City Council - Regular Meeting

First of all, welcome to the regular meeting of Xenia City Council. Today is July 9th. We have been in a special session since 5 o'clock and due to labor negotiations, we were in an executive session or just come out of that session at this time. At this time, we are going to have an invocation led by the Vice President, Mr. Crawford, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance by Councilman Jesse Rubio. If you could please rise.

So Father, another day that you have made. Father, I thank you, Lord, for all that have hearts to participate in wanting to be here. Those that care about this city, that have looked out after this city, that are doing things behind the scene that they don't get credit for. And these are the names and these are the people and this is the gathering that we come just trusting, Lord, that you have blessed this community You have blessed just the management, the safety and fire, the police staff and all that goes a part of that, including the, I love animals, so even the police dogs. And I just thank you, Lord, in advance for what you're doing as a collective group for the people that you've raised up for such a time as this. Great opportunity, Lord, with the council members that are here great opportunity for the decisions that are made for the future of this community. And Lord, we pay attention and we are attentive that we're making bold, trustworthy, and reasonable decisions. And thank you in advance, Lord, for your mercy, grace, and truth in favor upon this, upon our city in Jesus' name.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the

All right. Thank you, Vice President Crawford. Thank you, Councilman Rubio, for the Pledge of Allegiance. At this time, we're going to call our regular meeting to order.

Vice President Crawford.

Here.

Councilwoman Cerise. Present. Councilman Miscavige.

Present.

Councilwoman Huffman. Here. Councilman Rubio.

Here.

Mayor Reynolds. President Smith.

Here. Earlier in our special session, we excused the mayor due to conflict with his employment. At this time, I'll also move to excuse him from the regular session. and ask for a second.

Second.

Seconded by Councilman Rubio.

Roll call, please. Vice President Crawford. Aye. Councilwoman Cerise. Aye. Councilman Miscavige. Aye. Councilwoman Huffman. Aye. Councilman Rubio.

Aye.

President Smith.

Aye. Motion carries. Thank you. On the agenda is approval of minutes. This would be from our regular meeting on June 25th. We have the minutes before us. I'll go ahead and ask for a motion to accept the minutes. So moved. Moved by Councilwoman Cerise. Seconded by? Second. By Councilwoman Huffman. Is there any additions or corrections required for the minutes? All right. We'll go ahead and get a roll call to accept those. Vice President Crawford. Aye.

Councilwoman Cerise. Aye. Councilman Miscavige.

Aye.

Councilwoman Huffman. Aye. Councilman Rubio. Aye. President Smith. Aye. Motion carries.

Thank you very much. We have no special presentation technically scheduled on the agenda, but I do have Councilwoman Cerise is going to make some comments tonight regarding some activities from last week.

Yeah, thank you so much. I just wanted to acknowledge this past week we had a very special visitor. Our sister city with Ghana, in Ghana we had the delegation here including the King of Assubu and we had our police department here watching him, guiding him, protecting him, and they just did a fantastic job. They were phenomenal. It was so well executed. I've never seen anything like it. It was like watching something on TV. I would have them very much, if we had our President of the United States come through, they would be able to be secret service for him. I would like to honor Detective Chad Shealy, Officer Jeremiah, I'm gonna say your name incorrectly, Fernball, is that correct? Yes, great. Major Lon Etcheson, and then also Officer Fred Barker, he was the driver of the delegation. And so if any of them are here today, I would like them to come up, and if we could get, if all counsel, we could get a picture together. They just did a fabulous job.

I don't have a challenge for you.

Would you join us? You're here. You would join us as well? I appreciate having you come up. You guys are fantastic. And even the delegation that came noted that he could tell how well-trained you were and how much attention you gave to them and stood there with them the whole time as well, not just the second, but on the third during the block party with the fireworks. So we're very appreciative. And we're so happy that you were able to have these gentlemen be there. Absolutely. It was great.

All right, guys. One, two, three, two, three, four.

All right, here you go. All right, very good. We're going to move into audience comments at this point of the meeting. This is your opportunity, if you're in the audience, if you'd like to come and address city council with your comments or concerns, we do ask that you give us your name, address for the record. Limit your comments to two to three minutes. And if you're welcome, go ahead. You can come to the podium at this time.

Is this the first year?

Good evening. My name is Christian Steen.

I reside at 377 North King Street, Xenia, Ohio. I'm here... Is that me?

Pull it down just a little bit. Maybe that might help.

377 North King Street, Xenia, Ohio. I'm calling in regards to an address of 839 South Detroit Street, Xenia, Ohio. That's the property my mom owns. And the reason I'm calling here tonight is because I have an issue. Xenia Code, Xenia Codes 454.07 about a prohibition against abandonment of junk motor vehicles. There's been a vehicle, a white pickup truck, abandoned there for going on five years. I've been complaining to the city police and the code enforcement for all these years. And they say they can't do anything. They say, oh, we talked to the guy. It has flat tires, expired plates, broken side mirror. The bed is full of trash. Years of reports calling in the police, calling in code enforcement. I'm not the only one. Other neighbors I've talked to have also called in the police and code enforcement, and nothing gets done. It's been there for years now, just an eyesore in front of my mom's rental house there. And I thought, well, police is not doing anything, and code enforcement's not doing anything, so come to council, bring this to your attention, because there are junk vehicles all over town. This is not the only one. Also, further down on South Detroit Street is a black SUV that sat there so long on the road, the rear subframe and muffler have rotted out and are laying on the ground. And so we have an issue with a lot of junk vehicles around on the streets here in town. And the code specifically says about no vehicle might be parked on a public street for more than 48 hours. or that's considered a junk vehicle. And then the disposition calls it a three-year-old vehicle, or extensively damaged, or not running, missing tires, wheels, not operable. And so I can show you this. But if you all can look into that and see if we can get some resolution to get these junk vehicles, particularly my issue, in front of 839 South Detroit Street taken care of, getting that pickup truck taken away, it'd be just great.

Thank you for bringing that to our attention. Who else would like to come forward?

How we doing? My name is John Samuels. The address is 261 Fairview Circle. Here in Xenia. I just wanted to come in and just make an announcement regarding the community cleanup day I'm doing in the East End this Saturday. I was out passing flyers a couple days ago hoping to be able to make contact with a couple people in particular. But I figured I'd stop in and just kind of share the information with people. I got in touch with the XPB and I think a few of them will be coming out during the course of the event to say what's up to people. So I'm looking forward to seeing them out there. It would be great if any of you would be able to pop up and just say hi. If you feel like picking up something and cleaning and helping, that would be awesome too. Just wanted to share that information with y'all. I have some flyers if you're interested in having one. So that was all. I just wanted to share that information.

Can I just clarify, it's for the community cleanup?

Yes, sir.

And it's at 839 South Detroit. I mean, sorry, that's the wrong address. That's the one that the gentleman just gave us. It's 578 Market Street.

Yes, ma'am.

From 8 a.m. till 12 noon this coming Saturday. Yes, ma'am.

Yes. That's the old Board of Education. There are some very specific reasons why I chose to do it up there. But there will be some bouncy houses up there. Food truck will be up there. Music. And some great opportunities to make some contacts with people that care. Great.

Can I get one of your flyers, Sean? Yes, please.

Thank you. Very nice, thank you.

All right, very good. Thank you, Mr. Samuels, for that. And thank you for your volunteerism on that day and your volunteers that will come out and help you. Who else would like to come forward at this time?

Good evening. Mr. President, my name is Tom Scribbins, still by the grace of God, reside at 725 Lexington Avenue here in the City of Hospitality. Mr. President and ladies and gentlemen of the City Council, I rise from my seat this evening to say we did a heck of a job on the fireworks. It's epic. We are, we're head and shoulders above all our size communities. I had people coming in from miles around. and they were thoroughly impressed. So thanks to the Sunny Cab Foundation, Memorial Foundation, thanks to the City of Xenia and we should probably have a couple fundraisers during the year specifically to ask people to contribute to the fireworks. I mean they lasted almost 30 minutes and we had the ringside seats there on North Columbus Drive just past Stadium Heights there. So we were actually looking up at them. So we really had a good time. It's good to see everybody downtown. It's just good to promote ourselves. Asking again about the progress on our so-called Market Square, soon to be Hospitality Square. We'd like to get an update on what's going on there. We answer a lot of questions. There are no formal, any place where you can get straight answers, so we ask you to please give us an update on the progress and what's expected in the near term. I told the person today that asked me about it, I said, well, you're looking at a seven-year plan here. So I just wanted to... And, Mr. President, I want to ask again if we can amend the street servicing plan to include North Patton Street between Church and Main. Only reason why, that's not one of the worst streets in town, but the only reason why is because we have a 45 million gallon tank that holds water there and that's in front of our house. So we need to take care in front of our house before we get to going out banging people over the head about taking care of their house. So just a note of housekeeping at that point. And also, Mr. President, just wanted to say that that so far this council is doing really well. I'm proud of what they've done so far. But the challenge lay ahead of us. We've got to get JD's picture on the wall. He's been in his seat now for long enough to get his picture on the wall. So let's not hesitate. And then I want to thank the IT director for getting these microphones going so the people who are in the room hearing public business being transacted can actually hear the public business being transacted. So we thank you guys for making a move to the better and keep on keeping on. God bless every one of you. Thank you.

Thank you, Tommy. Thank you, Mr. Scrivens. We appreciate that. Who else would care to come forward at our city council? We got a big audience tonight. Thank you for being here. Okay. Last opportunity. All right. Thank you. We're going to close audience comments. We do have old business tonight. Our first item is ordinance 2026 dash 23, which is a public hearing tonight. This is for amending of the official zoning map that the city of Xenia to rezone the property at 805 upper Bellbrook road. and a portion of the property at 817 Upper Bellbrook Road from A1 Agricultural District to an RV Regional Business District. This time, we'll turn the floor over to Mr. Merriman.

Thank you, sir. This measure would seek to implement a rezoning at the addresses noted, changing the use from agricultural to regional business district. In particular, the suggested use is for a hotel. as well as some, uh, uh, retail. And so this has gone through the necessary process and is before council this evening seeking a final disposition.

All right. Thank you very much. Any questions for Mr. Merriman on this item before I open the public hearing? All right. Very good. We're going to open the public hearing tonight on ordinance 2026 dash 23. and ask if anyone would care to come forward on this topic only. You can come forward, give us your name, address for the record. We do ask to limit your comments two to three minutes. And you can speak either for or against the rezoning. Yes, sir.

My name is Jake Morrison from Van Etta Engineering. My address is 570 Congress Parkway in Dayton, Ohio 45458. I'm here on behalf of my client Tashi Hospitality who is the applicant and will be the owner and operator of this town place suites. I know this has already been presented to you in the plan board as well so I'll keep it brief and just say a couple things. Primarily, I'd like to express my client's excitement about this property in particular. He's a resident of Greene County in Xenia, so this will be his home office where he'll operate a handful of other hotels out of as well. And the second thing I'd like to say is that when I attended the plan board meeting, the largest concern that I heard from the public was interest in construction of a screening fence along the east property boundary. We are going to be building a screening fence along that east property boundary as part of our landscape buffer. And the last thing I'll say is that if there are any questions, I'm more than happy to try to answer. But I'd just like to leave it on the note that my client is very, very excited about this. So thank you for hearing this case.

Thank you very much. Who else would care to come forward at this time? All right. Seeing no one else come forward, I am going to close the public hearing on this item and ask if anyone on council has any additional questions. All right. And at this time, I will mention this was introduced at our last council meeting by Councilwoman Miscavige. Would you care to move for passage on this item? Mr. President, I do. Thank you. Move for passage by Councilwoman Miscavige, seconded by the Vice President. And we'll get a roll call, please.

Vice President Crawford?

Aye.

Councilwoman Cerise? Aye. Councilman Miscavige? Aye. Councilwoman Huffman? Aye. Councilman Rubio?

Aye.

President Smith? Aye. Motion carries.

Thank you very much. All right. Our next item tonight is new business. First item under new business is resolution 2026-39. This is approving preliminary consent legislation for the Ohio Department of Transportation U.S. 42 culvert repair project known as PID 114656 and this is within the city of Xenia's corporate limits. At this time I'll turn the floor over to Mr. Merriman.

Excuse me. As suggested, our engineering staff did receive a request from the Ohio Department of Transportation seeking the city's consent to allow ODOT to repair stormwater culvert under US 42 near Leadbetter Road, a portion of roadway that's located within our corporate boundaries. The project will be administered by ODOT. There will be no local funds expended to complete the work. So given the benefit of this, we are recommending council a passage of the resolution to authorize a standard consent agreement, which will allow the project to move forward.

All right. Thank you, Mr. Merriman. Any questions for our city manager on this item? All right. This time I'll open the floor for a motion to approve the resolution. Who would like to make that motion? So moved. Thank you. Moved by Councilman Huffman. Do we have a second? Second. Seconded by Councilman Rubio. Any additional questions or concerns? All right. Seeing none, we'll get a roll call on this item.

Vice President Crawford.

Aye.

Councilman Cerise. Aye. Councilman Miscavige. Aye. Councilwoman Huffman. Aye. Councilman Rubio.

Aye.

President Smith. Aye. Motion carries.

Thank you very much. Our next item under new business is resolution 2026-40. This is approving preliminary consent legislation for the Ohio Department of Transportation's US 68 resurfacing project known as PID 116328. And this is also within the city of Xenia's corporate limits. This time we'll turn the floor back over to Mr. Merriman.

Our engineering division also received a request from ODOT for the city to consent to resurfacing a small portion of U.S. Route 68 at the U.S. 35-68 interchange, again located in our corporate limits. The project design is to be completed in 2026 and construction would begin in 2027. Here also the project would be administered by ODOT. There will be no city funds as part of the project that would be expended. To grant ODOT the requested consent for the project, we're recommending Council approve a standard preliminary consent legislation as provided in the resolution tonight and so seeking your approval thereof.

All right, thank you very much. Questions for Mr. Merriman or Mr. Berger? He's in the audience tonight. Thank you Chris for being here.

Mr. Merriman, this is only a repaving. It's not additional lanes or anything. Yeah, it's not comprehensive. It's a pretty simple project. Thank you.

And then along with that question, how long do you think we'll be shutting that or restricting the traffic for that project?

It'll be a fairly simple project. I think the extent of inconvenience should be minimized. Okay.

All right. Very good. If there's no other questions, I'll seek a motion to approve. So moved. Moved by Councilwoman Huffman. I'll second. Seconded by Councilwoman Cerise. Roll call, please.

Vice President Crawford.

Aye.

Councilman Cerise. Aye. Councilman Miscavige. Aye. Councilman Huffman. Aye. Councilman Rubio. Aye. President Smith.

Aye.

Motion carries.

Thank you. Our next item is resolution 2026-41, authorizing the execution of a limited partnership agreement, federal local LET agreement with ODOT, or Ohio Department of Transportation, for the West Church Street, known as West Main Street to North Detroit Street Improvement Project. So we'll go ahead and turn the floor over to Mr. Merriman again.

Thank you, sir. Last October, our city engineering staff successfully applied for federal surface transportation program funds through the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission for major improvements to West Church Street. As indicated, this would be between Main Street and North Detroit. Based on traffic studies already completed and with the Market District project advancing, specifically the multi-family development aspects anticipated over the next three to five years, we feel it's important and necessary to have safety upgrades as well as enhancements to support the increased pedestrian and bicycle traffic in this vicinity. Engineering Division staff plans to include lane reductions, narrower travel lanes, protected on-street parking, and intersection improvements as part of the overall scope of the project. The improvements are also expected to discourage semi-trucks from using this section of West Church Street as a cut around from the main intersection downtown. So per the grant application submitted to MVRPC, the total project cost is estimated to be $2.530 million and some change. The federal STP grant would cover up to $1,746,250, or 69%, leaving the city responsible for the local share of $784,547, obviously 31%. plus any construction-related cost overruns. So construction would be expected to begin in spring of 2031. We recommend approval of resolution as presented to authorize execution of the LPA. Put us in line for a pretty hefty sum of grant funds to help rehabilitate the transportation corridor on this road.

All right, thank you. Questions from Mr. Merriman?

I heard a rumor, 2031. Are we... Are we planning for 2031 already?

That's when the grant funds would be available. And so for these types of programs, you know, the approval cycle is years out from the availability of funds. The only concern I have right now is that, as we've shared with council, kind of the expected pace of development at the market district site may be out in front of a lot of us. a year or two earlier, but beggars can't be choosers. And so in this case, I'll take the grant funds and try to adjust in the meantime. So yeah, it's a number of years out there.

I understand. Thank you for that answer.

Is our portion locked in or considering in five years prices may rise.

Yeah, this is an estimate. So it's, you know, there are some, uh, escalation factors that are built into the overall estimate. So certain assumptions on, you know, what, what inflationary factors might, uh, might affect it. So theoretically it could go down more than likely it could go up. Um, but we try to anticipate that it gets close to the, uh, of an actual numbers.

Further questions. All right. This time I'll seek a motion to authorize the execution of the ODOT agreement. Thank you. Moved by Councilman Miscavige. Seconded by Councilwoman Cerise. Roll call, please.

Vice President Crawford.

Aye.

Councilman Cerise. Aye. Councilman Miscavige. Aye. Councilwoman Huffman. Aye. Councilman Rubio.

Aye.

President Smith.

Aye. Motion carries. Thank you. Our next item is Resolution 2026-42, authorizing execution of a redway maintenance agreement with the Ohio Department of Transportation.

mr merriman again it's public service night on the agenda as you can see in may of 2021 council approved resolution 2021-w which authorized a five-year roadway maintenance agreement with the ohio department of transportation pursuant to this agreement in exchange of maintenance obligations for certain portions of marked routes in and around the city was agreed to by both city and district 8. such an agreement is authorized by orc as a standard practice with other municipalities The arrangement promotes more efficient road and lane maintenance functions for both ODOT and the city so that we can concentrate on services in connected areas. So there's mutual benefit to this type of an approach. And this is mostly related to things like snow and ice removal and similar maintenance functions. The 2021 agreement has expired and since it was executed, ODOT has authorized a change in the assignment of counties to the regional districts. So Green County has been moved from District 8 to District 7. So in anticipation of that, we took an opportunity for the Public Service Director and I to meet with the District 7 folks to talk about re-upping this agreement. As part of that, we wanted to make sure that we were making some adjustments in the agreement for the potential of the central state annexation and a portion of U.S. 42 would be included in that annexation. So the one major change to this agreement in its re-up is that incorporates an exchange for part of maintenance of 42. So ODOT would continue to provide that maintenance of 42 and we would take another section of roadway elsewhere. I want to say we had a good meeting with the District Center folks and are impressed with the collaborative nature of their leadership and excited to be working with them. So again, the resolution this evening is requesting authorization to execute this roadway maintenance agreement, allow us to maintain this more efficient exchange of roadway maintenance obligations between us and District Center.

All right. Thank you very much. Questions for Mr. Merriman? Pretty much a spot of services. Almost literally.

I mean, I think it was maybe a couple hundred linear feet difference in the total calculation between the two. But again, it's much more efficient for us to concentrate our services to the core of the community and ODOT around the periphery where they're already providing services.

All right. I agree. It makes sense. Questions for Mr. Merriman? From anyone here? All right. This time I'll seek a motion to approve by the vice president and seconded by second by council councilwoman Huffman for the discussion necessary. All right. Seeing them, we'll get a roll call to accept this item. Please.

Vice president Crawford.

Aye.

Councilwoman Cerise. Aye. Councilman Miscavige. Aye. Councilwoman Huffman. Aye. Councilman Rubio.

Aye.

President Smith. Aye. Motion carries.

Thank you. Our next item is resolution 2026 43. This is accepting the annexation of 121.558 acres of land from Xenia Township located east of 997 North Columbus Street into the city of Xenia, Ohio. Mr. Merriman.

Yeah, thank you, sir. The Manorino Family Partnership, the owners of a parcel of containing 128.558 acres. This is a property on the south side of US Route 42 east and east of 997 North Columbus Street. Street have submitted a petition for an expedited type 2 annexation of the subject property from Xenia Township to the City of Xenia. The annexation has been approved by the Grand County Commission. If the annexation is now accepted by council, the developer, Rockford Homes, intends to acquire the property as well as an adjacent 62-acre parcel at 1634 Old US 35 for development of single-family homes in a new subdivision to be called Trailside Brum. The subdivision will require cities using the water and sewer services and will contain an estimated 517 homes. If the annexation is approved, the developer's next step followed by subdivision planning applications. We've obviously had some pretty extensive discussion with council in the lead up to this. As a city policy staff conducted a fiscal impact analysis of the proposed that general fund operating revenues are estimated to exceed general fund service costs. The assessment has been provided to city council in their packets. The proposed development would add not only tax base, but also add new high quality housing options for families looking to locate to Xenia, which then expands our retail consumer base and local workforce. For all these reasons, we recommend that council approve resolution 2026043 to accept the annexation. I'd be happy to address any questions you have.

Thank you. Questions for Mr. Merriman? And I would like to point out this was not initiated by the city of Zena. This was initiated by the property owner. Is that, is that correct?

That is correct. So, you know, there really is only one type of annexation where the city would initiate it. That's annexation of state county or municipal owned property. But typically, and in this particular case with an expedited type two, it is a private property owner in a township seeking to join and to be incorporated into the city. And that is the case in this particular instance.

All right. Very good. And yep, go ahead. No, I was just, you know, coming from that side of town, we have enough power outages as it is. Is there any plans for substations, or are we getting some additional AES?

Yeah, actually, there are plans in the works for a new substation in sort of the southeastern quadrant of the city. That's been in the works with AES for a number of years. I don't have an exact timetable on that right now. But what I can tell you is that there is awareness of some of the issues, and as the demand in that region of the city continues to grow, it's on the radar of AES. But we can actually explore with them and kind of see what the status of their plans are.

Thank you for that. Thank you. All right. And then our notes that this petition was filed back in March with green County, uh, commissioners, they approved this on April 23rd. So this was endorsed by green County commission. Um, and, um, let's all say at this time, anyone have questions for Mr. Merriman?

No question, but I appreciate, um, Mr. Duke's work to crunch the numbers and make sure that this is a financially viable project. Um, Looking out into 30 years when it needs to be paid, it's important to know that this does cover all those expenses. So thank you, sir.

Well, I want to give credit where credit's due. I reviewed the numbers. Brian is actually the one, Mr. Fortuner, who put together the original analysis. So I reviewed them. I'm familiar with him, but he put in most of the work. So thank you. Thank you, Brian.

So in previous meetings, we had discussion once before about new subdivisions creating their own like TIF. to help pay for the streets?

Actually, we have a meeting scheduled tomorrow to discuss a variety of potential options, including impact fees, TIFs. As we talked about with council previously, there's a new function that's been approved by the state legislature that will allow us to use TIF proceeds for construction of public safety facilities. So we will be reviewing some options tomorrow and anticipating coming back to do a work session with council next month to discuss options with council.

Very good. Thank you. Have we seen the planning designs for this?

Ryan has seen some conceptual plans for what the layout of the park. And again, we shared a little bit of some of what this could look like as it relates to Lexington Park and your walking tour as well. So there's some implications for that area too.

All right. Very good. Thank you. Thank you very much. Any other questions? All right. Seeking none. I'll seek a motion to accept the annexation. Who would like to make that motion? So moved. Moved by the Vice President. Do we have a second?

I'll second.

Seconded by Councilwoman Cerise. Any further discussion? All right. Get a roll call, please.

Vice President Crawford.

Aye.

Councilwoman Cerise. Aye. Councilman Miscavige. Aye. Councilwoman Huffman. Aye. Councilman Rubio.

Aye.

President Smith.

Aye. Motion carries. Thank you very much. Our next item is resolution 2026-44. This is approving and ratifying a tentative collective bargaining agreement with the Xenia Police Officers Association and the Fraternal Order of Police, Police Sergeants. Mr. Merriman, do you want to take that?

Yeah, thank you, sir. Earlier this summer, our staff negotiating team engaged in collective bargaining with our respective units representing our police officers and police sergeants. The parties have reached tentative agreements that fall within the mandates established by city council. Our executive leadership believes the terms and conditions of the proposed tentative agreements are fair and satisfy the interest of the city. We've been notified that the unions have ratified their perspective agreements, and I believe that was unanimously from both of those bargaining units. As the tenant agreements have been reviewed with council this evening, we've answered any questions, and so we believe that we are ready to move forward with the request to authorize resolution 2026-044, which would give us, if approved, the ability to execute these contracts and implement those for this next three-year cycle.

Very good. Thank you. All right. Questions for Mr. Merriman.

All right. We had a very good discussion on this subject and we're in support of supporting our, our safety and police officers, you know, as they do with their, in their professionalism and the idea of retaining, um, current positions and, and, and drawing talent to our community is important to us as well. But thank you for your presentation on that one.

Yeah, it's not getting any easier to be a police officer. We employ some exceptionally skilled men and women in our police division. They're not perfect, but they're darn near and very proud of the work they do and proud of how they represent the council and me and the entire community. I can't thank them enough for the service that they provided.

All right. Agreed. Any other questions? I would like to comment also, thank you very much to Jackie, your staff and the, uh, police unions for coming to agreement, um, and working together, um, as public officials, our first task is public safety. We cannot do that without law enforcement. And, uh, we cannot do it without people who every day clock in and put their life at risk for your safety. And, um, you know, it's a different dynamic out there than it was a decade ago. So thank you very much for those that, um, are willing to give their life for others. and any other comments if not we'll go ahead and get a roll call please oh wait a minute we need a motion i'll make a motion thank you i'll second thank you moved by councilwoman cerise seconded by councilman rubio thank you

Vice President Crawford?

Aye.

Councilwoman Cerise? Aye. Councilman Miscavige? Aye. Councilwoman Huffman? Aye. Councilman Rubio?

Aye.

President Smith?

Aye. Motion carries. Thank you very much. Our next item is a procedural motion. This is authorizing the Finance Director to provide the Greene County Budget Commission with a preliminary budget as required by the Ohio Revised Code. Mr. Duke, what do you have for us?

Thank you, Mr. President. The Ohio Revised Code requires that the tax budget be prepared uh each year and filed with the county budget commission each july uh the code also allows for the budget commission to essentially forego the requirement and relieve us of the requirement to file that budget and the county budget commission did do that for the 2027 tax budget the county commission did request though that we provide certain pieces of information for them uh for them to consider as they calculate um the rates and and then certify certify those uh to the city and so uh it is uh then necessary for us to pro uh to put together a preliminary budget uh on which to provide those numbers to the county we're requesting the council authorize us to provide that preliminary budget or numbers to the commission based on that preliminary budget we've provided a a summary of that budget information. This is really a formality. It means very little. I highly doubt that the budget commission is going to actually use this information. determining these rates in fact the inside millage hasn't changed in 50 60 70 years I mean it's been a really long time since they've actually amended those rates so I don't think that this submittal is going to actually change the amounts that are certified to the city but it is something that's required in the law and so we need to go through the process to provide information to the county and then uh we'll be bringing back an item to the council um i think probably next month actually um maybe even the next meeting to certify the rates that are provided by the um by the budget committee or the budget commission this approval of this um preliminary budget doesn't authorize any expenses. It doesn't commit the council to any projects. It's simply a, um, uh, just a baseline set of beginning balances and expenditures that we're providing to the county commission, uh, that they can, um, that they can review before they certify rates to us. So, uh, just requesting, um, that the, that the council authorized me to provide those numbers to the commission, and then we'll bring back the rates, which again, I can say with confidence because they've already provided them to us even before we provided them the budget, that they're not going to change from, um, from the previous year. So that the millage is, is going to be consistent with what we've been provided in the past. So, uh, requesting council, uh, um, make that approval so that we can get those numbers over at the county.

All right. Thank you. Questions for our finance director tonight. All right. Seeing none, we'll go ahead and ask for a motion to authorize Mr. Duke to provide the budget. Who would like to make that motion?

I will.

Thank you. That was made by Councilwoman Cerise. I'll second. Seconded by Councilwoman Huffman. If there's no further discussion, we will go ahead and get a roll call on that.

Vice President Crawford.

Aye.

Councilman Cerise. Aye. Councilman Miscavige. Aye. Councilwoman Huffman. Aye. Councilman Rubio. Aye. President Smith.

Aye.

Motion carries.

Thank you. Next on the agenda is a procedural motion. We're going to break this into two parts. First is the appointment to Board of Zoning Appeals. And I am going to turn this over to our Vice President for his motion.

Okay. Sure. After vetting the applicants, I've respectfully basically have chosen Kurt Saunders to fill the additional vacancy that we had in the BZA. And prior to that, I basically interviewed, let's see, it was Mary Haller. Mary Haller basically comes, let's see, she's filling the vacancy and has expressed interest in serving at the board, the Zoning Board of Appeals. Instead of the Planning and Zoning Commission due to a conflict of work schedule, it was just an obvious fit and a good transition for us. I interviewed about four candidates for this, and I was excited for the interest in this seating, this available seating. I will say that both of these candidates are bringing to their seats and in their position for the city a big heart for doing what's right. Their passion to serve was quite evident in the interview process. Their skill and their backgrounds were very complimentary for what we're needing in these positions. And I will say in some cases it was a tough decision, but nevertheless I felt I chose the most qualified. And so I just like to just announce that we fill those two vacancies. All right. Thank you very much. So you'll make that motion by the vice president. I will make that motion as the vice president.

I think you have that. Okay. All right. Yep. All right. And who would like to second that motion?

I'll second.

Seconded by Councilwoman Cerise. We're going to go ahead and vote on this appointment first. Can we get a roll call, please? Vice President Crawford? Aye.

Councilwoman Cerise? Aye. Councilman Miscavige? Aye. Councilwoman Huffman? Aye. Councilman Rubio?

Aye.

President Smith?

Aye. Motion carries. Thank you. With the appointment of Mary Haller to Board of Zoning Appeals, we created an opening for Planning and Zoning Commission. That vacancy is now being filled by Mr. Frank Trapanato, who I would... make the motion to appoint him for a term not to expire until December 31st of 2026. That's just the rest of this year and then he can get a four-year appointment after that. Is that correct?

Okay.

Very good. I had a meeting with Frank. You're in the audience tonight. Thank you so much for being here. Very looking forward to your participation in planning and zoning. He was at our meeting last night as well. Thank you very much. So I made that motion and we have a second? I'll second. Seconded by Councilwoman Huffman. All right, there's no further discussion. We'll get a roll call on that appointment.

Vice President Crawford? Aye. Councilwoman Cerise? Aye. Councilman Miscavige? Aye. Councilwoman Huffman? Aye. Councilman Rubio?

Aye.

President Smith? Aye. Motion carries.

Thank you. I don't see Mary Haller here. Is Mr. Saunders, Kurt Sanders, are you here? Okay. Trap, you're here. Would you like to come forward or say anything? You don't have to if you don't want to. You're good. All right. Okay, go ahead.

I have to say that, first of all, this is a surprise. I'm happy about this. I'm eager to go ahead and serve and I appreciate the opportunity. Thank you very much to everybody.

You're quite welcome. Thank you, Frank. Thank you very much. Thank you for serving. That's a volunteer position, not paid, but thank you for doing that. We certainly appreciate that. All right. Next on our agenda is appointed officials reports. We're going to start with the finance director, Mr. Duke. What do you have for us?

I have nothing for you this evening, but I'd be happy to answer any questions you have.

Thank you. Questions for Mr. Duke or comments? All right, next is Mr. Merriman. What do you have for us tonight?

Thank you, sir. A couple things. First, council should anticipate we'll be providing, as we promised, a quarterly development report.

We'll get that to you by the end of the month. So we'll give updates on all the various economic development projects around

that would be applicable. So we'll get that update by the end of the month. Second, I wanted to offer an opportunity. Annually, I meet with the Ministerial Association of Xenia. opportunity for a council member or two if you're available to join us. That's next Tuesday at 8.30 here in the council chambers. So we provide just a small breakfast for our ministerial team locally, provide an update on things in the community, just talk about collaboration opportunities that may exist. So again, if there is a council member or two that would be available and wants to join us, I'd certainly be happy to include you. Next, I can't thank everyone involved with our block party and fireworks event, but certainly Xenia Rotary, the various sponsors of our Sand Art, all the many volunteers, the churches that put in time and resources, and all our staff members. It's an all-hands-on-deck kind of event for us. So from our administrative staff to fire, police, public service, it's about a 16-hour day for many of us, but worth every drop of sweat. It's just an opportunity to take great pride in our community and in our country and see our community come forward. We did have a couple of behavioral issues after the event and some adjustments that we'll make to address those types of issues next year. But again, a great event. I want to thank Council for its support and all these folks in our community for that matter as well. So with that, I'd answer any questions, but that's all I have this evening.

All right. Questions for Mr. Merriman? And you were going to?

Yes, I almost forgot. So we do have, we've got, council had received some concerns about Shawnee Park, and I provided to council at your last meeting a report, a rather lengthy report, where we ran some of the call-down information. I've got with us a couple folks from our police division, and I think Major Miller's going to come forward. I'll just give you some highlights from the analysis that they performed. Certainly can answer any questions. we might improve that dynamic, so if it's all right, I'll get the floor to Matt.

Good evening. Appreciate you allowing me to talk to you guys. So we had some citizen complaints come in about Shawnee Park, so we looked at the call data for the last 18 months when this was created about two weeks ago. And in those last 18 months, what it showed is that we've had 268 calls there. Now, that's not calls for service per se, but it's coming from a citizen.

Out of that 268 calls, 98 of those were action patrols.

So some of those are self-generated calls that we've gone there on. But the remaining calls have been like 49 of them were juvenile complaints, which range anywhere from taking some of the ducks that's in the pond, underage drinking, some cussing, some yelling, a couple fights, and then luckily one that we haven't really had to deal with in the summertime is some juveniles walking out on the ice. And then the remaining calls are anywhere from suspicious people to welfare checks to some other fight calls and then some e-bike complaints that happened in the park. What also is not included in this is, so we have two ways to log extra patrols. So when you see an extra patrol, that is actually tied to an address. So Shawnee Park has an address of 591 Park Street. We also do what's called neighborhood checks. So Shawnee Park is part of a neighborhood that officers can log. So last year, we did 154 neighborhood checks that include Shawnee Park. And already this year, we've done 157 neighborhood checks that include Shawnee Park. And then the busiest time, as far as the call-out goes, has been from 6 p.m. to midnight.

I would just add that, obviously, Shawnee Park is sort of the crown jewel in our downtown. It is a beautiful natural asset in the core of our community and a space that we want families, particularly families with kids, to feel safe and comfortable in. So safety and security at the park is a top-tier priority. There are some condition issues. I know there were concerns that have been raised about some issues in the restroom. at the park very, very seriously. One of the things that I've recommended to council is that we look at an investment of some additional officers, full-time officers, and create a fifth patrol district which would be concentrated downtown within which the park would obviously be located. The best way that we can address some of these behavioral issues is by increasing the frequency of presence that we can have with law enforcement at the park. Um, unfortunately, um, and I have to say it out loud at most evenings, we have five officers patrolling the city. We have a Sergeant four officers. Um, that's our minimum staffing and we are frequently at that. Uh, so they're spread pretty thin as they cover 13 square miles. Um, so to the extent that we would want to concentrate a law enforcement presence and concentrate enforcement functions in our downtown, it will take an additional, some additional capacity to achieve that. So again, that's something we've initiated some conversation with council. I think as we go through the budget process this year, I think we'll have more discussion. But we're always open to community policing. And folks, when you see issues at the park, call 9-1-1. That's what it's there for. We will respond as quickly as practical, given the call load that we have. If it's something serious, they'll be out right away. If it's less serious, they'll get there as soon as they practically can. So I'd be happy to entertain any questions. The Chief and Matt as well.

Yes, Mr. Miller, I have a question.

Yeah.

In determining whether a call should be 911 or not or should be a non-emergency call, that's a tough one, even for me. I'm always trying to measure is that really an emergency or is that something I should just be calling in on as an FYI? My question really is should I be dialing 911 for that stuff?

Well, so it all boils down to like, you know, if someone's life in danger, absolutely call 911. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Calling about, you know, um, basically we call like a report only like, Hey, I want to report like a phone harassment or something that there's no pressing issue. No one's in current danger. That's what the non-emergency calls for. Okay. Um,

slightly different rules apply to how we respond to those.

Another time that we really address it being an issue is if someone is constantly calling 911 and misusing it. If it's that one time caller they just don't know how to get a hold of us, it's perfectly okay to call 911.

So are the ducks protected at the park or what's the story on that?

Sometimes we just get calls because people enjoy the ducks and then one of the calls would just happen to be that someone called in because someone was trying to steal the ducks.

Steal the ducks? The waterfowl are not endangered species, but they are protected waterfowl. So they're a bit of a nuisance from a pungent standpoint, but human interaction with them is obviously discouraged. And any type of cruelty to the animals is a potential side effect.

OK, that's helpful.

If that's a fowl, it's not something to deal with frequently, but it happens.

All right. you know, there's a lot of consequences for things. People do stupid things. They win stupid prizes and you know, uh, you get police called on you and, uh, it's unfortunate. We have a lot of, um, youth that aren't supervised. I understand. I get that. And that's from, you know, we don't know their parental issues. Um, but, uh, like you said, if you see something, then make that call rather than not make that call. Right. All right. Any other questions for Mr. Miller? So that's from Shawnee park. And then do you have updates on.

Yeah, we'll go in, in our, uh, our quarterly development report, we'll conclude a section on, um, market district and up-to-date status on that. And, you know, I think heeding some of the audience commentary tonight, we'll look at putting some updates out on social media and whatnot on when the public construction phase will be coming to an end and what to expect in terms of the private investment at the site. So we want to be very transparent with that because things are finally coming together. So we want to celebrate the progress that's going to come. So folks should look forward to some post-meeting.

Very good. Sure. All right. Thank you. Any other questions? For Mr. Merriman, before we go to the law director, I do want to apologize. I did miss an audience comments. Amy, you gave us a letter. Did you all receive that letter? Yes. Okay. You'll put that in the record. Sure. Is that correct? Okay. And that was just the opposition for data centers by Cindy Stein at 1391 Rainbow Drive. So thank you, Cindy, for your comment and your letter. Well written, and we appreciate that. So at this time, we are going to go to appointed officials reports for our law director, Ms. Fisher. We are going to discuss some charter revision.

We are. I had discussion with President Smith last week about beginning your discussion tonight so you guys can give me direction as how you want this and which charter amendments you want for presentation to the voters in November. Up to you how we do it. Perhaps you would like to do your audience comments first, and then we could move to the conference room where you'd have more room. That might be a little more conducive to discussion. We can do it right here right now if you prefer, however you would like to do it.

You want to go to conference room?

You want to do comments?

So we'll go ahead and do council comments. So we would like to invite you after, uh, council comments. We've already had our executive session for tonight, so we're not going into that. We will go in the conference room. However, it is still a regular meeting. Um, so it, it is not open for public comments. Um, unfortunately, uh, we don't want to get out of order on that. Um, but it would be opportunity for council to, uh, have dialect with the law.

I don't think that there won't be any action tonight. Most you can do is instruct me how you want the ordinance written. Um, and it may just be a beginning of discussion tonight. You may not even come to a final decision. Um, but that is an open meeting. Anybody's welcome to stay and listen.

All right. Very good. All right. So we're going to go ahead and move to council comments. Um, councilman Muscovitch, what do you have for us?

Thank you. I have several things. Uh, first off, the most exciting was the fireworks and block party. Uh, give my thanks to the staff that put in those endless hours to make that a good time for me and my family and my kids, friends. Um, so again, thank you for your hard work. As I was walking around, I have the privilege of, hearing another family walking out not in Xenia saying, you know, Xenia always does a good job with their fireworks. And I like these fire hydrants and wow, my city doesn't do anything cool like that. So I appreciate the creativity and the hard work there. Um, two is as I've been running my bike around town, I know I noticed a huge increase in I think are called mini pocket bikes, and they can be both gas and electric. They accelerate at high speeds. They look very cool, but they also can be a danger. I'm going to ask the staff if you could work on some sort of infographic on the different types of bikes, on what's legal and where. I think there's a lot of misunderstanding there, and I'm not fully aware of that either.

Is that possible? We actually have something that Danette put together when we made some legislative changes about a year ago or so. And it probably needs to be updated because they're, I think, giving some more products out there. But these devices are a big problem, and it's getting out of control rapidly. So I think this is some discussion that we definitely want to have more with council.

OK, thank you. Also, it's not just e-bikes. Mini bikes, I don't want to lump this all into e-bikes. I use an e-bike, my son uses an e-bike for both recreation and transportation to get to and from places. Some of that can be very responsible, some of that can be very reckless. That's a tight line, don't walk, but it's like... And some of those are very noisy, too. Okay. grace stoke there's been a lot of complaints of speeding down that neighborhood street if we have the ability to put one of those speed signs those folks there would be definitely appreciated thank you sir oh some praise the stirring green neighborhood is getting updated in new ada ramps and sidewalk repairs my observation there that the Quality of that work is good, and the people really appreciate that. That helps with all sorts of needs, pushing strollers, wheelchairs, elderly people walking around with avoiding tripping hazards, so thank you for that. Market district, appreciate the fresh asphalt and parking. That should help. People patronize the businesses there. There's been some comments on how narrow it is to go into the walking or into the market district. That is, I believe, intentional. The market district is designed to be a walkable area, so you can visit multiple stores without having to get back into your car. that narrowness is designed to slow you down. So as you enter the market district, prepare to drive in a crawl, and that would be a very enjoyable area. Just quickly addressing the data center. There is a map that logs where different data centers are planned. There is one that one mapping service that had Xenia Township on there. That was, as an error, there was no data center plan for Xenia Township. It had a similar address to a data center in Wilmington. With that, I yield my time, thank you.

All right, thank you, Councilman Miscavige. Councilwoman Cerise, what do you have for us?

Yeah, I just wanted to say, I can join you Tuesday at 8.30. Great, okay. Okay, yeah. And then I also want to acknowledge, we already stated that what a great job our police department did. The fire department also was on hand the night of the fireworks and they were exceptional in terms of trying to offset any accidents and they were constantly hosing down property and so very well aware of that and everything that they were doing. But the city administration here did a fantastic job phenomenal job because I just stated earlier that we hosted the king of our sister city and they fantastically organized simultaneously organizing the block party at the same time I don't know how they pulled it off but it was amazing and it went off beautifully you couldn't have asked for anything better it was perfectly orchestrated so I know that took a lot of time and energy from everybody from the display downstairs when you walk in this building you know to accommodating all the dignitaries and the delegation that came and meeting their needs and answering their questions and everything that was done it was perfect so I really thank everybody who worked to make that happen honestly you did fantastic it was great I don't think anybody else could have pulled that off and they loved it absolutely we're so grateful especially for the tour of our fire department and The police department, they got to see dispatch. They were blown away and mesmerized, you know, of what we do here and how well all these services coordinate and work together. And everybody knows what everyone is doing, and they just were mesmerized, you know. So thanks again for that. That was a fantastic day. Enjoyed going out with Steve to the to the business park. The water department did a fabulous job as well in offering, you know, the, what would you call that? yeah the display kit the educational display kit that they got to fly back with that was fantastic and that will just make it so much clearer you know to everyone there and what their needs are and how maybe they can arrive at that and come to come to a better water department for themselves so again thank you for everything you all did it was amazing Honestly, that was a lot to have a 250 on top of having dignitaries come and visit and everything like you said, all the feedback. I was down, I was at the block party while Ethan was in the duct tape and we were handing out helmets. We gave away over 200 and something helmets. to kids that night, even in this extreme heat with a heat advisory, people showed up and it was fantastic. So thanks again. Yeah, I appreciate it.

All right. Thank you, Councilwoman Reese. Councilman Huffman, what do you have for us tonight?

I will just echo what everybody else has said. I mean, it was great. Great job Friday. And Xenia should be proud of of what we do here in terms of you know, getting the community together and the fireworks. And yeah, I think our show is hands down the best in the area. So that's all I have.

All right. Thank you very much. All right. Councilman Ruby, what do you have for us tonight?

Echo, echo. What a show. I was so much pride sitting there with you all, you know, sharing this moment in this land, our country. We're blessed, you know, to sit with each other, a mixed group of people, all colors and races, and you guys, you did awesome. I want to, again, everybody, our police, fire, it was hot. One more group, the road And the guys that, the after party, that handled all the garbage, all the trash, and it was extremely hot to keep our city looking great. They're often left out. But I saw them guys out there not complaining, handling their job in the shadows. So this day, I thank you guys. Our last meeting, I want to thank Brent for the tour. Like this park, it was nice to see that and see folks that love that space and care for it. And just in the streets on, help me out, Monroe. And that's in our hearts and in our minds is our street. And there's a lot of holes in the city, not the road holes or the potholes, but a lot of holes to cover. And I hope that we can get on it soon, and I'm sure we will. But, yeah, what a great show, and, yeah, can't wait for next year. Thank you.

Thank you very much. All right, Mr. Vice President, what do you have for us?

Well, everything that was said, I think all of you have commented very nicely on what was the coverage of all of this. I think the only thing that I can add to this humbly and just say that the party that was visiting, anyway, the king, his entire entourage, They were taking it in. I watched for body language. I looked for general interesting questions. I looked for their response of their connectivity to the people that were actually sharing their, about talking about their facilities and talking about their professionalism or their professional, rather I should say not professionalism but their professions, right? I thought it was fascinating and then obviously it is, to what Faith has already said, the police department did a credible job. And I thought I felt I felt unnecessarily protected and secure. And it almost I thought we were in a movie. It felt like we were in a movie as well. That will planned. All we needed was cameras. That's how good it was. It was it was absolutely impressive. I just think the block party itself and then handing out helmets to kids was a funding thing to do. We took the time to do that. And, and the city provided those helmets, those kids appreciated those helmets and particularly the parents, you know, they, they actually, there was gratitude. And I think all of that just says a lot. It's a small step in a right direction for, I think the way our city is, is, is headed. And, um, I'm looking forward to the next adventure, whatever that may be.

That does all have. Thank you very much. And, uh, also, um, would comment that our next 4th of July celebration will actually be Friday, July 2nd of 2027. So that always coordinates on the first Friday of every July. Um, so, uh, and, and not only think rotary for the fireworks, but also this year. You may have noticed it's called the Parade of Flags down Main Street. Those flags were donated by members of the community, Rotarians, at a cost not for taxpayers. We do thank public service for helping them display that as well. Very impressive, very nice, very patriotic. That'll be an ongoing event as well. Um, so, um, just real quick, also like to thank, um, chief students for that tour on, uh, with the Ghana contingent. Um, and, and if you think back just 10 years ago, your entire department was in the basement of the justice center. And as you tour that now, it's almost unimaginable. how tight those quarters were. So, you know, I know we get a little bit of heat for this facility here, but we could not operate as a city at the degree that we do without this building. And I mean, as nice as it is, It's not super fancy. It's not the Ritz-Carlton, but it does get the job done. We do want to thank our citizens for their support with that. A lot of people got letters in the mail from the county auditor. Your appraised values went up on your property. We do want to remind people that 6% of that or less is actually what's coming to the city of Xenia. on your property tax bill. So a lot of comments as well, if that's going up, why isn't the street getting paved? But again, we're not seeing the portions of that that we need to, so there's some inequity there. Also wanted to just ask city manager, we had discussion last spring about some calming measures for traffic in Hollywood. Are we any closer to that?

Matter of fact, I got a report from the public service director today. And let me see if I can pull that up really quickly. It's called Endodo Corporation. They have completed the fabrication of the raised crosswalk. They're anticipating that the shipping would go out as early as next week. And so we think that the installation of that should happen as soon as we take delivery. So we're hoping within the next couple of weeks that it should. Wow.

Very good. So that was kind of a special order.

Yeah, they're not on the shelf. Obviously, they're designed to the dimension of the particular intersection, so they're custom made. So plus some delay in getting that order processed, but it should be on the way. I can't promise it'll be by the end of the month that it'll be installed, but I think that's a reasonable expectation.

Very good. All right, so this time we're going to take a five-minute recess, and then we're going to, so at 7.20, we're going to reconvene in the conference room. Very good.