Council - Regular Meeting

hours. Uh we're going to go over the we're going to have the uh 2026 annual appropriation ordinance come up for its first reading today and everything is compiled based upon our previous committee meetings. If there's any questions, Mr. Harris will take questions immediately afterwards. It's all yours, sir.

All right. So the uh like uh council member venture said, it's a compilation of our previous finance committee meetings where we discuss the five-year capital concentrating on the 2026 uh portion of that. Same thing with the debt and our 2026 operating budget. So u probably the best thing to look at would be the three page Excel spreadsheet because that mentions in the desript description columns uh if there's a grant or you know a loan or it'll say that. So uh on the first page you know we have the general fund emergency reserve unclaimed funds which we don't get a lot of activity but we have to place unclaimed funds in that fund for a period of five years and then they can be transferred to the general fund. retirement reserve which we use for uh payments when somebody retires you know their unused sick vacation come time etc thing.

Yeah. Basically a vacation bank refund program. Uh that's what we issue the refund refunds out of for the massonia resident refund program which is due July 15th every year this year. an extension to Rita. Unless you have an extension through technology advancement which we use for all of our software maintenance and upgrades which is I mean it's great that we're able to to have these segregated funds all all the 10 whatevers the 101 to the 106 Um the auditor groups those as a general fund. They allow us to segregate but they still report the total as general fund. Emergency reserve at 1.3 I think. What was it when I started here close

50,000

50,000. So, that's great that we're able to to have that SMR, which is a fund required by the state special revenue fund. If you see under the type column special revenue because we've received taxes from license tax, gasoline fuel tax. So it has to go into a street construction maintenance and repair fund. That's what the SMR stands for. And we also pay employees out of this. Every community does that.

Usually employees uh vehicles leap trucks come out of that. No, those come out of 280 for the most part. Materials for for hatching the road. What else other than employees?

Vehicle maintenance costs come out of here. Vehicle supplies. Um those are the big expense items other than wages that come out of here. salt usage for the roads. State highway again that's special revenue fund. We get a little bit of money each year from the state. We use the 55,000 for salt. Basically permissive license is another special revenue fund where the county uh gathers this money on our behalf and we are using it this year. We let it accumulate certain number of years. About

5,000 a month. It's about 5,500. 5,500 a month. Um we're using it for Ledge Road from the bridge to to North Bedford.

North Bedford. So we'll we'll just let it accumulate up again and use it for another road project in the future. Parks and Wreck, we have couple employees out of there. Family rec center, more employees out of there and obviously a bigger. So basically family rec center is the building. Parks and rec is everything around it. Park wreck parks and rec trust is for across the street uh the windmill lakes golf center. The Can you explain what we talked about today? Yeah. Why it's so big?

Yeah. I didn't know if you wanted to say I was discussing it with you earlier, but

the balance in there is for future capital improvements. Uh we are obligated to replace the capital assets over there, make capital improvements. So on the horizon at some point is going to be replacing HVAC and the roof. We had transferred money into there because we had to do the parking garage or parking lot and the roadway up to a certain point heading out towards 82. U transferred actually the the bid ended up coming in lower than we thought. So, we just left the money in there knowing that we were going to at some point have to improve the roof and the HVAC. And the mayor and I just had a meeting with uh the two principles, if you will, of the building. They dropped off a nice check for percentage rent and we discussed the HBAC unit and roof and so they are aware. I think they asked us if they wanted to double check that it was our responsibility.

City owns that whole property. We own it. They're they're leasing the property and the building for us. When is this contract contract? 15 I believe you guys approved it. Yeah. Not too long ago. Two or three years ago. So probably 10 11 12 years left on the contract. Gotcha. And they're compared to the first one that was in there. They're actually profitable which is what we want. They're well known all all over the region for being like the best fitting store, top two in the country. Y and then people come from a long distance to go there.

Bunch of little special revenue funds. We could skip one being the sorry the water main water maintenance and repair fund which uh when I got here and I think I don't know if you were on council when we converted it to the real estate I remember you doing it. I don't know if I was on Matt or your idea. No, it was not my idea. It was his idea. John's idea. I'll take it. It was my idea. Thanks for doing it. Okay. Thanks for the call, Jeff.

You bet. But anyways, we used to uh for those that don't know, used to mail out an invoice to every property owner for $20.80. And I think the first day I worked in May, Lisa Hammer was crying at her desk. And I said, "What's the matter?" She got all these pink all these envelopes with a yellow sticker, you know, return to sender. Return to sender. Um And I said, "What are all those blue envelopes?" Well, this is what we do. Why do you do it that way? You know, the old This is what we always done. So, you hate that term.

That's the way we've always done it. It's the worst fine you can get. So, obviously, and we'd have to send out, I found out, second notices to these people to try and collect $20. So, now we put on tax bill. Um, makes it a lot easier for everybody. All right. So, on to the second page. Uh, Chief Yakovich, I did put some money in this year, uh, in the Ohio One, uh, fund, 25,000 if we figure out a way to use it because we're going to have about 67,000 in there. Yeah.

So, this this is the settlement for the opioids. We've been accumulating the money and looking for ways to spend it. So, I put some money in the appropriations. Let's be clear, it's heavily regulated how we can use those fun. No, it's hard to find. We're not looking for ways to just spend money. We're looking for what we can spend it on. Looking for ways that meet the

qualify criteria. Yeah. Um safety service fund that is uh you can see that gets income tax in that was a voted increase. We have three firefighters, one police officer, and one service employee paid out of there. A lot of capital assets. Obviously you see that capital items $781,500 transfer out uh for the aerial tower debt general bond all of our bond funds 301 302 304 301 you'll see the borrowing of 13,400,000 and that gets transferred out to municipal property fund down below. That's for the service center which would represent about 75% of the cost estimate. So we're planning and pay 25% down. Nothing else jumps out. Oh, the slate roof for the manor house down below. We're looking to replace that and 26 will have $250,000 roughly encumbered or appropriated for that project. And the last page is basically the tips and some agency funds. Again, we went into further detail in the past two weeks on all of this. This is

the last tiff you amalgamation of all those that had to go to the school board. Did that come back okay or did it? No, nobody u there's a time period. So, if they don't respond, it's it's they didn't respond. And we're keeping them whole. So,

I'll do the same with the holiday and after first reading personally deliver so I know they got it and then a one page summary that kind of is the cliffnotes version I think easy to follow All right. So, we will have first reading tonight.

Yeah. And then, you know, you can have more questions. We'll have second reading in November. You know, if anybody has questions comes up on the agenda again and then final reading and passage hopefully in December. almost right on time that perfectly. Thank you, John. You're welcome.

Do we need to wait till 7:15 because of the agenda? Yes. Yeah, that's my thoughts. I should have titled that immediately. My watch is right.

No, it's only 7:13. For those of you that don't know, my daughter Jack had a baby girl on 101. If everyone's ready, we can start with ordinance 51. Um,

who wants to speak to this? I forget. Okay. So, we've been talking a lot about this and there's been a lot going back and forth and you really have two choices at this point. Either you can vote it down, get it out of there and we can revisit it at some point or we could table it. I mean, it's kind of up to you guys. I don't like leave leaving things sitting. So, I think my my my opinion be right now you just vote this down. I can't tell you how to vote, but um there's just too much going on with that. there's a lot more that needs to be done and it's just going to sit there forever. I I don't know that we're anywhere near being ready to even deal with that. So, I think my advice would be or my opinion would be to just put it up for a vote and and

it so I I just double check. So, we would still need to get the recommendation from planning. I was going to ask it. Oh, before we could even vote on it, right? Are we allowed to table it without going to planning? That you could do. You could table it, but it's going to sit there for a while. It's going to sit there. And again, we're still going to go to planning. It's still going to be conversations. It's just the way it's written. There's just way too much in my opinion that needs to happen there. I I don't like letting things sit there. But it's up to you guys. You guys choose whatever you want to do. Anybody object to Oh, we have to go to ping before we can do third reading anyway. You So you could I guess hold it at third. You just can't vote on it.

Really can't do anything with it tonight. If it's going to take as long as the mayor suggests, it's probably a good idea just to get rid of it, shape, or form. Not worry about it until it comes up again. So, you wouldn't put it for a road until you have planning. Okay. I mean by code or do you want to just not read it then come back or we can just do that and then we could potentially vote on it for Are there any um downsides to like voting something the next meeting

just so you did decide to bring it up November 17 meeting and you know discuss it again planning. Yeah. Okay. Um I'm going to skip 55 and 64 just to make sure we get through the rest. Um so let's go to 73 so we're not talking about you're holding those anyway actually. Yeah. I just I know we got some feedback from the plan and I thought we could talk about it at least. I'm going to definitely I don't I don't have any interest in moving forward, but um I figured we could we should probably go through the rest of the agenda before we hear what planning said.

Okay. So 73. Thank you.

So this is a rollover one-year rollover of our current 2.705 million ban that we borrowed last year for Highland Valley View Intersection. road and the design engineering for St. Ry Highland intersection. So, we're planning to pay 120,000 down in principle and keep it in short-term notes as the market as the interest rates in the market continue hopefully to drop before we lock it to a looking to do one. Uh, you don't have to, but you can't.

So, it's not a timing issue with the market. No, not at all. We're going to go to market in January. Early January, but I always like to at least give council pre- ratings if they want. So, that's why he placed I appreciate that. I misunderstood. I thought you were trying to do something before the rates change. No, we're hoping they go down. He's hoping they go down again. even further, you know. Then we'll just do first read. Okay. Uh 74 uh the holiday in trying to get that leave it on first reading so I can send notices to school. But yeah. All right.

See it definitely put Twitters and all kind of stuff. 75. What are we doing with zoning for so I could uh notify

75 75 uh 75 is for us to apply to ANATS for grant dollars to resurface North Beckford Road between State Route 82 and Ledge Road and also to apply for additional grant dollars for the construction of the Route 8 Highland intersection project. Applications are due November 6th. So I would ask for You read my mind. Anyone have any questions? All right. 76. I think we know. First read. Yes.

Anyone have any questions? I imagine not. We just came out of finance committee. Um, so going back to 55 and 64. Um, Mark, do you want to help me with that message that you sent? I think I understand it. But the one from

so the the planning commission I think you guys all received a copy of the planning commission's recommendation which was pretty it was kind of a one-s sentence recommendation. Um, so I had contact with the planning chair just to see if he could provide some clarification and paraphrasing. I don't think the commission really felt passionately one way or the other about the only issue that was really discussed which was should the length of time be extended into and through October. I think I believe that's correct

was the suggestion. Um the thought process I think came from the city planner that maybe people are traveling more at that time and it should be extended but other than that it didn't really have any comments and recommended approval. Okay. I there was a part of that email that said something about inverting the times that kind of threw me off and I wanted to follow up on that. But yeah, because the way I interpreted it, it sounded like the message was um to to permit it during the winter months and deny it during the summer months, which doesn't make sense. So, I was hoping to follow up with the planner.

Gotcha. Um but and I was going to just hold 55 and 64 until we can do that. Um I think that's it unless there are any other motions we need to talk about. or if anybody else has anything else they want to bring up. All right.

Be back eight minutes. I know.

Good evening and welcome to the October 23rd, 2025 Macedonia City Council meeting. It is 7:30 p.m. Mr. Hoover, will you please call the role? Miss Grant here. Mr. Ferro, here. Mr. Finley, here. Mr. Jarvis, here. Mr. Ver, here.

Now I ask Chaplain O'Brien to lead us in the invocation. As we gather here this evening, let us reflect on the immense responsibility and privilege that comes with serving our community. We invoke the spirit of unity, wisdom, and compassion as we deliberate and make decisions that will shape the future of our city. May our actions be guided by a commitment to justice, fairness, and the well-being of our residents. Let us remember that we are the stewards of the public trust entrusted with a duty to create a city that is inclusive, prosperous, and safe for all. As we convene, let us seek inspiration from the diverse voices and perspectives that make up our city. Knowing that it is through collaboration and understanding that we can achieve greatness. in this moment of reflection, but let's also express our gratitude for the strength and resilience of our community. We acknowledge the challenges we face and the sacrifices made by countless individuals who strive to make our city a better place. As we come together today, let us be mindful of those who are less fortunate and in need of our support. May our decisions and actions reflect a commitment to uplifting those who are marginalized or facing adversity. Let us work together with humility, recognizing that the true measure of our success is not in our titles or achievements, but in the positive impact we have on the lives of our fellow citizens. As we commence this council meeting, may we be guided by the spirit of cooperation and goodwill, working tirelessly to build a brighter future for all who call this city home. Amen.

And now our mayor will lead us in the pledge of allegiance. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Thank you, Captain O'Brien. Appreciate it. Okay. Next up on the agenda is approval of minutes. Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to approve the minutes from the Thursday, October 9th, 2025 regular council meeting. Second. All in favor? I opposed.

Motion carries. Uh, next is public comments. We have one signed up today. We ask that you come to the podium, give your name, address, and our our limit is 5 minutes for that. and we have one signed up today and that is Judge Curtain. Welcome.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor, members of council. I'm Judge Cynthia Curtain. I'm your fairly new judge at the Stow Municipal Court. I've been going to all the council meetings in the jurisdiction to introduce myself so you can put a face to the name. I tried to get here in August, but you had canceled your meeting and then I tried to come two weeks ago and I had roadside mechanical problems. So, third time is a charm. It was important for me to be here. So, I'm glad that it worked out tonight. Um, prior to uh being on the bench, well, first of all, I should say I was appointed by Governor DeWine uh right after Memorial Day. And prior to joining the court, I had 35 years of litigation experience. I did jury trials, appellet argument, motion practice, mediation, arbitration. Uh I handled arbitration hearings, which is very similar to what I do now. I listen to both sides and then make a decision. Uh I've handled a variety of different matters, mostly civil matters, um and some minor criminal matters as well. Um I've represented small businesses, large corporations, national retailers, insurance companies, uh and individuals. Um, I've managed and owned my own certified woman law firm and I have managed litigation in various state and federal courts around the country assisting national counsel for two major retailers. So, I have a broad depth of legal experience um to carry out the duties of judge. So, rest assured the court is running smoothly. I am carrying on the duties just fine. I am working with your prosecutor and your defense and defense council to keep the court's docket moving. Uh I handle arraignments for minor uh misdemeanor crimes as well as felony arraignments. I also visit classrooms to uh educate our young people about the consequences of committing a crime. Um hopefully that if they hear some of these things that they'll think twice before making uh the

wrong decision. So, we are busy at the court, but I just wanted to stop by uh to introduce myself so you can put a face to the name. I should say that my term ends at the end of the year, so I'm running this November for a new term. Um, be certain, vote curtain. But anyway, uh, I want I just wanted you to be able to put a face to the name and I appreciate your time and consideration and glad I finally made it the third time here. So, thank you. Thank you. Okay, next on our agenda is correspondence from the clerk.

Yes, I have one message that was conveyed to the service department. Uh the resident called to say how happy she is with the dedication and hard work of our service department. Um her street light was out and now taken care of and she sees how hardworking everyone is. She stated that she is proud to be a citizen of Macedonia. That is it. Thank you. We'll move right into pending our new legislation starting with ordinance number 73. I move to offer ordinance number 732025 for its first reading by title only. An emergency ordinance providing for the issuance and sale of notes in anticipation of the issuance of bonds in a principal amount not to exceed $2,600,000 for the purpose of retiring outstanding bond anticipation notes issued in 2025 for various purposes.

Director Varys, can you give a little synopsis of what that's about? Yes, thank you, Mayor. So, this is a bond anticipation note that was first uh garnered last year at this time for 2,75,000. We're looking to roll it over uh pay down $120,000 in principal and bond it out sometime in the future when uh you know long-term interest rates are favorable. Thank you. Ordinance number 74. Yes, mayor. I'd like to offer uh ordinance number 74, 2025 for its first reading only by title one.

Emergency ordinance declaring improvements to certain parcels of real property to be a public purpose. describing the public improvements to made which directly benefit such parcels. Requiring the owner of the improvements on such parcels to make service payments in lie of taxes. Establishing a holiday and municipal public improvement tax increment equivalent fund for the deposit of such service payments pursuant to Ohio revised code sections 509.40 509.42 and 509.43. Director Versus.

Thank you, mayor. Uh this is just continuing our tax increment financing program that we have in place. Uh this is for the holiday in that's on Girl Scout Way and uh we look to capture tax dollars uh for public infrastructure improvements in that area. Thank you. Resolution 75. Mayor, I move to offer resolution number 75 2025 for its first, second, and third reading by title only. Second. All in favor? I opposed.

Resolution authorizing the mayor to apply for federal surface transportation block grant STBG program and/or resurfacing funds program by the Akran metropolitan area transportation study amats for certain capital infrastructure improvements. Director Gelotti. Yeah. This resolution allows us to apply for grant dollars to resurface North Bedford Road between State Route 82 and Ledge Road and also to apply to a for additional grant dollars uh for the State Route 8 Highland intersection improvements. Thank you. Any further discussion hearing? None. What is your pleasure? Um I move that we adopt resolution number 75 2025 and post same according to law. Second.

All in favor? I opposed. Resolution 75 carries. Ordinance number 76. Yes, Mayor. I offer ordinance number 76 uh for its first reading by title one. Ordinance providing for the 2026 annual appropriations for the city of Macedonia, Ohio. This one's somewhat self-explanatory. We're working on our budget for 2026. Uh we've had multiple meetings uh leading up to today uh to to kind of get council aware of where we're trying to head with things. Anything I'm missing, chair or director of finance? Nope. No, sir.

Any further discussion from anyone else? We will always do that with three reads. So, this is the first of three reads and we hope to pass that in December so we can go into the new year with a proper budget in place. Any other motions or legislative actions? Hearing none, I'll move into the mayor's report. Uh, you may notice again today that we're all well, most of us are wearing pink. I think almost everyone. Uh, breast cancer awareness month. We're we're we're very proud to be a partner in that and show our appreciation for those that are fighting that horrible disease. Uh I unfortunately lost a family member that was very close to me to that. So it it's kind of special to me. Uh we have an employee that works in this building that actually beat breast cancer and we're very proud of that and we're proud to have her and uh it's an amazing fight that she won and I'm very very appreciative that she was able to beat that. Um but we also have some things out there. Our HR department has done an amazing job of of you know getting some things together. All the dollars that come from that are getting donated to the Susan uh Kman Foundation which is a breast cancer uh research firm I will say. Uh so it's all good stuff and I'm very proud to be a part of that. So normally we dress in suits and ties but today we're we're a little dressed down but we're showing showing a little bit of love. So thank you for everyone that participated in that. Halloween will be on October 31st from 6:00 to 8. Let me repeat that one more time. Halloween will be on October 31st from 6:00 to 8.

What if it rains? If it rains, we still trickor treat. Halloween's all day. Trick or treat from 6 to 8.

Trick or treat is from 6:00 to 8. Sorry, I've got a frog in the throat today. Uh, another thing I want to recognize is first responders day is coming up on Tuesday, October 28th. Uh, we always want to show that love for our first responders. I think we have some of the best around. I don't think I know. uh if you have to call 911, god forbid, I can assure you that you're going to get the best and they're coming to you. And I can't tell you how many times that I have people thank me, which they shouldn't be thanking me, but for what we've done to save their lives. Uh we had our our safety day here with a bunch of people getting sworn in through the police department, dispatchers, firefighters, and there was a lady that approached Chief Ripley here and and we literally saved this woman's life. like she would have not been here had it not been for our quick response to get to her and save her life. The police were there, I think, even before our fire department got there. So, this is not just a fire department. I mean, the dispatchers are a piece of this. The police get there, the firefighters get there, we have a heck of a team here. And you got to know that if you live here and you have a problem, god forbid, we're going to get to you fast. And I'm very, very proud to be a part of that team. So, thank you gentlemen and ladies for all you do with that. Next up on my list is issue 38's coming up here. There's a lot of talks right now with income tax, property tax, and all things related to it. Issue 38 is a renewal for the city of Macedonia. This has been in place since the 1960s. We've passed it every time. I believe it's every 5 years. It's critical for safety forces that we fund with those dollars. So, when you go to the ballot and and you hear all the things out there in society and social media where they're talking about, oh, vote everything down. This is critical. And what I just talked about will affect that greatly because those dollars we use directly for safety forces. So this is a renewal. It will not cost you another penny. We're not increasing it. And I'm asking for people to give that consideration because this is important for for what we do every day and keeping you safe. So issue 38, please vote. And and I would only urge

you to give that strong consideration to to keep that in place because we we desperately need to have that. Last but not least, don't drive distracted. Put the phones down. drive the car. I can't tell you, I think this week we've had a we've had several pretty serious accidents. I can only surmise that they may have been on their phones. Uh you guys all drive your cars every day. You see what's going on in the roads. It's scary. It is really scary to me when I'm driving down Route 82 or Route 8 and someone's swerving into my lane and they're doing this. I hate it. It drives me bonkers. And I don't use the word hate very often, but that's one thing that really sticks in my crawl. Put the phones down. It's not that text message or whatever you're looking at is not worth affecting your life or anyone else's. So, please, I beg you, put the phone down. Concentrate on the road committee reports.

Parks and Re Commission had um our October meeting last week. Um it's great meeting. Uh now that Director Echorf has been in place a little bit longer, uh things are really moving fast at the uh parks and recck department. Um it was great to have everyone in attendance. Um we got updated on what is going on in the department. Um and the events that they've already done uh fall fest uh the car cruising the annual shutdown. Not an event but it's a something that they've done hiring. Um we uh talked about the new pave trail that is going to be opening soon. Um, everyone had a chance to look at it on their way into the meeting and everyone is very very proud of of that project and um, we'll be having an I'm sure Mr. Eondorf will talk about it, but we'll be having an open meeting for that next week. Um, we had a discussion about bicycle rules for that trail. Um, we made some decisions um, ebikes and bicycles. There was always the intent to allow bicycles on that trail. In fact, you know, one of our members has been pushing for the trail to even happen. You know, insist that, you know, she wanted to ride her bicycle. We find that bicycle riding's great. It's something that um people are able to share the trails on the toe path and whatnot. So, we just uh had discussion about ebikes on that and we will be imposing um a speed limit for ebikes and scooters uh on the path. So, that was a really great discussion with with a lot of great input. Um, we also talked about uh dog leashes in the park and on the trail. And uh even though that we recently passed an ordinance here that allows for 20 foot leashes within uh the neighborhoods, um there's always been an 8- foot leash requirement in the parks even before there was one

for within the city. and uh talking it over with director Echenorf, we realize that, you know, there's there's going to be a lot more traffic in the parks on the trails than there is on your residential street. So, for now, we're going to keep the leash uh length at 8 foot. So, make sure when you're out there on the new trail starting next week, uh you have your dogs on a leash, which has always been the rules in the park. Um our next meeting will be uh won't be till January 21st. Typically, we do take off in December. um November, we just don't have the time to do it. People are going to be missing it. So, the third Wednesday in January, January 21st, um we'll have a meeting at six o'clock upstairs at the rec center. And that's all.

Miss Brent, I have a question. Um you talked about uh the ebikes and scooters and stuff. Has there been any consideration along with the police department of the speed limit and how that would be enforced? It's like like any other bike issues. People are going to have to report it. Uh people will have to we didn't want to, you know, we didn't want to not encourage people to have bicycles on there. So, we can't bicycles. Yes. But you could

ebikes and and electronic scooters and stuff. I will come up to the next meeting if I can and give my opinion on that at that time. So there's a lot of seniors that use ebikes and are looking for a place to ride them. Ebikes are use it for assistance, not for speed. So it makes it easier to ride a bicycle. So um one of our members is a uh is is a doctor and she has senior parents in town and she pointed out that it's it's a great way for people to find new places to ride their bicycles. So being on an ebike doesn't mean you have to go 20 miles an hour. Being on an ebike can just mean assistance with pedaling. So obviously we're not going to have police station there.

Exactly. But the same way, you know, the same way that we have an ordinance that says you have an 8oot leash law there. It's not a problem until it's a problem. So we're not going to not have we're not going to disallow them and we're not going to not put a a a speed limit on them. So that is that that's what we've decided and I don't even know is it a issue for the the police firm because we don't we're not going to have an ordinance. It'll be a rules rules. I actually made a note miss Brandon. I'd be glad to attend the next meeting or be part of any discussion to Okay. Mr. Einor, if you did talk about ebikes on the path with

with Lieutenant Castello um he made a recommendation um as a part of that that discussion. Okay. Um we can continue the discussion that beful. Do you have something to add? I just made a note. I'll take a look at what our code says about I mean it depends on how you want to implement it, what solutions you want to have for somebody who violates, but that part of that discussion. Any other committee reports? Yes. Finance committee will meet again 15 minutes prior uh to the work session on no uh Thursday, November 13th. Thank you. Department report starting with Director Wilson.

Thank you, Mayor. Um, we have a new employee and she volunteered to come tonight.

This is, uh, Jenna Wigel. Um, she is, uh, our new administrative assistant in addition to our already administrative assistant, Laura. So, um, just filling in that position that was already in the budget. Um, so we're happy to have her. Um there's basically two major projects we're doing right now and it takes both take a lot of people. One is Christmas lights which uh consumes a lot of manpower and energy um and leaf removal. Uh we are not in the worst of the leaf removal yet but um we are uh definitely into it and the new new uh machines and trucks are working great. We're thankful to have it. Um, we it's proven to be more efficient and we're excited about that. So, um, you know, we've already seen a difference. Um, Ray called me earlier this week. He said, "Hey, can I pull one of these leaf machines? You know, we're we're doing really well out here." You know, so he's like he's seeing that like we can take some guys and um, you know, go help out, get some other random things done that that just are hanging out there or send a couple guys to go help with uh, Christmas lights and stuff like that. So, we're just already seeing the efficiency in that. So, um that's all. Thank you.

I want to thank you for what you did with that because leaves are always a big thing. Like snow and ice removal is always we get the most complaints about, well, you haven't plowed yet or the leaves are killing my grass. And I can say that the process that Director Wilson has implemented is going to improve that. I'd say two or three fold. I mean, what you have in place now is the best we've ever had. It's going to get it quickly. It's going to free up resources. That department's very very busy and I appreciate all you did with that. So, thank you for all your hard work. Director Gelati.

Yes, thank you. So, we already talked about the trail at Longwood Park. You probably talked about the ribbon cutting, I would think. Uh only other item to report on the storm sewer replacement in the tree in front of Aldi will be starting soon. Uh there will be periodic closures of just the curb lane uh in front of Aldi. uh otherwise we don't expect too many issues there uh in the report. Thank you, Director Eken Dorf.

Thank you, Mayor. Uh I just want to acknowledge and thank everybody who came and helped us uh partake in the Haunted Manor this past weekend. Um the grounds looked great, the inside of the house looked great. Um it was a great event. Uh we're looking forward to being able to build on that uh in the years uh moving forward. Um, as many have mentioned, uh, we've got our tra our pave trail ribbon cutting ceremony next Wednesday, October 29th at 5:30 p.m. Uh, it's going to be back by the pond area. Um, so, um, I encourage the community to come out and help us, uh, open up that trail officially and, uh, take an inaugural lap around so we can enjoy all the sites of the park that we're now now able to see with that uh, with that trail complete. Uh and finally, the rec center is uh is 25 this year. It opened up in the year 2000. So, we are going to have a week-long celebration November 10th through 14th uh with various activities and memories being shared throughout that week at the rec center. Uh so, look for more information coming out about that and a report.

Thank you, Director Varys. Thank you, Mayor. On the agenda tonight is ordinance number 76, 2022, which is the 2026 annual appropriation. I just want to thank council and the administration for all their hard work and helping me get this on the agenda tonight. Thank you. Thank you, Director Collins.

Uh thank you, Mayor. Uh the tech community said a formal goodbye to Windows 10 last week. Um if you're a home user, I would recommend that you either go through the process of signing up for the additional year of support that Microsoft has in place. It's a little bit of a tedious process, but I'd either recommend doing that or replacing your machine or looking for an alternative operating system such as Chrome OS to run on the machine. Um, I would just recommend that don't continue to use these machines if you're not getting security updates because you're going to be leaving yourself vulnerable. I wouldn't do banking and things like that on an insecure uh Windows machine. Unfortunately, they're the vast majority of the machines available on the planet and so they're the most targeted machines. So, make sure you guys keep yourself safe online, you keep yourself safe in real life, and we want to be just as safe online. End of report. Thank you.

Thank you, Assistant Commissioner Hen.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, starters, the sidewalk program is continuing. Um there'll be some meetings into the future on on how we're going to proceed with that, but um Nino and I thought it was important that we'd mention that we recommended that the contractor uh not uh take and remove any slabs this week between now and the trick-or-treaters. So concentrate on getting those that are open now poured so that uh to help the public and the kids running around and no one falls in any open holes. Uh so uh we definitely wanted to mention that. Um the new subdivision going in. I I talked to their inspector and by next week all the streets will be poured and that will give access to the electrical and gas companies to run their utilities. And so they're probably on schedule to start uh digging on probably a model home after the first of the year. And um of course uh you have other projects like the Holiday Inn and Divinity Landing. All those projects the public's going to start seeing those getting framed up now. I know one has started already on Valley View. And uh also uh we've been continuing our training on a new program in the building department. This will be very effective for the public. Uh they'll be able to access online, you know, permit submittals, reviews, and such. And also, it'll make the office a little bit more efficient, uh being that it'll be updated and be able to do a lot of things and store stuff on the computer. End of report.

Thank you, Director Smith. Thank you, Mayor. HR continues to prepare for our benefit open enrollment that's coming up um in uh late de uh November to early December and we're prepping for year end reporting end of report. Thank you Chief Ripley.

Thank you. Mayor spoke to Clarence again up at the North Pole where Dan he said it was snowing already. I just want to be clear with that. Said he looked like he was heading to Northeast Ohio. Santa will be here in Macedonia December 8th, 9th, and 10th and in Northfield Center on the 11th. There'll be more information coming out in all of our social media avenues with dates and times and locations. Other than that, as Miss Brandt likes to remind me because she needs to, November 2nd is time change. Change your smoke detector batteries. Even if they're hardwired, they have battery backup. If they are not hardwired, they are good for 10 years. So, you may not have to change them, but please check them. End of report.

Thank you, Chief Yakapovich. Thank you, Mayor. The Civil Service Commission met last Thursday and certified the civil service list for dispatch applicants. We have eight potential applicants on that list. We started interviews this week. End of report. Thank you. Director Gdetti report. Any unfinished business? Any new business?

I just uh want to take a moment to congratulate the Nordonia girls volleyball team for coming in second at the Suburban League this year and having a great season. Also, um congratulations to cross country on the end of a great season. And the band has been uh we we don't really mention the marching band too often here because they they've they've always been excellent since I've been in the band in the 90s and continuing on, but they have been getting excellent at their shows and will be going on to state soon. And so we wish them luck. Thank you. Do I have a motion to adjurnn? I'd like to make a motion to adjurnn. Second. All in favor? I opposed. We are adjourned.