City Council - Regular Meeting

Cheryl Meyer, and I'm going to open the Employee Relations Committee meeting. Director May, would you like to come forward? This is quite a few pages, but it's not quite as daunting as it looks. So I'm just going to let you go right through it. How's that? Sounds great. OK.

So everyone, what the package you have for you is what's called a non-bargainable budget. This is different than the personnel ordinance.

It's different than the personnel ordinance that salary ranges. And with the benefit ordinance, you're talking about benefits that are going to be placed beyond just straight salary.

It doesn't sound like it.

Okay. So as I said, benefits extended to employees, non-bargaining employees beyond just straight salaries. Why this is the time to update that? Of course, we have just closed all of our contracts with our bargaining units. So at this juncture, all four bargaining units in the city have a current and up-to-date contract. So now, of course, it's time to look at our non-bargainers. What the goal of this ordinance is, is to mirror as much as we can what you'll see in the respective contracts throughout the city, while still respecting the unique differences that our non-bargaining employees have. So that's kind of like the overall philosophy and theory of the ordinance. And now I'll just kind of go section by section. And please, Councilman Myers or anybody, stop me if you have a question. Okay. So if we start with section one, this is purely almost like a matter of housekeeping. This ordinance itself was last comprehensively updated in 2021. So since that time, we've had quite a few new non-bargaining positions created as well as title changes amongst those positions. So on the first two pages, that is what you will see. If we move on to the fourth page, unless there's any questions about those title changes. On the fourth page, I will highlight the change to the insurance section. There is some verbiage that employee contributions to the funding costs for the insurance plan and the cost of the monthly premiums shall mirror that of the current ASPE contract. So this is looking forward thinking in somewhat of a hypothetical range. Of course, right now, all of our premiums across the city are an 88, 12% split, 88% paid by the city, 12% by the employees. If in the future that were to change, speaking directly to our ask me contract, then that would also change for our non-borrowers. But that is also a hypothetical. Okay. Our next on page five, you will see a change to our call-in pay. The change there, a call-in is still what we would consider a four-hour block of time. Let me give you again another hypothetical to explain this. If I receive a call-in and that call-in I can complete in 30 minutes, what this verbiage is stating is that I may be required to work that full four hours block for that call-in. That is also the same as what's in our ASME contract. Right below that also on page five, you see that we moved the compensatory hour bank that a non-bargaining employee can carry from 280 to 240. Again, in the ASME contract, and there was a legal change that required that to be made. Our next section would be vacation. Let's talk a little bit about this because you will see quite a few changes to this, but it's not as daunting as it may look at first glance. Let's start with the addition of 40 hours of vacation to employees who have worked for six months, but less than 12 months. We will recall this is exactly a parallel change to what you'll see in our Ask Me contract. Those 40 hours are kind of what I would consider a use or lose. You're either going to use those 40 hours between month six and the end of month 12, or you're going to lose them. Whether it be you don't complete your service with the city, whether you resign or we decide this is not the position for you, you're not going to cash them out. They're not going to roll over to your accrual bank. It is strictly a use or lose. Okay. Then you will just kind of see some housekeeping on there. So with our assistant chiefs of fire, as we may recall, We have three ACs who run on a 48 hour schedule and one on a 40. So we're just kind of noting that because we now have an administrative AC who also runs on a 40 hour schedule, just like our chief of fire. Also, we have some matter of housekeeping as to when our chiefs and our assistant chiefs receive their vacation. I did talk with our wonderful finance department, and they confirmed for me that's really always been the city practice. So we wanted to make sure that we did memorialize that. Any questions about that? moving on to the next page we're going to talk about vacation credit and we'll kind of talk about these in tandem both for our employees who come to us with other service time for another political subdivision or for what's called a retired rehire whether it be from another entity or our entity What these are both going to allow is if you have, you can get up to eight years credit recognized. So if we go back to the page before this, this is why this eight year block is important. If we look at those employees who are hired after January 1st of 2014, you will notice that right now they would receive 80 hours of vacation for years one through eight. That's only two weeks right there at vacation. if we were to recognize eight years of credit for either those employees who are coming to us for another political subdivision or the retired rehires, that's gonna bump them into that 120 hour block. That for us, is really going to be a very important recruitment tool. When we are bringing in employees, our non-bargainers, typically a lot of them are our management staff, our supervisory staff. We really want these employees who have the experience, particularly governmental experience, because it is so unique. So in order to recognize that credit, it's going to be an excellent recruitment tool for the city. And something when we're bringing people in, something that has been brought up to us throughout the hiring process. Any questions on that? Okay. You also see the line item about an annual conversion and a mandatory use. Again, this also comes to us out of our Ask Me contract. Here we are requiring employees to use at least 40 hours of vacation annually. We don't want anybody to burn themselves out. We want them to take vacation, but giving them the option to sell back up to 80 hours of vacation annually. Okay. Okay, we will move on to holidays. The first thing you will see there in holidays, you'll simply see we moved a sentence from one paragraph to another. Then in the next paragraph, you will see some verbiage that comes to us straight out of our fire contract. because this is applying to our non-bargaining staff who work a 48-hour week. Any non-bargaining staff who work a 48-hour week are coming to us from our fire department exclusively. So what we will see here is that we are, of course, all recognizing all 12 holidays that we observe here in the city, but for those 48-hour employees, they're going to observe them on a 16-hour basis. And again, this is in accordance with the IAFF contract, and it will be in accordance as to who these assistant chiefs are directly supervising. So, of course, you want the managers and the employees that they're supervising to align in their schedules.

Chairperson? Yes, go ahead. Director May, in reference to this, so I know we had a brief discussion, but is so basically the assistant chiefs are going to lose four holidays, just like in the IAFF, correct?

Yes, Councilwoman.

And then now the firefighters were given some type of compensatory amount to kind of help balance that out in their contract. And my understanding is that, first of all, I guess, has this been discussed with the assistant fire chiefs?

actually going to let mayor perry respond yeah so um we first of all they didn't lose time we purchased time back in that contract so to be clear and um our conversations with the assistant chiefs all along have been their requests to be looked at like the bargaining unit so we are doing that here um they will once this benefit ordinance is passed they'll all receive There are increases that will be detailed, why the increases that way, because we're buying those hours back. They received the regular non-bargaining increase at the beginning of this year as well already. So yeah, there was a couple conversations that we had with the ACs about a couple things in the benefits ordinance.

Okay, so basically they're not losing anything and it's matching the current IAFF contract.

Yes, ma'am. As I said in the beginning, we're trying to do our best to mirror those contracts and we will continue as we progress through the ordinance to hit some of the highlights that we're taking to try to mirror those contracts together.

And will this I know the firefighters contract is limited to, is it three or four years now? Three for the contract duration. So this is kind of will continue until it's changed, correct?

Yes, Councilman.

All right.

Yep, I'm good on those questions. Okay, if you want to go to page 10 and look at the sick leave is the next part. And it's very poignant with Councilwoman Robinson's question. You will see here this changes the calculation for sick leave that pertains to our 48-hour employees. And again, this mirrors our IAFF contract. Okay. On the next page, page 11, you will see some language that is being struck out. This request came at the bequest of our finance department. We also consulted with our law director's office on this. This has to do with the usage of sick time. It's my understanding that currently they are tracking two banks of sick time, one that is accrued here, one that is accrued possibly in other public service, because of course you can transfer your sick time from one public service entity to another. We were not aware of any need for that. So this will eliminate those two separate banks and merge it into one. Again, on page 12, we will read, again, this is meant to align with the IAFF contract. However, you will note here the sick leave conversion upon full retirement. There is a carve out here that this provision shall only apply to a 48-hour employee promoted to a non-bargaining position after the passage of this ordinance. So that is a way to grandfather in any existing employee's in those 48 hour positions, but not folks beyond this date, should this ordinance pass this evening. Page 14, you will see a paragraph entitled incentive bonus. So this is also sometimes nicknamed a... like an attendance bonus, basically. Again, this mirrors our ask me contract and it gives a $500 bonus to those employees who functionally have perfect attendance. I'm not talking about vacation. I'm speaking of sick leave or any unpaid disciplinary suspensions. Page 1617, you will simply see some language cleanup to our bereavement sections. Again, this is kind of purely language cleanup. This also mirrors our ask me contract. It gives the city the ability to ask for any documentation related to a bereavement leave if we so request to. Next, you will go to page 19. You will see the increase in our shift differential. That applies to those folks who work a second or third shift position for us, bumping their shift differential from $1 to that of $1.50. And once again, that mirrors our ASME contract. Going down to clothing allowance, you will see the clothing allowance increasing from $1,000 to $1,500 annually, and that applies to our chiefs. and that will mirror the IAFF contract. Now you will get to section 11, the certification page. In the certification page, the first thing you will notice, and I'm on page 20, you will notice some title changes. That was in consultation with our Permitting Development Director, Ms. Ackerman. Then you will also notice some new certifications. we do hope some non-bargaining folks decide to pursue there's a couple of park certifications there there are some also some camera certifications that also mirrors our ask me contract and you will notice there were some at the request of our city engineer mr bianchi also on page 21. anytime an employee gets certification of course it increases their knowledge and their skill in their job Then you will see under the Hazardous Materials Technical Rescue Team language, again, that mirrors our IAFF contract. So if that is a benefit that's available to our bargaining unit members in terms of the potential of payment to be received, We wanted that to be mirrored to our non-bargaining members who supervise them. So you will see that again there.

One question. Yes, ma'am. On this one, so this is a benefit new to them. Yes, ma'am. Thank you.

Not new to the bargaining unit.

Right, to the non-bargaining. Yes, ma'am. Thank you.

Under the educational assistance program, it was always called a tuition reimbursement program. We realized several contracts ago, that's a little bit of a misnomer. It's really of the form when you read through this of a corporate reimbursement. And this is a very little known benefit that unfortunately very few of our people actually take advantage of, but I think is just an outstanding benefit that we do offer to employees, whether they're bargaining or non-bargaining here in the city. When we're talking about a corporate reimbursement, we're typically talking about payment directly to the educational institution for these pre-approved courses. So when you read through this, it gives you how we go about doing that, the repayment for folks who were to potentially leave city service after receiving this. But this is a great benefit available to all city employees. We will end with the discipline section. Simply, you'll see some language cleanup there. I think that's about all.

Anyone on the committee have questions?

Anyone else on council? No? Good. All right. Thank you, Director May. Appreciate it. And at 6.47, I will close the Employee Relations Committee.

okay with that i will call the public hearing rezone to order so i guess at this time if anyone has a public comment on the on the rezone uh please step up to the microphone here give us your name address and you will be limited to three minutes for your comment so Now is your time to come up and speak your piece.

Mr. President, can I? Yes, Mayor. I just wanted to share that this, the zoning is coming to you from Planning Commission where it passed back in April. So we're not really rezoning, we're zoning because it's the first time coming into the city, but it all says rezone, but we all say it that way too. So but it did did pass planning commission. So I just wanted to let everyone know and the existing township zoning in Madison was already a commercial exchange, commercial interchange zoning. So the B2 zoning would be the most akin to that. So it's just kind of some of the feedback.

This kind of matches what it was in Madison.

Now there's a very small part of this that's a triangle in Mifflin. That was R2 or R1 maybe. So it's up towards the front on the 39 side. So that's a little different, but obviously carving off a corner would not make sense for us. We don't want to create a zoning island there.

There again, it's not a real major change.

Yeah. And nothing is there right now, obviously. Yeah.

So I guess we have no public. Is there any comment from council? Okay. Once again, I guess going once, going twice. Is there any... Public comment on the rezone. This is where the Buc-ee's is going to be located. If somebody's not aware. But looking through the crowd, most everybody here knows what's what there. I guess I don't need to say that. Okay. Hearing nothing. I got off easy, Deb. You could have done that. So OK, we'll hold for, we've got time. We can't start council for another 10 minutes. For those of you that just joined us, we're in the period of public comments on the public hearing on the rezone out at the future Bucky's site. So if you now would be your time to speak for or against the rezone, or as the mayor just clarified, not rezone, zoning of that property land out there. like i said before please give your name and address and as normal for public comment we will limit you to three minutes nick stadleman 1566 lucas road um did a little

paper on the basically the direct impacts it's going to have on the agricultural side of things on a personal note for us this is kind of personal as well and it's a it's more than that it's a community i mean we've got 1800 signatures now on a petition of people opposed to it um but this is some of the stuff some of concerns of ours Current route from our home farm to our secondary farm storage is 3.7 miles. During construction, this distance will increase to approximately 5.8 miles if the state route is closed or access is restricted. The detour creates significant inefficiencies, particularly because large equipment can't be easily navigated across alternate routes. Increased travel times leads to higher fuel costs, more labor hours and delays during critical planning and harvesting windows. Time-sensitive farming constraints, agricultural operations are highly dependent on narrow seasonal windows. In Ohio, based on average historical yield data, corn and soybean production is cut down daily starting after May 15th, increasing to 30% by June 1st. A loss of hay customers due to traffic congestion and limited access to our property, possible detours. pollution impacts on crops livestock increased light pollution from 24 7 high intensity led lighting can interrupt crop growth cycles and attract agricultural pests furthermore high volumes of vehicles introduce benzene and other volatile non-organic compounds that can settle onto nearby crops and soil i got in touch with our insurance policy and it is going to increase our homeowners insurance being right next to it the air light pollution trespassing and noise associated with development may negatively impact our livestock health behavior and productivity including stress related effects and disrupted feeding and breeding patterns we brought up the potential for groundwater contamination during the construction phase no water supply for livestock concern regarding groundwater during the construction phase because any disruption or contamination of water sources would directly impact the ability to provide Clean water for livestock posing serious animal health risks and operational challenges. Equipment transport and safety risks associated with narrowed and congested roadways are greatly increased. Limited maneuverability and increased interaction with traffic elevate the likelihood of accidents leading to equipment damage and delays. Overall, the cumulative effects of reduced access, environmental impacts, and increased operational challenges will decrease the long-term productivity and value of our land for agricultural use. This threatens the sustainability of our farming operations. And with that being said, I will make a comment on there was a couple comments in the article about the data center. And it was noted that you guys were trying to preserve farmland. And in this instance, it sounds like we're doing the opposite of that. So that's all I have.

Thank you. Thank you. Anybody else? Once again, calling again, is there anyone else for public comment on the zoning?

There is, but I thought this was originally listed at 7 o'clock on your website.

Well, the public hearing, well, we'll have public comment as well, but specifically the public hearing was set at 645 for the rezoning, for the zoning. And I believe that's as it was advertised.

Yes.

We'll recognize them during regular public hearing.

So people can speak now that they're more aware that it was supposed to start at 7 o'clock?

If you're here to speak on the rezone, you can speak now.

Obviously, you've seen me before. My name is Gwendolyn Stadelman, 1360 Royal Oak Drive. The reason I'm here is about the rezoning. Very well aware. I'm sure you've heard all the statistics, everything that I've had to say. I want to say just a couple of things. We realize you want to build buckies, and we understand that. But it seems like, to me, we're giving all this all these extravagances to Buc-ee's and we're forgetting about the citizens that actually are here currently paying taxes. Having the plan of taking Mr. Saddleman's drive, the end of his drive by eminent domain and having him drive his farm equipment and his children down the drive to their home every day through all of that traffic, I would think we would just give him a little benefit of the doubt and leave him to be. I think honestly, he is going to be next to them, which is bad enough. It's going to interrupt and disrupt and cost him a lot of extra money for Bucky's to be built. But I think that we could at least give him a small consideration and have Bucky's be a good neighbor and leave the end of his driveway where it is. Thank you very much.

Okay, is there anybody that would wish to speak now during the public hearing portion of tonight's meeting for the rezone? Going twice. Okay. Once again, your name and address in three minutes.

I'm Laura Morris, and I'm at 1577 Lucas Road, Mansfield. So I would just be across the road and adjacent to the proposed building of Bucky's. And it is personal for our whole neighborhood because it does affect the reason we live in Richland County and why we chose to live where we live. So as of right now, we have a... little oasis of peace and quiet and relative. We do have a bit of traffic, people going up and down 39, especially on the way to Mohican. And we just see that as being disruptive to our style of living and part of the reason why people move to stay in or select this part of Richmond County. So I know that myself and many of our neighbors are just trying to preserve our way of life along with our good neighbors and the farmers that surround us as well. So that's all I have, though. Thank you.

okay we have a few more people joining us so this is the public hearing for the rezone for the possible future bucky's site so if you would like to speak at the public hearing on that issue you can do it now we also will during council session have public hearing but if you want to speak now you may do so

Leonard Menard, 409 Old Stone Court, Mansfield, Ohio. I was going to observe today. Not really say much, but I've been gone from my city for a while now. When I came back, I did not like what I seen. Messing with the mystique of Mansfield. And farmlands, it's like a staple of who we are. All this over a dollar? Just think about it. Mike?

Okay. Anyone else wish to speak? I don't know if he was here before, but as I said, your name and address in three minutes. Yep.

I do have some documentation before I start. Can I pass that around while I'm speaking?

You may. Okay. Matter of fact, I'll hold your time until you... Yes. I won't count that time against you.

Okay. I'll try to squeeze this in in a few minutes here. Last one on that was at the rezone. We all asked a few questions. Sorry. Rick Crist, 1588 Lucas Road, Mansfield. I asked for some drawings, design criteria from the proposal, looking at a site, and that sort of didn't happen. We've seen the annexation map, but not a lot of project planning. So I found a map online that shows roundabouts easements what the property is going to look like coming in taking away mort's lane affecting adjacent property owners and such so i'd like for all you guys to review that a little bit more in detail um this is a quick three minutes here so i guess a lot of us here To start off, I would say there was 1,800 people in a petition floating around, and that was basically right here. There's more than just me and a few people here. It's a community of people that basically signed the petition. and trying to understand the project itself in a deeper scope. So some of the stuff I wanted to ask was, have any of you been out to the site and visited the low-lying area and observed and looked and walked? Okay. What did you think? Okay. The property access is a big thing to me on the map was – The three roundabouts, the traffic congestion and so forth. The infrastructure that will cause with the vehicles to Mount Zion, Wallace and all the Madison and Mifflin townships, that's going to be deteriorating faster to me as we use it more often. So who's going to be picking up the slack on that one? That would be a Mifflin township, Madison township. The stormwater and all the toxic runoff, I know we just had an issue here the other week. We had a water main break uptown. This is what I'm sort of afraid of is, you know, when oil and gas hits water, there is a little bit of a rainbow effect, and I don't want that coming down towards our wells or any type of toxic chemicals off gassing and stuff that's happening towards us. us uh basically the foundation was looking at the foundation he said they was going to put on piers I'd like to see more engineering work in some layouts design on that how they tend to anchor them in the ground that is there were some core samples uh took them last year and I asked for some results because it was a uh bennington type of soil that wasn't suitable and some of the i believe it was terracon is out there i talked to a tech that he said you would have to excavate 10 to 20 feet and bring an engineered compaction soil to build on it um so there's a lot more like questions and planning that would like to ask that no one has really answered yet. So before everything gets passed, I'd like to see some data engineering, some planning and proposal work before we sign off on anything. Yep. I guess, you know, I tie this into the wastewater and some of the infrastructure, you know, you guys are trying to rehab a 1960 build from the wastewater treatment plant is upgraded in 1984. And now there's still upgrades that could be held sufficient and be minimal risk breakdowns moving forward. And then some of the other key points is, um, Basically, the high traffic, possible human trafficking. We've got some bad people. With good stuff comes bad things. So we want to see about law enforcement and make sure the task at hand is able to uphold that. More to go, but I'll keep it at that. Thank you.

Is there anyone else here that wishes to speak about the zoning for the possible future of Bucky's site? This is what this public hearing is for, is for public comment on the zoning for that area.

I don't have any comment, but I have a question. We don't engage in...

on the zoning it's going from um in mifflin township it was called or I'm sorry, Madison Township. It was a business and I think interchange. And it's going to be two, which would be a very similar use. The Mifflin Township corner was an R1 and it's going to be two. And that's up at the front of the road. So it's very similar, the majority of it.

I'm going to say the Madison Township zoning as it presently is very similar to what we're asking for in city. Anyone else before I call this adjourn this public hearing? OK. At 7.07, I will adjourn this public hearing on the rezone.

Thank you.

So with that, I will call this session of Mansfield City Council Caucus meeting to order. Are there any committee reports? Mr. Diaz.

Thank you, Mr. President. First, I want to recognize that Memorial Day is coming up. So May 25th, we're going to have Memorial Day Parade. But this year, it's going to be on a different route due to a lot of the downtown construction. So Step Off will be at 10 a.m. on Reba Avenue. But beforehand, if you're looking for a volunteer opportunity, there will be an opportunity to place U.S. flags at grave sites at 389 Altamont Drive at 9 o'clock. So that's going to be Memorial Day. Secondly, next Thursday, May 29th, will be the annual, I believe the third annual piece on my blog. Hopefully you guys know what that is. It's an initiative that was created by the schools and a lot of different organizations to help decrease youth violence. So it'll be at Orland Field again. There'll be food trucks, there'll be fireworks. Initially they'll have the US Army Golden Knights. So if you're looking for something to do for the whole family, please come out. This was mentioned last month, or yeah, earlier this month, we discussed mental health awareness and two key events coming up on Saturday, March 30th is Party in the Park, which is hosted by Healing Hearts. That'll be, I think, beginning at 10 o'clock, free food, bingo, dancing, the works. That'll be at South Park. And finally, there'll be NAMI walks, which will be at Marshall Park that same day, beginning at 10 o'clock. So that concludes my community announcements.

Any other committee reports, announcements, community announcements or anything? Okay. Moving on. We'll start Mayor Perry.

A couple things that I just wanted to highlight tonight. This week is National EMS Week. So we are celebrating with our fire department. I have a proclamation that I'll be presenting to them tomorrow. Last week, of course, was National Police Week. So just really a big shout out to all of our first responders. They do an awful lot of responding, lots of calls every year, and I really appreciate all of their work. So I wanted to highlight that. I did want to give Officer Edwards a shout out as well as the whole community policing team and the police department. Bikapalooza was a amazing success this year. Just so awesome to see so many kids go home with bikes. And, you know, I know there was a lot of work that went into this. So shout out to them and appreciate all the extra work. You made lots of people happy. So appreciate that. And then I just wanted to address, cause I know it's awkward during public comment, cause we don't go back and forth, but just to address a couple of things that I heard in the public comment. So tonight is the vote on the zoning as well as the annexation, but the Buc-ee's will be at our planning commission next week for a conditional use permit. There should be some more detail about the site. That's where we talk a little bit more about the site. I did look at the drawing that you passed. It looks like the one that I have seen that was shared with the Saddlemen. So, you know, that is where there'll be some more. They are also able to answer some of the questions in regards to they actually go not just meeting state law, but beyond state law when it's talking about their gasoline tanks. And I'm not an engineer, so I don't want to begin to say the wrong words on that. But I certainly, you know, I understand that, you know, obviously we're on opposite sides on this. But I do want you to know that, you know, we have really tried to work behind the scenes to make this work. as minimal as possible, I can't erase it. Obviously there's gonna be impact, I cannot change that. But they have really worked to do that. And as we discover some other things, Mr. Willis who was here last time did reach out to me afterwards, brought a bunch of questions. I responded to as many as I could and I got some more answers just this evening. And I believe he was going to share that. So I don't know who all he talks with, but if you didn't see those and you want it, just please someone give me a call tomorrow. Or if you hang out and give me your email address or phone number, I'm happy to talk with anyone about it. I just don't know how to contact everyone. So I did want to say that. And then Bucky's will also be here on June 2nd, I believe, to discuss the development agreement. So.

there's there's a few more steps in this process still okay thank you mayor director andrews uh today was our annual uh planning downtown so you probably saw uh flower baskets and the planters being planted and spreading mulch and things like that we had several volunteers that came out even in the rain and put the flowers up so you'll start to see the downtown looking pretty perky with all the different flowers The parks summertime program, 315 spots that are filled and we only have 14 spots open still. So if someone's interested in getting your kids enrolled in a summer program this year, we still have 14 spots open. Some of the things that we are doing right now this week, we are hydro seeding. Over the winter and early spring, we had several large water main projects in excavating that really disturbed large amounts of soil. So we're going back and hydro seeding those. You'll see that starting today and go through all week. Reason why we chose hydro seeding is a higher germination. So you should be able to see seed within seven days. So this is something that we want to do and make sure everything's looking nice and green. Also, May is Drive Ohio Byways Month. There are 27 byways in the state of Ohio, and we're fortunate enough to have two that go through the middle of Mansfield. One is the Lincoln Byway, and the other was the Johnny Applesey Byway, which actually go right through Central Park area. So we're working on celebrating that this month and then also talk about it all season long, those two particular byways. That's all I have.

Thank you, Director. Director Porch. Thank you, Mr. President. The fire hydrant project has kicked off, so True North, our contractors are now out working on our hydrants in conjunction with our fire department. Please remember that it is our full intent for this year of 26 to make sure we touch every single fire hydrant in the city. And we're off to a good start, weather permitting. So I will definitely keep you updated as we progress throughout the months how that program is going. And just to put it on everybody's radar, the Safety Town is accepting registrations for kids. There's three sessions, which starts in the first session starts in the beginning of June. So if you need to get some little ones enrolled and get into that great program, they're accepting. And that's all I have, sir.

Thank you, sir. And next, Mr. Sneh from the finance department.

Thank you, sir. Two quick things. We had an issue with some income tax refund checks. We received several complaints. Some council members, I believe, received some complaints. They did not receive their checks. we opened investigation we realized or we determined that the checks were printed within finance they were run through the postage machine and put into the postal bin in our mail room so from there the post office picks it up takes it to the post office we're making the assumption maybe it did not make it where it needed to go at the post office we did file a complaint with the post office last week so before we reissue any checks we want to see what the post office has to say as far as what they think might have happened to those checks we had about half the checks do have activity of being cashed and there's another half that we have zero activity from one number to another so Those are the checks that we are thinking did not make it wherever they needed to go at the post office. And second, we probably are going to be posting a couple jobs on the income tax side of the office in the near future. That's all, sir. Thank you.

And last but certainly not least, Deputy Law Director, Mr. Madden.

No updates from the law director's office. Thank you, Mr. President.

Thank you, sir. Okay. With that, we shall call, we shall proceed with legislation and we will start with bill 26 days, zero nine three miss Davis weeks.

Thank you, Mr. President bill 26, zero nine three. is authorizing the Public Works Department to execute property donation with West Creek Conservatory to accept the donation of real property known as Richland County Permanent Parcel Numbers 037285001400 and 037285000700.

Is there any comment or discussion on Bill 26-093? Mr. Falkett?

Thank you. I think we've heard some information about this property in the past. It's out near Clear Fork. It has access to where the runoff water comes into Clear Fork at that end. There's some buildings on this. I guess my question, I think we're happy to accept this donation. I was wondering if anyone could expound a little bit on, is this a park? Is this a public works? Is it a combo? Are we planning on using the buildings or do we even know this far in advance?

I can answer your questions. The property is 112 acres. It was formerly the covert Boy Scout camp, Avery Hand. It is adjacent to our Clear Fork Reservoir property, and it's also adjacent to the Ohio Bird Sanctuary. There are several buildings on the property. When we initially assessed the property, we took those buildings that were not going to be suited and asked for a demo. And that is our end kind cost towards this property transfer. So there's two maintenance buildings, one we're going to keep and one the Ohio Bird Sanctuary is going to use. There is a lodge that the Ohio Bird Sanctuary is going to use it for their educational programs. And there's a smaller building that we're going to use for additional training, which could be canine and SWAT and those types of training as well. The rest of facilities will be demolished as part of the agreement with West Creek Conservancy. Later on we're going to be, right now we're working with the legal department to come up with an agreement with the Ohio Bird Sanctuary, a short-term lease, so they can use that. It will become part of the Clear Fork Reservoir. The main impetus behind this is to protect the headwaters into the reservoir. So we'll act as a wetlands and as a natural barrier to help reduce the amount of phosphorus and nitrogen and stuff like that going into the reservoir. So this is part of the overall plan that we're working with West Creek Conservancy to acquire property from willing buyers to protect the headwaters and protect our water source there at Clear Fork Reservoir.

Good for me, thank you.

Anyone else, questions, comment? Okay, moving on then to Bill 26.094, Mr. Diaz. Thank you, Mr. President.

Bill 26094 describes the project. The state has identified the need for the described project asphalt concrete overlay with repairs on State Route 314 and State Route 545 in Richland County. State Route 14 from Mara County line. This project will also include bridge maintenance and guardrail replacement within city and Mansfield corporation limits. There's a lot of numbers here within the SLMs 2.111 to 2.115. This project is currently scheduled to be constructed in the summer of 2027. Now therefore be ordained by the city of Mansfield. Richmond County, being in the public interest of the city, gives consent to the director of transportation to complete the above described project. And after speaking to the engineer, Bianchi, I guess in a nutshell, it's city paving 545, and that is no cost to the city.

Any other questions, comments on 26-094? You okay there, Mr. Moreno?

I ran out of power for some reason.

Okay. No problem. Okay. Nothing further on 26094. We'll move on to 26095. Mrs. Meyer.

Thank you, sir. 26-095 will be adopting the Richland County 2026 multi-hazard mitigation plan as approved by FEMA, Region 5, and the State of Ohio Emergency Management Agency.

Is there any discussion on Bill 26-095? Mr. Falkett.

Thank you, Mr. President. I was able to make one of the meetings where they discussed this. A lot of it was way over my head because they're coming up with scenarios of things that might go wrong. And then it's if this happened, if this happened, if this happened. So some of it was pretty far out there. The upside, though, that I wanted to point out is that if there's something in this and someone were working on a grant and what's mentioned in this document is related, that helps bolster up your grant application. I don't even want to make up an example, but if a scenario in here was something you could find the grant for, you could use that as reason to get approval for the grant. So I didn't have an immediate use for that information when I was sitting there, but I thought the more people would make that linkage, maybe the better as we go forward on this.

Thank you, sir. Anything further? Any other questions? Discussion? Okay. Moving on to Bill 26-096, mismount.

Thank you, Mr. President. Bill 26096 is accepting the annexation of a certain territory, City of Mansfield, Ohio, pursuant to an annexation petition filed with and granted by the Board of County Commissioners of Richland County, Ohio, as provided in Ohio Revised Code 709023.

Any questions, discussion from council members? Ms. Mount?

I did have a quick question. Not sure if this would be director Madden or who would know, um, there was a reference made to eminent domain. And my understanding was the type of annexation. This is, is type two, which doesn't involve it's when all parties agree. Did somebody address that? Cause I was under the impression there wasn't an eminent domain as a part of this.

Mr. President, there is not eminent domain. What she was referencing is Bucky's is proposing instead of having the, so that part of their site is going to have a public road eventually. And the lane that Mr. Saddleman has is right next to it. And with the roundabout there, it would be very difficult, if not impossible for them to get out right on the roundabout. And so the proposal is to tie them into the public road. And so it's not eminent domain. I do understand why you're describing it that way, but that's a legal term and that is not correct. Okay, thank you.

Anything else on 096? Okay, moving on then to Bill 26-097, Ms. Mount.

Thank you, Mr. President. Bill 26097 is amending the zoning district's map of the City of Mansfield, Ohio to rezone the 15 parcels located at and around 2011 Lucas Road, Mansfield, Ohio from zoning classification Madison Township Zoning Industrial District to the City of Mansfield B2 General Business District classification and zoning classification. Mifflin Township R1 Residential District to the City of Mansfield B2 General Business District classification to be effective upon the annexation of said parcels to the City.

Any questions, discussion from Council? Okay, moving on to then the Bill 26-098, Ms. Davis-Weese.

Yes, thank you, Mr. President. Bill 26-098 is authorizing Public Works Director to accept an appropriate donation from NOPAC in the amount of up to $45,000 and declaring it an emergency.

Is there any discussion, questions from Council, Mr. Falkett?

I should have remembered what NOPEC was, but over the last week I've got several letters from them. So now I know exactly who they are. But their donation of $45,000 is going toward a parking lot on Trimble Road near the tunnel. And I thought it was nice that we would get a parking lot in that area. And I just wanted to point out what the money was going for, and I think it's part of a larger project. Exciting things coming on Trimble.

Thanks. I also wanted to say that I was like, thank you for bringing that up because I was wondering if he was going to speak to that, but this just goes to show what a wonderful kind of community collaboration, although this is going to assist us with the city has taken this on and NOPAC is who will be handling our energy. This, collaborative effort where they're also going to invest in our communities, a wonderful concept. So we would really like to thank NOPAC for the support.

Anything else? Okay. Moving on to Bill 26-099. Mrs. Meyer.

Thank you, sir. 26099, authorizing the safety service director to enter into a contract with Burgess Ambulance Sales of 527 Worcester Road, Loudonville, not to exceed the amount of $140,391 to perform a remount of the current rescue squad R5 vehicle, a Ford E450 for the Mansfield Fire Department.

Any questions, discussion? Mr. President. Yes, Director.

So this, as the Councilwoman suggested, this is replacing Rescue 5. They, for the last, I would say, seven to eight years, it's been the protocol of the fire department to do remounts and chassis of the rescue squad. So we'll just essentially take the back box of the rescue squad and put it on the chassis and the new engine of the rescue squad at that price of about $140,000. If we would order a new rescue squad, we're looking at $350,000 and a timeline of about three years to receive that rescue squad. With this remount, we're going to expect it from the vendor at this time saying we'll receive it back within the year. That'll be striped, painted, looking like the scheme of the Mansfield fire.

Thank you, Mr. President. I just, the director kind of stole some of my praise. I do want to thank the fire department for what they do and trying to save money that way. That's a great way to do it. But also I like the fact that it's a business that's somewhat local, even though it's in Loudonville. So I appreciate that as well. So thank you.

Okay. Anyone else?

Mr. Marine. So on that remote, is it just the box in its entirety and decals on the outside? Are there any upgrades to the inside? Are we continuing with an older product on the inside?

So it's just the cab, the chassis that's brand new. The everything that's contained within the box of the rescue squad is simply mounted to the new cabin chassis. All of our equipment within the squad are on service agreements. So any of those are, as they go out of service, they're replaced and fixed. So we don't have to replace all the guts inside of a rescue squad. Excellent. Thank you.

Anyone else? Mr. Falkett?

I'll expand a little bit on that. I dug into this. They're getting new upholstery inside the box. So that's a little bit of an upgrade there. It is 180 or lead times 18 to 20 months, but 180 to 220 days out of service. And they're hoping for one year. This is full repaint, lettering, lighting, new flooring, upholstery, so in the patient compartment. So there are a few things in the patient compartment that are getting upgraded. Um, everything else is, is things that I found out. I also just say is, um, because of the long lead time, if there's no objection, I'll let Ms. Meyer decide if she wants to pull it up. Thank you.

Mr. Miranda.

So now this vehicle being down for essentially a year, year and a half, do we have sufficient equipment in its absence?

Yes, we have reserve, reserve squads.

Anyone else?

Okay.

Moving on then. Bill 26-100, Mr. Miranda.

Bill 26, 100. Thank you, Mr. President. Bill 26, 100, granting a license to Ben Schrock of 2991 County Road, 529 Loudonville, Ohio, 44842, to tap into the city water and sanitary sewer systems at his own expense and declaring an emergency.

Was there any discussion on Bill 26-100?

Okay.

Hearing none. And our last piece of legislation for caucus, 26-101. Mrs. Maya.

Thank you, sir. This is as discussed in caucus, or I'm sorry, committee, 26-101, upgrading wages, salaries, fringe benefits, and terms of employment for certain employees of the city, repealing ordinances. And as I said, we discussed this in committee.

Okay.

Is there any other further discussion on Bill 26-101? Okay. Hearing none, that concludes legislation. Is there anything else to come before caucus this evening? If not, I'll ask for a motion to adjourn caucus. Move to close. Second. Been regularly moved and seconded. We adjourn and close caucus. All in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed, same. We are adjourned. With that, I'll call this session of Mansfield City Council to order. Please stand for the pledge and remain standing for the prayer.

Heavenly Father, be with us here this evening as we discuss important matters before our city and area. Look over our safety service personnel, look over our city. We ask this in your name, amen.

With that, I will call on the clerk to call the roll.

Mr. Miranda?

Present.

Mrs. Meyer? Present. Mrs. Davis-Weese? Present. Ms. Daly? Here. Mr. Diaz? Here. Ms. Mao? Here. Ms. Robertson? Here. Mr. Falkwet?

Here.

And President Scott?

Present. Unless there is an objection, the reading of the journal and correspondence will be discussed with. Hearing no objection, we will move on. Is there anyone else signed up for public comment? I don't have a sheet if there is.

Okay.

We have no one signed up for further public comment. OK. Are there any committee reports, further committee reports? Mayor and directors, do you have anything further? OK. With that, we shall proceed with legislation. And I'll call on Ms. Daley.

There's no late bills. Suspension of the rules. Thank you, Mr. President. Suspension of the rules. I move with respect to all bills that come before Council this evening that the rule requiring reading on three different days be suspended, and that each bill be read one time by title only.

Second.

Then Regan moved and seconded. Council shall move on the suspension of the rules. OK, motion passes 8 to 0. Huh? I don't know. Mine had come up. Mine came up, yes, here. Okay. I don't know. I was just reading off of my computer, and I had eight yeses, so I wasn't looking up there. What was it? I was going to say, mine all said green. Yes. Okay. Moving on. We now proceed. The first bill for Council is 26-093. No caucus only, 94. Mr. Diaz.

Thank you, Mr. President. I move that Bill 26-094 be read and placed upon the floor for discussion.

Second.

I've been regularly moved and seconded. The clerk shall read Bill 26-094.

The following ordinance enacted by the city of Mansfield of Richland County, Ohio, here and after, referred to as the city in the matter of the stated described project, whereas the state has identified the need for the described project. Asphalt concrete overlay with repairs on State Route 314 and State Route 545 in Richland County. State Route 314 from SLM 0.00 Morrow County Line to 3.018 Ontario South Corporation Limit and State Route 545 from SLM 2.111 Fifth Ave to 10.508 State Route 96 are included in this project. This project will also include bridge maintenance and guardrail replacement. State Route 545 SB Lane only is within the City of Mansfield Corporation limits within the following SLMs, 2.111 to 2.115, 3.306 to 3.658, 3.847 to 4.062, 4.157 to 4.190, 4.255 to 4.477. This project is currently scheduled to be constructed in the summer of 2027. Now, therefore, be it ordained by the city of Mansfield of Richland County, Ohio, being in the public interest, the city gives consent to the director of transportation to complete the above described project. And this will look weird on your screen, but it was too long for one voting window, so there will be two votes up on the screen at the same time, but it is technically one vote.

Okay. Is there any further questions, discussion on Bill 26-094? Hearing nothing, Mr. Diaz?

Thank you, Mr. President. I move that Bill 26-094 be placed upon the floor for full consideration.

Second.

Been regularly moved and seconded. Council shall cast their vote. Okay. Okay, the bill passes eight to zero. Moving on then to Bill 26-095, Mrs. Meyer.

Thank you, sir. I move that Bill 26-095 be read and placed upon the floor for discussion.

Second.

Been regularly moved and seconded. The clerk shall read Bill 26-095. Second.

adopt Richland County 2026 multi-hazard mitigation plan as approved by FEMA Region V and the State of Ohio Emergency Management Agency and declaring an emergency.

Is there any discussion on Bill 26-095? Hearing none, Mrs. Meyer.

Thank you, sir. I move that Bill 26-095 be placed upon the floor for final passage.

Second.

In regular move, seconded, council shall cast their vote for final passage of Bill 26-095. The vote passes 8-0. Bill 26-096, Ms. Mount.

Thank you, Mr. President. I move that Bill 26-096 be read and placed upon the floor for discussion. Second.

In regular move and seconded, the clerk shall read Bill 26-096.

Accepting the annexation of certain territory to the City of Mansfield, Ohio, pursuant to an annexation petition filed with and granted by the Board of County Commissioners of Richland County, Ohio, as provided for in Ohio Revised Code Section 709.023, and declaring an emergency.

Is there any discussion on Bill 26-096? Hearing none, Ms. Mount?

Thank you, Mr. President. I move that Bill 26096 be placed upon the floor for final consideration.

Second. Been regularly moved and seconded. Council shall cast for final passage of Bill 26-096. Bill passes eight to zero. Bill 26-097, Ms. Mount.

Thank you, Mr. President. I move that Bill 26097 be read and placed upon the floor for discussion.

Second. The clerk shall read Bill 26097.

amending the zoning districts map of the city of Mansfield, Ohio, ordinance number 04-208 to rezone 15 parcels located at and around 2011 Lucas Road, Mansfield, Ohio, from zoning classification Madison Township Zoning Industrial District to the city of Mansfield B2 General Business District classification. and zoning classification Mifflin Township R1 residential district to the city of Mansfield B2 general business district classification to be effective upon annexation of said parcels to the city and declaring an emergency.

Is there any discussion on Bill 26097? Hearing none, Ms. Mount.

Mr. President, move that Bill 26097 be placed on the floor for final consideration.

Second. been regularly moved and second council shall cast their vote for final passage of bill 26-097 bill passes eight to zero bill 26-098 mrs davis weiss thank you mr president i um

Mr. President, I move that Bill 26098 be placed upon the floor and placed upon the floor and read for discussion.

Second.

And regularly moved and seconded, the clerk shall read Bill 26098.

Authorizing the Public Works Director to accept and appropriate a donation from NOPEC in an amount of up to $45,000 and declaring an emergency.

Is there any discussion on Bill 26-098? Hearing none, Mrs. Davis-Weese.

Mr. President, I move that we place Bill 26098 to be moved on the floor and passed on the floor for final passage.

Second.

Been regularly moved and seconded. Council shall cast their vote for final passage of Bill 26-098. Bill passes eight to zero. Bill 26-099, Mrs. Meyer. Oh, that's right. That was caucus only. I'm sorry. No, you did not. I'm sorry. That's the Meyer. Bill 26-100, Mr. Miranda.

Thank you, Mr. President. I move that Bill 26-100 be read and placed upon the floor for discussion.

Second. Been regularly moved and seconded. The clerk shall read Bill 26-100.

Granting a license to Ben Schrock of 2991 County Road, 529 Loudonville, Ohio, 44842 to tap into the city water and sanitary sewer systems at his own expense and declaring an emergency.

Is there any discussion on Bill 26-100? Hearing none, Mr. Miranda.

Mr. President, I move that Bill 26-100 be placed upon the floor for final passage.

Second.

Been regularly moved and seconded. Council shall cast up for final passage of Bill 26-100. Bill passes eight to zero. And finally, Bill 26-101, Mrs. Meyer.

Thank you, sir. I move that Bill 26-101 be read and placed on the floor for discussion.

Second.

Been regularly moved and seconded. The clerk shall read Bill 26-101.

Updating wages, salaries, fringe benefits, and terms of employment for certain employees of the city, repealing ordinances, and declaring an emergency.

Is there any discussion on Bill 26-101? Hearing none, Mrs. Meyer?

Thank you, sir. I move that bill 26-101 be placed on the floor for final passage.

Second.

Seconded. Council shall cast their vote for final passage of bill 26-101. Bill passes 8-0. That includes legislation. Is there anything else to come before council this evening?

If I hear nothing, I'll accept the motion to adjourn.

Move to close. Second. It's been regularly moved and seconded. We close. All in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed, same. We are adjourned.