Council Meeting - Regular Meeting

[laughter] I would like to call to my name is Kyle Feldman, the chair of the roads and safety committee. Uh, I would like to call to order the roads and safety committee of January 22nd, 2026 at 5:31 p.m. In attendance is Vice Chair Kim Young and members of the committee uh, Mr. Barnack and Mr. Fioa. First item uh is the approval of minutes from the 2026 January 8th roads and safety committee meeting. Do I have a motion? Moved. Second.

Moved and seconded to approve. All those in favor signify by saying yes. Yes. Opposed. Those minutes are approved. City officials reports. Chief Puscha. Uh, thank you. Nothing specific uh to report um other than we did put out our 2025 stats on social media. If you if you did not see that um I can share those with you via email. I think that'd be great. I would assume don't just share it with the committee, share it with all of council. Sure.

And then we're looking forward to your uh uh discussion item on uh 5A the deer report. So we'll get to that in a few minutes. Chief Stone.

Oh, you got one. There we go. Sorry about that. Looks like we have a battery issue here. I have nothing specific to report. We have had a few an uptick in fires lately, and we can't say any particular item has caused these fires. Uh that that we have a trend. Uh just coincidence that we have an uptick. It's this time of year in the winter time we typically do have one. We had one earlier today and I have to commend Asia for a quick stop and the homeowner for using the fire extinguisher on it to help protect our house. So uh I'd be happy to answer any questions. Everybody safe through those up. No injuries, no uh no exposures or anything today.

Sounds good. Thanks, Chief Stone. Next up, city engineer Mr. Jones. Thank nothing to report but be happy to answer any questions.

Um I'd like to bring up a couple of things if you don't mind. Um one of them is a followup to last meeting the um meeting we had in January January um about council and I'll do that after and I'll ask the uh clerk to make a note. Um this power outage thing Mr. Jones has us me a little concerned. Um, so I'd like to make that a discussion item on roads and safety at the February 12th meeting. So, um, Mr. President, if you're good with having a roads and safety meeting, Mrs. Matram, next week or excuse me, in a couple of weeks, um, and Mr. Jones and Mr. Riley, I don't know what's going on at the legislative level statewise, but this power outage thing makes me a little nervous. Um, we've got a couple of residents and I shared this with the mayor who uh have some power outages and and I just think it'd be a good um maybe first energy. I don't know what we want to do, but we've got enough time to think about it so we can at least have a discussion ready um to discuss that a little bit.

Yeah, we have uh some good reports from them. We actually have very good working relationship with First Energy. Uh Kurt Gardner left. He's now with uh Akran, city of Akran, but we have a very qualified person that's been in touch with us a lot and given us a lot of the detailed information. So, uh Mike should be prepared by that time to present that to you. Yeah, I'd appreciate that. And I'm sure uh elected officials will be able to get back to their constituents because uh I think we've all had that issue brought up to each one of us. I I got it in the main gym at a basketball game, so my mom came up to me. So, um, I'd like to be able to answer those at some point in time. You're good with that, Mr. Riley.

Good. Um, and then lastly, before we get on to the consideration of business items, um, just an article from the Brunswick Sun, and Mr. Jones, I think you've commended. You did a good job. It's talking about fiber. Um, Brunswick has the same issues, and it's always good to compare your municipality to other municipalities. um and their law director um and community economic development director told city council members that as a utility, the fiber companies are permitted to work within any space deemed a utility right of way. This is Brunswick, right? Same things we discussed last meeting. Um the law director added that while the city quote can look at their plans, there are limited reasons for disapproval. Uh but then he goes to talk about the structures and junction boxes. And um he also said zen city zoning codes for instance do require screening for some above ground structure. So um and then it goes on to say could be better communication with property owners. So I think it's very appropriate. you could have substituted uh you know Stow for Brunswick but other municipalities are undergoing the same thing. Um and it's just uh it's it's good to see you know I agree we could have done probably a little better job in communication too but um but Mr. Jones we certainly appreciated your um explanation. I think it was good. though other municipalities are dealing with the fiber issues too. So I just wanted to bring that forward. It's an article from the Brunswick Sun. Questions or comments on power outages or fiber? Seeing none, we'll move along.

Discussion of business items 5A, deer report. Chief Pruscha.

Yes. So, uh, this was a discussion that was, uh, started by, uh, Chief Film, um, and you all to, uh, collaborate and kind of get a start on the deer population and, um, and I've not been a part of that discussion. So, I received the, um, the report from the Department of Agriculture. They conducted a survey of deer population in the city at the end of November and then provided uh, the report to me last month. Um, in the report that was provided to you, it it essentially gives a heat map and other types of maps that show where the deer population is most dense. And then overall, they were they estimated and were able to find um 567 uh deer in the area. 74% of those deer are, no surprise, east of 91. Um, the report then uh just goes on to say that here's the information. this is how many deer are in your city, but doesn't give any recommendations. Doesn't elaborate as to whether this is a normal amount or a lot or anything along those lines. So, it really is just information for us uh to comb through. One of the things it does say is to um look at this information in relation to any like crash statistics you would have. So, I had also included crash statistics for the past two years, which our record supervisor uh graciously picks out by hand um and tracks how many deer versus car. And so, last year there was 30. The year before that there were 38 crashes involving a car versus deer.

So, that's the information that I have. Um I don't know if that generates then any discussion as to whether you want to talk through any uh solutions or anything further that you want to do but that is the content of the report

and we certainly appreciate you doing that for us. I I was a little disappointed in the report too. Um and I I get their comment. It's hard to quantify um wildlife populations. I think the discussion quantifying freeranging wildlife population is challenging. I I I I get it. But then, you know, you Google who's doing some deer calling in Northeast Ohio and you get Silver Lake, Beachwood, um, Parma, South Uklid. So, a lot of people are doing it. So, I don't know, Mr. Riley, I'll give you a little bit of wait time. What would be our next step as far as I got the crash report, we listen to residents, we see what other municipalities are doing, but how do we know whether we move forward or not?

Um, Mr. Feldman, if I can interject, u I've been working with Chief Pruscha on this. Um, the, uh, city of Shaker Heights is doing something first time this year. It's a sterilization program of deer. Uh, Beachwood has jumped on to that, but calling is also part of it. You cannot just sterilize deer. You have to be able to have that. So, we're going to get into a little bit further discussion, the chief and I, with both of these city cities, Beachwood and Shaker Heights. Um the uh city of Shaker Heights and Beachwood both work with Prec uh Precision Wildlife Management which will be able to fill us things in and also to uh White Buffalo uh is another company that they're waiting to get the contact information. So when we're told 573 67 whatever, is that a lot? Is it not that many? This is what these companies and programs can point to. But you cannot learning over the last week and a half, two weeks because I read with interest the sterilization piece. You have to call and sterilize. Okay. So it's it's a combination. It's not one or the other. Um so we're working closely with Shaker Heights. um even with [snorts] their uh commander uh at their police department. He's a sharpshooter. So again, I can tell you though in Shaker Heights and Beachwood, you can only go ahead and do calling on city property. So they do not allow it anywhere else. So you could use Foxton Golf Course, you could use Silver Springs, something like that, but you could not be a resident or allowed to go from that point. So, we're a little bit uh in an infantile stage at this

project, but again, we're going to be able to get some more information of whether when you look at the city of Stow is a little bit over 17 square miles, is that a lot of deer? Is it not a lot of deer? Where are the areas? Um, another area of concern is the northwest quadrant. Um that's a lot of field out there because also too um with uh that industrial area plus we border up as they do too uh the metro parks and also to the federal parks. So they kind of mirror us quite a bit. Um why they have started really with interest speaking with Beachwood and and joining in. They say if you're going to go this route, you can't be the only guy freestanding. It it doesn't do any good. So that's where the discussion is going to lead as we move through this. But that's the homework that we've got done so far. But uh as soon as we get the rest of that piece, then chief can go ahead and present that and maybe we can have their commander or like White Buffalo or somebody come in and explain to us how this all works. and then also look at surrounding communities such as Koga Falls and things like that, whether they'd be interested in joining on and so forth like that. So, we've got raw numbers, but what do those numbers really mean? That's that's the question, I guess, but that's where we're at.

Thank you, Mayor Perbonic. And if the committee's okay, uh Mrs. Young and and everybody else, Mr. um um Fioa, Mr. Baronack. Um, I I like that. I think if the mayor can gather more information and present it to us because this is this was information, but it wasn't What do we do now? Right. So, um, Mr. Riley, you can stay involved with the mayor and uh, communicate with us. We'll we'll do another thing and maybe bring somebody in.

Yeah, that's what we would like to do eventually. There are other companies out there. That's who they started working with. But the thing that I found interesting is their piece that they put out. It said sterilization. It didn't say also too in conjunction with uh coing. Uh ODNR though says you have to do both if you're going to you can't just sterilize. So sterilization the average real quick chief what was it? The average age of a deer is 8 to 14 years. Is that what you said or [snorts] something like that? I'm not sure. They just they said that the deer live 10 to 14 years. So that which is why sterilization alone won't do anything to the

right. So you have to start dwindling the pack. But also too it takes about five sixyear period between both to get it under control. But we also need to figure out whether that number is high or not high. So in in the areas and what it's going to do for you. So, that's where we're at right now and we'll work on that if that's okay with you. Well, we certainly appreciate your leg work on it. We can continue the discussion and we'll continue the um committee's okay with it. I think that's a good place to

Yeah, I just wanted to add um I appreciate the numbers. I was surprised how what I thought was very high. Um and 63 deer per square mile seemed extremely high as well. So, I appreciate the information from the mayor and think that we really do need to work on both both prongs of that attack. Um, when I was canvasing, um, I had several complaints about the deer. Of course, we all see them, but I also like two doors down from someone who complained was somebody who was feeding them. So, um, I don't know what we can do about people who are feeding the deer. I I would put in that there is a provision in our codified ordinances prohibiting the feeding of deer. So um I would encourage anybody uh to report that to the non-emergency line uh if they see that.

Thank you Mr. Young. Thank you Mr. Ria. I Mr. Felman if I could just one other thing and [clears throat] that is always guilty of us humans. There has been an increase and it just isn't in Stow. But the increase actually has occurred a lot because of 2020. People were home and they started feeding wild animals, not just deer but everything else. And the population has exploded both whether it's raccoons, skunks, deer. People thought they were doing good and they were bored. So they were feeding them and they are becoming overpop populated. So that's another reason why a little bit higher numbers going across that way too. So [snorts]

all right. Uh committee good with that. I I agree with all of you. I think you know when the resident came in and spoke and uh Lyme disease because of a deer tick. I mean that bothers me a little bit, right? I mean that means there's a lot. So I think we continue to move forward with uh with that plan. And uh any other comments from non-committee members? All right. So, uh, Mr. Mayor, thank you. We'll continue to move that direction. Chief Prusia, thank you for your information, uh, on that discussion item. As we move on to 5B, uh, ordinance 2026-30, Chief Stone.

Thank you, Mr. Feldman. This is for Falls Equipment. Falls is the primary company we use for um repairing of our hopefully I have the right one. Do I? Yeah. The they do the repairs of our our fire trucks and we also order some uh uh supplies from them such as uh uh emergency lighting and so on and so forth. I'd be happy to answer any questions. So just so I can understand what are we getting for 97,000 Chief Stone,

all of our firet trucks are repaired by Falls primarily. Those are very expensive repairs. Uh you can see in the past uh the the costs for repairs of our trucks have gone up dramatically as the fleet is aging. Uh, I think we had a about a $30,000 pump repair very recently on one of our trucks and that's what drives this this cost. Okay. Uh, good. We certainly want is include the uh when you say firet trucks EMS vehicles too or is that most of the repairs to our EMS vehicles are done at Claven. Oh, okay. They're Fords Ford F or E3 E450s.

Okay. [snorts] All right. Questions for Chief Stone on this uh ordinance from the committee? Seeing none, council members? Seeing none, do I have a motion to move ordinance 2026-30 onto tonight's council agenda? Moved. Second. Moved and seconded. All those in favor signify by saying yes. Yes. Opposed. That will appear on tonight's council agenda. Item 5C, Chief Stone.

Thank you, Mr. Feldman. This is for MEES. This is for uh the replacement of fire gear. We talked about that last month also under a different uh uh sentiment. And this also allows us to purchase fire hose, uh other firefighting apparatus, nozzles, SCBA bottles, and uh other equipment that we use for our firefighting operations. So, be happy to answer any questions. Thanks, Chief Stone. Committee questions for Chief Stone on ordinance 031. I have a question. Yes, Councilman Young.

Looking at the past three years, there was, you know, 2024 what seemed to be a high year, but the average was 82,000 per year. So 103 is is quite an increase. Is that because of these 17 sets of replacement? That is primarily driven by the the hiring of We have seven people that we're hiring. We've already hired five this year. we have at least a couple more if not more that we have to hire. So that's a lot of this cost. Okay. And then uh as well as the other equipment. So that it is a little bit higher this year because of the turnover and our staffing uh due to retirements. Okay. Thank you.

Yes. Other questions council. Other questions? Seeing none, do I have a motion to move ordinance 2026- 031 onto tonight's council agenda? So moved. Second. Moved and seconded. All those in favor signify by saying yes. Yes. Opposed. That will appear on tonight's council agenda. Uh now is the time for public comment. Is there anybody that would like to publicly comment during on roads and safety issues? Seeing none, do I have a motion to adjurnn? Move to adjourn. Second.

Moved and seconded. All those in favor signify by saying yes. Yes. Opposed. Roads and safety is adjourned. uh finance committee for January 22nd to order and have the clerk call role.

Barneck here. Felneck here. Herman here. Young here. Okay. Uh, do I have uh approval for the a motion to approve the minutes for the January 8th meeting? Move to approve as circulation. Second. Move and seconded. All those in favor? Yes. Yes. Again, extensions. Those meet those meeting minutes are approved. Uh, finance director's report. Mr. Toppen.

Thank you, Mr. Baron. Uh just a report we are still wrapping up the closing out of 2025 here. Uh we should have that done probably in the next week or so. Um and then we can move on to 2026. Uh but other than that this evening I do not have anything else to report. Okay. Thank you. Any questions for the finance director? Seeing none, we'll move on to items, business items. Um, Mr. Toppenhen, you have the first three, but you can start with 2026. Sure. Uh,

resolution 2026-26. This is our annual request for authorization to request the advancement of local taxes that were collected in 2025 uh, payable in 2026. Do I have any questions for Mr. Toppen on this piece of legislation? Seeing none, do I have a motion to move this on the council? Motion to remove to uh move 2026-026 resolution onto tonight's council agenda. Second. Move and seconded. All those in favor? Yes.

Against? Abstensions. That gets moved on to council. Uh Mr. Tophen 2026-27. is 2026-27. This is an uh ordinance to allow for us to or for the mayor to enter into a contract with Julian and Group for the preparation and completion of our ACT for report. Julian and Groo is a company out of Columbus that we have used for many years now to uh prepare our ACT for and in fact this is actually um have having worked with them and have a good working uh relationship with them. This is actually for a three-year contract and they are keeping the price the same for all three years.

Thank you, Mr. Toppen. Any questions for Mr. Toppen on this? I know Julian Group is a uh excellent firm to do that. I think they started uh they've been here since since I was the finance director and they do an excellent job on the caffer as you can tell with all the different awards that we've received for the caffer in in in the past years. So having said that um do I have a motion to move this on to council? So moved. Second. Move and seconded. All those in favor? Yes. against abstensions. That gets moved on to council. Mr. Toppen 2026-28

2026-028 is uh ordinance authorizing the mayor to enter into a contract with clear gov incorporated. Clear gov is our budgeting software which we have been using for the past two years now. Uh this is how we prepare the budget books that we present to council and with the operating budget and the capital budget. And this is for a one-year contract with option for a second year. Okay. Any questions for Mr. TP on this topic? Mr. Felman. Thank you, Mr. Bing. Mr. Re, you like this software?

I do enjoy. Yes. um it's pretty functional and you know we're working through just a couple hiccups from this last season um about things that transfer in from one section of the budget to the other. I haven't worked on the capital side yet because you guys did have that prepared when I got here. But um my hope this year is that we'll use it for more functionality to kind of go quarterly from BSNA and report back in so that at year end the that particular software is also kind of filled in with where we stand. Um, and it'll be a little quicker and easier to to do the budget going forward. Any other questions? I have a question. Yes. Um, being new, uh, the 30,900 is to be paid this year, correct?

Correct. And the 62727 is the total for the two years. So, we're approving the 62 um, but it's spread out over the two years. Correct. Payment. Okay. Great. Thank you. Okay. Any other questions? Just a quick comment, Mr. Renick. I like the budgeting much better than six years ago. It's It's very detailed and easier to read and easier to follow. And I like the pictures, too. The little the graphs and all the things we can look. So, I appreciate it, Mr. Toppin. I think uh I think it's a definite improvement. So, I'm I'm in favor of this clear gov stuff. So, thanks. Thank you, Mr. Bren.

Okay. Thank you, Mr. Bman. Uh, do I have a motion to move uh 29 onto council agenda or no 28 onto council agenda? So moved. Second and second. Move and seconded. All those in favor? Yes. Against abstensions that gets moved on the council agenda. Mr. Ren, you have the next four, I believe. Thank you, Mr. Barneck. This is for Cleveland Freight Liner. This is for uh repairs to the single and tandem axle trucks. Happy to answer any questions. Any questions for Mr. Ren? Mr. Fel. Yeah. Real quick, Mr. Ren. Uh, thanks, Mr. Brennick. We do some repairs in the service garage, right? These are just big ones or

Yeah, these are things that we can't handle internally, but we have floor mechanics, so we do all the lowhanging fruit. Um, and anything we can stays in house. Anything that we can't. Um, a lot of the items are um only available through uh Freightlininer. Got it. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Brenn. Okay. Any other questions for Mr. Ren? Seeing none. Do I have a motion to move 29 onto council agenda? So moved. Second. Moved and seconded. All those in favor? Yes. Against abstensions. That gets moved on to council agenda. Mr. Ren item E.

Thank you, Mr. Barack. This is for freeo construction for up to $25,000. They are our second backup for water man brakes. Happy to answer any questions. Any questions for Mr. Ren? Mr. Felman. So EMG Mr. Ren are water mane repairs and we use Campbell before we use Fiority, right? Yeah. As long as Campbell's available, they're the most responsive one that we use. And coming up, we have a public improvements discussion item on water main breaks for year 25. Correct. Correct.

All right. Thanks. Thanks, Mr. Brennett. Okay. Any other questions for Mr. Ren? Seeing none, do I have a motion to move item E 032 on the council agenda? So moved. Second. Move and seconded. All those in favor? Yes. Against abstension 032 gets moved on to council agenda. Mr. Ren. Thank you, Mr. Barneck. This is for J&B Fleet for up to $33,000. They stock our parts room at the service center. Happy to answer any questions. Any questions for Mr. in on this one. Seeing none. Do I have a motion to move this on to council? So moved. Second. Move and seconded. All those in favor?

Yes. Against? Abstensions. That gets moved on to council agenda this evening. Mr. Ren and Commick. This is for Campbell Contracting for up to $150,000 for emergency waterline repairs. Happy to answer any questions. Any questions for Mr. Ren on I have one. Yes, please. um on [clears throat] the memo when you look at the six years past expenses even if you throw out the the low year um the average was 120,000 per year and it's quite a jump to 150 is that due to the aging and cost inflation or

Yeah. And just the number sheer number that we had last year we're already I believe up to 12 so far this year. So, um it's just the a aging infrastructure in this winter is going to be these huge jumps, 30° jumps from one day to the other. They I mean, we just know that we're going to have a water man break. So, we can call it days in advance. So, unfortunately, that's just the infrastructure agent. Okay. Thank you. Any other questions for Mr. Ren? Seeing none, do I have a motion to move 034 on the council agenda? So moved. Second.

Move and seconded. All those in favor? Yes. Yes. Against abstensions that gets moved on to council agenda item H. Mr. Riley.

Thank you, Mr. Barack. Uh 2026 035 is to authorize us to enter into a contract with Coutac Rock LLP. Council remember in 2024 uh we approved a increased appropriation for Squire Patent Bog to do economic development and uh tax increment finance work. Uh we have been informed we were informed at the end of the year last year that our attorney that we used uh for tiffs at uh Squire Patentbog has moved to Coutac Rock in an effort for uh continued uh efficiency and utilizing the same attorney. Um I'm asking that we enter into an agreement with Coutac Rock to assist us with uh economic development and TIF work. One thing to note that anytime we utilize outside council for tiff that expense that expense is fully reimburseable from the tiff proceeds. So while we are asking for an appropriation um this is money that will eventually be paid back to us through tiff revenue. Um but as council's aware um we've been doing more tiffs and they are more complex than um what I or my staff is prepared for. tiffs are their own uh animals and uh it's good to have outside experts that can uh assist us in that matter. So happy to answer any questions but it's uh continuity. It's the same attorney. They've just moved the fir to a new firm.

Any questions for Mr. Ren? Mr. Coffee, not a question, just a comment. Um that's good to hear cuz I um another city said that Squire Pat and Bogs that they were the experts in tips and so I'm happy to hear that it's the same council at a different firm. So thank you. Yeah and they they actually uh a number of attorneys left from the public improvements to create coup rock is an international company as well but they created an Ohio branch and they recruited many of Squire Patentbog's attorneys to go from Squire Patenborg to coup. So, [snorts] any other questions for Mr. Riley? Seeing none, do I have a motion? A motion to move this on the council agenda.

So, moved. Second. Move and seconded. All those in favor? Yes. Against? Abstensions that gets put on the council agenda. Mr. Riley.

Thank you, Mr. Barack. Um so 2026- uh 036 is a creation of section 14 under 173 which is our board of control process. This is uh just to codify what lowest responsive and responsible bidder means. Uh and as you can see in the ordinance there are uh 20 different factors that we can consider. Um, these are many, you'll recognize many of these factors are factors that we already consider when we uh determine whether or not a bidder is the lowest responsible and responsive. Um, but this clearly delineates them. One I'd like to call attention to is under uh section 18. Um, I included a provision in there about compliance and registration with the city of Stow income tax. So, not only do they have to certify that they are up to date on their state and local tax, they have to also provide proof that they have filed with the city of Stow income tax division to show that while they are uh working in the city of Stow, they are paying uh appropriate income tax to the city of Stowe. Um so, I'm happy to answer any questions on this. This is just uh an ordinance that lays out many of the criteria that we factor in already. I will also state that other uh municipalities in the area have codified these uh criteria over the last couple years including Ka Falls, Monroe Falls, Akran and Barberton. Um but I just felt that it was time to uh quantify these and put them down in a codified way. So happy to answer any questions on this though.

Any other questions for I have one. So collecting taxes is always a good thing um if they have not been paying them or we've had vendors that uh are not registered and and paying. Um I think that's a great addition to that. And just want to clarify that this is not saying that we have to use union. Um we could also there's not it's not union. Yeah. Specific

that Yeah. So criteria 19, the participation in a state accredited apprenticeship program. Um I've heard that criticism in the past that that is um meaning that we're regulating to union shops only. Uh one thing to uh note that the state has various accredited apprenticeship programs that are non-union um specifically through the uh uh ABC which I believe is the association of building and contractors. that is specifically a non-union accreditish uh accredited apprenticeship program. The reason we include that in there is apprenticeship programs require added training as opposed to people that are just coming off the street and hired to do work. We want people who are educated um who've gone through certifications, that sort of thing. So this that is just uh an additional way to make sure we are having the best and brightest perform the work for the for the city. Um, but no, it is not a requirement that um it will be a uh union shop. And I'd also say these are all factors to look at, not a list of 20 things that each bidder has to do. These are just things we look at when we determine whether or not they are the lowest responsible and responsive bidder.

Hope that answers your question though. Yes. Thank you. Any question, Mr. Felman? Thanks, Mr. Renick. Appreciate it. Um, so Mr. Mr. Riley, will this help us with the fiber subcontractors? This one won't. Um, but what you can see is I will probably be taking a lot of this language and applying that when we come back in the probably late first quarter, beginning of second quarter, um, with a change to our, uh, contractor and subcontra contractor registration program. Okay. That's what will assist with. So, that's still in the queue.

Yes, it's still in the queue. We're still working on it. Got it. uh it's just a bit more expansive because this applies only to city projects whereas our our contractor and subcontractor registration will apply to any contracted work within the city. So it's a bit more expansive than this. Got it. Thank you, Mr. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Okay, Miss Coffee,

just a uh a concern with it. Um I think that all of these I don't see anything super disconcerting with any of them. My concern is more that um that they're going to limit us to even who applies. When I spoke with several contractors, they were saying, "Hey, I don't, you know, I don't I don't meet this. I don't have 100% um union participants or um some of these are getting into the weeds a little bit." I don't know. I just kind of think if we use the Ohio Revised Codes standards, then we won't preclude any contractors from applying. And I don't want the cost to go up as an unintended consequence. That's my concern with it. any comments? U yeah, I would just say that we want the best, brightest work. Uh it's not just about the lowest cost. Um I don't want to disparage any contractors that can't meet these criteria. Um, but I mean I I would want a uh contractor to prove that they pay their income tax um or that they uh follow OSHA standards or that they're paying their unemployment. I I I can I understand your concern when talking to them, but these are all things that we wouldn't want someone that we are paying city money for to we would want them to do these types of things and do these best practices. That's the reason for codifying it. Just it also clearly lays out for contractors that this is what we expect. We expect your company to be financially solvent. We expect them to uh you know maintain their uh fair labor standards act. Um I I wouldn't want city taxpayer dollars that we're using on city projects to go to a contractor that's pushing deadlines, things like that.

I mean, I I'll probably vote no on suspending the rules just because I'd want more time to look into it. But because I I get both. I I understand that and I think a lot of these um make sense, but I also just don't want I want to make sure that we don't um increase our costs as an unintentional consequence. Thank you. Okay. Any other questions? Seeing none, do I have a motion to move this on to So just so I understand, Mr. Riley. So, all those factors are things you can utilize to make sure we're getting good work. A contractor doesn't have to fit each one of those.

Correct. And I think also, you think some of these might not apply to every city project, right? Um because I'm I'm trying to think of an example that wouldn't require an apprenticeship program because it wouldn't require work that has apprenticeship a state accredited appren apprenticeship programs. Well, let me give you one. A sloppy contractor on the fiber installation causes difficulty for our residents. Correct. Yeah, but that would that would only apply if the city is hiring a fiber and we're not because it's in the right way. Yeah,

but that's a good example. Like for example uh 91 when we bid out the n the you know reconstruction of 91 we want to make sure that the company that's doing that work is following fair st fair fair labor standards act that they're following prevailing wage law that they are uh uh complying with employee drug testing that they're paying their income tax that they're workers that are doing apprenticeship level work have to have apprentices apprenticeship level certification things like that because we we wouldn't want somebody who's subcontracting on a project to be doing electrical work if they haven't been through an electrical electrical apprenticeship program. Um that sort that's where it translates to these factors show a contractor's compliance with the law which means that they're probably providing a better service than a a shoddy contractor.

Thank you, Mr. Rally. Thank you, Mr. Rally. Any other questions? Seeing none. Do I have a motion to move this on the council agenda? So moved. Second. Move and seconded. All those in favor? Yes.

Yes. Against? Extensions. That gets moved on to council agenda this evening. Mr. Ren. Thank you, Mr. Baron. This is to adjust the board of control limits from the current state to $75,000 for uh city council and $50,000 for finance committee. Um I am aware of um some discussion that has taken place about adjusting these down to 35 and 50 and I would just say that the administration can certainly live with that. It's uh a step in the right direction uh is what we consider that. In comparison um Talmage is currently at 50,000, Kaga Falls 75, Twinsburg 75, and Brexville at 50. So this will bring us closer to in line with those other communities. Happy to answer any questions.

Any questions for Mr. Ren, Mr. Thank you, Mr. Bick. Yeah, that was me, Mr. Ren and Mr. Mayor. So, I appreciate you listening. Um, I mean, Talage's smaller city than us. Chicago Falls larger, but I think this puts us closer to where we need to be. So, um, I appreciate, uh, your flexibility, not quite going up so high, but getting us competitive with cities. um that are uh actually smaller than us, right? Thank you, Mr. Baron. So, yes.

Um I would as uh lead of the administration be 100% supportive of this for all those reasons that Mr. Felman brought up. Um that being the case, um like I said, and it's been talked about at Border Patrol in the Monk's cabinet, Mr. Riley, um and Mr. top and and so forth like that to where it really doesn't change much but of course we all see inflation we see all that kind of stuff and that's where we're dealing with and I agree we don't have to be the top but we need to get ourselves somewhat in line because if you figure we are the third largest city in Summit County so um I I think that's an excellent uh uh working together to go ahead and come up with a good figure that we can live with I think the problem has been it's been that way for how many years I guess

[snorts] uh 20 20 years that we stuck at one figure and we know what inflation did in 20 years if you look at a gallon of milk or eggs or anything like that. So thank you. Any other questions for I I would just like to comment. Um I appreciate Mr. Feldman's uh amendment. I thought it was a big jump. Um but coming into this I didn't know where the other cities were but I do um think that this is a good about and a nice compromise. Thank you. Thank you.

The only comment I make I've always been a advocate of looking at the different ranges as to where to go and been in favor of uh moving them up slightly when especially when prices have gone up. And I think the last time we brought it through council, uh I believe I supported uh the move to to raise them. So uh I do appreciate Mr. Feldman's comments and the mayor's comments. And Mr. Coffee,

um yeah, I uh also appreciate the amendment. I think that amount makes more sense. My um issue with it is that I think it should go to all of council instead of motion of finance committee. Um just because you have then seven people voting on it instead of four for those dollar amounts. And when you look at like Akan even with I mean they have an $800 million budget. Their limit to go to council is 50. Um so this would be the same but I think seven people instead of four. So we can talk about it during um the council meeting. I can propose an amendment with adding changing that from finance to council, but that's where I would support it if that if it had all of council. If not, I I would not just because I feel like it's high.

What I would suggest is that Oh, no, that's fine. M uh Mr. Riley, can you kind of explain how our charter works and with the different uh positions such as finance director, mayor, city council, so forth that's already in place? I I don't know exactly what you're pertaining to. Okay. Um Steve and I talked this morning um of the roles in place right now of how it works.

There we go. Um I believe that was on um Miss Coffey's other um point that she had talked about. So not necessarily on the uh moving it from the four to the seven. Correct. But if you could just explain to everybody how it works that it isn't just you know the power is separated amongst finance director uh mayor city council and things like I know this doesn't tie in but I know that was addressed when it was sent to us.

Um I guess so every every contract is signed by the mayor, executed by the mayor. However, it's reviewed by the law director and then it's also signed off on by the finance director to certify that we have the funds in the account. Um th those three roles are in the charter. Um and then there is a provision under the board of control about what at what level does it need to go to get council approval before um I will say council's the final step in the process. There is uh internal administrative level and then there is a separate board of control. We've talked a lot about board of control tonight. Board of control is a five member board made up of the mayor, the law director, the finance director, the city engineer, and the service director. Um so anything that you see that's coming before council or before finance committee has already been approved internally by the administration and then also approved by the board of control. doesn't get on the agenda or doesn't get finally approved or signed until it goes through every step of that process. Is that what you're looking for, Mayor?

Yes, exactly. So, I didn't explain it exactly, but once we finally got there, you get to drive home. So, that was good. Thank you, Miss Coffee. Thank you. Yeah, I found um line 100G. It showed that the contracts don't exceed appropriations, which was similar to the Akran verbiage. So, I I removed that part. I was just talking about um for this um having seven people instead of four because obviously if you have a motion of the finance committee then um only four people are approving the expenditures instead of all of council. So that's what I was talking about amending.

I have a question. um are mo most of these purchases um and and amounts are for things that have already been approved in the the annual plan that they're just we're doing appropriations for them.

Yeah. So the council approves the annual budget, the operating budget and the capital budget depending on what the the purchase is or the expense is. What happens then is this is to so council will I'm going to use fake examples here but they'll say we are appropriating $100,000 to fix and I'm going to use Dukane because I live right off of Dukane and it's the first street that came to mind. We are not fixing Dukane. It doesn't need fixed. Uh but council will appropriate $100,000 to fix Dukane uh next this upcoming year. this pertains to now we need to go out and find company X to do the actual work. This is authorizing us to spend X number of dollars which could be h 100,000, it could be 80,000, it could be 85,000, that sort of thing. So that's what we talk board of control limits is every purchase is already in an appropriated line item. It's just authorizing the actual expenditure with the actual company.

Okay. I was just trying to equate it to my business background where you had an annual plan and an an annual budget and then I was free to run my department the way I saw fit as long as I worked within that within that budget. Thank you.

Yeah. And also when they when we do or when you do the annual budget, it's it's a gross amount. So it doesn't e it doesn't put in there maybe specific line specific items in there identified. So, uh, when it comes back to the capital budget, then that's sort of that brings out more of a a detail portion of it. And then when they bring, uh, what they've approved at board of control to hear for a specific project, then that sort of gets the itemized portion of it. So, any other questions? Seeing none, what I'm going to do as the chairman of the finance committee, I am going to offer version two. Get a motion to move version two onto council agenda.

So moved. Second. Move and seconded. All those in favor? Yes. Yes. So we will be uh discussing version two uh on council uh comes up before council this evening. Okay. Item K, which is Mr. Ren. And I know we also have a speaker for this one also. So, I'll let you introduce it. Yeah. I wasn't aware the clerk was going to be here. She [laughter] I don't know anything about it. So, I can give you the memo if you don't have it.

It's just our purchasing memo. So, if you'd like to come up to the podium and state your name and address and title, then we'll move ahead. Hello, I'm Nicole. I think you have to press the button, the middle, green. There we go. Thank you.

Um, I'm Nicole Kowalsski and I'm your no new Stone Municipal Clerk of Courts. Um, so I'm here today to address the finance committee related to um item K. Um I also was asked to review um another agenda item which is on your regular council meeting agenda. Um and that's item um B 2026005. Should I wait to address the council until then or can I address both issues at once because they kind of are now you can address it now.

Okay. Thank you. So, um, Councilwoman Coffee reached out because, um, we currently use three, um, vendors for postage, uh, in the courthouse. Um, one is Pittney Bose, one is Franco, and one is AMSS. And, um, Councilwoman Coffee had noted that the city of Stowe uh, uses AMSS and wanted to know if we could see reduced fees. Um so we have there's two issues here today. The first is that um the Francoype uh Postalia which is the postage for the mail machine. Um this is nice because it is a sole source. So we can basically preload uh money into a reserve account. Um and it takes the place of the meter. Um, so we no longer have to take things to the post office. That's just no longer possible or efficient. So, um, that is that is what that is for. And in that reserve account, we uh need we need more funds. So, um, as of when I started just a little over two weeks ago, we were at I think about $3,500. And so, um, that was projected to last about three weeks. So, we're probably down to the wire here. Um and so we definitely need um some some more funds that we can add to our reserve account. Um so that's the first issue. Um the second was just generally looking to see if the machines that we had um if we could see any cost savings by quoting with AMSS. Um and so that was specific to the certified mail um which is the 26-005 on second reading today. Um, and so I have a number of these here. I don't know that I necessarily um printed out enough for everyone,

unfortunately. Um, but certainly enough for the council and mayor. So, um, what you'll see there is when we quoted, um, we had a quote already for Pittney, which is what you'll see already attached to this agenda item. um the Pittney Bose PDF. Um and then we uh got a competitive quote with AMSS. Um AMSS unfortunately did still come out higher in terms of fees. Um and it also is um an additional burden on my staff because it requires uh more work getting up off their desk versus right now um everything can be done at their desk. My personal thought is that um moving to AMSS would not only uh put a burden on my staff in terms of additional work, but I think it could also mean more room for error. Uh and the reason for that is I can see people trying to consolidate their trips to get up to use the mail machine and you risk, you know, maybe sending the wrong person the wrong document and often times these documents contain sensitive information. So, um I think that uh just from a security and confidentiality standpoint, it would it would probably be wisest to stick with Pney Bose. Um and so, um you know, if if that that is something that uh the council wants to talk about more, that would be fine, but our our recommendation from the clerk's office is to stay with pineos. Okay.

Thank you. Any questions? Yes, Miss P. Um, not a question. Just I just wanted to thank Clerk Kowalsski because she's we've been in communication about this and I appreciate um her taking the time to look into the bids and meet with the vendors and so I am just very grateful. So I I think this makes sense and we'll approve it. So thank you. Thank you. No, it's it's always good to try to find cost savings and save the taxpayers dollars and you could put it to better use somewhere else if it was possible, but this is just the lowest and best bid in my opinion. So, any other questions? Okay, seeing none. Okay, thank you very much for helping us out with that,

explaining it. Okay, uh for the item that we have before us [snorts] in council, do I have a motion to move this on to council agenda? So moved. Second. Move and seconded. All those in favor? Yes. Against? Abstensions? 039 will be on council [snorts] agenda this tonight. Uh Mr. run I think. Thank you. Yes. Thank you, Mr. Barneck. This is for quality IP. This is our Microsoft Office suite email and threat protection. Happy to answer any questions. Any questions for Mr. Ren? Seeing none, do I have a motion to move this on council agenda this evening? So moved. Second. Move and seconded. All those in favor?

Yes. Against extensions. That moves on to council agenda this evening. I believe we're Mr. Jones. Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. Baron. Uh, this is authorized the mayor enter into a professional service contract with Burgess and Knifle for design services for the Richie Road Silverlake Highlands storm improvement project. Be happy to answer any questions. Any questions for Mr. Jones? Mr. Fley. Mr. Jones, real quick. We've used them before. We used them on a Yes. On a roadway study. Yeah. Okay. I'm just trying to recollect for the Graham Road. Um, it was a Graham road safety study and we were everybody was happy, right? Uh, yes.

All right. Thanks, Mr. Mayor. Um, any other questions for Mr. Jones? Seeing none, do I have a motion to move this on the council agenda? So moved. Second. Moved and seconded. All those in favor? Yes. Again, abstensions. That gets moved on to council agenda. Mr. Ren, last item of the night. Thank you, Mr. Barack. This is for COM main um for $36,000. This is for our census radio read program to read the meters. Happy to answer any questions. Any questions for Mr. Ren? Seeing none, do I have a motion to move this on the council agenda? So move. Second. Move and seconded. All those in favor? Yes.

Against abstensions. That gets on the council agenda this evening. Uh now we move on to item six on our agenda, which is public comment period. If you have any comments for uh finance committee, please come up to microphone and state your name and address. You have three minutes. Seeing none. Do I have a motion to adjurnn? Some moved. Second. Move and seconded. All in favor?

Yes. Against? Abstensions. We are adjourned. I call to order the STO city council committee of the poll for January 22nd, 2026. Will the clerk please call the role? [snorts]

Vioa here. Herman here. Felman here. Real present. Coffee here. Young here. Baronac here. Law director's report. Just real briefly, I want to remind council and anyone listening that on February 19th at 1 p.m. at the Senior Center, Trust 101, um backed by popular demand, uh Chief Magistrate, uh Steve Elliot will be there to give that presentation. Other than that, happy to answer any questions. You said 1 p.m.

1 p.m. Yep. Any other questions for our law director at the moment? Uh seeing none, we'll move into business items. Our first is uh the There are no minutes to approve. What? There's no minutes to Oh, yes. There were I I should note there were no minutes uh to approve for tonight. Those will be uh for up for approval at our next meeting. Um so, uh yeah, first item on the agenda, uh ordinance 202638. [snorts] Uh Mr. Ren.

Thank you, Mr. Herman. Yes. This is to establish the Department of Community Outreach as a department here at the city to work under the uh direction of the service director and obviously the mayor. Um, this is where we plan to house uh our programmer for the amphitheater as well as um future uh public information officer and then potentially other um roles down the road that haven't been established or discussed as of yet. Happy to answer any questions.

Any questions for Mr. Ren, Mrs. Coffman? So, these would all be new positions, not it wouldn't be parks and recck or other staff moving to this department. No, these would be new positions. Okay. That's that's my concern is just the and and I've heard from I received several emails and phone calls just from people concerned about adding new positions just because I feel like parks and wreck does a great job disseminating information. We have the city website and then I feel like it's incumbent upon us as council members to try to disseminate information too without adding new positions. That's my concern. Well, this just establishes the department. This isn't to hire anybody as of yet. This is just where those people could potentially be housed.

And to that point, we did already budget for the amphitheater programmer. Any other questions or discussion? Mr. Bernick,

I just have a question on uh sort of the hierarchy of everything. It just seems like uh when we do things, we just automatically added under the service director to where this is truly a community outreach or uh community outreach department that I think it would serve to be sort of a separate part of a division. uh you know when you look at the hierarchy to where it wouldn't fall under the basic uh service director's position or service department but it would fall it would fall out on the hierarchy uh on the same line as the other other directors such as engineering and different things like that and then that way because it serves the citywide. [snorts]

Thanks Mr. Bernick. Uh would anyone from the administration like to respond?

Yeah, the in my view that these aren't director level positions that we're going to be hiring into this department. Um, so that's the reason that we put it under the service director because these are very specific tasks that these potential positions will be doing um that don't warrant uh director's title or pay quite honestly. So that would be my only comment to that. I think that you know with in looking at that it's totally a [snorts] separate from uh from all other departments because it actually entails getting information from all other departments. So uh I think it should be a sort of an independent uh form on there for uh for the hierarchy as you look at it.

Thanks. And just so I understand, are you saying perhaps it should report directly to the mayor? I think, yeah, I believe it, you know, it should probably fall directly to the mayor. Okay. Because I also had just questions about I understand we've been talking for a long time about wanting to sort of move the burden of communications away from parks and wreck because obviously they have a lot of reason to be the most active for communications [clears throat] because we have a lot going on with parks and wreck. But I there's been in previous discussions the feeling that they shouldn't be responsible for everything in the city. And so I think my understanding is that the department of community outreach would have the intent of becoming more of like you said for the whole city.

Mr. Mayor.

Yes. Along that way and again it's been over the years and and things are transpiring. It's not just our city, it's every city. Um it fell under park and wreck because at that point in time uh first of all it was cost savings. uh the job has got enormous. I can tell you that there wasn't Facebook, there wasn't Twitter, there wasn't and I can tell you even seven years ago uh we would actually hold once a month uh during our cabinet meetings uh that we would have uh journalists whether it was from me, you know, uh media uh like a news uh uh organization or the Beacon or Stow Century, they would show up to find out what we were doing. uh those days are gone. Uh we're lucky to be able to get a hold of somebody and if we do, we're writing the script now. Okay, it is uh and sending the pictures and doing the whole nine yards. Uh we are doing our own reporting anymore. Okay, as um we explained before and I really appreciate that we've got some great comments um for our electronic sign out here. That's just another piece because again, we do not have those ways to get information to people and in a timely way. And I can tell you, and I say this over and over, I always commend uh uh Ms. Narstat and her staff, um but everybody, whether it's the chief of police, whether it's the fire chief, whether it's the engineer, they're busy doing their job. Okay. um it is like pulling teeth to go ahead and get that information because they're doing the job. So again, it's one of those type of things that

we used to be able to rely on the news uh to cover the news and anymore that is not the case. And if we want to make sure that we're getting out the proper information, this is where we're going to have to start heading now because we are our own destiny. And I know Mr. Feldman has brought this up many times uh to where uh how we disseminate information anymore is totally different than what it was even seven years ago when I took this position. Um we control our own destiny and you talk to any other city, it's the same thing. Nobody is blessed to have a reporter that we used to have two or three reporters sitting here. Uh Mr. Baron will tell you and you worried because they were writing things down and they were doing all those days are gone as you see and anything that you see whether it is electronic version of something it's something that they've watched on you know from our YouTube or so forth and they're just regurgitating the information. Uh I get very few phone calls anymore. Uh Mr. Baronac is familiar used to get phone calls all the time as finance director.

Those days are gone. They're they're they're not there. They're not asking the questions unless we put things out there. So again, it's more of an organizational type thing. I understand where you're coming from, uh, Mr. Herman, and I agree. Uh, really it has to fall, you know, whether it's Mr. Ren or myself, it has to fall under chief officer to where we are pulling all departments together. Okay. Uh because again um we have reached a breaking point. I can tell you with Park and Wreck doing this job. It's no offense to them. They do a phenomenal job. In fact, I think people would think we've got 50 people working in park and wreck and that's far from it. You you see the skeleton crew. But again, in order for us being I I'll reiterate the third largest in Summit County, we need to start we're we are big enough to go ahead and support these type of things and responsibly put out the information. Okay? Uh whether it's on that sign, whether it's on Facebook, whether it's whatever it is, Twitter or anything else, we need to make sure that we're communicating correctly to our residents. So that it's it's totally pivoted even in the last seven years. Thank you,

Mr. Mr. Baronet. Yeah, I think what the mayor discussed just sort of lends into what, you know, we were sort of talking about with having it a freestanding department because I know right now the director of public service, he's got responsibility for the roads, the golf course, the water department and all that, storm water to where, you know, it, you know, it would lend itself to be a freestanding one to give it a little bit more uh, if you want to call it, a little more independence to to go between all the departments and and get all the information that's adequate for for everything. Uh Mr. Feldman.

Thank you, Mr. Herman. I just made a couple notes because I've been an advocate for the public information officer and I think this is a great start, Mr. Mayor, Mr. Ren. Um and and I can say it a different way. Stow's 34,11 people. We're a size where a clear, consistent communication is essential. Has to be. We just had an issue with residents because we didn't get a message out about fiber installation. Our safety forces do a great job on social media. Someone, can I connect that? Right. A new amphitheater, put them in this, put them in this department, right? Get the information out. Um, I just think all those things, right? And let alone seniors, seniors will tell you, Kyle, where's the sto century? Right? I mean, I'm still getting that. So, some strategies with the public information officer of getting information to our residents that's clear and consistent and starts in this department led by a public information officer. I am in favor of you communicate better and you work smarter and you develop a little more trust with your residents. I think it's extremely across the community. I'm in support of this. I think we're way behind the times. Let's get rolling on a Department of Community Outreach. So, thanks for the time, Mr. Herman.

Thanks, Mr. Feldman. Um, I just wanted to add, I guess, Mrs. Young. Sorry.

Thank you. Uh, I'll follow up on uh Mr. Feldman. I agree. um with the concept having many people say government should be run like business. Well, from 38 years in business and the size of Stow, I agree there should be a central communications department person where everything goes through and uh with my marketing background, you definitely want a cohesive uh single voice and and um being able to get that information out. So, I'm uh in agreement with it. And you're right, whoever made the comment about social media has just amplified um trying to keep up with everything. So I will support it. Where it sits is

Yeah, I'll leave that up to you guys. [laughter] What department? Thank you, Mrs. Young. Mr. Riley.

Yeah, I just point of clarification. I think uh Mr. Mr. Barneck, you could make that what you're trying to accomplish with a quick change on line 32, changing the director of public service to the mayor and then in line 33 said director, changing that to the mayor. Um that way the department uh if you want me to, I can try and put together a version two as we're sitting here right now and email it over to uh Sonia um if that's what you're asking for uh Mr. Barneck. Otherwise, we can I can hear what you guys do and we can make the change after. Yeah, I mean we can, you know, we can do a version two or we can have a reading uh reading on this um you know this evening and then come up with the come up with a more thought a better thought out uh adjustment to that legislation.

I'm at the the service of council, however you ask me to do it. [laughter] Any further discussion before we move this out of committee? Uh, seeing none, do we have a motion to move this on to the council agenda? So move. Second. Okay. Uh, all in favor? Yes. Any opposed? Absentions. Uh, this will be on tonight's council agenda for its first reading. Next item B, we have a motion to authorize a hire for a new officer position. Chief Pruscha.

Yes. Thank you, Mr. Hurin. So this uh discussion as I understand it this is another transition piece meaning this was started by uh chief film um and this was something that uh was worked into our 2026 operating budget um but we are uh seeking approval for the hiring of one um additional officer um bringing our number up to um a historic uh 46. The reason for this is because as you may know last year we moved to a 12-hour shift model. Um and we just have the numbers to sustain that but it would be very beneficial to um our department in terms of um officer um health and getting time off and just um able to uh cover the shift if we were able to raise our numbers. Additionally, we did raise our minimums um this this past year, I'm sorry, this year for 2026, we raised our minimum so that there's more officers on the road. That again increases the difficulty for officers um to utilize uh their time off. Happy to answer any questions.

Any questions for Chief Brush? One question. Yes, Mr. Barneck. Yeah. Is was this part of the budget um discussions that has been presented to council for 2026? Yes, this is part of the 2026 budget. Yes. Just want to clarify. Thank you. Any other questions or comments? Seeing none, do we have a uh motion uh to I make a motion to authorize uh Chief Prusha to hire an additional police officer. Um, second. Okay. Uh, all in favor? Yes.

Any opposed or abstensions? The motion carries. We will hire a new officer. Uh, next item on the agenda, we have a discussion of our uh goals and priorities for this term. And I was hoping to uh for this to be sort of just like a a free flowing sort of uh brainstorm together about what we want to achieve. But I also had some ideas for some of the uh parameters uh of some frameworks that I thought uh would be helpful for us. And uh part of that uh was because when we had the uh fire safety poster awards, there was uh this little girl sitting in the front and she looked at her mom and said that she was scared uh seeing us all up here. And I in that moment I just like felt bad cuz I didn't know what to do. I wanted to I'm you know like you know I taught history and civics my first two years out of out of college and I just wanted to be like oh please don't be scared like we're our council is here to help you. And so with that in mind I wanted to just kind of uh I feel like there's a lot that we all bring to council in terms of what our expectations are for what we're working on together and what our city does for the people. And so I I thought it might be helpful for us to just like talk through that and uh please feel free to interrupt and and add your own ideas. Uh but like the way I see it and would explain it to like uh the public would be that our city and our council are here to help you. Like a lot of people have that perception that like oh government makes the laws and rules and and that therefore it's a scary thing. But especially with the way that our like police and firefighters are out in the community, I think it's very clear that they have great relationships and showing like, hey,

we're to h we're here to help. And so I'd like people to think of coming to council uh or to the city in terms of we're here to help and and so I think that we have a a great platform for that already on our website. It's a place to go figure out how can I do the things that I want to be able to do. A lot of times we have constituents come to us and say, "Oh, there's this problem or that problem." And most of the time the the most that we can do as council members is really just pass them off to the administration and and there's these really efficient forms online for how to get a permit, how to report a concern if whether it's it's, you know, lights that are out that need fixed or uh sidewalks that that need repaired and things like that. Um, but most of that is handled under the executive branch with the mayor of course. Uh, uh, but also as we're talking about our goals, I wanted us to all recognize that we aren't here to reinvent the wheel. We have a lot of studies and and plans that have already been put together by previous councils, working with previous administrations and getting tons of community input where uh a lot of what the administration has been doing during my time on council when they present budgets and stuff for council's approval, it's about okay, what steps can we take during the next year or two or in the fiveyear plan to get closer to these goals that we already have from these plans that already exist, which is why I connected uh these because uh uh we we hear hear a lot of the same themes, but I think it's helpful for us as as council to look at the big picture and sort of revisit these plans on a regular basis to see, okay, how far have we made it in actually implementing them?

And then I wanted to share uh this as an example of a framework that I found helpful uh that was uh put together by some nonpartisan groups that I I've listed up there about what can actually be done at by government to improve our civic health. And so this uh graphic shows that as we try to build community uh what does it mean to be a citizen? You have that a sense of belonging. You have a sense of civic muscle. It means you're participating. But what can we as a community do to help people actually thrive? And so the the uh vital conditions that have been been identified by these groups are are then in the spokes of the circle like a thriving natural world which we do a a ton with like protecting our local environment and uh basic needs for health and safety. Our police, fire, and EMS help with that. Humane housing. Uh we've talked about in the in the comprehensive plan and and through zoning about diversifying our housing supply. uh meaningful work and wealth, our economic development, uh lifelong learning, which we do through the many programs that we have, especially by working with our schools and our libraries, and then reliable transportation, which is a lot of our connectivity plan and stuff. And so it it's about developing these relationships where we include the community in making these decisions because they know that they're going to benefit from them. And so then it becomes uh sort of a positive feedback loop. Um and then uh as we're framing this discussion, I also wanted to share uh with you all uh Mrs. coffee mentioned at

a a previous um meeting about how I went to Harvard and uh studied public policy and and you know I I think some people see that as a sign of intelligence but uh the truth is that I feel like it was more of just like a privilege that I was actually able to take some time to learn about these frameworks and I know that there are a lot of students at Stow who could go to Harvard and I know that any of you uh who have been elected ed would qualify uh for their executive education program which we just happened to receive uh in the mail for us. Uh so I wanted to share uh in just like a minute what what I learned from our policy analysis course and I uh have uh my copy and then I got an additional copy of the book that we actually use because I wanted to be able to uh share it with any of you who want it as a sort of resource. uh because it I found this helpful in that uh I think that when we make these sorts of decisions on policy a lot of it is intuitive. We are following these sorts of steps without really realizing it. But sometimes I think it it's helpful to think through legislation in terms of how are we defining the problem that we are trying to solve. And then where are we getting the fact-based evidence? And then what are the alternatives, the potential solutions that could address the problem, including the status quo, uh which would be to do nothing at all. Uh but then uh where our values and representation comes in is the criteria that we're using to evaluate those different alternatives. like you have

the costs, you have the timeliness, you have the political uh is the political willpower there for somebody to actually take ownership of implementing it. And from there you can look at what the outcomes would be for the different alternatives that you've constructed and confront those trade-offs. It's the costbenefit analysis. We don't have enough time and money to do everything. And so that's when that's what will then inform the decisions that we collectively make through the democratic process. But also never forget that it's up to us as leaders to tell our story of this is why we have decided uh to do this and and that's the leadership of not just saying oh the citizens won't understand why we're doing this. The hope is that if we can use a process like this that we can get the buyin from the citizens uh so that we uh can and that's also part of why the communications element is so important to tell the story of this is why we're doing what we're doing and this is the value that they are receiving uh from government. Um yeah sorry uh any questions or comments? And so sorry this is a lot of information but uh um so in terms of goals uh I wanted to uh raise a topic of discussion that was brought to my attention by Mr. Riley uh and the mayor uh have actually uh already submitted a letter of intent for the city of Stow to compete for the National Civics League's All-American City Award. And uh if either of you would like to speak uh to that uh yeah, Mr. Riley. Yeah, this was uh one of those I I got a uh an email from the uh National Civic League saying, "Are you interested in uh

applying for the All-American City Award uh and I looked into it and I saw Akan just won it last year and it's their fifth time they've won it. Uh I did a little bit more digging, saw Barberton won in 2022 and I thought um if Akan and Barberton can do it, why can't Stow do it?" Um so then I started looking a little bit deeper into it and found that uh this year's specific topic is uh uh civic engagement and how can you get civic participation higher uh and that lead me led me to thinking of the various ways that the current city or the city currently uses civic engagement in their processes and I came up with a couple ideas like we are currently undergoing a public arts master plan that's directly related to civic engagement We just recently uh finished up a total rewrite of our zoning code in which a over an 18-month period we had Mr. Mr. I don't know how many time how many times the steering committee and the public hearings met uh but it was quite a bit right [laughter]

quite a bit more than I can probably count right now

I think about and coupled with that coupling that with the school's uh travel safety plan um the city's charter review process that I was intimately involved in and knew that we had over uh 13 public uh meetings including two town halls that took uh place over 19 hours of uh civic engagement. Uh so there there are a lot of ways we're already doing this and we'd like to get recognized for it. So we submitted our letter of intent uh before the January 5th deadline. The application closes on February 28th. Um at that point, the National Civic League looks at all the applications from all the municipalities across the nation and they narrow it down to 10. and 10 finalists are then invited to participate in a conference in June in Denver, Colorado where we give the final presentation um based on their criteria and the winners are selected at that conference. So very excited, really looking forward to this process, hoping to uh get our first uh National Civic uh League All-American City award um this year in 2026. So, uh, happy to have council's involvement, too, uh, with that. But, uh, that's that's kind of where we're at with the, uh, application.

Thank you, Mr. Riley. And, uh, I wanted to note that as Mr. Riley said, we're already doing a lot of these types of things that could qualify us. And so, I thought that this could be an opportunity if we got buyin from council to also try to get buyin from our broader community. Since the the theme is about civic engagement, I think that we have a lot of civic organizations uh that would be willing to help and kind of show off show off. Um and so that's why I wanted to include this in in the goal setting uh conversation if you all think that this because the way I see it is like even if we don't win, we're still making positive improvements for our community. Any comments or questions? I'll just I'll just add thank you. Um I think it's a great idea. I mean it's all about promoting Stowe and to not only your um residents but to other people to hopefully get them to move here and help the city grow. And like you said, we're already doing a lot of these things. And with um like the recent environmental commission, we'll be able to add that to it. There's there's so many good things going on. and we just need to uh communicate that out. So that's great.

Thanks, Mrs. Young. Any other comments, questions? Mr. Barick?

Uh yes, I know I in some discussions that I had with um Mr. Herman uh regarding uh sort of outreach to the public and and how I know when I was finance director here and and I know the mayor will remember that we we used to have meetings in in the evening like open open houses if you want to call it that or uh try to get community engagement and I think it's harder now to do that but I think if we can try to resurrect that to where uh you know we take the time to make ourselves available whether it's on a, you know, on in an evening or on a Saturday. Um, I know where I where I currently work, uh, in Bedford Heights as the finance director, our mayor handles like once a month has has a community engagement meeting. Uh, it's usually on Saturday mornings and, uh, predominantly a lot of senior citizens show up for that. But he in turn provides, you know, refreshments for people and and and tries to get out there and and discuss things with, you know, with the residents. And I think if we could uh maybe try to do that and highlight uh highlight some different things and he only, you know, he does it once a month, but that doesn't mean that, you know, you keep it once a month or or whatever or you alternate, you know, what uh what the what the your focus is going to be. So, uh, but I think that's that's a way that, you know, that that I was thinking to try to get back out there and of course I'm not part of social media. So,

but, uh, but anyway, you are correct, Mr. Baron. I just did I usually do it for the seniors. I'll go there and it is one of the more attended and I'll also pass it to Mr. Riley uh, at the senior center. It's It's one of those most attended to where they find out what's going on in the city. Um, uh, Mr. Riley will have a scripted type piece, but it always seems to go off on questions of what's going on in our city. And,

um, the dialogue, [clears throat] it wasn't just with me. Uh, it was scheduled for an hour last week and we were way into an hour and a half and they still wanted to keep going. So, it was a very good thing that we could expand throughout our community that way. Um, but like I said, it is one of their more I try to do it quarterly at the senior center, but again, it's it Mr. Riley will tell you the same thing. Yeah. And I think focusing in on that, I think falls right into, you know, one of these items that you're looking at for the all-American city or whatever, you know. Absolutely.

Yeah. I'd just like to uh verify what the mayor said. I always schedule my quarterly legal talks. the senior center they're set for an hour and it's usually two and a half three hours uh after I start that the seniors finally let me leave uh and head back to the office. So yeah and I think what what it is try and two try to get the engagement of uh not only the seniors but you know people that are working day in and day out and have families and uh you know to where they can interact and different things like that. Thank you Mr. Feldman.

Thanks. I I I think the engagement's great. It it's typical as Mr. Riley and Mr. Mayor, we're already doing great work, but one of the things I would say is let's get this Department of Community Outreach done before the application's finished, right? So we can say, "Hey, we're doing great work, but now we got a department to organize us to engage residents, control our message, market great things that are going on. We do a great job now, but man, if you can pull all those little pieces together, so I'm a yes, but I'd like to forget the three readings and give you enough time to put this in the application, right?" So, thank you.

I won't having read the application, I wouldn't mind having that on the application itself. There there you go. Thank you, Mr. Herman. Any other discussion on this for

Okay. Uh so, yeah, then just wanted to open it up to uh any other goals and priorities. Also uh wanted to put up this quote from uh Mayor Pbanic uh that he he said this he said this multiple times but uh my first meeting after I was elected president when I met with him he he said I want people to get to know their neighbor for who they are and I there's obviously a religious uh underlay to that but I I think that's the kind of city that Stow is where uh we and and especially like his administration we already have an all-American mayor uh who's helping to make us an all-American city cuz like with his vision we're already making one I think all of us have the major goal this year of completing the amphitheater cuz th it's those types of spaces that bring people together and create that strong sense of community that we have and even if you read like the comprehensive plan uh and and and think back you know I think back to when I was a kid growing up uh we've always wanted to have more of like a downtown area and like that that could sort of like solidify us and bring us together because Stow had historically a reputation of just like a pass through community. But we have grown over time in a way that uh people would like to have more of these walkable mixed youth gathering spaces that many of the cities around us have. and the amphitheater project is a great way to have that kind of environment in our city. Uh, and I think that the this term is a great opportunity for for us to bring that into reality. Uh, but I think my other big long-term goal would uh also be to uh keep uh working on the zoning code to uh you know address what Andrew Branch talked about last time of making that

mixeduse downtown area possible. Uh but yeah, what other goals do you all have that you'd like to discuss tonight? Mrs. Young,

thank you. Um I agree with what everybody is saying so far and I like the idea of putting unity in community uh to to go back to that uh phrase, but um people, especially younger people, do want a place to go and walk. So the connectivity, whether it's the sidewalks, Mr. Feldman, [laughter] or uh green space or bikeways, that type of thing. I think also that we need to look at economic development. A city of our size um doesn't have anybody that's focused on that. I know Mr. Cowan does a a good job for, you know, the time that he has available, but we're not looking at it from a strategic standpoint, and we are missing out on um a lot of opportunities to um really advance the city in a more strategic uh direction in that regard. And not only um uh with businesses, um how do I start a business? You know, if I'm a small business, where do I go? Who do I talk to? and small businesses I think are crucial to um growing, not just looking at people coming into, you know, the Seasons Road uh big warehouses and those types of um of companies. So, u I think that's a key thing um that I'd like to look at.

Thanks, Mrs. Young. Thanks, Mr. Fner.

Yeah, I I'm going to repeat. I wrote it down. the teacher in me, right, says, "Oh, it's on the agenda. I better be prepared." So, I'll give [laughter] I'll give Mrs. Matram a copy. Um, safety, continue to support our police fire. We never say no, but utilizing some technology. We've done flock and expanded it, and I think there's some things we can do with that. So, you're you're you're both doing a great job with EMS and all those uh response times and things that affect residents, right? Two, connectivity. We've already talked that enough. You guys get tired of me talking about sidewalks. I get it. Um I do think it's good to note that with the amphitheater, Mayor Perbonic, and you and I had a conversation this week, construct the bike trail spur down there. You know, economic development. people can walk, get up over this bike and get to the amphitheater area. Economic development, I agree with you, Mrs. Young. I mean, uh, local restaurants, mixeduse development, as Mr. um, Herman has talked about with the new amphitheater. Um, I attend attended, Mr. Rally, I think you knew this, I attended the, um, parks and recck board meeting and they had the, uh, arts master plan people there and we talked about placemaking art and it was pretty cool. So, I'm not an RTI guy, but I it was it was good. I think it's uh it's a way to expand economic development and and bring people into the city and and they want to see something, right? The Cleveland script side, the Louisville, slug or bad. All those things are placemaking art that that I love. And then, of course, you put promote redevelopment and reinvestment in the key key underutilized areas that we see some open um open areas in some of our uh retail areas. And then of course my last one and community outreach and engagement. We got to have a public information officer, someone that does

this stuff. Um I know we're already doing it and I love that parks and recck does it. Mr. Mayor, you and I talked about this, but man, it'd be great if we had under one umbrella and we're controlling the message in every department, which I think is very important. So thanks Mr. Herman. Uh Mr. Riley,

just if I could also take a quick moment to brag uh for the may on behalf of the mayor and uh Leela uh Leela Griffiths, our chair of our arts commission because uh Mr. Feldman mentioned uh placemaking and art. the the mayor, myself, and Leela will actually be presenting at the Ohio Arty, which is the arts resources through innovation and engagement conference in uh May this year on utilizing public projects as spaces for public art investment. And our big topic is obviously the AMP project. So, if I I just wanted to brag about us real quick about what the city is doing and how we are now presenting at other conferences to tell other communities this is how you do it, right? So, I he just uh Mr. Feldman mentioned it. I had to throw it out there uh and brag a little bit about that.

Thank you, Mr. Riley. Other discussion, Mr. Fioa? No, I think you know, all good points. Um just something that I know we've talked about. I know Mr. Uh Feldman, I know we've talked about it, you know, a lot the past six years, just continued focused on connectivity. I like the bike spurs. Uh you I for the uh amphitheater project. I think that makes a lot of sense. But uh I know we have uh definitely opportunities for, you know, more connectivity with our, you know, our bike trails, but uh sidewalks, things like that. I think we've [snorts] done a good uh you know, we've done a lot of good things with that and just uh keep focused on that. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Fioa. Mrs. Coffee,

yeah, mine are mostly echoing what you all have said as well, but um safety um supporting our police and fire. Um and for me, it's a super um one of my number one goals is getting the SR hired to kick off the pilot program for that. Um and I met with Chief Pusha last week and appreciate her efforts there. Um, I know she said we may need to adjust some of the arbitrary criteria, but is confident that we can ultimately get that going. Um, and then connectivity. Um, you know, the sidewalks to nowhere. Uh, one place that I mentioned is Young Road to it's Button Bush to Newcomer. There's some sidewalks to nowhere. And then, um, near the amp, too. I think it would be great to have more connectivity like the it would be the south side of Norton um in that area so that people that live near there can get there more easily in addition to the bikes for the spur off the bike and hike. Um and then um just continuing to be a good steward of tax dollars. I know over the last two years we increased the general fund and decreased debt except for the 91 Kent road which were covered 8020 by ODOT and I think we're a good infrastructure investment but just to continue that trajectory.

Thank you Mrs. Coffee. Any other discussion or input from the administration? And uh just so you all know we uh can revisit these uh at another time. I I appreciate uh the discussion that we had tonight. Uh thank you. Okay. So uh we can move on to our next item on the agenda which I believe is an executive session. And I need to make sure I get this right. Uh that we are uh moving uh to go into an executive session for the appointment or compensation of a public employee in accordance with 121.22 G12. Sorry, Mr. Riley. [laughter]

You don't need the two on there, but it's Yeah, it's G1. Okay, thanks. I second the motion. Uh, all in favor? Yes. Oh, wait. Roll call. Roll call, please. Okay, thanks. Bioca, yes. Herman, yes. Belman, yes. Rio, yes. Coffee, yes. Young, yes. Baron, yes. We are now in executive session. We are now in executive session.

Okay. Yeah. Gabble didn't say we Yeah. Okay. Uh we are back from executive session. We had one item come out. 26-43 uh the appointment of Steve Ticken uh for deputy director of finance. Is there a motion to move that onto tonight's council agenda? So moved. Second. All in favor? Yes.

Any opposed? Abstain. That will be on tonight's agenda. We have now reached our public comment period for the committee as a whole. If anyone would like to address the committee, please raise your hand and be recognized. Uh seeing none, I'll entertain a motion to adjurnn. Move to adjurnn. Second. All in favor? Yes.

We are adjourned. I call to order the STO city council meeting for January 22nd, 2026. Will the clerk please call the role? Yoga here. Herman here. Felman here. Real present. Coffee here. Young here.

Marinette here. Tonight's prayer and pledge of allegiance will be led by our president proempora uh councilman at large Kyle Feldman. Thank you m Mr. Herman. Uh please bow your heads. [sighs and gasps]

We come together this evening grateful for the opportunity to serve the people of Stowe. Tonight we lift up our former mayor Don Coughlin and his family and especially his grandson Landon who's facing a difficult trial. We ask for your healing hand to rest upon him for the strength of his grandparents Don and Ellen. We ask for wisdom for the doctors and compassion for the caregivers walking beside him through this difficult journey. We ask for your guidance as we work together as elected officials in 2026. Please grant us unity, patience, and mutual respect. Help us to listen thoughtfully and to make decisions that reflect integrity, service, and care for our community. May all that we do tonight and throughout the year be done for the good of the city of Stowe and all who call it home. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Amen. [snorts] Please rise for the pledge of allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Uh we uh similar to our committee, we don't have any proclamations or commendations tonight. Uh we also uh will have the minutes for our next meeting. So we are now at our uh council public comment period. If anyone would like to give public comment, please raise your hands. And seeing none, we'll move to the mayor's report.

Thank you, Mr. Herman. Um, very exciting day. Uh, first of all, I want to kick off and uh, Zach, if you can share with us and uh, pictures worth a thousand words. So, Zach is going to share this. The sign went up today. It's official future home of the AMP on that piece of property. And I want to thank everybody on console. uh the first step. And that being said, even it's funny how everything tied in that way uh in a great a great way. We have the sign and I'm going to turn it over to Mr. Ren uh with the what happened with bidding today. Yes, we opened our bids today at noon here in council chambers. Um we had two separate bids, one for a general contractor, one for the AV, and then we had eight alternatives. Um the and I'm going to say apparent low bidder for both because we still have to do reference checks and interviews. But uh the combined price including all eight alternates came back at 4,546,196. The architect's estimate was 4,750,000. So both our construction manager and our architect were thrilled. Uh the same architect that did Jackson and Plane Township, they only had one bidder in Plane Township. They had to bid a second time because they didn't get any responses in Jackson Township. We had 14 bids today. So poor Mike had to read everything in front of the tons of contractors here. So that was great news. The low apparent general contractor is Dawn Construction out of Warren, Ohio. Um so we will be uh interviewing them and checking their references and then the AV bid well apparent little bidder is mediaet um

who's done work at the other amphitheaters in the area as well. So that was very good news and our architect and obviously the administration and our construction manager were thrilled with those numbers.

Thank you Mr. Ren. And so if we just do some simple math real quick, uh we are talking the $6 million from our cell towers, that falls uh pretty dog on close. It's about $100,000 less than our estimate. Now, we know there's always other things that come up, but it's a great start to that to where if you add both the land value and this together, you fall about 100,000 less than $6 million. So, it was very great to see. It was also very great to see the competition uh because you never know what you're going to get. And I think I told you uh this last time for our pre-bid meetings. We usually always hold them over here in boards and commissions and there was so much interest that we actually had to move it here to council chambers. So very great thing to see. Um and again uh seeing something like when uh Mr. room was talking about different projects like amphitheaters and whatever and they had to go back out for things. We actually have some true bids and some very good contractors. So again, that was excellent news, but I wanted to share uh the picture with a thousand words. So if you drive by uh it is official, it's out there. Uh so again, drive by and take a look at that. So very exciting that way. Um, also a very positive from our uh, Stow helping hands. Uh, I gave you a report last meeting. Uh, but each family uh, from the generosity of our Stow families and residents. And when I say we always take care of each other, that was true. Of course, we had five uh, bad fires and uh, very unusual. But again, the STO community came together and through Stow helping hands, they already got $850, but we're going to add on $1,380 to each one of those families. So,

they'll be getting those checks tomorrow. So, each family is going to get around $2,130 a piece. So, I want to thank the residents of the city of Stowe for being so generous. uh we always know that you are, but I just wanted to share those numbers because I think that is so very important of the city that we live in. Uh also to an update on our environmental uh board and commission. Uh I'm looking at closing it tomorrow. We have about 12 applicants uh which is phenomenal. and just breezing through these um and just glancing through them, the qualifications, as I say with every one of our boards and commissions, if we had to pay these people, we couldn't afford it. So, again, I was very happy to see uh and I can tell you none of these names came from other board and commission applications. They're very interested in this and they have the qualifications. So, that being said, that was a a great thing. Last but not least, I'm going to embarrass Zack Cohen. And if you seen it on Facebook, Zach has been one of the nominees for the Stillman Falls Chamber Elite Business Awards. So, uh, congratulations to you. He as a nominee. And, uh, again, thank you. And I did that just to embarrass you. So, maybe you can also play this for Oliver. You succeeded. Thank you.

Thank you. With that, I'd be happy to answer any questions. Thank you. Any questions? Uh, seeing none, congratulations. Uh we will move on to new business uh where we just have the item that we added. Uh Mrs. Motum, uh could you please read it by its title?

Oh, I we I also forgot to ask if there's any old business that you all want to return to. Okay, seeing none, we'll move to new business. Yeah. Ordinance 202643, an ordinance confirming the finance director's appointment of Steven Titchon as director, deputy director of finance and tax administration for the finance department of the city of Stow, establishing compensation for set pointing and declaring emergency. Uh is there a motion to suspend the rules? Move to suspend the rules. Second. All in favor? Yes. Any nos? Abstensions? Uh the rules are suspended. Um I move to adopt second.

A move to amend first line 38 to effective February. We do move to adopt first at second and discussion. Thanks. Um yeah. So we we have a motion second to adopt. And so now we entertain the motion to amend. We do we have to vote on that all? No. Okay. So I move to amend line um 38 to effective February 9th, 2026. Second motion in a second. And uh just so everyone knows, this would u move the start date to February 9th, which is a Monday. Uh and just by making that one little change in line 38. Uh so voice vote. All All in favor?

Yes. Any opposed? Uh the amendment carries. So uh now we have had a motion and a second to adopt. So, we can roll call for the adoption of the amended ordinance.

Yoka, yes. Herman, yes. Belman, yes. Real, yes. Coffee, yes. Young, yes. Barin, yes. [snorts] Congratulations, Mr. Tishon, and welcome to the team. if he wants. [laughter] Okay. Yeah. Sorry. I just just wanted to recognize that you are here and thank you for being here. Yeah. Um plenty of time come tax time.

True. True. We'll be hearing plenty from you. Okay. Uh next to the disposition of ordinances resolutions. Uh we for our second reading uh item a ordinance 2026 uh- 0002. Will the clerk please read it by its title?

Ordinance 2026-002 an ordinance enact pursuant to section 1137.08 08 COS entitled amendments to provide for the amendment of the zoning [snorts] districts map and zoning districts by reclassifying from R2 residential to R C2 limited retail of 3605 and 3625 Marsh Road mar partial number 56-14141 in the city of Stow Ohio authorized amendment of the zoning district's map.

Thank you Mrs. Motum. That concludes the second reading. We will have our third reading uh during our next council meeting following a uh public uh what a public hearing. Thank you. At uh 5:00 p.m. on uh I think Thursday, February 12th. Okay. [snorts] Uh item B. Uh will the clerk please read ordinance 20265 by its title? Ordinance 2026 005 an ordinance authorizing the mayor to make an enter into a contract with Pittney Bose for postage for the clerk of court's office and jud the judges for the calendar year 2026 without the necessity of public bids and declare an emergency.

I make a motion to suspend the rules. Second. All in favor? Yes. Any nos? The rules are suspended. Make a motion to adopt. Second. Uh, will the clerk please call sorry any discussion? Uh, seeing none, will the clerk please call a role? Yoga, yes. Herman, yes. Felman, yes. Rio, yes. Coffee, yes. Young, yes. Baron, yes. The motion passes and uh this ordinance will take effect in accordance with the rules. Uh, we now move to our first readings. Uh, item A. Will the clerk please read uh 2026 26 by its title?

2026-26 and or resolution authorizing and requesting the advancement of local taxes from the Summit County fiscal officer for the tax year 2025 payable in 2026 in accordance with OC section 321.34 and declare an emergency. Is there a motion to suspend the rules? Move to suspend the rules. Second. All in favor? Yes. Any knows? The rules are suspended. Move to adopt. Second. Uh, any discussion? Will the clerk please call the role?

Yes. Herman, yes. Felman, yes. Rio, yes. Coffee, yes. Young, yes. Baron, yes. That resolution passes and will take effect in accordance with the rules. Item B, uh, will the clerk please read 2026-27 by its title? 2026-27, ordinance authorizing the mayor to make an entrance to a contract with Julian and Grub for [snorts] the preparation of the annual comprehensive financial report for calendar years 2025 through 2027 without the necessity of public bids and declare an emergency. Move to suspend the rules. Second. All in favor? Yes. Any nos? Seeing none, the rules are suspended. Move to adopt. Second.

Any discussion? Seeing none, will the clerk please call the role? Vioa, yes. Herman, yes. Felman, yes. Rio, yes. Coffee, yes. Young, yes. Barack, yes. [snorts]

That resolution passes. Ordin ordinance passes and will take effect in accordance with the rules. Uh, item C. Will the clerk please read it by its title? 2026-28, an ordinance authorizing the mayor to make an enter into a contract with Cleargov, Inc. for a one-year subscription to Clear Glove budgeting software for calendar year 2026 with an option for an additional one-year renewal without the necessity of public bids and declaring emergency. Move to suspend the rules. Second. Second. All in favor? Yes. Any nos? [snorts] Uh, rules are suspended. Move to adopt. Second. Any discussion? Will the clerk please call the role?

Yes. Herman, yes. Belman, yes. Real, yes. Coffee, yes. Young, yes. Baron, yes. That ordinance passes and will take effect in accordance with the rules. Will the clerk please read item D by its title? [clears throat] Ordinance 2026-29, an ordinance authorizing the mayor to make into a contract with Cleveland Freight Liner, Inc. for repair parts and labor for street department trucks without the necessity of public bids and declare an emergency. I move to suspend the rule. Second. All in favor? Yes. Any nos? Uh the rules are suspended. Move to adopt. Second. Second. Any discussion? Will the clerk please call the role?

Yes. Herman. Yes. Spelman. Yes. Rio. Yes. Coffee. Yes. Young, yes. Barneck, yes. That ordinance passes and will take effect in accordance with the rules. Will the clerk please read item E by its title? 2026-30, an ordinance authorizing the mayor to make an entipment company, Inc. for parts and repair equipment for the calendar year 2026 without the necessity of public bids and declaring emergency. I move to suspend the rule. Second. Second. All in favor? Yes. The rules are suspended. Move to adopt. Second. Any discussion? Will the clerk please call the role?

Bioca? Yes. Herman? Yes. Belman? Yes. Rio? Yes. Coffee? Yes. Young? Yes. Barck? Yes. That ordinance passes and will take effect in accordance with the rules. Will the clerk please read item F by its title. 2026-31. An ordinance authorizing the mayor to make an enter into a contract with MEES1 Acquisition Inc. for replacement fire equipment and maintenance services without the necessity of public bids and declare an emergency. Move to suspend. Second. Second. All in favor? Yes. I move to adopt. Second. Any discussion? Will the clerk please call the role? Yoga?

Yes. Herman? Yes. Yes. Rio. Yes. Coffee. Yes. Young. Yes. Fair. Yes. That ordinance passes and will take effect in accordance with the rules. Will the clerk please read item G by its title? 2026-32. An ordinance authorizing the mayor to make an enter into a contract with for Construction LLC for emergency waterline repairs without the necessity of public bids and declare an emergency. Move to spend the rules. Second. All in favor? Yes. Yes. The rules are suspended. Move to adopt. Second. Any discussion? Will the clerk please call the role?

Bioca? Yes. Herman? Yes. Felman? Yes. Rio? Yes. Coffee? Yes. Young? Yes. Barneck? Yes. That ordinance passes and will take effect in accordance with the rules. Will the clerk please read item H by its title? 2026-33, an ordinance authorizing the mayor to make an entry industrial supply for the purchase of various hardware supplies for use by street department without the necessity of public bids and declare an emergency. I move to suspend the rule. Second. All in favor? The rules are suspended. Move to adopt. Second. Any discussion? Will the clerk please call the role?

[snorts] Yes. Herman, yes. Belman, yes. Real, yes. Coffee, yes. Young, yes. Baron, yes. That ordinance passes and will take effect in accordance with the rules. Will the clerk please read item I by its title? 2026-34, an ordinance authorizing the mayor to make an entrance to a contract with M. Campbell contract contracting for emergency waterline repairs without the necessity of public bids and declare an emergency. Move to suspend the rules. Second. All in favor? The rules are suspended. Move to adopt. Second. Any discussion? Will the clerk please call the role?

Yoga. Yes. Herman. Yes. Bellman. Yes. Real. Yes. Coffee. Yes. Young Barack. Yes. That ordinance passes and will take effect in accordance with the rules. Will the clerk please read item J by its title? 2026-35, an ordinance authorizing the mayor to make an entrance to a professional service contract with Kod Rock LLP for purposes providing outside legal services with council for various economic development projects and declare an emergency. I move to suspend the rule. Second. All in favor? Yes. The rules are suspended. Move to adopt. Second. Any discussion. Will the clerk please call the role?

Yoka? Yes. Herman? Yes. Felman? Yes. Real? Yes. Coffee? Yes. Young? Yes. Barin? Yes. That ordinance passes and will take effect in accordance with the rules. Will the clerk please read item K by its title? 2026-36 an ordinance establishing COS chapter 173.14 to include the definition of lowest responsive and responsible bidder entitled lowest responsive and responsive and responsible bidder defined. I move to suspend the rules. Second. All in favor? Yes. Uh the rules are suspended. Uh move to adopt.

Second. Uh, any discussion? Uh, will the clerk please call the role? Yes. Herman, yes. Felman, yes. Rio, yes. Coffee, yes. Young, yes. Barack, yes. That ordinance passes and will take effect in accordance with the rules. Will the clerk please read item L by its title? Ordinance 2026-37, an ordinance amending COS chapter 173 entitled Board of Patrol. I make a motion to adopt version two.

Is that that's so it's on the agenda. I make a motion to suspend the rules. Second. All in favor? Yes. Any opposed? Uh the rules are suspended. Thank you, Mr. R. I move to adopt second. Any discussion? Uh, Mrs. Coff. Um, so I move to amend line 82C and line 138 to say council instead of finance committee. I'll second it.

Does the clerk have the amendment? Yes, I do. I was given to it previously, so I know what lines will be changed. Great. Um, so, uh, we have a motion and a second on the amendment. Any discussion? Yes. So, is the So, is the intent here just to do away with the finance committee um, being able to prove any of that stuff under any under any threshold or what? I didn't understand the amendment either, but I was Well, I'll let Mrs. coffee explain it because I think it's between 35 to 50 because when I read it I didn't understand it. So

correct. Yes. So it would be between um 35 and 50. So 35 would go to board of control between 35 and 50 would come to all of council instead of four members of the finance committee. So I feel like um with that I feel comfortable with with those changes. any uh comments on especially from our more experienced council members on on how if this uh is in in line with how it's previously been done or how it's done on other councils or if it makes a real difference. I mean other councils I wouldn't know. I mean, we've always had finance. I mean, look, we've always had finance committee disapprove under a certain threshold,

right? On the flip side of the coin, we're all here anyway, right? I made I guess just call. Okay. It's not like we're doing it on a on a separate night and right so we're all here. So, I mean, that's on one side, but we've always done before. So, okay. Okay. Thanks. Any other discussion? Uh, Mrs. Young. Yes. Um, thank you. I don't see the need to to change the current process, so I would vote no on the amendment, Mr. Feldman. I agree with Mrs. Yo. Anyone else? Oh, sorry, Mrs. Rey.

If you were to change it, are you going to just have all of council present for the evening the vote comes up or are we going to get held up on business to wait for seven of you? My understanding is that it would be during the committee the whole uh instead of the finance committee meeting and we typically always have a finance committee. So it should work out either way. Yeah. We've never had a situation where we've had committees and then say, "Hey, we don't have four people here for council." So I mean I don't I don't think that would ever happen. Yeah. Okay. Uh any other discussion? Mr. Hooton?

Yes. I just have one point of clarification uh to ask Miss Coffee. You are changing this for both the 35 and the $50,000 level. Correct.

So the instead of going to finance committee, so it would be it would still go to board of control up to 35 and then between 35 and 50 instead of um a motion by finance, it would be a motion by all of council. So it would be that 35 to 50 threshold. Correct. So my my only question, and of course I'm not on counsel, so take that with a grain of salt, but I think that this could potentially make all purchase legislation over a certain point have to go to committee of the whole as opposed to individual um uh committees. Um, obviously if we're talking just a 35 to 50, then sure, but that kind of defeats the purpose of having committees approve any purchases, at least in my opinion of the reading.

So, um, most purchases would still go through finance committee if they're over the 50, right? And then they would come to council for all of us. So this would just take away the motion for only finance committee and not all of council to vote on the 35 to 50 threshold. Right. I I think what Mr. Hootin is saying where you you said you wanted to change both um it was what what lines 80 line 82 C and line 138 in version two [snorts]

I don't see I have it pulled up okay I changed it here for her

um Yeah, I I can see Mr. Hooton's point that there is a potential that all purchases would need to go to No, that no because Mr. Sorry, this is uh because in line 140 it says council via resolution. So over 150 I I don't think that's a worry. The worry I have um and I haven't had a chance to really dig into this because I know we just approved a motion tonight on council as a uh council as a whole or committee as a whole but the charter says se in section 411 says all legislative action of council shall be resolution or ordinance in written or printed form. I don't know if motions are included in resolution or ordinance form. So, I don't know if that I'd have to do more digging into that, but I guess I'll see after the vote of the amendment whether or not I have to do the research on that.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Riley. Uh, is there any more discussion on this amendment, Mrs. Coffee? So, Mr. Riley, it it may be to be changed to um by a resolution of council, you're saying? Yeah. [clears throat] Which would defeat the purpose of motions, right? Okay. And well, we'll see what happens and then you could research it and we could amend it if needed. Okay. For future reference, I always ask council if you have changes that might impact legal, please get them to me beforehand so I can do the research before we get here. But I saw you were copied on something. That's why I Okay. comfortable. No, I understand.

Any further discussion on the amendment? Seeing none, we will have a roll call vote on this amendment to version two. [clears throat] the amendment to version two. Yeah. Okay. Vioa, yes. Herman, no. Belman, no. Rio, yes. Coffee, yes. Young, no. Barack, no. Uh, that amendment did not pass. Uh so now we uh return to the motion to adopt version two. Do we have any discussion?

Uh seeing none, will the clerk please call the role? Fioa, no. Herman, yes. Felman, yes. Rio, nope. Coffee, no. Young, yes. Barc,

yes. That uh ordinance passes and will take effect in accordance with the rules. Will the clerk please read item M by its title 2026-38 an ordinance establishing chapter 134 COS entitled Department of Community Outreach. I make a motion to suspend the rules. Second. All in favor? Yes. Yes. Okay. Uh, how many nos do we have? Sorry, I heard one no. Yeah. Okay.

Rules are suspended. Okay. So, the rules are suspended. Sorry, I just wanted to make sure. Uh, I make a motion to adopt ordinance 2026-038. Second. Okay, we have a motion and a second to adopt. Uh I know that there had been talk of a potential amendment. Uh do we have discussion?

Yes, I'd like to amend. I'd like to amend the U section that says uh that falls under the director of public service and uh change that to the mayor. Uh so the the amendment is to amend line 32 to change the director of public service to the mayor and uh change the reference to the director in line 33 to the mayor as well. Correct.

Second. Any discussion on the amendment? Okay. Uh, seeing none, will the clerk please call the role? Fioa, yes. Herman, yes. Bellman, yes. Rio, yes. Coffee, yes. Young, yes. Baron, yes. That amendment passes. Uh, do we and yes, so we have a motion before us to adopt uh the amended version. Any discussion? Uh, seeing none, will the clerk please call the rule? Bioca, no. Herman, yes.

Bman, yes. Rio, yes. Coffee, no. Young, yes. Barack, yes. That ordinance passes and will take effect in accordance with the rules. Will the clerk please read item N by its title? Ordinance 2026-39, an ordinance authorizing the mayor to make an entrance to a contract with Francoype Pastelia, Inc. DMB, CMSRFP for postage for use by the clerk of courts and judges without the necessity of public bids and declaring emergency. I move to suspend the rules. Second. All in favor?

Yes. Yes. The rules are suspended. Move to adopt.

Second. Any discussion? Will the clerk please call the role? No worries. Tech technical difficulties sometimes get stuck.

All right. Sorry. Fioa. Yes. Herman. Yes. Belman. Yes. Rio, yes. Poppy, yes. Young, yes. Barack, yes. That ordinance passes and will take effect in accordance with the rules. Will the clerk please read item O by its title? 2026-40, an ordinance authorizing the mayor to make an entrance to a contract with Quality IP LLC for a script subscription to Microsoft 365 for calendar year 2026 without the necessity of public bids and declare an emergency. I move to suspend the rules. Second. All in favor? Yes, the roles are suspended. Move to second. Any discussion? Will the clerk please call the role?

Yoga, yes. Herman, yes. Felman, yes. Rio, yes. Coffee, yes. Young, yes. Baron Neck, yes. That ordinance passes and will take effect in accordance [snorts] with the rules. Will the clerk please read item P by its title? Ordinance 2026-41. An ordinance authorizing the mayor to make an entrance to a professional service contract purchase and knifo for design services for Silver Lake Highland storm improvements project without the necessity of public fits and declare an emergency. I move to suspend the rule. Second. All in favor? Yes. Uh the rules are suspended. Move to adopt. Second. Any discussion? Will the clerk please call the role? [snorts] Bioca, yes.

Herman, yes. Bman, yes. Real, yes. Coffee, yes. Young, yes. Barack, yes. That ordinance passes and will take effect in accordance with the rules. Will the clerk please read item Q by its title? 2026-42, an ordinance authorizing the mayor to make an entrance to a contract with core and main LP for the census and oh my gosh, census and Netflix annual fee for calendar year 2026 without the necessity of public bids and declare an emergency. I move to suspend the rule. Second. All in favor? Yes. The roles are suspended. Move to adopt. Second. Any discussion? Will the clerk please call the role

yes Herman? Yes. Belman, yes. Rio, yes. Poppy, yes. Young, yes. Baron, yes. That ordinance passes and will take effect in accordance with the rules. Next, we have our bill of listing approval. Move to pay the bill. Second. All in favor? Yes. The bills will be paid. Uh scheduling of standing committee meetings and also uh public announcements or discussion for the good of the cause. Any uh upcoming events or anything that you would like us to be aware of? Mr. Fioa, the uh believe the foodie pulooa is at the end of the month is always a good time. So yes, food

31st, correct? Yeah. Booty Palooa uh by the Snow Community Foundation at the high school from 12:00 to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday uh January 31st. Thank you. Uh anything else for the good of the cause? Uh Mrs. Motum, I will I have already um scheduling a public improvements committee at the February 12th meeting and the urban forestry committee will be there presenting as well as two other discussions. Thank you, Mrs. Smooram. Yeah, we believe we're Yeah, we're having uh discussion items on uh the the water and uh

Yep. Okay, good. Uh anything else? Seeing none. Yep. Mr. Okay. [laughter] Uh yeah, we have a motion and a second to adjurnn. All in favor? Yes. Yes. Okay, we are journ. Thank you. Some extra power.