Finance & Debt Oversight Committee - Regular Meeting

Good afternoon. The monthly meeting of the Finance Debt Budget Oversight Committee will come to order, and the clerk will call the roll.

Serrantu? Here. Driscoll? Here. Gattis? Here. Hobbs? Jones? Here. Martinez? Vote present.

Thank you. We're going to begin today for a condensed report from the finance department for our monthly report for the month of January, revenue and expenses, and then we'll get into the ARPA updates. And I appreciate the fact we've got several people here from the various organizations that benefited from the ARPA allocations, and we will be getting to you very shortly. And the final item on the agenda will be the city auditor's report. Okay. With that, I'll turn it over to the director of finance, Melanie Campbell. Good afternoon.

Thank you. Good afternoon, chairman Sirantu, vice chairman Driscoll and members of the committee. We're happy to be here today reporting January revenues and expenses. I'm joined at the table today by our tax commissioner, John Zavisha, accounts commissioner, Thomas Buckley, and purchasing commissioner, Natalie Brona. We as the chairman said, we have a brief update on January revenues and expenditures. Commissioner Zavisha will also provide a brief update on income tax collections, though not final for last year. He will give the committee an update on where we're at. And with that, I will turn it over to him.

Good afternoon. I'll be talking on Pages two and three of the report. Page two is our 2025 tax collections. We are currently in the thirteenth period that will end on February 28. We're given sixty days to still finish up the collection from the previous year, fourth quarter estimate payments and the last withholding payment.

Currently, we're projecting that number to end up at $19,600,000 which would bring us to 236,600,000.0 for the year. We have about 18,500,000.0 of that actually already in. We're still projecting about 1,100,000.0 to come as there is a sizable state payment that will be coming pretty much right at the last day. That number from a year to year basis sometimes is as little as $350,000 other years it's been $3,500,000 We're taking a conservative approach of about 1,100,000.0 which is the average of the last five years to put that number on this report for right now. So again, that would bring us at the end of the year to 236.6%.

Just a little general overall, withholding is running about 3.4% up from last year. Business is actually down 19.8% and then individual is up 3.6%. Yes. So the IRS unit for the month of January brought in $280,000 They are down about $107,000 from last year. Since we're working with the Ohio Attorney General for the compliance unit, that will kick in more in the 2026.

So last year, brought in $6,200,000 At this point, we would comfortable to say that they're going to still get to the 6,200,000.0 this year, but we will probably see a slower first half and then building momentum as the year goes on for that group. Yes. So the that's a big project for us. We've already started that. There's been about 3,500 cases that have gone over to the Ohio Attorney General, representing about $2,000,000 in delinquent taxes.

The state has actually already brought in $135,000 of that amount. And then as the year goes on, we're figuring that will probably get closer to 5,000,006 million dollars that we'll have sent over by the end of the year and then expecting a lot of growth from that as the year goes on. Correct. No, what ends up happening is once we turn it over to the state, usually within a week, a taxpayer would end up getting a letter from the Ohio Attorney General letting them know on that. They can it will give them the different options for making payments.

You can actually, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, actually come to the 13th Floor of the government center. They'll accept payments there. If you are using credit cards, it will tell you how to do that because they do not take credit cards in person.

So that aspect of that would have to be done online.

Okay. Great. Very good. So that's just another tool in the toolbox that we'll be utilizing, which should be beneficial, as you indicated, perhaps 5,000,000 to $6,000,000 of additional revenue Well, from

yes, 5 to 6,000,000 that we would send them, and then we're hoping for a 30%, Right. 40% collection rate.

All right. Anything else, Commissioner?

Just the other thing would end up being just Page three real quick. Again, the General Fund, it's just over $2,000,000 in collections. But again, that's not in January, not even 1% of what we'll collect the entire year. We did have some fiscal payments on the business side that would have been due if people are making early twenty twenty six estimate payments, the individual categories, that number. And then withholding, the first monthly payment isn't due to February 15, but we do have some companies that just as payroll happens, they'll send the payment into the city and that creates that little bit of a number that way. So we're down $247,000 but again, out of $2,000,000 out of not even 1% of what we'll get for the whole year. Okay.

So at this point, you're feeling good about meeting the goal for tax reform?

Yes. For this, it's just we're really early in the process for '20 Great. '20

Alright. Any questions from members of council for the commissioner? Councilwoman doctor Jones.

Thank you, chair. As far as I know that the larger topic is the possibility of the abolishment of property taxes. So in the instance because we're not solely reliable on property taxes but income taxes mostly, how are you possibly preparing for that change or how does that affect our finances if it comes to be?

On the income tax side, it wouldn't have any effect. We do have about 20,000,000 that comes in through property taxes that you'll see on the next page of our report, so that would be a big gap within our budget if those were eliminated.

Okay. So I haven't checked to see what were the options to make up if property taxes were abolished, but there was one indication of the increase of income taxes. Is that something that we're preparing for or has there been any discussion surrounding that?

I think that would be a larger discussion that we'd all have to have counsel and the administration.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Doctor. Jones. Let the record also show that Councilwoman McPherson is here. And also, I know the commissioner is going to be leaving us, but I just wanted to how is the wage theft department going, Director or Commissioner, if you want to answer that?

Yes. Commissioner Mori wasn't able to be here today, but they're continuing their wage theft efforts. Counsel approved some changes into the code Right. To help streamline their operations, so they're working through that. And we can actually have Commissioner Mori provide an update to the committee next week if you or next month, if you'd like.

That would be great. That would be great. Thank you. Before I go back to director the director, I want to say that there is a sign up sheet on the podium where there should be for anyone that wants wishes to address the committee. We'll take public testimony once we're through with our presentations. So there is a sign up sheet. If you can put your name down, that would be great. With that, Director Campbell, you want to proceed?

Thank you. Page four of your packet shows the general fund revenue report through the first month of this year. At 8.3% through the year, collections are at 2% of the budget. Comparatively, we were at the same point this point last year, we were at 2%. You'll see as you look through the report several areas where we receive either quarterly or semi annual payments. It's just so early in the year, they haven't come in yet. Property tax, first category or second category on the report, we expect to see those in February. License and permit category running a little bit ahead. In the permit row, you'll see we're at 19%. We did receive, one payment from Columbia Gas for $350,000 that covers all their street opening permits for the year.

In the intergovernmental category, the homestead and rollback money that comes in, we typically don't see that until March. And then casino revenue will come after the close of the first quarter. Charges for services, overall at 6.7%. We do have our EMS and BLS fees. We receive transport billing monthly.

We do have a one time payment that comes in from the county as well that, will be received later this year. Court fees and fines, at 7.5% on track with the budget as well as investment earnings at 8.7%. In the other financing sources and uses category, we will make the transfer in from CIP at the end of the year. Transfers in the other categories come in from ARPA as well as the toll lot, and at about 7% are where we would expect them for the year. Again, overall, no concerns with the revenue estimates at this point.

When did or did the transfer for fiscal year 'twenty five from CIP, did that occur already?

Yes.

Okay. And that was 24,000,000?

Yes.

Correct. Okay. All right. All right. Next.

Our general fund expenditures are on the next two pages by category and by division. As you look overall by category, you'll see, expenditures in total are at 8.2% of the budget. Labor cost, we do always see at this point in the year some variances from budget due largely to contractual obligations that happened during the first month of the year. So in the labor category, you see that percent expended at 9.4%. That does include stipends for career enhancement and service allowances that are paid, for police.

And then as you look at the other labor expenses category at 67%, We have professional development and clothing maintenance stipends that happened in January. Comparatively, we were at about 60% last year, so no cause for concern in that category. On the non labor side, we have in the supply area purchases for medical supplies for fire, those are contracts that have been set up for the year. And then in the service category, we've already made for the year the payment for the nine eleven Council of Governments, it's a quarterly payment that was made at the start of the quarter. So that's what's driving the variance there.

So again, like the revenue side, no cause for concern at this point through one month of 2026. Okay. Great. And the breakdown on Page six, just a few areas where they're running a little bit ahead of that year to date budget pace. I mentioned the nine eleven cog, that comes out of the safety administration budget, that's towards the bottom of the page, where they're at 19.8%.

We do have a variance, of 19% in urban beautification, but that's, contracts that they've set up to complete demolitions for the year. And then in the economic development area, those are vibrancy payments that are, being made as 2025 is completed. Okay. I'd be happy to take any questions.

Any questions from members of council? Anything else?

The last two pages are the all fund summary. Again, early point in the year, so you don't see a lot of activity in several of the areas. As the year goes on, we'll see semiannual payments or debt payments that are made, but nothing else to report at this point.

Okay. Yesterday at agenda review, I had made a couple of referrals, I just wanted to, while you're here, to give us your answer to this. The questions were raised on some of the spending ordinances that were on yesterday's agenda. And the question was, is the general fund and CIP budgets for 2026, must they be passed before funding items that were on the agenda? One of the items was item number four, the customer assistance for utilities, 100,000. And then there were a couple of other items also, sidewalks, that would be under CIP. Could you address that?

So the budget would not have to be passed for those items as long as the legislation has language to appropriate funds in it, which I know for the customer assistance one it did. Think for the other ones it did too. I took a quick look. So those ordinances would appropriate the dollars to complete those projects outside of the budget being passed. Then if, for example, the sidewalk funding that was in one of those ordinances, prior to passage of any CIP budget, we would amend that because the sidewalk money has already been appropriated.

Okay. Alright. Any questions from members of council? Councilperson Gaddis.

Thank you. Just a little clarity. If we were to appropriate, for example, the sidewalk program and the sidewalk program is contracted out, then we would be in forfeit of our contracts. So is it a little bit weirder with contracts and passing?

No, think we would want to make sure that we would appropriate the dollars, then we could enter into contracts. And as long as we have that ordinance that says appropriate and authorized expenditure, we could enter into contracts and move forward, and we wouldn't run into any issues.

Okay. But if if we were to adjust the budget, then I think that's where as a council member, I'm a little nervous, is if it's contractual, we appropriate it, but we do 5% cuts and that gets cut. Then that that's where it gets a little sticky, I think, for me.

Yeah. We would have to take that into account if the sidewalk budget was cut and there were contracts that were already entered into. That's something we would have to work through with law and look at our contract language.

Okay. Okay. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilperson. Okay. Seeing no other questions, did you want to go to ARPA and do a summary

Certainly.

Before we

go to the individual presentations?

So the one page ARPA report is reflecting all the expenditures and obligations through the January '26. Again, the city's funds were all obligated at the '24 meeting that deadline set by US Treasury. The expenditure deadline is the end of this year, and as reflected in the report, there's about 12,800,000.0 left to spend prior to that deadline.

Okay. And just a couple of examples. Do you know where that money that still has to be expended lies?

So there's still spending occurring as the demolition program closes out this first half of this year. There's some spending within finally finalizing recreation facilities and playground improvements, as well as some of the brownfield redevelopment, as well as lead service line replacements for a few examples.

Okay. Questions from members? If not, we'll go to the first present first short presentation that we're looking for. Again, our purpose here is to evaluate where the ARPA dollars were expended and what is if there's any balances left and what needs to still be completed with the ARPA money in your particular project. First we have listed is Healthy Food Incentive Program. Is there someone here that can address the Healthy Food Incentive Program? Please come forward. State your name for the record.

My name is Stephanie Baltas.

And your organization is?

Toledo Lucas County Health Department.

Roberts: Okay.

All right. Good afternoon, councilmembers. My name is Stephanie Baltas. I'm a dietitian at the Toledo Lucas County Health Department. Thank you for the opportunity to provide an update on the Healthy Foods Small Market pilot program, which was funded through ARBA Dollars.

When this program launched in November 2024, we started with a simple goal: How do we make it easier for Toledo neighborhoods to or Toledo families to access fresh, affordable, and healthy food within their own neighborhoods? Rather than building something new, we invested ARPA dollars in small independently owned corner stores that already serve as trusted community anchors in Toledo's neighborhoods. The city's ARPA investment of $350,000 supported five stores, J. Clay Community Market Gold Star Market Yarloo African Market Reynolds Carryout and Phoenix Earth Fruit Co op through a competitive application and contracting process. These stores received infrastructure upgrades, including commercial refrigeration, freezer units, produce displays, produce reimbursement and marketing materials, everything needed to stock and sell fresh healthy foods.

At the same time, we provided ongoing technical assistance to store owners, supply nutrition education materials, and work to connect stores to broader food access initiatives. We have built a very strong foundation that can be replicated to onboard additional stores, and we'll be onboarding one additional store this year. We have a waitlist of many local stores interested in supporting their community with access to healthy foods through this program. Here's what makes this particularly effective. We use ARPA as a catalytic capital to leverage additional resources.

One clear example is a partnership with Produce Perks Midwest. ARPA dollars was not used to fund incentive programs itself. However, through this program, my coworker and I facilitated the connection between Phoenix Earth Food Co op, which is one of our participating stores, and Produce Perks Midwest, launching Toledo's only brick and mortar location to offer Produce Perks, which is a SNAP matching program that doubles purchasing power for fresh produce. Currently, 89 SNAP users are enrolled. Today, over $11.85 dollars in benefits have accrued and nearly $6.38 redeemed for fresh fruits and vegetables since it began in August.

This represents the outside funding flowing directly into Toledo neighborhood stores because we built the infrastructure in partnership to support it. We've seen success firsthand and are confident this model can be expanded to additional corner stores, directly improving affordability and access to fresh, healthy produce for more families. Beyond the numbers, I've been present in each participating store, hosting kickoff food demonstrations, events with nutrition education, recipe cards, food tasting, and direct engagement with residents. This ensures that when we improve inventory, the community understands how to use and incorporate these foods into their daily life. We're also strengthening long term systems.

We are developing farm to retail connections to improve sourcing efficiency, conducting walk audits around stores to address safe access barriers through the Creating Healthy Communities grant, and we work closely with the City of Toledo food policy manager, Mara, to identify improvements to make healthy food access more sustainable long term. As with any pilot, there are challenges. Small corner stores operate thin margins. Fresh produce carries spoilage risk. Distribution systems are not designed for small scale retailers.

At a systems level, Toledo does not yet have a centralized produce aggregation and distribution hub to efficiently connect local farmers with neighborhood stores, grocery retailers, and institutional buyers. Developing that type of infrastructure would reduce costs, stabilize supply, support local agriculture, and strengthen healthy food access across the city. Additionally, sustained technical assistance requires directly direct dedicated capacity. I currently work part time on this program twenty four hours a week. The work we've accomplished demonstrates what's possible with limited capacity, but sustaining and expanding this system requires a full time commitment.

ARPA funding does end December 2026, so our focus is sustainability. While this began as a pilot to strengthen small markets, it has evolved into a comprehensive food access initiative. We are increasing healthy food availability in five soon to be six neighborhoods, supporting small local retailers, leveraging ARPA external nutrition incentive funding, strengthening farm to retail infrastructure, and aligning local, state, and philanthropic partnerships around a shared strategy. This is about building a resilient food access system, not simply upgrading individual stores. And the key point I want to leave you with this is ARPA has served as a very strong catalytic capital.

We have built infrastructure. We have built partnerships. We have measurable activity underway. We have healthy foods being sold within our most needed neighborhoods and areas. The question moving forward is, will Toledo continue to preserve and scale this investment? Or will the infrastructure partnerships we built to dissolve when ARPA concludes in December? Please do not let this program end. Thank you for your leadership your leadership and support.

Thank you very much. Are there any questions from members of counsel? Counselperson Gattis.

Thank you. Thank you for all your hard work on this. As a former teacher, I know a lot of my kids, their store is their carryout. That's their grocery store. So it means a lot to put these in our communities. Have we spent through all of the allocated funding for the machineries and the carryouts, the cold coolers and the stuff that we need? Have we spent through that?

The five stores, the equipment, for the most part, is purchased. With the sixth store, we will use that. What's remaining for that sixth store? Do

you know the timeline on the sixth store? Like, when will that be complete?

I just completed a full in store assessment of one store. We did another round of applications. So hopefully, within the next month, I'm going to really get moving on it. So I think it'll be a great fit with the partnership.

Well, thank you. You should be really proud of you. You're changing lives, and I appreciate what you're doing. Thank you, Chair.

Next is Councilwoman Doctor. Jones.

Thank you, chair. With the on here it says it's, 410,000 still left. Am I reading that correctly? Or that's just more the

I don't think that's ours. I only have 300.

350,000. Mhmm. So most of that balance is from another project.

Oh, okay. Got you. Got you. Okay. I just wanted to just clear that up. So basically everything has been used.

We are on track to finish.

On track for that. Okay. And so have you identified any other funds or partnerships that because you talked about sustainability. What does that plan look like then?

I'm trying anything and anything. Okay. We currently, you know, just are in talks with different foundations throughout the area, just to, you know, have it out there. I recently talked to Mercy Captors Aid Austin, so Brian. I'm

Okay. Well, I would definitely want to schedule a meeting to talk more about that, especially what your perception is like when you're talking about the food hub and distribution, what components would be definitely important for you as well as the stores that you're working with and just trying to figure out some way. But there are conversations happening Mhmm. And definitely with Congresswoman Capture with that, so we can definitely talk more. But I'm just very happy that this program was even put into effect because as my colleague has said, you know, corner stores are sometimes the only market, and I'm glad that is definitely making a difference.

Is there a report that will be sent out or have you had any like annual reports to track the progress or just tell the stories?

Yeah, I could provide, currently with my stores, we're tracking monthly data. So that way, you know, we can show that they are selling, how much they're selling. Mhmm. So we can definitely provide a report that you'd like. Okay. Perfect. Perfect. Yeah. And I I know you didn't don't have, like, not mentioned, I did have a great conversation with director April Welch and director Clemons too. Perfect. So they and Mayor have been such a great advocate.

Oh, yeah.

Most they've also been great.

Okay.

Thank you so much.

Is it okay if I just give you guys some

Yes, please. Okay.

Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Doctor. Jones. Did you want to add anything to that to the information that was just given? Okay. Thank you. Please state your name and organization, please.

Hi. I am Kendra Keck, and I'm the Director of Childhood Wellness for the Toledo Lucas County Health Department. And, Brittney, I was just reviewing the budgets that you have online in front of you, and the food incentive program I noticed was obligated for a million. Dollars And as we said, our award was $350,000 And we're on target to spend all of that by the end of this year. If we were to receive additional funds, as Stephanie mentioned, she has other corner stores interested that we could onboard.

And depending on how many that was, we'd need to right now she's working twenty four hours a week on this program. So we'd need to look at that. But the process is watching her go through the process was arduous. We had to really help a lot of our corner stores become effective in doing business with the county, making sure they had all the insurance. She went above and beyond in working with a local insurance agent.

This corner store had never had insurance. We're like, what if something happens to your livelihood? And so we worked with the insurance agency agency to get him reasonably cost insurance. So it's just those types of business skills that aren't seen in the fruits and vegetables, but Stephanie went above and beyond in helping businesses succeed and grow and really coming alongside the business partners. And you can see that in her relationships with the store owners.

Okay. All right. Thank you very much. Thank you. Ms. Jones, did you want to add anything?

Certainly do. Shannon Jones, Deputy Health Commissioner at Toledo Lucas County Health Department. I actually came in front of counsel several years ago and pitched this idea. So to see it flourish and where it has gotten to the point it is today is absolutely remarkable. Bringing the healthy food and the access to these neighborhoods that are food deserts is wonderful.

I would like to see a sustainability plan to where we could have our local farms bring the food into the retail stores so all of the funding will stay local to our local farmers and then also to our local neighborhoods and corner stores. As it was mentioned, this is something that's very near and dear to us in public health and as far from a nutrition aspect, it's not only return on investment from a monetary standpoint, the healthy food access to the children, to the adults is contributing to the efforts surrounding the decrease in chronic disease management and what we're seeing in the communities, the hypertension, obesity, etcetera. So this will lay the foundation for many years to come and generations moving forward. Thank you.

Thank you. Okay. I'm sorry. Councilman Driscoll, I apologize. I should have had you go first.

That's fine. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Director Campbell, the million dollar line item probably ought to be broken out a little bit more because we really obligated $350,000 to the health department. Is that correct?

There are, Councilman Driscoll, three items that fall under that food systems, education, and incubation hub, that was 500,000. And then the healthy, corner store initiative, $3.50, and then a grocery store construction incentive for $1.50.

So what's been spent of the $350,000 that was obligated for the Healthy Food Incentive Program? Maybe someone from the Health Department needs to answer that question.

We have $133,000 left for the remainder of the year to be spending down.

Okay. And can you just kind of go through the nuts and bolts then of how that's going to be spent down?

Stephanie? She knows the details of the program, I know very high level, but if you would like to get nuts and bolts, I'm going have Stephanie

Please. Come up. Thank

Please. Yes.

Yep. So with that, a bulk of it will be my job to have me do that. With my stores, we do have different categories that I have broken down with them. So some of my stores still have some marketing efforts to spend down. Some of them still have their produce reimbursement to spend down, which will go throughout the year. Some of them have some, like, nutrition incentives where we can do, like, food demos and things like that. So each store has those categories left to spend down that we're working on.

So you and I think that's that is the case. You've already identified the stores you're working with.

Mhmm. Yep.

And the so you and you know to a tee the things you're going to spend the money on. That's sort of the purpose of this year, at least as far as I understand it. I mean, this program is fantastic, don't get me wrong. I just, you know, what we're, I think, really trying to accomplish here is I want to understand between today and December 31, the end of this year, how it is we're going to spend this money. So it sounds like you have a very articulated I think if

you could it might be good, by way of referral,

to just understand that a little bit more to members of counsel. Don't expect you to, like, give us all that today, but, I appreciate your work on this. It's obviously necessary. But, yeah, think we the oversight element of this committee is, I think, what we're shooting for here today. Thank you.

Right. Ms. Jones, did you want to add something?

I just wanted to say one thing. When this was initially launched, the incubation hub was supposed to be going in tandem with the Healthy Corner Store initiative where we would be getting the food from the incubation hub that never came to fruition. So that was something that this project was going to be relying on. However, we pivoted and figured out a different plan moving forward. But I know we've had further conversations about that type of program moving forward or if we wanted to try to call on some of our local farmers to see if we could utilize their services.

Okay. Thank you.

And Councilman Driscoll, just to reiterate Please do

a close to the mic, please.

Yes. Just to reiterate, in fiscal terms, those corner stores each have a subcontract and that funding is encumbered and monitored through our subcontracts with them. So as well as then obviously the outlay for the expenses for personnel for Stephanie to oversee it. If you want to see any of that information, our fiscal team, we can get that to you.

Okay. Thank you. That's very helpful. Yep.

Okay. Thank you. Councilwoman Doctor. Joe.

Thank you, Chair. This is to

Director Campbell. Is there, by way of referral, a way that we can get the specifics of the different projects that fall under these categories? Because from my understanding with the healthy food initiative, that would include the corner stores. It would include the 500,000 for the Erie Street Market, and then it was one other item as well. The other the grocery store that I believe that chief Clemens will speak of as well.

We can, send you that breakout, and then moving forward, we can break those three out on this report.

Okay. And could you also include, like, the number and percentage of basically how much is spent, how much, well, what is the percentage that's already been spent and then what's left of these different funds as well? Okay. I'm going to put in a referral. Thank you so much.

Director Clemens, did you want to say something?

Good afternoon, members of counsel. I'm going to talk on the $150,000 for the supermarket construction incentive piece. None of that has been spent. We are currently working with the red and white market in the Inglewood and NRSA. They have approached us with a desire to tear down that facility and rebuild a new store there.

We are waiting for their financials because we want to make sure that we don't want to go ahead and invest money for predevelopment or architectural work. We want to make sure that their financials and their balance sheets can indeed handle the redevelopment of a new store. So I suspect we would be able to, in a couple of months, know if we're going to go forward and invest this funding to help them with predevelopment for that piece.

Okay. And that was 150,000

That's that's for the $150,000 Okay.

All right, Director. Thank you. Thank you very much. At this point we'll have the Department of Economic Development Director Sellovers. Before you go on, Consulperson Gattis.

Excuse me. I'm sorry. I tried to catch you, Chief McClemmons. Is there I'm sorry to make you get up again. I just had a curious question. Is there a plan B if that falls through? I would hate to return any of the funding. Well,

obviously, the funding has to be spent by the end of the year, so I intend to advise this committee and Director Campbell of whether or not the red and white market project is going to be able to move forward and expend the fundings. Bear in mind that the 150 would be for predevelopment, architectural engineering and those sort of things. But the key to the financials is you don't want to spend that if you're not going to be able to borrow or fund the construction of the new facility. So the goal is to, let you know in time to pivot those funds to something else.

Thank you so much.

Okay. Councilman Driscoll.

Thank you. I'm sorry, Director Clemens. Want to step up again. It so, but what if it's not? What if we decide over the course of this next few months that we're not going to spend the money on the predevelopment work, then what?

What would we do with

the money that's been obligated?

I think that's within your purview to redirect it. I also want to say that we a year ago, we hired a new food policy manager, Mara Momini, and she is working on several projects, And we're hoping to get funded urban ag grants in our budget for 2026. So I think there are several options that we could pivot the funding to. But again, in light of the work in Inglewood and what we're doing in the community, we'd like to see a new store there, the new housing that we're putting in. And we're trying to really push that and see if we can get that done and then hopefully advise you on the types of things that we would like to pivot the funding to in concert with what full policy manager, Mara Mammonist, is working on.

I think we do have some flexibility. It seems that way. That's advice we've been given from the law department here, but I do think it's much narrower than it was a few years ago when we first decided to re obligate certain amounts of money. So we're never we're ready, I guess, is my point. And and maybe there's additional predevelopment work at that specific site. But I I think that we don't have the same latitude that we once had when it comes to to re obligating this front. So, yeah, I think we we need to be thinking about that already. Thank you.

Okay. Okay.

Any other questions for chief? Okay. Thank you very much.

Sit down now.

Thank you.

Yeah. Thank you. Okay. Director Selhorst.

Good afternoon, Chair, members of counsel. Brandon Selhorst, Chief Growth Officer. I wanted to provide a little bit more context since we're on this bucket. So out of the million, 350,000 was for the health department, 150,000 was for the grocery store, and the remaining 500,000 was for the ECDI food hub, that was planned for the Erie Street Market. So I just want to provide a little bit of context on this.

So the $500,000 was meant to go towards working with ECDI, the Center for Innovative Food Technology, and the Toledo Farmers Market, who are partnering together to explore systems hub in the Civic Center Auditorium of the Erie Street Market. Part of the concept was using the $500,000 to basically make the current food base able to be used again by entrepreneurs. And then ECDI is the largest micro lender in the country, also operates other food, halls like this where they were going to bring in spaces, or activate spaces rather for entrepreneurs to test out their food, related concepts. You see these in other big cities. This was our opportunity to try that here at the Erie Street Market.

So we've been working with ECDI and the Center for Innovative Food Technology for the past few years to explore the full build out of that space. We're working very diligently to line up funding to explore the opportunity to bring a new farmer's market, expand it into the site. So as all of this was kind of coming into focus, unfortunately, drastic changes at the federal level changed the organizational structure for ECDI, who relies a lot on federal funding for their operations. And so unfortunately, they had to make some cuts, and a part of the cuts that were made was the position that was leading this particular project. Unfortunately, they are not in a position to move forward with this project at this time.

We do have we did spend some of our ARPA dollars towards this project, $144,707.00 $3 were spent, on this project, primarily for architectural and engineering rendering drawings for the Civic Center Auditorium. So we have a fully designed food hall for the Civic Center Auditorium that anyone that's listening to this that wants to come partner with us to make that dream a reality. So we do have some remaining funding left over out of this bucket. As Councilman Driscoll mentioned, we don't have broad latitude anymore of how to reallocate these funds. So the counsel that we've been given from the law department is this has to be reallocated to another project or organization that is looking to assist with helping small businesses acquire machinery and equipment or having a non profit acquire machinery and equipment to help small businesses grow and start up.

And so with that new recommendation, we've been still working very diligently with our partner at the Centre for Innovative Food Technology. Obviously, there's been a lot of coverage on their struggles lately from an operational perspective, but they are looking at relocating the Northwest Ohio opportunity kitchen to Toledo from where it's at, kind of closer to the BG area. So one of the plan A for us is to partner with SIFT to help them relocate and buy new machinery equipment to bring that incubator kitchen to Toledo. They've got a number of different locations that they're looking at right now. We hope to have a decision from them and their board later this spring.

Plan B of what we're thinking about, because we're not sending these dollars back Washington, is to partner with either have the Department of Economic Development do this or partner with another non profit organization that could assist small businesses acquire new machinery and equipment for their business. And obviously, given our track record with the vibrancy grants, relationships within the community, we think that we could stand this up and get these dollars out before the end of the year, especially with our partners with the Business Empowerment Collaborative. So I just want to give a quick update because that is kind of a recent update. We have been having some conversations with council members about we're working through, just kind of trying to figure this out in real time with the changes at ECDI and then, of course, working with our partner at SIFT. So happy to answer any questions.

Okay. Councilperson Gattis.

I just want to thank you for this. It's really disappointing that the federal cuts are impacting so much of what we had planned. I guess when we talk about the machinery and equipment being able to maybe offer grants, do you think that that's something that we could do in the allotted time or give it to an organization that would be able to offer grants too?

We're exploring both options right now as plan B.

Okay. I just want to put a little hint out there that, you know, food trucks are such a huge economic driver and I talked to a lot of them and I think that if we were to offer grants that a portion of that would be really helpful to help cultivate and keep that scene going.

Great. Noted.

Thank you.

Yeah. Thank you.

Okay. And I I just would add again that it would be it would be disgusting if we have to send any money back to Washington. We need to make sure that every dollar is spent. Obviously, the requirements are very strict, and we have to keep within the purpose of each of those

Right.

Funds. But, again, I I look forward to hearing more on that. If we do have money left over, we need to quickly allocate it to an area that is very important and very strongly related to what the purpose was originally. I appreciate that, Yes.

Thank you.

Thank you. Okay. Next would be the land bank, David Mann, Executive Director. Please come forward.

Good afternoon, members of counsel. David Mann, President and CEO of the Lucas County Land Bank. We were very fortunate on behalf of Toledo neighborhoods to be allocated about 12 and a half million dollars of ARPA dollars over the last few years for three different focus areas. One, the cleanup and redevelopment of brownfield sites two, supporting necessary residential and commercial demolition and, three, within the bucket of youth recreation and parks to support the redevelopment of the Saint Anthony's former church building into a multipurpose community center. Rejoice, we've never turned a dollar back of any grant we've ever received at the land bank, and we're not going to do so here.

We have expended to date a little over $6,000,000 of the $12,500,000 that we are a subrecipient to. We have entered into contracts and are performing all $12,500,000 of that funding right now. So we have there were 27 different brownfield building demolition and rehabilitation projects within that funding. 13 of them, so that's just over half are completely done. That are that's things like the complete asbestos remediation and interior demolition of the Spitzer And Nicholas Buildings, the demolition and cleanup of the former Elm Street warehouse in North Toledo, the barren drawn steel commercial demolition project, along with smaller projects at 302 Prescott, which many of us were at last year to see come down.

3303 Monroe Street, a property on Auburn, a property on North Detroit, a property on Facet, a property on East Broadway. Projects that are ongoing right now include things like the Champion Spark Plug site, which will be finished within the next month or two. Properties on Parker, on Ashland, on La Grange are also in the works, as well as larger brownfield remediation projects, the Doller the former Doller Jarvis site on Smeade in the Englewood neighborhood, the Kraft House site on Bancroft in the Clinton Park neighborhood, what I think we all see as a mattress manufacturer, but it was a good cell manufacturing site on Bancroft right behind the new Toledo Federal Credit Urban Federal Credit Union. That site's almost down. If you've driven down Bancroft, you'll see that happening right now.

A building on City Park over in so a number of sites, including the redevelopment of the St. Anthony's property, which is fully contracted. So we feel confident that all of this money will be spent. We have worked into this plan a couple small Plan Bs over the course of the last year or so, simply because sometimes we've been so lucky as to have performed the project for less than we thought, but have worked in some additional building demolition or brownfield related activities that fit within the guidelines in order to ensure all dollars are spent. I'm happy to answer any questions you have.

Any questions for President Mann? Councilman Driscoll?

Yeah. Thank you, chair. Thank you, mister Mann. We have you have ongoing projects right now. What's the total amount of of dollars to to still be to everything that's under contract?

A little over $6,000,000 left.

A little more? So what What

what the way that we've worked in terms of the drawdown with the city is that, again, 12 and half million has been allocated. We have drawn about $9,000,000 of that as of now because some of it's been advanced. We have one more $3,000,000 draw that will be fully reimbursable when we finish the work toward the end of the year. So from our side, we still have $6,000,000 left to spend. From your side, I think you will the city will still owe us a little bit more than $3,000,000 as we get closer to the end of the year. Terrific.

Okay. Thank you very much.

Okay. Councilperson Gattis.

Thank you. By way of referral, because I did my homework before this and went through the original PowerPoint that you sent us, and I noticed you named some locations I don't have. By way of referral, could you give us all the locations including the the ones that might have changed, the plan Bs and then a timeline for when the demos will be done?

Yes, happy to.

Thank

you. Thank you, Chair.

Okay. Thank you, Councilperson. Okay. Anything else? Thank you very much, Thank Mr.

Have a good day.

Okay. Next on the agenda will be a presentation from Wayman Palmer, YMCA. Please come forth. State your name and organization for the record.

Okay. My name is Eric Williams. I'm the executive director of the new Wayman Palmer YMCA. Thanks for having me chair, and also council members present. A couple of things that I wanted to highlight was, the fact that, in o at the old William Palmer YMCA, we, had 533 members.

And today, we have a little over 2,100. So we're happy to, talk about that. Also, we also I also wanted to highlight the fact that, we teach over a 100 kids how to swim over the summer months and beyond. And they also had exposure to water safety, which is important. As you guys know, you can drown a spoonful of water, and a lot of kids drown just a foot or two away from the pool.

And the other thing I wanna mention is the fact that we served over 4,500 individuals with our food pantry. I'm happy to to say that as well. And our older adult adults and our SilverSneakers folks are really doing well. We absorbed, about 12 folks from the Sublaki Center, and now we have about 75 centers that partake in day to day, activities. We also have lunches for those guys, and most importantly, they they are able to socialize because a lot of them are widows and widowers.

So it's very important to them. And I don't know if this is a good word, but I have a handout for you guys to kinda highlight, some of the things that we've done, over the last several months. And one thing the last thing I'll say is that probably be from from November or really October or December, they're probably close to eight to 9,000 people that walked in the doors, and that's not a clear numbers. And these were partnerships that we had with TPS, United Way, etcetera. So we're truly becoming an emerging hub in the community, thanks to you guys and the ARPA funding.

Well, thank you for that report, mister Williams. I had a question. Are there also obviously, you've got a lot of great programs. Membership is extremely high, which is what we had hoped for.

Yes.

Are there after school academic programs to help kids like tutoring and that?

Oh, absolutely. As a matter of fact, today, Sean Shaw, who is the executive director of Empower AI is teaching kids how to, write their own books with AI, and the books will be for sale as well on Amazon. So we have a little more programs going on. You guys are welcome to come and and see them. And I'll say this is kinda funny, but it's not. We have a linebacker in class on Wednesdays, and they have over a 120 seniors in the gym. So if you guys wanna move around a little bit, kinda do it on Wednesday, but parking is tough.

Yep. I'll be glad to stop by after I go to the bakery.

There you go.

Thank you. No. That's excellent. I appreciate that. Thank you. 2,100 members. That's commendable for 500 or so.

And it's the sort of thing that, you know, prior to coming over to the New England, we try to simulate things. You know, we sent staff to other branches that have 6,000, 7,000 members, but you can't emulate it because we're different. You know, folks are coming in hungry, folks are coming in for behavioral health and things like that. We're more than swimming in the gym at a high level.

Great. Well, thank you. Any questions from members? If not, thank you so much for your presentation.

Appreciate it. Thank you, guys.

Thank you, sir.

Alright. Bye.

Next on our agenda is a community and senior center improvements. We'll begin with City of Toledo facilities. Anyone here to address that? Okay. Good afternoon, commissioner

Good afternoon. Thanks for having me. This is exciting. I appreciate being invited. For those that don't know, my name is Rick Aikman.

I am Commissioner of Facility and Fleet Operations. And usually, you guys will kick me out of here because I truly love talking about things like this and truly fortunate to have the opportunity to have these resources to catch up on our deferred maintenance items in the community centers and senior centers. As you have the report in front of you, just wanted to give you a kind of a rundown of where I'm at with the remaining $2,100,000 expenditures. Currently, we have contracted or in the procurement process is the parking lot replacement at the Belief Center, parking lot replacement at the Zablaki Center, parking lot replacement at the East Toledo Senior Center. We're finishing up the family house, buttoning that up.

And then some of the items that we're currently seeking bids for is the HVAC replacement at the Powell Building, Police Athletic League. Windows and door replacement at the Highland Park Shelter, also known as the Asian Community Center. We're working on sewer and grease interceptor at the Belief Center, replacing and updating that. We're also looking to replace the gym floor at the Zublaki Center. Upgrade the electrical system for the family house.

Kitchen hood replacement at the Eleanor Kale Senior Center, windows at the Jefferson Senior Center, LED light upgrade at the Belief Center, adding air conditioning to the Asian Community Center, also known as Park. We are putting control board systems, also known as building automated systems, in several of our senior centers and community centers. HVAC controls is another term that we use, and that's going be at the Family House, Belief Center, Jefferson Center, Jefferson Senior Center, and Ziplocchi. We are almost to within a couple $100 of that, considering some change orders as we go through this fiscal year, we too are hoping to expend every penny and not leave a penny on the table.

Okay. Now and you expect all of these projects to be completed by the end of this year?

Yes, sir.

Okay. Great. And did you mention was there anything going on at the East Toledo Family Center? Well,

we've done multiple upgrades there. Okay. I know there's a lot of things that's going on in Mercy Capter's office that they have provided funding for. I also know that they have done a study for expansion. So things that outside of what we've done there already is on hold determining what's the next best use of them resources.

I see. Okay. Great. Councilperson Gaddis.

Thank you. Were you able to complete everything with your goal? I know with the cost of inflation and stuff, or did you have to adjust or pivot in the plan?

Yes. Short answer is yes. So if we totaled every deferred maintenance item I have on every one of our community centers, it exceeded the original $6,000,000 that was offered to us. So we are constantly pivoting and trying to use and value engineer the best resources of what we have available.

Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you, Chair.

Thank you. Vice Chair Driscoll?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Mr. Eichmann, for your presentation. I I think I'm I'm looking for a higher level of detail than what we're getting today. So I I think we need to see all of the contracts, purchasers, everything. I I think that's our responsibility. I'll ask for it by way of referral. You know, I I understand, maybe that's not always the level of detail that we get, but it's very important to me that that that the oversight of this specific program that we see every detail possible. I'm prepared to do that. Has come up and says, hey, we expect to spend the dollars, and I know you expect to spend the dollars,

but if there's

but we wouldn't be doing our job if we didn't ask for that.

So I appreciate that. And we are prepared to give you estimates and what we have already procured.

Okay. Terrific. Thank you very much. You're welcome.

Okay. Any other questions? Thank you. Councilman Hobbs.

Good afternoon. How are you? Question, have you found anyone that leased a space at the Zablaki Center yet?

No, That feasibility study is being conducted by neighborhoods as I understand it. I am just upgrading the facility as it's a city owned property.

Okay. Chief,

you have any other information about the Zablaki Center? Chief Clemens is here also, so I'll ask if there's any additional information on the Zablaki Center.

We are good afternoon again. We are we have contracted with a consulting firm, Great Lakes, a Toledo based firm, and they're helping us with a feasibility study and engagement with the community. We've actually had some very good sessions where we've had literally hundreds of people come out to talk about what they want to see there. We expect a draft of that report in March, very shortly here, that we will share with the community. And my hopes is that by April, we will have a recommendation from the consultant on potential uses for the Sublocke Center, potential tenants for the Sublocke Center, and maybe potential additional upgrades that will be required.

But that work, as I said, is well underway.

Okay. Great. All right. Thank you, Chief Clemens. All right. Thank you, Commissioner. Did you want to add anything?

No, sir. Thank Thank

you very much. Okay. Next we'll have Brown. Mental Health Support Services. Is there someone here from Mental Health Recovery Services?

Good afternoon, Mr. Szilak.

Good afternoon, sir. Hi, everybody. I'm Scott Szilak. I'm the executive director of the Mental Health Recovery Services Board. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to come and say a few words about the $2,000,000,000 in City of Toledo ARPA funds that the board received.

We're very proud of the work that we've done around City of Toledo ARPA and partnering with many of the community agencies in in the City Of Toledo. The first thing I want you to know is that we have drawn down and spent all but $17,200 and the remaining $17,200 is under contract currently with one community wellness grant and the hospital access program, and I'll cover those programs briefly. The other thing I'd like you to know about is we have seven different buckets of treatment or of investments, and the remaining money is only in two of those buckets. And of the seven different buckets, we have the sustainable programming in four of those buckets. So those programs are continuing despite the fact that ARPA funds have exhausted.

The cornerstone of our investments in City of Toledo ARPA funds was the community wellness projects grants. We ran a series of our requests for proposals where we took $10,000 in city ARPA funds and matched that with $5,000 of local mental health recovery services board funds. Those funds were then distributed to 48 different community agencies working to further the board's mission of substance use and mental health wellness, but also with a targeted aspect of reducing community violence and improving community safety. We very often invited the folks from Monsey to support our scoring of those applications, so they were involved in a lot of the selection process as well. The second bucket, community illness was one bucket, second bucket was trauma and grief support group.

We funded Good Grief of Toledo to go into some of our school systems here in the city and support individuals that were victims of family violence or have witnessed family violence or have experienced traumatic events and help them work through that grief. We also funded the parents, mothers of murdered children, Northwest Ohio, dollars 60,000. They were providing ongoing support for families impacted by homicide, including cleaning up the trauma scenes, supporting individuals, moving those families out of the house while that occurred, providing hotel and temporary relocation assistance, and then developing survivor support groups. The third bucket was a mental wellness rapid response team, and that included development of a local help now app, which has now been completed and is being fully supported by the Mental Health Recovery Services Board, and what we call NOVA training. Please don't ask me what the acronym stands for, but it is a team of individuals that have been trained specifically to go out into the community after a traumatic event.

We do know that several folks that are the violence interrupters have been trained, as well as, I think, folks involved with MANZI at the administrative level. They have been deployed several times. I'm not clear on the exact number, but I'm pretty sure that they were just deployed for one of the area shootings here in the last couple of days. The fourth bucket is Latinx based prevention and navigation services. Those funds were provided to the BELIEVE Center and Sofia Quintero Center primarily, and they received 305,000 I believe that is.

And the Mental Health Recovery Services Board continues to fund those organizations as well. Okay. We also funded some domestic violence treatment at the Family and Child Abuse Prevention Center for not just the individuals impacted by violence, but perpetrators and youth that were impacted by violence, and they have completed 26 group sessions and 27 individual sessions. A total of 31 individuals had been served. The other two buckets are the capital for Danny's Place, which is a residential program step down from state hospital, individuals that are incompetent to stay on trial but restorable or non restorable that are leaving the hospital.

And the idea behind that was we have many individuals with mental health disorders in our local jails. Many of them are involved in Toledo Municipal Court, and they linger in jail, and there's no hospital beds for them to go. So we wanted to create additional flow for that project so people get out of the state hospital and new people could come in. That project has been built. It is completed.

We are putting together our funding models now for moving people into the facility. So we're very proud of that, and I think some of you may have even been there to witness the ribbon cutting. The final thing is the Hospital Access Collaborative Project. It's a new project between Toledo Municipal Court, Court Diagnostic, ourselves, the mental health board, and St. Charles Hospital, and it's designed to take individuals who are incompetent, restorable, but cannot get into the state hospital.

So we're actually paying the private hospital, St. Charles, to take them and then restore them the competency with connections back into the treatment community. So that is my report. Happy to answer any questions. And again, thank you for the opportunity to participate in the Toledo ARPA funds.

Well, thank you. I have a follow-up question. What is preventing those individuals from getting into the state hospital?

So capacity. It's a statewide issue. There's only six hospitals in the entire state, and our hospital here serves has a capacity of about 115 provided all rooms are available for patients to stay in. And criminal justice forensic clients have just absorbed that capacity. So there is very limited capacity for civil clients or individuals that may need that type of facility.

Okay. Do you have any idea how many people have been served by St. Charles Hospital?

Right now we have 13 that have been referred, 11 have been through the program, And this was a program that we just added in as we were monitoring our ARPA spending and identified that, hey, we might have an opportunity to do something more with those funds. And And by the the Mental Health Recovery Services Board has $50,000 in the pool of this contract as well. So it's ARPA funds 33, Mental Health Board 50,000.

And then as a follow-up, is there any discussions from our state legislators or the governor's office or the Department of Mental Health in terms of expanding the state hospitals?

Yes, there are. Thank you for asking that. The first thing that we are aware of is they are building a new state hospital. Unfortunately, it's in Montgomery Dayton. Now that will relieve some pressure. I also know that I just saw the Ohio Department of Behavioral Health capital request because the state is going through their capital budgeting process right now, and within that, I believe there's an additional request for not only one additional hospital, but a renovation of our current hospital. We have the in Toledo, we have one of the oldest state hospitals, and it's in need of renovation.

Absolutely. I mean, the State has over $3,000,000,000 in reserves, and something has to be done. This this problem of capacity has existed for many years, as you well know.

And and as you well know, too, given your experience.

I remember from probate courts how difficult it was, and and we just have got to have an expansion. But I'm glad that St. Charles and Lucas County Mental Health Board has been able to work together because that's very beneficial to the community. So we appreciate that. Councilperson Gaff.

Thank you. I just wanna thank you for stepping up. You've provided we don't talk about the after effect of COVID very often. I think sometimes we're still in shock, but things got real wonky. And that $2,000 stretched a long way, and I appreciate what you've done. Is there any way, by way of referral, we could get a list of the beneficiaries to the grant?

That would be helpful. Well, I don't think you need a referral.

Okay. If there's any way you could get us a list of who's received the funding, that would be really helpful.

I'll send it over to you. I have it, but it's not in a presentation format.

That's fine.

I'll send it over to

Thank you. And I appreciate you continuing to support the Latinx community as well. I got really hit hard when Adelante closed. Thank you for stepping up. Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Councilperson. Vice Chair Driscoll.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I do not have a question, just a comment. Well, first of all, let me say thanks for the work that you do. This is obviously a good use of the ARPA funds and it's too bad the state has left the sign dry, but you guys are doing really important work. My comment is this is exactly what I'm looking for. You say we've got $17,000 left to spend, and there are two contracts that add up to that amount. That is exactly what I'm looking for. I don't know why, that hasn't been the answer from everybody so far, but thank you very much for your presentation.

Thank you, sir. I might

have learned from questions asked previously to get to that.

I

appreciate all the opportunity to work with you guys. This was a lot of work, but I think it's doing a lot of good. And the last thing I would mention is our tracking is showing that at least 6,000 City Of Toledo residents have been served by these funds. Okay.

Well, we really appreciate your effort and the organization's effort. We've made some very positive changes through your leadership, and we appreciate that.

Thank you.

Thank you. Next on the agenda will be youth and recreational programming, and we'll have the director of Parks and Recreation and Youth come forward, please. Good afternoon, sir.

Good afternoon. Joe Fosnod, Director of Public Service. So we were initially awarded a little over 13,500,000 We worked diligently to leverage that money with grants, donations and every means we could think of and did approximately $25,000,000 worth of work over the last four years. So of the money that we have remaining of that $13,500,000 there's about $149,105 left. Approximately half of that is in a supplemental contract that we're doing at Jamie Forrest Splash Pad.

When we designed and built that splash pad, the engineer was hopeful that the existing two inches waterline would be sufficient to power that pad. When we turned it on, it just wasn't. So we're going to install a new four inches waterline with that supplemental contract to make sure that, that brand new splash pad sprays the way it should spray. The remaining approximately $75,000 is going to be used we've done close to 60 projects. So over the course of the last three point five years, we've seen how some of those projects are being used and we've gotten requests from the residents to do additional upgrades at those projects.

So for instance, where we put in pickleball courts, they're asking for wind screens on the fence. There's projects that require additional landscaping, benches, picnic tables, grills. So that $75,000 will go pretty quick as we start to circle back around to those projects. And because it's small items, it will be very easy to get that money encumbered and the items installed before the end of the year. I would be very surprised if we don't have all this spent by midyear.

Okay. Could you Director, could you also give us a quick update on Savage Park Splash Pad?

Yes. So this has been a very long complicated project. We've been working on the outdoor recreation legacy preservation grant for approximately two years. And happy to say that this week, we actually signed the grant agreement, send it back to the state, who then forwards it to the federal government for final sign off. So we expect to start work on Savage Park hopefully in March. So it has been a long time coming, but we've finally worked through the bureaucracy to allow us to draw down that money and start work.

When do you think that project will be completed?

I think it will take most of the year to complete. There's no ARPA money devoted to that project, so we don't have that deadline hanging over us. But for the sake of the residents, we don't want it drag out any longer. They've been waiting a long time for these improvements. And we're going to we have the contractor already identified on the project awarded. He's just waiting for the federal government to give him the thumbs up to get started. Okay. So maybe, if I had to guess, September, October.

Great. Okay. Doctor. Woman McPherson.

Thank you. So are you saying that we won't have a splash pad at City Park this summer? We will not. And you also said that City Park did not receive any of the ARPA dollars?

It it was I couldn't use federal money to match federal money, so I I couldn't use ARPA at Savage Park.

Not for the not for the splash pad, but the renovations of Savage Park and tearing down the old pool and the shelter house at Savage Park. Savage Park is not getting or has not received any ARPA dollars?

No. We For the restoration? It wasn't necessary because we we got the outdoor recreation preservation grant, which is $1,100,000. That was a one to one match, so that park is seeing $2,000,000 worth of investment. Just because we couldn't use ARPA there doesn't mean we don't value that park or that neighborhood. We're investing millions of dollars in that park.

Thank you. I am not happy. Savage Park, the splash pad didn't run all summer this year, and now we have to go back and tell them that the splash pad at Savage Park will not be, running again this year. That is very disheartening for that community even though I know you're gonna say there is Roosevelt Pool on the other side. Savage Park is very important to that community in that area right there where the children live in the McClinton nuns and in the surrounding areas that can walk to Savage Park.

But I'm done.

Savage Splash Pad did operate all but the final month of the swim season last year. It's just physically impossible for me to demo the current pad, the current pool, and install a new splash pad in time to have it operating for swim season this year. If the federal grant money would have come sooner, there might have been a chance. But given two federal shutdowns, that seriously impacted our ability to get this grant allocation finalized.

Okay. Thank you very much. Okay. Anything else that you want? Okay. Great. Next will be Metro Parks Resource Center at Glass City Metro Park, Starbase, and Riverwalk. Come forward and state your name for the record.

You, chair and and counsel, for having us. My name is Matt Claland. I'm CFO for Metroparks Toledo. And I'll take these separately. Sure.

The classroom space at the enrichment center was $500,000 In your reports, I believe you have $30,800 We've since had additional expenditures bringing that to $117,000 currently. There's our contract for that is $608,000 and expected completion of that project is second quarter twenty twenty six. So that will be fully expended. Before I move on to the next, I'm happy to take any questions.

Okay. Any questions? Okay. Proceed.

Very good. Other $2,000,000 for the Riverwalk project, we're all familiar with the Riverwalk. And of the $700,000 that's reported that you've seen, that went to the initial work on the RiverWalk in the Vistula area. We also have a $1,000,000 purchase order to the City of Toledo to support the work on Water Street that is happening over in that area. So that will use a large portion of the remainder.

And then the last few $100,000 will be used for planning purposes in International Park for the next phase of International Park. And then as a backup to that, we also received a raise grant, which is $19,000,000 for the Vistula area. And we have local portions of that project that need planning dollars that we also could apply ARPA dollars to. However, the International Park planning will certainly consume all that remains.

Okay. When do you expect International Park to be completed?

Well, it will be happening in phases. Current work, it will have an exciting June and be celebrating with the city that the Riverwalk will reach its halfway point in June and the International Cove in the area around the docks restaurants will open this summer. But then, of course, that's a very long park and much more work for future phases. And that's what we'll be actually planning.

Okay. Great. All right. Council Vice Chair Driscoll.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Can you expand a little bit on what you mean by planning? Yes.

Planning, so having design firms, we have contracts for both the International Park and Vistula areas for park planning, and there's multiple phases and stages of that in the International Park area. They're actually planning park design and There's still architectural engineering work to be done? Yes. Okay. Right. Thank you. Okay.

Next is Councilperson Gaddis.

Thank you. So what's the timeline for the money to be spent then? It will be all spent by

Yes, the end absolutely. As I said, the enrichment center classroom build out, that's second quarter this year. And then the $1,000,000 will be subject to when the city sends us an invoice for the Water Street work. But I expect that will be this summer. And then we'll have additionally that those planning dollars will happen throughout the year. And we'll be doing far more planning and expenditure than those dollars will support. So that will also happen in the first half of

the year, I would say.

Okay. And with the Starbase, were you able to like I mentioned with Rick, I know the costs of things have changed. So were you able to do everything that needed to be done with half 1,000,000? And then I know Marcy contributed some, I think. Were you able to utilize all of it?

We utilized all that, and we were also contributing some Metroparks dollars as well to be able to complete that project.

Thank you. Thank you for that. And then will there be programming soon then?

I'll let Matt speak to that part.

I appreciate that.

Certainly just a reminder of the group. My name is Matt Killam. I get the good fortune of working on your behalf for the Metro Parks Toledo. So thank you for having us and thank you for the support. The Richmond Center, thanks to our partnership with the city as well as the city council, is basically a shell for us to house all manner of programming on the East Side.

The rules that are binding the use of that facility is it just has to serve the community and not be used as a fundraiser. So it's been very busy and far exceeding our expectations. The third portion, which is now being built out or was intended to be the star based program, has had several suitors, if you will. Originally, it was going be for Lucas County Children's Services to be able to have their second and third tier visitation being housed there. And it was a dream come true for us, candidly, because that's exactly what that building was supposed to be built for, to serve our community in that way.

And for those of you that do not know, second and third tier visitation is for its opportunities to get out of the building that they've had a miserable and traumatic experience and come to a park and be able to have it. That didn't work. They found other arrangements, but I think they're very happy with. And then Starbase came down again. It was offering for our TPS kids. So we are thrilled to have that. So we are, again, building out a shell. We are looking to find other suitors to fulfill exactly this mission, which I think we birthed together to serve the community, not just on the East Side, but throughout our region as a hub for our community. So we are entertaining your thoughts on this. It will be a shell for us or a white box, if you will.

What we're now referring to is a green box to house what we need, and I'm sure we'll be in talks together to find out what that need needs to be. So thank you for that.

Okay. I appreciate that. Thank you so much. Thank you, Chair.

Okay. Thank you. But we've been told, Matt, that there's over a million visitors to the Glass City Metro Park that we've had so far. Are pretty accurate?

Well, we plan for a million visitors. It's been far more than a million since it's been open, if you can believe that. So as my friend and colleague made mention of, we'll be halfway done with the project this June, and all of you have participated in the success. And our first forecasting was, even to my standards, I thought, really aggressive. But since we've been open in 2020, we've had over 2,000,000 visits to that space.

And we've had over $400,000,000 worth of economic development around what was a bit of a promise, right, and a vision. So we couldn't be more thrilled. We used the same placer data that you all used to make your decisions, right, in terms of where to put your resources. So I'm also proud to say that there's a staggering percentage of individuals that are using that park that live across the street. And that's exactly what good design does, right?

If you build it, they will come is from a movie. But if you build it based on what people say they want and invite them over and over again, that's how you get to 2,000,000 visits to a former industrial site. So we are really lucky that we all bonded together to make this happen. And again, not to sound like marketing material, but this is only halfway done. And we'll close on this project together. Although Matt and I have aged irrevocably during the time of this project, I hope you're proud of what we've done. It's a big deal, and we're really going to move forward.

Well, I I wanted to just relay to you that I had my high school reunion last year.

Yeah. You're now beginning that deposit back. And We've had some issues with that.

It was the class of 1995. But at any rate, I want to tell you, the our out of town classmates from all over the country, they they just couldn't get over it Yeah. Because they remember the riverfront as it was many years ago, not like it is today. And they were just thrilled. And then we went to the top and looked out, and people were just really thrilled. It was just a stunning event. So I just wanted to relay that to you.

Well, that was 70% city property before we started this, and that downtown master plan is now about ten years old. So I hope that you're seeing yourselves in it and the people in the audience as well. We're just a park system. So without all of you, I don't know if that even happens. So I hope you're seeing yourselves in and enjoying it.

Great. Well, thank you. Thank you for the presentation. The next item on the agenda is affordable housing development. And Chief Clemens is here, so we'll have a presentation.

Good afternoon again, members of counsel. Dollars 10,000,000 of OPRA funding was allocated to affordable housing development. I'm pleased to say we have expended all except $300,000 The final $300,000 is being held as a retainage for the Collingwood Green 5 project in Junction, which is going to be delivering 75 units by March 2026. We expect to have that groundbreaking or wooden cutting, if you will, for that building, which we're doing in partnership with the National Church Residences. It will offer state of the art units for seniors that are 55 years and older.

If you drive by there, it's actually a very beautiful, very beautiful building. So that's completed. The other projects that were funded with the $10,000,000 are the grand townhouses in the Inglewood Nursa. We have 20 townhomes that are under construction and will be delivered in April 2026. First five bedroom townhouses to be constructed in the city in quite some time.

Again, you drive by them. They are beautiful. We have drawn down all of the funding for those townhomes. And also, I want to just talk about some of the work that our food policy officer is doing. We're going to be partnering with Lowes.

Lowes has done a partnership with us to plant flowers and landscaping for those townhomes. If you guys can remember the old Wiggsdale planted site that was once located where that project is, I'm just I think it's probably one of the most impactful projects that I've done in my life. They're beautiful. The site will also include a 2,000 square foot community center that's on the corner there of North Detroit and Grand Avenue. So these are the urban design standards for the exterior of the buildings are just beautiful.

They have brick. They have hardy board. They're just beautiful looking townhomes, and we're proud of those. And again, we expect to have the ribbon cutting in April. The other piece of this project is the Glen on the Southland Shopping Center, where we're going to have 50 units, again, of workforce housing, not senior, but workforce housing For people like police and teachers and firemen, they can go into those units.

And those units are anywhere from one to three bedroom units, 50 units. All of the arbor barrels have been drawn down for those projects, and we hope again to have the ribbon cutting in April. The final project that was funded with ARPA dollars is the first phase of the YWCA domestic violence shelter project. Dollars 2,000,000, that's completed. Deliver 12 new units for women fleeing domestic violence.

New kitchen, new bathrooms, demolition of the pool area that will constitute the second phase of the project that is funded with nonfederal dollars. But the first phase for the new family units, the kitchen and living area has had been completed. So $10,000,000 $300,000 left and $300,000 actually held in escrow as a retainage for the UNO for the Collinwood Green project. So once we get that UNO, we will be able to release that final 300,000 of the $10,000,000 So hopefully, Councilman Driscoll, that

pleases you.

I must say that it's to get these projects to the finish line just as took a lot of work, a lot of partners, planning, Ohio Housing Finance Agency, the private sector. But combined, they constitute over 150 new units of housing in our city, which, as you know, is desperately needed. And we're just thankful. We hope that we have $10,000,000 every three years of funding to put into affordable housing, but unfortunately, we don't. But I think the spend down of this money, the quality of the units when we have these open houses, you'll see that it's been well worth the expenditure. And I'll take any questions at this time.

Okay. Thank you. Councilwoman McPherson.

Thank you. Thank you for that spend down report. I really appreciate that. But one question, the housing for domestic for women and families, where is that?

By WCA, Lisa McDuffie's own entity on Jefferson.

Okay.

On Jefferson.

The manor on Monroe and Upton, was that any is that

No, Whitney Manor is actually a home project and a home art project. That's going along beautifully. I'm sure you've seen That's

what I

was asking. We hope to be able to have the open house on those units sometime in the late summer. Those would be ready, those would be 20 units for units, efficiency and one bedroom units for individuals that are recovering from some form of mental addiction or drug addiction. And those will be ready by the end of the summer.

So the DRGs okay, it's not DRGs anymore. So the GRANs are family units?

Those are family units. Our development partner is Pivotal. Those are family units, all four bedroom units. And actually the wait list is being is open now. People can call. I think there's signage up. People can call and get on the wait list to request those units.

Okay. So you've to have kids. Okay.

I can't go there.

All right.

Thank you. Okay.

Thank you. Councilperson Ganis.

Thank you. I just want to thank you for your efforts. I think between the Brownfields cleanups and the housing projects that were getting built, that is the biggest sign of hope for our residents. And so it's really impactful. Thank you for spending your money quickly and thoroughly. I'd really appreciate that. Thank you, Chair.

Thank you.

All

right. Anything else, Chief? Okay. Thank you very much. You're welcome. That completes our formal agenda. However, we did get two letters of information from the Eleanor Kale Center and the undue medical debt. I'm going to have the clerk read those communications to the committee.

All right. The first is the letter from the Eleanor Kale Senior Center. It is the city of Toledo used ARPA funds to replace and upgrade the parking lot for Willy's Park in August 2024. We use a portion of that lot for our participants. They they also replaced the flat roof and upgraded the roof support beams on inner building in October 2024.

The parking lot had been an issue for over twenty years as every time it rained, Lake Elinor appeared and one third of the lot was unusable. The many cracks and uneven spots were also hazardous. I'm happy to say that Lake Elinor has not appeared since the replacement of the blacktop. The sedentulate facilities department had been patching the roof for over twenty years whenever a leak occurred which was often. Since the replacement, we have had no leaks.

If additional funds were available, we would love to see our restrooms updated. Our participants who use wheelchairs and walkers have had a hard time with the current size of the stalls and all seniors would benefit from tall toilets. The rule of waiting in the restrooms is also a challenge. We greatly appreciate the forty eight year partner partnership we've had with the city of Toledo. We could not provide services to the seniors of West Toledo without the support of the city of Toledo. We invite members of council to visit us at any time. Thank you for your continued support. Signed Kathy S. McVicar, Executive Director.

Thank you. Next.

Letter from undue medical debt. Committee members, thank you for the opportunity to provide an update on the city of Toledo's medical debt relief initiative. Undue Medical Debt is a national nonprofit organization that partners with hospitals, health systems, and local and state governments to purchase and permanently abolish medical debt for residents burdened by health care costs. We require qualifying medical debt in bulk at a fraction of its face value and eliminated entirely. Residents are not required to apply and mail or complete paperwork.

Once debt is once debt is qualified and purchased, individuals receive written notification that their obligation has been relieved. Through the city of Toledo's $800,000 ARPA revenue replacement investment, the medical debt relief initiative has abolished $81,842,044 in medical debt. This relief has reached nearly forty, zero Toledo residents. Based on total expenditures to date, this represents approximately $124 in medical debt relief for every $1 expended by the city. The program remains within its approved $800,000 budget.

As of 12/31/2025, a total of $662,323 has been expended. Approximately $122,560 remains available within the grant. Overall spending remains aligned with the approved budget structure. They expect to receive two additional files that will close out the remaining grant funds available from the program. We anticipate receiving one file in q two twenty twenty six and the second file in early q three twenty twenty six.

These two files will expand the rest of the funding available under the grant. Thank you for the opportunity to provide this update on the city's medical debt relief initiative. I have included the q four twenty twenty five quarterly report for your reference. Please let me know if additional information would be helpful or if you would like a more detailed discussion of any aspect of the program. Respectfully, Courtney Huippe Storey, vice president, government initiatives, undue medical debt.

Thank you. Vice Chair Driscoll.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Feel pretty good about today and everything that we went through, but there's still some cases where the answer was, hey, we're going to spend it. And so I think we may need to revisit this maybe three months from now or six months from now, but I'm confident about a lot of what was said today, but there was still a number like, you know, for Director Fasano as an example, like, they're gonna spend they're gonna be able to spend money on that park. They're gonna be able to buy more benches, whatever.

That's all gonna add up eventually, think. But there were more than a few where there wasn't again, there was not a sufficient answer for some of these questions. So I think, if we can maybe get this on the schedule for summertime, maybe June, something like that, I think that would be a responsible course of action. Thank you. Yep.

And I would agree, vice chair, that we need to have a follow-up, to monitor again what we have so that we don't have any surprises and we're not running around on November 15 trying to figure out where we're going to allocate some unspent funds. So I appreciate your suggestion. Next will be the city auditor's report and then we'll get to public comment. Good afternoon, city auditor.

Afternoon. I'll provide a quick shareholder update. I recently released the investments review for the period ending twelvethirty onetwenty twenty four. And then with that released, I'm also and to comment on that, there were no new exceptions for this period. And then also, I'll be working on the grass cutting audit and continue working through that. Let me know if you have any questions. Thank you.

Any questions for the auditor? Yes. Councilperson Gattis.

Thank you. I'm super stoked about that grass cutting audit. You have a timeline on that? And, like, have you gathered information? You just have to write the report or where are you at in it?

Yeah. So I already sent out request for information, and I have substantially all the information back. So I'm working through that. So I'm in the analysis phase, but I expect now to be about the March would be the target.

That's a great that's a great timeline. Thank you. Thank you, chair.

Okay. Thank you very much. Any additional questions? If not, thank you very much. Next we'll have opportunity for public comment. I want to remind those that have signed up that you will have three minutes to make your presentation. First person that signed up was Karen Mayfield. Please come forward and state your name and address for the record.

Thank you. Good afternoon, city council members. My name is Karen Mayfield, and I'm here to express some concerns about the costs and impact of the Bayview wastewater treatment plant upgrades. At this Monday's Point Place block watch meeting, we heard that Toledo's population stands at approximately 274,000, with the mayor's goal of growing it to 300,000. Encouraging growth like that requires affordability and fiscal responsibility, and it requires decisions that attract, not burden, new and existing residents.

In June 2024, to offset the $900,000,000 cost of the proposed wastewater plant upgrades, city council voted to increase sewer rates 3.75% annually through 2028 and three percent in 2029. It is now 2026. The the project hasn't started, that price tag surely exceeds 1,000,000,000. Let's not forget in December 2023 when city council approved a four year plan to increase water rates 40% for Toledoans by 2027 to offset the work being done at the Collins Park water plant. Today, Toledo's water rates are 29.2% higher than the state average.

Nothing about that is attractive to new and existing residents. On 03/11/2025, the director of public utilities asked city council to approve legislation to accept and appropriate loans from the Ohio EPA to begin design and program management work for the Bayview plant upgrades. At that time, councilman Mr. Martinez called it a very large contract and urged meetings and the appointment of a counsel advocate to monitor cost containment and the administration's plans. I want to share that the public at large still has not seen any plan.

And in the 02/11/2026 response I received from the Ohio EPA, it states, this project is not currently in our system, and the earliest it can be nominated is August 2026, with the earliest date of implementation January 2027. So my question is why are we using a very large contract and a plan that makes Bayview wastewater treatment plant comparable to systems that serve cities of one to 1,500,000 people when Toledo serves a fraction of that population. That would be Toledo and the surrounding areas that that treatment plant serves. The current plan includes fencing in excess land, and we heard a lot today about opportunities for senior citizens, and so that land is the Bayview Retirees Golf Course, and that is an amazing, affordable opportunity for senior citizens that is at risk of being lost. And it also involves the construction of additional digesters that require more pumping, and that's a huge additional expense.

After reviewing how much larger cities efficiently manage wastewater, this plan does not make sense for Toledo. You have the authority and you have the responsibility to pause this and ask the hard questions before these costs are locked in. Mr. Kapser, behind me, and other professionals have studied this proposal and identified more efficient and less costly options. You owe it to Toledo's residents to insist on reviewing these cost saving alternatives.

It's not about opposition. This is about stewardship, and it's about ensuring that one of the largest infrastructure projects in our city, in the history of our city, is done wisely. For the mayor, the easiest path is to move forward, but the right path is to make absolutely certain this is the right plan. In light of today's news article about the grant programs being needed to help residents with past due water bills, please don't let Toledo become one of those cities that builds beyond its means and expects its residents to pay beyond theirs. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Next we have Mr. Steve Kapser. Again, we'd like to limit your comments to three minutes. Please state your name and address for the record.

Yeah. My name is Steve Kapser. I live at 414 Pebble Beach Drive, Monroe, Michigan. And I'm certain you wonder why somebody from Monroe. I I grew up in the East Side. I lived here for twenty four years. I love this city. So much so that my coworkers ostracized me when I talk about how great Toledo is, but I truly believe it is. And so I'll try not to repeat some of the things that Karen said, but I want to thank the finance committee for the opportunity. As she stated, the rates prior to the increase were 29.2%.

They came directly from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency when they issued the grant notice. How did we end up here? Well, on a business side, failure to maintain is a death spiral. Right? So you know from our perspective, we ensure that we maintain the property but if you look at the infrastructure, if you look at the wastewater treatment plant, there's been extended period of time where it's been failed to be maintained and those costs are exponential relative to an ongoing maintenance plan which you can't do anything about the past but the future right now there are things in the plan which I support that we need to ensure those same patterns behavior don't continue.

As Karen stated, the size of the project is almost 100 acres. And I'll give you an idea. The Newark, New Jersey wastewater treatment plant is 99.4 acres. And that plant services 1,600,000 people. Orange County, California, 101.2 acres services 2,600,000 people.

And the Dallas Central Plant has a 123 acres and services 1,300,000. I went through and did there's a database that has 14,800 wastewater treatment plants. And I went through and I did comparative analysis for Cleveland, Fort Wayne, Grand Rapids, Akron only because they're all advanced plants and Toledo is an advanced plant. And those plants average 57.2 acres, Toledo 63.6 acres, and Toledo services 8,500 fewer residents. They're taking 36.2 acres, and those acres are being taken and they were maintained by the retirees, but now they're gonna have to be maintained by the city.

And that drives additional cost. If they took the appropriate amount of land, which they didn't, they wouldn't have to build they're building a fence that's 2,200 linear feet. Right? And I'd estimate that that's probably approximately $70,000. I don't know what the bid was. And they're building a parking lot which we propose to use utilizing the lot across the street. And if it's like the water treatment plant, you can drive by it now and it's empty. And you had an opportunity even upgrade that parking lot that was there for the ball fields and dual utilize it. Construction workers would utilize it Monday through Friday during the day operation. The ballpark would utilize it at night on weekends.

That just for asphalt is between 615 and $675,000. It's money that's being spent that long term won't be utilized. The increased construction cost and Karen touched on this, there were three options. Moving the digesters to the golf course site drives basically plumbing, it drives additional pumping, and so it increases the cost exponentially as you move away from the centroid of the plant. The issue 25 passed overwhelming, right?

And it said, it was framed really well. I mean, anybody would vote for this and 86.72% did vote for it. And it doesn't say anything about the cost. And it it basically says, and I'm not gonna read it to you, you've seen it already. But

Could you summarize?

Yeah. So it says, shall the city of Toledo make a comprehensive effort to improve the 100 year old Bayview wastewater treatment plant in order to safeguard our community from sewage overflows and backups, reduce landfill waste, and protect Lake Erie. Who wouldn't vote for that? I don't understand why roughly 14% of the people didn't vote for it. But if they had told the residents, which I think it's important for us to question what's going on.

Your rates are already 29.2% higher than the statewide average. Over the next four years, we're gonna raise your rates 15.03%. Right? And this is probably the most disturbing part of this. There's ongoing risk in the plan.

12 important risks that are in the blue ribbon panel commission that potentially will drive that cost for residents higher. And in some of the mitigation plans that they lay out that we can do this to mitigate it, it says we can do that, but that technology is unproven at this time. So, you know, I I received a copy of the report. And the initial report was 116 pages, and I believe that was the report that was distributed to 16 city council. I don't know, but you could look at your report and see if it was a 116 pages.

I did a FOIA request, an information request, and it was 228 pages. In the original report, there were 13 pages missing.

So if you go back

and look at your report and you look between thirteen and fourteen or one thirteen and one fourteen, there are 13 pages that are missing. And those are pivotal pages that talk about the risk and uncertainty associated with this plan.

Okay.

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much, Mr. Kapser. The next name I'm unable to read. I don't know if it's a is there somebody else that signed up? I have Elena Hernandez. Is she here? Elena Hernandez? Okay. And then the other person, I can't read the name. Is there anyone else that would care to address the Finance Committee? Okay. Thank you very much. Seeing no other business, our next meeting will be Wednesday, March 25 at four p. M. We stand adjourned.