City Council - Regular Meeting

It's 7 o'clock, it's time to call our meeting to order.

Amy, please call the roll. Mr. Marmy? Present. Mr. Neely? Here. Ms. Newman?

Here. Mr. Barker? Here. Ms. Blyne? Present. Mr. Chu?

Present.

Mr.

Cost? Here.

Ms. Engold? Here. Mr. Lebutis? Here. Mr. Lumley?

Here. Would you like to stand for the invocation and then please remain standing for the pledge?

Lord Jesus, we thank you for the opportunity to live in a country, Lord, where you've given us so many freedoms. Lord, we thank you that we have the opportunity to daily pursue the task of keeping them. Lord, we thank you for our service, the service of our safety crews, our police, our firemen, all those who willingly would lay down their lives on our behalf. God, give us guidance tonight, Lord. We need your wisdom. We need your mercy. We need your kindness. And Lord, guide everyone as they leave to go to their prospective places tonight. And thank you for your goodness demonstrated toward this city. In Jesus name, amen.

Please join me in the pledge. 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. Next up is caucus. Do we have anything tonight that pertains to the agenda? All right, minutes of the July 2026 meeting. I have a motion motion motion by Mr Buddhist second. Blind. Sorry, all in favor say, aye. Aye. All those same sign that passes reports of standing committees, finance, capital improvements. That objection will be received the file next up. We have a proclamation from mayor hall Monday, August 31st, 2026 overdose awareness.

Yeah. Whereas Ohio Senate Bill 30 went into effect on September 7th, 2021, officially recognizing August 35th of each year as Ohio Overdose Awareness Day. Overdose awareness is critically important in North Ohio. A campaign to end overdoses, raise public awareness, and remember the lives lost to the epidemic is happening every day. Overdose awareness marks the importance of understanding the ongoing battle for the opioid epidemic that has touched so many people. Community groups, yourself legislators and county and state agencies across ohio working hard during this crisis under control through efforts to expand access to the lock center to prove access to addiction treatment now therefore i shall call mayor of grand city of newark hereby proclaim monday august 31st 2026 as overdose awareness day in newark ohio in an effort to

This is our 12th year of hosting this event. It'll be Monday, August 31st at the Canal Market. It is to honor those that have died in our community from substance use disorder or from any health-related issue due to substance use disorder. We currently have 26 agencies that will be there with resources for treatment, prevention, and harm reduction resources. There'll be a memorial table. Actually, we've grown from four pictures to four tables of pictures over the last 12 years. Live music, speakers, and a balloon release, and food. Everyone is welcome, and we encourage you to come and hear the wonderful testimonies of our recovery community. Thank you. I have flyers if anybody wants one.

Next up is Brandon Fox, water administrator, listed property B sent to county property tax lien for past due water, sewer, stormwater bills totaled $5,353.65. Communication, Ohio Division of Liquor Control, new liquor permit for H&M, Trades, LLC, A1 Smoke Plus, 140 West National Drive, Norco, Ohio. Trevor Simmons, correspondent, received concerning resolution 26. Dash 41, Trish, Barry 12, there's prevention awareness rally, August 31st, canal market, Jim Kessel pictures of the area surrounding his home and holy trinity church. Next up we have a public hearing 26 dash 12. Amy, please.

Ordinance number 26-12 by Mr. Parker, Mr. Cost, Ms. Ingle, Mr. Neely, Mr. Marmy, Ms. Blind, Ms. Newman. An ordinance changing the zoning classification of certain real property generally described as 378 Mount Vernon Road, City of Newark, Lincoln County, Ohio. Personal tax ID number 054-277266-00.000 from that of single family residents, RH High Density Zoning District to TFR, Two Family Residents Zoning District. Zoning Code of the City of Newark, Ohio.

I'm going to open up the public hearing. Is there anybody here that's going to speak for or against 26-12? Anybody? All right, we're going to close the public hearing. Amy, please read it again.

Ordinance number 26 dash 12 by Mr. Parker, Mr. Cosmo single Mr. nearly Mr. Marmite is blind as Newman and ordinance changing the zoning classification of certain real property generally described as 378 Mount Vernon road city of Newark, Lincoln County, Ohio, parcel text ID number 054 dash 277266. 0, 0.000 from that a single family residents are high density zoning district to family residents zoning district. So, any code of the city of Newark, Ohio.

For the reading of 26 dash 12, what is your wish? Mr. President Mr. Parker Thank you. Mr. President. I can make a motion to adopt ordinance 26 dash 12. got a motion by Mr. Parker a second by Mr. Neely. Do you have any discussion? Mr. President Mr. Parker Thank you. Mr. President as we're all aware, this has gone through the planning commission and the planning director has sent us a letter recommending that this ordinance be passed and I hope all my members of council will vote in favor with me. Thank you. Anybody else? Amy, please call the roll.

Mr. Barney.

Yes.

Mr. Neely.

Yes.

Ms. Newman. Yes. Mr. Parker.

Yes.

Ms. Blyne. Yes. Mr. Chu.

Yes.

Mr. Koss.

Yes.

Ms. Ingle. Yes. Mr. Libutis. Yes. Mr. Lumley.

Yes. 26-12 passes, 10-0. Next up is comments for citizens. Your opportunity to come up and speak. I'm going to ask those that did not speak. At the last meeting, please come speak first. All those that spoke last meeting, we have everything on record. If you would like to speak, I'm going to give you about one minute if you want to speak again. So do we have anybody new that wants to speak on 26-41? Come on up, please.

We moved you Linda. We moved you.

It's changed for you. It's changed. Okay. Linda Mosholder, 224 Green Meadow Drive in York, Ohio. I am a volunteer at the Dauphin Center, but what I would like to do tonight is address some concerns I have with the process that has been taken. Um, and I will make some reference to comments. The references I will make the comments are taken directly from the minutes of the meetings that I will reference a comment that was made at the finance committee. I guess the comment I have, and if a motion is made, you take this on to full council. I would like to see, and I would offer an amendment at that point to renew the community drop in center simply for the fact. that there are currently some zoning issues there and some safety issues there with over 70 police calls. And we on this council have heard quite a bit from the neighbors there. I can't support funding that facility just to the current issues surrounding that facility. At the last council meeting, some of those concerns were addressed. Um, the 1 on Sony, this is again a quote, and some of the words are just taken out of order. When I left a meeting on April 24th, I was told there was a stack of issues. So many issues, and I come to find out that nothing has been done with any of these issues. I have not provided the stack of issues. So I want to apologize because I speak based on what I was led to believe. On the police calls, I think a lot of information was given on the number of calls to places like St. Vincent's and also BHP and McDonald's. So it is not only the drop-in center. calls another comment that was made at that meeting toward the end um as the person said um i have been told that this grant is for office supplies now eleven thousand dollars of post-it notes is a lot of post-it notes I have looked at the grant on the amount requested for office supplies is a 1000 dollars. It's a little bit different from, you know, 10, 11,000 dollars. My concern is that should a amendment be made. That doesn't we would need some rationale and I would hope that the rationale for that amendment would be based on facts, accurate facts that can be documented. If the amendment is passed to remove the drop in center, you are setting a precedent a precedent because this has never been done before. Things have been questioned before, but it has money that's never been removed. So I don't think the council wants to set a precedent unless it's based on facts. That sends a very strong message to our community that we can go through the process, follow all the rules needed to submit the grant. and then at the last minute and it was the last minute council would put an amendment forth to take that away thank you hello my name is

They are a mental health and drug alcohol agency, and they work and volunteer at the drop-in center. My director was formerly there for quite a length of time, and now I am there. I was here at the previous meeting, and between my director and I, we have brought in 40 clients at our agency from the drop-in center working with Freedom. Center and Greg and Donna and to clarify, yes, they have stayed and are continuing treatment and some of them are in complete recovery are now back in your community. Just to clarify that, because there was some concerns from the previous meeting from some statements from neighbors and some other questions. To clarify from the previous meeting that some of them had questions in regards to that also to reiterate from some of the statements that the drop in center is very important because we work as community and partners at the drop in center for resources. that we are partners and Behavioral Health is there, the Health Department is there, Freedom Center is there, and we work together as a team to help these clients on various needs and concerns that they all have. And not always do they necessarily need treatment, but sometimes there's health needs that are addressed And they're not necessarily causing a ruckus, but they need health health care. Maybe they have some poisoning or things along that nature and we're able to identify those problems and get them that necessary needs that need to be taken care of. Otherwise are not identified unless they're there. Sometimes the officers are there to check up on them for their cases are not causing issues, but they come out there themselves. I know I have been there to. donate my time for a volunteer group or donate my time there just to engage with them to build up a necessary engagement for them to be able to be familiar with me. So if they do decide to engage in treatment, I have ran into them being out there and they are doing a call themselves just to find them. And there's not even a problem. They're just building a professional relationship with them. And that is a resource and that's very valuable. So I just wanted to take some time to be able to express on what a valuable resource that is because it is a very valuable community partnership that we have in that community and if that's lost you know we're back out there and and that's such a significant significant resource that we all have as partnerships that we communicate on and this is a significant issue that this is this is where we're at today Address 7, 3, 2, 6, state route, 19, not daily in Ohio.

Okay. Thank you. Come on up, sir.

Good evening. My name is Rick. I live at 116 Arthur Avenue, New York, Ohio. I'm currently serving as President of the Church Council at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. Hence my being here to share with you some thoughts. Matthew 25, 35, 36 states, For I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you welcomed me. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you took care of me. I was in prison, and you visited me. Since our congregation first began its ministry over 120 years ago in primarily the West Main and William Street neighborhood, we've endeavored to be faithful to God's call to serve those in need, both locally and beyond. Our intention is to continue to be a good neighbor in the Newark community, with our particular focus being on outreach to individuals experiencing homelessness The drop-in center ministry relies on the generosity of many, many members of our community, volunteers, individuals, churches, organizations, businesses, and other various partners in the vital work to which we've been called. I want to take this opportunity on behalf of the church council to say thank you to all who have been a part of this effort. It's our hope that we can continue to listen,

Hi, my name is Carrie Francini, and I serve as the Substance Use Disorder Community Nurse for Licking County. I'm here tonight because I witnessed firsthand the impact of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church's drop-in center has on our community. The drop-in center is so much more than a place to just get a meal. It provides breakfast and lunch, a weekly community dinner, clothing, hygiene items, and most importantly, a safe place where people are treated with dignity, respect, and compassion. It serves people experiencing homelessness, the working poor, seniors, veterans, and also going through a difficult time. The Holy Trinity is also the only organization in Lincoln County that operates both as a warming center during the winter and a cooling center during the summer. These services don't just provide comfort, they save lives. As a nurse, I use the drop-in center to reach people who often have nowhere else to access healthcare. There, I provide wound care, infectious disease testing, blood pressure and blood sugar screenings, Narcan distribution, an overdose prevention education, safe sex supplies, Medicaid and food assistance enrollment, connections to medical care, and substance use treatment. housing resources, transportation assistance, and help obtaining identification in both birth certificates. From January through July of just this year alone, I provided 264 health-related services in the drop-in center. During last winter's warming center, I provided an additional 161 services. Those aren't just numbers. They represent people who received medical care before an emergency, people connected to treatment, families who kept their utilities on, and individuals who found hope because someone met them where they were. The Drop-In Center makes my job possible because people trust it. They come for a meal, but they leave with healthcare, resources, and connections that change or even save their lives. If this funding is denied, it isn't just the meals or the building that will be affected. It's the countless opportunities to reach people before a crisis becomes an emergency. It is the loss of a trusted community space where lives are improved every single day. I ask you to look before the line item and the budget and see the people behind it. Investing in Holy Trinity's Drop-In Center is an investment in the health, safety, and well-being of our community. Please continue to support the vital resources. It is more than a church. It's more than a drop-in center. It is a lifeline. Thank you.

Can I get your address, please?

141 M Street.

Thank you. Well done, ma'am.

Jesus!

Hey, no more outbursts like that, please. Let's respect each other.

My name is Sharon. I live at 340 Eastern Avenue, apartment 313, Newark, Ohio. I spoke the last time, but I felt compelled to speak my story as I was homeless here in Newark for two years. In 2006, I graduated second in my class with an associate's degree in paralegal studies. In 2009, my 14-year-old son died. I remained off work for some time and went back in 2010 In 2012, I resigned my employment. My grief was too much. In 2013, I suffered two head injuries. I chose not to seek medical care. I wasn't in my right mind, and I had no connection to community and no one to care for me. In 2014, I put everything I owned in a storage unit and traveled west, searching for something to ease the pain. Traveled from Glacier, Montana down to New Mexico, and I started getting 12 years old. Within a week, I lost my cell phone, which meant I couldn't get a job. Within a month, I collapsed and injured a TBI, likely due to low blood sugar. I spent five days in OSU, was then discharged to live in my car. I was incapable of completing a Social Security application for disability. And during this time, I used services like Vertical and The Main Place. I applied for the HUD housing on my own and did complete that successfully, but the main place helped me with my disability application. On January 19th, 2023, two years after coming home, I signed a lease for an apartment. Now I serve as a volunteer for the drop-in center. in the spirit and the existence of the drop-in center. This drop-in center needs to remain open. The multitude of connections to services is needed by the homeless. But most importantly, the homeless need to be in a place that fosters love and kindness. I can guarantee that not every homeless person became so because of drugs. I just happened to stumble on the places that helped me. No one helped me find them. This drop-in center is actively involved in the lives of our visitors. Greg serves countless hours answering the needs of visitors outside of the operating hours of the center. Remember that which you have done to the least of these, you have also done to Jesus. Thank you.

Thank you. I'm Vicki Lennon, and I'm a nurse from Lincoln Memorial. And I'm just at the drop in center 1 day a week for 2 hours. And so far from January until this July, I've served 236 people center and I've seen them for various needs. Checking vital signs, education, evaluating injuries, many different needs, but tying them in with doctors. of people there and i would suggest for any of you or anyone you know to come have lunch at the drop-in center and to come meet these people because i not only go to trinity but i go to home court i go to haven i go to salvation army i see many of these people around and they're not only homeless people to me the warming center I worried because Arrow wasn't there and Daisy wasn't there and Arrow has size 14 and a half shoes but he had in the middle of the winter and snow he had flip-flops because he couldn't find size 14 and a half shoes and you know Leslie took her shoes off and she had soaking wet feet that were shriveled up because she had no dry shoes, no dry socks. So all these people that we treat are names and they're people. And I would think people would remember in 2020, there were many people that were one paycheck away from being homeless because they refused to get a COVID shot and they stuck for what they believed. And there were many nurses and healthcare professionals at my hospital the COVID shot. So people don't always choose to be homeless, but the services we provide for them mean life and death when the warming center opens. There's people that come in and even after the warming center, because it only opens at 13 degrees, if they need to be seen at the hospital. And these people now, I've been there and someone, one of the residents has come up and said, did this person disrespect you? Because I've told them to take care of it. So the people who are there respect us and take care of us and watch out for us because we're family to them. And if we don't take care of them, they don't have anywhere else to go. So I would just, If it's not anything that they could choose, they have nowhere to go for this time, and we're helping the one person at a time.

Thank you.

Is there anybody else here who would like to speak on any other subject besides this tonight? Besides this subject?

Yeah.

Come on up, sir.

I came back today to reiterate the concerns I have with the flock camera systems from two weeks ago. I'm building a pretty good team on this right now. I've called the sheriff's office and the New York Police Department to set up meetings to establish a transparency portal, which since the establishment in 2022, those portals have and should have been established for the public to be able to have transparency. That hasn't happened and we need that to happen. So I came here once again in a non-adversarial stance just to try to speak reason, try to get you guys to take some steps in your positions of, from positions of strength Columbus has implemented it. Cleveland's implemented it. There's a lot of municipalities across the country that are just completely doing away with it. I just came here to speak on that tonight. I'd like for some of you to look into this a little bit more and see that your constituents, by and large, have some real concerns. It's not just about your best judgment. Sometimes the judgment and the reason for why you cast your votes, hopefully, is based on your constituents. I don't want to take too much of your time, but I would like to hopefully have one or two of you endorse some legislation, draw up that legislation as soon as possible, because this is going to be coming to a head in the next year or two all across the country. And if you really think that we're just going to be the last ones to do this, in Lincoln County, Newark should be the first ones. by the end of the week. It's not like they have to add any more hardware or anything new. It comes already allocated with those systems. You just need to activate them. And the sheriff's office should do it. And I know that's not your peer review, but I just wanted to say thanks for your time and pray over this city real quick. Almighty Father, we love you, Lord.

Thank you.

In the name of Jesus, we pray that you place your hand on the judgment and give them understanding and grace and help them find their way forward. Bring them health and happiness in this life and and to lean on you for understanding, Lord, and find the way forward through you. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen. Amen.

All right, we're going to go into the agenda real quick, and then we'll come back to citizen comments later. Next up is the ordinance on the second reading, 26-25.

Cornets number 26 dash 25 by Ms Newman. Mr. Cost. Mr. Marmy is single and is blind. Mr. Parker is an ordinance vacating a 12 foot wide alley as shown on the plat of Joseph Coffman. 2nd edition as recorded in flat book. 1 page 87 of looking county flat records said Ali is located between 190 and 196 South 5th street north of national drive.

Further in 26 dash 25, what is your wish?

Mr. President, Mr. President, I'd like to make a motion to adopt ordinance 26 dash 25.

2nd, got a motion by Mr. Ms. second. Just flying. Do we have any discussion and please call the roll?

Mr.

Yes.

Mr. Neely.

Yes.

Ms. Newman. Yes. Mr. Parker. Yes. Ms. blind. Yes. Mr. 2.

Yes.

Mr. cross.

Yes.

Ms. single. Yes. Mr. Yes. Mr. Yes.

26 dash 25 passes 10 0, and that's the ordinance on the 1st, reading 26 dash 26 when it's number 26 dash 26 by Mr. Mr. cost.

Mr. Parker is blind single and ordinance amending section 254 dot 11 of the codified ordinances of the city of Newark Ohio regarding travel allowances.

26 dash 26 will be held to our next meeting August the 17th. Next up is resolutions on the 2nd reading and this is the 1 that's everybody's here for. So. When the vote is taken, I ask you to please keep your comments. No outbursts to yourself, whether it's whatever, however they do. Okay.

Amy, please read 26, that's 41 resolution number 26 dash 41 by Mr. Mr. cost. Ms. Newman, a resolution authorizing the mayor of the city of New York to enter into a community development block grant funded sub recipient agreement with the here and after name organizations to carry out activities included in New York's fiscal year. 2026 community development block grant 1 year action plan for the 26 dash 41 was your wish.

Mr. President. Mr. Mark, thank you. Mr. President make a motion to adopt resolution. 26. 41. 2nd.

The motion by Mr. Marvin 2nd by Mr. cost.

Do we have any discussion? Mr. President Mr. Thank you. Mr. President. There's been a lot of discussion and a lot of information brought to our attention regarding this resolution. I just want to convey to everyone that everybody on this council has taken this very seriously and spent numerous hours researching and also soaking in all the information, fact checking and things like that. I will tell you that in my opinion, there are 2 separate issues here, whether or not we go along with the administration's decision and their prior approval of allowing everybody in these as far as the sub recipients to receive the funds. And then we also have some issues with the neighborhood and some safety concerns, but they are two separate issues. Um, I believe that we have a flaw in our system as far as the way that these sub recipient agreements are awarded and that council needs to be more involved earlier in the process. That is not a failure on the city's part. And the reason why I can say it's not a failure on the cities be part is because we've learned from this. And we are going to change our procedure in the future to allow some differences. And so this does not come at the last hour and the council is not informed of concerns possibly, or whatever the situation may be. I am going to support the 11,000 dollars for the sub recipient who was in question. I'm going to support all the sub recipients and their awards. That's just me personally. I believe that we need to fix our system to make sure that our checks and balances are in place prior to somebody being awarded. I do believe that there are safety concerns in the neighborhood. I believe that those need to be addressed immediately. And that is a separate issue and that's not what we're voting on this evening. Those will be identified and addressed and those on council are very concerned for the neighborhood. And so just wanted to share my thoughts, my opinions and the reason why I'm voting the man in the manner in which I am. So, thank you please.

No outbursts please. I should leave anybody else on council like to speak.

Yeah, I agree with councilman Marmy, but 1st, I'd like to thank everyone who reached out. I'm very communicative and if you call me. If you say, Beth, I want to talk to you about this, come to my house. Like I said, last time I will be there. And with that being said, I heard from many, many people now there were some notes. There were some yeses, but again, the majority of the people I heard from, which was incredible was that 3rd issue that secondary issue rather that Councilman spoke to was. It's not about the money. We need a win-win. We need a win for those that are seeking services and a win for the surrounding neighborhoods. And the citizens, you know, I love our city. Some of the best ideas, I can't say they're mine. They're yours. And the citizens came through with a plan. They're looking for a transformative, cooperative, comprehensive site-wide plan created with their input as well. They want to be part of the process. And I remember back, the very first warming center we established was very, very small. It was off Mount Vernon Road. And what we did, because we had no resources, we talked to the neighbors. And so everybody came together and we made that little tiny warming center functional. And the people in Newark are so great. We can make this a win-win. So they are looking for solid behavioral boundaries, established consequences with immediate follow through. And they have some other ideas that I'll relate, you know, after the vote. But I just want you to know that that we live in a great community. And that just shows how great everyone is, that it's not a no or a yes, but let's get better. How can we work together to get better?

Thank you. Thank you. I, the warm and the drop in center is actually my word and I've heard from a lot of constituents with a lot of concerns about safety issues in the area. If we go back to when we spoke in. I said at that point that I heard from multiple citizens that I had, but also said that I think everything I spoke with agrees that the services provided within the building are things that are services that the city needs. So, I. Provide those services, I will be voting in support of this, but I will continue to work with constituents to figure out the issues that occur the safety issues in the neighborhood to help address those address those quickly.

Anybody else. Okay, we're getting ready to take the vote actually please keep comments to yourself. Go ahead.

Mr.

Yes.

Mr. Neely.

Yes.

Ms. Newman. Yes. Mr. Parker yes, is blind. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Yes. Mr. 26 dash 41 passes 10 0. next up is resolutions on the 1st, reading 26 dash 39 expedite number 26 dash 39 expedite by Mr. Mr. cost Mr. Parker, Mr. Mr. a resolution appropriating monies for current expenses of the municipal corporation. Further reading of 26-39 was, hey, hey, hey, keep the noise down. If you're leaving, please walk out quietly. Further reading of 26-39, the expedite, what is your wish? Mr. President. Mr. Hsu.

I'd like to make a motion to adopt 26-39 expedite.

You got to waive the two-day renewal. Waive the two-day Okay, got a motion by Mr. to wait to see the second by Mr. Neely. Can we please call the roll?

Mr.

Yes.

Mr. Neely?

Yes.

Ms. Newman? Yes. Mr. Parker? Yes. Ms. Blind? Yes. Mr. Chu?

Yes.

Mr. Cost? Yes. Ms. Ingold? Yes. Mr. Lubutis? Yes. Mr. Lemley? Yes.

The two-day reading rule has been passed 10-0. I'd like to make a motion to adopt 26-39 . A motion by Mr. Hsu to adopt, second by Mr. Dealey. Do we have any discussion? Amy, please call the roll.

Mr. Marmy?

Yes.

Mr. Neely?

Yes.

Ms. Newman? Yes. Mr. Barker? Yes. Ms. Blyne? Yes. Mr. Hsu?

Yes.

Mr. Cos?

Yes.

Ms. Ingold? Yes. Mr. Levitas? Yes. Mr. Lumley? Yes.

26-39, passes 10-0. Next up is 26-43.

Resolution number 26-43 by Mr. Marmy, Mr. Cost, Mr. Parker, Ms. Blind, Ms. Ingold, and Ms. Newman. A resolution appropriating monies for current expenses of the municipal corporation.

26-43 would be held in turn next meeting, which would be August the 17th. All right, we're back to citizen comments. Do we have anybody left that would like to speak from all that, Mr. Bruner? Leave an address.

Tom Brunner, 419 South 2nd Street. First off, I want to say congratulations. We've had a quiet summer.

No roost on the river.

Second thing I want to ask, can I put up two 15-foot poles on National Drive Bridge on the south side? And a buddy of mine said he'd make a banner that says South Second Street Graceway. Because that's what it is.

It's getting worse. We've got people not stopping.

Stop signs at Summit, Spring, Leonard, Edgemont, Beacon. If they're not stopping, what's going to happen? We need to get that area taken care of. It's getting worse. And Beth can vouch for that because she's seen it. The other thing, too, is the... I brought up about curb sidewalks before. Mr. Markey, he's correct. It is property owner's responsibility. I have mine replaced and my driveway apron replaced, but I won't replace my curb. The reason I won't replace the curb, I ain't the one ruining it. When you have five inches of curb, when you first move up there,

And every year they pave, you get less and less curb.

That ain't my responsibility. That's whoever paved the streets' responsibility. So I should not have to replace that. If they didn't know what they was doing when they was paving, then they shouldn't have did it. That's all there is to it. I think the city's getting ripped off from some of these construction companies and stuff. Need to check into them better before you get them. Also, there's more. I didn't mean to get under your skin the other day. But I stand by my thoughts on that because the simple fact is I've seen it, I've done it, and if I have to call 8 o'clock at night, I'm not going to sit on the porch until 1, 2, 3 o'clock in the morning waiting on somebody. I mean, that's uncalled for. So, you know, I know you believe in what you say, but I don't because I don't think the call, call, calls work. Because number one, we've got the Licking County Call Center involved. When we had our own dispatch down here, our own call center, if you called, you had no problem getting an officer out. Licking County Call Center, I don't know if anybody's called them. But you call them, they don't even know where the streets is, let alone Newark. And I mean, if they don't know that, what good are they to us? And like I said before, whether it's me call, somebody getting shot called, a car wreck calling, or whatever, all calls are important to the citizens of Newark. We're all citizens. All of our calls should be important, no matter what. And that's all I have to say. Thank you. Thank you.

Anybody else like to speak? Come on up.

Good evening. My name is Emma Chapman. I live at 106 Coors Boulevard in Pataskalo. I'm here to speak as a member of Holy Trinity, as a member of the church council, and as a volunteer. Again, I speak today on my own volition. I do not represent any professional or personal affiliations I have beyond the church. Today, I speak on faith and on being a member of the community. My favorite Bible passage, which I feel is very important today, is from Matthew chapter 22, starting with the 37th verse. Jesus was asked by his disciples which of the 10 commandments he felt were the most important. It goes like this. He said to them, you shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and with all of your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. And the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Today I am grateful and I'm looking forward to how we can work together as a city, as a church, as neighbors, to continue to work in our community, to address the concerns that we have openly in forums that can inspire collaboration and productivity. The Drop-In Center is an act of love. It is an act of love of God and of his children, an act of hope towards a better future for anyone who wants it, and for those who need help believing that they deserve it. I'm excited to see how our church can work with the city to move towards a better future for everyone, for every neighbor, for every person, be them housed or not. If Matthew 22 serves as my spiritual north star, this phrase serves as my guiding light in the work in our community. Theodore Roosevelt popularized this phrase, coined by Squire Bill Widener of Virginia, to do what you can with what you have where you are. Holy Trinity is loving our neighbors and being the hands of God by doing what we can at the center. With the staff, volunteers, donations, community partners we have, where we have been for 115 years, and where we will continue to be as long as we are able to serve our neighbors, house or not. We thank you for your service, for your consideration, for the time you've spent in and outside of this room. We thank you for your faithfulness to our city, and I pray that we can continue to have faithful, honest, I thank you for your time, and I hope you have a wonderful evening, and as always, a safe drive home. Thank you.

Thank you. Anybody else? Did you speak last time?

No, I was the one that got blocked at the end.

All right, I'll give you about two minutes.

I just wanted to, in brief, respond to- Name and address, please. I apologize. i'm kyle smith i'm at 30 bird avenue i want to speak in brief in response to army's comments regarding the process uh we look forward to hopefully seeing this process revised i just wanted to say from my understanding i'm a volunteer at the holy trinity lutheran church with drop and center i Serve roughly every Tuesday evening to serve dinner, because they have an evening dinner there on Tuesday. I've been getting more involved as time goes on with all that. As far as I can tell, the process was followed by the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church to the letter of what we understood to be able to actually get this grant.

Anybody else? City officials? Oh, come on up, darling.

Good evening. My name's Donna Shaw.

I'm from the 155 Fulton Avenue in Newark, Ohio. What I'm bringing today is my concern I live on Bolton, which is right in the center. The cars are coming from both directions, and they're going at speeds from 40 to 50 miles an hour, down an alley. My son lives across the street from me. He's disabled, and his house is right on the corner. So my concern is that someone may come down at any time. There's no reason Frank might be racing up and down. And they race up and down on motorbikes, cars, trucks, Into it to see what can be done. I think it needs to be either 1 way alley.

And there needs to be a speed limit.

That's basically all right.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

Thank you. City officials law director.

Thank you. President Mr. I've been a criminal prosecutor for 22 years. It takes a lot more in your comments to get under my skin. So you did. Okay. Number 1, number 2, when I talk like this, I try to be clear and concise. So, if you misunderstood that, that was a misunderstanding with everybody.

Yeah. Yeah.

You haven't seen me in court, obviously. But anyway. What I was trying to tell you last time was the path to get responsiveness. And, you know, I had Deputy Chief Logan pull your calls just to see how many times NPD has recorded calls from you in 2026. They only have two. And I'm just telling you what NPD has. So what's coming into the call center, I don't know, okay? But I can tell you from NPD's point of view, that's what they have on record, okay? But what I was trying to tell you is going up the chain of command, you have a deputy chief in charge of the patrol division who is extremely responsive, okay? So communicating that is important. And he's here listening. And my same advice for you. Unfortunately, the police in our city, they have a lot to do. They have a lot to do. And you may not always be a first priority. But the only people who can respond, I can't come out there, but the only people who can respond are the police. Okay. So if you're not satisfied with what you're getting at the call in center, go up the chain of command. It may be a call in center issue. I don't know, but I had him pull the records of my correct deputy chief. We had two calls from, and both were responded by NPD. Okay. The only thing you can do is keep calling. Thank you with that I pass.

Thank you Mr. Mayor. I will pass this evening. Thank you. Mr. Marmy. Thank you Mr. President. I need to call a Finance Committee meeting for August the 17th. A couple of things I want to address. First of all, Mr. Bryce, As far as the plot cameras here in the city of Newark, we did extensive investigation. We have it in our contract. The only utilization of our flock cameras is for license plates, no facial recognition, no other identifying or anything like that with our flock cameras are authorized. It is used as a deterrent in our community, knowing that if somebody is does a crime in our community, We have a manner in which we can follow a license plate and a vehicle, and we can try to identify where that car has gone to. It has been utilized successfully in the City of Newark in numerous situations where we've been able to identify a vehicle traveling from the scene of a crime or from a scene of a crime out of our community into our community. And it has been a great help and assistance. I assure you, though, that this council was very concerned about the capabilities, the flock cameras and the facial recognition and all of that. And it is clear in our contract that that is not authorized or are being utilized. So also, as far as. Mr. Bruner and Ms. Shaw, there are a lot of speeding issues going on in our community. There are a lot of infractions going on in our community. Our police force does a great job of doing their best at it. We cannot patrol one particular area extensively or exclusively in order to deter things. I will tell you, though, that our officers do listen and they do move. The resources we do have on occasion, we have young hires that we utilize just for nothing, but enforcement speeding and things like that. They're either going through the process and also we have a grant for that and we do fund that. But they even those individuals can't be everywhere in the city of Newark. I will also tell you that our safety director responds. I had a constituent who has a problem with speeding and other things that are going on on a dead end street. Taylor Avenue I contacted our safety director. We were able to get the speed camera out there and they were able to bring the, the. it's the trailer that just indicates that kind of you is used as a deterrent talk to your council representative talk to our safety forces and that can be utilized in different areas for a limited period of time uh unfortunately we just do not have the staffing to be able to patrol all the time with with uh the infractions not only that our traffic is continuing to increase in the City of Newark and those infractions increase with that additional traffic. Finally, I want to just comment and wish my wife a happy 41st anniversary. Today is our anniversary and of 41 years I married a teenager and we made it this far. So on that I pass.

Thank you. Mr. Neely? I think Mr. President I will pass. Ms. Newman?

Thank you, Mr. President. I just want to say thank you again to the public participation that we've had. I think it may go back to a little bit empty again after this, which is actually a shame because we still have a whole lot of work to do here on a variety of issues. And the voices of our neighbors are incredibly important. And so it's actually kind of a bummer to see half the room get up and leave after one decision was made because We still have a lot of work to do here and we have a lot of engaged people who are doing that work. Whether you always agree with their stances or not, I'm very proud to serve on this council and with the people who are up here and I think we're doing important work and we have a lot more to come. So please don't disengage because one issue that's important to you has finished for now. Please continue to pay attention to your council and what work is happening here. I just wanted to say thank you for all the participation from neighbors, from volunteers, everyone. So thank you so much. And with that, I will pass.

Thank you, Mr. Barker. Thank you, Mr. President. I need to call a service committee meeting for August 17th. And with that, I will pass. Ms. Blind got two minutes.

Give it up. I would like to thank everyone for coming out to Hope Park. We worked on it four days. Saturday and a Sunday and then the next weekend Saturday Sunday we did a lot of work and I'm so grateful for everyone who came out we have a beach there now so if you don't know where Hope Park is it's it's at the west end of the East Main Street Bridge there's a beach you can wave there's fishing I mean it's it's nice to have it back in shape again and flock cameras, from my money, we need to look at them because the technology has changed so much since we signed that contract. The fact has changed since last week. There's so many things that have happened with AI. We don't know what the interstate connections are anymore. We don't know what the connections are within the country. It would do us well just to go back and look at it and compare from where we were then To where we are now, so we need to do that. Also, I wanted to just get 1 more citizen comment that they thought might bring value to a, to a center, such as the community set community drop in center. We had spoken about work vouchers. and that's important work is important for five reasons because it brings value it helps person helps people bring that value to themselves they're just not on the receiving end it grows opportunity where they get more work experience and learn new skills and then there's restitution i used to work a recovery program where restitution was number seven i believe in the steps and so you know that is important whether a crime has been committed or whether you just need to get back restitution is important and others may need to pay court fines and then there's responsibility that your behavior affects other people for better for worse And so you have an opportunity to affect the community in a positive way. And then there's the fifth component, respect and dignity. You have an opportunity to earn what is received through the vouchers, working those four to six hours every day. Now we know this works because I'm out every weekend, except for electrical storms, working with our court system and people who do need community service hours. It does work. And it's a blessing for those people to be able to mitigate those fines in a positive way while giving back. And gain a new perspective as well. So, thank you very much.

Mr shoot Thank you. Mr. President.

I will pass cost. I'd like to thank everybody that came tonight for your support for the drop in center. I like to thank my fellow council members for their support for the drop in center. We just hope we can keep working and moving forward and making things better for our community. Thank you.

I think Mr. president, I too want to thank all the people that participated, whether it was speakers that we had last time and tonight, those that are doing the work in our community hands on work. I want to thank counsel for your vote tonight and the support of the legislation. And I talked with a lot of people. I did a lot of homework on this in order to be an educated voter, if you will. I'm going to thank all those people that talked to me. Michelle, I thank you for your letter to the editor. I thought it was well done. I think now, I hope no one walked away tonight feeling like there was a win. because there is no win until we can get together and make a dent in what we're talking about. And so I hope that you all, we all, the people that are still standing out there chatting, will decide how they're going to help, how we're going to help to make a change in the homeless situation in our community, the jobless folks, the hurting people, those kinds of things. But not until then will there be a win. So I hope nobody walked away tonight thinking that they had a win. And as Mr. Marmi said, it is important for us to look at the system, the process, I guess I'll say, that we use for community development block grants. Director Motter is also in favor of looking at that process and seeing what we can do to make it better for all concerned. So, I think we're going to make some movement towards that as well. So thanks everybody and have a good evening. Put a smile on your face.

I hope I still do this thing.

I will pass this evening. I'll pass also. Okay. Our next meeting will be August the 17th. I have a message message by Mr. cost by Mr. this all in favor. Say aye.