[0:01] called order the city of columbana city
council meeting on this September 1st
[0:06] 2026.
Uh we will have invocation by Deianne
[0:12] and then we'll all rise for the pledge
of allegiance to the flag.
[0:17] » Lord bless those officers and government
of our city that they may do their work
[0:22] in a spirit of wisdom, kindness, and
justice and help them to use their
[0:26] authority to serve our citizens
faithfully. In your name we pray. Amen.
[0:33] [clears throat]
[0:35] » I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
[0:41] republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and
[0:48] justice for all.
[0:57] Yeah. Call the role. [clears throat]
here.
[1:02] here.
>> Here. [laughter]
[1:06] » Listen
>> here.
[1:11] » Here.
>> Noel
[1:14] » here.
>> Willer
[1:16] » here.
>> Hudson
[1:18] » here.
[1:22] » You've all received copies of the
minutes of our meeting on August 18th,
[1:28] 2026. Are there any questions, comments
regarding those minutes?
[1:35] Hearing none, they'll be accepted as
submitted.
[1:39] We have no communications to read and
there are no reports of commissions and
[1:44] boards. [snorts] So, we'll move the
agenda to the recognition of persons
[1:49] desiring to appear. And we have
representatives from the Historical
[1:53] Society of Paliana and Fairfield
Township to present a gift to the city.
[2:04] [clears throat]
[2:07] » As you know, you have Harvey, you have
the memorial
[2:12] zoning district, and all these beautiful
pictures, but you don't have a picture
[2:16] of your new chap. And this was done by
local watercolist Sherry Fry. It's a
[2:22] reprint. The originals are historical,
but we wanted it to make sure you had a
[2:28] picture for the sacred walls. [laughter]
>> And and the big reason is I'm afraid
[2:35] Jay's really going to run over so I
didn't want to present it. Sad.
[2:39] [laughter]
>> Well, thank you very much. Thank you. We
[2:43] want to invite all of you to come if you
can on September the 5th, Saturday at 11
[2:48] o'clock for the dedication. And uh we're
so proud of the project being at this
[2:53] stage and done and cement went in and
concrete's going to be dry and we can go
[2:58] in do some ribbon cutting together. So
>> 11:00 Saturday
[3:03] » and also do not forget everyone's
welcome that we are [clears throat] part
[3:07] of the Ohio History Connections open
doors.
[3:12] [clears throat] America 250 events in
the state of Ohio where the week of um
[3:18] that we were [clears throat] September
20th set the Sunday September 20th from
[3:24] 2 to 4 there are 259
events going on throughout the 88
[3:30] counties and only three of them in
Columbia County us two in East
[3:34] Liverpool. will come. We're bringing in
displays. I'm really hoping General
[3:40] Hallway is making an appearance. I
haven't [laughter]
[3:45] » 2 to 4 p.m. And um [clears throat] it
was open free to the public and there'll
[3:51] be a few other things.
[laughter]
[3:55] [clears throat]
>> So, thank you.
[3:57] » Thank you. Thank you.
>> Thank you so much.
[4:00] » Thank you very much. I'm giving it to
him and I can put that. Do you mind if
[4:05] we [cough and clears throat]
[4:09] » It's Christmas in September. Of course.
[laughter]
[4:11] » How do you want to do this?
>> How do you want to do this?
[4:14] » You don't want me behind there.
[laughter]
[4:19] » That's very true. Do you want me to
stand here? Very
[4:36] good.
>> Thank you very much.
[4:37] » Thank you.
>> You're welcome. and prints are for sale,
[4:40] but $25
goes towards the city fund for
[4:48] » and to resurrect this building that was
built in 1890.
[4:53] It's very very impressive and the work
that you folks have done is tremendous
[4:58] and we really appreciate it and it's um
adds to the beauty of the cemetery that
[5:04] [clears throat] we have.
Thank you very much.
[5:08] » One quick comment if you don't mind me
adding from the chair here. It's it
[5:12] really got started with a response from
Lance when I texted him. He said, "Sure,
[5:17] I'll meet you and talk about it."
[laughter] So, so that started out the
[5:21] park building and it went from there,
didn't it, Lance?
[5:25] » Yeah, absolutely.
>> Very good.
[5:27] » So, thanks a lot.
>> Thank you all.
[5:30] » Without you folks, these things don't
get done. [snorts] They just don't. they
[5:34] don't get done. So, we really appreciate
>> y very
[5:40] throw Mrs. Tingle into that.
Very generous.
[5:44] » Yes. Thank you very much. Thank you.
[snorts] We appreciate it.
[5:50] Okay. Um, next on the agenda, we have
Crystal Sid Bogs to discuss was the
[5:57] night before 5K updated race route.
>> All right. So, um,
[6:04] » [snorts]
>> Do you guys have the map in front of
[6:06] you? Did it get to you? Okay. So,
traditionally speaking, we always have
[6:10] come outside of um Herbster and made
that right onto Park View and then go
[6:15] down and do that Terra Verde loop. But
when we come back onto the Park View, it
[6:19] is very tight. Um then we get all this
congestion. Um last year as the lead
[6:24] vehicle, I got stuck behind the
ambulance. Couldn't take the lead
[6:28] runners out because I was behind the
slowest runners. Then we made our way
[6:32] through all the congestion and then I
come back into the park and then I come
[6:36] back into all the last of the runners
that are still making their way out of
[6:40] the park for the very first time. So to
relieve that congestion, uh we want to
[6:47] extend the course up into um North Elm
Street just a little tiny bit. And that
[6:54] will take care of the whole problem
because our fastest runners should be
[6:58] able to, you know, when you look at the
timeline, our fastest runners will not
[7:02] be hitting the slowest runners in
theory. So, [clears throat] I mean, if
[7:08] somebody decides to run a 15minute 5K or
world record paces, that changes
[7:14] everything, but we're not looking for
that at our Christmas race. So, um,
[7:18] everybody else is on board. I've
presented it to, uh, park board. I
[7:22] talked to the police department
beforehand and, um, Joy of Christmas is
[7:27] aware. I think that this change is
necessary for the safety of all the
[7:31] runners and even just people that are
trying to get to their homes that night.
[7:36] So,
>> questions anyone has for Crystal? She's
[7:41] right here now.
>> Okay.
[7:43] » So, if you [laughter] want to ask her a
question, this is your chance.
[7:46] » Do you have a date for this?
>> Do you have a date for this?
[7:49] » It's the date of the snowstorm.
>> Okay.
[7:52] » It's the date of our first snowstorm.
Yes.
[7:54] » Yeah. So, I mean, we've already had the
race approved and stuff. This is just an
[7:57] update to the course, but it's December
2nd, if I remember correctly.
[8:03] I would just ask if Chief has any
concerns with traffic.
[8:08] » No.
>> So it's is it starting off at A and then
[8:11] going just the one loop outside the
park.
[8:14] » Is that what I'm seeing?
>> So you're going to see it goes down a it
[8:18] goes through the park, exits out of the
park, goes down to the through Terra
[8:22] Verde, comes back in, then they when
they come in, they go through the park
[8:26] the whole way again and end at B.
>> Okay.
[8:29] » Yeah.
>> Okay, that makes sense.
[8:32] So, do we need to approve the change?
[8:39] » I'm going to move to approve the changes
submitted.
[8:41] » Second.
>> Okay, we have a motion. Second.
[8:47] Any further questions on the motion?
Do you have me call the roll?
[8:54] » Yes.
>> Yes.
[8:58] » Yes.
>> Listen. Yes,
[9:06] [clears throat]
>> thank you guys.
[9:08] » Okay, thank you very much, Crystal.
Appreciate it.
[9:13] » Uh, next we're moving to the manager's
report. Lance, thank you.
[9:33] So, uh,
[snorts]
[9:36] » oh, okay.
[9:44] » So,
the last couple weeks we um
[9:49] we were hacked uh with a fishing email.
So, if you received a email from um Rick
[9:56] Whitfield or Tom Farley, don't open it.
So, we spent a lot of our last week uh
[10:01] working through that. Um our IT people
worked on it and uh we're now I think
[10:07] we've got it all buttoned up, but um
our team is uh going to report as needed
[10:15] and notify people as necessary. And um
Mark and I have been um working on on
[10:22] that. So, uh that was that was fun. Um,
make sure you change your passwords
[10:29] often. That's that's what I recommend
doing. Um,
[10:34] it was um,
you know, it was it was a learning
[10:40] process. I mean, I sat in a meeting for
an hour and a half and didn't understand
[10:43] a word they were saying and, you know,
like, oh, just tell me what I need to
[10:47] do. So, but, um,
I think I think everything's good. you
[10:53] may you may end up getting a follow-up
email if you did receive that. Uh we're
[10:57] going to be sending that out to uh let
people know that you know what had
[11:01] happened. So
uh looking at the projects, uh North
[11:06] Drive project will start on September
8th.
[11:10] Uh project meeting uh is being scheduled
on the uh State Route 14 road widening
[11:16] project.
The Culvert project is being held up a
[11:20] few weeks. We've got um an AT&T line
that uh needs uh moved and we're working
[11:27] through that.
Uh we did extend or I did extend the
[11:32] court herbster uh project to September
30th. I know that we had um said it was
[11:38] going to be done uh August 22nd. Um I
know Ted reached out to me. I I've since
[11:46] uh talked to our engineer and just to
give you a little bit more explanation
[11:51] of why we extended it. Um,
after we awarded the project, we've made
[11:57] several several changes and one of them
was the reroute of a a storm water line
[12:03] and we also added some um,
[12:09] let's see, it would be
curbon gutters. And we also had to since
[12:16] we went up Court Street and we weren't
planning on doing that, we had to make
[12:21] some changes to the sewer line. And we
also had to add six um replacement of,
[12:29] you know, we've been doing those lead
line replacements. Uh looking looking at
[12:33] those, we found six of them and we did
do that. So, um I did make that um I
[12:40] took that request and extended that to
September 30th and they should be doing
[12:47] the paving September 14th. They will be
back um to do that paving. I think it's
[12:54] uh Shelly and Shel's doing the um the
paving. I think everything else is
[13:00] pretty much uh wrapped up until then.
got a couple um sidewalk things that
[13:05] we've got to address and maybe some
approaches, but most of that job is
[13:09] done. Uh Beverly Ray project um you
know, it's moving along. I appreciate
[13:16] everybody's patience out there. It's uh
these projects are um
[13:21] you know, they definitely test everybody
and um we appreciate um everybody's
[13:28] patient patience. Um, we can see,
you know, some of them if if they come
[13:34] through your neighborhood, you know, you
still might have water pulling up and
[13:38] and such, but we're we're hoping that
once it's, you know, all put in. It'll
[13:44] all all kind of, you know, flow together
and and work. It's not going to work
[13:48] until we're completely done with it,
especially curbon gutter areas. So, um,
[13:54] we're going to, again, this is a huge,
huge year for projects. I mean, we are
[14:00] we are deep into it and we're starting a
couple more in a couple weeks. So,
[14:06] that'll be fun.
Um, with all those ongoing projects, we
[14:11] are doing our best to provide the
updates. And go to columbianoh.gov. We
[14:16] have a new new um area for you to look
at the updates on the projects.
[14:24] We've been talking about Omni Fiber
coming in for a long time. They are
[14:28] here. They they started the project. Um
also we have a a small spectrum project.
[14:34] They're hagging fiber
um for questions and concerns. You can
[14:41] go to columbianoh.gov and read about
those um those two projects too, even
[14:47] though that they're not city projects.
Uh Bryce met with representatives of
[14:52] Columbia Youth Baseball uh regarding the
2027 baseball season.
[14:58] Uh Mayor and Bryce attended the Ohio
Heart of Opportunity Tour in Youngstown.
[15:04] And Ohio was named the number one state
for business and the governor DeWine and
[15:08] Lieutenant Governor Trestle were in town
to talk about how's recent successes.
[15:14] That was a nice uh project or um
event. Uh Skip, Lance, and Bryce. We
[15:21] went to Millersburg, Holmes County.
That's a long drive. [clears throat] Uh
[15:26] hour and 45 minutes, but um we met with
Omega, and that was a it was a nice
[15:32] meeting.
Bryce and Attorney Hudson met with
[15:36] Elevate and Stro architects to discuss
uh this Colombiana schools athletic
[15:41] complex,
and we're still working through that, I
[15:45] believe.
[15:49] Bryce Skip and I uh attended the
Youngsttown Warren Regional Chambers
[15:52] Lattes with legislators. Speaker Huffman
was there. Representative
[15:57] um John was there. Representative
Sanuchi and Stewart.
[16:03] Efficiency Smart is offering an
appliance recycling promotion through
[16:07] September 30th. pay $75 for
refrigerators, freezers, window AC
[16:12] units, and dehumidifiers that are
working condition but are old. Uh the
[16:18] promotion is limited to four working
appliances per household, and they will
[16:23] come out and pick it up for you at your
house. [clears throat] Uh the city
[16:28] overhaul committee uh received our
current floor plans. Our next step is to
[16:33] work on the demolition package and we're
working through that right now uh to get
[16:38] through that. Um
the economic development dealer uh of of
[16:43] the property that we purchased down
there uh that committee uh is going to
[16:48] meet again in October and they'll be
engaging uh with the affected property
[16:52] owners uh and such um over the next
couple months.
[16:58] We're hosting an official community
ribbon cutting for the Garden of Eden on
[17:02] September 11th at uh 5:00 pm.
And I believe the uh the school's going
[17:09] to be there, so that'll be nice.
um for this year's uh street fair parade
[17:16] due to um ongoing construction in the
Firestone Park. Uh and surrounding road
[17:23] projects. Uh we've um
are going to say that no semi-truckss or
[17:29] trailers and trailers of equal length
will be allowed if you drive through
[17:34] there. If you drive through the park
today, you know why we're doing that.
[17:37] It's it's pretty tight in there. So, uh,
we're trying to cut that down, try to
[17:42] get the word out there, uh, both through
the, um, through Jake and, uh, through
[17:48] the park.
Reminder, Colombiana was asked to be a
[17:53] part of a business view magazine, and
that article hasn't been released yet,
[17:58] but should, and we'll send that out when
it does. [clears throat]
[18:02] the mayor, Skip, uh, Chief Edwards, uh,
Chief Farley, uh, Bryce and I attended
[18:08] the Columbiana Ministerial Association
lunchon. Appreciate all the churches,
[18:13] uh, and what they do for our community
and their continued prayers uh, for the
[18:19] city and staff.
Kind of cool thing happened last week.
[18:23] Village of Barnesville came up. They
brought five people, wanted to talk to
[18:28] us about our uh, progress committee.
Omega that I just mentioned had uh
[18:34] introduced us and they wanted to come up
and see what we're doing up here on on
[18:37] Main Street and uh what we're doing with
our progress committee and and they're
[18:42] thinking of uh doing that and also maybe
implementing the idea of the hub which
[18:48] is the monthly meeting with um
with tourism um the chamber in the city
[18:56] um town center
and uh Garwood Arena.
[19:03] So, they're talking about their events,
you know, they were talking about our
[19:07] events in our downtown and they have
one. It's a pumpkin fest. They get
[19:12] 150,000 people in 3 days.
I mean, like, can you imagine us telling
[19:18] Chief Edwards that we're going to get
50,000 people on the first day of the
[19:23] It's like he's he'll announce his
retirement shortly thereafter.
[19:30] So, we looked it up. I mean, it's that's
>> fair.
[19:33] » That's the Canfield Fair.
>> Fair on Friday.
[19:35] » Yep. Yeah. Because if you take Canfield
Fair has 200,000 give or take, but it's
[19:41] over several days. And so, um,
they're asking about our events and I'm
[19:49] like, if we get 150,000 uh at our next
uh event, it is going to be locked down.
[19:56] So,
Uh, Columbia County Port Authority is
[20:00] offering downtown business renovation
and sign grants and uh,
[20:07] Council President Lon went to all the
storefront owners and passed out flyers
[20:13] for that. So, we appreciate that. they
uh hopefully will get a few few new
[20:18] signs out of that and the grants up to
$50,000 for vacant vacant or underused
[20:26] uh structures. Um I believe I'm not sure
if that one's up or not, but um anyways,
[20:33] we got we we tried to get all the
information out to um everybody in the
[20:39] downtown, including landlords. them.
We've been contacted by several local
[20:44] business owners about expanding the DORA
to suit their business needs. Uh we'll
[20:49] be making a proposal to expand that. Uh
we've talked about a few of them. One of
[20:53] them was the tap the tap room. Uh Bryce
talked to them and I think they're
[21:00] uh they're shooting for spring um of 27.
So that it's it's nice to hear that
[21:06] they're still moving along with that
project.
[21:10] electric department. Uh they completed
uh three hookups um on Jenny Lane
[21:17] and uh completed three hookups at
Arrowhead Park, prepared for street fair
[21:22] by changing out lids on Main Street, and
I believe um I believe Ted helped out on
[21:29] that design if if I'm not mistaken.
>> Yeah, kind of cool.
[21:34] uh park and cemetery making final
preparations for the stick stick chapel
[21:38] dedication
uh and uh just watching after the
[21:43] drainage and sidewalk project and um and
it is making some progress. water
[21:49] department. Uh they did a couple
exploratory digs on Orchard Court and
[21:53] Wind Jammer. Uh installed a couple
ballards on Union and Cross uh to
[21:58] protect fire hydrants.
Street department picked up brush from
[22:04] recent storm and patch potholes.
[22:10] Uh wastewater ordered and installed new
grip motor. This motor had been in there
[22:14] since 1994.
that this new one will probably last
[22:18] like two years. That's my guess. You
know, it's just how it works, you know.
[22:24] Uh EMS, they transferred um medic
Medicare to the new billing company
[22:31] um and sent out renew application for
continued ads. Uh police department uh
[22:37] the
officers completed
[22:42] CQC training, which I didn't know what
that is. So, I hope it means close
[22:47] quarters combat. I had to look it up.
There's always homework to do. And force
[22:51] on force training at the firearms range.
So, um we appreciate you going after
[22:57] that training and providing that for our
our people. Continued prep uh for uh
[23:03] street fair. All of our safety forces
are involved in that.
[23:08] And then just mention EMS. Um,
you know, we've been talking about
[23:15] evaluation of our EMS and fire for the
last few years.
[23:20] Council created a a a um a committee uh
to look at the department operations. As
[23:27] you recall, we uh hired a consultant to
evaluate the uh EMS and fire
[23:33] departments. And we've done this in
other departments. Uh we did it at the
[23:37] park. We've done it at the um wastewater
water and the electric.
[23:44] And this one um just got the report on
Friday, I think. Um
[23:51] it's recommending that we are going to
consolidate our EMS and fire departments
[23:56] into one unified department. Um
so we've met with uh some of our staff
[24:05] um from both the fire and the EMS. Uh
the meetings went uh pretty well. Uh
[24:11] process is going to take time. We don't
have all the answers. That is for sure.
[24:15] Um but we're looking forward to working
with our current EMS and fire department
[24:20] teams to implement these recommendations
uh for the good of Columbia. That's
[24:24] that's what we're trying to do. Um we're
looking at it said it with all the other
[24:29] departments. We look at it like a
prescriptive method. We just start at
[24:34] the top and you know go down. Um it kind
of provides you a road map of what to
[24:40] do. Um and as this pro process
progresses, we'll certainly continue to
[24:45] update everyone. We're going to have an
official uh press release probably in
[24:49] the next couple days. We'll release that
and then we'll be on on the news for the
[24:54] next several days probably. But anyways,
um uh we just appreciate uh all the
[25:02] you know all the workers. They have so
much passion and care for our uh
[25:07] residents and for their for their
departments. And you know, we're I I
[25:16] guess the main thing is is you know,
they're not losing their jobs. They're
[25:20] going to continue to be working with us
and we're going to cross train. Um so
[25:25] they they seem to be uh on board and
we're moving through that process. So
[25:32] that's it there. Thanks, Lance. Any
questions for Lance?
[25:37] Comments?
Very good. Thank you very much. Um,
[25:43] you all received a copy of the bill list
of September 1st, 2026. There any
[25:48] questions on the bill list?
If there isn't, I'm going to say
[25:53] something that I never said before. We
have no old business or new business to
[26:00] uh act on tonight. So, I'm giving you
all a break up here. And
[26:05] » [clears throat]
>> uh so we do not have any items on our
[26:07] agenda. I guess it's has to do with
summer a little bit maybe, but um that's
[26:13] our situation. Um
as uh as we normally do when we have an
[26:20] executive session that does not require
any vote taken after the executive
[26:25] session, we usually adjust our agenda
and that's what I'm going to do tonight.
[26:30] So, we are going to move at this point.
Uh, I'm going to ask if there are any,
[26:36] uh, public comments that anyone would
like to make. And I know, uh, Pat Tangle
[26:43] want. That's okay. Well, [snorts] you
guys go first. Pat,
[26:47] skip, you guys want to talk? Well,
[26:52] [clears throat]
[snorts]
[26:55] » she doesn't stand very well.
>> We We could probably bring the mic to
[26:59] her. [clears throat]
Oh, okay.
[27:01] » Yeah, why don't you just take it over
there?
[27:03] » Um, thank you.
>> Didn't realize it was that poor.
[27:06] [laughter]
>> Thank you. I wish
[27:09] » I wish the park board would use these
because I can never hear a park board
[27:15] and they won't use the microphones. So,
thank you for the microphone. Uh, first
[27:19] of all, I want to announce a positive
thing. We have completed the senior
[27:24] courts. Okay? And it's been a two-year
project. took longer than we thought. It
[27:30] was more complicated than we thought.
But we now have three act uh activities.
[27:36] The shuffle board, Abachi Court, and
cornhole
[27:41] courts all set up. And we have a small
uh
[27:45] » sitting pavilion
>> pavilion there for people to sit and we
[27:48] have benches and so forth. So, we're
going to have a dedication on the 19th
[27:52] of September.
uh a short ceremony and we have
[27:57] dedicated our project to the two longest
serving members
[28:03] as superintendents of the park to Terry
Schaefer and Perry Kaiser. Perry Kaiser
[28:09] being long gone, but much to my
amazement, Terry Schaefer had 41 years
[28:17] as the park superintendent. Well,
somebody needs to say yay to that, you
[28:22] know. So, so we've as we've asked him to
give a little speech, which he's
[28:27] hesitant to do, but uh when we started
doing the park restoration, which was
[28:32] more than 10 years ago, we had a meeting
at the high school.
[28:37] And there weren't very many people
there. But you know who came? The old
[28:43] people. The older people. The older
people that had been around for a long
[28:48] time. And that what they wanted to say
to us was be sure and put some stuff in
[28:52] there for us. Okay. And when I was a
child and in Firestone Park, I
[28:58] remembered shuffle board. I remembered
horseshoes. I don't remember cornhole
[29:04] cuz I don't think we had that back in
those years. [clears throat] But one day
[29:07] I was over at uh Mirror Lake Pavilion
and I noticed the shuffleboard court is
[29:13] in the porch and I hadn't realized it
was there. Maybe it was someplace else,
[29:18] but I do remember a number of family
reunions with where those activities
[29:22] were very important and I have a good
memory of them. So, so anyhow, uh we we
[29:28] are going to as I said dedicate them on
the 19th of September. Okay. Just a
[29:34] short ceremony and uh but we want to
acknowledge the seniors have a role to
[29:40] play in the park and they asked a long
time ago for recognition. and it's taken
[29:45] me 10 years. Okay. The second thing I
came about tonight was um
[29:52] I'm concerned
we have let make first of all give a
[29:56] brief explanation. We do five concerts a
year at IDPAL's gathering place. We've
[30:02] done them for this is the fourth year.
Okay. Uh they're basically music
[30:07] programs. We've had some pretty
auspicious ones. We had the Texas Teners
[30:12] and so forth. And we have some good ones
this year, too. But we've had and we
[30:16] also did an art show
>> last year and this year.
[30:19] » Last year and this year. That's right.
So, a problem we have is with the
[30:24] police. Okay. Um and I want to be fair
about this and say that I spoke to Skip
[30:30] Listen to about this on the phone and I
spoke to Terry um
[30:36] or Tim Ree the park manager about it.
So, this is for emphasis. Okay.
[30:42] Um, we have been kind of accosted by
them and said we can't drive up to
[30:48] Idabbels and park our cars up there.
Well, there is no official parking up
[30:53] there. Okay. There are two or three
parking places right on East Park
[30:58] Avenue, but that's not nearly adequate
for the for the number of presenters we
[31:03] have that come. So there has been a
pattern over the last four year three or
[31:07] four years of people driving their car
up on the grass behind the pavilion and
[31:12] unloading their equipment. Uh we had the
yard show and they had to do that and so
[31:17] forth. And so we have had a policeman
come twice and tell us that we have to
[31:22] get off the grass. Okay, we understand
we're not supposed to be It is not a
[31:26] parking lot, but it's once a year and a
lot of the presenters are older people
[31:32] who have a hard time carrying their
stuff up and setting up. So, we would
[31:37] like to make sure that the police
department and as I said, I spoke to
[31:42] Skip about this. I spoke to Tim Roo
about it. give us a little leeway there
[31:47] so that we can get things up and set up
without uh and I did talk to the
[31:52] policeman that came the last time.
Um I'm not sure he he totally got my
[31:59] message. I think he did. I hope so. But
it it has been a problem for us and it's
[32:04] a long running activity and we hope to
continue it. So I did want to mention
[32:09] that and that was why I'm here. One good
thing and one complaint. Okay. you.
[32:18] » When we had the art show, like Pat said,
there were a number of older folks
[32:22] bringing their
paintings, their tables, and their
[32:26] display materials up there.
When that site was designed, I don't
[32:30] think there was any anticipation about
[clears throat]
[32:33] a necessity for any parking up there.
And actually, it would very much
[32:40] not be a good idea to have a parking
space up there. it would detract from
[32:44] the beauty of what has been termed the
Taj Mahal Columbia.
[32:49] That building and its [clears throat]
surroundings need to remain in the
[32:53] pristine state they are at this time.
But when you have events that include
[32:58] sound equipment,
catering,
[33:02] uh, and other paraphernalia, uh, Mark
Frost was up there. He had to unload his
[33:09] great big base and all the equipment
that he has for his group. And we have
[33:15] two in uh two more activities coming up.
Actually, three three or four more
[33:19] coming up. We have a 16piece orchestra
coming up there that's gone to unload
[33:24] their equipment. They're their uh music
stands, their musical instruments, uh
[33:30] keyboard, uh electronic keyboard, and
all those kinds of things.
[33:34] [clears throat]
and to try to do it from these park
[33:36] those two little parking spots. That's a
hell of a long hike all the way down the
[33:40] lilac stroll to that building to try to
move stuff. Um I found this cop to be
[33:46] arrogant.
[33:49] He was [clears throat] not nice
>> and I told him so.
[33:54] And Mark Frost, [clears throat]
even before the cops showed up, I
[33:58] mentioned that we had had a problem with
him at the art show. He said, "Skip,
[34:04] Colombian police are getting an unsavory
reputation."
[34:09] Thank you.
[34:13] » I would I would add to that that he did
talk to me. I did ask him to come and
[34:19] talk to me about it and uh he was rather
dismissive. Okay. So, it's just a
[34:25] problem that needs negotiated a little
bit. I don't think it's major, but we've
[34:30] been there for four or five years now.
We need to continue and we need the
[34:35] cooperation of the police department.
>> And remember, she paid a million dollars
[34:40] for that building.
>> Oh, [clears throat]
[34:44] okay. Um,
>> okay. That's what we came for.
[34:46] » Okay. Well, thank you both for speaking.
Um,
[34:51] » any comments?
>> Anybody have any comments, questions?
[34:59] I think you've um
let us know your feelings and we
[35:03] appreciate that. Thank you very much.
>> Okay.
[35:07] » Thank you.
>> Okay. Um are there any other public
[35:13] comments?
Anybody else want to come forward? Yes.
[35:17] So, please state your name and your
address, of course. Thank you.
[35:23] » Yes. Mike Mutz, 690 Fairfield Avenue.
>> Thank you. We have a serious problem
[35:29] with a dog issue at 7:32.
[35:35] 20ome dogs. This is ridiculous. And
they're barking constantly. I was down
[35:40] there twice. Next time I'm not going to
be nice about it. I am not going to be
[35:46] nice. We need to put a cap on how many
dogs the residents are allowed to have.
[35:50] This is totally out of line. You know,
the neighbor come home from the hospital
[35:54] and you can hear these dogs barking.
We have it on on our phone that they
[35:58] were barking more than 15 minutes and
the police department did do their job.
[36:02] Came down and went over there and
everybody's doing their part. But we we
[36:06] got to have some sort of cap on this
mess. You know, where I came from in
[36:11] Beaver County,
two animal limit, either a cat, a dog,
[36:16] or two dogs or two cats. That is it. Not
20ome dogs. This is a burden on all the
[36:23] neighbors. And you can ask him, too. And
the neighbor down the street just bought
[36:29] the house. They said, "This is
ridiculous. They didn't want to come
[36:32] tonight. We'll handle it ourselves. If
if the problem ain't resolved, then our
[36:36] we're going to handle it ourselves." And
the media has been notified about the
[36:40] situation, too. So, I we need to bring
up take a vote some some sometime in the
[36:48] future here on how many animals we're
allowed to have, not 20. It is totally
[36:54] ridiculous and they can't take care of
him either.
[36:57] » You know, I I I would appreciate, you
know, you know.
[37:01] » Sure.
>> Well, thank you for coming.
[37:04] » Hey, thank you very much. I appreciate
it.
[37:07] » Mike,
[37:10] I forgot [clears throat] one thing.
>> No, wait. Let's finish.
[37:16] » Let me make sure that Did you want to
say something?
[37:19] » Yeah. Um,
>> I think he wants to respond to
[37:22] » Mike, your request, your complaint is
Julie noted and yes, we will look at it,
[37:29] » but I would say please don't take care
of it yourself. That's not going to end
[37:34] up good.
>> I I was I went over the other day and I
[37:36] asked
>> and that's nice and that that's great.
[37:39] That's what you should do.
>> Or get rid of
[37:44] » No, that's what you should do.
>> Yeah. But uh yeah, it's Julie noted and
[37:48] we we'll we'll take care of it.
>> Thank you.
[37:51] » Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you both for coming.
[37:58] » Oh well, okay. Well, I got hope. Did you
want to make one more comment?
[38:03] » One more comment. Um been working in the
park three days a week since early
[38:09] April, especially during the summer. I
mentioned to you once before about the
[38:13] ebikes.
It's still a problem. Now, it's a lesson
[38:17] now that the kids are back in school.
But on Sunday, we had two of them, young
[38:21] fellas whizzing around Idabbells with
older people coming up trying to go to
[38:26] the concert. You need an ordinance
restricting ebikes on the sidewalks in
[38:31] the park and a speed limit
because they go they can go as fast as
[38:36] some cars.
[clears throat]
[38:39] » Okay. Oh. Um, Chief, I know we have the
police department put out a flyer about
[38:44] that earlier this year. I think [snorts]
maybe republish that and get it on the
[38:48] website. I I know ebikes are definitely
an ongoing concern everywhere. So, maybe
[38:55] there's some stuff we would need we need
to look at at some point. Um,
[39:01] but yeah, for sure. uh you know, let's
at least get the information back out,
[39:07] kind of remind people that, you know,
these things are not, you know, they're
[39:12] not toys for sure. So,
>> well, thank you for relaying that, Skip.
[39:19] And now I'm keeping track of everybody
here. Uh, it's my job.
[39:24] » You can come. [laughter]
[39:28] [snorts]
[clears throat]
[39:30] » My name is David Clarkson. I live at 722
Fairfoot Avenue. Great.
[39:34] » Did you get that?
>> David Carson
[39:36] » Clarkson
RS.
[39:40] » Okay. And and I live at 722 Fairfoot
Avenue right next to 732. I can
[39:46] personally attest to the dogs barking
all times of the hour. Um I recently
[39:50] reached out to Bryce about um
cockroaches that are making their way
[39:55] from their house to my garage and I find
them in my house. Bryce suggested that I
[40:00] contact a extermination company and I'm
like it's was why why do I need to
[40:05] particularly worry about it because it's
not originating from my house. Um Bryce
[40:10] also [clears throat] said just as
everybody else would here on the council
[40:14] that they cannot speculate whether or
not somebody does or does not have
[40:17] power, but I live next to them and they
have not had power in the house since
[40:20] June. Um simply because I can see
flashlights going through the windows as
[40:25] they're moving around through the house.
Dogs are constantly barking. I
[40:28] personally have made a request to the
Humane Society that I never heard back
[40:33] about when it was really, really, really
extremely hot outside. These dogs are in
[40:37] the house barking their heads off. There
is dogs that are outside. Um, I do
[40:41] believe to the best of my knowledge that
there is people that are living in an
[40:44] actual garage because I do sit out back
at my house and of course, you know,
[40:49] listening to these dogs is just getting
annoying. And I understand Mike is three
[40:53] houses down, but when it starts coming
to the factor of cockroaches,
[40:58] no. No. Like I'm I'm asking the city to
do something. I've already contacted the
[41:05] county. They have sent me the nuisance
form because not only about the
[41:10] cockroaches being on the outside, but
the god-awful smell that I can smell
[41:14] outside my house. It smells like
something died. My neighbors across the
[41:18] street can smell it. When the city came
in and cleaned up their backyard with
[41:23] the dump truck and the backhoe, my
neighbor was sitting out across the
[41:27] street and he said he could smell all
that, too. So, I'm asking the city
[41:31] council to please do something because
it's not fair to me that these people
[41:35] are living a trash life that should be
done outside of the city.
[41:41] I've lived in this house for 14 years
and never had an issue.
[41:46] the one gentleman that lives in the
yellow house adjacent.
[41:50] Don't know the exact house address of
that, but they're combined on that same
[41:53] property. The other day I went outside
because they like riding their
[41:57] four-wheelers and sideby sides,
whatever. I'd never seen him out there
[42:01] before. I kindly asked him. I said,
"Would you please stop riding in my
[42:04] yard?" He goes, "Well, they told me
that, you know, that I could ride
[42:07] between here." I said, "That's fine. You
can stay close enough to that house,
[42:11] that garage, but please stay off my
property." I said, "I already have
[42:13] enough problems with these people here."
I said, "I'm tired of the cockroaches."
[42:17] He goes, "Oh, I have cockroaches, too."
And I'm like thinking to myself, "And
[42:21] you're staying there? You're living
there. You're not even family. You're
[42:23] not nothing, and you're still staying
there."
[42:26] » So, I know it's a matter of time until
the new people that moved in um next
[42:32] door to the yellow house that they're
probably going to get him as well. So,
[42:37] just please look into it. Do something.
Dogs, stench, whatever. Bryce had said
[42:43] that he had to talk to the uh city uh
city attorney. I don't know if he ever
[42:48] got a chance to talk to Mr. Hudson or
not um about that matter. I mean, I
[42:53] never heard anything back from Bryce.
That was probably like two and a half
[42:55] weeks ago because I know it was in
between council meetings and things like
[42:59] that. So, thank you guys for listening.
Oh,
[43:02] » thank you.
>> Thank you for your uh respectful
[43:07] communication of your concerns. I
appreciate that. Thank you very much.
[43:11] » Yep. Any other comments?
>> Um, just that I know we can't comment on
[43:16] any kind of ongoing enforcement issues.
I do know that I saw Lance and Bryce
[43:21] furiously taking notes. So, um,
and I I've heard these complaints too on
[43:27] that house. So, I I know I think I've
talked to Bryce and there there has been
[43:32] stuff done. Obviously, we you
[clears throat] know, they did the
[43:34] cleanup in the yard and and that, but
sounds like there might be more to do.
[43:39] And I mean technically as I know too
like the gentleman that lives there uh
[43:44] Mr. McFarland he is currently
incarcerated for 90 days. So he's not
[43:48] even there to take care of these
animals. And I have yet to really see uh
[43:52] Susan um Sell the actual property owner
there very much often either. Just
[43:57] people that are staying in the yellow
house. So like I haven't seen her in
[44:02] particular and he's in county jail for
90 days.
[44:04] » Yeah. So,
>> so Bryce is going to have to do his job,
[44:07] which unfortunately takes time, but um
we'll it's it's not something that we're
[44:13] going to forget about.
>> So,
[44:15] » okay. Thank you guys.
>> Thank you.
[44:17] » Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very
much.
[44:24] » Thank you. Uh okay. Any other public
comments anyone would like to make?
[44:32] Okay. Uh hearing none, I would ask if
there are any council comments at this
[44:38] time.
>> I do [snorts]
[44:41] uh
I put out uh for everybody uh another
[44:46] list of
articles on uh data centers.
[44:52] [snorts] Uh
we're not I don't think we're threatened
[44:57] by any big ones, but they do have uh
micro and mini data centers. And I don't
[45:06] have a crystal ball, but I think we need
to start having some discussions on this
[45:11] because I think it's going to come that
we're going to be talking about it.
[45:14] Whether it be any action or not, I don't
know. But uh please read these articles.
[45:21] uh see what you think. You're hearing a
lot of negative articles on data centers
[45:25] from, you know, every time you look at
the news or anything else. Um [snorts]
[45:31] but you're going to have to kind of weed
through these things and figure out
[45:35] what's right and what's wrong. Uh it's
become a political football now and
[45:41] what politicians are doing.
pull their constituents, find out what
[45:46] uh what they're thinking about, and then
they take that stand because they want
[45:50] votes.
So, right, wrong, or indifferent, we
[45:55] need to try to figure it out for
ourselves.
[45:58] And if the subject does come up, we need
to make the right decisions.
[46:02] [snorts]
>> Okay. Thank you. [clears throat] Thank
[46:04] you, Skip. Any other?
>> Yeah, I have a comment. I have a comment
[46:08] on the Court Street project.
uh as you know the neighbors approached
[46:14] me that I said well the drop dead dates
August 23rd it's got to be done well
[46:20] obviously didn't happen but the
contractor left for
[46:24] they bailed out and went and did a
project in Salem I believe if they just
[46:29] stuck their nose [clears throat] to the
grindstoneone they'd have been a lot
[46:32] further along and a lot closer to being
done [snorts] and I won't look so bad to
[46:37] my neighbors
>> [clears throat]
[46:40] » It's about it. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[46:47] » Any other comments?
>> Um I'm just going to I you know the data
[46:54] center thing is definitely an ongoing
concern. I know from an infrastructure
[46:59] standpoint, I think I've talked to Bry
or Lance about this a few times and you
[47:05] know what our infrastructure could even
support would be questionable. But I do
[47:10] think that we need to probably do a
little bit deeper dive and understand if
[47:14] we need zoning just to kind of prevent
it from being, you know, somebody shows
[47:19] up at Planning Commission and they want
to build a data center in town. Um that
[47:24] we're having to react instead of be
proactive.
[47:28] Um you know, mini and micro, we're going
to get those micro for sure at some
[47:34] point. Somebody's going to need to put a
a small data center in somewhere. But we
[47:39] definitely don't I don't think we could
support the big warehouses that we all
[47:43] hear about.
>> Yeah.
[47:44] » Um but we should be probably should be a
little bit proactive on it and start
[47:49] looking at
what do we need to do? What do we want
[47:53] to allow?
What what kind of risk do we want to
[47:56] take? That sort of thing. because uh we
know infrastructure in in town is an
[48:02] ongoing concern or not an ongoing
concern but definitely something we're
[48:06] always looking at to make sure that
we're not overt taxing or not preparing
[48:10] for the future. [clears throat]
[48:15] » Good comment.
>> Very good. I guess we made up for no new
[48:20] and old business. [laughter]
[48:24] All worked out. So it's
so that's good. Any other no more
[48:30] council comments?
>> No one. Okay,
[48:34] » real quick. I really appreciate everyone
coming and talking to us.
[48:37] » Yeah,
>> that is uh it's not something we get a
[48:40] lot of. So, I I appreciate, you know,
coming and talk to us. That helps us to
[48:45] understand what what your concerns are.
>> I I totally agree. We have always
[48:49] believed in having public comment here
and [snorts] uh always try to afford
[48:54] people the opportunity to speak. So, um,
I think that was demonstrated tonight in
[49:00] many different ways. So, thank you very
much.
[49:04] Okay. Hearing no other council comments,
I would entertain a motion to go into
[49:08] executive session for the discussion of
personnel section 121.22
[49:15] G1
to consider the employment and
[49:18] compensation of certain public
employees.
[49:23] Second
motion second.
[49:26] » Nobody will take that away from me.
You have me call the role.
[49:33] » Yes.
>> Yes.
[49:37] » Listen. [clears throat]
>> Yes.
[49:39] » Graham.
>> Yes.
[49:42] » Yes.
>> Yes.
[49:46] Okay. Thank you.
[49:54] Uh, I would entertain a motion to come
out of the executive session for the
[50:00] purpose of discussion of personnel
section 121.22
[50:05] G1 to consider the employment and
compensation of certain employees.
[50:11] » Second.
>> Motion a second.
[50:15] Jamie, call the roll.
[50:20] » Yes.
>> Yes.
[50:25] » Yes.
>> Yes.
[50:30] » Yes.
>> Yes.
[50:35] » I'm going to entertain a motion to
adjurnn. So move it.