City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening and welcome to Green City Council. Today is Tuesday, August 25th, 2026. I'd like to call this meeting to order. Would you please join us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. Okay. Madam Clerk, would you please call the roll call of council members? Sure.

Mr. Neugebauer?

Yes.

Mr. Noble?

Here.

Mr. Humphrey?

Here. Mr.

Spate? Here. Mr. Brandenburg?

Here.

Mr. Mager?

Here.

And Mr. DeVitas?

Here. Thank you, ma'am. Next item on our agenda is council study sessions. We have two items. First is TMP 5457, approval of the August 11, 2026 council meeting minutes. I move to approve. Second. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Please call the roll.

Mr. Neugebauer.

Yes.

Mr. Noble.

Yes.

Mr. Humphrey.

Yes.

Mr. Spate.

Yes.

Mr. Brandenburg.

Yes.

Mr. Maker.

Yes.

And Mr. DeVitas.

Yes.

Okay, motion carries.

Item is TMP 5462, approval of the July 2026 electronic financial report, subject to audit. Move to approve. Second. Second and a second. Is there any discussion? Please call the roll.

Mr. Humphrey.

Yes.

Mr. Mager.

Yes.

Mr. Neubauer.

Yes.

Mr. Noble.

Yes.

Mr. Spate.

Yes.

Mr. Brandenburg.

Yes.

And Mr. DeVitas.

Yes.

Okay, motion carries.

Thank you, ma'am. Next item is our public report. This is an opportunity for residents to address council, and we do have four members of the community signed in to speak this evening. First up is Mr. Daniel Decker. If you could please address council using your name and address for the record, and we ask that residents please keep it to three minutes.

Well, thank you. It's good to see all of you again. Hope you're doing well. My name is Daniel Deckler and my address is 4210 Cottage Grove Road, Uniontown, 44685. Thank you for your time this evening and I would like to thank the Green City Council for rejecting the flock contract in the last City Council meeting. I am concerned, however, about the reason for which this contract was rejected. While I agree the contract itself was problematic, I am concerned that I did not hear enough on ease about our rights and freedoms as citizens to be free from government surveillance. I understand the argument about us accepting cell phones tracking us and the intrusion of privacy when flying, but this is not a valid comparison in my opinion. Yes, I have a cell phone, and I choose to have a cell phone. And I understand and accept the loss of some privacy by using one. I also know that when I choose to fly, the loss of some privacy, I will give up by flying by having my personal liberty of having myself and my carry-on searched. But I choose to do both of these. With the flock cameras, the choice is made for me. Therefore, there's no equivalence between cell phones, flying, and the flock cameras, in my opinion. I believe that if the contract would have been acceptable to this council, would have voted in favor of it. And this disturbs me. What happens the next time when some technology comes along that promises additional public safety, no matter how small, but at significantly compromised citizens' rights and freedoms. Do we accept this intrusion upon our freedoms and liberties? If we do, then how about the next time? And the next time, when does it end? Do you know? Do you? Anybody? If we continue down this road, before you know it, you know what we'll have? will have a government surveillance state. And that should frighten all of us. For the last two weeks, I've been wondering, are there any data about how many crimes, disappearances, et cetera, that have been solved using flock cameras? Are there any measures that quantify the efficiency of these cameras in solving crimes? If so, what are the thresholds of these measures that determine if flock cameras are useful? I believe a more thorough analysis for any technology that has the potential for monitoring citizens is needed, as opposed to just saying and accepting at face value, this technology will make our community safer. So to conclude, before moving forward with any technology that monitors citizens, each of us first need to ask ourselves this question. How much government surveillance is too much? I have an article, a recent article, from Wired Magazine that talks about the latest flock camera software using AI. And I've highlighted some of the more disconcerting aspects of this software because it is currently being deployed in communities and police around the nation. And I've got a copy for each one of you and for the mayor. And I ask you when you read this to keep in mind the question, how much government surveillance is too much? Thank you for your attention. I appreciate it.

Thank you, Mr. Deckler. Appreciate your time, sir. Okay, the next member from the community signed in to speak is Dr. Risk. Sir, if you don't mind, if you could please just state your name and address for the record.

Hi, my name is Wafa Risk.

I'm a flight surgeon. I served with this nice gentleman over there in Youngstown during the desert storm and all the other deserts. I'm here only to talk about one thing. I've heard some annoying and kind of dangerous talk that certain members of the community or the council or politicians or whatever think that the core, this facility, this beautiful facility that we have over there, is to be shut down or reduced or eliminated because of expense. While I agree it is underutilized and it should be a pinnacle of the City of Green, it is potentially the most valuable asset that we have to promote health. For those of you who don't know me, I also teach a course in Walsh University titled An Invitation to Health. The World Health Organization does not define health as just the absence of disease. Absence of disease, that means you survive. But health is just much more than absence of disease. It's wellness, mental, physical, psychological, environmental, preventive, and proactive. We can use that same facility to promote all of those aspects of health. Maybe we can't promote spiritual health under a specific religion due to the known civil constraints, but we can just spiritual health in general. Spiritual health does not have to belong to Christianity, Islam, Judaism, or anything. It's just spiritual health. We can use this forum just besides physical exercise to every other kind of exercise, mental, emotional, and many other ways. It doesn't have to close at 5 o'clock or 6 o'clock. It doesn't have to close at 10 o'clock. It can be 24 hours. It's a beautiful facility. And whoever it is, I don't know who it is, and I don't want to know who it is, that's thinking that it's a waste of money is literally needs me to put him in the classroom and I'll show him that he's totally wrong. Appreciate your attention. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. Thank you for your time. Our next member from the community signed in to speak is Ms. Knapp. If you could please step up to the mic and state your name and address for the record.

Am I talking to this?

Sorry. Hi, I'm Pam Knapp, 1620 King Drive. And I'm here also to express my thoughts concerning the Corps. I was very... put back by the things I have read from some of the council people concerning that they didn't feel like maybe questioning if this facility was even needed in our community. And of course, I think we all had, you know, some of us had like, well, is this something that we really need? Once I did go to the open house and I got involved, it's probably the one of the best things I've done for myself and all that areas of health that the doctor had mentioned. And I just... I feel that it's a place where people can, this, Green can be very proud of this whole, this core. And I also, not just people that live in Green, but I have met people that live in New Franklin, Jackson, Akron, the Akron area, all over, that come to our facility and are very impressed for what we have, because their community may not have what we have. I have made many friends. We have gotten healthy together. We have enjoyed exercise, doing those things that are so important for our mental health, our physical health. When I go for my doctor's appointment, I know I'm going to get a report. I'm trying to be as healthy as I can, and I think it has helped me tremendously. And along with, I'm sure all my other friends would feel the same way. The staff is amazing. I feel like it's a place that I belong. I'm greeted with a smile. They help in any way they can. The class instructors are awesome. They teach with a passion. They really do. They modify exercises for people who may have like a knee issue or whatever. They are so good at that. I hope the mayor isn't upset with me on this, but I kept this article in the City of Green Ohio magazine. And I was thinking about how, yes, the Corps does have that community feel. And I reread what the mayor had said about it. feeling like being a part of a community. Also, he said that it's a place we should feel like we belong, it's a deep human need woven into the fabric of who we are. He's such a wonderful speaker, so I had to mention that. You really are. And also how he also mentioned about the seniors that live here, and like the rest of Ohio, green is aging. More than 20% of our residents are over 60. Many of us residents have helped shape the community that we are now building on. And then he mentioned that is one of the reasons why the Corps... Is a good thing because it's a facility. It's a community hub for all ages, which I agree It is it's design. It's designated as a silver sneakers facility Which is awesome offering classes everything that you can imagine classes the school-aged kids use it in indoor walking track all these things are just such a positive thing and and It's the core's a baby. I mean, it's been around, what, nine months now? So there's a lot of growing to do, a lot of changes, a lot of ideas, and I think anybody would be willing to help out with ideas to keep it going so it keeps growing. So I think it's the whole entire package, and I don't know how anybody could argue against that. So thank you very much. Thank you.

Ma'am, thank you for your time. Our next person to sign this evening is Mr. Pinheiro.

Thank you, Council, for allowing this time. And before I get started, I would like to thank each one of you for doing what you guys are doing for the city of Green. And it was because of you all and the school district, we came up with this project called CO. I was involved in it. I was on parks and rec. Of course, that's a different story at a different time. But we thought this would serve the community very well for what we need. I'm not going to repeat what Pam has said and Dr. has said. But I'll kind of add to the problems that three of you who did not vote, I'll give you some suggestions how we can go forward. And to make it positive, you know, one of the greatest, normally they say white elephant is not a white elephant. The greatest project that we have in green is the coal. people from other communities are jealous. And I take great pride in that. And they want to come and be members. And one of the concern of those members who were not approving the additional part that was required to run the facility that I read from the newspaper here, there are ways you can get around building revenue. We included school so that students in the school system could be taught using this facility, not from using to play, run, and throw, but as leadership qualities. And that can be done. And I had proposed that, but nothing has been done about it at this point. I have been a member, well, I'm supposed to give you my address. I'm concerned about it. You may come and pick me up and put me in jail, maybe. But anyways, my address is 1525 Gray Fox. I am a member here for 39 years, has been very productive in the school district and also in the city, organizing sports and promoting and so forth. This facility is a must, and if there's a problem with those three individuals who have voted against it, have some experts come and talk to you. How can we do the things without hurting the budget of the city? That was the only point they were kind of... the budget, it's going over budget and this and that. Well, when we decided on the project, both the mayors are here, we looked at it and said this is a doable thing. And I think the mayor will agree to me that you said. And that's why we are on top of it. But I think it has come to a point where I specifically named some of the members who are working in the core. Zach, who is the overall in charge. They are overworked and underpaid. We need to give them. And then there's another instructor, Katie. I think you should also look into that in terms of the type of payment you can do to motivate them and motivate other instructors to come and present their program. And that can be done without costing too much, because we kind of ask the members who come and participate to pay for the fees, sneakers, pays for the program that's run by the seniors, so there's no cost involved in that. Of course there's cost. And very often in state governments, I know this, I worked at University of Akron. I was a director of sports science and wellness center.

So I know how it is run.

Very often, they don't allocate budget for maintenance and repairing. They think that it will repair by itself. And that's a problem. That's why the amount gets inflated. And I think If we put our heads together, which I want to do, we can make this center envy of not only the counties, neighboring counties, but other states, too, also. Thank you for hearing me. And I hope if there are any questions, I'll stand right now here. If you need any questions or if you want to ask any question, I'll be happy to answer. Any questions? So this is a golden position. You know, it was redundant. It already passed. I don't know why am I speaking here. But that's okay. You got just what I'm trying to say. Thank you very much for everything you do. Appreciate it. Thank you, sir.

Would anybody else like to speak? And would anybody from council like to address the crowd?

I would. We had, at our last meeting, we had an option to fund a third full-time position at the Corps. And there was discussion about the revenues that are generated at the Corps and how they really haven't developed. They're not... they're not covering a significant portion of the current salaries. And there was some concern because of economic conditions that perhaps it wasn't the right time yet to consider that additional position. And one of my colleagues had quite a dissertation about that. And three of us voted against creating that position. because of the concerns that the costs there are becoming or could become much higher and we are not supporting it with revenues. It wasn't that it doesn't, it isn't It wasn't the case that it is not an important facility. I hope you realize that it was a very important priority over the last five years to build this indoor facility for the community. It is something that had been in our It had been in our parks plan for a long time. And it wasn't the highest item, but it was ranked pretty high. And with the opportunity with building the new schools, it was probably the right time to undertake the project. We probably saved $2 or $3 million on the facility by teaming up with the schools doing that construction together. So it was the right time to do the project, and it's something that we're very proud of as a community. I think everybody's comments are dead on. I can't speak for everybody, but certainly I have no thoughts about the core being used for any other purpose or going away or anything. It's really a matter of how efficiently we can run that facility and provide the programming and what's necessary for our residents. There are some philosophical differences sometimes in how you manage things. If you understand that we manage Raintree Golf Course, we manage that not with city staff, but we have a company that manages it for us very effectively, and that facility continues to improve. And we think that was done strategically because we knew that would be a successful model. And that facility, our operating profits this last year were $350,000. And so that's kind of a philosophy that, you know, I think we always want to have an open discussion about how to run things efficiently. And so I'm not sure this was as much about saying it's not an important facility, but just kind of a philosophical discussion about how can we operate this thing in a way that makes it valuable to the community without being too big of a financial drag. And so I think that's probably where I understood the discussion. And for those who, I didn't really contribute to that discussion last time, You know, we spent probably about $14 million at the end of the day on the core, and the expectation that there should be a payback there, it's kind of interesting because we spent $6.5 million on Central Park, and nobody asks what the payback should be on Central Park, right? So I kind of get it that... the Corps being able to generate revenue, sometimes we have that thought. But at the same time, the staff that we have at Central Park is rather limited also. We tend to have people out there when the splash pads open, but generally it doesn't need that. So it's a little different, but it's a lot the same. It's an investment we made for our community. It's funded through our park capital, and so it wasn't a difficult decision for us to bring forward something in our community in our plan for the city that that was the right time and we're extremely proud of that facility and and we think there's there's great things that will happen probably the the most pointed thing when we made the decision was that we had you know third graders playing basketball at 8 30 at night we and we were going to lose one gym when we compressed our schools we we went from Five schools to four. We go to six to five. We have five schools now. We're at four. We're at four. So we went from five to four. We were going to lose a gym. So we had to do something as a community. And that facility, you can have four games at a time. You can practice up to eight teams at a time. So I think that's been really positive for for the sports and then we added on the turf field because the soccer people said we want something too and so you know we have a very robust facility we're very proud of um and like i said there's great things to come and and i think um i can't speak for mr humphrey who talked about this but i think we're all interested in and how we can best um economically run a great facility. I don't think there's anybody who's proposing that that facility go away. So I just wanted to clarify that for those who didn't hear the discussion. Sometimes the paper, when they write it, you just don't get kind of the feel for what really happened, so. That's what I have to say.

The paper's sitting in the back over here.

Mr. President.

Yes, Mr. Humphrey.

Yeah, just address a few things. First of all, at no point in the discussion did anybody suggest that the Corps was going to be shut down. I would have problems in my own house if I suggested that the Corps be shut down because my wife loves using the Corps. The concern that I have is a financial one, and when we look at the city, all parts of the city have to work out somehow within the constraints that we have. And the constraints that we have are the tax revenues that we collect from the citizens, measured against the indebtedness that the city has to be able to service that debt over a long period of time, take care of all of the ongoing obligations of the city, to make sure that we don't have to raise people's taxes and that we manage the finances because each one of you, if you live in the city of Green, you're paying 2% of whatever income that you have in order to have those income taxes. And as stewards of those finances and as chairman of the finance committee, I take it very seriously if we are leaking revenue in different ways and so we need to to tighten down what we're doing as a city. And I'll just give you one example. So when we look at the Corps just as a standalone unit, we have $1.7 million, give or take, in expenses for the Corps every year. It looks like this year, if we hit on all cylinders between now and the end of the year, we might collect $80,000 to $100,000 in revenue. which leaves a deficit of $1.6 million. Now, I'm not suggesting that we have to make all of that up, but the discussion at our last meeting was, do we add another employee to this and go into the hole deeper when we have this kind of deficit at the beginning of this facility? And I made the suggestion that if our golf course was not operating on a break-even basis... we would probably say we're not going to maintain that, we're going to shut it down because it is a very expensive facility to maintain. So is there value to the core? There's absolutely value to the core. but we can't operate the core if, in fact, it's going to cause roads to deteriorate and buildings to deteriorate and other park facilities to deteriorate. Nobody wants any of that. And I think at the time that this facility was proposed, we had more employees in the city that were paying income tax than we do currently. We lost some large employers from the city. We have to take that into account. The city is also experiencing what all families are experiencing across the United States, increased expenses. Everything costs more. The city is not immune from that. So at a time that we have lower revenue and we have higher expenses, we have to be much more thoughtful about how we are managing those finances. I've heard a few people make statements tonight that you have ideas as to how we can increase revenue with the Corps. You contact me. If you go to the city's website or you come up afterwards, I'll give you my cell phone number, and I will sit down with anyone who has ideas that we can incorporate into the Corps, and I know anybody from the administration would be happy to do that but nobody's talking about shutting down the core we're just needing to make sure that it's operating just like other departments within the city so that we are being fiscally responsible while providing a service to the people in green who enjoy it and who benefit from it so thank you for your time and thank you for coming and addressing us this evening i appreciate it thank you mr humphrey would anybody else from council or the administration like to comment

I'd like to make a few comments, if I may.

Yes, ma'am.

I appreciate everyone's comments tonight. I first want to say thank you to the audience members that came tonight to speak about the Corps. Just for full disclosure, we did not ask any of these residents to come or members to come. They did that on their own accord. So as the Director of Public Service who oversee the Parks Department and the employees, I I can't say enough how much it means for you to come here today because the discussions are civil that we've had. The discussions are important that we've had, but I've tried to express to the mayor and maybe some to some of the council members that a lot of this noise does take a toll on the morale of our staff and the morale of our members. And so I appreciate you expressing that because I can say it, but to hear it from you is helpful. I've seen a few of you in class. I try to keep a low profile. You might not recognize me when I'm in class because I look a little different. But I know that everyone over there has been very positive and we appreciate your support. We are in our first year. I just want to express that again. We are working through issues. We were assertive in seeking the silver sneakers revenue. We were assertive in seeking the Renew Active revenue. We have been assertive in increasing our membership and our rentals. But I do want to remind everyone, historically, that when the core was developed, we had some constraints that we still have. We were asked not to compete with our neighbors, the Y and Akron Wellness. We were asked to make sure that the schools and the youth sports got priority use. The schools don't pay us anything to use the core. The youth sports pay us very limited amounts of money to use the core. And I'm not disputing that. That was the model that was developed. But everyone needs to remember that there are some things that are putting constraints on how we can go after revenues. So it's a balancing act. We're trying to do our best. And I do appreciate everyone's thoughts, and I feel like there's some things that we're continuing to develop to help us get to the better revenues. But to ever think that... It's going to be one of our assets that is going to make money like Raintree. It's not the same model. So I just think we need to keep that in mind, but we are trying to cover our costs as much as we can. And I do think the purpose of the Corps is being fulfilled. It was to serve the community as a community. You know, I don't call it a rec center. When people ask about our rec center, I'm like, it is not a rec center. It is a community center because it's bigger than just exercise. And I think some of the people that expressed that tonight, we're not like a rec center. So yes, we have recreation. Yes, we have exercise. But there's also other things that we're offering, which was part of the mission of the facility for the schools, youth sports, et cetera, that we are trying to accomplish. And I think we're doing pretty good at that. So thank you for listening. And of course, I'm always open to the suggestions of City Council to the public, and we are open to any other ideas.

Mr. President, if I may, I just want to make two other comments given the discussion. You know, when you look at the financial condition of the entire city, If you are committing like we have committed to the core, and we are committed to the core, we're going to be paying this, a million dollars a year in debt service for, what, the next 30 years? I mean, it's a significant outlay of money. It's not a small commitment of city resources. and at a time when our income tax revenue is flatter behind last year, and our expenses are running higher because of inflation that everybody else is experiencing, you can run a deficit at the core, but we have to understand, unless you raise taxes, you have to make up that somewhere else. You can make choices, and as a city, we can make choices, but they're going to have, and city council, we're gonna see this when the budget comes, at some point in time, as a city, we're going to have to make harder choices than we've had to make in the past, because we've had it very good in the past, but now the fiscal situation of the city is going to force us to make more difficult decisions than we've had to make in the past. And there's just no way around that. You can't give everybody everything they want and keep the tax rate where it currently is. It just doesn't work that way. It's not possible. And so I appreciate everybody's feedback on this, but tough choices are ahead across the board with the fiscal situation.

Thank you, Mr. Humphrey. Would anybody else from the Council of the Administration like to speak? Okay. Well, that concludes our public hearings. I'm sorry, our public report. Moving on in the agenda, next item is public hearings, which we do not have any this evening. And we'll go to the reading of correspondence.

Okay, we have the August 19, 2026 Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting Agenda and the July 8, 2026 Approved Civil Service Commission Minutes. And that is all.

Thank you, ma'am. And let's move on to new legislation, please.

Okay, we have 2026-R43, a resolution consenting and cooperating with the State of Ohio Director of Transportation for the resurfacing of State Route 619 East Turkeyfoot Lake Road and a portion of State Route 241 Maslin Road and declaring an emergency.

That will be referred to the Transportation, Connectivity, and Stormwater Committee.

2026-R44, a resolution requiring the Summit County Fiscal Officer to advance funds to the City of Green and declaring an emergency.

That is referred to the Finance Committee.

2026-R45, a resolution accepting the amounts and rates as determined by the Budget Commission, authorizing the necessary tax levies and certifying them to the county fiscal officer and declaring an emergency.

That will be referred to the Finance Committee.

And last, we have 2026-R46, a resolution modifying appropriations within certain funds in order to provide sufficient funding and declaring an emergency.

That is also referred to the Finance Committee.

That is all.

Adam Clark. All right. Next up is a report of council committees. First committee to report this evening is Finance, chaired by Mr. Humphrey.

Thank you, Mr. President. At Finance this evening, all members were present. We didn't have any items of legislative business. I did report that I attended the capital improvement plan meeting on Monday, along with Mr. Noble, representing council on that committee. We're now in the scoring process for the various projects that were presented. Those will be submitted by September 2nd. Our finance director indicated that on the finance website on the City of Green, you can go through and see all of the various projects that were presented at that meeting so that there's full transparency as to what was discussed at that meeting. And also there should be a replay available on the website so that if you want to watch that, you're welcome to do that. And we adjourned at 5.05.

Thank you, Mr. Humphrey. Our next committee to report is Environment and Parks, chaired by Mr. Neugebauer. Thank you, Mr. President.

Environment and Parks Committee had the opportunity to meet at 5.05 p.m. all members. I'm sorry. I was present and... were present, Clark DeVitas was not at the time. We had no items of legislation, we had no old or new business, we had no report from the Parks Department, and so we did not meet.

Thank you, Mr. Neugebauer. Our next committee to report is Public Safety, chaired by Mr. DeVitas. Thank you, Mr. President.

Public Safety did meet tonight. I was not present tonight. However, Mr. Humphrey, our vice chair, was here, as well as Mr. Neugebauer. There was two liquor license items on the agenda. the first of which is TMP 5458, all Class C and D retail liquor license permit renewals, October 1st, 2026. So this is an update to this Class C and D liquor license permits within our city. There's attached to the liquor license permit Legislation in our docket is a list of all the class C&D licenses that exist within our city. I think there's a couple hundred of them there. This was ran by our sheriff's office. That's our policing agency within the city. And it was discussed during committee. There was one thing noted by the sheriff's office. However, it was not pertaining to the actual operation of the business where... a certain thing had occurred. That being said, the Sheriff's Office had no complaints or issues brought up whatsoever regarding if there was any potential issues with the renewal of some of these licenses. So council and committee did have a chance to discuss if they had any objections with the potential renewal for these licenses. There was none brought forth. So Basically, with this item as well as the next one, we have the right as a council board to request a hearing if we have any issues with these license items to the State Liquor Control Board in the capital. And again, as I had said, nobody had any issues on this board, so we would like to make a motion to not request a hearing on TMP 5458.

Second. Second. We have a motion and a second to not hold a hearing on TMP 5458. Is there any discussion? Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

Mr. DeVitas.

Yes.

Mr. Humphrey.

Yes.

Mr. Nugent.

Yes.

Mr. Noble.

Yes.

Mr. Spate. Yes. Mr. Brandenburg.

Yes.

And Mr. Maker.

Yes.

Okay. Motion carries.

The second item that was on our agenda is TMP 5459, Ohio CVS Stores LLC New C1 and C2 Liquor Licenses, CVS Pharmacy 10209-3761, Maslin Road, Green, Ohio 44685. So keeping in the vein of liquor licenses and that matter on our agenda, this is right in that ballpark. However, this is for two new licenses for CVS stores. right there at the corner of Maslin and Bettler or Franks Parkway. Again, this was brought to our sheriff's office. There was no issues with the operation noted by them. Committee and council did have an opportunity to discuss if there was any objections or concerns with this issuance of this C1 and C2 liquor license. There was no concerns brought before council. So with that, I would like to make a motion to not request a hearing on TMP 5459. Second.

We have a motion and a second to not hold a hearing on TMP 5459. Is there any discussion? Please call the roll.

Mr. DeVitas.

Yes.

Mr. Humphrey.

Yes.

Mr. Nujabar.

Yes.

Mr. Noble.

Yes.

Mr. Spate.

Yes.

Mr. Brandenburg.

Yes.

And Mr. Mager.

Yes.

All right. Motion carries.

Thank you. That concludes our legislative matters. I wasn't here. Was there any older new business for the committee?

No.

Okay. You heard it from Vice Chair Humphrey. No order new business was discussed, and the committee adjourned.

Thank you, Mr. DeVitas. Our next committee to report is Planning, Community, and Economic Development, chaired by Mr. Noble. Thank you, Mr. President.

Myself and Mr. Humphrey were here this evening. We did have a number of items of legislation today, so we did meet during committee meetings. Both of them are TIF items and both are on third reading. The first of which is 2026-20, an ordinance declaring a portion of improvements to a certain parcel of your property owned by Arlington Ridge Marketplace LLC, doing business as Chick-fil-A to be a public purpose, exempting 100% of the value of the improvements from real property taxation for 30 years and declaring an emergency. Again, this is a TIF for the new Chick-fil-A that's being constructed on Arlington Road. The total value of the improvements referenced here is approximately $3 million. Again, this is a TIF that will be subject to the Arlington Road corridor. Is there any further discussion on this matter? Okay. At this time, then, I'm going to make a motion to adopt 2026-20. Second.

We have a motion and a second to adopt 202620. Is there any discussion?

Mr. President, we brought this up in committee on TIFs. Even though the language says that 100% of the value is being exempted from real property taxation, the reality is that the business still pays the full property tax. It's just those taxes are rerouted to the city and Our planning director pointed out that the school gets a portion of that money through the school compensation agreement, and then the rest is used by the city to do public improvement projects, road construction, that sort of thing.

Okay.

Thank you, Mr. Neugebauer. Any further discussion? Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

Mr. Noble.

Yes.

Mr. DeVitas. Yes. Mr. Neugebauer.

Yes.

Mr. Humphrey.

Yes.

Mr. Spate.

Yes.

Mr. Brandenburg.

Yes.

And Mr. Maker.

Yes.

All right. 2026-20 is adopted 7-0.

Our next item is 2026-21, an ordinance declaring a portion of improvements to a certain parcel of real property owned by Bull Run Ventures LLC doing business as Brennaman Group via public purpose, exempting 100% of the value of improvements from real property taxation for 30 years and declaring an emergency. Again, this one is also a TIF, total value of $1 million over 30 years. This is for a parcel that's on Town Crossing Boulevard. adjacent to the facility we sit in here. All the specifics that Mr. Mujabower just mentioned also apply to this TIF as well. So at this point, I'm going to make a motion to adopt 2026-21. Second.

We have a motion and a second to adopt 2026-21. Any discussion? Adam Clark, please call the roll.

Mr. Noble. Yes. Mr. DeVitas. Yes. Mr. Neugebauer. Yes. Mr. Humphrey.

Yes.

Mr. Spate.

Yes.

Mr. Brandenburg.

Yes.

And Mr. Mager. Yes. All right, 2026-21 is adopted 7-0.

That was all the items of legislation that we had for our committee. We didn't really have any older new business, and so we adjourned at 5-13.

Thank you, Mr. Noble. Our next committee to report is Rules and Personnel, which I chair. Myself, Mr. Mager, and Mr. Brandenburg were all present this evening. However, we did not have any legislation or business to discuss. Therefore, we did not meet. Next committee to report is Transportation, Connectivity, and Stormwater, chaired by Mr. Mager.

Thank you, Mr. President. All members were present. However, there are no items of legislation before us. We did receive a report from our city engineer, Paul Pickett, regarding the pending Bettler Road closure, at least one lane that's going to commence on August 31st for about a month. So please pay attention to the detour signs, notices you got from the city, because I know it's going to be a pain point, but we'll do the best we can to get through this project. And with that, we are adjourned at 5.15.

Thank you, Mr. Mager. Our final committee to report this evening is Intergovernmental and Utilities, chaired by Mr. Brandenburg.

Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. Noble, Mr. Mager, and I all met this evening to discuss one piece of legislation. That legislation is 2026-19, an ordinance authorizing the mayor to enter into an agreement with Aqua Ohio, Inc., So for those of you who don't know, AquaOhio operates as a regulated utility in the City of Green and provides our water utility services. A lot of rates in the State are set through the Public Utilities Commission. However, in Green, we negotiated directly with AquaOhio to set those rates. So this legislation will set the rates for the next five years, 2027 to 2031, And as required by the Charter, we held a public hearing on August 11th. At the public hearing, Mr. Sean Smith from Occoquo, Ohio, delivered a presentation and addressed questions from members of council and the public at that time. They explained that the proposed increase of 5.5% for 2026 and then 5.75% for 2027 to 2031 is slightly higher. than the previous five years at 3.25 and the overall average at 4 percent. However, it is lower than the last time they made major system upgrades, as they are planning to do. These system upgrades will include additional water purification equipment and system redundancies to improve accuracy and improve the service for customers over the next five years. They're also committed to expanding water capacity by spending a minimum of $1.5 million for new water access assets throughout the city. This legislation is on third reading, so at this time I'll make a motion to adopt 2026-19.

Second. We have a motion and a second to adopt 2026-19. Is there any discussion? Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

Mr. Brandenburg?

Yes.

Mr. Noble? Yes. Mr. Nudibar?

Yes.

Mr. Humphrey?

Yes.

Mr. Spate?

Yes.

Mr. Mager?

Yes.

And Mr. DeVitas?

Yes.

All right. 2026-19 is adopted 7-0.

So 2026-19 was our only item of legislation. There were no other items of old or new business, so we adjourned at 5-17.

Thank you, Mr. Brandenburg. That concludes our committee reports for this evening. Next on the agenda is the Mayor's report.

Thank you, Mr. President. As a reminder, voter registration for the November election is Monday, October 5, 2026. Visit the Summit County Board of Election website at summitcountyboe.gov to register. There was a lot of discussion of the Corps tonight. The kickoff of our membership renewal at the Corps was August 12th. Our charter members, for those who joined prior to opening last year, received a $25 discount on their renewal, and that will stay in place until November 30th. In September, we're focusing on our silver sneaker and renew active members and recruiting more. These are members who are 65 or older and whose Medicare insurance offers these programs. The Corps is free to these members. The City receives payment from the insurance company for each time a member visits. There's a free senior day at the Corps on Tuesday, September 1, and it is for all day. Seniors 60 and older are welcome to come try the Corps, walk the track, play pickleball, try a class. All the options will be out and available. A photo ID is required to enter the facility. Again, that is September 4th, free day at the Corps if you're 60 or older. Sarah Subaru is hosting their official public grand opening on Saturday, August 29 from 1 to 4 p.m. You've seen this new beautiful building go up right off the expressway next to the old Fridays there. We're excited to have this ribbon cutting and to see this family of dealerships grow. Their new location is 1089 Interstate Parkway. If you're available, come August 29 from 1 to 4. By way of events, August 28, my next Mayor's Morning Meetup will happen at Kleckner Park. Residents are invited to come and join me for some coffee and donuts at 4820 Thursby Road from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. Again, that is Kleckner Park. These events are designed to invite residents to share their ideas with me and to check out some of our new amenities around town, such as the Kleckner Adaptive Field. For those who are interested, we are going to run the bases. If you are up for it, at the park for a bit of fun. Also, from Kleckner Park, residents can see the new bus garage, restroom facilities, and city storage facility, which was just completed. The final Mayor's Morning Meetup of the Year will be at the core on Friday, October 30, from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. August 28, the Green Football Boosters in the City of Green are hosting the community tailgate prior to the first home game of the Green Bulldogs. That tailgate will be from 4.30 to 6.30 in front of the stadium. Activities for the whole family include music, football player autographs, inflatables, balloon artists, marching band drumline, mini golf, and several fruit trucks. Of course, the event is free to attend. Tickets to the Green High School football game against Talmadge can be purchased online through the hometown ticketing website. The Senior Expo is Thursday, September 3 at Raintree Golf and Events Center. This event is free for seniors and residents. The Akron Zoo Community Days begin September 1. The Akron Zoo offers Summit County residents free Community Day tickets from September 1 through September 30. There are a limited number of tickets. They are available for each and every day. Tickets must be reserved online in advance at the Akron Zoo website. And finally, Parker's Trail Challenge, our annual fall fitness challenge, begins September 1 through October 31. Complete nine of the ten trails to receive an annual patch. First-time participants receive a backpack and a patch. Download this year's form at cityofgreen.org.

Mr. President, that concludes my report. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. Is there any unfinished business to come before Council? Any new business? And may I please have a motion to adjourn?

Motion adjourned.

Yes, sir. Yep, if you would like to come up.

You have to come to the microphone.

I'm loud. I'm used to this, but I don't like this turret. but I'd like to walk around and tell you.

You can pick up the mic if you'd prefer. Yeah. Sure. They'll turn it on. Just talk into it.

Does it work?

Yeah. Perfect. So because we talked about budget, and you talked repeatedly about efficiency, which means expenses versus income, and in any industry, that is an important part. I challenge all of you and for you to challenge the community of the City of Green and surrounding areas to come up with ideas, to raise revenue. Think outside the box, not just membership, membership. Taxes, taxes, bad word, but we're paying a lot of taxes for very many things where our General federal income tax doesn't filter down to the local cities most of the time insufficient amounts to relieve Residents that are paying already too much and as you mentioned times are hard for the city and for the people so Let's all think outside the box come up with two ideas next meeting two for each council member two from every member of the city and Anyone who wants to, we can do this. We can run a health fair. $2 to take your blood pressure and blood sugar. You know, that's cheap and lucrative if everybody takes advantage of it. Maybe the first time is not going to be very successful. Maybe the second time would be many more people and many more people that we know, half of the population that are diabetics don't even know that they are. There are many, many ways to raise revenue and become more efficient and make you happy. I appreciate it. Thank you so much.

All right. Thank you very much, sir. Okay. May I have a motion to adjourn, please? Motion to adjourn. Second. We have a motion and a second. Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

Mr. Maker? Yes. Mr. Neugebauer?

Yes.

Mr. Noble? Yes. Mr. Humphrey?

Yes.

Mr. Spate? Yes. Mr. Brandenburg?

Yes.

And Mr. DeVitas? Yes. Okay. Motion carries.

We are adjourned.