Council - Regular Meeting

planning. Yep. So, we really can't do anything with that at all. All right. So, we are not even going to say 51, right? Just leave it at two. Um, the next one is 55. This is the recreational vehicles. It's also in the planning. Yep. It's the same. Um, 56. 56 is going to go uh 23 vote. Okay. Second and third. Anyone want to discuss?

I think we're down to everything that needed to be corrected. Mr. Gazetti, so the conversation at the last work session focused around um whether applications are required for each person going and pedalling or soliciting, which the existing language does require that. Um, and the discussion was also focused on what is the application fee. It's currently 20. The last proposed amendment proposed us basically send that up to $100 per applicant. Based on the discussion, we basically pull that out of the ordinance. So, if you vote to amend the ordinance to the most recent version that you received this week, it's back to the $20 per application. Um, the only other thing that was modified since the last version you got was all references to canvasing are removed from the sections of the ordinance. The mention of canvasing in the title of the ordinance that you have should stay in there because we do define canvasing more or less to define what's not being regulated by that chapter of the code. If this um passes or and gets signed into law, when would the new requirements go into effect? When people renew their permits? So, existing permits would just

Yeah. So, anything issued before the passage date would be under the old rules. Um anything moving forward would be under the new rules, which really you're not changing a whole lot, right? You're just saying that every individual has to be an Well, that's already that's already. I mean, you're going to start enforcing it. So from a from a practical Yeah. So anytime somebody comes in for an application from now on um the police department's going to make sure that each and every person has a separate application and they go through that process. Makes sense. But we are changing the time. I was going to say that. Yeah. Wasn't that the main the whole point of it? You are

It's currently um pedaler solicit up to a half hour after sunset as defined by federal standards. You're basically carving out that half hour, cutting off that half hour. So now it's up to sunset. Up to sunset. And I think your guys perspective on that is it's a public safety issue not to have somebody on the roads walking, you know, and having the risk of them getting struck by a vehicle or something like that after dark. And I will have to make the motion to amend to the present verbiage. Yes, sir. before he offers it or after he offers it.

Um, you can offer it for second and third reading, then make the motion to amend, and then you can make the motion to pass and post. Since I'm seconding you, I'll second the motion to amend, too.

Okay. Anyone else have any questions or All right. Um, that'll be second and third reading. And then 64 is related to 55, so we can't proceed with it either. Um, under motions and legislative action, um, I have to give credit to John for pointing this out and reminding us. Um, but our meetings for November and December that land around the holidays are the 27th and 25th. I was going to make a motion to cancel those two meetings and I believe councelor Ventura was going to second that, right?

That's correct. Um, anyone object to that or want to discuss it? We do this almost every year since I've been here. Probably long before me on Christmas. Well, you could just come here at at 7:30 p.m. Okay. I'm available. I'll be here. You and me. All right. Um, I think that's it. Unless anyone else has anything else. Um, and if not, Christie would like to take our photo outside.

7:30 p.m. Mr. Hoover, will you please call the role? Miss Bryant here. Mr. Furrow here. Mr. Finley here. Mr. Garvis here. Mr. Rura

here. Now I ask Chaplain O'Brien to lead us in the invocation. If you would all please stand. Good evening, members of council, city staff, fellow residents. As we continue working together to shape the future of our community, is it important to recognize the shared responsibilities we all have in ensuring our city remains a safe, vibrant, and welcoming place for everyone. From infra in infrastructure improvements to supporting local businesses and addressing community needs, our collective efforts are what we make this city to thrive. I'd also like to take a moment to honor and thank the members of our police and fire departments. These brave men and women worked tirelessly, often behind the scenes and under challenging conditions, to keep our neighborhoods safe and respond quickly in time of crisis. Their dedication, professionalism, and compassion are deeply appreciated, and we are fortunate to have such committed public servants protecting our community every day. Amen.

And now, our honorable mayor, Nick Molner, will lead us in our 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. Thank you, Chaplain O'Brien. We appreciate you as always. Okay. Approval of minutes. Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to approve the minutes of the Thursday, September 25th, 2025 regular council meeting. Second. All in favor? I opposed. Public comments. We have none this this evening. Correspondents from the clerk.

Yes, sir. I have two. The first one was sent to the police department. Said, "We just wanted to thank you for responding so quickly to our request to have a speed sign added to Twinsburg Road. Thank you for saving our children, bikers, and joggers, and our wildlife." And that's from Jeff and Janet Ga, 7608 Tyber Court. And then there's also a letter sent to the fire department from Sheriff Candy Father. Says, "Dear Chief Ripley, on behalf of the Summit County Sheriff's Office and the Summit Regional Human Trafficking Task Force, I'd like to extend our sincere gratitude for the exceptional support your agency provided during the recent undercover operation conducted in coordination with our team. The assistance your agency gave helped the task force in making a total of 30 arrests during Operation Next Door with the Ohio Attorney General's Office. The professionalism, discretion, and dedication demonstrated by your personnel were critical to the successful execution of this complex and sensitive operation. Their ability to integrate seamlessly with our investigative team and maintain operational security was truly commendable. Your agency's contributions played a key role in achieving the objectives of the operation and ensuring the safety of all involved. We commend the following individuals for their assistance. Firefighter Ryan Zapora, drone pilot. Firefighter Jack Pittson, drone pilot. Firefighter Robert Sears, drone pilot. Auxiliary Roger Mortimer, drone pilot, and Detective Matt Nuronis. We deeply value the collaboration and trust that exists between our agencies, and we look forward to continuing the strong working relationship in future joint efforts. Please extend our thanks and appreciation to all members of your team who are involved. Should we require any assistance from our agency in the future, do not hesitate to reach out. Respectfully, Lieutenant B. Davidson, Detective Bureau Commander, Summit Regional, HTTF Director, and Drone Response Unit Commander. That is all. Thank you and good work, Chief Ripley. And it did include uh members of the police department staff. So, thank you, Chief Yakapoich as well. Okay, moving into pending your new legislation, we have ordinance number 56.

I offer uh ordinance number 56205 for its uh second and third reading by title only. Second. All in favor? I opposed. an ordinance amending chapter 761 of the city of Macedonia's codified ordinances pertaining to peddlers, solicitors, and canvasers. Director Gdetti. So the I believe the next motion that will be made by council is to amend this to reflect the most recent version distributed. Um this has obviously been discussed previously. The most recent version um primarily does two things. one removes the references to canvasers and two retains the $20 application fee instead of the $100 fee that was previously proposed.

Thank you. I make a motion to amend the uh ordinance to read as the present verbiage. Second. All in favor? I opposed. Any further discussion? I offer ordinance number 55 or 562025 to post and uh according to law. Second. All in favor? I opposed. Ordinance 56 carries. Are there any other motions or legislative actions? Yes, mayor. I would like to make a motion to cancel the November um 27th and December 25th uh city council meetings. Second. All in favor? I opposed.

Motion carries.

All right. Next up is the mayor's report. Uh I'll start with Nordonia football. Uh I made a friendly wager with Mayor's Cafiti as I always do about the Nordonia versus Twinsburg game and uh we we fortunately won that game and he's been a good sport about that. We we took a picture on our football field here at Nordonia and uh I know it was painful for him to do that, but uh to the victor goes the spoils, I guess. But he's a great sport and I want to thank him publicly for that because um we've we've won pretty much the past several years and but I appreciate the the fun he has with it and and our cross town rivalry. Uh next on my list is Halloween. It'll be on October 31st from 6:00 to 8. Uh I'll be forthright with this. I've had a lot of people call about changing that date due to football. Let allow me to be very clear. I I'm a big fan of the Cleveland Browns, the Ohio State Buckeyes, and especially Nordonia football. Being a graduate of the school, it's always been fun to be a fan of them. And if you don't know, Nordonia really produces some really good football players. If you go into the gym, there's a bunch that have been to the NFL. I believe there's six that have gone to the NFL in the past 15 or 20 years. I mean, that says something about a small school, so take a lot of pride in that. But I understand the thought with that, but it I had other people calling me saying, "Well, if you move it to Saturday, you know, we have all these other activities and we've just remained consistent. I know it's going to upset some folks that we're doing it on that day." But in my thinking, it just remained consistent and it makes it a lot easier moving forward if we know we're doing all the time. It's always going to be on October 31st from 6:00 to 8. You know, rain, sle, snow, it is what it is. So, uh, just understand why that decision was made and and every year I get a call about something to change that. I'm just going to remain consistent. I think it's the best way to handle it and and believe me, I thought about it, but um, I think that's what's best. I want to throw a big thank you out to all those that attended the Fall Fest and I really want to thank uh, Director Ekenro and his team for putting on Fall Fest and all of our police and fire and

service members that were there to assist with that. Uh, the event was a success. I think we had I think we estimated 1500 people had came to the event. Um, good job. I mean, for someone who's been on the job for a couple months to to get that up and running and have that done, I think you did an exceptional job in doing that. So, thank you for all you did.

Uh, next on my list is levy renewal issue 38. I want to remind everyone that this has been on the ballot and we've been utilizing this since the 60s. It's always passed. It's not an increase. It's the same as it always was. It's a critical levy that we utilize to support police, fire, and service personnel. So, if you have any questions about that, please contact my office. But, uh, it's important that we renew that levy. But I also want to point out in Cleveland magazine, as I have in every meeting for the past several, uh, Macedonia is in the top 15 in Northeast Ohio for the lowest property taxes. That's something that we really should hang our hat on and I'm very proud of that that we've been able to maintain that at such a low level for our property taxes. So, I I would ask for uh everyone to to take a hard look at that and and understand that's something we've renewed since the 60s. It's never been an issue and I I hope that everyone um renews that. Uh we do have a planning commission opening. I have a couple candidates that have thrown their name in the hat. Uh if you're interested, please contact myself in my office or it's on the web. I believe there's a little blurb on there where you can email and send your resume for that. Uh service building is off and running again. Uh we have a lot going out that very very fast. I can assure you that director Gelotti and Director Wilson and I and Director Gdetti at times uh are working very diligently and the building department's going to be involved here very soon. Uh that project is running fast. We will see progress this year. So, uh, the dilapidated buildings that our service teams are operating out of is going to be a thing of the past. I would hope by December of 26 that building will be up and running and we'll, uh, we'll vacate the other buildings that we're operating out of. So, safety of the employees is paramount. That's the big reason behind all this. And didn't make much sense to continue putting money into four or five other facilities when we could have one new one and it's probably not much more than it would have cost to to rehab all the other ones. But the efficiency of it is what matters most.

You may notice a lot of us are wearing breast cancer awareness things this evening. Uh it is breast cancer awareness month. Uh we will do this in our next council meeting as well. Uh we want to show our tribute to that. I want to thank Director Smith over here for uh all she did with getting things together with t-shirts and all the the little trinkets and and the money that's donated. It's all going to the Susan G. Kman Foundation.

Uh an amazing job you and your team have done with that. I appreciate that. Um but we want to show that we we support that as well. That's why we're all wearing the the the gear this evening. So, thank you for all that participated in that. I want to talk a little bit about infrastructure. So, the city of Macedonia has done an awful lot under my tenure and and in this council for the most part in the past eight years. I want to point out some facts of what has taken place. In the past eight years, we have spent or no, I'm sorry. We have gotten 11,75,22 in outside funding. Now, think about that. In eight years, 11 over 11 million, almost $12 million we've gotten from outside sources to help support our roads. That's a really really big deal. Um that that funded 22 roads. In in all, we have paved 92 roads in the past eight years. We are a 10 square mile town. To put that into perspective for people to think about for 10 square miles. We've paved 92 roads in eight years. So when I think about the infrastructure of this town, it's roads. It's not traffic. It's not lights. It's it's taking care of our roads and doing the things that we're supposed to do. So when people talk about, you know, where our tax dollars are going and what we're doing, that's a big piece of that. To break that down a little bit more, we have 68 lane miles. I'm sorry, hold on. We have 135 lane miles. I'm sorry. We have paved 68 of those. So, almost half of our roads have been repaved in the past eight years. That's significant. There aren't many communities that are doing what we're doing. And I can only thank the voters for that. And and uh Miss Brandt had alluded to it, I believe, in our last meeting when uh we worked on the levy in the past that supported those roads. And essentially, it's the people that live here that recognize the need for that because we had no dollars for internal roads. But to do nearly half of your lane miles of roads and repave them and

put them where they're supposed to be is something to hang our hats on. I'm very proud of that and I think our community should be very proud of that. Um the total of all that was uh $16.9 million of what we've paid. So we're using the dollars efficiently. We're putting where they're supposed to go. Our infrastructure is strong. and anyone that doesn't think it is uh really needs to re-evaluate their thinking because we've done a really good job with that. And I thank all of council for supporting us in that effort. I thank the voters for approving those in the past, but uh I'm proud of that and and you should be too. Last but not least, please don't drive distracted. Put the phones down and drive your car. Committee reports.

Uh parks and recck commission will have our October meeting next Wednesday at six o'clock. Um is it going to be upstairs? Yeah, you'll have to kind of peer through the plastic sheets. Okay. So, it's it's up upstairs up upstairs. It's there still. Okay. So, if everyone wants to join us, it's a public meeting. Um you can come upstairs at 6 o'clock and we'll be there. Enderman report. Okay. Mayor, uh the last actual finance committee meeting will be October 23rd where we'll go over the 2026 annual appropriations ordinance and then once the uh council meeting starts, we will have it at first reading. Thank you.

Department reports, Director Wilson.

Thank you, Mayor. Um, our new our new uh loader came in, which is record time of anything I've ever purchased in all of my life. Uh, it was like a week they happened to have one um that was kind of pre-ordered for someone else and it worked out that they didn't need it or something and um we ended up getting it. So, it's outside. Take a look. Um, never, uh, Steve said he wouldn't let you guys put it in dirt or do anything with it until council saw it. So, um, we do appreciate all your support, seriously. So, um, we do like to bring this stuff up. There's also a new leaf machine out there and new leaf boxes. They're all, uh, decaled up and stuff. So, pretty cool. Take a look at that. Speaking of leaves, the leaves start October the 14th, the day after um, Almost day. I guess it is the next holiday. October the 14th leaf start. All the info is on the website. Um Christmas lights. The guys are back kneedeep and digging out Christmas lights and figuring it figuring out what works. It's like doing it at home, but times like 10,000 or a million. Imagine that. um the new fire doors in the um fire department, all the exterior doors, our guys just spent a lot of time replacing those. We wrapped up that project. Um another big project I'm working on is um with Samara, it's our it's our GPS and our trucks, our basically our locators in our trucks. Uh we're working on like a public facing type of snowformational map. Like you you wouldn't be able to see like where the trucks are, but generally more of a general overview of like what we've accomplished snowwise

within the city. So we're trying to work through that um with uh Jordan from CVE and with Samsara and just organize all that. I've been working on that lately. hopefully get that up and running for this coming snow season if we get any. We probably won't. So, now you jinxed it, man. Coming tomorrow. You already You already forgot last year. Yep. Director Gelott.

Yes. Uh thank you. Uh work on Longwood Park Trail continues. Uh about 60% of the trail is complete. What they've got finished looks really nice. Uh further paving work is uh scheduled to continue tomorrow. End of report. Thank you, Director Echenorf.

Thank you, Mayor. Uh to mirror what you said, um just want to thank everybody for making Fall Fest a great event. Um it was it was a great uh first event for our department and uh it's great to have everybody on on site. Longwood. Fireworks are great as well. Huge um shout out to my team, especially Taylor Taylor Stellion, our new rec manager for marketing and events. She put a lot of work into it and uh it showed. So, thank you to everybody. Um just a couple updates on the projects we've got going on. Um as Joe said, uh the trail project is very very uh close to being uh complete. Um uh it's nice to see the visible progress there. Um, and hopefully we'll be able to use uh the trail before any snow hits. Um, the office renovation project at the Mac rack um that is also uh really close to being uh complete. We've got walls up, we've got drywall up, and they're going to start uh with the electrical uh here pretty soon. So, um hopefully a couple weeks we'll be uh not walking behind the plastic sheets. Um, and the locker room down on the first floor. Um, the family locker room. Uh, did run into a couple of delays uh due to some pipes being behind some walls that we didn't know were there. So, delayed a little bit, but um uh moving ahead um they're going to start framing uh the pods and that uh coming up here uh soon. So, uh making progress uh completion for that should is still scheduled for early 2026. End of report. Thank you, Director Collins.

Uh, thank you, Mayor. 31 help desk tickets since the last meeting. Um, just kind of a public service announcement for people. We are uh at the dawn of a new era now where AI generated video is basically undicernable to the human eye. the difference between real video and fake video um can be generated by anybody for free at home in a matter of minutes with a lot of different free utilities. So just keep in mind especially with the you know social media and the way it just pumps out all of these videos that are considered viral just because you see it now doesn't mean you can believe it because now your your eyes are lying to you. End of report. Thank you, Assistant Building Commissioner Allen. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just a few things. The sidewalk program is continuing. We had a few issues, but we'll work through them. Uh they were granted an extension and uh basically we're a little bit over halfway through on that program. Um, of course, everybody's seen a new subdivision going in. You can starting to see the the roads taking shape and different things like that. Uh weather's been great. So they've been able to make great progress in in getting that up and running so that uh they can build the homes get started after the first of the year. The Holiday in Express. Uh they got the rough grade in and finally getting some of the trucks off the road that they've been parking on along the side. So that'll be good for the public. And uh you'll be starting seeing the framing go up on that very very soon. Same thing with the DVD landing. They're all about the same uh you know schedule. They're all about ready to start getting framed up. And that is it.

Thank you, Director Smith. Yes, I was going to speak about the um cancer um month for October, but the mayor did such a fabulous job. Um I have no report for this. Thank you. Sorry to steal your thoughts. Are residents able to buy any of this? Are residents able to buy any stuff? We're actually going to donate some to the seniors. Okay.

Um downstairs and we don't want to pack it away again. We are seriously thinking about maybe looking at supporting a different type of cancer next year because we know that maybe all of us or some of us have been touched by some type of cancer and we thought maybe we would expand it a little bit next year, maybe do something a little different. um it's just in its thought process, but we don't want to pack things away. What we don't give away and sell, we're going to donate to um Susan B. Coleman as long as it doesn't have City of Macedonia written on it and maybe they can use it going forward in the future.

So, if anyone wants stuff, can they come to the the clerk's window? Well, if they want it, um it's going to be outside of HR. Would you prefer I leave it down here? Mayor, you could just leave it here. It's fine. Then yes, they can um come here and um I'll have to let you know where we want them to bring their money because I don't want to clerk. Right. Exactly. Okay. If anyone wants to at least look at the stuff, it's down here in the consultation. I'll get you an answer by the first of next week how we want to, you know, do. Excellent. Okay. And the fire department also has their snazzy shirts for Yes, they do. Great. Chief Ripley.

Thank you, Mayor. I'll share with Chief Yakapovich. We had our public safety open house last night. Um, was a great success and I will tell you my the most enjoyable part of the evening. I had a lady come up with her son and she was seeking me out because the squad had been to her house two weeks earlier. We transported her to Hillrest Hospital and according to the cardiac staff, the actions of the squad saved her life. And as she's telling me the story, her son had tears in his eyes. And for me, even though I don't answer many calls these days, that's what it's all about. And they came last night for that reason. And later in the evening, they tracked down these crew that was at her house. They took a photo and they were just tickled to death. At one point, they were looking for the mayor. I don't know if they ever found you.

They did.

Um it was just very touching. tale of two departments. Uh Mr. Wilson, who thinks it's not going to snow this year, um so I guess the loader can go back, but uh his truck shows up in two weeks. Our ambulances that we've already had on order for 18 months were supposed to be here in the spring. uh they've now been pushed to they're going to start them in March of 27 and they will be delivered in one in June and one in July. So, uh the tale of our business. I did get a phone call this week from Clarence Santa's head elf. Santa will be here for Santa the Santa delivery program the second week of December. He put us on his schedule. It's hard and fast and there'll be more information coming out in that in the future. End of report. Mayor,

I think I said this last year, but I thought the elf's name was Michael Diamond. Chief Yakaboich.

Thank you, Mayor. I'd like to uh thank Tommy and Robbie Capel. They're directors of an organization called Saving a Hero's Place that was started in 2013. Their home based out of San Antonio, Texas. They built and delivered a honor chair to us yesterday. Uh the chair is in honor of fallen Macedonia police officer Gary Pastor. Um they really did a great job. I think our chair was the 209th that they've built across the country. They actually delivered one yesterday to Cleveland as well. Uh for those that would like to see it, the chair will be displayed in the memorial area of the police department vestibule and the report. Thank you, Director Gdetti.

Any unfinished business? Any new business?

Just I have two quick things. One thing, um the police department has posted a couple times this summer, um about ebikes and ecooters on the road. I've uh talked to some residents that have um concerns about kids riding the bike. I think it's awesome to go out and see so many kids and and adults on bicycles and scooters. It really seems like there's been an uptick in action. So that's great. Everyone just needs to review the rules. Ebikes and bicycles, you know, you have to stop at stop signs. You have to uh follow traffic rules. So please um you can look that up online. Um you can ask the police department for more guidance there. And there's some rules about specific to ebikes um who can ride them and where. So uh it's great to see everyone out on the road. Just make sure you stay safe um for your own protection and for your neighbors protection. And also u breast cancer awareness month. I want to encourage everyone that needs one to please go get a mammogram. We have a great facility here in Macedonia for that. The Twinsburg Cleveland Clinic is also really close. Uh mamograms are annoying. They can be a little bit painful. They can be hard. But uh uh someone close to me just recently went through radiation therapy and I guarantee you she would take a mamogram every day over radiation therapy. So please go and get that done. It's easier than you think. Thank you.

Do I have a motion to adjurnn? I can make a motion to adjurnn. Second. All in favor? I opposed. We are ajourned.