City Commission - Regular Meeting

We have a proclamation to read.

Are there members from the DAR here? Excellent, so thank you.

I'm gonna read the proclamation and then you can receive it if you have any comments.

The proclamation reads, whereas the Constitution of the United States of America, the guardian of our liberties, embodies the principles of limited government in a republic dedicated to rule by law. And whereas September 17th, 2026 marks the 239th anniversary of the drafting of the Constitution of the United States of America by the Constitutional Convention. And whereas it is fitting for the proper proper to accord official recognition to this magnificent document and its memorable anniversary and to the patriotic celebrations which commemorate the occasion. And whereas public law 915 guarantees the issuing of a proclamation each year by the President of the United States of America designated September 17th through the 23rd as Constitution Week. And therefore, I, Rob Brew, Mayor of the City of Springfield, do hereby proclaim September 17th, 2023, excuse me, 2026, about the week of September 17th through the 23rd, 2026 is constitution week. And we do urge our citizens to reaffirm the ideals of the framers of the constitution had in 1787 by vigilantly protecting the freedoms guaranteed to us through this guardian of our liberties. If you'd like to come up and say a few words and introduce yourselves at the podium there, and then you can come over here and receive the proclamation.

Hello, my name is Sarah Webb. I'm on the board of the Daughters of America Revolution Lagonda Chapter. And on behalf of the chapter, I would like to thank you, Mayor Rue and the commission for your time and acknowledgement of our efforts to commemorate Constitution Week, September 17th through 23rd, 2026. The Clark County Public Library will be having a display with the proclamation and additional materials that will promote Constitution Week in our community. Thank you.

Hi, I'm Brenda Koffenbarger, and I'm the Lagonda Chapter American History Chairperson. And thank you again, everyone. This is lovely. We also have an essay that we are sponsoring, and it will go from us to the state, to division, up to nationals possibly, hopefully. Someone from here will win that. That would be great. But it's going out to all students, 5th through 12th grade. It's written, and they also have added a video contest, but it has to do with American history and also incorporates fiction, so they have to be creative with it. So historical figures, and they get to be creative. And that will be October 25th when that's due.

Thank you so much. Would you join us over here?

Thank you.

So the public hearing scheduled for 6.50 is called to order. Clerk, call the roll.

Mr. Ricketts?

Here.

Mr. Rigsby?

Here.

Mrs. Tackett? Here. Mr. Wallace?

Here.

Mr. Rue?

Here. Has proper legal notice been given for this hearing?

Notice of a public hearing for the purpose of considering the proposed change in zoning for approximately 0.88 acres located at 244 Buxton Avenue from RLD, low density residential district to RHD, high density residential district was published in the Springfield News Sun, a newspaper of general circulation within the city. Attached here too is a true and correct copy of the legal notice published on August 3rd, 2026.

I move that the communication be ordered, received, recorded in the minutes, and filed.

Second. Moved and seconded. Clerk, call the roll.

Mr. Ricketts?

Yes.

Mr. Rigsby? Yes. Mrs. Tackett? Yes. Mr. Wallace? Yes. Mr. Ryu?

Yes. Staff?

Good evening, everyone. The applicant wishes to rezone the parcel shown on slide. from low density residential to high density residential for the purpose of multifamily development. A consolidated plat was received by staff showing the parcels to be included in this development. In communication with the owner's agent, it was confirmed that an additional parcel will also be added to this rezoning request. Mental health services for Clark County has offices and clinic spaces at their east High Street property. They wish to rezone the subject parcels and build multifamily housing units for their clients. Staff received the following comment from applicant in the City Works application that is to build housing to be occupied by mental health services clients. The current zoning of residential low density does not provide flexibility in residential uses. So the owner or applicant is requesting a proposed residential high density, which allows for a multifamily use along with other uses as listed under the RHD district. The Clark County Comprehensive Plan of 2018 shows this area to be traditional neighborhood low intensity. The proposed multifamily use is envisioned for this area and will complement the surrounding mixed uses. Zoning map from 1977 shows that this parcel was zoned R1C and a multifamily assisted living nursing home use was permitted in this district, along with other institutional uses such as schools and places of worship. Buxton Avenue and Kenilworth Avenue are classified as local roads by Clark County Thoroughfare Plan. And Kenilworth Avenue intersects with a 16.5 feet public alley to the east of the listed parcels. and return reports from city staff show no concerns and recommend approval with cities planning and zoning division commenting the following the city's 2025 zoning code does not have units per acre calculations for housing unit and all new development will be reviewed using the zoning district's dimensional standards that is the building height setbacks and total building coverage on the site zoning code does not have minimum parking standards as well and the applicant is encouraged to use shared parking with surrounding properties site plan will be subject to plan review or all parcels associated with this development for proposed use shall be combined prior to construction activities and the proposed use and district will complement the surrounding areas And applicant's request was recommended approval by the city planning board as well.

Thank you.

Are there questions from commissioners? Yes, I have a question about the parking. There's no requirement for multi-use, or I'm sorry, a multi-story basically apartment building.

There are no minimum parking standards. There is a maximum parking ratio. So they'll have to be less than the maximum. You don't have to provide.

I guess my question is, will there be any parking on the side at all? Or will all of the parking be shared with people in the neighborhood?

They do have plans or at least the applicant had shared. They had plans on using the parking available on the mental health services parcel here behind it. But the applicant is here. He's present to answer any site specific or use specific questions.

Okay. I'm just wondering how the neighbors feel about the parking. Is there any complaints from the neighbors?

No complaints received so far.

Okay. Is the applicant here and would like to speak?

Hi, my name's Craig Dillon. I'm the architect for the project and I'm a resident of Springfield. As far as the parking goes, we haven't got it specifically worked out as far as how many spaces that we will be providing. We're balancing that. And the plan is now to incorporate the parking in with the existing mental health building so that we can have that flexibility. A lot of the people that would be working in the new building work in the existing building now, so they don't need additional parking. So we are planning a lot, and there will be parking along both streets. So we think that there will be plenty of parking generally. The clients do not have their own.

I have a question for you real quick. So this will be – places where you can help the mental health as well and housing. If a, and I don't know if you've thought this far ahead, but if let's say, you know, Homeful is in our community and they've identified a person that needs housing, but they also need mental health help. Are you prepared to contact with them and make sure they, And I know you're on the, maybe that's another question for somebody else.

I can see Kelly nodding here in front of me, the CEO. And absolutely, you know, it is for the existing clientele that are scattered throughout the city and it will allow them to consolidate services and provide better care.

Is there any comments from the audience on this hearing only? You'd like to go ahead to the microphone, please.

All due respect, Craig, I've brought this up many times in the last four years that these people down here don't look at, you guys both asked two good questions. What's the parking? Well, if they're mental health, and I built some for OIC, yeah, they may not be driving, but they're going to have caretakers and other people come. They want to overpack neighborhoods where there's not proper parking. And he said, well, that's not this. It's not that. That's pretty evasive. That's not pertinent real facts of the situation. It's just I'm selling this for my customer, and I think we've got no problems. Then later down the road, I have to live because I have a mental health unit on the corner across the street from me from Garfield and Ward. that they're honking to pick people up and they're coming and going. And we have businesses in neighborhoods where we live, residential. And I've said, man, I've told the mayor, I said, you can't just let people add apartments. You got a two unit, make it a three, four, five and give them free gratis. And that's what's been going on. So you guys were on the right path and you need to look at these things very deeply because I look at them like if I'm building for me or a customer, Can you live there? And your people that come and go, do they have places to park? Because the neighbors are going to live with the thing. I have a hair salon that runs seven days a week from noon to 11 o'clock at night sometimes. And there's no parking. And yet they let people do that. The city lets them do it. I mean, I might act like a crazy old man. But those are no issues.

Any other comments about this hearing? Thank you, Ms. Diane.

This is an ongoing concern that I have brought to you before. When you ask if there has been any response from the public and that it has been notified in the newspaper of record, who reads the newspaper?

I understand what you're saying, but we have to publish it in a public document like that.

So the issue is, where else can you publish it? I mean, you're doing the bare minimum in an antiquated way of notifying the public.

We're doing it in every legal, everything we need to notify.

There you go. There you go.

That's not the bare minimum. It's also on our agenda that's also public. I have another question. Yes. Let's let him speak first. Thank you.

Just to say, and staff could address it better, but notifications are sent.

They are. Thank you. Everything's been legally done. Thank you.

Good afternoon, council. My name is Jamel Smith. And I also have a vested interest in Buxton Avenue. I have several rental properties in that area. And I was just thinking of, I didn't even think about the street space or the parking space that he brought up. But yeah, I can see that being an issue already with such a small street and residents on both sides of the street, not enough parking already. you would have to have some type of parking on that site for the employees alone, let alone the people and the social workers and everybody else who's going to have to come over there and basically visit those mental health patients or residents who's going to be living in that area. But one of my concerns was, I know they said $244, and I was just thinking of How far down the street is that really going to go? Is that going to encompass half of the block, the majority of the block, or what part of the block?

That would be the big bold lines you see here, all the parcels included within. So here's the mental health property here, fronting East High Street, and then down Buckton Avenue. the remainder of the block would be all those parcels.

I'm not, I'm not opposing anybody that need help or any type of social service, but I just think it's going to be a squeeze on the neighborhood if the parking is not right. And if it's not, is it going to be safe enough for the residents to be there and step out with their children and so forth? Is that going to be a problem? Is it going to be an issue or would that be, how is that going to be addressed?

So just to read, there is no onsite parking in this space. Is that right?

We have not received.

How many spaces are onsite proposed? So this is up for first reading tonight. There will not be any vote tonight. We have two more weeks before we actually vote on this. I think we need some answers on the parking before next time. There'll be discussion on this as well next time. Thank you for the information. Thank you. Is there a motion to conclude this hearing? So moved. Second. It's been moved and seconded. Clerk, call the roll.

Mr. Ricketts?

Yes.

Mr. Rigsby?

Yes.

Mrs. Tackett? Yes. Mr. Wallace? Yes. Mr. Rue?

Yes. Public hearing scheduled for 6.55 is called to order. Clerk, call the roll.

Mr. Ricketts?

Here.

Mr. Rigsby? Here. Mrs. Tackett? Here. Mr. Wallace?

Here.

Mr. Rue?

Here. Has proper legal notice been given for this hearing?

Notice of a public hearing for the purpose of considering the proposed change in zoning for approximately 2.32 acres located at 1765, 1770, 1800 and 1805 Lindeman Drive from CLC Light Commercial Corridor District to RLD Low Density Residential District was published in the Springfield News Sun, a newspaper of general circulation within the city.

I move that the communication be ordered, received, reported in the minutes, and filed.

Second. The motion's been made and seconded. Clerk, call the roll.

Mr. Ricketts? Yes. Mr. Rigsby? Yes. Mrs. Tackett? Yes. Mr. Wallace? Yes. Mr. Ryu?

Yes. Staff report.

So the applicant or owner wishes to rezone the four parcels highlighted on slide from light commercial to low density residential. and these parcels will be rezoned to be subdivided later into single family lots. The current zoning of CLC allows for light commercial uses and does not provide flexibility in residential uses. The owner or applicant is requesting a residential low density district to later subdivide the parcel into single family lots. Clark County Comprehensive Plan shows this area as mixed use, low intensity. Residential use is envisioned for these locations and will complement the surrounding mixed uses. A zoning map from 1976 shows this parcel was zoned R1C, residential single family district. Lindenman Drive and Hamilton Place are classified as local roads by Clark County Thoroughfare Plan. No public alleys were found near these parcels. And the parcels have frontage along public right of ways. Return reports from city staff show no concerns and recommend approval with city's planning and zoning division having the following comments. The city's 2025 zoning code does not have units per acre calculations for housing unit and all new development will be reviewed using zoning districts dimensional standards. The proposed residential low density permits for a minimum of 35 feet wide lots. and a minimum lot area of 5000 square feet surrounding lots were found to be 60 to 80 feet wide the zoning code also does not have minimum parking standards and any site plan will be subject to administrative plan review all parcels associated with development will need to be subdivided or merged according to construction plans the proposed use and district will complement surrounding areas Applicants request was recommended approval by the city planning board as well.

Other comments from commissioners?

Are the plans for the units that are going to go in there, have they been drawn up yet?

We haven't received any. This is just for rezoning.

Okay. So there's no idea how the houses are going to go. I was at the zoning board meeting and there was a question from one of the neighbors as far as I believe some overgrowth on the existing property. And I was wondering if that had been addressed or taken care of.

Yes, so at the city planning board meeting, there were two concerns brought up. One was stormwater management plans and the other was about vegetation overgrowth. So code compliance August report shows that there are two complaints about weeds at the two parcels, 1765 and 1805. So the owners will have five days to comply with code and there will be re-inspections to see if the property is compliant.

applicant here and wish to speak.

Okay.

Other comments from the audience on this? Yeah, go ahead, Gary.

You guys are the woman or man I forget who was talking about notification. I don't know 1015 years ago when the bar and that was owned by the former commissioner that it's my nemesis. I didn't read it and I'm usually following what's happening in my neighborhood. You can't depend on anybody to see something in a newspaper that I don't get anymore. It's not paper, it's digital, whatever.

I understand. And that's what you're making is a public comment, not about the hearing. Do you have something specific to the hearing? that yes sir that plot do you have any comments about my thing is send notification to everybody within 10 this way 10 that way behind them we are sitting sending all the notifications maybe our law director can speak to this and also anybody from code enforcement What is, you want to give them the notification process?

I know what the legal definition is. I'm putting it in the news.

I know everybody wants to like move the line on legal, but it's our job to follow the legalities to the legal process.

We're in new periods. Okay. This needs to be a little different.

Yeah, I know we are. Do you have any more comments about this? No. Okay, thank you. Okay, if you go to the microphone, please.

My name is Kevin O'Neill. I live at 819 Lemmuth Court South. I have owned this property since 1999. It's been in process of being developed into single family. But the parcels that are in question right now are diagrammed like this. And they were zoned early on because they connected Hampton to Limestone Street. And we thought, quite frankly, we had a tenant that was going to move there. from limestone street and they came downtown which was good for the city that's fine with regards to we have built nothing there but single family housing that's what this person that wants to develop this finish it i'm too old to do that and he wants to put there will be six probably six units when they subdivide the larger lot to the north and the other one to the south, but they will be single family. All the utilities I paid for and are in, it's got curb, gutter and sidewalk and street that I paid for that it's in. It's got street lights. It meets all codes. We currently on a 26 partial lot, have 22 of the lots built and 20 of those are sold. This partial here, once the city commission gets finished with it, will be sold and hopefully they'll be able to get one or two of the houses done before the snow falls. Any questions, I'll be happy to answer.

Any other questions for commission? Thank you. Is there a motion to conclude the hearing?

So moved.

Second. It's been moved and seconded. Clerk, call the roll.

Mr. Ricketts?

Yes.

Mr. Rigsby? Yes. Mrs. Tackett? Yes. Mr. Wallace? Yes. Mr. Ryu?

Yes. I'd like our law director, Jill Allen, to read a statement.

Thank you, Mayor and Commissioners. The Clark County Prosecutor's Office has announced that it will not pursue criminal charges related to the investigation involving City Manager Brian Heck. Mr. Heck currently remains on paid administrative leave. An independent internal review is being conducted, and the City will share additional information as appropriate. As Law Director, I continue to advise the Mayor and City Commissioners to limit their comment. City operations continue under the leadership of Acting City Manager Jason Vai, and City employees remain focused on delivering the services our residents expect every day.

Okay, thank you. I have a statement to read before I open the public comment period. My heart remains heavy over the death of Pierre de Maas Bell. My prayers are with his family and with his friends in the Springfield Haitian community. Pierre was only 20 years old. He was an honors graduate from Springfield High School, a student at Wright State University, and a young man who came here seeking an education and better future. He had hopes and plans for his life. He was a son, a student, an athlete, and was a young member of our community. Behind every immigration statistic, every policy decision, and every political debate are people like Pierre and families who love them. I'm not interested in assigning blame to Pierre's suicide, but I am also not willing to ignore what we are seeing firsthand here in Springfield. Even as we hear of the federal government doubling down on ICE arrests, deportations, and ankle monitoring, I'm asking congressional leaders to consider the human toll of our current immigration system on individuals and families. As a local leader, I see, along with many others in our community, firsthand the fear and uncertainty this system is creating. When human beings become political talking points used to gain favor with constituents, we have lost sight of something very fundamental. There are people. These are people. They are parents, children, students, coworkers, neighbors, and friends. I'm calling on members of Congress, particularly those who know something must change but have been remaining silent, to speak up, to engage in this very real debate over immigration reform. America was built generation after generation by immigrants seeking an opportunity to work, to contribute and build a better life. We can enforce our laws and protect our borders while still treating people with dignity and respect. Those principles are not mutually exclusive. I continue to ask Congress to engage in meaningful immigration reform that respects human dignity and provides a fair and attainable path forward for immigrants who are seeking a better life and are contributing to our communities. Pierre's life should not be remembered for more than the circumstances surrounding his death. He was a young man with promise, a family who loved him, and a future he was working to build. As we consider his death, I hope we also have the courage to look beyond politics and see the human beings affected by the decisions made in Washington and work towards a system that recognizes both the rule of law and the dignity of every person. Thank you. A public comment period for city commissions called to order. Clerk, call the roll.

Mr. Ricketts?

Here.

Mr. Rigsby?

Here.

Mrs. Tackett? Here. Mr. Wallace? Here. Mr. Rue?

Here. The City Commission remains committed to creating a conducive environment for constructive and productive dialogue and engagement for the community. Those wishing to speak need to fill out a comment card and provide their name and address to the record. A state-issued IED and driver's license must be provided when filling out the card, and only those residing in Springfield and Clark County will be permitted to speak during the public comment period. Comment cards will be accepted up to 15 minutes after the start of this part of the meeting. Those who have determined to provide a false information on the card will not be permitted to speak and will be asked at this meeting or the next regularly scheduled meeting. We're truly committed to making the meeting an environment where people have the opportunity to share their ideas, thoughts, and concerns. While we fully respect the First Amendment rights of all individuals, disruptions, or any 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 notified they're considered trespassed and barred from attending future City Commission meetings. As a reminder, citizen participation guidelines allow comments on legislative agenda items. Each citizen may comment up to three agenda items per meeting with a total speaking time of three minutes. And the first person we have to speak with us tonight is Robert Anderson.

I want to thank you for your comment regarding our Haitian community and specifically the tragic death of Pierre de Mastel. It is meaningful to hear those kinds of sentiments from our leaders and they are appreciated. It would be meaningful to have action accompanying that. There are three specific things, two major ones that would be very helpful. We still have ICE in operation in Springfield. It has been closed down in Columbus. It has been closed down in Reynoldsburg. It's been shut down, paused, sorry, because there was widespread public complaint and there were serious concerns about the safety and functionality of the utility provided by FLOG. It is a fundamentally from the ground up flawed security system. I checked the flock transparency portal for the city of Springfield.

May I just ask you a clarifying question? Yes. You just said ICE operations have ceased in those communities you mentioned.

Sorry, flock operations.

Okay, just want to make sure. Thank you. I know the first not to be true. Thank you. So flock cameras.

Flock camera operations have been paused in both of those areas. They have not been paused in the city of Springfield. Currently, according to the Flock transparency portal on the Springfield Police Department website, we share network information with 2,473, I want to say, other networks, which means they can freely pull information. As we established a few months ago, there are word search limiters to hopefully prevent that from being used to search for, uh, immigrants because the Springfield police department has said they wish to protect all people living in Springfield and don't intend for the flock portal to be used for, um, immigration enforcement. Um, great. Haiti, historically, is an almost entirely African population. You don't have to look up immigrant to look up black person, especially if they have a car on record. It can be abused very easily. Please get rid, at the very least, please pause Springfield's contract with Klopp. If you are determined to keep it going, please provide audits, publicly available audits on search queries both in the Springfield department and all search queries being pulled from outside network so that it can be publicly verified that they are not being used for that kind of behavior. Thank you. Thank you. We'll hold my other.

Thank you. Gary Armstrong.

I just read something interesting about Haiti that I didn't know. I knew about the Louisiana Purchase in 1703. But it happened because the Haitians were totally enslaved, brought over as our slaves in the colonies from Africa. And they had an uprising in the 1790s. And they kicked ass and they won. And the British and the French sent 40,000, 50,000 troops on ships, large armadas, and they got beaten. I didn't know that. And I'm kind of a history buff. But Napoleon said, well, I'm getting rid of the Louisiana Purchase. So we got this country doubled in size at the time just because the Haitians. We need to give them a little credit. Because I've heard a lot of people talk hateful about them. I was only against the Haitians because I saw my mayor talking both sides of the coin. And when you talk both sides of the coin, it's not truthful. Then last week, you brought this question up after I had my three minutes that you called me. Yeah, you called me. And guess what I said? Rob, you can't handle the job. You're playing both sides of it. You need to be honest. You had a 25 list people. That was a bullshit list because. ironically, they all came from the same church in the same neighborhood. Is that just irony? Well, like winning the lottery? No, it was a bruise.

I just want to clarify, you're babbling. You're not making any sense to me.

Oh, you're not making any sense? I'm just saying.

Just be clear, what are you saying?

Houston was already known as the winner before you drew the winners.

Who?

Houston, the commissioner that you appointed to fill in as your third vote. Houston. Houston. Okay, I mispronounced it. Well, guess what? Whether I pronounce it right or wrong, I like people that are up front with me and tell me the truth. And I told you on the phone to your face, and I talked to you a half hour, I said, you're not being truthful, Rob Rue. And I said, I'd be ashamed because you've got children, and I'd be embarrassed if I embarrassed my children. Because I think my dad was honest, but I'm not sure. He might have done some things I didn't know about. But you weren't bringing Haitians in because you were working with the city local businesses individually. To bring Haitians in here. And it was obvious. And then you had the local people come in here. Complaining our city is being taken over. And they're eating cats and dogs. You know what? I don't want to live in a world that crazy. Because it was crazy. And it is crazy. My point is this. I came down here because the man that got up there, the microphone, built a four-unit, and you've done nothing in four years. I'm asking my three new commissioners, if you can violate all the charter rules and build a four-unit out of a single without a permit, do I have a bitch? Would you do something for me as a citizen and come up with an answer? Because I've not gotten an answer except Tracy. Listen to me. Tracy's the only one that listened to me in 23 or 24. That's great.

So, again, you lie. I have no idea what you're talking about with the Haitians, but you're done. I lied? You're done. Yeah, you're lying. So, Catherine Peru.

What? Yeah, you can read it.

Wait, Commissioner has something to read before you speak, Catherine, but you can go to the podium.

Since you bring this issue up every few months, I've looked into your complaint. I looked into your complaint. Several years ago, you had a personal dispute with a former commissioner involved and it was a parking dispute. In September of 2022, a complaint was filed by you regarding possible zoning and building violations at a building owned by that commissioner. In October of 2022, the Springfield Fire Division and Springfield Building Regulations Department initiated a formal investigation. That investigation determined that the work performed at the address did not require a permit. In regards to the zoning question, the aforementioned property is zoned R-HD, residential high density, which permits multifamily dwellings on a single lot. So yes, a multifamily residence is permitted there. More recently, an additional review was initiated by the Springfield Fire Department to ensure full compliance with all fire codes and the property is in compliance. So the building department has stated for several years that the said property is in compliance with building regulations. And the Springfield Zoning Department has said for several years that the current multifamily use is allowed. And the City Fire Department has said the property is in compliant with fire regulations. Apparently it's not enough for you, and you continue to bring it up on a regular basis. And in fact, you have thrown us into the mix there, which I don't appreciate. I'm not finished yet. 80% of this commission was not here when this all took place. Any suggestions of favoritism from this group is somewhat misguided. It seems that you still have a beef with the former commissioner. That's personal business and not the business of this commission. And I think after three years, you should just give it a rest, please.

That's enough, Gary. You've had your time. Okay? All right. Catherine Peru. Thank you for putting the correct pronunciation of your name.

I knew that one way or another, we were going to get there, sir. I had faith that if I gave enough ways to spell my name, it would work out. So first of all, thank you. Thank you for allowing me to speak with you. I'm hopeful, actually, for once in this conversation, partly because of the words that you brought, speaking in terms of meaningful, positive immigration reform, although I think very little can come out of individual voices on that count. But there are some things you could do. And hopeful also because at the end of the last public comment, you took a moment of reverent silence. In my faith tradition, the Religious Society of Friends, we take silence very seriously. And we don't have silence It does not result, if that silence is of God, in creative, positive action. Silence without action would be very much like faith without works. As James says, so what positive action could you take? I can tell you one thing that I hope for. One is that you will in the words of the Constitution, secure the blessings of liberty, provide for the common defense. We have that happening, but it isn't supporting our community. Promote the general welfare. Provide domestic tranquility. I sit outside our neighbor's church. I'm missing my moment of silence. I sit outside my neighbor's church every week now because ICE has been present at churches. interrupting worship and every week that i sit there a pastor from a neighboring church prominent in our community comes by this pastor undoubtedly comes from a family that was brought here in chains and lived in some condition of slavery and built this country and every week he shows me that he has to carry identification to prove that he's a citizen because he is appropriately concerned that he might be menaced in the streets on a sunday morning coming to support another neighbor's church So what you could do is sign the letter already signed by 104 mayors, cities, local officials, many of them in Ohio, that call on the U.S. Senate to pass Senate Bill 4814 to extend temporary protected. That was my three minutes. Thank you. Terry Atkins.

Thank you guys. Terry Atkins, Springfield. With our USA 250th birthday, it's very sad that our city, if Springfield leadership chose not to have a celebration, considering our city's rich history, which was kind of neat because the two ladies, he got the proclamation, but considering our rich history and forming our country, flags on the Fountain Avenue, excuse me, funeral home is not a celebration, Mayor Rue. And that's what your comment was that I was reportedly heard from you that you had a Memorial Day parade and you had flags on the funeral home. That wasn't the 250th anniversary. So that's...

I don't think I made comment that I have flags on my business.

Okay, of course you didn't. Absolutely, you didn't. I know how it works. But from the birthplace of 4-H... to being one of the largest industrial cities in our country. Springfield's been in the spotlight a very, very long time. But now we've become in the spotlight again. Failure of support of the homeless, which has been a repeated issue. You keep kicking the can down the road. You tell one individual that did an excellent job with the homeless, just stand back and let the professionals take care of it. we can see another issue kick up same old stuff but now we've begun you know became in the spotlight again i mean we you know between and it was reported on the ohio register you know the tea bag incident in wienergate and that's what it was stated um and i feel sorry for an individual seated up there with you that he had to be the blunt of that which, you know, in every workplace I have ever been, anything resembling that would be inappropriate and immediate termination, not a five-week paid vacation. That's just crazy, you know. And for that poor gentleman to have to suffer through it week in and week out, I mean, it's unbelievable. But, you know, all these out-of-town supporters come in here for these rallies, and, you know, they're bussed in. And all we keep seeing from our media outlets is, ah, Springfield supports it. Yeah, if you live outside the Springfield city limits and you come in on a bus, you know, the true citizens of Springfield, they keep talking and talking. You know, they don't get the support from the media, from the leadership. You know, it's frustrating. And I take you guys on the end, and Mr. Rigsby over there, you're new to a lot of it. You're not, you know, I'm not piling on your shoulders, but you were elected.

Thanks, Terry. Diana Daniels. Okay.

Jill.

Before Diana speaks, Commissioner has a question.

Can you reread what you read at the beginning of this?

The Clark County Prosecutor's Office has announced that it will not pursue criminal charges related to the investigation involving city manager Brian Heck. Brian Heck currently remains on paid administrative leave. An independent internal review is being conducted. The city will share additional information as appropriate. As law director, I continue to advise the mayor and city commissioners to limit their comments. City operations continue under the leadership of acting city manager Jason Vai, and city employees remain focused on delivering the services our residents expect every day.

So Jill, You're the law director. Does that mean they investigated and said there's no criminal charges that could be made against this person? That's correct. Okay.

Thank you. Thank you for your comment.

Ms. Diane. Good evening. Tonight we're going to have a little lesson. Shackles versus monitors. Leg shackles are heavy metal cuffs around both ankles. It is connected with a short metal chain along those two cuffs. They restrict movement and make it hard for the person to run. That's how they work. They are used by law enforcement and court officials during transport or in court. They help keep high-risk inmates from escaping or hurting others. They do not use electronics, crack location, technology. Ankle models, on the other hand, they are plastic and metal straps locked around one ankle. They monitor and contains a small computer and a GPS tracker. They send location data to monitoring centers. Courts use them for people out on bail or parole. They let people stay at their homes instead of jail, making sure they follow curfew or stay away from certain places. They use cellular signals and satellites to track when a person goes in real time. Just to be clear, so that all of us and you know that there is a difference between shackles that are not being used, but monitors are. Oh yeah, and for the record. Ankle monitors have been used for immigrants since 2004 as an alternative for detention programs. So yeah, your precious Obama and Biden used them as well. This distinction is necessary because the abundance of false and misleading headlines, not the content necessarily, but the attention grabber of regarding shackles. Knowing this, two important questions need to be answered. Now, who made this decision to use the word shackle for monitor? Was it a local or a higher-up? My money is on one local. To what purpose was shackle used for monitor? What ensued? To the second question as to purpose, in my opinion, the shackle was used instead of a monitor with purpose and malice of forethought. In my opinion, this verbiage was chosen to incite selective outrage and indignation and like-minded immigration fanatics, and of course to garner donations, fame, and notoriety for the cause. Meanwhile, this Haitian community endured embarrassment and confusion linked to using the word shackle for monitor. Now as to the who, who out of all local immigrant fanatics here in Springfield thought up the idea to use shackle for a monitor? It's not up to me. I have my top choices. We'll let the authorities take care of that. the result ice does not bring chaos chaos brings ice and now more than ever chaos garnered generated by immigration fanatics well the struggle sessions of some type indeed other verbal liberal cause for their du jour downtown my question is this oh the citizens lose again but who else loses the Haitians of course caught in the crossfire in my opinion the Haitians are being used to influence immigration policy how much has the city spent on overtime for these protests and struggle session the Jericho walk for example I asked bluntly to the sheriff what it cost the county in what he had to do for the Jericho Walk. He told me right out front it was in excess of $3,000. I would like to know how much the city has spent on these protests and struggle sessions.

Thank you. Well, not that I can give you an exact number, but I can tell you it pales in comparison to the three-month stint that we had in 2024 when the amount of overtime and the amount of time put in was astronomical. And the multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars that it cost the city to be thrust into the national spotlight and being used for political thought, that cost a lot more than $3,000 on a one Sunday afternoon protest. Anyway, Mr. Selig, Barron. Before you, I heard you comment, and Diane, I'm not disagreeing. I saw there was a lot of people from out of town, so I'm not disagreeing with that. Okay, go ahead, Mr. Seelig.

Tonight before the city council meeting, I put a pretty extensive packet in front of everybody up there, with the exception of Katie, and I forgot about her, and I'll get you your copy. I stand here tonight A NICE agent. What is NICE, you ask? NICE stands for Neighbors Investing in Community Empowerment. NICE began with a simple idea here in Springfield, Ohio. What if neighbors, volunteers, businesses, and community resources could come together to solve everyday problems? My vision is bigger than one city. Springfield is the birthplace and the pilot community for a model that someday could place nice agents in every city across America. Because being nice works. Everywhere, every time. In a nutshell, because I have three minutes, I invite anybody to go. I have some handouts. If anybody would like, I have a one sheet. It has a website. I can explain in detail, like the packets that I gave you guys. But The mission is to help people meet today's practical needs while connecting them with encouragement, resources, opportunity, and a path toward a better tomorrow. NICE is built around a simple principle. A hand up can be more powerful than a hand out. The NICE agent. Volunteers and staff will be known as NICE agents. A NICE agent is someone who sees a problem, listens without judgment, and helps find a practical solution. lots and lots the time constraints i got with uh jason and rob and uh we didn't have time to do it i i hope after reading that and you look at it and go visit the website and see the news uh that this has already taken off in at least two other states and i want to get the pilot here I want something positive to come out of Springfield. We're the champion city. Let's get back to being champion. I think that starts with being nice. Everybody can be nice. I have lots of people that want to be nice agents, you know, because anybody can be a nice agent. It doesn't have any political lines, no religious lines, no race, no. It doesn't matter. To be a nice agent, you have to, now there are some rules here, you know, that you go through to be a nice agent. Let me flip back to my paperwork. I apologize here. And unfortunately, I don't have it in front of me. I have a PowerPoint presentation that I would like to come down in a work session beforehand, present it to the city. I'll be at the county commissioner meeting tomorrow doing the same thing, explaining what I want to do. Thank you. But the number one thing is, you know, I'm from NICE. We're not from the government, and we're here to help.

Thank you for doing this, Aaron.

I'll be out front if anybody wants the one sheet more information. Thank you for your efforts.

Jacob Putnam.

Hi. I just want to know when enough is going to be enough. We've had people that continually come up here complaining about the data centers. We were given a six-month moratorium, but yet here on the article that was published August 14th says that the data centers are moving to meet new construction milestones with the first phase of construction expected to be completed within the next few months. We've also had, well, was it two commission meetings ago, like a 45-minute to an hour-long back and forth of people's concerns with flock cameras but yet we put more in and it is we're getting the wrong kind of attention in this town uh again you know you just had baron up here given a great idea to help out the community, help out this city. He constantly comes up here with ways to fix a problem. And I hope you guys really take this one into consideration and move forward with it. That's all I got tonight.

Thanks, Jacob. Just for clarity, just because it's brought up, the resolution was no new data centers. And so the resolution is a moratorium on new data centers. There was one in existence that was already being built, but there's no new data centers. Secondly, flock cameras. There's no additional flock cameras that have been placed in the city since we've talked about flock cameras. Just want to make sure that's clear. And Mr. Barron has done a great job of, he got behind the homeless community two years ago and supported a 90 day homeless shelter during some of the coldest times we've had. And I encourage anybody that has ideas that want to help the community to do them. You do not need to come down to the city commission and start. You just start. There's agencies that have started. They eventually form a nonprofit. They follow those so they can get donations and fund their organizations. I encourage that, and many do that. To do a work session is something where the city is usually already in a governmental relationship with, like we've talked about Homeful, we've talked about other organizations, the city wastewater program, or excuse me, the Clark County, keeping Clark County clean. Those are programs the city already has a part of their established budget and things like that. Ideas that want to help the community, I encourage them. I think people should do them. And there's lots and lots of them out there. So it just doesn't mean that it doesn't have to start at a city commission meeting. It can just start and people will get behind it. Thank you for your comments. Dave Faulkner.

Good evening. I'm Dave Faulkner, Moorfield Township. I have five brief questions about how the city-owned 72 North drinking water protection area property entered consideration for the county public safety complex. And I have copies of this for you later. Number one, who specifically within the city first identified or offered the 72 North property to Clark County for the public safety complex and when? Number two, was that offer made verbally or in writing and to whom at the county? Three, before the property was offered, What review did the city conduct of its location within Springfield's drinking water source protection area and its proximity to the family recreation facilities on Eagle City Road? Number four, who established the $500,000 price and the city's commitment to extend utilities and what analysis supported those terms? Number five, has the city commission formally authorized either the proposed property transfer or the utility commitment? If not, what exactly has the city committed to at this point? I understand the answers to these questions might take some time. I obviously can respond when I'm finished, but I'd be happy to receive an email. with those kinds of responses. I have a public records request in with these questions, but it's been a couple of weeks, so I thought I'd bring it down, or commission, sorry.

Thank you. Can we ask Mr. Moore to talk about the drinking water in that particular area?

So that parcel, along with several hundred more acres of land up there, are part of the wellhead protection area. In that area, the one-year and five-year time of travel for any contaminants is delineated. That does not mean construction projects cannot happen in that area. As we've seen over the past couple decades, we had Splash Zone constructed. We had Eagle City Road relocated. We had the soccer complex constructed. and we had, I'm drawing a blank on the name, I think Forest Glen, but the senior living facility all constructed in that area. When something is constructed in that area, everything is monitored much closer than a normal construction site because any spills would have to be contained much quicker. Once something is completed and all the work is done, Anybody who has commercial property in that area works closely with the city on what products or chemicals they're allowed to store on site, how they store those. We have good relationships with all of the, whether commercial properties or farms in that area, to make sure that what they're doing falls in line with what can happen inside our wellhead protection area.

Thank you. The rest of the answers I know we can get you. I know that staff along with the county was looking at identifying potential properties. The sheriff's office needs to be built within the county seat, within the city. That was why the city was looking for opportunities for the county to build their public safety building. This property became available or was identified because it met the size requirement and the proximity within the city. It doesn't go without saying that the sheriff's station generates income tax. If the sheriff decided to move the sheriff's station by whatever decree outside of the city, the city would lose that income tax. And that's important that we maintain our income tax to serve taxpayers. We're 80% reliant on income tax. So losing anything is detrimental. So we want to identify properties that we be a part of. That's one of the things. So that's one of the reasons why the price, this was an undeveloped area that was was never really going to be developed into any significant housing or anything like that. It was within this pie-shaped area that has recreational area along with what we've talked about. So that's why it was offered as an opportunity and option for the county to look at. There's other properties along there that they would need to acquire to make sure that they have a proper ingress and egress of the property. So that's why that happened. We also were hoping to be able to use the funds that were If this property is sold, which it is just a verbal consideration right now, there's nothing that's been and that this is going to be where the jail will be located. Not at all. OK, this is just something that the commission and staff have talked about. So they can look, the county can look and see if this is even a suitable property for a jail. And so that's what has been happening. So within that price, the city wants and is asking that there would be a water and sewer connection into the Eagle City area. that doesn't have that right now and in turn would be able to enhance the Eagle City soccer fields with bathroom facilities and other facilities that can increase the usage of that area. And so that's that's your I'm giving you the thinking I'm not saying you have to agree with that. But that's that's why these considerations why the price and and the city would likely use we would be using the price if this was sold to be able to have that connection appropriate to be able to do that. So that is as much as I have, I think there's more here that we can send to you, but that's as much as I can offer right now without not having the exact details for you.

Sure. I don't know if you know this, but on the County Commissioner's agenda tomorrow morning, they are going to discuss the purchase of the property and make that decision tomorrow morning. To make an offer? To make an offer. So this is moving at a pretty quick speed without much analysis done.

I just want to say I don't think it's fair to say no analysis has been done.

because because i didn't say no analysis i said not a good amount of a very good amount of analysis has been done a lot of questions i understand i understand and i i think with regards to wellhead protection area even if you can doesn't mean you should it's drinking water for all the city for a lot of people outside the city And the Tremont City folks, they were told those barrels will be fine. And we know how that turned out.

Go ahead.

I just wanted to share that Clark County has the public safety building information FAQ on their website, and it has different studies on it.

Okay.

Just want to make sure, because I know that I received emails this week from some residents out in Terra Sala that wanted some of the study information. So that's another place to get it. Chris, would this jeopardize any of our drinking water?

Nothing that I've seen causes me any concern. Obviously we would be intimately involved in the development of the design and work hand in hand during construction. But this is a, The soccer field was a big construction project. Splashstone was a big construction project. They happened in the wellhead protection area. And if we recall, US-68 was resurfaced and constructed in the wellhead protection area recently.

So you're saying that entire area is in the wellhead protection area?

Yeah, there's a one-year and five-year time of travel that It doesn't go a lot further south than the wastewater, than the water treatment plant, but it does stretch early forward to the north and over towards the west.

Thank you. We'll get you more answers, Ms. Paul. Tabitha Randall?

I'll do it.

Yeah, I'm Tabitha Randall, Springfield. I am also here to talk about the new proposed jail site. Before I talk about that, I just had a question about the agendas. I know for the County, they're posted Tuesday. Are yours as agendas posted a day before as well, or?

The day before at least.

Okay.

The Friday before.

Friday before and your meetings are like Tuesday. Okay, I don't know if this is possible, but as a citizen wanting to come to these meetings and knowing what's going to be discussed at those meetings, I'd really like a little more time, especially the day before, because there's other people that I'm talking to and working with, and it's really hard to get enough information for people who are wanting to work on issues and come to these meetings that they can set aside their schedule and other things So Friday, you said Friday before. That is a lot better. But, you know, a week would be great. But that's definitely something I'm going to mention at the county as well. So. We have not been able to find any public record of an agreement between the city. So there's been no agreement so far.

The commission and the staff had conversations to say, we're okay if the county would look into this property, to look into this property as a significant consideration for their public service safety building.

Okay. So tomorrow they're just making a proposal to give to you.

I haven't seen their agenda, but I'm guessing.

Okay. So there's not been any agreement so far. And then I guess my other question would be, if there's not been any agreement so far, does the Board of Zoning Appeals come before that agreement is finalized or after?

Jason? Or the process of Udehi? I think it would be after the purchase of the property.

Okay. Are, is there a waiting, like, I don't understand why there's waiting to do more of the due diligence questions that we have. Is, like, can that not be done before it's actually finalized and purchased? Because it seems like they've said they need control of the property before they can do a lot of the due diligence.

There's some truth to that. When you're building a project, I'm looking at a few builders. They have to have property to do due diligence property from my understanding. If that's not true, then I'm wrong. Is it true or not? Do you want to answer that, Chris? The due diligence? I want the right answer for you guys or Tom, either one. A due diligence on which aspect? Just for the public safety building. The question she's asking, I want to make sure I'm getting the right information to her.

Can you specifically repeat your question?

I was just wanting to know if they have to own the property to be able to do the due diligence, the studies of traffic studies, the study on the water, and other things that need to be done to know if the site is going to be finalized.

In my experience, due diligence is done prior to purchasing the property. Okay. There are properties that we work on frequently. The due diligence period is so many days for them to make sure they want to purchase. When I say they and them, I mean any purchaser of any property. Okay, there's your answer. Tom, you have more information?

I don't disagree with that. From a commercial perspective, typically a private investor would want to have control of the property before they started spending money to evaluate it. So they can do that under different manners, right? They can buy it. They can option it. As long as they have property control, they usually have the confidence to go in and spend the money to investigate it.

And so to do a traffic study costs the county money, is that correct?

Yes, it'll cost, yeah, money.

So I'd say they would want control of the property. So if they did the due diligence, spent a million dollars or half a million, whatever it is on the traffic study, that they would have the option to go ahead and continue to buy it. That's my guess. That's my understanding.

Okay. So if it doesn't turn out to be an option because of the due diligence process, they just go back because they've already purchased it.

One of you explain like the whole, that's okay. But the bottom line is we're not voting to sell it tonight. And it'll be a first reading and a second reading when that time comes. And within that time, you'll have opportunities to continue to comment and bring up the information. The due diligence is really, is this going to work for the county? That's really what the due diligence is.

And the Board of Zoning would come before the final purchase. Answer to that.

My guess is I've not seen the purchase agreement or anything, so I really can't speak to that specifically.

I would say they probably wouldn't want to purchase it until it was zoned appropriately, I'm guessing. But I don't know. I can't speak for them. I would go to their meeting tomorrow.

Yeah, I am. That was just my big question because there's a lot of zoning concerns, I feel like, that may or may not work. So, okay. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Marcy to Jeffrey.

I've been sitting there this whole time trying to figure out how to put this in a nice way. But most of the people in here don't want to be nice. People have been sitting in here flaunting their privilege. When they talk about they don't understand the connection between the shackles. If they don't, they need a good history lesson. I'm holding in a lot of anger, trying not to let it go to hate. But there's been a lot of comparisons made. The march compared to what happened a couple of years ago, a totally different thing. Even if people were brought in from out of town, they were peaceful. There was no one here threatening bomb. But yet still this talk keeps going. As though they want to bring them back. Our lives have been disrupted enough by ugliness and hatred. I'm just shaking with anger. everyone. And we need to stop tiptoeing around the ugliness that has come to Springfield. And that that was already here has been released. Thank you.

Thank you. Jamel Smith. He's left. Are there comments from commissioners on anything that's been discussed before we adjourn this comment period?

I do have a statement to read to follow up on what you touched on earlier. As a father and as a grandfather, my heart goes out to the family of Pierre Dumas Bell. You have my sincere sympathy and condolences for the loss of such a good and talented young man. I've searched my soul for words of comfort, but realized there are no words to convey the sense of loss that must be felt by Pierre's family at this time. Speaking as a citizen of the United States whose ancestors came to this country over 250 years ago, looking for a chance to escape violence and oppression, looking for the opportunity to find true freedom and to become a part of something special, I find it deplorable. that the members of the United States Congress and Senate continue their failure to fix a broken immigration system and allow the oftentimes inhumane treatment of good, decent people whose only crime is looking for a safe place to raise their children. I encourage everyone to continue to pressure your federal representatives to pass meaningful immigration legislation with a true pathway towards citizenship. Thank you.

I do have a couple comments in regards to some of the citizen comments. So I was just, Mr. Seelig left, but anyone, oh, there you are, hi. Anybody wanting to start a business, form committees, things like that, we have the SBDC as a good resource. I definitely encourage you to reach out to them. They're located over here in the Clark State Brinkman Building. I think that would be a really good start. And Mr. Atkins, our next America 250 event is a tea party at Tea and Melody at Crable Homestead on September 13th. Then we also have Ohio Goes to the Movies on September 24th, where they'll feature at the library, The Night of the Hunter, which will have Springfield native Lillian Gish in it. And then I want to also acknowledge the young people that came together in Veterans Park yesterday to recognize and honor the young man that had passed away that we're speaking of. And just to thank you to the BATS. They're a young organization, young leaders that have come here and spoke to us before. And I just want to thank them for the work that they do in our community in regards to our young people. Thanks.

Okay, is there a motion to adjourn the comment period? So moved.

Second.

Moved and seconded. Clerk, call the roll.

Mr. Ricketts? Yes. Mr. Rigsby?

Yes.

Mrs. Tackett? Yes. Mr. Wallace? Yes. Mr. Rue?

Yes. We'll take a short break and then begin the formal meeting. I understand we have some guests here, and Larry would like to know if we could acknowledge him, you guys could be dismissed, or do you want to hang around for the rest of the meeting?

Or stick around. Just a shout-out to the students representing Wittenberg University here tonight from Professor Rob Baker's Urban Politics class. Professor Baker is allowing me to audit the class this semester, and I'm hoping all of you are getting a feel tonight for what an actual city council meeting feels like. In 2026. What's involved, yes. So... Tiger up.

This was not in 1986. Okay. All right. Let's get on to business. The formal meeting for city commission is called to order. Clerk, call the roll.

Mr. Ricketts. Here. Mr. Rigsby.

Here.

Mrs. Tackett. Here. Mr. Wallace. Here. Mr. Rue.

Please stand for the invocation and the pledge. Our God asks that you give us wisdom, that you give us peace in our community, and that you help us govern your name. Amen.

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

Is there a motion to approve minutes?

So moved.

Second. We move to second. Clerk, call the roll.

Mr. Ricketts? Yes. Mr. Rigsby? Yes. Mrs. Tackett? Yes. Mr. Wallace? Yes. Mr. Rue?

Yes. Clerk will proceed with first readings by title only.

Amending the zoning map of Springfield, Ohio by rezoning approximately 0.88 acres located at 244 Buxton Avenue, Springfield, Ohio from RLD low density residential district to RHD high density residential district. Amending the zoning map of Springfield, Ohio, by rezoning approximately 2.32 acres located at 1765, 1770, 1800, and 1805 Lindemann Drive, Springfield, Ohio, from CLC, Light Commercial Corridor District, to RLD, Low Density Residential District. Authorizing the city manager to execute a quit claim deed in connection with releasing a reverter interest in certain real property no longer needed for municipal purposes located in the vicinity of Rosewood Avenue and South Plum Street. Confirming and approving change order number one to the contract between the city and Peterson Construction Company for the new chemical storage and feed system improvements project rebid to increase the contract in an amount not to exceed $20,827 for a total amount not to exceed $4,690,827 and authorizing the city manager to execute said change order number one. authorizing the city manager to enter into amendment number one to the second renewal period of the contract with republic services of ohio hauling llc for the removal of catch basin debris trash and grit to increase the contract in an amount not to exceed one thousand four hundred dollars for a total amount not to exceed $94,197.65 for the second renewal period and confirming and approving related expenditures incurred from April 30, 2026. consenting to the resurfacing of State Route 41 from Main Street to the corporate limit within the city of Springfield by the Ohio Department of Transportation, identified as CLA State Route 41, 14.86, and further identified by PID number 117964, providing for the maintenance of the right-of-way and authorizing the city manager to enter into agreements with the director of transportation of the state of Ohio necessary to complete the project authorizing the city manager to enter into a master services and purchasing agreement with Axon Enterprise Incorporated for the purchase of Taser 10 equipment, instructor certification and training for an amount not to exceed $452,456.39 for the five-year term. Thank you. Is there any comments from commissioners on first readings?

Hearing none, we'll continue with second readings by title only. Just a minute, I'm sorry. Is there any comments from the public on first readings only? Okay, now hearing none, we'll continue with second reading.

Amending ordinance number 9190 passed March 12, 1991 and commonly known as the codified ordinances of the city of Springfield, Ohio by repealing and replacing section 911.02 entitled service charge rates, section 911.04 entitled bulk water purchases, section 917.02 entitled service charge rates and section 917.11 entitled septage discharge fees.

So moved. Second. It moved and seconded. Other comments from commissioners?

Yeah, could you explain, Katie, what this means and why it's happening?

Certainly, Commissioner. So this evening is the second reading and the vote on the proposed utility rate adjustments that were presented at the last meeting. Those utility rate adjustments would take effect on January 1st of 2027. So I want to briefly clarify just a few points that I've seen raised since the first reading. These rates are based on the cost of operating, maintaining and investing in our existing utility systems. not on a proposed data center a potential jail site or any other individual development as shown on the screen up here water consumption has declined but the cost of operating the system does not decline at the same rate um so to put it simply a water system is not like a store where that where you can simply order less inventory when sales decline whether we pump 9 million gallons or 10 million gallons a day we still need operators and chemists electricity and treatment chemicals functioning treatment facilities and hundreds of miles of underground pipes and related infrastructure that must be maintained and replaced treating water treating less water does not make the system smaller many of these costs are fixed and all of those continue to increase again as shown on this slide since 2021 the installed cost of a six inch water main has increased approximately 154 percent chlorine 183 percent lime 100 percent and labor approximately 27 percent in addition to significant increases in both electricity and capital equipment. It's also important to understand that the system has available capacity. Large water users are not the cause for these rate increases. Because our system has available capacity, additional usage actually helps spread the system's fixed cost across more billable water and can reduce pressure on future rates if more water is consumed. The recommended adjustments are 15% for water, 5% for sewer, and no increase for stormwater. Those increases are based on our long-term financial modeling, which is our rate model, and the needs of our existing system. For a typical residential customer, the combined monthly bill would increase by $5.36, or roughly 7.8%, which again remains below the state comparison that's also shown up here and keeps us among the lowest rates the Miami Valley. Again, these adjustments are necessary to maintain reliable utility services and the long-term financial stability of the system.

Excellent, thank you. Any other comments from the audience? Clerk call the roll.

Mr. Ricketts? Yes. Mr. Rigsby? Yes. Mrs. Tackett? Yes. Mr. Wallace? Yes. Mr. Ryu?

Yes.

Confirming and approving the renewal of a contract with Synegro Central LLC for the removal and land application of biosolids for an amount not to exceed $135,000. So moved. Second.

We moved and seconded. Other comments from commissioners? From the audience? Clerk, call the roll.

Mr. Rigsby?

Yes.

Mrs. Tackett? Yes. Mr. Wallace? Yes. Mr. Ricketts? Yes. Mr. Ryu?

Yes.

Authorizing the city manager to enter into a brownfield remediation program grant agreement to accept funding in an amount up to $541,100 from the Ohio Department of Development for the demolition and site remediation of 827 Dibert Avenue and authorizing the city manager, finance director, and law director to perform all act and execute all documents they consider necessary to fulfill the city's obligations under said grant and to comply with all relevant local, state, and federal legal requirements.

So moved. This is moved and seconded. Are there comments from commissioners? from the audience. Just a note, like the Brownfield, a very successful Brownfield project is where Topre sits right now. And so we received a grant that Brownfield was remediated. Now we have a prosperous functioning job creating plant right there. So all for Brownfield. Comments from the audience or call the roll.

Mrs. Packett? Yes. Mr. Wallace? Yes. Mr. Ricketts? Yes. Mr. Rigsby? Yes. Mr. Rue?

Yes.

Authorizing the city manager to enter into an agreement with the Drug Enforcement Administration to reimburse expenditures for officers involved in joint operations for the period of October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2031. And authorizing the city manager, finance director, law director, and chief of police to perform all acts and execute all documents they consider necessary to fulfill the city's obligations under said agreement. and to comply with all relevant local, state, and federal legal requirements.

So moved.

Second. We moved and seconded. Other comments from commissioners?

Can you explain what this is and what this is not?

Yes, sir, Mr. Commissioner. Thank you for your question. So this is our annual renewal with the Drug Enforcement Administration. So the Department of Justice, DEA, enforces federal drug trafficking laws. And so this is an annual renewal due at the 1st of October every year with the government's fiscal cycle. And it is just for overtime reimbursement for our officers and detectives that work specifically on those cases. Again, Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration, cases only.

Any comments from the audience?

Call the roll. Mr. Wallace?

Yes.

Mr. Ricketts? Yes. Mr. Rigsby? Yes. Mrs. Tackett? Yes. Mr. Rue?

Yes.

authorizing the city manager to apply for and accept funding from the Ohio Department of Transportation for the oh my gosh fiscal year 2027 urban transit program grant for operating the preventative maintenance assistance in the amount of 374 773 authorizing the city manager finance director and law director to perform all act and execute all documents they consider necessary to fulfill the city's obligations under said grant applications and corresponding agreement and to comply with all relevant local, state, and federal legal requirements and to provide assurances and additional information as required by the Ohio Department of Transportation confirming and approving related expenditures incurred from July 1, 2026 and declaring an emergency therein.

So moved. Second. Been moved and seconded. Other comments from commissioners? From the audience? Clerk, call the roll.

Mr. Ricketts? Yes. Mr. Rigsby? Yes. Mr. Wallace? Yes. Mrs. Tackett? Yes. Authorizing the city manager to execute a notice of award with the U.S. Department of Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology to accept funding in an amount up to $1,500,000 for the Ohio Advanced Air Mobility Infrastructure Planning Project at the Springfield Beckley Municipal Airport. authorizing the city manager, director of finance, and law director to perform all acts and execute all documents considered necessary to fulfill the city's obligations under said grant agreement and to comply with all relevant local, state, and federal legal requirements in declaring an emergency therein.

So moved.

Second.

So moved and seconded. Other comments from commissioners?

I was wondering if we might have our economic development director speak to this. Just, it's, you know, as with anything, airport and NAMC, I think the proof has been in the pudding, particularly in the last few weeks. We've seen some significant announcements of investment in Springfield and Clark County that's going to benefit all of us. In fact, the word has been thrown around and I think it's rightly used transformational.

Thank you, Commissioners. Tom Fransman, Assistant City Manager, Director of Economic Development. This grant is a $1.5 million grant that we actually applied for a couple of years ago through the PDAC process that goes through a regional prioritization process and then gets submitted to Congress for consideration. And this is a comprehensive plan to look at advanced air mobility, And the infrastructure required in order for this to kind of be built out around the nation, but focusing first Springfield Beckley, because quite honestly, to your point, we've invested a lot and leveraged a lot of investment with our partners from Air Force Research Labs, the Ohio Department of Transportation. the Ohio UAS Center, and others to build out this ecosystem. So Springfield really is held up as kind of a model in that regard. This planning effort will allow us to look at that and to see what it will take to start to build out corridors to other communities, to other states in a safe way. And then basically after that study, this could be used as a blueprint around the country. Thank you, sir.

Is there any comments from the audience?

Wes Babian, resident in Springfield. Where is everybody? I mean, really, when you think about what we're doing now, this is the business of the commission. This is for the well-being of the community. And people who come and talk and so forth are missing something very important. So I want to thank all of you and our leadership and development for working at this process for this and other things that are happening in this community that are exceedingly positive and hope. Yes, we have problems. Yes, we've come through tragedies. Yes, we've come through all of this stuff, but we have continued to work through it. So to the credit of our leadership in this community and, um, hopeful that this is a very positive thing for us in the long run. So it's to be celebrated, it's to be recognized, and it's to be understood how these things come together. They don't just happen. You have to work through a lot of steps and process in order for this to happen. I have to tell you that I was a friend of Warren Copeland's And he used to say, I never feel closer to God than when I'm voting on a sewer project. Because he understood that this is something that goes for the well-being of the whole community, for us all. So enough of me.

That's a quotable quote in the future. Thank you.

Mr. Rabian.

Call the roll.

Mr. Rigsby? Yes. Mr. Wallace? Yes. Mr. Ricketts? Yes. Mrs. Tackett? Yes. Mr. Rue?

Yes.

Authorizing the city manager to enter into a contract with Fencing Unlimited LLC for the OSIP 2026 OANG fence project at the Springfield Beckley Municipal Airport for an amount not to exceed $186,405 and declaring an emergency therein. So moved.

It's been moved and seconded. Are there comments from commissioners? From the audience? Clerk, call the roll.

Mr. Wallace? Yes. Mr. Ricketts? Yes. Mrs. Tackett? Yes. Mr. Rigsby? Yes. Mr. Rue?

Yes.

authorizing the city manager to enter into a supplemental funding agreement for the specialized docket subsidy project with mental health recovery board of park green and madison counties to accept funding in an amount up to 35 000 to be used for drug court allowable expenses at the clark county court administrator sorry my pre-move drug court allowable expenses at the Clark County Municipal Court, authorizing the city manager, finance director, law director, and court administrator of the municipal court to do all things necessary to implement said supplemental funding agreement and to comply with all relevant local state and legal requirements, confirming and approving related expenditures incurred from July 1, 2026 and declaring an emergency therein. I'll move.

Second. I moved and seconded. Are there comments from commissioners? From the audience? We'll call the roll.

Mr. Ricketts?

Yes.

Mrs. Tackett? Yes. Mr. Wallace? Yes. Mr. Rigsby? Yes. Mr. Ryu?

Yes.

Confirming and approving a supplemental funding agreement for the addiction treatment program with Mental Health Recovery Board of Clark, Green, and Madison Counties to accept funding in an amount up to $3,952 to be used for allowable drug for expenses at the Clark County Municipal Court, authorizing the city manager, finance director, law director, and court administrator of the municipal court to do all things necessary to implement said supplemental funding agreement and to comply with all relevant local, state, and federal legal requirements, confirming and approving related expenditures incurred from July 1, 2026, and declaring an emergency therein.

I'll move. Second. Been moved and seconded. Are there comments from commissioners? from the audience or call the roll.

Mrs. Packett? Yes. Mr. Wallace? Yes. Mr. Rigsby? Yes. Mr. Ricketts? Yes. Mr. Ryu? Yes. Confirming and approving change order number five to the contract between the City and Howell Contractors Incorporated for the Eastern Pressure District Water Line Upgrades Project to decrease the contract in an amount not to exceed $77,073.95 for a total amount not to exceed $8,418,676.89 and to extend the contract completion date to December 31, 2026 authorizing the city manager to execute said change order number five and declaring an emergency therein i moved second i moved and seconded other comments from commissioners from the audience clerk call the role mr wallace yes mrs stackett yes mr rigsby yes mr ricketts yes mr roux yes Confirming and approving change order number three to the contract between the city and Mid-Ohio Pipeline Company Incorporated for the Selma Road Water Service Replacement Project to decrease the contract in an amount not to exceed $224,869.15 for a total amount not to exceed $68,000. 682 thousand thirty one dollars and eight cents and to extend contract completion date to december 31 2026 authorizing the city manager to execute said change order number three and declaring an emergency therein i'll move second it moved and seconded other comments from commissioners yeah i have i have a comment on this um this is one of those instances where

The contract amount is being decreased, but it's not for a good reason. We had a total, I believe, of 115 people in this project that could have had their lead pipes replaced. And it wouldn't have cost them anything. This would have covered it. Of those 115 houses, not 115 people, I'm sorry, 115 houses, of those houses, only 62 took advantage of this program. And so the city replaced their lines up to the house and they could have had their water lines replaced and the lead pipes taken out and they chose not to do that. So I'm just sad that they didn't take advantage of this and take care of a longstanding problem.

And these houses were identified as possible problems and had a grant to be able to fix it and they just chose not to.

Yes, that's correct. In that area where the project was identified. And I will tell you, staff sent out mailers. They went door to door, left door hangers. They tried to track down landlords. They went out during evening and weekend hours and also contacted folks who had their phone number on file with utility billing to try to make sure they reached every single person that they possibly could.

Comments from the audience or call the roll.

Mrs. Packett? Yes. Mr. Rigsby? Yes. Mr. Wallace? Yes. Mr. Ricketts? Yes. Mr. Ryu?

Yes.

Confirming purchases and the obtaining of services for the city and providing for payments therefore and declaring an emergency therein.

So moved. Second. It moved and seconded. Are there comments from commissioners? from the audience or call the roll.

Mr. Rigsby? Yes. Mr. Wallace? Yes. Mr. Ricketts? Yes. Mrs. Tackett? Yes. Mr. Ryu?

Yes.

We have one item added to the agenda. Consenting and approving pursuant to Ohio Revised Code 715.72U to certain real property tax exemptions in connection with a project to be located within the Green Township Community Reinvestment Area. Consenting to a CRA agreement between Clark County, Ohio and Electra.Aero Incorporated for their assigns and approving related materials.

So moved. Second. I'd like to ask our economic director or development director to speak to this, please.

Good evening, commissioners. So this is related to the Electra project that Commissioner Rigsby, I think, was alluding to with the positive news here recently. The reason this is worded as consenting to, so a resolution approving and consenting to an agreement between Clark County and and Electra is because we're not a party to this CRA tax abatement agreement. because this property, as you recall, is in the Joint Economic Development District out at the airport, not inside the city. So we don't administer the incentive programs for tax abatement in the county. And so this is a 30-year, 100% tax abatement. The reason for the emergency is the timing constraints for this. So there's multiple approvals that have to be put in place before this can be approved. all with the goal of trying to get this done by the end of September. We talked about due diligence on other projects. This is a big item to get cleared. This will allow us to move on to the other items that we'll be bringing to the commission in the future, the land sale and some other things too. But this one, just to give you a sense of the timing, has to be approved by the school districts. That's the Green and Local School District as well as CTC. It also has to be approved by Green Township. uh the final stop is county commission so they have these very tightly sequenced is the reason we brought it to you tonight as an add-on but it'll go to ctc on the 14th to the township on the 15th 15th excuse me the school district on the 21st then to the county commission on the 23rd so we were running out of dates to try and get uh approvals uh in line but uh We're happy to say that everything is on track with the project. Tonight, we do have Alex Dietz, who's the Deputy Director of Development for the county, as well as Dan Levy here from Vice President of Marketing Communications for Electra Aero as well. Any additional questions about that?

Just for point of references, so what's the average salary that Electra has in their packet of what they're offering communities? What is...

It will be the total payroll, if I could answer it that way, is going to be about $181.5 million at full build-out. That's about 2,000 jobs, 1,985 jobs. And that will generate about $1.8 million in income tax or jet income tax for the project. Average salary, Dan, I don't know if you have anything.

I read somewhere around $100,000.

It's about $90,000. Yeah, if you could.

I just want these points to be brought up, how valuable this project is to our community and also with our Wittenberg students here to see that jobs like this are in our community here.

Good evening. Dan Levy from Electra. I want to, first of all, thank Tom for the promotion. I'm actually the director of marketing and communications, not vice president, but I'll take it. The average salary will be around $92,000. Okay, great. Thank you. Thanks for being here.

Can you... Can you share the timeline for full build out of a lecture? When are we looking at a complete project timeline?

So it's about an 18-month to 24-month process for full build-out. They're hoping to issue an RFP for construction first quarter of 27. So they'll be getting proposals from builders to do that and then probably about an 18-month timeline for phase one. If you recall, there's a two-phased project here, total build-out over probably a five- to six-year period. Thank you.

And all of those construction jobs will also be paying income tax in the JED as well.

Absolutely.

Yeah. So, I mean, we're going to have it's the eighteen hundred plus jobs who not only will be taxpaying citizens, hopefully. Well, they'll be taxpaying citizens, but they'll hopefully will also live in the community, buying goods and services, doing those types of economic activities. And then I think, you know, it's realistic to believe that there are going to be suppliers who will. locate close to the place they're supplying and there's figures on those jobs that could potentially be half again or more and so the economic impact to this area of this one project project is is almost incalculable i mean somebody can calculate it i'm somebody better than i can but um these things these things don't happen in a vacuum our uh city and our county economic development teams work tirelessly in the partnership and the partnership. Yeah. I, I really, I, it goes without, it should go without saying jobs, Ohio and date development.

Yeah.

It's, it's a positioning our, our city and our County as a leader in this industry. And, you know, that's something that, you know, growing up here in Springfield, you never sort of thought you'd see that we'd be, we'd be sort of a high tech leader, um, I'm gushing about it because it's just phenomenal for us. I don't have more words than I can say about it. It's just amazing. Any other comments from the audience?

Clerk, call the roll.

Mrs. Tackett.

Just a minute, just a minute. You want to say something, Alex?

Yeah, good evening, commissioners. Alex Dietz, Deputy Director of Development for Clark County. It's a privilege to be here. Thank you guys for having me. I do want to give Dr. Baker a shout out. He was my advisor at Wittenberg, and I once sat at a city commission meeting in the same class, ironically. But this is his last semester, so I want to thank him for his years of dedicated service to Wittenberg and improving Springfield. So with that being said, specifically related to the CRA, Tom summarized it very well. The reason we're here tonight, generally a county CRA would not be in front of you given that this is in the JED. There's a special provision in the Ohio Revised Code that requires municipal consent as a partner in the JED, as well as township consent, which we hope to have this on their agenda in a few weeks, like Tom mentioned. But overall, The commissioner summarized that, well, this is a transformational project for our community. It will certainly change the way that we do business as a community. There's so much positive, so many positive things occurring right now between this on the southern end of our county and Rochelle on the northern end of our county. So just really looking forward to these next few years and certainly can answer any specific questions that you guys may have about this.

Is there any other questions or anything? Thank you. Clerk call the roll.

Mrs. Packett. Yes. Mr. Rigsby. Yes. Mr. Wallace. Yes. Mr. Ricketts. Yes. Mr. Rue.

Yes. I just, I felt compelled because we have some Whitmer students here and Dr. Baker's here. So this last week, the city of Springfield is a member of the Ohio Mayor's Alliance. And so the mayor goes to these meetings on a monthly basis, and then they have an annual meeting. And so this week is in Columbus. And Kerry is the gentleman who leads this organization. He's a Wittenberg graduate. He was inspired through classes like this that you're taking with Dr. Baker and Dr. Copeland, Warren Copeland, who sat in this seat and these seats for 35 years. leading the city. But he was inspired to create an organization where mayors in the state of Ohio would communicate and would come together and synergize. This was their 10th year celebration luncheon that we just had. And they're lobbying for cities like ours, home rule, things like that. So it's just, you all can get hit with different ways of inspiration, but just wanted to share that with you while you're with us tonight. So thanks for being here. Other comments from commissioners or announcements? Hearing none, is there a motion? Go ahead. Okay.

I do have an announcement. I haven't paused. Thank you very much. I appreciate it, Mayor Rue. This Friday marks 25 years of September 11th, and I would like to call up Chief Jacob King, Fire Chief Jacob King, to share an announcement.

Commissioners, Mayor, this year for the 25th anniversary, we want to invite the community and all our city partners to join us in commemorating this 25 years from this tragic event. At 7.06, which is scheduled to be sunrise, at each of our fire stations across the city, we will lower the current flags to half staff and recognition of this day. At 0830, each engine house will assemble at their flagpole and retire the current flag. And at 846 a.m., each engine house will raise their new flag to full staff and observe a moment of silence in remembrance of 9-11. At 0848, each engine house will lower their new flag to half staff in recognition of Patriots Day. Each one of the, at station one, we'll have an additional portion of this service where we'll have comments made by some of our members for a part of the ceremony. And then we will end it. And then we will be supporting Ferncliff Cemetery. So in recognition of the lives both taken and affected by the events of 9-11, Ferncliff Cemetery and Arboretum will honor all first responders with a ceremony. And they invite us to join them in the Veterans War Memorial Park inside Ferncliff in Section R on Friday, September 11th at 10 a.m. So when we complete ours at Station 1, they will transition over to complete and support Ferncliff and their memorial as well. Outstanding. Thank you.

Thank you, Chief.

Is there a motion to adjourn the meeting?

So moved.

Second. It's been moved and seconded. Clerk, call the roll.

Mr. Ricketts?

Yes.

Mr. Rigsby? Yes. Mrs. Tackett? Yes. Mr. Wallace? Yes.