City Commission - Regular Meeting

Cler call the role. Mr. Rickettts here. Mr. Riggsby here. Mrs. Tacket here. Mr. Wallace. Mr. Rue here. City manager. Yes. Commission, we have one work session item tonight and that is an update on the Springfield 201 initiative and with us is Marta Wick and Kevin Rose.

Thank you so much for having us. So um uh we wanted to just provide you a brief update on our progress. As you know uh several months ago we came to the commission to talk about this project launching the Springfield 2015 project and it's essentially um a process of engaging community in conversations about our future. Um, as you may know, 201, we aiming to for this to have uh impact short-term, but also looking forward to our, uh, 250th anniversary as a community of of, uh, Springfield's birthday. Um so um we've been having so many community engagement sessions and we really try to reach uh across uh neighborhoods across the county as well as you know different uh age groups. We had a a great uh privilege to talk to uh factory workers and uh kids in schools of different ages, different schools, different districts. Um and of course general public and I would say that this is one of the thing that I want to say how grateful we are to residents in our community because for example we reached uh 1572 community survey uh results and this was not a short survey. This was in-depth survey that took some time to really think about you know deeper about people's desires for this community but also concerns and um it's just amazing that this happened and people took time to do it. So we just want to thank everyone because this is really the base

for for the plan and um uh this allowed us to clarify what people feel are the most important issues most important assets that we should rally around and build our implementation plan. So Kavin do you want to talk about pillars?

Yeah. Um so we [clears throat] had it wasn't just the survey right we had the survey it took people about I think a lot of people probably in this room took the survey so everyone knows how long it took but it took about 20 minutes right it's it it was high quality data points as our consultant talked about um that really focused on on what people are feeling like [snorts] the things that are not they're not happy about but also the things they want to build upon the things they want to to work on but then beyond that we've had listening sessions we've had visioning sessions with residents again a lot of Springfield residents but also people in the county as well quite a few sessions in in different towns around the county uh but especially those areas right outside of Springfield and focusing on a lot of the people that have Springfield addresses right but might not live inside inside the city limits and we've had in those sessions well over a thousand participants um and these are people from across the political spectrum and one of the things I've loved is when we can be together and having discussions in person what we found is that the conversations have been cordial Right. Um and that's been really really heartening I think in this process. Um so out of those the the um steering committee we have an advisory committee which how many people do we have it now? Like 70 people on that. Um uh so people from all walks of life in the community. Then we have a much smaller steering committee because if you've ever tried to get something done with that many people in a room it can be difficult. that also represent um broad sections of this community. And from that steering committee um we really dove into this and and had deep discussions looking at all of that feedback, everything that had been received uh back from our citizens and said, "What are these things that are kind of grouping together? What are these things that are are being highlighted?" And we came up with seven key strategic pillars. And I'll admit this is quite a few more pillars than our consultant is used to using in the community. Uh they like

about five of them. Um but we so we tried and like well what could we remove and or what could we combine and ultimately we decided all seven of these were so important in this [clears throat] region that we heard from our citizens that these were so important that we couldn't merge them with something else that we needed to focus on them. Um so those are I'll run through them in no particular order. I just kind of stop at the start at the top of what is kind of a clock. We use it as a circle. Uh fostering strong neighborhoods and community well-being. A key topic. Uh creating youth opportunities. And that just didn't come out of the youth sessions. It also came out a lot of the sessions that we had around the community focusing on that activating southside revitalization. We know that neighborhoods across Springfield are are struggling, are hurting. But there was something that came out with Southside that was not just happening in Southside discussions that were happening in other parts of the communities. They were talking about uh the Southside and the importance of that elevating arts culture and heritage or sorry elevating arts heritage and culture. Um, obviously Martin and I, for those of you that know us, work in this sector. Uh, and that's not why it's in there. Um, one of the things that's been significant in this community is how many people talked about arts, culture, and heritage as being one of those things that they're proud about, but also they thought that we could build our future around. Um, capitalizing on recreation and natural assets. Uh, a key discussion um on on the eve of a of an important election for a lot of people that that are focused on that issue. Uh, enhancing downtown and corridors. uh we had a session on that earlier today with a really good discussion and then and last and again certainly not least um stimulating strategic economic growth. Now those seven pillars are around a kind of main idea that is driving the whole process and that's leveraging our unique strategic position. So what we want is we want to be unique. We want to continue to be unique and that we want all of these things to separate us from towns around us. Right? We're not Dayton. We're not Columbus. This is Springfield. We're proud of being Springfield and we want to make sure all

of these things help us define and develop that unique strategic position.

So, uh this week we are working on uh sessions that each session is dedicated to one pillar. Uh so we have discussions uh with community members uh just really starting to uh look at uh what will make up our implementation plan for each of those pillars. How we go about it? What is within those pillars? what is the most important short-term but also long term. So that's where we are in the process and we will continue engaging the public. We are scheduling uh some public engagement. We just had a summit where we brought public together to inform them about those pillars. But uh right now we are planning for a couple town halls just to continue the process of educating each other, exchanging ideas and just hoping to get community engaged in this process. So they feel like um like there is an ongoing dialogue as much as that's possible.

And last thing I'll say is we've also uh as part of this process released a podcast um uh recorded here in Springfield. Uh I'm moderating it. So, for those of you that hear my voice enough, you might not want to uh listen to it, but you can get it, as they say, wherever you get your podcast. So, Spotify or or Apple podcast, wherever you get them, it should be on there. It's uh uh Let's Make History Together.

Let's Make History Together is how you can find it. And it's right now a lot of the steering committee members, our fellow citizens that are talking about what they heard in these sessions and where they think we should be going in these areas. So, the first how many of them do we have? nine of those uh podcasts, all recorded here in Springfield, edited by Springfield artists. Uh really great quality. We have a lot of great um people in this community that can do this kind of stuff. Really high quality professional podcast. So for anyone that wants to learn more about this process that's kind of coming in, maybe tonight's the first time you're hearing about it. The podcasts are a great spot to start. The springfield.com website is another great spot to start. But if you want something while you're mowing the lawn or out for a run, um uh a great a great tool to use. Excellent. Um, measurable outcomes, goals for the program. You want to highlight those for the community again and when will you know that u that this has been a successful short term? Obviously long term is a lot of those pillars are solid and things like that. Well, I I would say that um the one one thing that is a measure of success is is that community engagement and you know our consultant who we chose carefully with our steering committee um has been doing that work around different communities and this is one of the broadest more more robust um projects that he has ever done in in in terms of community engagement. So um that is important but also partners who came around and you know people who have been um incredible leaders in this community have gone through so many of these type of exercises for very good reasons right and you know you may wonder why this would be worth your time. We all very

busy. We all do we all try to do very good things in a community. This is yet another thing and um I think that we we managed to get really key players together and and work together over the last well since August and even before August 2025 is when we launched it. So to have these partners to continue show up and do the work and have these conversations and work toward implementation plan is is a is a key at this point is a key measure of success for us. But of course implementation plan which show will lead us to tangible projects that we feel we need to do within each pillar uh to and and then ultimately for our community to see success is for those things to get done.

[clears throat]

uh which some of them we hope we hope that it's going to be some things we can really quickly kind of get together around and get it done. But of course some things will take uh some time you know and we we talked about perception and some of the internal struggles of some people thinking that that they may not have the most positive view of our community and those things take time right. So we are we also understanding that you know we reflected a lot about last 20 years and many things that have been happening in a community many many positive things that people mentioned in surveys and community listening sessions and uh we see how two decades can do can so much can happen within two decades but but you know that's something that also requires patience right because we want them to be done in a year So, um, anything to add?

Yeah. So, I I think as Marty was saying, there's already been a lot of those successes. We've reached some of those outcomes. We're not done with this process, but part of it was was taking each step as it came along, right? Um, we had early on where we just wanted answers, right? We want ideas. We want things on the table, but that wasn't the process. We wanted to go through, we wanted to hear what citizens had to say. And a little bit more on that, uh, because we kind of skipped past it. Um, early on in the survey results, as you can imagine, there was a lot of negative responses. And we understand that there's a lot of people who who want to see different direction are are are affected by by things that are going on in the community. And we were getting some of that early on in the survey response. But as the survey played out over time, the number of people that were expressing that they were happy about the direction the community is in and also very excited about the future of this community kept growing and growing and growing. Um I was actually surprised. We looked at the response early, right? Cuz you're kind of monitoring. We didn't have access to that data cuz that's protected by our consultants. So people's names we I can't be like, "Oh, Tracy said this, right?" um that that he would strip those names before we saw the data. So he would it would be every so often that we would get a response from him kind of giving us an update on where that data was at. Early on it was like oh boy like looking at the responses but over time the overwhelming response of this community is that people are eager for change, right? But but happy and and wanting to see positive change. So we feel really good about those responses. Last thing I want to uh stress because I think it came up out of the last time we we did an update is to stress that this is a non-governmental project, right? This is not something that is led by the city. It's not being led by the county. It's not being led by the chamber. And I know the chamber is not not the government. This is a a project that began with two residents and then was three residents and then was seven and 10 and 50 and 100 and now several thousand. Um ultimately that's al also going to be one of the challenges in

implementation, right? because it's great to start something with a couple residents that that want to dream up a a process and the city's engaged in that, right? Has funded a little bit of it, put some money into it. A lot of organizations, uh, nonprofit um, foundations have have invested in this process. But to make sure that this is a success, we need ownership and that's going to be broad ownership. It's going to be the city buying into the work even if there's not full agreement on everything that's coming out of it, right? Um, it's going to be the county, the chamber, our philanthropic foundations, our our nonprofits, our community citizens. We're all going to need to rally around the results of this and then make sure that we work together to implement it. Um, so this is it's not the way these things normally happen, but I think in today's day and age, this is the way these things need to happen. So, we're really excited about that next stage, and we look forward to working with all of you and everyone who's listening and everyone who's behind me right now on making sure that we implement and make sure this is a success.

Thank you. the comments from commissioners. Just want to thank you for all the work you're doing on it and you know continuing to listen to the citizens of this community so that you get diverse voices is very important as we still continue this phase. Thanks.

Thank you so much. Oh, and I just I wanted to thank you. I I uh noticed that uh you know early on in the process I had asked if we had engaged with uh labor organizations those sorts of things and you guys were very open to it. In fact set up a listening session got the people around the table and heard what they had to say and I I think that's important. We uh I don't think there's anybody out there that can say that anybody's been cut out of this process or not included. uh you guys have made great strides in trying to get as much information from as much of our population as you can

and we continue getting recommendations and people reaching out and have you talked to this group or that group and that still is a very much a a thing we can do. So very good. Thank you so much for your presentation. We appreciate the update. Is there a motion to adjourn this meeting? So move. Second. It's been moved and seconded. Clerk, call the role. Mr. Rickettts? Yes. Mr. Riggsby? Yes. Mrs. Tacket? Yes. Mr. Rue? Yes.

Hey, before we go into our public comment period, I'm going to go ahead and do a proclamation for uh letter letter carriers. [clears throat] This is an important program that's done on an annual basis and uh the city uh annually recognizes this important event. And I'm going to read this and then you'll have time to uh give remarks. So this proclamation reads, "Whereas every year on the second uh Saturday in May, letter carriers across the country collect non-p perishable food as part of the nation's largest one-day food drive distributing uh the donations to local food banks. Whereas the National Association of Letter Carriers Stamp Out Hunger food drive is just one example of how letter Letter Carriers work to make a difference in the lives of those they serve. Since the pilot drive that was held on in 1991, more than 2 billion pounds of food have been collected. Whereas we recognize all letter carriers for their hard work and their commitment to their communities. All the food collected locally stays in our community and 14,500 pounds of food and $2,000 was collected in 2025 for the second harvest food bank. Whereas we also recognize the noteworthy milestone of 35 years that the national letter Letter Carriers food drive celebrates in 2026. Now therefore I Rob Rue, mayor of the city of Springfield and of our president of our commission proclaimed May 9th, 2026 asy letter letter carriers food drive day in Springfield. We urge our citizens to support this important event by putting out non-p perishable items uh near their mailbox on food drive day. A letter carrier will pick up the items and take them to the donation center. Thank you for being here. Go ahead and make your remark.

Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor Rue uh and members of city council. My name is Brian Dwell. I'm the local branch president of the National Association letter carriers branch 45 for Springfield Enan and Yellow Springs, Ohio. Each year, letter carriers across the the country head out on their routes on the second Saturday in May to collect donations of non-p perishable food uh excuse me, non-p perishable food items to benefit all local food pantries. The need is great, but we can all help. We invite everyone to join the letter carries by participating in the annual stamp out hunger food drive by simply leaving your donation of non-p perishable food in a bag near your mailbox on May 9th and your letter carrier will do the rest. Uh the food drive postcards will be going out for delivery uh tomorrow, May 5th through May 7th this week. Um, I'd like to also mention this past year when we had the government shutdown locally, branch 45 and national association letter carriers local members we we totally or I'm sorry, we [clears throat] donated $10,000 to Second Harvest Food.

That's great. So, uh, in closing, we hope for another positive turnout and thank thank everyone for their time. Thank you. We appreciate it. Would you join us over here? So we can give you a proclamation.

[applause]

The public comment period for the city commission is called to order. Clerk call the role. Mr. Ricketts here. Mr. Riggsby here. Mrs. Tacket here. Mr. Wallace. Mr. Ruth

here. The city commission remains committed to creating a conducive environment for constructive and productive dialogue and engagement for our community. Those wishing to speak need to fill out a comment card and provide their names and addresses for the record. Stateisssued ID and driver's license must be provided while filling out the card and they must be residing. The person needs to be residing in Springfield from Clark or Clark County and [clears throat] Clark County and be permitted to speak during the public comment period. Comment cards will be accepted up to 15 minutes a after the start of this comment period. Those who have determined to provide false information will not be permitted to speak at this meeting or the next regularly scheduled meeting. We're committed to making this meeting environment where people have the opportunity to share their thoughts, ideas, and concerns. We fully respect first amendment rights of all individuals. Disruptions or any kind that of conduct that impedes the orderly progress of the meeting will not be tolerated. Should any individual be escorted or asked to leave due to disruptive behavior on three separate occasions, they'll be asked to notify that they are considered trespassed and barred from future uh city commission meetings. As a reminder, the citizen participation guide allows comments on legislative agenda items. Each citizen may comment up to three agenda items per meeting. The total speaking time is three minutes of the agenda items. We'll begin tonight with Diane Daniels. Diana Daniels. Uh, good evening. I'm Diana Daniels. Generally coming, I usually come up here with a hot button issue, but um something that was said tonight um rang true with me about 201. I participated in probably four, maybe more than that um roundt discussions. And one of the things that I learned is is when you bring people together of diverse opinions and maybe even political affiliations, the opportunity to sit

down one-on-one face to face um tends to kind of smooth the waters. You kind of get a little rocky sometimes, but it's an opportunity for people to voice their concerns, come up with solutions. Why haven't we done that? Why hasn't that happened here? This is a business session and we voice our concerns and we've been bringing you the same concerns for the last 2 and 1/2 years. We've been begging for an opportunity to present some solutions to you for the migrative situations that are here in Springfield that have hurt us the most. But yet, we have been denied that opportunity. This is an opportunity for you folks to come together and come up with an opport come up with a town hall for us. We need that opportunity to clear the air and to move on, to come up with solutions so that we can get along together. That hasn't happened. And the more you put, the more you delay that, the worse it gets. And obviously, you've seen that. It's kind of like a domino. One domino has fallen. That's the firefighters. Another f domino has fallen. That's the homeless. I think it's time for you to come to have a come to Jesus meeting among all of you and pull together those of us who have been standing up here for the last 2 and a half years and others to help you to come up with some solutions because we have some and maybe we can clear the air and move forward. But until that happens, this is not going to be a happy place for quite a few people. On the second thing I have to point out is we have a big vote coming tomorrow and that has to do with parks and recreation. What is disturbing to me is that we we have such beautiful parks and recreation and open spaces and I think of the Estelle Wenrich um fen. Um I'm friends with the Wenrich family. They spend an awful lot of money um put themselves out there to create an opportunity to experience a fan and yet we want to put data centers in and solar

farms. That's not a wise use of our green spaces. So thank you very much for your time. Thank you, Diane. Uh, you can hang there for a second. Um, I I don't I'm trying to remember and I'm and I'm being serious and somewhat make trying to make a point. I don't remember you ever emailing me and say, "Let's get together and talk about solutions." I don't remember you've ever called me and you know me

uh to get together. Today I got together with a citizen and walked the neighborhood after about a 6 to8 email exchange of concerns and I went and met this person for an hour and walked in the neighborhood. I am willing and I know these commissioners are willing to sit and meet with you or anybody. But having a an opportunity to where you can come into the business meeting and have an open dialogue town hall situation isn't the environment because we need to do the business of the city. having a uh 200 people town hall meeting. I don't necessarily think that accomplished much because so many people have so many different passions about their individual concerns and many people have the same concern of of certain items. But what I am willing to do is sit down and hear and listen to solutions, meet with you face to face, meet with a few individuals. I even asked the individual today if she'd like to bring two or three individuals, that'd be fine. But so, so I am willing to meet with you. These commissioners I know have met with you and are willing to meet with you uh and and to hear and listen to your solutions. Okay, I know there's open ears up here and I know we're accused of not listening, but we are. But this venue is not the venue to have a a back and forth constant dialogue.

I'm not asking for that. Okay, I know. But I'm saying email me, call me, get a time together. I want to hear your concerns. Okay, I will meet you. it will be videotaped. If if that's necessary for you, that's fine. And just to be clear, if you recall, in I believe it was September of 2023, we stood right up there and I asked you to um I gave you a some suggestions and I'm not sure where we where we missed the mark on that, but I'm willing to email you and I assure you there will be email me, please.

I will. Thank you. Thank you for your comments, Nicole Bethl. Hello. Um, I'm here to talk about our growing concern about data centers. So, I know you've heard the facts, but I'm going to state them again. So, first of all, data centers thrive in a cool environment. So, I don't know why they want to bring them to Ohio. The reason why is because we have very clean drinking water and as you stated our water is for sale but I think citizens have a right to say who we are selling our water too. Uh the national institute of health in collaboration with uh uh occupational safety hazard has recommended to keep noise level below 70 dB. Data centers are known to produce sounds above 95° dB and that can travel for 3 to 5 miles. That sound cannot be blocked with windows or doors. Uh citizens of New Albany and Licking County are um reporting a constant humming and vibration. This is also causing health problems with people because they can result in hearing loss when decibb are that high. Um los lack of sleep which can actually um hurt people with dementia. It causes more dementia related issues and it also can cause cardiac issues because the stress from the sound is increasing people's cortisol levels which can cause hypertension and lead to cardiac issues. Um the University of California Riverside November 21st of 2025 released an article that they started to notice data centers coming into their towns into their poor communities. So they started following their citizens and they recorded after four years health impacts from the citizens who had health

issues they quadrupled and they reported that in another four years that could rise by another 72%. They also said that the pollution that is caused by the fossil fueled power plants and the diesel backup generators that the power data centers emit are causing respiratory issues. They're also going into our rivers, lakes, and streams. Um, closed loop data centers. Closed, just because it's closed loop does not mean it does not use water. Closed loop means that there is a contained water. But at some point, they need to filter that water and then they use chemicals. That chemicals is released into the rivers. And now articles are coming out every day about the pollutions in the water. Um, Oregon had an increased risk of kidney cancer, uh, miscarriages. So, there is a petition going around. The petition is not to ban data centers. It is to ban mega data centers. It is to control how big they get, what how much energy they use, how much water they use. And I encourage everybody to sign it if you care about your generations because it might not affect us, but it will affect our children and it will affect their children if they make it to that point because these data centers are heating our atmosphere which is causing it to go up by 3 to 5° in every community.

Nicole, I I don't disagree with a lot of your concerns about data centers. And when I said our water is very much for sale, it wasn't for wasteful use. That's not what I meant. But, you know, I mean, it's just great water and it is clean water. Um, and the commission is concerned about data centers like many other municipalities and other governments and we'd like to see uh make sure that data centers are accountable for the resources they use. Is there and and I just also want to say one more thing, Nicole, is there is nothing before us to vote on any data center. There was one put in about 15 years. When was next? 2004. 2004. We know that that is the same property that there is a newer one now. Uh but uh data centers were very different in 2004 that they are today.

I understand and that's why I mean the one that we have now is small but we don't want them to get big because the the bigger they get the more pollution they're going to give us. So I I drove out in Melody Parks about a month and a half ago and I was I was shocked how how big that that space is right next to. So I encourage everybody to sign the petition because it is not banning data centers. It is just banning how big they're going to get and how much use of energy and resources they will use. Thank you for your comments.

I'm sorry I can't read the first name. Wolford. I'm so sorry, Miss Wolfford. You would speak. Thank you. My name is Dia Wolfford.

Thank you. And I'm here today because I have a concern with a proposal to remove the traffic light at Columbia and Lagunda Avenue and down there by St. Bernard's Church. Um, I belong to that parish and I do a lot of volunteer work down there and it has become a constant concern because anyone who travels down Colombia and stops at the stop sign, you cannot see the traffic coming from Lagunda up towards You can see the traffic coming from Lagunda up towards Main Street, but you cannot see the traffic coming from Main Street. and you have to pull out into the middle of the intersection before you can see the traffic, oncoming traffic. There have been several loud noises down there, a lot of brake squealing and a lot of horn honking. And um another concern is and I spoke to I think it was Leo at the department of the traffic

city engineer

and he was unaware that he said well one of the reasons is because the school is no longer in use but our facilities are still usable and there are occasions maybe three or four times a year where the students from Catholic Central walk down to St. Bernard's campus for retreats or special mass or something like that. And now if they do that next year and there's no traffic lights or no crosswalk, that's going to be a very hazardous situation, you know, and there's because they don't ride the bus. They usually walk down from Catholic Central. So that is one concern. And I know that speaking to some of the parishioners after the masses that you know the subject has been brought up. I've called down to the engineer department a couple times and the very first time I called I was told that well you're not the first one that's called about it. So I know that it's an ongoing conversation. So that has been a a concern of mine and a concern of a lot of people. I know it's not a very well trafficked and you know it's not somewhere you drive every day but it is a very heavily trafficked road because it's state route 4 and there are a lot of semis that go up and down that that state route. Well, the other thing is too that as of this morning and that's one of the reasons I'm here tonight. Uh there was I was working out in the flowers down there this morning and mass was over and we heard tiresque wheel and horns honking and I turned around and it happened to be my mother who was coming out of the church parking lot onto Colombia and was at that stop sign and there she could not see the traffic coming and when she pulled out the car

was coming down the gun to hit from Main Street. So, it's it's really been it's a concern and I think a lot of people don't realize that the situation is down there. So, I guess my question is what is the final date where they want to remove those lights? Is it too late to start a petition to have people sign it to keep that traffic light there? You know, thank you for your comments. Why don't we get you some answers, Mr. Mr. Moore? Yeah, I was going to have service director Chris Moore just speak to what we've observed uh with that traffic signal. Chris's job is takes care of all things in the city that are moving and building. And

so that traffic signal was one of several around the community that was studied to see if it was warranted or not. And what that means is we look at them to see if we were installing that traffic signal today, would it be justified? um this was one of them that was not based on the traffic volume, crash history, um all of the criteria that that are looked at. So, we have two options when these um come around. We can the signals due to be replaced. So, we can replace it um roughly 300 $330,000 or we study those to see are they necessary? Do they need to remain? because we don't want to just reflexively replace a signal that um doesn't check any boxes for being necessary. So back in December, the signals were covered or the signals were put on flash for 90 days and during that time um one we work with PD to make sure they report any um crashes to us. We did not get a report of any. We also monitor the intersection at various hours. I've been there morning, noon, and night, weekends to just to watch the traffic flow. After that 90 days, the signal signals are bagged um covered up for 60 more days and a stop sign is put in place to give people a feel for what it would be like. Um we actually reached our 60th day today. Um we did not do the removal today because we have a few signs we want to get in place before the the signal would come down. But that's um how the process has worked thus far. This is the same process we've used. Um we've removed about nine other signals around the community over the past 10 years that were once warranted and no longer are.

So these are these are all signals that need to be replaced. Is that right? Correct. And so you do this to help um city budget save things when when we look at each project. I'm just want to repeat kind I've never felt it to be fair for me to come to you as a commission and say we're requesting $330 to replace this signal without telling you that yes, it is warranted or yes, we have studied it. All right. I I know that's not the answer you want to hear. No, I guess what about what about even doing another study and maybe putting a stop sign on the Gunda coming down from Main Street? I

mean, it is a fast down. I was just I am curious about that point and what what that

is that is actually one of the considerations we're looking at. The very tricky part about the way the state regulates these is we cannot modify the pavement markings until the signal is down. So what we once we make it through a study, we get the stop sign up, we start to work to modify the pavement markings and then see if additional stop signs or other signs are needed. Um, but they're they're very particular about the process we need to follow. One of the things that um I've noticed is I I travel that probably 8 to 10 times a day back and forth. And as you come down from Main Street, the stop bar has to remain. People want to stop there, but there's not a stop sign, but they've done it. When there's a stop light, there's a stop bar, and that causes confusion. So when the signal comes down, we can clean up the striping and then build from there to see if an additional stop sign is necessary.

Do you put warning signs up or anything for the folks in the area other than what you've done? Other warning signs, signal change, anything like that? Yeah. So the signs up now are, you know, signal under study.

Um there will be Yeah. And when the stop sign goes up or the stop sign is up, there'll be cross traffic does not stop to let them know that you're you're the only one supposed. And it it's a just to to during the the the peak 15 hours of the day, 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., there are about 1,700 cars that approach that stop sign, there are about about 5,000 that come from the east on Laganda and about 3,000 that come down from Maine and head east on Laganda.

So the the numbers lean heavily towards the stop sign is placed where the the lightest volume is by far. when he talks about signage too. Uh so one of the things that we've looked at on all of these intersections when we take out a signal is look at considerations for the flashing stop signs too that add another level of safety and you know visible um for the public uh the traversing public. And so that's when he says we're waiting on signs and locating signs. It's looking at one of those flashing stop signs.

Yeah. Because the only other thing I want to say is that you should not make decisions that affect the community without asking the community how it affects them. You know, and I think that this is affecting a lot of people because you talk about the volume of the traffic and everything, but it only takes two cars to collide [clears throat] to make a big issue. Thank you.

Thank you, Baron Celig. My name is Ken Celig. I'm a resident and business owner in Springfield, Ohio. I'm not here today just as one man. I'm here as a voice for the people of this city who are fed up. The people are angry and they should be. For years, we've been told there's a system in place to care for homelessness. So, let's ask the most basic question. How much taxpayer money has been spent on a system on that system over the last 20 years? Millions, tens of millions. Because whatever that number is, this is what we have to show for it. More people in the streets, fewer answers, zero accountability. That's not just disappointing, that's unacceptable. This didn't happen overnight. This happened over years of decisions, oversight, and leadership that failed to deliver results. So, I'll keep it simple. Where did the money go? Who is accountable? And what are you doing starting today to fix it? Because the people of this city are done funding failure. We want answers and we want action. And if those answers don't come, don't be surprised when the people you ignored replace the people who ignored them.

Thank you. Um the homeless situation is been an ongoing and and deep concern for each of the commissioners. Um it is definitely a difficult situation, but the city has not ignored it. We've actually uh continued to fund uh the one shelter left in town that is is going to stop operating by the end of May. We're the only one actually to continue to partner with this shelter. I know the city uh put up a warming shelter over the winter just like you did last winter. You spent your whole winter doing that and the city did what they could with a a volunteer core um and some partial paid folks to try to keep people warm in a very long and cold uh season. So it's it's not something that's ignored uh Ken and it's uh it's something that we do care about and we met just before this meeting executive session discussing options and things like that. We we need to uh we continue to talk about options and try to find solutions uh for the situation that our most vulnerable populations in. And it's true. We can be accused of a lot of things but I I know we we care about it. There's so many concerns. If you you you still have time if you'd like to say some more things.

For the record, on the record, how much taxpayer money has been spent by the city? That's cuz you can't So, you can only speak on what the city did, not the county. Let's just say the city. How much money over the last 20 years have been spent? Why don't we give you the last two years and then Miss Katie can get at the last 20 years and what what actually where the funds come what what the city actually spends out of the city budget and what funds that has been approved by the commission this commission and previous commissions that were passed through dollars from federal to county to our homeless population you want to answer any of that

or can you please have Thank you Logan Hey Rue, commissioners. Good evening. Logan Cobbs, director of community development. Um, what I can say is since January 1 of 2025, the city has committed over half a million dollars towards homelessness response efforts. um that includes funding street outreach, shelter operations, case management, blight elimination, um and emergency warming shelters. So, I do want to be just abundantly clear here that um this community, the commission included, has definitely demonstrated its commitment um and and compassion to our most vulnerable residents.

And then if we could get uh Mr. Celig some of those numbers that go back history just to be able to have that and and the result of that money. When you say results the after what what are the results after the 30th this month? So so just remember the city does not operate a homeless shelter. You know that I know but I mean because we're in a public meeting and it's being recorded I want to make sure these facts are being restated. City doesn't operate a public sh a homeless shelter but we have uh given to agencies that do as as a every city does at some level. Ryan,

yes that is correct. Uh we've continued to fund operations. We can work to get that 20-year look back number uh by looking at a lot of it is from our federal entitlement dollars that we receive uh through the federal government um emergency solutions grant and it's been named several different things over the course of those uh 20 years. Uh but again, we do not run the homeless shelter. Uh we provide funding through RFPs, through procurement process. Where's the oversight, Mr. Heck?

The oversight is through those contracts. Um, and that oversight, we review every one of our agreements with all of our subreients on how they utilize those funds. We were actually pretty small comparatively to some of the other grant funds that, uh, the particular homeless shelter, IHN, then sheltered. Uh, they received a majority of their funds through TANF dollars through the county uh, and state dollars. We provided them ESG on an average basis was about 50 to 160,000 per year. um emergency solutions grant uh emergency solutions grant which is utilized for uh homeless services uh and comes from the federal government and then um so we were a small piece of that there's other funding sources that went to to funding those sheltered but that $100 to $160,000 that we had a subreient agreement on. We reviewed every invoice to make sure that those costs that they were invoicing us for were eligible. And you didn't see this closing and bankruptcy coming?

Well, I think we answered that call back in December when we were told that they were going to have to shut the men's shelter down in January. And this commission voted to approve additional funding that kept that men's shelter open. We knew that that wasn't long-term sustainable. They told us in December they were going to have to close down uh that shelter. Again, we provided funding to help maintain and keep that open through the winter months. uh and Logan and her team and others at the county and other non not forprofits have been working uh to develop more long-term strategies and solutions for it. Let's just talk about that $60ome,000 that you spent in January. Do you think that was money well spent the warming shelter

for January and February to keep that men's shelter open? Sheltered in Well, yes. Yeah. I mean, I think it I think it was too, Baron. And and I think the other thing is it was the only thing it was what we needed to do to keep a shelter open. I mean it was like and and did they provide receipts what that money went for specifically? Those are the provide. Correct.

And the pro the problem is if an agency that a government funds does not provide those receipts. I mean we're responsible to audit those things. you know, I'm just going to say this because this is public and then also uh that we have to audit and then when we get audited, we have to show that those things were audited. When the concern is is when the audits happen and the agency doesn't produce what they were supposed to is when there's a problem and and that didn't happen to us. We're just we provided those funds and receives receipts. You have to jump in if I'm saying anything wrong here. Certainly the reimbursement piece of that is correct and accurate. The issue with the audit, I want to be clear, was with the county and sheltered, not with the city and sheltered.

We got to make sure that's publicly aware of that. And certainly, Mr. As we've discussed before, when we look at those reimbursement invoices, we are talking hundreds of pages of receipts and cleared checks for payments for things like utilities and laundry services providing the salaries and that that are tracked by time cards for time that is spent in the shelters that those individuals were um working at the time. So there every eye is dotted, every tea is crossed for all of those reimbursements that go through our grant funds. I'm I'm just sure that when the the paperwork gets sifted out, everybody was legally right. Guys, I'm tired. Yeah.

I get, no exaggeration, with no exaggeration, I get 30 to 40 calls a week. People are panicked. They don't know what they're going to do. They're getting roused by the city. And I get it. No way. That's I got to take exception. They're not getting roused by the city. They're not. Okay. Does police department work for the city, Rob? Roused? R. Okay, maybe that's not the word. I just want Well, I just want to be clear. We're in a public meeting. They're They're being made to They're coming in and cleaning out the homeless camps, saying you can't be here cuz they're unsafe. Yes.

Cuz it's Where where are they supposed to go, guys? Where do you want them to go? Give me a lot in Springfield. want we want a good agency. Uh I'm not saying the one in the past wasn't, but it's stopping. We want an agency to come in and be able to take care of the population that's here. And that's what we're trying to work on, and we have not stopped working on it since the very day that this was a concern. One agency cannot provide service to this community. And unfortunately, the city of Springfield just learned that the hard way. We have no other agency to fall back on because that was voted away. We have one agency left and that agency's gone. and now we have no agency. We have to go back and find an agency. If we had two agencies that were providing services to our entire community, then we had a fallback option. But that fall back fall back option was canceled, Baron, and it was a wrong decision. Okay, I agree with you. We're in a problem with it with the homeless community, but we all care about them. I agree with you. So every support me and uh going out and doing what I'm doing, feeding them,

providing the people that are they're they're that are feeding them in the camp and things like that. It's going to be I'm telling you, it's going to be total chaos after the 30th. It's we're concerned. Mayor Rue, if I may. Um, I do just want to say for those in the community who do want to be a part of the solution, whether that is a provider or a partner or a supporter, the city currently has an active RFP, a request for proposals for homeless services available through bid express. Um, which you need an attorney to get through all that. So, I think let's let Logan answer and then you can come back in two weeks and talk more. Go ahead, Miss Logan. Thank you.

Absolutely. Thank you, mayor. and we strongly encourage qualified organizations to apply. Um I think we're more than happy to answer questions if you have questions on the bid documents. Um you can als I think the actually the question period has closed there. Um but you do not need a formal attorney to be able to put in a request. Um applicants must be a nonprofit organization. They must have a current UEI. um demonstrate experience with federal or similar grants and then be capable of complying with ESG, HMIS and and coordinated entry requirements.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Baron. Thank you for the point where I leave it to the professionals, right? How'd that work out for you? Thank Thank you, Baron. That's enough. Is there a motion to conclude the comment period? So moved. Second. It's been moved and seconded. Clerk, call the role. Mr. Rickettts? Yes. Mr. Riggsby? Yes. Mrs. Teet. Yes. Mr. Rue, yes. The formal meeting for the city commission is called to order. Clerk, call the role. Mr. Rickettts here. Mr. Riggsby, yes. Mrs. Tacket, here. Mr. Wallace. Mr. Rue, please stand for the invocation and the pledge. Yes. By the way,

God, I just thank you that um you've given us us this beautiful day and I do ask that you would give peace in our community, that you would give us wisdom and guidance as we govern the city in your name. Amen. To the flag, United States.

Is there a motion to approve minutes? So moved. Second. It's been moved and seconded. Clerk, call the role. Mr. Rickettts? Yes. Mr. Riggsby? Yes. Mrs. jacket. Yes. Mr. Rue, yes. Clerk, proceed with first readings by title only.

Amending ordinance number 91-90 passed March 12, 1991 and commonly known as the codified ordinances of the city of Springfield, Ohio by repealing and replacing chapter 1313 entitled permit fees in its entirety. Amending ordinance number 9190 passed March 12, 1991 and commonly known as the codified ordinances of the city of Springfield, Ohio by amending certain provisions of section 1127.02 02 entitled submitting applications amending ordinance number 9190 passed March 12, 1991 and commonly known as the codified ordinances of the city of Springfield, Ohio by amending certain provisions of chapter 1507 entitled special provisions authorizing the city manager to enter into an agreement with Life Safety Inspection Vault LLC to implement a fire inspection software as a service platform at no cost to the city. Authorizing the city manager to enter into a development incentive agreement, single family residential development to provide for sewer services to real property outside the city limits located at 1741 Thrawon Road. authorizing the city manager, law director, and the city engineer to do all things necessary to release a portion of the performance bond posted with the city in connection with the Sycamore Ridge phase 1 subdivision in proportion to the amount of public improvement work which has been completed.

Is there u some things you can explain, city manager, for first readings?

Yes. uh commission. Uh the first two items 117-26 and 118-26 uh address uh the fee structures as it relates to building permit fees as well as our planning and zoning fees. Um it has been some time uh since those fees have been updated. Uh planning and zoning fees have not been updated since 2001 in building regulations 2003. What this does, similar to what we recently did on the fire side, is it removes the fee structure from the codified ordinances and makes it an administrative approval process uh through journal entry to look at the fees and make sure that we're staying on par with uh other communities and and covering the costs for the services that we're providing. Uh again, uh this is something that we continue to maintain and look at what other communities are doing to make sure that we're remaining uh competitive and having a competitive advantage as it relates to these two fee structures. uh but it is something that we want uh to address and need to address because as I stated 2001 and 2003 a lot's changed uh since those times and especially even in the the building code and as you know we adopted a a new zoning code here uh in recent years and so just those changes lead to the need for updating these fee sections. Um, the next one 119-26 uh and 120-26 are interrelated and I would actually ask if assistant chief lees uh would like to explain and talk to this and the efficiency it actually creates for our business community. Sure. Yes. Good evening, commissioners. Um so these two items uh the first one is necessary as a piece of legislation that will require third-party inspection and testing companies to enroll in a program and our program of choice at this point would be item two which is live which is a software. So when a

business has a fire protection system their sprinkler systems their fire alarm panels um this company is going to make sure that um those systems are staying up and running better. So, it's going to make the businesses safer for our community and it's also going to keep them compliant and hopefully we're also worried about false alarms, right? So, that we don't go to those as much so as the systems are well maintained and kept up um we won't be going out because the building's going to be a lot safer. How many false runs do you estimate department has to answer? I don't have that number, but we do go on quite a few which causes I mean it's just another fall that is causing our people to

So if you do you're doing 20,000 runs are on track for that this year. What percentage do you think are false runs? And do they get counted as one of your runs? They do get counted. Okay. So what percentage are you guesstimating? If if not, you don't have that tonight. Maybe in a couple weeks we can get that information. I'm curious. I mean whether it's 1% or 10%. I'm just curious. Yeah, we can get that breakdown for you. Yeah, we'll definitely get that for you. Thank you. Yep.

Chief Lecheski, I just have a quick question. This is this is a program that's going to allow our businesses to kind of get up and stay up running quicker. So, if somebody instead of having to wait for an inspector to schedule an appointment, go out, do the inspection, file the paperwork, the inspection company can actually file online. Correct. And the business is up and running right then as soon as we have it in the portal.

Correct. So, this is a two-way portal um where now if the system goes out of service, we would keep that business out of service until one of our companies would go out. Actually, an inspector goes out and puts them back in service. We actually have had two recent examples of that um with two local businesses. One happened to be the day before Valentine's Day and we were having people that had to go out there before they could open up. with this system, with just the online portal, we'll be able to look and say that that system's already in service and they'll be ready to go right back to business. That's great. That's all the items unless there's other questions from commissioners.

Does any commissioners have comments on first readings? No. Any comments on first readings only from the audience? Hearing none, we'll move on to second readings. Authorizing the city manager to submit the 2026 action plan of the city of Springfield, Ohio to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. Authorizing the city manager, law director, community development director, and finance director to do all things they deem necessary to implement, operate, and administer the city's community development block grant program, emergency solutions grant program, and home program for the 2026 fiscal year. So moved.

Second. It's been moved and seconded. Are there comments from commissioners?

Yeah, I got something. Yeah, I I'd just like to say this is this is part of the due diligence. This is part of the oversight. Um, these grants are funded from the federal government through the state to us and the amount of oversight and the amount of paperwork and inspections that these organizations have to provide is just really I mean I don't think anybody who's not in that can really understand exactly how much it is. So when when somebody says that no oversight is being provided, I can tell you that the just the sheer volume of checks from every level, our our level, the state, the the federal government, the attorney general's office, at every point, every one of these things is being scrutinized. And if it's wrong, they're going to call it into question, and there's going to be a reckoning on it. So the very thought that there's no scrutiny, no oversight in this process, honestly it just reflects a lack of knowledge. I think it it's also important to uh recognize that um this this money may not be available next year. it the part of the president's budget this year was to cut this HUD funding. Fortunately, the Senate and the Congress got together and and changed that, but uh the submission for next year is from the president is 0. So, we're going to have to deal with that again. Other comments from the audience? Cler, call the role.

Mr. Rickettts? Yes. Mr. Riggsby? Yes. Mrs. Tacket? Yes. Mr. Rue? Yes. Authorizing a contribution to Springfield Promise Neighborhood in the amount of $1,000 to support the Southside and Bloom Garden Tour 2026. So moved. Second. Been moved and seconded. Are there comments from commissioners? See a wonderful program with community pillars. Comments from the audience. Clerk call the role. Mr. Riggsby. Yes. Mrs. Tacket. Yes. Mr. Rickettts. Yes. Mr. R.

Yes. Authorizing the city manager to enter into a small urban services agreement with Neoride for additional staff and support assistance for an amount not to exceed $121,968. So moved. Second. It's been moved and seconded. Uh Mr. Track, you want to go ahead and just reexlain this, please?

Yeah. So again, uh this is related to our public transportation system and specifically as you know we transitioned from uh the SCAT Springfield City area transit to field trips uh which was a microtransit service. One of the items that we were approached with from the state uh was an opportunity to partner with Neoride to bring some additional staff and support assistance. So as we look at again oversight, grants management, grant administration, making sure that we are expending the funds uh in the most efficient and effective manner uh this additional staff and support uh from Neoide uh is is essential to that especially as staffs are smaller. And what's great about this is this is 100% funded uh from state and federal dollars. So, no local match to support this additional uh resource that we will be given uh to support our public transportation system.

And that's what I wanted to make sure you said again. Thank you. Other comments from the audience? Call the role. Mrs. Teet. Yes. Mr. Riggsby? Yes. Mr. Ricketts? Yes. Mr. Rue? Yes. Authorizing the issuance of a purchase order for monthly access fees for Mark's radio communication system equipment from the Ohio Department of Administrative Services, Office of Information Technology for an amount not to exceed $32,100 for the period of July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027. So move second. It's been moved and seconded. Other comments from commissioners from the audience. Clerk, call the role. Mr. Riggsby?

Yes. Mr. Rickettts? Yes. Mrs. Tacket? Yes. Mr. Rue? Yes. Authorizing the city manager to enter into a contract with OMAC Hauling Incorporated doing business as board and secure LLC for board and secure services as needed by the city for an amount not to exceed $70,000 for one year with the option to renew for one additional one-year period. So moved. Second. It's been moved and seconded. Other comments from commissioners from the audience? Cler call the role. Mr. Rickettts. Yes. Mrs. Tacket. Yes. Mr. Riggsby. Yes. Mr. R. Yes.

Authorizing the city manager to enter into amendment number one to the 2024 2025 CDBG public services program subreient agreement with Nehemiah Foundation to reallocate funding among line items and confirming and approving related expenditures incurred from March 1, 2026. So moved. [clears throat] Second. Been moved and seconded. Uh wonder if maybe Miss Cobbser could explain what we're doing here again to the public. Yes. [cough and clears throat]

So this is simply an organizational shift to their existing grant agreement with us. Um the executive director of the Nehemiah Foundation is looking to take on some additional responsibilities from the faith community response team director but the scope and the deliverables of the grant will remain in place in terms of street outreach coordination on resources volunteer trainings etc. Thank you. The comments from the commissioners from the audience clerk call the role. Mrs. Packet. Yes. Mr. Ricketts. Yes. Mr. Mr. Riggsby. Yes. Mr. Rue. Yes.

Authorizing the city manager to enter into amendment number one to the American Rescue Plan Act funded subreient grant agreement with Clark County Land Reutilization Corporation to remove the conventional loan requirement and to extend the period of performance. So moved. Second. It's been moved and seconded. Other comments from commissioners from the audience or call the role. Mr. Mr. Rickettts. Yes. Mr. Riggsby, yes. Mrs. Tacket, yes. Mr. Rof, yes. Emergency ordinances, please.

Authorizing the city manager to accept a 2026 energized community grant through the Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council in an amount not in an amount up to $58,022 to be used for implementation of energy savings or energy infrastructure measures. Authorizing the city manager to execute a grant agreement for the acceptance of said grant. Authorizing the city manager, law director, and the director of finance to do all things necessary for the acceptance of the grant and to comply with all relevant local, state, and federal legal requirements and declaring an emergency therein. So moved. Second.

It's been moved and seconded. Other comments from commissioners. Brian, can you tell us what this money is going to be used for? Yeah. Uh so commission these are grant funds that we receive as being part of a noc community and um so we have some prior year dollars left over uh that we will utilize in conjunction with these for the chiller replacement at our police division headquarters. Um and then uh we will also utilize some of these funds and reprogrammed with our 2027 funds uh to help replace the clear story roof at our service department. Any comments from the audience? Clerk, call the role. Mr. Riggsby? Yes. Mr. Rickettts? Yes. Mrs. Tacket? Yes. Mr. R?

Yes. Authorizing the city manager, law director, and the city engineer to do all things necessary to release a portion of the performance bond posted with the city in connection with the Maple Grove phase 1 subdivision in pro proportion to the amount of public improvement work which has been completed and declaring an emergency therein. So moved. Second. Been moved and seconded. You want to explain more about this please?

Yes. Uh commission. So, this is uh the normal procedure for reducing these performance bonds as it relates to these single family residential developments uh in our community, specifically Maple Grove, which is out on the east side of our community. Uh this is a reduction of the current bond. Uh they have a bond renewal of May 20th. And so why it's an emergency action is so that they can meet that renewal period. Um and then also um we hold back $413,975 because there's still pavement, street lights, and some work left at the lift station. Uh so we hold a portion of the bond left that would cover those costs, those expenditures. If for some reason the devel developer went defunct or walked away from the work, we would be able to pull the bond and finish out the remainder of the work for that section.

Thank you. Other comments from the audience. Clerk, call the role. Mr. Rickettts, yes. Mrs. Tacket, yes. Mr. Riggsby, yes. Mr. Rue, yes. Confirming and approving change order number two to the contract between the city and AM Asphalt Corporation for the 2024 sidewalk curb and gutter program to decrease the contract in an amount not to to exceed $78,7696 for a total amount not to exceed $858,79460. authorizing the city manager to execute said change order number two and declaring an emergency therein. So move.

Second. It's been moved and seconded. Are there comments from commissioners from the audience? Call the role. Mrs. Tacket? Yes. Mr. Rickettts? Yes. Mr. Riggsby? Yes. Mr. R? Yes. Is there any new items? Nope. No. Um comments and announcements from the uh commissioners. Ryan, can we have an update on the fire department staffing?

Uh yes, commission. So um obviously from last meeting uh just looking at our fire department staffing, we did have our 10 recruits graduated last Thursday. Uh six of them were able to go out into tour and I believe today was their first day out on tour. For some of them, they'll be over the next three days out in tour or company. And then um the other four will actually go out um uh after they complete their EMS training or their EMS uh certification program. That takes about 5 to 6 weeks. Uh so I would say middle of June uh they should roll out into company. And then we also had several members that were on FMLA have come back. Um and so that's helped stabilize the staffing. Um, actually today, uh, Monday was the first day where we went back to, uh, where we will have mandatory overtime slots, uh, that we fill if those are not filled voluntarily.

Thank you for that update. May I have two other Thank you. Uh, just a reminder, tomorrow, go vote. Um, the board of elections is not open for voting. You have to go to your precincts tomorrow. And then uh it's exciting time for some of the citizens in this community as they prepare to graduate from college and high school. So just want to give them a shout out for all their hard work and congratulate them for their graduation. Thank you.

I just wanted to make a a point of clarification. Um when those four recruits are going to EMS training, that's for their EMT basic. That's that's a very small part of the medical training that they receive. paramedic school is over a year when it when it comes down to it. And I'm not I'm just I want our our citizens to understand that the professional level of the education of our firefighter paramedics is quite extensive. And so those four pe those four uh members will be coming out with their EMT basic which means they can function at a very basic EMS level. uh backed up of course by people who are trained as paramedics. So

and they will have 3 years to complete their paramedic program. Abs. Absolutely. Any other comments from commission? Is there a motion to adjurnn? So moved. Second. It's been moved and seconded. Clerk call the role. Mr. Ricketts? Yes. Mr. Riggsby? Yes. Mrs. Tacket? Yes. Mr. Rinse.