City Council - Regular Meeting

Thanks, everyone.

Okay, we'll call the meeting to order.

It's 6.40 and we're gonna start the safety committee meeting. My name is Cheryl Meyer and we'll do a quick, let's see.

I'm sorry, we'll do a quick roll call. Councilwoman Mount, here. All right, and Miranda, thank you. And I don't know who's coming forward to do this. Is it Chief? And we also have Officer Stevenson here this evening with Canine Max. Thank you for joining us. Yeah. So, Chief, we're going to go ahead and start. Let's go ahead and start with the legislation that concerns Max. That would be 26-105. Yeah.

So Max had a little incident where he chipped a tooth or broke a tooth. So I'll let Officer Stevenson talk about that incident and how this was corrected.

Max and I were on night shift and I tried to train as much as I can to make Max a better dog for the state so he could produce and be successful. We ended up doing some narcotic exercises. He ended up missing the ball because he was getting a little excited to do the ball and he ended up hitting it off of the narcotic boxes that we use. He ended up chipping his canine on the left side and then we took him down to Hilliard to have a surgery done. We ended up doing a in South Portland, Maine, he told me that there was a grant for National Police Dog Foundation. So I wanted to save our unit as much money as we can because our unit's donation grant funded. We ended up reaching out to them and they ended up, I conducted a grant for it and they ended up, they had the opportunity to use the grant to approve it. Everybody loves police dogs, obviously. They're awesome tools.

Officer Stevenson, you also applied and received a grant for a safety vest for Max. Isn't that true? Yes.

This is actually the vest. It's from Vested Interest. It's also a foundation for police dogs. tools, even vehicles. So they, my brother also helped me with finding the Sandy Markle, who's in charge of vested interests. I also put in for a grant for that to have it get approved for his vest because this vest is stab proof and bulletproof because Max and I go into some situations that are pretty dangerous. So yes, he obviously has to be protected just like I am. We want to make sure that he goes home safe just like I do.

So I want to be the first to say, you are the kind of officer that exemplifies exactly what we're looking for in this department. Somebody who takes the initiative to go above and beyond and getting these kinds of grants and things for yourself, for your partner, and we certainly appreciate it. Absolutely.

Absolutely. And if anybody would like to touch that titanium tooth, I'm sure Max won't mind.

I think we'll pass. Does anyone from the committee have any remarks on this piece of legislation at all?

Again, I do want to thank you very much for the efforts you're doing. In what you do in itself is admirable, but to take that extra effort and have that kind love for your partner. God bless.

Councilwoman Knapp. Echoing. Thank you for doing that. And also, I'm so glad that he was able to get that surgery right away and not have to wait on this coming through. So best of luck to him in the future.

All right. So we'll move on with the next piece of legislation.

And if I can just comment, as chief of police, our two canine units, you don't have to look far to see what kind of handler you have because they put in a lot of extra time. So I can tell you Max is by far one of the top performing canines in the history of this police department. And again, that is a direct recommendation. tribute to Officer Stevenson. And as you saw, he's here because they were out doing extra training when this incident occurred. So hats off to him and Officer Oblak with Lucas. I'm pretty fortunate to have the team, canine teams that I have. So thank you, Officer.

Thank you very much. All right, Chief. Shall we move on to 26106? Okay. That's the OCJS grant.

Yeah. So all four of these grants that we're going to cover here quickly are yearly grants, reoccurring grants that we apply for and are fortunate to get every year. This particular grant is strictly for ways to reduce violent crime in our community. This year, this grant, as we bid for these grants, this year we went for strictly overtime. So our bike patrol unit that we have up and coming, our drug task force, our community action team, so that they can focus off duty of their normal hours out working the community, trying to reduce the violent crime that has plagued the community that is on the downside.

We'll just let you keep rolling. Just keep right on going.

All right. One of seven. That is the family violence reduction grant or the domestic violence grant. Traditionally, that grant covered a full time detective that just focused on domestic violence cases in the city. You know, with the struggling manpower that we've had, we had to cut that back. That now covers half of the salary of a detective. The full-time officer at the time was placed back in patrol to kind of stop the bleed when we were super short. And that hasn't been fully reestablished. So this at least covers part of that detective's salary while she focuses on other things. 108. is the Metrich Recovery Ohio grant. This is a state grant that started several years back to help combat with the opioid issue. This particular year, we covered with this funding part of salaries within Metrich and funded some of the software and equipment that we use at Metrich for them to do their day-to-day jobs. And then the final grant, the one Oh nine is the, uh, drug law enforcement fund or the DLAF is what we call it. That has been the staple grant with metric that covers the operations pieces. You remember we have the JAG grant, which covers like the drug investigations and then DLAF that kind of covers like the operations of, so pays the bills essentially. And that is for all 10 counties in the metric region.

Okay. Committee members, anyone have questions? Anything from, okay, go ahead.

I just want to commend the department on the violent crime for the overtime. You see a lot posted in social media these days and just out on the street about our violent crime. 2023, we had to, I believe it was 2023, the most homicides we've ever had in the city. And the only way to really combat this is by special CAT teams, community action teams, and other kind of nifty or outside the box thinking. So I commend you for doing that and getting that money so that we can provide those extra patrols. So thank you very much.

Thank you, Council.

Yes, go ahead.

I think just really a comment and just to expand on what you said, Richland County is the core county of the 10 counties. That is correct. And we really handle all the money and running and all that. Yes. Congratulations. And thank you for doing that. Thank you.

Started way ahead of me. I'm just moving along with it, sir.

And we appreciate it. Thank you. All right. Anyone else? Okay. You're off the hot seat. All right.

Thank you.

And at 649, I will close the safety committee.

649, I'll open economic development. Roll call. Ms. Robinson?

Here.

Mr. Miranda? Here. All right. We have two topics tonight. The first one we're going to work on is the solar field project, which I understand has been going on for a few years. Eric Thomas, our economic development person, will help us understand.

Thank you, Councilman. If you don't mind, I'd like to switch into the other project first, our CEP renewables our our person is stuck in traffic they got behind a two-car accident on 271 so he'll be here soon uh so if we can switch and do the other if that's okay with you no problem I think they're ready to go great so this is the Bucky's group this is the Bucky's group so uh we'll start with uh Angela Janik uh from Bucky's to uh give us an intro on the company and the project very good

And he has your presentation ready to queue up.

Yep. Angel Leonek, 327 FM 2004, Lake Jackson, Texas. Good afternoon. What I'm going to do today, I know that a few of you have been to a Buc-ee's, but for anyone that hasn't, just probably like a five-minute nutshell summary from economic development numbers to go through and a summary of the site itself we also have our director of engineering scott radcliffe here to answer any questions that may be in uh come up yes sir Is this better? Yes.

Okay.

Gotcha. Apologies. And Scott Ratcliffe, Director of Engineering is also here. If you have any questions around the engineering side, our public infrastructure, things of that nature. First and foremost, we are not a truck stop. We like to be known as a family friendly, oriented travel center. We are 24 hours. Next slide, please. This is an example of our current site plan concept at the intersection of I-71 and Lucas Road southeast corner. As you can see, the public infrastructure has three roundabouts from the east to the west side of Lucas Road. Next slide, please. We started in 1982. First, top pictures are our first Buc-ee's. One bathroom, still going strong. As you can see, our model has increased quite a bit over the years. We've essentially turned the industry upside down. We're more of an on-purpose stop versus a convenience stop these days. Next slide, sorry. Few things that we're known for is our extremely clean bathrooms. Part in being our employees, keeping those clean. And the reason for that is what we pay our employees. Starting wage is $18 an hour We do offer full benefits, 401K and three weeks of paid vacation for all of our full-time employees. Roughly 175 to 225 full-time employees are what we staff per store. That's not counting any of the part-time employees. Next slide. A few other things that we're known for are fresh made in-house food. Anytime you come in, you'll see brisket sandwiches being prepared, fresh sweets, homemade fudge, candied nuts, things of that nature. Our Texas Roundup is somewhat of a focal point in the center of the store. You'll usually hear someone yelling out fresh sauce on the board, fresh brisket on the board. We have a good staff of friendly, conscientious employees. You won't walk into any one on their cell phones or standing around, there's never a dull moment in one of our stores for our employees. Next slide. For our more health-conscious guests, we have an array of fruits, vegetables, gluten-free items. Everything that you see on the top slide is prepared in-house. So watermelons, grapes, pineapples, things of that sort come in full. They're washed, they're cut, they're prepared in the back. Same thing with our sandwiches. The back of the house is essentially the same size as the front of the house. So we have a lot of stuff going on behind the curtains and everything is made fresh in store. So we have a large, in addition to all of our Bucky's merchandise that everyone's familiar with, we do have a large array of like a mercantile kind of soft goods section of our store that you can find any kind of gift for a special occasion. What I'd like to point out on this slide is we do like to work with local vendors as well. About six months prior to the store opening, we have a marketing team that comes and scouts out any vendors that may be interested. As long as they can keep up with supply and demand, we're happy to have them in the store with us. Some of those examples would be candles, honey, artwork, things of that sort. Next slide. We are fuel agnostic. As much as we are focused on the gas and the EV charging, our actual goal is to get the guests into the store. As you can see in the top picture, it's our Loxley, Alabama store. We have oversized drive aisles underneath our canopy and on both the The bottom picture is an example of our electric vehicle charging station. Our site is pre-developed for a, the perimeter is pre-developed for electric vehicle charging stations to surround the site if need be. An example of that is our Temple store. We started out with 12 back in 2015. Currently we have 68 electric vehicle chargers there. Kind of have a following for as little marketing as we do, other than our billboards, as you saw on one of the previous slides. We do have a good fan base. We like to work locally with, you know, first responders, things of that nature as well. One thing I'd like to point out on this slide, you can see the first responders on the right-hand side. That's from our 2017 Harvey, Hurricane Harvey in Houston, Texas. We served as ground zero for that storm. Each store that we have has a backup generator that can keep the store going for, I believe it's how many days? Month. Thank you. Getting into the technical stuff here. Anyways, first responders were set up there. They, you know, we fed them. They stayed in the store. It was a it was a great bonding experience, despite what was going on during that time. So 90% of our guests come from 20 miles away or farther. While we do like, you know, the locals coming in for a kolache and a cup of coffee, point being is a lot of our guests are outside of your city. They're not coming in. They're not using your local resources. They're not taking up your schools. They're coming in, spending their money, getting in the car and going back on the road. This is just a good summary of some stats for a typical 74,000 square foot store, which is what we're proposing to have here. Roughly $9 million of a typical annual payroll, $50 million in the capital expenditure, 18 million gallons of fuel sold annually, and like I mentioned before, you know, 175 to 225 typical full-time employees, beginning wage being at $18 to $20 an hour. And that's it. I'm happy to answer any questions or bring the brains up here for the engineering side of the infrastructure if anyone has any kind of questions for that as well.

Anybody? So far, so good.

Thank you.

Thank you, Angela.

Next, I think we'd like to bring Greg Daniels up.

He's our lawyer that the city of Mansfield used as outside counsel to develop this particular development agreement. So he's got a lot of detail on what this agreement is. We've done a lot of other pieces of legislation to enable this project. So Greg, do you want to talk through the development agreement?

Yeah, absolutely. Good evening, everyone. Again, I'm Greg Daniels, Cities Outside Council. I was brought in to work on this public-private partnership with Buc-ee's on behalf of the city. I've been working on these sorts of public-private partnerships across Ohio for about 25 years now. I would say that we had a lot of work with Buc-ee's on this. It was really collaborative, and I'm very happy with the way it turned out. I think this is a great example of a public-private partnership. Really what the development agreement is primarily about is building about $15 million of infrastructure that's necessary to enable Bucky's development, but it also supports the development of the other parcels around Bucky's. So it's absolutely necessary for Buc-ee's but goes well beyond it. And I think that's a good indicator of how successful this partnership has been so far. Angela talked a little bit about the infrastructure, the three roundabouts that will help traffic for all the development. There's also water and sewer infrastructure that's necessary to enable any development in the area. And what we were able to agree with with Bucky's in this agreement is using a tool called a new community authority. This is something that I work on a lot around Columbus. I don't think you've seen a lot of them up here, but they're becoming increasingly popular around the state. And what we can do with that is for a period of time, add an additional sales tax on Bucky's sales, everything except motor vehicle sales or fuel sales. And that will allow Bucky's, they're advancing all the money for the infrastructure, they're paying it all out of pocket up front, and then they get repaid back over time with this additional sales tax type charge. So it's all financed by Bucky's development. The additional sales tax type charge is 2%. One and three quarters of that goes back to Bucky's to repay them. And a quarter percent stays with the city for other infrastructure projects in the area to help develop that whole area. So again, it's Bucky's paying for itself using this creative tool over time. And then the city also gets some additional money to support additional development. So that's it in a nutshell for the agreement. You all have a copy of the agreement. I'm happy to answer any questions you might have or dive into various parts and talk about it a little bit more.

Go ahead, Ms. Mount.

Thank you. I believe at this point it's a 20-year plan is the general plan for the 2%. If it happens that sales are a lot higher than expected and the money comes in quicker, does it end sooner or how does that work? I know there's provisions for wrapping it up sooner. Right, yeah. So you pay it off early.

The one and three quarters percent ends as soon as Bucky is paid back. So I think they're projecting about 20 years right now. So if it's shorter, then that portion of it ends earlier. If it's longer, it goes until they're paid back. The quarter percent remains.

Well, let's just come up the row there. Go ahead, Mr. Gibbs.

Mr. Daniels, I don't know if you can answer this question or Angela or Bucky's representative. I did have the opportunity to go to Bucky's twice. I went with a group of us a few months ago to check it out. And like many people, I thought it was just a gas station until I got there. I'm like, all right, this is pretty massive and pretty awesome. I went back another time. But the first time that we went, we did have the opportunity to talk to some of the council and some of the elected officials in that area. Um, and one thing that we did talk about was, you know, how it was done professionally. And one thing that was of importance to that community. And I think with our community as well is that we are, if, you know, if this does pass, ultimately that we do, um, partner with our local, uh, trades and skilled tradesmen. That was something that's very important to that community. And I know us as well. So I did want to just put that out there. I don't know if anyone could like talk a little bit more about that.

Yeah, I would defer to Angela or your engineer on that in terms of procurement. If you would, come up so we can get you on a microphone.

Mr. President.

Yes.

Mr. Councilman, sorry. While she's coming up, we did have a reach out from our local skilled trades groups, and I did make a connection with them to Angela, and then she can tell you what she did with it from there.

Yes, we're happy to partner. I would encourage all of the leads to come to me, to which I personally send them to the director of construction and make sure that we keep them in a roster to keep on the radar for the time being until we need them.

Thank you. And that was started, if I can go again on that was something that was conveyed from Huber Heights as well, that, you know, once that was kind of brought up, the conversations occurred, and everyone was happy, you know, we had, they had folks who, you know, jobs were created for them, as well as folks who are working there. So I did just want to represent our folks, but thank you very much.

Thank you.

Go ahead.

So my concern are the residents in the area because a few of them have come here to express some concerns they have. And how have you guys dealt with it in a sense? Like one person was talking about the entrance to their farm. How have you dealt with those issues they have?

I can punt that one to Scott Ratcliffe, Director of Engineering.

Good evening, council members. Scott Ratcliffe, director of engineering, 324 FM 2004, Lake Jackson, Texas. Related to that, we've met with several members of the community as it relates to access and ingress, and we've been working with the city engineering department. We are building a new public street that provides direct access to the parcels adjacent to our property, be adjacent to new public right-of-way. been working with providing exhibits and documents to address vehicle movements for large agricultural vehicles as well as oversized lanes and additional improvements necessary to help provide security and shielding them from the neighbors of us adjacent to them so is there is there a way of

getting feedback from them to see how satisfied they are. I mean, I know you cannot satisfy everyone, but just to see how, what, you know.

I've met with several members one-on-one and in group settings, and I've responded to all the inquiries that have been provided to us, indicating ways in which we're striving to improve the community with the additional development in the area. Thank you.

I'm sure you appreciate it.

Thank you. Go ahead.

My question is for you. We understand what this new text looks like, but I would like you to explain it a little bit more so that the community understands it. Anytime you say new text, it frightens everyone. If you could just embellish them a little bit to understand what this means.

Absolutely. And the terminology I would use is a sales tax type charge. It is actually not a tax. It is just on Buc-ee's. It's not over a wide area. So it's just anyone that would choose to go to Buc-ee's, buy something, not fuel, but buy something else at the store. They would pay that additional 2% until Buc-ee's is paid back. And then as we talked about earlier, that drops down to a quarter percent. So it's not everywhere. It's not countywide. It's just at Buc-ee's.

One of these exists in the short north, I believe. If I'm not mistaken.

There are several across the state, anywhere from the banks down at Cincinnati between the two stadiums to the short north in Columbus. And I've also recently been working on a similar new community authority structure in downtown Cleveland. So, again, they're spreading across the state, but always very focused, not a tax, just for people who choose to go to that area and enjoy it.

Go ahead.

So now on the tax or surcharge, I buy something for $10, it's going to say X for tax, and then a separate line for the 2%? A separate line for the 2%. So it's clearly defined?

Yes, it has to be clearly defined. That's correct.

Thank you, Councilman Falquette. Thank you for showing up and addressing this and talking to us and helping to erase and hopefully eliminate at least some of the concerns or reduce them. I guess the biggest question, of course, there's a lot of misconceptions, misunderstandings and concerns about the proposal. And I think one of them is that I just want to be clear for people that you guys have not actually purchased the land, that it is a private seller, that the city is not doing an eminent domain for taking land from anyone, nor is the county, nor is the townships. this is a private property and that you are in an agreement basically with them of some, can you explain that a little better so that we can kind of touch on that a little bit? Yes, ma'am.

So we're currently under contract with the seller. We are in, I believe our, Third round of an extension. We're expected to close toward the end of June. And our real estate side has been working with them directly to communicate anything and everything that we've been participating in with the city.

Thank you. Yes, ma'am.

Are you at a point that you could give us a big timeline, not every little detail, but is there a closing, say June 30th and then? or are we not quite ready to?

So there's a lot of moving parts after that, after the closing, for sure. If you want to give an update on ODOT, do you know for approvals?

The traffic impact analysis for the project has been approved by the Department of Transportation. So we've crossed that hurdle. Now we're in the process of developing the geometrics, the plan set for that. Those plans had to be approved by the Department of Transportation. That's kind of a big gamut of time as it relates to how quickly that's going to get processed and then of course we have the the relative city improvements the new city street the water and wastewater extensions those will run through the city which i'm sure will be an easy process we'll do our best thank you so to further answer your question the the start time would be dependent on the timeline of everything else that we have lined up that we would need approvals for okay um is there a a

particular moment that we should watch for? And then from that point to ribbon cutting, is there a, is there any, I'm just looking for some really big time fence. Are we rough timeline? If I'm putting it, if it's too much, it's all right.

I'm not, I'm not writing it in blood by any means. Right. Right. Um, I would say Q2 of 28.

Okay. All right. Thank you. Anybody else in the front room? Miss Mount.

This is probably also a little early to know, but I'm assuming providing, I think the roundabouts are required by ODOT or intended by ODOT. What's the timeframe to get them built? I'm assuming they'll build all three at once. I'm assuming the road will be shut down. Do we know how long that will be to build those once it starts?

We've been talking with them about logistics, exactly, and trying to determine what is the best way to construct them, what is the best time to construct them. The long of it would be eight months. The short of it would be closer to five months, depending on what we're able to do. Maintaining traffic flow is of key importance, with it being an access way to the city. And so, but at this point, as it relates to the plan development, we're still in that development of the phasing as it relates to the project. So as we get further along with ODOT and the geometric approvals, we'll be able to have a better timeline as it relates to how many months is it going to take for phase one, phase two, and phase three, respectively, in order to get the project done and completed.

Okay. So they would be planning to somehow maintain the traffic throughout that construction? Yes. Wow. Okay.

That's been our current discussion.

Thank you. All right. We're good up here. Any extra comments?

I just wanted to note, we do have the Madison Township trustees here. With this development agreement, it really does preserve all the local taxes for the different levels of government, which is really unusual. So usually when we're bringing a project of this magnitude, where you're talking $9 million of income tax and over $25 million in sales, Most often we're probably bringing you a TIF or a tax abatement of some nature, but this new community authority is really a great tool for us to tap on this one. The township with the type of annexation we did will keep the property taxes. The schools get to keep all of their property taxes. Of course, the county will get sales tax and the city gets the income tax as well as that additional tax. percentage, which will help us take care of what they're building out there. Because obviously, at the end of the day, we're going to be taking the new public road on and, and then taking over servicing that from a safety perspective. So that additional income really helps. And then on just a small phase, they also are helping us our sewer lift station out there, you know, that was put in a couple decades ago, Plus, when that interchange went out and it needs some refurbishment and we asked them to assist with that and they said yes. So, you know, really being good partners with us to make sure that we're taking care of the property and setting it up for future use.

Anything else you can think of, Mary? I think you're good. Thank you very much. We appreciate it. We'll close at 7.14 p.m. Oh, he made it. All right. We're back open again. So much development. And that's a wonderful thing.

It is.

So this is the, as Councilman Falquette mentioned earlier, this is the solar farm on the closed landfill. So this is close to the airport. There is a closed county landfill and a closed city landfill. Both of those are land owned by the city. So we've been working on this project for over three years and have gone through kind of a long process to get where we're at. So, Kurt, do you want to introduce yourself?

Sure. Thank you, Council. Kurt Prinsic. I work for CEP Renewables. Been with CEP for a little over three years now. Prior to that, I worked at Ohio EPA for 31 years, so very familiar with landfills. My background is in the solid waste program. I was an engineer, inspector, manager, and then ultimately I was the district chief at the Northeast District Office. So brought on in Ohio to try and develop landfills and brownfields for redevelopment like solar. On our brownfields landfills, we're always trying to look for our highest and best use, but when it comes to landfills, quite frankly, there isn't a lot that you can do with them. So we were excited when the RFP came out and are just delighted that we were the selected vendor for that. and are really looking forward to moving this project forward and trying to do it as soon as we can.

So the development agreement covers how the city and CEP renewables work together. The next step after this is a lease for the land. We're continuing to look for an offtaker so we can match the power being developed to a power user that's local. All that power stays here and trying to get that done without going through the entire grid process. Correct. Any questions about the development agreement?

Go ahead. We'll let you go first this time.

So I was reading this, and this is a wonderful project, because this is wonderful. Because as you spoke of, there is very little use that you can do for this. So this is lower emissions. It's all of the things that's safe for the community. So this is such a benefit. Yours is a 25 megawatt. Is that what? So that's pretty large.

It is large. It's going to depend on what the off-takers are. So when we design that, we maximize that site. The Richland County landfill there, we can get about 25 megawatts. And then the Mansfield landfill, we can get around 10. So total 35 between the two. But again, it'll depend on what we can do with the offtakers.

because I did a little research and I know that they use about four megawatts to do one of the county buildings, which is pretty grand. So when I was looking at this as 25, I was like, what are we, that's huge. So that's quite an understatement. It's a lot of power. Pretty impressive. Nice work.

So how are the residents gonna benefit?

Residents are gonna benefit a couple of ways. One, there's an increased tax revenue. So for every megawatt of electricity that we generate, the developer, this is not no taxes. The developer, which is us, will be paying $9,000 per megawatt annually. And that's on the AC side. So if we can get 20 megawatts AC, that's $180,000 annually that comes into the local taxable tax jurisdiction. Now, I know that's not generational money, but it is money that you can rely on for the life of the project, which is 20 years plus three five-year extensions. So $180,000 annually, you can rely on and budget for the foreseeable future. The other way is we often, we put this electricity into the distribution grid. It doesn't go into the big power lines. So it does provide some resiliency in the event of power surges, power outages, and I can't guarantee it's gonna keep the lights on all the time, For the grid, it does provide some resiliency. And then, you know, just what we would like is depending on which program we use, there are in the state legislature right now, there's Senate Bill 298, which has been introduced by Senator Romanchuk. And then there's a community solar bill. If we were able to do a community solar project and we were able to distribute all this power to the local community, we can guarantee a 10 to 15% savings on your electric bill.

That would be good.

Yes, wouldn't it? I just saw today that, you know, up in the Cleveland area, electricity is going up about another 15% as of June 1. So 11 cents it's going to be so.

Sure. Wait, wait, we got to, you got to follow up.

All right. So when you talk about the five-year, five-year renewable that takes place, so I know that this is about a 20 to 25 year. And then I, from what I understand after that time, it loses about 80% of its ability to, so this five-year renewable would be, would it be starting to rebuild it? So would that be like additional contracting, new solar panels placed in? What happens?

I don't, I'm not aware of the solar panels losing that much efficiency. At most, they might get down to 80%. In 20 years, they might go from, say, 100% down to 80%. So they're not going to lose that much. you know, at the end of the 20 years, 25 years, we might rinse and repeat and just, you know, you know, maybe we renew it. I know at that time, I'm sure the technology is going to change. There may be more efficient panels, but, um, We'll have to see. What I do want to point out, though, is the development agreement. If at the end of 25 years there is now a higher and better use for this landfill, as a developer, we're going to have a bond to decommission that site and return it to its original use. And we have to do that for all of our projects. Ohio EPA is going to require it. I know that for sure. um we are working on two landfills right now um one in brooklyn ohio and akron hardy road landfill and there are decommissioning bonds for both of those so the city has no dollars into this at the beginning and no uh responsibility for cleanup at the end sounds good one other i'm sorry i just said that sounds good and

You want to add?

Yeah, one other benefit that as the developer, we are going to take over post-closure care operations and maintenance of the landfills. So that's a significant cost to the Solid Waste Management District where those revenue and those expenses can go into other programs for the community.

Okay. Michael and then Debra. So back to that portion of this. Currently, the city or the county maintains those landfills?

Yes, the Solid Waste Authority.

Solid waste, OK. So with this project, that would be alleviating some of the burden that we as a community have to maintain those? Correct. That would be a cost savings to us then.

Yeah, the Solid Waste Authority saves some money. The county gets new money that he mentioned, and the city gets revenue from the lease.

OK. So our current exposure, if we do nothing, we still have to maintain it with no revenue coming in and we inherit all the liability. Long-term wise, what's our exposure? You mentioned that at the end of the term of the lease, you have a decommission process. We're not going to inherit all these solar panels that we have to then get rid of. You take care of all that. Take care of all that.

Anything else, Mr. Brander?

That was my big concern.

All right, Debra, what's the timeframe? Like if this is approved, how, how quickly would it be able to contribute?

We, we, we are working, I've been working with Barrett and finding an off taker. So before we are going to, before we can start working on this project, we need some, we need a guarantee that someone's going to be able to take this electricity. So we either have the two state pieces of legislation in the state house right now, or we have what we could do is there is a development parcel directly north of our of the property and if. we could find an offtaker who could take 20 megawatts or maybe we do two 10 megawatt sites and we provide them the off if we have an offtaker we can develop the site from the moment we have assigned ppa we will need about 12 months and a ppa is a power purchase agreement and that would be the agreement with cep and the offtaker that they're going to take our our electricity that we provide them

So from agreement point, you get an agreement today in 12 months, you're up and running.

No, no, no. I, the development agreement, if we have agreement on this today, we are going to, I was just saying that let's suppose January 1st, you get an agreement with by the next January 1st, you're up and running.

Yes, sir. Okay.

Anybody else? All right. And I had a quick question. Is this 100% solar or is there batteries involved?

Right now it's 100% solar. If we have a discussion and the offtaker is interested in battery, there's certainly room to do that and ability to do that. But when we originally did it, we were just looking at solar.

Okay. So we are putting, this is an agreement that we're willing to move forward, but really nothing's going to move forward until he has a purchase person. Correct. All right. I think I'm good. Everybody. All right.

Go ahead, Cheryl. Will you come back and let us know when, if we have an opportunity to. Yes, ma'am. Thank you.

We're going to have a ribbon cutting. We're going to do all the things. We're going to have this for a long time. I really want this to happen. Yes. I'll come too.

Yeah, thank you.

All right. So real good. Thanks to the three years of effort that went into it before we got it. And I guess that's it. Anything else, Barry?

Thank you all for your patience. This took longer than 15 minutes, so appreciate it. All right. Thank you very much. Thank you.

We'll close at 725.

Okay, with that at 7.25, I will call this session of Mainsfield City Caucus to order. Before we get started, just a brief announcement. If there's anybody that wishes to make public comment during council, please find your way over to that corner of the room. Our assistant clerk, Ms. Ross, will help you, but if you wish to make a public comment, please sign up the sheet over there. With that, we will start. We'll call in for any committee reports. Mr. Diaz.

Thank you, Mr. President. We have a lot of things happening in the next two weeks, but I did want to highlight three major events happening on Saturday, June 13th, next Saturday. One has been in the planning for over a year now. It's the Westinghouse Party. Um, huge partnership with our, uh, wishing County commissioners, uh, Verona house, um, LU tons of folks, the city, and it's going to be at the former Westinghouse area. There'll be something for everyone for, uh, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Uh, there'll be music. There'll be, I believe, live animals, food vendors, and fireworks. So please come down. Also that day, we're having the June Mansfield Freedom Day. Different location this year. It's going to be at Mansfield Senior High. I believe the parade starts at Mid-Ohio Education at 11 o'clock. As always, they'll have awesome vendors. If you're interested to be a vendor, please contact Princess Apartment. Food... A lot of local authors. So please be sure to go back and forth with those if you can. And the third event, I was hoping maybe Mr. Councilman Miranda could talk more about the Miss Ohio. He's really involved in it.

Thank you. So one effort that we are doing as a group to bring back some of the activity supporting the Miss Ohio Pageant Scholarship Program, for decades there was an event downtown the night before the parade, and that was kind of the kickoff to Miss Ohio Week. So we cannot come to the square this year, but next year, that's the plan to be located there. We're going to be locating it this year just down the street at the Eagles. They're on Main Street at the corner of 5th and Main. from 4 until 8 o'clock in the afternoon. Just a nice fun day. The Miss Ohio contestants will be out there. There'll be a photo booth so people can take their pictures with their favorite contestant or meet their favorite contestant and find a new contestant. There'll be face painting, balloons, artistry. Mansfield's local Sevelt will be playing from 5 o'clock until 8 o'clock. Just a nice little fun afternoon. But also we're promoting the parade the following day. unique thing this year the parade does fall on flag day this is our 250th anniversary as a country so we'll also be passing out flags to the first 2 000 people out into the parade route so we can have a good showing everyone come out support the parade enjoy the parade They do a great job in getting a lot of bands, floats, our civil service out there. So come out and join us. It'll be a fun-filled day the night before, and the parade is going to just be a fabulous day. Come out and celebrate Flag Day.

Mr. Diaz. And I believe our Councilwoman Roberts is going to be co-emceeing the event on Sunday. Okay.

I am. The Ohio State Reformatory is one of the sponsors. So I'm doing it on behalf of the Reformatory. And I've done it for about three years now. I've had a great time. I enjoy it a lot.

That concludes. Oh, sorry. I missed Councilwoman Davis-Weese.

I just also wanted to mention that the fishing rally is going to take place this Saturday. And that fishing rally takes place. I was like, Louie. North Lake Park. That's what I was losing the park. I was going to say that. We're going to have two and there'll be an additional one. So if there are any anglers or anybody who's an experienced fisherman who's willing to go out and help some students, help kids, assist them, if you know how to load a rod, take fish off the rod, Please show up and help them with the fishing rally. That's one of the wonderful things. Also, this is still a good time with all of the activities that we have in the park, making sure that your children are signed up to enjoy it. They're also going to have a day camp that will be with the crown, which is for Oasis. And they also have that as well. So any of those events are available. Lots of things are taking place. The other thing I wanted to mention, I apologize, Hamlet in the Park, Ward 3, the place to be. So that is going to be on a Friday, a Saturday, and a Sunday. And that is, I think, the 18th, the 19th, 20th, and 21st. It will take place. So if you're a Shakespeare fan, please come out and enjoy it. Bring a lawn chair and enjoy it. Thanks.

Any other committee reports? Public announcements, I guess, is more than committee reports. Public announcements, which is fine. Sounds like it's great. We've got a lot going on.

So it's good. Good. Yes, sir. I would like to add one more thing. Mansfield has a lot of things going on right now. If you want to do something or be something, Destination Mansfield. Their website has a calendar you can go to. It'll have everything from a book reading to music events to everything we're trying to do here as a community. So if you're bored, just go to Destination Mansfield and you'll probably find something that's fun to do.

If you say there's nothing to do in Mansfield, you're not looking for it. Just like last Friday, they had the Peace on my block, thank you. And then also downtown here was the final Friday, so there's always a lot. There's been a lot of stuff going, which is great, which is great. Any else on committee announcements? Okay. With that, Mayor.

Okay. A few quick updates from me. There have been three recent announcements from the land bank that I do want to make sure council members have heard about. First, we did officially received the $1 million from ODOD for West Park Shopping Plaza. We have had a meeting with, there are some power lines out there that need moved as part of the project. So we met with First Energy as well as representatives from the NIST family to to start that process. And Amy from the land bank is working on the demo bid specs. So I believe you'll be seeing things happening on West Park before the end of the year. So yay for that. We also did receive the Ohio Housing Finance Authority did award a grant for the proposed affordable housing senior... senior affordable housing project at West Third Street. So that was the one in conjunction with Mosaic. So lots to come on that still. They're really at the beginning of the process. They have invited me up to see some of the other projects that they have. If anyone is interested in going, just let me know. I'd be happy to take you along. And then we also received from the land bank, uh, $600,000 in welcome home Ohio grants, and that will build six new houses around the County. So, um, I think, uh, Mansfield and Shelby both have a site. So, uh, Where they're going, all of that is yet to be decided. But three big projects coming out from the state. We appreciate that. I did make a hire for the mayor's intern. So Zetta Anderson is going to be starting with us tomorrow morning. You'll hopefully see her at one of the meetings. We're excited to have her on board. And then I did want to give a quick shout out. Destination Mansfield gave the city and volunteers two awards at their recent banquet. One was for Circle Park and everything that happened there. And of course, we had our leader on that project, Michelle Geese from Richland New Hope with us that day, as well as Airport Day. And Jeff Angelini was there. And I just really want to shout out both of those groups that came alongside the city and kept that going. So thanks.

Thank you. We are getting Central Park done, getting things ready for the fountain. So we did the plumbing and we're doing the painting and restoration of the bowl. The fountain will be starting to set up and arrive on Monday of next week. And it'll probably take about three or four days to get that installed. Part of our July 4th celebration for the 250 will be on July 4th. That's actually on Saturday. We're having a rededication of the fountain at 11 o'clock. And then shortly after that, we are having an ice cream social and picnic in the park. and we have several donors that's going to be donating ice cream that we'll give out to everybody that day. We also have a jazz connection that we'll be playing in a gazebo that day on the square, and that'll be at 1 o'clock. We'll open the time capsule at the city building, which was encapsulated for the bicentennial, so we'll open that up, and we'll recapsulate one this year that'll be open on the 300th, America's Birthday Day. So, and then that evening at Mansfield Speedway, we'll have our fireworks at nine o'clock, but Mansfield Speedway has a bunch of things going on to be open all day and free admission to the public. So there'll be no charge for that. So that July 4th day, there's a lot of things going on. At South Park, June 13th and 14th, the Civil War Camp will be there. There'll be a lot of things related to the history, the garden, all the different speakers coming to have an encampment there at South Park. And then on June 8th, we have a fishing derby. It'll be at North Lake Park. And then Liberty is this weekend. And we had a partnership with the Division of Wildlife, so we'll be stocking the ponds this week in preparation for this weekend and the next weekend at both Liberty and North Lake as well. The other thing we're going to be doing at Liberty, we just got finished repairing part of the basketball court. The other half will be started once we get the materials. They're in production right now. So our goal is to get that done as quickly as possible. The flagpole that... Veterans Association did. They did some planting there, red, white, and blue flowers for the bicentennial or semi-sequentennial 250. And then also the bathhouse restoration is going along very well. So that hopes to be done by the end of October. So there's a lot of things happening in all the parks and throughout the city. So if you need to know anything else, just go to our website and it'll take you to where the different projects are and the status of those as well. Thank you.

Director Porch. Thank you, Mr. President. The police department, the application window for the civil service test is open and we'll be accepting applications until July 7th. If anybody's interested in applying, it's applympd.com. We currently have seven vacancies within the department. uh the chief has informed me that four officers have returned back from bicycle training school so we had to send them out of the area to get them trained you'll start seeing officers back on bicycles this summer at different events either downtown or in neighborhoods i know the chief is looking at Purchasing some new bikes. He tells me that these bikes are getting broke in the courses. Apparently it's like a Red Bull competition bike school, but they're doing a great job and we're looking forward to having the officers back on the bikes. The airport project for the runway 1432, that project is progressing well. If everybody remembers, that's over a 9,000-foot runway. It's one of the longest runways in the state of Ohio. Due to weather, we've had some prolonged waiting there, but they're in full swing. So hopefully that continues to progress well. And the fire department has done a great job doing the hydrant inspections. So if the council will remember, it is our plan in 2026 to touch 2,800 hydrants within the city. working with our contractor and with the fire crews and i can tell you the fire crews are definitely beating our contractors which i'm proud of so that's all i have thank you sir director converse

Thank you, Sir. I just have one announcement. It's time to start talking about the tax budget for next year. And we need to get that certified with the county. Unfortunately, the July meeting time does not allow us to get that handled in July. So we will be submitting legislation for that tomorrow for consideration at the next meeting. So we're only going to get one reading out of that legislation. But it's a pretty standard piece that we do every year anyway. So I don't think it'll be any issue. Thank you.

Director Madden.

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

Thank you, sir. Director Henry brought up about out at Mansfield Raceway, another event that was going on this past weekend was Mansfield Raceway had a two-night Friday and Saturday night out there, and my son and I attended Saturday, and the prize event FOR THE WINNER ON SATURDAY NIGHT WAS ORIGINALLY SUPPOSED TO BE 47,000, BUT MR. NIST THREW IN $100,000, SO THE WINNER OF THAT HEAT WON $147,000 ON SATURDAY NIGHT. And, you know, as we were walking through the parking lot, I'm looking at license plates, which I have a tendency to do. And there was a lot of out-of-state, not just out-of-county, but a lot of out-of-state plates, which means revenue back into our town and county, which means a lot. So it's great to see that facility up and running and going. So thank you for the privilege to say that. So with that, we shall proceed with legislation. We will start for caucus at 26-102. I'll call in Mrs. Meyer.

I'm sorry. Bill 26-102 will be honoring Lieutenant James Odson from his retirement from the city of the Mansfield Fire Department. So let's move on and read that full legislation now.

The clerk will read Bill 26-102 in its entirety. Thank you.

And I apologize ahead of time, I am sick. Honoring Lieutenant James Odson upon his retirement from the City of Mansfield Fire Department. That this council on behalf of the government and the citizens of the Mansfield community is privileged to honor and pay tribute to Lieutenant James Odson upon his retirement from the Mansfield Fire Department. That council on behalf of the City of Mansfield and its Citizens hereby recognizes and honors Lieutenant James Odson upon his retirement from the city of Mansfield. After 34 years of dedicated service, Lieutenant James Odson served his final day with the Mansfield community on May 6, 2026. Lieutenant Odson... began his distinguished career with the Mansfield Fire Department in 1992, became the first paramedic in the department's history, helping to lead the development and advancement of emergency medical services within the organization. He was promoted to lieutenant on August 14, 2014. Lieutenant Autzen played a significant role in the evolution of pre-hospital emergency medical care within the city of Mansfield. During his tenure, the department experienced major advancements in emergency medical services, technology, and patient care, and Lieutenant Autzen remained a respected leader and trusted resource through those changes. In 2004, he was honored as EMT of the Year for the department. In addition to his service to the department, Lieutenant Hudson was known for his dedication to teamwork, camaraderie, and the fire service profession. His experience, leadership, and commitment to excellence earned the respect and admiration of his fellow firefighters, officers, and the community he faithfully served. The City of Mansfield extends its sincere gratitude and appreciation to Lieutenant Odson for his years of honorable and dedicated service and wishes him and his family the very best in his retirement.

Wow. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

I'm going to stand over here if that's okay. Yes, thank you, council. It's been a while since I've been up here. Thank you to all the citizens of Mansfield, businesses for the support that they've given the safety levies, the fire department. They provided for a good career for me. I was able to have my kids go to college, and it was a good ride. Director Port said I had to give a speech, so... I got it down to 64 minutes. See, I knew I'd make somebody laugh. No, but thank you very much. This is quite an honor, the first paramedic on the fire department. Seeing the progress from when I started to now is amazing. The citizens of Mansfield can definitely be proud of their pre-hospital EMS system that they provide within the city and the fire. And I know the police department, in conjunction with the fire, does a great job of protecting all the citizens. So again, thank you so much for the recognition. I appreciate it. What am I not allowed to say? Thank you.

You're retired. Yeah.

I'm retired now. Right. I was going to wear my uniform. My wife's like, you're retired. You don't have to wear that anymore. I was like, Oh yeah, that's right. Uh, so no, no, we've seen a lot. I've seen a lot. It was a paramedic at 19 years old. And, uh, Yeah, here's your truck. Here's your partner. Good luck. And that's how that went. So learned a lot. But yeah, thank you again for everything the city has provided for my family and future families coming down behind me. So hopefully I was able to pass on some good knowledge to the probationary firemen that are coming in. It's a different generation right now. Uh, so we're expecting them to know things that they don't, that we were taught maybe from grandparents or fathers at a young age and not quite seeing that today, but that's okay. We'll, we'll take them under our wing and teach them what they need to know. So, yeah. So hopefully you definitely can be proud of your, your firemen and your, and your police for the city. So thank you. Thank you.

Don't go too far, because I'm sure we've got some city council people that would like to make some comments. So why don't we just start down with Ms. Robertson and put them right down the line.

Thank you, President. Jim, just congratulations. I can tell you it's a great feeling. I just also want to recognize your family for the sacrifices you made to allow him to serve this community. It can be a thankless job at times, but it can also be very rewarding. So just thank you for your service and go enjoy this time and enjoy it with your family.

I'm glad Sherry went first. She said everything I was going to say. Congratulations.

And now you just said everything I was going to say. Thank you, Jerry. No, but on a serious note, as a community, we appreciate everything you've done, what you brought to the table and what you brought and your legacy being what you helped create. So thank you.

Same, Lieutenant. I hope you enjoy this next chapter. You have an opportunity to rest and relax. But thank you so much for your service. Being the first paramedic, that's pretty cool. I mean, it's really something to be proud of. And we really appreciate all of the years it gave to the city. Thank you.

Thank you for your service. And in leadership, one of the things that I love to hear with someone who has wisdom like you is, is that you don't forget that you still continue to teach that to other people. Oftentimes people are saying this generation doesn't know, and they think that it's not their responsibility. So your leadership has led that to be something that will continue to be done. So we're fortunate to have had you and thank you for this leadership.

Thank you for your service and your leadership, and also to your family for supporting you, that you be the leader that you are, and also for setting an example for the future EMS personnel. Thank you. Enjoy your retirement.

Well, you're a young retiree. So definitely enjoyed that. But one thing that really resonated as you're speaking is, I think you said it two or three times, is thank you to the city for providing for me and my family. Thank you for providing to the city, giving everyone. We don't even know the stories you can tell, especially as a 19-year-old paramedic. um the heartache you've seen and the tragedy but i do know um one one thing you guys have at the fire stations is just a brotherhood and camaraderie but i want to thank you for all that you've done and all those unspoken thank yous and congratulations

Thank you for your years of service and congratulations. I was trying to think when I first met you, but I'm guessing it's been about 18, 15, 18 years. And what stood out is your calm demeanor and your knowledge and your willingness to share that knowledge with the people around you and help them become better. So it's an inspiration. And thank you for that path that you forged for those coming behind you in the field. Thank you.

I also would like to congratulate you on your service. Appreciate all you've done for the city of Mansfield. Just wish you very well in your retirement. Enjoy, travel, do whatever you can. And as I usually say, and some others stole my line, but I always... want to thank the families because you're you're away from your families quite a bit doing the job while you're out doing your job and sometimes at a risk for the city and you know that puts kind of in peril and we appreciate the family uh sharing you with the city and the time and now you can enjoy more time with with your family so with that thank you And I forgot, Mayor, would you like to add anything?

I'll just add an extra congratulations. I had a chance to visit with the lieutenant at his retirement gathering and just had a really great conversation with him. You could tell the obvious pride he took in serving the citizens and wish him nothing but the best.

Any of the directors? Except Fortune, you know.

I just want to thank you for your service and have a happy retirement. Thank you.

Go ahead, Director Ports. I'm just joking.

LT, congratulations, 34 years, just fabulous time to enjoy it. And you set the standard for the fire department as far as the paramedic. And now every member is required to be a paramedic within three years of service. So that school is no joke. And you voluntarily took that on at 19 when that was not nearly the requirement of the fire service. So I have known you many years. We had many good laughs and good times. And I know you love the the new chief over there, the police chief, and get along with them.

So yeah, enjoy.

Enjoy LT. Congratulations.

OK. Thank you. And family, if you guys want to stick around, you're more than welcome. But at this point in time, if you wish to leave, you're welcome to do that as well. But we will proceed with the continuing legislation at 26-103. And I'll call in Mrs. Davis-Weese.

Thank you, Mr. President. 26093. And this is for the authorization of Public Works Director to execute property donation with West Creek Conservatory to accept this donation of real property known as the Richland County Permanent Parcel number 03728-514-000 and 03728-500-07000.

Any questions, discussion on Bill 26-103?

And Mr. President, at this time. Yes, ma'am. Oh, you told me to do. Oh, I'm sorry. I need to. 103. 206-103. I apologize.

OK. We're in coffee.

We're in coffee. I'm moving on. Okay. 26-103, this is authorizing the public works director to accept an appropriate grant of $1,999 from the Richland County Job and Family Services to be used for the summer fund in the parks program and declaring an emergency.

Okay. Now that we're on the right bill, 26-103, is there any further questions, comments? Okay. Proceed on with Bill 26-104. Mr. Falkett.

Thank you, Mr. President. 26-104, we discussed earlier in committee. This is the CEP Renewables Solar Project and our agreement with them to use landfill property.

Is there any other further questions, discussion on Bill 26-104? Okay, moving on to Bill 26-105. Mrs. Meyer.

Thank you, sir. 26-105, as discussed in committee, authorizing the Safety Service Director to accept the grant from the National Police Dog Foundation in the amount of $5,473.09 to be used for the emergency dental surgery for Max. Is there any question, discussion on Bill 26-105?

Okay. Bill 26-106, Mrs. Meyer.

Thank you, sir. Also discussed in committee, this will be authorizing the Safety Service Director to accept the grant in the amount of $80,999.74 from OCJS to be used for the overtime costs related to violent crime reduction throughout the city.

Any questions, discussion on Bill 26-106? Okay, moving on to Bill 26-107, Mrs. Meyer.

Thank you, sir. 26-107, authorizing the Safety Service Director to accept the Family Violence Reduction Grant in the amount of $54,232.76 from the OCJS to be used for the Family Violence Liaison Officer.

Any discussion on Bill 26-107? Okay. Bill 26-108, Mrs. Meyer.

26-108 will be authorizing the Safety Service Director to accept the grant Metrich Recovery Ohio Law Enforcement Grant in the amount of $50,000 from OCJS to be used for Metrich operations.

Any questions, discussion on Bill 26-109? Okay. Bill 26-110, Mr. Falkett. Thank you, Mr. President.

Oh, wait, we've got one more.

Did you get one more? Yeah, I've got one. 109? 109.

Okay, I'm sorry.

109, 26-109 will be authorized in the Safety Service Director to accept a grant from Metrich for, or excuse me, Metrich Drug Law Enforcement Fund grant in the amount of $137,052.48.

Okay. Any questions or discussion on 26-109? Sorry about that. That's okay. Now 26-110, Mr. Falkett.

Thank you, Mr. President. 26-110 is $40,000 being transferred within the water fund for improvements. This is that new parkland we received that's the old Boy Scout camp. So that $40,000 is being used to fix the roof, do painting, septic water work, plumbing, gravel on the road, signage, and some campground improvements. So quite a long list for $40,000. Yeah, I wasn't going to ask them if they needed more. So I was happy with that.

Okay. Any questions, discussion on 26-110? And last piece for caucus bill 26 days, one 11, Mr. Falkett.

Thank you. Mr. President 26, one 11 is the new community authority agreement. between Bucky's and the city of Mansfield, and that's providing a tax collection for a period of time to repay Bucky's for the improvements required for infrastructure that will improve the whole area and make it better for any other businesses coming in in that area.

Any other further discussion on Bill 26-111? Okay. Hearing none. Is there anything else to come before caucus?

Move to close.

Second.

Then regularly moved and seconded. We close caucus. All in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed, same. With that, I shall call this session on Mansfield City Council to order. Please stand for the pledge and remain standing for the prayer.

Lord God, please be with us this evening and help us to make wise and thoughtful decisions as we consider that which is before us. Please also grant safety to those protecting us. And thank you for the growth in the projects we've heard about, as well as the community events that have been bringing the city together.

We pray this in your name. Amen. Amen.

Okay, the clerk will call the roll.

Mr. Miranda?

Present.

Mrs. Meyer? Present.

Mrs. Davis-Weese? Present. Ms. Daly? Here. Mr. Diaz? Here. Ms. Mount? Here. Ms. Robertson? Here. Mr. Falkwatt?

Here.

President Scott?

Present. Unless there is an objection, the reading in the journal and correspondence will be dispensed with. Okay, I have two signed up for public comment. First is Leonard Menard. If you please come up to the microphone, state your name and address. And as always, you have three minutes.

Leonard Menard, 409 Old Stone Court, Mansfield, Ohio. Hello, everybody. Forgive me, I'm not good at public speaking, but I've been gone for a while. I was here at the last meeting, reminded you of that. And when I came home, I was disappointed in the things I've seen. Like anyone that is born and raised here, you always keep tabs on where you come from. You know, my whole family's here, mother still. So I would hear stories about things that's happening in my city. And I noticed that, especially the crime with the youth, skyrocketed, in my opinion. Maybe not in yours, but we all know the statistics, especially with single mothers, you know, the homes. We know the numbers. We hear about these things, right? I can brag to my friends and family members and people that I work with across the country about how great my childhood was in Mansfield, Ohio, because of all the programs that I had growing up. They're all gone now. It was almost heartbreaking when I came back to see the things that I grew up with that kept me out of prison are gone. And I sit here and I'm listening to you guys speak and everybody's so happy, happy and gloating about all these new projects. I said, well, what about the urban area? The island is even gone at North Lake. I learned how to fish there. The pools are all shut down. Is there any money for us? And I say us, being I come from this place, these places. And I haven't heard anything yet. So I was always told it's evil when you leave people behind that they don't know any better. And evil only succeeds when good men do nothing. And that's all I have to say today. Thank y'all.

THANK YOU. OKAY. KIMBERLY HERSHNER. NAME AND ADDRESS, PLEASE. THEN YOU HAVE THREE MINUTES.

MY NAME IS KIMBERLY HERSHNER. I AM COUNTY RESIDENT. I LIVE AT 1500 WOODVILLE ROAD, MANSFIELD, OHIO. I'M NOT A CITY RESIDENT. We apologize for our tardiness. I didn't know that I could use the elevators because they were stated for employees. So I apologize. We walked around the building. As a 4-H, Richland County 4-H alumni, a setting example of democratic process for my children, I didn't want that to, my inability to know what to use the doors to hinder me from still speaking, sharing what was on my mind this evening. So I'm coming here in opposition for the planning proposed buckies on State Route 3971. My family does not farm this ground or live directly on this route, but I do stand in solidarity supporting my friends, fellow Richland County farmers, landowners, and conservationists, and crop producers in Richland County. I live five miles from this decided development on a family farm that I've lived at since I was six years old, and my girls have lived there their entire lives. It is part of our roots, and the family farms that this will affect, it's part of their roots as well. And there are friends, there are neighbors that go to school with my children. So that's why I'm here, because it's important to stand up for what's right in our eyes and to do that in a democratic way. I'm opposed of the Buc-ee's development with heavy traffic, underground fuel storage, decreased safety for our families, children, teenage drivers driving that way. To get to Ontario, people from Lucas and that area, we go on 39. And we take Stewart Road to get to 30. That's how we get there. To get to the fairgrounds, that's how we go. If we need something at Target, if we need something at Dick's, if we need to go to the mall area, we go that way every time. So if we're going to send our young adults that way, they're going to be going to that traffic every time. A lot of us shop at Walmart on Hanley Road. A lot of other people shop at Kroger on Ashland Road. To get to Kroger, you go through State Route 39 to Stewart Road to Kroger. made that pass. As a student, high school student, I went to Madison High School. I lived in Madison District. I went that way home because I needed to rush home. So I took the back way, which wasn't safe. But that was the back way so I could get my chores done so I could go work on a farm in Loudonville, Perrysville area, because that was where I could make the most impact knowing what I did. So I'm a registered nurse, but I've spent many years working on dairy farms all over Wayne County, Ashton County, and Richland County. And... There is ground there on Sites Road that's going to be up for a zoning change. And I stand in opposition of the zoning change because I know the farmers that farm this ground personally. These are our fellow neighbors. These are our friends. I know their names, but I'm not going to state them here tonight. But there are people that are directly affected going the other way out of Mansfield through Lucas affected by this proposed environmental change that could happen. Not only will it impact the culture of our community. If you look around that we're not, it would just affect the people, the people that are gonna stand up for this, that are gonna say the things that they say. are not the people on Facebook saying, sure, bring the sandwiches. Sure, bring the novelty. Sure, bring these things. I'm sure those are nice. We all like to travel. We all like to see new things. But this is our community, and it's our area. Thank you for your time. And we are available to meet with the city council members, the mayor, county commissioners, see our farms, hear our stories, hear our hearts. Because it's hard for me to tell you my story in my heart in three minutes. But I appreciate your time and know that we are available and we ask that you... understand that we have an American dream as well. And we don't want our American dream living in Richland County to be taken away from us by something like this. So we stand for our families and we stand for farming and agriculture in Richland County.

Thank you. Okay. Any other committee reports?

Mayor, directors, anything?

Okay. Then we shall proceed with legislation. We have no late bills. So, Ms. Daly, for suspension of the rules.

Suspension of the rules. Thank you, Mr.

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. Been regularly moved and seconded. Council shall cast a vote on the motion. Suspension of the rules. Motion passes eight to zero. We will start off with our first piece of legislation for council being 26-093. And I'll call in Mrs. Davis-Weese.

I'm so eager to get here. So thank you, Mr. President. Yes. 26-093. This is to authorize the public work... Oh, I apologize. I move that bill 269093 be placed on the floor in red for further discussion.

Second. It's been moved and seconded. The clerk shall read bill 26-93.

to authorize the Public Works Director to execute a property donation with West Creek Conservancy to accept the donation of real property known as Richland County Permanent Parcel Numbers 037-28-500-14-000 and 037-28-500-07-000.

Okay. That is the first read for that bill, but I believe Mrs. Davis-Wiese would like to make a motion.

Yes. At this time, I would like to make a motion to dispense with further readings and move that bill 26093 be moved to the floor for vote this evening.

Second. And regularly moved and seconded that we waive further readings of bill 26093 and bring it forward to council tonight for a final vote. Okay, motion passes eight to zero. So if motion passes, so I'll, Mrs. Davis-Weese, back to you.

Thank you, Mr. President. At this time, I move that bill 26093 be placed upon the floor for vote.

Second. It's been regularly moved and seconded. Council shall cast their vote for final passage of Bill 26-093. Bill passes 8-0. Moving on to Bill 26-99, Mrs. Meyer.

Thank you, sir. I move that Bill 26-099 be read and placed upon the floor for discussion. Second.

Been regularly moved and seconded. The clerk shall read Bill 26-099.

Authorizing the Safety Service Director to enter into contract with Burgess Ambulance Sales Incorporated of 527 Worcester Road, Loudonville, Ohio, 44842, not to exceed the amount of $140,391. Yeah, I said that right. $140,391 to perform a remount of the current rescue squad R5 vehicle, a Ford E450 for the Mansfield Fire Department.

Is there any further discussion on Bill 26-99? Okay. Hearing none, Mrs. Meyer?

Thank you, sir. I move that Bill 26-099 be placed upon the floor for final passage. Second.

And then we've been seconded. Council shall cast their vote for final passage of Bill 26-099. Bill passes 8-0. Bill 26-0102, Mrs. Meyer.

Thank you, Mr. President. I move that Bill 26-102 be read and placed upon the floor for discussion.

Second. Been regularly moved and seconded. The clerk shall read Bill 26-102.

Honoring Lieutenant James Odson upon his retirement from the City of Mansfield Fire Department.

Is there any discussion? I believe we've had quite a bit, but is there any further discussion on Bill 26-102? Hearing none, Mrs. Meyer.

Thank you, sir. I move the bill 26-102 be placed on the floor for final passage.

Second. Been regularly moved and seconded. Council shall cast their vote for final passage of bill 26-102. Bill passes 8-0. 26-103, Mrs. Davis-Weiss.

Bill 26-103 be read and placed upon the floor for discussion.

Second. Been regularly moved and seconded. The clerk shall read Bill 26-103.

Authorizing the Public Works Director to accept and appropriate a grant of $1,999 from Richland County Job and Family Services to be used for the Summer Fun in the Parks Program and declaring an emergency.

Is there any discussion on Bill 26-103? Hearing none, Mrs. Davis-Weese.

Thank you, Mr. President. I move that Bill 26-103 be moved and placed upon the floor for final passage.

Second. Been regularly moved and seconded. Council shall cast their vote for final passage of Bill 26-103. Bill passes 8-0. Bill 26-104, Mr. Falkett.

Thank you, Mr. President. I move that Bill 26104 be read and placed upon the floor for discussion.

Second. And regularly moved and seconded, the clerk shall read Bill 26-104.

An ordinance authorizing the city of Mansfield, Ohio, the city, to enter into a development agreement with CEP Renewables Ohio LLC, its successors, and assigns providing for a project to develop a solar generation facility located on the closed landfill property near the airport located within the city as stated in the development agreement.

Is there any discussion on Bill 26-104? Hearing none, Mr. Falkett.

Thank you, Mr. President. I move that Bill 26-104 be placed upon the floor for final passage.

Second. Been regularly moved and seconded. Council shall cast their vote for final passage of Bill 26-104. Bill passes 8-0. Bill 26-105, Mrs. Meyer. Thank you, sir.

I move that Bill 26-105 be read and placed upon the floor for discussion.

Second. Been regularly moved and seconded. The clerk shall read Bill 26-105.

Authorizing the Safety Service Director to accept and appropriate a grant of $5,473.09 from the National Police Dog Foundation to be used for the emergency dental surgery for canine Max and declaring an emergency.

Is there any discussion on Bill 26-105? Hearing none, Mrs. Meyer?

Thank you, sir. I move that Bill 26-105 be placed upon the floor for final passage.

Second. And regularly moved and seconded, council shall cast their vote for final passage of Bill 26-105. Bill passes 8-0. Bill 26-106, Mrs. Meyer.

Thank you, sir. Move that Bill 26-106 be read and placed upon the floor for discussion.

Second.

And regularly moved and seconded, the clerk shall read Bill 26-106.

Authorizing the Safety Service Director to accept and appropriate a grant of $80,999.74 from the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services, OCJS, to be used for overtime costs related to violent crime reduction throughout the city and declaring an emergency.

Is there any discussion on Bill 26-106? Hearing none, Mrs. Meyer?

Thank you, sir. I move the bill 26-106 be placed upon the floor for final passage. Second.

Been regularly moved and seconded. Council shall cast a vote for final passage of bill 26-106. Bill passes 8-0. Bill 26-107, Mrs. Meyer.

Thank you, sir. I move the bill 26-107 be read and placed upon the floor for discussion. Second.

Been regularly moved and seconded. The clerk shall read bill 26-107.

Authorizing the Safety Service Director to accept and appropriate a family violence reduction grant of $54,232.76 from the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services, OCJS, to be used for a family violence liaison officer in declaring an emergency.

Any discussion on Bill 26-107? Hearing none, Mrs. Meyer?

Thank you, sir. I move that Bill 26-107 be placed upon the floor for final passage.

Second. Been regularly moved and seconded. Council shall cast their vote for final passage of Bill 26-107. Bill passes 8-0. Bill 26-108, Mrs. Meyer.

Thank you, sir. I move that Bill 26-108 be read and placed upon the floor for discussion.

Second. Regularly moved and seconded. The clerk shall read Bill 26-108.

Authorizing the Safety Service Director to accept and appropriate a metric recovery Ohio law enforcement grant of $50,000 from the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services, OCJS, to be used for metric operations and declaring an emergency.

Is there any discussion on Bill 26-108? Hearing none, Mrs. Meyer?

Thank you, sir. I move that Bill 26-108 be placed upon the floor for final passage.

Second. Been regularly moved and seconded. Council shall cast their vote for final passage of Bill 26-108. Bill passes 8-0. Bill 26-109, Mrs. Meyer.

Thank you, sir. I move that Bill 26-109 be read and placed upon the floor for discussion.

Second. Been regularly moved and seconded. The clerk shall read Bill 26-109.

Authorizing the Safety Service Director to accept and appropriate a metric drug law enforcement fund DLEF grant of $137,052.48 from the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services, OCJS, to be used for metric operations and declaring an emergency.

Is there any discussion on Bill 26-109? Hearing none, Mrs. Meyer?

Thank you, sir. I would just like to make note that the police department has brought in $327,758.07 this evening in grants. So thank you very much. Thank you. And with that, I'd like to move that Bill 26-109 be placed upon the floor for final passage.

Second. Been regularly moved and seconded. Council shall cast their vote for final passage of Bill 26-109. Bill passes eight to zero. Bill 26-110, Mr. Falkett.

Thank you, Mr. President. I move that Bill 26-110 be read and placed on the floor for discussion.

Second. It's been regularly moved and seconded. Clerk shall read Bill 26-110.

transferring appropriations in the amount of $40,000 within the Water Fund No. 502 for the purpose of capital improvements to buildings and grounds and declaring an emergency.

Is there any discussion on Bill 26-110? Hearing none, Mr. Falkett.

Thank you, Mr. President. I move that Bill 26-110 be placed upon the floor for final passage.

Second. And regularly moved and seconded, council shall cast their vote for final passage of Bill 26-110. Bill passes 8-0. And Bill 26-111, Mr. Falkett.

Thank you, Mr. President. I move that Bill 26-111 be read and placed upon the floor for discussion.

Second. Regularly moved and seconded, the clerk shall read Bill 26-111.

An ordinance authorizing the city of Mansfield, Ohio, the city, to enter a development agreement with Buc-ee's Mansfield LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, its successors, assigns, and affiliates, providing for a project to develop a Buc-ee's travel center located on approximately 37.5 acres of real property located within the city, as shown on Exhibit A of the development agreement and declaring an emergency.

Is there any discussion on Bill 26-111? Mr. Diaz.

Whenever we have a really big hot topic, we're all going to vote and we're not obligated to say anything beforehand, but I kind of want to because this has been a huge headline and much like big things that come to us like dispensaries and SAFETY AND HOUSING. I WANT TO SAY THAT I KNOW THAT A LOT OF MY COUNCIL MEMBERS UP HERE, WE HAVE DONE OUR BEST TO TALK TO EVERYONE, WHETHER IT'S EMAIL, IN PERSON, IT'S VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO MEET WITH EVERYBODY, WHICH IS WHY WE APPRECIATE PUBLIC COMMENT. Of course, social media is also a helpful tool sometimes. But I think one other way that I approached it was talking to some neighbors over on South Main Street and hearing their experiences when Walmart on Hanley Road was built. I don't think any of us were elected officials then. It was very interesting hearing some of the people who opposed it and supported it at that time. And a lot of the concerns that we've been hearing throughout the months does kind of mirror what they said as well. But like other things of development, like we've seen with the carousel of significant housing, and this as well, I think that as an elected official, we hear about housing. One thing, top three concern in my ward is employment. and safety and tourism. So I do support Buc-ee's, but I also want those to know who don't oppose it that this is not a slap in your face at all we've been listening it's really hard for us because i imagine if someone came and transformed my community my person my neighborhood and i don't have i won't pretend that i have any experience with agriculture because i don't have any my knowledge is not that big i've been trying to learn a lot about it and that's through learning through your experiences but ultimately how i've always voted and how tonight will be what the majority of our community wants. I think it will be good for us. I think change is scary for us. I'm not going to pretend to say that it's not. But I did want to just be transparent with you and say I will be voting for it tonight. I do know it's been a huge in-depth collaboration partnership with Buc-ee's and our county and our city. But I do not, I want to continue to let y'all know that we value what you're saying. We value sharing your input with us. And thank you.

Mr. Falkent?

Thank you, Mr. President. I just want to reiterate also a little bit what was said before about the in this particular one, the tax structure and how Bucky's has worked with the townships, the county, the city, so that it was equitable as best we could for everybody and that we're not giving away the store. We're not asking the schools not to take money for 15 or 20 years, which is. A historical thing to do for many, many years past and for big projects. So this was a good way to do it. I'm glad we've got sharp people that know how to do these things. And we'll see how this goes. But I do know it's going to present challenges for the farm community. And we'll do our best, I'm sure, to try and mitigate. But we'll move forward.

Ms. Robertson.

Thank you, Mr. President.

I can never say as eloquently as what Councilman Diaz said. I think it struck a chord with all of us in how you put that, so thank you. I can tell you that I went to Madison. I have good friends that live in that area, and right away I got a call right away about the concerns of it from someone that loves Buc-ee's. We travel together, stop at the travel centers all the time. It is, and again, Mr. Diaz could not have said it better. It's a tough decision, but it is a decision. Change is scary. I will say that the concerns that I heard that I took to the mayor, she did take to Bucky's and there was some collaboration back and forth on that, which I'm very happy about. And I'm happy to see an American-built company come in here. And honestly, I'm glad that we have this opportunity as much as it's going to impact some others. And I know that's tough. And again, I think that Mr. Diaz said it best. We did hear you. We appreciate you coming and talking. It takes a lot of courage to come up here and sit when you have no experience doing that. And I commend you for that because you should. It's your community and you should voice what you feel. So we're appreciative of that. Thank you.

Any other council members wish to comment? Ms. Mount?

Just specific to this particular piece because this particular piece is just about the service charge, so to speak, how to deal with the payment of the infrastructure. I haven't had any citizen opposition to that idea, the concept. So I wanted to commend the administration on thinking through something that was going to maintain the funding sources for the township, the schools, Obviously, the county gets the sales tax, which is probably going to be the hugest chunk of it. And then the city for the income tax from the people working there. But thank you to the administration and people that worked on an agreement that was reasonable and equitable. And I'm glad to say that the citizens that I've heard from have been positive for it. So thank you.

Any other council members? Mrs. Meyer?

Just real quick to the lady here in the front. Thank you very much for coming. And thank you for bringing your daughters.

My husband's farming, so I had no choice.

But it's good. We do really appreciate it. And I commend you for coming and bringing them. Like you said, it's how our democracy works. And we do appreciate that. I think it's really a good experience for them to see this. So thank you for coming and speaking up.

Any other council members before I call on the mayor? Mayor?

Okay. I just want to build on what a couple people said. I do want to think this really has been a project that has been collaborative from the start. You heard from Barrett earlier, but we are also joined tonight by Jessica Gribben, the president and CEO of the chamber, and Tom Vanderhorst, who financing and incentives, I'm not sure is his, what's your name? yeah he's the brains behind this honestly he's seen these ncas work in other communities and you know i think we were doing a great job at economic development but bringing more um nuanced tools like this to the table really has leveled up so thanks to the chamber for their work on this uh commissioner barrow is here and the commissioners have been great partners on this as well making sure that we're listening and, you know, able to answer questions. Our township trustees, of course, were the first ones to kind of be in the ring and voting on this. And we appreciate your support. And thanks to Buc-ee's, really. to Angela, to Scott, whenever I've called throughout the last 12, 13, 14 months, you've answered, you've made changes, and you've really listened to the community. And having recently been through a development agreement that didn't go so smoothly, I really appreciate that. And that's what gives me a lot of belief that this project in the end will be a win-win and that we will work through a lot of the concerns that do remain for the residents. And I just really appreciate and want to take a moment because you just don't always have opportunities like this where everyone works together so well. And I wanted to take a minute to highlight that.

Thank you. Anyone else? Okay, with that, Mr. Falkett.

Thank you, Mr. President. I move that Bill 26111 be placed upon the floor for final passage.

Second. Been regularly moved and seconded. Council shall cast their vote for final passage of Bill 26-111. Bill passes 8-0. Is there anything further to come before council this evening? Hearing none, I'll ask for a motion to adjourn. It's been moved and seconded. We adjourn. All in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed, same. We are adjourned.