City Council - Regular Meeting

Thank you for this information. I just want to make sure I'm clear. There will be 713,000 left. Is that correct?

Okay, so the money will be spent. Can you tell us what projects that money will be spent on, or is that for another meeting?

Thank you, Madam Chair. So after we spend the money on healthy food incentives and in those categories, which is 502,000, the balance of approximately 200,000, where will that go?

And when you say administrative costs, are you referring to the administration of the ARPA dollars?

Okay. And also, we've been earning interest on the ARPA dollars. Do you have a ballpark idea of how much in interest we've earned on that money?

At least $4 million. Okay. So now the interest money, does that also have to be spent within the confines of the ARPA programs? Okay. Has some of that money gone into the general fund?

Okay. All right. I'll make a referral on that. That's my questions for now. You can come back to me after the other council members.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Just a quick question. On those three projects, since we're basically paying through general fund, do the ARPA restrictions still qualify for those projects?

Great. So my concern is that that just opens up the net and gives the administration kind of willy-nilly to finish these projects however they see fit. WITH LESS RESTRICTIONS THAN ARPA?

Yeah, I've seen how that happens sometimes where they're just too vague and then we don't know what's actually going on and then we get caught with our pants down by the media because they're asking us questions about certain projects that, yes, we authorized, but we didn't know the details. So I guess I'm okay with supporting this, but I think we should just be very, very careful in how the new legislation is written so it's very specific. So we're not getting cute with these dollars, I guess is what I would say. Thank you.

Thank you. First question, and Councilman Sorrento kind of asked, but I need further information, and that is the interest dollars on the ARPA funds. As of today, by referral, can we get what that amount of money is? With the changing of these, I have to agree with Councilman Martinez that we are shifting we are sort of being pacific specific but then again we are not and i do not want to be one to vote on something that is not clarified that is not clear when we are moving these arpa dollars and we are moving them over to the general fund um because once it's over there it can you can move it

Thank you, Madam Chair. My question is along the same lines. When did some of these, so I know we're gonna hear about another piece, item 13 here. When were some of these decisions made about some of the new ways we're considering spending these ARPA dollars?

But it's not what we originally said we were going to spend these dollars on when we did the ARPA plan at the outset. I mean, some of these projects aren't going to happen at all. Some of the money was supposed to go to SIFT. That's obviously not going to happen.

Right, it's in the same spirit of the idea, but I guess I wanted to know when did we make the decision, whatever we're going to hear about item 13 and maybe we can wait for it then, but when did we make the decision that we were going to be authorizing an agreement with the Board of Health?

We've had two meetings this year where we talk about the remaining ARPA dollars. And I don't think we've really gone into this level of detail. And I think the administration had an opportunity, I think, to share that this is the program that we think we were going to do. I think that this project probably took months to put together. think there was kind of a lack of transparency about that I would also just say there's I mean well I don't see how we could move this SCP when we don't have the accompanying legislation from neighborhoods so we would have to wait I think until we get that piece

Thank you. So this the healthy stew and I'm all for the healthy one and I healthy store and corner store initiative because we were involved and we had several committee meetings about that. I'm glad that we're looking to expand it and keep it going for at least a little bit longer. How much is the other two programs? Do we have a breakdown of the other two programs? Director Campbell?

So if I recall, we in the ARPA dollars, we had the $150,000 designated for the grocery store, right?

And where do we want to put the other one?

So I'm a little standoffish on this because I know we were, I am the one that fought for that 150,000 corner store. Yes. I fought for that $150,000 with my colleagues. I argued about the seawall, and I argued about medical debt, which I still want to know where the receipts at of who served out of District 4, 3, and 1, who got served out of that, but I can't get that. Not bashing you, I just didn't want medical debt anyway. I am concerned and I would like to see and I would fill out the referral for that project because I fought for a grocery store. We've had situations now where some parts of

Thank you, Madam Chair. I have a couple more questions before I weigh in on the request. How much approximately did we spend at the Erie Street Market to set up the program that you referenced? Have we spent any money?

All right, so we're waiting, well, maybe we're waiting. We're waiting on these people out in Bowling Green to see if they can get funding and get their program started.

So we've thrown away $150,000 on that project, essentially, because it's not going to happen, is what you're saying at Erie Street.

And when did we come to the conclusion that the vendor was not going to be able to do the job?

Okay. I don't recall getting that information, that it was a dead project with the vendor. I don't think, did anybody on council ever get that information? We should have been told that months ago.

I just don't recall any official communication saying at the vendor that it was not going to work out with that vendor. Perhaps you did, but I don't recall it. Vice chair, do you recall it? something okay all right um now the other question i've got is uh finance director the 210 000 for the administration the administration put out a request for proposals for individuals to basically monitor the ARPA money. As I recall, we got no response as a result of that, or if they did, we decided not to hire that person or those persons.

Okay. So I guess my question is, 210,000 for administration when we have an in-house committee the law director finance director and perhaps others to monitor the ARPA spending How did we arrive at two hundred and ten thousand for administration?

Okay, all right. Well, in light of all the questions, we have a finance meeting tomorrow at 4 o'clock. So I'd like to have that on the agenda. ITEM NUMBER ONE, AND ANYTHING ELSE THAT'S RELATIVE TO ARPA. WE CAN COVER THAT TOMORROW, AND WE'LL HAVE FIRST READING ON THIS. OKAY? THANK YOU.

PRESIDENT WILLIAMS. JUST A FOLLOW-UP ON THE QUESTION, THE CIFT ACTUALLY It was funded federally, so that came, that was all through the news and everything, so that's how we knew it went dead, and a couple questions later, we knew why it went dead. The Trump administration decided not to fund those type of projects across the board, so that's why this SIFT actually went down in flames because of that. It was a federal mandate that they, I don't know, I guess it was DEI, I don't know.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you so much for the presentation. That's very interesting. That's awesome that we're doing that. So now I have some more technical questions. So you said C-Store, right? But yet the Phoenix Co-op isn't a C-Store by definition, right?

Gotcha. But they naturally serve whole fresh vegetables, though. Correct. Right to the community. Yeah. So this isn't necessarily out of their bailiwick, so to speak. That's what they do.

Okay, so I'm not opposed to it. I was just kind of curious because someone like Monette's that's in my district, they had a food stand up on Reynolds Road that just didn't seem to make it for whatever reason. I was just curious if it was opened up to C stores or smaller farmer markets or deli type areas. so you caught my attention that's all that's why i was asking and uh i will reach if they're eligible to reach out to mr monette to see if he'd be interested in applying um and then secondly you know what is the commitment to the applicant what we're going to give them free money for how long

Which is great, but how long is their commitment? Is it a one year, two year, three year? I understand like this is a pilot project.

Gotcha. So it's a lot of technical assistance. So what's the average grant award for furniture, fixtures, equipment, whatever they need?

Okay, so it's a fairly small investment, but the technical expertise and the hand-holding is really where what I'll call the real money is, right, where that makes the biggest improvement, where you guys are taking time Walk owners, that's really great, because I think a lot of times it's just the quick and easy grab snacks that I'm going to flip and sell pretty quickly and keep going. So that's good to know. And then I guess if i can do this by way of referral i'm curious if you're able to map out what stores are in by district um just so if there are other c stores in the districts that we y

thank you councilman sorrento thank you um thank you stephanie for that very comprehensive report i'm curious since you've been in all those stores what are the prices like for people in terms of the fresh foods and produce are they comparable to what everyone else is paying in the toledo area

Okay. All right. Thank you for clarifying that. Thank you, Madam Chair.

So The lambing approached me a couple weeks ago about this project specifically on Hill Which I think is a good opportunity for redevelop in that area. I think it lends a lot of real opportunity to create a new housing project that creates affordability, but also market rate to that neighborhood. I think it is a good long-term goal. So I'm supportive. My only concern has nothing to do with this application review, so I just want to pivot this. you know as the school district as their own entity has the right to buy and sell their own property however they see fit it'd be helpful if they let th

Thank you. Thank you for your presentation. Don't be nervous talking to the mic so we can hear you. I have one question. Can we see the plans as to what that's going to look like once it's completed? Can we see what it's going to look like prior to that, sir?

It's a beautiful area. It's long to refer. We just want to make sure that it looks really nice. Thank you.

Thank you chair. So I assume we're waiving competitive bidding because we use this all across the city.

Okay, and do we use this all across the city?

Okay, and what do we use general fund money or what pool of funds we pay for this across the rest of the city?

I figured. Yeah. I know it is eligible, and we've gotten into this before about using capital dollars on software, which I know we are technically allowed to, but doesn't necessarily strike me as the spirit of capital expenses, nor does it strike me as the spirit of why we put the TIF in place. And I do think that I've asked for this earlier this year, but I really think we need to sit down and talk about a long-term plan for each one of our TIFs, because what I don't want to set up is some sort of system where every time we need to spend money, we see that there's a balance inside these TIF f

Thank you, Madam Chair. So I guess just to kind of tag along onto that concept, I wonder if that's a conversation for the administrative subcommittee. Because as technologies change, the business models change. So it's no longer out of the box software that you own outright. based on the subscription fee, and I don't know if our policies and procedures have kept pace with that, because it's coming up more and more often. So I wonder if we could put that in the administrative task force to kind of get some ideas and recommendations for the administration, because I don't see that going away. Es

Thank you, Madam Chair. So I have a very unpopular question to ask. So a couple things. Number one, what does this compare to the previous allocation?

i'm more more on them and then is this time sensitive yes like this can't wait till after the levy to figure out where we're at manpower wise we are already started in the school year so if we want reimbursement so this is to continue on yes if we want reimbursement in a timely fashion we need to Okay, so Mike I'm not saying I'm not supportive. I'm just thinking budgetary wise coming next year If we're gonna be able to support as we have it looks like we've already made a significant reduction in Resource officers and I think they are needed What the next year will look like on top of what's g

Sorry. Yeah. My apologies. So I guess my other question, just to kind of follow up, is there any other school municipality, or not municipalities, but school groups using TBD?

Gotcha. And do they have their own officers or it's just strictly TPD officers?

Thank you. Thank you. He asked the questions that I was going to ask as far as the number that we had last year compared to this year and the cut. So you've explained that.

Thank you, Chair, and thank you for this presentation. I want to make sure I'm clear. You said there are seven police officers and two command officers at TPD in addition to the three, or at TPS, sorry.

Right. Do you anticipate that this will decrease even more as we move forward?

Thank you, Madam Chair. So just to confirm, between the TPS licensed law enforcement officers and TPD officers, there really is the same number that we had last year? A total of 10 or?

Okay. Thank you for clarifying that WG. Thank you, madam chief

Thank you. Last question. Thank you. Moving forward for next year, is there like a best case, worst case scenario if we have to further decrease manpower to TPS and Washington local, or is that not an option?

Make sure we get them in a timely fashion, please.

Excuse me, just one question. On number 10, item 10, can you tell me about how many pumps did you think that was going to be for item 10? Yeah. About how many did you think that was going to be?

Thank you. Just a reminder tomorrow at our finance meeting.

Thank you so much, Chair. I just want to make sure that my colleagues know if you weren't at the zoning and planning meeting uh... we did address the gas station uh... the owner has on this gas station for over a decade and he picks and chooses when he wants to pay his taxes uh... he uh... really didn't take in consideration how much in disrepair this property was in anyway. To put it lightly, it would definitely go against the safety of the neighborhood and it doesn't add anything to the neighborhood. I know I fought for sheets, which they don't listen to me anyway, but I know I fought for sh

Just in case you guys didn't know, on Friday the 2nd, there will be a Breaking the Violence Summit at Toledo Hospital, talking about youth violence, relationship violence. So if anybody wants to attend, I'll be going there. It's at Toledo Hospital right there on ProMedica Parkway. It's Breaking the Violence Summit. It starts at 9 a.m. and it ends at 3. They'll be doing different things. And thank you, Councilman Hobbs, for doing this.

I'm sorry, I'm back at work, y'all. I did talk to Chair Dr. Jones just because I had some concerns. I did want to attend the whole meeting the other day, but I left a question for Councilwoman McPherson to ask, had Judge Howell been engaged with this? He has not. I do think we do need to engage with Judge Howell as the housing court. and work a little bit longer with the legal department because I don't want to just put laws on the books that we can't really enforce. I want to be able to enforce the laws that we have. I'm still fighting for the water resale with the legal department, we're wor

thank you councilman Hobbs I would appreciate as many as of my fellow council members would be a part of this domestic violence awareness resolution as we saw in our email earlier I think that councilman Sorrento sent to us that Margaret I'm sorry, Mary Arquette at Owens, her daughter, I'm sorry, Lourdes College, Lourdes. Her daughter was murdered in Virginia, three children by an estranged or divorced husband, domestic violence. And so she leaves behind three children. And, you know, this is something that is real and it's happening every day in real time. So if you would, I would appreciate

Thank you, Madam Chair. Happy to be a sponsor. But I was actually going to go back to the ordinance that we were in discussion with. I guess I had two questions, and one for Mr. Thomas. Thank you for being here. I know we have a meeting set up soon. So I have more specific questions, but is a magistrate responsibility an interpretation versus a judge? Are they the same, where they can opine on how they would interpret the law, or is that the same but different? Because one isn't officially a judge, one's a magistrate, or I'm not really sure what the hierarchy is, so forgive my ignorance.

And then the other question, I guess, in terms of communication, was anyone reached out to the real estate agency Professionals at all or the Chamber of Commerce because this is a big sweeping Piece of legislation we're asking to be voted I just want to make sure we had and I know there was an unfortunate wasn't able to make it to the meeting So I know we had a committee hearing on it I just wasn't sure if there was any representation from the real estate community or the Chamber of Commerce Councilwoman dr. Jones

Thank you. So I guess my other question, is there any protections for the landlord for retaliation from the tenant?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just wanted to say on 403-26, I had hoped that we would hear back from the administration on whether or not the software that we've seen from Lake Erie West Regional Council is duplicative of the software they're proposing here, but we haven't heard yet back from the administration, so I'm just putting a referral in because Lake Erie West has some kind of tree canopy data that they're providing us. And if it's redundant, then I don't understand why we would make an investment in that. So I just haven't heard back from the administration yet. So I'll have a referral on

Thank you, I promise I'll be done. So on the 404-26, on amending the tree section, so I'm still trying to have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that we have a random, Uh fee to cut down a tree in the right away that nobody knows about. There's no fee, but we want to change it to add a fee. But even though there's already been a fee. So I was very confused by the legislation and and I had a referral out and I guess maybe I'll be a little bit more specific because I'm curious how many other permits. that aren't advertised, that we don't know about, that we charge people if, for whate