City Council - Regular Meeting

Okay. Did anyone have Well, like I think that time is correct, so we'll go ahead. All right. Are we ready? Okay. I call to order and welcome you to the Middletown, Ohio City Council meeting for Tuesday, February 3rd, 2026. Please join me for a moment of meditation followed by the pledge of allegiance to the American flag. You will hear three taps of the gavl when it is time to stand. Please join me in a moment of meditation now. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you. Clerk of council, Mrs. Amy Skank, please call the attendance role. Mrs. Carter present. Mr. West here. Mr. Mulligan here. Mayor Slamama here. Mr. Li present. Thank you. Before we continue with the agenda, due to a timing issue for one of our presenters this evening, I will take a motion to move the envision strategic plan discussion from city manager reports to our second presentation of this evening to immediately follow the premier health cardiac save award presentation. Do we have a motion to move the envision strategic plan discussion to our second presentation? Motion. Is there a second? Second. It has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Hearing none, we will proceed to vote. Mrs. Gang, please call the role.

Mr. West, yes. Mr. Mulligan, yes. Mayor Slama, yes. Mr. Li, yes. Mrs. Carter, yes.

Yes. Half it. The motion passes. First on the agenda this evening, we have a presentation. And I would like to welcome Fire Chief Brian Wright to the podium. Good evening, mayor, members of city council. Thank you for the opportunity to stand before you this evening to recognize an extraordinary act of service tonight along with our EMS coordinator Karen Ward from Premier Health Atra Medical Center. She's here tonight to present Field Cardiac Save Award to members of your Middletown Fire Department, whose training, dedication, and expert response transformed a life-threatening emergency into a life restored. We are also honored to have the patient with us here this evening, an inspiring reminder of the profound and personal impact of their work. This successful outcome began even before our first responders arrived on scene under the guidance of our dispatcher Amy Scott from our ACOM. The patients wife acted without hesitation, initiating CPR immediately under dispatcher Scott's instructions. Her swift actions and composure in this critical moment were instrumental in saving her husband's life. The clear instructions provided her enough courage to follow them and made all the difference. The firefighters behind me tonight, they did not respond seeking recognition. Like so many in the profession, they answered the call because it is their duty. Through their skill, preparation, and seamless teamwork, they exemplified the very best of public service. This evening, we proudly recognize them not only for their professionalism, but for the life that they helped save. I'd like to invite down dispatcher Amy Scott,

firefighter paramedic Jacob Smith, firefighter paramedic Quinnland Smith, firefighter paramedic Bryce Norarker, firefighter EMT Evan Smith, and firefighter EMT Zack Fiser. Hand it over to Karen. Good evening, madame mayor and city council. It's my pleasure to give this award again. My name is Karen Bour. I'm the EMS coordinator at Atrium. Here with me today from the ED is Wendy Mitchell. She's our director. And then our ED manager, Susan Gable, as well. Okay. So, let me read so I don't forget anything. So, it's our pleasure to give this because it doesn't happen very often and we like to present this um award um in recognition of what they did. And I'm very happy that Mr. Tankersley came so he can um meet and just give handshakes and hugs if he needs to with the crew. So some statistics, did you know that over there's over 356,000 cardiac arrests every year? A lot of them u most of them are at home or the workplace. Half of those are witnessed by a bystander, but only 10% of those that survive do survive to go and be discharged from the hospital. So, it's a very low percentage. So, we want to start off with the story. So, today we recognize these crews and the dispatcher. They responded to 10:21 Hugh Street in Middletown on November 6th around 11:20 p.m. Patrick Tankersley was at home and having some chest pain about 30 minutes prior and then collapsed. His wife started CPR on him immediately. The fire department arrived in four minutes of dispatch and once they started the

process of advanced life support care. Dispatch Amy Scott helped start CPR over the phone and instructed the wife how to do it properly until EMS arrived. Mr. Tankersley was found unconscious with no breathing or pulse present. He was found lying on the floor with his wife doing CPR. This was a crucial intervention to Mr. Tankersley outcome with bystander CPR happening. Throughout Mr. Tankersley care by EMS, he was defibrillated four times. He had advanced life support medication provided and the fire department crew reached return of respon return return of spontaneous circulation uh during the transport. He started breathing on his own and the fire department obtained a 12 lead and this showed that he had a possible heart attack. So they called atrium prior to arrival arrival and notified them so atrium could have the heart cath lab ready. He also needed sedation because he was breathing so well and kind of fighting that uh they had to sedate him a little bit more. Mr. Tankersley arrived at atrium at midnight and then at 10:03 a.m. he was getting his blockage worked on. Amazing teamwork by all. While in the kath lab they found his midleft circumlex artery 100% accluded. This is a crucial vessel for oxygenating the left ventricle. Mr. Tankerly Tankers Lee was discharged from the hospital the next day. What an amazing job the wife, the dispatcher, fire department, and the team at Atrium did for this amazing outcome. So, do the certificates. Mr. Tankersley is going to come up and uh shake their hands and give them the challenge coins.

Come up as well. And then if he's up to it, he would like to say something. [laughter] There's this. So, Miss Ashley does not get one. Here's your certificate. Britney, we got you one for community hero. [laughter] All right. So engine 81 right Smith [laughter]

Mr. And that's it. Thank you for allowing us to do the presentation. [applause] [applause] [applause] Good evening.

Oh, let me just go ahead and go again. Okay. So, next we'd like to um invite Envision uh for the strategic planning discussion. We have Aml Liz Sinowaskki. You got it. Oh my gosh. And then Tom Mhler. Thank you for your graciousness. Please go ahead. Hi, I'm Amal Lisnansky, principal and co-founder with Envision and my colleague Tom Mhler. Good evening everyone. My name is Tom Mhler. I'm the director of public finance for Envision.

Appreciate this opportunity to work uh with you here over the uh upcoming year and we just wanted to give a brief overview of our project uh approach, a little bit about our background and a sneak peek at our retreat that we'll be facilitating uh later this week. Uh so just a little bit about myself. Um I've been doing this now over 20 years. I am a certified planner, engineer, and also an attorney. So don't hold that last piece against me. Um but it does help us when we think about the regulations and the programs that we develop. Um worked all across the state, but quite a bit of experience here in southwest Ohio. uh various Hamilton uh county suburban communities as well as the Butler County uh finance authority strategic plan just a couple years back. So, we've done a lot of work in this area and really looking forward um to getting started with this project.

And again, my name is Tom Muller. I'm the director of public finance for the Envision Group. Um I am a former retired city manager. Uh I was city manager in Mason, Ohio for almost 10 years. uh and then city manager in Madera, Ohio for nearly 34 years. So I've been retired now for uh a little over three years. I retired at the end of 2022 and then joined the Envision team. Um taught uh public budgeting and finance at Xavier University as well as the University of Cincinnati. Um and as you can see by some of the information that's provided on the stream screen here is that I was the OCMA president back in 1985 and 86. um and have uh obviously a lot of experience in city management and city administration. So looking forward to working with you on this.

Uh so just to briefly um recap on agenda this evening, want to introduce our team, talk a little bit about our approach and how we'll engage the community and stakeholders. Uh talk a little bit about our implementation focus and what this means for a strategic plan like yours and a sneak peek at the council retreat. Um so uh beyond Tom and myself um we are supported by Jennifer 6 who helps us with community and economic development. She's also a site selection consultant for businesses and incentives and she brings previous uh government experience working as a community development director in K Haga Falls a large similar size uh community outside Akran Ohio. Uh my co-founder and principal owner uh Ryan Smallley is an engineer and planner by trade. So he really kind of focuses in on that infrastructure and public works piece. And Jacob Bean is our newest addition and he is a grad student at Cleveland State University's urban planning school. He helps us out uh processing data, making those cool maps and making sure everything looks up to snuff. Uh but what I think is important about our team is we have a good mix of consulting experience in strategic planning and across all realms from uh master planning, land planning, infrastructure and economic development to having some staff uh on board like Tom and Jen that have sat on your side of the table and understand what it means to um lead staff, to organize a budget, to understand that you have finite resources and you have to make some tough decisions each year when it comes to implementing uh your vision. Uh so a little bit about what we call our four-phase approach. Our first phase um that will take about three months is what we call our assessment analysis. And we really lead off with this kickoff retreat to help us um do some goal setting and prioritization of those highlevel themes in the five uh pillars of your 2022 comprehensive plan. Um, over the next couple months, we're going to be looking through your procedures,

programs, your org charts, your budgets, your staffing, and seeing uh what other communities are doing that might be a best practice that can be applied um to your community. We're also going to be doing a whole bunch a couple dozen stakeholder interviews. So, that'll be um staff, department heads, uh local partners like nonprofits, chambers of commerce, business leaders. That's all part of our process and discovery um piece of this project. Uh the strategic framework piece will follow that. Phase two is really about setting that mission statement, goals, priorities, measurable objectives, performance metrics, and how do we uh measure success ultimately. The third phase uh August through October is the implementation strategy. So now we're getting into timelines, milestones, detailed financial planning, staffing, technology needs increasingly important. who are ultimately the responsible parties that are going to implement these different action items and uh also any kind of uh new programs or tools that might be afforded uh through federal programs through Ohio Revised Code through uh regional partners like BCFA or others. And the last piece um before the end of the calendar year is what we call our monitor and evaluation piece. And that's setting up a living document that you can look back at each month, each quarter, each year so that council, staff, um city manager can all be tracking progress on these different items and also have a mechanism at the end of a quarter, at the end of a year to say, hey, do we need to look back and maybe rep prioritize given there might be changes in the marketplace? um tax revenue, state law, federal law, all things that might change. We can't predict the future. So, we have to have a little bit of flexibility and we want to bake that into this final piece. Uh so, when we talk about stakeholder engagement, um the retreat is obviously our kickoff here in February, but we will have meetings of our steering committee um which will be comprised

primarily of city staff and department heads um with the opportunity to bring in some external partners as needed to help facilitate the process. They'll meet once uh across each of the four phases. Uh as I mentioned in the spring, we'll be doing uh about 24 estimated interviews with stakeholders. Uh we will come back to you guys at the end of the year as a legislative body um for formal approvals and whether that takes one meeting or several uh to work through the final document. Um I just want to again reiterate our emphasis on implementation. Uh what you see here on the screen is just a very high level summary of the Butler County Finance Authorities uh strategic plan we prepared a couple years ago. Um Joshua Smith's done great work with that and he's up and running. And this was just really an opportunity to say, "Hey, what do we want to do in the first six months? What do we want to do in you know months uh 7 through 24 and then years 3 to five?" Um yours is a three to five year vision here. So we're really trying to start with that comprehensive plan, see what's still relevant there, what needs to be moved to the top and then have an orderly mechanism for implementing and tracking. And just another example here for the city of Madera where we did a comprehensive plan actually twice for them and they brought in over 10 million in grant funding. This is a sample of how they had four pillars in their community. They picked two top priorities thematically uh each year and they kind of worked towards those goals and it helped them stay on track and it was something planning commission and council uh reviewed in addition to uh the city manager and assistant city manager. Um so I'm just going to let Tom speak a little bit about what's in store as he is a talented uh facilitator and has done this uh for 40 years worth of council. So he's been through this project uh process a lot.

Thank you. Um so you you've all received a copy of the agenda and so the first day on Friday we're going to uh use the comprehensive plan and those pillars that were identified as the focus areas for identifying uh goals and a prioritization. Um as Amal pointed out um as a former city manager I used to conduct our council retreats with the city councils and use a process called the nominal group technique. Um it it is structured but it it allows for a lot of flexibility in uh in eventually the goal setting process and the prioritization process. So we'll we'll start off very structured and then there'll be some opportunity for um I'll just call it free flow of dialogue and this will give everybody a chance to uh to be involved in the process and uh and again also come out of it with there's a quantifiable uh method to this to identify goals and and priorities. So we'll use that process and uh and there may be a little bit of deviation as we see how things are developing with the with the discussion but uh we'll try to we'll try to use the uh existing agenda as our as our focal point uh for those of the for those focus areas and get through the first day in in that regard. Um so that and again I'm going to say this again I'm going to say this probably several times over the weekend and uh we really thank you for the opportunity to do this. We're really looking forward to it. This is going to be a terrific project and um we've got a lot of um I think we've got a lot of good energy that we can uh we can provide a terrific product for you.

Thanks Tom. And I just want to uh stress that you know that first day is going to be going through each of those um five to six uh pillars that were in the comprehensive plan and implementation matrix and achieving priorities in each of the respective categories. And that day two, we're really going to come together and say, "Hey, we have these short lists of priorities in each of those uh six categories. Now, we want to look across all categories and see what really jumps to the top uh citywide." And we understand that some of these categories uh there's overlap in different themes. Uh so this is an opportunity where we have some different shred exercises to actually look at this spatially on some maps and also um share some new programs and opportunities uh that are being developed state, federal and regional levels. Uh so we think forward about new opportunities that might not be in the comprehensive plan. So I'd encourage you all to take a look at that homework between now and the retreat if you haven't. Come uh with any ideas. This is an open-ended process. So we'll start big. We'll cast a wide net and then we'll filter down as we go based on consensus and things like staff capacity, budgets, um, state law, those type of things. And with that, I welcome uh any questions from the group and thank you for your attention.

Thank you. Do we have any questions or comments from council? Well, it looks fantastic. Thank you so much for your work. Thank you for coming here tonight. Thank you. We're looking forward to it. Thank you for inviting us. We'll look forward to seeing on Friday morning. Thank you. Thank you both.

Uh next on our agenda is citizen comments, but we have received zero cit citizen comments. So we are complete with that. Uh so then next on the agenda would be our council comments. And we will begin to my left with council member Lai followed by vi vice mayor Carter and then to my right with council member west followed by council member Mulligan. Thank you so much and I will speak last. Mr. Lai.

Thank you, mayor. Uh first of all, I want to say uh congratulations and a job well done to the Middletown Division of Fire. It uh does me uh great uh gives me a great feeling when I see uh the Division of Fire, you know, helping people and and uh being successful out in the EMS and fire arena because uh uh [clears throat] you know, they they on a moment's notice you go from zero to 80 miles per hour and your heart rate um you know, just jumps up when you're presented with a a situation like that. But our our members of the Division of Fire and the Division of Police uh in those situations are are very well prepared and tonight was a result thereof. So hats off to the fire department, Chief Wright and his team. Uh secondly, I'm excited about the uh strategic plan that we're going to embark on this weekend. I can promise the citizens of Middletown this is that we will go in there with the sleeves rolled up and uh and and uh getting to a position where we will be on our way to making sure we implement good, strong leadership for Middletown. And we will do this through developing a strategic plan that addresses uh issues in Middletown and where we we can thrive. We will meet headon with the pillars of the past uh comprehensive plan. We will talk about neighborhoods as you've seen on the slide. We'll talk about uh how we can better our infrastructure. We'll talk about public health and safety.

We'll talk about uh um a thriving economy and how we how we work to to build our economy because that's that's where we have to be very successful because when we get a thriving economy and we increase our income taxes and then we're able to do things in the city, but then also we put business businesses in Middletown in a position that they are able to make money and and so I think it's incumbent upon all of us, you know, to take this seriously and and I promise the citizens of Middletown we will. And I'm very much a a big proponent of strategic plans. I can tell you this, in uh 2014, Middletown was went through some pretty bad times. Uh our police department lost 15 personnel. The fire department lost uh about 15 to 16 personnel. I can tell you in the fire department in 2014, we had we were down from 92 personnel when I was hired in 1989 to 64 total personnel. In 2015, we embarked on a strategic plan and we set a strategic plan in place. Um, and I can tell you what you saw today, for example, was was a result of strong and what strategic plans can do. We built four fire stations. We wouldn't have been able to do that if we did not have a strong strategic plan in place. So, those are some of the things that a strategic plan can do. I'm sure uh the other departments uh will be able to tell you the same thing and some strategic planning they've done, but it's time. We

looked at this city as a whole and we've got some exciting things ready to go in the city, but we need a plan. We need a strategy. Council needs to set the strategy and then we need to turn it over to city manager Combmes and her staff to implement it. So that's all I have. Mayor, thank you, Mr. Lai. Mrs. Carter, good evening. I just want to thank our first responders. I think they did a great job and it makes me proud to know that they're right there taking care. Thank you, Mrs. Carter. Mr. West.

Thank you, Mayor. Good evening, everyone. Uh, I'd like to echo Mr. Li's thoughts on the strategic planning session that we have coming up with Envision. look forward to collaborating um with them uh later this week. And likewise, I'd like to congratulate Chief Wright and the entire uh Middletown uh fire department for everything that they do for the community. And especially I'd like to call out, you know, the dispatch. You know, those moments uh as as crews respond, those are those are key, especially especially in a cardiac moment. And I'd like to thank Atrium for taking the time uh to recognize and honor, you know, first responders when those things happen. And uh one other thing, uh Chief Wright, if you could tell Narker, that that is one haircut, man. That thing's built for aerodynamics. I enjoyed it. Uh so thank you, mayor.

Thank you, Mr. West, Mr. Mulligan.

Thank you, Mayor. Um, I add my congratulations to the fire staff and and to dispatch. Um, uh, the care and professionalism that they provide on a daily basis is uh is evident uh to me and of course very tangible and the in saving the life of Mr. Tankersley. So um, congratulations and and thank you all for your service. I did uh separately have an opportunity to attend the annual meeting for the OKI Council of Regional Governments. It was a lunch today in Cincinnati. So, I'm I'm returning as the council liaison uh with a just a brief update. Uh for residents, OKI may not mean much, but it is an organization that's been around for a couple of decades, Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana regional council of government. So, I um gathered with many township trustees, uh city council members, staff members from various cities and townships. Um the guest speaker was uh Congressman Dave Taylor and he represents the second uh district in the state of Ohio uh represents the second district in Congress. Um and he he reported with an update that uh they are investigating uh you know feasibility for an interstate that would serve uh his district more the the southeastern part of Ohio. So that's the genesis of where those um ideas come from and that's how interstates get built more locally. uh OKI played a role in our central avenue enhancements in the streetscaping that was done uh several years ago, but that's a yearslong process to get the grant funding and the planning and and ultimately the the work that gets done uh laying the pavement. So that's that's the role that ai plays. Uh we also had a keynote address from Larry Crowder and he is the CEO of Cincinnati uh regional air Cincinnati international airport and um it reaffirmed his his talk today talked about the u improvements that are going

to be made at CVG but also in his talks he mentioned that while the the passenger travel will will be incremental growth the the real growth at CVG with with 16,000 jobs there it is like a small city unto itself over 7,000 acres. Um there's there's potential for more growth and more employment with DHL and Amazon and um happy to report there's the $300 million investment from GHL and it reaffirms what we're doing locally with Butler Tech and our aviation program. Uh but there certainly are jobs in maintenance, repair, and overhaul and and mechanical work for aircraft. So, I just wanted to bring that home and report back to council to say that, you know, the things that we do here at Middletown uh in in providing a good opportunities for workforce development certainly will will pay dividends in the region. Uh but thank you, mayor.

Thank you, Mr. Mulligan. That was wonderful. Yes, OKI is is such a wonderful organization doing so much for the tri-state um Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana. And I'm I'm pleased and pleased that you will be the liaison. That's wonderful. Um, I did want to also uh congratulate our fire department. Seeing them do their work is is is life-changing. Really, it has been for me. Whenever I get to ride along with our police, with whenever I get to ride along with our firefighters, um I am moved and um very much impressed. So, I also want to bless you. I also want to um just offer my gratitude for everything you do every day. And again, like Mr. West was saying, um, Ms. Britney was just incredible. I believe her name was Britney. Is that correct, Mrs. Thank you. Um, I can't that moment. I'm just so grateful for the work that everybody does. So, thank you so much. Um, I would like to go ahead and also talk again always about what our community does uh each and every day for each other and the things that we do in the community to keep the community alive. Um, places to go, people to see for our residents and a little bit about what we're doing. So, for those of you again who are interested in viewing the CMC properties proposal for the Manchester site in downtown, please do visit our website at city of Middletown. um and scroll down to the latest news on the homepage and click on city projects. From there, you'll want to go to downtown refresh. Scroll down and then go to downtown refresh documents. And once you click on that, if you scroll all the way down, you'll see the link for the Manchester CMC properties RFQ. And I do recommend reading that entire proposal so you can get an idea of what we're looking at. Also, as we discussed during our presentation, the city council, like I said, just want to reiterate reiterate, we will have that work session this this Friday and Saturday, August 20th and 21st at

Houston Woods for the strategic planning session. Also, this Saturday, February 21st, is an event called Too Good to T toss. It's a community resale market located at the Windmir at 2 South Main Street in beautiful and historic downtown Middletown. The event begins at 10 a.m. and closes at 3 PM. And for more information, you can visit downtownmittletown.org. Later that night this Saturday, February 21st, you can attend Signs of Life, the Pink Floyd experience located at the beautiful historic Sorg Opera House. This show delivers the music, emotion, and energy of a true Pink Floyd concert with eight standout musicians and a production team focused on creating a rich and immersive sound. The show pulls you in and keeps you there. It feels big, it feels alive, and it feels like Pink Floyd. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit soroperhouse.org. And then I have a couple save the dates. Please do save the date for the very popular Girl Scout cookie walk hosted by DMI Downtown Middletown, Inc. The event takes place Saturday, March 7th from 12:00 p.m. to 4 p.m. This is a great way to support local business and have fun. For more information, please visit downtownmittle middletown.org. And that same evening, Saturday, March 7th, please save the date for Bourbon and Barbecue located at the Event Center of Middletown presented in partnership with the Middletown Rotary. beginning at 6 pm and ending at 9 pm. Get ready for an evening of smoky flavors and smooth spirits. For more information, including ticket prices, please visit city of middletown.org. As a reminder, the city of Middletown accepts applications for our boards and commissions throughout the year. So, if there is something that you have an interest in and you'd like to give back to your city in this way, please do submit your application. To learn more, please visit the city's website at cityofmiddtown.org. And then lastly, and as always, there are many ways to get involved with your community and give back. Join a border commission. Run for office. Apply for a job with the city. Volunteer at the hospital. Pick up trash in your neighborhood or park. Plant a garden in your yard. Smile at a neighbor. Find joint satisfaction for a job well done in whatever work you do. Or just have a positive and giving attitude. Find something that you can do regularly and give back. We are all connected and we

are all in this together. The care of our city is an adventure in which we all get to share. That's all for me tonight. And this concludes our council comments. Next on the agenda is the city manager report. City Manager Miss Ashley Combmes, you have the floor. Good evening, everyone. So, we have a couple of other presentations this evening. So, first I'd like to up have up first is Troy Anderson, our information systems director. He's going to give a brief presentation on the.gov domain migration. [clears throat]

Good evening, Mayor and Council. Um, we are coming tonight asking for approval to submit a grant to move uh the city of middletown.org domain to a.gov domain. And you may wonder why would we want to do that? Well, there's a lot of things that come with that. Some of it is um trust and legitimacy. Um only the federal government can issue.gov domains, so you can't just go out and buy one. Fraud prevention. um 15% increase in in government um impersonation attempts. So they do what's called cyber squatting. They hope you type the name wrong and next thing you know there you are. Well, that's very difficult to do with a.gov because they can't buy everything around your name. Um also built in cyber security. So by accepting the grant we um take on um scans both external scans and we work with the state of Ohio through their um cyber security team to work with them. and they're all free services that are enacted by us taking by taking the grant. Um some of the eligible expenses that we're looking to get recovered is obviously there's a lot of work in the domain migration for things like email website updates um consulting. We have a lot of security that have just been in place that we might have to change do the the.gov change. Um we need to tell people about it. It's something that um they need to know that we're here. we're back and we're we're as secure as we can be and that anybody can be. So by moving to that doved dov I [snorts] cannot say that.gov domain just again lets them know that we are a government entity and uh gives a little more um security.

Mr. Anderson, would you please move the microphone down? Thank you. Well, it's just for the recording. Thank you.

Um so some of the requirements for the domain names are on the left. Um we have not come up with a domain name yet. We have a couple ideas on the right. Um, we are very limited in what we can do. So, we could do a Middletown O. Um, a lot of places will do um the city name-oh. So, Hamilton has done Hamilton-oh. We could do Middletown-oh. We could do Middletown Ohio. We could do city of Middletown Ohio.gov. So, really, we we don't really need to have that name until March 13th is which the application deadline. That's when I will let them know what domain it is that um we have chosen to move forward with. We can um decide that between now and then. Um what we cannot do would be abbreviations, things that we may want. Again, it's got to be your city name. You can use the city of city of if you'd like, but again, we'd like to keep those shorter because every email address you don't it's already gotten kind of long. So, we want to keep the domains as short as possible. Um, and just to recap the request, the the grant total is $9,500 max with a 20% match. Um, we have not calculated all the cost yet to do the migration. We're in process of doing that now pending your approval. Um, we do not think we'll be near $9,500, but there's a lot of things that say city of middletown.org. Um, police cruisers, brand new police cruisers may have that domain on the back of them, things of that nature. So, business cards, just a lot of expenses that you don't think of with a migration. Um, it is going to be a migration. It will not be just a straight cut. So, we would still listen to the city of Middletown.org emails and websites. You would just get then automatically converted over to the.gov after you hit enter. So, that's all we have. Any questions about that?

Any questions or comments from council? I think it's a good deal. Thanks for your work on this. Thank you. There is no cost for us to get the domain as well. So that's it's just a match. So any any expenses we occur, we're just looking to recover, but there is no cost on go for any of the services that come with the grants. I did have a question about um how long this might take because it sounds like we would be able to use the um org while we're implementing the.gov, how long do you expect the whole migration would take? Well, I think that depends on us our our how how tolerant we are to change, right? So again, that's on the citizen, not the citizens, but staff, you as well to get that out there, the hey, my new email is this. So again, I expect a hard cut

2027. Okay. And we'll listen through city of middle town.org, get everybody timed to learn that, know that, and then in 27 then we'll just stop the city of we'll still own it and not get rid of it, of course, but um just stop using it as as our primary domain and still just listen to it as a secondary just to catch things that come down. And given what you just said about, you know, business cards and all those little things that you don't think about from what you've looked at um and investigated, sounds like you said we might not even need the whole 95, but perhaps. Okay. That's just something we need to reach out and say, you know, what do we want to apply for the grant? What is reimburseable? We're going through that right now. Okay. In this period. So, perfect. Well, thank you. Any other questions or comments? All right. Thank you very much, Mr. Anderson.

Thank you. Next, I'd [clears throat] like to welcome up Kate Marorrow for the Middletown Arts Center presentation.

Just please do adjust the microphone. Speak directly into it. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Can you hear me? We can hear you, but it's helpful for the recording.

Okay. Hi. Um, thank you, council, mayor, and city manager for having me here tonight. I could put my glasses on. Um so, um I'm just going to start right in with the good stuff. Um last year, um you know, you all helped us uh create a lot of momentum with your investment. Um you invested $45,000 in the Middletown Arts Center, uh making that the beginning of our municipal partnership. And um you know we pretty much doubled our number of visitors. Um you invested in momentum and we delivered. So we're really excited about that. Um we doubled our reach in one year. Um which is you know pretty tremendous. Um in 2025 we launched our annual event series. Um and we grew from 7,000 to 14,500 visitors in just one year. That kind of growth doesn't just happen by accident. Um, it happens because there's demand, there's strategy, and there's community support. Um, our vision was simple but ambitious. Uh, we wanted to bring just more free, vibrant art experiences to the heart of downtown, and your partnership helped make that a reality. Um, I thought about talking a lot about all of these different events, but I think what would really encapsulate it more is just a short one minute video. So, if you don't mind, I wanted to show that to you. Um, I'm going to start that.

Heat. Heat.

[music] [music]

I was hoping a video would show a little bit more about, you know, our community just enjoying these events. Um, they're activating downtown 12 months a year. They bring people downtown daily in the evenings and on weekends, um, drawing regional visitors, uh, to Middletown throughout the year. And that growth is rooted in our mission which is education um exhibition and community outreach. Um so we're there's a lot of exciting revitalization happening in downtown Middletown and we are really thrilled to be right at the center of it. Um the with the $15 million investment in downtown by the city, county, and the community foundation, that's a really amazing commitment uh to Middletown's future. But revitalization requires more than just buildings. It requires people and events and uh reasons to come down consistently. And the MAC is part of that growing walkable arts district. We provide activation 12 months a year, you know, not just for a weekend festival um or a limited event. We've got 30 plus annual events um all year long and educational programming bringing residents, you know, downtown all year. Um your support would strengthen the infrastructure of downtown. Um the MAC strengthens its heartbeat. um our education um by the numbers we have over 2,200 hours of educational programming a year. Um that's instructed annually by and employed by over third 35 local art educators. So we have 35 teachers that teach with us every year. We invest um back into the local economy by paying our working artists um our instructors and providing artists an opportunity to sell their work. And this supports the creative workforce, keeping our residents engaged downtown. Basically, we just we connect people

with art. Um, all ages and all abilities. Um, our education or I'm sorry, our exhibitions are free and open to the public. Um, ensuring that everybody has equitable access to the arts and culture in downtown Middletown. Our free events um not only have art, but they've got live music and free food and drinks um for people to enjoy. We host um more than 20 exhibitions annually um and exhibit over 600 artists. Um and that impact actually extends beyond our walls, too. We have tens of thousands of residents that and visitors that engage with art across the city. We have um several satellite exhibit locations with our community partners. We were especially um proud to bring back our satellite exhibit right here in the city building on the second floor this year and we hope you all have been enjoying that. We partner with over 50 uh regional organizations to ensure access to the arts. So over 50 and that that number is actually growing. That's probably larger now. Um over 1,000 individuals are served um annually through free programming. So that's completely free. All reported as economically um disadvantaged. So what have we done so far just this year in 2026? Um this just this month alone, we've welcomed um about 200 elementary students for field trips and art making activities. We've hosted lots of teenagers too from a couple of different high schools. Our free teen art club that meets twice a week. Um we had more than 300 students and families attend a recent Middletown City Schools and

Tomorrow's Artist Today teen um art openings. Um last week the center was very loud with a a teen grunge rock band um from Butler Tech performing at our craft and uh craft and crush Valentine's event. Um, these programs really just create needed free opportunities and safe places for teens to be able to connect and ensure that art is for everyone. So, um, one important thing to know is that, uh, this growth is sustained. It's not just a one-time uh, one-year spike. Over the past five years, we've demonstrated growth in all of these areas. So, when you're um investing in us, you're in investing in um a nonprofit that has solid footing. Um every dollar invested in the MAC circulates directly through local artists, instructors, staff, and partners. And we're an investment that continues to have a positive economic impact within our community. Um we are requesting um our partnership funding request is $54,000 which maintains our 10% uh partnership. Um our operating budgets grown uh substantially to accommodate um the operational infrastructure. So this sort of scales with that. Um we, you know, uh have a board of governors that oversees all of our fiscal and strategic planning. So that is in place. Um for nearly 70 years, the MAC has been part of this city's identity and we're building on that legacy with real growth and we just respectfully request your annual support.

So do you have any questions? Thank you, Miss Marorrow. Any questions or comments from council at this time? Now, Kate, I just want to say thank you. Uh the MAC is, you know, amazing and and like you said with uh a lot of the proposed changes downtown, you're right. I mean, you're you're in the perfect spot. So, this is I, you know, it's it's important. The the art centers, you know, big fan. Um the number of events that you do is pretty astounding. And uh so I can only speak for myself, but I would I would support

I want to echo that too. I I think of you know the support we give financially to organizations. This is probably one that we do that truly is really for for the good of the community where everybody everybody actually can can use and be a part of myself. I I can't draw stick man, [laughter]

but I tried. I did take part a few years ago in the fundraiser where I I uh did a painting that was sold at the Middletown Art Center annual and I did draw in $750 for my the drawing I did with the help of Peggy Treble. I think Peggy did most of it. Um I I think the police drawing got a $145. Don't tell Don't tell Chief Muter Spo I said that [laughter] he drew his his dog and it was actually was pretty good. I did the drawing of the fire at the Rucker building and the only reason why mine got most money is because my sister bought it. [laughter]

Sisterly love there. We should bring tender to all of you. But it it's incredible, like Councilman West said, of everything you do up there. Uh, from doing education stuff, things adults can do, getting people downtown. I I think um, city manager Combmes, we the the funds that we normally take this out of, how are we looking? Looking very good. So, it's the civic development fund and we have approximately 73,000 in there. Okay. You know, I I have no problem supporting this 100%. Any other comments or questions from council?

No, it's all very positive. I I guess with I I look at it more globally in the sense um if there if there's a way to capture all requesting organizations that would be part of that fund. I mean, I I don't like to have city council being a a foundation. I mean, we're not in the business of um I mean, we are in a way indirectly supporting nonprofits, but I um I wanted to bring this up at the retreat, but now your request sort of makes it important tonight, but if there's a way that we can structure this so that um you know, city council is not necessarily um on the front lines of of evaluating the worthy No. And there's no question that MAC is worthy of of support from the community. Uh the question is whether it's the the role always the role and function of of a city council or city government to to underwrite the the great work that you're doing. I just that's a question because I wouldn't want um you know while the while the balance sheet is strong now I wouldn't want it to be u counted upon if if there's a recession happens and and we're not able to be generous in our support. So I just I just I support it but it was a little bit of caution. And so I'd rather have it as part of a broader discussion about what council and what staff is going to do to support various nonprofits.

I might add that um if I may that um the MAC is a little bit unique from other nonprofits and that um m municipal support of the arts and the arts centers um is um widely spread. Um so that's maybe a little bit different than other nonprofit support. if you look across the state and across um the country that it's um very common practice for um m municipalities to support their um local art centers. Sometimes it's even built into the parks and recck department. Um but if they're not that um you know a 10% support is is not un unheard of and it is common practice. So if that helps.

Thank you for that. Uh would you like to chime in at this point? Um, I would also like to say just thank you so much. I think you know that I'm a big fan of our Middletown Art Center. Um, having taken classes there all my life, my sisters and I, since we were children at the children's youth workshop, young young artist workshop. My father took classes there when he was a young man, excuse [clears throat] me, and I continued even as an adult. um what you said to tonight that was especially salient to me was how you provide needed opportunities, needed free opportunities and safe spaces for our teens to connect. That's one of the biggest things our residents say is that we need things for the youth for the young ones but also for the teens especially for the teens. So I really appreciate that. I'd love to find even more out about that and have some learn more. So thank you so much if there's nothing else and we will continue. So, how do how are we going to proceed with this? Do we want to direct staff to bring us

legislation to fund this?

So, uh what what I would say is um what what we've done in the past is have some kind of documentation or you know partnership agreement that we would put together for council's consideration. Okay. Great. Yeah. So much for your time. Thank you. I appreciate it. That's all for me. Thank you. All right. That's all for Miss Combs. Thank you so much, Miss Combmes. So, next on the agenda this evening is the consent agenda. And while the consent agenda is generally for consensus items, do any council members wish to remove anything from the cons consent agenda this evening and move it to the motion agenda? No.

All right. Seeing none, we will uh continue. Mrs. Skank, please present the consent agenda. For consideration this evening, we have the approval of the city council minutes of February 3rd, 2026 to receive and file the board and commission minutes of the cemetery board July 16th and October 15th, 2025. the planning commission minutes of October 8th and November 12th, 2025, the architectural review board of September 30th, 2025, and the board of health minutes of January 13, 2026 to confirm the conditional appointment of Tavon Crosby to position of patrol officer in the Department of Public Safety, Division of Police. to confirm the conditional appointment of Luke Modesto to the position of economic development program manager in the community and economic development department to receive and file an oath of office for Jame Faul James Falner and approve the final plat of renaissance section 13.

Thank you. Mrs. Skank, is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? Motion. Is there a second? Second. It has been properly moved and seconded to accept the consent agenda. We will proceed to vote. Mrs. Gank, please call the role. Mr. Mulligan, yes. Mayor Slamama, yes. Mr. Li, yes. Mrs. Carter, yes. Mr. West, yes. Yes. Have it. The consent agenda is approved. The next agenda item is the motion agenda. We have two uh items this evening. Mrs. Skank, please present item A of the motion agenda

to approve the purchase of a 2026 CAT 420007A backho loader and hammer attachment from Ohio CAT in the amount of $159,000 for the water distribution division. Thank you, Mrs. Skank. Do I have a motion to approve item A to approve the purchase of a backho loader and hammer attachment for the water distribution division in the amount of $159,000? Motion. Is there a second? Second. Having been properly moved and seconded, is there any discussion? Hearing none, we will proceed to vote. Mrs. G, please call the role. Mayor Slama, yes. Mr. Li, yes. Mrs. Carter, yes. Mr. West, yes. Mr. Mulligan, yes.

Yes. Have it. And the motion passes. Mrs. Gang, please present item B of the motion agenda to approve applying for and accepting the round three.gov domain migration grant from the Department of Homeland Security and the state and local cyber security grant program. The grant will award up to $9,500 with a 20% match to cover costs associated associated with migrating to a.gov domain. Thank you. Um, Miss Combmes, the staff report, please forgive me. I have nothing further to add unless you had more questions for Mr. Anderson.

Any other further questions at this time? No. All right. Thank you very much. And do I have a motion to approve item B to approve applying for and accepting the round three.gov domain um migration grant awarding up to $9,500 with a 20% match to cover associated costs with migration from a dot to a.gov domain for the city. Motion. Is there a second? Second. Having been properly moved and seconded, is there any discussion? Seeing none, we will proceed to vote. Mrs. G, please call the role. Mr. Li, yes. Mrs. Carter, yes. Mr. West, yes. Mr. Mulligan, yes. Mayor Sama,

yes. The yeses have it, and the motion passes. This concludes the motion agenda. The next item on the agenda this evening is legislation. We have four items of legislation this evening. Law director, Mr. Alex Yuing. The legislation, please. Item number one, ordinance number 02026-06, an ordinance providing for the issuance and sale of notes in the maximum principal amount of $4,950,000 in anticipation of the issuance of bonds for the purpose of paying the cost of the acquisition by the city of approximately 30 acres of real real property along Union Road and State Route 122 for a multi-use development demolition of existing ing structures and the design, engineering and construction of public infrastructure, including but not limited to [snorts] water, sanitary sewer and storm sewer utilities, roads, traffic signals and controls, curbs, gutters, intersections, sidewalks, lighting and related infrastructure together with all necessary impertinances thereto all in support of economic development and job creation within the city. Second reading.

Thank you, Mr. Yuing. Miss Combmes, do you have anything to add? I do not. Thank you. All right. Thank you, Miss Combmes. Is there a motion to approve the ordinance? Motion. Is there a second? Second. It has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Seeing none, we will proceed to vote. Mrs. Skank, please call the role. Mrs. Carter? Yes. Mr. West? Yes. Mr. Mulligan? Yes. Mayor Slam? Yes. Mr. Li, yes. Yes. Have it. And the legislation passes. Mr. Ying, the next item, please. Item number two, ordinance number 02026-07, an ordinance approving the revised final development plan for the Havenwood plan development on Town Boulevard. First reading. Thank you, Miss Combmes. The staff report, please.

I have nothing further to add from the public hearing. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Combmes. As this is a first reading, there is no action to be taken at this time. However, is there any discussion from council? Right. Hearing none, we will proceed. Mr. Yuing, the next item, please. Item number three, resolution R2026-02, a resolution approving and adopting the Middletown Historic Preservation and Revitalization Plan. First reading. Thank you, Miss Combmes, the staff report, please.

Yes. So, this is to seek city council approval for the updated historic preservation plan following historic commission's approval. The proposed final draft of the historic preservation plan updates the original 1980 plan. It includes six chapters addressing the importance of historic preservation, outlines Middletown's historic landmarks and districts, provides guidelines, and showcases the city's architectural styles. It also features an implementation plan and resources for city the city and property owners. Public input was gathered during a two-eek comment period from April 3rd to April 17, 2025, resulting in 39 comments that were incorporated into the plan. On September 19th, 2025, the historic commission approved the direct plan. Approval from city council is needed for that plan to take into effect. [clears throat] Thank you, Miss Combmes. As this is a first reading, there's no action to be taken at this time. However, is there any discussion from council? All right. Seeing none, we will continue. Uh, Mr. Yuing, the last item, please. Item number four, ordinance number 02026-08, an ordinance amending the effective date of the 2026 water rates and declaring an emergency.

Thank you. Miss Combmes, the staff report, please.

In October 2023, the city council approved legislation to establish water and sewer rates for a 5-year period from 2024 to 2028. This decision followed a water and sewer rate study which was conducted to anticipate increases in operational cost and capital investment requirements. The findings and recommendations from that study were presented at a special council meeting on August 15, 2023. The overall rate structure was adjusted in 2024. Additionally, rate increases for the years 2025 to 2028 were approved as follows. 2025 for water, a 15% increase, sewer 0%. 2026, a 15% water increase, 0% for sewer. 2027, water was 7% with sewer being 4%. In 2028, water was 7% with sewer being 4%. Staff is proposing to delay the 15% increase scheduled for 2026 by 6 months due to the utility billing issues stemming from the cyber security incident. This delay will give customers the opportunity to catch up on back payments from August 2025 before the 2026 rates take effect. The financial impact is that the 15% rate increase is expected to generate an additional 2,214,981 in 2026. If delayed, that would reduce by half. Staff will adjust the future capital investment budgeting based on the revenue reduction. This is emergency legislation because this will need to take effect immediately before the annual utility rates increase for the February billing cycle. Thank you very much, Miss Combmes. Is there a motion to approve the ordinance?

Motion. Is there a second? Second. Has been properly moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Um I had uh some questions. I was wondering because um we're doing this because of the cyber incident and we have the grace period of the cyber incident until the end of August. I'm wondering would it work for for staff? Could we could we extend this to the end of August and start in September? Would that work? Or is there an issue for capital improvements? Mr. Scott Tatage of public works. Thank you. So, it may be more of a question for finance, but so the the rate changes are a month behind anyways.

So, realistically, they might not see it until August. Um, we can confirm that. I mean, if we have to adjust it again, we can, of course, but um I think it's it's almost going to end up happening simultaneously anyways with the six months delay. Okay, that makes sense. Yes. All right. Well, thank you for that. And that's my only question at this time. Okay. Thank you. Thank you.

And just so people understand a point of clarification here, this rate increase was voted in in August of 2023. This rate increase has nothing to do with the cyber attack. What the mayor said was because of the cyber attack, we're ex we're pushing out when we'll impose the rate increase. And I think that's a good thing for the for people to understand for I I think we're doing the right thing. But once again, this rate increase because of and and Scott, correct me if I'm wrong. You know, we're we're looking at the $235 million sewer

uh we've got to do. So, for example, we're building a close to 9 plus million dollar water tank right now to upgrade our system along with the improvements in the well field at the treatment plant. Uh water main jobs or water mane replacement jobs constantly as you saw the last couple weeks that's been a an issue. So, it it's all related to that investment to our infrastructure both on the water and the sewer side. Correct. So, and I just wanted to make sure people understand this has nothing to do with the cyber attack at all.

Yeah, thank you for for that clarification. The extension was because we wanted to give that grace period. So, thank you for clarifying that. And yes, it does say that this is because of an increase in operational cost and capital improvement cost there. We we have to do it. So, maintain our infrastructure, right? To maintain our infrastructure, which we all want, right? We don't want to end up like Flint, Michigan, folks. Exactly. All right. Any other comments or questions at this time? Thank you so much, Mr. Tadich. Okay, we we will now proceed to vote. Mrs. Skank, please call the role. Mr. West, yes. Mr. Mulligan, yes. Mayor Slam, yes. Mr. Li, yes. Mrs. Carter, yes.

The yeses have it. And the legislation passes. This concludes the legislation for the evening. The next item on the agenda is unfinished business. Do any council members have anything under unfinished business that they would like to present? All right, seeing none, that concludes unfinished business. The next item on the agenda is new business. Do any council members have any new business they would like to present this evening? Seeing none, that uh concludes our new business as well. So, the next item on the agenda is executive session. Do I hear a motion to move to executive session under the authority of OC21.22G1 22G1 to consider the appointment, employment, dismissal, discipline, promotion, demotion, or compensation of a public employee or official. Motion.

Thank you. Is there a second? Second. It has been properly moved and seconded to move to executive session. Is there any discussion? Hearing none, we will proceed to vote. Mrs. Gang, please call the role. Mr. Mulligan, yes. Mayor Slam, yes. Mr. Li, yes. Mrs. Carter, yes. Mr. West, yes. Yeses have it. And the motion passes. Council will now move to executive session.