Council - Regular Meeting

All right.

Welcome to the West Milton Village Council meeting. Collect a call to order for September 8th, 2026 at 630. Will the clerk of council please call the roll?

Mayor Satters.

Present.

Mr. Todd?

Here.

Mr. Fogel? Ms. Gregory? Here. Ms. Metz? Here. Ms. Richardson? Here. Dr. Francis? Here.

All right, if you'd stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

All right, bow your heads. Heavenly Father, thank you for bringing us together this evening and for the opportunity to serve our community. Grant us wisdom in the decisions we make, patience as we listen to one another, and the courage to always do what is right. Guide our words and our actions tonight, and help us remember that we are here to serve the people of our community. Please watch over our residents, our employees, our first responders, and all those that serve. In your name we pray, amen.

Amen.

All right, first we have the proclamation, which I think Casey is going to read.

All right, we have a proclamation naming September 25, 925, as Dolly Day in West Milton. Whereas Dolly Parton was born on January 19, 1946, in Sevier County, Tennessee, and passed away on August 25, 2026, from cancer. And whereas Dolly Parton has inspired generations around the world through her extraordinary career as a singer, songwriter, actress, author, philanthropist, and humanitarian. And whereas, through the Dollywood Foundation and the Imagination Library, hundreds of millions of free books to children around the world have been provided, promoting literacy and inspiring the world to read. And whereas, Dolly Parton's generosity, humility, and dedication to improving the lives of others exemplify the values that every person should follow. and whereas it is the desire of the mayor and village council of the west village of westmilton ohio to name september 25th 2026 925 as dolly day in westmilton and encourage all citizens of the village to celebrate the life generosity and kindness of dolly parton and now for be it hereby resolved that section one The Council of West Mellon hereby names September 25th, 2026, 925 as Dolly Day in the Village of West Mellon, Ohio. Section 2. This proclamation shall take effect and be enforced from and after its passage.

Do we have any motions?

I have a motion. We accept Proclamation Dolly Day.

Second. Roll call.

Mr. Todd?

Yes.

Ms. Gregory? Yes. Ms. Metz? Yes. Ms. Richardson? Yes. Dr. Francis? Yes. Mayor Sodders?

Yes. Next, we have approval of the consent agenda. This consent agenda includes items that require only a single motion to pass all of the items within the consent agenda. Tonight, we have the minutes from the Village Council regular meeting on August 11th, the minutes from the Village Council workshop August 25th, Miami County Budget Commission millage rates and the monthly reports. Are there any questions on the consent agenda? All right. Do I have a motion on the entire consent agenda? So moved.

Second.

Roll call.

Mr. Todd?

Yes.

Ms. Gregory? Yes. Ms. Metz? Yes. Ms. Richardson? Yes. Dr. Francis? Yes. Mayor Sodders?

Yes. All right, next we'll open the floor to any public comment. Please come up to the microphone, state your name and address for the record, and speak up to five minutes.

Hi, we are the troop of 23059, and we are announcing that there are two new girl The Patch Pals are the first ever blueberry muffin cookie for dogs. And then we have Sparkables, an oatmeal cookie with chocolate chips and sprinkles. And it is gluten-free and vegan.

Thank you. Thank you. And when can we get cookies? January. Perfect.

is there anybody there we go can we speak at the end as well i don't this this is the public comment portion for the agenda items that are going to go there's no other public comment in our meeting so if you want to speak you have five minutes to speak for sure and i would just like to invite everybody

to the Senior Center for Lunch on September 23rd, I have invited the Board of Elections. Personally, I'm sick of all the rhetoric that you hear about illegal aliens, moonbeams, and whatever voting, and how your vote is counted. So the Board of Elections is coming to our lunch, and they're gonna explain to you when your vote is counted, how you register, everything to do with voting, so that you know in your own mind that your vote does count. They're very thorough there. I thought I was going to have a heart attack when I went through the process of doing 11 for the senior center. I'm meeting after meeting after meeting. And if you don't have every T crossed and everything like that, you are not on the boat. And maybe some of you have had that experience. But it's good to know. And instead of listening to somebody else, come and ask them for yourself. And then you'll actually know. So it's just something that we decided as seniors that it's very confusing for them. And some of them are figuring, why didn't we go vote? So, you know, we just tell you to come with your questions, and if you're not sure your mail-in ballot's going to get there by putting it in the mail, take it to the election announcement at the drop box. It'll get counted that way. So, anyway, that's what we're doing. So, if you have any questions, I realize people are working, but they can call in their questions and we'll give them answers for you. Thanks. What time? We eat at noon, and then she'll come, the speaker will be on time about 20 to 1.

Are you okay with us sharing that information everywhere as well? Okay, awesome. We'll share that as well for you.

And it's just, it's very confusing for the seniors, you know, and for other people too, I think, you know. So we just decided, I didn't know if they'd be allowed to, but they're very willing to go anywhere and speak. So I think we should all ask and not leave everything in here and see.

Thank you. Thank you.

Good evening, everyone. Hello, and welcome.

Mr. Engelman to the Village Manager of West Millwood. It's a great little community. You're going to find out. It's got a lot of perks. We have good municipal building staff. We have a great Trash pickup and bolt pickup. We have great firemen, great policemen. We have just a great little community. We love it. We've been here for 36 years of life. We live a nine-door drive. It's a peaceful road. It's a very little thorough road. It's not a thorough road. And they've been trying to get us to have sidewalks for years. And we're going to try to...

Sorry, what was your name? David. Thank you, David. I take notes, sorry. Yeah, that's fine.

And my wife is dead. And we raised a family there, three kids, and got married in West Milton. And we love you. And we don't want to be an Englewood, Troy, we like small town community. And that's exactly what West Milton meant to me. You're stepping into a great position here. And I know you're new and you want to make changes. And that's, we understand codes do change. So maybe we can kick the sidewalk agenda down the hall, down the road a little bit, and maybe appropriate the funds to things that are more a priority, like roads north of 571 and Miami Street. It's like a roller coaster for that first road. It went out of town in Midtown, and there are a lot of sidewalks. weeds out of here, weeds off the curbs. I understand that. We need to do some things, but getting the sidewalks, our street, it's not very, it's not real. Maybe down the road, okay, 10, 20 years.

Sure.

Thank you.

If you, once we have comments, I'll address components, if you're okay with that. Sure. Okay.

Hi, I'm Debbie Simple. My name is Mike. I disagree with a little bit of what you said, but I will just say that I do love the neighborhood. I love our flat. We like it because it is different than all the other ones. I don't like seeing sidewalks around everybody's house, and it just makes them look like same thing as i don't really like the new houses built up there because it looks like box houses you walk around our neighborhood all the houses are unique everybody's done something different with them they've done their yards the way they want everybody has everything the way they want and we would like it to stay that way you know we have 36 years here we don't want to move i don't want mine would probably be 20 years ago, my sidewalk was going to be $9,000. Okay? It's probably $20,000 because we live on the corner. I don't have it. My husband and I live on Social Security. I know they said they can put on property taxes. Well, I know in 2020 they weren't allowed to do that because I got those papers too. But even if they put on property taxes, we can't pay them, so we lose our house. So I have that. My neighbor has that. The Jays have that. And across the street from the J's, it's another one that's that big. So you're looking at probably $80,000 for four homes. So anyway, I hope you consider there are a lot of things to be fixed. Even pools are out here. I drove down not too long ago. I was coming in the house of IGN store. I had two phone poles fall within 20 feet of my car. So things like that are really important. You know, I want to be able to have my granddaughter open. We, you know, we ride, people come to our neighborhood, do them on the corner of the seat. People come in with golf carts. They bring their kids in. people ride their bikes there people come from all over to walk because it's dead end so there's not a lot of traffic and people love to come in our neighborhood and they're welcome thank you we're all here to support your idea robert page 19 north

I've been here 28 years, and I know about sidewalks. I don't want sidewalks. It would put people that much closer to the house. No businesses back there, no churches. There's just nothing back to school back there. We just don't need it. We depend on the time without it. Just making my peace about it. I don't know whose idea it was, but we really know it. yeah I agree with these guys some exit for the exception of where there are already sidewalks they need to be repaired instead of left in district But yeah, we're a semi rural town. We're not a big city. We're not a floating small village. But we are a village, right? We're called a village, right?

Correct.

Yeah. So I love the community. I've lived here for over 30 years. And I know a lot of lifelong residents here. Great people for the most part and great village. Let's keep it small. We're not ready for the big Cleveland, Ohio reputation.

My wife and I live in a do-it-your-drive. And with what Dave had said earlier about if there's any sort of money that goes towards these sidewalks, I believe that this money should go towards something else that we don't know that could go for so much better here in Westmoreland. Right here next to the subway, the two vacant buildings that are there in between the subway and the commentary, none of anybody's looked through. Inside those doors or anything there, how many dead bird carcasses are in there? Totally, absolutely believe that some of that money, if not all of it, should go towards fixing up, cleaning out those buildings. Because who wants to get by? Who wants to get in Subway knowing that there's bird carcasses in their store? Seriously. And it's been, we've probably been here, what, six years? Lived here in West Mill in six years. Been there almost, like,

Hello, I'm Kimberly Martin. I live at 102 Norris Drive. I've lived there for 25 years now, and my family have been residents of West Milton. My kids were the fifth generation to graduate from Milton Unified School. My brother-in-law helped build his family home on Norris Drive just up the block from me. He and my sister live in Arizona now, but Me, my family, my extended family have lived in West Milton, have lived in this plat for decades upon decades. And we may not have sidewalks, but we really don't feel we need them. It's a very safe community. As others have said, people walk, ride their bikes. drive golf carts. It's just a pleasant, safe, quiet neighborhood. There is not a lot of traffic and we just feel like our hard-earned dollars could be better spent in the village. Thank you.

Can I take one minute? Sure. I also want to say I watched the council meeting on Sunday and that's how I found out about this because I do like to watch those but and I do know that you were talking about you really want to grow this town okay and when I heard that you really want to grow this town I don't know how much more we can grow I mean unless you start taking our farmland and stuff like that okay and which I know that you came from Piqua And I know they have data centers now, so we don't want to go that direction. We want to stay small. And I did also hear somebody, and I don't know if it was you or the one next to you, brought up that there was a petition just in October of last year against sidewalks. And then I heard the two women laughing. I believe it was Sarah talked to you and laughed and said, I think she only got 20. It's actually on film. but it wasn't just 20 because I have it here in front of me and it's actually 46 signatures on that block just going around there these are all people I turned it in so the last that was in October so that was the last manager and they said we would not have to get sidewalks so now it's coming up again so I hope you just remember and you want to keep our neighborhood rural

Good evening. I'm Chris Long. I live at 23 North Drive, and these are my neighbors. Proud to call them neighbors. I've lived there for almost 40 years without any sidewalks, and I don't need them now. Thank you.

Milton Buckingham 27 Norris Drive and I just want to say you know born and raised in this community that that area has never had sidewalks there's been multiple times that it's been brought up through the years I mean my wife's parents lived in our house we've lived there for 10 years now we stand on the side of no sidewalks they're not necessary the 10 or 12 people a day that walk by our house are just fine on the street they're walking their dogs or riding their bikes and To my knowledge, there's never been any accidents or hazards to anyone. So we stand on the side of no sidewalks.

Hello, my name's Clayton Mikesell. It's 12 Dewar Drive. bought that it was empty for ten years and I renovated it and lived there with my family and great great neighborhood great area trick-or-treat the first year was like where'd all these people come from because everyone came to our area to trick-or-treat and it's just like we don't have candy we just have to turn the lights off and leave but great area ended up moving but i have the property and and rent it rent it out now to a great family there so i still own the property and i don't know if i can ask questions why is there sidewalks keep being brought up like what's do you guys have an answer like is there a reason for is there an accident i'm going to summarize everything once public comment's done so i'll certainly get that one okay yep well i i I don't believe we have it. I was there for years and years. And it's just a very safe, low key community. And people would walk down the street all the time. Kids, families, I mean, people from outside the community would come in to walk around the block. And I would go run and jog around the neighborhood. And I would trip on the sidewalks on Miami Street and Miami Street. Main Street is just like this. We come and take our kids to the parade. You have great parades. And there's Poison Ivy right by our kids on the sidewalk on Miami Street. And the sidewalk's all. So I would just add, like, we can look at stuff like that, that you guys do great parades and community events where those sidewalks are used all the time on those parades and stuff. And they're not in the best shape. So thank you.

They said something about safety for sidewalks. So my question is, do we have incidents? What was your name? Sorry. Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Neil Smith. I live on Dewar. Do we have incidents that have shown that it's unsafe to walk on the streets where we've had problems walking in the streets? Or police reports where somebody's been hit or hurt? Because I have people walking and running by my house all the time.

Understood.

Sorry there.

Once we're done, I'm going to recap everything.

Oh, okay.

Melissa Johnson I live at 22 Norris I've lived there since 2010 but I grew up in West Milton and I raised my kids in West Milton and I really love it here and I love that it's a small place but I really love my neighborhood not having the sidewalks our yards are nice and big and it's just it's really nice back there we don't we haven't had any incidents that I know of but Just outside of that, I don't know how people will pay for that. Because if it costs, I don't know how much it's going to cost. But that's not where we need to spend our money. That's not where we personally need to spend our money. And I'm sure other people have roofing issues and housing stuff or updating that they would like to do. But that's just the last place that I would like to spend my money. So I vote no on the sidewalks. Thank you.

I'm Steve Boo. I live on 703 South J Street. I say no way to the sidewalks. There's a lot of people back there that are on single incomes and can't afford to pay their taxes and don't do we. We do not want to maintain these sidewalks either. Thank you.

Is there anybody else who wishes to speak?

My name is Joy and we live at 27 Door Drive. We have lived there for 30 years. We remember when this was first brought up and it was actually taken a vote from the community, from the residents that live back there. And we all voted no. And then they came in and some people decided to go ahead and get them. Does it look a little wonky? Yeah. Has it been like this for 30 years? Yeah. Do we want to spend money on those sidewalks? Absolutely not.

Okay, is there anybody else? All right, Kyle Dillon.

Okay, all right, well thank you all for coming out tonight. It sounds to me like the majority of the questions were how the program came back up, why, and some of the concerns about the implementation. So if you watch the meeting, you will see we did have a very short conversation about the sidewalk program. One of the concerns that were brought up were with the way that the program was created. So the existing program was passed by an ordinance last year. That ordinance actually obligates the putting in of sidewalks, which I believe many of you are here. please make sure if you have more questions that you just stop in our office too and I can certainly answer more of that but the program itself is already in place right that existed last year when it was passed by ordinance there was a question about whether or not we were going to implement that and so the conversation that we have the workshop was how that program exists and whether or not it could or would be implemented So what I was asked to do was to go and look at the program and bring it back at our workshop this month. And I had some questions and some concerns about how it was developed. So basically the conversation that we had to this point is the existing program we're not going to implement. We're going to look at a different program that is a hybrid program of some sort where either the village is putting in sidewalks where and when they are desired or there is a maintenance portion of that funding that goes into the sidewalks as many have noted that need that desired improvement so an example would be and again this program does not exist so i will tell you what the it could look like until it is adopted it is not approved right the existing program really sits sets out an amount of money and says every year we're going to put in sidewalks and we're going to require someone to do that and we will cover a portion of that cost so let's say if it costs a thousand dollars which in this world with everything else nothing costs a thousand dollars unfortunately but let's say it was just for easy math that then the village would cover 500 and the resident would be required to cover 500 that's the existing program And so understanding again with everyone's concerns and hearing very clearly that the area of which you guys are all in have very big concerns about the sidewalks in that location. I don't know that the current program or the future program would require anything. The future, the one that we are contemplating, is a two-parter, like I said, in a location where somebody would want it or where it is necessary. So examples would be the major thoroughfares where there are gaps. there would be connections made and those connections would connect existing and that would be at the village's cost that would not cost a resident something to have the final connections now the second part of that would be where there are sidewalks that are not in good condition and require replacement It is part of the requirement in the village, as it is in any community, that a sidewalk is to be maintained by the property owner. So to the point of we don't want sidewalks because there's long term maintenance, you are completely correct. The second the sidewalk exists, the maintenance obligation is upon the homeowner. So there are locations, obviously, where that already exists. And those people are still obligated to maintain it. So there is a program that is being looked at where we could create either a three-year or a five-year lookout. So let's say, again, that costs $1,000. the village would assess that $1,000 or a property owner could pay whatever portion they could have somebody do it. And then we would put it on three years or five years of somebody's taxes. So instead of you having that burden in one year, you would have five years to pay it off. And you would get a portion of that. And again, that is the part of the program that is very consistent throughout pretty much every community in our area at least. where a sidewalk program is more of a maintenance program it is not a new add new to a neighborhood that doesn't have it so again i say all that just to say i want to be clear because we've got a great group here i wish you all would come every week but um i think it is unreasonable for us to say that we haven't heard you i certainly don't want to speak for uh council but we've we've certainly heard the desires and the opinions of your locations. I don't think the program is intended to force this upon a neighborhood that doesn't want it. There are a number of locations in our community that need it. there are a number of locations that want it right and so i think this program needs to have that flexibility and what you will likely see at our workshop here in two weeks is a program that prioritizes that flexibility it does not force a neighborhood that is not necessarily looking for that I say all that to say our current codes and our future codes still require sidewalks on both sides of every street in this village. It says it, right? So that's not to say that those requirements do not exist upon your property already. They do. But I don't know that the village is going to have any intention of forcing that upon people when there are a lot of areas that want it and there's a lot of areas that need it, probably at a greater level than obviously what we heard this evening. That's my kind of summary of everybody this evening. I will tell you again. The other piece, and I think it's fair, is to say, is there a direct study that says that there has been injury or somebody that's been hurt because there wasn't sidewalks? I am not aware in the village of West Milton, Chief Wright, are you aware of a study that has been completed? I don't believe there's been a study. But if you look nationally, it is more dangerous to be in a street than it is on a sidewalk, right? again in your portion it may not be your neighborhood if it's a cul-de-sac it may not be if it's a dead end street it may not be but generally when you look at the data it is more dangerous than streets so again we're not looking to to go into a neighborhood that doesn't need it doesn't want it but you do have to understand the village's goal is to protect everyone and that is someone that's in a wheelchair that can't be on the street that's somebody that we gotta look at it all right and so again it's context and it matters but i think you need to understand that again those rules exist and it's part of it so again i appreciate all of the comments what i would ask is if you have concerns about this or how the final plan excuse me is implemented I'll give you my card, stop by or give me a call and we can talk about your concerns even more because that plan will be brought back before this council in their September workshop and we will be talking about what that looks like. And again, nothing is adopted, nothing is approved, but it will go that way. We're not going to do the back, sorry. We'll keep going, but if there's more questions that you have for me, I'll be available after the meeting, and then feel free. I don't want to make you stay the whole time because we've got a lot of fun stuff, so you also can just give me a call or stop in. I'm in the office as well.

We'll all be here. We're not going to back out again.

Wonderful. We'd love to have you.

Can we answer one question about the code? Do you know when that code was introduced that it was last year?

I don't have the ordinance in front of me I believe it was like last spring for the grant are you talking about the grant program ordinance when was the ordinance put in for this are you talking about the sidewalk program or the zoning code yeah there's two different I guess are you talking about one of the other are you not sure

Would the zoning code change the sidewalk thing, too?

That has already existed. No, the zoning code has not been changed. We're working on that now. That is going to stay with that. It's many years old. I'm sorry?

The code's many years old.

Many years old, yeah. I could get that information for you for sure. The sidewalk ordinance, that program was put in, I believe, last fall? It was like last... Or last summer.

It was last year, and that's when you guys did the petition. It was put in last year with the intent of walkability, the intent of people being able to walk safely through the village of West Milton. That's the intent behind it. hear you loud and clear like I am listening I want you to know that I use our sidewalks I don't typically go back there I have a path I am very like OCD on my path but it's I love West Milton we've got beautiful I I'm out almost every single day running and walking and I'm always out And that's the intent is to have a safe place in walkability. Walkability is important for a community our size. That was the intent. It wasn't to force someone to spend $20,000 on sidewalks. Like, I understand they are expensive, which was kind of the intent to kind of help that. And we've had other community members request more sidewalks. So it's a balance, and we'll work through it. I trust other members of this council and Kyle to make the right decisions and listen to your input.

We've got a super fun rest of our meeting. If you don't want to stay, don't feel like you have to.

Was it as fun as this?

It's way more fun.

I mean, come on, man. We're going to adopt a strategic plan. We've got all kinds of goodies that are coming. But I guess I was just saying that if you guys didn't want to stay, not to force you to stay.

We'll let them leave and then we'll...

We're here pretty much every other Tuesday if you guys want to come out and hang out with us. Yeah, please. I don't know if my card's out there, but if you just stop in, I'm here. Yeah, please. Or stop in and we can just talk. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

I've lived here for 11 years, so I know. Yeah, I love it here. I've lived on Frederick Island for 11 years. Yeah, thanks for coming.

Alright, next we have old business, which we have none. So, moving on to new business. The first new business item we have tonight is CM-26-53.

We know what this one is. All right, CM. Oh, sorry, you want to read the actual resolution first? Let's do it. I got excited.

It's a resolution to adopt a strategic plan for the Village of West Milton, Ohio. Whereas the Village Council of West Milton desires to clearly state publicly their values and goals to establish the direction of the Village, and whereas the 2026 West Milton Strategic Plan includes four primary values of tradition, accountability, legacy, and joy, and details goals and priorities for the current year. And whereas the process to create the village strategic plan resulted from engagement with the village council, village staff, and the community. And now, therefore, be it resolved by the council of the village of West Milton, Ohio, that section one, the village council hereby adopts the 2026 West Milton strategic plan attached here to as exhibit A. Section two, this resolution shall take effect and be in full force upon passage.

Right, Kyle, do you want to discuss?

Yes, I do. All right. CM 2653 is the resolution we have been talking about now for many months. This is our strategic plan. So as you are all well aware, and for those of you who have not been here and are not aware, the village has never had a strategic plan. And so this document is intended really to lay out the priorities of the village, to give kind of a roadmap of what some of the things are that we are trying to achieve, and really to put some values behind the decisions that we make. Something that I think one of the residents noted there, the question is always, who are we? Who is West Milton? able to be that without changing who we were right so I did say and I will continue to say the village of West Milton has to continue to evolve we cannot go backwards if we go backwards we will not be able to achieve a lot of the goals that we have which is to keep people's taxes low and to continue to provide the services of which people want so we have to move forward but how we move forward and how we create an environment that makes other people want to come to our community and move forward with us is really what this plan is about so again it goes through our values it goes through some of the statements that we believe and so when we decide to make decisions we are going to use these things as a framework to be able to justify or tell people know when we want to make a decision so again it goes through financial it goes through project based and it goes through organizational components This is something that is really good for our community. I'm really excited about it. We've talked about it for many, many months. Nothing has changed since we talked about it at the workshop this last month or the previous month, although we did add a tweak between those two. Nothing has changed since the workshop. If there are any questions that you have on Resolution CM2653, I'd be happy to address them. Otherwise, I'm excited for this to be before you for your consideration this evening.

Is there any discussion? Any motions?

I motion we approve resolution CM-26-53. Second.

Roll call.

Mr. Todd?

Yes.

Ms. Gregory? Yes. Ms. Metz? Yes. Ms. Richardson? Yes. Dr. Francis? Yes. Mayor Sodder?

Yes. The next new business item we have tonight is CM-26-54.

It's a resolution to authorize the village manager to enter into a contract with Strange Design for brand image services. Whereas the village council of West Milton has discussed at village workshop meetings and has documented within the village strategic plan a desire to see the village branding updated. And whereas village council authorized the village manager to go out for a request for qualifications and RFQ for brand design services. And whereas the RFQ was made public on July 29th, 2026 and closed on September 2nd, 2026 with multiple RFQs received by the village manager. And whereas the Village created a review panel who reviewed all of the qualifications provided and scored them based on experience and expertise, approach, local connections and references. And whereas based on the evaluation criteria and scoring, it is the recommendation of the review panel that the Village enter into a contract with Strange Design for brand image services. And now, therefore, be it resolved by the Council of the Village of West Milton, Ohio, that Section 1, the Village Council authorizes the village manager to negotiate and enter into a contract with Strange Design in an amount not to exceed $5,000 to provide the scope of services as described within the bid package. Section 2, this resolution shall take effect and be in full force upon passage.

All right, Kyle.

Yes.

All right, so this is a continuation of, again, discussions we've had for multiple This is the response to the RFQ that went out. We prioritized or we tried to prioritize our local connection. Unfortunately, we did not, the closest local was not very local. So we did have six scorers within the village score all of our respondents and Strange Design did win. And I will note they are out of South Dakota. So they are not local, but they do have a local connection. They said they have family in the area is how they found us. So again, I would like to note as part of this process, just so everyone can hear online and everyone here that's interested, the branding process in general, this is a logo alone. uh the brand itself is going to be done in-house to the best of our ability to reduce the cost associated with this the process that we agreed to just so you can all i'll say it again so we all remember the consultant is going to bring us three brands so three logos council is going to pick two Of those two, we're then gonna go to the public, and the public is going to look at those two and vote on those two. The vote is not binding by any means. Council has the final approval to make a determination on whatever you would like to do. Throughout that process, we have multiple iterations. So if there is a, I love this, but I wish it was more red, or this needs to be something else, there are some iterative processes that we're gonna have as part of this process. but what I think is important for everyone to understand October 27th at our workshop is when we will have those two logos for the public to see so those will be the first time we share those with the public on October 27th and then we are hopeful then by the next you know month or two we will be able to adopt a logo that we can use moving forward for all of our branding needs so Again, the group that came together, the six different scores, we took the average of all those scores, we scored all the respondents. It's strange design, which will be tough to figure out, but strange design is our group. And so we're excited to have them on board and work with them to bring some logos to you for your consideration. This resolution authorizes me to enter into an agreement so I will work with Lenay and we will get a contract formalized and finalized that will not exceed the $5,000 as noted. Are there any questions about CM 2654? I'd be happy to address them otherwise it is before you for your consideration.

Do we have any motions?

I'll make a motion we pass CM-26-54. Second.

Roll call.

Mr. Todd?

Yes.

Ms. Gregory? Yes. Ms. Metz? Yes. Ms. Richardson? Yes. Dr. Francis? Yes. Mayor Satters?

Yes. All right, the next new business item we have is CM-26-55.

It's a resolution to authorize the village manager to prepare and submit an application to participate in the Ohio Public Works Commission state capital improvement and or local transportation improvement programs and to execute contracts as required. Whereas the State Capital Improvement Program and the Local Transportation Improvement Program both provide financial assistance to political subdivisions for capital improvements to public infrastructure. And whereas the Village of West Milton is planning to make capital improvements to the J Street water main replacement project. And whereas the infrastructure improvement here and above described is considered to be a priority need for the community and is a qualified project under the Ohio Public Works Commission, also known as the OPWC programs. And now, therefore, be it resolved by the Council of the Village of West Melton, Ohio, that Section 1, Village Council authorizes the Village Manager to apply to the OPWC for funds as described above. Section 2, Village Council authorizes the Village Manager to enter into any agreements as may be necessary and appropriate for obtaining this financial assistance. Section 3, this resolution shall take effect and be enforced from and after its passage.

Thank you.

Yes, so CM 2655 is the resolution we have been talking about for two months now. As we talked in detail at the workshop, this is the item that is J Street Water Main project. So the project, the entire funding was $409,396. OPWC request will be covering $300,000 of that. which will leave the village's total of $396 or 27% of that total cost. So the OPWC program in general is a program that is utilized and is really helpful to a village of our size to be able to replace necessary infrastructure at a cost that we can afford. So 27% of the total cost to get a water line replacement is very good. And so we are asking to apply for the OPWC program, receive that $300,000, and then move forward with the project if we receive the funds. I will note if we were to not receive the funds, which we will, we would not be spending this money. So the project itself will be pushed if we do not receive the funds.

Any discussion? All right. Any motions?

I make a motion we pass CM-26-55.

Second.

Roll call, please.

Mr. Todd?

Yes.

Ms. Gregory? Yes. Ms. Metz? Yes. Ms. Richardson? Yes. Dr. Francis? Yes. Mayor Saunders?

Yes. All right. The next item we have is CM-56-26-56.

Oh, Fred did. Sorry.

Dr. Francis did.

Got it. A resolution to authorize the village manager to enter into a contract with McPheron Masonry for the construction of masonry structures at two corporation entry locations. Whereas the Village Council of West Milton has determined that well-marked and aesthetically pleasant welcome signage into our village is both a marketing advantage and quality of life improvement that is worth funding. And whereas two signage structures will be located at the village entrances of East Tip Pike State Route 571 and South Miami Street State Route 48. And whereas this project has been properly bid according to Chapter 33 of the Code of Ordinances and McFerrin Masonry of Fairborn was selected as the lowest and or best bid. And whereas the project will be funded out of the 2026 Operating Budget Administration Capital Improvement Fund. And now, therefore, be it resolved by the Council of the Municipality of West Milton, Ohio, that Section 1, the Village Council, authorizes the village manager to enter into a contract with McPherson Masonry of Fairborn, Ohio, in an amount not to exceed $35,000 to provide the scope of work as described within the bid package. Section 2, this resolution shall take effect and be enforced from and after its passage.

Yes, so this is the item that we have been talking about again. We talked about it at the workshop on the 25th. This is for the two signs, one of which was hit by a driver on 571. We did receive insurance money, as I noted at the workshop, so there is additional expenditure to replace the sign and to do the second sign. I also want to be clear, the sign itself is just the brick. putting a logo or any naming on it so this work would just be for the structure itself so if you recall what the image was like at the workshop it is a brick structure that yeah there you go thank you Tom but again I would note the logos the naming all of that being considered today just the actual stone structure

How much did we get from insurance?

We received $10,627.30. All right.

Do we have any discussion? Any motions?

On a motion, we approve resolution CM-26-56. Second. Roll call.

Mr. Todd? Yes. Ms. Gregory? Yes. Ms. Metz? Yes. Ms. Richardson? Yes. Dr. Francis? Yes. Mayor Satters?

Yes. All right, the next item is CM-26-57.

It's a resolution to approve a preliminary development plan for Stillwater Crossing South and adoption of preliminary development standards. Whereas the applicant has requested a major modification to the preliminary development plan for Stillwater Crossing South, a mixed use to planned development within the village of West Milton originally adopted by zoning map amendment in 2017 under CM-17-18. And whereas the proposed preliminary development plan and development standards have been reviewed by the village manager and village departments and agreed to by the developer of Stillwater Crossing South. and whereas the Village Planning Board has made a recommendation for approval in a 5-0 vote at their meeting on September 2, 2026, which included a public hearing with public comments considered. And whereas the Village Council is empowered under Village of West Milton Codified Ordinances Section 150.240 to make the final determination and approval of preliminary development plans after receiving a recommendation from the Village Planning Board. And now, therefore, be it resolved by the Council of the Municipality of West Milton, Ohio that Section 1, the Village Council accepts the recommendation of the Village Planning Board and approves the preliminary development plan for Stillwater Crossing South and adopts the development standards.

section two this resolution shall take effect and be enforced from and after its passage all right kyle okay uh hopefully tom will put up a little image for me so we yeah there we go okay uh so what this is this case is before you uh the planning board did hear this on their september 2nd 2026 uh meeting and voted five to zero after a substantial discussion um The preliminary development plan and the development standards for Stillwater Crossing South are two items that are necessary to be able to move forward with our ability to have final development plans or future development. So the preliminary development plan, as you can see on the image here, really lays out the type of uses that are within this plan development. So what you can see here is Section A, which limits the uses to certain commercial uses. Section B, which has the similar uses as Section A. Section C, which has medical office as well as additional commercial. Section D, that is the senior care facility area. E is the area that has what we have called the cottages, but it is also independent or assisted living cottages. And then F, which is the residential subdivision, the Ryan homes portion of this mixed use development. So that preliminary plan lays out the uses that are permitted and what you will see within the packet and what was recommended for approval is development standards. And so those standards are reviewed by the planning board and they include all of the different kinds of uses, setbacks, approvals that are allowed within the development. that is landscaping, lighting, all the different kinds of things that a development such as this would have. Those development standards are created and it is unique to the development. So again, what is before you this evening is a preliminary development plan and development standards for Stillwater Crossing South. So again, this does not anything that's happening north of 571, but it does impact the entire 90 plus acres of what is considered Stillwater Crossing South, which is south of 571 and west of Ibbings. there are any questions about any of those components i'd be happy to address them but as i noted the planning board did hear this case on the second voted five to zero to recommend approval and there was a very good turnout and we had a great public conversation about the request about concerns and about all the solutions that are are being proposed for the development If there are any specific questions, I'd be happy to address them. Otherwise, there is CM 2657 before you for your consideration. Excuse me.

I make a motion we accept CM-26-57. Second.

Roll call.

Mr. Todd?

Yes.

Ms. Gregory? Yes. Ms. Metz? Yes. Ms. Richardson? Yes. Dr. Francis? Yes. Mayor Saunders?

Yes.

right the next item is cm-26-57 or 58. it's a resolution to authorize the village manager to enter into a contract addition with collabo planning for the completion of the west milton comprehensive plan whereas the village council of west milton entered into an agreement under cm-22-15 with collabo planning to do comprehensive planning for the village of west milton and modified that agreement under CM-23-36 to increase the scope of services provided, and whereas Collabo Planning has provided the required services under the agreement and additional services are now necessary to finalize the comprehensive plan document, which will not exceed $15,000, making the total contracted payment to Collabo Planning $125,100. And whereas the Comprehensive Plan is a foundational document for the Village of West Milton that hasn't been updated since 2006 and needs to be updated and finalized as soon as it's feasible to ensure that the Village is following a plan that will create the future that our residents, businesses, and visitors want to see. And whereas the Village Council believes that these additional services are in the Village's best interest to complete the document with the necessary quality and in the agreed timeliness. And now, therefore, be it resolved by the Council of the Municipality of West Milton, Ohio, that Section 1, the Village Council, authorizes the village manager to enter into an amended contract with Collabo Planning in an amount not to exceed $125,100 to provide the scope of work as described in Exhibit A. Section 2, this resolution shall take effect and be enforced from and after its passage.

Okay.

All right, so as you are all very well aware, the comprehensive plan is a document that we started in 2022. As noted there, under CM-2215, we authorized collabo planning to start this process. We spent $52,000 under that agreement. A couple years past, in 2023, under CM 2311, we amended that to really enhance what had started kind of as a downtown plan to really build out a full comprehensive plan. And so at that time, we extended that agreement to be $110,100 to Colabo. And that was the last time that we've actually utilized our resources So we've been utilizing that since 2023 to try to finalize this plan. And now we're at the point where, as you are all aware, and I've been meeting with the planning board monthly to talk through the comprehensive plan. We are in the final stretches. uh so we are massaging and making sure that it is what we need it to be for the next 20 years so the challenge with the plan that was started in 2022 is today we are different than we were yesterday let alone what we were four years ago so This plan now is really taking shape to help guide our community for the next 20 to 25 years. And so to do that we need to expend the final amount of money with Collabo to get the updated maps, to get the final document from them, which we believe will come back to you for your consideration in the December regular meeting. I will note, and I think it's important, and maybe I'm going to note it in my villager manager components too, but there is still a public component, although there has been massive amounts of public interaction throughout this process. We are going to get a draft final plan and we are going to have a public open house here on October 14th and October 15th. And so we will have that plan available to receive any additional comments or final maybe not everybody knows about how amazingly fun comprehensive plans are but the document itself really lays out a lot of different components one of which is a future land use plan one of which is a future growth plan so it's important for people to understand that a plan gives goals and objectives over the next 20 years that does not mean that we want to grow tomorrow it doesn't mean that we want to become a community of 10 000. maybe we do in 10 years i i don't know the answer to that but i don't believe we do i think we probably are going to continue um around that 5 000 mark that we've been for the last 25 years um and again the goal again is to to try to make sure that it's clear and objection or objective as why we're doing certain things that we're doing so if a developer comes forward which they will um and want to build a subdivision we have a way to look and assure that it's meeting the expectations of our community. So that expectation is not just locational, it's community character, it's how they fit in, it's how we make sure that everything continues to build on who we are and doesn't recreate something that we are not. Again, this is to finalize that. The timelines that you will see before you bring as much as we can to a conclusion. I want to note, and I think you can see it in the staff report, we are doing a lot of work in-house. The goal of that is to save the village as much money as we humanly can, but this is the last component that we are unable internally to do. We need maps updated, some of the physical things that have to happen as part of this final plan that unfortunately we are unable to do internally we've done substantial amounts of work internally over the last couple months but this is the last kind of piece is there any questions that we have to address them otherwise cm 26 58 is before you for your consideration any emotions make a motion we pass cm-26-58

Second.

Roll call.

Mr. Todd?

Yes.

Ms. Gregory? Yes. Ms. Metz? Yes. Ms. Richardson? Yes. Dr. Francis? Yes. Mayor Satters?

Yes. Kyle, do you have the Village Manager report?

I do. I hope everyone had a wonderful Labor Day weekend. We had a lot of stuff going on. I'll give you a couple project updates. The bridge pet improvement project is on schedule. You saw the fence go up. It is cleaning up. They are starting to put dirt and seed where dirt and seed go. And so it is looking like at the end of this month, early next month, weather permitting, we will be complete. So that's good. The Village Service Center renovations are continuing to move along. The weather has been a little bit more challenging for that project, so they have finished the foundation. They've done the weatherproofing and some other things, but they are now working on plumbing, so the work continues. Couple planning items. Thank you for the strategic plan adoption. It's very exciting. I think internally from a staff level, we're very excited to have that plan. I noted the comprehensive plan and the timelines about the public meeting on the 14th and the 15th. We are gonna continue to go back to the planning board every month with that plan. So the planning board does meet on the first Wednesday of every month. And so we do intend to bring that back every month until we have it adopted. Zoning code, which was another comment that was brought forward this evening. As you are all aware, one of the duties I have been tasked by this council is to update the zoning code as well. And so now that the comprehensive plan is starting to get on its tail end, I am starting the process of the zoning code or development code and working to try to implement that. that that will need a lot more work the comprehensive plan has had four years of public engagement there's been a lot of back and forth the zoning code has really had maybe a year of that effort so i would anticipate probably a draft document being brought forward sometime this spring with our public engagement back and forth up and down all of that occurring in the spring hopefully at the end of spring summer we would have an adoption of a new development code. Budget season is upon us, so Jill has got our team rolling on the 2027 budget. We are putting together the draft budget, meeting with department heads. As you are all aware, we have a budget committee, so that will be meeting here in a month. uh and we are ready to bring to you what is going to look a little different it's going to be a more budget book friendly concept so there will be narratives and there will be things that explain kind of our budget what i find in general with government budgets is a lot of people see a number and they get scared of that number because they don't understand why it's there or what it's for so our goal is to try to make that budget as digestible as it can be and so a lot of the time we over explain ourselves so we'll talk about funds we'll talk about the idea of what a restricted fund is so if we bring in money into the sewer fund we can't use that to work in parks right that's got to go to certain purposes so we explain those kind of things so people can understand sometimes you look at the budget as a whole and you think that's a large number but it's really not because it's broken down into individual components that are restricted um so that process is moving forward a couple other items just to throw out there for conversation the village is looking at a october event we have not put it together yet whether or not it becomes more or less really will depend on how we can organize it between now and uh october but we're looking at potentially doing a halloween trail a touch a truck in the park and finish with like hocus pocus the movie in the park so we're trying to do a little halloween thing for the kids and really focus in municipal park where we can do something really fun and then finish at night with the kids getting to watch hocus pocus because i believe we got a grant to do that we did yes perfect um so we're working on that i don't have a date yet but we're really hopeful that we will have a date and we'll publish it the second we know when that is if anyone wants to help volunteer on that and is interested in uh being part of putting on event that kind of event please let us know maybe it's october if it's october 10th we're getting tight but yes The date is to be determined. A second item that I wanted to note that's a possibility, if you saw recently, there's a community around here where I did come from, Piqua, they did an event called The Longest Table. It's a really cool event where they put a communal table down a street and people just come from the community and they picnic, but you picnic together. And so I think it's something we could do on Washington Street that would be really cool. So we're going to look at trying to do something maybe at the end of spring, early summer, when the weather breaks and it's kind of nice, where we may close down Washington Street, put a giant table, invite the entire community to come have lunch together. just to try to build, again, an opportunity for the community to talk to each other and build up who we are. Last but not least, on the other items, the business roundtable is this Friday. So we have created an event, which we haven't done in the past. We are intending to have a meeting quarterly of all the businesses in the community. This first one is on Friday at noon. It is an extension of the Rotary, so Rotary meets at noon. There were some questions about that, but again, our goal is to have everyone be involved. But unfortunately, there's a lot of businesses that meet that are unable to meet at a lot of different times. So we're going to try to move the next one to be in the morning or have it on a Monday to make sure that there's people who are able to attend that. We want to have every business, but we also understand respect that not every business can be at anywhere at any time so we're going to try to move some things around to try to make sure we get people there when we can the goal of that is to listen to the businesses and try to understand what the village can do to better serve them we have some wonderful businesses you know next year we're celebrating a hundred years with words there's a number of just institutional businesses that we have had in this community for years and years and years and we certainly appreciate them But there's also some of these smaller businesses that just need more support from our community or more support from this, that, or the other. We want to make sure we understand what those are so we can help continue to grow those businesses and hopefully attract new ones. We have empty buildings. I think the comment about the subway is fair. That building's empty, right? I would love to have that building full with someone who is utilizing it, and there probably wouldn't be birds in it. You know, that's the hope. There's a challenge to that. We have to continually create an environment that people want to invest in. And that business environment requires rules, regulations, part of that's development code, part of that is an incentive package, understanding what we can do and somebody posted online and i asked the question but if anybody hears of a business that wants to come to west milton and there is some roadblock in the way please have them reach out to me i want to individually talk to anyone we will make sure that we understand what that roadblock is and if there's a way that we can help them move that roadblock out of the way we will try to do so obviously as a community of our size we are limited in some of those abilities we are not in a community that's able to incentivize like many other communities But we're not trying to be other communities. We're trying to be us. So that's OK. We just need to make sure we have those conversations when we can. A couple of good news events. Friday, this is not a good news. It's an event. Friday is the 25th anniversary of 9-11. If you were not aware, the Union Township Who puts it on, Ben?

It's like the fire department, Union Township Fire Department.

The fire department's put on an event at 7 a.m. out at the Union Township building. P.M. P.M., excuse me, 7 p.m. at the Union Township building. It's a service to commemorate September 11th. So if somebody's interested, that is available. Community survey for the comprehensive plan is open until September 16th. If you have not taken it, please do. The 55th annual Bobshule Invitational was last weekend. If you were anywhere in this community on Saturday, you saw the 2,000 plus kids and their parents and their buses in our community. It was impactful. talked with a number of businesses who said that they had more customers than they've had in a very long time on that Saturday. So it's a wonderful event that we have in our community. It's one of the premier races in the Dayton area. And so we're glad to have it because it brings a lot of people to our community and it's something that's special. I want to note two things from our staff just to make sure this is the good news section. Officer Ben Davis received the life saving award from the West Milton PD for a call that he had in June where he saved the life of a 91 year old man in the village. So I just want to make it clear that we are grateful for his dedication and service to our community. And additionally, I want to thank Ken Armstrong and Nick Smith, who was on our staff, who this weekend, we had some major electrical failures at our wastewater treatment plant. As many people probably saw, there were some power, weird power things going this weekend. Unfortunately we had some major challenges at our wastewater treatment plant and those gentlemen came in, helped us get by so all of us can flush our toilet and it goes somewhere. So I really appreciate them making sure that they are putting in the time and dedication to our community and in this case going above and beyond for us. Last but not, I say that every time, last but not least, the home football game is this Friday against Riverside. It is also first responders night. So come on out and thank all the people that keep us safe. Thank you.

Thank you, Kyle.

I'm on fall fling. Fall fling is September 19th. 4 p.m. Yes, that should have been on my list as well. Thank you. 4 until 8, and it is on Miami Street.

Correct. Between Market and 571.

And there's food trucks and fun. Yes.

All right. Is there any comments from council?

I don't have a comment, I just have one thing to say. On Thursday, this Thursday, the 10th, from 12 to 3 p.m. at Abbey Credit Union, we are hosting, so Heritage Ohio came to visit in June, through a grant from the impact it was an impact award through the troy foundation they did what's called a dart assessment it's a downtown assessment resource team and they came downtown and they did a study and they took all the information we have and they put it together and they're making a plan and we have a an executive board and we're forming committees so heritage ohio is coming back to discuss, like, kind of the downtown plan. And Heritage Ohio is the umbrella in the state of Ohio. They're a nonprofit organization that helps communities create Main Streets. And if you look at Piqua, they have Piqua Main Street, and Troy has Troy Main Street, and Tip City has the Tip City Downtown Partnership, and we're getting the West Milton Main Street. But it's going to help with downtown revitalization, bringing businesses in, a lot of really cool different things. Definitely look them up. So they're coming back Thursday from 12 to 3. It's an open meeting for everybody to attend, kind of learn the plan, get involved. It's a great opportunity. One of the things that they do to get involved, like, council's a lot of commitment, right? And not everybody has that time. But there's also going to be opportunities to be on a committee that you can just go out and change the flowers in the flowerpots a couple times a year. And just some easier short-term volunteer commitments. There are long-term volunteer commitments, and we'll take all the volunteers. But that's going to be at Abbey Credit Union this Thursday.

Anything else? All right. Next, we have a need for an executive session under section 4.12 to consider the purchase of property for public purposes. There will be no formal action after the executive session. Can I get a motion to go into executive session?

Make a motion to go into executive session under 4.12 . Second. Roll call.

Mr. Todd?

Yes.

Ms. Gregory? Yes. Ms. Metz? Yes. Ms. Richardson? Yes. Dr. Francis? Yes. Mayor Sanders?

Yes.