City Council - Regular Meeting

7:48 p.m. on Tuesday, March the 10th, and I'm going to call the regular council meeting to session. We are at the Twinsburg Government Center. Shannon, please call the role. Mr. Bellen, I'm here. Mrs. Labby, here. Mr. Fury here. Mr. Castillo, here. Mrs. Walker, present. Mr. Post here. Mr. Bonacci, here. Thank you. Uh, Mr. Bonacci will lead us in the invocation and pledge of allegiance this evening. We ask for guidance and direction in all city matters before us tonight. We give thanks to be able to be together. Let us continue to strive to make our community a better place. Help us work together and may we give our best always. Amen.

Amen. Amen. 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. All right. Has everybody had a chance to review the minutes from the regular council meeting of February 24th, 2026? I'd like to make a motion that we accept the minutes as submitted. Second. Mr. Fury makes a motion. Mr. Post seconds. Is there any discussion? Shannon, please call the RO. Mr. Fury, yes. Mr. Post, yes. Mrs. Labby, yes. Mr. Bonacci, yes. Mr. Castillo, yes. Mrs. Walker, yes. Mr. Bellon,

yes. All right. Approval of the minutes passes 70 as submitted. Are there any awards and presentations this evening? There are none. All right. All right. And next up is audience participation. There is none.

All right. Um I I am going to read this just for the record. Um earlier tonight at the caucus meeting, I began the audience participation portion of the agenda by making some brief remarks regarding civility and the rules codified into local ordinance concerning the appropriate conduct for those individuals who address this council. I will restate those remarks in full here for the record. Public comment is an important part of our council meeting. That said, it is not the time for name calling, raised voices, or verbal harassment. Make no no mistake, your input is valued, but civility and respect for one another is important. In any comment worth making can surely be made in a calm manner without resorting to name calling or verbal harassment. In the spirit of this, I will remind members of the audience and my fellow council members and administration members of chapter 1113 of the codified ordinances of the city of Twinsburg, which sets forth the rules this council has adopted to govern public participation in its meetings. First, individuals who address council are to address the remarks to me, the president of council. Individuals are not to engage any council members or the city officials in debate. Second, tieres are not permitted. Similarly, profane, derogatory, contemptuous, slanderous, harassing, mean-spirited, malicious, or false remarks are not permitted. Third, each individual will be given five minutes to speak. As the president of council, I am tasked with the responsibility of overseeing adherence to chapter 1113, and I intend to do just that. So Shannon, did you say there's nobody this evening?

That's correct. Thank you very much. All right, moving on to council communications and committee reports. Mr. Post, good evening, sir.

Good evening. Thank you. Uh last uh week on Thursday, I attended the parks and wreck meeting and uh Miss Bentonson handed out and passed out to us uh the special events calendar for the whole year. We got a lot of great events happening in the city. Uh the egg hunt is happening here, the Easter egg hunt and scramble. Um the I know the environmental commission is running the Arbor Day event on April 25th from 11 to 1. Uh the six concerts this summer, Bratz and Bruise Bash, you'll hear more about that. It's uh you know the October Fest in September and uh which is interesting spectacular. There's a whole list of events here and agenda does a great job. Uh we talked about uh the goals of the parks and recck commission. We also mentioned that they want to do a uh trail cleanup which is great that they want to get out there and clean up the trails. they uh invire invited the environmental commission and uh wanted to potentially partner uh but we think it's going to stay at parks and wreck meeting and um it was a good good meeting and um that's all for parks and ward relations uh meeting here at council chambers at 6:00 and um I'm looking forward to that as well to continue building the relationship between the uh city and the schools and that's all I have. Thank you.

Thank you Mr. Post. Mr. Bacon. Good evening, sir.

Thank you. Uh the uh architectural review board meeting that was uh to be last week did not meet. Uh so the next ARB meeting is Thursday, March 19th. Earlier tonight, I attended the safety committee meeting. It as it was the first meeting of the year. Uh there was a new chair appointed. I will be the chair for this year's safety committee meeting. Uh reports from uh our police department included their valley enforcement group training. We have two police officers that are now part of their SWAT team. We have a police officer from our department that has joined their extensive drone team and uh other officers that are uh being considered for hostage negotiations and missing persons. Great to see our police uh involved in that resource and knowing that we're part of something bigger that brings amazing tools to Twinsburg. Ebikes was a topic of discussion. Our uh Lieutenant Waltz is working with uh education to help people better understand that there is a difference between ebikes and electrified motorcycles and where ebikes should be ridden and how they should be ridden safely. And uh that's a ongoing concern, but it's good to hear that our police are ahead of that. Speed radar signs in the community. There's been an upgrade in the radar signs. They're going to be able to capture data. So the mobile signs that go out will be able to be used for targeted and better patrol enforcement and a street parking update. About 65% of the city has new uh parking signs. Our call volume from fire remains their report incredibly high just shy of 4,000 calls. 51% of them are overlapping. The good news is they're out the door in less than a minute 30. We heard a great report from uh Chief Boso. first time in many years that all of our tornado warning sirens have functioned. And uh kudos to our uh our electrician and the u electrician from the uh township

and comprehensive emergency management has been passed off uh to Lieutenant Mike Pleti and uh our generator u is underway for the emergency center. All good stuff from safety. It was great to hear from that and uh keep us informed of what's going on. The police are also joining uh going to be working towards an accreditation through the state of Ohio which is a move towards uh uh advancing their standard. Right now they're part of the Ohio Collaborative as a certified police department, but they're going to go for accreditation. This is the second wave of accreditation that's available in the state. It's a great program. Hopefully they're going to get it. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Mr. Fury, good evening.

Thank you and good evening. Uh I attended the safety meeting tonight and Mr. Bonacci did an outstanding job of covering everything. One thing I wanted to highlight though is uh Chief Boso from the fire department for the first time since we've been here. We're going to have uh we're adding another three firefighters which will because we have three shifts which will bring us to 12 firefighters on duty in one shift. And there were times in the last 10 years where we only had six. So we we basically doubled the amount of people that uh uh are there. Um and I think that's fantastic. Uh I had the opportunity to send the mayor's state of the city last week. Uh mayor did an outstanding job and uh well done and the city's in good hands. Um the CIC meeting was rescheduled. Uh we'll have a finance meeting on March 24th. I believe it's 6:30. Might

as Shannon and I discussed we might end up moving it to 6:15 because there's a public hearing at 6:45, but I I'll let you know. Thank you. Um and I saw a presentation earlier tonight in the caucus meeting by Maratowski regarding the upgrading of our together twinsburg, a a vehicle for us to get information out to the residents. I really appreciate Mark the work you've done on that. I think it's a very valuable tool and I think that we need to utilize it more. So I appreciate you and the mayor putting that forward. That's all I have this evening. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Fury. Good evening everyone. On March 4th, I also attended Mayor Scapiti State of the City at Glenn Eagles. Um I'm sure you will report on it, but it was a wonderful event. You did a wonderful job. Thank you very much. I sincerely do appreciate it. Prior to caucus this evening, I also attended the safety committee meeting. Thank you, Mr. Bonacci, for your report. The next safety committee will be on Tuesday, May the 12th at 6 p.m. here in Chambers. The next meeting of the finance committee, as Mr. Fury mentioned, will be on Tuesday, March 24th at 6:15 p.m. 6:30, we're not sure. Um, and the next meeting of the public works committee will be on Tuesday, April 14th at 6 p.m. here in Chambers. Mrs. Lavyby, good evening.

Good evening. Thank you. The March Planning Commission meeting has been cancelled due to lack of agenda items. The next meeting will be April 20th at 6:30. Last night's Jedi meeting was cancelled due to lack of a quorum. The le next meeting will be April 13th. Um on February 25th, I attended the black business vendor fair at Twinsburg High School. I met with a Lardell who runs a similar committee to Jedi at the high school and I'd like her to get her to attend our Jedi meeting so they could work together with us. Um, I also attended the safety committee meeting today and as stated the next finance meeting will be March 24th. That's all for me tonight. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Walker. Good evening. Good evening everyone. Um, uh, our Jedi committee, we didn't have a quorum, so we'll be having our next Jedi meeting next for public safety and fitness advisory reported, but I will be coming to city hall and just to get more information on public service, public safety and fitness advisor because I need to know what's all about. So, thank you so much. Thank you, Mr. Castillo. Good evening, sir.

Good evening. Thank you. Earlier this evening, I also had the opportunity to attend the uh my first safety meeting, and I appreciate the work that goes into it from our our teams, and thank you, Mr. Bernaci, for leading that meeting. Um the committee to review uh commissions, committees, and boards. Our first meeting is going to be March 13th. uh we'll be meeting back uh reporting back to uh this body on recommendations that we have and of course we're looking to get input from uh all all people involved on this uh board and also boards in general. Um the next meeting for the BZA uh is scheduled for Monday, March 23rd here in council chambers and no other committees uh that I serve on uh met. Since our last meeting, I had the opportunity to attend the Rotary Club and really got to see them at work and hear how they were planning out the rest of the year. Lots of good stuff happening there. Um, I was also at the mayor's state of the city event and that was a great program. Lots of good things ahead for our city. So, I appreciate that, mayor, and I know you're going to talk about that in your presentation. Um, one of the things I want to talk about and Mayor, you probably will bring this up too. Congresswoman Sykes was here in our uh city and she highlighted an $850,000 grant that she's provided or worked with us to to get funding for for Glen Chamberlain Park. So, excited to see that coming along. And I know you went into some detail on the sensory uh that's going to be taking place there and really the upgrades. So that's exciting. And uh I think the last thing I wanted to two more things really is uh Rita Darrow is having a meet and greet here at the Twinsburg Library March uh 17th at 6 p.m. She's encouraging residents to come out. She's our county representative. So feel free to come by the library and meet her. And then also just a reminder to residents, I'll be hosting some community meetings myself starting March 30th, June 17th, September 23rd, and December 9th. So we'll promote those as the dates get closer. Thank you.

Thank you, sir, Mr. Mayor. Good evening. Good evening. Thank you. Yeah, just a couple items. Um just uh to mention what uh Mr. Castello said that um yeah, the congresswoman um we got the $850,000 grant from uh from her through her office and um we are going to be doing uh it's going to help us finish the uh Glenn Chamberlain Park with the sensory playground. We're going to be putting in two new uh picnic shelters and um uh there was one other thing where there's three items that we're finishing up there. The walkway.

Oh, the walkway. That's right. The bridge. there's a bridge up there that goes through the uh the trail and we're replacing that bridge up there. So, uh it's going to come in handy and again it's really going to help us finish that park off. So, we're very uh thankful to her and uh through her office that we're able to get that. I had um my first muffins of with the mayor with the seniors uh this last month and um I g gave me an opportunity to um to give them the copy of the state of the city which I presented to them there and they were very attentive as they always are and that's a great crowd and um they they listened they had great questions and uh they're very appreciative of everything that we do here and you know everything that uh all the programs that we have in the city and council I pass it along to you as well because uh you know you guys approved that money for us to be able to do that for them. So, thank you uh on their behalf because I'm sure they they appreciate each and every every one of each and every bit of it. Uh finally, last week I attended the um Red Cross Acts of Courage Award uh and that was down in Akran um that they were um honoring uh some of our firefighters and our dispatchers that uh if we all remember the house fire that we had not too long ago where we rescued the baby out of the out of the basement. And so, um, several of our our firefighters and like I said, a couple dispatchers. I know there were a couple police officers there, too, at the scene. Um, but I there was no police officers at the at the event, so I'm not I'm not really sure why, but um, it was a great event. Uh, great honoring them. And there were several other people that got in different different awards there. But it was a nice night and it was a very proud night to be able to sa sit there and see, you know, our own uh hometown people being awarded for, you know, saving a rescuing a baby and saving a life. So, uh those are all good things that happen and and those are things that uh we really need to continue to talk about because as I always say, this is a great town. we've got uh we've got more things than than we could even ask

for and sometimes I think sometimes we take it for granted and it's these are the things that we have to know that uh we have the best services and and I can go on but I'll I'll I'll wrap it up there and uh say that's the end of my report. Thank you, mayor. Okay. Any department heads this evening? Uh no, Christine, you have anything? No, we're good. Okay. All right. We'll move on to legislation then. Resolution 202616. A resolution authorizing the mayor to enter into a contract with the legal defenders office of Summit County, Ohio to provide for for representation of indigent defendants and declaring an emergency. At this time, I'd like to make a motion to adopt resolution 202616 as an emergency. May I have a second? A second.

Mr. Fury seconds. Any discussion? Shannon, please call the role. Mr. Bell? Yes. Mr. Fury? Yes. Mrs. Walker? Yes. Mr. Post? Yes. Mrs. Lavy? Yes. Mr. Castillo? Yes. Mr. Bacon? Yes. Resolution 202616 passes 70 as an emergency. Resolution 202621, a resolution authorizing the mayor to enter into an intergovernmental agreement for animal control services with Summit County, Ohio. This time, I'd like to make a motion to adopt resolution 20261. May I have a second? I have a second. Mrs. Walker seconds. Any discussion? Shannon, please call the role. Mr. Bellen, yes. Mrs. Walker, yes. Mrs. Labby, yes. Mr. Castillo, yes. Mr. Post, yes. Mr. Bacci, yes.

Mr. Fury. Yes. Resolution 202621 passes 70. Ordinance 2026 24. An ordinance amending section 149 of the codified ordinances of the city of Twinsburg regarding fees and deposits to include the fees for emergency medical service and ambulance transport. It now stands on its third reading. Ordinance 202625, an ordinance repealing chapter 731 of the city's administrative code regarding ambulance subsidation. At this time, I'd like to make a motion to adopt resolution. I'm sorry. Ordinance 202625. May I have a second? Second. Mrs. Lavyby seconds. Any discussion? No. Shannon, please call the role. Mr. Bellen, yes. Mrs. Labby, yes. Mr. Fury, yes. Mr. Castillo, yes. Mr. Bac, yes. Mr. Post, yes. Mrs. Walker,

yes. All right. Ordinance 2026 25 passes 70. Resolution 202626, a resolution authorizing the city to both apply for and accept the energized community program grant administered through the Northeast Ohio Public Emer Energy Council and declaring an emergency. At this time, I'd like to make a motion to adopt resolution 2026 as an emergency. May I have a second? I'll second. Mr. Fury seconds. Any discussion? This I'm sorry. Uh the amount of the award would be $28,590. Thank you, sir. Any further discussion? Shannon, please call the role. Mr. Bell, yes. Mr. Fury, yes. Mr. Bonacci, yes. Mrs. Walker, yes. Mrs. Labby, yes. Mr. Post, yes. Mr. Castillo,

yes. All right. Resolution 2026 26 passes 70 as an emergency. Resolution 2026 27. A resolution adopting an updated local landmark list. Now stands on its third reading. Ordinance 202628, an ordinance amending section 1125.02C3 02C3 of the codified ordinances of the city of Twinsburg to correct a terminology error. This now stands on its third reading. There will be a public hearing on March 24th at 6:45 p.m. to discuss this ordinance. Resolution 202629, a resolution authorizing the mayor to enter into a real estate purchase agreement with the Twinsburg Community Improvement Corporation to acquire certain real property located at 8949 Daryl Road, Twinsburg, Ohio.

This now stands on its second reading. Mhm. Ordinance 202633, an ordinance amending the current year appropriations for the various special revenue fund accounts as established in ordinance 115 2025, the appropriation ordinance for the city of Twinsburg for the year 2026 and declaring an emergency. At this time, I'd like to make a motion to suspend the rules and place ordinance 202633 on its third and final reading. May I have a second? A second. Mr. Fury seconds. Reason for the suspension of the three-rating rule is to allow this to go into effect immediately. Any further discussion of the suspension of the three reading rule? Shannon, please call the role. Mr. Bellen, yes. Mr. Fury, yes. Mr. Castillo, yes. Mrs. Walker, yes. Mr. Post, yes. Mr. Bonacci, yes. Mrs. Lavyby, yes.

All right. Suspension of the three reading rule passes 70. At this time, I'd like to make a motion to adopt ordinance 202633 as an emergency. May I have a second? Second. Mr. Castillo seconds. Any further discussion? Shannon, please call the role. Mr. Bell, yes. Mr. Castillo, yes. Mrs. Labby, yes. Mr. Bacon, yes. Mrs. Walker. Yes. Mr. Fury. Yes. Mr. Post. Yes. Ordinance 202633 passes 70 as an emergency. Ordinance 202634.

An ordinance authorizing declarations of official intent under US Treasury res regulations with respect to reimbursements from note and bond pro proceeds of temporary advances made for payments prior to issuance and related ma matters and declaring an emergency. At this time, I'd like to make a motion to suspend the rules and place ordinance 202634 on its third and final reading. May I have a second? I have a second. Mrs. Lavyby seconds. The reason for the suspension of the three reading rule is because the bids will open mid-March and contracts entered into soon after. Mrs. Conway, anything else to add that I didn't hit there? No, but I apologize to Shannon for having to read that. All right. Uh, any further discussion on the suspension of the three reading rules? Shannon, please call the role. Mr. Bell, yes.

Mrs. Lavy, yes. Yes. Mr. Bonacci. Yes. Mrs. Walker. Yes. Mr. Castillo. Yes. Mr. Post. Yes. Mr. Fury. Yes. All right. Suspension of the three reading rule passes 70. At this time, I'd like to make a motion to adopt ordinance 202634 as an emergency. May I have a second? I have a second. Mrs. Labby seconds. Any additional discussion on ordinance 202634. Shannon, please call the RO. Mr. Bellen. Yes. Mrs. Labby. Yes. Mr. Bonacci. Yes. Mr. Castillo. Yes. Mr. Fury. Yes. Mrs. Walker. Yes. Mr. Post. Yes. Ordinance 202634 passes 70 as an emergency. Resolution 202635,

a resolution authorizing the city to enter into an agreement pursuant to the source cooperative purchasing program for the purchase of SCBA units and associated equipment and declaring an emergency. At this time, I'd like to make a motion to suspend the rules and place resolution 202635 on its third and final reading. May I have a second? Second. Second. Mr. Castillo seconds. Uh reason for the suspension of the three- reading rule is so the purchase can be made and equipment received as soon as possible. Is there any further discussion on the suspension of the three- reading rule? Shannon, please call the role. Mr. Bellan, yes. Mr. Castillo, yes. Mr. Post, yes. Mr. Fury, yes. Mr. Bac, yes. Mrs. Walker, yes. Mrs. Lavy, yes. All right. Suspension of the three reading rule passes 70. At this time, I'd like to make a motion to adopt resolution 202635 as an emergency. May I have a second?

Second. Mr. Castello seconds. Any other discussion on resolution 202635? Shannon, please call the role. Mr. Bell, yes. Mr. Castillo, yes. Mrs. Lavyby, yes. Mr. Post, yes. Mrs. Walker, yes. Mr. Fury, yes. Mr. Bonacci, yes. All right. Resolution 2026 passes seven I'm sorry. 202635 passes 70 as an emergency. Resolution 202636. A resolution accepting the bid of parent asphalt company for the Glenwood Drive resurfacing project and declaring an emergency. All right, this now stands on its first reading. Resolution 202637, a resolution authorizing the mayor to enter into an agreement with ODOT for the Liberty Road resurfacing project and declaring an emergency.

At this time, I would like to make a motion to suspend the rules and place resolution 202637 on its third and final reading. May I have a second? A second. Mr. Fury seconds. The reason for the suspension of the three reading rule is to secure additional funding. Is there any further discussion on the suspension of the three reading rule this evening? Shannon, please call the role. Mr. Bellon, yes. Mr. Fury, yes. Mrs. Labby, yes. Mr. Post. Yes. Mr. Bonacci. Yes. Mrs. Walker. Yes. Mr. Castillo. Yes. All right. Suspension of the three reading rule passes 70. At this time, I'd like to make a motion to adopt resolution 202637 as an emergency. May I have a second? Second. Mrs. Walker seconds. Any further discussion about resolution 202637.

The uh city gets an extra 10% off of the cost of the project for pulling this in. So, that's the reason we want to do this. Thank you. Shannon, please call the role. Mr. Bellon, yes. Mrs. Walker, yes. Mrs. Labby, yes. Mr. Castillo, yes. Mr. Post, yes. Mr. Bonacci, yes. Mr. Fury, yes. Resolution 202637 passes 7 to zero as an emergency. Ordinance 202638. An ordinance amending the current year appropriations established in ordinance 115 2025. the appropriation ordinance for the city of Twinsburg for the year 2026 to accommodate transfers from the general fund to the SCMR fund and declaring an emergency.

At this time, I'd like to make a motion to suspend the rules and place ordinance 202638 on its third and final reading. May I have a second? Second. Mr. Castillo seconds. The reason for the suspension of the three reading rule is so the transfer can be made before the start of the upcoming construction season. Any further discussion on the suspension of the three reading rule? Shannon, please call the role. Mr. Bellon, yes. Mr. Castillo, yes. Mrs. Mrs. Walker, yes. Mr. Post, yes. Mr. Fury, yes. Mr. Bonacci, yes. Mrs. Labby, yes. All right. Suspension of the three reading rule passes 70. At this time, I'd like to make a motion to adopt ordinance 202638 as an emergency. May I have a second? Second. Mrs. Labby seconds. Uh, any further discussion about ordinance 202638? Shannon, please call the roll. Mr. Bellen, yes.

Mrs. Labby, yes. Mr. Post, yes. Mrs. Walker, yes. Mr. Fury, yes. Mr. Manacci, yes. Mr. Castillo. Yes. Ordinance 202638 passes 70 as an emergency. Resolution 202639, a resolution accepting the bid of Aramark Company LLC for the 2026 road striping contract and declaring an emergency. This time I'd like to make a motion to suspend the rules and place resolution 202639 on its third and final reading. May I have a second? A second. Mr. Fury seconds. Reason for the suspension of the three- reading rule is to enter into the contracts which will allow the contractor to place the city on their schedule for this construction season. Any further discussion on the suspension of the three- reading rule? Shannon, please call the role. Mr. Bellen, yes.

Mr. Fury, yes. Mr. Bac, yes. Mrs. Walker, yes. Mr. Castillo, yes. Mrs. Labby, yes. Mr. Post, yes. All right. Suspension of the three reading rule passes 70. At this time, I'd like to make a motion to adopt resolution 202639 as an emergency. May I have a second? Yes. Mr. Castillo seconds. Any further discussion about resolution 202639. Shannon, please call the role. Mr. Bell? Yes. Mr. Castillo? Yes. Mrs. Walker? Yes. Mr. Fury? Yes. Mr. Bonacci? Yes. Mrs. Lavyby? Yes. Mr. Post? Yes. Resolution 202639 passes 7 to zero as an emergency. Next up is unfinished business, new business, and miscellaneous. Mr. Castillo, not at this time. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Mrs. Walker,

I have nothing. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Lavyby. Um, I'd just like to mention registration for summer camp starts next Monday, the 16th at 9:00 a.m. for residents. I know that was all a very important thing um when my children are in school, that start date so they could get everybody signed up. And the second thing was I stumbled upon a fundraiser at El Chili Bravo Saturday for the Twinsburg High School baseball team. So, I would like to wish them the best this season. and um thank them for the stadium chairs that I won. Thank you. That's all.

Thank you. Uh the the results of the downtown streetscape community survey have been posted to together twinsburg. Uh the summary report and survey information can be viewed there. The survey generated strong engagement with over 500 responses providing helpful feedback as we continue refining the streetscape design concepts. Um I'd like to wish everybody a happy and safe St. Patrick's Day next Tuesday. And finally this evening, I'm I'm a big fan of quotes, whether they be movie quotes or or you know, world leaders or musicians or those kind of things because they can typically kind of put my my feelings better than I can. And I ran across this one today that I thought was kind of apppropo with everything going on in not only in Twinsburg but the world. Um, unity is not unity and similarity, but unity and diversity in the comparison and consiliation of differences. And that's from Muel Gorbachoff. So nothing further this evening. Mr. Fury, good evening.

I had quotes too. All right. So, um, tonight I would like to wish Dr. Daisy Walker a happy birthday. It was this weekend. She's been a friend of mine for 30 years almost. And uh, I I find you to be a beautiful woman inside and out. And you are truly a treasure. and thank you for all the good wishes that you give me and uh I appreciate our friendship. Thank you. I too. I cheers. I can't quote after that. So that's all I have. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Manacci.

Uh as I've mentioned in previous meetings, I'm part of a small group of residents who are working to learn more about addressing homelessness and housing insecurity in our community. We made great strides recently. Last week we were able to meet with Latoya Hurst from the Summit County Executives Office. She's the community engagement coordinator for the executive. And we also met with Chris Richardson. He is the executive director of Continuum of Care. What we learned was the importance of um communicating when help is given and when help is needed. So, we have great resources in our community with clothing pantries and food pantries and there's an incredible amount of need and I see it sometimes posted on our community Facebook pages of folks in need, folks without housing, folks living in hotels, that kind of stuff. Uh, when we provide help, we should also provide information. And the information that's most important is to call 211 because the help we could give immediately is a small portion of what's available. And when more people know about that and when they connect with 211, the likelihood of more resources being available. And that's key because we're about 18 miles from most of the resources. 18 miles on foot may as well be a million miles. And if we could get better connections, that's a great thing. Uh March 7th, I also attended a housing panel put on by Congressman's uh Amelia Sykes in Akran and they talked about housing insecurity, cost of housing, supply and workforce regulations, corporate landlords, all these barriers to people remaining housed, having access to housing. uh real estate uh uh Summit County real estate uh uh association was there, the home bidders association was there, the county was there talking about property tax. It was fascinating to learn about those challenges uh that folks are really facing. Mayor, they talked about insurance and getting homes repaired

after fire. I know we've had several homes in our community impacted by fire. It is a problem bigger than Twinsburg. It is bigger than I realized. The congresswoman basically said, "The insurance companies have a big lobby. Good luck. My heart breaks for these families. There's a home in my neighborhood that's been over two years. Still hasn't been fixed." Um, that concludes that part of it. U, March 16th, picnic shelters are available to be registered for use throughout the summer. That being said, stay tuned for an August date for the Ward One information day because I will reserve a picnic shelter the same time residents are able to. And I'm going to be trying to do it March 16th. Hopefully, we'll do it first uh second or third weekend in August. That concludes my report. Happy St. Patrick's Day.

Thank you, sir. Mr. Post, good evening. You know, I was going to say all those things, too, but since he did, there's no reason to repeat it. So, uh I'll just say happy St. Patrick's Day. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I have nothing further. Thank you, Mr. Mr. Visanna. No, Mrs. Conway. Mrs. Collins. All right. Uh, we have no absent members to excuse. And with that, I will adjourn the council meeting at 8:18 p.m. Good evening.