City Council - Regular Meeting

All right. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. The time is 7.30 p.m. on Tuesday, September 8th. We're at the Twinsburg Government Center, and I'm going to call the regular council meeting to session. Shannon, please call the roll.

Mr. Bellin. I'm here. Mrs. Labbe. Here. Mr. Bonacci.

Here.

Mr. Fury. Here. Mr. Castillo.

Here.

Mrs. Walker. Present. Mr. Post.

All right. Mrs. Labbe will be leading us in the invocation and pledge of allegiance this evening.

Father, you guide and govern everything with order and love. Look upon the assembly of our city leaders and fill them with the spirit of your wisdom. May they always act in accordance with your will and their decisions be for the peace and well-being of all. Amen. Amen.

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 mr levy has everybody had a chance to review the minutes from the august 25th 2026 regular council meeting

second mr fury makes a motion mr castillo seconds shannon please call the roll mr fury yes mr castillo yes mr bellin yes mr bonacci yes mrs walker yes mrs labby yes all right approval the minutes passes six to zero as submitted are there any awards and presentations this evening there are none do we have any audience participation this evening we do first we have karen clinton Mrs. Clinton, good evening.

Hi. I ran out of time earlier. I wanted to read something to you. This isn't me. This is the law. This is, I'm sure everybody remembers this case because it was in Hudson, which is just a town over. And I'm sure that our law director, Mr. Bozana, knows it well. And that would have been Karen Archinkoff versus Hudson and or Hudson versus Archinkoff. This was the ruling on political signs, and it was the same rationale. She had a larger sign than this gentleman felt that she was entitled to, and they did the same thing. They actually fined her $2,900 and went on to pursue this ridiculous quest that they were on. The end result was they went to court, and they went to the high court, and the high court ruled, this is what intelligent judges in the judicial ruled as their ruling. The ruling, the appellate court ruled in Hudson v. Arshamcoff that the city's strict limitation on size and political signs was unconstitutional, and violated First Amendment free speech protections as well. Both, it covers both. All you have to do is look at the court ruling, look at the law, and it's there. You can't do it. You can't tell me to come down here and give you $25 so you can give me a permit to tell me I can have this sign. It was ridiculous. I have multiple areas to put it in. large enough areas that supported it. It wasn't overwhelming. It was big enough for people to see that that wasn't good enough. So you had to go on this quest because you're unhappy with the sign. It's ridiculous. And it's against the law. So you sent that down there knowing that you couldn't. You led Summit County to believe that you had the authority to collect the money, which you didn't. It wasn't adjudicated. So that's the law. Admit it. Just admit it. And I hope I'm uncovering that just for me, but it would be interesting to take a good look, peek back for a few years, and just see how many people that this has happened to. Thank you.

Thank you.

Next, we have Andrea Spisky.

Good evening. Please state your name and address for the record.

Andrea Spisky, 2372 Sandalwood Drive. Good evening, Mayor, Council, everybody in attendance. My name is Andrea and I've been a resident for about 10 years now. I just wanted to confirm that you all received an email that I sent to Greg and Chuck yesterday about the city's renewal of the flock cameras. Basically, my husband and I are extremely concerned about the renewal of the camera system. After doing a little bit of research about the company, and I go into detail in my email with references, all I simply request is that you all read it, do some research, and take it into consideration before your vote at the end of the month. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Again, I can't speak for my colleagues. I did receive it, and I forwarded it on to them. I believe they all read it. And thank you very much for a very well-crafted, researched document. Thank you.

A lot of links to look into. Thank you very much. I read your letter.

Thank you.

That's all we have this evening. All right. Thank you very much. Moving on to council communications and committee reports this evening. Mr. Castillo, I'll start with you this evening.

Good evening. I'll just make it very quick. Tonight we had our capital improvements board meeting. thank you christina for working diligently to put together these presentations for us to review and for the committee to speak up on we had i.t parks and rec economic development and the golf course in attendance this evening the uh the committee or the board will meet next tuesday they will review the different items and vote on them so we're looking forward to that Following that, our BZA meeting is scheduled for 928, and we haven't had a meeting since. One thing I would just ask is if we're able to put the PowerPoint links onto my Together Twinsburg, where people can just kind of gather that and see what different presentations that were out there. Other than that, we're good. Thank you. Thank you.

Mrs. Walker, good evening. Good evening, everyone. Regarding public safety and fitness advisory, these are two of the things that I will be talking about. I visit, thank you, some of the businesses in the city of Twinsburg, so right now I can't say anything about it yet. Okay, thank you.

Thank you. Mrs. Labbe, good evening.

Good evening. None of my committees have met since the last meeting. The next JEDI meeting is September 14th at 6 o'clock, and the next planning meeting is September 21st at 6.30. Thank you.

Thank you. I hope everybody had a safe and relaxing Labor Day weekend. Thank you, Mr. Costello, for the report about the CIB. As Mrs. Levy mentioned, next finance is Tuesday, September 22nd at 6 p.m. The next school board relations meeting is scheduled for Thursday, September 10th at 6 p.m. here in Chambers. Next public works will be on Tuesday, October 13th at 6 p.m. here in Chambers. And the next meeting of the Safety Committee will be on Tuesday, November 10th at 6 p.m. here at Chambers. Mr. Fury.

Following up on the Finance Committee meeting, so the capital improvements is going to be done next week. So typically, the Capital Improvements Board does a presentation of the finance meeting.

Correct. So voting will be next Tuesday, and then the presentation will probably hold it in conjunction with the finance meeting. So why don't we do a 6 o'clock start?

I was going to say, that's where I was going with this. We talked about 6.30 at the last meeting, and I thought maybe we need a little more time. So thank you. Mr. Bones already mentioned the School Board Relations Committee, which I'll be attending. And that's all I have right now. Thank you. Mr. Benanti.

Good evening. Since the last meeting, I attended the September 3rd Architectural Review Board meeting where case number 26921 was heard. of really extensive front porch roof and refacing of a house 2703 post road was approved for zero. Also earlier this evening I attended the capital improvements board meeting and. heard what Sean reported on and headed over to the firehouse for the swearing in of to do fire officers and then also attended the program that TIM hauser mentioned. It was quite an impressive program. The artwork of the kids, the support of our community, was such an important topic to be able to bring that to our community. It was a heavy lift for Tim, and it was well done. And thank you, Mayor, for being there. And looking forward to our Safety Forces Day coming up. That concludes my report.

Thank you. Mr. Mayor, good evening. Good evening. Thank you. Good evening, everyone. I have a couple items. I'd like to start out with some feel-good stories that we have here in the city of Twinsburg. The Ohio EPA, which is located on Route 82, and they've been there for several years, they were looking to relocate. And so they look for several buildings and, you know, down in Columbus, they come around and they go around and they look at these buildings as well to see where they're going to relocate one of their offices. So after going through several areas, we had a building or we have a building on Canyon Falls that used to be the Vision RX call center, okay, which is a very nice building. If you go down, you know, Canyon Falls, it's a beautiful street still. So after the state came in and evaluated all these several buildings and several cities, they decided that Canyon Falls was the place that they should move that office to. So we were on the brink of possibly losing them after all these years. And fortunately, we didn't lose them, and they stayed in the city. And I think that says a lot for our community. It speaks volumes for what we have here in Twinsburg, what we've built here in Twinsburg, those of us that have been around for a long time. This is the kind of atmosphere that we've created and the business community we've created. And so I really, really appreciate that. And I appreciate them moving over there. And they're going to be in there, I think, within the next month or so. So we're happy to hear that. But speaking of pride, on September 9th, I attended a ribbon cutting for a recently opened business called Chisel Contours. And that's in the Town Center Plaza. another business that came into our community and is making an investment here. Now, don't be confused. This is not a gym or a workout facility. Everything they do is by appointment, and it's face and body sculpting, for whatever that means. I might have to go try it out myself. But from what I understand, it works very well. The owner, she's a delightful woman. And really, I just think that if anybody's interested in getting body sculpted or whatever, go see them. We've got to buy her right here. We've got to take her at the Chiseled Contours, because I think they're going to do a great job. And then with Tim Hauser, I was going to talk about him next. I was invited there, so I've already said that. I'm not going to repeat that again. Here's some good news. The stop work order on boring and drilling is going to end tomorrow. I think some of you should have received a call. We did a reverse call today. It's going to end tomorrow, September 9th. Pat, our engineer, he led the group along with Dale, our building official, Matt, our law director, and I. We sat down and we took a look at our current guidelines and we came up with what we feel is going to strengthen our ability to monitor contractors coming in in our town to work. We believe that this will help make Twinsburg safe from this kind of catastrophe happening again. I'll tell you real quickly, some of the changes that we're making are all contractors or subcontractors working on site must be registered, number one. That's not always the case. When a company comes in here and they say that they're doing the project but then they hire subs, we don't know who those subs are. So the contractor themselves must be registered. Here's another problem that there's been. All workers not speaking English must have a printed card listing the name and phone number of the field supervisor overseeing the crew. That was one of the issues we ran into in the explosion in the township is that when our fire crews were out there, we couldn't talk to these folks. We didn't know who to contact. We didn't know, truthfully, who they were working for because there was no communication there. So that's one of the other things that we're going to require. all the utilities must be marked prior to excavating. If work is not initiated within 10 days of complete marking of the residential areas and 14 days within the commercial areas. And, you know, we made those two a little bit different because the residential areas are more apt to be marked, and then you've got children playing out there, you've got lawn companies coming out, cutting grass. Those things move. You know, maybe more in a business area, we could probably wait for 14 days. But in the residential areas, we cut it down to 7 or to 10, I'm sorry. And they must submit, if they don't, if it's not done within that time period, then they must submit a new ticket to OOPS that all the utilities have been remarked. One other thing is the OOPS compliant does not absolve the contractor from of responsibility for locating unmapped municipal or private assets. If recorded utility cannot be verified or private utility is unmarked, operations shall cease immediately. In such event, the contractor must deploy secondary locating methods such as a ground penetrating radar, video pipe inspection, or electromagnet induction before proceeding. And then finally, one of the new items that we have, the contractor or utility owner must provide city-approved written public notification to all abutting property owners at least 10 days prior to the work commencing. We get a lot of calls, you know, and people see that they're marking areas, and nobody seems to know what it is. so that's one of the requirements that we're going to have so in order for them to get a permit they're going to have to meet all the current guidelines plus everything that we've added to it and so we feel that um we feel that we've added some really good protection to to the city and uh so again tomorrow the ban will be lifted and they'll be able to apply for permits and we've received a lot of calls on that too when are you going to do this when you're going to lay or lift it because you know we're waiting to have work done at our homes or at our business and And actually, the EPA was one of them that came and sat before us. And they were really concerned because they have a time constraint when they have to be out of their old building and into the new building. So, okay, so that was that. And then, okay, I do want to address, I believe, their concern out there. When the council president received an email from the family yesterday afternoon, it was addressed to me, the police chief, and council regarding use of our flock cameras. After reading his comments, and we did read them today. Yesterday we were closed, so we didn't get to read the emails. But after reading them today, there seemed to be some speculation on several items there. And so within the next day or two, we plan to go through it again, look for everything, and then we will respond to all parties involved. Okay? So you will get a response from us. We just didn't do it today. We just received it today. Okay? Okay. And then finally, well, not finally, I'm going to move this up. Tomorrow at our civil service meeting, we got a firefighter medics test is going to hopefully be approved. And also the police department dispatch hiring will be approved. So we're looking to do those things. And then finally, there was an announcement on social media. that there's a new restaurant coming to town at the old Wendy's building. This was a surprise to all of us at City Hall, and we're not aware of any business applications being submitted or permit applications. I say this not to get anyone's hopes up, but just beware what you see on social media, because as far as we know, there's nobody coming there. And we did look up the business supposedly that's coming, and the owner already did a Facebook announcement that they're coming to Twinsburg, and Twinsburg has no clue who they are or that they're coming here. So you've just got to watch what you hear on Facebook because it's not always true. And that's it. That's all I have tonight. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Any department head reports this evening?

Christina? No. Matt? Anything? We're good. Thanks. Okay. All right. Moving on to legislation. Council will pass over Ordinance 2026-95 tonight while we wait for the report from the Planning Commission. Ordinance 2026-101.

An ordinance accepting the amount and rate as determined by the Summit County Budget Commission and authorizing the necessary tax levies and certifying them to the county fiscal officer and declaring an emergency.

All right, this now stands on its second reading. The ordinance will be read for a third and final time at the next meeting with an emergency clause so it can be effective and submitted with the Tax Advance Ordinance 2026-102. Speaking of, Ordinance 2026-102.

An ordinance authorizing the advancement of local taxes from the Summit County Fiscal Officer for the tax year 2026, payable in 2027, in accordance with Ohio Advised Code Section 321.34 and declaring an emergency.

All right, this now stands on its second reading. This ordinance will be read for a third and final time at the next meeting with an emergency clause so it can be effective and submitted by the October 1st, 2026 deadline. Resolution 2026-108.

A resolution accepting the bid of AMS Landscaping LLC for the 2027 Waterford Pond Dredging Phase 2 and declaring an emergency.

All right, this now stands on its second reading. Resolution 2026-111.

A resolution affirming the city's action to enter into an agreement with Block Safety.

Chief Mason and the lieutenants were at the last caucus meeting and provided information regarding the city's use of flock systems. This video is available on the city's YouTube channel if residents would like to view it. This now stands on its second reading. Unfinished business, new business, and miscellany. Mr. Bonacci.

Just a reminder that September is Suicide Prevention and Awareness Month. If you're in crisis, 988 is a resource that's available to all of us. And if you have firearms in your home, try to have the firearm and the ammunition in two different places where there requires a deliberate action to connect those two items. Sometimes that little bit of time is enough to make a difference and save someone's life. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Fury?

Thank you. Good evening. I want to make sure that everybody knows that Liberty Road next week will be closed one lane Monday through Friday because of the Liberty Trail that's being put in, like an eight-foot-wide multipurpose trail, which there's no sidewalk between Post Road and Liberty Park. And a curb, too. And to tell you the truth, he's not here tonight, but David Post lobbied for this for two years and got a lot of support and And this is going to be a really great thing for our community. We're going to add safety, convenience, and connect additional bike trails. So thank you, Mr. Post. But there's going to be traffic delays between Nellie Lane and Post Road between Monday and Friday next week. We're coming up on the 25th anniversary of 9-11. Brings up a lot of memories, a lot of thoughts, a lot of emotions. So I just fight the fight, stay the course, keep the faith. And that's all I have. Thank you.

Thank you. Yeah, the only thing I had for this evening is, as Mr. Fury mentioned, Friday does mark the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. My wife and I were living in Washington, D.C. that day. I have read this particular passage before, and I'd like to read it again because the world we live in now is more divided than I can ever remember it. I miss 9-12. I would never, ever want another 9-11, but I miss the America of 9-12. Stores ran out of flags to sell because we were being flown everywhere. People were Americans before they were upper or lower class, Jewish or Christian, Republican or Democrat. We hugged people without caring what restaurant they ate at or what shoes they wore. On 9-12, what mattered more was that united us versus what divided us. Mrs. Levy.

Thank you. It's always poignant, so thank you. I have nothing further this evening.

Mrs. Walker. Good evening, everyone. For public safety and fitness advisory, I'll have more information because I will personally meet both of them sometime next week. And then once I come back, I can give you the full story of it. Okay, thank you. Great, thank you.

Mr. Costello.

Nothing at this time, thank you.

Mr. Scafidi. I have nothing further, thank you. Mr. Vazana.

Nothing further.

Mrs. Conway? Mrs. Collins? All right. At this point, I'd like to make a motion to excuse Mr. Post. Second. If you're a second, Shannon, please call the roll. Mr. Bellin? Yes. Mr. Fury?

Yes. Mr. Castillo?

Yes.

Mrs. Labby? Yes. Mrs. Walker? Yes. Mr. Bonacci?

Yes. All right. Mr. Post is excused. At this point, we will adjourn the meeting at 7.52 p.m.