City Council - Regular Meeting

Please join me for the Pledge of Allegiance.

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

Call the roll, please. Mayor Bailey. Here. Vice Mayor Bateman. Here. Mr. Goodyear. Here. Ms. Hamlin. Here. Mr. Hart. Here. Ms. Hazelbaker. Here. Mr. Jarenick.

Here.

Welcome, everyone. Tonight we have our Director of Finance, Mark Medler. Assistant City Manager, Chris Weinage. Clerk of Council, Misty Clark. Dave Kennedy, City Manager. Solicitor, Joe Braun. Chief of Police, Michael Gabrielson. Former Council Members, Pat Mays and Todd Osborne. I think I've got everybody. And we didn't forget, we just wanted to highlight it better. Unless there's an objection, I'm going to add a proclamation regarding the Loveland Shorts Festival to the agenda. Everyone okay with that? Mm-hmm. Okay. You want to join me at the podium?

Just Cynthia, not the whole group? I'm representing.

All right, here we go. Proclamation in honor of Loveland Shorts Film Festival Weekend. Whereas the city of Loveland, Ohio, proudly known as the Sweetheart of Ohio and consistently rated among the state's top small towns, is a vibrant community dedicated to fostering arts and culture. And whereas the Loveland Shorts Film Festival is in its third consecutive year of providing a creative and welcoming environment for independent filmmakers to showcase their work and engage with the local community. And whereas the Loveland Shorts Film Festival has swiftly become a cherished annual event dedicated to showcasing the remarkable talents of independent filmmakers and enriching the cultural tapestry of our beloved city. And whereas this highly anticipated weekend will feature a curated collection of exceptional short films, workshops, opportunities for networking and celebratory events, enriching the cultural landscape of our beloved city. and whereas this event attracts filmmakers and producers from across the continental united states as well as multiple countries across the globe and whereas the loveland shorts festival loveland shorts film festival with the full support of its mayor city council local businesses and the entire community contributes significantly to our reputation as an arts focused destination And whereas the Loveland Shorts Film Festival encourages independent filmmakers to celebrate their creativity, creative artistry through the genres of comedy, animation, documentary, drama, romance, and science fiction. Now, therefore, I, Kathy Bailey, by the power vested in me as Mayor of the City of Loveland, and on behalf of City Council and residents, do hereby proclaim July 31st through August 2nd as Loveland Shorts Film Festival Weekend in the City of Loveland, and encourage residents and visitors alike to join in celebrating the boundless imagination of storytellers worldwide to support independent filmmaking and to partake in the unique cultural experience that this festival brings to our community.

Thank you very much. In 2024, my friend Gary Giver and his good friend Dan Peterson came and said that they were going to start a film festival in Loveland. And I said, ooh, can I play? And they said yes. And that's how I ended up here today. We have had a lot of fun bringing this to you, and this year we are going to have the festival, as Kathy said, on July 31st, which is a Friday, Saturday, August 1st, and then the awards are on Sunday, August 2nd. And we're going to have the blocks. Some are like we've done in the past and there's even a new one. We are going to have our Friday Night Frights, which is a lot of fun, even if you don't like horror. And there's some really good ones this year, too. We have our Saturday Night Showcase, and that's kind of like just the really best of the best, so that's fun. But this year, we're going to do something on Friday mornings, and let's see if I can get this out. We call it the 4 F's, which is Family Friendly Fun Films. And of course, that's for the younger members of our audience. And again, What's really nice is there's a special price for that block. It's only $5. So you can come and see the film with your children and teenagers and the whole family can afford to come. So that's very fun. One of the nice things about the festival, of course, is that there's lots of options. You can just watch a block of films, you can watch all day, or you can watch both days. We also have a VIP option, which allows you to come to the coffee hour in the morning and meet the filmmakers, and that's fun. We have workshops, and those are fascinating because there are many aspects to films that I didn't really know about or think about. Anything from how to film a fight scene or how to finance it, and all the way to how to get the lighting and the sound right so that you really get your message across. So those are interesting. and then in the evening we have our after parties. Those are really a good time. You can meet with each other and have a drink and some food and talk to these amazingly interesting people that make films. They're very different But they're all interesting to speak to. And if you get the VIP ticket, then you can go to the awards ceremony and get all choked up with the rest of us when these people accept their awards. They're so excited. And it does have an impact on their career. You know, when you win a film festival, big or large, that goes in your resume and it's a good way to market your film to other people. So it's a very cool thing. So, in any case, this has been delightful to have a city recognize and honor the festival like this and a lot of the filmmakers have said to us both in person and posted online that this doesn't go on at every festival to have the the city embrace it that way and we give him them a copy of this with their name on it and their swag bags and they're absolutely delighted and tickled to have it so Thank you very, very much. Get your tickets today. And thank you so much for this. It means the world to us.

Thank you.

Thank you.

My laptop feels like me.

It's pretty cool.

All right, next we have, if I can figure out my thingy, approval, review and approval of the minutes from June 9th, 2026 meeting. Are there any changes, additions, or do we have a motion to approve?

Move to approve as written. Second.

Call the roll, please.

Vice Mayor Bateman. Yes. Mr. Goodyear. Yes. Ms. Hamlin. Yes. Yes. Ms. Hazel Baker. Yes. Mr. Jernick. Yes. Mayor Bailey. Yes. Motion carries seven to zero. Mr. Kennedy.

This is a bit of a house cleaning item. The city. participates in the CDBG program through Hamilton County that was completed many, many years ago. And it was done for various reasons, but it was obviously a good decision. At the time, you can't participate in multiple counties. With that, and the program has been very good to the city. Recently, we had a bit of a run there where we were getting some water valve replacements and some other items. But One of the items is that you have to renew and basically this is us declaring because we sort of got the same thing from Claremont where we're not declaring. It allows us to do a cooperation agreement with Hamilton County, what they call the Urban County Program. And talking to them down there, Angela, the one change will be that we will not have to apply every three years. We're going to be able to apply for funding every year. In the past, we've always had to go on three-year increments. So that is a benefit to the city and benefit to the Heights and a benefit to obvious different parts of the city, but mostly for the Heights.

Okay. Any comments or questions?

No. Go ahead and read the resolution, please. Resolution authorizing the city manager to enter into an agreement of cooperation with Hamilton County, Ohio, pursuant to provisions of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 as amended. Call the roll, please. Mr. Goodyear? Yes. Ms. Hamlin? Yes. Mr. Hart? Yes. Ms. Hazelbaker? Yes. Mr. Janik? Yes. Mayor Bailey? Yes. Vice Mayor Bateman? Yes. Resolution 52 is adopted by a vote of 7-0. Mr. Kennedy? Yes.

This next is to award the purchase agreement with citywide demolition for the removal of the 128 Riverside Drive, the property that the city purchased through the Clean Ohio Program. Note that that this will include all hard surfaces, driveways, sidewalks, that's part of the agreement, and pool and the whole process. I will tell you that we work pretty exclusively with Citywide. Citywide, in our experience of the contractors, is the most proficient in terms of making sure that every item of asbestos and all the remediation is completed. They actually work with our environmental engineer. a patron engineer. $35,770 is actually, we think, is a pretty good price considering all that's involved with this. We're working with the Schildemeier family on the process of this, but to be honest with you, Chief Huber is going to be in there doing some fire training once Terry and the family are completely gone, which should be any day now. We've seen any communication with them. Chief Huber is going to be in there doing some training, and then Kyle will be doing some canine training When that's all complete, we'll go ahead and raise the structure. So this is just a resolution proving that.

Thank you. Any comments or questions? Ms. Hamel?

Yeah. Now that we've entered this next phase of the project, I just wanted to once again express gratitude to the Shieldmire family. Property in my opinion is more than just brick and mortar, it's memories and it's where families build generations. And so the Shieldmire family is not just going to hear about this demo, they still have a business across the street. So they're going to watch their family home raised in real time and that has got to be a very emotional and difficult experience. I just want to once again express my gratitude and thank them for their selfless decision to preserve this area in perpetuity for the residents of Loveland.

Any other comments or questions? Yes, Mr. Hart.

I just wanted to highlight something Mr. Kennedy just said, and I think it's important to bring this up, is that When we have an opportunity like this, our public safety, our fire department, our police force takes the opportunity to extend some training opportunities. It's thinking outside the box. I think it's important to recognize that our folks are training all the time to protect our residents here and taking opportunities like this when they present themselves. I love that thinking outside the box and seizing opportunities like they are.

Thank you. Any other comments or questions? I'm going to read the resolution, please.

Resolution authorizing the city manager to execute an agreement with citywide remediation and removal for raising the structure located at 128 North Riverside Drive. Call the roll, please. Ms. Hamlin? Yes. Mr. Hart? Yes. Hazel Baker? Yes. Mr. Jaranei? Yes. Mayor Bailey? Yes. Vice Mayor Bateman? Yes. Mr. Goodyear? Yes. Resolution 53 is adopted by a vote of 7-0. Mr. Warnick? Yes.

Thank you, Mayor. Back in July of 2025, the Parks and Recreation Board approved a revised field use policy, which included a recommendation to council to increase the annual recreation fees from $20,000 to $30,000 for 2026. Following feedback from the sports organizations that currently utilize our fields, we took a pause before we brought it to council to allow for all those organizations to better prepare financially for their budgets for 2027. So with that, we are now bringing it forward to city council to increase the current fee structure. is based on field usage and city resources. And it's actually kind of dictated by the Parks and Rec Board based on our current codified ordinance chapter 955.06. The $20,000 fee does not come close to covering our costs for what we put into fields. But that is, you know, historically, that's something that the city has provided at a discounted cost. But those fees have continued, or the cost, the expenses have have continued to rise. We have not increased this since 2014. We do believe on average the last couple years we have been spending approximately $100,000 between labor, machinery, equipment, material. So with that, we did a little bit of research as we were going through the Parks and Rec Board, looked at surrounding communities to make sure raising this $10,000 to $30,000 was in line with other communities. And in fact, it is, and it is still below what we believe other communities are charging. It's a little hard and they're not all apples to apples as far as how their fee structures are broken down, but we do feel it's still very competitive and still allows the organizations to offer the recreational leagues at a very competitive price to their athletes. So with that, this is a first reading of the ordinance. City Council does have the option to, after two readings, to approve the legislation. This does help out, as I mentioned, we do believe the delta will come down. So it's, you know, it's still a it's still a decent gap. And I think we will continue to monitor these fees over the years with parks and rec board, but it will certainly help help, like I said, bring that delta down.

All right, thank you. Any comments or questions?

Yes, I want to thank Chris and Dave for working with our youth sports, Loving Youth Softball and Loving Youth Baseball. I was on both boards, and this is long overdue. I know you guys put a lot of work on Lever Park and our 14U Lightning softball team. After a huge rain, I was able to play the very next day, which historically was... Not a thing. So thank you, guys.

Good. Yes.

Yeah, I, you know, I appreciate looking at the other communities, working with the youth sports to make sure that it's not a concern on the air. I would like to have you just kind of talk through kind of the what they put into the fields, because I know that's been a concern in the past of like, we've had conversations around the sports around Liza around, you know, even just, you know, what energy or time that the the youth sports actually put in the field, and kind of how that balances with the money that we put into the field, because I If I understand it, the $100,000 is directly what we work on for that sports, not just parks, you know, maintenance in general.

Correct. So the $100,000 reflects, that number reflects what we do, what we are doing above and beyond what a normal park does. would exhibit so for example if if we had baseball fields but we weren't we weren't providing it to recreational leagues we would likely only drag those once a week maybe once every two weeks we wouldn't we wouldn't be lining fields we wouldn't worry about lighting we weren't we wouldn't worry about fencing necessarily So there's a lot of different aspects that we've taken it to the next step so that they can have organized games there. Each individual organization, we do, I don't want to say bare minimum, we do kind of what we feel provides a playable atmosphere for each organization. Each organization then kind of says, is it OK? They come to the city and say, is it OK if we, for example, at Phillips Park, fertilize or potentially aerate once a year, twice a year? They typically come to us and we say, well, you know, we can't fund that. But if you want to do that, let us know when you're doing it, how you're doing it. And by all means, absolutely. So there is some back and forth. There's some goodwill. That's just one example. Baseball does very similar things, specifically with the freshman baseball field. They install you know, they have irrigation that they installed up there several years ago. There's several, several, several things that each of those organizations kind of give back. So there is a give and take. There's a lot. You know, the numbers aren't hard. You know, it's hard to really get them, you know, real close to what they need to be as far as tightness. But I think I will say this. I do believe the communication between each organization has improved and we are striving to continue that. We are meeting, which is probably why you don't have anyone here tonight, which is a good thing because we've talked to them about this. and explain to them why this is happening, not just, hey, we're increasing your fees. We opened our books and we showed them what we're spending our money on, what it takes. So we'll continue to have those conversations with them. But there is an understanding that these are still city parks and they are owned by the city.

Thank you. Any other comments, questions, Vice Mayor?

Yeah, just to sort of button up that last comment, Mr. Weinig, I really want to give a lot of credit to the parks board for their role in this and facilitating this because like you said, it does require a lot of collaboration and an opportunity to reach a consensus and that transparency and that sort of spirit of good faith. really sort of belongs in that public body that the parks board represents so there's all these moving parts like you mentioned that go into the field use uh maintenance as well as the fees um but the fact is and i think mr jaron kind of alluded to this as well is that we're really doing this for the kids of this community and that's what why that delta uh is more than acceptable that that's something that we're we're willing as a as a as an organization to offset as long as it's in good faith and met with, you know, fairness and equity across the different stakeholders. So again, I think the Parks Board is really important to be that facilitator between those parties. And so all the folks that served on it and have served on it to get this right, they definitely deserve commendation for that effort.

Thank you. Any further comments?

All right. First reading only. We'll go ahead and read the ordinance. Ordinance amending the codified ordinances of Loveland, Chapter 111, schedule of fees, fines and other charges regarding recreation fees.

Thank you. All right. Next is an ordinance raising other fees. Somebody going to?

Joe.

Who's talking about this one? I can do it.

Okay.

This is an ordinance that's going to adjust our court costs and fines for our mayor's court. There's only a few fines that needed to be adjusted and it was those that relate to statutory changes such as seat belts and certain non-moving violations that we wanted to catch up to the ORC to make sure we made our code consistent. The primary change was court cost though. We did a survey, actually Renee did, our mayor's court clerk down in the police department did a survey of other communities and while we're currently charging about $62 on average for our court costs, we're raising them to $80 or $90 depending on the offense to right-size them. Just as a way of comparison, the municipal courts downtown are charging a minimum of $130 for their court costs and many of the mayor's courts that we looked at of comparable sizes are near to $100 or over. So we're still beneath where other communities are, but we needed to right-size that. And just so you know, a majority of those court costs, you might be surprised to know, don't really go to the city of Loveland. We're required to pay those to the state of Ohio for various DUI funds, public defender funds, computer funds. and whatever is left over goes to the city level. So, it's really a small amount but we did not want to lose money on our court costs and make sure that we were still covering our administrative costs. So, the adjustments are contained in the amended ordinance.

Thank you. Any comments or questions on that? All right. Go ahead and read the first reading.

An ordinance amending section 111.01a of the codified ordinances of Loveland related to mayor's courts, fines, and costs.

Thank you. Mr. Warnage.

Thank you, Mayor. Before you is a communication from the Planning and Zoning Commission. They are recommending adoption of the formal text amendments to Part 11, Planning and Zoning Code for the City of Loveland. Specifically, this is the zoning code rewrite that we've been working on for well over a year. I am not going to, since this is a request for a public hearing at this point, I'm not going to go through the whole memorandum, but the memorandum does give you a synopsis of what has been kind of a snapshot of what has been updated, what has been changed. They did, so at their, for detail, it was at their June 11th, 2026 meeting, they held, by they, I mean the Planning and Zoning Commission, they held a public hearing. We actually did not receive, we received one written comment that Planning and Zoning took into account, but they did make that recommendation at that meeting. And also within your packet is the rest, basically the staff report from that planning and zoning commission meeting, as well as the updated or the proposed zoning code rewrite. Just for clarification, if this public hearing does get recommended or does get moved forward, we will, as part of our public outreach on this public hearing, we will have the red line document available online right with the public notice, as well as, today I did some work in putting it together, but as well as the kind of the chronological order of the meetings and the meeting packets as well as the, so it kind of shows how this got there because this was a long process. So it is kind of, you know, it could take some time, which is the other reason why we're recommending a public hearing for Tuesday, July 28th. So it gives some time for the public to take a look at this as well.

All right. Thank you. Vice Mayor, as our planning and zoning rep, would you like to add anything?

Just I'm glad that you answered my question, Mr. Weinish, about the getting. This is a bulky document. And so to get that in the hands of those that would be interested in general is important. So including us here at the dais. So that was really my main question was, When can we expect an opportunity to go through this and look at all the related documents? So thanks for addressing that. I will just say it did take a long time. It's definitely, it was a comprehensive process to go through the entire zoning code and flag inconsistencies and develop new, more clear and succinct language. It's still no easy reader, but I think it's a much improved document. And I'm sure you'll be available for questions from the public or from us here with regards to anything specific that's contained in those changes.

That's correct. Yeah. And all those documents will be up there tomorrow. I believe it'll officially advertise next week in the Inquirer, but they'll be up tomorrow. Sounds good.

All right. Anybody have any comments for Ms. Hazelbaker?

This is just in regards to the public hearing. So for the public outreach, one, much gratitude for the red line and the additional information. One suggestion, because you just said exactly the same thing, it is so bulky that I feel like people can't digest kind of the impact. So my suggestion would be to, you did such a good job of these different summaries, is to maybe posting or sharing those with those different categories. Like here's the one that's really big on the short-term rentals is probably one that most people want a lot of information on. So maybe putting information out there and like a story around that one item that we think might have the most impact. And it's probably infill in short term. But I think your summary did a great job. And I think each one of those could be those. So appreciate the red line. Appreciate the pushing out till July 28th. And I would love to have this kind of broken down into pieces for the public.

Yeah, pushing out had nothing to do with my vacation plans.

Well, you could have kept that to yourself. I would have loved it as it was.

No, but what I do think I'll do is I'll take the summary, a similar summary that's in here, probably expand on it a little bit and add that as a document also like a summary page. But I've got ideas of how to do that.

I appreciate it. Thank you. Any other comments or questions? All right. I do want to thank Planning and Zoning and thanks Mr. Weinich and Mr. Kennedy and anybody else that worked on this because I know this has been going on, I think, longer than a year, hasn't it?

It's been going on since Corey was here. It really picked up speed when Chris got here and him and Eva really attacked it. So that was really, it really went on. Corey sort of got it all started and then... Eva had been working on it since he got here.

So they're really the two. I'd be remiss if I didn't also thank our consultant, McBride Dale Clarion. They were a huge help through this. And they will be available should we need them. So if we get to a point where you do have questions that are above something I'm able to answer, they will be available, too.

All right. Well, well done. This was a major undertaking, though. Council said he did this, but it was overdue, so nice job. We do need a motion to set a public hearing. Someone would care to take care of that?

I will make a motion to set a public hearing on July 28th, 2026 for the purpose of considering the formal zoning text amendments to the City of Loveland Code of Ordinances, which include a rewrite of the existing Code of Ordinances of the City of Loveland.

Is there a second? I'll second that.

Call the roll, please. Mr. Hart? Yes. Ms. Hazel Baker? Yes. Mr. Jernick? Yes. Mayor Bailey? Yes. Vice Mayor Bateman? Yes. Mr. Goodyear? Yes. Ms. Hamlin? Yes. Motion carries 7-0. Okay. June fun facts.

Yeah.

In 1953, council passed an ordinance to regulate and license pinball and similar amusement machine. 1957, council adopted an ordinance limiting parking in the railroad parking lot to two-hour parking.

So we're already having parking issues in 1957.

In 1973, council passed an ordinance for the construction of the new Loveland City Building and Firehouse. In 1983, Council authorized the purchase of parcels at the corner of Riverside Drive and West Loveland Avenue for what is now the Veterans Memorial. In 1986, Council approved a resolution to widen Loveland-Madera Road. In 1989, Council passed a resolution to approve the final development plan for the Loveland Commerce Center. That same year, they awarded a contract for the construction of an overhead storage tank at Union Cemetery and Commerce Boulevard. And in 1991, council adopted a resolution to recognize and acknowledge the residents of Loveland who served in the Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Storm. Thank you. Fun facts. Now we have a few announcements. Vintage baseball game. Our vintage baseball game originally scheduled for May has been rescheduled to this Saturday, June 27th. Join us as we step back in time and experience America's pastime played by 1860s rules and customs as part of Loveland's 150th anniversary celebration. Gates open at noon, first pitches at 1. There will be a flyover by the Wright B. Flyer. And the city will be providing complimentary hot dogs, chips, and water. So bring the family and enjoy an afternoon of baseball history and community. Our next summer concert on the City Hall lawn is coming up this Sunday and will feature the Natty Frogs. The concert will run from 6 to 8. So bring a lawn chair or blanket and join us. Groundbreaking for the Claremont County Park District's New Grailville Nature Preserve in Loveland will be next Wednesday, July 1st. Ceremony begins at 2 p.m. at the O'Bannonville Road entrance across the street from the Grail. City of Loveland will host its Independence Day celebration on Saturday, July 4th, the full day of family-friendly activities. This year's celebration represents a once in a generation opportunity to celebrate both Loveland's 150th anniversary and America's 250th anniversary. Once again, we want to thank our sponsors, volunteers, community organizations, and downtown businesses whose support have helped make this milestone celebration possible. The celebration begins at 1 p.m. with Eric Bloom's annual student drum recital on the community stage. Then a full schedule of entertainment activities, food vendors, and community events throughout the day. So probably everything is on our website somewhere. The Independence Day Parade will step off at 4 p.m. from Loveland Elementary School. This year's theme, Loveland Through the Decades, celebrating 150 years of Loveland and 250 years of America, honors both our city's sesquicentennial and our nation's upcoming semi-quincentennial.

You threw that word in for me. Thanks so much.

The parade will feature community groups, local organizations, the Shriners, Daughters of the American Revolution serving as grand marshals, a children's bicycle decorating contest, and a float competition. Beginning at 6, Downtown will come alive with interactive experiences including art activities, caricature artists, face painting, balloon creations, wood carving demonstrations, arcade games, Are we going to monitor those like we passed that resolution back in 1957? Bingo, putt-putt golf cornhole, a human slot machine benefiting Life Food Pantry and the popular Buckeye Pedal Pool. The community stage will feature a variety of patriotic and family-friendly programming, including a youth presentation of, and that is the community stage program. Railroad?

By the Wicked Pickle, yeah.

Okay. A youth presentation of the Gettysburg Address, an adult spelling bee lip sync battle. That's interesting. Founding fathers improv presented by the Loveland Stage Company, kids line dancing in a pie eating contest.

You're good at making them, David. Are you good at eating them? Yes.

Registration remains open for several of these activities through the city's website. Live music will be provided throughout the evening by the Michelle Robinson Band, and a large video screen will allow guests to watch the World Cup matches and the Cincinnati Reds game while enjoying the festivities. Evening will conclude with the final drawing of the city's 150th anniversary commemorative bourbon bottle raffle, followed by annual Floral Airworks display at 10. Free shuttle service will be available throughout the event. Check out our website for all the details.

That's a lot of announcements. Ms. Hazelbaker, I believe you had an announcement of some kind.

I do. I'm going to steal your jar. Go ahead. Sure. So the council and staff have a jar of Blair's Boysenberry Jam on their counter here as a gift to them. So Kent Blair and his passing, we were working on perfecting a boysenberry jam. And Kent, I will not do this justice for anybody who knows him and his storytelling, but he grew up in California and the boysenberry was invented there. And he talked about the hybridness of it and all the science of it for hours as we were making jam. Yeah. Um, we were trying to perfect it, um, but we didn't get a chance to finish that. But, um, a few of us, uh, both Sherry and Jane and I worked to take his notes and my notes and perfect the jam. And so this is that version. Um, so it's a little bit more tart, a little less sweet than the last batch. Um, like, like him for sure. Um, and so I hope each of you enjoy this in his honor and, um, It was a joy to make it again, for sure. And once I, like, confirm that it's right, I will write up the recipe and share it with everybody.

Thank you. Anyone else? All right. Do we have a motion to adjourn? Motion to adjourn.

Second.

Call the roll, please.

Yes. Mr. Jernick? Yes. Mr. Bailey? Yes. Vice Mayor Beatman? Yes. Mr. Hamlin? Yes. Mr. Hart?

Yes.