City Council - Regular Meeting

All right. Thank you very much. Um, first of all, make a real quick announcement. If you have a cell phone or electronic device, if you could turn that to mute or off during the meeting so we're not interrupted, that would be greatly appreciated. I'd like to welcome everybody to 2026. Today is January 8th. And at this time we are going to have an invocation led by Pastor Al Refett from Victory Life Christian Center here in Zenaia followed by the pledge of allegiance in lie of um Councilman Crawford's absence tonight. Um Mayor Reynolds, would you be okay with leading us in the pledge? All right. Thank you. If you could all please rise.

Good evening everybody. Our gracious heavenly father, we come before you tonight. Lord, we do thank you for this Thursday evening. We simply pause, Lord, to say thank you that your mercies are new every day. Your kindness is new every day. And Father, we're just looking to you for a year of favor and honor. Lord, we pray for our government represented here tonight, our new mayor, the entire council team. Lord, uh our city manager, all those that work with him, and our madam law director. Father, we thank you for these precious individuals and for what they desire to do and to lead our community. Now, Father, we look to you to continue giving them wisdom and discretion as they take care of business affairs. Father, we thank you for strength, Lord, mentally and physically and in every aspect, Lord, and for courage for what they do in the situations they face. And Father, we thank you that you will continue to lead our community in a pathway of prosperity in Christ's name and amen. Amen.

[clears throat] I pledge algiance 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. Thank you very much.

All right. Very good. All right. We are going to call our meeting to order. And at this time, we're going to go ahead and get a roll call, please. Councilwoman Sice here. Councilman Crawford. Councilwoman Huffman here. Councilman Rubio here. Mayor Reynolds here. President Smith here. All right. At this time, I will make a motion to excuse Councilman Crawford due to uh an illness. He will not be able to be here tonight. Do I have a second? Seconded by the mayor. Any discussion on that? All right. Roll call to excuse. Councilwoman Sice, I. Councilwoman Huffman, I. Councilman Rubio, I. Mayor Reynolds, hi. President Smith, I.

Thank you very much. Next on our agenda is once a year we have council reorganization. This is where we elect the council president and vice president for the current year. uh with the um basically the um protocol for that is two years of service uh on city council. So at this time we will go ahead and accept nomination for council president for year 2026. I move to nominate Wesley Smith as council president.

Thank you. A motion by Mayor Reynolds for that. Thank you. Seconded by Councilwoman Sice. [snorts] Any discussion on that? Do we open up for a second or vote? You have your first and second. Then you will call for any further nominations. Okay. Yes. Correct. Thank you. Do we have any additional nominations for president? All right. Seeing none, we'll go ahead and get the roll call for the office of presidency. Councilwoman Sice, I. Councilwoman Huffman, I. Councilman Rubio. Hi, Mayor Reynolds. Hi, President Smith. Hi. Motion carries.

Thank you very much. Thank you again for the opportunity to serve the city as your council president for this year and uh look forward to working with our new council. I look forward to working with city staff and citizens. So, I I thank you for that nomination. um with some brief discussion with the council with two members absent tonight at least with Councilman Crawford being absent. Um I would like to move to wait uh for the office of presidency if that is allowed. Madame Law director is going to check on that. Um I believe the charter requires you to do both.

Yes. At its first regular meeting in January of each year, the council shall elect from its membership by majority vote of the members present a chair and vice chair who we call president. So unfortunately you can't. The charter requires that you do do that this evening. Um I will say in uh Councilman Crawford's absence, he may be nominated. He does not have to be present. Um of course you can't vote uh but he he is eligible for nomination. Okay. Good. All right. Thank you very much. All right. At this time, I'll accept nomination for the office of vice president for 2026. I move to nominate Councilman James Crawford. Thank you. We have a nomination for Councilman Crawford. Do we have a second?

I second. Seconded by Councilman Rubio. All right. Do we have any additional nominations?

I would like to nominate myself as vice president at council. Thank you. We have a nomination by Councilwoman Sice for the office as well. Would anyone like to second that? Okay. Um, I'll second that. So, how does that work then? We have two. We vote for the first person. Did you get a second on that? I second it.

Okay. What you would do is um, and this is on the back of your handout. The process is you call the nominations. Jakova roll call in the order that the nominations [clears throat] were made. So if um James gets a majority of the vote, you cease voting. If he does not, then you proceed and you would vote on on faith nomination. All right. Thank you very much. Okay. And it's been a while since we've had actually two people run, so that's probably a good thing. And the same qualifications for vice president is two years of service as a council member. So at this time, we'll go ahead and ask for a roll call. This is for um the position of vice president with the nominee being James Crawford. Councilwoman Sice,

nay. Councilwoman Huffman, I. Councilman Rubio, I. Mayor Reynolds, hi. President Smith, nay. Motion carries. He passes. Okay, great. So, we'll go ahead and That is a majority vote. So, Councilman has been elected as the vice president. Correct. And if due to health reasons or another reason he wants to resign, then that can happen. Then we'll go through this process again. Very good. Thank you so much for clarification on that. We're going to move on to um approval of minutes. Uh before us are the minutes for the December 22nd, 2025 regular meeting. Do we have a motion to accept the minutes as written? Some moved. Thank you. Moved by the mayor. Do we have a second?

I'll second. Thank you. Seconded by Councilwoman Huffman. Is there any discussion on the minutes? Okay, we'll get a roll call to accept the minutes into the record. Councilwoman Sice, I. Councilwoman Huffman, I. Council Rubio, I. Mayor Reynolds, I President Smith, I. Motion carries. Thank you very much. We do have one special presentation tonight. It is not on the agenda, but it was added uh just a couple days ago. So, we have um a [clears throat] representative representing the uh group of council members that went to our sister city in Africa. So, at this time, our former mayor um will Ursel will go ahead and give us a presentation.

Great. Did we have some extra copies that you guys passed out that were available?

There's two here. [clears throat] Eric, you may be responsible. Let you guys take a look. One of these here. All right. Well, last uh summer we had a proposal from uh professor at Central State that we established a sister city relationship with a uh entity in Ghana. And we thought that was uh pretty interesting. met with Brent and some of the other folks and Eric and we actually had the uh uh one of the uh kings of the uh AIU uh tribal group came over during that time and met with us and uh said he would be very interested in having us establish that relationship too. So they invited us to come over [laughter] and actually sign the documents for [clears throat] the sister city program uh during the time of his uh celebration of his 25th uh coronation or his silver jubilee of his coronation. And so we had to kind of scramble to get all the uh documents put together and those types of things, but we got that done in time and and the council recommended we go over there and do that. And so that was just a few days before Thanksgiving. And so, uh, we had three of us on council went, myself and, uh, uh, uh, Councilman Crawford and, uh, uh, Walker, I'm sorry, Faith. Faith, yeah, Faith went with us. And then, yeah, Carlos went with us as well, too. And I'll just mention also that that [clears throat] trip was funded by us individually. There's no city funds were spent on that trip because we wanted to make sure that uh, we weren't uh, expending any public resources on that. but we thought it was important for us to go and actually physically see them and see their country and do those kind of things. So, um I just want to go through this hangout just give you a little bit of background on that and also uh what we

realized in terms of who what the entity was that we're going to be having this relationship and there's actually kind of a dual entity there and we'll get into that as we go. So at the the the bottom page of your handout there is horses. Ghana is in uh West Africa on the Gold Coast and it's one of the the the smaller countries that there is there on the on the on the bottom part of that. And if you flip over your next page, uh just to do a comparison between Ghana and Ohio, uh Ghana is about 2 and a3 times the physical area of of Ohio and has about three times the population of Ohio. to just kind of give you a little bit of a setting. Um, at the bottom of that page, you'll see that Ghana has 16 what we call administrative regions. So, those are a little bit comparable what I would call uh states in the United States. So, so the United States is set up, we have 50 states, they have 16 uh administrative regions. And you see in the bottom part of that picture that the region that we were uh going to is what they call the central region which is along the coast there of the bottom part of Ghana. And so that that is the region that we went to. And now the next page that central administrative region has 22 districts within that region. So each of the regions has a different number of districts. You can think of these districts as counties. So [clears throat] uh uh within the state of Ohio that was a comparable to a region uh we have Green County and they have what's called the Aburura Cebu uh district which is comparable to a county level. Um now we actually signed the documents with the with the district chief executive of the Agura Cebu district and the reason we did that was they don't really have a a um more formal structure that operates below the district level there. So so uh

and the sister city programs will we have to actually sign documents with the civil government there. So that's why we we we establish it at that level there. Now the bottom part of your page you see that that aurora sibu district is actually set up of of what they call six subd districts and uh but the the structure of the subd districts is a lot less formal of a structure. So that's why we went and actually set up that relationship with at the at the district level. Uh their their district is about 122,000 people there. So, uh, Green County has about 174,000. So, it's roughly equivalent to the population there. Uh, city-wise though, uh, they have dis they have districts that comprise major cities. Opera is their major city about 3 million. Uh, right, uh, right below there, there's a major city that has about a million. There are no large metropolitan areas within this district. uh really they would be more what we will call the village level uh but not a municipal level there. Um now flip over your next page. The the the thing that made this very interesting in terms of our relationship there is that in Ghana prior to uh British colonialism they had a series of ethnic u government that was established as well too. And it turned out that during the British time of their rule there that the the the British colonialist government left that ethnic uh government in place and when in 1956 when Ghana gained their independence from uh England that ethnic government was there as well. So they established a civil government uh uh that was da but the the the ethnic government the tribal government was

there for all that time. So, literally been in existence for about 400 years. And in this uh in this uh district area there there's a it's it's called the uh fonty ethnic group. And so that all the folks there, the 122,000 folks are all part of the same ethnic group, but they have what they call traditional areas. And that's where their tribal groups break out in terms of of kingdoms. And this this area uh or this district actually comprises three different fonti kingdoms there. And so there's the aeu traditional area which is you see is down the southern part and comprises two of those uh subd districts. There's the abura traditional area which is in the middle part of that. And then there's Kwanske which is in the northeastern part. The the the uh uh paramount that's what they call their kings. The paramed that came and visited us was from that southern area from the from the Aibbu traditional area and that area is actually relatively comparable to the city of Zena in size. We're about 28 30,000 people that those two subdists comprise about 44,000 people. uh and it actually was the uh the the the uh the paramount or the king of that area that was the one that came to us and said I would like to establish the sister city relationship. We couldn't do that because the the the the sister city program doesn't allow you to do that with tribal groups that it requires you to set up the relationship with the civil government. So that's why we signed a document at the at the higher level at the district level. But uh the one who's really interested in terms of having this relationship with us is the paramount of that area there. Uh if you look down your on the bottom of that page, I I tried to show a comparison of what that looks like in terms of government. So on the right, you see on the US at the at the top level, we have

presidents in the Congress at the country. At the next layer is at at the Ohio we have the governor and the legislature. Then at the county level we have commissioners and then we have the city council in and at Zena at the municipal level from the the dominant civil structure they have a president parliament that's elected. So they elect their parliament they elect their president their their regional level um their president appoints their uh regional minister. Okay? So he's not elected that's at like the state level. he's appointed by the president, but they do have what's called a coordinating council, which is elected by their people at that level. And then at the sub at the district level, they have what's called a district chief executive. And that's Daniel, who we signed the documents with. He's also appointed by the president. So the party that's in charge appoints both at the regional level and at the district level. And if a new president comes in, they switch. The new president will will bring in all folks from his party. They also have a district assembly that's elected at that level too. And then if you look down at the Asibu and the Mory sub uh district levels, they they have what's called subdist councils. I I would count I would equate those more to township level type councils that in terms of the level of types of things they do. Now on the on the ethnic side at the national level, this is with their constitution. They had what's called a national house of chiefs. And so each of their tribal groups has a chief who is the representative of that and he sits at the national council level. Uh at the at the regional level they have what's called a regional house of chiefs. And once again they have uh each of the region has a number of of chiefs that comprise that. The next tier down is at the subdist level. Okay. And that's where you have the boot paramount chief and they have the traditional council there. That traditional council

is made of all of the chiefs of the villages there and uh their what they call their paramount chief is the one that they uh has been and he's not elected. He's actually uh appointed by by uh the lineage that they have and that's a maternal lineage not a not a paternal. So that means the the current king when he passes on his sons will not be king. It's his mother, the chief mother picks on the maternal side, which would be from her brothers, her nephews. There's very interesting uh selection process there that goes on. Now, [clears throat] the other thing we discovered there is that there everyone is part of a of a of a tribal group. Everybody in Ghana and all the land in Ghana is owned by by the Paramount Chiefs. So in Ghana, you don't purchase land and build a building. You actually lease your land from the Paramount Chief and then you build your building, but it's only for a 99-year lease or a sub lease, and you have to renew that lease. So the Chiefs and the Paramount Chiefs have a lot of influence because they actually own all the land in Ghana in trust for their people, which is very different from us, right? So if you take over your next picture, we've got a picture there of the district chief exe executive that was Daniel Wardy and he was the one that signed with us in terms of this the sister city program. And the bottom of that page you see we have the actual picture of us doing the the signing of that of those documents there that we took over with us. Uh the next page we have um uh a picture of of his um uh staff and and and basically at the district level it operates very similar to city level where where they have a finance director, budget director, they'll have u uh legal advisor, they'll have public service, all the police, all those types of things worked for the district district chief executive. So,

we met with all of those folks uh during that time and they actually gave us a tour of the district uh the next day. We're able to go out and actually uh see from one end of the district to the other uh a look at that. Now, the next page what you see is the paramount chief of the Cebu uh tribal. So, this is the uh Okatakei uh he he is the chief and he was the one that came and visited us here in Zena. He happened to be in Columbus at the time

and he came here to have a visit with us. And at the bottom of that picture, you see um there was uh uh when we went to his palace, he actually had the Xenia City flag that we had presented to him. He had it flying out there, which was pretty cool to actually see that uh there at his at his residence. You'll see he has the Ghana flag and then he has the uh Seb traditional council flag flying there as well, too. Um the next picture you have there is we he invited us. So the first day we spent with the civil government at the district level. The next day we went for the silver jubilee celebration of the king and uh that was the four of us that were there. Uh professor Dweybe was went with us and he's done a great job coordinating with us. He's professor of economics at Central State University and he has a dual citizenship between Ghana and the United States and he's a very good liaison for us in this endeavor. Uh the bottom picture I I put that in just a it it was uh that celebration the king invited all the other kings from within the district as well as the kings from the districts around him. All of their chiefs and their people. There was probably about 3,000 people were there at that day of the celebration and about the only civil folks outside of that that weren't chiefs or sub chiefs and those kind of things were the three of us. And the the king uh really wanted to make a position that to his people to say this is I I am authorizing this as a relationship with us and uh so he had us sitting right there with his chiefs and we got to observe all that celebration. And at the end of that um celebration, he called us up uh and it went for about six hours of celebration and a lot of a lot of presentations and he gave the city a uh a gift. And this is uh sorry Wes don't put that front over

here. Good. How's

that? [laughter] Right down. in in Ghana when a new king is uh brought on he's uh he's not uh uh kned or blessed he's and seated on each each tribe has has a stool. So he's called it's called being in stoolled and their tradition is that uh 400 years ago that a golden stool was given to their first king and the tradition has been ever since then when a new king comes he is sat on the tribal uh stool and uh that that actually uh gives him his authority to be king of the area. And so, uh, the the Paramount chief here had his folks build a replica of his stool and he presented that to the city of Zema. And so, that's a big deal for the people in Ghana. That that represents a lot of authority from that perspective. And Professor Dwbeg said that normally they only present those to heads of state, you know, a visiting head of state of a country. and uh they actually presented that to us here as a city of Zenaia. So that was a very special gift in in the presence of all the other kings and the chiefs of the area not only of our district but the but the other districts as well too. So that was a that was a very that was a very meaningful moment for us you know to have that present at that time. Um the next page is when when folks came into that it was it was a it was an amazing procession. They had everybody on these uh uh I don't know Faith, what would you call those? Uh what they were seated on?

I don't know, but I want one. [laughter] That's right. So, all of the all of their kings and major chiefs came in and the regalia, their native regalia and uh uh it was it was very very impressive time and it was amazing that it's like a little couch and they're carried on somebody's head, right? They bring them in.

Yeah. So, it was it was a very impressive time. uh Sunday, a Sunday after that, uh the the uh Paramount Chief had a worship service and uh he's he's a believer in Christ and he uh had five of the local pastors come to uh do a service and and in their culture those go about four hours. So we had a lot of worship time and teaching time and four hours was only one because if you remember it was first um the Methodist pastor was an hour 15 minutes. Right. And after that was the bishop and he was an hour 25 minutes. Right.

Then the Pentecostal got up for 4 hours. Right. Right. Yeah. And it was 99 that day with 100% [laughter] humidity. We just we didn't seem like four hours. Come on. [clears throat] Well, it's cuz [laughter] we passed out from heat stroke. That's right. So, but he invite everybody from the district to come. There's a large attendance and uh I'm I'm a pastor as well. So, he he gave me an opportunity to share to speak, right? So, it went nine hours. [laughter]

So, the last picture I have down the bottom is us there with some of the some of the the Paramount Chiefs. uh tribal chiefs that were there at the at the service while they wanted the picture with us. So that's that's what's down there at the bottom of the picture. And then your very last picture is this is a very special picture that nobody else will have. That's the picture of the uh of uh that's a picture of the presidential palace. So just [laughter] make sure you folks had an opportunity to see that as well. Very good. the other we had two other special presentations that were given to us.

And and I just say when we showed up at the district uh the district offices, you want to help me? Yeah, I will. Right in front of their building, this is what they had. Hilarious. Nobody has TV.

So let's go through these guys first. So that this is this is what uh was hanging outside the building today only. [laughter] I'll show it to you guys. They had asked for our pictures. We didn't know what they wanted them for. That's right. That it's hilarious. Yeah. So um this this is uh Daniel who's the district chief executive and uh Felix here is the regional uh guy there as well. So uh and then they had us as well too. So anyways that was their greeting to us

and we spent that was the day we spent with them right because we went to see their hospital and um they we saw their career center. We went Yep. We wanted to see what a school looked like because we had talked about going to a national park and we said we could see a park anytime. We really want to see how you're educated, what your health care is like. We went by the fire department to see that. We went out in the bush. We went out to see uh where people live, what it's like, what their resources are, um what their struggles are, um what their blessings are. I mean, they were so proud. So, we spent that whole day doing that instead, right? which is which is important.

And then we we got another uh gift here. So that it's the AA KD that's the district there and they said for city of Zenaia and then the friendship there as well. So they they they gave this to us when we signed when we signed the document. They gave us this as well too as a remembrance of the of the document being signed. Um the uh the last item that they gave us help. Yeah. So they [clears throat] said we' given them a flag, right? And so they wanted us to have a flag as well, too. So uh

Yeah. Yeah. So this is the flag of the traditional council, not the district. So this is the flag representing the king's people [clears throat] there which he flies at his palace. I'll show this to you guys as well. And so he presented us with this flag here as well too. Yeah. Okay.

So um you know I think it was it was a very beneficial trip for the three of us to go really get the first taste of their community and culture. Um, but uh a next step would be for us to invite them to come over here. And one recommendation I had is that a good time would be right in the middle of February when it's snowing. I'm just joking. We don't want [laughter] they could see something they haven't seen before, right? So, uh, I think, you know, this year with the 250th anniversary of the signing of the of us becoming a nation, thought that would be a great time to invite them to come over during our celebration. you know, we'll have a great opportunity to celebrate here in in town as well as through the county and the state and those kind of things. So, that might be a really good time to invite them to come back over, but to continue the relationship is more than just signing the documents, right? There's a context of how do we actually start interacting culturally and in other ways. So, my uh one of the recommendations I met with the the king and he said it would be good on their side if they set up a a sister city commission or committee uh that would be working with [clears throat] us. And the and the king really said, "Hey, I know you signed these documents with the the district level, but I really want to establish this relationship with you from my my tribal authority perspective." So, we have an opportunity to do that both from the civil as well as the tribal side. Uh Daniel was very, you know, he obviously they they were very very excited about doing this as well too. But uh uh so but I think we need to have a similar kind of group set up here at the city side as well too that needs to be chartered by the city council. Uh and whether it's a I don't know if it's a standing committee or a new commission or however that is, but it probably should have some membership of folks, you know, from our medical community, from our educational community. uh especially the universities that we have here from the

faith community and and the king said he would really like to have a faith component in terms of that relationship uh established. So we have the min ministerial association here uh in the city that we could invite to be part of that uh the library uh those kind of things. So I you know I would just I would just postulate that that might be a next step for us to get that set up. obviously have participation from the council and the staff, but participation from a number of folks in the community as well and start working out what those next steps in that relationship look like. So, yeah. And so Faith was there for the whole thing and she can give you plenty of information on that. But it was a it was [clears throat] a remarkable trip for us to I don't know when else you would have an opportunity to go participate in in the activities that the king had had going on and his blessing to us to his people say I really want to see this established and working well too. Yeah. So great. Thanks you guys.

So two questions. Okay. Were you able to get that on the airplane to come back? Yeah. So, this [laughter] this is just the size of carry-on luggage. Perfect. So, we we we wrapped it up and we took it to the airport. You have to go through Gonnie's screening. And when they sent it through the X-ray, the the gentleman at the X-ray machine said, "This is a stool." And to him, that meant this is a sign of authority. And so his next question is, "What are you doing with it?" [laughter] Great. So great. So unfortunately the king had given us a document and said he given it to us, right? But I was going to say, is that real gold there? I know we could chip that off.

But then when we [laughter] everybody gets a piece of when we went through the second, but when you're overseas, you have to go through a TSA screening as well, too. And when we did that, they made us unwrap it because they didn't have a x-ray machine. We had unwrap it. And but it was it was a Donnie woman who was hired by the TSA and when she saw that she almost wept. She said this is a stool.

And they really reverence that within their society. So for for them to do that and present that to us is is a is a is a real it's a very it's a big honor to us as a city, right? And the other thing I would recommend is I think we need to establish some place down stairs where we have a display of these items so people can see these things, you know, as they come and as whatever this commission or however you guys want to work with us uh wants to communicate this to the community as well, but but so people can come and see these these items as well too. So very good. Thank you very much. Thanks for that presentation and so thankful that you had safety

uh traveling both there and back. So again thanks um will for that presentation. Our next part of the agenda is audience comments. This is portion of the meeting where the public can give us input, submit their comments or questions to the council. Keep in mind this is not a question and answer session. It is an opportunity for you to engage the council and um at this time we'll open the floor. If you would care to come and address council, come to the podium, give us your name and address for the record and we would ask you limit your comments to 3 minutes. Going once, going twice. Yep. Come on up.

There's somebody's name on the list ahead of mine, so I wasn't going to was going to be the first to jump up. Um, Parin Oscar, my name's on there. I don't feel comfortable putting that on YouTube, but or my address, sorry. Um, wanted to hit on on three things. One, I wanted to cover um, kind of what happened in the December 22nd meeting. Um, you [snorts] had pretty full house. Roughly half was here presumably for tax levy reasons. Uh, the other half was for the Forest Ridge issue. Um when it came time for this part of the meeting for audience comment, it was noted, hey, if you got comments on forest ridge or taxes, you know, we'll have time for comment later on. So, um those comments are all held. Um and then so nobody stood up and said anything who had something to say. Roughly 12 names on the list say six of them were for that purpose. um when it came to the point of having an open discussion about that the issue was not even tabled and thus everybody was then you know had no more opportunity to actually say anything. So I just want to point out um and I know this is you know council looks a little bit different than it did 3 weeks ago. Um I would I would ask and and urge as well to keep that in mind um as as we proceed here over the next year. Um, so on the income tax issue, I don't see how that is expected to fix anything. Um, some of the things that came up in that meeting is you had 30 I think I understood this correctly, so if I'm wrong, just say it, but you've got 30% of the filers paying that $1.8 million bill. Okay? So [snorts] it's going to discourage those third that 30% from you know staying here you know just general discouragement first

off secondly the the businesses then also which you know we've got two partially full or mostly you know somewhere between half and completely empty industrial parks that's another discouragement um to to actually grow the area. Um something else that came out in the meeting was well that the a lot of the work to recover that 1.8 8 million had already been done quite frankly. Um the 911 call center was expected to cover I think it was 600k. Um the back taxes that are now being collected on the properties that were um you know foreclosed on essentially um and given to um owners or sold to owners not investors. Um and so there you're looking at roughly you know I think it was roughly half. Now, obviously the the taxes aren't all of that is not an annual thing, but nonetheless, that's roughly half the bill. And then, um, you know, throw in, you know, updated payments from Central State on their water bill, and we're already over halfway there, rough math, right? So, I I think a lot of the work was done, but then it was just the easy solution was put it back on the levy or put it on put it on the ballot again. So less than what, 3 weeks, four weeks after the people voted and said no, he gets put back on the ballot again for May. This is no different than a child asking for a cookie. You tell him no. Then he comes back again and asks, "No, you still haven't had dinner. No, you cannot have, you know, it's so it's, you know, something of um thorough harassment to put it on a bill or to put on a the ballot every single time it comes up. Um, not to mention exploiting the distinction between the 70% that aren't paying any the taxes and

the 30% that are left to foot the bill. Um, so I ask that, you know, in the future we we consider that and maybe maybe at least a year um before some the exact same um issue gets put on a ballot. Thank you. Thank you very much. Who else would care to come forward at this time?

All right. Very good. Thank you, sir. So, normally we don't comment after an audience comment, but in perspective, I do want to let you know that no one was shut down to speak on behalf of the reciprocity. The reason why um audience comments were asked to go to the public hearing is to specifically speak on that agenda item during the public hearing. Just like we had a public hearing for uh Timber Ridge, not Forest Ridge, it's Timber Ridge. So um and because that that failed then that moved on to the next item. So the vote for reciprocity was actually not tabled. It was denied. We we as council rejected that. So there was no need for public comments at that time. However, thank you for speaking tonight under audience comments for that and we'll consider that as well. Um, and as far as Central State for um making themselves whole with water funds, those cannot be used for road funds. Water funds are specifically uh designed for the water department uh and sanitation. So, we can't use that for roads. So, just wanted to bring that to the table for you.

Yeah, that that's a law by the state. So, and it does get a little bit mirrored in there. So, um, as far as the, uh, levy request, um, um, our road issue is not fixed. Um, there's a band-aid this year. We've pushed back some capital improvements, uh, to create a little bit of money. Um, but the majority of council feels there's still a need. Uh, the need to fix our roads is still there. Um, so we're going to give, um, our citizens another opportunity to vote. They can vote yes, they can vote no. That's on their decision. And um so we'll have some community forums on that and invite the public to come and do what you did tonight and give us your input. So thank you very much for being here tonight to speak on that. Um I guess there's no one else. So we're going to go ahead and move on to old business. Our first item tonight is ordinance 2025-39. Um, this is to be remain tabled and that will move us on to new business which is ordinance 2026-01. We're seeking an introduction tonight authorizing the execution of a lease agreement for the western portion of the first floor of Zenaia Station building. This is located at 151 Miami Avenue to Cava House in Zena. And at this time, we'll turn the floor over to Mr. Marman.

Thank you, sir. The Zenia station facility was originally designed to host a retail presence uh in the building. Uh yet this never came to fruition and since uh construction, a large portion of the building has been underutilized. Uh staff believes that a regular presence in the facility would benefit park users and enhance security uh thereby attracting additional visitors and keeping the park safer for our community. uh multiple uh attempts have been made to secure a tenant by issuing requests for proposals and while interest from business community was expressed at least never uh materialized for for the purpose. Uh recently staff engaged with Cava House Zena which is seeking to expand and suggested that perhaps Zena station building um uh might be an opportunity and after some extensive discussion and negotiation a uh mutually beneficial agreement was tenatively uh reached. uh the tenant opt this tenant option for Zenaia station was discussed with uh council's property management committee at its July 10th 2025 meeting and then subsequently council expressed um some uh support uh when we uh discuss some of the terms with council as well. So at this point um we are uh coming this evening with the ordinance recommending introduction and consideration of the lease agreement with um Caba House uh Zenaia LLC uh with the terms and conditions as provided to you and recommend introduction of that ordinance this evening.

All right, very good questions for um our city manager on this agreement. All right, this time we're seeking an introduction. Who would care to introduce that? I'll move to introduce.

Thank you. Move for introduction by Mayor Reynolds. Our next item is also an introduction seeking ordinance 2026-02. This is amending the official zoning map at the city of Zena to reszone an approximately 65 acre property on Vine Street located between 693 Vine Street and 38 North Orange Street. will um this will be changed from R2 two family residential district to a B3 general business district. We'll turn the floor back over to Mr. Mayorman.

I should apologize in advance. I'm getting over a cold, so I'm going to sniffle my way through this. I have all these agenda items tonight, of course. So, um the property in question um for the requested action is a vacant lot with frontage on Vine Street and on the hill adjacent to West Main Street. The property sits between the B3 zone, Tim Hortons, and a single family home. the applicant and property owner intends to either sell the lot or develop a business on the property upon [clears throat] staff use. Um we believe that the proposed resoning matches the existing uh zoning district to the east and provides an opportunity for an additional business adjacent to Tim Horton's um or a larger commercial redevelopment project could be facilitated. We note that the adjacent Tim Horton's property is currently for sale. Uh council was provided with a staff report to the planning and zoning commission for additional information which includes analysis of the resoning according to applicable criteria in our land development code. Planning and [snorts] zoning commission voted to recommend approval of this resoning after holding a public hearing at their meeting on December 10th of last year. Um so this evening we recommend introduction of the ordinance so the issue might be considered by the full council.

All right. Thank you, Mr. Mayorman. I'll open the floor for questions for Mr. Mayorman on this. Any of my colleagues have any questions? All right, we are not having any questions. So, at this time, I'll ask for uh an introduction. Who would care to introduce this? I'll do that. Thank you. Introduced by Councilwoman Sice. Our next item is resolution 2026-001. This is approving the final plat authorizing the execution of of a subdivider agreement with Arnold Development for the Summerbrook South Subdivision known as section 6B. We'll turn the floor back over to Mr. Mayorman.

Thank you, sir. Uh, resolution 2026-001 concerns the fourth and final phase of the Summerbrook South subdivision. The project is a 30.052 acre um, uh, subdivision consisting of 60 single family home lots and one open space lot. The proposed subdivision would extend Marbella Court, Ashbrook Lane, and Brook Lane, which would be renamed Connor Drive later. um uh extending this from section 6A along the require along with the required utilities. It will also add a 12.342 acres um to the private HOA maintained open space in Summerbrook South creating a continuous greenway um with an asphalt walking path along the old uh Old Town Creek um from Kinsey Mound Reserve to Stevenson Road. Note that this final phase is consistent with the most recently approved PUD concept plan for this site and that was accepted by the planning and zoning commission um at their meeting on April 7th of 2022. Uh council has been provided with a staff report um given to the planning and zoning commission and the record plan which provide uh both additionally provide uh the information um on the the whole um final phase. um include with that analysis of the final plat uh as it applies to the criteria with our land development code. Reviews of the plat construction plans have been completed by our planning and zoning division, our engineering division and fire and EMS division on all are in concurrence and support. Uh planning and zoning commission uh voted to recommend council approve the final plat and final PUD plan uh based on the information as presented. So the applicant has subsequently obtained approval from the city engineer for the road and utility construction plans associated with the plaque. So this evening we are recommending approval of the resolution um to authorize this uh final section. [snorts]

Thank you very much. Questions for Mr. Mayorman? I have one. Yeah. I can't tell on the map here. I just want to double check. Does the walking path connect to the old walking path that they have installed? Yes, I believe so. Correct. I can tell from the map. Thank you. So question for um Brian. So, there's some infrastructure improvements going on right now in Somerbrook. As you go on Highlander to the right, this is an this is a different project. Is that correct? Coming from which direction on Highland? Um, if I'm going turning on Kinsey Road and I'm going down Highlander. Okay. Highlander North.

This section is in that direction. Um there is section 6A uh was just finished and um and [snorts and clears throat] this section is basically continuation of that. So you're probably seeing work um finishing up that section 6A. Okay. So this is 6P. So my question they're they're doing some work in there now. Is this is this this project right here? Okay. They might be they might be doing some preliminary grading possibly. Okay. Very good. I I haven't been out there recently, so I can't speak specifically to what you're talking about. Okay. So,

what can you give me a like the nature of the infrastructure work? I haven't been out there to see it. Is it It's not utility work or they're putting in a road right now. Yeah. So, I guess I guess my question just to be transparent. So, I need to ask the law director. So, my wife and I are possibly thinking of moving that direction. I just want to make sure a vote tonight is not an ethical violation for tonight. I'm sorry, I didn't hear you. Okay. So, if this in this proposal, my wife and I are possibly looking at moving downsizing to a smaller home in the subdivision here.

But you haven't negotiated negotiated any There's no contract. No, not right now. No, I would say you don't have an ethics um issue at this point. If you are more comfortable abstaining, you are certainly welcome to do that. Okay, great. Thank you. I just want to be transparent. Yeah, I mean to answer your question, I mean, I'm guessing the work that you're seeing is work that is in section 6A. Yeah, Ashbrook where Ashbrook kind of goes [clears throat] into it. There's some correct going on because that's off to the right. Yeah, if they're coming down Highlander and this will be off to the right as well, but the work is not authorized to begin on this section yet.

So, they'll get done with section and then they'll go to that 6, right? Okay. Just just making sure. No, cuz this this stuff pops up quick and you're like, "Okay, well, when did that come?" Section 6A was recently recorded [clears throat] platted. Great. So, lots have been All right. Thank you very much. Okay. All right. Any questions for Mr. forer from [clears throat] city council this time. Okay, great. Any other comments for Mr. Mayorman? No. All right. At this time, we're going to go ask for roll call. This is approving the final. Yeah. Just introduction resolution 20261. Motion to I move to approve resolution 2026001. Correct. Mhm.

All right. Second that. All right. That's correct. We have a motion and a second. All right. Now we're asking for a roll call for approval of this resolution. Thank you for clarifi. Councilwoman Huffman. I. Councilman Rubio. Hi. Mayor Reynolds. Hi. President Smith. Abstain. Motion carries. All right. Thank you very much. Next on the agenda is resolution 2026002. This is supporting the city of Zenius application to the Ohio Department of Development for residential economic development district grant program. So we'll turn the floor back over to Mr. Mayorman.

Thank you sir. Fair warning, kind of a long introduction here, but this is a new program to you and to us. So, I want to make sure we're kind of covering all the bases. Um uh as the expectation um of council has been established that we would continue to consistently seek new opportunities to bring grant funding opportunities to the city, um our staff continues to look for new opportunities. Uh one such opportunity that we've identified is the residential economic development district or red program, uh which is uh a program that was just passed by the Ohio General Assembly in the state's 2025 bienium budget. Uh this program awards grants to support the creation of workforce housing near major economic development projects across the state. Approximately $10 million in funding is available for this pilot project or this pilot program uh on a statewide basis um for this first award period. A quote major economic development project is defined as a project that is expected to create at least 700 jobs andor $700 million in private investments in new or existing buildings, machinery, equipment, furniture, fixtures, or inventory. [snorts] Further, a red project is defined as all parcels of land within a 20 mile radius of a major economic development project. Uh the grant program material specifically identified a number of projects um that were initiated between 2015 and 2025 that are within 20 mi of Zenia. So reference projects um [laughter] that include the Amazon data services uh uh project in Jeffersonville, which is a $10 billion investment and,58 jobs. two Air Force Life Cycle Management Center projects totaling 2558 jobs. D-Max Limited in Morraine, which is a billion dollar investment, 814 jobs. Fuya Glass America Incorporated Morraine, which is $131 million investment, 750 jobs. And Gabriel Brothers Incorporated Springfield, which is a $98 million investment, 833 jobs. We note also that while not specifically listed in the grant materials, the LH uh battery company, which was a joint venture between LG and Honda, is investing 3.5 billion in dollars in an EV battery

manufacturing plant in Jeffersonville, which is projected to employ 2,200 employees and again is within 20 m of Zenya. This with the noted projects above would seem to well position Zena for a possible grant opportunity. Uh the RED program can provide between a4 million and $2.5 million to assist with a broad range of capital site preparation, infrastructure, and service cost to support a housing development of at least 100 units. The program requires recipient communities to implement pro housing development policies such as zoning andor incentives that eliminate barriers to developing housing, particularly high density developments. The grant does not mandate that housing meet a specific affordability metric, but higher scores would be given to projects with greater density uh of housing. Uh small building setbacks and public assistance with fees, studies, or infrastructure. Uh the housing development project must be relatively imminent. In other words, there must be site control and a developer in place. Uh and funds must be spent um associated with this program uh by January 31st of 2027. Given all of these factors, uh, staff felt the residential components of the Zena Market District project would be a great fit for the red program. Approximately 296 units are planned in the market district, including near-term town homes and longerterm multif family uh, and mixeduse buildings. The the project's approved density as well as the public private partnership in place should allow the market district to score well for this uh, competitive grant. Uh, so the city is requesting 1.8 uh, one just over $1.8 $8 million as described in your agenda report uh and grant funds to cover on-site utilities, earth work, and paving for the residential phases. Um staff will um document the city's contributions to date to support the market district project in the grant application. Uh the gr grant uh funds would expedite the residential components of the market district project and free up developer developer and city resources for future phases uh helping to ensure a high level of quality in the development. Uh we believe this grant assistance could help overcome initial housing project funding

barriers and reduce any potential builder hesitancy on these early phases of housing. Uh because this type of of housing doesn't exist in Zenaia today. And so we're we're trying [snorts] to just remove barriers. Um expedited development will have the added benefit of of um accelerating payments of tip revenues to cover the city's uh debt service associated with the market district. So uh we also want to note quickly finally that uh no local matching funds are required with this grant program. So, uh, the red grant, uh, program application deadline is January 16th. Um, if awarded, the grant period [snorts] will be from February 1st of this year to January 31st, 2027. Uh, if the city does not receive the grant, well, there'll be another opportunity to apply for the program in FY27. So, we request request approval of the resolution this evening to authorize the application and then if uh so authorized, we'll apply and let you know how we how we fare.

Thank you, Mr. Fairman. All right. At this time, I'll open the floor for any questions for Mr. Mayorman. Yes, sir. Two comments. One, uh, due to my job, I have to abstain to the state of Ohio. Second one is I just want to say thank you to Representative Adam Matthews. This is what he had sent over to you and contacted me about this program. I'm excited for it. Uh, I think it's a great opportunity for us. I'm just happy that uh, we're getting forward moving on it. And I know that he will be excited to hear about this if it passes tonight. So, thank you, Representative Adam Matthews from Warren County for this. All right. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor Reynolds, for that and uh thank you for um stating your position as far as abstaining. So, we understand that. Very good. Um any other questions? Yes, sir. Yes, ma'am.

Just it seems like a great opportunity. What are the requirements for it to be workforce housing? There are none. So, there are no actual um you know, in terms of the the housing pricing and so forth. It's more focused on density. So, it can be and you know, we're looking in terms of the types of housing we would have in market districts. Some would be uh higher value town homes. We're also looking at much denser, more market rate housing. Um, and so, you know, there'll there'll be an opportunity for a variety of price price points. Great. Okay. Thank you. Mhm. Very good. Thank you. Any other questions? All right. This time, we'll seek a motion of support for resolution 2026-2. I'll make a motion. Thank you. Moved by Councilwoman Huffman. Do we have a second? Second.

Seconded by Councilman Rubio. Very good. If there's no other additional questions or concerns, we'll ask for a roll call, please. Councilwoman Sice, I. Councilwoman Huffman, I. Councilman Rubio, I. Mayor Reynolds, abstain. President Smith. I. Motion carries. Thank you very much. Next on our agenda is appointed officials reports. We'll go ahead and start with Mr. Duke.

Thank you, Mr. President. Uh I should have to council uh by the end of next week um my monthly financial report that will recap um the 2025 year. 2025 was a a good year. We uh actually out u out outperformed uh our projections and where we expected to be. Um so there were a variety of good things that happened. I think from an operational standpoint uh we're on very stable footing obviously. Um we've talked to Nazium over the last few years about streets and um a need for capital dollars and so uh we're still going to have to find solutions for that particular issue. But from an operation standpoint um the the dollars, the revenues and and the expenses uh are in pretty um in pretty good state. And so uh I'll have that report to to the council uh like I said hopefully by the end of next week with some details on how we ended 2025. Uh we're also going to get together um myself and the city manager um his staff and and mine uh and talk through projections. And so included in that report will be an updated uh 5-year projection model. Uh we'll want to get with uh council as the budget committee uh becomes established. Um and those u the council members are assigned to that committee uh to start to work through priorities in in pretty short order for the uh for the upcoming uh 2027 year. So, um always in in budget and planning cycle, but uh that information should be updated and uh give you a pretty good idea of how we ended 25 and where we're headed uh for uh for the future financially. So, uh look for that in your email boxes next week. That's all I have.

All right. Thank you. Any questions or comments for Mr. Duke? All right. Thank you, Madam Law Director. What do you have for us? Uh just one thing tonight. Welcome to our two new council members. Um I did want to make a note just for the public. We normally do the swearing ends um at the first council meeting in January. Um our three our two new council members and our new mayor are all official. Uh Mayor Reynolds was administered his oath by the governor. Um our two new council members were administered their oath by the city clerk. Um so everybody is official. We just did not do uh ceremonial swearings in this evening. But just so the audience is aware and that [snorts] was all I had.

All right. Very good. and and like to welcome you and thank your family for being here for your support tonight as well. [laughter] All right. Very good. Anyone have anything for um our law director this evening? All right. Thank you very much. All right, Mr. Mayor.

Thank you. Just want to echo that sentiment to our new mayor and new council members. Hope you enjoy your four-year sentence. I mean term. Um, no. It it takes a special uh in this day and age a special um sense of duty and leadership um to to put your name in and step forward because the problems are many and the solutions are few. So, appreciate your commitment to our community. Um, first I want to just speak uh uh for a moment. Um, we've gotten a little bit of um publicity concerning um the city's relationship with Central State University and provision of services and um some of the payment issues and so forth. Uh just want to lay out a few of the facts. um just you know for public consumption and kind of what the pathway forward looks like. Um just a reminder to our general public that the city has provided water and sewer services um to Central State University in some capacity um for many decades since the 1970s. Um

since the 1950s

really yes um under under more modern contracts since the 1970s and we've been the exclusive provider for 25 30 years of those utilities. Uh we've also been providing uh fire and EMS services for the past I think 17 or 18 years. Um so we're um an important service provider. They're a part of our community, have been a part of our community, part of our economic marketplace. Um so they're a an entrenched well established um you know um uh factor for us economically and socially. Um we have over the years um had different concerns with billing issues. Some of those were litigated back in the early 2000s. Um, and we've had some ongoing concerns um, in recent years. Um, one of the problems that we faced is that while we have been a a service provider, we have had no standing contracts. And out of good faith, the city has been uh, charged me and our appointed officials over the last few years with trying to get to a more permanent disposition when it comes to um, this service relationship. Um so council instructed um us instructed me last December as in December of 2024 to serve notice that the city um would seek to end services unless some type of a replacement arrangement was reached before the end of 2025. Um it is well documented with the city we've made a lot of attempts not just last year but over the preceding decade during my time as city manager to try to engage the university and other officials to say hey we need to come to some form of long-term arrangement. We have of course prior councils have taken actions to begin to initiate an annexation process because we really do feel with an objective and analysis that annexation is best for both the university and the city. It provides continuity of services for everyone and predictability for those services. It provides additional tax base for the city. It reduced cost for the university because it eliminates the fees they pay today for fire and EMS service and would reduce their water and sewer uh bill. that would help their bottom line and of course in their state

of of of financial watch uh reducing their overhead cost would of course be very valuable. Um so there's net benefit um to both to both institutions to see a long-term arrangement. I might add that there's no absolutely no adverse effect to the other political jurisdiction that would be impacted and that's Zena Township. There's no tax base established from the university because it's all public property. So they get no property tax. So there's no adverse implication for um for the township. Um so we have been working over this past year to try to advance the uh the annexation conversation. Um and u we've arrived of course with council actions at the end of last year to extend a time frame um through the first three months of this year um to try to get that football across the goal line and see if we can't arrive at some type of of more permanent conclusion. Um there are some issues with uh some outstanding payment. Some of that is a little bit confusing because of some other dynamics and I think the finance director would be better positioned to maybe speak on that.

Yeah. So there there was a a payment that was applied to Central State's account that was actually for a grant. Um we have issue $2 that came in for a water man over on Country Club. that line services central state and the way that that check was labeled and coming in from the state, it said CSU water um and it was misapplied to their utility account rather than into the grant revenue line um uh on our books. So that was cpped. Um once it did, we notified central state, hey, there was a credit to your account um and so this is going to be removed because it actually needed to be applied to the grant. And so a portion of the delinquency is related to that. Now, it's not the entire delinquency and I'd be lying if I said that they were current prior to that um you know being misapplied. So that's not necessarily the rationale or the reason uh that there's a delinquency, but it did contribute to the amount of the delinquency. Um and so we've corrected that. We're working with them to correct it. They came in and made a payment uh this week. Um, and I will say, uh, as the state of Ohio, the director of administrative services, uh, their office has been involved, the state auditor has been involved. Uh, we are, uh, we are cooperating with them. They're collaborating with us. There's communication and they are working to try to get those things current. And so, there is an effort, uh, by the university and those tasks with trying to straighten out some of the long-standing issues, uh, to get some of these things resolved. So, I feel like we are making progress in the right direction. Um and uh and so all's not been resolved, but I do think we're trending in a positive direction.

And I would just add to that that um as directed by council, we've been trying to work with all parties associated with what is necessary [clears throat] to arrive at a long-term conclusion. And that includes the director of um Department of Administrative Services, Kathleen Matt, and it includes the um uh Chancellor Duffy from the uh uh the Ohio Higher Education, Department of Higher Education. And so we've been working with key state officials um uh as we've reported to council. Um I think there's evidence to demonstrate that um state officials understand the value. Um but there is a process that the state needs to go through to give the university clearance to move forward. Um what's been noted as we've had those discussions is there's no playbook here. This is kind of a first of its kind one-off. Um all other um state uh universities are and municipalities today have these services provided. So there's a host of unique uh conditions that are are being evaluated from a legal standpoint on how to pursue. Um and then there's just a lot of unique circumstances um given all of the uh service issues and you know trying to determine how best to move forward. So um I'm convinced that the parties you know want to find a resolution. Uh we uh I think I think I can speak on behalf of council saying that you know we're looking for a long-term resolution that benefits everybody. Um Central State's not going to go anywhere. um and they're working to restore order to their financial house and that gives us confidence that um you know that they're going to be not only a going interest but a growing interest moving forward. So um be happy to answer any questions the council might have on the status of things we have provided to the university the law director through their legal counsel uh the pre-annexation agreement and um

they have the extra territorial um extr territorial utility service agreement that you authorized in December. There's also outstanding a uh scattera access and maintenance agreement. Um we had that mostly done before the end of the year, but we held up to see if we were going to extend the provision of water services. And that's just equipment. Um it's monitoring equipment that we put on their lines to monitor if they'd have a break or something that that could affect our system. So we've got all three of those things in play right now. The reference in the last one is that's part of the H2 Ohio grant that the Ohio EPA was awarding us to be able to buy that equipment to to monitor their water system better to connect to our water plant SCADA. Um and there are also funds uh associated with that grant um to do the assessment of their water and sewer systems. Um and again um after after discussion, we wanted to wait on expending any of those grant funds till we knew what the status of the situation was going to be. So again, I've given the public service director the directive to move forward with that skater piece at least preliminarily because there's some benefit to getting that uh equipment installed in terms of protection for our system as well. So um

so would you say just to bring people up to speed on this? So we met with Central State over the summer, you were in that meeting

and um basically there's three alternatives for them. One was the existing contract which we had which basically put the city at risk because they had vein breaks in their facility last year which actually could have caused a public cris health crisis because it could have drained our as their tower was draining pressure dissipates in our city. Correct. So and then that creates additional pressure and problems uh with our infrastructure. Um, so we tried to explain to them that that current arrangement was not acceptable from the city's standpoint. So the the other was annexation, which we've been working on since I know for 10 years being up here. Um, which [snorts] would be annexation, but without us accepting responsibility for their aged infrastructure because we don't have the funds

to put in new new infrastructure for them. They would have to, their water, their Right. And then the third alternative until annexation could be reached at the right terms for the city would be the extr territorial agreement which actually now puts us in a better position for collections and fees. Is that correct?

Yeah. And that was part of the challenge with uh the situation previously and and part of why council compelled us to to arrive at a more permanent solution without a an existing uh or an applicable uh service agreement. um we couldn't hold Central State accountable the same way we would our resident customers. We couldn't charge penalty and interest and that's just fundamentally not fair. Um so that is part of the reason that we you know the council directed us to say look we've got to come we've got to come up with a different arrangement here because the current system is not sustainable. So you know and there the other alternative there is a fourth it's just don't provide the service just stop providing it. Well that's just not realistic. the only alternative central state would have there is an existing water line that runs somewhat adjacent to the campus. Um uh the last estimate that I saw to connect the university to that system I think was about a4 million dollars and that was five or six years ago. Um the county commission has been asked and has consistently stated and this is coming from central state and from the county administrator. The county has no interest nor capacity to do that right now. Uh but even if they provided the water service, there's still no sanitary sewer service and by Ohio law, they have to be connected to, you know, a treatment system. So we're within that that urban service overlay. They're part of our overlay system. So they would still be obligated to use us and to to use us. And frankly, we'd probably have an obligation to continue that service, but that still leaves in question their fire and EMS services. And um so there are a host of issues. Um and I understand the reluctance people in our community may have because there have been some hard feelings over over the past. Um but again they're part of our community. Um and I think that what council has discussed is um they're our second largest water customer, right? Or third.

Yeah. They go back and forth between two and three. So, so the you know the the policy question is do you want to continue to pump outside of your municipality the second most water to or third most water to any one user in a in a place where Zen is growing and could use that capacity alternatively for folks that want to live in the city or work or operate a business in the city um or not and you know so that then you arrive at well do we annex so that they are in the city and again that saves Central quite a bit per year provides continuity of their services uh in perpetuity moving forward um and benefits the city by generating additional tax bases tax base that's not available to us today. And again, we've we've put some safeguards in place, things like requirement that the university would have to maintain their police force, so we don't have to necessarily police that. Um that they, as you talked about, Mr. Smith, um that they would have to maintain their own infrastructure. We're not going to accept their roads or their water main or their sewer main. Um but we would work in tandem with them to help uh develop a long-term plan for those things. So, um, we've taken a long hard look at this. This is not a new issue. Um, my predecessor, city manager, had these same conversations about annexation and prior councils arrived at the same conclusion. So, we're just trying to bring this to a more permanent conclusion. I think council steps to offer the um interim extr territorial service agreement is a prudent step. The the university and the state are have demonstrated good faith measures to advance toward that. And so we'll continue to to try to get that executed in the hopes that we can move forward with um some type of annexation action if all if all plans move forward as we project.

Very good. So would you say it was fair when we had our meeting with President Central State Dr. Cudy he basically said give us a little more time. [clears throat] The message is there. We'll get there. His main concern was the health and safety of the students to have water for their basic needs.

And I get that cuz we we had the hard approach that you know come December 31st we could shut your water off. But they have at least demonstrated in my opinion good faith e efforts to come to an agreement with us long term. And I think it's fair to say, President Smith, that um at this juncture, it's not the university holding anything up. I think they're trying to get through the state agencies the necessary approvals to move forward.

So, you know, you don't want to be punitive to the students for something that the university at this juncture can't necessarily control. Now, should maybe some of the stuff been done sooner? That's a fair question. But we are where we are today. Um so, I think, you know, cooler heads prevail here. We're working collaboratively with them, and that's the goal. and and I think on the back side of this, this will be a better arrangement for everybody. I know you said that you've given them go ahead to go ahead and start working on putting those safeguards in place. When would you expect to see those accomplished?

So, we need to get that um access agreement because we're installing some equipment that I guess would technically be the property of the city on theires. So, we need we need the approval to do that. Um, so once we get that, um, we're also working through, um, what essentially we'll do, we'll install equipment that will have a cellular connection that will connect digitally to our water plant. So, we're working through what those cellular connections look like. Uh, but I talked to our service director today. He didn't think that more than 30 to 60 days at most, assuming we can get that um, access agreement signed in pretty short order. He thought we could actually get that installed pretty quickly because the the um, the equipment they're installing is not something that has to be specially ordered necessarily. Yeah. And then on the other piece of that, the um uh the the majority of that H2 Ohio grant funding was intended to do that study of their water system. Um director of DAS and and state officials are very interested in the outcome of that as well because they are actively looking at the state budget to see where resources might be gathered that could be redirected to central state. So, I I do believe there's likely to be an infusion of resources to help deal with fire alarm systems, HBAC systems, IT systems, water, sanitary sewer, all of the core infrastructure of the campus. I'm I'm based on everything I've seen and heard from several different sources, I think the state is taking a very aggressive and a very serious disposition in terms of trying to direct necessary resources to bring the campus infrastructure up to date. um which allays some of our concerns, right? Um and I think positions the university better to attract more students. Um but um the piece that we have then in terms of the um additional grant monies for that um that assessment, we will have to go through a request for a proposal process because it exceeds our it invokes our our bid requirement. Um so I've directed the public service director begin to put the specs together for that. Um and so we'd look in the in the next few weeks to be able to move forward with that as well. So, any other

questions? If not, I have a couple more items I can cover, please.

Okay. Um, I did want to mention, um, we are in the process. I know, you know, I don't follow much on social media. Um, I prefer to actually talk to people. Um, it's a little more real. Um, but I've been told, you know, there are some questions and speculation about on status and and future moving forward with Market District. Um, it's winter season, so a lot of construction does slow down and and I know this is a big and important project for our community and something that council's made a heavy investment in. Um, but I want to allay concerns about any any, you know, the project being stalled. That's not the case at all. Um, we've had some delays in construction because we've had some components of the infrastructure, mostly concrete work, that frankly just was not acceptable. And so, we've been working the uh through a process to have corrective action taken. um that did not allow us to get final course of asphalt down before the when the asphalt uh plants close for the season. So that asphalt work is going to be pushed back till probably April. But you've seen even in the past week additional work going on on site. Um so we're still looking at conclusion of the um public infrastructure um probably first quarter of next year um with the exclusion of the asphalt. We'll get that done as soon as the plants are open. Um, and then we are still on, we have always been projecting that private improvements would start, that vertical construction on private improvements would start in 2026 and we're still on schedule for that. But what we are planning to do, we're working with our development partners to put together basically a 2026 perspectus. Hey, this is what you can expect to see a market district. Um, we're still moving forward the hospitality piece, um, town home piece, um, various other elements, new restaurants. Um it just takes time to to in this environment to get the the lending mechanisms in place to get all the design and all the licensing pieces for example with the hospitality component. Um those things just they just take some time. So we're not off schedule from a development standpoint. This is what we had originally projected. But we do think it's time to come forward with a um an update to our community and all the stakeholders at the site to say, "Hey, this is what you can expect. Um we're still excited. Things are still moving forward." Um so we're working on putting that together.

hope uh hope to have that published here in the next couple weeks [clears throat] and then we'll be uh sure to share that with our media partners because we want to let folks know what they can expect to see this coming season. So, um next I did um want to just mention um or or ask council uh in light of tonight's presentation, did you have any directives that you wanted to issue in terms of next steps on the sister city program? Would you like to staff to maybe work with Mr. Ursel and put together some recommendations on how we form a sister city committee? And if you would like to, then we can work with Will and and see if we can come up with something to bring back for you to give a blessing to. I just didn't want to leave that topic open-ended. I know many of you put a lot of time into this and they're expecting, you know, plans for return visit and those are plans we should start making right away. So if you know if there's any suggestions, I'd be happy to

do we need do we need formal action? Uh if you want to take a motion directing us and you know or if you want to tap will as maybe an emary to help with that, you know, however you want to do it. job to make that motion. Yeah, I'll go ahead and make that motion to get that process started. Yeah. Uh so motion to direct staff to investigate um a welcoming committee, I guess we could call it, and then we'll work with Mr. Urchel to try welcoming committee. Is that what we'll call it? Yeah, that's what city welcoming committee. Yeah. Okay. All right. All right. Very good. That was motion. Second that motion. Seconded by the mayor. Okay. Is there discussion on that? All right. Thank you. We'll go ahead and get a roll call for that. Councilwoman Sice, I. Councilwoman Huffman, I. Councilman Rubio, I. Mayor Reynolds, hi. President Smith, hi. Motion carries.

Thank you very much.

And the last thing I have tonight is um uh don't need any action. I just want to plant the seed. We are working to get uh you know, we annually do a retreat um try to take a Saturday with council members. You don't give us enough nights as it is. We want to take a whole Saturday as well. Welcome to our new council members. Um uh to talk about the strategic direction of the city and kind of priorities for 2026. Um, this is probably more important now than at any point in the recent past. Um, there are so many growth opportunities and and and new things to discuss. We think it's important to be able to get some strategic direction. So, uh, through process of elimination and based on kind of what the status is of of the council appointment process, we think we're looking at probably February 21st or February 28th. So, I just need you, if you would, to jot those dates down and uh let our clerk Amy know um of your availability on those dates. Um again, we'd probably look from about 8 8:30 9:00 somewhere in that uh uh range on Saturday. And we usually try to get done by 2 or 3:00 in the afternoon. So, it's the better part of a day, but um if you could uh make yourself available on one of those dates, we'd appreciate that. And the sooner we can get that nailed down, the better. That way, it allows us to start getting some of the logistics planned for that. So

just for clarification, can I the word retreat sometimes comes across as we're Is that what you guys want? So I I just want people to know that that meeting is usually held here or at a no cost. And it's technically a public meeting. If people really want to come and sit through it, they can technically [laughter] but it's you know I I think you know for folks to understand it's it's an in it's a it's a it's an it's a public meeting but it's an informal setting where we have very informal open roundt discussion. The staff will usually do some research and present some topics. Um, I'll work with the council leadership and we'll establish an agenda for that day. Um, so that we can have a, you know, at least sort of protoed conversation, but it's it's fairly open-ended. So,

very good. All right. So, if you folks could just let him know your availability for those two dates, that would be appreciated. Do you have anything else for I'm going to shut up now cuz I thought any other questions for Mr. Murman.

All right. Great. Next is opportunity for council comments. So, we'll go ahead and start with Councilwoman Sice. What do you have for us tonight? I just want to say that um I sincerely thank [clears throat] those who emailed me or advocated or called me in some way just to ask questions or express concerns about topics that have come up lately, things like uh Timber Ridge or talking about the roads or taxes. And so really I I think that input is invaluable. I mean, I think it helps guide thoughtful discussions and form decision making and policies that really reflect the experience, lived experiences of our residents. And so, I appreciate that. And I tried to get back with every single person that did reach out to me. um if it was on my personal email, I did not just um because I think that's pretty obvious. But um I actually like that because then I I get a feel for what it is that people truly want and desire in this community because I represent everybody. And so I'm I'm happy for that and I appreciate it. And then I wanted to say thank you so much for going over um the issues in regards to the construction because I mean I know that you can't pour concrete under 40°. You can't do that and and so it's been quite cold and there's things you just can't do and it's certainly not that we've stopped or anything. It's it's just what it is. But you're right. They're out there every day and it's shaping up and looking better. So um I appreciate that. So thank you.

All right. Thank you. All right, we'll move on to welcome Councilwoman Huffman. What do you have for us tonight? Uh not much yet. [laughter] I think uh just excited to jump in here and um excited and and humbled and honored to be here and um looking forward to the next four years and being able to serve the community. Very good. Thank you so much. You're welcome. Thank you. All right, Councilman Ruby, what do you have for us tonight? I'm also uh excited to uh be here and work with you all and uh I'm thankful and humbled by our uh our city, you know, that they uh entrusted me with their vote and u I look forward to uh get things started and working as a team. Very good. Thank you. And again, welcome.

Thank you. All right, Mayor Reynolds, what do you have for us tonight? Just to echo the last two, I want to thank all the voters for voting in the last election. I really appreciate that and I'm excited to serve in this new role. Uh and I'm excited to work with everyone on council. also want to congratulate Jesse and Rachel on uh being sworn in and you, Mr. President, for another term as our fearless leader up here on the council. So, I appreciate you. Thank you very much. All right. Anything else? That is it. All right. Very good. Again, I'd like to thank our city staff for the job that you do. 2026, of course,

is here and like no other year, we know we have issues. We know we have problems. We have societal problems that we have to deal with, too. And you know, I I'll just share with you um something that affected me yesterday is, you know, my company, we we do school pictures. The worst call we could get was an image of a student because they died

and they are like in grade school. And this is not the first time this year. This is like the second or third time. It's not local. It's I mean it's Dayton, but again it it's just a tragedy and you know I just I just feel like as a world we're not kind and gentle anymore. It's attack and then wait to be attacked and then you attack back. And I think if everybody could just show a little grace. um you know if if you have to sometimes just turn social media off and walk away from it because you don't get a lot of positive correct information on Facebook and it and it's just kind of sad. So, you know, I appreciate those that come to meetings that ask questions that um you know it or pick up the phone and call us. Um our numbers are public record. you can call us. Um, leave a message, we'll call you back. Um, so, and again, same with city staff. You guys are very approachable. If you have a question about a bill, you call finance. If you have a question about legality, you call our law director. If you have a question about operations or public service, you call our city manager. And again, you know, we have people that are charged for public safety, our responders and our EMTs, our police department, and you know, I think from what I talked to, they have a very good reputation. Our our our staff does a great job, and I commend you on that. So, you know, again, I know we have some infrastructure issues. We're working to address that. um we'll continue to look for resources um to help spread that dollar uh farther and you know basically we just we need to work on a street plan

and again we'll we'll work on that this year. So again as uh Councilwoman uh Huffman and Councilwoman Rubio said this very humbling to sit up here. It is an honor and a privilege to serve our community. Um it is not a responsibility that we take lightly. Um Monday we were here for six hours almost to interview um 12 people that would like to join us at this table. And I commend all 12 of those people who actually care about our community that are willing to put their private life out there to serve their community. So again, um I I thank everybody here tonight. Um and I I thank those that are in the audience and those that are watching to help us make 2026 a more positive year for our community and our neighbors. So um with that, um Mr. Manager, do we have a need for an executive session due to economic development assistance? I do not unless

I don't think so that maybe unless any if the council has any need then we can s um I felt that there was a request for council just to get a little bit more information from you probably I would say under the category of um discussion with the law director on

legal very good so at this time I'm going to make a motion that council moves to executive session and this is under a discussion of general legal legal advice from our law director um under special counsel per charter 13.03C1 is that correct madam law director? Okay, great. So, we will not u seek in the German at this time. We are going to recess into executive session. I would like to thank those that are in the audience. If if you do have questions, you can stick around. I don't see us being in there very long. Um and again, thank you very much.

Second. Okay. Councilwoman Sice, Councilwoman Huffman, Council Rubio, Mayor Reynolds, President Smith,