City Council - Regular Meeting

I call to order and welcome you to the Middletown, Ohio City Council meeting for Tuesday, January 6, 2026. Please join me for a moment of meditation followed by the pledge of allegiance to the American flag. You will hear three taps of the gavl when it is time to stand. Please join me in a moment of meditation now. To the flag, United States of America to the standy for clerk of council, This is Amy Skank. Please call the attendance role.

Mrs. Carter present. Mr. West here. Mr. Milligan here. Mayor Slama here. Mr. Li present.

Thank you. Our first order of business today is citizen comments. A professional uh presentation free of foul language is expected. This is not the time for debate, questions and answer, or any back and forth conversation. This is a time for you, our residents, to be able to present in front of council on record uninterrupted and have the floor. After the meeting, your comment cards will be given to the city manager and she will assign a member of staff to reply to you as appropriate. We have received one comment card this evening and I would like to call Adrien Shear to the podium and you may stand or sit according to your preference. Please do adjust the microphone and speak directly into the microphone at all times. Before we begin, please state your full name. I'm sorry,

but also Amy told me about standing or sitting. Oh, wonderful. So, please do adjust the microphone and speak directly into it at all times. And before we begin, please state your full name and Middletown residence, work address, or interest in the city for the record. You'll then have four minutes of uninterrupted speech. Please commence.

All right. My name is Adrienne Sher and my office is currently located at 3270 Roosevelt Boulevard and I am here today to talk about three things in general. I'm going to try to talk like a machine gun and get it done in my four minutes. One thing I know because I'm pretty old. There are [clears throat] two things that people really, really, really fear. And I can tell you that anybody who is addicted to an opiate or dependent upon an opiate is very, very fearful of any kind of treatment that they might get where they have to give up their drug because trying to recover from being addicted to an opiate is horrible. I know this because I've been a substance abuse professional for decades. The other thing that people are really afraid of is public speaking. So, while I'm an introvert by nature, I've taught myself to be able to do public speaking where other people who are on this committee I'm going to be talking about don't like to publicly speak. They like face-to-face conversation. I have or somebody else from the committee has called or tried to contact the city about this on five occasions and we did not get any kind of response from anybody. A lot of that time was during the whole cyber thing. So I kind of give you a wash on that one. But in the meantime, we decided to ask people at the Secretary of State's office, the Attorney General's office, the board of elections office what we needed to do to get this taken care of. We are a small committee that try to call ourselves middle uh Middletown tomorrow because we would like to

propose that Middletown become a six ward community with a seventh person elected who would be elected to be the mayor. This would have to be done at as either a special election or at election time. The thing that we've been we have to do first is get 2370 people in the city of Middletown to sign a petition that says they're interested in considering that particular subject. they are being six wards so that every portion of Middletown is represented up here in their own community by professionals that that run for that position from their community. So what we have learned from our phone calls that we've made and our contacts with the social the secretary of state's office etc is that that petition has to be written by the law department of the city of Middletown because it is technically a charter amendment that is required or requested to be able to go out and get people to sign a petition to say if they're interested in becoming a warded community. So that is what we are proposing to do. We are happy to answer any questions, details, how this all came about, why this all came about, blah blah blah. anytime anybody wants to have a one-on-one conversation about it. But we are also holding an open meeting where you would all be invited as well as the public at the Meadows on the 16th at

noon. And anybody who wants to contact anybody on the committee can just call 513-6330021 and we'll make sure and get any information that they would be interested in. I don't know where I am on my time slot time. Yeah, I am good. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Adrian, how many members of your Middletown Tomorrow committee are citizens of Middletown? Well, I'm not correct. Non. Are you a resident of Middletown? Mr. Lai, I'm so sorry. Can we have This is not the time for Mrs. I've got the floor, mayor. Are you a resident of Middletown? No, I am not. I'm speaking.

I find I find it difficult when residents outside of the city of Middletown want to dictate to the city of Middletonians how we run our city. Let me tell you something. Need to tell me anymore. Mer, your time's up. Mine's not. Anybody who's done more for this community, Mr. Sher, I'm sorry. This it really isn't the time for back and forth. Thank you so much though. Thank you. In future though, it is not the time for back and forth at this time. I had the floor, mayor. I took it.

Next on the agenda, that concludes our public comment. Next on the agenda is council comment. We will begin to my left with council member Lai, followed by Council Member Carter, and [clears throat] then to my right with Council Member West, and then followed by Mr. Council Member Mulligan. Mr. I will speak last. Mr. Thank you. Um, I just want to wish everybody in Middletown a happy, healthy, and safe 2026. Uh, it's easy to say we have a lot of exciting things going on in Middletown and I think we're going to take great strides in 2026 on many levels on economic development, on public safety, and and other areas. I'm excited for the the um strategic planning that we're going to uh do here in 2026 to guide us over the next several years. So, a lot of great bright things going on for the for the city of Middletown. So, uh, I wish your staff good luck and I know they work hard and I know council's going to work hard to, uh, make things, uh, a lot better for Middletown in 2026. So, thank you. That's all I have.

Thank you, Mr. Lai. Mrs. Carter, happy new year, Middletown. Looking forward to 226 myself. And I want to shout out to Scott. I rode down by Douglas Park today and High five, Scott. I am so excited of how it's looking right now, and I know it's going to look even better. I'm hoping that we will learn from last year, make better decisions, open up more opportunities for people in this city, and um just learn from our mistakes. I'm done.

Thank you, Mrs. Carter. Mr. West. Uh thank you, mayor. Uh not too much tonight. Happy New Year, everyone. Um hope everybody had a great uh holiday season and I'd like to welcome uh Mr. Mulligan back. Uh it's good to have you up here with your experience and institutional knowledge. So, welcome. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. West. Mr. Mulligan,

thank you, your honor. Uh again, happy new year. I'll join my colleagues and in wishing everyone in Middletown a very happy uh 2026. Although this is my uh third goround at the council desk, I'm just as excited as you know the first time. Um and and as I made some remarks at the at the swearing in ceremony, this is a much different city than when I was first sworn in in 2020 2012. And I recognize so many more opportunities and I can't tell you how gratifying it is for me to see plans that were developed in 2012, 13, and 14 on paper um and on powerpoints actually coming to fruition. you know, seeing the the Robert Sunny Hill revitalization uh completed, having having uh attended their open house in December, uh seeing what we're doing with the downtown uh residential developments, uh the park across the street. All of these things are are coming to fruition uh because of the hard work of our predecessors, members of council, and of course, the the women and men uh who are on the front lines every day uh making this the great city that it is. So, um, please know that I I stand with you and stand beside you. I'm grateful to the voters and the stakeholders, uh, the the businesses and the residents that made, uh, my election possible. So, uh, you have my commitment that I will deliver a council and city government that you can be proud of and a, uh, a city that we are proud to call home. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Mulligan. And first, I would also like to welcome both Mr. Paul Lai and Mr. Joe Mulligan to their first meeting in their newly elected seats in Middletown's city council and congratulate both again. I look forward to the years ahead with them. And for those of you interested in viewing the CMC properties proposal for the Manchester site in downtown, please do visit our website at cityofmiddtown.org. Um you can scroll down to the latest news on the homepage and click on city projects. The first link should be downtown refresh. So you want to click on that. And if you scroll down to just before the section for questions and or additional comments, you will see a link for downtown refresh documents. Once you click on that, scroll all the way down and click on the link for the Manchester CMC properties RFQ. I recommend reading the entire proposal. I know a lot of people are interested in this subject, so that's where you can find the actual proposal itself. Our Reimagine Ice Rink is open daily through this Sunday, January 11th. It's end of the season. You can enjoy ice skating right in the center of downtown Middletown and create memories with friends and family that will last forever. For more information, please visit reimaginemiddtown.com. This Friday, January 9th, is DMI's first Friday event called Winter Warmup. Yes, it is technically the second Friday, but that's okay. You stroll down uh downtown Middletown and the Pendleton Art Center and enjoy special deals, winter themed drinks, and our very own hot cocoa crawl featuring delicious twists on everyone's favorite cold weather classic. You won't want to miss this. tasting your way through the participating shops, cafes, and restaurants. For more information, please visit downtown middletown.org. Namebrandt Distilling located at 4563 Roosevelt Boulevard is celebrating its second anniversary this Saturday, January 10th. The event is from 6 p.m. to midnight with live music from Grey Days and guest guitarist Brian Dolwick from 7:00 p.m. to 10 p.m. The event will also feature the return of six fan favorite cocktails back on special for the evening. For more information,

please visit uh namebranddistilling.com and that's Brandt ending in D as in David and T as in Thomas. And then as a reminder, the city of Middletown accepts applications for our boards and commissions throughout the year. And you will hear about some of those tonight as council makes some of those appointments. So if there is something that you have an interest in and you wish to give back to your city in this way, please do submit your application. To learn more, please visit the city's website at city of middletown.org. Lastly, and as always, there are many ways to get involved with your community and give back. Join a board or committee, run for office, apply for a job with the city, volunteer at the hospital, pick up trash in your neighborhood or park, plant a garden in your yard, smile at a neighbor, find joy and satisfaction for a job well done in whatever work you do, or just have a positive and giving attitude. Find something that you can do regularly and give back. We are all connected. We are all in this together. The care of our city is an adventure in which we all get to share. That is all for me tonight. And this concludes our council comments. Next on the agenda is the city manager report. City manager, Miss Ashley Combmes, you have the floor.

Good evening and happy new year everyone. Um, one thing for me tonight that is to welcome down Adam Snotty. He's the principal of the aviation center and he's going to give an update on the Butler Techch Aviation Center uh progress. Thank you all for the time tonight. Again, I appreciate the opportunity to provide an update. I think the last time I was here was five or six months ago um as construction was clearly underway. Um but still a ways to go. Uh, I can tell you with certainty tonight that my hope is that uh this evening will be the last time I give a presentation that uses a graphic of that building as opposed to an actual photo. Um, we are approximately two weeks away from opening for our student classes and relocating from our current temporary location uh at the Middletown airport and then splitting at our district's main campus uh to bringing all of our aviation students up to the new aviation center. Um it is uh a an exciting time. Uh earlier today I met with uh some members of the Middletown Fire Department to start to go through and finalize plans for fire drills, safety plans, all of those things. So just to give you context, that's the stage of the game that we are in as finishing there. So, if I can, uh, what I would like to do is provide just a quick, uh, refresher of a couple of the highlights of this project and then provide a brief, uh, timeline for our relocation and then some things that we are excited about on both the economic development front and some community engagement things that we have planned with the aviation center coming up here over the next few months.

As a reminder, the key with the aviation center is this. The program is expanding and that is what's driving the construction of the new facility. We have moved the program from being a two-year model where students come in as 11th graders to being a three-year model where they now come in as sophomores. By doing that and having more space to take more students every year, we have currently expanded from 50, which was our historic number. This year we're at 80. We anticipate that number basically doubling again to over 150 plus over the course of the next couple years as our smaller groups graduate and we backfill with larger groups through our application process. At that point, the other thing that's driving this project is not just student interest, but the clear and obvious need and demand in the aviation industry for the different types of careers that are outlined here. I'm not going to go through this in detail with one exception. We start all of our students off essentially with a sophomore year of what we think of as intro to aviation. They come in and they get a little bit about flight, a little bit about maintenance, a little bit about engineering, a little bit about drones, and some career exploration within the field of aviation. Because one of the things that we find is I think like most of us, a lot of students hear about aviation and the first thing that comes to mind is flying a plane. But what they don't often realize is just how broad and the sheer scope and depth of the aviation industry and all the different potential careers that that entails. So they go through that intro year and then at the end of their sophomore year, we ask them to pick which of those three pathways more on the pilot flight pathway, the maintenance pathway, or the engineering

pathway that they're more interested in, which then drives what their junior and senior year look like. And the goal we've got is what you see in that yellow column that says Butler Tech offering on the screen. Those are things that we currently and historically have been able to help students pursue at the high school level with the aviation center. Over the course of the next year or two, our goal is to begin pushing as many of those orange boxes into the Butler Tech column to where students can either complete or at minimum start their pursuit of those additional things that typically have been post-secary items that now can begin to take place prior to graduation. The key for us is we with that third year, we can get students further through an aviation pathway. And by doing so, everything they complete with us prior to graduation is tuition free because we're a public school just like every other one in the state of Ohio. We just specialize in career tech programming. And as a result, we believe that we have the opportunity to help students get further quicker in their in their life and their career, which makes them more employable, which makes them more skilled, which makes them more likely to contribute economically. And if we get them to those points here in this area, it makes them more likely to stay either in Middletown or in Butler County or at least the general surrounding area. So that's again the context for the project. But I do want to focus more on the near term of what is coming. So our relocation timeline looks like this. This week and most of next look like they have for the last quite some time for our aviation program. That will all change at the end

of next week. Next Friday we have a district-wide staff professional development day. Our students will all be on remote instruction across all of our campuses. I've told our staff, your professional development that day is make sure the boxes have been labeled and make sure everything's in the new building and use the time to set up. Monday the 19th is the Martin Luther King holiday. So everybody is out of session that day. And our plan is then to have our student classes relocated into the new facility on Tuesday, January 20th, two weeks from today. And then in March, and I'll come back to this here in a moment, we will have our ribbon cutting ceremony. And certainly, we hope that all of you uh on council are able to make it for that as well. Uh just a couple of quick updates. I just wanted to put these in there. These are all from about a week ago. So, just some quick pictures of things. These are both from our office um conference room area where you can see uh they have done more with the flooring. They've done more painting. I was there earlier this afternoon and even just from a week ago clearly lots more progress has been made. But that's uh some of the office area. Then the picture you see on the left is one of our lab classrooms. Um almost all of our labs have been designed to where they have garage doors on the back which connect to a concrete breezeway which will connect the main building with the hanger uh which will make transferring equipment and things far simpler. And on nice weather days, it basically is a classroom extension where if it's a nice 70 degree day and it's not raining, there's no reason the door can't be up and there's no reason that the classroom can't just expand outside as necessary as well when it's warranted. Uh the picture on the right you see there is our food service kitchen prep area. Uh most of the equipment is there. Uh most of the work is done. They still have some installation items to work through and a couple of quirks there, but other than

that, that's in good shape and moving along. And then these last couple pictures, uh, that one on the left is from the main commons area looking toward the back of the building. Uh, the main commons is pretty much all glass enclosed on three sides. It is a a very nice place and it has a direct view of the runway right out the back. Uh and then the picture on the right is from inside the hanger. Uh the floor is pretty much finished uh where they were laying down epoxy coating on the floor a few weeks ago and getting that buffed and finished. So it is almost completed at this point as well. So we are truly in the final home stage of getting the facility finished, getting it up and running. Uh we know that even on January 20th when we move our classes there, there are still going to be some one-off items that we'll have to address and just work through the kinks as we open up the building. But uh at this point, nothing that is uh a showstopper by any means. All of those are things that are just the normal construction project type items as we go along. I do want to highlight one logistical quirk that goes with the building just as an FYI item. um moving forward, especially as we talk about a couple of the events we have coming up in a moment. Uh the address is on Germantown Road. There is one entrance to the parking area, and I I apologize, the satellite imagery on Google Maps does not have us there yet. It will soon enough uh but not quite. Uh there is that single entrance due to Ohio Department of Transportation regulations, that entrance is right in, right out only. And because there is a concrete barrier that separates the different directions of traffic there on Germantown Road, it does mean that there are no left turns into the property nor left turns when exiting. So for the general public, for our students, for our parents, this is one of the things that I want to try to communicate as

proactively as possible just to say when anyone is coming our way, you do have to think that through otherwise you have to turn around. You can always use Card Boulevard coming along the the back side of the airport there and come in that way. But just depending on where you're coming from, it's one of those where Google Maps will get you to the right address, but then it's going to tell you to turn left, which is not possible. Uh at least not without one breaking the law and two severely damaging your vehicle. So, we're discouraging that uh as much as possible. So, just an FYI on that one. There's a a very long sorted backstory of the FAA, the US Department of Transportation, the Ohio Department of Transportation, and a whole bunch of regulations that date back to the 1950s um that I will not go into detail now, but if you would like, I'm more than happy to talk through later on. I want to show this for just a moment and highlight what this is. We asked our construction partners at Skansa who have managed the project at the aviation center. We asked them about two months ago at the very beginning of November to provide us with a list of the best approximations of the number of workers and the amount of economic activity that the construction element of the aviation center has generated since it started about 15 months ago after the groundbreaking. And so they sent us this list and it's got all kinds of information on everything from painters to folks who worked on the asphalt to people who were doing technology to the HVAC, plumbing, you name it. All of that. The reason I point that out is this. The construction part of this project alone has had 160 different on-site jobs here in Middletown at the regional airport. And as of about two months ago in early November, the economic activity that had been

generated from the construction project added up to approximately $450,000. Knowing that that has continued over the last two months as the project comes to completion, uh if you take those numbers and just ballpark what another two months worth of that would be, it basically means the economic activity is a little over $500,000 that's been generated so far. which means that the economic activity that has been produced from this project is already greater than or equal to the $500,000 that city council contributed to this project a few years ago to get it off the ground. We're pleased with that because we think that that's a really good down payment for something that then long-term is going to have a durable impact in the community as well. There are at a minimum right now 11 permanent Butler Tech jobs that will be based out of the aviation center. Over the course of the next couple years, there will be upwards of a hundred additional students that will be going through the building on a regular basis. And of course from an economic standpoint, the future earnings that they produce, having more students come to Middletown every day, which will inevitably they stop to get gas, they stop to eat, that simply produces more economic revenue in the area. And then when we say future events, we have been very aggressive to try to partner with other organizations to get as many folks into the aviation center as we can because one, we want them to learn about what we're doing and what we think is possible through the program. But second, we want to help create as many connections for our students with other groups, even if they're not directly related to aviation. And one of the things that I always like to remind our students is even if we have visitors in

the building that aren't from an aviation business per se, even if that's the case, they might be from an organization that you didn't even realize existed. And while every interaction that you have isn't going to change your life, all it takes is one. And we don't know which one that's going to be. So the more opportunities like that we can put in front of our students, the better off that is. Uh we've had some early discussions already with several groups. Uh the Ohio Aviation Association has expressed interest in having one of their regional meetings in our facility at the aviation center. The FAA has had expressed interest in doing some training seminars at the aviation center. Uh the Ohio School Boards Association has expressed interest in having regional meetings there. And those are just some of the initial things that we've got uh under discussion at this point. I do want to highlight then uh we will have our ribbon cutting. Uh we sent out invitations for our ribbon cutting uh between last week and earlier this week. I think we've sent out well over 200 of them at this point to a variety of various folks from our aviation business advisory council. Uh all of our associate school districts uh we had the leadership group from the Middletown city schools uh went through the facility with us right before Christmas. Uh so we've got all of all of those folks. We also have a number of other elected officials. And just to put it into context, I think first semester I've tried to keep a log of just the number of tours that I know I've given for people through the facility, whether they be elected officials, whether they be public agencies, business partners. Um, when the building was under construction, uh, first semester from October to Christmas, that number was 28. That number is already more than that.

what's scheduled between now and the ribbon cutting data loan. Uh we have got a ton of interest from all across the area. We've had our local state representatives, state senator have been through the facility and a couple of them are on the calendar here in the coming weeks. Uh last week I gave a tour to a state senator from Kentucky whose district includes CVG um that had interest in the facility in knowing about this has the potential to be a major workforce development player even though it's out of state for him. A lot of our students may still very well end up in careers or with employers that either are at CVG or at least have uh have other affiliates in the area. Uh we've had a number of conversations with folks from in and around Butler County all across the state of Ohio. Uh, one of my favorite things that's come out of this in the last few weeks, I was at an event in Columbus a few weeks ago, uh, put on by the Ohio Aviation Association, and there was a state representative there from the Youngstown area. He previously uh, worked for an educational service center in Northeast Ohio and has a background in economic development. We had a conversation and was telling him about the project and he was like, "Oh, I'd love that. I'd love to know a little more." sent him a follow-up email the following week. Made sure that I put him on the invite list for the ribbon cutting, even though he's all the way on the other side of the state. About an hour after I sent the email to his office, his aid called me on Monday, yesterday, and said, "We're blown away with what you guys are doing. uh the representative, he's thrilled with this and if his schedule doesn't prevent so, um he intends to be here from four hours away to come see what's what at the ribbon cutting. That I think is simply a good anecdotal example of the level of

interest and the type of energy that this project is currently driving uh that we hope to build upon uh as we actually open and as we continue to grow the program. Uh, one last thing then for me very briefly when it comes to reaching out, we have some other events that are already on our calendar and this we anticipate we'll have many more. The ribbon cutting uh will be on Monday, March the 16th. However, for the general public and for the greater community, we are also going to have an open house on the evening of Wednesday, March the 18th. We are partnering with the Midpoint Library System to where they are going to do a brief presentation that evening about the history of aviation in general here in Middletown. We will then provide a brief overview of the Butler Tech program and the history of the facility. At which point the rest of the time that evening will simply be an opportunity for anyone from the area that has an interest to come through, take a look at the hanger, take a look at our labs, meet some of our staff and our students, and learn more about what we're doing, why we're excited, and why we believe that this can be a genuine gamecher for students in this community moving forward. And then the following week on Thursday, March 26th, we will have uh our first what's called aviation future fair, which is kind of an updated version of the career fair concept, but this will be specific to aviation where we will invite in everything from postsecary institutions to military recruiters to aviation industry professionals and representatives and give our students as much exposure and access to all of that as possible. for our seniors that are on the verge of graduation at that point, they might be able to make a connection for something that they can take advantage of post-graduation. For our underclassmen, we hope that even if they're not at that point, that it

will give them opportunities to think about other things that maybe they didn't even realize were possibilities within the aviation industry. So, those three are already there. Um, and I can certainly send more information with those as they get a little closer and more details get pinned down. Um, but definitely, uh, we would love to have you present for any and all of those items there. Uh, I think that's it for me from an update standpoint. Uh, but I'm more than happy to take any questions if you've got any or just other thoughts or ideas in general. Any comments or questions for Mr.

Snotty? Thank you. We we agree both on both counts of we're excited to partner with the city uh and have our what what will be Butler Tech's first permanent physical presence in the city of Middletown. Obviously, we've had a relationship with the Middletown City Schools for a long time, but this will be the first actual Butler Tech facility in the city. And uh the other point that I completely agree with is the demand for aviation professionals is most definitely there. Uh we believe that it's not it this is a perfect storm of industry demand and student opportunity and our goal is to bridge that gap as effectively as we can uh as quickly as we can uh to give those students as much opportunity as possible.

Anyone else?

I want to say also thank you. Um this is a very exciting project project. um even at the groundbreaking talking from the commissioners, you know, everybody that came together to make this project happen and now seeing it almost come to fruition is very exciting for me. I'm really looking forward to the um postsecondary options for aerospace engineering as well. I'm interested in hearing more about that when that becomes part of the next step. Um and I'm very excited about the history of aviation in Middletown specifically during that open house event on the 18th of March. So, a lot of good things to come. Thank you so much for being here tonight. Well, no, thank you all for the opportunity to provide an update and just share a little bit of our excitement and enthusiasm for this. It's uh it's very good. And to your point, we we think that what we have is right now is good. We think that what we can do in the near future is better and we think that what we can do over the long term. Uh we don't think that there are any limits to that. We think it's just a question of exactly where and how and how much we can actually accomplish as we grow the program, but our uh our enthusiasm is definitely high at this point to say the least.

Well, thank you very much, Mr. Snotty. Thank you for your time, Miss Cons. Lastly, I would like to welcome Ken Brown, our new communications manager. He's here with us tonight. Um he's hit the ground running in his first two days. So I'm sure you'll be seeing more of him and having an opportunity to meet with him soon. Wonderful. Thank you and welcome, Ken. Thank you very much. It's good to have you. All right, so that concludes the city manager reports. Wonderful. Thank you so much. Next item on the agenda this evening is the consent agenda. While the consent agenda is generally for consensus items, do any council members wish to remove anything from the consent agenda this evening and move it to the motion agenda? All right, seeing none, uh Mrs. Skank please uh the present the consent agenda

for your consideration. We have to receive and file the following board and commission minutes the airport commission from November 17th 2025 to confirm the conditional appointments of Braden Morris Tristan Geisler Y and Wyatt Duff to the position of patrol officer in the division of police public safety department and to receive and file oath of office for Joe Mulligan and Paul Lai. Thank you Mrs. Skank. Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? Motion. Is there a second? Second. It has been properly moved and seconded to accept the consent agenda. We will proceed to vote. Mrs. Skank, please call the role. Mr. West, yes. Mr. Mulligan, yes. Mayor Slam, yes. Mr. Li, yes. Mrs. Carter, yes.

The consent agenda is approved. The next item on the agenda is legislation. We have five items of legislation this evening. Law director, Mr. Alex Ewing. Legislation, please. Item item number one, ordinance number 02025-75, an ordinance enacting and adopting the 2025 supplement S-17 to the codified ordinances of the city of Middletown, Ohio, second reading. Thank you, Mr. Ewing. Uh, Miss Combmes, do you have anything to add? I do not. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Is there a motion to approve the ordinance? Motion. Is there a second? Second. It has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Right. Seeing none, we will proceed to vote. Mrs. Skank, please call the role.

Mr. Mulligan, yes. Mayor Slamama, yes. Mr. Ali, yes. Mrs. Carter, yes. Mr. West, yes. Yeses have it. And the legislation passes. Mr. Yuing, the next item, please. Item number two, ordinance number 02026-01, an ordinance establishing a procedure for and authorizing an extension of the current contract with Smart Bill Limited for the printing and mailing of water bills and declaring an emergency. Thank you. Miss Combmes, a staff report, please.

Yes. This is to extend the contract for printing and mailing water bills to Smart Bill LTD at the rate of approximately 16 cents plus postage. The background is that the city mails approximately 18,500 water bills monthly on a five-day billing cycle. Since 2009, Smart Bill has handled this service after submitting the lowest bid, resulting in savings in staff time, postage, and maintenance cost. They have provided excellent service and are willing to extend the contract through December 31st, 2026 with a small increase to small increase of the bill um cost. The finance department prefers to continue with smart bill to provide uh support pending in transition to the new utility billing software. The financial impact, the estimated monthly expenditure is about 8,500 plus 14,000 annually for postage supplies and that postage will be covered by the city. This is first reading emergency due to delays in contract paperwork and to finalize the 2026 contract promptly.

Thank you, Miss Combmes. Is there a motion to approve the ordinance? Motion. Right. Great. Is there a second? Second. Has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Right. Seeing none, we will proceed to vote. Mrs. Skank, please call the role. Mayor Slama, yes. Mr. Li, yes. Mrs. Carter, yes. Mr. West, yes. Mr. Mulligan, yes.

Yes. Have it. The motion passes. Mr. Euing, the next item, please. Item number three is ordinance number 02026-02, an ordinance authorizing a collective bargaining agreement with Fraternal Order of Police Ohio Labor Council Police Civilian Employees for the term January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2028 and declaring an emergency. Thank you. Miss Combmes, the staff report, please.

Yes. This is to approve a collective bargaining agreement between the city and FOP, the police civilian employees from January 1st, 2026 to December 31st, 2028. After months of negotiations, the city and police civilian employees bargaining unit have tentatively agreed on a new collective bargaining agreement. Key changes include article 7 extending probation period from six months to 12 months. Article 11 amendments to the arbitration language. Article 15 a 75 longevity payment for employees ranging 7 to nine years of service. Inclusion of the longevity vacation days. Article 17 amendments to the terminal uh leave sick leave conversion rate. Article 22, wage increases of 5% in 2026, 4.5% in 2027, and 4% in 2028. A 2001 time bonus in 2026, $3 per hour for reviewing and redacting bodywn camera videos for public requests. And the financial impact is a proposed 5% wage increase, and 2,000 lump sum in 2026 will require an additional $14,900.3 in its supplemental appropriation. Future wages incre increases will add approximately 15,61163 in 2027 and $14,5147 in the 2028 budget and this is an emergency item.

Thank you very much, Miss Combmes. Is there a motion to approve the ordinance? Motion. Is there a second? Second. It has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? I just had one question. Um was the the holidays were they updated as well? Um no the the holidays uh we did not update um but we did have a discussion with the union. We did have a discussion sorry we did have a discussion with the union about the holidays and um that they would reflect uh you know what council approves but we we did not negotiate a a change of the holiday language. All right that that makes sense. Thank you very much. Any other further comment or

Oh yes. So, are you saying that since we added a holiday for the non-union employees that they automatically get that? No, they don't automatically they don't automatically get that, but we would uh you know, that's that's a council decision if they'd like to extend that, but that would have to be negotiated separately. Okay, that's okay. Perfect. All right, thank you. Any other questions or comment? All right, hearing none, we will proceed to vote. Mrs. Skank, please call the role. Mr. Lai, yes. Mrs. Carter, yes. Mr. West, yes. Mr. Mulligan, yes. Mayor Slam,

yes. Thees have it. And the legislation passes. Mr. Ying, the next item, please. Item number four, ordinance number 02026-03, an ordinance authorizing a collective bargaining agreement with Fraternal Order of Police Ohio Labor Council Corrections Officers for the term January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2028 and declaring an emergency. Thank you. Miss Combmes, the staff report, please.

Sure. So this um not with repeating this but the key changes uh for this collective bargaining agreement are that article 11 revised arbitration language for selecting an arbitrator. Article 17 adjusted sick leave conversion rates for terminal leave. Article 22 for wages increases of 5% in 2026 4.5% in 2027 and 4% in 2028. A onetime bonus of $2,000 in 2026. an additional $1 per hour for qualified prisoner transports and article 23 updates to the overtime holdover language. The financial impact is the 2026 budget initially uh projected a 4.5% wage increase, but the proposed contract requires an additional.5% increase and a $2,000 bonus resulting in an estimated $30,1803 supplement needed for this year. Future costs are expected to add about $39,197.75 in 2027 and $36,410.35 in 2028. And this is an emergency item as well.

Thank you, Miss Combmes. Is there a motion to approve the ordinance? Motion. Is there a second? Second. It has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Hearing none, we will proceed to vote. Mrs. Gang, please call the role. Mrs. Carter. Yes. Mr. West. Yes. Mr. Mulligan. Yes. Mayor Slama. Yes. Mr. Li. Yes. Yes. Haven't legislation passes. Mr. Yuing. The last item, please.

Item number five, ordinance number 02026-04. An ordinance authorizing a collective bargaining agreement with Fraternal Order of Police Ohio Labor Council dispatchers for the term January 1, 2026 through December 31st, 2028 and declaring an emergency. Thank you. Miss Combs, staff report, please.

Yes. The key updates to this collective bargaining agreement include article 11, revised arbitration language for selecting an arbitrator, article 22, wages, $2.50 per hour increase based on 2025 rates, wage increases 2026 5%, 2027 4.5%, and 2028 4%. onetime bonuses of $750 in 2026, $750 in 2027, and $500 in 2028. In article 23, adjusted overtime holdover language. The financial impact, the 2026 budget projected a $4.5% wage increase, but the proposed contract requires an additional supplemental appropriation of approximately $87,449 this year. Future costs are estimated at $65,37328 in 2027 and $57,57786 in 2028. This is also an emergency.

Thank you, Miss Combmes. Is there a motion to approve the ordinance? Motion. Is there a second? Maybe who' you have is the I got Mr. West. Second. It has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? All right. Hearing none, we will proceed to vote. Mrs. Skank, please call the role. Mr. West, yes. Mr. Mulligan, yes. Mayor Slama, yes. Mr. Li, yes. Mrs. Carter, yes.

Yeses have it. And the legislation passes. This concludes legislation for the evening. The next item on the agenda is unfinished business. Do any council members have anything that they would like to bring up under unfinished business? Uh, I just had a quick question. um for the infill project update. You said that will be coming up in the next meeting, I believe. Yes. So, uh Michla Perkins, our economic development program manager, will give an infill um project update at our next council meeting under city manager reports. Oh, that's fantastic. Thank you.

All right. Anything else under unfinished? All right. Hearing none, we'll proceed. That concludes that. And the next item on the agenda is new business. Do any council members have any new business this evening? All right. Seeing none, we will that concludes our new business. The next item on the agenda is executive session. And let me get the language out here. Is there a motion to move to executive session under the authority of OC121.22G1 to consider the appointment employment dismissal of a public employee or official? G6 details relative to the security arrangements and emergency response protocols for a public body or a public office. If disclosure of the matters discussed could reasonably be expected to jeopardize the security of the public body or public office. and G8 to consider confidential information related to the marketing plans, specific business strategy, production techniques, trade secrets, or personal financial statements of an applicant for economic development assistance, or to negotiations with other political subdivisions respecting requests for economic development assistance, provided that both of the following conditions apply. A the information is directly related to a request for economic development assistance that is to be provided or administered under any provision of chapter 715 7251724 or 1728 or section 701.073735.67 to 3735.70 5709.4 to 5709.43 5709.61 to 5709.69 69 5709.73 to 5709.75 or 5709 to.77 to 5709.81 of the revised code or that involves public infrastructure improvements or the extension of utility services that

are directly related to an economic development project. B. A unanimous quorum of the public body determines by a roll call vote that the executive session is necessary to protect the interest interests of the applicant or the possible investment of expenditure of public funds to be made in connection with the economic development project. Is there a motion? Motion. Is there a second? Second. Having been properly moved and seconded, um we will proceed to or is there any discussion hearing? None. We'll proceed to vote. Mrs. Skank, please call the role. Mr. Mulligan, yes. Mayor Slam, yes. Mr. Lally, yes. Mrs. Carter, yes. Mr. West, yes. The yeses have it. And the motion passes. Council will now move to executive session. We will be returning to open session to vote on board and commission appointments.

Do we have a motion to open session? Motion. Do we have a second? Second. It has been properly moved and seconded to return to open session. We will proceed to vote. Mrs. Gang, please call the role. Mayor Slama, yes. Mr. Lai, yes. Mrs. Carter, yes. Mr. West, yes. Mr. Mulligan, yes. Yes. Have it. And the motion passes. Council is now in open session. The next item on the agenda is board and commission appointments. Airport Commission has three positions available. I move to appoint Michael A. Sullivan, Steven Stockmmeer, and Tom Rudolph to Airport Commission. Do we have a second? Second. Has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, we will proceed to vote. Mrs. Skank, please call the role.

Mr. Lali, yes. Mrs. Carter, yes. Mr. West, yes. Mr. Mulligan, yes. Mayor Slama, yes. Yeses have it. And the motion passes. Before we proceed, um, it can you is is this being picked up for the streaming? Okay, wonderful. Thank you. The Middletown Board of Health and Environment has one position available. I move to appoint Ruth Lai to Middletown Board of Health and Environment. Do we have a second? Second. It has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, we will proceed to vote. Mrs. Gank, please call the role. Mrs. Carter, yes. Mr. West, yes. Mr. Milligan, yes. Mayor Slam, yes. Mr. Li, yes.

Yeses have it. The motion passes. Cemetery board has two positions available. I move to appoint Lisa George and Stephanie Freeman to cemetery board. Do we have a second? Second. It has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, we will proceed to vote. Mrs. Skank, please call the role. Mr. West, yes. Mr. Mulligan, yes. Mayor Slam, yes. Mr. Li, yes. Mrs. Carter, yes. Yes, have it. And the motion passes. The library board has three positions open. I move to appoint Deborah Hower, Marie Edwards, and John James to the library board. Do we have a second? Second. It has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, we will proceed to vote. Mrs. Gank, please call the role. Mr. Mulligan, yes. Mayor Slama, yes. Mr. Li, yes.

Mrs. Carter, yes. Mr. West, yes. Yes. Have it. And the motion passes. The park board has one position available. I move to appoint Matthew Armster to the park board. Do we have a second? Second. It has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, we'll proceed to vote. Mrs. Skank, please call the role. Mayor Slama, yes. Mr. Li, yes. Mrs. Carter, yes. Mr. West, yes. Mr. Mulligan, yes. Yeses have it. And the motion passes. Building and housing appeals board has two positions available and one unexpired term that ends in 2027. I move to appoint Stephanie Freeman, Michael Taylor, and Kevin Pucket to building and housing appeals board. Do we have a second? Second.

It has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, we will proceed to vote. Mrs. Skank, please call the role. Mr. Li, yes. Mrs. Carter, yes. Mr. West, yes. Mr. Mulligan, yes. Mayor Slamama, yes. The yeses have it. And the motion passes. The Historic Commission has two vacancies with terms ending in 2028. One person has applied. I move to appoint Greg Hall to the Historic Commission. Do we have a second? Second. Has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, we will proceed to vote. Mrs. Skank, please call the role. Mrs. Carter, yes. Mr. West, yes. Mr. Mulligan. Yes. Mayor Slamama. Yes. Mr. Lawley. Yes.

Yeses have it. And the motion passes. The board of zoning appeals has two positions open. I move to appoint Corey Carter and Gerald Hidenrike to the board of zoning appeals. Do we have a second? Second. Has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, we will proceed to vote. Mrs. Gank, please call the role. Mr. West? Yes. Mr. Mulligan? Yes. Mayor Slama? Yes. Mr. Li? Yes. Mrs. Carter? Yes.

Yeses have it. And the motion passes. The city continues to receive applications to boards and commissions on an ongoing basis. Historic commission currently still has one vacancy. If you have an interest in any of these positions, please apply. Your applications are valid for one year. Please visit the city website at cityofmiddtown.org. And then do please answer each question thoroughly. That concludes our appointments for board and commissions. Our next item is city council boards and commissions liaison appointments. First we have airport commission. I move to appoint Steve West to airport commission. Do we have a second? Second. It has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, we will proceed to vote. Mrs. Skank, please call the role. Mr. Mulligan, yes. Mayor Slama, yes. Mr. Li,

yes. Mrs. Carter, yes. Mr. West, yes. Yeses have it. And the motion passes. Next, we have architectural review board. Um, I move to appoint Paula Li to architectural review board. Do we have a second? Second. Has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, we will proceed to vote. Mrs. Gang, please call the role. Mayor Slama, yes. Mr. Li, yes. Mrs. Carter, yes. Mr. West, yes. Mr. Mulligan, yes. Yes. Have it. And the motion passes. The architectural review board holds an alternate seat as well. I move to appoint Steve West to architectural review board as alternate. Do we have a second? Second. It's been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, we will proceed to vote. Mrs. Skank, please call the role.

One second. Certainly. Mr. Lai, yes. Mrs. Carter, yes. Mr. West, yes. Mr. Mulligan, yes. Mayor Slam, yes. Yeses, have it. And the motion passes. For clarification, the mayor of Middletown serves as the president of the Middletown Board of Health and Environment and is therefore the city council liazison for this board. Next, we have board of library trustees. I move to appoint Jennifer Carter to the board of library trustees. Do we have a second? Second. It has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, we will proceed to vote. Mrs. Gang, please call the role. Mrs. Carter, yes. Mr. West, yes. Mr. Mulligan, yes. Mayor Slamama, yes. Mr. Li, yes.

Yes. Have it. And the motion passes. Next, we have the Citizens Advisory Board to the Middletown Division of Police. I move to appoint Steve West to the Citizens Advisory Board to the Middletown Division of Police. Do we have a second? Second. It has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, we will proceed to vote. Mrs. Skank, please call the role. Mr. West? Yes. Mr. Mulligan? Yes. Mayor Slam? Yes. Mr. Lai? Yes. Mrs. Carter? Yes. Yes. Have it. And the motion passes. Next, we have the city planning commission. I move to appoint Joe Mulligan to the city planning commission. Do we have a second? Second. Has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, we will proceed to vote. Mrs. Skank, please call the role. Mr. Mulligan,

yes. Mayor Slama, yes. Mr. Li, yes. Mrs. Carter, yes. Mr. West, yes. Yes, have it. And the motion passes. The planning commission holds an alternate seat. I move to appoint myself, Elizabeth Lampa, to the planning commission as alternate. Do we have a second? Second. Has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, we will proceed to vote. Um, Mrs. G, please call the role. Miss Slam, yes. Mr. Li, yes. Mrs. Carter, yes. Mr. West. Yes. Mr. Mulligan. Yes. Yes. Have it. And the motion passes. Next, we have the land bank. Um, there is one seat available. I move to appoint Paul Loi to the Butler County Land Bank. Is there a second? Second.

Has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, we will proceed to vote. Mrs. Skank, please call the role. Mr. Li, yes. Mrs. Carter, yes. Mr. West, yes. Mr. Mulligan, yes. Mayor Slam, yes. Yeses have it. And the motion passes. Next we have Keep Middletown Beautiful Board. Uh I move to appoint Joe Mulligan to the Keep Middletown Beautiful Board. Do we have a second? Second. Has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, we will proceed to vote. Mrs. Skank, please call the role. Mrs. Carter, yes. Mr. West, yes. Mr. Mulligan, yes. Mayor Slama, yes. Mr. Li, yes.

The yeses have it. And the motion passes. Next, we have the Emergency Management Agency. I move to appoint Jennifer Carter to as a liazison to the Emergency Management Agency. Is there a second? Second. It has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, we will proceed to vote. Mrs. Skank, please call the role. Mr. West, yes. Mr. Mulligan, yes. Mayor Slama, yes. Mr. Li, yes. Mrs. Carter, yes. Yes. Have it. The motion passes. Next, we have the Middletown Cemetery Board. I move to appoint Jennifer Carter to the Middletown Cemetery Board. Do we have a second? Second. It has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, uh, we will proceed to vote. Mrs. G, please call the role. Mr. Mulligan, yes. Mayor Sama, yes. Mr. Li, yes. Mrs. Carter,

yes. Mr. West, yes. Yes. Have it. And the motion passes. Next is the uh new seat for historic commission. I move to appoint Joe Mulligan to historic commission. Do we have a second? Second. Second. It has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, we will proceed to vote. Mrs. G, please call the role. Mayor Slimka. Yes. Mr. Wallally, yes. Mrs. Carter, yes. Mr. West, yes. Mr. Mulligan, yes. Yes, have it. And the motion passes. Uh, next we have the park board. Uh, well, actually, I think I should go to the OKI alternate seat. Should we go ahead and vote on that? Sure.

Okay. Next, we have the OKI Regional Council of Government um alternate seat. I move to appoint Joe Mulligan to the OKI Regional Council of Governments as alternate. Do we have a second? Second. Has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, we will proceed to vote. Mrs. Gang, please call the role. Mr. Lai, yes. Mrs. Carter, yes. Mr. West, yes. Mr. Mulligan, yes. Mayor Slam, yes. The yeses have it. The motion passes. Next, we have the park board. I move to appoint Steve West to the park board. Do we have a second? Second. It has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, we will proceed to vote. Mrs. Skank, please call the role. Mrs. Carter, yes. Mr. West, yes. Mr. Mulligan, yes. Mayor Slamama, yes. Mr. Li,

yes. Yeses have it and the motion passes. Next we have the self board. I move to appoint Jennifer Carter to the self board. Do we have a second? Second. It has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, we will proceed to vote. Mrs. Skank, please call the role. Mr. West, yes. Mr. Milligan, yes. Mayor Slama, yes. Mr. Li, yes. Mrs. Carter, yes. Yeses have it. And the motion passes. Next, we have the tax incentive review board. I move to appoint Paul Loi to the tax incentive review board. Do we have a second? Second. has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, we will proceed to vote. Mrs. Skank, please call the role. Mr. Mulligan, yes. Mayor Sama, yes. Mr. Li, yes. Mrs. Carter, yes. Mr. West, yes.

Yeses have it. And the motion passes. Next, we have the Warren County Municipal League representative. I move to appoint Joe Mulligan to the Warren County Municipal League representative. Do we have a second? Second. It has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, we will proceed to vote. Mrs. Gang, please call the role. Mayor Slama, yes. Mr. Law, yes. Mrs. Carter, yes. Mr. West, yes. Mr. Mulligan, yes. Yes. The yeses have it and the motion passes. Mrs. Skank, did I miss anything? I don't think so. All right. Excellent. That concludes our city council leazison appointments for boards and commissions. Our next and final item of business is the city council's appointment of vice mayor. Is there a motion to appoint Jennifer Carter to the position of vice mayor? Motion. Is there a second? Second.

It has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, we will proceed to vote. Mrs. Skank, please call the role. Mr. Li, yes. Mrs. Carter, yes. Mr. West, yes. Mr. Mulligan, yes. Mayor Slamco, yes. The mo uh the yeses have it and the motion passes. This concludes our regular city council meeting for Middletown, Ohio, Tuesday, January 6, 2025 at 8:44 p.m. This meeting is adjourned until Tuesday, January 20th, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. in these chambers for our next regular city council meeting. Thank you and good night. All right.