City Council - Regular Meeting

City Council meeting to order. Please call the roll.

Mr. Jacklin.

Here.

Mr. Ruckman. Here. Ms. Keener. Here. Mr. Mahan. Here. Mrs. Hager. Here. Mr. Miller. Here. Mr. Severance. Here.

We are in session. The invocation this evening will be given by Pastor Ben Driver from the Mount Vernon Church of Christ. Please rise to invocation and remain standing for the pledge.

Thank you, Pastor.

Let us pray. Father, we come before you now and we are so grateful and honored and humbled to be able to call upon your name and to be able to stand in your presence. You have blessed us in so many ways, Father. You have given us so many good gifts and we are so grateful for them. Father, your word tells us that you desire that we offer prayers and thanksgivings and intercessions and supplications to all people but especially to those who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and godly life that is pleasing in your sight. And so, Father, we do pray now at this time. We pray for our country. We pray for our state, but especially, Father, we pray for our city. Father, I offer a prayer for this council, for all those who are here. I pray that the discussions that are had will be done in a manner that is pleasing to you and that are effective. Father, I pray that the decisions made would also be decisions that would glorify you and also be a blessing to the city and to the people of this area. Father, we look to you, always knowing that you are there with your love and your grace, and you offer forgiveness to us through Jesus Christ. It's in his name we pray. Amen.

Amen. Thank you, Pastor. Councilman, your packets are the minutes from two meetings, from both August 24th and for September 7th. Is there a motion for, are there any additions or corrections? If not, is there a motion for approval? So moved. Second. Moved and seconded. Both of those meeting minutes be approved. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed nay. They are approved. Petitions and communications. we have one in your packet about adding a sidewalk along Carroll Drive and Eastwood Drive that was received on August 24th and he did come and give a talk at our last council meeting on matters of public concern. Council in your packet are the committee reports from three committee meetings for your review. I see no liquor control licenses or proclamations. We do have a few people wanting to speak of matters of public concern. I'd ask that you come to the podium and say your name and address and limit your comments to four minutes.

The first is Sally Bowen to talk on the contract termination.

Sally?

I'm Sally Bowen. My address 2821 Burger Road here in Mount Vernon and just had a few more thoughts. I know I've spoken once before on the flock cameras. I was happy to read online today. They had posted something that The chief of police had put out basically that The flock contract may not be renewed a couple thoughts I have More questions, I guess that I kind of like to have thought about and answered I'm tickled to know that to read that I made my whole morning, but I guess a few questions that I have and With regards to the contract, I did put in a public records request a little while ago, a little over a month ago, and I know it came back with a contract which I'm assuming is the most recent. It was signed by Chief Morgan on June 12th of last year, 2025, and because the renewal contracts are always two years with FLOC, That means that we still have nine months, and I didn't count on the calendar, but we still have nine months, weeks, days left of the contract. I guess I'm wanting to formally pose my concern still that if we allow the FLOC contract to simply terminate, to run out and not renew it, what happens in the interim? That's my concern. Is it still going to be collecting data? I know other cities, I mean, I'm sure you've kind of kept track of what's been happening, even in Columbus. My husband works in Columbus. They are no longer, they still have their flaw contract, but there's been discussion about bagging them, just like in other towns across Ohio, where they realize the citizenry is not for them, and they're either bagging them or taking them down. We're going to be paying for it anyway. We have the contract. I don't know. I know it said our legal counsel is going to be reviewing it. But my concern is, and I'm sure you've seen it as well, in many towns, even when they don't renew and they have stopped midstream, it's still recording. And a lot of towns have started bagging their cameras. because even though they told flock they no longer want it they'll still even sometimes legally continue to pay for it they don't want it recording and yet it still is that's a concern and that's popped up a lot even here within the state of ohio another thing is how will our town ensure that all of our private info that has been captured since 2023 Since nothing is ever truly erased or deleted from the computer or the cloud, how are we going to be addressing that? It's a huge issue. And a lot of towns, there's been lawsuits. I love this town. I live here. Have we thought about that in terms of what are the safeguards? What are the parameters? I don't want to see us sued, but I'm also, as a citizen, very concerned about this. Obviously, I continue to come every two weeks when I'm able. The other thing, I did put in a public records request with regards to the audit logs. I kind of wanted to see. There's been so many issues with other towns. My request was denied. It came back that my request was too broad. I would love to see if we are, we all are aware of the concerns that the public's not for it. We don't like mass surveillance, warrantless searches. Are we ever gonna disclose that to the public so that the public, which this is an issue, we talk about with our neighbors, it comes up. Will we ever see those audit logs where it shows that no malfeasance was done? I would love to see it personally. Also, if we get rid of flock, will our police department access the data captured from private cameras? Can they do that? I don't know. I'm just posing it. It's a thought. You know, we know that... Okay. Thank you.

Thank you. Next person to speak is Dave Serino, author of Talk on Flock Cameras and also Road Resurfacing.

Sorry.

Okay, yeah, two subjects. One is regarding ALPRs. Name and address, please. Oh, I'm sorry. Dave Serino. I live at 149 Plymouth Road, Marverna. And yeah, I had two subjects here, ALPRs. These two are actually questions I asked at our first meeting on this. Just again, you know, the food for thought kind of thing. What can law enforcement do now with the cameras that they couldn't do before? And the other question was, who funded the grants that funded the, yeah, who funded the grants that funded the cameras here in Mount Vernon? And the other thing I just this is more of a comment. One thing I noticed and I was just surprised that it was an eye opener at the last meeting was. It seems to be essentially the issue of personal privacy cuts across party lines. It's basically apolitical. From extreme right to extreme left, we all love our privacy. And the next comment was regarding a question, really, regarding road maintenance. I noticed in the spring, I live over there on the east side, just off Upper Gilchrist. Yeah, I know two roads that come to mind that recently got resurfaced were Venture Drive and east part of East Chestnut, I guess. I'm sorry, yeah. So on these roads that I drive on nearly daily to get to where I'm going, I'm speaking about Yager Road between Upper Gilchrist and Vernon View. And Upper Gilchrist... road between Coshocton and Yager. I don't think, it feels like to me, under my suspension, is that it's the same road surface as like when they were originally built. I mean, especially Yager, it's like so washboard. And I didn't know if, I'm not going to speak to, you know, ask questions about budget, but it's more like, you know, road maintenance, road resurfacing plan. Does the city have a plan, you know, going out whatever, how many years of, you know, what, you know, by, road quality or surface quality of, you know, we need to address this one's first and this one's second. And if there is a plan, is it publicly available to satisfy me? So that's all I had. Thank you.

Thank you. The next person wanting to speak is Aaron . I also want us to talk on plot cameras.

My name is Aaron step. I live on Hilltop Drive 3939 Hilltop Drive. My concern is are we allowed to put trash bags on the flock cameras. That's my concern because I feel like our privacy is very important especially to the rest of the public. I don't think all of our information needs to be out for the rest of the world to see. I think privacy is everybody's right and that's all I have to say about that. Thank you.

Thank you. Of course, this session of city council is for your comments. If you have specific questions, you need to address those to the administration. That particular one might even need to go to the law director. Okay, the final one is Mark Bowen. Talk about public service reminder.

Yes, my name is Mark Bowen. I live at 2821 Burger Road here in Mount Vernon, Ohio. Just wanted to remind everybody, and it's everybody in this room, not any certain individual, that the speed limit on South Gay Street is 25 miles an hour and that everybody should be following that, no matter, unfortunately, who you are. I guess it was observed in the last meeting out of here that somebody pulled out of here relatively fast, and it was nowhere close to 25 miles an hour. So I just certainly wanted to remind everybody that the speed limit is 25 and applies to all. That's all I have. Thank you.

Thank you. That's important to maintain the speed limits here in town and for the safety of all. That concludes the person speaking in matters of city concern. We now move to resolutions. Counsel, in your packet is the agenda for the legislative portion. Are there any additions or corrections? No, I'll assume it's approved by consensus. We have no resolutions for third reading. There is one correction.

Ordinance 202630 should be under ordinances for third reading.

Okay. Thank you. Move now to resolution for third reading. We have none. We have one for second reading. That's resolution number 2026-90.

Resolution number 2026-90. A resolution authorizing and directing the auditor of the City of Mount Vernon to make supplemental appropriations.

Mr. Mahan. Council and amendment was in your packet. I moved to amend resolution 2026-90. Second.

And moved and seconded to amend this. And the amendment is just according to the packet. Is that what you're saying?

Yeah. Several items were added as was covered in our committee meeting.

All right. Any questions, Council? Let's go back to voting on to suspend the amendment. I'm sorry. Any questions on the amendment?

Mr. Sherman.

Mr. Jacklin. Yes. Mr. Ruckman. Yes. Ms. Keener. Yes. Mr. Mahan. Yes. Mrs. Hager. Yes. Mr. Miller. Yes. Mr. Severance. Yes.

This resolution is amended, Mr. Mahan.

Okay, I move to suspend the rule requiring three separate readings and take Resolution 2026-90 to its third and final reading.

Second. I move to second for the suspension of the rules. Any discussion on the suspension? Mr. Sherman.

Mr. Jacklin. Yes. Mr. Ruckman. Yes. Ms. Keener. Yes. Mr. Mahan. Yes. Mrs. Hager. Yes. Mr. Miller. Yes. Mr. Severance.

Yes.

The rule was suspended. Mr. Mahan.

Thank you. I move to adopt resolution 2026-90 as amended.

Second. I move to second to adopt this resolution as amended. Any discussion? Mr. Mahan.

Council, we had a committee meeting on this. Auditor Brinkman explained what we're doing. Are there additional questions?

If not, Mr. Sherman.

Mr. Jacqueline. Yes. Mr. Ruckman. Yes. Miss Keener. Yes. Mr. Mahan. Yes. Mrs. Hager. Yes. Mr. Miller. Yes. Mr. Severance.

Yes. Resolution is adopted. Next resolution is resolution number 2026, stage 93. Mr. Sherman.

A resolution authorizing and directing the Safety Service Director of the City of Mount Vernon, Ohio to enter into contract with Holistically Yours LLC to lease the property with the street address of 46 Public Square and declaring an emergency.

Mr. Severance? Yes, I move to suspend the rule requiring three separate readings and take Resolution 2026-93 to its third and final reading.

Second. I move and second for the suspension of the rules. Any discussion on the suspension?

We would just suspend this because it's a lease that we can activate and start bringing in rent pay. So why would we not?

Mr. Sherman.

Mr. Jacklin? Yes. Mr. Ruckman? Yes. Ms. Keener? Yes. Mr. Mayhem? Yes. Mrs. Hager? Yes. Mr. Miller? Yes. Mr. Severance?

Yes. Rule suspended, Mr. Severance. Yes, I move to adopt Resolution 2026-93. Second.

I move to second for the adoption of this resolution. Any discussion? Mr. Syers, do you have any input?

Council, this would be in the corner building the original vac shop, the original candy shop, the corner closest to Blackberry Alley, the parking garage, you know where I'm referring to. Okay, well, it would be in there. It's just a young man starting a local business.

Any other discussion? Mr. Sherman.

Mr. Jacklin? Yes. Mr. Ruckman? Yes. Ms. Keener? Yes. Mr. Mahan? Yes. Mrs. Hager? Yes. Mr. Miller? Yes. Mr. Severance?

Yes.

Resolution is adopted. Next resolution is resolution number 2026, page 94. Mr. Sherman?

A resolution confirming the mayor's appointment of Maxwell Leaning as an alternate to the Civil Service Commission and declaring an emergency.

Mrs. Keener?

Thank you, Mr. President. I move to suspend the rule requiring three separate readings and take Resolution 2026-94 to its third and final reading.

Second. I move to second for the suspension of the rules. Any discussion on the suspension? Mr. Sherman.

Mr. Jacklin. Yes. Mr. Ruckman. Yes. Ms. Keener. Yes. Mr. Mahan. Yes. Mrs. Hager. Yes. Mr. Miller. Yes. Mr. Severance.

Yes. The rule is suspended. Ms. Keener. Yes.

Thank you, Mr. President. I move to adopt Resolution 2026-94. Second.

I move to second for the adoption of this resolution. Any discussion? Ms. Skeener?

Thank you. Mayor, do you want to tell us a little bit about this appointment of Maxwell?

Yes, I would like to thank you, Madam Chair and Council. Maxwell Leaning is the newest team member to the Area Development Foundation. He lives in town. He also helped manage... paragraphs bookstore Julia who also works at area development I'm not just going after area development okay but Julia moved outside of the city and is no longer able to serve on this commission and so Maxwell said that he would very much like to fill in her spot as the alternate and the timing is good because we have a civil service commission coming up very soon any other discussion mr. Sherman

Mr. Jacklin? Yes. Mr. Ruckman? Yes. Ms. Keener? Yes. Mr. Mahan? Yes. Mrs. Hager? Yes. Mr. Miller? Yes. Mr. Severance?

Yes. Resolution is adopted. The next resolution is resolution number 2026, stage 95. Mr. Sherman?

A resolution authorizing the safety service director to dispose of vehicles in the police department not needed for public use by the city of Mount Vernon and declaring an emergency.

Mr. Mahan? Yes.

Thank you, sir. I move to suspend the rule requiring three separate readings and bring resolution number 2026-95 to its third and final reading.

Second. We move to second for the suspension of the rules. Any discussion on the suspension?

Council, we've got some impound vehicles and other you can see in the legislation. I think it's wise of us to just get these out there on GovDeals as quickly as we can and get some revenue.

Any other discussion? Mr. Sherman?

Mr. Jacklin? Yes. Mr. Ruckman? Yes. Ms. Keener? Yes. Mr. Mahan? Yes. Mrs. Hager? Yes. Mr. Miller? Yes. Mr. Severance?

Yes. The roll is suspended, Mr. Mahan.

I move to adopt Resolution 2026-95. Second.

I move to second for adoption of this resolution. Any discussion? Mr. Mahan?

Again, Council, in honor of Janice Seavolt, we are selling vehicles, and it makes me smile every time I think it. So I don't know when I'll stop, but it's not today.

Any other discussion? Mr. Sherman.

Mr. Jacklin. Yes. Mr. Ruckman. Yes. Ms. Keener. Yes. Mr. Mahan. Yes. Mrs. Hager. Yes. Mr. Miller. Yes. Mr. Severance. Yes.

Resolution is adopted. Next resolution is resolution number 2026-96. Mr. Sherman.

A resolution regarding the city's use of automated license plate reader technology and declaring an emergency.

Mr. Miller.

Thank you, Mr. President. I would like to give this resolution its first reading and request a 10-minute committee meeting at our next meeting on the 28th of September.

This resolution sees its first reading. We now move to resolution number 2026-97. Mr. Sherman.

A resolution authorizing and directing the auditor of the city of Mount Vernon to transfer funds.

Mr. Mahan.

Sir, I move to suspend the rule requiring three separate readings. Take resolution 2026-97 to its third and final reading.

Second. I move and second for the suspension of the rules. Any discussion on the suspension?

Mr. Brinkman, could you help us on this one? I'm not as prepared to apologize.

Certainly, Mr. Mahan.

For the extension, why we need it tonight. Suspension, excuse me.

The primary reason is there's a vendor waiting to be paid that these transfers will help facilitate, and that's part of the then and now as well.

Thank you.

Any other discussion? Mr. Sherman.

Mr. Jacqueline. Yes. Mr. Ruckman. Yes. Ms. Keener. Yes. Mr. Mahan. Yes. Mrs. Hager. Yes. Mr. Miller. Yes. Mr. Severance.

Yes. The roll is suspended, Mr. Mahan.

Yes, sir. I move to adopt 2026-97. Second.

I move to second for the adoption of this resolution. Any discussion? Mr. Mahan.

Counsel, you see in your packet we're moving items. Mr. Brinkman, do you have anything you want to highlight here?

Of course, Mr. Mahan. So items one and five are moving money from underutilized lines in the stormwater fund to accommodate paying for the Norton Street project, which we're taking care of in the then and now, which is the next piece of legislation before you. Item six is moving around $20,000 from training travel expenses line of the water fund to a services received line to cover some improvements in some state-of-the-art software that helps run the water plant. Line 7 moves $36,000 from support for capital improvements within the general fund to the janitorial contract line in the general fund, so we have enough money to cover our janitorial contract for the remainder of the year.

Any other discussion? Mr. Sherman.

Mr. Jacklin. Yes. Mr. Ruckman. Yes. Ms. Keener. Yes. Mr. Mahan. Yes. Mrs. Hager. Yes. Mr. Miller. Yes. Mr. Severance.

Yes.

The resolution is adopted. Next resolution is resolution number 2026-98. Mr. Sherman.

A resolution authorizing and directing the auditor of the city of Mount Vernon to pay bills pursuant to section 5705.41d then and now certification. Mr. Mahan.

Thank you, sir. I move to suspend the rule requiring three separate readings. Take Resolution 2026-98 to its third and final reading. Second.

I move to second for the suspension of the rules. Any discussion on the suspension?

Counsel, this is an outstanding bill.

Mr. Sherman.

Mr. Jacklin. Yes. Mr. Ruckman. Yes. Ms. Keener. Yes. Mr. Mahan. Yes. Mrs. Hager. Yes. Mr. Miller. Yes. Mr. Severance.

Yes.

The role is suspended. Mr. Mayhem.

Sir, I move to adopt resolution 2026-98. Second.

I move to second for the adoption of this resolution. Any discussion, Mr. Mayhem?

Anything to add on this one, Mr. Brinkman?

Not really, Mr. Mayhem, other than it was contemplated early in the year or late last year in the budget discussions, but it wasn't encumbered. So, therefore, the then and now.

Understood.

Mr. Sherman.

Mr. Jacklin. Yes. Mr. Ruckman. Yes. Miss Keener. Yes. Mr. Mahan. Yes. Mrs. Hager. Yes. Mr. Miller. Yes. Mr. Severance.

Yes.

Resolution is adopted. That's the final resolution for this evening. We now move to ordinances. We have two for a third reading. The first one is very long. That's 2026, stage 26, Mr. Sherman.

an ordinance establishing two incentive districts and declaring improvements to certain real property within the incentive districts to be a public purpose and exempt from real property taxation identifying certain public infrastructure improvements made to be made or in the process of being made that will benefit or serve the parcels in the incentive districts requiring the owners of those parcels to make service payments in lieu of real property taxes Establishing a municipal public improvement tax increment equivalent fund for the deposit of such service payments in lieu of real property taxes. Approving and authorizing the execution and delivery of a tax increment financing agreement with Aristovila's Mount Vernon LLC and other agreements. And approving related matters.

Mr. Jackman.

Well I want to make it very clear that I take this incredibly seriously. I am going to miss hearing Mr. Sherman read that entire title over and over. So I oh yeah yeah I would move to adopt ordinance number 20 26 dash 26.

SECOND. ANY DISCUSSION?

MR. JACKMAN. SO I DID CONTACT SOME OF THE ORGANIZATIONS would lose money due to the TIF. Some of those county organizations and one primarily the veteran service organization which would not receive money due to if we from those homes if we were to utilize the TIF. And when I spoke with them they said that at current standing their budget is fine for addressing the needs of veterans in the county. They did, however, express that loosely, if this were to continue, like if every development were to be a TIF, that that would present a funding issue eventually. So I guess my question to the administration would be, is this going to be a tool used And I see it as a tool and I see this area and that this area is going to need help adjusting to the amount of housing and that this could be very useful in helping address a lot of the issues that people on Vernon view were brought forward help developing the road help ensuring that the existing homes don't have to deal with flood issues related to the developing of that forest. But I'm just curious, is that all right for me to ask in this?

Yeah, sure, you can ask that. I think council needs to understand that every development project is different. BUT WE DO LIKE THESE ITEMS. WE DO LIKE THESE TOOLS BECAUSE WE DON'T WANT TO GET INTO REPEAT OF WHAT HAS HAPPENED IN OUR COMMUNITY BEFORE. SO WHERE WE HAVE TO PAY FOR INFRASTRUCTURE OR WE HAVE TO SUBSIDIZE INFRASTRUCTURE THAT IS WHEN WE WERE GROWING, that we're now absorbing in our general fund and so forth. So there are options to look at as well here. And so we're not trying to, we're not trying to, what's the word? undervalue the county services that that are provided at the same time we do want growth to pay for growth and so there's probably a balance there i without making any any promises i think there are options on the table to see that those are also supported but anyway it's a great tool and it allows us to continue to pay for the maintenance on infrastructure and not have the rest of the city subsidize it

Any other questions? Mr. Sherman?

Mr. Jacklin? Yes. Mr. Ruckman? Yes. Ms. Keener? Yes. Mr. Mahan? Yes. Mrs. Hager? Yes. Mr. Miller? No. Mr. Severance?

Yes.

I vote a six to one. The ordinance is adopted. Next ordinance is ordinance number 2026, stage 29. Mr. Sherman?

An ordinance fixing the number of hourly employees in the city of Mount Vernon in the fire department and declaring an emergency.

Ms. Keener.

I move to adopt ordinance number 2026-29. Second.

We move to second for the adoption of this ordinance. Any discussion? Ms. Keener.

There was a committee meeting on this. Mr. Salyers, do you have any last comments?

Nope.

Okay. That's all. Thank you.

Mr. Sherman.

Mr. Jacklin. Yes. Mr. Ruckman. Yes. Ms. Keener. Yes. Mr. Mahan. Yes. Mrs. Hager. Yes. Mr. Miller. Yes. Mr. Severance.

Yes.

The ordinance is adopted. Next ordinance is for third reading. It was listed in second reading initially, but it is the third reading for ordinance number 2026, stage 30. Mr. Sherman.

An ordinance authorizing the safety service director to execute a contract with Enterprise Fleet Management for the leasing of city vehicles.

Mr. Mahan. Sir, I'm going to postpone the third reading of 2026-30 until our next gathering on September the 28th. I've already asked for an additional 10-minute committee meeting. And I've requested an amendment for council to consider that if council decides to adopt the amendment, we'd separate safety vehicles We'll have to bang the wording around on that, but police, cruisers, et cetera, from this legislation.

This order sits postponed until, oh, we need a vote.

We need a second and a vote. Second.

I'm going to motion a second to postpone this until our next council meeting.

Any discussion? If I could throw one caveat to what Mr. Mahan just said, I would like to remind, if we said safety vehicles, I believe that would encompass the fire department. So I just want to... We will probably, the administration will probably offer up specifically the Mount Vernon Police Department as the only vehicles that would be considered for the Mount Vernon Fire Department would be administrative vehicles.

As I said, we'll have to be careful with the wording to make sure we.

We will provide you language that will get to the spirit of what you're looking for.

I'll vote on the postponement.

Mr. Jacklin? Yes. Mr. Ruckman? Yes. Ms. Keener? Yes. Mr. Mahan? Yes. Mrs. Hager? Yes. Mr. Miller? Yes. Mr. Severance?

Yes.

This ordinance is postponed until our next meeting. The next ordinance for a second reading is Ordinance Number 2026, Stage 31. Mr. Sherman?

An ordinance amending Chapter 1305 of the Codified Ordinances of the City of Mount Vernon and declaring an emergency.

Mr. Ruckman?

Yes.

Yes, thank you, Mr. President. I'd like to give this its second reading and ask for a 10-minute committee meeting at our next legislative session, please.

This ordinance receives a second reading. Now I move to ordinances for first reading. The first one is ordinance number 2026, stage 32. Mr. Sherman. Mr. Miller.

Yes, I'd like to give this ordinance its first reading and request a five-minute committee meeting on September the 28th.

This ordinance receives its first reading. The next ordinance is ordinance number 2026, days 33. Mr. Sherman.

An ordinance fixing the number of hourly employees in the city of Mount Vernon in the Department of Public Works and declaring an emergency.

Ms. Giener.

Um, I am going to give this it's first reading and ask for a 10 minute committee meeting at our, uh, September 28th council meeting.

It's artists who sees this first reading. The final artist of this evening is artist number 20, 26, 34, Mr. Sherman.

An ordinance consenting to the annexation of 1.519 acres, parcel number 49-00510.000 from Monroe Township into the city of Mount Vernon, providing for certain city services to the annexed parcel and providing protections against incompatible uses under existing township zoning and declaring an emergency.

Mrs. Jacklin.

I would like to move to suspend the rules and bring ordinance number 2026-34 to its third and final reading.

Second.

I move to second for the suspension of the rules. Any discussion on the suspension? Mr. Sherman.

Mr. Jacklin. Yes. Mr. Ruckman. Yes. Ms. Keener. Yes. Mr. Mahan. Yes. Mrs. Hager. Yes. Mr. Miller.

Yes. Mr. Severance.

Yes. We're all suspended, Mr. Jacklin.

Well, first, because I forgot to mention it during that last part, we are suspending the rules or suspended the rules to stay in compliance with Ohio Revised Code. So that's it. Oh, yeah, I'd like to move to adopt it. And by it, I mean Ordinance 2026-34, because I don't use pronouns.

I can't. I move to second for the adoption of this ordinance. Any discussion? Mr. Jackman?

Nope. I said it in the wrong section.

Okay. Mr. Sherman?

Mr. Jackman? Yes. Mr. Ruckman? Yes. Ms. Keener? Yes. Mr. Mahan? Yes. Mrs. Hager? Yes. Mr. Miller? Yes. Mr. Severance?

Yes. The ordinance is adopted, and that concludes the legislative portion of the meeting. We now move to remarks of administration. Mayor Starr. Thank you, Mr. President and Council.

Well, it's the moment everyone has been waiting for. The pickleball courts are under construction, okay, at Riverside Park. So that is what is happening right now. They're getting things ready to go. Obviously, you've continued to see progress along Sandusky Street in the demo, so that will continue happening. We don't think ODOT will begin still. STARTING THE PROJECT. I AM KNOCKING ON WOOD BECAUSE I ALWAYS TEND TO EAT MY WORDS EVERY TIME I SAY A PROMISE LIKE THAT BUT IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE THEY WILL BE ACTUALLY STARTING THE CONSTRUCTION PART UNTIL AFTER THE FIRST OF THE YEAR SO WE SHOULD NOT SEE ANY ROAD CLOSURES ON THAT FOR THE TIME BEING. also would like to Say that we have a salt contract Salt contract is pretty expensive this year So we are going to be you know, we're getting ready obviously we're working on budgets and so that's going to be one of those things that We are going to be looking at very very carefully in terms of how much salt we're going to be able to get and Anyway, so we'll keep you posted on that as the budget talks are happening, but the salt barn is also underway as well, so that's good. We'll be able to store a lot more and so forth. Wanted to mention to council that next Wednesday at the Woodward, I think it starts at 6.30, is the special screening of Our Story 200 Years. It was the 200-year anniversary, in 2005 that the city came into partnership with the historical museum and other private partners as well as the public library and so forth. And so there will be people, it's broken into two parts, the first hundred years and then the second hundred years. Looking at my colleague at the time, Cheryl Splane over there, who was one of the interviewers on some of the people who are interviewed in in this documentary who are no longer with us so this is a way of capturing what the city looked like in 2004 2005 and hearing from some of those people who continue to be with us in spirit it's free there are no ticket sales but it would be a good idea to get to the Woodward early if you wanted to get a seat so The United Way kickoff is coming up also. There's a million dollar goal. I do plan to hit up the city to help us increase our participation on this. The number of programs that the United Way supports that goes to support the people in our community is an incredible amount of not only goodwill and funds, but it is one of those things that CONTINUES TO MAKE OUR CITY SUSTAINABLE. THERE YOU GO. EVERYBODY TAKE A DRINK NOW. AND SPEAKING OF SUSTAINABILITY, THE SUMMIT ON SUSTAINABILITY FOR MORPSEA IS GOING TO BE OCTOBER THE 28TH. I'VE HEARD FROM ONE PERSON FROM COUNCIL WHO WOULD LIKE TO ATTEND. I HAVE A COUPLE MORE SEATS AVAILABLE AT THE CITY'S TABLE. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO ATTEND, LET ME KNOW. AND WE'LL GET YOU ON THE LIST. THAT IS ALL, MR. PRESIDENT.

THANK YOU. MR. ZYRES.

HE LEAVES ALL THE FUN STUFF FOR ME. So let's address the elephant in the room. Um, ALPR technology. Uh, I don't want everybody that came tonight to leave into empty handed and feel like you gotta wait for two weeks for the next dramatic episode. Uh, although we do like cliffhangers. Um, why the change? Obviously, there is feedback from the public, which we do here. We have, as we've said before, we have a responsibility to hold two things at the same time, tools for public safety and the constitutional rights of the citizens, which we took oaths to uphold. We did not take an oath to flock. We took an oath to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of Ohio. We've said that before on other topics, and we'll say that and reiterate that again tonight. That said, we do recognize that with the expansion of technology comes the usefulness of public safety tools. And if the... If the law has not caught up with that usefulness of that technology or if cases have not been born in court, and oftentimes those courts are not our local courts, those are federal courts, if that has not happened yet, then this is not the arena for those questions to be played out in. And when I say this, I don't necessarily mean the city of Mount Vernon. I mean local governments across the country. Local governments are tasked with doing... the day to day dirty work of government, right? Not the flashy stuff that you typically see on TV. It's the boring stuff, right? But it's the stuff that impacts your life the most. And we don't have the cache to exhaust your public trust. So if you come and say to us, to the people that you can bump into at Kroger, and say, I don't trust this system that you've put up and you compare it to a Chinese spy network, we have to listen at that point because we cannot just dust that off. Now, do we agree that that's what this is? this administration, our police department, and many members of council, even I think, not to put words in their mouth, but even the most skeptical among the council members, I don't know that that's how they would describe this. However, that's because they have an intimate relationship and knowledge of the people that work here day in and day out. Not everybody that lives here has that kind of relationship, and we understand that, and we hold those things at the same time. And it's a messy middle that's constantly bearing out day in and day out. So what does this piece of legislation do? It allows the contract to expire, the initial contract. So there was a nine-month figure that was brought up. The initial contract expires October 25th. So you're probably looking at some grant renewals and things like that if your initial contract expires October 25th. That's section one of this piece of legislation. Section two talks about a 12 month, essentially a 12 month moratorium. If you'll allow me, there are two levels of government over local government. That's the state government. Both leading candidates for governor in Ohio have announced that they are willing to sign, to some degree, to sign an ALPR, that's not flock, that's any brand, ALPR bans in the state of Ohio. And that has allowed kind of a coverage for other state lawmakers to be comforted. Now, I'm not making a position on our candidates for governor. I'm just, these are objective facts. state lawmakers now feel that they have the ability to say more publicly how they feel about ALPR technology, because they know no matter who wins in November, the person's gonna sign their piece of legislation. Now, if you've paid any attention to how state lawmaking works, they typically go for the gold, and then by the time they're done, they like rename a bridge somewhere, so it gets watered down. We all know where this goes. All right. If I was a betting man, I would say with the new General Assembly starting in January, one of the first bills that will be rolled out will be some sort of preemption on ALPR technology statewide. This administration, along with our police department and our our city council the relevant members of our city council not that any of them are ill or irrelevant sorry john discussed some local guardrails uh... and then after we had talked about provision after provision we said this is senseless because this is onerous on the local government i don't know that it buys the public trust and at that point the state of Ohio could come in and for that matter the federal government which is a lot more a lot less effective shall we say and they could kick our legs out from under us and all this would be for not So we feel that it is in the best interest of the city and frankly, other cities, but we can't tell other cities what to do to wait and see what new rules come down from the state of Ohio. And if ALP technology, ALP, our technology is outright banned, well then banned, and we're not even going to look at it. And Beyond that, if there are new rules that make it so onerous to operate, we probably won't explore it at that time. And if there are new rules that govern ALPR technology, data share, right of way, the whole laundry list of issues that people have, then we will explore it, bring it to council and have a public conversation about it at that time, because that's what the public deserves. And that's what our police department deserve because they deserve to, uh, serve and protect a public that trusts them. And you deserve a government that you can trust and that is transparent. On top of that, someone asked a funding question. So the funding comes from a JAG grant that is distributed from the Ohio Department of Safety. So that's federal government money that, like most federal grants, are then distributed to the state of Ohio that are then distributed out. The federal budget, whether you like this or not, runs on continuing resolutions. One expires in December. It will probably be extended again for a couple months, but whether the Republicans or Democrats control the House and the Senate is kind of up in the air at this point. There is a good indication that one party will take control of the House or the Senate. You can look in your crystal ball. If you get a good, accurate crystal ball, let me know how you got that. I'd like to have one myself. The chances of that federal appropriation going by the wayside, not in the next continuing resolution, but the following continuing resolution, is high. And then the city being stuck with the bill on those cameras is a very realistic possibility given the political conversation now. So again, how do you avoid that? You wait. You wait to see what's happening. Again, we didn't take an oath to a private company. So we're going to wait. And I expect that that will, someone mentioned the extreme right and the extreme left. I imagine this piece of legislation and total transparency ticking off the extreme right and the extreme left because it's not enough for either side. And it's been my experience that when you tick off the extreme left and the extreme right, you're probably doing your job. So you're somewhere in the squishy middle. Hey, like a nice pastry, right? Yeah, joking. All right, so I wanted you to have the full context of what we're doing and why we're doing it. There's a lot of thought that went into this, and I hope you can appreciate the thought that went into this because there is value in this technology. It has helped, but has it helped enough? Are there constitutional concerns? Yes, there are. Is this body, is this administration, is our police department, is the city of Mount Vernon City Council going to deal with those United States constitutional concerns? No, they're not the bodies of government to do that. And until those are settled, not our ballgame. And with that, Lashana Tova, Happy New Year. Thank you, Mr. President.

Thank you, Mr. President. I attended the 9-11 tribute service that the mayor and the administration put together on Friday, and it was really nice, really well done, a fitting way to remember a day that certainly in my life is pretty consequential.

So nice job, Mayor.

Thank you. Mr. Brinkman. Nothing tonight, Mr. President. Thank you. Mr. Roy.

I have nothing. Thank you.

Mrs. Jacklin.

So there's a couple things I'd like to say. I promise I'll be shorter than Mr. Selliers. One is to answer one of the questions in the comments that was made. Yes, Yaga Road is on the list to get repaved. It got pushed back because of the issue with the cattle dam and building it. And they didn't want to freshly pave a road and then drive giant vehicles on it and tear it up. So if my memory serves me, it's supposed to be next year. And there is also a publicly available plan to redo the streets. I believe it's on the engineer's website. Could somebody nod yes if that's? Yep, it's on the engineer's website. The other thing I'd like to say is I'd like to thank everybody who came out and made their opinions known. I hope you see that your voices matter in this and that when the local government can hear you, they respond. I know the existential crises that face the world right now can have you screaming at clouds and hoping something different happens. But those of you that came week in and week out and made your voices heard, you really did it. You accomplished something. And I would like to encourage more people, especially if your opinion is that we should keep the footbridge. Am I allowed to say that? To make your voices heard. And that's it.

Ms. Skinner.

Nothing tonight. Thank you. Mr. Severance.

Yes, Mr. Serino, yes. We do have – I'm talking right here. As Mr. Jackman stated, we do have a street plan. Yager is on there, yeah, and so is Mansfield Road, which is good because I basically lose my sinuses every time I drive on Mansfield. It's very bad. So we – What I want to make sure is that we don't promise anything because it's very expensive to do this, and it just comes down to what kind of money do we have to do what. And so, yes, those are both streets that we know need to be dealt with. And that's it. Thank you. Thank you.

Mr. Hager.

Mr. Stuller, thank you so much for starting off what you said just a few moments ago. I want to thank everyone who organized and participated in 9-11 memorial service last Friday. It was beautiful and humbling and it was extraordinary. We will never forget the heroes and the victims who gave and lost their lives 25 years ago. And I'm compelled to offer another sincere thanks to our first responders who are heroes every single day. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President.

Thank you. Mr. Miller.

Nothing tonight, Mr. President.

Mr. Ruckman. Nothing this evening, Mr. President. Mr. Mahan.

Thank you, sir. In the spirit of boring and dirty and expensive, I'd like to remind council that budget season is approaching and that you'll need to get with your departments. I know the administration is talking to Mr. Brinkman last week about things we're considering. This conversation is no more fun at the kitchen table or at the council chamber. We have a massive project coming up. We have a building on the plaza building that we have to get people out of. We're spending millions and millions of dollars to do that. So the capital budgets and the other type of things that we would normally be looking at are going to be kind of thin. unless we can access private money or other kind of money to, to save our beloved footbridge. We, you know, this, this might be one of those situations where, and I, you know, I love good footbridge, so this is not, not personal, right. But, uh, uh, this is a time when we need to be thinking about, uh, You know, we need sidewalks on the South side. We need, uh, we have requests for sidewalks, other places. Um, we have gonna have, we have jog road needs to be paid and we have, um, we have a lot of things that could be done and, and not as much money to do them in the next year or two. So, uh, that's again, not a fun conversation, uh, where you have it, wherever you have it, but it's a responsible conversation and it's a necessary conversation. So, um, be keeping that in mind, get with your departments. and make sure you understand what they're asking for and how we need to keep our budget in check this year. Thank you, sir.

Thank you. This is a busy time for Mount Vernon. If you have not seen the play that the youth have been putting on, I went yesterday. It's phenomenal. It was a great play. and the acting and the singing, but the props and the flying of the people on the stage from Wizard of Oz was absolutely phenomenal. It's worth your time to go see it. We also have Middle Earth coming up this weekend. There's gonna be a parade. And that will be a lot of activities downtown with Middleworth. So a lot of things going on in Mount Vernon. And also, I just got tickets tonight to Mount Vernon. The Nash concert, that's gonna be coming up. The tickets are going very fast for that. There are a few tickets left for that one. If you're very interested in going to that, it's the Graham Nash concert, October 8th at Memorial Theater. That's a nationally known group that's coming to Mount Vernon. It's very worth your while to go to that. So a lot of things going on in Mount Vernon that we should be excited about. Thanks to the media for being here this evening. And thank you for attending and expressing your opinions. And that being said, I call for adjournment.

So moved. Second.

Moved and seconded. We adjourn. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed nay.

We are adjourned.