[0:08] Okay. Ready.

[0:14] » Yes. >> Good evening. Today is Tuesday,

[0:19] September 8th, 2026 at 7 p.m. I now call this Fairfield Township Board of

[0:24] Trustees meeting to order. Miss Schulz, will you call the role, please?

[0:28] » Trusty Birding, >> present. Trusty Harkimire

[0:30] » here. >> Trusty Makabe

[0:31] » here. >> Harkimire, will you lead us in the

[0:34] pledge, please? >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the

[0:39] United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation

[0:45] under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

[0:54] » Thank you, Trusty Harkim. The first item on the agenda is board

[0:59] discussion items A through E. Miss Ley >> under Moody's rating system. That's the

[1:06] first item. Um Shelley, our fiscal officer, ended up getting a email from

[1:12] Moody's asking if we had any reason to keep our rating since we are debtree. So

[1:17] I'll let her to go into it. So, the email stated that in order to keep our

[1:22] rating up, we have to pay $3,000 a year annual fees. If we'd like to do that, we

[1:27] can pay it. If we since we have no debt coming up, we don't have to keep it.

[1:34] » Thoughts from the board?

[1:38] » Like to look into that a little bit more. Um, butler County, aren't they

[1:42] debtree? >> No.

[1:44] » No, >> they're general debtree, but they're not

[1:47] totally >> debtree because I know they have a debt.

[1:52] » Yeah. >> Um I wonder if there would be if we if

[1:55] we were to need to borrow again in the future,

[1:59] » we would have to go through everything to get it back.

[2:01] » Would we retain our current debt rating? >> That I'm unsure of

[2:08] » I I'm not sure how that works. >> I'd be curious to get the answer to

[2:13] that. >> Okay. I can get the answer that

[2:16] unfortunately he needed an answer in seven days like three weeks ago. So I

[2:19] told him that I'd get back to him after the meeting. He keeps emailing me. I

[2:23] keep saying I'll get back to you as soon as our meeting's over. So I mean I can

[2:27] find out but did you want to give me some direction on if we can keep it the

[2:31] rating that we will let it go or something?

[2:36] » Like if we did let it go and we start

[2:43] » okay. What if I email you guys that answer and then since there's no motion

[2:48] or anything, can they just email me back their preference?

[2:52] » I mean, yeah, if you're gonna if you're going to take action on your own, then

[2:54] you can get the will separately. >> Okay.

[2:58] » They can't they can't form a consens. >> Okay. So, I mean, I can make the

[3:03] decision after hearing from you guys if you'd like.

[3:06] » So, paying the 3,000, what does that get us?

[3:08] » Just to keep it up >> membership.

[3:10] » Yeah. Membership to move. >> Does that guarantee that we'd have the

[3:12] same rating anyway? No, >> but if they check our finances,

[3:18] » it's it's uh if they check our finances, they're not going to give us the same

[3:22] rating we have before, >> right? They they would reevaluate likely

[3:26] no matter what, >> right? So to me, the $3,000,

[3:30] it's a membership dues basically. >> I don't know what it cost.

[3:37] » We didn't we didn't have to pay. We haven't paid as long as we've been long

[3:40] as I've been around. So I'm not sure why. Why do we have to pay now

[3:43] » when it goes to zero? Maybe because I I'm not sure honestly.

[3:46] » Maybe it gets paid by the banks. >> Yeah, that could be. Could be getting

[3:49] paid by the banks. >> We paid it indirectly then.

[3:52] » Could we push back on that and find out why we have to pay now and we've never

[3:55] had to pay before? Sure. >> I'd like to know the answer to that.

[3:57] » We probably did. It was just indirectly. >> You know, just like we're not debtree

[4:02] indirectly, we still have obligations that are costing this

[4:08] principal and interest payments. Um, but yeah, that would that that would be good

[4:13] information to have. Not that I'm looking to go in debt, but

[4:20] and I and I wasn't here, I don't think, when the original debt was taken in the

[4:23] Moody's was um we went through the process. I know that's a it is a

[4:28] process, but >> yeah, I do think it was a percent of the

[4:31] debt because it's based on how much debt you have outstanding. The $3,000 fee is

[4:36] zero debt outstanding. So if it was 50 million or less, you paid 3,000. So I'm

[4:42] guessing it got paid through the debt offering.

[4:45] » And I'm guessing that would be the most we would ever pay would be 3,000.

[4:48] » Yes. So I think since we don't have any more debt offerings, we would have to

[4:53] pay it. But I can get those answers and then I'll just email you all and you can

[4:58] give me your opinion and then I'll make the decision based on what you guys tell

[5:02] me. So, if we were to apply to get a loan, if we go to borrow money,

[5:08] » they would rate us on some sort of >> our current financial

[5:13] » our current financial situation, no matter what our

[5:17] » Moody's rating is, >> right?

[5:20] » Well, they would give us a rating and that would help set the pricing for the

[5:25] » for the debt, right? Is that how it works?

[5:28] » Yeah. The better it is, the lower the interest rate. And how fast could they

[5:31] do something like that? Like if we needed to take debt for some reason, is

[5:37] that like a 30-day thing, a 90-day thing?

[5:41] » I'm unsure. >> Are you writing all these questions down

[5:44] » in my head? >> Well, she's got the recording.

[5:47] » Yes. >> Well, thank goodness for that.

[5:50] » Well, I would be in favor of of cancing our membership because I don't remember

[5:55] getting a membership card and I don't go to the gym anyway. So,

[6:01] I wouldn't want to pay $3,000 to hold on a rating if we don't have any intent of

[6:05] borrowing money. We do need to borrow the money though. The $3,000 really now

[6:09] isn't the issue. >> Um, one other thing to note, I think Kim

[6:13] emailed Andy Broart and asked his opinion and he said we do not need it.

[6:18] » Is that correct? >> Okay.

[6:19] » Yeah. Andy Broart said we do not need to maintain.

[6:21] » I was curious what Andy thought about that.

[6:23] » That was the first thing we did since either her or I was unaware of what what

[6:27] it was. So >> that would have been good information at

[6:30] the beginning of this conversation. >> Sorry. I just

[6:33] » I just thought of it when I was thinking we should have asked

[6:36] » these questions down. >> Yeah.

[6:38] » Yes. I'm sorry. You're right. I had forgot. We had forgotten.

[6:41] » I'll second the motion to let it go. >> Okay.

[6:43] » Let it go. >> Let it go. Okay. I'll erase my questions

[6:47] and let it go. >> Okay. Next item.

[6:51] » Temporary road closures. Um, we have gotten a question recently about closing

[6:56] the road um, up on Tanya Trail and we didn't

[7:01] really have a good answer. We didn't have an application system. So, we came

[7:06] up with one. We came up with an application. We came up with some

[7:08] temporary parameters. Um, they wanted to have like a Halloween

[7:14] kind of festival little thing at the end of the street. So, um, we thought we'd

[7:18] bring it to you and see what you guys thought of the, uh,

[7:24] the closure >> in the rightway.

[7:27] » Yes, it would be at the end of the culde-sac

[7:30] » in the rideway. >> Yes.

[7:32] » And in the rightway that we're responsible for?

[7:35] » Yes, we are responsible for the rideway. Let's see.

[7:41] » So, we're talking like a temporary road closure for a small amount of time

[7:46] to have a private event, >> right? Like a party or

[7:51] » Yeah. So, like if you have like a block party or

[7:55] I think that's kind of what they're thinking for Halloween.

[7:59] » Well, we currently don't have any policy,

[8:01] » right? >> So, we should come up with a policy even

[8:05] if it says you can't close down a road, >> right? So, we came up with Chuck wrote

[8:10] something up and basically has a purpose. It has eligible events such as

[8:16] neighborhood block parties, culde-sac gatherings, national night out, business

[8:20] grand openings, chamber of commerce events, community festivals, farmers

[8:24] markets, charity walks or runs, holiday celebrations, car shows, outdoor

[8:29] business events, or township sponsored events.

[8:32] Um,

[8:38] And then basically the street classifications that would it would be

[8:42] allowed on to include residential streets,

[8:46] culde-sacs, local commercial streets owned and maintained by the township,

[8:51] streets within commercial developments where the township has jurisdiction.

[8:55] Um, temporary street closures will not be approved under this policy for

[8:59] collector streets, arterials, county roadways, state highways, or private

[9:04] streets not dedicated for public use.

[9:10] Neighborhood notification and approvals. So, the applicant shall provide written

[9:14] notice of the proposed street closure to all residents, businesses, and property

[9:18] owners directed directly affected by the proposed closure. Notification shall be

[9:23] provided no fewer than 14 calendar days prior to the event unless otherwise

[9:27] approved by the township administrator. So the notification shall include at a

[9:31] minimum name of the event, date of the hours of the proposed street closure,

[9:35] location, limits of the closure, applicant contact information and

[9:39] information regarding how questions or concerns may be directed to the

[9:42] township.

[9:46] See, neighborhood approval. The township administrator may require written

[9:50] acknowledgement or approval from affected residents, businesses, or

[9:53] property owners where the proposed street closures is expected to

[9:57] materially impact property access, parking, deliveries, business

[10:01] operations, or the reasonable use and enjoyment of adjacent properties. The

[10:05] township administrator may also require modifications to the proposed event,

[10:09] traffic control plan, or closure limits to minimize impacts to adjacent

[10:12] properties as a condition of permit approval.

[10:18] And then just different requirements that the applicant completed

[10:22] application, a site map, event description, attendance, event schedule,

[10:27] traffic control plan, proof of insurance,

[10:31] written permission um from affected property owners when

[10:36] applicable. See, application should be submitted at

[10:41] least 14 days in advance and 30 days in advance for large public events.

[10:46] And then our review process will include me, public works, fire department,

[10:50] police department or others as necessary.

[11:02] And then we will consider emergency vehicle access, traffic impacts, public

[11:06] safety, parking availability, access to surrounding businesses, event size,

[11:11] noise impacts, previous compliance history, construction conflicts, weather

[11:14] related concerns, and then commercial area requirements

[11:20] when events occur in commercial areas. Applicants may also be required to

[11:26] notify affected businesses, maintain pedestrian access to businesses,

[11:29] maintain ADA compliant access, provide certified traffic control personnel if

[11:34] required, maintain customer parking where feasible, provide additional

[11:38] insurance, pay associated costs with traffic control, police details or

[11:42] township personnel when required. Uh depending on the event, the township may

[11:46] require type three barricades, METCD compliant signage and detour signs.

[11:54] cones, certified flaggers, police traffic control, temporary no parking

[11:58] areas or zones. Um, all devices must comply with a green manual. Um, then it

[12:05] goes into insurance and then we could establish a fee if we

[12:10] wanted to. Um, then it talks about permit

[12:14] conditions and if we want it or if we ever revoke it for whatever reasons.

[12:21] So, What are your all's thoughts on that?

[12:26] » I think we need to define what large event there should be a number of

[12:31] attendees. >> Okay.

[12:32] » Right. For what a small and a large event is

[12:39] and township liability. >> Yeah, that would be something we'd

[12:45] probably have to figure out. >> Alcohol. No alcohol.

[12:48] » That's I was >> etc etc etc. only just say they can do

[12:52] it, but it's a $5,000 charge to do it. That's should probably discourage it.

[13:02] » I mean, insurance, I don't know what kind of insurance you

[13:06] would get to be in the street. >> I don't know.

[13:09] » I would be very concerned about our exposure, especially if we agree to let

[13:13] it let it work. But >> well, I mean, the policy kind of refers

[13:16] to it, but if you're going to if they're going to have anything that is like an

[13:20] inflatable or things they bring in, those do tend to come with insurance

[13:23] requirements because they have workers and are operators of those kinds of

[13:27] things. So, there would be a fair amount of elements with that with respect to

[13:30] insurance and liability. >> We'd have to be listed as an additional

[13:33] insurance so we're protected. >> Right.

[13:35] » True.

[13:38] » Okay.

[13:42] I don't know if we get this done by Halloween or not.

[13:47] » I did see something up there about the event schedule, but the is there like a

[13:50] time limitation that we want? Was there >> It would probably behoove us to do that

[13:55] to put a time limit on it >> or nothing can be after x amount

[14:00] whatever sometime

[14:10] event schedule. >> Yeah, there was event schedules but I

[14:13] don't know if we'd want to say you know everything needs to be done by 10 before

[14:19] a certain time. It has to end by certain >> end by a certain time. Yeah.

[14:22] » That parameter would be >> between 7 and 8.

[14:32] » So we're asking uh staff to put some more information together and then bring

[14:36] it to us for next meeting and we can decide whether we're going to do it or

[14:40] not. That would still give them 14 days before an Halloween event.

[14:45] » Okay. Okay. >> If it's on Halloween,

[14:47] » are they wanting to do a Halloween thing? I think so.

[14:50] » 24th of >> Oh, the week before.

[14:53] » Yeah. I think we're changing our meeting. Didn't you say

[14:57] » I hope so. >> Yeah.

[15:02] Well, I mean, we if they put a policy together,

[15:07] but they submit an application now, it's still they're notifying us prior to 14

[15:13] days, >> which they've already done. Yeah.

[15:16] » Right. So, I think it would still ponder that. Have you got a copy of the

[15:20] application? >> Uh, they sent it to us via email, didn't

[15:23] they? >> They did.

[15:24] » Yeah. You want to fil They filled it out?

[15:26] » Yeah, we came up with an application and they sent it to us. Well, they filled it

[15:30] out. >> They said we need to get back to our

[15:32] board. >> I'd like to see the application if you

[15:35] could send that out. >> Okay. Are we looking at moving our

[15:39] October meeting forwards or backwards? >> Think you had the conflict, right?

[15:44] » I was hoping it would go backwards >> like to the sixth maybe.

[15:48] » No, I'm sorry. Forward later in the month, whichever direction

[15:55] that is. >> Let's finish this discussion real quick.

[15:59] So, temporary road disclosure, you're going to come up with a a form or a

[16:05] policy. Bring it back to us. >> Okay.

[16:09] » Yep. We'll close the gaps of what you just said.

[16:12] » Okay. All right. Do you want to discuss the It

[16:16] wasn't on here, but we should discuss the October meeting.

[16:21] » You're wanting to move it later in the month.

[16:22] » Yes, if we could. Um, and before we leave that topic, I just want to make

[16:26] sure we have the law director's opinion on it. I don't know if she's seen any or

[16:30] all of this. >> I have not seen it yet.

[16:33] » Okay. >> Oh, did I not include it when I sent it

[16:36] out Thursday? I thought I did. Okay, you gate.

[16:49] make sure we have whatever insurance requirements we put on it.

[17:00] » Okay. >> And we might want to talk to uh Otarma

[17:05] and run it past them as well. Yeah. They're I don't know if they'll make us

[17:08] get a special special certificate or not,

[17:13] but could be.

[17:18] and and and this event or Halloween party shouldn't cost us any money.

[17:24] Shouldn't cost the township any money. So if there is a an extra certificate

[17:29] that costs us money that needs to be right by them. Yes.

[17:32] » Yeah.

[17:44] » Thank you. Sure. All right, calendars.

[17:50] » Yeah, I was hoping we could go from the 13th to the 20th.

[17:55] » If that works for everybody or not available,

[17:57] » I'd prefer the 27th. I know that's a long time, but I'm just might not be

[18:01] here on the 20th.

[18:10] » That works for me. >> That's fine with me, too.

[18:12] » 27th. >> Mhm. Is that okay? Would staff to go

[18:16] that late in the month? >> Yep.

[18:17] » Does that mess up any of the department heads have that late in the month?

[18:22] » To see if there's anything that >> we have to have a mountain rates, but

[18:26] not till 10:31. So for if something were to happen,

[18:30] » we'd have to meet if something had happened on that date, we'd have to

[18:34] meet. >> Thank you.

[18:38] » Thanks. >> But I'm good with the 27th also. Yeah,

[18:42] we don't have anything on our >> Usually it's September, but the county

[18:47] um got a extension on the mountain rates, so we won't even have them till

[18:50] October 1st.

[18:55] » Okay. >> All right. So, I move to move our

[19:02] October regular trustee meeting from October

[19:08] the 13th to October the 27th at 7 p.m. Is that also a CIC meeting month?

[19:16] » I don't have it on there. >> The CIC meeting month

[19:22] » probably or was CC CIC this month and we just didn't do it? that.

[19:28] » Okay. >> So, we'll have a CIC meeting at

[19:35] 7 and then we'll go immediately following into the trustee meeting.

[19:42] Will you notify the CIC members, please, Mr. Goins? Great.

[19:46] » At this point, do we have business to come before the CIC or not?

[19:52] » I think so. If we don't have business, I don't I think we've met the required

[19:56] number of times this year, haven't we? Per the bylaws, I think we're

[20:01] » I think it's just one. >> We've already met once.

[20:04] » Yeah. >> So, I don't I think if there's nothing

[20:07] if there's no business need, I would say let's not meet.

[20:13] » But if there is, then we can certainly the closer we get to it, we could

[20:17] certainly make them aware of it. >> Call the meeting if we need to.

[20:20] » Yes. You know, we can. So, as of right now, there's not a meeting, but we could

[20:23] always call a meeting. >> Thank you for doing that.

[20:30] » I have a first. We need a second. >> I second.

[20:34] » Okay. >> Trusty Birding.

[20:38] » Yes. >> Trusty Makabe.

[20:39] » Yes. >> Trusty Harkcom.

[20:40] » Yes. >> Okay. That motion is approved. We'll

[20:44] move on to our next item for discussion, dispensaries.

[20:49] So, in the past, we've brought up at the last meeting a discussion about whether

[20:53] we would want to lift the ban or not, and I was wondering if you guys have

[20:56] given any further thoughts to that. Um, we did do some research, Chuck and I

[21:01] did, and we looked at some surrounding communities. So

[21:07] we looked at Hamilton and they have they have allowed I guess this year in July

[21:14] they repealed the prohibition adopted new dispensary regulations. Um they you

[21:19] they listed as a conditional use in their B2 district and they do the me

[21:25] medical marijuana and the adult use and then they also listed as a specific use

[21:30] in their business plan unit development district both. And there's certain

[21:35] criteria, you know, certain distances away from schools, child care

[21:39] facilities, churches, one mile away from another dispensary.

[21:44] It can't be adjacent to residential districts, can't be in a historic

[21:48] district. Um, there's landscaping requirements.

[21:52] And then they have certain definitions that they they have a lot of definitions

[21:56] in their code. And then we looked at the city of Fairfield. So, the city of

[22:02] Fairfield allows it as a permitted use in their C3 district and C3A district,

[22:11] which is their business districts. And then the SE, I forgot to look up what SE

[22:16] is, but it's like permitted use with standards and then there are certain

[22:20] standards that it has to meet. So that's their retail facilities, but then they

[22:26] also allow cultivation and processing, testing laboratories, cultivation

[22:31] facilities,

[22:35] level one, level two, marijuana processor, medical. So those are all

[22:40] permitted uses in their um M2 district, which is industrial. So and then there's

[22:47] also certain conditions um that they have to meet for that.

[22:53] And then where I used to work, Sims Township, they did it as a conditional

[22:56] use and they allowed it in their retail district and um there's certain

[23:03] requirements that you have to meet and they only but the one big difference is

[23:08] they only allow one. So they restricted it to one cannabis retail unit and then

[23:15] there's certain conditions, certain setbacks.

[23:19] um have certain acreage requirements. And then we looked at

[23:24] » I'm sorry that the other two the two cities

[23:27] » permitted it >> didn't have a number cap.

[23:30] » No, they don't have a number cap. >> Meet the requirements and and they've

[23:35] set the requirements. So if you meet the requirements, they can't stop it.

[23:37] » Right. Right. >> Sims Township is a township, right?

[23:42] » Yes. >> Only one

[23:44] » one. >> What's the population of Sims?

[23:46] » 15,000. >> 15,000. How many square miles are they

[23:48] having? You remember? >> 20 20 square miles.

[23:54] » Twice as big as we are. >> Okay. I didn't mean to interrupt you.

[23:59] » So then I also looked at Sycamore Township and they have they allow it and

[24:04] they're as a conditional use and then there's certain requirements that are

[24:08] attached to it like buffer boundaries, streetscapes, they have sign standards.

[24:13] The biggest difference there is they um make you do a development agreement

[24:17] through the CIC, their Sycamore Township CIC, and then they also restrict it to

[24:23] where there shall not be a canis cannabis dispensary within three miles

[24:27] of another cannabis dispensary. So, and I think when I talked to Greg, he said

[24:33] that they was it a cap like there couldn't be any more than two, right?

[24:36] Because of the distance requirements, the way they set it up geographically

[24:41] limited that way.

[24:44] So, very similar to Sims, but they capped it at two basically.

[24:50] So, >> Liberty,

[24:52] » I did not look at Liberty. Um, I don't know. Does Liberty

[24:56] » Township? >> No, Madison doesn't allow it.

[24:58] » Township. >> I don't think you're there.

[25:02] » Westchester administrator. They do not allow canvas.

[25:09] » I don't think Liberty does either, do they? I didn't speak to them.

[25:12] » Fairfield Township doesn't either currently,

[25:18] » so >> I haven't changed my mind on where I

[25:21] stand on this.

[25:25] » Well, it's not a hill I'm willing to die on. I just think if we're looking at

[25:29] other revenue sources and we have residents that are

[25:34] going to be going to Hamilton, they're going to be going to Fairfield,

[25:37] they're going to be buying their product, they're going to stay at home

[25:40] and on their computer order it online and go pick it up in Hamilton or into

[25:45] Fairfield and they're going to bring it back and use it.

[25:49] So, it doesn't eliminate whether we have any kind of police issue or emergency

[25:55] response issues. Um, so I just think, you know, if

[26:01] » you mean any more than we would from them going to Hamilton or Fairfield and

[26:04] getting it or somebody in Hamilton or Fairfield getting it and driving through

[26:08] our township, you don't I mean I I don't know the

[26:11] statistics on it either, but >> So I apologize, Trusty Mackey. I wasn't

[26:17] following your question. >> Well, you were saying it it won't affect

[26:21] our police and fire any more than it would if they go somewhere else and get

[26:25] it, right? Is that what your point was? Correct. I would suspect that it

[26:28] wouldn't cause any more issues >> with them using it.

[26:32] » Make it a little easier for them to get it maybe. And again, I didn't mean to

[26:36] interrupt you, but how how is the money they promised us? How is that money

[26:41] collected? >> It's the fee that they pay the state of

[26:46] Ohio. >> All right. It's a sales tax. So, it's

[26:48] just like any other fee that gets collected.

[26:50] » Six and a half%. >> No, it's more than that. It's 36%. And

[26:55] then we get a certain percentage of that 36%.

[26:59] » Or is it 10% and then we get 36% of the 10%.

[27:03] » I think that's what it is. It's 10% and then you get that.

[27:06] » That would still have to be a mighty large business for us to get a $100,000

[27:11] a year or more out of the

[27:16] out of the 3% if we get three or three and a half% of the sales tax. That's

[27:20] just that would be a big number, wouldn't it? Well, I mean, you know,

[27:25] depends on how expensive marijuana is. I don't I don't have that idea.

[27:29] » I don't know that answer. >> So,

[27:32] I I don't know if a prescription or you go and buy something and it's $100,

[27:37] » you'd only get three and a half $3.50 off of it.

[27:41] » I don't know. But I >> But if they do that

[27:44] » every other week for a year, one person like again, I don't have these answers.

[27:50] I was basing my opinion off of what Monroe was collecting and what other

[27:56] townships were collecting. And I think, and if I remember right, I think the

[28:00] figure was like either four or $600,000 >> in between. Yeah.

[28:04] » A year that they were collecting. >> 450 to 600 is what this company projects

[28:08] to give to us or >> collect

[28:10] » collect for township. >> Yep.

[28:13] » And pay to us. Maybe we need as many of those as we can get then.

[28:18] » Is that a motion? >> A lot of money. No, it's not.

[28:21] Anonymous. Can we find out who who in Fairfield Township is buying it? Have

[28:24] you Let me ask you this. Have you >> Have you heard Do has anybody in the

[28:29] township called you and said, "You need to push this. We need to get this done."

[28:34] » Zero people have asked me. >> Well, that's I was wondering about that

[28:36] because the same with me. A couple of people that I brought it up and I told

[28:40] them where I stood and they said, "We agree with you." And I'm like, "Okay."

[28:43] But it was just a couple people. I just >> Yeah. I mean, nobody's asked me. We were

[28:47] for months and months we've been talking about how to generate revenue.

[28:52] » This is one way to generate revenue >> without increasing taxes.

[28:57] » Great. >> So that's just my opinion. Like I said,

[29:02] it's not a hill I'm willing to die on. No one has come to me and say, "Hey, I

[29:06] want you to pass this." Well, other than the person from the company that called

[29:10] » wanted to start his business here, >> the one started the business called and

[29:13] asked. Yeah, that's >> I said, "Hey, I'll have a conversation.

[29:16] I'm not promising anything." So, >> yeah, that's that's normally who wants

[29:19] it. Who's going to profit from >> Okay. Thank you.

[29:24] » Yeah. Trusty Harkam weigh in. >> I'm interested in listening to arguments

[29:29] and hearing more, but at this point in time, I'm not really feeling compelled

[29:32] to move forward with this. I might in the future, but but not now. Okay.

[29:37] » But I'm open to hearing more. >> So, may I ask who you would like to hear

[29:42] from? Do >> you want to hear from these these

[29:47] elected officials in these communities directly or you want

[29:50] » I could reach out to them if I so choose.

[29:52] » You want to talk to other townships at a large township event, other Butler

[29:56] County townships? Again, like if you say no and Trusty M, you say no, it's no and

[30:02] let's move on to something else. I'm just trying to open our minds up to

[30:07] other possible revenue sources. >> I say no.

[30:12] And you're a not right now. >> I'm a not right now. Maybe later.

[30:15] » I don't care that. That's fine. So, but are you a yes now?

[30:20] » Am I a yes? If we put it to a vote tonight, I would say yes

[30:25] » because of the money. Yeah, it it

[30:30] you know people always ask me like about integrity and do you do the

[30:36] right thing when people aren't looking but also do you do the right thing when

[30:42] people are looking even if it's not a popular opinion

[30:45] » difficult is it >> so I think this is what this would be if

[30:51] it's not causing our police chief any headaches and it's not causing our fire

[30:54] chief any headaches >> and the people of Fairfield Township,

[30:59] the residents of Fairfield Township have that legal

[31:04] um hobby that they have and they're using and they're they're using anyway.

[31:11] And if it can become a revenue source for us and it could be regulated, it may

[31:16] and there's no I have no scientific data, but it may cut down on some of the

[31:21] illegal purchases and what have you in our community that are maybe or may not

[31:27] be happening because now they could just buy it legally and not worry about

[31:32] buying it from someone in their car in the Walmart parking lot.

[31:37] You know, could that even help? So, I don't know. I don't I those are

[31:42] all answers I don't know. But I do know other communities don't have the the

[31:47] issues of of higher violence because this is out

[31:52] there or higher crime because this is out there and they are bringing

[31:57] significant revenue on a legal currently legal activity.

[32:04] Like I don't drink any beer. I don't drink any alcohol. But I'm okay with us

[32:09] having liquor stores and the state recovering some money from that and then

[32:14] communities getting money from that. The casinos, I don't gamble, but the state

[32:19] of Ohio is raking in money with the casinos and allegedly it's going to the

[32:25] schools. Allegedly.

[32:29] But we are I mean this this dispensary person would guarantee us a

[32:35] certain amount of money and I don't again I don't we haven't had

[32:40] any kind of document that says what that amount is as far as we they're

[32:45] guaranteed but again it's it's a revenue generator. It's something that our

[32:50] safety services don't have an issue with and

[32:55] people in our community are using a their legal

[33:01] right to use. So >> you're just assuming that or do you know

[33:05] that for a fact? >> Do I know that for a fact? What?

[33:07] » That there people in our community driving to Hamilton to make their

[33:11] purchase? >> Well, no. I don't even know if the one

[33:13] in Hamilton's opened up yet, but >> or Fairfield, wherever. I don't think

[33:16] that's I don't I don't know that open yet.

[33:18] » How about get the information from the from the business and see what kind of

[33:23] guarantee he'll give us >> from the business that's approaching us

[33:28] to have a disc. >> Yes.

[33:29] » Ask them what >> how much

[33:31] » financial guarantee. >> Okay.

[33:32] » So we don't have this 4 to 600,000 number.

[33:37] » So nail it down a little bit more. >> I'm I want to know the minimum amount

[33:40] they're going to guarantee us. >> Okay. That's fair.

[33:44] » Then I'll say no. But that's okay. At least I have some more information.

[33:48] » Well, when we stop communicating, >> yes,

[33:50] » we don't move forward. So, >> nothing wrong with that

[33:53] » again. And I respect both of your opinions. And if both of you were no,

[33:56] I'm okay with that. I'm just saying that >> you're you're a yes and I'm okay with

[34:02] that. >> I'm just keeping things open. So, thank

[34:05] you both very much. >> Okay. Next item.

[34:10] » Flock cameras. So, we recently received a letter um asking us to end our

[34:16] contract with Flock and so I just wanted to know what you all thought about that.

[34:20] » We received a letter from a resident, correct?

[34:23] » Yes. >> We didn't receive a letter from anybody

[34:25] in our police department to stop. >> No.

[34:28] » Okay. >> Making sure.

[34:32] » So, um I asked um Chief Jabbali to provide some information which he

[34:37] graciously did. So, could you just maybe summarize some of the information that

[34:42] you provided? >> Well, I have a lot of notes. I'll try to

[34:45] uh summarize it as much as possible. And I'm just going to read them off

[34:51] because there's a lot of them actually. Automated license plate readers or flock

[34:55] are used by neighborhood homeowners associations and by businesses and law

[35:00] enforcement. It relates to crime solving and

[35:03] prevention. Cameras identify and catalog objective vehicle details such as make,

[35:08] model, color, and license plate. Alerts can be instantly sent to police if a

[35:13] vehicle is linked to an active investigation or a hot list, for

[35:16] example, stolen vehicles, wanted suspects.

[35:20] As it relates to missing persons, the tracking capabilities, the system

[35:23] quickly locating vehicles connected to Amber Alerts, silver alerts, and

[35:28] endangered children. As it relates to custom retention

[35:32] schedule, recently Flock uh suggested only a 7-day retention period. We're we

[35:39] we are going to keep powers at 30 uh for the following reasons. Uh while recently

[35:46] flock recommends 7 days retention, we have found that numerous crimes were

[35:50] reported after 7 days as the crimes are not found by the

[35:55] complainants, complainants were out of town when the incident occurred or the

[35:58] complainants failed to notify us for some unknown reason.

[36:03] I'm also providing information taken from our website. Information collected

[36:07] by Flock includes license plate numbers, vehicle

[36:12] make, model, color, and body style, date and time of the detection, camera

[36:17] location, direction of travel, information not collected by flock

[36:22] cameras. The system does not utilize facial recognition technology.

[36:27] It does not take frontal pictures of the vehicles. It only takes uh pictures of

[36:32] the back of the vehicle. Hopefully, it catches a plate. Sometimes it doesn't.

[36:37] Sometimes it catches a partial plate. Identify drivers or passengers or

[36:42] collect personal personally identifiable information such as race, race,

[36:46] ethnicity, religion, political affiliation, or other

[36:50] protected characteristics beyond the vehicle and license plate information

[36:54] captured in the public view on public streets. The system is not used for

[36:59] traffic enforcement such as speed enforcement or traffic light

[37:02] enforcement. As it relates to data and security

[37:06] retention, all data collected through Flock is securely encrypted during

[37:10] transmission and storage. Information is retained in accordance with departmental

[37:15] policy and applicable law unless preserved for a criminal investigation

[37:20] or another authorized law enforcement purpose. Flock data is automatically

[37:24] deleted after the department's established retention retention period

[37:29] of 30 days. As it relates to policy and authorized use, access to flock data is

[37:36] restricted to trained and authorized personnel and is permitted only for

[37:40] legitimate law enforcement and public safety purposes. All searches and system

[37:45] activity are electronically logged and subject to auditing and supervisory

[37:50] review to ensure compliance with departmental policy. Information

[37:54] obtained through Glock system is used solely to support public

[37:59] safety, criminal investigations, the recovery of stolen vehicles, the

[38:03] location of missing or endangered persons, and other lawful public safety

[38:08] functions. Here are just a few examples of our successes using Flock. School bus

[38:13] with children traveling on bypass 4 observed a male masturbating in a moving

[38:17] vehicle. The bus camera only caught a glimpse of a blue sedan. Investigators

[38:24] used flock to further their investigation, identified the suspect,

[38:28] and file charges for indecent exposure. Multiple children on the bus observed

[38:32] him and were exposed to seeing his genitalia.

[38:36] A male was observed masturbating inside the Barnes & Noble bookstore. Subsequent

[38:40] to a thorough followup, his rental vehicle without estate plates

[38:46] was located by flock. Suspect was charged and arrested.

[38:51] Bank robbery at our group was solved via flock. We have solved numerous hit and

[38:56] run crashes, including the death of a Hispanic female riding her ebike and a

[39:00] pedestrian hit and run occurring at Prristen and Roill Cemetery.

[39:05] The majority of our retail thefts are solved via flock. We have assisted other

[39:10] agencies in locating critically missing persons. Uh we have a hot list. Our

[39:15] patrol officers have made countless arrest following up on warrants, stolen

[39:19] vehicles uh and vehicles use in numerous crimes in our municipality or other

[39:24] communities. Last week, excuse me. The technology allowed our

[39:29] detectives to locate a reporting missing person. A family member had not heard

[39:35] from the other family member and the kids were left behind. Following an

[39:38] investigation, the vehicle showed as having been on the west side of

[39:41] Montgomery County in the Englewood Clayton area. Now having an idea of

[39:46] where the vehicle had been, deputies in that area kept an eye out and the next

[39:51] day or so found the vehicle at a store, gas station, uh, business. Uh, Flock

[39:57] simply got the detectives and deputies in the right area

[40:02] to look for the vehicle until they found it. Recent alerts resulted in officers

[40:06] locating multiple individuals with outstanding warrants. One of those cases

[40:10] with a driver charged for driving under suspension. Flock alert helped officers

[40:14] located a stolen vehicle after it entered a township. The driver was

[40:18] charged with multiple offenses and a subsequent investigation provided

[40:21] additional leads connecting the vehicle and its occupants to other recent theft

[40:25] offense investigations. It also assisted in a significant theft

[40:30] investigation involving approximately 34,000

[40:33] in rental equipment stolen from the Fairfield Township Home Depot. Although

[40:38] surve surveillance video, I'm sorry, surveillance v video did not provide

[40:42] sufficient leads for a vehicle plate. The detectives used vehicle information

[40:46] to identify the rental truck. The investigation showed the vehicle

[40:50] traveled to Detroit, Michigan the same evening and later linked the same

[40:55] vehicle sim similar theft in Columbus. Uh proactive virtual fence uh as it

[41:03] relates to that they can instantly ping law enforcement when a flag vehicle

[41:07] connected to an active Amber Alert or local hot list enters a monitor area.

[41:12] The mere presence of FL cameras can deter criminals from targeting

[41:16] neighborhoods. Flock systems operate on a ruling

[41:19] database. Data is not sold and is not automatically deleted in 30 days. The

[41:24] camera do not use facial recognition, nor do they monitor live streams instead

[41:28] of capturing instead capturing still images only when a vehicle is present.

[41:34] Individual agencies control their own data and sharing permissions. Flock does

[41:38] not sell this information and access by federal entity entities is not

[41:43] automatic. private private users such as home associations, homeowner

[41:48] associations cannot access law enforcement database. The Electronic

[41:53] Frontier Foundation, EFF, sites in its 2025 review that out of 12

[42:00] million searches across 3,900 law enforcement agencies, only 48%

[42:08] of agencies described specific incidents that warranted investigation and

[42:12] response. in essence a administrative review. That doesn't necessarily mean

[42:17] that uh personnel were found um to have violated policy. It just means that it

[42:23] warranted a review. 48% of 12 million searches. It's not a pattern that

[42:30] reflects negatively on how the system operates across thousands of

[42:33] jurisdictions. Agencies with strict enforceable

[42:37] policies do not encounter these issues. Technology abuse occurs in the private

[42:41] and public sectors depending on a technology. These abuses are dealt with

[42:45] criminally or administratively as it relates to case law. Carpenter

[42:51] versus US and Chatry versus US. Please note the following. License plate

[42:57] readers and settler location tracking are legally distinct. Courts have

[43:02] consistently ruled that automated license plate readers flocks

[43:06] are not mass surveillance. In the same vein as carpenter and chatri

[43:12] flock captured captures point in time public records whereas cell phone data

[43:17] constitute highly invasive continuous tracking of a person's private life.

[43:22] Safeguards and oversight are built into the system. role-based access controls,

[43:27] audit logs, retention limits, and case-based research are designed to

[43:31] constrain use, support lawful investigations, and balance public

[43:35] safety benefits with civil liberties protection.

[43:39] Uh, as it relates to public expectation of privacy, exterior vehicle movements.

[43:43] The fourth amendment does not protect a person's movements in public spaces or

[43:48] the exterior of their vehicles. Capturing an image of a license plate on

[43:51] a public road is not a search. Unlike settler tracking and both

[43:57] carpenter and uh ch chatri which ruled on geoence warrants, the supreme court

[44:02] focus on continuous intimate tracking of a person's location. License plate

[44:07] readers do not track individuals but photograph point in time locations of

[44:12] public facing vehicles. As it relates to flock system and data

[44:17] ownership, searchable, not retrospective tracking, flock safety are not used to

[44:25] constantly map an individual's life. Instead, law enforcement searches them

[44:30] retrospectively using specific objective data like a partial plate or a full

[44:34] plate or a vehicle description during an investigation. Commercial restrictions.

[44:39] Under Ohio law, private companies like Flock System are prohibited from

[44:43] commercially selling flock data. In contractual agreements with law

[44:48] enforcement, flock enforces strict limitations prohibiting the sale of or

[44:54] monetization of sensitive law enforcement data.

[44:58] Unlike cell phone tower dumps, which sweep up personal tracking data for

[45:03] thousands of innocent bystanders, Flock operates by sending hot lists. Courts

[45:08] have also uniformly held that there is no reasonable expectation of privacy on

[45:12] public roadways. The vast majority of images captured by Flock are not used

[45:16] for any investigation and are permanently deleted at regular intervals

[45:19] without ever having

[45:23] been accessed. Today we received a public records

[45:27] request. Uh we have a link that ties into our internet and you can get any

[45:34] kind of information that you uh desire other than an active investigation. We

[45:39] cannot reveal that information. It includes if you go to our website

[45:44] audit reports, usage reports, contracts, policies, other related documents

[45:49] provided with any necessary redactions made in accordance with the Ohio Public

[45:52] Records Act. And again, our redactions are limited to confidential law

[45:57] enforcement investigatory records. You may have heard the term clear before and

[46:02] other information that could identify individuals, officers, license plates,

[46:06] vehicles, or other protected uh types. What's in our uh synopsis of what's on

[46:13] our uh website? flock safety technology, how

[46:18] the system works, information collected, data, security and retention, and it's

[46:22] got a myriad of paragraphs that um are under these

[46:28] headings, privacy and authorized use, additional resources.

[46:32] Uh as far as who's what's detected, license plates, and vehicles, it is the

[46:37] rear. It does not take frontal pictures. Uh, no facial recognition. Uh, people,

[46:43] gender, race. Data is used for law enforcement purposes only. Data is owned

[46:48] by Fairfield Township Police Department. Never uh sold to third parties, uh,

[46:55] immigration enforcement, traffic enforcement,

[46:58] harassing, harassment or intimidation, usage,

[47:04] basolium protected class, all prohibited. All those all those things

[47:08] you're reading now on our website. >> Yes, they are.

[47:12] » Okay. So, anybody who wants to see that can go there and get it,

[47:15] » right? >> Yes. All you have to do is uh go to our

[47:18] website, go to the police department, and you can find uh flock camera system.

[47:23] I just looked it up today. Uh it would have 30 days and uh 13 cameras. Uh we

[47:34] have looked at 330,000. Well, the cameras have taken 330,666

[47:42] during the last 30 days. This is outdated by about a week. 1838

[47:49] uh were total hits and uh 122

[47:55] total user search sessions over the last 30 days. Our policy is listed there.

[48:02] When conducting investigative queries into a flock database, a requester is

[48:07] required to enter either a case number. Uh when available, a CAD run number or

[48:13] label the search investigation with additional specificity. When a case or

[48:18] number have yet to be established, uh I did also a search of

[48:26] the types of all fences that have been searched.

[48:30] Uh, as you can well imagine with all the retail

[48:34] um department stores that we have, lararseny and theft offenses

[48:39] 115 for 26%. Wanted persons arrest warrant fugitive

[48:45] 113 25%. Missing endangered persons runaways

[48:51] 21.7%. Motor vehicle theft 7.2

[48:57] hit and run 6.3. assaults 2%. It all it runs down uh we have welfare checks,

[49:05] welfare checks, driving under the influence

[49:10] and that's all again part of the uh website

[49:18] and I apologize for taking so much time but I had one shot and

[49:22] » thought I'd go ahead. >> That's over.

[49:25] » Thank you. I appreciate that. And that's basically it. Uh if you have

[49:30] any questions, uh the main thing also to remember which I know has been brought

[49:34] up before that there have been police officers who have abused the system. It

[49:39] has happened. Uh that number is minutia compared to how many lawfully do it.

[49:45] What I want you to consider is that really the only agencies in a

[49:50] municipality, whether it's a city, a county, or a township, that do internal

[49:54] investigations significantly are police departments. Uh we clean the trash out

[50:00] and someone would be fired for abusing uh that system. So, you've seen officers

[50:07] not locally that have uh

[50:12] that that that have uh access their girlfriends,

[50:16] current or ex-wives or both. Uh on flock, as far as I can tell, everyone's

[50:23] been fired. And any technology has

[50:27] uh its ups and downs. Uh in essence, when you log in, it's like a

[50:31] fingerprint. uh they are tied to a case and without

[50:36] this technology we would be hardressed to be as successful as we have been.

[50:43] » Thank you. >> So just to be clear there's been no

[50:49] Fairfield Township officers invest even investigated for illegal or improper use

[50:54] of the flock system. >> No none whatsoever. And when we issue

[50:58] out the policy, uh, they have to review the policy and sign off on the policy.

[51:02] So, and it's on the our policies on our not our website, but on on the internet

[51:08] and they can review it all the time and it's there.

[51:12] » And all of our neighboring communities are continuing its use.

[51:18] » Yes, they are. None have stopped.

[51:24] So, we would not be a safe haven for criminals in Fairfield Township if we

[51:28] were to get you rid of it. >> That's one or rejections.

[51:32] » Yeah. >> Yes.

[51:38] » Are there any other questions for the police chief about cameras?

[51:44] » Thank you for providing all that information for the public and now they

[51:47] can view it on on our meetings. If they have any questions, they can reach out

[51:52] to the police department. >> Yes. Okay.

[51:54] » Thank you. >> Great. Thank you. Okay. Our final item

[51:57] for board discussion, item E, it's the country country music festival. Miss Le

[52:03] Pensy. >> Um, recently we found out last week that

[52:06] we were that the music festival was being moved from the VA to the fair the

[52:11] fairgrounds. So, we've not been contacted by anyone, but we just wanted

[52:16] to make you guys aware and um that we should probably start planning for our

[52:22] eventual uh participation in the event.

[52:28] » So, could you go in a little bit more detail about what you mean by our

[52:32] participation in the event, our requested participation?

[52:36] » Well, no one's really >> No one's really requested us and no and

[52:40] we're not required to do it. It's a special event. It's a special event

[52:44] that's being put on >> by

[52:46] » in the open field, >> the fair board

[52:49] » just just by the city of Hamilton, >> right? It's

[52:52] » all the roads are in Hamilton or all the roads are in Hamilton.

[52:57] » So, the traffic's going to be in Hamilton.

[53:00] All of that, >> but there's going to be traffic coming

[53:02] from everywhere. But anyway, >> well, I I might have told you, but we

[53:06] can set up the U DUI stand on Route 4 and we'll just take them off,

[53:16] » make some money. >> Well, more or less. So, this event is

[53:18] happening approximately 11 months from now.

[53:23] No official from the fair board, from the county, from the prosecutor's

[53:28] office, from the sheriff's department or anything has officially reached out to

[53:32] me or to the administrator or the physical officer about host or you

[53:39] hosting this event. And so to my understanding by watching the news

[53:43] conference and I was able to read theou, thank you channel 5. I'm sure you're

[53:49] watching. But they they posted the theou or the contract online and I read it.

[53:55] Nowhere in the document is it mentioned that Fairfield Township will be

[53:58] responsible for anything or be asked to provide anything. Nothing in that

[54:02] document right now. So as as far as I'm concerned, it is the city of Hamilton

[54:07] and the fair board. It's their event. Now is it taking place inside of our

[54:13] borders? Yes. But but it's their event and they're

[54:18] responsible for everything associated with it. Now, if they start asking for

[54:22] our help with resources, then we can have those conversations about

[54:28] maybe our employees work directly for them or what have you off duty, those

[54:33] types of questions. But as far as I'm concerned, no one has reached out to me

[54:37] or this board >> collectively. I did receive a phone

[54:41] call, right, >> the Friday shortly before the press

[54:44] release or before the presser that they did.

[54:47] » Um, and they advised me that that was happening,

[54:49] » right? But they have not asked us formally to

[54:52] » enter any kind of contracts or provide any kind of services.

[54:55] » Nope. >> So, as far as I'm concerned, it's their

[54:58] event. It's happening. If they ask for help, then that's a conversation to have

[55:02] later. >> Have they asked the fire chief or the

[55:05] police chief? I >> I have no working knowledge of that.

[55:11] They asked me if I wanted to participate in a meeting two Fridays ago. I was on

[55:15] vacation and I said no and they said that that was fine, but nothing else was

[55:19] exchanged.

[55:23] » I agree with you on the stairs. We're not hosting. We're not sponsoring.

[55:32] And I don't I don't think I don't think I know we don't have the staff to cover

[55:36] it. So, >> right. But if they if the event itself

[55:42] » hires our personnel on offduty type situations,

[55:47] » no nothing to do with that. >> We that's beyond our control.

[55:50] » Right. Right. >> As long as it doesn't take our our staff

[55:53] off of their regular schedules, >> right?

[55:56] » Because they can make a whole lot more money off duty.

[55:59] » Right. So more or less this conversation was to take place to inform the public

[56:04] that we have not entered in any kind of agreement. No, no one from the fair

[56:09] board has called to us say, "Hey, we need your help doing this event." And so

[56:13] as far as this board is concerned officially, we have had no notification

[56:17] that they want any of us to participate in this event. And if that does happen,

[56:22] we will bring it up in a meeting and we'll have discussions about it

[56:24] publicly. But as of right now, everyone from the township should go to

[56:29] the event and have a good time, >> right?

[56:33] » Be careful driving up Route 4. Set up the block blockade,

[56:38] » the DUI checkpoint. So, I just wanted to be clear. There's been some confusion.

[56:42] People that live near me have asked me, "What do you know about that?" I'm like,

[56:46] "Thanks for telling me because I didn't even know it was even going on." So, I

[56:50] just want to make that clear. >> I mean, I do like country music, but I

[56:53] will not be attendant. I may attend. I don't know.

[56:58] » Could be. >> Might be fun. So, should we not

[57:01] participate in any kind of meetings whatsoever until they contact us? Like,

[57:05] is that your official stance or >> I think we need to be proactive and know

[57:09] what they're doing. I think we need to understand what they're doing so that if

[57:13] there is something that comes up that impacts the township that we're not

[57:16] caught off guard and it might be that we aren't asked to do anything except in

[57:21] like a capacity where our officers could be hired on their own accord. That's one

[57:25] thing but I think it would behoove us to pay attention to what they're doing and

[57:29] get involved. >> I agree with Trusty Harkimire. we should

[57:32] at least know what's happening since it is happening within our borders and and

[57:37] to be part if we're invited to discussions by all means go and and be

[57:41] part of those meetings. But if they go to make an ask of Fairfield Township, no

[57:46] promises can be made to say, "Okay, well, I'll take that to the trustees and

[57:50] we'll have that discussion." >> Okay.

[57:52] » But yeah, I think it's a good idea to be informed about what's going on in case

[57:55] they try >> without obligation. Yes. And I I would

[57:58] like to know of any of those meetings because I'm you know I might be able to

[58:02] squeeze that meeting in so I can get there

[58:04] » as long as it's not on the 13th. >> Yes. Okay.

[58:07] » Then one of you have to go. >> All right.

[58:09] » Well, we had scheduled a meeting tomorrow with uh Westchester Township

[58:13] about like what have they learned? What should we know? What should be we we be

[58:18] aware of? So it's tomorrow at 1 if you would like to attend.

[58:21] » I'll cancel that. I'm interested in learning what the best

[58:25] practices are and maybe some things that needed to be changed or improved because

[58:29] I don't want to go into this blind. >> Why Why did Westchester get rid of it?

[58:34] » These are all things that we're going to >> You know the answer. Go ahead. Put it on

[58:38] the record. >> People can read the headlines. I don't

[58:40] need to repeat it.

[58:46] » Okay. Any other any other business under discussion?

[58:53] Okay, we'll move on to communication. Does anybody need to take a break?

[58:58] Everybody good? I'm fine for a minute. Okay.

[59:02] » All right. Uh, this is the portion of the meeting where you, the residents of

[59:05] Fairfield Township, are invited to share your thoughts with the board. Please

[59:09] know that this time has been set aside from the board to listen to you. Your

[59:13] comments are valued and will be taken into careful consideration.

[59:17] The board will not engage in dialogue at this time. Presentations are limited to

[59:23] three minutes each. We have two people that uh signed up this evening. The

[59:28] first is Jason Pervian. Got it right that time?

[59:32] » All right. >> Fourth fourth fourth times the charm.

[59:36] Jason, please uh state your name and your

[59:40] address for the record, please. >> Yep. Jason Piance, 3606 Milicanin Road.

[59:45] There's a lot on the agenda tonight. I only have three minutes, so I'm not

[59:48] really going to get into much detail on any of them.

[59:50] » I'm not I'm having trouble hearing you. Is the microphone on?

[59:53] » Yeah. >> Is that better?

[59:55] » Yes, that's better. >> All right. Um, yeah, the country music

[1:00:00] festival. I understand that was dropped on everybody's lap, surprised. Uh, which

[1:00:06] I think it could be great long term. Um, I think everything you guys said up here

[1:00:11] is a lot of the concerns that most people have. Um,

[1:00:16] I hope this goes off well, but we'll see. Um,

[1:00:22] as far and I definitely hope that you guys stay in touch with them and kind of

[1:00:26] steer the ship and don't just sit back and and

[1:00:30] let them dec whoever them is. Let them decide how what kind of involvement they

[1:00:35] want us to have as a community. U, there's going to be a lot of traffic

[1:00:39] driving through the township. So, I think that definitely needs to be

[1:00:43] addressed. um the sidewalk policy that you guys

[1:00:48] will be talking about later on. I understand that we need to have

[1:00:51] something on the books to keep our community in good standing. Um I just

[1:00:55] ask that you do the same for roadways. Um specifically

[1:01:00] um was it Anchor Drive and Albert's Way in front of Walmart and Kohl's. I know

[1:01:05] that is not a road that the township takes care of the development that owns

[1:01:09] that area, but that road is not fun to drive on. So, if you guys

[1:01:16] understandably so hold citizens accountable for the condition of their

[1:01:19] sidewalk, please hold those developers to the same con

[1:01:24] um going to vote on the data centers later on for a six-month mortorium. I

[1:01:29] think that's an easy yes. Um, I did send you guys um,

[1:01:35] a bunch of ideas for a supplement for data centers. I just wanted to know if

[1:01:41] you guys had any questions on that. Anything that I could elaborate on,

[1:01:46] obviously not here right now, but just at a later time, you know, if you guys

[1:01:50] have any questions, please let me know. Um, for dispensaries, you said you

[1:01:54] haven't had anybody ask you to pass this. Well, here I am. Please enact or

[1:02:00] in the moratorum. Um I get drug tested at work. I can't partake. Um but for all

[1:02:07] the reasons you um had mentioned Trusty Birding.

[1:02:11] Um I don't think we should be the moral police, right? It's legal in Ohio. This

[1:02:18] is a easy source of revenue for the township. You guys recently passed two

[1:02:24] $5 fees for us to renew our license plate.

[1:02:28] If we're to that point where you guys need to have two $5 fees every time we

[1:02:33] renew our plates, I think $500,000 a year in tax revenue is a no-brainer.

[1:02:40] Um, and flock um

[1:02:46] I've been up here multiple times. Um,

[1:02:51] I sent an email asking uh for a sit down, stopped up and see if we'd be able

[1:02:56] to talk. Um I don't have any reason to believe that Fairfield Township is

[1:03:02] abusing this. That's not my concern with flock. Um

[1:03:06] the the number that you gave about 48% um of that 12 million that's 58,000.

[1:03:13] That's still a very large number. Um and since the last time I was up

[1:03:19] here, um Oxford did vote to end Flock's contract. So, we do have a neighbor that

[1:03:25] has voted to end the contract and that ended immediately. Columbus paused

[1:03:29] Flock. Hamilton County last week paused Flock. Um, in Wisconsin, Shbboan moved

[1:03:36] to cancel Flock after Flock uh approached them trying to sell them 5

[1:03:40] years of speed and traffic data taken by Shabboan's Flock cameras. Now, we're

[1:03:47] told from Flock that they cancel or that they delete all of their photos after 30

[1:03:52] days. But they just tried to sell Shboan 5

[1:03:56] years worth of data. 30 days doesn't equal five years.

[1:04:02] » That the last five years or the next five years?

[1:04:04] » The past five years. Um

[1:04:09] so that was well and I saw a quote today. I hadn't been able to to confirm

[1:04:14] it, but uh the Lebanon mayor said he wants to um cancel the 20 cameras that

[1:04:21] they have. Um and his quote was the standard is not whether or not the tool

[1:04:25] is useful, it's whether or not you can be told the truth about what it does.

[1:04:30] And I I don't know about you guys, but from the information that Flock has put

[1:04:34] out for what truly happens with Flock system and not just Flock. Please, if

[1:04:40] and when you cancel Flock, do not replace it with any other ALPR system.

[1:04:46] I think that's a misnomer anyway. They're not they're not just reading

[1:04:49] license plates. They're taking much more information than that. If this was an AL

[1:04:53] just an ALPR system that was able to read flag

[1:04:58] and give information back if a if a car was wanted, that's that's one thing. But

[1:05:03] this is logging much more information than that. So I'm sure my three minutes

[1:05:07] is well up. But >> thank you very much. I appreciate you.

[1:05:15] Okay. Uh the second person to sign up is uh Michael Combmes.

[1:05:22] Mr. Combmes, if you come up and state your name and address for the record,

[1:05:26] please.

[1:05:30] » Michael Combmes, 3025 Foxhound Drive. >> Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

[1:05:37] This your meetings are always interesting. Joe, you should become a

[1:05:41] comedian. Uh but uh I'm still doing the followup

[1:05:46] on our conversation at the last meeting about the parking issues with commercial

[1:05:51] vehicles in our residential areas. Uh I spoke to Mr. Goowens a couple times.

[1:05:58] He's on top of it as usual. Uh but you still have

[1:06:05] um paperwork in front of you guys that you

[1:06:08] haven't attended to where you can pass this law, get it in front of the chief

[1:06:15] so that we can contact these people. For example, like the people in my

[1:06:20] neighborhood, uh Chuck has been out. Uh if you try to

[1:06:24] get a fire truck through there, it's not happening. Number one. Number two, uh

[1:06:29] they have notified them and they just ignored it. So it's not like they take

[1:06:33] their parking as a serious issue. Um so

[1:06:40] this law would make it easier for our police chief number one to reach out to

[1:06:47] them. I'm not expecting them to go out and start towing everything, but at

[1:06:52] least reach out to these people and say, "This is what we need. next time I come

[1:06:56] back then we have to take more action. Uh you guys have that in front of you.

[1:07:00] All you have to do is pass it. Um it's not been attended to in the last few

[1:07:05] meetings and I'm going to continue to come to every meeting and listen to you

[1:07:10] guys about everything. Once again, this gentleman talks about flock. I don't

[1:07:16] disagree with your flock. I mean, if I come up missing and you can run my plate

[1:07:21] and tell my wife where I'm at, go ahead. Uh but uh to save kids,

[1:07:28] criminals, we see it all. We we we're in Fairfell

[1:07:33] Township, our nice little community, but Hamilton's right next door. Okay, I can

[1:07:38] drive through Hamilton right now and lock my doors and put my weapon away and

[1:07:44] say go back home. But we have a lot of that around here. So, but once again,

[1:07:50] the parking issue has if you guys will get it on the table and get it done so

[1:07:56] that our police chief and our zoning commissioner can do what they need to

[1:08:02] do. Right now, it's a joke. They send notices out. I believe there was a

[1:08:07] letter sent out. Uh they throw it in the trash. Half of them

[1:08:13] can't read English. So, you put it on their equipment. They go out, rip it up,

[1:08:17] throw it away. Good luck. Okay. until the until the fire chief has to try to

[1:08:23] get a vehicle through there because the house down from them is on fire and they

[1:08:28] can't get equipment through, then it's going to be a bad situation. So, please

[1:08:33] get that on the table and get it passed so that we can

[1:08:38] start being proactive. Please. >> Thank you, Mr. I know that we are

[1:08:43] right now looking into how we enforce that. Is that what we're doing right to

[1:08:50] see who how we would collect fines and things like that? It we are working on

[1:08:53] it. It just hasn't been So, we have all that.

[1:08:56] » I mean, a great example is the city of Fairfield.

[1:08:59] » Okay. Their law director has it there and

[1:09:03] uh they do a good job at it. I mean, I I had an office in Fairfield. the zoning

[1:09:10] commission, you know, even if you have a weird sign out in front of your office

[1:09:14] that's not the right color and the shape, they come and find you and they

[1:09:18] take it away. And >> but this is a safety issue. This isn't

[1:09:23] just a >> It is something that we're working on.

[1:09:26] We just have to make sure everything is >> all the eyes are dotted and the tees are

[1:09:30] crossed before we >> I appreciate that. And I'll see you next

[1:09:33] month then. >> Sounds great. Come on back. Bring some

[1:09:35] friends. >> It's the 27th. Next month.

[1:09:37] » 27th. Yeah. Early Joe, I know. I'm going to call you personally on the

[1:09:41] 13th. >> Good luck with that.

[1:09:47] » Okay. Uh thank you for part participating in that. Our next item is

[1:09:52] the consent agenda. All items under the consent agenda are considered by the

[1:09:56] board of trustees to be routine and will be enacted with one motion. Any trustee

[1:10:02] may remove an item from the consent agenda by request. No second is required

[1:10:07] for the removal of an item. Items removed for separal separate discussion

[1:10:12] will be considered after the motion to approve the consent agenda.

[1:10:17] As at this time I enter I will entertain a motion to adopt the consent agenda.

[1:10:22] » So moved. >> Second.

[1:10:26] » Any questions or comments? Uh I would just uh for the people that haven't

[1:10:30] looked at the agenda, I would just uh say that one of the one of the consent

[1:10:35] agenda items is the resignation of another police officer.

[1:10:41] We lost several recently and we're losing another one.

[1:10:48] Want to point that out.

[1:10:52] » Thank you. Uh Miss Schultz, will you call the role, please?

[1:10:54] » Trusty Harkim. >> Yes.

[1:10:55] » Trusty Makabe. Yes. Trusty Birding. >> Yes. And that agenda item is passed. We

[1:11:01] have we have the fiscal officer's report.

[1:11:05] » Yes. I have a list here of balances. So our checking account balance is almost 3

[1:11:10] million. Our medical balance is 80,000. Our FSA balance is 7,000. Jed revenue

[1:11:16] received year-to- date for Hamilton 524,000.

[1:11:19] For Fairfield 134,000. Our ICS investment account is at 9

[1:11:24] million. and we have a new investment brokerage account at almost 4 million.

[1:11:29] Um, interest earned in August was 22,000 on one account and 15,000 on the other.

[1:11:34] EMS billing receipts to date 584,000 revenue to date 13 million revenue

[1:11:40] budgeted 20 expenditures to date 14 million appropriations for 2026 23

[1:11:46] million payments made in August a million. Our total fund balances

[1:11:51] currently is a little over 15 million. I can't think of anything else.

[1:11:56] » Any questions for Miss Schultz? >> We got our second half.

[1:12:02] » Not yet. >> Any idea when?

[1:12:06] » No. At Metro Park, we got our first um 75% so it should I would think it'd

[1:12:12] be any time now. >> We just paid our taxes, so I bet it's

[1:12:17] not going to be till the end of September.

[1:12:19] » You You paid your taxes? >> Yeah, I did.

[1:12:22] » Good job. Okay. Well, that goes to Madison

[1:12:25] Township. So, >> help us.

[1:12:32] » Is that And I'm I may be lost, but is that report in in the packet?

[1:12:36] » It usually is. >> No, I didn't. We didn't make a copy of

[1:12:39] it. We emailed it out on Thursday. I can send you another copy.

[1:12:42] » That's okay.

[1:12:45] Any other questions for Miss Schultz? >> May we have the administrator's report?

[1:12:50] Miss Ley? So, we have a motion. A motion to

[1:12:53] approve the building permit fee for the fire station remodel in the amount of

[1:12:57] $22,379.84 cents, which will be made payable to the

[1:13:01] Butler County Building Department, which will be paid from the fire fund 2111.

[1:13:08] » Motion to approve. >> Second.

[1:13:12] » Any questions or comments? >> That was that amount included in the

[1:13:17] total amount? No. And Butler County is not going to wave this for us.

[1:13:22] » I did ask. I have not received a response yet.

[1:13:25] » Just don't pay them until they respond. >> Well, yeah. Well, obviously we won't cut

[1:13:29] the check, but >> Okay.

[1:13:31] » But but I need you to approve something so that we can

[1:13:36] take a check there to pick up our building permit.

[1:13:42] » Trusty Birding. >> Yes.

[1:13:43] » Trusty Harkimire. >> Yes.

[1:13:44] » Trusty Makabe. >> Yes.

[1:13:46] » That motion is adopted. maybe have the first resolution.

[1:13:49] » Resolution number 26-80 is a resolution authorizing pay rates for part-time

[1:13:54] employees of the fire department. So, this is a holdover from last month, uh,

[1:13:57] we had a question about the pay rate, which we resolved. It's a $22

[1:14:02] rate for medics. So, we're just asking all medics to be paid that $22. And also

[1:14:07] at the last meeting, excuse me, one of the board members

[1:14:11] asked that we make it go retroactive back to April when we originally passed

[1:14:16] it last year. So we did include a whereas clause in that. So basically

[1:14:21] this just sets the rate and if you happen to be an EMT and then you become

[1:14:26] a medic in between, you're automatically bumped up.

[1:14:31] » Any idea what it's going to cost us to go back to April? Uh, I think it was 50

[1:14:35] cents for the one person. >> Total 50 cent or

[1:14:39] » Well, total 50 cents per hour. So, I don't know. I haven't done the math yet.

[1:14:42] And then wasn't there a second person? >> It was well under $1,000 total.

[1:14:45] » Okay. >> Two people.

[1:14:47] » So, I think, right, two people. >> Motion to adopt.

[1:14:54] Second. Any further questions or comments?

[1:14:59] » Miss Ch, should we call the role, please?

[1:15:01] » Trusty Makabe. >> Yes.

[1:15:02] » Trusty Birdie. >> Yes. Trusty Harkimire.

[1:15:04] » Yes. >> And that uh resolution is adopted. May

[1:15:07] we have the next resolution, please? >> Resolution 26-84 is a resolution

[1:15:12] approving the 2025 streetlight assessments. Mot.

[1:15:17] » Second. >> Any questions or comments?

[1:15:22] Miss Schultz, will you call the role, please?

[1:15:24] » Trusty Makabe, >> yes.

[1:15:25] » Trusty Harkimire, >> yes.

[1:15:26] » Trusty Birding, >> yes. And that resolution is adopted. May

[1:15:29] we have the next resolution? Resolution 26-85 is a resolution imposing a

[1:15:35] six-month data center moratorum for Fairfield Township.

[1:15:39] » Motion to adopt. >> Second. Any questions or comments?

[1:15:44] » I don't think anyone's actively looking at us for a data center, but just sort

[1:15:48] of preempts it, I guess. >> Yeah.

[1:15:51] » So, let's This will allow us to some time to gather information about it if

[1:15:58] need be. >> Yep. True. And then will you put this on

[1:16:02] the um agenda for February 27?

[1:16:09] That would be >> six months.

[1:16:10] » Five months, right? >> Add it to add it to that calendar that

[1:16:14] we >> so we can revisit it. Okay.

[1:16:16] » In case we need to >> put it on March.

[1:16:18] » Okay. >> We'll discuss in February.

[1:16:22] » Okay. >> Okay. Uh Miss Schultz, we recall the

[1:16:25] role, please. >> Trusty Makabe.

[1:16:27] » Yes. >> Trusty Birding.

[1:16:28] » Yes. >> Trusty Harkimire. Yes,

[1:16:30] » that resolution is adopted. May we have the next resolution?

[1:16:33] » Resolution number 26-86 is a resolution adopting a township sidewalk policy for

[1:16:39] Fairfield Township. So, this is our first reading with an option to adopt.

[1:16:43] Um, we discussed this twice now, I guess, at our last couple

[1:16:48] meetings about the sidewalk policy, but basically anytime we go out for a

[1:16:53] roadway project, like paving project that we consider, we're going to look at

[1:16:58] the curbs, the gutters, the sidewalks, and then since it's within the rideway,

[1:17:03] but it's also the responsibility of the homeowner. um we'll uh make sure that we

[1:17:08] send a notice to the resident um letting them know that they have to replace the

[1:17:13] sidewalk if it's a certain if it meets the parameters as specified in our

[1:17:16] policy. >> So when I was looking through this just

[1:17:21] briefly, it talks about multi-use youth use paths.

[1:17:27] Could that be considered on property driveways on property

[1:17:33] streets as Mr. provance was talking about. Is that something that would fer

[1:17:38] that or should we keep this as a first read and add that type of language that

[1:17:43] we could enforce because I agree with them back by Kohl's and Walmart. Those

[1:17:49] are constantly. >> I'd rather have a separate policy for

[1:17:53] that actually if we can get one because I agree and we've been on them for

[1:17:57] years. Um, I was driving over there a few days ago and the section that they

[1:18:02] repaved isn't bad, but if you go up a little bit further, there's big holes

[1:18:06] developing, too. So, I like where you're going, but I'm wondering if we can just

[1:18:10] develop a private road policy to really address that.

[1:18:14] » Yeah, we're we're a lot more limited with respect to our enforcement on

[1:18:17] private roadways than we are sidewalks the way what a township can regulate.

[1:18:21] So, I mean that I would suggest that be a separate policy because your your

[1:18:25] limitations are are a lot greater with respect to roadways than they are

[1:18:28] sidewalks. >> Okay. Maybe we can look into that. And

[1:18:31] in the meantime, if we could reach out to those property owners again because

[1:18:35] um the part they fixed is great, but the part they didn't fix is

[1:18:42] pretty bad. >> Yeah. I drove through there this week. I

[1:18:46] saw a Volkswagen inside one of the potholes.

[1:18:48] » I think so. I saw some kids fishing.

[1:18:54] So, um, is there a request to adopt this resolution at tonight's meeting?

[1:19:01] » Okay, we'll have it on for a second read adoption in October.

[1:19:08] » Second read and a vote on it. >> Yes. Thank you. Uh, can we have the next

[1:19:14] resolution, please? Resolution number 26-87 is a resolution authorizing the

[1:19:19] township administrator to sign an agreement with MS Consultants to provide

[1:19:24] professional services for rideaway acquisition services to construct

[1:19:28] sidewalks and pedestrian crossings along Morris Road and Princeton Road to

[1:19:32] improve safety at Fairfield East Elementary School.

[1:19:36] So, we started this process a couple years ago about getting sidewalks on

[1:19:42] Princeton and Morris Road to make it more safe for the kids to get to school.

[1:19:48] So part of ODOT's requirements is that the township must enter into an

[1:19:54] agreement with these consultants to provide um appraisal appraisal services

[1:20:01] for these pieces of parcel or partials that we've identified that we will need

[1:20:05] for the process whether it's a temporary take or a permanent take. So we do not

[1:20:10] pay for these services but we have to enter into the contract with a

[1:20:15] consultant to provide the service. I know it sounds crazy, but that's just

[1:20:19] ODOT's policy. So, yes, we have to sign this agreement, but no, we don't owe

[1:20:25] anything because ODOT already has it factored into their budgeting process,

[1:20:29] the payment of that service to the consultants separately.

[1:20:33] » How many parcels is this? >> That I don't know. Do you have know off

[1:20:37] your off top of your head, Chuck? >> So, why don't we know? Why don't we

[1:20:43] know? >> Let's see if it's in the agreement.

[1:20:55] I think there there's only one or two partials that's going to have permanent

[1:20:59] takes, but there's yeah, I don't know the number of uh parcels related to the

[1:21:04] temporary access agreements.

[1:21:09] If I could get that for you. >> I was going to say we have the plans

[1:21:14] that we could pull up, right? And we could send it to them.

[1:21:18] » Is it right here? >> Does it say it? Does it identify it?

[1:21:22] » It says one partial, two partial, one partial. Looks like 12

[1:21:27] total. >> There you go. 12 parcels.

[1:21:31] » How much are we taking on each parcel? >> Around.

[1:21:37] Is this the numbers? 360 for those four. 2500 for that one. Looks like it's in

[1:21:43] the agreement how much we're taking for a total 12,870.

[1:21:47] » I think he means acreage. Like >> Oh, acreage. Yeah. How many feet are we

[1:21:50] taking? >> Yeah. I don't know that that's in there.

[1:21:53] » We're taking property down Princeton Road. On which side of the road? On the

[1:21:58] north side. >> Yeah.

[1:22:00] » Um north side. >> South side. I thought Princeton.

[1:22:03] » I think it's the north side. >> Well, I think it's both, isn't it?

[1:22:06] » So there there's suffici there's going to be no permanent takes on Prince,

[1:22:10] » right? It's on Morris that we're doing. And it's in the school's property is

[1:22:13] where we do have to do a permanent take. >> Right.

[1:22:15] » On the school's property. >> On the school's property. So I think

[1:22:17] it's >> where we want them to go. Right. To the

[1:22:19] school. >> Yes.

[1:22:22] » Well, that's right. It's >> property on more

[1:22:24] » northwest side. >> Fairfield City School District.

[1:22:29] » Yeah. >> We're having to take that. They're not

[1:22:34] giving it to us. >> They haven't gotten that far yet. But

[1:22:37] » that we're going to pay $12,000. We are not going to pay it. ODOT is of

[1:22:43] my state taxes. ODOT is going to pay it. >> We're going to go to pay 17,000.

[1:22:48] » We're going to go to take one property. We're going to hire somebody to tell us

[1:22:52] how much of the school property we is worth when we take it.

[1:22:58] » Is this a requirement or a law? >> It's a requirement but from ODOT. It's

[1:23:02] part of their school >> school safety program.

[1:23:07] » Yeah. Well, and I've voiced my concerns about this before. Uh, when we started

[1:23:12] this process, it sound like a good idea to get kids across from Weathered Oaks

[1:23:16] to North School, and now we're going all the way down to Jayfield on the north

[1:23:20] side of Princeton Road and coming up and crossing a major intersection

[1:23:25] to try to get them to school. I have large concerns about that.

[1:23:30] » So, I don't know how many of them are doing it now. to East Elementary.

[1:23:34] » I'm sorry, East Elementary, which is south of there, just to get our

[1:23:38] directions straight. >> I I don't know how many people are doing

[1:23:42] it now in the ditch that we're trying to help

[1:23:48] them get there in a safe way. But I have I have a lot of concern about

[1:23:54] that. And the last time it came up at this board, it was our our part portion

[1:24:01] was like $750,000, right? >> No, it's two. It's no more than 250,000,

[1:24:08] right? We we have went back and looked at that.

[1:24:10] » Oh, well, that's that's a number that was presented.

[1:24:12] » Yeah, I think I might have confused it with

[1:24:16] the paving. >> Well,

[1:24:18] » like our paving project. >> I'm still confused. So,

[1:24:21] » be unconfused because it's 250. I I'm still 200. We're going to spend 250. And

[1:24:26] what percentage is that? Is that 25%. I mean, what how much is the statement on

[1:24:31] my money for this, too? >> It's 8020, Chuck. Right. Something to

[1:24:36] that effect. It's either 9010 or 8020. >> Didn't fall on a hard percentage. Uh,

[1:24:40] but we pushed them to >> the cap that they were willing to get to

[1:24:45] a couple times. We're we're we're going to we we're going to be partners to a

[1:24:49] million dollars with a sidewalk that I wouldn't walk on and I wouldn't want my

[1:24:54] kids walking on. And I don't see how that makes this school safer to get to.

[1:25:04] » So, it does make it safer that kids that do walk to school or parents that do

[1:25:09] walk their children to school won't be doing it in ditches. We'll be dealing

[1:25:13] sidewalks that connect the sidewalks that connect the crosswalks that

[1:25:17] connects to the school buildings that eventually will connect, if I'm not

[1:25:21] mistaken, is going to connect >> to the sidewalk near Bridgewwater to get

[1:25:26] » family safe to Bridgewwater to Target and all those items

[1:25:31] » or from uh the other subdivision over to Bridgewwater and down

[1:25:35] » yes >> to the school.

[1:25:36] » Yes, >> I understand all that, but I just I

[1:25:39] can't believe it's going to be a road to nowhere. It's going to be a sidewalk to

[1:25:43] nowhere. >> That's my opinion. And I I understand

[1:25:47] that you guys will probably feel differently.

[1:25:49] » And what we what we don't know, what we can't predict is what happens

[1:25:54] um in November should uh school levy not pass if they start eliminating more

[1:26:00] busing. Will will more families start using sidewalks? Will they adjust their

[1:26:08] um their start and and and start time start and stop times? Um and is that

[1:26:16] going to be during hight traffic times? And so if

[1:26:21] one child doesn't get hit by a car, I'm willing to pay $250,000.

[1:26:26] » I I am too under those situations.

[1:26:29] » I don't I don't think it's going to be something unused. And in fact, even

[1:26:32] though it says safe routes to school, it's al also going to be safe routes to

[1:26:37] our playgrounds, safe routes to our our veterans memorial, to our parks, to

[1:26:44] Bridgewater Falls. >> We're not putting any any sidewalks up

[1:26:47] here though. >> Well, eventually I think it's coming up

[1:26:49] connecting connecting families up to north to North

[1:26:53] Elementary as well. >> That's in this program, too. I don't

[1:26:56] think it's in this. >> Not in this one, but that's that's

[1:26:58] eventually the I think, you know, for future sometime out in the future, but

[1:27:03] » eventually it's it's connecting families to the YMCA. It's connecting them to

[1:27:08] Bridgewater >> and eventually over to Walmart because

[1:27:11] there's sidewalks all the way that way >> across the bypass.

[1:27:15] » There's a crosswalk with the I know >> traffic light.

[1:27:17] » I couldn't believe that either. They made us do that.

[1:27:20] » Yeah. >> Like we we don't want people crossing

[1:27:22] that road now. It's bad enough in a car much less on a bicycle or

[1:27:33] » I hear what you're saying. >> Yes.

[1:27:34] » Okay. I appreciate it. >> Sure.

[1:27:36] » I mean, if they wanted to put a bike path over there um where it would be a

[1:27:41] multi-use and and go somewhere, I could almost understand that.

[1:27:46] » Almost. >> Okay.

[1:27:48] » But that would be a different program. That wouldn't be the

[1:27:52] » same route to school. Let's drag our kids down a sidewalk to school.

[1:27:56] » Well, I mean, originally it was it was proposed as kids also riding their bike

[1:28:02] to school. So, that's why it's safe route to school and not safe walk to

[1:28:05] school. >> And again, I I I was in favor of that

[1:28:07] when it was weathered oaks across across Morris Road, but as it got expanded,

[1:28:14] um, not so much.

[1:28:17] Well, also people that are off of Jayfield

[1:28:23] used to be North Elementary students. Now some of them are south elementary

[1:28:30] stu sorry east elementary students. And so that's the route they'll be

[1:28:36] taking instead of going to Morris. >> I think Mr. Goens um in light of our

[1:28:45] comprehensive plan, doesn't this kind of help with the piece, the puzzle piece

[1:28:50] for walkability on the township and some of the other things that we looked at

[1:28:55] with that? >> Yeah, this was uh one of the areas that

[1:28:59] were targeted early on. I mean, it's a fairly

[1:29:03] critical piece as far as the large largescale uh pedestrian connectivity

[1:29:08] plan. Yeah, it was highly ranked on the comprehensive plan.

[1:29:14] » So, the they're going to come out of uh Weathered Oaks. Are they going to turn

[1:29:18] right and go down to the light and cross or are they going to

[1:29:22] » I think there's cross real quickly. >> There's a cross.

[1:29:25] » There's a cross walk at Weathered Oaks over to across the street to go to East

[1:29:32] the rapid flashing >> lights. Great.

[1:29:36] » Now, the frogger music will be playing. >> Maybe a medium, a speed bump or

[1:29:40] something.

[1:29:44] » Okay. So, we have not had a first or a second yet. So, I move to adopt

[1:29:48] resolution 26-87.

[1:29:53] Is there a second? >> Second.

[1:29:56] » Any further discussion, questions, comments?

[1:30:01] Miss Schultz, will you have the call the role, please?

[1:30:03] » Trusty Birding. >> Yes. Yes. Trusty Harkimire. Yes.

[1:30:05] » Trusty Makabe. >> No.

[1:30:07] » And that uh resolution is adopted. May we have resolution uh the next

[1:30:12] resolution, please. >> Resolution number 26-88 is a resolution

[1:30:16] authorizing the administrator to enter into an agreement with MNJ Properties,

[1:30:21] Inc. to repair sections of curb on Red Coat Drive and Betsy Ross Drive at a

[1:30:26] price not to exceed $17,335, which will be paid from the gas tax

[1:30:31] fund. So I think Jeff handed out some pictures

[1:30:35] where we have significant curb deterioration in this neighborhood. This

[1:30:40] neighborhood was built in the n in 1971 just for future thoughts. Um, you can

[1:30:48] see that what

[1:31:00] » driveway is a corner block.

[1:31:10] While we were out there looking at that one

[1:31:14] or two streets over

[1:31:20] the same situ

[1:31:38] that's a pretty big price for The curve >> it's actually

[1:31:43] » how many how many feet is it? >> 1932

[1:31:49] ft.

[1:32:03] It's more than just these two pictures. We're going to do

[1:32:06] What else are we doing? We doing the whole curb.

[1:32:11] » It's sections of curve. There's more sections like that. I didn't want to

[1:32:14] print all the off. >> Right. I wouldn't want you to either,

[1:32:18] but >> we just wanted you to see that there's

[1:32:22] significant deterioration of curbs that have already

[1:32:26] these subdivisions. We've we have a lot of subdivisions that were built in the

[1:32:29] 70s. You'd be surprised. >> I've been doing I won't be surprised.

[1:32:33] » I've been doing the research. come in 67,6

[1:32:41] » what do we paid those streets >> you know

[1:32:43] » to my knowledge we to my knowledge I haven't found anywhere where we have yet

[1:32:48] » we seal coat them what >> I don't think we

[1:32:52] » still looks black >> it's been black matted

[1:32:56] » okay blackmatted >> so on this one I don't know which one it

[1:33:00] is that help

[1:33:04] What's it say at the top? Does it say Betsy Ross

[1:33:08] » or red coat? >> Says Jeff Bennett at

[1:33:13] » Betsy Ross. >> I don't know.

[1:33:16] » It's up highlighted in yellow at top. >> Oh, right on. Oh, yeah. There it is.

[1:33:19] » The very first thing on the page. >> So, the driveway, are they going to fix

[1:33:24] their driveway while we're in there? Maybe.

[1:33:27] » You know what I mean? It's got a big crack in it. So, this this would be part

[1:33:31] of our sidewalk policy, right? There's a huge crack.

[1:33:36] » Wait, would it be part of our sidewalk? Because it says apron.

[1:33:39] » Well, yeah, >> apron would be.

[1:33:40] » Yeah, the apron would be. >> We're not fixing that. That doesn't mean

[1:33:44] he's dealt with stuff like that before >> the owner.

[1:33:52] » Well, I just wondered because like I said, it

[1:33:56] will be eventually

[1:34:01] » Yeah. But once you adopt the policy, then we'll

[1:34:09] » So I mean, but back to that point, it's a crack. It's not so deteriorated that

[1:34:15] it needs to be replaced. >> That's But you can see the lift in it.

[1:34:19] So you This would be something that the township would be

[1:34:22] » if it's more than a 3/4 inch. >> I can't tell from this, but I'd say it

[1:34:27] probably is. But anyway, I I I just wondered. We're not doing it. We're just

[1:34:33] doing the curve. >> Yeah.

[1:34:35] » Right. >> He's got a nice stand of grass going

[1:34:39] there. Is he sure he wants us to clean that up?

[1:34:43] » Okay. I move to adopt resolution 26-88. >> Second.

[1:34:48] » Any further discussion or questions? >> Gas tax fund has enough money in it.

[1:34:53] » Yes, I looked. >> Miss Schultz, could you call the role,

[1:34:57] please? >> I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

[1:34:58] » That's okay. >> Hold on.

[1:34:59] » Did you get more than one bid? >> Uh, no. It's our typical guy that we

[1:35:03] use. He's usually the lowest. He's been the lowest for a while.

[1:35:07] » So, the answer is no. We didn't get >> No, I didn't get any more bids than

[1:35:10] that. Just It's just who we typically use.

[1:35:12] » It's under the threshold that requires us to get multiple bids.

[1:35:16] » But when we use him before, we we got bids, right?

[1:35:19] » Yes. In the past, >> I recognize the name. I know he does

[1:35:23] good work.

[1:35:28] Miss Schultz, will you call the role, please?

[1:35:30] » Trusty Birding, >> yes.

[1:35:31] » Trusty Harkimire, yes. >> Trusty Makabe,

[1:35:33] » yes. >> That resolution is adopted. May we have

[1:35:36] the last resolution, please? >> Resolution number 26-89 is a resolution

[1:35:41] approving change order number one for the 2026 paving program from Barrett

[1:35:45] Paving and the amount not to exceed $37,91.

[1:35:54] Second, Mr. Pency, can you elaborate? >> So, what happened there is we um during

[1:36:01] the paving, we had included Jamie Drive on the paving list and at the same time,

[1:36:07] Nikki Court was paved from the new section that was

[1:36:13] added. And so, it left this very small one lot piece that was

[1:36:19] originally included in Shaw Estates. And we just went ahead when they were paving

[1:36:25] since that section was paved and Jamie was paved. We went ahead and paved that

[1:36:28] that small area. We originally told that we were going to have enough money in

[1:36:32] contingencies to cover it, but it looks like it went over by $3791.

[1:36:38] So, hence tonight why I ask you to approve it.

[1:36:43] » Any further questions or comments? >> Miss Schultz, will you call the role?

[1:36:47] » Trusty Makabe? >> Yes.

[1:36:49] » Trusty Birding? >> Yes.

[1:36:50] » Trusty Harker? >> Yes. And that resolution is adopted.

[1:36:54] Committee reports, Tusty Makabe. >> Um, we have not met this this month yet.

[1:36:59] It'll be next week, but it's been cancelled. So,

[1:37:02] » okay. >> Uh, I think there's an information

[1:37:05] session tomorrow evening about the North Hamilton cross.

[1:37:09] » Thursday evening, is it? >> Thursday evening.

[1:37:11] » Yes. The 10th. >> Yeah, the 10th. Okay. 5 to 7

[1:37:14] » at the fairgrounds. >> At the fairgrounds.

[1:37:16] » In Hamilton. >> In Hamilton. At the fairgrounds.

[1:37:18] » In the Hamilton building. >> Yes. In

[1:37:21] Not in Fairfield Township at the fair. Okay.

[1:37:24] All right. Anything else? >> That's it.

[1:37:27] » All right. Great. Uh, Trusty Harkimire, EMA,

[1:37:32] » EMA met today. Um, they discussed a lot of the usual um exercises and uh

[1:37:38] different things that they worked on. Um, of note, it was confirmed that that

[1:37:43] uh EF1 tornado did hit Riley Morgan and went into Hamilton County. Um it was

[1:37:50] about 11.3 miles and at its widest 500 yards. So that's pretty big. Um the

[1:37:57] August 11th storms, there is actually federal funding available for disaster

[1:38:02] recovery and also some small business administration monies available for

[1:38:05] that. I don't think Fairfield Township really had too much of an impact on

[1:38:09] that, but it was just interesting. I think that that was such a kind of big

[1:38:14] big thing that went through there. Um they did some work on the foam takeback

[1:38:19] program. I don't know that that's something that we really have anything

[1:38:22] to do with. Okay. Um of note too, and this does impact us

[1:38:28] directly. The per capita rate um there was a spreadsheet that I passed out

[1:38:33] about a year ago. we put it with this with the uh resolution, but it said that

[1:38:38] we were going to have our the 2025 per capita was 55 and the 2026 per capita

[1:38:46] was going up to 60. And so um this year it looks like we're going to be paying

[1:38:53] $14,019.

[1:38:56] Um whereas last year, and that's just the price increase, it was $12,850.

[1:39:02] So, just as an FYI, it's not a huge amount, but I just wanted to bring that

[1:39:07] up so that uh so that we would be aware that that that is going up a little bit

[1:39:11] there. Um, we do get a lot of value from the EMA. They're pretty much there

[1:39:16] standing at the ready in case something happens. Um, they were called into a

[1:39:22] number of different situations uh within the last few months where they

[1:39:26] were absolutely helpful with that. So, that's all I have there. and on to okay

[1:39:33] that meeting will be held we did not have meetings in uh

[1:39:38] let's see July or August because the break however they did sponsor that much

[1:39:43] in common gathering and this time it was down at the airport I did go and attend

[1:39:47] that was pretty interesting to hear about airport operations and to hear

[1:39:51] about what they're going to be doing at CVG they're doing some remodeling uh so

[1:39:55] you can expect that at the airport in the next year or two it'll be a little

[1:39:58] bit different when you go through there But uh that was rather rather

[1:40:02] informative. Um so really nothing about that to report but there is a meeting on

[1:40:07] Thursday of this week and it is open to the public. People can come down and you

[1:40:10] can listen. It's um it's kind of interesting. It's the Ohio Kentucky

[1:40:14] Indiana Board of Regional Transportation and it's the group that deals with

[1:40:17] freight uh with bridges, roads um like safe routes to school. There's just all

[1:40:24] things transportation, buses, the metro, um the Butler County bus system, all of

[1:40:29] that. It kind of goes through there. It's sort of the federal the the funding

[1:40:33] place where the money goes and then it's dispersed across the region and it's

[1:40:36] actually an award-winning organization. If you'd like to learn more, go to

[1:40:40] okii.org and you can look at all of the really cool. They have all kinds of

[1:40:44] tools and lots of really neat things that just talks about all things

[1:40:48] transportation. So, it's a pretty good What I really like about it is that it's

[1:40:51] comprised of people from across the entire region. So, there's people there

[1:40:55] from Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, um the whole tri-state area, and we all kind of

[1:41:01] get together and we find out what's going on and things get done. So, check

[1:41:05] it out. okii.org. And, uh, Clout, nothing to report there.

[1:41:10] We have a meeting coming up next month. >> Great. Any questions for Trusty Hooker?

[1:41:15] » Is OKi, they have a live stream where people could watch it from home?

[1:41:18] » They do not live stream it, but um, like I said, it's it is open to the public.

[1:41:23] Um there's kind of like a section in the middle where the board members sit and

[1:41:27] then there's another whole section of chairs and people can come down and

[1:41:30] watch. >> So that hasn't changed since I was on

[1:41:33] there for eight years or so. >> Yep. Still that way.

[1:41:37] » I just wondered because in today's world you would think as big an organization

[1:41:41] as that is that that would be something you might suggest to them live stream

[1:41:46] something where they can people can see it even if they even if you're working

[1:41:50] you could see it later on that type of thing. They did do it during COVID, but

[1:41:54] that was for other reasons. None of us were going to the meetings.

[1:41:59] » And did emergency manage did they say why they're raising them?

[1:42:03] » That was just the it was the agreement that they came up with because their

[1:42:07] costs are going up and so they kind of came in with the 55 and then it went to

[1:42:11] the 60. They really do run things on on a shoestring. I will say that um the um

[1:42:19] director um the board had given him a three three

[1:42:24] and three raise. So three for cost of living and then three for the other

[1:42:28] stuff. And he came in today and said you know what we didn't budget for that so I

[1:42:32] can't take that raise. So what we budgeted for was a two and two. So he

[1:42:37] said he'll take the two and two raise which I thought was kind of honorable on

[1:42:41] his part. So he um they really do try to do a good job over there and they do run

[1:42:46] their operations very lean. >> What is the budget?

[1:42:50] » I don't have that off the top of my head, but you could definitely reach out

[1:42:53] to Director Bowlan. I think he's going to be at the Butler County Township

[1:42:56] Association dinner on Thursday night if you wanted to have some further

[1:43:00] conversations with him. >> And is he the only employee they have?

[1:43:05] » No, there's two two three others. I think they just No, three others. But

[1:43:09] they did just someone just uh took another job elsewhere

[1:43:14] rather lean. But oh and those meetings too are open to the public. Um you can

[1:43:19] come in, listen to them, all that good stuff.

[1:43:22] » And where do they have those at? >> Over right over there at Ninecom by the

[1:43:26] uh board of elections. >> Right here in Fairfield Township. Well,

[1:43:30] just on the edge of Fairfield Township in the city of Hamilton.

[1:43:34] » They're almost cool enough to be in Fairfield Township, but not quite. used

[1:43:38] to be the downhill. >> True.

[1:43:43] » Okay. Um, board member comments. Trusty Makabe.

[1:43:47] » I just like to welcome our fire.

[1:43:52] » Trusty Harkimire. >> Anything on the calendar

[1:43:56] other than we need to add for next uh March that we're going to talk about the

[1:44:01] moratorum. But is there anything else on here for

[1:44:03] » the what Shelley mentioned before was the amounts and rates? We'll do that in

[1:44:07] October. It moves around a little bit sometimes.

[1:44:11] » They're what >> does that move around sometimes?

[1:44:13] » Well, it's always September unless they get an extension, then it's October.

[1:44:18] » Why did they get an extension? >> I think from the um calculation of the

[1:44:22] new homestead and stuff that's going on at the state. So, the state extended

[1:44:26] their time, which extended the county time, which extends our time, but they

[1:44:31] said we'd have the information by October 1st and need it approved and

[1:44:34] back by October 31st. extend the time the property owners have to pay their

[1:44:38] » No, sorry. >> We had an extension this year. It was

[1:44:43] like two weeks. >> Really?

[1:44:44] » Yeah. Normally, it's due at the beginning of August and this year it

[1:44:47] wasn't due till the 19th. >> I paid mine early so I didn't know.

[1:44:52] » I've written in my book October 26 for the rates. Is that

[1:44:56] » that two years ago it was October again. It was October due to an extension and

[1:45:02] last year I forgot it and it was October, but technically it should be

[1:45:05] September. >> Maybe October of 26 is what I wrote, not

[1:45:09] October 26th. >> Oh yeah, maybe possible.

[1:45:12] » We should keep it on September because it technically should be September.

[1:45:16] » Okay.

[1:45:19] » Anything else? >> Yeah, there it is.

[1:45:20] » Because I missed it last year. >> Okay. Um Oh, every time I drive by the

[1:45:24] park, those pickle ball courts are filled with people playing. So, do we

[1:45:29] take reservations then or >> payment?

[1:45:32] » We should raise the fee. >> Yeah, I think we should double the fee.

[1:45:35] I think we could. >> Yeah, that that's all I have. Um,

[1:45:42] announcements. Uh, the regular trustee meeting is Tuesday, October 27th, 2026

[1:45:47] at 7 p.m. The agenda does say the 13th, but we did change it at tonight's

[1:45:52] meeting to be the 27th. Uh, we have no executive session

[1:45:56] scheduled. So at this time I move to adjourn.

[1:46:01] Is there a second or would you like to stay here?

[1:46:03] » Right. Second. >> Miss Schultz, you call the role, please.

[1:46:07] » Trusty Bing, >> yes.

[1:46:08] » Trusty Harkim, >> yes.

[1:46:09] » Trusty Makabe, >> yes.

[1:46:11] » And that motion passes. We adjourn at 8:46. Thank you all for

Fairfield Township Board of Trustees- Meeting- 09/08/2026

Transcript