City Council - Regular Meeting

All right, I call to order the agenda review meeting of September 1st, 2026. Clerk, please call the roll.

Meldon?

Here.

Morris? Here. Sarantu?

Here.

Williams? Here. Driscoll?

Here.

Gattis? Here. Hobbs? Jones? Comives? Here. Cramer? Here. Martinez?

Present.

McPherson? Here. Corm present.

Thank you so much. So we're going to slightly tweak our agenda here today. And we have a couple of guests that I want to allow a couple of minutes to speak. And while we have a short agenda, I don't want them to have to wait because this would be the very last item. So it's OK with everyone. I want to go to the new item from city council first. OK.

From Councilman Melvin, committing to policies, procedures that strengthen and benefit elderly disabled caregivers and families.

All right, it so happens that I'm chairing the meeting and this is under my name. So I'm going to give a little context here. We have a few leaders from the community here. And then also I see Ms. Fatica back over there. Yep, I don't know if you want to come up as well. And look at that, good timing. Okay, so yeah, we have a handful here of great, wonderful community leaders who I just want to offer a minute to speak on this. Here's the background. I started meeting with some of these folks months ago, talking about, just looking for a bit of an update. How are we doing with the disability community? And I would just say disability-friendly work. The truth is that as you talk to Justin Moore from the Office on Aging, anything that is accessible to what you might think of as a traditional disability audience is also incredibly important for our aging community. So what you have in front of you is a resolution committing to this work, and then there's a policy agenda that hopefully you've had a chance to look at. I want to read just a piece of the executive summary because I think it sums it up pretty well. This policy agenda outlines strategic recommendations to strengthen accessibility, equal and inclusion opportunities across municipal policies, programs, and infrastructure. So those are three important words there. The proposed initiatives are designed to ensure that older adults and individuals with disabilities have equitable access to government services, housing opportunities, public spaces, and community participation. There's a few categories there, housing, information, architectural accessibility as well. So this is not my day-to-day, so I wanted to invite a few people up to speak. I think, Justin, maybe were you going to say anything? Ash from the Ability Center. Tim from the Site Center is here. Shannon from Sunshine Communities is also here. All the way in the pit, these brave, brave, brave guests. So yeah, gentlemen, thank you for being here. We'll go to maybe Justin first if you want to offer a couple thoughts on what we have here. And thanks for being here, everyone.

Yeah, thanks for the opportunity, Councilwoman Williams and Councilman Meldon and all council members for this opportunity to talk with you a little bit about the importance of this focus area of disability-friendly city. I'll speak first and foremost about the Area Office on Aging. We cover a 10-county service area in northwest Ohio, and I've become increasingly aware about the importance of neighborhood and how the neighborhood oftentimes is a microcosm for the city, for example. So as an agency, we help individuals age 60 plus and their family caregivers with living better and longer. And we've seen the discrepancy within neighborhoods of how that individual, that neighborhood can really determine if somebody is living to be the average age of 84, which is the case in the West Toledo neighborhood of Davao, which is the longest in our 10 county service area in terms of longevity. or if individuals are living a very short life relatively in the North Toledo neighborhood of Vistula, where individuals are only living to be average age of 62. So we know that the neighborhood plays an important role in individual's longevity and us being able to fulfill our mission of helping individuals live better and longer. We decided we really want to start this work about creating a disability-friendly neighborhood in our own backyard, literally at the Area Office on Aging in the Lakewoods campus in South Toledo. And what we see every day when I'm walking and going to and from work and the like is individuals oftentimes in walkers, wheelchairs, that are in the street, literally, because of sidewalks that begin and then just end in the grass or uneven sidewalks and the like. Crosswalks that just empty right out in the street with no hash mark kind of safe crossing and the like We also see at the corner of Arlington South Detroit there oftentimes individuals who are either older adult one to 400 older adults or veterans that live on the campus or 400 individuals who work on the campus or 1,700 of the people that are coming for programs and services Trying to cross the South Detroit Arlington intersection and oftentimes they'll be about halfway across the intersection with their walk or wheelchair and the light will change, right? Little things like that that oftentimes we might not be all that aware of that can really impact somebody's longevity, somebody's health and wellness and the like. And using the example from the Vistula neighborhood, one of the things that we noticed when surveying individuals there on how that campus could be more, or how that neighborhood could be more disability friendly and aging friendly, One of the things that people told us, number one, is access to fresh produce, number two, meals, and that they had no safe place to be able to get fresh produce and the like in that neighborhood. So we were trying to do some work and get some targeted bus passes to an older adult that lived there, and we knocked on the door of her and her husband, And he said she's not there. She's at St. V's because she was trying to go all the way to Bancroft, across Bancroft and Cherry to get to the Seaway grocery store there and got hit by a car crossing there with her groceries and her wheelchair, right? So it's situations like that that really are important for us to be aware of that impact individuals' ability to be able to live in the community and be a disability and aging friendly community. Oftentimes when we think about disability, we might think of somebody other than ourselves. And the reality is that oftentimes it is our future self that we're thinking about, right? That as we age, while there's many positives associated with aging, when we graduate from one age group to another, our chance of having a disability about doubles. So the 25 to 54 year olds, you have about a 15% chance of having a disability. The 65 to 74 year olds, about 25% chance of having a disability. 75 plus olds, 49% chance of having a disability. So these are our parents, these are our grandparents, these are our future selves that we're creating this community, our neighborhoods and our city to be more friendly for them to be able to age in place and be set up for success so that everybody's able to live better and longer regardless of where they call home in the city of Toledo. Thank you.

Yeah, thank you. That's well said. I do want to underline before I kick it over and see if Ash and Tim have anything to add. I don't think anyone does a better job of you, quite frankly, Justin, of tying together how it is a real shared experience, regardless of what kind of category or silo or column we put ourselves in. Like you just said, very, very well. That can change at any moment. So thank you for that. Ash, Tim, I'll give the mic to you. Make sure to hit the button to turn it on. Introduce yourself for these fine folks.

Hi, good afternoon, council. My name is Ash Lemons. I'm the executive director at the Ability Center of Greater Toledo, an organization that served Toledo in 13 surrounding counties. We've been around since 1920 and proud to serve the Toledo neighborhoods. I would echo exactly what Justin said. Justin and I have worked together for almost seems like two decades on a lot of things that help people with disabilities and the aging in our community. And often we see issues around housing, information, and architecture that have kind of creating some of the barriers to long lasting independence in someone's home and so you know this resolution really aims at addressing over time addressing some of those barriers that we encounter when we're trying to live independently in a community. I would say just recently we had a housing study done here at the Ability Center. We had Mathematica do it. One thing that stood out to me was the results were that one-third of Toledo residents have a disability requiring accessibility. That was actually a kind of a shock to us because that's very very high It kind of goes hand in hand with what Justin's saying. We do live in an aging community And we need to be cognizant of the things that we need to set in place and lead today So that people can remain in their homes today and for tomorrow again. I also echo anyone can acquire a disability through accident, illness, or injury, just as I did in 1999 while I was on active duty in the US Air Force, it can happen at any moment. And so it's something that none of us are immune to, and all of us will eventually have some type of ability that's been decreased over time through natural aging. All I would say is when we look at accessibility and affordability of our communities, this resolution will help address some of that. And I appreciate anything you guys can do to support it. Thank you.

Thank you, and thanks for all the help in crafting some of these policy ideas. I mean, we worked with Valerie back there. Thank you for everything and helping us frame this up. I think there's a couple other comments I'd add before I kick it to Tim. You know, we had a lot of conversations, and this council is really supportive of this. I mean, I've got to be honest. I don't feel like I'm going to do a lot of convincing here. But I actually think that's the reason to do it. There's an opportunity for us to not just agree with, yeah, we need to be the most disability-friendly community, but there's a chance to really dig in and kind of sink our teeth into some policy issues, which will be the task in the next months coming after this resolution is passed. The resolution is committing to a policy agenda. The hard work, as you all know, is actually making it happen. And I was talking to Michelle Meyerholz, who unfortunately cannot be here, the director of the board of DD. And we have this DD month every March or whenever it is. And it's nice. And we have the bell choir. We have different people come in. And it's very nice. But I was talking to Michelle, and we had this kind of moment of just honesty, which was like, well, if none of these policies ever change, Why would the bell choir keep showing up? Why are we still recognizing if we're not actually implementing? So I think that's the real opportunity here, and I'm honored to be on a council that I believe will pass meaningful work. So we're almost done. Tim, how are you, sir? I'm good. I'm good. Thanks.

Thanks for being here. Yeah, I'm Tim Peggy. I'm the Executive Director for the Sight Center of Northwest Ohio. We're three years younger than the Ability Center when we were established in 1923 as the Toledo Society for the Blind. We serve 18 counties in Northwest Ohio as well as parts of Southeast Michigan. Blindness and low vision services. And many aspects to this proposal, the one I'd like to focus on, that we focus on a lot at the site center in general, is blind spots. And especially as it relates to communication, because this phone I carry in my pocket has created, has leveled the playing field for many people with many different disabilities. For people who are blind or low vision, it is really open opportunities to stay connected to information, to opportunities, to family, friends, all of that. But when those communication systems aren't set up in an accessible way, however you create an app, whatever those fields are named, or whenever you send out emails that are where all the information is in a picture, those become blind spots again. To receive an email and to have my software read it to me, and then, like, I don't know what that email is telling me, because all the information is embedded into a picture. Or, you know, an app that just scheduled a Red Cross blood donation recently, and they have a fabulous app that I don't need my eyes to register for to do the... But that type of thinking at all levels, especially when it comes to communication, what are the things that the city puts out there? What format are they in? Are they inadvertently creating blind spots, and where can those be resolved? Because I think, as you heard earlier, what's good for one population over time ends up being very comfortable and very good for the rest of us. signs that are easier to read information that can be accessed by a variety of different means whether that's visually or or through you know through our ears those types of things so I appreciate this this opportunity and I think Toledo is doing a great job in terms of leading that conversation and the major institutions in Toledo that are are really taking inclusion and accessibility seriously. It's an honor to serve for an organization like the Sight Center here. Thank you.

Well, thank you for that. Thanks for everything all three of you are doing. I'd love to see if there are any questions or comments from my colleagues. I do want to just mention when we use the language of disability friendly, that might seem a little squishy and soft. But I would argue like compliance feels much more grown up and strong. And we're not exactly getting anywhere with compliance, right? Because the world changes. I mean, you have apps that there's no mention of a mobile app in the ADA. It was not even what the world was like. So if we don't talk about things beyond compliance, we're never going to get anywhere.

Councilman Sorrento. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just want to say that 36 years ago, we had the passage of the Americans for Disabilities Act. And you would think that 36 years later, we wouldn't need additional resolutions or legislation. But unfortunately, we do. And I would compare that to the great civil rights laws that were passed in the 60s that today we still encounter discrimination for people. So we have to keep working on it. So I think this is an excellent step in the right direction, and we just got to keep at it to ensure everyone, including those with special needs, have equal rights and the ability to function in our society as well as anyone else. So thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. Councilwoman Morris.

Thank you, Chair. And thank you, Justin, for reminding us that getting older is a privilege. You're lucky if you get older. And so trying to plan on how do we move forward as we age and how can we stay in our neighborhoods as we age because we know what the services are. We know where the library is. We know where the grocery store is. And so this is the second time today that I've had this discussion about that. So I thank you for reminding us and it's so important. Those age disparities are really sobering. And so thank you for sharing that. Tim, I have to tell you, you're one of my favorite people in this whole world. and I first met Tim at a networking event, and we got to talking about passenger rail and how Tim has a driver that helps him get up to Toledo from Bowling Green. I don't know if that's still the situation, but we had talked about how passenger rail really could help you be a lot more independent, and yes, you might have to get ride from the last mile but how just fascinating and I I'm telling you I I know that you are doing amazing things over there at the site center and I just I'm you're you're one of my heroes so thank you so much for coming into the pit and talking to us thank you thank you councilmember comas

Thanks so much. I was fortunate to spend the month of July really kind of digging in on some of these issues and learning more and more about what's happening in our community. And also I've been proud to serve on this council. And I think the entire time that I've been here, we've been really pushing and focusing on these things. I think of all the accessible playgrounds we've been building, the way that we really just don't do that. We don't build playgrounds anymore unless they are. But also I'm thinking about the The new things, you're not just seeing it from one council member, you're seeing ideas, concepts grow from many council members, which is great. I know the new program to have an app in our parks that allows people to have an easier time to get around and make their experience in the parks more accessible. We just recently passed that and it was spearheaded by several council members. I'm hopeful that, in particular, as we move into a space where we're talking about what our zoning code looks like and we're having an entire zoning rewrite occur, it's a great opportunity, I think, to really think about what these accessibility pieces might look like and institute them in there. Just to be frank, I've talked with several developers over the years who say things to me like, Nick, you don't need to require us to build more accessible units. People don't want them. But I know that's not true. I know that all of us probably would like an accessible unit, quite frankly. So I'm just grateful that we have this opportunity. I'm glad that this council continues to set the tone. And we can only do it because there's good people in the community doing the work. So thank you so much for all that you guys do.

thank you so couple things going forward here so this is that you know the resolution hopefully will be next week hopefully we pass it uh... i encourage everyone to look at the agenda so there are specific under the categories are specific objectives you know my the committee that i think about the most is economic development innovation there's not a lot here that falls under that so to the degree that it's connected to your committees i would encourage you to dig in to councilmember komai's point we all own this and this is a say a draft policy agenda call it 1.0 how can we add to it and evolve I think will be the challenge and the task. So thanks for everyone. We turned this into a tiny, mini committee hearing. So thank you for your patience. And that was no pressure. But Shanna, do you want to say anything to close us out? You just sat there, which is fine. Thank you for being here. Shanna from Sunshine. Sure. To the mic, please. The one community member who didn't get a chance. That's all.

I originally didn't come up here just because I haven't necessarily been a part of the conversation prior to our previous CEO, Jason Abedeli, so I'm sort of stepping into his place just for this meeting. My name is Shannon Bova. I'm the Chief Philanthropy Officer at Sunshine Communities, and as you all were speaking, While our main campus, so we support individuals with developmental disabilities, let me back up a little bit. And we've been doing that since 1950, so for nearly 77 years. We were founded by a couple, Roy and Georgia Angler, who had five children of their own. all born with disabilities. And as they were aging and looking for proper care for their children, they traveled throughout the entire state of Ohio and were just appalled at essentially the state-run institutions that they were finding themselves at. And they came back to their little farmhouse on Maumee Western Road. I know we are in the city of Maumee, but we're often, people think that we're like way, way, way out there. You were just there. We're not that far out there. No, but I think what people sometimes forget is that while our main campus is in Maumee, where we house about 60 individuals there, many with very significant medical complexities that live with us that are either ventilator or trach dependent, children, newborns to those living well into their 80s, 10 out of our 11 family care homes are actually in the city of Toledo. So a majority of our folks actually live within the city limits. And our mission essentially is creating community and sort of like you said, Sam, that sort of fluffy and feel good. And what does that mean? What that means to us is that it's very important for the folks that we support to be able to go out into the community, but also for the community to come into our space and to see what we do. Again, you came to our dance party and got to witness all of that. and all the fun that we have, but also the work that we're giving back to the community. Not from me, not from people on the executive team, not from our direct care workers, but from the folks that we actually support go back out into the community. There is a statistic actually from last year that we have a transportation fleet of nearly 70 vehicles that are transporting people from their home to medical appointments to their job. to mud hens games, walleyes games, and the statistic was that our fleet drove hundreds of thousands of miles. I'm blanking on the number, but what I do remember is it was four and a half times around the entire globe. We did last year just in transportation, and so... I think what y'all are doing is so impactful and important that while we may be actually in Maumee, much of the work that we do and the folks that we support and our staff, honestly, are a part of the city and it's really important for us to be a part of the community. I think about accessibility as a parent of a child with special needs who, I speak about this often, the importance of accessible changing tables in a lot of our community spaces. My son is 14. He wasn't expected to see the age of five, but now he's a high schooler, and he's just about as big as I am, and he wears diapers. It was kind of what you do with a newborn. You open up the hood of your car, and you lay your kid down, and you change the diaper basically in the backseat of your car. Well, as a 14-year-old young man, I cannot continue to do that, nor can I lift him because, like I said, he's about as big as I am. And so oftentimes... I, as a family, or as a mom, will not go to places because he has a wheelchair, because his heart is very sick as well, and so it is hard for him to get from a parking garage to somewhere. But if I know that there is not an accessible changing table, I also probably won't go because I won't go into the details, but that's very difficult for me to do, to be able to undress him and do all of that in a space that is... appropriate and respectful of him. He may not know the difference. He may not know that I need to change his diaper in public, but to me that matters as a mom. So on behalf of myself as an employee of Sunshine and also as a mom of a special needs kiddo, I appreciate the work that you're doing and just know that whether it's physical, developmental, mental disability, the work is really important. So thanks for putting me on the spot, Sam.

No, thank you. I really appreciate it. You know, we hear these stories and we can think about them as anecdotes. And then I heard my favorite line in the world, I've been saying it almost every day, is you stack a few anecdotes together and you have data. And so we got a lot of good data here. So thank you again for being here. It's the beginning. I think every municipality after Toledo is going to feel the pressure as well to pick up the same agenda and keep it rolling and then including the state. So thank you for being here. I don't see any other questions. We're going to now keep it moving. We'll go back to the agenda. The kind patient souls from municipal court are up next. Clerk, please begin with the item from municipal court.

I mean. Authorizing a budget neutral reappropriation of funds within the judge's division, $400,000 from the general fund.

Thank you, Council. As always, thank you for the opportunity to come before you. I really appreciate it. And also, just follow up on the last speakers. As the father of an autistic daughter, I appreciate the work you guys are doing, so thank you. My name is Robert Dizbro II. I'm the finance officer at Toledo Municipal Court. As the clerk said, we're seeking a budget-neutral budget adjustment for $400,000 from labor to non-labor. We unexpectedly had some vacancies, especially in our probation department. that caused our HR people to work feverishly to get those filled. The one positive of that was that there's some labor savings now that we can use to accelerate some needed strategic initiatives that the court desperately needs to pursue for our citizens. So we hope that you guys will consider that, and I'm open to any questions. I'm sorry, asking SCP to.

Councilman Sorrento. Thank you, Mr. Chair. On a related subject, do you know when the Harvard study will be concluded and reported to the city?

I don't know when it's going to be concluded. I do know Lisa just told us, her management team, that they're appearing. I believe it's September 17th. Renee Dancer will be here to counsel to give an update. I'm sure she'll have the details.

Okay, great. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you.

See anything else? Councilman Hobbs? SEP, please. Great, thank you.

Thank you very much.

Now we'll go to item one from the Department of Transportation, and just quick housekeeping note. I will be abstaining from this next week, so I'm going to actually step out and kick it over to Council President Williams.

Councilman Driscoll presents the following item from the Department of Transportation, authorizing the mayor to enter into a grant agreement with the US Department of Transportation, Transportation Federal Highway Administration for the Safe Streets for All grant. Authorizing the acceptance, deposit, appropriation and expenditure of grant proceeds in the amount of $542,170 for fleet vehicle safety planning and demonstration. Authorizing the expenditure of 39,770 for the match portion of the grant. Authorizing the mayor to accept bids and enter into necessary contracts for recycling and disposal services and declaring an emergency.

Good afternoon, members of council. Simon Knee, Commissioner of Government Affairs here with Stephanie Bartlett, Commissioner of Traffic Management to introduce item one. Item one authorizes the mayor to accept a grant from the US Department of Transportation's Safe Streets for All program for a fleet vehicle safety demonstration project. This authorizes the expenditure of $39,770 in matching funds from the municipal garage fund. So the goal of this project is to identify data-driven strategies for reducing fatal and serious injury crashes involving city fleet vehicles in alignment with our Vision Zero goal. So just to provide some context on why this is something we're looking at, fleet vehicles in Toledo are actually involved in serious crashes at a disproportionately high rate, although they make up only about 0.3% of all the registered vehicles in Toledo. They're involved in over 3% of all fatal crashes. So that's a 10 to one over representation. So when you think about our goal of eliminating all traffic fatalities by 2031, it's clear that this is something that needs to be looked at. The goal of this project is to identify the most effective ways to reduce that number, hopefully ultimately to zero, by collecting some data that will give us a better understanding of the specific risk factors that most contribute to this problem. And from there, identifying and testing out some interventions on a pilot project basis. So the way we will do this is by installing some two-way dash cameras in about 186 city vehicles, primarily in our road and bridge maintenance division, that will allow us to collect enhanced telematics data through our system to monitor and track high-risk driver behaviors, such as speeding, harsh braking, unsafe intersection behavior, and distracted and drowsy driving. So this data will allow us to understand how often, when, and where those kinds of behaviors are occurring and which of them are most associated with severe crash risk. Complementing that will be a study of the characteristics of our vehicles themselves that may contribute to serious crash risk, whether that be major blind spots, other design characteristics, lack of other necessary safety technology. So we'll use that data to then develop and pilot some behavioral interventions that might include things like new training or incentive programs, as well as identifying equipment or technology-based interventions, whether that be advanced driver assistance, 360 cameras, or whatever solutions the data indicates would be the most effective. So I think it's important to note the data we collect will be aggregated. It will not be used to single out individual drivers for disciplinary purposes. The goal here is really to understand trends and patterns so we know where the biggest problems are and what we can do to solve them. Stakeholder engagement's gonna be really important throughout this process. Talking with our vehicle operators, the unions representing them, and community members as well to make sure that we're implementing solutions but are also practical and realistic. So the Federal Highway Administration has asked us just recently to sign this grant agreement before September 18th to make sure that we have an executed agreement before the end of the federal fiscal year. So for that reason, we respectfully request SEP and are happy to take any questions.

Thank you. Council Member Gattis.

Thank you. I just have some questions on I guess the collection itself. What kind of data are you looking for and how like what's your scope of time frame?

Sure. So I think there are a lot of different kinds of things this technology can help us capture. One of those is just the vehicle behaviors, right, which we already have the ability to track to some extent. Do we have vehicles that are braking hard a lot or failing to yield at controlled intersections, things like that? The interior facing dash cam coupled with the technology and the sensor system actually allows us to track if drivers appear to be falling asleep at the wheel or if we see cell phone use while the vehicle is in movement or behaviors like that that would be risky and we'll be able to say, On the night shift, we see a lot of people looking like they're really sleepy. That's associated with unsafe behaviors. What changes can we make to help prevent that? And as far as time frame, we're looking at starting baseline data collection in 2027, collecting data for a year, and then using that data to identify some of those pilot interventions, testing those out for a year, and seeing what kind of impact they make.

Does it just include your data collection, just include a camera? Is there not a microphone in there? Will it do speeding? I'm just wondering what the capabilities, when we say camera, there's a wide range of information that it could gather.

My understanding is the cameras, they're all being monitored by AI. There's not a human behind it that just kind of monitors eye movement. Some of this technology is actually in the newer cars. You may have it in your cars now, but we don't have it in fleet vehicles. So there's no microphone or anything like that. It can't listen to you or anything.

Okay, and do we currently have a map of where most of the accidents have been with our crews?

We definitely can look at the ODOT's crash database, and they don't necessarily allow us to separate it out by the owner of the vehicle. But there are different vehicle categories that say, this is a police vehicle, or an ambulance, or a school bus, or whatever it may be. So while it wouldn't be a perfect representation of only city vehicles, yes, that data is available.

And then what divisions will be having these possibly put in their cars?

So we are working with road and bridge maintenance as the pilot division on this primarily. There may be a few vehicles from other divisions, but those vehicles were selected because they're the ones that, they tend to be larger and they also tend to operate at all times of day or night under all conditions when some of these more dangerous driving situations may occur.

Okay, and then the only data that you're collecting is eye movement? Or will there be, I just want to be clear, will speed be able to be captured?

Yeah, the sensors will be able to capture speed, heart breaking, the eye movement like we said, following too closely I believe, things like that. There's a whole data set within the SAMHSA technology that we can kind of pick from.

Okay. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Chair.

Okay. Okay. I don't know, but Councilman Trisco, I'm going to skip you and go to her and then come back to you because you've got to give your recommendation. You've got to give a recommendation anyway. Councilwoman Morris.

Honey, it's going to be good. But ladies first. Anyway, thank you for applying for this. One of the things that I've, as a motorist, I'm really concerned about as a homeowner, as someone who has to help fund when there are accidents and we have to get new police vehicles, which I see there are new fleet over there. The problem is that there are so many more fatalities. There are so many buildings that are getting hit, houses that are getting hit, vehicles that are overturning. And I don't know that anyone is really looking at what's happening with speed and distracted drivers. Hard braking, I think people are just anxious. They want to get where they want to go. time is money and so part of the challenge is that this will give us a little bit of a baseline as to what's happening on our streets and then that way with that data then we can use that to then pursue hopefully other funding that might be out there to help because you know it's not uncommon for a motorist to be stopped and someone you know stopping for a red light someone goes around in a turn lane and goes around you i mean people are just um they're having a hard time and we're seeing the results of that given the number of fatalities overturned vehicles and buildings that are are being hit so anything to keep our motorists safe certainly our our staff our toledo employees Certainly to not have to repair or replace vehicles because it gets harder and harder to be able to get access to those vehicles So I think this is a really good concept and I'm happy to support it.

Thank you, and it was good Councilman so much Thank you madam chair.

So I want to get clarified here 186 vehicles. Are you saying it's only road and bridge and that we're going to be monitoring or police vehicles, fire vehicles, other divisions.

The vast majority of the vehicles will be in Roden Bridge. That 186 number was proposed in the application because that was the number of vehicles we thought we could test this out with in Roden Bridge at the time. That's changed a little bit, but they're holding us to that number. So we may need to pull in some vehicles from urban beautification or other divisions. This will not be in police or fire vehicles because my understanding is that they're on a different, technology system that presents some more challenges to to integrate although you know okay

Okay. And I would just add to Councilwoman Morris' comments that since the tremendous work of the Ohio legislature in getting rid of red light cameras and speed cameras, it's a free-for-all on our highways and our streets. And people are violating. They're running red lights. They're speeding. They're going around intersections, flying through there when they shouldn't be. And this is the price we're paying for the wisdom of the Ohio legislature. Thank you.

Councilman Driscoll.

Thank you, President.

Hold on. Sorry. Councilwoman McPherson.

Thank you. Sorry. Slow thinker. In this, in some of our city vehicles right now, don't we have the modern equipment that kind of regulates like if you're going out of the lane or if you're, you know, the buzzing and the kind of thing in some of our vehicles already?

Yeah, a lot of our fleet vehicles already have the Samsara technology. The grant just gives us better access to the programming to add more data points that we can collect. We don't collect all of this additional data with the current Samsara technology.

Are we currently collecting data from those vehicles that we already have the equipment in?

I'm not 100% sure on the Samsara technology. I can take that by way of referral.

By referral, I would like to. Are we collecting that on those that we already have equipped? And then my other concern is that we are targeting one area of our employees. That's a concern for me. Um? With driving the vehicles we're looking at only those that you said that are in our. Streets, roads and bridges or that. That area of employees only that are driving those vehicles. That would be a concern and I don't know. Um? How their union would feel about that with them being targeted and knowing that that equipment is in there to do that. Well, I understand the safety, but we are. Talking about our employees and making sure that they are driving safe, whereas we know that there are other areas where we have cars that you already have are aware of that are driving unsafe. And so I would just be careful. in in this though it's great that you got the grant and how we utilize the data is great in getting that but i might would suggest that we might hit all departments that are using vehicles so that we are not targeting one area or one labor union You understand what I'm saying? Sure, I do.

Okay. I would just say that the administration, to my understanding, has been in conversation with 2058 and Local 7 about this project, and they are aware of it. Okay. It was clearly communicated to them from what I understand that this technology would not be for disciplinary purposes, and with that commitment, my understanding is that they're comfortable with it. As far as the selection of the Rodenbridge division, so this program is conceived as funding pilot demonstration projects where you test out a concept on a small scale that hopefully would result in lessons that you could then expand in the future if successful. So when we were thinking through where the best place to test this out was, we spoke with our fleet and facilities team and the commissioners and managers and other divisions as well. And I think this road and bridge maintenance was chosen just because we had to limit the number of vehicles we included in this sort of pilot round just by nature of the funding available. And within that limit, those are the vehicles where, again, we see the kinds of conditions and schedules that maybe lend themselves more to unsafe situations. So that was sort of the rationale for their selection.

I understand. But if in reality, if we see within the data that we have a and I'm just using this for example, if we see that within the data, we have a driver that has had several through the data, several incidences of unsafe driving behavior. I would not believe that we would ignore that and there would not be any because that would be kind of useless and it could be offensive to the city. So I'm just caution. Thank you.

All right, Councilman Driscoll, your recommendation?

I do have a few questions. When did we hear back about, when did we hear that we were awarded the grant?

We heard that we were awarded the grant several months ago, but we only just received an approved grant agreement last week. So they've been moving kind of slowly on this one.

Is that always how we, when our legislation comes is after a grant agreement? Is that when we do the legislation?

Typically, we bring the legislation either when we have the grant agreement or when it's in development. This one was sort of rushed because we were handed this deadline to sign by September 18th, which we did not anticipate. I'm not quite sure why it took this particular agreement so long to be processed.

Okay, because I want to get into the, I'm supportive of the program, project with some notes I suppose I think some of the concerns are raised have been worthwhile but the match is coming from the municipal garage fund is that we said that's correct what are the inputs to that fund what's the revenue source for that fund that is something that I would have to take my referral okay so this obviously wasn't budgeted for coming out of this fund I assume

I believe it was. I can verify that by referral. But I meet regularly with Director Campbell about grant applications. And we discuss a plan for budgeting for matches in the upcoming year. And I know this is on the radar. So I can verify that. But I believe that it was budgeted for, yes.

OK. I mean, my frustration is it sounds like we heard back a couple of months ago that we got this grant And yet it's on the agenda now, and we have to pass it by next week in order to sign, in order to accept the money. And we've appropriated from a fund that to me doesn't necessarily, it doesn't seem to me that it's a one-to-one fit necessarily, and we may not have budgeted for it. And yet, the time crunches here and it seems like we could have brought this couple of agendas ago as worthwhile a project as it may be i think the the process kind of matters here so and will go scp those questions need to be answered

Hi, Megan Robeson, Chief of Operations for the City of Toledo. So this was budgeted out of the Municipal Garage Fund because that is the fund that we use for all of our fleet activity. That's also the fund that we are currently budgeting the Samsara technology out of. The match as it relates to the grant was budgeted for in our operating budget. And so that's why we chose that fund for this particular match.

In the 2026 budget?

Correct.

This was budgeted for? Correct. Okay, I mean that makes me feel better, but it's not entirely obvious to me why this couldn't have been a few agendas ago.

Yeah, I think as Simon mentioned, we were just made aware that we were awarded the grant last week, I believe.

That's not true. He said it was a few months ago that we were made aware.

Oh, the grant agreement. Excuse me, I misspoke. The grant agreement just came through, and usually we do wait for that.

Thank you.

Thank you so much. All right. SEP, next up. And then Councilman Meldon can take over, but we're on number three. And after that, whoever is after that, please come to the table. So both groups.

We'll be on number two. Councilman Hobbs presents the following item from the Department of Law authorizing the settlement of claims brought in Singletary et al. versus City of Toledo, authorizing expenditure of $62,500 from the risk management fund and declaring an emergency.

Good afternoon. Tammy Lavalette with the Department of Law. Item number two is legislation authorizing a proposed settlement. In the amount of $62,500 to resolve the claims of plaintiffs Warren Singletary, Kimberly Cunningham, and Treasured Homes 1 LLC in the case that's referenced Singleton versus City of Toledo. In this case, the plaintiffs purchased a home on Woodley Road with the intent to operate it as a group home. The location was within 500 feet of another group home, which was a spacing violation under the zoning code. Plaintiffs sought approval of a reasonable accommodation, which was denied. They pursued a lawsuit under the Fair Housing Act and alleging damages as a result of the denial. We believe this settlement is in the best interests of the city and request SCP. I'm happy to take any questions.

Thank you. It always throws me when it's my name that lit up, because I'm like, I don't have a question. But that's Council President Williams.

Thank you so much. This is something that I was looking into this and I wanted to ask a question but I don't have a question. I'll probably do a referral to ask where we are with our group home conversation as it is because this basically sets a precedence now. So we will probably have to look at that law that is that spation requirement based on this case. So I think this is something for planning commission, zoning and planning and planning commission. So thank you. I just wanted to bring that topic up because yeah, change is everything now. Thank you.

I'm not sure that it's precedent-setting in this regard. We disputed liability. This was an issue where if liability were established, there would have been some pretty significant damages, and it was a settlement agreement. They are also not pursuing use of the home as a group home going forward. They've agreed to waive that, so it's strictly a monetary settlement.

Councilman's run to thank you.

Mr. Sherman a Little confusing here, so they Purchased a property wanted to have it as a group home But our zoning code says you can't have another group home within 500 feet. Okay, so This went to court did the court rule against the city or what?

there was It did go to court. There were two claims. There was a claim for intentional discrimination, and there was a claim for denial of the reasonable accommodation. The court ruled in our favor on the intentional discrimination, finding no intentional discrimination. The court left open a question of fact, which means it could go to trial on whether a reasonable accommodation should have been provided.

Well, whose fault was it that there was a proposal to have this home within 500 feet of another group home?

This litigation is still pending and be happy to go into executive session. We might be able to speak a little bit more freely if that's what council would like to do. I think that would be helpful.

I think it would be helpful.

Can I make a motion to go in executive session, please?

Sounds good.

I need a second.

Second. Do you want to do that now or after?

It looks like there's a lot of momentum to do that right now.

Would it be possible to do number three first? Number three. We have some guests here with us.

I'm going to call. Melvin. Yes.

Yes.

Morris? Yes. Sorrento? Yes. Williams? Yes. Driscoll? Yes. Gattis? Yes. Hobbs? Yes. Comives? Yes. Kramer? Yes. Martinez? McPherson? Yes. Motion carries.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I haven't.

Thank you.

So there's actually Thank you. I was thinking . Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

So, yeah.

Thank you. Thank you.

That was their excuse to never go back to work.

Okay.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Ever. They come in, but I always see. Thank you. Yeah.

Council President Williams.

I motion to come back out of executive session to discuss pending litigation. I need a second.

Second.

Well, I didn't think it'd be 311 when I said item number three. But here we are.

Did we get the recommendation for SEP?

No, why don't I do that? Councilman Hobbs. SEP police. Sorry about that. Leave it to the law director to keep me in line. Go ahead.

Dale Lentsch, City Law Director. I'm here with Michelle Krantz and Damon Williams from the Toledo law firm of Zoll and Krantz. Item three is an ordinance seeking authorization to enter into a contingency fee agreement with outside counsel regarding litigation that municipalities across the country, including Toledo, uh... are bringing an action against certain fire truck manufacturers in general the allegations concern unfair and anti-competitive practices that have illegally driven up costs for toledo and other cities when purchasing fire trucks uh... we are not asking for council to appropriate any funds as part of this ordinance this is going to be a contingency fee agreement so no legal fees unless we're successful with the litigation any fees would come out of our recovery along with the expenses for the litigation so we are requesting scp so we can get this lawsuit filed thank you so much councilman hobbs scp please

Thank you. Thank you. We'll go with item number four from Department of Fire and Rescue Operations.

Good afternoon, members of council. I'm Captain Kevin Kirk, joined today by Battalion Chief Todd Hebert. This ordinance authorizes the mayor to accept a donation from Elevins Health in the amount of $13,224 to deposit, appropriate, and expend said funds by way of informal bidding for the purchase of a point of care ultrasound unit. Toledo Fire responds to multiple 911 calls for cardiac arrest and many times the uncontrolled scenes and surroundings make it difficult to establish whether or not there is any cardiac activity before, during, or after providing CPR. A point of care ultrasound will allow providers to confirm the presence of cardiac activity more easily regardless of commotion on the scene at the time. There will be no initial cost to the city for the purchase of the ultrasound. And purchase also provides a five year manufacturers warranty. Fire is requesting SCP and welcome to any questions you may have. Thanks so much. Council member guys.

Thank you. This is really exciting. Where will it be stored?

So this would go on our 123, which is our EMS supervisor. We had this a long time ago, and we just got them back with the new contract cycle. So it's an EMS supervisor that responds to all cardiac arrests and EMS runs. So that's why we only need one.

That's wonderful. Thank you. Thank you, Chair.

Thank you. Councilman Hobbs?

SCP, please. Thank you.

Item number five from the Department of Public Utilities.

Yes, you get me today. Hi, good afternoon. Megan Robeson, Chief of Operations for the City of Toledo. I'm helping the Department of Public Utilities today with agenda item number five. As you are aware, we are undergoing a significant amount of construction and redevelopment, remodeling for our water reclamation plant. and will be phasing various projects of that work over multiple years. This ordinance authorizes the mayor to enter into a contract with Ribway Engineering Group for $1,020,000 for professional design engineering for our smaller pump station package one as a part of our larger water reclamation construction project. RIBWAY offers a coordinated multi-disciplined engineering team related to design and construction and the coordination and movement of this project will allow us to continue moving the entire water reclamation plant project forward. We respectfully ask SCP and I'm happy to answer any questions.

Councilman Sorrento.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. On a related subject, Water Rec, where are we in terms of hiring a firm to oversee this huge project at Water Rec?

Sure. So we have Arcadis who we're working with for the project. They've really been our consultant on it. And then there will be various packages and designs and elements of the construction that will be bid out. But I'm happy to give you, we just had a monthly progress report that came out, and I'm happy to provide that to you if that would be helpful. Yeah, that would be helpful. Sure.

Yeah, because again, the purpose here is to make sure that the job is being done right.

Absolutely.

As we did with the prior situation back in 2002, we hired a firm to oversee the project, and it came pretty close on budget, and it was completed professionally. And that's what we're, I think I speak for all of us, that that's what we want done here. We don't want to get surprises, oh, we're going to need, you know, $5 million more, things like that. So if you could answer that or get us that information.

Thank you. Mm-hmm.

Council Member Gattis.

Thank you. Could you just clarify which station this is?

So this is our small pump station package one. So there will be there are multiple pump stations and there'll be multiple aspects of the project. We have to start this one before we can go forward with the other ones.

Okay, I appreciate that. Thank you.

Thank you. We're going to go to Vice Chair Councilwoman Morris.

How appropriate that I have to do this one. Not my favorite. So you had requested SEP. Adam said he was good with SEP, so SEP. Thank you.

Thank you. We're going to keep rolling as to be conscientious with everyone's time.

We will have five items from the Zoning and Planning Committee. Number one, amending Toledo Municipal Code 1116.0209 and 1116.0236 and the use table regarding community recreation. Next, we have a special use permit for a community center at 355 Dearborn. Then we have a special use permit for used auto sales at 5057 Lewis Avenue. We have a zone change at 3959 LaGrange Street. We have an amendment to a planned unit development granted by Ordinance 150-25 and 439-25, which results in a new library at 3027 West Alexis Road. Then we have the vacation at Jefferson Avenue lying between Water Street and the Maumee River. That has already gone through the process. Next, we have one resolution in attendance. This is from Councilmember McPherson honoring Lady Linnie Willis upon the academic achievement of the conferral of her degree five decades later. Then second read items 349-26, authorizing an agreement with ODWA for refinancing a water system revenue bond series 2016, $64,925,000. 350-26, authorizing the levying of assessments for cutting and destroying noxious weeds from July 1st, 2025 to June 30th, 2026. 353-26, expenditure to Lake Erie West Regional Council for transportation planning assessment fees, $182,186 from accounts.

That would complete our agenda.

Council President Williams.

I just wanted to mention to council and to the public that we'll be introducing a resolution on doing an audit of our flat camera system so we can see who's actually looking at Toledo.

That's all. Thank you, Chair.

Thank you. Seeing no further business, this meeting is adjourned.