[0:48] I want to call the um

[0:51] committee meeting for August 5th to

[0:53] order.

[0:54] Um, first on the list is the community

[0:58] of whole and that would be Dom with July

[1:02] Yard Beautifification Awards.

[1:12] Okay,

[1:20] so there's our awesome sign. You'll see

[1:23] it at the following homes. Is this Am I

[1:27] using this clicker?

[1:34] You're doing it for me. Okay, thank you.

[1:36] Next.

[1:40] Okay, so first this is Liz and Kyle's

[1:42] house, and they're actually here today.

[1:46] um their neighbors who submitted them,

[1:49] they said that they take pride in their

[1:52] yard and in the garden. They're very

[1:54] intentional to have native plants and

[1:56] are also very intentional to remove

[1:58] invasive species. Side note, Kyle is the

[2:01] forestry teacher at Roosevelt, so he

[2:04] kind of he this is natural for him.

[2:07] >> Can I jump in? Aren't you forestry

[2:08] teacher of the year? Is that correct?

[2:11] >> Yeah. All right. [clears throat]

[2:13] of the year like in Ohio.

[2:16] >> Okay. Very humble brag over here. So

[2:19] very proud of that. Um and then the next

[2:23] one is Renee and Randy Rich. I don't

[2:27] know how to say that.

[2:28] >> Thank you. Um the folks who submitted

[2:32] them, they had said that while there's

[2:35] not a built garden, um they impressively

[2:38] used their yards for their yard and

[2:40] their sideyard for native plants and

[2:44] flowers and vegetables as well. Um and

[2:47] Renee was super generous um when I was

[2:49] there giving her her sign. She's like,

[2:51] "Do you want some of my plants?" And I'm

[2:52] like, "I mean, yes, actually, I probably

[2:54] will come back and get some." So, uh, if

[2:57] you want to stop over at 237 Highland,

[2:59] I'm sure she'll give you some as well.

[3:01] So, that's who we have. If you see these

[3:03] signs, um, make sure you or if you know

[3:06] these people, say thank you for having

[3:09] great yards. And I'm going to take a

[3:11] picture if you guys don't mind. Come up

[3:12] here with counsel.

[3:22] Congratulations.

[3:46] » And side note, this isn't on there, but

[3:48] tomorrow is another movie night. So if

[3:50] you have people who want to come to

[3:51] Artemis Park at 7 o'clock.

[3:56] » Thanks Tom.

[3:58] Update Steve.

[4:10] We don't have any

[4:15] » just

[4:29] updates.

[4:30] >> Okay. Uh council pending list update.

[4:36] Yes.

[4:42] Um, we missed 1.3.

[4:44] >> 1.3 is postponed.

[4:46] >> Oh, it is. I apologize for

[5:33] most

[5:39] next month.

[5:47] » Sorry. Thank you very much. This tends

[5:49] to be I'm having a night. Um, [laughter]

[5:54] this tends to be stuff that is more

[5:57] longer serving, sometimes intentionally

[6:00] waiting on things, sometimes just

[6:02] keeping it on the list because it's a

[6:04] topical area that you guys have said,

[6:06] "Yeah, you've satisfied the original

[6:08] motion, but we still care about this

[6:09] topic enough that we can just keep it on

[6:12] the list." We're fine with that. Um,

[6:15] remember too that this is not the ten

[6:17] commandments written in stone. You can

[6:19] change this. You can add it. does it

[6:21] gets added to um and I know at the

[6:23] previous meeting Mr. Hook made a motion

[6:26] to remove something. So, we've reflected

[6:29] that in here. Anyway, so you can it's your to-do list. Our I should say

[6:34] our to-do list because it's kind of a

[6:36] joint effort, right? Um so, some of

[6:38] these will look familiar to you. Uh this

[6:41] first one here, explore senior center

[6:43] advisory committee. That was the

[6:45] original motion was just a uh Melissa

[6:47] Long dated how dated that is. She wanted

[6:51] a actual separate standalone just we

[6:53] have sustainability commission. She

[6:55] wanted a senior citizen commission.

[6:57] Basically, um council said, "We really

[7:00] like senior citizens, but we don't want

[7:01] to get in the habit of having a bunch of

[7:03] different commissions. We think we can

[7:06] represent those interests in the council

[7:08] chambers and um without a standalone

[7:11] commission." But they said, "We care

[7:12] enough about seniors and we want to we

[7:15] had some speakers come in and talked

[7:17] about what senior services were in other

[7:18] cities and there's not a lot of senior

[7:21] support uh senior activities here.

[7:23] There's certainly support agencies, but

[7:26] uh like a senior center. And if you

[7:28] recall, part of our inspiration for

[7:30] buying the church was Angela had some

[7:33] interest in perhaps trying to convert

[7:35] that to a senior activity center. It's

[7:38] still a work in progress. She's not here

[7:39] tonight, but um I I've been on part of

[7:42] conversations with her getting a

[7:44] contractor in there to really figure out

[7:47] what it would take to turn that into a

[7:49] usable senior. It doesn't. She hasn't

[7:52] specifically said seniors yet, but an

[7:54] activity center of some sort, which

[7:56] seniors would be on that list. So, it's

[7:58] still ongoing. We're happy to keep it on

[8:00] there. I think that's what I

[8:02] recommended. Yeah, keep it on there. So,

[8:04] that' be that recommendation. Um,

[8:08] we had a conversation about

[8:11] Franklin Township sidewalk shoveling in

[8:13] that section. It's kind of like a little

[8:16] bit into the city, a little out of the

[8:18] city, then back in the city. It's that

[8:20] and and it's not all sidewalked. Um some

[8:24] of parts of it has sidewalk. Now Jim is

[8:26] got that project in that section. Once

[8:28] East Maine wraps up hopefully carries

[8:30] that all the way down to 261 and a big

[8:33] part of the funding which he's got much

[8:35] of the funding secured for that. So

[8:38] we're we're excited about that. And

[8:40] that'll have actual designated wide

[8:43] sidewalks pulled back a little bit off

[8:45] the roadway. Um I think that's when this

[8:48] really matters. But in the meantime, uh

[8:51] we did learn a couple things that we

[8:53] actually do where there is sidewalk, we

[8:56] parks and wreck will continue down the

[8:58] hill for much of that section um where

[9:01] there's sidewalk, not where there's not.

[9:03] Uh and Bridget's folks um you know, they

[9:06] do distribute the notices at the start

[9:09] of the season and when there's man-made

[9:11] piles or now this year natural

[9:13] accumulations, she will notify those

[9:16] businesses that they need to do it. Now,

[9:18] um I guess we we can't cite the ones

[9:21] that are technically not in the city,

[9:23] but we can certainly ask them to be good

[9:25] business neighbors. So, um we're happy

[9:28] fine keeping it on the list if that's

[9:30] what you want. You could also probably

[9:32] remove it, but it's totally up to you.

[9:36] Um, I would like to keep it on the list

[9:38] because it is really about a partnership

[9:41] and that hasn't really been

[9:45] worked through and you know we are all

[9:49] looking forward to the day when

[9:50] sidewalks will be complete and it might

[9:53] it it might you know for resources p

[9:56] purposes we might want to keep that

[9:58] partnership idea rather than taking it

[10:01] all on ourselves. But it's I think it's

[10:04] worth um I think I think when the public

[10:09] and the township people in the township

[10:11] see how wonderful it can be to have

[10:14] walkability then there's going to be

[10:17] more interest in resource sharing at

[10:18] that point. So let's keep it on.

[10:23] >> Um

[10:25] the consent number three was the consent

[10:27] agenda and that was removed. You've

[10:29] already voted to remove that. So that

[10:31] was what Mr. Hook made a motion to um

[10:34] noise ordinance. I think I suspect

[10:36] that'll always be an ongoing issue of

[10:38] one version of another. You have had

[10:40] conversations. We have made changes, but

[10:42] I think there's still even more a couple

[10:44] things that we're still looking at

[10:45] trying to gather more information. Um

[10:48] and there's a couple different

[10:50] ironically a couple of the outstanding

[10:52] requests were the opposite. It was to

[10:56] lighten to loosen the the noise

[10:59] ordinance. Um, and those were by people

[11:01] that got cited. So, uh, anyways,

[11:04] [laughter]

[11:05] you can't please everybody all the time.

[11:07] Um, I we think we try to strike a a fair

[11:10] balance and um, yeah, so I think we keep

[11:15] that one on the list as far as we're

[11:17] concerned unless you're inspired to

[11:18] remove it. um

[11:21] the downtown historic district that it's

[11:24] probably best if just read that

[11:26] paragraph but um there has been a lot of

[11:29] discussion activity on at the end of the

[11:31] day a lot of the uh historic design

[11:34] elements were incorporated into the

[11:36] zoning code. you um ceased the ARB

[11:40] functionality

[11:42] um and council

[11:45] had previously

[11:47] um and I think it's still the same

[11:49] sentiment that hey any property owner

[11:51] that wants to voluntarily you know make

[11:54] their property designation uh for

[11:57] historic we welcome that and we've got

[11:59] the ability to do it quickly we have the

[12:01] expedited CLG certification so and we've

[12:04] done that you this council's probably I

[12:07] one earlier this year. Um but the the

[12:10] idea of us imposing drawing lines and

[12:13] imposing this on people uh property

[12:15] owners

[12:17] council's been and staff has not

[12:19] recommended that either. I think you

[12:21] could remove that from the list what

[12:24] that would be. Um I'll finish and then

[12:27] you can decide which ones you want to

[12:28] keep. Um the architectural review board

[12:34] that one also you pretty much have by

[12:37] default

[12:38] removed its existence and the

[12:41] functionality. So I think that goes away

[12:43] but keep in mind that doesn't mean this

[12:45] next month or this month you could reput

[12:47] it. You could have a new version of

[12:49] that. So, I know sometimes because there

[12:52] are folks that this does matter to this

[12:54] concept, even though the original motion

[12:57] to put it on the pending list has sort

[13:00] of been resolved. Um, it doesn't mean it

[13:03] goes away forever. So, if you don't want

[13:05] it to go away forever. So, I would just

[13:07] share that with you. I think for this at

[13:09] this point, that one probably I would

[13:11] lean more towards. It's probably worth

[13:13] removing that from your list. Um,

[13:17] yeah, this next one, the requirement for

[13:19] in-person board interviews and

[13:21] commission interviews, staff doesn't

[13:23] really have a strong opinion on that

[13:24] one. That's kind of, I guess, up to you

[13:26] guys to talk about. Um, and we haven't

[13:29] scheduled time for that in committee,

[13:31] but I guess that's what would need to

[13:33] happen. I don't I don't get the sense

[13:34] that it's a stressful, urgent item or or

[13:37] somebody would have brought it up. I

[13:39] actually think some of this came from

[13:40] your predecessors. So, I don't know how

[13:43] much you guys even carry uh carried

[13:46] interest in this. Um I believe it was

[13:49] Jeff that made a referral for the

[13:51] arborist. It was tree issues on during

[13:55] inspections. Can we flag some tree

[13:57] issues, tree safety issues on private

[14:00] property, particularly rentals? And so

[14:02] Bridget worked on that. I think she's

[14:04] talked to Jeff on that. We've

[14:06] incorporated some new forms, referral

[14:09] forms that her inspectors can use to in

[14:12] advise central maintenance when they see

[14:14] a tree that we ought to have our arbors

[14:17] take a look at. Um, we don't have the

[14:19] staffing to do every tree and every

[14:22] rental inspection. So, we don't want to

[14:24] make it part of the specific rental

[14:26] process, but if it uh if we're there,

[14:29] we're happy to flag it and and start,

[14:31] you know, kind of its own process at

[14:33] that point. Um, so far so good. I mean,

[14:36] it's it's just been this year that

[14:37] bridges started that, but I hadn't seen

[14:39] any um push back on that. And then

[14:42] lastly, the um the warming centers

[14:46] concept, you know, you guys added

[14:49] $10,000. Is that right? And and we uh

[14:52] That's right. And then we um we did that

[14:56] two seasons now, I think. So, you had

[14:59] continued the pilot. You authorized its

[15:01] continuation. So, I don't think we need

[15:04] to keep it on the list anymore, but

[15:06] again, we're fine to go whatever

[15:08] direction you want. So, those are the

[15:10] items before you. Hey guys, what what

[15:13] are your wishes here?

[15:22] » I go down the line.

[15:24] >> Okay. Start down there, Ben. Kind of go

[15:27] down the line.

[15:30] >> That will be retain or remove. Yeah. or

[15:32] should we just pick one and then we'll

[15:33] just kind of get a problem here.

[15:36] >> So start with the uh senior center

[15:38] advisory committee.

[15:42] » Yes.

[16:07] Okay,

[16:08] >> I agree with Sarah. Let's remove it.

[16:11] >> I

[16:14] can because we can put this back as a in

[16:18] a different form perhaps. Um I agree

[16:22] that the senior center advisory

[16:24] committee has been on here long enough.

[16:26] I think we're moving forward and maybe

[16:28] we'll come up with something else and

[16:30] put it on later. So, I'm I'm fine with

[16:33] removing

[16:34] >> Eric. Remove.

[16:37] >> Remove.

[16:39] >> Okay.

[16:40] >> So, it's gone.

[16:41] >> Should I Should I do all in favor of

[16:43] removing?

[16:45] Yeah. All those people in favor of

[16:47] removing it raise their hand. I

[16:48] >> I

[16:49] >> opposed. Okay. So, it's removed.

[16:53] discussion of the Franklin Township or

[16:55] on sidewalk shoveling.

[16:59] We just do all those who want it

[17:01] removed.

[17:02] It probably easier, right?

[17:04] >> All those in favor of removing that from

[17:06] the pending list.

[17:09] >> All those who want it it remained on the

[17:11] pending list. I

[17:13] >> Okay, remains.

[17:16] >> Exploring the use of the consent agenda

[17:19] was already been removed.

[17:21] Uh, council committee noise ordinance

[17:24] review

[17:26] in favor of removing

[17:29] one. All those in favor of keeping

[17:34] four or five. So yeah. So it remains

[17:37] downtown historic district. All those in

[17:40] favor of removing pending list.

[17:43] >> One, two, three, four, five. All remd.

[17:47] Role of the architectural review board.

[17:50] All those in favor of removing I.

[17:53] >> I.

[17:54] >> Okay. Passes.

[17:57] Um.

[18:02] Okay. Requirement of for in-person board

[18:05] interviews.

[18:07] All those in favor of removing.

[18:11] All those in favor of keeping it on the

[18:13] pending list. Okay. So that keeps on.

[18:16] Number five. Arborous and Health

[18:18] Department included in rental

[18:20] inspections. All those in favor of

[18:21] removing I.

[18:23] >> Okay, it's removed. And warming centers

[18:27] for the unhoused.

[18:30] All those in favor of removing

[18:35] three four. So those who want to keep it

[18:40] on

[18:41] one. So it's removed.

[18:46] Okay,

[18:47] >> that's it. Thank you, mayor.

[18:48] >> Thank you.

[18:50] All right.

[18:53] So, next is

[18:55] community development.

[18:59] >> All right.

[19:00] Um and Bridget's coming up. We're going

[19:04] to talk about the economic development

[19:07] strategy update.

[19:09] >> Yes. Um, we have a consultant here today

[19:12] that I'm going to actually turn the mic

[19:14] over to let him introduce himself and uh

[19:17] talk about his process for the economic

[19:20] development strategy. But I did want to

[19:21] give everybody a little background on

[19:23] how we identify consultants. For those

[19:25] of you that may not be familiar, uh, the

[19:28] community development department issues

[19:29] requests for qualifications and we

[19:32] identify consultants that have done the

[19:34] work that we are seeking in other Ohio

[19:37] cities. The consultant doesn't

[19:38] necessarily need to be based in Ohio,

[19:41] but we find that it really makes a

[19:43] difference if they have familiarity with

[19:45] the state of Ohio and its laws and have

[19:48] done work specifically in Northeast

[19:50] Ohio. Um, the assistant uh community

[19:53] development director worked with me on

[19:55] identifying five consultants that had

[19:56] done work in Ohio and uh we received

[20:00] just one proposal but ironically it came

[20:02] from the one that we were hoping for. uh

[20:04] he has an extensive CV as which I

[20:06] included in my packet. He has done um

[20:10] basically economic development strategic

[20:12] work worldwide but more importantly also

[20:14] in Northeast Ohio in um many different

[20:18] details and formats. Uh so far it has

[20:20] been um a wonderful experience with him

[20:22] and I would like to have Randol Gross

[20:24] come up and he can talk to you about his

[20:26] experience and what he's going to be

[20:27] doing with Kent.

[20:32] Thank you, Bridget.

[20:34] Hello everyone.

[20:36] I'm Randy Gross. I'm an economic and

[20:38] strategic planning consultant based in

[20:40] Nashville. Uh Randle Gross Development

[20:43] Economics is the full name of my firm,

[20:45] which is a mouthful. Sorry about that.

[20:48] Um I've been consulting almost 40 years,

[20:51] so a lot of gray hair up here. And maybe

[20:54] about 700 or so projects worldwide. I

[20:57] had an office in Washington DC, London

[20:59] and Johannesburg, South Africa for many

[21:01] years. Have worked all over Southern

[21:04] Africa, West Africa, Europe and the

[21:07] North America primarily but have done

[21:09] training actually worldwide. So um lot

[21:14] of experience in different aspects of

[21:16] economic development which is maybe

[21:18] about 40 or 50% of my work. I also do a

[21:21] lot of real estate market analysis and

[21:23] financial feasibility assessment which

[21:26] is also an important part of my work and

[21:28] of course they're

[21:30] interface between the two of those and

[21:32] then I do a lot of economic and fiscal

[21:35] analysis economic fiscal impact analysis

[21:38] and other types of fiscal studies and a variety of other things. For

[21:43] example, in Africa I did a lot of

[21:44] agricultural economics um and

[21:46] conservation economics. So, my

[21:49] experience comes from a broad array of

[21:51] different areas. Um, in addition to work

[21:55] internationally, as Bridget mentioned,

[21:56] I've worked in in Northeast Ohio quite a

[21:59] bit, in your neighboring community of

[22:01] Hudson, in um well, Hudson as well as in

[22:04] Stowe, in Cleveland, in Independence,

[22:08] some other communities in Northeast

[22:09] Ohio. So in addition to that, other

[22:11] parts of Ohio and a lot of college towns

[22:14] all over the place, including Granville,

[22:16] Ohio, which you're probably familiar

[22:18] with, and Oxford, Ohio, some others. So

[22:21] I know a little bit about where you're

[22:23] coming from here, but the purpose of

[22:25] this trip that I'm on now is to really

[22:26] learn and listen from you about what

[22:29] your priorities are, what your interests

[22:32] are, what direction uh you'd like to see

[22:35] yourselves going in.

[22:37] So, I've been holding some interviews

[22:39] this trip uh with different folks uh

[22:41] that were recommended to me uh including

[22:45] uh and I cannot pronounce his last name,

[22:47] but Don Sheldall

[22:51] >> um as well as some folks from Davy Tree

[22:54] um some folks from the Portage

[22:55] Development uh uh agency

[23:00] um as well as a small business person

[23:03] I'll be meeting with in downtown and

[23:05] some representatives of Penn State

[23:07] University, but I welcome any

[23:09] suggestions you have on others uh to

[23:11] meet with while I'm here. I'll also be

[23:13] inventorying everything and doing site

[23:16] analysis and looking at everything

[23:17] that's here now so that I have a feel

[23:20] for the context of of what we're working

[23:22] with. And I'll be when I'm in downtown,

[23:25] for example, we'll be stopping at a lot

[23:26] of the businesses and conducting some ad

[23:29] hoc interviews with with the folks that

[23:31] are working here as well. So, um, that's

[23:35] kind of what I'm doing on this trip.

[23:38] I'll be also conducting two more trips.

[23:40] So, I want to have an interface with you

[23:42] on those as well to give you feedback on

[23:44] what I'm doing and where I am with

[23:46] things as well as to present some uh

[23:49] preliminary findings or strategies when

[23:51] I get to the end. There'll be in

[23:54] addition to the site assessment,

[23:55] there'll be socioeconomic baseline

[23:57] analysis. So, looking at all of your

[23:59] trends. I've already been reviewing a

[24:01] lot of the documentation that that

[24:03] Bridget and her team have provided. Um,

[24:06] and there's a lot of it. So, there was

[24:09] the strategic plan you did last year,

[24:12] 2025, which I have reviewed. Um, and a

[24:16] lot of other things. So, I've been going

[24:17] through all of that documentation.

[24:19] Um, I'll be doing a benchmarking

[24:22] assessment. So, one of the questions I

[24:23] have for you tonight is what communities

[24:26] you'd like me to look at in addition to

[24:28] the ones that I select on my own in

[24:30] terms of benchmarking the city for

[24:32] economic development um against others,

[24:35] for example, in Northeast Ohio or

[24:37] elsewhere. So, I'm interested in your

[24:39] opinion on that.

[24:42] I'll be sort of conducting a target

[24:44] market analysis.

[24:46] And you know, right now when I looked at

[24:47] the strategic plan, I noticed that

[24:49] you're really looking at Northeast Ohio

[24:51] information about what the target

[24:52] industries are, what types of businesses

[24:56] um you're looking at as a region. But

[24:58] the purpose of this or one of the

[24:59] purposes of this is really to focus on

[25:01] what is specifically your targets and your needs for for your comm your

[25:08] community u for Kent. So that'll be a

[25:11] big part of what I'm doing as well. And

[25:13] then there'll be economic development

[25:16] strategies and an implementation action

[25:18] plan that will be developed out of this

[25:21] that'll address things like business

[25:23] retention and growth, marketing and

[25:25] recruitment, entrepreneurship,

[25:28] uh keeping downtown vibrant, uh, real

[25:31] estate and development, relationships

[25:33] with your various partners,

[25:35] infrastructure, leveraging, all of those

[25:37] types of things. But I'll be hearing

[25:39] from you as well iteratively. So, I want

[25:41] to know what other things you'll be

[25:42] wanting me to look at. And there'll also

[25:43] be metrics as part of this to sort of

[25:45] measure your progress going forward. And

[25:49] of course, all of this will be contained

[25:50] in a written report. So, for tonight, as

[25:54] I mentioned before, I'd like to hear

[25:55] from you a little bit about what you

[25:57] feel the priorities are for economic

[25:59] development, if I have enough time to do

[26:01] that.

[26:01] >> Okay. and also sort of what benchmarking

[26:06] you'd like me to see uh you'd like me to

[26:08] do in terms of Northeast Ohio or

[26:10] elsewhere, communities that you feel

[26:13] have been successful or that have

[26:15] achieved the kinds of things you'd like

[26:17] to achieve here um in the ways that

[26:20] you'd like to see economic development

[26:21] achieved. So, I'm opening up the floor

[26:25] to you for also for any questions you

[26:26] have about me or my background as we

[26:29] move forward, but

[26:31] >> it's up to you now.

[26:32] >> So, uh, who would like to start?

[26:35] >> I've got a few.

[26:37] >> Um, hi.

[26:38] >> Hi.

[26:39] >> Welcome.

[26:39] >> Thank you.

[26:40] >> Welcome, Ken. Um, so a couple maybe some

[26:44] suggestions on additional persons to

[26:46] meet with. maybe a copen machine because

[26:48] they're medium-sized and because we just

[26:51] invested in their future and it's

[26:53] directly adjacent to our downtown and

[26:56] employment growth is the projection.

[27:00] >> Okay, perfect.

[27:02] >> Right.

[27:03] >> Um so like medium-sized businesses like

[27:05] what is what is the environment for

[27:07] that? Of course small businesses but I

[27:10] just want to catch the spectrum. you're

[27:12] already meeting with Davey, which is

[27:13] great that you know, as long as we get

[27:15] the spectrum so that we're

[27:18] >> as knowledgeable as possible about all

[27:20] the different potential entities that

[27:22] might be interested in being in a place

[27:23] like Kent.

[27:24] >> Um, when it comes to benchmarking, I

[27:28] don't think there's another Kent in

[27:30] northeastern Ohio. And so, it's just

[27:32] really hard to think about what that

[27:33] benchmark is. And so, gosh, I'd look to

[27:36] your expertise and thinking more broadly

[27:38] around benchmarking. Surely there's some

[27:40] economic indicators that you can look to

[27:43] for benchmarking, but our vibe is very

[27:46] different than the Hudson and Stow that

[27:49] you've already done some work with. Um,

[27:52] and because of our very real and large

[27:55] college,

[27:56] >> right?

[27:56] >> Uh, and our boundaries, our sizing for

[27:59] sure as well. Um, that's where I'll

[28:03] start and I'll just pass it to some

[28:04] other

[28:05] >> Can I ask Benjamin?

[28:06] >> Yeah.

[28:07] >> Benjamin works at the university.

[28:08] >> Okay. Do you have college towns that you

[28:11] would say, "Man, these are some of my

[28:13] favorite and they are similar to Kent

[28:15] maybe." Do you have anything like that you could think of given your

[28:18] >> I I I believe I know who you're meeting

[28:20] with at the university and they will

[28:22] have a good answer to that. [laughter]

[28:24] >> Okay.

[28:25] >> Yeah, I think you're meeting with Dana.

[28:27] >> Yes, meeting with Dana on Friday.

[28:29] >> Nick, perfect. They will have a a better

[28:32] answer than I have because they have it

[28:33] on the ready.

[28:36] And I should say also that as Bridget

[28:39] mentioned, I will be having focus groups

[28:41] next time I I'm here that will have

[28:43] representatives of a broad array of

[28:45] different sectors of your local economy,

[28:47] including small businesses, womanowned

[28:49] businesses, for example, different types

[28:51] of groups and um so I'll hear from a

[28:54] diverse array of different types of

[28:55] businesses and sizes. I will add a

[29:00] number of constituents have approached

[29:02] me and said, "Gosh, it'd be nice if we

[29:04] had more businesses like Sugaren Falls

[29:08] so that you can walk around and peruse."

[29:10] That has been mentioned to me a number

[29:11] of times.

[29:14] I don't know if that's possible because

[29:18] I know that retail business is very very hard and we do have so much

[29:25] storefront that is and we and we do have

[29:28] vacancies and so you know those are very

[29:30] real things to our downtown and then we

[29:33] have you know draw some concentric

[29:35] circles outside of the downtown and we

[29:37] need to think about all areas as well.

[29:40] >> Okay. Yeah.

[29:41] >> I'll pass the mic.

[29:44] Are you ready, Melissa?

[29:46] I'm not going to take up too much

[29:48] because I we already spoke for well over

[29:49] an hour, but the one thing that we

[29:51] didn't talk about that ties into what

[29:53] Benjamin's talking about is that we

[29:55] really have an issue with parking

[29:57] >> and that impacts our retail

[29:59] establishments and it's it definitely

[30:02] impacts uh the churn that we talked

[30:05] about and even though we don't

[30:08] necessarily think of that in economic

[30:10] development terms, it's a really big

[30:12] issue um for the downtown businesses. So

[30:15] that that idea of walkability is really

[30:18] true. I mean, Ben and I both walk all

[30:20] over the town, so do other people here,

[30:23] but from a stores perspective,

[30:27] >> it's retail is hard. We don't want to

[30:29] make it harder,

[30:30] >> right?

[30:31] >> So,

[30:31] >> okay.

[30:32] >> And and I think in every downtown I work

[30:34] in, parking is one of the top three

[30:37] issues.

[30:38] >> Yes, [laughter] of course.

[30:39] >> Yeah. We're glad you're here. Thank you.

[30:41] >> What are the other two?

[30:43] >> [laughter]

[30:45] >> Um,

[30:46] well, it's different in every community,

[30:48] but parking is a consistent one because

[30:50] everyone, you know, in America, we're

[30:52] used to parking in right next to where

[30:54] we want to go with convenience. So,

[30:56] that's a big deal

[30:57] >> a lot of places.

[30:59] >> Yeah.

[31:02] >> Yep.

[31:02] >> And then if if you do look at Sugarin

[31:04] Falls, they have a walkable little town

[31:07] with some parking. Um, but it does not

[31:11] impact their retail like it does here

[31:14] because they do have some really

[31:16] successful retail and I only know this

[31:18] because I run a farmers market in their

[31:20] downtown.

[31:21] >> Okay.

[31:24] » Thank you.

[31:26] >> Who else would like to speak?

[31:30] » No.

[31:32] Nobody else. I would like to talk.

[31:34] >> Good. But I'm running this meeting,

[31:36] >> so I can't.

[31:37] >> Oh,

[31:38] >> can we meet?

[31:39] >> I'm the downtown council representative

[31:42] and I have a lot of very strong opinions

[31:44] and

[31:45] >> interests in economic development.

[31:48] >> Okay.

[31:50] >> Is there anything else anyone wants to

[31:51] say about prior their priorities for

[31:54] economic what you feel are the your

[31:55] priorities or has it all been captured

[31:57] in the strategic plan that I've read?

[32:00] >> Priorities. I can I just add that

[32:04] council has been I don't know kneede hip

[32:07] deep in what we sort of anecdotally

[32:10] called downtown part two which was along

[32:14] the river railroad corridor. It's start

[32:17] it's a they're doing like a strategic

[32:18] planning exercise in conjunction with

[32:20] community members too and we I don't

[32:22] know if we've shared that information

[32:24] with you Randy but um

[32:27] there's been a lot of conversation about

[32:30] that we've we've built this great sort

[32:33] of physical infrastructure downtown and now we just need to continue to

[32:37] activate and animate it and a lot of

[32:39] that seems to resonate really well with

[32:41] sort of experiential

[32:43] retail experiential dining

[32:46] >> and and I think Shagrin Falls has some

[32:48] of that feel to it, too. I haven't spent

[32:50] much time there, but um I think we're

[32:54] leaning more and more towards what can

[32:57] we do add into the downtown

[33:01] amenity wise sort of quality of life

[33:04] things. There's been a um there was a

[33:06] master plan done for parks and

[33:08] recreation and one of their top

[33:09] priorities was more small recreational

[33:13] activity things for families and others

[33:16] downtown sort of worked into the the

[33:20] general topography down there. And uh

[33:22] Sarah's probably going to raise her hand

[33:24] and say she wants the the London Eye. Uh

[33:28] [laughter]

[33:29] >> okay. But those but the it's been a fun

[33:31] process because we're spitballing ideas

[33:36] and and we've got a fair number of those

[33:38] and we're happy at some point. I don't

[33:39] know if we've sh we've given you an elf.

[33:41] I know he's like no more. So

[33:43] >> no I did say no more. Bring it on. I

[33:45] mean but but there the experiential

[33:48] component and that word actually was

[33:49] used multiple times in the strategic

[33:51] plan. So I was familiar with that but

[33:53] the specific ideas that you have I

[33:55] welcome whatever

[33:57] >> concepts that's what I was going to say.

[33:59] So when you're looking at this plan,

[34:02] you're also going to look at what's the

[34:04] community's already contributed to our

[34:06] downtown part two. Okay. So all the way

[34:10] at the tippy tippy top

[34:13] uh splash pad. [laughter]

[34:16] >> Yeah. And that was on the list.

[34:17] >> Any amphitheater. So those kind of

[34:19] things if you're looking

[34:22] in like those those habitually come back

[34:26] from community members that they want to

[34:27] see more family oriented things and

[34:32] actually things that are geared toward

[34:35] un university students as well. So will

[34:39] you be here for flashes first Friday

[34:42] because maybe you should come.

[34:44] >> What time of day is that?

[34:48] Oh, he won't be here. You should come

[34:50] back. It'll be a good opportunity to

[34:52] meet with people.

[34:53] >> Video. That's right.

[34:54] >> That would be good. See,

[34:56] >> I I think it's important there's maybe

[34:59] it may not be self-evident, but in the

[35:02] spirit of putting our money where our

[35:04] mouth is. Council is investing, we're

[35:08] anticipating quarter of a million

[35:09] dollars specifically into parks and

[35:11] recreation for the first time ever

[35:12] because they're they're kind of

[35:14] self-funded. And the reason I point that

[35:16] out is because we're categorizing a lot

[35:19] whether it's splash pad a downtown

[35:21] ferris wheel or I mean we jokingly but

[35:24] we think it's important to

[35:26] >> throw everything out that those are

[35:29] supportable as economic development

[35:32] investments. So it's kind of we've

[35:35] broadened the we've gone from the bricks

[35:37] and mortar of the downtown redo that we

[35:40] spent 10 years doing to now we're sort

[35:42] of I call it the soft tissue. We built

[35:44] the hard tish, the bones, and and now to

[35:47] optimize the hard stuff, we want to

[35:49] really build the soft stuff, the people

[35:51] stuff. And that's where we're hearing it

[35:54] resonate really well that that splash

[35:56] pad, you name any kind of those

[35:58] amenities, access to the river,

[36:00] Whitewater Park downtown, you know, all

[36:03] these kind of amenities, trail access,

[36:06] we think those are fair game as part of

[36:09] an economic development strategy. I

[36:11] don't know if we've explicitly said that

[36:12] to you, but I would tell you that it

[36:14] it's meaningful here because they're

[36:15] even putting a quarter of a million

[36:17] dollars towards it.

[36:18] >> And I think what what I usually start

[36:20] with are your existing strengths or

[36:22] assets and and anything related to

[36:25] economic development or downtown

[36:27] revitalization, whatever. And I think,

[36:29] you know, you have a river, it's

[36:31] connected to a national park, correct?

[36:34] And so,

[36:37] you know, looking at that as an asset

[36:39] and how you can build on that downtown

[36:42] to me rings a bell. Like an idea that I

[36:45] think is very well placed. Things like

[36:48] splash pads and all of that can actually

[36:50] fit in nicely with trails with river

[36:53] kaying activity with river access. And

[36:56] so there ways to tie those things

[36:58] together,

[36:59] >> make it work.

[37:00] >> And that's what I was going to say too

[37:01] when we're talking about downtown. We as

[37:03] a council have talked a lot about

[37:07] um getting access to the river before

[37:10] other towns around us do it. So that's

[37:13] super important I think as well and it

[37:15] will bring families of all ages

[37:18] together. So I think that that's really

[37:20] important that you can spend some time

[37:23] looking at that for us.

[37:25] I was just going to go actually I was

[37:27] going to go more specifically into the

[37:29] river talk is that there there's a dam

[37:31] 10 miles downstream that's coming out

[37:33] that will open the river basically from

[37:34] just the north side of Kent to I don't

[37:37] know what the next dam I don't think

[37:38] exists anymore. I think it's the last

[37:39] dam on the river until you get to the

[37:40] national park. So

[37:42] >> two of the towns downstream of us are

[37:44] already planning to see what they can do

[37:45] to capitalize on it. But we're furthest

[37:47] upstream. So, I think we need to be

[37:49] first of the party and it's like a once

[37:51] in a generation or once in a lifetime.

[37:54] That dam's been there for 90 years. So,

[37:56] once in a lifetime opportunity to cash

[37:57] in on what's in our downtown. So, I

[38:00] think that needs to be a top priority

[38:01] because we don't get this chance again.

[38:04] >> And it also fits nicely with the

[38:06] university, you know, having here and

[38:09] everything else.

[38:12] >> Ben,

[38:13] >> yeah. Uh, couple more comments. Um the

[38:17] recreation I double down on that. So

[38:20] like we have the opportunity to invest

[38:22] in that but we cannot

[38:25] our hands are tied a lot in private

[38:27] investment and and economic development

[38:29] in some ways. We can just provide a good

[38:32] atmosphere for those investments. I was

[38:34] looking over your scope of work and it

[38:36] doesn't include housing and I know that

[38:38] we're doing a housing study,

[38:40] >> but if there was a way to consider the

[38:43] economics of of adjacency for housing.

[38:46] So I we know anecdotally or I I'll I'll

[38:50] speak in I terms. I know anecdotally

[38:53] that more young families want to live in

[38:55] Kent that are not able to.

[38:58] Um,

[39:00] and what does that mean for economic

[39:03] development? Like, uh, and I'm sure the

[39:07] housing study will illustrate housing

[39:10] stock. We're 60% rental as a town, but a

[39:14] lot of that rental is students that

[39:16] attend the university. And so, it's

[39:18] transient. It's shortterm. Literally,

[39:20] it's four years in and out, three years

[39:23] in and out, less than sometimes. Um,

[39:26] andor it's moving around. And so there's

[39:28] not as long of a an investment made by

[39:31] those uh individuals just because of

[39:33] time. Um

[39:37] had one more point and I lost it. It'll

[39:40] come to me.

[39:40] >> It'll come. It'll come.

[39:42] >> Anybody else?

[39:45] >> It came. Um [laughter] the the

[39:49] short-term rentals like the Airbnbs in

[39:51] the area

[39:53] are renting to those that are coming to

[39:55] the national park. So we are in the

[39:58] concentric circle of people coming for

[40:00] the national park in addition to other

[40:02] reasons. So we're already connected to

[40:06] the national park. people are staying

[40:08] this far away to visit that national

[40:10] park and we can benefit from that and we

[40:14] can probably say that better because

[40:16] it's already happening and we can

[40:18] probably say that louder and with river

[40:23] access and direct connection and all the

[40:26] other connective tissue that we could

[40:28] draw. Okay.

[40:30] >> Because the national park isn't going

[40:32] anywhere and um and it's really close at

[40:35] hand.

[40:36] >> Both.

[40:40] » So, so I would like to um make a few

[40:42] summary statements. That okay,

[40:45] everybody. Okay. First of all, we we

[40:48] pride ourselves on being unique. We

[40:50] pride ourselves on being at ahead of the

[40:51] curve. We developed Kent as a

[40:54] destination. Unfortunately, a lot of

[40:56] other communities kind of ripped off

[40:59] some of what we've done and they're

[41:00] trying to replicate it. So, we need to

[41:02] continue, which is what I heard Ben and

[41:04] several of you saying, to be that

[41:07] community that thinks ahead, thinks

[41:09] outside the box. We have a very

[41:11] committed population here. They love

[41:13] being here. This is a self-contained

[41:16] community. And we're we we like to see

[41:19] ourselves as unique. We value our

[41:21] diversity.

[41:23] We value our kind of weirdness

[41:27] and our vibrancy.

[41:29] I would when I was first elected to

[41:32] council many years ago, um I took a trip

[41:36] down to Asheville, North Carolina

[41:37] because I thought maybe that would be

[41:39] sort of a kind of a community that could

[41:41] inspire us. And you know, it's a music

[41:44] town and an art town and I think that

[41:48] was part of it. And it's a walkable city

[41:51] and you know it's not necessarily

[41:54] college town but it has a lot of nature.

[41:56] People are really into the environment

[41:58] around it, the trails and everything. Um

[42:01] I loved it there. I don't know what it's

[42:02] like now after the big floods and stuff,

[42:05] but that seemed to be kind of had our

[42:09] vibe. Boulder, Colorado was one of our

[42:11] sister the communities we looked at as

[42:14] being kind of Kentian or you know some

[42:17] something to something to take off

[42:19] after. I lived in Santa Cruz, California

[42:22] before moving here and I said what's the

[42:24] matter with this town? It could be

[42:26] another Santa Cruz. So

[42:29] um we do struggle with you know uh

[42:33] resources

[42:34] but we like to think uh creatively and

[42:39] you know really be that community that

[42:42] people want to come to and people want

[42:44] to live here and the housing issue is a

[42:47] big one for me because we do hear people

[42:50] want to live here once they're here they

[42:52] never want to go anywhere else. Um, so

[42:54] that's another thing is we need housing

[42:56] for people that want to trade different

[42:58] kinds of housing and go somewhere else.

[43:01] Um, and that's that's kind of what I

[43:03] just want to say as a summary because I

[43:05] think a lot of you hit on many of those

[43:08] points. Um, we want to continue to build

[43:11] the soft tissue, but we want to continue

[43:13] to do to become economically viable and

[43:16] get more jobs. That is that's important.

[43:19] Good good jobs. We even found minimum

[43:22] wage jobs are hey help pay

[43:25] >> you know so anything that can bring that

[43:27] kind of vibrancy you know we don't want

[43:30] a data center you know we want good jobs

[43:34] good quality jobs we want to attract

[43:36] young professionals and newly retireds

[43:40] and um

[43:42] families families has been a really big

[43:44] focus in in recently and we've

[43:47] discovered that maybe we can we a

[43:50] deficit at the family, you know,

[43:53] creating experiences for families.

[43:56] >> So, did I summarize?

[43:58] >> I think so. Did you work on the

[43:59] amphitheater um project for Stowe? I see

[44:03] Stow here for market potentials and

[44:05] fiscal impacts for their new

[44:06] >> No, it was part of I was part of their

[44:08] comprehensive plan

[44:10] >> and Stow um so I I didn't work on a

[44:13] specific it was more of a citywide

[44:16] >> question there.

[44:17] >> Creating a new because I know that they

[44:18] were looking at downtown as a walkable

[44:22] for there. So yes, you

[44:24] >> you were involved in that

[44:26] >> in the very early stages of that. Um

[44:29] again, it was part of their

[44:30] comprehensive plan probably 25

[44:34] years ago, maybe 20 years ago.

[44:37] >> Most recent work I've done around here

[44:39] was in Independence on their economic

[44:41] development.

[44:45] » Heidi, one last comment.

[44:46] >> Sure.

[44:47] >> Sorry. Um, in our packet today is the

[44:50] annual report from Main Street Kent. I'm

[44:52] sure you're going to meet with them, but

[44:53] it's an absolute driver for a lot of the

[44:57] activity and like such a great

[45:00] investment from the city and this

[45:02] >> uh twoerson

[45:04] strong and hundreds of volunteers

[45:07] >> at their backs helping to make amazing

[45:12] economic activity happening that comes

[45:15] to this place. And so like

[45:18] thinking about that and the impact that has had on our community and kind

[45:23] of like illustrate their report that I'm

[45:25] sure you'll get. So

[45:27] >> okay, thank you.

[45:32] » Are we invited to your focus groups?

[45:35] >> We report back after the

[45:37] >> We still have to talk about who's

[45:38] invited to those, but we'll discuss

[45:40] that. Usually the elected officials are

[45:42] not part of the focus groups unless

[45:44] you're

[45:46] business, pardon it.

[45:47] >> If you have a business, and you're part

[45:50] of that sector probably

[45:54] » so I want to thank you for for being

[45:56] willing to come and talk to us and keep

[45:59] bringing it back because it's really a

[46:01] vital topic to our community and uh you

[46:05] know it really links into everything.

[46:06] >> Yes. And um yeah um

[46:11] we one thing is we have realized that we

[46:14] are urbanizing. We are a small city

[46:16] that's landlocked but we're urbanizing

[46:18] and and density is becoming something

[46:21] that people are getting to be okay with.

[46:24] Um so we can think about that kind of

[46:27] model as well.

[46:29] know, um, we're we're we're weaning

[46:31] people off the parking [laughter]

[46:35] and, you know, helping people understand

[46:37] that if they park somewhere, they can

[46:39] walk a few blocks and enjoy the scenery

[46:41] along the way and maybe get caught up in

[46:43] something fun.

[46:44] >> Well, well, often college towns are the

[46:46] lead the lead communities for

[46:49] walkability around the country, as you

[46:51] know, having been to Boulder and places

[46:53] like that. So,

[46:54] >> that's a big part of it. Yeah.

[46:57] >> Yeah. Great. Thank you. Hope to meet

[46:59] with you.

[47:00] >> Thank you very much.

[47:02] >> Nice meeting all of you.

[47:08] » All right, we have

[47:18] housing board was established uh a long

[47:21] time ago and when it was originally

[47:22] established it was actually a quai

[47:24] judicial board. Uh since there have been

[47:27] changes in fair housing law, virtually

[47:29] every community moved their fair housing

[47:32] uh regulatory compliance to actual fair

[47:35] housing agencies that have attorneys and

[47:37] specialize in that. But one of the items

[47:40] that uh we've we've done actually

[47:42] amendments to this adding as you know

[47:44] protected classes locally um and also

[47:48] other things that HUD has required us to

[47:49] do. But one thing that has remained in

[47:51] here is of the seven members, five is

[47:53] required for a forum and that has become

[47:55] a challenge for us. We've had to cancel

[47:58] meetings um because we were only could

[48:01] we basically uh could only get four and

[48:04] another the last meeting they wanted to

[48:06] vote on a um basically a a resolution or

[48:10] a letter that they wanted to send to the

[48:12] state but they only had four. So I am

[48:14] here to request that it be changed to

[48:17] match match Robert's rules basically a

[48:20] majority. So the quorum would be four

[48:22] versus five.

[48:23] >> Any questions? Ben?

[48:24] >> No question but comment. Having been on

[48:27] the board I support this.

[48:30] >> Anybody else?

[48:32] Any any comments from the audience? Don.

[48:38] » All right. Back to council. Any any uh

[48:41] any motion? I

[48:46] >> make a motion to approve uh this change

[48:49] to a majority uh with uh emergency.

[48:52] >> I'll second.

[48:55] >> Any comments from council? Great. All

[48:58] those in favor?

[49:00] >> All those against? Same sign.

[49:03] >> Thank you.

[49:03] >> All right. Passes.

[49:05] >> And uh the committee is now closed.

[49:10] >> Uh yes. So, uh, we have Rhonda coming up

[49:14] to, um, talk about those, uh, certifying

[49:17] and the movement of these unpaid bills

[49:20] owed to the city of Kent to the county

[49:23] for collection.

[49:24] >> Correct.

[49:24] >> And Rhonda, yes. Before you start,

[49:26] because I'm kind of confused, Melissa

[49:28] asked me a question before the meeting

[49:30] started. Will these be three different

[49:33] ordinances as opposed to just one with

[49:36] everything on it?

[49:37] >> I think in the past they have been three

[49:38] separate ordinances. Okay, that's what I

[49:40] thought, but I wanted to ask you if So,

[49:42] we'll do each one of these separately

[49:44] and then I will check.

[49:47] I think it was three.

[49:51] Okay. So, the first one you have um at

[49:54] least I don't know in your packet which

[49:56] one you have first, but I'm going to do

[49:58] the uh concrete sidewalk bills. So,

[50:01] according in accordance with our

[50:03] codified ordinances 521.06 06 section.

[50:06] It allows us to certify any unpaid

[50:10] sidewalk program um delinquencies. And

[50:14] so this is the first one of 33,000.

[50:17] >> Do you want to reference I know this is

[50:20] the end of the pipeline, but you've done

[50:22] a lot of notification to the people.

[50:24] You've tried to get them to pay. This is

[50:28] there. It's not like we're just throwing

[50:30] these names on a list. There's been a

[50:32] lot of pre-effort to get them to pay.

[50:34] Yes.

[50:35] >> So,

[50:37] each department takes care of their own

[50:39] delinquencies, but um we send second

[50:42] notices. We've even sent third notices,

[50:44] especially for I know utility billing.

[50:46] We send the notices with a letter saying

[50:49] if you don't pay by X date, your uh

[50:51] delinquence is going to be put on your

[50:53] property tax bill uh come September. And

[50:56] I think it's September 9th that we have

[50:58] to certify it to the county by. So yeah,

[51:02] we do a lot of due diligence and trying

[51:04] to get people to know that this is due

[51:06] to the city and try to get them to pay

[51:08] in advance of having to put it on the

[51:10] property taxes because the county then

[51:13] puts their fee on top of that. So,

[51:16] >> so, uh, questions from council and

[51:19] >> yeah, an actual question this time, not

[51:22] um, if a resident for the concrete

[51:27] program that hasn't paid, is there a

[51:31] financial hardship application process?

[51:33] >> They've already done that. And so, if a

[51:35] person is meet certain criteria, they

[51:37] either get it for half price or free.

[51:39] >> Okay.

[51:40] >> So, they've already done that before

[51:42] this whole

[51:43] >> Okay. Okay. When they actually apply for

[51:44] it, you know, when they're when they're

[51:46] going through and doing the sidewalk

[51:47] program, they already are talking with

[51:49] each resident about that.

[51:50] >> Yeah. Thank you.

[51:52] >> Any other questions from council?

[51:54] >> Sarah.

[51:54] >> Sorry, I'm new. So, I just need to ask

[51:57] this question. So mostly because I lost

[51:59] my paper, but I'm just going to

[52:01] >> So when someone needs this program and

[52:06] they do they pay anything

[52:09] upfront or it's only after the fact that

[52:11] >> we that's usually up to the engineering

[52:15] department, but we usually work with the

[52:17] individuals to say if you need a payment

[52:19] plan, we'll work with you that way. We

[52:21] don't just say this is what you owe and

[52:24] it's due upon receipt of the bill.

[52:29] >> Oh, hi. Uh

[52:30] >> oh.

[52:33] >> Sure. So, you were asking about the uh

[52:37] sidewalk program.

[52:38] >> Yeah.

[52:39] >> Okay. So,

[52:41] the short version is in the codified

[52:43] ordinances. It's the public the property

[52:46] owner's responsibility to maintain the

[52:47] sidewalk. 94 council uh approved a

[52:52] series of rebates uh discounts for

[52:56] hardships for things out of their

[52:58] control like tree related issues. And so

[53:01] when we go to a street as part of the

[53:03] street program, we walk, we assess the

[53:05] street, uh the sidewalks, we uh

[53:09] determine which ones need to be repaired

[53:11] for the safety of the public. Send a

[53:13] notice to the property owner saying,

[53:15] "Hey, in a year we're going to do the

[53:16] PL, this program, here's the things that

[53:20] you are responsible for, and you can

[53:22] either do it yourself or we'll do it for

[53:24] you, and here's an estimate of what it

[53:26] would cost you. And if you are available

[53:29] for these programs, please provide us

[53:31] the information. Uh in general, anything

[53:34] street tree related is free because it's

[53:37] not their cause. Uh if they are if it's

[53:40] owner occupied residential, they'll get

[53:43] 50% off anything. And if they're low

[53:46] income owner occupied residential, it's

[53:48] free.

[53:49] >> Oh, okay. So,

[53:51] >> did that help?

[53:53] >> Okay.

[53:53] >> Thank you.

[53:56] Any other questions from council?

[53:59] >> So, can we do a vote on this one? Sure.

[54:02] One at a time. So, uh, anybody have a

[54:05] motion for this?

[54:06] >> Yeah. Emergency.

[54:07] >> I'll move this section, the annual

[54:09] concrete repair to for approval.

[54:12] >> Any second?

[54:14] >> With e.

[54:14] >> All those in favor?

[54:16] >> Oh, I'm sorry. With emergency.

[54:17] >> With emergency.

[54:18] Then you second that.

[54:22] >> Any other comments or questions?

[54:25] All those in favor

[54:26] >> I

[54:27] >> oppose

[54:29] passes.

[54:30] >> Okay. Sorry, shouldn't have said that.

[54:32] Not my job to say pass.

[54:35] >> So the next section,

[54:36] >> the next one is the uh delinquent

[54:38] nonutility. So this includes um per the

[54:43] memo any violation that is uh

[54:47] created by the law code enforcers and

[54:50] also the health department. So you have

[54:52] a list for each of the community

[54:54] development and uh the health department

[54:57] for their citations slashviolations that

[55:01] are going to get sent to the county as

[55:04] well.

[55:10] » Any questions? No. Um back to council

[55:13] for a motion.

[55:15] >> I'll move to authorize with the

[55:17] emergency.

[55:18] >> Second.

[55:20] All those in favor.

[55:22] >> Anybody opposed?

[55:26] >> All right. And the last one is the

[55:27] utility billing um debtors. This is in

[55:31] accordance with uh an ordinance that was

[55:33] passed in 2012.

[55:37] Ordinance number 2012- 110. It is for

[55:41] section 9137,

[55:43] 915.72,

[55:45] 921.24, 24 and 935.14

[55:49] of the codified ordinances which gives

[55:51] us the authority to um send to the

[55:54] county any delinquents for water sewer,

[55:57] solid waste and storm water. And keep in

[56:01] mind for all three of these, if anybody

[56:04] pays between now and August 31st, they

[56:07] will come off the list. So you will get

[56:09] a list with the ordinance at the next

[56:11] council meeting that'll have the most

[56:12] recent updated list. But if anybody pays

[56:16] even after that date, the list is going

[56:18] to change. We will take their name off

[56:19] of that list before it gets certified.

[56:23] >> And

[56:26] will they be notified that it or have

[56:30] they already been notified that it may

[56:32] be referred for a lean

[56:34] >> in for what?

[56:35] >> For the county.

[56:37] >> Well, we have sent them a letter that

[56:40] states that if they don't pay by August

[56:41] 31st,

[56:42] >> Yeah. Any balance that's due will be

[56:44] sent to the county.

[56:46] >> Okay.

[56:48] >> Any other gloves, Jeff?

[56:50] >> So, I know that this one, the villages

[56:52] of Frank Crossing has been whatever it's

[56:54] been for a while, but it's an

[56:55] extraordinary amount of money. It's like

[56:57] it's $254,000.

[56:59] >> Um, and there's some 22,000, some

[57:02] 11,000. So, this is like an outrageous

[57:04] amount of money that could buy some nice

[57:06] things. There are ordinances we could

[57:08] pass that would be incredibly more harsh

[57:12] for rental properties that aren't

[57:14] keeping up. Like if you're 90 days

[57:16] behind, your water is shut off in your

[57:18] building. Now your building's condemned.

[57:19] So figure it out and pay us.

[57:20] >> If they're two months delinquent, we're already putting them on a shut off

[57:24] list.

[57:24] >> Right. But I know like when we talked

[57:25] about the Franklin Crossing, we didn't

[57:27] want to kick people out before the

[57:28] school year ended. And that guy, let's

[57:30] you know, for lack of a better term, is

[57:32] not a very nice guy.

[57:33] >> Well, I do have some good news. is we uh

[57:36] I checked before the meeting today

[57:37] because I knew she was going to ask.

[57:39] Sarah's going to ask. Um they have paid

[57:42] their bill on the 002 property uh parcel

[57:46] number. So they have paid the lion's

[57:49] share of last year's delinquencies that

[57:52] we submitted to the county. Okay. The

[57:54] 001 they still haven't made a payment

[57:57] since I it was either 2024

[58:01] of 48,000 or the beginning of 25 for

[58:03] 48,000. So, they still owe the county

[58:05] quite a bit of money,

[58:06] >> right?

[58:06] >> And the county is going to come before

[58:08] us.

[58:09] >> Could we, and I don't know this is

[58:12] Hope's job, but could we force if if

[58:15] somebody's in this situation or or has a

[58:17] rental like that, you're going to have

[58:18] to put up a deposit equivalent to 60

[58:21] days worth of average water use, you

[58:23] know, to the prior tenants. So, that at

[58:25] the very least when we shut your water

[58:26] up, we still get our money.

[58:29] >> I mean, are these just options to

[58:30] explore? Like, I don't know. I think

[58:31] that is I when I work at Hawk Falls uh

[58:35] something in my head is niggling me to

[58:38] say we did that to an extent. I can look

[58:40] at that.

[58:41] >> Yeah. I just we don't want to get in the

[58:42] situation again. So

[58:43] >> and I think Kent actually had that at

[58:46] one time where they were requiring

[58:48] deposits. I'm not sure what happened to

[58:50] the program.

[58:56] Heidi,

[58:58] >> correct me if I'm wrong, but number of

[59:01] years ago, we we changed who was liable

[59:06] for the bill to the property owner, the

[59:09] land landlord basically versus the

[59:12] tenant um for um those types of

[59:16] situations. So, um, the landlord could

[59:20] very easily put ask for a deposit from

[59:24] their tenants coming in. You know,

[59:27] [clears throat] it's it seems like maybe

[59:32] this just seems to be

[59:35] I don't know. So, it looks like a very

[59:36] high percentage of rental properties are

[59:39] here and they probably are feeling

[59:41] burned from their tenants and they need

[59:43] to figure out how to tighten that chip a

[59:46] little bit more.

[59:46] >> And I know that this the currently the

[59:49] state is allowing us to charge the

[59:52] property owner, but they're looking at

[59:54] changing that, not allowing us to charge

[59:56] the property owner and making us go

[59:58] after the tenant.

[59:59] >> Of course,

[1:00:00] >> that of course hasn't passed yet. And so

[1:00:02] we'll determine what we have to do if

[1:00:05] that ever happens. Hopefully it doesn't.

[1:00:08] >> Well, then we would have to definitely

[1:00:09] institute some kind of

[1:00:11] >> because once a tenant moves out,

[1:00:13] >> it's it's almost near impossible to find

[1:00:16] them

[1:00:17] >> unless of course attorney general's

[1:00:19] office is then going to help us with

[1:00:21] that.

[1:00:22] >> Yeah,

[1:00:23] >> they do with Medicare. I mean, we had

[1:00:25] that similar situation with income taxes

[1:00:27] and was one of the motivations for going

[1:00:29] with Rita because it gave us access to

[1:00:32] their resources,

[1:00:34] go after people through the federal tax.

[1:00:37] We as a city, we don't have access to

[1:00:39] the federal tax, if I have that correct,

[1:00:41] but Rita does. So, Rita could track

[1:00:43] those, I guess, social security numbers,

[1:00:45] whatever, for those people that leave

[1:00:47] here and and don't pay their tax. We

[1:00:49] were out of luck. Rita has helped us

[1:00:51] pretty significantly on that. I would

[1:00:52] guess we need a version of that for uh

[1:00:55] water and sewer. But

[1:00:57] >> so any other questions related to moving

[1:00:59] this to the county, this particular

[1:01:01] line? Anybody?

[1:01:03] >> Uh back to you for a motion.

[1:01:06] >> I'll move to approve it and report it to

[1:01:08] the county with emergency.

[1:01:09] >> With emergency second.

[1:01:12] >> There is a emergency.

[1:01:14] >> Okay. Yeah.

[1:01:15] >> Any other comments?

[1:01:16] >> Um I actually just have one more. So,

[1:01:18] anything that has 002, you're saying

[1:01:22] that they've paid

[1:01:24] or let's this is when we get this next

[1:01:27] list that's going to come off of this

[1:01:29] paper.

[1:01:30] >> Well, that's not even on this. So, and

[1:01:33] next year you're saying yes, if they

[1:01:35] continue paying the this will be paid

[1:01:37] next year by next year.

[1:01:39] >> Okay.

[1:01:41] >> Because what they paid through their

[1:01:42] property taxes now, they actually paid

[1:01:44] it in June. That's for last year's

[1:01:51] Any other comments?

[1:01:53] Uh, all those in favor?

[1:01:55] >> I Anyone opposed?

[1:01:59] >> Thank you.

[1:02:03] » All right. And no renew the school

[1:02:04] resource officer agreement. Uh, Chief

[1:02:06] Stone.

[1:02:09] » As Chief Stone makes his way forward, I

[1:02:11] think you'll recognize this is his first

[1:02:13] presentation, so a lot of pressure. Uh

[1:02:16] we we met all afternoon prepared. No, we

[1:02:19] did meet all afternoon. It wasn't on

[1:02:20] this topic. Um but uh I reassured him

[1:02:24] that, you know, I think this is a fairly

[1:02:27] popular program. So I don't think you

[1:02:30] can mess it up. I think you just go and

[1:02:32] you know, let him know you're going to

[1:02:33] continue it. You'll get a a mini

[1:02:35] applause and thank you very much. So

[1:02:37] Chief, anything you want to

[1:02:39] >> Thank you.

[1:02:41] this uh morning to city council. I ask

[1:02:44] that we continue our good relationship

[1:02:47] with the Kent city schools. I starting

[1:02:51] the academic year in the city schools

[1:02:53] with uh patrol officer Dominic Poe of

[1:02:57] the Kent Police Department serving as a

[1:02:59] school resource officer. Uh the Kent

[1:03:02] City School District reimbures the city

[1:03:05] for the costs of his salary benefits

[1:03:07] during the months that he's there. and I

[1:03:10] ask for your favorable approval of this,

[1:03:12] please.

[1:03:13] >> All right. Any questions from councel?

[1:03:16] >> There's nobody in the audience. Do we

[1:03:18] have a motion?

[1:03:19] >> I'll make the motion with with

[1:03:21] emergency.

[1:03:22] >> Yeah.

[1:03:24] >> All those in favor?

[1:03:26] >> I opposed.

[1:03:29] Easy peasy.

[1:03:30] >> Yeah.

[1:03:30] >> Thank you very much. Thank you.

[1:03:39] streets and sidewalks. Mr. Typton,

[1:03:50] » it's coming up. I can see North Manowway

[1:03:52] Street improvement project right of way

[1:03:54] donation.

[1:03:55] >> Thank you. Um, so we're here tonight

[1:03:57] requesting council's approval to accept

[1:04:00] the donation of seven easements from

[1:04:03] three parcels from the Davy Tree Expert

[1:04:05] Company in relation to the North Man

[1:04:07] Street project. Two of the easements are

[1:04:10] what we call permanent highway

[1:04:11] easements. So they can use that we can

[1:04:14] use that land for roads, utilities, or

[1:04:16] other things. two two other easements

[1:04:19] are permanent um shared use path

[1:04:21] easements where they're basically for

[1:04:22] walkways to get them move them away from

[1:04:25] the roadway and then three others are

[1:04:27] temporary easements for us to build the

[1:04:29] project uh as it was designed and put

[1:04:33] forth by the publics. So um in order to

[1:04:36] complete the project we're going to need

[1:04:38] right away from two owners. One's Davy

[1:04:40] Tree and the other is Kent City School

[1:04:41] District and happy to say both have at

[1:04:44] least verbally agreed to donate and of

[1:04:46] course Davy Tree is signed there. So

[1:04:48] we're here looking for your approval

[1:04:49] with the emergency

[1:04:54] question. Go ahead.

[1:04:55] >> It's not a question. It's a comment. I

[1:04:57] just want to thank the both Davy Tree

[1:04:58] and the Kent City Schools for being such

[1:05:00] great partners and helping us move this

[1:05:02] project forward. It's in all of our

[1:05:04] interests, but I appreciate it. Thanks.

[1:05:08] >> Thanks. Any more questions

[1:05:11] from council?

[1:05:12] Questions? No one's in the audience. So,

[1:05:15] passing it back um for a motion.

[1:05:18] >> I'll move to approve with emergency.

[1:05:20] >> I'll second with emergency.

[1:05:22] >> Any further comment?

[1:05:25] All those in favor?

[1:05:27] >> I I

[1:05:28] >> I passes.

[1:05:30] Any opposed item here? I heard

[1:05:32] everybody.

[1:05:35] All right, Jim, thank you for being up

[1:05:36] there for the request for city water

[1:05:39] service at 58 5085 State Route 43.

[1:05:44] >> So, we received uh a request to provide

[1:05:47] water to a location that's outside the

[1:05:49] city. Since it's outside the city, it

[1:05:51] requires council's approval. So, we're

[1:05:53] here tonight requesting your approval to

[1:05:55] provide water uh to 5085 State Route 43.

[1:05:59] Uh we do not see any problem with

[1:06:01] providing them water in that location.

[1:06:06] Heidi,

[1:06:07] >> are they in our Jed?

[1:06:10] >> They're they're in a Jed. Yes. However,

[1:06:12] >> are they part of our Jed? Have they

[1:06:14] agreed to be part of the Jed?

[1:06:17] >> The Jed is only businesses commercial.

[1:06:20] Is this a commercial establishment?

[1:06:21] Okay. Then it have to commercial.

[1:06:27] » Perhaps

[1:06:29] >> they're not petitioned in, but they

[1:06:30] could choose to join it.

[1:06:31] >> They could. That would be something

[1:06:40] » because I thought the purpose of a jet

[1:06:42] was to be able to bring services to the

[1:06:44] business in exchange for their income

[1:06:47] tax to be divided and and I realize

[1:06:50] Eric's not here, but I I I I'm just it

[1:06:55] doesn't seem to be working. And if we

[1:06:57] just provide services without any other

[1:07:01] than they're going to pay us for the

[1:07:02] service,

[1:07:03] >> well, they'll be paying for the water,

[1:07:04] but the J purpose is actually to share

[1:07:07] income taxes with townships. Sure.

[1:07:09] >> Because they're unincorporated and they

[1:07:10] can't.

[1:07:11] >> So, it expands our footprint with

[1:07:13] regards to the collection of income tax.

[1:07:16] Um, but at the time that the petitions

[1:07:18] are signed and the agreements are

[1:07:20] established, those add to it. So adding

[1:07:24] it to parcels typically it's a question

[1:07:27] presented to them of you know are you

[1:07:29] willing and many don't because they're

[1:07:31] they have to be paying income tax and

[1:07:32] they're like what do we get out of it? I

[1:07:34] will tell you I've said this before the

[1:07:36] jets run here are different than the

[1:07:39] jets that I worked on in Summit County.

[1:07:41] The em the M&I monies went towards the

[1:07:45] expansion of infrastructure. These jet

[1:07:48] agreements in Franklin and Virtual

[1:07:50] Township were not set up that way. So

[1:07:52] incentivizing adding them after this

[1:07:54] agreement has occurred is a bit of a

[1:07:55] challenge.

[1:07:58] » I sort of I kind of sort of understand

[1:08:01] that. Um, but I just I've heard this so often that they don't want to join

[1:08:06] the Jed,

[1:08:08] but we see maybe this is something for

[1:08:12] the economic development plan um

[1:08:15] strategic plan to look at because I

[1:08:18] don't see that it's a that really a

[1:08:21] success.

[1:08:22] >> It is actually it generates Ron can

[1:08:24] speak to how much we get from income tax

[1:08:26] from the jet that contributes to our

[1:08:29] revenue. So that is a huge it is a

[1:08:32] factor. It's a few hundred,000 a year.

[1:08:35] So it is absolutely worth the time,

[1:08:37] >> but not every parcel in the jet boundary

[1:08:40] of the district has signed into be part

[1:08:43] of the jet. And that's the case

[1:08:44] everywhere. There the opportunity to add

[1:08:48] additional parcels typically comes if

[1:08:51] there is a permanent extension of main

[1:08:53] utility lines. And you know that is

[1:08:57] something that Brimfield is working on

[1:08:58] coming up this way, but it is years in

[1:09:00] the making. We actually just had a Jed

[1:09:02] meeting today with Brimfield and um

[1:09:04] they're going to be talking to the new

[1:09:05] sheets that went in to see if they'll

[1:09:07] sign into the Jed uh for because of the

[1:09:10] increase in fire services they need at

[1:09:12] the Jed. So it's convincing businesses

[1:09:15] that these additional services are

[1:09:17] needed

[1:09:18] >> where this small dentist office may not

[1:09:21] see the benefit of that. They're still

[1:09:23] going to be paying for the water, but

[1:09:25] there's really not much much else they

[1:09:27] need from the jet.

[1:09:29] >> All right. So, they already have this is

[1:09:31] an existing water mane that they can tap

[1:09:34] into. So, we'll get the tap in fees,

[1:09:36] >> correct?

[1:09:37] >> And then we'll also get the the service.

[1:09:40] I mean, I want to sell water.

[1:09:41] >> There is a search charge that they will

[1:09:43] pay as well.

[1:09:44] >> They have a search charge. Anyone

[1:09:47] outside the city that did not sign the

[1:09:49] original Jed pays a 50% search charge

[1:09:51] for their water

[1:09:52] >> for any water they use.

[1:09:56] >> Yeah.

[1:09:58] >> I mean I don't want to not not get a new

[1:10:00] customer. I just wonder if there was

[1:10:04] like some other incentives we can build

[1:10:07] into

[1:10:08] >> Yeah.

[1:10:09] >> Well, that's what I was going to ask. So

[1:10:11] again new sorry if so they have they pay

[1:10:15] 50% this business is going to pay a 50%

[1:10:19] sir charge on the water for forever

[1:10:22] >> forever.

[1:10:23] >> So

[1:10:24] >> we initially cover the $11,668

[1:10:28] or the paid that

[1:10:30] >> and they actually paid a search charge

[1:10:31] on that dollar amount as well. If they

[1:10:34] were in the city they would have been

[1:10:35] 15% of this.

[1:10:36] >> Okay.

[1:10:38] And and also I guess I would add we did

[1:10:40] not pay for the construction of the

[1:10:41] water line down there either.

[1:10:43] >> Yes.

[1:10:44] >> We're providing the water and we're

[1:10:45] going to maintain the line.

[1:10:47] >> So

[1:10:51] » is there potential for more customers in

[1:10:54] that same area that we could kind of tap

[1:10:58] into?

[1:10:59] >> Yes, there is.

[1:11:01] >> I know there's a housing development.

[1:11:04] >> The housing development. We provided

[1:11:06] water to them.

[1:11:08] >> That's that's that's actually the that's who built the line

[1:11:12] >> that now the dentist office can tell you

[1:11:13] to.

[1:11:16] » No, I know that. I know that. Now I'm

[1:11:18] thinking more customers. How can we

[1:11:20] expand customers? [laughter]

[1:11:23] » Anyone ask [snorts] so anyone can who

[1:11:27] wants to tie into our water can present

[1:11:30] it and ask for it. Anyone outside the

[1:11:33] city can request council's approval to

[1:11:36] tie into our wall.

[1:11:39] You do not have to say yes. [laughter]

[1:11:42] But if we have a water line there,

[1:11:44] >> you also have service area agreements

[1:11:47] with Portage Water. So it's not a

[1:11:50] freeforall, but there are opportunities

[1:11:53] where it makes more sense to have us

[1:11:55] service somebody than Portage. And you

[1:11:57] actually are studying that, are you not?

[1:11:59] Yes, we are studying that in this

[1:12:00] location in this general area so that we

[1:12:03] can basically effectively efficiently

[1:12:06] build out this area by either us

[1:12:09] providing water or Porsche County

[1:12:10] resources providing water.

[1:12:12] >> How long will this take for to to do

[1:12:16] >> for this for this particular? They'll

[1:12:18] probably have their tap done in the next

[1:12:20] month or so.

[1:12:21] >> Oh,

[1:12:24] interesting.

[1:12:24] >> Any further questions?

[1:12:28] Oh, no one in the audience. Um, back to

[1:12:32] council for comments.

[1:12:34] >> I'll move to approve with emergency.

[1:12:37] >> Second.

[1:12:39] >> All those in favor?

[1:12:41] >> I.

[1:12:41] >> Any opposed?

[1:12:44] >> Thank you. Thank you.

City Council Committee Meeting

Transcript