don't want to speak for the mayor, but we are meeting Friday. And so I think this could be a good start for us. Definitely, I don't see all of these being funded in the 2027 budget. And some of them are already included in what the departments probably already have thought about for the 27 budget. So I guess we would probably need some more information on exactly I keep going back to block clubs. And that's an example. What is it that council wants to spend $100,000 on? That seems excessive to me. So I need some background on why. So and perhaps the other lines, too. What is the intent in each of those funding? CHRIS JERRAM, JR.: And Madam President, a quick follow-up.

So thanks, Dr. Maroney. It's helpful to dialogue and fair questions. And I know that, for example, Councilwoman Hamilton-Steiner has scheduled a meeting later this week with Public Works. And some of us are going to attend on one of these points about winter sidewalks, I think. So we've got a little more detail, we hope, to furnish on some of those. Your block club example is also a good one. So in terms of the process, we're all committed to working further on this. the I guess maybe maybe we could talk again after tonight, but the due diligence that you're going to be conducting with the administration starts, you know, runs from August through November. But if we're going to get opportunities to get City Council the same page on some of these items with the administration, we're going to have to talk not November 15, but say, September 30, October 1, or earlier. That's the kind of, I think, additional communication about the informal process that we seem to be following here that, to me, would be helpful and avoid people being on the wrong page. Does that make sense?

I'll just, if I can just jump in here. Well, I guess I can because I chair the meeting. So just to reiterate, part of the reason we started this so early was so that over the next couple months, council members, and has already happened, we've already had some meetings with various directors about some of these, is that we can be having these conversations and understand what specifically is feasible in 2027 versus 2028, long-term planning, talking through the different parts, and then hopefully it comes together with that it's already in what the directors are talking with Director Mahoney about because we've collaborated behind the scenes. That is what the hope is that over the next few months, if you haven't already, but I know a lot of people have, start scheduled meetings, been working with the directors. Now's the time to be doing that so that we all have some clarity about what it is we're talking about for each of these. And, you know, council administration may see things differently, but we're hopefully going to get to a place of workability on the ones we want. And then we can go from there. But we'll also have in the fall when we get the – the report from finance about where we are in the quarterly. Um, so as vice president Baker has mentioned that as well, so we'll, we'll come back to it then, but in terms of working out the details, now's the time to be doing that. Um, so that we have clarity about what specifically we're talking about and how it works in with what the depart, how the departments are working. So I think we're, I think council and the administration are on the same page about that, that that's what we're doing right now is those conversations. All right, so with that, we have a motion and a second to receive and file this report. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye.

Aye.

And that motion passes. We have a little technical stuff going on here.

Item 5 substitute ordinance 162026 and ordinance to take effect immediately submitting to the electors of the City of Lakewood and amendment to the third amended charter of the City of Lakewood in order to change the frequency with which the Civil Service Commission reviews elected official salaries.

All right, so just a reminder, this is the first of five ordinances regarding charter amendments that we've had lengthy discussions about in committee. I know Councilwoman Hamilton-Seiner has recused herself due to her engagement with the Charter Review Commission prior to serving on council, although we appreciate your work on Charter Review Commission. So with that, this is the first one, and I will move to adopt.

Second.

Motion's been made and seconded. Any discussion? I'll just add, once again, thank you to the Charter Review Commission for their hard work. Thank you to my council colleagues for discussion and the administration, especially the law department, for assistance with these. All right, any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor, aye.

Aye.

And that motion. Oh, and abstain. Abstain. Win one abstention. Okay. And that motion passes.

Item six, substitute ordinance 17, 2026, an ordinance to take effect immediately submitting to the electors of the city of Lakewood an amendment to the third amended charter in order to add additional requirements to the process by which council appoints new members to fill a vacancy.

And this one, again, is to codify the process that we have been following of doing open a call for applicants and interviews in public. So I will move to adopt.

Second.

Motion's been made and seconded. Discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye.

Abstentions? And that motion passes. Item 7, substitute ordinance 18-2026, an ordinance to take effect immediately submitting to the electors of the City of Lakewood an amendment to the third amended charter of the City of Lakewood in order to change the manner in which legislation is amended and to remove the requirement that the entire ordinance or resolution be repealed, then a new ordinance or resolution be enacted. Move to adopt.

Second.

Motion's been made and seconded. This one is the redlining to make it clearer how ordinances are being changed. So motion's been made and seconded. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. Okay.

Item 8, substitute ordinance 19-2026, an ordinance to take effect immediately submitting to the electors of the City of Lakewood an amendment to the third amended charter of the City of Lakewood in order to establish a process and requirement for ward redistricting in the City of Lakewood. Move to adopt.

Second.

Motion's been made and seconded. Discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. Abstain.

Councilmember Bixenstein, can we hear your vote on that one?

Yes, thank you.

Item 9 substitute ordinance 202026 in ordinance to take effect immediately submitting to the lectures of the City of Lakewood and amendment to the third amended charter of the City of Lakewood in order to clarify the various paths in which the charter can be amended.

Move to adopt. Second. Motion's been made and seconded. And this one, just for clarification, keeps the way that it can be amended either by citizen initiative or by council action. It just makes the language clearer that those are the ways. All right, any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. Abstain. And that motion passes.

Item 13, communication from President Keppel regarding legal matters related to First Energy.

Dear colleagues, we are all entirely too familiar with First Energy's ongoing failures to provide the Lakewood community with reliable electricity. In addition to experiencing outages ourselves, we have heard from countless residents who have endured extreme hardship, losing medicine, food, and in some cases facing hospitalization and life-threatening conditions. These perpetual electrical failures are entirely unacceptable. They drain our city's resources as we work to support a community suffering from this wealthy corporation's neglect. So what can we do? Our response must be multifaceted and include continued pressure on first energy through the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, PUCO, as well as expanding resilient and sustainable solutions locally. Additionally, we can and should advocate for statewide policies such as limiting the expansion of large-scale data centers to reduce strain on an already outdated system. As we pursue these efforts, Council and the community must understand the legal process that has taken place so far, the steps ahead through PUCO, and the potential for additional litigation. This communication includes a timeline of some legal action taken by the City thus far. I intend to make a motion to refer it to Committee of the Whole and ask the Law Department to provide a briefing and answer questions about further litigation options. Understanding the public's justified interest in this topic, I hope to have as much dialogue as possible in open session. However, in the best interests of the city representing those residents, some information may need to be provided in executive session in accordance with ORC 121.22G3. So for a litigation timeline, in June of 2025, Mayor George and the Cleveland City Council members representing the affected Cleveland wards formally petitioned Pucco to investigate the outages that occurred the week of June 23rd. On July 23rd, 2025, Pucco's investigation resulted in a letter of probable noncompliance. to First Energy. The PNC found First Energy in probable noncompliance with certain sections of the Ohio Administrative Code for failure to invest in necessary improvements to maintain adequate service following frequent reoccurrence of equipment failures at the same circuit substation and Failure to maintain and implement a comprehensive plan to guide CEI's communications with customers, their communities, and their government agencies to ensure that accurate and timely information is getting to the customers who need it. The probable noncompliance laid out a corrective action plan. In October, PUCO formally ordered First Energy, operating under the umbrella CEI, to install two new transformers at a Lakewood substation and complete inspection and repair of pole equipment no later than the end of 2026. Despite promising to build trust with residents, First Energy petitioned PUCO to lower its reliability standards. The City of Lakewood filed legal intervention with the Mayor and City Council both submitting formal documents opposing First Energy's request. Law Director Vargo represented Lakewood at the hearings, and on June 24, 2026, PUCO issued their decision denying First Energy's request to lower reliability standards. The ruling repeatedly cites the high volume of complaints filed with PUCO from Lakewood residents as influential in the ruling, combating First Energy's claims of customer satisfaction based on their own internal survey. And I just want to emphasize that point because we keep asking residents to file these complaints. And I just want to make sure residents understand that their voices really do matter and were taken under consideration. In summer of 2026, interestingly, the day after the ruling denying their request to lower reliability standards, First Energy issued a press release announcing the delivery of two transformers to a Lakewood substation, leaving out of the press release that they were ordered to do so by PUCO following Lakewood's complaint. Less than a week after issuing that press release, equipment failures at the Lauderdale station caused thousands of Lakewood residents to suffer loss of crucial electricity during dangerously hot weather, in many cases for multiple days leading up to the 4th of July. During this period, First Energy refused to put out a press release or social media posts educating residents about what was happening. They also cut off communication with city council members who were working hard to keep residents informed. We heard from many residents that the limited communications that they did receive from First Energy were inaccurate. informing them of rolling periods of electrical restoration that never came or, insultingly, encouraging them to reduce electrical usage to relieve strain on a system that they couldn't use. The PNC corrective actions included providing PUCO staff with first energy steps to, quote, improve communication to communities and customers who experience outages. End quote. I will be interested in the law department's input on whether First Energy is in compliance with that communication plan and our potential next steps. On July 10th, PUCO Chair Jennifer French responded to the Mayor's recent letter requesting further investigation and financial penalties. In her letter, Chair French stated that PUCO staff have begun to investigate the, quote, the cause of these outages and whether or not they are related to the items in the PNC Corrective Action Plan that have or have not yet been completed, whether additional items should be added to the existing Corrective Action Plan, and whether a new PNC should be issued, end quote. Many residents have also expressed interest in pursuing legal action outside of the PUCO process, and I expect council members will be interested in exploring the potential for any such action. I look forward to an informative discussion, and I move to refer this communication to Committee of the Whole.

Second.

Motion's been made and seconded. And I thank everyone for bearing with me as we read through that lengthy communication. But I think given the importance of this topic, it's important to get this on the public record and make sure that we're all informed about the steps we've taken so far and the steps that may be taken in the future.

Any further discussion?

And I'll just add, too, is that we, the law department was gracious enough to work with us to be able to be available to us next week. So we expect to have Committee of the Whole next Monday to be able to go through this. So folks who are interested in, members of the public who are interested in First Energy, which I know there are many, may want to tune into that meeting. Councilwoman Hamilton-Steiner.

Thank you, President Keppel. Yeah, I agree. I think the public wants a outlet to voice their concerns and also wants to know rightfully so you know what is being done and they want to hear the exact action plans and obviously we can't we wouldn't be able to lay out a legal strategy if they're you know so they wouldn't be able to sort of be privy to those particular conversations but certainly they want to know that something is being done outside of pucco they just don't even have faith in that i think they're looking

to us for the leadership and they're looking to us in this administration and the mayor to drive next steps in the action thank you and you know those next steps can extend beyond litigation i just thought we would start with the legal avenues um you know there's also being creative about how we're solving reliability um you know talking with the county about their utility there's a lot of avenues but We could start, too, as I don't know if most people probably haven't read through the lengthy legal documents of the decisions from PUCO, but there's some very interesting stuff in there. I'm a librarian, so I've been digging through, and that's seeing in there that First Energy tried to cite their own internal customer service satisfaction survey, saying, oh, most of our customers are satisfied with the amount of or they're fine with being out of power this long. I'm sure we can all attest to how untrue that is. And it was the voices of our residents filing complaints, the record number of those residents, as well as Director Vargo's excellent Cross-examination, you know, so it really does matter that we all work on this together and that our residents' voices do matter, but we want to make sure that they see everything that is happening. So this is just another way to do that. I know the mayor's also been trying to communicate that out. So we're all, you know, trying to make sure that folks know that, you know, we are trying to resolve this. You know, we all live here too, so.

Oh, yeah.

Council member Hannibal.

And then just, I mean, just to affirm, you know, I think sometimes residents can get frustrated and say, what are you doing? And because of, you know, the public records and sunshine laws, it's like, you know, and only three of us can work on any work of the city at a time. I think having a setting like this is important. So we all can sort of share our thoughts and what we're thinking and get it all out there in the public. WHERE IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE. ABSOLUTELY.

ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION?

HEARING NONE, ON THE MOTION TO REFER TO COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE, ALL THOSE IN FAVOR? AYE. AND THAT MOTION PASSES.

ITEM 14, COMMUNICATION FROM VICE PRESIDENT BAKER REGARDING LEGISLATION RELATED TO THE LAKEWOOD SHORELINE SPECIAL IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT INCORPORATED. VICE PRESIDENT BAKER.

THANK YOU, COLLEAGUES. ANOTHER LONG ONE. BEAR WITH ME.

BUT IMPORTANT.

BY WAY OF BACKGROUND, ON APRIL 4TH, 2022, COUNCIL AUTHORIZED CREATION OF A SHORELINE SPECIAL IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT UNDER OHIO REVISED CODE CHAPTER 1710 IN RESPONSE TO PETITIONS FROM 18 LAKEWOOD HOMEOWNERS AND NOW IS APPOINTED TO THE SID BOARD OF DIRECTORS THROUGH SUBSTITUTE RESOLUTION 2022-29 LATER THAT YEAR. The SID has met a few times in advanced shoreline projects since formation. The attached resolution declares it necessary and determines to proceed with acquiring, constructing, installing, equipping, improving, maintaining, and repairing improvements necessary to abate shoreline erosion for certain properties included in the SID, together with all pertinences. It also finds these projects are public improvements and shoreline improvement projects under revised code. 17-1001. THE ATTACHED ORDINANCE LEVIES THE SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS TO FUND THOSE IMPROVEMENTS ON THE LOTS OF LANDS IDENTIFIED IN THE RESOLUTION, INCLUDING SCHEDULE OF ASSESSMENTS ON FILE, ADOPTING AND CONFIRMING THE ASSESSMENTS AND NOTING THAT THE SID MAY AMEND THE SCHEDULE PRIOR TO CITY CERTIFICATION TO THE COUNTY FISCAL OFFICER. OWNERS MAY PAY ALL OR A PORTION OF THEIR SPECIAL ASSESSMENT IN CASH PRIOR TO CERTIFICATION FOR COLLECTION WITH THE COUNTY FISCAL OFFICER. OTHERWISE, THE ASSESSMENT WILL BE PAID IN 15 ANNUAL OR 30 SEMI-ANNUAL INSTALLMENTS WITH INTEREST ON THE UNPAID BALANCE WITH ISSUANCE BY SUCH ISSUING AUTHORITY AS DETERMINED BY THE SID IN ANTICIPATION OF THE COLLECTION OF THE UNPAID ASSESSMENT. ATTACHMENT A TO THE RESOLUTION IDENTIFIES THE SPECIFIC ASSESSMENT PARCELS INCLUDING THE OWNER'S TREAT ADDRESSES, PARCEL NUMBERS, AND PROJECT COST AMOUNTS. FOR QUICK REFERENCE, YOU CAN SEE THE FOLKS, WHAT THEIR ADDRESSES ARE, AND THEIR PROJECT AMOUNTS. I'm respectfully asking my colleagues to suspend the rules requiring three readings of the ordinance and adopt both the resolution ordinance on first reading tonight so the financing can proceed to closing at the earliest possible date and address erosion threats without delay. This will allow the SID to proceed to closing and contractors can be paid from bond proceeds. It is critical to note that no city financing of any sort is required and Lakewood is not acting as a bond issuer. Lakers responsibilities are limited to passing the resolution ordinance and working with the SID to certify the assessments of the County fiscal officer in line with above the resolution ordinance have included emergency language order permit effectiveness on passage and the mayor's signature. Thank you for your considered consideration and continued support for these shoreline stabilization efforts. That was a lot of legalese and, KNOW DIRECTOR VARGO CAN CERTAINLY FILL IN HERE BUT FOR REFERENCE WE'VE EARLIER IN THE YEAR WE AUTHORIZE THE SUMMERGE LAND LEASES FOR THESE THESE PROPERTIES TO DO THIS SHORELINE IMPROVEMENT AND IT'S IT'S KEY TO KNOW AND I HAVE IT IN THE LETTER BUT THAT THERE IS NO CITY MONEY GOING INTO THESE PROJECTS WE ARE SIMPLY CERTIFYING THAT THEY ARE PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS SO THESE FOLKS CAN USE THIS DIFFERENT FINANCING MECHANISM TO IMPROVE THEIR PROPERTY TO IMPROVE THEIR THEIR PROPERTY IN LAKEWOOD So while I know it is unusual to request an ordinance passage without the customary three readings, in this instance to allow these folks to not have to go through August recess and get their projects moving, I would ask my colleagues to do that. Thank you and I'll make a motion to receive and file this communication.

Second. Motion's been made and seconded. Discussion? I just want to thank Vice President Baker for being our council liaison to the Shoreline Improvement District and helping us navigate all of this as well. And that this erosion prevention is important to a variety of properties as well as the city. All right. We have a motion and a second to receive and file the communication. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. And that motion passes.

Item 15, Resolution 2026-37, a resolution to take effect immediately, declaring it necessary and determining to proceed with acquiring, constructing, installing, equipping, improving, maintaining, and repairing improvements necessary for making improvements to abate erosion along properties within the city, including within the Lakewood Shoreline Special Improvement District Incorporated, together with all necessary appurtenances thereto, and declaring an emergency. Move to adopt.

Second.

Motion's been made and seconded. Discussion? Councilman Bullitt.

Thank you for the discussion and the thoughtful proposal. I presume the administration's in support. Not seeing any objection. And then the other question, and they're indicating yes, and the other question is maybe the councilman or the administration can refresh your memories. It seems as if we're doing these in rounds of subscribers or participants or however you want to term it, as these come up, can we get a recap today, if possible? If not, when it's available, just a big picture overview. Over the last several years, we've done this a couple of times. How's the program going financially in terms of the engineering effectiveness? And then how do we identify and find new participants four at a time or 24 at a time.

Vice President Baker.

Yes, and I'm happy to. So a special improvement district is like downtown Cleveland Alliance. It's essentially a group of properties that are in a special taxing district in Lakewood. The Ohio legislator gave the ability to do this for shoreline erosion prevention, which include riparian areas as well as lakes or so Lakewood. Every property that touches Rocky River or Lake Erie in Lakewood is in the Shoreline Special Improvement District. It is entirely voluntary, though, unlike some special improvement districts where you have to apply to assess yourself, basically. And so there was one other tranche of funding that went through. So kind of what happens is the CID is a public body. We met. We issued a meeting notice. And the public was available to come and look and attend the meeting. The difference is the only people that really are affected by that meeting are the people who are willing to assess their own property. So it was not very well attended other than the people who were seeking to assess their own property. And so we did have discussions about ways, you know, maybe we work with the city to send letters to folks that live in those properties that we can pull from a GIS pool and say, hey, this funding is available to you if you are looking to do a shoreline erosion project. So that's something we did talk about. But this would, to answer your other question, this would be the second tranche of funding that we've done. And it helps to, from a lending perspective, lenders would rather lend, what's this, a million dollars as opposed to lending like each project individually. So they like to do the lending all at once to kind of get better rates and get a better funding situation. So happy to answer any other questions folks have.

And I'll just add that the city engineer is also at that meeting as well and has reviewed all this.

Yeah, he's a CID board member as well. So Engineer Papke and myself are on the CID board.

If you want some numbers, so the first round was just under $2.5 million. It's to be paid in 14 years, so an annual assessment of about $164,000. And we have been receiving that and passing it along. Councilman Bullock?

Just a quick follow-up. So do these property owners find us or we find them? It sounds like they find us, probably.

So as I understand it, Engineer Papke is in communication with a lot of these folks. And the moment they call the city and say, hey, what do we have to do to do a shoreline improvement project? Engineer Papke says, if you want better financing, some people just like to pay cash. Some people have the means to do that. But then typically, Engineer Papke will connect that property owner with the the Shoreline Improvement District, which the current president is Jay Feran, and then Kevin Butler is the legal counsel.

Any further discussion? All right. Hearing none, on the motion to adopt the resolution, all those in favor? Aye. And that motion passes.

and 16 ordinance 2920 26 in ordinance to take effect immediately levying special assessments for acquiring constructing installing equipping improving maintaining and repairing improvements necessary for making improvements to the erosion on properties within the city included within the liquid shoreline special improvement district together with all necessary appurtenances there to move to a suspend the rules to adopt on first reading second motions been made and seconded discussion.

Hearing none. All those in favor? Aye. And that motion passes. Then I'll move to adopt.

Second.

Motion's been made and seconded. Any discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor?

Aye. And that motion passes. Item 17, report from Vice President Baker regarding July meeting of the Lakewood Alive Board of Directors. Vice President Baker.

Reading too much tonight. Dear colleagues, the Lakewood Alive Board of Directors met on July 15, 2026. AT THE LAKEWOOD HOPEWOOK LIBRARY FOR ITS BIMONTHLY MEETING. THE BOARD APPROVED THE LAKEWOOD LIVES FISCAL YEAR 2027 BUDGET FOLLOWING AN EXTENSIVE REVIEW PROCESS AND ELECTED A NEW SLATE OF OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS. THE NEW DIRECTORS ARE CAITLIN GREER, MARK PLUSH, AND SHARON SCHULT. AS FOR OFFICERS, AMANDA SANTA WILL BE PRESIDENT, JASON WEINER, VICE PRESIDENT, JEFF MATTHEAS, SECRETARY, AND JENNIFER WYNN, TREASURER. and Julie Warren, the immediate past president. I look forward to working with all of them. The Board also recognized outgoing members Michael Bentley and Chris Burgin for their dedicated service and leadership. Executive Director Joe Higgins provided an update on the organization's ongoing operational transition, including efforts to strengthen internal systems, cross-train their staff, and maintain continuity of liquidalized programs and services. Staff also highlighted the organization's response following the recent extended power outages, during which employees proactively contacted vulnerable residents to ensure they were safe and assist those in need of support. Committee reports reflect the continued progress across many strategic initiatives. The Development Committee reported another successful fundraising year with the organization exceeding both its individual and corporate giving goals while also achieving record board participation. The Small Business Committee continues preparing the launch of the Small Business Emergency Relief Fund and developing new resources to assist entrepreneurs and existing businesses navigate the startup and permitting process. Council members looking to support Lakewood Alive are encouraged to volunteer at all upcoming events. and consider serving on one of the organization's committees. Upcoming community events include the Front Porch Concert Series through July, Summer Meltdown, which just happened, and the new board member orientation on September 10th. I'll make a motion to receive and file that communication.

Second. Motion's been made and seconded. Discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor? Aye. And that motion passes.

Item 18, communication from Councilmember Striebig regarding transgender student athletes.

Councilmember Striebig. Dear colleagues, last month the United States Supreme Court decided that transgender girls cannot play on girls teams. There's been a lot of discussion about a few students across the country that want to play and I'd like to take this opportunity to say that everyone should be and can be included in play. The research that describes the physical and mental benefits of play far outweighs the discomfort and required effort to solve for fairness. We've been making exceptions to allow people of different abilities to participate and compete for a very long time. Consider golf handicaps, bowling averages, and the millions of ways kids on the playground solve this problem every day. Better players have to use their weak hand or foot. Beginners get a head start. The size of the goal is adjusted to keep the game fun and competitive. It takes some thought, but it is doable, even by children. The Ohio High School Athletic Association had a very detailed and thoughtful guideline for including transgender students on teams before this new era of hatred and scapegoating. The policy included a requirement and evaluation of the student's hormone replacement therapy history, consultation with medical experts, and a final review of the association's board. The ultimate goal was to be inclusive, not exclusive. To be clear, and as you probably know, I am a fan of women's sports and attend events regularly. Allowing vetted trans athletes to participate, as was previously done in Ohio, and as I have described in detail here, does not give them an advantage. It only allows them to be included. I would like to make a motion to receive and file this communication.

Second. Motion's been made and seconded. Discussion? Councilman Bullard.

Thank you, Madam President and Councilman Striebeck. It's occurred to me more than once that the State Athletic Association is the proper place to handle this rather than Federal Supreme Court or the White House that's intent on politicizing everything. So thanks for your thoughtful points and I agree. Thank you.

Thank you for the discussion. I'll just add that most students who play sports don't go on to participate at the college level or the professional level. They just want to play with their friends. And as we recognize tonight with the baseball team, the camaraderie and what it means to the community to see students engaging positively together is far outweighs any sort of unfairness which is not really present in this situation. What's really unfair is to shut out students who want to just play sports with their friends. All right. Thank you for the thoughtful communication, as always, Councilmember. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. And that motion passes.

Item 19, communication from Fire Chief Fairbanks regarding Ohio Division of EMS grant award. Chief Fairbanks.

President Keppel and members of City Council, I am pleased to inform you that the Lakewood Fire Department has been awarded a 2026-2027 Ohio Division of EMS Training and Equipment Grant in the amount of $2,944.56. This grant is intended to support the purchase of approved EMS training and equipment and is available for use during the funding period of July 1, 2026 through December 31, 2026. These grant funds will help offset the costs of maintaining and enhancing our emergency medical services program while reducing the financial burden on the city's general fund. By taking advantage of state funding opportunities such as this, we are able to continue investing in equipment and training necessary to provide high-quality pre-hospital care to our residents and visitors. For codified ordinance 111.14, no match required, this letter serves to formally notify council of our acceptance of this grant for the purpose of EMS equipment and training. Thank you.

Thank you. We always appreciate it when departments get their own money. So thank you very much. So I'll move to receive and file that communication.

Second.

Motion's been made and seconded. Discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. And that motion passes.

Item 20, liquor permit regarding Sini Hospitality LLC at 16806 Madison Avenue.

And I think this one just came in, so please need some time to actually do the investigation. So I'm going to move to defer.

Second.

Motion's been made and seconded. Discussion? Vice President Baker.

Yes, the council president and I discussed that Should any problems arise with the report and there be a statutory reason to object, I could then work with the law department because we'll be on recess to object. I don't foresee any issues, but procedurally, just, I guess, Chief, once you get it, send it along. We'll go from there.

Thank you. All right, there's a motion and a second to defer. Any discussion for the discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. And that motion passes. We are now at public comment. We don't have anyone signed in to speak, but I do see some people out here. Did anyone wish to speak?

No?

OK. All right. So with that, we are at, I think that's a record. OK, so with that, announcements from council members? Council Member Evans.

I just wanted to say summer meltdown this weekend was a success. I think people stayed away because of the weather that never happened or the kind of the air quality. But nonetheless, it was a good time. So I wanted to especially thank our safety services. Did an amazing job as always and as well as Public Works for helping Lakewood Alive put on that event. I saw Director Gordon down there. checking on things during the event. So many thanks. We can't do these really fun community events without you guys. So appreciate it.

Thank you. Other announcements? Council Member Stupig.

Just a reminder that the last community conversation for Ward 1 is on August 5th at the YMCA at 630. So see folks there.

Thank you. All right. Council Member Striebeck? I just wanted to remind you all that on July 26, it's Parents' Day. Make sure you tell your kids that they are supposed to be nice to you and reward you that day. On July 29, we will be having the full buck moon. on the 30th, Friendship Day. So make sure you tell those people that support you, happy Friendship Day on that day. And then a couple for August since we won't be here. August 21st is Senior Citizens Day. August 26th is Women's Equality Day. And then we'll resume in September when we get back. Thank you. Thank you.

Any further announcements from council? I just want to take a moment. Once again, this is becoming a tradition of thanking our city staff for their work to support residents during power outages again. So thank you to everyone for helping with that, as well as the big gas leak in the high rise downtown and all the unexpected things that happen. Human services staff opening up cove. So thank you to Everyone who works extra hard to make up for First Energy's lack of infrastructure. All right. Any further announcements from the administration? Hearing none. Okay. With that, no further business to come before council. We are adjourned.