City Council - Regular Meeting

Looks like we're on. All right, folks. Thank you very much. We are welcoming everyone to the Zena City Council meeting for Thursday, March 12th, 2026. At this time, we're going to have an invocation. Um, I'm going to step in. Our pastor is not here today. And then, um, pledge of allegiance led by Councilman Rubio. If you could please rise. Dear heavenly father, we ask for your guidance tonight. We ask for your wisdom. Um as servants, we just uh lift you up, Lord, for um that definite knowledge that you have that you can just give us back in the community. Um we pray for our community, for those that work uh in public service, those that work in public safety, those that uh take care of other people, uh our healthcare workers, our teachers, our leaders. Um it's tough right now, dear Lord. Um we ask that you extend grace and that we ask people to extend grace as well. Um at this time um we ask for you to give us safe travels as we leave today. Um and prepare the hearts for those that are here tonight. Um we have some special guests, some special speakers. So we we thank you for that opportunity. In your son's name we pray. Amen.

Amen. I aliance 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. [clears throat] Thank you, Councilman Rubio. This time I'm going to open our city council meeting and ask for a call to order. Vice President Crawford here. Councilwoman Sice here. Councilman Miss Cavage here. Councilwoman Huffman here. Councilman Rubio here. Mayor Reynolds here. President Smith here.

Thank you very much. Next on our agenda is approval of minutes. Um but before we start that, I'd like to welcome Councilman Muscavic. Um he was appointed at our last meeting. Um this is actually a second official meeting as we did have a work session last week. Um, so thank you again for uh applying and uh we welcome you for the next couple years. Thank you so much. All right, so we're going to have approval of minutes from this is from the February 26 regular meeting. Do we have um any a motion to accept the minutes? I'll make a motion to Thank you. Motion to accept by Councilwoman Sice. Do we have a second? Second.

Seconded by the mayor. Now, is there any discussion, corrections, notifications that we need to make? All right, we're not seeing any, so we're going to go ahead and accept the minutes. Can I get a roll call for that? Vice President Crawford, I. Councilwoman Sice, hi. Councilman Miss Cavage, abstain. Councilwoman Huffman, I. Councilman Rubio, I. Mayor Reynolds, hi. President Smith, I. Motion carries. Thank you very much. So delightful. Tonight we have a special presentation. This is from our friends and our neighbors. next door at Ford's independence. So, uh, folks, you're welcome to come to the floor. Thank you so much.

I do want to make sure I put in some sort of official record. Thank you to the IT team who with 58 minutes to spare was able to get me um the PowerPoint up on the screen. So, for all of you back there, that's the IT team. Make sure you tell them thank you.

Thank you to the city council uh and our friends at the city uh for giving us the opportunity to talk a little bit about independence. Um, I lived in Zenaia for 10 years, um, and still didn't know what to independence was until I started working there. And I'm guessing that there's some here in the room or here in our community, uh, who still don't know who we are, what we do. And I think it's rather fitting, uh, that we have the opportunity here in March to share a little bit about ourselves. Uh, March is developmental disability awareness month. Um, and so in your packets, you all have an orange ribbon. Uh, and so you can proudly show it, share it, um, and spread awareness about people with developmental disabilities. I'm very excited because after the presentation, you'll get a chance to meet uh and hear from Bill, one of our self- advocates, and you'll hear a little more about how Bill helps us uh on our self- advocacy council that we've started. I think it's important, let me start with a quick survey. Um in the room, raise your hand if you have any sort of connection with somebody with any sort of disability, developmental disability, intellectual disability. So, statistics say about one in four of us have some sort of connection with somebody with a developmental disability. Um, and 50 years ago, if you or somebody you loved had a disability or developmental disability, you were told that the only and probably best option for them was to send them away into some sort of institution like the Columbus Asylum for the Feble-minded. Um, where they would live out of sight, out of mind with thousands of other people in deplorable conditions. Um, in fact, for those of you who are familiar with Orient, about a couple hours east of here, they had a facility just like this. Um, and when it closed down, it was turned into a state prison. The prisoners rioted because the conditions were so bad in the facility, they sued the state of Ohio and won. And the state of Ohio actually had to shut them down and renovate the space. And that was the conditions that people with developmental disabilities had to look forward to [clears throat] not that long ago. I think that's important to point out because I think it underscores why what we do really matters and why what we do here in Zenaia for people, residents of Zena really matters. It all changed around the 1970s and if

you want to do more research you can watch a great um expose by Haraldo Rivera called Willowbrook: The Last Disgrace. Uh and he really opened up the community's eyes and the public's eyes to the conditions and really the the hopeless future that people with developmental disabilities had from there. Um thankfully the civil uh rights uh kind of started and and people development disabilities started to advocate and um their rights were actually codified in law. So you can actually read right now in a higher revised codes rights that people development disabilities have that are just the same rights that you and I all enjoy. You can read more of it. I highlighted a few just very common ones that had to be put into law. So this started to transform society and how we um helped people and supported people uh who had unique challenges about 50 years ago and we're very proud at toward independence kind of coming full circle. Uh we celebrated our 50th anniversary. We were started in 1975 and last year we have a time capsule uh that we sealed right next door where we put a bunch of really cool things in. So in 25 years hopefully you'll all join us as we open up the time capsule. Had a ton of celebrations. Um but we were started here in Zena. So we're local. This is our home. This is where we were started by a few parents um in the Zena and Jamestown area who wanted something better than those institutions for their children. So collectively they organized and they uh purchased some homes. Um they collectively figured out, okay, you take first shift, I'll take Sundays, you take Wednesdays. Um and people began living in their communities. People began living here in Zenaia just like the rest of us involved in their communities, contributing to their communities, um and living in home environments. Touring defense, our main office is right next door. Uh I can actually see the city of Bu uh Zenaia building from my office, but right next door that's our home office, but we serve about 200 people who trust us to take care of them and support them with wherever they might need in six different counties. We're down in Cincinnati, up in Greenville, and you can see a lot of

those logos right there in Zena. Um and so let me zoom in a little bit to give you our impact here in Zena. We have about 350 employees and 95 of them have a Zenia zip code. That doesn't include Fairborn or Beaver Creek or Jamestown or Wilburforce or Central State. 95 of our employees live here in Zena. Um you might have better numbers, but I think we're probably in the top five or six of the largest employers here in Zena. Maybe next to the city, Walmart, Athletes and Action, and maybe the hospital. We're either the fifth or sixth, depending on what number you use. Largest employer here in Zenaia. We have a day program. Um, and you've probably seen some of the individuals [clears throat] getting off the bus and going inside of our day program, but we have 40 people who Monday through Friday come to Zena uh live uh contribute, come just they shop, they do activities here in Zenaia. Um, and Bill along with 49 other people uh trust us to serve them here in Zena. We have about 20 22 homes that we serve, which you probably drive by every single day. Uh, they look like every other home in the neighborhood. Hopefully better. Hopefully, we take even better care of the lawn and the grass and the landscaping. Um, but we have a significant presence here in this community. Some of the services that we provide is really anything that helps make somebody's life better. Um, we have a lot of group homes and independent living. So, we have people who um live with maybe a few roommates and they pay for the rent, they pay for the utilities, they pay for the the couches and everything in the home. We just have caretakers who go in and support them with anything they might need. if they need help cleaning, cooking, uh showering, bathing, going to the grocery store, going to the doctor's appointments, any of that, we help support. We have um people who live with roommates. We have people who live very independently. We've got people who live in their own apartments and they only need us to come in and help them every couple hours uh a week. Uh we actually have a married couple here in Zena who live together. Both of them have developmental disabilities. Uh both of them were married, I think they just

celebrated um I want to say that 25 or 30 year anniversary. Uh and they live here in Zena in their own apartment. We have people that we serve that have high uh medical needs as well. So very challenging medical needs, very total assist. They they need complete help with everything related to things that you and I might take for granted. Dressing, uh bathing, toileting, um even just some of the more complicated medical needs that people developmental disabilities face. So we have a full nursing staff um to help make sure that they get the medical medical care needs uh met that they have. We have financial management and rep pay services. So, we have a team of people who make sure that people's bills get paid on time. Uh that they have money to spend when they need it. Um that every dollar is accounted for. And we also serve as representative pay for I don't know the number about 10 and something people. Um Katie is somebody on the team who helps us with that, but we have about 100 people or so that we provide representative pay services. Um and we make sure that they maintain their benefits. So whether it's social security reviews, job and family services, food stamps, all of that, we have a team that helps make sure that they get the benefits that they need. Uh we have remote off-site support. So people uh we actually just started this uh last year. And so we have a room right next door where we have some people with some computer screens and people who can live independently in their own home and they don't need Joe sitting on the couch. Um they can live independently in their own home. But then when they need help, they can push a button. Somebody pops up on a tablet and says, "How can I help you?" they talk them through, hey, I heard a knock at the door or whatever it is. Uh, so we can support people to live even more independently without actually having a caretaker in the homes. Um, and then we have transportation and day program. [clears throat] But enough about tour independence. Um, I want to share with you since it's uh developmental disability awareness day or month um the impact that people disabilities have had on Zena specifically. So the next slides kind of showcase uh whether it's toward independence or people with developmental disabilities, how they've impacted the Zenaia community. About 10

years ago, for those of you who might have walked into the building next door, it was pretty quiet, pretty empty. I remember walking in and it was dead. There was not a whole lot going on. Even in the downtown Zenya area there, you know, you might come here for to do something, but you may not stay here, right? You may not host your meetings here. So about 10 years ago um we had a connection with one beastro a little known at that time restaurant in Miamiburg and we said well if we renovate a restaurant space would you come to Zenaia would you run a restaurant and then could people with development disabilities volunteer at that restaurant I think this could be a great uh fit for everybody a win-win um and so through the support of the city of Zenia we're very happy and and grateful for their support um we renovated and developed spaces right next door um and [clears throat] now I think that has really brought a lot of life to the downtown area. We're really proud of our partnership with both Coffee Hub and One Beastro and renovating those spaces, making those spaces available. And I it gives me so much joy when I look and see all the different meetings and and people are coming to Zena and staying. Um and I I'm glad that we were be able to be a part of that. We have a hydroponic garden again right next door. If you haven't come to see it, come check it out. Call me, talk to anybody at Tor Independence. We'll give you a tour. Um hydroponics is where we grow lettuce and herbs without any soil. We grow year round. Um, and it's not me who does it. It's the people who have uh either developmental or physical disabilities who are in our day program. They plant, they harvest, they clean. Um, they are learning skills. They're the ones giving the tours. Um, and they're getting a sense of accomplishment through real meaningful work. Um, therapeutic work and the ability to give back to their communities. I also broke the law of PowerPoint. For those of you who are really, uh, in tune with PowerPoint, they say only put one picture in your PowerPoints. I put lots of pictures in there because I think it's good for you guys to see all the people that we support. They're the uh the stars and the people that I want you to see. So, what do we do with the lettuce? We have about let's say 30 to 60 heads of lettuce that we harvest um every week. That all gets donated to One Beastro. We

do it for free. We give it to One Beastro. We give it to Coffee Hub. If you've ever had a salad there, the butterhead lettuce, the reason it was so good, they've got great chefs and we've got great lettuce and combined makes the best salad you'll ever have. Same thing with the sandwiches. Coffee Hub uses the uh lettuce for some of their kiches, their breakfast kiches, and then we donate any access to the local food pantry. Um here in Zena, I've been really uh excited because we've been able to use that for education, too. We've had anywhere from 10 all the way up to 200 students, elementary students, come for field trips and learn about hydroponics, uh and how that works. And not just learn about the garden, but get to interact with somebody with a disability. And I think more than anything that relationship with the interaction that somebody has when they get seated at a table at one beast show is so so powerful. We decided to make it more complex and add fish. And so we did an open house recently because now we have 150 tilapia that are swimming around in two very very large tanks uh right next to the hydroponic garden. And eventually that water from the fish will be what is uh what provides the nutrients for the garden. Um, and if you look really closely, and if you like the the the dad joke, I'll take the credit. If you don't like the dad joke, uh, you can blame uh, Mr. Eric Henry. Uh, but I was talking to him and he said, "You should call it the Zenya's unofficial official fish unofficial aquarium and garden." I said, "That's great. I love it." Um, and we ran with it. And so, affectionately, we are calling our hydroponic garden and uh, fish Zen's unofficial aquarium garden. We actually applied to Trip Adviser. So, hopefully soon they approve us. And when you look for things to do in Zenaia, uh our [clears throat] unofficial aquarium and garden will be a tourist spot, bringing millions and millions of tourists to the Zena area, [laughter] lots of tax. [clears throat]

Um we are looking for uh partners to connect with that we can donate fish to. Uh so we've got whole fish about five or six fish that uh the people with disabilities will be harvesting every single week. Uh we would love to give it to local restaurants or culinary school where they can learn how to fillet fish and cook fish or an a department learning about healthy fish. Um and more than anything we'd love to give you a tour if you haven't come to see it. I know some of you guys have. Uh but come check it out. It's a pretty cool system.

Thousands and thousands of hours um that people with developmental disabilities have volunteered here in the Zenya and Green County area. Uh volunteering at a variety of businesses. You've probably seen them at one beastro or or coffee hub. Um but every single week we have a group sometimes two who go to forpaw for ability and they uh help with uh the dog bowls and they help with the animals and they're giving back to their communities. People developmental disabilities have a lot to give and they're [snorts] giving in in so many ways that are a lot of times unseen. Um they've also volunteered at Green County Parks and Trails. Uh so they've stuffed Easter eggs and made sure that their special event was ready so that when people had their big Easter egg hunt um they had candy and Easter eggs. Uh we've also worked with Cedville nursing students to help them understand the unique challenges uh that people with disabilities have uh when it comes to medical care. I'm very proud about this and you'll see see Bill's picture here and you'll get a chance to hear from Bill in just a minute. Last year we started a disability advocacy group. Um and I am a supporter. I'm not a member. I can't be a member so I don't get to vote. I get to come to meetings. They let me show up. Um but our self- advocates are discussing things that are important to them, raising their voices, talking about how they can make their communities better, um working together to raise awareness. And one of the things that they've been doing that I am so so proud of um is every single month they nominate and vote and select um some sort of business or uh individual who they believe has really supported people with developmental disabilities. And we've had lots of different winners. We've had the YMCA obviously coffee oven one be vastro made the cut and were voted one one time. Uh but if you see the fire department of Zena make sure you congratulate them because they were the February's winner um of the prestigious TI community partner award [clears throat] and they have a wonderful uh plaque little glass thing that I'm sure they're prominently displaying at the very front door of the fire station. So make sure you tell them thank you. Uh but this is another way that people disabilities are recognizing their community and giving back um to their community.

And we're not done. So, we're we have plans underway right now. Um you'll hear more about this if you come in to our office. You'll see different plans and things like that. But, um we're in the development phase right now of uh building an completely accessible uh park and pavilion with completely accessible play structures. Um people in wheelchairs don't often get to have some of the same experiences you and I do where, you know, we you and I can jump on a swing. Um they may need a little bit more help. And so we creating accessible swings, accessible merrygorounds, accessible walking pads, picnic benches where I can actually sit with my friends instead of sitting along the uh side. Um and so we're in plans right now to continue to help support people with disabilities here in Zena um by putting a park hopefully groundbreaking in 2027. Joe, what's that location?

Uh it's right over um on Enterprise Drive um in the industrial area. We've got a maintenance building right there with additional land. Um and so we're going to use that land for a good purpose. I'll leave you with a happy developmental disabilities awareness month. Um, and one of my favorite quotes which came from a uh employee of ours who's been with us for 30 years. He says, "Come make a difference in someone's life. It'll change yours forever." I can tell you my life has changed because of the work that I get to do. Um, and I would I would imagine and I maybe maybe the city uh or the council can either informally or formally not just recognize disability awareness month um but say that Zena is better because people disabilities live here. Thank you. Open for questions. Um, thank you for your time [cough] questions.

That was a lot. I talked fast. [laughter] And and I had an opportunity to tour your hydroponics and your your fish aquariums. It's quite impressive. So, thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you for coming today. I would love for you to hear from Bill. Bill's one of the self- advocates on the self- advocacy council and this is a highlight. Um and so he's prepared to speak to Great. Please. All right. Bill, you ready? [laughter]

You got this. [clears throat] Okay. I was asked to speak about advocacy and awareness. Uh advocacy is important because it's how we can improve the community together and make it more accessible. Advocacy is how I can raise awareness for myself and other members of the my community. I am a proud member of TI's absent group and we have worked a lot on improving our absent skills. We have even travel around Zinder looking for ways to improve accessibility. It is important for me and others like me to be able to advocate for ourselves and have others advocate for us when we need it. I want people to be aware of my community and how we can all work and live together. I want the community to be accessible for everyone and I want everyone to listen to the members of my community and be kind. Thank you. [applause] Yeah. So, as you're finished, would you be okay if we took just a minute? We'll put our ribbons on. Can we get a photo op with you guys? Love that. Okay, great. So, give us just a minute. We'll get these on and then uh the council will come down here with you guys in front. Okay, wonderful.

And then we need a photographer. Does anybody want [laughter] to take that picture for us? Eric Henry just signed up. He will if he gets a fish. Show proud of [snorts] you. You're good at this.

Absolutely.

It's fine. Thanks for having us. No, you got to be in the middle.

Bring some chairs. Um, we probably need to squeeze in close here. What about this?

We got this figured out.

[clears throat] Okay, that'll be good. Yeah, you okay standing up here with us? Very good. Thanks for All right. See if I got this all. I think I do. Okay. [snorts] One, two, three. Take a few pictures here. All right. One phone. Hold on a second. I give you mine. Yep. Charge $10 an hour here. All right.

You can send us [laughter]

working for a second. [laughter] Yeah. Sorry. It's all right. He's not a professional. No. All right. One, two, three. One, two, three. Give us the help. Yeah. No, we have a gift for you.

And are you okay? Okay. All right. Is this okay? Right here. Okay. Perfect. Now you're official. Thank you very much. Okay. Thanks for speaking.

Thank you. Thank you guys.

All right. Thank you guys. All right. Next on our agenda is opportunity for audience comments. Anyone in the audience would care to address city council, now is your opportunity. We do ask you that you come to the podium, give your name and address for the record. Uh limit your comments 2 to 3 minutes. [clears throat] All right. Very good. This time I'm going to close audience comments. Um our first item is old business. Our first item is tabled under old business. So that's ordinance 2025-39. We'll come back to that at a later date. So our next item is ordinance 2026-07. This is a public hearing tonight approving the sale of city-owned property located at 714 East Market Street to RIM O Construction LLC. And at this time, we'll turn the floor over to Mr. Mayorman.

Yes, sir. Thank you. Uh just to remind council uh this ordinance would authorize the sale of the property. Um uh as the council president indicated, the property uh was originally uh provided to the city through a tax uh excuse me [clears throat] through tax foreclosure proceedings. Um in this particular case, the uh uh purchasing entity also owns the property adjacent to it and their intent is to combine those lots uh and then subdivide them so that both lots are buildable lots. Uh so in this particular uh case, there's an opportunity to have a reinvestment in both those lots. So again, we're recommending council authorize the ordinance to uh to make the the sale possible.

Thank you very much. Any questions for Mr. Mayorman? All right. Last meeting, this was introduced [snorts] by Mayor. Would you care to move for passage? Move for. Thank you. I'll need a second from my colleagues. Seconded by Councilwoman Sice. Any other discussion? I just want to say this is a marvelous program and I appreciate the staff's work on that to bring uh our private or our public land in the productive private use. So appreciate that.

Very good. Thank you so much. All right. This time we're going to open the public hearing on item uh ordinance 2026-07. If anyone would care to come forward and speak either for or against the sale of this property. All right, I'm going to close public hearing and we're going to go ahead and get a roll call, please. Vice President Crawford. Hi. Councilwoman Sice. Hi. Councilman Miss Cavage. Hi. Councilwoman Huffman. Hi. Councilman Rubio. Hi. Mayor Reynolds. Hi. President Smith. Hi. Motion carries.

Thank you very much. Thank you, Madam La. Appreciate [clears throat] that. Our next item is ordinance 2026-08. This is also a public hearing tonight. This is vacating the alley between 968, 976, 986, 9998, 1006, 10, 2016, and 130 North Detroit Street on the east side and 920 North Detroit Street. Parcel noted as M400001 0000400 0 5400 0. Parcel M4 0000001 00004 001 5200 0 and also [clears throat] parcel M4 00001 00004 000000 4600 0 [laughter]

made up [clears throat] and one I'm sorry 1052 North Detroit street on the west side. So, at this time, I'm going to go ahead and open uh the floor uh back over to Mr. Mayorman.

Thank you, sir. Uh the petitioner um for this uh action is the owner of the property at 1016 North Detroit Street. Um this is a essentially an alleyway that is no longer in use and traverses the rear of most of these properties. Um the petitioner is seeking to be able to consolidate this with additional property um that that owner has uh to the west of it in order to be able to develop and utilize the property more effectively. Um staff is recommending the council conduct public hearing this evening and then authorize the vacation um as the city has no future use for this property.

All right. Thank you very much. Any questions for Mr. Mayorman? All right. This time I'm going to open the floor for a public hearing. ask if anyone would care to speak in favor or against ordinance 2026-08. This is your opportunity to do so. All right. Going once. All right. So, we're going to close that public hearing, you know, in ordinance 2026-08. This was introduced by uh Vice President Crawford at our last regular meeting. Would you care to move for passage? So, moved. Thank you. Move for passage by the vice president. We need a second, please. Seconded by the mayor. And a roll call, please. Vice President Crawford, hi. Councilwoman Sice, hi. Councilman Muscavage, hi. Councilwoman Huffman, hi. Councilman Rubio,

hi. Mayor Reynolds, hi. President Smith, I. Motion carries. Thank you very much. Our next item, also a public hearing tonight for ordinance 2026-09. This is amending the official zoning map of the city of Zenia to reszone approximately 31.21 21 acres of property at 817 Upper Bell Road from an A1 agricultural district to a PUD plan unit development. And this will approving the PUD concept plan for a proposed 160 unit town home community at that said property. So at this time we are going to turn the floor over to Mr. Forsner or Mr. Marman. I think I I can handle it real quick.

Okay. sees in the audience. So, we'll we'll give him a break unless absolutely necessary. Um I think you covered some of the salient points, Mr. uh Mr. President. Um this is a property that had previously been used for a agricultural purpose as part of a um a nursery property. Um the prospective buyers looking to um reszone this uh for with the intent that um they would move forward with a multif family uh via a PUD at the site. Um staff has reviewed this and uh found it to be generally consistent with our land development plans. Um it's gone through the necessary procedures and now comes to city council for consideration and we are recommending you approve it.

Very good. Questions for Mr. Mayorman. All right. This time I'm going to open up the public hearing for ordinance 2026-09. Same rules apply. If you'd like to come forward, speak either in favor or against. Now is your opportunity to do so. It looks like we have a member of the audience did say I guess right before Nancy McPeek 2110 Pueblo Drive

Zena I've lived at my house I'm I'm the third house from the fence is going to open it up and extend Pueblo Drive or whatever they're going to call it. I've lived there since 1976. Everybody thinks it's a dead end. And [clears throat] there's 160 units are going to go in there. They're not going to be homes for sale. They're all going to be rentals. Now, the people that's going to rent that if they live in or I'm sorry, if they work in Washington Courthouse, James Town, Lebanon, [clears throat] they're going to come right down my street, Pueblo.

Mhm. once they open that fence up and it's going to be a racetrack down through there.

So, I would hope they would do some kind of study. I've already been told that, you know, they they went to GPS and all this stuff and said no, that all this people was going to go up [clears throat] uh Ottawa to get on the second street to go over to the uh to 35. But if you were going to go to Washington Courthouse, why would you go that way? cut through my neighborhood and go there. That's what's going to happen. Uh there are kids that have at the fence they have a basketball hoop up there and every for years everybody's just they start the street and they say, "Oh, that's a dead end." And I just can't fathom what amount of traffic because I'll tell you what, I used to live in Lanewood and I cut through arrow the old Arrowhead to get on to 42 to go to uh work in London.

Mhm.

So it's, you know, they're going to cut through Arrowhead to get to 35. Even if I were going to Dayton, I go down, you know, you go down there and just jump right on the bypass. There's no stop lightss from where the fences if you go down Pueblo Drive, get on the go on the Mommy or just go right around and dead end to Mommy and jump right on the bypass. If you go towards Walmart Progress Drive, you've got traffic lights there. the and the traffic is depending on the time of the day is atrocious. And even if you go over Second Street and go out and to get on to uh to Valley Road, you got some traffic lights to go through there. So that's the reason I want some kind of [clears throat] survey done on the the amount of I [snorts] don't know how they would determine because you're not not going to know who's going to rent these places until they're there. And uh but depending on where those people live, it's going to create a lot of traffic. And there's, you know, a lot of kids in in the area I'm in,

right? And that's all I have to say. All right. Very good. Thank you for those concerns because All right. Anyone else care to come forward? Either speak for or against resolution 2026-09. If we have any questions, do you want to bring those up? Do anyone have any concerns? I do have just a question. Is there a way? Yes, sir.

Sorry about that. I didn't know if I could add value to the conversation or not. My name's Gregory Thurman. I'm the uh vice president of acquisitions for Redwood Living. Uh the applicant. Uh my address is 20 Village Square, 45246 down of Cincinnati. Um we thoroughly vetted the discussion about connecting Pueblo Drive. Your thoroughfare plan requires it. Um, it would take actions to null nullify that uh situation and not connect to Pueblo Drive. Uh, personally, I could I could make it an emergency access only and continue to have it as a fence for emergency access in or out of uh our new neighborhood. That's not my decision. That's your thoroughfare plan and the city's decision. We have a plan now that um is traffic calming and uh there's it's not a straight run through our proposed development. Uh what happens down Pueblo I'm not familiar with. I've driven it 100 times. Uh I think there's bumps or some traffic control there. I don't remember specifically, but it during the middle of the day there's there's not much activity at all. But, uh, rush hour, I could see that there's a portion of our proposed 160 units that will probably go that way, but I don't anticipate many people in the 5mile market ring that are going to work in Washington courthouse. Um, with all due respect, the the employment um corridor is down 35 in the Dayton. So, we're going to we're going to anticipate that. Uh there's the traffic engineers manual that we have to abide to. Your city engineer will abide or determine the scope of how that study is done. We've

agreed to do that. Uh there's a proposed roundabout at the current light at Progress in Bellbrook, Upper Bellbrook, and we'll participate in that as well. So, um, it's worth noting it was an objection on the table and, uh, I just wanted to address that and I'm here for any other questions you might have. Very good. Thank you. Um, yeah, Mr. Forsner, thank you for being here. Do you want to um explain this went through planning and zoning already and was were these issues discussed there? Yeah, and Brian can speak to it, but traffic studying is required [clears throat] as part of our process and any necessary improvements the developer with the city would have to participate. So,

yes, so planning and zoning commission did vote unanimously to support this. The same concerns were raised at that meeting. Um they they voted to endorse it nonetheless. Um did you have questions further about that discussion or was it a unanimous vote? Yes. Uh was there any discussion about possible stop signs on Piplo at any point because it's just going to be straight through?

There was no discussion of that. Um however, we are requiring that a traffic study be completed before uh anything is built there and that will offer an opportunity to look at, you know, the actual impact that it's going to have and what can be done to to deal with that. um whether that is you know improvements like the roundabout that were discussed or um traffic homing measures or or other measures. I do know that um I did talk to the city engineer about uh about the possibility of stop signs along there and he uh although there you know analysis would have to be done there are warrant strict warrants that have to be met he did not believe that those conditions would be met even with the additional traffic. Um so to to to install sub signs along there but um but that could be you know that could be analyzed further once once the traffic study is done.

Yeah. Go ahead. Mr. Forchner, can you can you just enlighten us to um who are these who who are the the ones that actually do the traffic study and who's paying for that service?

The developer pays for the traffic study and we review it. Typically an engineering firm. um is is paid to [clears throat] do those studies and then our engineer reviews it to make sure the assumptions are correct and that they agree with the recommendations. And then um based on that that process of us us then paying for the study, us reviewing it, coming to an agreement on what is is right for our roadway system, then uh the improvements that are recommended in the study, the developer must build those improvements. Okay. And and in in general that's that's definitely a third party, but that's a third party that has is a third party

that's worked with Zena in the past historically or is that just a are we randomly bringing in somebody just or do we have any control on that? How's that work? Well, we we are uh we don't have control over who they use, but we do make sure that the traffic study is done professionally and that we you know, as part of reviewing that study, I I would assume we would look at who prepared it and that they're a reputable firm. Actually, um often what happens is that when we require a traffic study, the developer will ask us if you know there are any firms that we typically work with. I see.

And we, you [clears throat] know, we we provide that to them frequently. Uh TEC is one that's used a lot. We've used them as a city a lot. And then um when developers ask us, you know, um they they typically, you know, they they typically will ask us and they want to use a firm that we are familiar with and that we, you know, will accept because we have to accept the study. We have to review and accept. Very nice. Thank you very much. Thank you. Can I just ask a quick question? Is this the same I know this is a national apartment um community. Is this the same as the Redwood uh Fairborn? Yes, there's one in Fairborn as well as um I'm not sure if it's Centerville [clears throat] or Certain Creek Township off of Cleo Road east of Wilmington Pike.

Okay. There there's another one down there. Very good. All right. Thank you. Questions? Other questions, comments, or concerns? Okay. So, it sounds as if we're waiting on a traffic study. Is that right? Well, that is that typically happens before the final development plan is approved. Okay. So what what's before you tonight is a resoning to approve the concept plan and then the next step will be approve final development plan which includes all the details and the the traffic studies required at that point because that's when that's when we need to determine what specific improvements need to be designed and then those are all reviewed at that stage.

Very good. Thanks for that clarification. So this is just a vote for a reszone at this time. All right. Very good. Any other comments, questions? Does anyone else from the audience care to come and address the council on this issue? All right, I'm going to close the public hearing on that item. [clears throat] And [laughter] um this was uh introduced by Councilwoman Huffman at our last regular meeting. Would you care to move for passage? Yeah, I'll Thank you. Motion for passage. Do I have a second? I'll second. Seconded by Councilwoman Mscavage. All right. This time roll call, [clears throat] please. Vice President Crawford. Hi. Councilwoman Sice. Hi. Councilman Mscavage. I, Councilwoman Huffman. Hi, Councilman Rubio. Hi, Mayor Reynolds. Hi, President Smith. I.

Motion carries. Thank you. Next is a an additional public hearing. This is for ordinance 2026-10. This is changing the name of the Southeast Brook Lane. I'm sorry, changing the name of the Southeast Brook Lane. That's correct. That's how I'm reading it. To Connor Drive in the Summerbrook subdivision. That just didn't sound like good English. section 3B in the city of Zenaia. Um, at this time we're going to go ahead and open the uh ask for a report first from Mr. Mayorman. Thank you.

Yeah. So, in uh 1997 the summer brick subdivision um was recorded and um in that process for some unknown reason because none of it worked here when that occurred um Brook Lane uh was essentially named on two as two disconnected streets. So, it's named twice in the subdivision, which of course doesn't make a whole lot of sense. So, uh the developer is seeking to rename the road just to as they look to build out um to to eliminate the confusion that could otherwise exist there. So, uh there's a statuto function available and that's being invoked here under OC 7 section 7.23, excuse me, 723.04. Um and uh and again, staff endorsed as we recommend that uh council move forward with the change.

All right. Thank you very much. This time I'm going to open the public hearing. Ask anyone if they care to come forward, speak either for or against the name change. All right. Not a big crowd driver right there. All right. We're going to close the public hearing on this item. U this was introduced at our last meeting by the mayor. Would you care to move for passage on that? So moved. Thank you. Move for passage by the mayor. An additional second. I'll second. I'll second. Okay. I think Councilman Rubio beat you just by a second. [laughter] All right. And at this time, we'll go ahead and get a roll call, please. Vice President Crawford. Hi. Councilwoman Sice. Hi. Councilman Miss Cavage. Hi. Councilwoman Huffman. Hi. Councilman Rubio. Hi. Mayor Reynolds.

Hi. President Smith. Hi. Motion carries. Thank you. Our next item is ordinance 2026-11. This is an additional public hearing. This is amending the official zoning map of the city of Zenaia to reszone the property at 39 Winder Street from a P1 public and institutional district to a B1 convenience business business business district. At this time, I'll go ahead and turn the floor over to Mr. Mayorman.

Thank you, sir. The subject property is the former Rosenia Armory and uh the state of Ohio after their uh relocation of the units that used to perform there, the state of Ohio is putting the property up um for a potential acquisition for from biders. Um after evaluating the property and its potential use, its location and the significance of lo a location and discussions with council uh we are recommending um that council move forward with the ordinance to reszone the property from P1 public and institutional to B1 convenience business district. We believe that the potential of prospective uses under the re uh uh re reszoning goodness um will be uh better conforming to the neighboring park and to the business districts that that that that exist around that site. So, we're recommending uh the public hearing this evening and that council will advance the uh the ordinance approval.

All right. Thank you very much. Any questions for Mr. Mayorman? All right. This time I'm going to open the public hearing on ordinance 2026-11. And if anyone would care to come forward. Thank you. First of all, I'd like to thank you for this job because I know that it's a thankless one, especially in government service these days. So, I appreciate that and that uh it is sometimes a rather awesome task to make decisions that impact so many people's lives. Um, I've lived in Zena for 50 years. 10 years. Ma'am, may

I don't want to interrupt you. Can we get your name and address for the record?

Yes. Dolly Klein, 500 Smith Avenue, Zen, Ohio. Um, and I know that you are not supposed to fight city hall and I'm not trying to do that, but I am hoping that you'll reconsider this issue and um perhaps reflect on it from different angles. I have three major concerns. One would be, of course, the aesthetics. Shaunie Park is a unique gym. It's a multi-use park enjoyed by a broad spectrum of senior residents, from toddlers to senior citizens, from nature enthusiasts to fishermen. Whether it is its playground, its band stand, its picnic shelter houses, or the restful benches along the pond, it's used year round from the Easter egg hunts to the fireworks in July, the concerts, the Christmas lights. I can think of no other local community that has an inner city park this close to our downtown area. I mean this is almost like Central Park, New York City in a very very very small scale. [snorts] It gives Zena an attractiveness. It enhances our livability. It gives us curb appeal. In fact, my next door neighbor from Georgia relocated here primarily when he was looking at different sites. the Shauny Park attracted him and he could have been in Bel um he chose Zena. So I think aesthetically u there's an impact here to think about. My second concern would be congestion and safety.

The impact on Weaver Street, Detroit Street intersection. The impact on Edison Boulevard, Xenior Preschool, Zena Fieldhouse, Zena Soccer Field, Zenior T-ball, Zena T-ball games. To say that currently [clears throat] the Weaver Street Detroit Street intersection is a frustration Monday through Friday from 7 to 6:00 p.m. is a gross understatement. Weaver Street is the main east west route for parents, school buses, Shauny Park visitors, fieldhouse attendees, and residents of Stadium Heights. Now, if East West drivers opted instead for a mill, that's just going to increase more traffic adjacent to Shauny Elementary School. Depending upon the type of future use of the armor site, traffic congestion and potential safety risks could increase for this already busy artery. I don't think a traffic light uh would be prudent because of proximity to a mill traffic light and church street traffic light. There's already a log jam there. My final concern is ecological. The armory is a major breeding site for the small brown bat. There only two bats native to southwestern Ohio. The large brown bat, the small brown bat, which is an endangered species. From our repeated sightings and counts, we have a conservative estimate of at least 200 that reside and breed in that armory. Now, I don't care, you know, you probably don't want to know about the gestation of a small brown bat, but

small brown bats that are impregnated [snorts] in the in the summer, the gestation period runs till the spring. So when they return, they're going to become near to the armory. The fact that there are no mosquitoes or insects in the neighborhoods adjoining Shauny Park is is a direct result of the bats. A single bat can devour between 3,000 and 4500 insects in one night. They assist in seed dispersal. They assist they assist in pollination. They indicate ecological health and they help maintain biodiversity. I hope that you will reconsider some of this and maybe put some further investigation into it. Um, Shauny Village, the postw World War II area, is a very fragile community to begin with. It could easily tip one way or the other. Um, and with Shaunie Park being such a vital part of our identity, uh, I think it's crucial that, uh, we're very prudent thinking about the future. So, I thank you for hearing me out. Yeah, thank you very much.

Thank you. Appreciate you coming forward. All right. Anyone else care to come forward on ordinance 2026-11? Now your opportunity to do so. All right. Seeing none, I'm going to close the public hearing on that item. And uh any questions for our colleagues right here? All right. This was introduced at our last meeting by Councilman Rubio. Would you care to move this for passage? I move. Yes, I'll move. Thank you. Move for passage by Councilman Rudy and [clears throat] seconded by Councilman Crawford. Thank you very much. At this time, we'll get a roll call, please. Vice President Crawford, I. Councilwoman Sice, I. Councilman Miss Gavage, I. Councilwoman Huffman,

hi. Councilman Rubio, hi. Mayor Reynolds, hi. President Smith, hi. Motion carries. Thank you very much. Moving on is next. Next item is new business. a public hearing tonight for our first public hearing on the community [clears throat] development block grant known as the CDBG small cities program for 2026. Mr. City Manager.

Thank you, sir. The city continues to be eligible to receive funding through the federal community development block grant small cities program and this is conducted through the uh state's um department of development. Uh to remain eligible, we must be compliant with all of the necessary um different requirements, notably including participation uh public, excuse me, citizen participation requirements. Um as such, grantees such as Zenaia must hold one public hearing to cover um general aspects of the CDBG program and one project as a project application specific public hearing before the submission of any projects to the state of Ohio. Um we are seeking the first public hearing this evening. Uh the second the project specific applica or project application specific public hearing uh is tenatively scheduled for May 14th um at the regularly scheduled council meeting that evening. Uh in the program year 2026 and program year 2027 grant cycle is eligible to receive its bianial allocation grant of $164,000. We're also eligible to apply for other competitive grants including the neighborhood revitalization and critical infrastructure uh partners. Uh the public is encouraged to request specific projects um at this time or may contact our development department with questions or suggestions. Uh there will also be two informal sessions on these topics open to the general public. One on March 24th at 2 p.m. and second on April 9th at 10:00 a.m. both here in our council chambers. Um so we encourage folks who may have questions or ideas to come out uh for those events on those dates. Uh all grant projects uh requests would need to be submitted to the city by April 17th of this year uh at 4 p.m. So we requesting this evening the council just afford the opportunity to uh have the public hearing conducted so we can meet that requirement uh as stipulated by the federal guidelines.

Thank you, Mr. Mayorman. All right. Any questions for him? All right. This time I'm going to open the public hearing on the community development block grant. ask anyone if they care to come forward on this item. Now's your opportunity to do so. Thank you. We'll close the public hearing on this item. So, are we needing to vote? This is just a public hearing. All right. Thanks for keeping me straight. We're going to move on to resolution 2026-14. This is a authorizing the execution of an extr territorial utility service agreement with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources for the provision of water and sanitary sewer service services to the watchtower property adjacent to the great council state park. This time I'll turn the floor back over to Mr. Mayorman.

Thank you sir. In August of 2022, city council authorized an extra territory utility services agreement with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to allow connection to the city's water and sanitary sewer mains along US Route 68 near Oldtown. Now, this was for the purpose of providing those utility services uh to the new interpretive center at the Great Council State Park, which is located outside of our corporate limits. Recently, we're notified by ODNR and informed of their desire to expand uh visitor amenities at the park by constructing a watchtowwer on the adjacent 13.872 acre property immediately south of the interpreted center. Uh consistent with the 2022 request for utility services for the interpretive center, ODNR is now requesting water and sanitary sewer services for the watchtowwer as well. Um, this uh facility will be located approximately 650 ft west of US uh route 68 and will will require a 2-in water line and a 6-in sanitary sewer line. Uh, per Zena's code, any non-residential entity outside of the city's corporate limits seeking access to the city's utilities u must first secure council authorization and enter into a use agreement with the city as prescribed in our code. Um, there is a 50% search charge that's applicable for both water and sewer services. those uh would certainly apply to these connections as well. Um and uh pursuant to our agreement, ODNR must uh agree to annex the property in the future uh if it becomes contiguous at the city and if uh council so requests. Uh the proposed agreement with ODNR being presented for council's approval this evening is the standard use agreement um that we've used for other non-residential customers. Uh we believe that the state park is a valued local attraction as it promotes uh both visitors uh coming to our community and uh economic development with that uh but also promotes the rich history of uh the greater Zeni area. So we are recommending this evening that council authorize resolution 2026-014 um to allow us to execute this extra

territory use agreement with ODN. Thank you very much. All right, questions for Mr. Mayorman. a requirement to annex. So, is there a timeline if they would have to annex and and where would you see that happen? Well, they would have to be contiguous. Um, it's a little unusual in that it's state property.

So, the language that we used is there's a procedure under state law um that allows the city to file for annexation when it's state, county, or city land. there's a letter um that the director of administrative services need to provide for that to happen. So um we did just get some amendments um today from ODNR and the annexation piece was one of that. They would like to reference that process um that does not prevent them from filing annexation on their own. The only issue is the property would have to be contiguous. It would have to be touching the city which right now it it is not.

Got it. So this if it's not touching that means it's spot we're spot fencing. Well, you have to be the property has to [clears throat] be continu contiguous has to be touching the city in some way and it doesn't touch the city at all right now which is why so it we would not be able to annex it

which is why the extr territorial service agreement is necessary so that at your discretion you can allow the services to be connected and provided to the property even though it isn't in the city in in and because they're not immediately inexable. Um but again the agreement stipulates that at such time as there is contiguity and you all would request it that um they're obligated to uh to annex. Very good. All right. Thanks for the clarification on that. All right. This time I will ask if anyone would care to move for passage. So moved. Moved by Councilwoman Huffman. Do we have a second? Second.

Seconded by Councilwoman Sice. Any other discussion? If not, we'll get a roll call, please. Vice President Crawford, [clears throat] hi. Councilwoman Sice, hi. Councilman Msgavage, hi. Councilwoman Huffman, hi. Councilman Rubio, I. Mayor Reynolds, abstain. President Smith. I. Motion carries. I heard that. All right. Next item. Resolution 2026-15 authorizing execution of an extr territorial utility service agreement with BEF Foods Incorporated for the provision of water and sanitary sewer services to their property located at 640 Birch Road. Mr. Mayorman,

thank you sir. As part of the annual industrial user inspection process um that we participate in uh with the Ohio EPA, uh the city was notified by OEPA that um BEF Foods Incorporated facility at 640 Birch Road is receiving water and sanitary sewer services from the city without a formal agreement authorizing enforcement of waste discharge uh compliance um under Zena uh city code chapter 1016. Uh the city's been providing utility services to BEF foods since its founding decades ago. Uh despite annual industrial user inspections. It is unknown why exactly um this issue was just now finally noticed and being raised but nevertheless uh since the facility lights outside the city corporate limits and we lack uh jurisdiction to fully enforce the regulations on the property uh situated in Zenaia Township um it's necessary and it has been determined that an extr territorial uh service uh utility service agreement I should say between the city and BF BEF foods uh would be sufficient to give us some mechanisms for enforcement of these um environmental standards. Uh with the assistance of the public service director, our law director has prepared uh an extr territorial service agreement as presented this evening in your packets. Um uh execution of this with Bob Evans Foods um would uh allow um the city to continue to provide water and sanitary sewer services. Um the agreement uh extends for uh or has a an automatic yearly renewal function. Um and um as we uh spoke before um our code does require non-residential entities outside of the city's limits um who uh secured these services uh to pay the search charges for both water and sewer. So again, those would apply in this case as with the item that you previously addressed. Um same provisions exist in this agreement as the other one in terms of contiguity. If there's contiguity and the council would so requesting

annexation that they would agree to do so. I might add, I think we've had some discussion with council on this previously. Our staff has evaluated um the impacts of the annexation and we do not believe that it's in the city's best interest to pursue that even though there is contiguity today. So, we're recommending that you move forward and maintain the existing relationship and formalize the utility arrangement through this extra extr territorial service agreement that'll establish standards for both uh this customer as well as the city uh but also allow us to meet the conditions set forth by the EPA. So, we're recommending that the resolution be approved to authorize the execution agreement. Very good. Questions for Mr. Mayorman. I have I got a couple here. You have one?

Yeah. Um [clears throat] was in that extr territorial agreement. First of all, congratulations for catching it. And secondly, was there like a makeup makeup clause that they could go back for some of our losses without they have been paying the 50%. All this agreement's going to do is put in writing and formalize what's already going on. Yeah. Okay. So there's no which is part of the reason why when we went through the review process with the OBA,

it's kind of like, you know, we're already doing most of this. This has been in place quite literally for decades, but they're requiring us to do it where where they're within their rights to require us and talking to the OEPA. Um, we've been able to successfully negotiate the the agreement with uh with BEF Foods. So, um, you know, it's sort of a perpunctural step, but it's one we need to take. So, yeah, everything's kosher and and you know, we will have no outstanding findings as a result of this. We'll be in the good braces of OEPA, at least on this matter for some period of time. Okay. Thank you. All right. Thank you very much. Other questions? I think mayor has one. Um, so I'm guessing annexing them the the jobs aren't there for the revenue versus what we're making off of.

We evaluated the overall financial implications from an income tax standpoint, utility standpoint, and um Ryan can maybe speak to it in a little more precise details, but it doesn't quite financially make sense. Yeah, they're they're a significant water user uh and and a significant employer as well, but when we analyzed it, we were going to lose far more in water revenue uh if we annex and lose that search charge than what we gain in in payroll numbers. So, fact, I think they're a top five water user.

Yes, top I think top three maybe even. We we set up all these agreements, the non-residential and the residential, that annexation isn't automatically required. It's if we ask, but bear in mind that that does not stop if at such time any of these properties touch the city, the property owner has the right to seek annexation on their own. We we can't ever stop them from doing that. That's your right as a property owner. Um, but if they wouldn't want to under these agreements and the city does want them to, then we have the right to require that as a condition of service for water and sewer. So if at some point in the future that property, you know, maybe the the function or the end use of it were to change or something would change in in the way their, you know, employment numbers or or consumption looks, we could always go back and request annexation and they would be obliged or or required to um to annex at that point when when the city would would think that it's advantageous uh to do so.

Can I ask a question, please? Um I I I love this conversation where he's going say um say that corporation were to sell foreign international company buys it they want to unanex is there is there an un an unan annexation process there is it's called detachment um typically a city has to sign off on that um they so they don't happen a lot um they there are a few that happen around the state there's Not a lot of them. Okay. Yes. It's thatchart procedure just like annexation. It's all written out in code exactly how that is to to occur. All right. Thank you. All right. Other questions.

All right. Very good. Thank you for that presentation [snorts] tonight on that item. This time I'm going to ask for a motion to approve the awarding of the bid um for ordinance 2026-15. I move for to approve resolution 2026-15. Very good. Sorry. bids on the next been a long day. All right, very good. We have a motion. Who made that? I'll make the motion. Okay, James. Thank you. Did you get that? All right. Thank you. All right. Very good. There's No, I don't need them, but thank you. [laughter] All right. All right. Thank you very much. We'll go ahead [clears throat] and get a roll call on that, please. Vice President Crawford, I. Councilwoman Sice,

I. Councilman Mscavage, I. Councilwoman Huffman. Hi, Councilman Rubio. Hi, Mayor Reynolds. Hi, President Smith. Hi. Motion carries. Thank you. Before I move on, I do want to thank Vice President Crawford. He was planning to actually chair the meeting tonight in my absence. Uh, the event that I was supposed to go to, uh, was cancelled. Um, so I nowhere else I would rather be than here. So, thank you. Thank you very much. [laughter]

No, seriously. And I and I and I also want to put kudos out to um our staff. You know, I've been reading a lot of minutes and agendas from various municipalities and townships in the county. We are phenomenal on our interpretation of resolutions. Our agenda is easy to read. Our our minutes are are well documented. Um our procedural history is noted uh with notes and who's the presenter. I don't see that um in other areas. So, I I do want to commend you guys. And then a lot of that goes back to Michelle Johnson for for implementing a lot of that.

She Yeah, she made a lot of those a lot of those changes. The the law directors made uh some of those changes as well. And in that conference that our our new city city clerk, Miss Brown, will uh will do a great job continuing that. Very good. Forgiving me for putting those partial numbers in that title. [laughter] All right. Very good. All right. Our next item is resolution 2026-16. This is an award of a bid and authorizing the execution of a contract with institute for. Did I say that right? In situ. Insitu. All right. Very good. Technologies LLC for the 2026 sewer pipeline rehabilitation project.

Thank you, sir. Um, every two years the city allocates $500,000 to perform slip lining of sanitary sewers, restoring them and extending their life uh at a much lower cost than full replacement of those lines. uh slip lining repairs and seals cracks and joints, thus reducing groundwater intrusion and any uh unlawful connections to those those uh closed systems. Uh for 2026, uh approximately 5200 uh feet of 8 in and 900 ft of 10-in bitrified clay sewer pipes between West Eny Mill Road and West Church Street, mainly in rear yards along North King Street and North Galloway Street, uh are uh slated to be sliplined. Uh the engineers estimate for the project was $442,280. Uh on Wednesday, February 18th, the city received two qualifying bids uh from contractors uh to complete this project. Uh and situations LLC was the low bid at $346,55. Uh we were pleased at this uh bid much lower than the engineers estimate. Uh and this particular firm in such a form uh has successfully completed previous year's uh slip lining projects for us. So they're known to us and they've done a great job in the past. Uh because they are the lowest and we believe best bid submitted. Uh we are therefore respectfully requesting council approve resolution 2026-016 to authorize us to execute a contract. We'll get that project started here in the near future.

All right. Very good. Questions for Mr. Mayorman? All right. Seeing no other questions, I'll seek a motion to approve awarding the bid. I'll make a motion to Thank you. Moved by Councilwoman Sice. Do we have a second? Seconded by Councilman Mscavage. Roll call, please. Vice President Crawford. I. Councilwoman Sice. Hi. Councilman Mscavage. I. Councilwoman Huffman. Hi. Councilman Rubio. I. Mayor Reynolds. I. President Smith. I. Motion carries. Thank you very much. Okay. and thank you for entering. Mr. Scrivens, I'm so sorry that um you had difficulty getting in. I saw your message just now coming in. So, thank you for joining us.

The door. The door was locked. Yeah, but he got in. Did you break in or Oh, okay. Very good. [cough] Excuse me. Very good. All right. Next is um appointed officials reports. At this time, we'll go ahead and start with Mr. Duke. I have nothing more from the council, but be happy to try to answer any questions you have. All right. Tax season, how's that going?

Well, it's going well for us because Rita does the vast majority of work uh up to this point. So, um no, I think it's it's it's going well, going smoothly. Um no significant lines currently. So, if you get here uh in advance that deadline, then uh they'll get to you even quicker than than if you uh show up on the 15th. to get those taxes done early. Very good. Thank you. Any questions for Mr. Duke? Thank you, Madam Law Director. What do you have for us tonight?

Um, nothing legal, but just as we were talking about uh Great Council Park up on 68 signs went up today that uh 68 will be closed beginning on the 24th of March, the 24th, [clears throat] 25th, and 26th. Um there's no real great shortcuts around that, but just so the public's aware if you're if you're trying to get north starting on the 24th, that road's going to be closed for 3 days. Thanks for the heads up. 24th through the 24th through the 26th. All right. Very good.

All right. Anything for Madame Mall director tonight from our colleagues? Okay. Thank you very much. And uh Mr. Mayorman, what do you have for us?

Thank you, sir. First, uh as discussed with council president, we would like to exercise uh the opportunity for an executive session this evening. Um after your council comments, um couple of uh updates this evening as well. Um, uh, we have received, uh, since last fall, really over the winter, um, and up to recent weeks, uh, numerous complaints and questions from citizens regarding, um, uh, conduct of contractors in the field and neighborhoods concerning fiber installation. Uh, we recognize this is a really, really frustrating situation. Um some of the subcontractors of these uh fire companies are maybe not doing the best job leaving a lot of equipment. Um various sun different problems. Um so uh we've tried to advise folks as best we can. Unfortunately, this is a matter that we do not have much direct control over. Uh where these uh private easements exist over private property. Um the city has no legal enforcement capabilities. I mean virtually none. Um uh so there are a few things we can recommend to folks. Uh we wanted to just touch on those this evening. Um we encourage folks to uh check uh deeds that are uh adjacent to their properties to ensure that uh there is an easement across their properties for work to be done. Um if there isn't an e an easement, the homeowner should ensure that the propert the the work is being done on the easement and not encroaching into their into their property. Um if equipment is being left on private property um it has to be within the easement and and not beyond it. Um if those conditions are not being met then that that citizen does have a civil matter they can take up with PUCO because their their property is being encroached upon improperly. Um we encourage folks to issue those complaints to PUCO. There's nothing we can do when there is an encroachment on that private property outside of the easement. We just don't have any

enforcement capabilities. I'll note that a number of years ago um the state implemented changes to franchise agreements locally. They took that authority away from cities 2007

for cable companies and and fiber companies and consolidated that control at the state under PUCO. Uh when they did that, it took a revenue source away from the city and any local control we had. Um and and now as we see the proliferation of these um these fiber companies um there's just not a lot of accountability and and and very little uh oversight from PUCO. So um I can assure folks that items improperly left on public streets and public spaces. Um we will seek that out if it's reported to us. Uh Zena Police Division, our code enforcement will inspect that and and and if there's anything we can do to site, we will. But again, we can only intercede if it's on public property. if it's on the private property. We just I know it's not a good answer, but we really have no ability to affect any change um to those to those fiber companies because they have a right to be in the private ement. Um second, um potholes, they're bad. Um we've had a a really rough winter. Um [clears throat] part of the price of being aggressive this year in snow plowing and applying salt is that it takes a toll on that um transportation infrastructure. Um, so I've had some preliminary conversations with our service director. We'll be looking to step up some of the efforts that we normally have. Uh, try to be more aggressive with that. I warn folks that it's a little early for us to be out. We can't get the hot fill material yet. And if you'd looked at [clears throat] the forecast, um, unfortunately, we could have plowable snow, not once, but perhaps even twice in the next week. Um, so as much as this week the weather was warm, we're going to backslide a little bit. Um, we have been having some conversations and there are some ideas that I may want to present to council. Uh, if our bids come in well this year for streets and I think they were open this week, though I've not seen the results yet. Um, one option to consider is perhaps instead of paving another road, perhaps we look at a more aggressive contractual service to go out and do a little bit more um, permanent repair on some of these areas where potholes are really bad. So, haven't really formulated what that looks like,

but I just wanted to put it out there that I as we get reports, we are making note of those and we will send crews out when we can get some repairs done. Um, but we recognize this is a real problem and it's bad on cars. Um, so we'll get to those as quickly as we can and we may have some options for some more aggressive work uh that we'll present to council later. Uh, finally, just wanted to put out with council um put out there for our public and for council. Um, we are in the process and are hopeful to receive some federal funding um for our market district. Want to thank the mayor for helping make those connections with Representatives Turn Representative Turner's office. Uh nothing final yet, but um uh Representative Turner's office has been very uh favorable to our product or to our project. Um and they are looking to make that request. So we'll keep council informed um as that advances. Um and uh I think that's it. Happy to answer any questions.

Questions for Mr. Mayor?

Yes, I do. So, [clears throat] in in regards to the underground fiber line, um I live over in um Sterling Green and they are running through there. Um my mailbox was um hit. So, now it's leaning and I have a exposed hole and when it rained it got full of water and there's it's marked with cones but there's a hole in there. So if uh [clears throat] a citizen like you know myself um encounters that what what um should they do? Is there anyone to call or handle that?

Yeah, I mean it's the responsibility of the contractor or the parent company that is they're under contract with to restore the property

um to the condition that it was found. um you know, we can help make connections to the contractor, but there's nothing that we can do from an enforcement standpoint. Um again, it's you know, we in fact, I in I uh instructed today the public service director to uh seek contact with all of these um fiber companies because they have they do have to have uh permits to be in our rightway. Basically to send them an ASTM saying that we're our citizens are not satisfied with their conduct with their with their subcontractors. um that we are advising citizens to exercise their rights and we'll be seeking to enforce the city's rights. Um so we're trying to engage them, but to be honest with Councilman, there's there's not a lot we can do. They're responsible for restoring it. Um and we can help make uh connections if in other words, if you're not sure what who they're representing, if you weren't able to talk with them, we can maybe help uh identify who it is, but it is that company's responsibility to restore it. Anything else you want to add?

Well, there's always civil actions. Um, again, I I think the biggest thing is to encourage our residents to call PUCO, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. In 2007, when the state decided they wanted all those licensing fees, right? They took all our power away to be able to do anything. So, it's on them to be stepping up and making sure that these companies are doing things in an appropriate manner.

They took away any power we had to deal with these bad actors. Um, sure. You know, we I've called Puko. I've called and talked to their attorneys. Hey, is there anything that we can do locally? No. If it's on private property, they they took away all our legal enforcement action. Um, you know, if there's equipment left and it's not in the easement area, I've had some conversations with the city manager and he's talked to the police department. Maybe we'll come out and tow it. We have to move it a couple times. Maybe we'll get their attention. So, we're going to do everything we can within our power to try and help. Um, I think it's as frustrating to us as it is to the citizens because we can't help. Um, so really number one thing, get online, if if you type in Green County GIS, it will bring up the GIS map and you can look at your deed from that. You can look at your subdivision platform from that. Check where the easement is on your property. Are they inside that area? If they're not, tell them they have to get off.

Okay? Um, you don't want them encroaching on your property. If there's not an easement there, you can definitely tell them to get off, but make sure they're inside where they're supposed to be. That's part of it, too, because what I'm hearing, I I'm not at all encouraged that they're actually putting these lines where they're supposed to be. Um, so that's one of the things I think we can most encourage people to do. And just for uh you know uh information is there like a lead time where they've started and is is there a certain end time cuz it seems like

well part of it is it's multiple different Yeah. I mean there's I know Yeah. I think there's four different providers that are somewhere in Zena right now and and in many cases it'll be one provider they'll move out of neighborhood another one will move in. So it it may very well be different providers that people are seeing. Yeah. Okay. Well, thank you. Very good. So, just a quick question on on the pothole situation. To me, like driving down Monroe, it looks like a lot of that is utility work where they board in

um you know, mess the surface up to do what they need to do and then it's open and then that gets deeper and deeper. So is that responsibility of the utility company to fix those roads and yeah can we can we send them an invoice for that?

So u another factor at play Centerpoint Energy um as they are required to do they're out in the system they're doing system replacement which again is very good for our our natural gas system. Um they have a right to be out and to to do the replacements. Um but they are required to put back in place asphalt and it has to meet our standards when they do that. Um, again, unfortunately, they've been out working over the winter, actually. And so, they've gotten in a number of locations, Monroe, down at um Orange Street and and and West Maine, a number of locations where they're doing work. Um, the asphalt plants aren't open yet, so the material isn't out there. They are required to put temporary fill, but again, that that gravel comes up pretty easily. So, where we see that, we let them know. They need they're supposed to come out and take care of it. Uh but we can anticipate hopefully in the next one to two months that any of those areas that are dug up as a result of the utility work, they have to restore that on their dime and to our specifications. Um so again, I know that's a problem. I've hit a couple of those right there at Orange Street that are that are pretty bad. Um I should note that um uh the finance director let me know. Um our bid came back today at about 1.8 million for our street work. So that's about $300,000 less than we had with our engineers estimate. So, we will have a little bit of money to play with potentially to look at whether it's another road we do or whether you'd like to look at something with some of these pothole conditions. Um, but again, we'll we'll put to some recommendations together and come back at a future meeting probably when we award this and make some determination with you about what you want to do. Um, and I also failed to mention on the executive session, we would uh request that this evening for the purpose of uh acquisition of property and for general legal advice.

Sure. All right. Any other questions for Mr. Marman? All right. All right. At this time, I'm going to um move to council comments, then we'll go to executive session. We'll start with Councilman Skavage. Do you have anything you'd like to say tonight? Uh thanks for choosing me. I'm glad to be here. It's a honor to serve uh our community and uh with God's wisdom, we'll leave this city in sustainable growth. So, appreciate you all. Very good. Thank you,

Councilman Sice. Just real quickly, we had another Zena Charter Review Commission meeting this week. It went very well. We have some excellent folks that are on that committee willing to serve and making great contributions. So, appreciate everybody. All right. Thank you very much. Councilwoman Huffman, do you have anything? Uh, nothing other than welcome to JB. It's nice to [cough and clears throat] have a a full set of seats up here and good people that are here to serve. So, that's all I have. Thank you very much. All right, Councilman [snorts] Rubio. Um, no. All right. Thank you. All right. Vice President, I just wanted to welcome JD. I've sat with JD in the past. He's,

you know, I'm looking forward to seeing how far we can go with with the success of this particular council. So, I feel that this is a unique council and it's it's one that listens and it's one that's proactive and we love the idea of communication from here, not just from this platform, but if you if you call us, you stop us, we'll give you the time. So, with that, I I'm just I'm just happy to be with this council as well. Thank you very much. All right, Mayor Ethan.

All right. Uh just have a few quick things. So, we had our X-REC meeting uh last Tuesday to begin planning for the Easter egg hunt. So, it's April 4th. Uh if we do need donations of Easter baskets from council and anyone that would like to donate as well, you can drop them off here at the city building. Uh uh President Smith and I went uh and visited with MRL uh this past week and met with their new CEO Armen and what they're doing for the city, what what they're doing in the city and their business and the new developments that are going to take place is going to be great for us. uh met with the Ohio River Ohio River Runners Club uh regarding the upcoming marathon, half marathon, and 10K. Uh that's going to be an exciting event. Uh I this will be my fourth year running in it. So uh there's going to be great. There's going to be a lot of people who go to church uh at the Y or at uh Lighthouse. Expect some delays in traffic for

it is I'm going I'm doing it, let me tell you. Uh the um [laughter] I think it's Palm Sunday the 29th. Yes. So March 29th. Yep. Uh and then uh state of the state was this week. A lot of great things coming up from the state uh for just across our especially our region. Uh and then finally uh happy St. Early St. Patrick's Day. It's coming up on Tuesday. So and that's all I have.

Very good. Thank you very much. Um also uh want to thank the mayor for the invite to MRL. uh fa fin fantastic um facility that they have there. Um the potential for growth there is just phenomenal um for the jobs that they'll create and uh so we thank them for that tour of being partner with the city. Um also just like to um mention yesterday I had opportunity uh to present to Zenaia um senior citizen center XR um and spoke on behalf of the market district plans. Um so the uh people there for lunch really enjoyed the presentation and um a lot of good questions and comments about that. So, it it's nice to speak positively about some of the things that are happening in our community. So, um thank you for that opportunity to do that. And um also wish everyone a happy St. Patrick's Day as well. A lot they were all wearing green yesterday at that lunchon. So, I felt out of place. I was wearing blue.

Oh, fair. Yeah, we got to go with the Irish flag. Exactly. So at this time I want to make a uh seek a motion to move at the executive session for the uh purpose of um purchase or sale of property for OC 121.22 and general legal advice and general legal advice. Thank you. Moved by Councilwoman Huffman, seconded by the mayor and a roll call, please. Vice President Crawford. Councilwoman Sice. Hi. Councilman Mscavage. Hi. Councilwoman Huffman. Hi. Councilman Rubio. Hi. Mayor Reynolds. Hi. President Smith. I. Motion.

Thank you. Um we're going to take um like 5 minutes for we'll reach