City Commission - Regular Meeting

Here we go. Good evening and welcome to the August 10th regular meeting of the Sandusky City Commission. We'll have an invocation offered by Commissioner Crable followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

Lord, as we gather here this evening, please let us be mindful of our duty and obligation to the citizens that we serve. In your son's name, amen.

Amen.

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

Ms. Myers, will you call the roll, please? Mr. Coons. Yay. Mr. Crable. Here. Mr. Bugeaud.

Here.

Mr. Tucker.

Here.

Ms. Fargo. Here. Mr. Waddington. Here. Ms. Wilson.

Could I get a motion to excuse Commissioner Wilson, please? So moved. Second. I had a motion and a second. And with our prayers for LaVeda, she is approved to be not here tonight. Commissioners, before you have the July 27th regular meeting minutes, what is your pleasure? Yes, Commissioner.

I move approval of the July 27th regular meeting minutes and waive the reading thereof.

A second. We've had a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? Hearing none, those minutes are approved. Tonight opening, we have a proclamation. It is a 2026 drive sober or get pulled over proclamation. It's going to be read by Commissioner Pujol. Thank you.

From August 19th through September 7th, 2026, law enforcement nationwide will be joining the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the High Visibility Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign. Officers in the Sandusky Police Department will show zero tolerance for drunk driving. Although it is illegal in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico to drive drunk, far too many people across the nation get behind the wheel after consuming too much alcohol. During the 2024 Labor Day holiday, there were 457 crash fatalities nationwide, and more than one-third of those motor vehicle traffic deaths involved drivers who were alcohol impaired. Drunk driving takes a particularly heavy toll among young drivers. Research has shown that high visibility enforcement, like the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign, reduces drunk driving fatalities by as much as 20%. And by joining this nationwide effort, Sandusky's roadways will be more safer for everyone throughout the Labor Day weekend. The Sandusky Police Department wants to remind everyone getting behind the wheel drunk is a terrible idea as it impairs your ability to operate a vehicle safely, impairs your judgment in good sense about whether you can drive or should drive, and driving drunk is simply not worth the risk. I, Greg Peugeot, Vice President of the Sandusky City Commission, do hereby proclaim and announce August 19th through September 7th, 2026 as Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over. In the City of Sandusky, I urge all citizens to travel sober and safely. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Commissioner Peugeot. Very important message, so we appreciate that. It's now time for our audience participation. If you have any comments about tonight's agenda items, come forward. This is about the agenda. We have comments and concerns about city business at the end of the meeting. So this first part is the agenda items. If anyone has, come up and state your name and your address, and please limit your comments to three minutes.

Thank you, Madam President. Tim Schwanger, 362 Sheffield Way, Sandusky. The first question I have is on item number three, which is the... I want to separate out the Columbus Avenue streetscape project for a moment, if I can, out of that ordinance. Do we know, based on today's interest rates, how long and how much that project is going to cost us once those notes or bonds, whatever we're doing, are paid off? Because I do remember that there was a consultant that came to this podium during a um finance committee meeting and said that when you go out for bonds or notes say it's five million dollars bonds and notes that you end up paying double that at the end of maturity for the bonds and notes so i was wondering if we had a figure for the columbus avenue streetscape The other items, I'm going to bunch number six and number ten to get together. They've got the weirdest names for grants nowadays. One of them is the Perkins Avenue Vehicle Detection Grant, and maybe, I don't know if it's the chief would be doing that or explaining that a little bit, and also item number ten, which is the Sandusky Police Department Safety Camera Grant, exactly what that's for. I don't know if it's for, you know... body cams or what kind of safety. I appreciate an explanation on that. Thank you.

My name is Stanley Blakely, 2111 Heritage Drive. My wife and I are here personally to thank you guys for taking care of the big vacant field behind us. Okay? Good job.

Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Orszag. Thank you to Grounds. Thank you to everyone who took care of that. Appreciate it. Any other audience participation tonight? Okay. Commissioners you have several communications from staff recommending legislation. Can I have a motion to accept the communications?

So moved second.

There's been a motion in a second. Is there any discussion? Hearing no objection that motion is approved. Does any Commissioner wish to move any consent items to the regular agenda this evening?

Okay, miss Meyers, will you please present the consent agenda? Approval to ratify the execution of two purchase and sale contracts for Welcome Home, Ohio. That's item A. Item B, approval to accept property located at 1825 Clay Street into the land reutilization program. Item C, approval of city designation of depositories for five years. Item D, approval of change order and final for the 2026 water service line replacement number one project with Hula.

Commissioners, having heard the consent agenda this evening, what is your pleasure?

Madam Chair? Yes, Commissioner. I move to accept the consent agendas. A through D ordinances presented to take immediate effect in accordance with Section 14 of the City Charter. Seconded.

There's been a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? Ms. Myers, will you call the roll on the motion, please?

Mr. Koontz? Aye. Mr. Crable? Aye. Mr. Pujo?

Aye.

Mr. Tucker?

Aye.

Ms. Fargo? Aye. Mr. Waddington? Aye. And now on the ordinance. Mr. Koontz?

Yes.

Mr. Crable? Yes. Mr. Bugeaud?

Yes.

Mr. Tucker?

Yes.

Ms. Fargo? Yes. Mr. Waddington? Yes. The consent agenda is approved. Ms. Myers, we present our regular agenda, item number one tonight.

It is requested a resolution be passed renaming Shoreline Park to Leonard J. Tom Shoreline Park in honor of Sandusky native and war hero Leonard J. Tom in declaring this resolution shall take immediate effect in accordance with section 14 of the city charter.

Commissioners, having heard this resolution, what is your pleasure? Madam Chair.

Oh, everybody wants in on this one. Commissioner Tucker. I move for adoption of Item 1 for this resolution to take immediate effect in accordance with Section 14 of the City Charter. A second.

We have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? I hope so, after all the eagerness. I want to say John Lippis is here tonight who has brought this project to us and Leonard J. Tom's history and the person that he is and I'm so excited that's who Sandusky is about. Someone like him that committed his life to good and protection and he's from here and so it's really exciting to be able to do this in my opinion and I think hopefully everyone's opinion but we'll see. Any other discussion?

I agree.

Thank you.

Madam Chair? Yes, Commissioner. I just wanted to thank the late Lenny Tom for his service. Absolutely. Thank you very much, Commissioner Prejean.

Any other discussion?

Okay.

Ms. Myers, we call the roll on the motion.

Mr. Koontz? Yes. Mr. Crable?

Yes.

Mr. Peugeot?

Yes.

Mr. Tucker?

Yes.

Ms. Fargo? Yes. Mr. Waddington? Yes. And now on the resolution. Mr. Koontz?

Yes. Mr. Crable? Yes. Mr. Peugeot?

Yes. Mr. Tucker?

Yes. Ms. Fargo? Yes. Mr. Waddington? Yes. And that resolution is passed, and we look forward to seeing that happen. And we'll keep in touch about that. Okay. Ms. Myers, we present item number two on the regular agenda tonight.

It is requested an ordinance be passed accepting the donation of a permanent Sandusky landmark sign from the Brady family through their sign company, Brady Signs, to be placed in the Great Lawn at the Jackson Street Pier and declaring this ordinance shall take immediate effect in accordance with section 14 of the city charter.

Commissioners having heard this ordinance. What is your pleasure? Madam chair? Yes, Commissioner Waddington. Okay.

I move for the adoption of this ordinance under suspension of the rules in full accordance with section 14 of the city charter.

Second. We have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? And there is going to be a little discussion. We're going to welcome Christine Mack up, Commissioner Brady's, Mayor Brady's daughter to give us a few words on this wonderful donation. So thank you, Christine.

Thank you, Madam President. As she just said, my name is Christine Mack. I live at 510 East Market Street, and I have been designated the speaker for the Brady family. Tonight in the audience are my parents, my children, and my husband. But I also have two siblings, their spouses, and their four children who are contributing to this donation. We are honored to present it tonight because we want to commemorate Sandusky as a place that we have called home in the Brady family for now four generations. We believe that this sign, which replicates many municipalities that have similar signs in the area, some of which I'm sure you have seen, can be a great landmark and a wonderful showpiece for our region. And what better place to put it than the Jackson Street Pier, a place where our community gathers to celebrate life's milestones, to celebrate each other, and to celebrate Sandusky, which has been such a wonderful place to grow up and now for me to raise my family as well. Our family has always been a part of Sandusky's history and looks to be a part of Sandusky's future. So the pier seemed like the perfect place to put this sign. It will overlook our area's greatest natural asset, Lake Erie, and look at our corporate partner, Cedar Fair, who has been here long before my family ever was. We are excited that this will be such a large portion of signage, something that is a true landmark, and something that my children will definitely climb all over. It will be rated for that, of course. And something that people can take photos with, post to social media, and market our city as the wonderful place it is. It's truly a destination point of our city, the pier and the sign. And we believe that it's a destination not only for visitors, but also our favorite destination. our forever home. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Christine, very much. Commissioners, any discussion? Madam Chair? Yes, Commissioner.

Thank you, Brady's and Max. Thank you so much. This is an amazing gift with an unbelievable backdrop behind it that will be an absolutely marvelous advertising and marketing gift to the city of Sanusky. So thank you so much. It is really appreciated.

Mr. Winington. When I first saw this, I thought, what a cool idea. I know our former mayor, Brady, had to be behind this. The family supporting that. You're always thinking forward and a little bit ahead, and I appreciate it. I think it's going to be really cool for our city. So thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Yes, Commissioner.

I want to echo what my fellow commissioners have said. It's a wonderful gift. It's something that I can see people posing next to, as has been said, children climbing on it. I think it will be fantastic. And oh, by the way, you have a wonderful family spokesperson.

Thank you.

Thanks to the family. It's a great addition. Absolutely.

Yes. Thank you to your entire family. For those that are not here tonight, please let them know. Their generosity is something that is extremely, we are just so over the moon about this. I can now get rid of my Cleveland picture that I have with their sign. So I'm really excited. It's going to look great. And thank you for thinking of us. Definitely. I love how Commissioner Whiting said moving forward. So that's awesome. Thank you very much. All right. Ms. Myers, can we have a roll in the motion?

Mr. Coons? Yes. Mr. Crable?

Yes.

Mr. Pujo?

Yes.

Mr. Tucker?

Yes.

Ms. Vargo? Yes. Mr. Waddington? Yes. And now on the ordinance. Mr. Coons?

Yes.

Mr. Crable? Yes. Mr. Pujo? Yes. Mr. Tucker? Yes. Ms. Vargo? Yes.

Mr. Waddington? Yes. And that ordinance is approved with our many thanks. Thank you. And you may leave. Like you used to always say, Dick, you do not have to stay unless you want to.

You probably realize the only way I get my grandkids here is to promise them a visit to school. I bet.

Thank you very much. Have a good night. Do I say that first? Okay. Ms. Myers, would you present item number three?

We need the approval of the fiscal officer's certificates.

Commissioners, I need a motion and a second to approve the fiscal officer's certificates. So moved. Second. Okay. We've had a motion and a second. Those are approved. Ms. Myers, would you present ordinance number one of item three?

It is requested an ordinance be passed providing for the issuance and sale of bonds of the maximum principal amount of $9,265,000 for the purpose of retiring notes of the city that were issued for one, paying costs of the reconstruction of Columbus Avenue between certain termini. As more further described for and approved in ordinance number 24-101 and two, paying costs of constructing, reconstructing, renovating, installing, and otherwise improving recreational parks and facilities in the city, including the landing, together with all necessary appendages thereto, and otherwise improving the sites thereof, and declaring an emergency. Thank you, Mister Hastings did we need to vote on the certificates first.

We did the motion in the second, but should we write you that's not that was good that was enough. Okay, yeah, all right commissioners. I need a motion and a second for ordinance number one item number 3.

I would move approval of ordinance number one on under item number 3. and declaring an emergency.

Second. We have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? Hearing no discussion, Ms. Myers, will you call the roll on the motion?

Mr. Koontz? Yes. Mr. Crable?

Yes.

Mr. Bujoe?

Yes.

Mr. Tucker?

Yes.

Ms. Fargo?

Yes. Mr. Waddington? Yes. And now on the ordinance.

Mr. Koontz? Yes.

Mr. Crable?

Yes.

Mr. Bujoe?

Yes.

Mr. Tucker?

Yes. Ms. Fargo?

Yes. Mr. Waddington? Yes. That ordinance is approved. Will you present item number...

3 number ordinance number 2 on this item it is requested an ordinance be passed providing for the issuance and sale of bonds in the maximum principal amount of six million one hundred and seventy thousand for the purpose of paying costs of constructing reconstructing renovating installing and otherwise improving recreational parks and facilities in the city, including the landing, together with all necessary appurtenances thereto, and otherwise improving the site thereof and declaring an emergency. Commissioners, having heard this ordinance, what is your pleasure?

Madam Chair. Commissioner Koontz. Move for approval of this ordinance under item 3 in full accordance with the law and declared as an emergency.

Second. We have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? Hearing no discussion, Ms. Myers, will you call the motion?

There was a question from the audience on this.

Right, we can get that.

I thought you might want to do it before the vote, but okay.

I'll be quiet.

Ms. Reeder would have that information for the question. I think it was about Columbus Ave. It was. Separate it out.

So just a background on this. What we're doing here is we are retiring the 2025 notes. We've done annual notes for a long period of time. It's $11.8 million that we're retiring. We're issuing new long-term financing for Columbus Avenue and the landing project. Looking to finance for 25 years. The interest rate will not be solid at this point until we actually have placement of this debt. So once it's been placed, we will have the interest rate, and I can get you the actual calculation on how much interest we're paying for each of these projects going forward. But at this point, this legislation is just to allow us to go to public sale for this debt.

All right. Thank you, Ms. Reeder. Any other discussion? Ms. Meyers, will you call the roll on the ordinance, please?

Mr. Koontz? Yes.

Mr. Crable?

Yes.

Mr. Bugeaud? Yes. Mr. Tucker? Yes. Ms. Fargo? Yes. Mr. Waddington? Yes. And I apologize, that was the motion. It's now on the ordinance.

Mr. Koontz?

Yes.

Mr. Crable?

Yes.

Mr. Bugeaud?

Yes.

Mr. Tucker? Yes. Ms. Fargo? Yes. Mr. Waddington? Yes. And item three, ordinance one and two are approved. Ms. Myers, will you present item four on the agenda?

It is requested a resolution be passed authorizing the submission of an application by the city manager for financial assistance and to enter into a project agreement with the Ohio Public Works Commission. In order to participate in the Ohio Public Work Commission State Capital Improvement and or Local Transportation Improvement Programs authorized by Chapter 164, Aid to Local Government Improvements of the Ohio Revised Code for the Perkins Avenue 52nd Street to 940 feet east of Milan Road Rehabilitation Project and declaring this resolution shall take immediate effect in accordance with Section 14 of the City Charter. Commissioners having heard this resolution.

What is your pleasure?

Madam Chair Commissioner who Joe I move for the adoption of this resolution under suspension of the rules in full accordance with section 14 of the city charter Second we have a motion in a second.

What is there any discussion? No discussion miss Myers will you call? The roll on the motion, please.

Mr. Koontz?

Yes.

Mr. Crable?

Yes.

Mr. Peugeot?

Yes.

Mr. Tucker? Yes. Ms. Fargo? Yes. Mr. Waddington? Yes. And now on the resolution. Mr. Koontz? Yes. Mr. Crable?

Yes.

Mr. Peugeot?

Yes. Mr. Tucker?

Yes.

Ms. Fargo? Yes. Mr. Waddington? Yes. And that resolution is approved.

Ms. Myers, will you present item number five on the agenda? It is requested a resolution be passed authorizing the submission of an application by the city manager for financial assistance and to enter into a project agreement with the Ohio Public Works Commission in order to participate in the Ohio Public Works Commission state capital improvement and or local transportation improvement programs authorized by Chapter 164 of the Ohio Revised Code for the Columbus Avenue Project and declaring this resolution she'll take immediate effect in accordance with section 14 of the city charter commissioners having heard this resolution.

What is your pleasure?

Madam chair. Yes, Commissioner Koontz move for approval of this resolution under item 5 in full accordance with section 14 of the city charter Second we had a motion in a second.

Is there any discussion?

Ms. Myers, will you call the roll on the motion, please? Mr. Koontz?

Yes.

Mr. Crable?

Yes.

Mr. Peugeot?

Yes.

Mr. Tucker? Yes. Ms. Fargo? Yes. Mr. Waddington? Yes. And now on the resolution. Mr. Koontz?

Yes.

Mr. Crable? Yes. Mr. Peugeot? Yes. Mr. Tucker? Yes.

Ms. Fargo? Yes. Mr. Waddington? Yes. And that item number five is approved. Ms. Myers, we present item number six on the agenda.

It is requested a resolution be passed authorizing the filing of an abbreviated grant application with the Ohio Department of Transportation for financial assistance through the Highway Safety Improvement Program for the Perkins Avenue Vehicle Detection Upgrade Project And declaring this resolution, she'll take immediate effect in accordance with Section 14 of the city charter.

Commissioners, having heard this resolution, what is your pleasure? Madam Chair. Commissioner Tucker.

I move for the adoption of Item 6, this resolution to take immediate effect in accordance with Section 14 of the city charter. Second.

We've had a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? Mr. Orszag, would you like to take that?

Josh will be able to explain that. I just would like to say that I appreciate the public works always chasing these dollars. They do a great job.

So this project involves a replacement of the existing cameras. So we have camera detection for vehicles on Perkins Avenue. It's circa 2016, so it's 11-year-old camera technology that the mechanicals in the cameras are bad, the software is outdated, and That is the only corridor that we have cameras on. What this proposes is we go to radar detection, which is more... is less apt to change over time and is a simpler technology, easier to make repairs on, and we have this technology at about a quarter to a third of our other intersections. So we have some familiarity for maintaining this type of a system. This would install radar detection at seven intersections along Perkins Avenue and basically get rid of the camera system that's there now. Without them working as a couple of the intersections are inconsistent, it basically treats the intersection as a pre-timed intersection like you see in a rural village where it goes 20 seconds main street, 10 seconds side street, and you're waiting needlessly. So the sooner we can get this upgraded, the better. Obviously, chasing 90% money with ODOT is very attractive.

I mean, I applaud you, Josh. I mean, when you look at the cost of what this is to replace that, and again, utilizing the opportunity for a grant is phenomenal. So thank you very much for doing that.

Thanks.

Commissioners, any other discussions? Okay, Ms. Myers, will you call the roll on that resolution?

Mr. Coons? Yes. Mr. Crable?

Yes.

Mr. Pujo? Yes. Mr. Tucker? Yes. Ms. Fargo? Yes. Mr. Waddington? Yes. And now on the resolution. Mr. Coons?

Yes.

Mr. Crable?

Yes.

Mr. Pujo?

Yes.

Mr. Tucker? Yes.

Ms. Fargo? Yes. Mr. Waddington? Yes. That item is approved. Ms. Myers, we present item number seven on the agenda.

It is requested an ordinance be passed authorizing and directing the city manager to enter into a contract with Erie Blacktop Incorporated of Sandusky, Ohio for the 2026 Community Development Block Grant Street Rehabilitation Project and declaring this ordinance shall take immediate effect in accordance with section 14 of the city charter.

Commissioners, having heard this ordinance, what is your pleasure?

Madam Chair.

Commissioner Crable.

I move approval of this ordinance under item number seven in full accordance with section 14 of the city charter.

Second.

We have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion? No discussion. Ms. Myers, will you call the roll on the motion? Mr. Koontz?

Yes.

Mr. Crable?

Yes.

Mr. Peugeot?

Yes.

Mr. Tucker? Yes. Ms. Fargo? Yes. Mr. Waddington? Yes. And now on the ordinance.

Mr. Coons? Yes.

Mr. Crable?

Yes.

Mr. Peugeot?

Yes.

Mr. Tucker? Yes. Ms. Fargo? Yes. Mr. Waddington? Yes. And item seven is approved.

Ms. Myers, will you present item eight? It is requested a resolution be passed repealing resolution number 01126R in declaring the necessity for the city to proceed with the proposed Big Island Water Works project primary intake cleaning and inspection project, approving the revised specifications and engineer's estimate of cost thereof, directing the city manager to advertise for and receive bids in relation thereto, and declaring this resolution shall take immediate effect in accordance with Section 14 of the city charter.

Commissioners, having heard this resolution, what is your pleasure? Madam Chair. Yes, Commissioner Cravel.

I move approval of this resolution under item number 8 in full accordance with section 14 of the city charter. Second.

We have a motion in a second. Is there any discussion? Hearing no discussion, Ms. Myers, will you call the motion? Call the roll on the motion, please. Mr. Coons? Yes. Mr. Crable?

Yes. Mr. Peugeot? Yes. Mr. Tucker? Yes. Ms. Fargo? Yes. Mr. Waddington? Yes. And now on the resolution, please. Mr. Coons?

Yes.

Mr. Crable?

Yes.

Mr. Peugeot?

Yes.

Mr. Tucker? Yes. Ms. Fargo? Yes. Mr. Waddington? Yes. And that resolution is approved. Ms. Myers, you present item number nine on the agenda this evening.

It is requested an ordinance be passed authorizing and directing the city manager to expend funds to Garland DBS Incorporated of Cleveland, Ohio through the U.S. Communities Government Purchasing Alliance for masonry facade restoration and repairs to the main head house building at the Big Island Water Works plant and declaring this ordinance shall take immediate effect in accordance with section 14 of the city charter.

Commissioners having this ordinance. What is your pleasure madam chair?

Yes, Commissioner Tucker I move for the adoption of item 9 this ordinance to take immediate effect in accordance with section 14 of the city charter So we have a motion in a lot of seconds.

Do we have any discussion? Hearing no discussion, Ms. Myers, will you call the roll in motion, please?

Mr. Coons? Yes. Mr. Crable? Yes.

Mr. Pajot?

Yes. Mr. Tucker?

Yes.

Ms. Fargo? Yes. Mr. Waddington? Yes. And now on the ordinance. Mr. Coons? Yes. Mr. Crable?

Yes.

Mr. Pajot? Yes. Mr. Tucker?

Yes.

Ms. Fargo? Yes. Mr. Waddington?

Yes.

And that ordinance is approved. Ms. Myers, will you present our last item on the evening number 10?

It is requested an ordinance be passed authorizing and directing the city manager to accept grant funds in the amount of $100,000 from the Economic Development Public Safety Infrastructure Community Convention and Visitors Bureau for a safety camera initiative for the Police Department, authorizing the City Manager to execute any grant agreements and to expend the funds consistent with the grant agreement. In declaring this ordinance, she'll take immediate effect in accordance with Section 14 of the City Charter.

Commissioners, having heard this ordinance, what is your pleasure?

Madam Chair.

Commissioner Kuntz.

Move for approval of this ordinance under Item 10 in full accordance with Section 14 of the City Charter. Second.

We have a motion and a second. Commissioners, any discussion?

Madam Chair, I'm just going to ask Mr. Orszag to comment on the question.

Yes, so the epic grant is a new one that the county has put together we applied for it through the police chief We are we were notified recently that we were awarded the funding that he'll be bringing legislation in the near future to the Commission about the cameras and We'll have more conversation about it when that item comes up on the agenda Thank you Any other discussion?

Okay, Ms. Myers, will you call the roll on the motion?

Mr. Koontz? Yes. Mr. Crable? Yes.

Mr. Peugeot?

Yes.

Mr. Tucker?

Yes. Ms. Fargo? Yes. Mr. Waddington? Yes. And now on the ordinance. Mr. Koontz?

Yes.

Mr. Crable?

Yes.

Mr. Peugeot? Yes. Mr. Tucker?

Yes.

Ms. Fargo? Yes. Mr. Waddington? Yes. And that ordinance is approved. And now we return to Mr. Orzac's manager's report this evening.

Good evening, commissioners, audience, and staff. I've got a quick one tonight, so we're lucky, I guess. Parks and Rec would like to thank the McGinnis and Rowe family for donating supplies for the upcoming Midtown Supper Club Season 9. We have a motion to accept those supplies.

We have a motion and a second. That is approved. Thank you.

And then I would also like to thank this year's Touch a Truck sponsors. There was three different levels. One was a gold level with $1,000 sponsorship, and Firelands Federal Credit Union contributed to that $1,000. Silver level was $500. Sponsorships were obtained from Ohio Truck Sales, LLC, Hurricane Marine Transport Incorporated, and Family Health Services. And lastly, the bronze level was a $250 sponsorship with Monroe Preparatory Academy and Fraternal or Police Associates Lodge number 35 contributing to that. If we get a motion to accept all those generous donations.

Second. Motion and a second. And thank you very much for the generosity of all those individuals. It was a great event.

And lastly, the City of Sandusky's 2025 audit has been released. The full report is available on the City's website under the Finance Department page. The finance team takes pride in having a clean audit and would like to thank all the employees and staff for continuing to be great stewards of taxpayer funds. No material weaknesses, no significant deficiencies, and no findings with the 2025 audit. That will conclude my report. I'll take any questions that the Commissioner has.

Any questions for Mr. Orszag this evening? Congratulations, Michelle, again. Thank you. again. Any questions for John tonight anyone. Madam chair, yes, commissioner.

I almost was going to pull the ambulance when I I ran in the John down there and I had a couple of 10's of a. I thought I'd better not do it.

You just want to show.

You want to show. But it was a good time right it's a good laughs.

We expect to see you at the strongman competition, pulling your weight, buddy. Any other questions for John? All right, let's move on to old business. Yes, commissioner.

The fishing tournament, I stopped down both days this past weekend. I thought that was fabulous. I did not realize, I had a boat at one time until about three years ago and sold it, but I did not, I could not realize the prices. They were talking $300,000, two motors, they have a backup motor. The one guy goes, come on over here in my van. He had two motors in the back of the van. Yeah, just in case. And they're like $30,000, $40,000 a pot, you know, so... That was impressive. I think it's cool to come to our city, too.

It was an amazing event. Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour, it's the best of the best. There were 51 of them here. I was fortunate to go talk to them a little bit before they started, and they presented us with, we should have brought it down tonight, a little glass, beautiful crystal host gift that was our thank you to us as a city for hosting them, as well as Shores and Islands for putting it on. Thank you to them. for bringing this event here. I mean, just to see all the different ages of people all over watching and interested. And it's a big deal. Those guys make a lot of money doing what they love. So it was wonderful. Any other old business? New business this evening.

Yes, Commissioner. City Manager or maybe Colleen, this Sand Bay building, I went after I got the vacancy report, the 80-some percent is filled. I have a different amount. I would guess closer to 60 or 65. That's just my opinion of walking downtown. There's a lot of empty buildings. I don't know if they call a large building that had three storefronts in it as one. I don't know how it was done. Scientifically, it was... I don't know if it was random or what, but I went around quite a bit. I spent well over an hour, you know, looking at that. But that Sand Bay building, that was, what, $65,000, I think. We helped them buy it. And it's set there. They were going to originally do draft beer there. That fell apart. Then they were going to do, like, pickle beets and pickles and stuff like that. It was going to be like a little farmer's thing. And it's been sitting empty, what, eight, ten years now? Yeah. I mean, I'm going back. I can remember all that. And a lot of them got nice pictures that they paint on the windows downtown, but there's nobody's home. Okay, I'll leave it at that.

The fire chief and fire marshal, they've had that building registered for the vacant commercial building, so they've been on top of that as well as some other buildings downtown, so... We appreciate them continuing that program to monitor vacant commercial properties not only downtown but throughout the whole city.

Thank you. I got one follow-up. Do we have anybody in charge that goes around, stops at the... I know years ago we used to do that knock on a door, how's everything going? I look at all these empty storefronts downtown. Some of them went out of business on their own. I understand that. Even out in the working around town, do we have anybody that goes out to stop at different little factories or industries that we've got around town?

We do not have a staff person dedicated to that full-time at all.

Wow. Maybe that's something we need to Address doesn't have to be every week, but maybe a quarterly, you know stop in how's everything going?

Yeah, yeah, we Put a telling was off last week. So Aaron Blair and I and Colleen got something on the schedule I don't know when it in the next week or two to talk about that. I know that GSP has through their program is more engaging in that type of activity, but we are going to have a conversation about it, and maybe we'll have to marry the relationship or make sure what they're doing and what we're doing. So that is on our radar. I appreciate you bringing it up.

Madam Chair, years ago, and I'm going back in time, for maybe three or four years, quarterly I had a business roundtable we met at the fire department. Mario probably remembers that. Yes. We'd meet there and the businesses would come in. They had a light lunch. That was kind of nice to engage and know the faces, know the businesses. I kind of got away with that, but I thought somebody else would take that on.

It is undertaken by GSB. They do host a quarterly merchants meeting that the city, many of us, actually go to.

Okay. Madam Chair?

Yes, Commissioner Koontz.

Two items for community, because I'm always looking at things that community can attend and be informed and educated. One is August 15th, and this is sponsored by the NAACP Sandusky Unit 3199. It's a summit, a political action summit, nonpartisan. It'll take place at Ebenezer Baptist on August 15th, which is Saturday, from 11 to 1.30. That one was open for judicial candidates. We've only heard from two. One confirmed was Judge Myron Duhart. The other said they couldn't make it, and the other we haven't heard from yet. So that's happening this Saturday, August 15th. The other item that we have is the welcome reception for Dr. Luther Johnson, which will occur at the Emporium. And that is on August 22nd, also a Saturday, from 4 to 6 p.m., and it's for the public. We do want individuals to RSVP, and that'll be sent out. You'll start seeing that on Facebook. So make sure they're actually going to be some formal invitation sent out to city officials by city officials and school board members So that is the official welcome by the NAACP for dr. Luther Johnson the new superintendent of Sandusky City Schools Thank you

And I would just do a little plug for Community Collaboration Day, which is this Thursday on the 13th. And you can check out our website and get all the information on that. It's a great day to come out and see everything that's going on, especially for kids. So a great day coming up there. Any other new business? Anything for the... What is it? We will we'll be going to the pathway at 830 who can attend the commissioners on Thursday Thursday 830 a.m. Yes with Megan probably I would imagine so we're excited about to see the progress in there I've had a lot of questions. When's that open and when can I get on there? They're very excited. Everyone's very excited So we'll go check it out any other anything else for the good of the order? Okay, we now have audience participation. If about any discussion for the city that you have questions or concerns, come forward, state your name. Thank you, Mr. Lippis, and your address, and please keep your comments to five minutes.

Tim Schwanger, 362 Sheffield Way. First thing on my discussion is I need to compliment the police department. Don't anybody fall out of your chairs. I'm giving the city a compliment, okay? Write it down.

I am.

I was a product of a hit skip last Thursday in the 200 block of West Market Street, and it wasn't my fault. Officer Bath from the police department responded, and within a couple of days, probably the same day, he had narrowed it down who it was. It was somebody out of Colorado, and find police report, I was able to contact the person that hit me and we're good to go. So, great job by the police department. Battery Park, which is under the Moose Brothers now, back in the 1980s it was Sandusky Bay Development. And at that time, there was a gentleman's agreement between the city and Sadusky Bay Development that if there was a handicapped individual that wanted to go out and see the sunset on the Make Street Pier, they wanted to go out fishing on the Make Street Pier, they could go to the office. Staff member would come out and remove the bollard. They could drive out as long as they had a handicap sticker. That continued through with Maroose Brothers until this last weekend. We saw on Facebook, social media, that now large bowlers have been placed across the entrance to the Meck Street Pier. There's still a sign there telling you how you can go about getting out there, but it looks like that agreement has gone by the wayside. Maybe the city manager's already talked to them, or I'm just bringing it up so maybe the city manager could talk to them to see what the issue is. On the Washington Street Pier, of course, I sent an email to, I think it was Jason, asking if we could put back benches that were removed from that pier when we re-blacktopped that pier. I haven't received a response back yet, but we had at least, I believe, four benches out there at one time. Now we're down to one at the very end, and it's bolted into the blacktop. So if we can get some more benches out there, that'd be great. Same way with trash can receptacles. One time on that pier, we had probably six trash cans lined up all the way around, and now we're down to two, I believe, one at the beginning of the pier and one about maybe a third of the way out. So maybe we can get at least one more trash can out at the curve, if that's a possibility. This dusky boat ramp, I'll tell you what, I was here two weeks ago with those pictures, and within three days, city crews came down. They ended up having to use a drill with a wire brush on the end to clean the restrooms. And now, I was down there earlier this week, they have The ones that are running the boat ramp actually have the proper equipment now to use to clean the commodes and also the sink. So great job. They've got the right equipment now. So that's it. Thank you.

Chris Weedle, 403 East Adams. I'm here to talk about the Underground Railroad tour that was announced well over two years ago. There were going to be signposts put up around some of the Underground Railroad houses in town. And this was, I believe, in June 24 when it was announced. In July 25, I sent an email to Mr. Horacek asking what the status was of that. And he told me that at that time that Mr. Horseman was in charge of it and that it would get some attention. In August of 25, last summer, I got an email from Megan Stuckey that said the signs had been placed. And I knew they had because one is back in front of my house, and I've been mowing around it for a year now. In March 5th, I inquired to Mr. Horchak again about them since there was nothing on the post yet. They're just bare posts. This was on March 5th. I then got a response from Mr. Horchman, said that those signs would have the literature on them by early summer. It's now August 10th. The signs still don't have anything on them. It's been well over two years since this project was announced in the city. I'm bringing this to you tonight because I see how expedient you deal with things when they are brought here. You do Article 14, they're dealt with right away. I would hope you would bring some pressure to bear to try to get this project completed. It's been well over two years. To me, that's plenty of time, no matter what the situation. Thank you.

Thank you. Is there any other audience participation this evening? If not, can I get a motion? Oh, I do?

Mrs. Clark, I thought she was heading out.

I knew you were coming to see me.

Oh, you don't say anything.

Come on. Barbara Clark, 1808 Sandusky Street, Sandusky, Ohio. I want to thank you for the resolution for driving drunk, impaired by alcohol. My problem, my concern is driving under the influence of drugs, be they recreational or medication prescribed. We know that when, I know that when I go down the street trying to get to the grocery store, sometimes I'm stifled by the smell, okay? I do know that Investigate reports, if you listen to it, the FBI in some places have stated that they do more arrests from drug-impaired drivers than they do alcohol-impaired drivers. So I would like to see that same resolution made for drug-impaired drivers, and we need to really start looking at what we smell in the air. I mean, I don't know what you can do about it, but sometimes, I mean, there, we, The people that don't, I mean, like me, I have asthma, OCD. Just driving to the grocery store, it is getting to be a problem. And I'm a great complainer. Okay, I don't want to complain, but we need that same resolution for driving impaired by drugs. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Clark. Chief, you have a comment?

So the national blitz for drive sober or get pulled over is for operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs. And Ms. Clark's correct. Our numbers are pretty prevalent on OVIs under the influence of drugs. So it's definitely raised over the last few years. Thank you, Chief.

Any other audience participation this evening for tonight's meetings?