City Council - Regular Meeting

get you turn that off or on vibrate so it doesn't go off during the meeting that would be greatly appreciated and we are on air so I'd like to welcome everyone to the Thursday September 10th Xenia City Council meeting we are going to have a invocation by Pastor Al Reffitt from Victory Life Church am I right very close all right followed by Pledge of Allegiance led by Councilwoman Rachel Huffman thank you

My pleasure. Good evening, everybody. Let's pray. Bow our heads, word of prayer. Our gracious Heavenly Father, we come before you tonight in Jesus' name on the eve of this September the 11th, Lord, and just remembering what tomorrow holds for all of us. Father, we remember the innocent lives lost in that unforgettable morning. And Father, we pray that they rest in your eternal peace. And we ask for your continued comfort to wrap around those families and friends who carry that enduring weight of their absence. Tonight, Father, we honor the first responders, the emergency workers, every citizen who showed the depths of courage and selflessness. May their bravery remain a lasting light in our hearts. And tonight, Father, we pray for our world as we look toward tomorrow. In the face of darkness and division, help us to choose unity. Guide us to be instruments of healing, working tirelessly to build a world rooted and dignity compassion and peace and heavenly father once again we pray tonight as we gather in these chambers for our con for your continued blessing and spirit of wisdom upon our city administration and our city council staff in jesus mighty name and amen i pledge allegiance to the

Thank you, Pastor Al. Thank you, Councilwoman Huffman. And isn't it a great honor for us to even be able to say the Pledge of Allegiance, the freedoms that we have in our country. And it is the eve of 9-11. And Pastor Al, thank you for reminding us of the importance of that day. So thank you so much. I'm going to call the meeting to order at this time and ask for a roll call.

Vice President Crawford.

Here.

Councilwoman Cerise. Present. Councilman Miscavige. Here. Councilwoman Huffman. Here. Councilman Rubio.

Here.

Mayor Reynolds.

Here.

President Smith.

Next on the agenda is approval of minutes. We're going to do both at the same time. We have minutes from both the August 27th regular meeting and the September 1st special meeting. At this time, I'll entertain a motion to accept the minutes. So moved. Second. Moved by the Vice President and seconded by Mayor Reynolds. If there's no discussion or corrections, we'll go ahead and get a roll call.

Vice President Crawford.

Aye.

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

Aye.

Mayor Reynolds.

Aye.

President Smith.

Aye.

Motion carries.

Thank you very much. We have no special presentation tonight. So that moves us into audience comments. Also wanted to remind people we do have two public hearings tonight. One on the PUD concept plan for Timber Ridge. If you'd like to speak on that, we will ask you to come up during the public hearing for that portion. Then also a public hearing on the rezoning map for 121 acres on US 42. If you'd like to speak on that, we would ask you to come and speak during the public hearing. Those items will be introduced to council in the minutes if you would speak on those two items. Other than that, audience comments, keep in mind it's your opportunity to address city council. We do ask that you give us your name and address for the record. We will limit your comments tonight, two to three minutes. And keep in mind that it's not an open debate. It's not a banner between council and yourself. you can ask us questions however it's usually our protocol not to respond until maybe after the meeting city staff will give us their opinion or point of order on that all right so who would like to come forward at this time i think we have a list of people i think we have a list of people okay

Good evening. Mr. President, Mr. Mayor, ladies and gentlemen, the senior city council. My name is Thomas Scrivens, and by the grace of God, I still reside at 725 Lexington Avenue here in the city of hospitality. Mr. President, I rise from my seat this evening because I am interested in the city of hospitality, and I'm vociferously advocating that our market district be formally named hospitality square i see that we have some cornerstones set at our two main street entrances and that's a nice place to have the inscription inscribed other thing that i'm rising from my seat about is the condition of the roads the road condition index street condition index of patton street north patton street between east church street and east main street I remind you again that you have three standpipes there, 45 million gallons, standing waiting to be distributed. But the street is terrible. We did the street out by Tyler Road, where that's one of your other installations, and that's like a motor pool. So please, if there's 1500 feet of road material still left at the end of this paving season, which I haven't seen any paving yet. Well, I'd like to see it deployed there at North Patton Street and finally Cincinnati Avenue. between each second and each third come on we can do a whole lot better than what we're doing and the hot patch you know if we go tamp it down at least let's have something with some earth on top of it just to tamper and a public service worker it ain't gonna stay in there no more than 25 minutes Thank you, Mr. President. I see tonight that one would say we have a full house. I would call it a royal flush. We have members present from the East End Community Organization, the North Columbus Avenue Block Club, East Second Street, East Third Street. and we also have the eastern cultural community association and alongside we have members of the affiliate churches in african-american ministerial alliance hear ye them thank you that oh and one final caveat uh councilwoman uh huffman we saw you on uh Channel 4, I think it is, or 24, where you address the General Assembly and House Bill 395. Your testimony was eloquent and I was impressed. Thank you, Mr. President.

Thank you, Mr. Scribbins. Appreciate those comments and concerns. Anyone else care to come forward during audience comments at this time? All right, we're going to close the audience comments. We're going to move on to old business. Our first item tonight is a public hearing for ordinance 2026-31. This is approving a major change to the PUD concept plan for Timber Ridge plan unit development with modifications recommended by Xenia Planning and Zoning. This time I'll turn the floor over to our city manager.

Thank you, sir. Just as a reminder on this measure, this is essentially a resubmittal from an original proposal considered by Council last year. This revised plan as submitted includes among the main elements two entrances onto U.S. 68 instead of one to be compliant with requirements for such in light of the fact that this new revised plan does not include an extension or a connection of bridge road into the new subdivision. 82 lots instead of 88. There's a reconfigured open space with a larger buffer zone between the existing homes and the new subdivision. This includes a 50-foot no-clear zone that preserves a portion of the heavily wooded area next to those homes and a higher minimum of the square footage of the home size is 1,800 feet for lots on Ridge Road. Again, as detailed in the last council meeting, this does not technically conform to city policy in terms of the lack of connection as originally designed on Ridge Road. So we can't give it our formal blessing. But as I said last time, in the last council meeting, we acknowledged the concessions made by Arbor Homes. They've checked most of the boxes in terms of the issues that have been raised by the adjoining neighbors. And so we would just place it in front of council this evening for your consideration.

All right. Thank you very much. All right. Any questions for Mr. Merriman before we start the public hearing? All right, very good. I'm going to open the public hearing at this time. I know there's quite a few of you here to speak tonight. Um, we can ask you to come forward. Uh, give us your name and address again, uh, at two minutes. I'll let you know you're at two minutes at three minutes. We're going to ask you to be kind and wrap that up. Who would like to come first?

My name is Howard Horseman. I live at 2428 Ridge Road. Question for Brent. What is being proposed? Is it the modified proposal or the unmodified proposal that's being voted on tonight.

Well, typically we don't respond to questions, but I think for clarity is perfect. The applicant has come back with a revised plan. So as you hear the revised plan, that is the second plan with two points of ingress, egress, the lack of connection to Ridge Road. That is what's pending as introduced. Council can elect to vote on that. They can elect to vote on the original plan. Council has the ability to set conditions to approve with some conditions, though, you know, we caution that because sometimes there are conditions that can't be accommodated because they haven't been vetted through engineering or with a developer. But essentially, I think if Council takes an action tonight, I'm assuming it will be on the revised plan.

Just to clarify, the Planning Commission, actually, there was the revised plan submitted, what, Mr. Merriman is referring to as the original plan What Planning Commission sent to Council was a modified plan and that modified plan doesn't have the two accesses on 68 it has one and then the connection As the original plat did so the ordinance as presented Is the modified plan as Planning Commission modified it with not the two entrances but as Mr. Merriman said council could choose to amend the ordinance and go back to the original submittal by the applicant if they chose. I'm not sure that cleared it up, did it?

Thank you. I just wanted to, you know, I sent you all an email on 28 August, which I'm not going to rehash that at this point. I do want to emphasize though that the Timber Ridge neighborhood It's a distinct neighborhood out there on the north edge of Xenia, and it has a special character. I've been a resident there for 17 years. The resident's been established. The neighborhood's been there 35 years. There's a resident character of that neighborhood. I appreciate the distinct flavor of it. uh changing the the pud uh as what's before the council tonight that changes the character of the neighborhood uh the the i i i want to commend The developer for the proposal that they submitted. The P and Z, because they took into account a lot of the concerns. That was before you last year in ordinance 2025, 33 that was voted down at that time. The new ordinance 2026 31 basically. Is. represents that proposal with a few modifications from the contractor's latest proposal i do want to commend the developer for demonstrating the flexibility that i want to emphasize it is a reasonable compromise that takes into account a lot of the concerns that were raised by the residents last year there's a lot of new developments going around around xenia and that's a good thing Any number of cookie cutter, higher density neighborhoods it's going in. But I think we should take measures to preserve the existing neighborhoods that we have. I think our timber Ridge is a, an asset. It's a valuable asset to Xenia and I think it should be preserved. basically by keeping the cul-de-sac on Ridge Road as it is and not extending it into the new neighborhood. Thank you.

All right.

My name is Penny Stewart. I reside at 2589 Ridge Road and thank you for listening. I truly believe the developer tried to listen to us and keep our road closed off and I find that important because our road. For safety reasons, we do not have sidewalk. We do not have street lights. We use our road to communicate. Physically with the other neighbors, we walk up and down. I take my dog for walks every night. And I think extending that access to that larger neighborhood. It's going to be a deficit to our safety. And I just. I've seen other neighborhoods such as Regency that is in the city limits. That has a longer access and no outlet. they do have a gate at the end where you can go out another way if you want to do that that would be wonderful but i just think putting more traffic under our road which is busy enough is um detrimental to our safety and i really really appreciate you listening and i appreciate the developer thinking of us thank you all right thank you ma'am all right we're in the pud who else yes yes sir

My name is Ron Taylor. I live at 2461 Ridge Road and have lived there since I built the home in 1990. For those of you who are new to the City Commission, I have been involved with Timber Ridge development for over 35 years. Initially, the residents of Timber Ridge entered into a covenant signed by an attorney in 1989 that was intended to be binding. This was to protect the residents from future development to ensure quality of homes of at least 2,000 square feet with natural materials of wood, brick, or stone on lots that were comparable to those that existed. now we are engaged with a new development proposing 82 lots averaging two-tenths of an acre with homes eleven hundred to sixteen hundred square feet we've been told by the city regarding this covenant that it is no longer relevant the city planner presented his proposal last december that included an open road from the new development onto ridge road This was met with strong opposition from the residents. Subsequently, the plan was turned down. Now we're again here with a very similar plan offered by the planner. The proposed developer has offered an alternative, as you've heard, to have an entrance and exit off of Route 68 and thereby maintaining Ridge Road as closed. in my mind is not good enough for the land with rolling hills and abundant trees the lots are too small and there are too many of them there are beautiful trees that need to be spared several of them on land that are adjacent to our existing homes are 150 to 200 years old in summary i remain against the proposed development as is being discussed ridge road should remain closed to prevent incoming traffic children play residents walk on this street just because the planner has made his recommendations again does not make this written in stone i hope the city commission has an open mind about this project I trust you have not yet made a decision. Thank you.

Cody mccormick to 405 Ridge Rd. As I was part of this decision last time, just to remind everyone, everyone did say no to this change to the. But me and my family, we live on the last house that's being proposed that's going to be destruction of the forest area. I've spent years rocking all my children to sleep looking out at my big window of the nature out there. And it came to my mind that I see this canopy that's an active breeding nesting site for native raptors like hawks, birds like blue jays and northern cardinals. And I did some research and under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in Ohio Revised Code 153307, destroying any active nest eggs, chicks, or it can carry strict penalties and heavy fines per violation. Also, I always thought these bats that we have in our neighborhood were nuisance, but after even more investigation, there is a large amount of Indiana bat and Northern Long-eared bats, both native to Zena, Ohio. These bats are endangered species. And without knowing which type of species these are, this can allow us to contact Ohio Department of Natural Resources and let them know that this will, destruction of this forest will be endangering the Species Act. The other thing that I want to bring up is that the storm water flooding risk. Now, all these houses that we're on, it's rich rogues that are hills. You're taking the forest away. You're taking this wetland or these trees that be able to absorb water. All that water is just going to go right to our house. There's been no any studies showing that you guys are doing anything to mitigate any type of water coming to our property. I just want everyone needs to know that what is going to happen is not just this, not just a. Feel that's just open is a vast nature. 4 is full of ecosystem there is there needs to be an independent study showing that there is no activeness or anything like that i've even seen a bald eagle in our backyard too so please keep that in mind when you guys are making this decision if you make this decision we still have to be due diligent and contact ohio department natural resources to make sure that everyone is following the same laws and regulations um as needed thank you thank you sir

My name is Marjean Taylor. I live at 2461 Ridge Road. Last December, the Xenia City Council met with the residents of Timber Ridge on whether or not to pass this troublesome proposal for the existing neighborhood of Timber Ridge. We were so worried what the company wanted to do to this land. They voted it down. City Council voted it down and we were so thankful. The best Christmas ever. This was in December. We didn't have to worry. Now here we are thinking that maybe they had changed their plans. Appropriate size homes. spaced far enough apart on good sized lots, but sadly to say, they haven't changed hardly a thing. If any at all, this means that Xenia will have cookie cutter homes put as close together as 10 feet apart with many of those only being 1100 square feet. Then Xenia will be asking the buyers to raise a family in something you can hardly turn around in so close to Route 68 as the semi trucks go by their homes will feel We'll feel the vibrations. Without the protection barrier, we've got nothing. Is this what we want to put the people of Xenia in? Ridge Road is a quiet country place to live, a great place to raise children. If this development is allowed to go forward, these families can't walk the road or children can't ride their bikes ever again. All that we know of nature, the animals, the deer, no light pollution, all of that will be no more. We can do better than this. Xenia deserves better than this. The tax dollar is so tempting sometimes that we look right over what is best for the new people and those existing. Residents in Timber Ridge, I know they all want homes, but I ask you, at what cost? Aren't their lives more than money? Arbor homes wants to get as many houses on the least amount of land as possible thinking not of the families in their lives, but their own gain. They will leave a trail of devastation. That means those hills will come down. The trees will come down. Land will be leveled. Never can we reverse this? We do this right and you will always be proud of what your decision was tonight. We do this wrong and it will be a travesty that will forever be a regret and Xenia will suffer for it for many years to come. Thank you.

Okay, still in the public hearing. If anyone else would they care to come forward?

My name is Laura Marshall. I live at 2428 bridge road. As hard mentioned, we have lived in this in the neighborhood for 17 years. I've worked in government for many years and so I'm familiar with laws, roles, regulations and implementing these laws. but I know how important they are. They're not arbitrary and capricious. They're enacted for public's benefit and to protect the public. However, sometimes there are circumstances where there may be good reason for a waiver of variance from relations, and I'm requesting that you consider similar flexibility in the proposed plans for our neighborhood. Thank you.

All right. Thank you very much. Okay. Anyone else care to come forward?

Kurt Sanders, twenty four, eighty five Ridge road in Ohio. I also have lived there for seventeen years. I think I gave you a proposal like this. Thank you city council members for your time and dedication to our community. I'm here tonight to express my strong support for the 2nd, unmodified design revision submitted by our homes and ask that you reject the city planners modification to that plan with the variance to the temporary dead end streets longer than 600 feet. At the previous city council meeting on December. The council, the neighbors of the timber Ridge clearly rejected the neighborhood design that forced a connection through our subdivision that our children play frequently in the street. And because of the absence of streetlights and also sidewalks were. That old harbor homes listen to those concerns. They invested time and resources to develop a revised plan that replaced the temporary turnaround with a permanent cold side. Featuring larger homes included wider protected green spaces and provided 2 egresses on the route 68 for traffic flow. The city planner has completed a traffic study that supports egresses and would also add strength to the plan study to eventually lower speed in that zone. The current issue is the city council and the residents requested is that the city staff recently modified our home 2nd, designed to reconnect the neighborhoods effectively reverting the plan to the ferry configuration that was directed 9 months ago. I understand the city of Xenia's officials land development code restricts permanent dead end streets to a maximum of 600 feet. Currently, Ridge Road South extends approximately 900 feet from the intersection to the turnaround and serves a total of nine residential homes in that section that we're talking about terminating. We're not asking the city council to create a new precedence for this restriction. We're simply asking you to preserve the longstanding heritage of the neighborhood, which has successfully maintained this cul-de-sac configuration since 1990, or even before for over 27 years as close layout has caused 0 issues for school buses. And trash pickup furthermore, a close court would perfectly compliment the existing cul-de-sac that's on the opposite end. We welcome these new neighbors to the term as Timber Ridge cul-de-sac since there'll be four houses built there that compliment some larger amount that equals our size. I'd like to break your attention. The existing precedent for variances regarding this arbitrary 600 limit. If you turn to the back page, which is page four, you'll see that there are two cul-de-sacs in Beverly Hills that are quite long. There are a thousand feet and they terminate and they terminate into a cul-de-sac. There are also several others that I have listed here as well. Green Acres, Independence, Constitution Drive, especially Eagle's Way. That's just the north end in my small Google Maps looking. So, in summary, I'm asking you to go through and reject the city's plan for modification to back where it was. And then I'd like to see us follow up with harbor homes as they designed it. And not be in a liability to depend on the city to modify it to something where the residents don't like it. Arbor homes gets bad press. This is a win win situation if we just close off the court. and allow that subdivision to have the design that other homes would like to have it. Thank you very much.

Brian Henning, 9050 Centerpoint Drive. I'm with the developer. Thank you for taking the time. It's good to be back with you guys. I'll try and keep this short. We are using a new name for this project, Miller Grove. We just wanted to further kind of differentiate this community from the existing residents. Kind of felt like they wanted it to be differentiated, so we're trying to play ball. i just want to say this this plan is in line with the xenia next plan so the xenia next plan calls for this to be developed residential at two to four homes per acre we're at 2.39 with this current plan at 82 lots we have agreed to enhanced architectural standards a minimum of 1800 square feet for homes near the existing residence For both of the plans before you, we've added a 50 foot no build barrier or no disturb barrier. So essentially existing vegetation trees bushes as well as the topography will remain in that area. And then we also shifted the open space. To towards the existing residents to kind of further shield them from the new homes. Essentially 1, 1 comment I heard in the last meeting was about the, the water line loop in the cul-de-sac plan being on private property. Most of it is on H away property, and we can amend that that plan to make it all on H away property. So, in the future, if you need to kind of dig up that water line, you're not digging up a private backyard. You're digging up common open space. So we're. Happy to make that change if that would be helpful. Any questions I can answer? All right. Well, our engineers are here as well. If there are any questions about traffic or any of the applicable laws that were brought up. So thank you. Thank you, sir.

Anyone else care to come forward?

Hello, Mark Smith, 2537 Bridge Road. I appreciate everybody's time tonight. I will first start off by saying I'm a little disappointed in the city's pushing through that street. We need to understand this is a PUD, not normal zoning. 122.06A1. For planned unit developments, reducing 1 of the agendas are reducing or or eliminating the inflexibility that sometimes results from strict application of zoning standards that were designed primary for individual lots. Doing a call to sack and not that's rewrote is supported by other ordinances as you look at it as a whole. So I'm disappointed that we've got the narrow blinders on. for making that a through street as all the other residents said we support the arborist plan i'm here to say that the arborist plan is not going far enough this is just a concept plan but with that said i would like to see additional Restrictions or standards placed on them during the 2025 votes that we did receive for no votes. Of those 4, no votes 2 of them had comments. Councilman approach said that it would negative impact existing neighborhood and environment and Carlos Walker said he was affected the neighborhood and was uncertain how many trees would be cut down. So, although our home came back to meet some of those needs a lot of the needs still aren't met and I would encourage you guys to put some more barriers or boundaries handrails for our homes to meet. I don't think either plan that was presented at zoning is quite there yet. We can improve as a city and as a community to put a better plan that meets more of the community's needs. With that said, I would also like to stress that Ordinance 122.04, the review criteria, is different for a PUD than it is for regular zoning. Of the six criteria, it specifically points out one additional criteria, The proposed development is not likely to result in insignificant adverse impacts upon natural environment, including air, water, noise, stormwater management, wildlife and vegetation, or such impacts will be substantially mitigated. I said, 2 of our council people last vote voted specifically for that again. This is especially for a put nobody in this. Is anti, you know, development, I think most of the residents 95% of us are fine putting in a development, but we would like to see it go further. It's ironic that they're changing it from timber Ridge, because they are going to tear down the Ridge and the timber that goes along with it. Now we're going to have a growth. I think we need to be more cautious to the environment that's around there. The glaciers came through and built that rich. I don't think it should be tore down. A lot of our residents have talked about the noise barrier. If it wasn't for the range behind my house, it would be definite. That ridge is important. There's plenty of ordinances within the city council that supports keeping it. And I would like to encourage the safety of the 2 entrances. I think we need to look more into that right now. The standard when the 1st. entrance into timber ridge was built there is a left turn lane i'm afraid that they will get away from doing any mitigation so i would like to see at least a minimum standard of a left turn lane into any entrances that section of 68 has five accidents in the last five years significant accidents not just little fender benders within state so we need to set minimum standards it is up to the city to to set those standards it is outside of odot's Jurisdiction, so I would like to see at least left hand turn lanes in any entrances that are added on 68. so doing a little bit more to help the environment. They can build 80 houses back there and still do that and they can still put in turn lanes for us. So I would ask you guys to at least go that far and ladies. Sorry about that. I appreciate everybody's time.

Thank you. Great anyone else here to come forward. All right. See no one else come forward. I'm going to close this portion of the public hearing and open the floor to my colleagues on City Council.

All right. Mr. President, I would move to approve Ordinance 2026 31 with the amendment to go to the developer originally submitted a plan with the two entrances onto 68 and called to stacking Ridge Road so it won't run through.

this time and i have some statements once if there's a second very good so we have a motion on the floor to approve the developers plan um with two point order we had that would need to be um the the memo that i wrote you for the process is in your packets that would need to be a motion to amend the ordinance the ordinance to approve it would have to be a motion to amend the ordinance to actually approve the PUD concept plan as submitted, not as modified by the planning and zoning commission.

That's exactly what I said. Okay, so we had a motion at our last meeting. Do we need Councilwoman Cerise to resend that motion and make a new motion?

Do you want to deal with the motion to amend first? And then if the Councilwoman would like to reintroduce as, well, after you do the motion to amend, you're going to have to take a vote on whether or not it's a matter of substance. If you're replacing one PUD contact plan with another, legally it probably is, in which case we'll have to schedule it for another public hearing at your next meeting. So you wouldn't take any further action on it this evening?

On an amendment.

I'm sorry? Come again, if we're changing the process under the city charter under 502, if there's a motion to amend an ordinance and that motion passes and the amendment to the ordinance is a matter of substance, which replacing one PUD plan with another is I would, I mean, it's up to council, but legally I would tell you that's probably a matter of substance. Then it has to be reintroduced. One of you will have to introduce the amended ordinance and we will have to reschedule it for another public hearing at your next meeting.

Okay. So there's a motion for an amendment. Is there a second?

All right. Yes. So we have a motion for the amendment. We'll go ahead and ask if there is a second to mayor's motion.

So can we add to that amendment since we're not voting on this tonight? No.

Yes, you're just voting to amend the ordinance. That's all you're doing right now.

All right, I'll second.

You're not voting on the actual ordinance itself, just are you going to change the ordinance?

Got it, got it. I'll second.

Okay, and we'll give you guys clarification here in just a second so everybody understands what we're voting on.

all right so we have a motion by the mayor seconded by the vice president the motion to amend is to replace the modified concept plan as approved by planning and zoning commission with the developer plan as submitted by the developer correct so folks what we're doing is we are backtracking we are rejecting the city planners

revision and going back to the original, this resubmitted plan by Arbor Homes. Do you follow me? So it would be the two entrances, not the cut through the cul-de-sac through Timber Ridge. Yep. Is everybody clear on that? Okay. Statement on that. Yeah.

Yeah. So I just want to say, you know, I agree with Mr. Sanders. We had talked last year about this. I voted no originally on the original submitted plan, which would be the plan that we are amending not to have, because one thing I had heard from many of you, and I have the list of folks who spoke at the last one and their statements, and all of them had said we just, the main issue was not to connect Ridge Road, and that was the issue. A lot of folks talked about trees, a lot of folks talked about bats and birds, but the main issue that we faced was the connection of the road, I think that is the plan that we should go forward, is to keep Ridge closed off, Caldasacket on one end, and have the two points of entrance on 68. So I heard what you all had said. I measured it, weighed it. I sent you all notes after you spoke at the last one when I was on council in December. I understand where you guys were. I'm thankful for the developer coming back with this submitted plan. And that's what I want to see done versus having Ridge Road connected Through this is the best way to keep the integrity of Ridge Road and also be pro-growth So that's why I have motion for this to be approved Anyone else like to make a comment before we vote?

All right. All right. So we'll go ahead we're gonna get a recall or I'm sorry a roll call of the Motion and the seconded by the mayor. All right, so we have Vice President Crawford.

All right.

I

Councilwoman Cerise? Aye. Councilman Miscavige? No. Councilwoman Huffman? Aye. Councilman Rubio?

Aye.

Mayor Reynolds?

Aye.

President Smith? Aye. Motion carries.

Thank you. All right. Would anyone care to enter?

The process now, before you do that, I need you to take a vote. There doesn't have to be a motion or second. You, just as the council president, would call. I know this is the first time we've done this since we amended the charter.

Okay.

You just ask for a roll call vote from council whether or not this change is a matter of substance.

Okay, very good. And what if it is not?

If you vote no, then it will be introduced, and you'll vote on it this evening.

We would introduce it and vote on it this evening? Yes. And what's the criteria for substance?

A matter of substance would be anything more than like a technical change. And the reason that the charter was set up that way You know, most of the people that have spoken tonight have spoken on the modified plan that's presented by Planning and Zoning. We didn't hear from 17 people, so I know there are some owners that live up in there that we haven't heard from. It gives them a chance to come in and speak on what you're now considering with the two access points. That's why that process was put in the charter that way. So if we make a major amendment to an ordinance, the public has a chance to actually comment on that ordinance that you're going to vote on.

All right. I believe that's fair. All right. Go ahead and get a roll call.

Vice president Crawford.

Are you can. Do you need some further clarification?

I need some clarification. I am not clear on this.

What you're voting on is whether or not you consider the change to the ordinance that you've replaced one concept plan with the other.

Whether it has substance.

Whether that's a matter of substance versus just a technical issue. If you vote yes, you're saying it's a matter of substance. If you vote no, you're saying it's just a technical issue.

And we can then go ahead and vote.

And what's the deal on 17 people speaking for the community? What's that coming from?

No, I'm just saying that every homeowner that lives in the neighborhood got to come or was here to speak tonight. You're changing the plan. You've done a motion to amend to change the plan as planning and zoning approved it to a different plan. I'm just saying there may be some people that didn't come tonight.

Okay. I got it. Thank you for that clarification.

Ms. Fisher, since both plans were in our documents available to the public, does that matter at all to this vote here?

Because they were both submitted, so one of the two plans were going to be voted on tonight. So the question is, that was published. Is it of substance, though it was published?

I think it was... If you've replaced, the plan that was before you tonight was the connection to Ridge Road and one cut onto 68. You just voted to change that. No, we want to vote on Two cuts onto 68, no connection to Rich. So you've made that, that's, I mean, it's up to you, but that seems to be a pretty big change.

It's, I think, a material point that the materials were covered in planning and zoning, both options, and they have both been included in the materials that have been published publicly last time and this time. So it really just comes down to your sense. Do you need to solicit more input through another public hearing process? Or do you feel that there's been sufficient input and consideration to vote on this change tonight? That's very helpful. Thank you.

on the original plan has come.

And that's cleared this up for me. Anybody else on the council has any other questions? I'm clear.

Yeah, I would just say we've gone through this now twice. It was in the packet. Everyone knows Mr. Sanders came out and spoke in favor of the opposite plan. So folks in the community knows that. So I think it's not a substantive change, me personally. So I will be voting no on the substantive change. Beautiful, beautiful. Get it. Roll call, please.

Vice President Crawford.

No.

Councilman Cerise? No. Councilman Miscavige?

No.

Councilwoman Huffman?

I want to be clear, we're voting on this is not a matter of substance. Correct. No.

Councilman Rubio?

No.

Mayor Reynolds? No. President Smith? No. Motion carries.

Now, the next step would be whether Councilwoman Cerise wants to introduce the ordinance as modified, or if she doesn't want to do that, someone else wants to do it.

Just correct me if I'm wrong, but I move to amend ordinance 2026-31. No.

Move the ordinance as amended.

Oh, move the ordinance, okay, as amended.

The motion would be to approve the ordinance as amended. Yes, ma'am.

Yes, okay, I got it.

Second. All right, we have a motion to move as amended by Councilwoman Cerise, seconded by Mayor Reynolds. Is that correct? Any other comments on that?

One last comment on this, just so I can explain why I'm voting yes on this. Like I said, we've heard back from folks who said this is where they were. And how I see it, tonight we have three options, which was allowing Ridge to be connected through, which obviously has not been accepted. the compromise plan, allowing it to be its own community with its own cul-de-sac, two entrances on the 68, and a third would be to deny. And if we do deny, something that needs to be said is if it were to be denied, the developer has the ability, and I've talked to many, many people about this, to come back and sue. And then they can then say, hey, we're just going to, We're going to go through the proposed plan and then still connect Ridge Road to the new development if they win. So this is the best way to protect that community that is up on Ridge Road is to have it cul-de-sac, close it off, and still have the entrances on to 68. So that's why I'm voting yes on this compromise plan.

And I'm in support of that as well. And no one's being held hostage here. We wanted to do what's best for the entire community. and what's best for our future. I don't know how many years I've got to live, but I want to leave a legacy of saying we make good decisions from here based on what's best for the community. Folks, I know what it's like to have built a home, to have a nice home, and things change around you. And I'm not going to tell you where I live, but there's a couple of us on this council that are experiencing some similar things on the other side of town, but I'm outnumbered. I don't have a community backing me. But I will tell you, I appreciate everything that everyone had to say today. It was valued. It was respected. And I want to say thank you for that. With that being said, I'm done.

Very good. Any other comments? All right. We're going to have roll call.

Vice President Crawford.

Aye.

Councilwoman Cerise? Aye. Councilman Miscavige? Aye. Councilwoman Huffman? Aye. Councilman Rubio? Aye. Mayor Reynolds? Aye. President Smith? Aye. Motion carries. Thank you.

Our next item tonight, and folks, we're going to go ahead. Let's take a three-minute recess real quick. If you would like to leave, you're welcome to. You're welcome to stay. We have several... items still on the agenda but if you were here for Timber Ridge and you feel compelled you want to go or you want to talk or if you have questions for the developer you're okay with that if they take it outside with you okay great thank you we appreciate that thank you so we'll recess for just three minutes okay

Hey.

24 hours.

and as soon as it tells us we're on air which they just did all right thank you folks we're coming back to our regular meeting our next item is a public hearing for ordinance 2026-32 bear with me i'm losing it amending the official zoning map of the city of xenia I got one. Last week I was all sick. You want to read that one?

Yes. Ordinance 2632, public hearing amending the official zoning map of the city of Xenia, Ohio to rezone a 1.2, 1.558 acre property located south of US Route 42 East Agricultural District to SN Suburban Neighborhood District introduced by Mayor Ethan Reynolds on August 27th, 2026.

thank you very much all right we're going to turn the floor sorry about that guys i've been like sick for two weeks here i'm not getting any better he affected us all last week my wife's mad so anyway um at this time i want to turn the floor over to mr merriman again i'm one of those that got sick thank you sir um council in a measure which was resolution 2026-043

approve the acceptance of the annexation of the subject property. Again, it's 121.558 acres of land adjacent to U.S. 42. At the point of annexation, the property is automatically designated as agricultural A1, and the developer is requesting consideration of amending the zoning to redesignate its suburban neighborhood district. Again, this is a measure that or a request that went through Planning and Zoning Commission who held its required public hearing and recommended to approve the rezoning and staff endorses this as well. So tonight's action would be the formal process of the ordinance to initiate the rezoning process. And this would be a required public hearing this evening.

All right, very good. All right, this time, any questions for Mr. Merriman on this item? If not, I'm going to open the public hearing. This is for ordinance 2026-32 and ask anyone if they would care to come and speak either in favor or against or just make a comment on the rezoning of the property at US 42 East. If anyone would care to come forward.

Marcia.

So before my time actually begins to start, where is that clock? Where is that clock?

Start it right here.

Good evening and to my name is Cheryl Marcus, and I live at 457 South Detroit street here in senior. And so to members of the senior city council, I want to thank this opportunity to come before you to speak about the proposed reason zoning of ordinance 2026 dash 32 that would allow approximately 500 new homes to be built in the senior. Um, as a resident, I understand and appreciate the city's desire to offer a diverse housing stock. Our community needs to be resilient. Balanced and prepared to welcome families of different stages of life and across different. Um, income levels. Thoughtful growth can strengthen Xenia economically and socially. At the same time, growth must be matched with a concerted infrastructure. If hundreds of new homes are added to the East End, the city must be intentional about making that neighborhood safe, connected and walkable from the very beginning. This is especially important for children who may be required to walk to and from school. At present, as we know portions of Columbus Pike or Route State Route 42 do not have sidewalks which make that corridor dangerous for pedestrians, particularly children, elder residents, people with disabilities, and families without reliable vehicle access. A safe continuous pedestrian path along State Route 42 and through the surrounding neighborhood should not be treated as an optional amenity. It is a basic public safety need and a necessary part of responsible development. Sidewalks, crosswalks, a traffic calming design, lighting and safe routes to schools and churches would help protect children and family while also creating a stronger and more livable East Xenia. Walkability also brings long-term public health benefits. When children and residents have safe places to walk, Um, every day they have more opportunities for regular physical activities, which can help lower rates of obesity. Improve overall health and support better mood and well being a community intentionally designed for pedestrians. Give fam gives families a practical way to add healthy routines into daily life. Moreover, a walkable infrastructure can also support economic development. Safe pedestrian routes are viable for local shops and small businesses to develop in the eastern edge of town. If the city of Xenia wants this proposed development to become a thriving neighborhood, rather than simply a collection of houses, then people must be able to safely move through it. Gather in it and support businesses within it. There are also significant social benefits. Sidewalks and safe paths strengthen neighbor to neighbor connections. They help combat loneliness by creating natural opportunities for people to see one another, greet one another, and build relationships. For these reasons, I urge the Xenia City Council to be intentional, judicious, and compassionate as this rezoning proposal moves forward. I concur that Xenia needs to grow economically. However, I implore you to prioritize equity, economic dignity, and community-led development. Please recognize those within our community who are most vulnerable Their needs must be included in the planning process, not added later as an afterthought. Housing growth and a walkable infrastructure should advance together. If Xenia chooses to expand.

Yeah, 4 minutes. Okay. If you could just wrap it up, that'd be great. Thank you.

Thank you. And I am.

Thank you.

So, um. If Xenia chooses to expand in East Xenia, and I'm an advocate for that, let us do so in a way that reflects the dignity and needs of all residents. To this end, I ask what are your plans to include vested citizens in the planning process and what are your plans for creating an infrastructure that meets the needs of pedestrians too? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Marcus. We appreciate that.

Yeah, my name is Richard Buford and I live at 1259 June Drive. And, um, for the members of City Council, looking ahead regarding the planned Trailside Run development being proposed by Rockford Homes, my concern with is what is the plan for the necessary physical infrastructure that will be required to support this new housing development? And what I'm what I'm referring to is like water, sewer, electricity and streets. And will this impact existing streets? What would be the environmental impact differences between the existing neighborhood and this proposed development? Who will be financing this project? Will the financing come from in the form of taxes for the entire community or? for the existing neighborhood. Although my concerns may be premature, these concerns that I believe must be addressed early in this process and that answers to such concerns must be key factors in the council's decision making process. Whether good, bad or indifferent, we must be honest about the impact of the existing and surrounding neighborhood. And last but not least, I pray that the Council will be forthcoming and transparent in providing ongoing information for the greater community up front and not after the fact. Thank you, Pastor Briefer.

Who else would care to come forward at this time?

good evening my name is captain wilson i come on behalf of first united christian church 626 north columbus avenue and serve as the council moderator i want to thank you xenia City council members for the opportunity to speak before you about the proposed rezoning for East senior that would not only allow. For approximately 500 new homes to be built on the East end of senior, but plans to incorporate the existing Lexington park into that plan. THIS IS INFORMATION THAT WE RECEIVED AS CHURCH LEADERS WHEN WE ATTENDED THE PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION PUBLIC HEARING ON AUGUST 12. AS IS CURRENTLY PROPOSED, IF REZONED SUBURBAN, THE NEW DEVELOPMENT WILL BE ADJACENT TO AND CONNECT ALONG THE WESTERN EDGE OF LEXINGTON PARK, A COMMUNITY LANDMARK AND LEGACY FOR THE EAST ZENIA COMMUNITY SINCE 1935. Over the years, Lexington Park has become part of the ethos and life of East Xenia's residents. At one time, the only place where this community could gather, share, celebrate, and feel a sense of belonging. A cherished landmark with a lot of history. Yes, I too am an advocate for housing development in Xenia and understand and appreciate the city's desire to offer diverse housing. I believe that incorporating Lexington Park in the plans for this development can bring new life and energy as well as renew its legacy as a community gathering space, positively impacting the lives of children families and neighbors. A space where the present East Xenia neighbors and its new neighbors all feel welcome and a sense of belonging. Where no one feels pushed out of the community space that has always been part of the community they call home. We are created to live in community and harmony with one another. However, in the current created ethos in which we now live, it becomes easier to decide who's in and who's out, who belongs and who does not, who matters and who does not matter. with plans to encompass the park as part of the development if rezoning is approved, what intentional efforts will be included in the decision-making by city council, the developer, and community leaders to integrate the residents of these two quite different communities together so that all will be welcomed in this shared space? May we not forget that everyone belongs and engages and interact as one embodied community. Yes, rezoning can provide for us new avenues of being neighbors. Please consider the seriousness of how we bring people together in a united community. Thank you very much.

Thanks, Ms. Wilson. Anyone else care to come forward?

Kevin Cooper 286 Church Street, East Church Street. And thank you for affording me this opportunity to speak with you today. As Xenia continues to grow and new housing developments are proposed, I support responsible development that strengthens the community. However, it is important that existing homeowners understand the possible financial impact of that growth. New development can increase the community's tax base, but it can also create additional calls for roads, utilities. Public safety schools, parks and other services before approving or expanding a development. I would suggest the city officials clearly explain how those costs will be distributed. and whether existing homeowners could experience higher property tax obligations as a result. Growth should benefit the entire community, not place an unfair financial burden on the homeowners who are already there. The question with the proposed new housing development ingenious East in how will the additional homes and increased demand for city services affect the property taxes of existing homeowners in the surrounding community? Specifically, Will existing homeowners see an increase in their property taxes to pay for the infrastructure, roads, police, and fire protection, schools, utilities, and other services associated with the development? I thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Mr. President, Mayor, Council, people, and administration, good evening. And I'm here to express my concerns about the potential land development in the East end of senior just just north of my 100 plus year old home, our generational home. I'm particularly concerned about how this development might affect the existing East senior neighborhood and its residents. Over 500 new homes would create a diverse and somewhat inclusive connection between current residents and the new community, promoting economic, social, and supportive interactions. However, integrating our older lower to mid income neighborhood. With a new mid to upper middle income community presents significant challenges. This integration requires careful consideration due to the economic disparity between the 2 neighborhoods. As the high value community develops nearby, older neighborhood residents may face rising property taxes and increased living costs, potentially leading to displacement for renters or those unable to afford gentrification. We would need to guard against cultural and social tensions between the two. If long term residents feel marginalized infrastructure and development development pressures constrain the older neighborhood requiring costly upgrades to roads and utilities. which may result in increased traffic, overcrowded schools that would lead to redistricting, and overextended municipal resources. To ensure successful integration, strategies such as inclusive planning, affordable housing initiatives, community building programs, and equitable access to amenities are essential. A delicate balance of economic, social and political considerations must be made. Successful integration is possible when development focuses not only on physical revitalization, but also on fostering equity, inclusivity and respect for the existing community. Thank you, Mayor Bayless.

Anyone else care to come forward at this time? All right, seeing it last chance. Yeah, go ahead.

Good evening, Mayor, Council. Thank you for hearing this proposal tonight. My name is Pat Olding, Land Acquisition Manager with Rockford Homes. Address is 440 Blairs Parkway, Westerville, Ohio. seeing that tonight's what is in front of you is specifically focused on the uh rezoning i wanted to touch on some of the things within the comprehensive plan the next plan um notably this site is not specifically called out within the next plan as when that plan was created this was not within the city limits however a lot of the surrounding parcels are called for suburban residential suburban neighborhoods specifically with residential use at two to four units per acre which is what we intend to Propose with our density being below 3 units per acre. Additionally, the next plan calls for Lexington park activation and expansion as well as connection with the trail system. Our proposed plans are to. We plan to incorporate additional land into Lexington Park. I know this plan has sparked some conversations within the city and council about some activation of Lexington Park and upgrades to some of the facilities within there. And we plan to connect the existing trail to Lexington Park as well as to the Ohio to Erie Trail on Old 35. Um, and then the other point within the next plan that I wanted to call out that it specifically states. Uh, screening of proposed solar farm on Easter most parcel, and then says rezone to residential if the project fails to proceed. So obviously that solar farm project did fail to proceed. And then we are here tonight proposing to rezone that land. Um, I know 1 piece of that proposed solar farm is already incorporated in the city already zone. In the suburban neighborhood district, and we are just proposing to rezone that additional piece. And then, as for anything specific to the site plan at the planning commission meeting back in, I believe it was July. There's a preliminary plat that was conditionally approved on this rezoning being approved tonight. We'd be happy to talk with any neighbors about that plan as we move forward. That was just a preliminary plat. We'll eventually have to submit a final plat for the subdivision. So that is not final. There still is input that can be made and we'd be happy to have conversations with some of the neighbors within the community. That's all I've got. If there's any additional questions for us, I'll be happy to answer.

All right. Thank you.

Thank you.

All right. Anyone else care to come forward? This is the public hearing for ordinance 2026 dash 32. Okay. Yeah. All right. Mr. Merriman, do you want to come back to any of those?

Thanks. Some of the very salient points raised by some of the residents this evening. First, I want to say that these are all a lot of excellent points, and a lot of these points are part of a broader discussion that we've been engaged in a lot of conversation with council, including a work session after your last regular session where we talked about strategies for growth management. because the city's at a phase where, at this juncture, where we need to be very thoughtful about the types of development, the pace of that development, how we serve that development, and how it should bring value to the community. So we've talked about some policies that would address that pace of development. I also want to point out the city planner took some digs tonight, but one of his key roles is helping to protect the integrity, the spirit, the property values within neighborhoods. As each of these development opportunities comes forward, that's part of the charge that he has is to think about how do we interconnect, how do we protect Sort of the historic nature of neighborhoods, and how do we ensure that the quality of development that's coming in is adding value? So these are all you know salient concepts issues that we've that we've discussed but in particular just to address a few of the issues As part of our code requirements any developer coming into the community is required to cover the cost for the installation of streets and utilities sufficient to serve that neighborhood So in this particular area, things like pump stations for, for water or lift stations for sewer streets, curb sidewalk, and so forth would be part of the responsibility of, of the developer to ensure all of that. So existing taxpayers won't have to pay for the cost of that. Now we've talked with council about the pace of growth. We're going to have to make some investments in things like utility systems. We're going to need a water tower on the East side of Xenia with the amount of growth and with the pressure in the system and today and so forth, And so there are some broader investments that need to be made, but those are needs that exist today that are being enhanced, not just needs that are created because of the development. But again, those neighborhood infrastructure costs are covered by the developer. Interconnectivity is really important. We've tried to make sure from a transportation standpoint, from a trail, multi-use trail standpoint that we're getting as much interconnectivity as possible. We don't want to isolate neighborhoods. We want them walkable and easy to access through various modes of transportation. And, you know, I think it's also really important to point out that the policy of the Council has not just been development in Virgin Territory, but you've placed a heavy emphasis on infill redevelopment. And we've pursued a number of initiatives on the east side of Xenia to try to promote the reinvestment and infill redevelopment. A couple years ago, we did comprehensive restoration of utilities and roadway on 2nd Street, East 2nd Street, and we've seen some active infill redevelopment in those areas. We've been very aggressive in working with the county with tax foreclosures and working through city programs to try to market properties to see new development to the scale and character of that older neighborhood. So council I think has been very thoughtful both looking at the current neighborhood and how we reinvest in that but also in thinking through how these new neighborhoods can connect to the existing historic neighborhoods. This type of development is really valuable to our community. It adds valuable tax base, but not just tax base. It adds valuable workforce. It adds valuable consumers that help expand our retail sector. There are layers of benefits to this type of development. It's well suited and well situated for this particular location. The last thing I'll touch on is Lexington Park. Of course, there's an opportunity here to see some reinvestment and expansion of Lexington Park. that it's needed for many years through this process of seeing the adjoining neighborhood grow and connectivity for both neighborhoods through that park. Again, lots of really good points have been raised tonight, many of which the council has been discussed or have been discussed as part of this process. I just thought it was important to raise those issues.

All right. Thank you, Mr. Merriman. Any questions for the city manager?

Mr. Merriman, have we decided on street width for the new subdivision? The reason I ask is Colorado Drive on my side of town is fairly wide and people treat it as such and drive 50 plus miles an hour at times and want to run you over if you drive at the speed limit. So I want to make sure we don't run the same situation with this new development and it being .

So I think we're still at the concept plan phase. There'll be additional iterations of the plan as it goes through. We do have some existing standards in our books today. I'll have Brian go ahead, the planner, come up and kind of address the issue. But yeah, we want to look at how we minimize the maintenance costs, but also promote safety and accessibility at the same time.

Our street standards now for local streets require a minimum width of 30 feet. That is nowhere near the width of Colorado Drive. I don't believe there would be interest in creating streets of that width in this neighborhood, so I think the minimum standard of 30 feet will be applied throughout the whole neighborhood, because there will all be

Thank you. Other questions for either Mr. Merriman or Mr. Fortuner? Thanks for being here.

Can you speak more about that new water tower that's proposed? And I have a question about the water tower that's on Patton. Is there water in that?

Yeah, so two of the three tanks do hold water, and the tanks on Patton are what we call standpipes. They don't help with pressure. They just help with total volume in the systems. We have additional water on hand because it's not elevated to the height that gives us pressure. One of the three tanks is historic, and that's not in active use today, but we do maintain it. We have discussed with council the need on the east side to look at the installation of additional water tower. That is in part because of additional development, but it's also in part because of a need to make sure that we are keeping our pressure on the east side well above the minimum standards, and we're a little marginal today. And so we've talked about strategies to pay for that. We've talked about things like impact fees and tax increment financing and other mechanisms. Again, had, I think, a pretty good discussion with council here a couple weeks ago. So there are some strategies to address that. That is a project that I anticipate, Councilman, that we will probably have to pursue in the next couple of years, be a part of discussion with your final budget and capital improvement plan that we present to Council later this fall.

Look forward to that, thank you. All right, thank you. Mr. Mayor, anything for you?

I just have a statement on it, which is, I know most of you in the room. I've talked to you guys. I definitely understand your concerns. I talked to Mayor Bayless earlier, and I do want to say I'm sorry. I should have been more communicative to you all about what is potentially going in. So I know that that was a concern. But I did say this to you guys, and I do mean it. I'm willing to host a town hall with you all, have discussions. take questions, answer them. That is something I'm more than capable of doing and I've done across this community this whole year as being mayor. So I do support you guys. You guys are my neighbors. I live in the East End. I live on East 3rd and I love my town and I love you guys and you guys have been active in our community and I love that about it. And I just want to say to that, I do think that some of the concerns that were raised, Brent has mentioned, the water and infrastructure is being taken care of by the developer. And the big thing I'm really happy about is the investments that potentially could come to Lexington Park. I know we'd met with Clayton, and I showed him a potential map of what we envision seeing for Lexington Park. And I want to make sure we keep that historic feel to the park, but also some updates for kids that live in the East End. I went there this past weekend, or two weekends ago, with Christina and Christian. So it is a park that I understand has great historic and significant value to our East End community. Yes, sir.

Yeah, if I may address the audience. First of all, thank you again. Your points are well taken again. And I've lived on the East End for 40 years. And I also represent quite a few clients that were looking to retire and leave the East End. And the East End has benefited. Now, when appraisers come in to assess the value of the East End home, there were some good questions that were brought up about that. you do realize that an efficient appraisal could go out a mile from that location. And we're benefiting from the values of the north side, the downtown area, and some of the south side area by being on the east side. And an efficient appraisal has to make a good justification for allowing a negative or I call it the halo effect. Let's talk about the halo effect first. You put a new housing area a new construction, new development next to an older development, there are more people that are trying to get into our area that want to be right by their parents or by their kids. They want to be by their parents. And some of these kids that can't afford the houses, but they can't afford a lower income home or what the city would call workforce housing. but I'm trained to call it affordable housing. There's a demand for East End housing and for all of you that are here, you are not harmed as you think you're harmed. There's the halo effect and then I will tell you an appraiser doesn't like to do a lot of work and he has to, if he includes new construction, in the appraisal to the older construction, he's got to justify that to the lender. He's got to write out a letter why he did it because he couldn't find comparable comp comps for the east end side. Now I will tell you, I benefited, my clients had benefited from a true appraisal from just simply the city of Xenia selling, being a desirable place for people wanting to live here. So with that, just an added consideration.

Thank you. Yeah. All right. Thank you. It's cut to my attention. I did not close the public hearing. I thought I did. So thank you at this time. I'll close the public hearing on that. Um, cause I think you've chimed in with some questions and answers for questions. So thank you. Sorry about that. I do want to let everybody know too, we are trying to be as transparent as we can. A lot of times these projects do not come to city council until they come to planning and zoning first. Planning and zoning, this item did come up last month and it is on our agenda now. That's why we do the public hearing. We want to give everybody an opportunity to voice their opinions and concerns and in that planning and zoning meeting I think most the members and that's the citizen run committee were thrilled with the fact that we have a developer willing to invest in our park and in a water tower and to give us the infrastructure that was one of the comments made was was who's paying for the streets that that's the developer that's going to be doing that so again We take all those into consideration when we make decisions. Seeing that the public hearing is now closed, this item was introduced by the Mayor at our August 27th meeting. Would you care to move for passage on that?

I move for the approval of Ordinance 2026.32. Thank you. Move for passage by the Mayor and I'll seek a second.

Second. Seconded by Councilman Rubio. If there's no further questions, we'll get a roll call on this item.

Vice President Crawford.

Aye.

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

Aye.

Mayor Reynolds.

Aye.

President Smith.

Aye.

Motion carried.

Thank you very much. We're going to continue with the meeting tonight. If any time you feel like you need to leave, you are welcome to do so. You're more than welcome to stay. We just have a few more items. So our next item is an emergency ordinance. for ordinance 2026-33, which is amending ordinance 2026-20 to correct an annexation plat and legal description. And we're declaring this an emergency tonight. We'll turn the floor over to Mr. Merriman.

Yeah, thank you, sir. On June 11, City Council adopted ordinance 2026-20, which authorized the annexation of the property constituting Central State University. Included with that ordinance as exhibit A was an annexation plat and legal description of the territory to be annexed as constituted at Central State. When these materials were presented to county agencies for their initial review, a couple of errors were found. Central State has since had its surveyor correct those errors and the city has obtained a final Greene County tax map approved plat and legal description. As the final approved plat and legal description that will be filed with the annexation petition do not match the plat and legal description council approved as exhibit A to ordinance 2026-20. This new ordinance is necessary to amend the original authorization and replace that incorrect plat and legal description with the correct ones. The ordinance is being presented as emergency to allow both parties to meet the contractual obligations under the pre-annexation agreement. within the timeframe set forth in the agreement and we anticipate that the county would take action on the petition before this would expire. Again, this is basically some housekeeping to correct some changes in that plat and legal description.

All right. Thank you for that clarification. Any questions for Mr. Merriman? All right. This time I'll seek a motion to approve this as an emergency. Motion approved. Moved by the Vice President. Second. Seconded by Councilwoman Huffman. Sorry about that. All right. Is there any other discussion? All right. We'll get that taken care of. Sorry about that. We'll get a roll call, please.

Vice President Crawford.

Aye.

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

Aye.

Mayor Reynolds.

Abstention due to my employment at the state of Ohio.

President Smith?

Aye.

Motion carries.

Thank you. I'm going to send a new business. Our first item is an introduction in new business for ordinance 2026-34, which is amending section 241.05 of the city's administrative code regarding the Xenia police cadet program. At this time, I'll turn the floor over to Mr. Merriman again.

Thank you, sir. This ordinance would amend the portion of city code authorizing the police cadet program to include provisions for compensation and benefits for the position. The police cadet program was authorized by city council in 2022 with the adoption of section 241.05 of our code by which the role of the police cadet was created as an unclassified non-union temporary position for the purpose of aiding in the recruitment of prospective officers who have not yet successfully obtained their Ohio peace officer certification. By policy upon certification, the cadet is reclassified as a sworn police officer who is then recognized as a bargaining unit member under the collective bargaining agreement. Under the collective bargaining agreement between the city and Xenia Police Officers Association, only full-time certified and sworn police officers are recognized as members of the union. During recent labor negotiations, the union declined to recognize the position of police cadet as a bargaining unit member covered by the CBA. The city and the union did agree, however, that applying the compensation of benefits reflected in the collective bargaining agreement to the position of police cadet is vital in maintaining a competitive recruitment disposition and maintaining quality applicants for these opportunities. We are recommending council amend our code section 241.05 to clarify that police cadets will be subject to the terms, conditions, compensation, and fringe benefits of the collective bargaining agreement between the city and the Xenia Police Officers Association accepting the grievage procedure outlined. And again, it would continue then as these cadets would become official sworn officers that they would then be incorporated into the bargaining unit. So this brings them into the union? No, they would remain outside of the union, but this adopts a consistent compensation and benefits plan that mirrors what's in the bargaining unit. So it keeps them out until they would be certified and then officially sworn in. Fantastic.

All right, very good. Questions for Mr. Merriman? All right, seeing none, we will seek an introduction. Who would care to do that? I move to introduce 202634. Thank you. Introduced by the mayor. Our next item is ordinance 2026 dash 35. Also an introduction tonight authorizing the sale of city owned properties located at four 14 East third street, four 22 South Detroit street, five 57 East market street, six 52 East church street and four 91 and four 99 East second street. This time we'll turn the floor back to Mr. Merriman.

Thank you, sir. This ordinance would authorize the sale of six properties the city previously acquired through tax for futures. The subject properties would be sold in accordance with the city's home preservation program. Staff used various marketing efforts to advertise these properties to builders that would be interested in building owner-occupied homes on these vacant lots. Multiple proposals were received and after careful evaluations, staff recommendations, and with the endorsement of our council property management committee, It is recommended that council approve the sale of the following properties to the following buyers at the price point stipulated. Quickly, those are to GG Custom Homes, the property at 414 East 3rd Street for $1,500, 422 South Detroit Street for $4,000, 557 East Market Street for $3,000, and then a sale to Copley Construction LLC with the properties at 652 East Church Street for $9,000. and the properties at 491 and 499 East 2nd Street for $9,000. We're requesting introduction of the ordinance this evening to advance this item for consideration so that we can start the sale process on the properties.

Thank you.

Questions for Mr. Merriman?

$1,500, we did not break even.

Many of these properties would have had additional back taxes and things like that that have all been wiped through the tax foreclosure process.

So again, these price points were kind of vetted through our property management committee and determined through that group and so when that happens, so I guess my my question is is When we sell something for 15 and 4,000 that's well below market value so then we we've just we've moved away the the taxes or we took the hit on the deficit and the city now covers the

no so when we receive a property through the tax foreclosure process we're receiving it free and clear of any encumbrances on the property um so essentially all of the indebtedness to those properties has already been wiped minus the mowing court costs is all we pay what i do when we take a property by forfeiture i send letters to all the taxing entities the schools the green county

the health district, the park district, the library district, and ask them to waive the back taxes that they are owed on the property. To date, every taxing entity has been very supportive.

Very nice.

They always agree to waive those back taxes, which allows us to take those properties free and clear, and then hopefully turn them back into some kind of taxpaying status. So that's when we take them, those taxes are still owed, but we're lucky that our partners always agree to waive those, the back, the delinquent taxes that they're owed.

And the goal is that we're trying to make these, uh, properties at we're trying to grease the skips, remove every barrier we can to see some infill redevelopment. And so by eliminating those, you know, any liens on the property, any tax liens, and then making them available at lower cost, it promotes that redevelopment. Now, the catch through the home preservation program is that you can't just sit on the property. It has to be single-family owned or occupied that would be constructed in that location. Thank you.

I'm excited to see the infill development, especially on the east end where I live. On East 2nd, there's at least five, and now there's going to be one down the road. It's exciting times.

Council should be applauded for it. This program is working. We are seeing investment in infill redevelopment in locations that I wasn't sure we would ever see it. So to your credit, you've implemented policy that's effectively working.

And the houses are beautiful that are going up. Just the one here on the corner on East 2nd is fantastic. Immaculate and then just going further down a second seeing the other three. I'm like, holy cow When I first moved in they were just empty lots of trees. Yeah loads of trees.

Yeah, so this is exciting time All right, so any other comments or questions, all right, so who would care to introduce this tonight? I think Councilwoman Cerise beat you just by a hair there. So sorry. All right, so our next item is resolution 2026-50. This is amending resolution 2024-021 as amended by resolution 2024-30, resolution 2025-006 and establishing the 2024-2027 pay plan for the city employees and this goes back to Mr. Merriman again.

Yeah, so this item, sorry, get my papers situated here. This item relates to our, excuse me, I'll just shove that, I'm a mess here. This item relates to our prior one in that compensation since 2014, compensation for our non-certified officers has been addressed in the CBA. between the city and the police. Um, and this measure will, um, establish within our pay plan, um, the necessary, um, uh, wage benefits and so forth. Um, the fund, um, based on our agreement with the officer's union, um, we are recommending, uh, inclusion of the police cadet position, um, into the city's pay plan with wages that would have a 5%, um, an amount five percent less than our current annual first step for our officers so again in conjunction with that last measure this would establish within our pay plan a margin for the cadets so they would be below the first step of an officer until they're sworn in so this is again additional housekeeping step uh in conjunction with that last item cool i really fumbled through that one so if you have questions i can i can clarify and that's the only change it makes it's just the police cadets

Mr. Mayor, Mr. President, I move to adopt Resolution 2026050. Thank you. All right.

We have a motion by the Mayor, seconded by the Vice President. Any comments or questions? All right. Go ahead and get a roll call, please.

Vice President Crawford.

Aye.

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

Aye.

Mayor Reynolds. Aye. President Smith. Aye. Motion carries.

Thank you. Next is Appointed Officials Reports. We'll start with Mr. Duke. How you doing over there? You've been quiet. Yeah.

What's up with that? Uh, I have nothing for council this evening, but I'm happy to answer any questions you might have. All right. Thank you.

Any questions for Mr. Duke? And I do appreciate that monthly report. It wasn't, Pleasant.

Yeah, I think there are definitely some of those things are timing, property tax and the SRO payments and some of those things. Our numbers are going to start looking a lot better through September. But the income tax is the primary thing that's lagging behind and that's not met the expectations that we were hoping to meet at the beginning of the year. So there's still four months left, and we'll see how the rest of the year goes. I think this next month in September, I think it's going to be slightly ahead of where we were last year in September. It's just a matter of how much. I don't think we're going to make up all of the ground that we're behind in one month. um but it's trending in the right direction um it's um like like i've said in the report i don't think uh it's uh time to press the panic button i think some of these things are gonna work themselves out but we are certainly a little behind where we had hoped to be at this time this year and i understand on a calendar basis something's timing is everything do we know how we're doing

As a community, as far as consumer spending as a whole, is our national average down? It just seems like with fuel prices being so high, something's got to give.

Yeah, I don't have those numbers. I mean, we could take a look at it. I don't know to what extent we'd be able to focus specifically on Xenia and our consumer spending. The county may have some information on sales tax that we could take a look at. that could help us to understand some of that. That would be a good idea.

We can reach out to them.

Sure.

All right, very good. Any questions for Mr. Duke?

When's the late tax filing deadline? Is that next month?

It's congruent with the federal deadline. I don't remember what the federal extension date is.

You should get a bump there. Is that October 15th? I think it's October 15th. I think it's coming up. It's like a couple days. I know.

That date is October 15th. It should be interesting to see what happens. Yeah, I think we'll see a little bit of a bump there, and there are still some businesses that have typically done well that haven't filed yet that I think will give us a bump. So I think we're going to see some recovery, but it's most definitely fair to say we aren't where we had hoped to be at this point in the year from an income tax revenue standpoint. All right, very good.

All right. Unless there's any other questions. Thank you, Mr. Duke. I'm Adam, law director. What do you have for us?

Just one thing I wanted to let you know. The city clerk got ahold of me today. We got the sample ballot language on the charter amendments from the Board of Elections. Amy and I went through that. We found one section where, I don't know if it was a typo, but they had added a word to what you as council had approved. It kind of changed the meaning a little bit. So we did write up the Board of Elections going to vote on the ballot language next week. So we did write up a request that they remove that word that was added and explained why. So we'll see how that goes. But other than that one small thing, it all looked good.

Very nice. Very good. So what are we allowed to do as elected counsel for the board? Charter changes, how do we educate the voter?

There's a couple things. There are a couple requirements in the state constitution itself. We will be taking out full page ad. We either have to do that or send a mailing to every registered voter in the city. It's usually easier just what we did last time when we took out full page ad in the Dena Gazette. Outlining what the changes are, what the reasoning. We usually put flyers in the utility billing. We did that last time. These aren't tax levies. They're charter amendments, so council can support them because this isn't about money. The process that controls charter and changing the charter is actually in the state constitution. So it differs 100% from levy issues. But Amy and I have already talked about we need to get going on that, and we'll certainly keep you all informed. as we do that. Um, we're hoping, um, our, our PR coordinator will, you know, use social media to, to get word out as well.

All right. Very good. Thank you. All right. Other questions for Madam law director? You guys good. All right. Thank you. All right. Mr. Merriman, what do you got?

Thank you. Just one item this evening. Uh, we have decided to do a, uh, nine 11 remembrance ceremony tomorrow morning. And so we were inviting council and general public. right outside the city administration building here at 107 East Main around the flagpole, beginning promptly at 8.40 a.m. This will be a fairly brief ceremony. We will have a moment of silence, words by the mayor. We'll have some clergy offering prayer. Commissioner Mays will be ending our event with a song tribute. Just taking a few moments to recognize the lives that were lost, recognize those first responders and others who helped in the immediate recovery, and then certainly all those who fought and served in the fight on terror from that time. So again, tomorrow morning here at the city administration building beginning promptly at 8.40 a.m. We'll do this rain or shine. There's a slight chance of showers, but I think we'll be okay. And again, probably about a 20-minute ceremony here. So we ask folks to join us in remembrance of 9-11. That is all I have this evening.

Thank you. Questions or comments for Mr. Merriman? All right. Other than thank you for the special meeting last week, the efforts that you guys put into that.

Happy to take your time.

Sorry I made you sick. I sat next to the city manager at our last meeting. I was just starting to get over something, but apparently it wasn't over, and I'm still sick.

You gave it to Brent. Brent gave it to Rachel. Rachel gave it to me. So we just infected our whole side of the road. All right, all right. We've got to stop.

I'm good now. Starting some rumors. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Next on the agenda is council comments and reports. We'll start with Councilman Miscavige. What do you have for us?

Thank you. I just want to thank everyone for coming out today. I know it was a long meeting and we had different things to say. I appreciate all the input given. It really does help us make better decisions here at the council. We don't want to drive blind without resident input. Um, last I'll happy to report from my neighborhood and milling has begun in the student green area. And I should have asked you this in your time, Brett, but I believe there's going to be a period of time between when the milling is done and when paving begins. You know how long that is?

Yeah, it's usually a week or so. It could be a little more again, weather dependent if we get rain, but they have a two to different careers. They have a milling crew and then a paving crew. So they go from community to community doing the milling first and then the paving second. So usually about a week to two weeks in between.

I appreciate that. Thank you.

That's all I have. Very good question. Thank you very much. All right. Councilman Srees, what do you have tonight?

Well, I'm surprised you didn't bring up our waitressing and waitering that we did. Yeah.

Yeah.

Oh, how could you forget?

I know. How could I forget?

I knew there was something. I'll let Ethan talk about it. No, no, no. Please.

Faith was out there. Like being an excellent server, all these plates, and I'm carrying like a cup at a time. Real scared to carry and spill it. Faith was crushing it.

I waitressed when I was growing up, so there we go. Never forget. No, we had a great time at one bistro. It was fantastic. never worked so hard in my life. There was a lot happening and it was excellent. Everybody was great that came out. It was so wonderful. I met people that I never met before that lived right here in our community. It was a lot of energy. A lot of donations came in. It was just so fantastic how people were willing to give. And we're very patient because there was a It was a backup because there were so many people there wanting to get served. So it was a great experience. We had a good time. It was a lot of fun.

It was well attended.

Yep.

We also, my table was from out of town. The people from Georgia came to see a game at Central State. So they were the referees. So they had no idea. The referees. Those were the referees. Some of them were referees.

Oh, that's awesome. Yeah, and another.

So I went to AIA afterwards. Another couple that. went to see Dave Chappelle up in Yellow Springs and found one bistro on Yelp and had no idea about it, but were absolutely delighted.

And there was an owner of a restaurant in Cedarville, and so it was nice that he came out, yeah, yeah, and his family. So it was a lot of fun, so we enjoyed that. We also had our last movie, King David, at, yeah, at the park. And so it was Ethan and I and like a hundred bags of popcorn and snow cones for about 70 people, 70 kids, but the adults, they were great. They also, you know, came up and had snacks. And then there were some teens that were there that were hanging out. And at first they, you know, we thought they were just going to cause some issues, but they were fantastic. They wouldn't sit with the little kids. They came around the backside. But they joined in, had a great time, were wonderful. Yeah, pleasant. Helped the little kids out with going to the restrooms. And it was really a fun experience. Yeah, so appreciated everybody that came out and participated. So that was a lot of fun.

We all had aprons.

Yeah, that's true. Oh, at the restaurant. Yeah, we could have used them that night when we were doing snow cones because, honey, that snow cone was all, you'd go to squirt and it would go out all over. It was hilarious.

Faith's pumping it. I'm like, you can't have it kinked at the bottom. It builds all the pressure. When she unkinked it, it exploded on her. I'm going to say that.

And we're going to tell that part. Thank you.

I'll hear it. Thank you. Yes, thank you. Thank you very much. Thanks for all your service. All right. Councilwoman Huffman, do you have anything for us tonight?

Yeah, I'd say several of us have been involved in some additional meetings the past couple of weeks, and I appreciate the people who came out tonight, even though many have left already, but we're in a kind of constant state of growth these days, and while we see all the opportunity, and I do this in my company as well, you know, we see a lot of opportunity, but We need to hear the input and the feedback on some of those potential setbacks. And just listening to some of the people tonight, especially in terms of, you know, while property values going up may be a good thing, if, you know, somebody can't afford to live where they live anymore, then that's a problem to me. Um, so, and, and they may not want to move, you know, so, uh, I just appreciate the feedback and I would encourage continued conversations about, uh, the growth and reaching out to us. Um, I'm always happy to have a conversation, so that's all.

Very good. Thank you very much. All right. Councilman Rubio.

Yes. Um, if I can say that food service is not for me. You mean waitering. It's a very difficult job, memorizing orders. But Councilwoman Cerise, she had three plates on one hand, a couple of glasses on the other. Just killed it. And again, mailing. I saw that and it made me smile. It made my day. I want to thank you guys, Brent and your team. For the meetings that are not seen and we go hard, we're after results. So if you don't hear it, thank you. I appreciate you all. And that's it. And our team.

All right, very good. All right, Vice President, what do you have for us?

This is a good council. I enjoy it. I love our mayor. Hey, I just wanted to say the one bistro event that we did, normally I'm washing dishes, but this time I got to serve. I got a promotion. Oh my God. But the camaraderie we had in working together was phenomenal. And I learned that you've really got to write a ticket that's legible if you're submitting your writing to a cook. But I really value the waitress. Waitress is where we go out and where we eat in public. Man, I took that skill for granted. And I watched Wes, the way he worked and served. This guy is a trooper. But a lot of patience was demonstrated, a lot of just camaraderie. We were helping each other. I mean, you helped me. I mean, we were just like looking at, do you need anything? Can you do anything? And it was, I felt really anything that I was weak in, I was covered, so. With that being said, I've got nothing else to share.

All right, thank you, Vice President. All right, Mayor Reynolds, what do you have for us tonight?

Just to carry on to the bistro one more time, I just want to share one story. You get in there, they tell you how to order, you get the order together, you go to somebody and they say, order up. Someone ordered eggs, bacon, sausage, and a pancake. And I'm like, well, this is mine, and I take it. And we go to this table, and the lady says, oh, I didn't know these pancakes come with pecans. I'm like, I guess they do. So I gave her a pecan pancake. About two minutes later, James is like, I haven't seen a pecan pancake come out, but I have this original pancake. And I was like, oh, I never told James. about 10 minutes later when James got the other pancake. I was like, by the way, I took your pecan pancake. It was just an excellent time. I would like to say that though we did not win, we came a strong second. On day of orders, we hit a record for one bistro during our time. We lost on the donation end, but not by much. So we gave it a good run for our money against the Sheriff's Department and the EMS and our dispatch. So we definitely gave it a run for the money. So I'm so thankful for everyone in council who came out and helped. We really do have the greatest council, and I love serving with you all, and it's been just a privilege and an honor to do so. Some of you might be wondering why I'm wearing a Beaver Creek polo, so I thought I would address that real fast. I made a bet with the mayor of Beaver Creek at the Xenia Battle of the Backyards that if Xenia won, he would provide me with some treats from Beaver Creek as well as wearing a Xenia polo. provided the opposite is if his team won i would wear a polo and give him some sweet treats and treats from xenia unfortunately we lost by one uh very close game so i am upholding my end of the bargain so i am wearing my uh my beaver creek uh polo for the first and only time uh as well as all black because i'm in mourning Well, they just also say XREC was canceled due to lack of agenda items. We had the Heart of Opportunity tour come through our region with the governor, Lieutenant Governor, talking about all of the things that Ohio has ranked number one in the country to do business in. It was a great tour to be a part of and to go witness and see all of our regional elected officials, county commissioners, folks in the business industry, and then tomorrow is 9-11, and it's the 25th anniversary. Everyone remembers where they were on that day. It's very much my generation's and the generation right before me's view of what would be Pearl Harbor, a day that will live in infamy. It was a terrible attack on our country by 19 Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacking four planes. So we should never forget what happened that day, but we must also remember the next day, which is what showed unity from our from our fellow countrymen folks uh got together uh you know abraham lincoln once said that our bonds of affection must not be broken uh and we are not enemies but friends and we must continue to live by that statement and example as elected officials and as good people so that is all i have tonight all right thank you very much i'd like to thank the mayor and all entire council for how busy you guys are um appreciate the extra meetings and the

Volunteerism, it's great I'm gonna sound a little bit like Dorothy from Wizard of Oz But there's no place like home and what we saw tonight was two items on our agenda That a lot of people want to call Xenia home and frankly, I'm quite proud of that my first ten years on City Council I saw maybe three or four PUDs even come across the agenda, which many never even came to fruition. They would just fall apart due to lack of financing. We actually have developers that are not only interested in our community, but working with our staff to provide us the necessary infrastructure that we need to put in really good communities. And this is happening not just in one area of the city, This is happening across the northeast and south part of our city. So our growth is not concentrated to just one area. It's the entire community. And I think we really need to thank our staff, our planner, and those that are investing in our community. I think it's great. I know that we had a lot of people tonight. Not everybody maybe liked all of our decisions, but everyone is very welcome at our city council meetings. And that's one thing, as all of us that are elected officials, we want to be as transparent as possible. We also are very open to suggestions and comments. A lot of public meetings, a lot of people, they don't want to hear public comments. They feel like, well, that's our decision. You know, I I don't like to ever shut anybody down even when they go past three to four minutes I I don't want to disrespect them, but we also also have to run a meeting and So thank you very much for that allowing me to run a meeting With some order and respect on both sides of the table. So thank you very much for that and Also would recommend that anybody, if you ever get to New York City, to visit the Ground Zero Museum. I think that's not really the technical term for it. It's the 9-11 Memorial at Ground Zero. If you have ever get an opportunity to go into that, first of all, it'll make you quite sad. And then probably by the end, it'll actually make you quite mad as a citizen that our country was so vulnerable on 9-11. And so many innocent people died. It's very tragic. So hopefully that will never be repeated again in the history of our country And I do remember that I just turned the radio on in the middle of it all going on and I'm like What are they talking about? Because you know, this is before cell phones. This is before social media This is when you actually saw it on the news and not on your phone And we're living in a different time a different age right now so again know prayers for uh family that are still you know really having quite a time to deal with that even 25 years later so again i'd like to thank everybody in the audience tonight for being here and again thank the council for their dedication in our community at this time if there's nothing else i'll seek a motion to adjourn Thank you. Moved by the Mayor. And a second? Second. Seconded by Councilwoman Cerise. And a roll call, please.

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

Aye.

Mayor Reynolds?

Aye.

President Smith?

Aye. Thank you. Thank you, everyone.