Would you please call the role? Uh, Mr.
Silverman here. Mr. Markham here. Miss
Sad here. Miss Vible, I am here. Miss
Lamkey here. Mr. Hurley here. Mr.
Marcelino, present. Thank you. Please
rise and join me for the pledge of
allegiance.
to the flag of the United States of
America and to the republic for which it
stands. One nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice
for
all. All right, council. We have two
very special guests this evening. Um,
our first special guest. Um, Mr. Mayor,
actually, would you like to introduce
each of our special guests this evening?
Yes, we have a a volunteer that we wish
to recognize this evening. Uh, so if I
can call Tommy Mali and Darcy Shrimp
Darn up to the podium.
I would love to say what a great friend
Tommy is and a loyal um and committed
community member.
So Tommy's been volunteering for many
years for Developmental Assets Resource
Network, which is a wraparound community
support organization that helps
underresourced families and kids in our
community. And I have a proclamation to
recognize you, Tommy, for all of your
years of volunteer service, which
happens to coincide coming up soon with
a 30th birthday, I believe, later this
month. So here we go. You ready? Okay.
Whereas Tommy Mali has dedicated himself
to the Beexley community for over 17
years through his tireless service and
commitment to various causes. And
whereas Tommy has been a steadfast and
invaluable member of the Beexley High
School soccer team, demonstrating
unparalleled work ethic and leadership
through his time with the team. And
where has Tommy has worked closely with
the Beexley Developmental Assets
Resource Network, making a positive
difference in the lives of countless
individuals and families. And whereas
Tommy's commitment to his family,
friends, and community exemplifies the
values of compassion, loyalty, and
service. And his actions have made a
lasting and meaningful impact on the
people of Beexley. And whereas Tommy
celebrates his 30th birthday on May
30th, marking a milestone that reflects
both his personal achievements and his
continued contributions to our
community. Therefore, Tommy, we're going
to add something a little extra special
on your birthday this year. I, Ben
Kesler, mayor of the city of Beex, Ohio,
proudly honor and celebrate Tommy on the
occasion of his 30th birthday and do
hereby name March 30th, 2025 as Tommy
Mali Day. Congratulations.
Come on
in. Stand next time.
Thank you. Thank you.
Happy 30th on the 30.
Tommy, Maya, and Darcy and Barb. Thank
you so much for being here tonight and
thank you for all that you do for Darn.
We so appreciate
you. All right, Mr. Mayor, back over to
you for our very special guest who is
next. Uh, yes. Uh, so I asked Rebecca
Ness if she could come join us this
evening or I guess you invited her for
the presentation on a really cool grant
that she's been working on through the
Love Your Alley Initiative. Rebecca, I
do have your presentation. I'm pulling
it up. One
moment. My multitasking is a little off
point uh tonight, but we're getting
there. Rebecca, on your microphone, if
you just want to hit the button so the
light shows green and then pull that
microphone down so we can hear you uh
when you begin. It's on, right? Yeah,
it's on. Okay. Yeah. Thank you. Trying
to One
second. Tech issues today.
Rebecca, I'm going to ask you to riff
just for a second. I'm going to export
this to a different file format because
it's not working off of
uh Keynote. if you want to just start
talking a little bit about what you guys
have been doing. Okay. So, um I'm happy
to have the opportunity to tell you a
little bit about the Beexley Habitat
Triangle. We've been working on this
project um since I would it's hard to
say how far back it goes, but at least
since January 2024, and now we're
starting to get plants in the ground as
of a couple weeks ago. So, it's called
the Beexley Habitat Triangle. It's for
people, plants, and pollinators. And
these are the players involved. We have
the edge effect and the city of Beexley
catch the water village and wilderness
who I'll have the opportunity to tell
you a little bit more about Franklin
soil and water. We're in partnership
with the Warthingington Green team and
Green Beexley's Love Your Alley is um
leading
it. So what is the Beexley Habitat
Triangle? It's a grassroots effort aimed
at restoring one large unbroken habitat
for birds, bees, and butterflies. and
we're building it as a community. It was
funded by Village and Wilderness.
Village and Wilderness heard a podcast
that I was interviewed for on Backyard
Ecology and Village and Wilderness is in
the process of collecting domestic
microhabitat initiatives like Love Your
Alley from around the country and then
we meet um about six times a year to
talk about what works, what doesn't
work. We help each other. we um so that
nobody has to reinvent the wheel in this
process. And then in January of 2024,
they opened their first grant cycle and
I said, "Well, let's see what happens."
Um and so, so what so the triangle is
about it's an opportunity to use scarce
undeveloped land. So much of our land in
the country is developed now at this
point. All the different ways that you
can think about land is being developed.
And the triangle works in partnership
with homeowners to restore biodiversity
and protect our ecosystem. And this
means using our yards, this scarce,
undeveloped land to plant native plants
and to remove invasive
plants. Go to the next slide,
please. We have um a Beexley Habitat
triangle team. You can go to the next
slide. And leading the charge is Josh
Zing from the edge effect. He is a force
and a he is just so organized and so
well educated and great with design.
Wonderful teacher. If you'd like to meet
him, he's offering a class tomorrow
night for Love Your Alley at the Beexley
Public Library about Natives 101. And
he's a wonderful teacher. Um we had
planned on doing just 20 yards this
year, but Josh told us that we could
probably do the whole initiative. We had
planned on doing it in two years. She
said, "No, I think we can do it in one
year." So, um, we are doing 32 yards in
the triangle this year instead of 20.
So, they're used to all day long
backtoback landscaping. I, however, am
not. So, you can go to the next next
slide, please. So, Beexley Habitat
Triangle is the next iteration of Green
Beexley's Love Your Alley. It's a
combination of residents, the Love Your
Alley Committee, Native Landscapers,
Franklin Soil and Water, the city of
Beexley, Worthington Green Team, and
volunteers were collectively
transforming 30 to 35
yards. And one thing that the funer
really wanted, they wanted it to be
replicable,
um something that we could bring to
other cities. So, we brought that's why
we brought Worthington on board. Um, so
we've been building this with them,
learning together, and then the hope is
that they'll bring this initiative to
Warthingington
next. Go to the next
one. It's
okay. So, why was this area selected?
Um, back in October
2023, Susan Cen and I, Susan Cen is a
local artist and she's a resident. She's
a part of the Beexley um, Habitat
Triangle. We were looking for one yard
to do for Love Your Alley, a place where
we could bring a bunch of students and
work on the yard together. And during
So, we went to the Shamansky's yard and
there there on Pleasant Ridge, they have
a deep lot with lots of native trees and
then an understory of invasives. And
when we were there, we realized that we
were looking at a lot more than one
yard. So, all these deep
lots adjacent, and it's an opportunity
to create this connected habitat for
birds, bees, and butterflies. And then I
also realized that there's a lot of
neighbor from doing the love your alley
work that I've been doing in the
mosquito project. I realized that
there's a significant number of
residents in that area that are
interested in biodiversity. So then in
February 2024 on a very snowy day when
we figured a lot of people would be home
except for some people like myself um we
decided to go door to door to confirm
interest and we were met with the
resounding yes. So, this new
relationship with Village and Wilderness
and the discovery of this area led to
the grant idea and I proposed the grant
idea and Vigil and Wilderness awarded
the full amount that we asked for, the
$47,000. So, why are we doing this?
There's a very good reason on the right
there. Two very good reasons. That cute
kid right there and um that beautiful
butterfly, that monarch butterfly on his
head. Native plants do so much for us.
They fight climate change. They have
deep root systems that absorb large
amounts of water, which you know a lot
of our yards in Beexley need. And native
plants are the basis of our food web.
They feed and host our pollinators and
beneficial insects. And they're we we
rely on them a lot more than we realize.
They offer a lot of ecosystem services
that we really take for granted. We're
doing our human thing in here. They're
doing their insect thing out there all
the time. also to be a part of the
pollinator pathway and to bolster the
aesthetic that defines the
Midwest. Thank you. We also have another
landscaper working with us. His name is
Chris Anderson from Catch the Water. He
um so in these in this picture that
we're looking at here, he's created
three basins that catch varying amounts
of water and then he puts in an
appropriate plant to catch the water. Um
and if these plants were in here, this
yard would have been flooded. Can you go
to the next slide,
please? This is a resident's yard in the
Beexley Habitat Triangle. The shot on
the left shows us a yard after a
rainstorm in spring 2024. Then she had
in um right after this, I think she had
this installed in the fall of 2024, she
had this reinforced rain garden
installed along with a statue of Guan.
Um, and now the the all the water goes
into this beautiful rain garden instead
of flooding her backyard, her garage,
and her her her um basement as well. You
can go to the next slide. So, what are
we removing? Invasive plants. Boo. So,
we have Japanese honeysuckle, tree of
heaven, English ivy, all coming out.
Next slide. We are adding in native
plants, native plants, shrubs, trees,
all these great, beautiful plants that
serve our um ecosystem. In the fall of
2024, we removed a ton of honeysuckle
with kids all the way when when this
when we started doing this, this little
boy in the middle, Ethan, was three
years old. He's he turned four a week
ago, and he's helping us all along
through the project. And lots of people
are helping us. We lined college with
honeysuckle. We brought down a lot of
the beast um in the fall of
2024. So, we bring in installation
teams. We have lots of volunteers. We
offer education to um lots of students.
What are invasives? Um why are we
removing them? What's a native plant?
Why do we need to add them? And we've
partnered with Beexsley High School,
Columbus School for Girls, St. Charles.
We're even working with a eight and
nineyear-old brownie troop um in the
middle of
May. Can go to the next slide. Just some
pictures to enjoy of our installation
teams. Go to the next one. This is St.
Charles from a few days ago. There's
Ethan in the middle. And this is our Oh,
you can go back. Um so this is our
timeline. We planned from August 2024
through April
2025. And then September through
December, Josh went and met with every
member in the triangle. There are about
50 homes in the whole triangle, but we
have probably 32. I mean, it's still a
developing project. I don't know if
we'll end up around 35 projects when
it's all done. Josh met with everybody
and offered a design. We got heavy um
weigh-in from all the residents. Then
also speaking of way in October 2024, we
sent out our first resident survey
because we wanted to do things the way
they wanted it done. We're walking in
into their properties. We want to know
what they want. So we asked tons of
questions so we could really tailor it
to what they wanted, including
education. So we offered three
educational programs to residents and
then opened it up to the rest of the
community as well. We ordered our we
ordered our native plants. Then
November, December, we moved the
honeysuckle. There are the educational
events. April and May. And now in May,
we started installations on 30 yards.
Um, and in June 2025, we will assess the
budget and assess additional additional
resident interest and see if we'll do
more yards. In July, I will take a nap
and then um and then we will take it
from there. And that's that's all I got.
You will deserve that now in July 25.
Council, do we have any any questions
for Miss Nest? Any compliments? Missad,
this is amazing work and it's uh I was
so impressed when I saw the grant that
you applied for and received and the
work that you're doing. So, keep it up.
You're making our community better and
we're thankful to have you. Thank you.
I will share too that uh um Miss Nest
does not stop and I will say this in
front of her husband because I know that
he he joins her in a lot of these uh
amazing adventures. Um just about a week
ago um I showed up at their house. They
were hosting a green and Beexley event
and they were giving away
950 flowers and 50 shrubs. I made the
mistake of getting there 37 minutes
after it started. It was supposed to be
open for, I believe, 3 to 4 hours and
they were already sold sold. They were
free, but they were already out. Um, and
that was something that not only you
opened up your driveway to all of um
your neighbors and residents, but the
amazing work that you do, Rebecca, for
this community is so inspiring. And I
love that your kids, you know, are
involved. You're getting everyone else's
kids involved. Um, and we are so lucky
to have you. and my president's report
council, you'll see some photos from
Miss uh from the Ness's recent efforts,
too. Thank you. Anyone else have any uh
comments? Miss Bible,
you're amazing. And every time I see
you, all I can think of is birds and
bees and butterflies and and it just
makes it makes me happy. And I am so
grateful that you're teaching so much so
many of us, you know, how we can make
our little taste of the world better.
So, thank you. Thank you for all you do.
All you do, Mr. Marcelina. Every time I
see you, I think about mosquitoes, but
in a positive
light different project for a different
and the mosquito project is happening,
too. We can talk about that. Please.
Yeah. Thank you. Um, Mr. Silverman, you
had your hand up next. I actually want
to hear about the mosquito project. Is
there update? Did we get um enough
houses to participate? And are they I
know for a minute just talk about doing
native plants alongside of that. Could
you kind of Yeah, tell us where we're
at. Yeah, sure. So, um we have um not
sure how far to back up, but for the
second round of the mosquito pilot
program for the second study, um it
involves five cities. It is Beexley,
Grand View, Upper Arlington,
Worthington, and who am I forgetting?
And Hillyard. And um it will be um 12
houses in each city. Um instead of a
grouping of five houses, we're doing a
grouping of three. And we removed plants
from from the project, too. Um and they
wanted the houses a certain distance
apart, a certain number of meters apart.
And since our city is small, we were
only able, it was so hard to get those
circles where we were far enough apart.
So, our city actually only has nine
houses. We don't have that actually that
might not be true. Um, we might have we
might still have the 12 houses. I'll
have to get back to you on that because
um yeah, it's either nine or 12 for
Beexley. Yeah. And thank you for your
help on on securing houses for for the
for the program. Mayor, you want to add
something? I just what what we all know
is that Rebecca, the amount of passion,
investment in the community means so
much to all of us. Um, whenever Rebecca
reaches out with her latest idea, I'm
always very excited to hear what what it
is. When you reached out with this one,
I was like, "Okay, you're asking for
this much money from like like an East
Coast nonprofit. Is that right?" Or
they're in the East Coast. Yeah. Yeah. I
was like, "Okay, good luck with that."
And then she shows up like a month
later. I got the check. Like, okay, if
anybody could do it, you could. and uh
and then seeing the logistics that you
have have gone through in in wrangling
this project. I don't think anyone
except for perhaps Craig Ness
understands the hours that you put into
this. So, thank you so very much for the
time and commitment that you provide to
our community. Yeah, I think we need to
thank Craig Ness.
Yeah.
Hey, thank you so much. Any other
comments uh for Miss Ness?
Thank you again, Rebecca. Thank you. I
appreciate that. Thank you.
All right, moving on. We are to agenda
item number five, which is public
comments regarding items not on the
agenda for which a speaker slip is
required. Um, I want to remind those in
attendance who may wish to offer public
comments tonight that public comments
are the public's chance to share their
thoughts as to matters involving city
business or a resolution or ordinance.
This is not a back and forth process,
nor is it a debate, but rather council
will listen to your comments
respectfully.
Comments that violate our policy, such
as personal attacks or disparaging
comments may result in termination of
the comments. The policy is available
online and is also printed on the
speaker slips just outside council
chambers. Each speaker can speak up to 5
minutes and I will let you know when
your time is up. If there are questions
asked during public comment, I will do
my very best to write down those
questions as they occur. And once the
public comment is concluded, I will
refer the matter to the appropriate
council member or the city
administration for a response as soon as
possible. If there are no questions
asked during public comment, please know
that we appreciate and thank you for
your comments. And as always, any
speaker can also reach out to any
council member or the mayor using our
email addresses that are available on
the city website for further discussion.
Um, is there anyone who would like to
offer public comments that has turned in
a speaker slip for agenda item number
five, Mr. Fishell? No, Mr.
does have a speaker slip, but that will
be you'll have an opportunity to speak
at the third reading, which technically
you don't need a speaker slip for
because it's the third reading when that
resolution is uh up for discussion. Yes.
And when we get to that uh anything for
a third reading, you will hear me say,
is there anyone from uh from the
audience that would like to offer public
comments? And that will be your cue to
come on up. Thank you, Mr. Official. Um
moving on to President's Report. I had
just a few things. U Mr. Mayor, can you
pull up my president's report,
please? Oh, look at that. You've already
got it up. Okay. Uh, first and foremost,
council, I wanted to thank council
member Sod for filling in for me for our
last meeting as a president prom for
that meeting. She did a fabulous job.
So, thank you for supporting her um
while she did that while I could not
attend. Um, as I just mentioned a few
minutes ago, Miss Ness, these are the
photos that uh uh from that wonderful
event that you and your husband hosted
at at your home. Um, a special thanks to
the Beexley Community Foundation and the
Franklin Soil and Water Conservation
District. Um, there's also a second
picture, Mr. Mayor, if you can scroll
down. Oh, go down one. There you go.
Those were the organizers of that event.
I know that they were up early that day.
They had, I believe, a um a jazz band or
a music quartet playing in the front
yard as people came and took um the
thousand shrubs and uh flowers. So,
thank you both again for opening your
your home to that amazing event. Uh if
you scroll on down, council, I wanted to
show you this picture, which is a site
not often seen in Beexley. I don't even
know if it's ever been in Beexley, but
thanks to the amazing work of council
member Sod, who planned the woman's
wellness
um forum last Saturday at the library,
um she single-handedly brought the James
Mamogrammobile to our Beexley Public
Library. That was no easy feat. And as I
walked up to um to see that, I wanted to
share with you all what a sight it sure
was.
[Laughter]
She may you know what she could have
been because she is strong for life. Uh
when I think of just sad and anyone who
has ever underestimated her or told her
that she could never pull off a woman's
wellness forum in Beexley, this is
showing um this is showing that you
should never underestimate Jess. So we
are so proud of you. Thank you for
inviting myself and Laurianne to join
you uh and for all the amazing uh
women's wellness topics that were
covered that day. So wanted to share
that with council as well. Um, and also,
yep, scroll it down. Come on,
mayor. Um, our mayor received the friend
of BMPA award at the recent circle of
excellence um, event that was held in
the auditorium over at the high school.
I can honestly say that no one looked
more surprised than Mayor Kesler when
they announced his name as recipient of
this award, but it was certainly welld
deserved. So, congratulations again,
Mayor. Um, and finally, council, I know
that I reminded everyone May 15th your
Ohio ethics uh filings are due. And I
also reminded Mr. Hurley earlier today
that uh in an effort to have ongoing
council communication with our
residents. He is the lucky winner to
have an article in the Beexley blast
this May. Um, and I think he he's
working on some uh some exciting topics,
but look for an article uh May 30th in
the Beexley Blast by Mr. Council Member
Hurley. You're the lucky winner, Danny.
Um, and I
think Oh, one more quick announcement.
Um, tomorrow council I and the mayor are
having our and the chief are having our
quarterly uh meeting with the schools
and some of the other Vexi stakeholders.
um if tonight or tomorrow morning if
council wants to email me or call me if
there's a topic you'd like to bring up
at that um uh quarterly meeting just let
me know and I'm happy to do that. And I
think that is the conclusion of my
president's report. I hope I covered
everything. All right, Mr. City Attorney
City Clerk SL auditor, time for your
report. All right, first of a a point of
order. You may want to flip your name
tag. You probably know your name, but
just
number two. I assume
Oh, you're talking about something. You
can talk about it. Come on. Well, I'm
just going to say how amazingly proud we
are, and I'll let the mayor talk more
about it, that we have an Edgar Award
winner in our midst. Natalie
young adult. And just so you know, you
Google the Edgar Award. It is
unfreakingbelievable how prestigious it
is. I mean, it's named after Edgar Alan
Poe, first of all. Second of all, the
recipients in prior years are people who
are household names. So, we appreciate
you're still hanging out with us as
well. But it's amazing for now.
All right, moving on to a couple of
wonderful topics for me to share with
council. First of all, I wanted to let
you know that the mayor and council
president, not the city attorney,
received a letter from an assistant
attorney general, knowing that I was
involved in the case, but nonetheless
sent the decision that I've shared with
you already from the Athens County Court
of Common Please. That's the case, as we
talked about before, where the state of
Ohio sued Athens over their single-use
plastic ban and the common police court
ruled in their favor. The letter from
the assistant attorney general wanted to
know what we were going to do as a
result. And I sent her back a letter
saying, "Hey, you know, we're an amicus
on this case, so we're supporting
Athens." B the Athens County Cardinal
common please doesn't have jurisdiction
over Bexley and until somebody does tell
us they have juris who has jurisdiction
that we have to do something different
then uh we will continue to enforce our
ordinance. Having said that though it is
pending in the fourth district court of
appeals. So we'll see what happens.
Again it
was it was weird. Sorry it just was.
Couple other things our our friends
downtown are doing. First of all, House
Bill 126, I want you to be aware of
because it will limit the ability of
individuals or cities, which is more
likely to happen, to bring public, if it
passes, to bring public nuisance claims
or any causes of action alleging that
the design, manufacture, supply,
marketing, distribution, promotion,
advertising, labeling, or sale of a
product unreasonably interferes with a a
right that's common to the general
public. think opioids. So the opioid,
you know, there was various cities and
counties who decided to sue the opioid
manufacturers on their own. This would
prohibit them from doing it, not just
opioids, which has sailed, but anything
else you can figure think about,
including single in including uh
anything having to do with guns, of
course, anything having to do with uh
tobacco and it goes on and on. But I
guess there are some people who are
smarter than we are who can figure that
out. Here's my favorite one, though.
This is the House Joint Resolution
number one. So, if this passes, it will
be put on the ballot for as a
constitutional amendment. And I'm going
to read it to you. It's not long. The
right to hunt, fish, and harvest
wildlife is a valued part of Ohio's
heritage and shall be forever preserved
for the public good. The people have a
right which includes the right to use
traditional
methods to hunt fish and wild harvest
wildlife that are traditionally
pursued. I don't know as of when. So
maybe AK-47s will or won't apply. This
right is subject only to the laws
prescribed by the general assembly and
rules prescribed by virtue of their
authority to do certain things. In other
words, cities can no longer regulate
hunting, fishing, or gathering uh if if
it passes. Again, it's it's a long way
from passing and stuff. But having said
that, again, another example of the
state legislature deciding that local
governments can't take care of
themselves and we need help. So, just to
give you my unbiased opinion or view of
those things, there you are. Those are
some wonderful updates that I'm glad to
be able to share. Thank you, Mr.
Official. Um, any questions for Mr.
Fishell?
Mr. Hurley, sorry. Welcome to my world.
Um, so there are two potential ballot
issues um coming to Ohio this fall. One
that pertains to qualified immunity. The
second pertains to
um property taxes. Are you do you have
any initial thoughts on that? I mean,
one of those is clear to collect
signatures. The other is about to become
clear to collect signatures. Yeah, I'm
not super familiar with the property tax
one other than it will obviously again
affect our ability on the local level to
pay for things. not to cities as much as
schools. I don't know others, but the
the the um the the the first one that
you mentioned is a proposal that would
if it passed would be a constitutional
amendment eliminating qualified immunity
for public employees
um in you know focused primarily on law
enforcement officers. That's that's the
impetus behind it. The only thing I
would say about that and not getting
into what my personal opinion is is that
is that even if it passes federal law
still has all sorts of qualified
immunity uh that will not go away. So um
I'm not sure where that's going to go,
but you're right there still they're
currently gathering signatures. I
wouldn't be surprised if they don't get
enough signatures, but that's just a
guess. Thank you for monitoring that for
us. Uh Mr. official.
Um, Mr. McPeak did not leave an auditor
uh report uh
this this evening. Um, so I will now
turn it over to uh the mayor to take us
through administrative updates. Thank
you, Madam
President. Um, okay. I have kind of an
extensive written report. I'm going to
try to keep this brief because I know we
have lots of visitors here today. So,
uh, what I forgot to put in writing is
the city hall, uh, office, um,
renovation work is at under bid and the
host bids open on Thursday. So, we can
potentially expect a border of control
meeting, madam president, at the next
council meeting on that. Um, another
thing that I didn't put in here, but I
wanted to quickly update you on is I am
concerned about an increasing prevalence
of um, use of electric scooters and
electric bikes by uh, underage kids and
often without helmets. So, I'm working
with the chief. Uh, Danny and I have
discussed it. Uh, Mark is doing some
analysis to determine if our read of the
Ohio Revised Code is correct. But it's
something that we have squarely in our
sights in terms of um how we are uh
communicating out to the community,
making sure parents are understanding
the law uh and and seeing if there gaps
in the law and um educating around that
looking at are there any engineering
changes that we need to make and then
also uh what sort of enforcement either
positive or negative enforcement uh
might be indicated. So that is something
that we're continuing to work on and is
a focus. Um, with us this evening
is I was like I think uh Emily Buckley
who I invited here to really quickly
talk about our personnel policy manual
updates. Emily has been doing amazing
work. This is in the administrative
update folder and it's been a while
since this process has occurred. So,
whenever we update our personnel policy
manual, the code says that the auditor
and I sign off on it and we provide a
copy of council uh to to have it as a
reference. Uh with the idea there being
if you ever think it's going crazy, um
this is this can't be obviously
inconsistent with our code relative to
employee benefits, uh you have the
ability to step in if you need to. So
with that, I'd love it if Emily, you
could come up and provide some
highlights from
this invigorating 102 invigorating
document. Um, so this process has been a
long journey and we're at the end of it,
which is really exciting. Um, the
previous personnel policy manual was
some like 260 pages. Um, and so an
outcome of this is that, uh, the view
that you see is a kind of written
archive of what it looks like. Um, but
we were able to put it online for
employees to be able to use, um, and
supervisors to be able to manage it as
well. So, Matt, you can just search up
all your questions now, which is going
to be great. Um, so some of the updates
that we uh did with this is if if you
can recall over the past couple years,
we've had updates to um chapter 262 of
the administrative code um which is
employees generally. Um we wanted to
make sure that the policy manual
reflected that. um we have had um some
uh additional changes and additional um
acts and um laws come in at both the
federal and state level. And so we took
a look to make sure that the policy
manual was reflective of that. And then
we also took the opportunity to add in
um just some day-to-day practical
policies that we didn't have previously.
So, um, we now have an inclement weather
policy so that our folks, um, have clear
expectations of what happens, um, when
there's, uh, you know, level three snow
emergency. So, um, we're excited to be
able to put this online and we're
excited to be able to roll this out to
employees and supervisors and I
appreciate, um, mayor's support, Matt
support, and then, uh, Mark's support as
well, uh, from a legal perspective. So,
Thank you, Emily. Thank you, Emily. Any
questions while we have our HR genius in
the room?
All right. Thanks. Thank you.
Um, many of you participated, I think
all of you participated in Jeff Spec's
uh visit and walkability audit to the
city. Attached is the report. It's a
11-page document. It's a great read and
it's going to be uh used obviously as
part of our commercial design guidelines
uh process that's now been kicked off
and we'll be starting here in earnest.
Um, the Green Beexley take it back day
uh brought in 8,700 pounds of paper to
be shredded and recycled, over 2,000 lbs
of e-waste, 200 lb of clothing, 105
pounds of medication that was saved or
destroyed. So, super successful. I want
to give you guys a quick update on our
Drexal speed limit um update, an update
on the update. Um, we have submitted to
ODOT the speed survey. ODOT came back
and said you can statutoily based upon
the speed data go to 30 miles per hour
just by right with ODOT or if you wish
the the local government can um pass a
lower speed limit. So council could pass
a 25 mile per hour speed limit if you
would choose. Um that's also set out in
our code. Um, so I'll be talking to Alex
and the chief and Mark and everyone else
as indicated about what that process
might look like, but just maul it over
and start to think about is that what
which kind of route you guys would like
to go, which state route you guys would
like to go through that terrible pun. I
apologize. Uh, we have a lot of events
happening between now and our next
council meeting. So I want to make sure
you're all aware of them. Farmers market
returns on Thursday. Friday is the
Beexley AAPI festival. Uh Saturday and
Sunday are our free cycle and for sale
days. Uh graduation is happening
Memorial Day weekend along with the
Memorial Day service address circle. Uh
Senator Craig who is a veteran will be
our speaker at that service. Uh and then
Jazz in the Park will be that evening
along with the Beexley Chamber of
Commerce food truck fest. So tons
happening in the next two weeks. um also
have posted to the BLAST board and
commission openings. So you'll see a
parallel resolution and if you know
people who are interested uh by all
means I appreciate you reaching out.
John Offenberg has already brought me a
recommendation which is awesome uh and
appreciated. So uh that's that's always
great. Uh and I'll be interviewing and
talking to anybody who's interested. And
I also really enjoyed Jess uh just with
the little bit I got to see of that
amazing event. I've never seen the
Beexley auditorium so popping. It was
amazing. Um have some more state house
trackers if you want to read. There are
actually multiple other ways that
preeemption is currently occurring in
including some fluoride regulation uh
forced u local police immigration
enforcement. Uh but on the positive
front there is something good that
happened which was in the local the
latest ballot um or the latest uh vote
that occurred. State issue two did pass
which provides additional state capital
funds for projects such as our OPWC
projects which are are funds that we use
all the time. So that was um a a big a
big relief um and a good bo to us as we
look forward for the next 10 years of
capital improvement projects from the
state. So, that's good news. Uh, with
that, I'm happy to answer any questions
and also congratulate Natalie on the
amazing Edgar Award. It's awesome. Mr.
Hurley, um, just a question kind of
backing off of the state house tracker.
So, I there's a piece of legislation, I
think it was on one of your previous
updates, House Bill 109, Justin
Bazulli's bill to basically preempt
regulation of short-term rentals. Yes.
Um has that come up much with comma or
ML? Yes. So comma has taken a stance in
OML and also there's another piece of
legislation that has they bird has the
bill that would apply if you allow them
to apply lodging taxes. Correct. It
doesn't preempt. It's 109 is the one
that would effectively
Right. So house bill 161 which is birds
we like. Yeah. And then Brener's which
is the preeemption we don't like. And I
haven't heard
any updates on that.
Sounds like you're on top of that, Mr.
Mayor. Thank you. Is But yeah, thank
you. Other questions for the mayor.
Good evening. Good evening. Everyone
should have a copy of our report. The
only thing I'd like to point out that's
not captured, but I think is very
important for the city of Exley is that
two years ago we started our K9 bomb
detection program. Um at the towards the
end of the month, Dayton will be holding
the NATO conference and we've been asked
to participate. So we'll be sending PIA
and officer Shaw there to assist in
proactive law enforcement as a part of
NATO. That's huge from a visibility and
and participation and partnerships. I
wanted to to point that out. The only
other thing proactively um we extend the
invite that we'll be doing our retirees
cookout continuing to honor those who
have retired and and dedicated their
lives to this community. So, we'll be
doing that next week. So, we're excited.
But open to other questions. anything
that's captured in this month's report.
Question.
Uh, not a question, just a comment. I
took my boys to the cops and kids event
and they had an absolute blast. Oh,
excellent. That was so much fun. Thank
you. Um, yeah, your your team was great.
Uh, we were in the group with Ivy. Uh,
just so you know, all your officers said
she's a better shot than you are, at
least with Nerf guns on the range. It
was honestly my that was such a great
event. My kids were I mean they were
blown away by getting to meet Pia and
just being in the police station, you
know, they I don't think people will
ever laugh when they got put in jail.
So, uh it was it was great. Good. Thank
you so much for putting that on.
Absolutely. Absolutely. Thank you,
President.
Chief, thank you so much for such a
thorough active report. You got a lot
going on in the BPD. Um, what I wanted
to ask you about were the stats at the
end. Uh, one of them caught my eye.
Um, any thoughts on the robbery stats,
the five
for this year versus the two for last
year? Yes, ma'am. So, we provided a the
mayor and I talked about that
specifically and really it's just
capturing it under the Ohio Revised Code
um that they met the criteria but really
were not anything that generated a lot
of concern. During he and I's 101, we
talked about that in particular and that
jumping out. Um got with our detective
bureau, captured each incident
individually. Nothing connected each
other. Some were very old. we were
documenting later. So, uh nothing that
is alarming. Um I will say the team has
continued to be extremely proactive when
you look at the numbers from business
checks to what we've been doing as we
slowly roll out our slow down beexley
and just the um issuing the enforcement
the visibility flock continues to be a
huge asset for us in uh making a lot of
successful felony arrests in Beexley.
So, you know, we're very proud of what
we've been doing proactively and keeping
the community safe, but that number in
particular is not alarming. It really
was just statistical numbers and
capturing some incidents um but that
were not related to anything. Thank you.
Yes, ma'am.
All right. Thank you, Chief. Mr. Klinger
with the building department update.
Thank you, Mayor. Um, as everyone sees,
2200 East Main is moving along. They're
pouring the first floor parking deck.
So, uh, all the way back to the back.
Um, so that will soon start to rise up
out of the ground. Um, they'll be
moving, um, they the fourth floor
framing done right now. So, they have
five and six to put on the front, but
then they'll start moving uh, backwards
um, or to the north, I should say. St.
Charles, uh, almost done with their
chapel renovation. Can't wait to see
that. Um, and then they're continuing
the interior construction of the
Brotherhood Center, uh, hopefully
wrapped up this summer. Um, code
enforcement, uh, it's going it's it's
it's going very well. Um, we're up to, I
think, 15 inspections a day where we're
following up on, uh, violations that we
have sent out. So, we're really
following through on those.
um you'll start to um I'm sure
uh because we're following up and and uh
enforcing a lot, you may hear from
residents that you know, please just
give them my office number uh is
appropriate. Um,
uh, I'm more than happy, we're we're
more than happy to be to be patient with
people and to help them through, um, you
know, any issues they may have, but, um,
we're we're starting to, um, see a lot
more, uh, response from the community,
uh, with code enforcement. Uh, we met
with Capital University, uh, to review
their future plans. they'll be
submitting their 2024 master plan to
Bzap so we can codify that um in the
very near future hopefully in the next
couple months. Uh so once that is
cemented that will help us to move some
things along on their campus that
they've been wanting to do. Um and then
as the mayor said the city hall uh
office renovation bids are due this
Thursday. Hope to have um a contractor.
Um we have we have really good
responses. I hope to see probably
hopefully three to four bids. I know six
contractors looking at it. So, um, yeah,
and we have some board meetings coming
up. I'll take any questions.
Thank you. Yeah.
All right. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, Mr.
Official, over to you for consent
agenda. Right. We on the consent agenda,
we have the meeting minutes from April
22nd, 2025.
All right. Are there any comments or
questions from council as to the consent
agenda? All right, seeing none, I move
to adopt the consent agenda. Could I
please have a second? Second. Second by
Mr. Marcelino. Um, seeing no comments,
are there any comments from the public?
No speaker slip is needed for consent
agenda.
Seeing none, Mr. Fishell, would you
please call the role? Mr. Markham, yes.
Miss Lamkey, yes. Mr. Hurley, yes. Mr.
Silverman, yes. Marcelino, yes. Bizad.
Yes. Fible. Yes. Pass. Right. Thank you
so much. Moving on to third readings.
All right. We have a third reading of
resolution
02-25. This support the link US bus
rapid transit route on Main Street
including the planned median station on
Main Street west of Pleasant Ridge
Avenue introduced by Ms. Lami.
Thank you so much. Um, I do want to give
a shout out to Council Member Silverman
who uh very aly le led the discussion on
this one for me in my absence at the
last meeting. So, thank you so much for
for doing that. Um, I know that we have
a number of folks who are in attendance
tonight that uh would like to offer
comments from the public. I understand
that we've got someone from Kota here
who also may offer some public comments.
Um, but I wanted to remind everyone who
who may be listening or just kind of um
reiterate to to council that um many
months ago when the mayor ple uh first
put together the council working group
of myself, council member Sod, council
member Marcelino, um I really
appreciated the fact that he brought us
in because uh there's a lot of this that
is administrative and um executive in
nature, but he put together this council
working group because he wanted our
additional input so that we could have
broader input into the project but also
we could communicate the feedback that
we have received from residents. And it
was out of the working council's group
that we said we want a piece of
legislation to bring before council for
the main reason that it could be read
three times and that we could invite
public comment on this and the mayor was
very receptive to that. Another thing
that came out of the uh council working
group is that we wanted a survey for
some some folks are just not able to
attend our our council meetings and we
understand that and some folks don't
feel comfortable emailing us through our
emails and we understand that. Um so
myself were and I worked with the mayor,
I worked with Megan and we put together
a um survey that has appeared in the
Beexley blast. Um it has appeared now
three times. Um, and it has given us a
good opportunity to further hear from
our residents and Beexsley business
owners on how they feel about this. Um,
and council, as you're aware, there is
also a folder that is on our um on our
city website under this resolution.
There's a lot of data that uh the
council working group uh got from Kota
who has been very forthcoming in
providing us with information. We have
asked for a lot of information from Kota
and links and our community partners and
they have been very good at providing
that to us. But I urge you if you have
not already to do a deep dive and look
into that data. Um that's going to stay
available on the city uh website. uh for
you. Um and council, just so you're
aware, I think that given that we have
some anticipated speakers tonight, um
given that you have all just recently
received the last survey responses that
were circulated uh by the mayor, um and
received in response to the last time
the survey ran. Um it is it is my hope
that we don't vote on this tonight. I
would like us to absorb what our
residents tell us. I'd like you to take
your time to go through the data and the
last of the survey responses. Um if
there's additional questions that you
have, I know that Kota has offered to
make themselves available um to answer
your questions. Um so that is my hope
for tonight. I want you to keep an open
mind. If there's someone who who would
really like to press forward with a
vote, um just know that I'm just sharing
where where I'm coming from because I
think that we owe it to uh to those in
attendance. We owe it to all the folks
that took the time to um weigh in on the
survey and to tell us what they thought.
Um so those those are my thoughts.
However, since I'm listed as the sponsor
of this resolution, I will candidly
share with you that I'm still undecided.
But I am going to keep an open mind up
until the very end. Um, it is my hope
that after we hear from anyone on
council who wishes to speak and that we
hear from uh anyone in attendance who
wants to offer public comments uh that I
would make a motion to table uh for up
until the next meeting on May 27th
um and that at that time I would ask for
a vote um if council felt it
appropriate. So saying that, I would
love to hear if there are any comments
or questions or discussion from council.
Oh yes, you do have an update, mayor.
Yes, just quick update from our last uh
me, uh, meeting. Um, what we have done,
uh, we have met with several
stakeholders in the area, businesses,
um, and leaders from leadership Christ
Lutheran Church. Um, I know several of
you have also met with residents or
talked to residents, uh, with who had
questions and concerns. Uh we held our
business main street meet this your
street uh meeting over at the library
which had really good attendance um and
some good robust conversation. I asked
um Megan and the chief to work together
on reaching out to Kota and t getting um
statistics relative to safety because
that's one of the concerns uh that we
have heard and and in general I want to
characterize what I have heard and seen
from these surveys um as the sort of the
top three concerns. The first one being
congestion. Um what does this do to our
traffic? The second being parking, what
does this do to our parking? And the
third being safety. Um, with the
congestion discussion, we know now from
having discussed with Kota a lot more
about exactly how this looks and um,
obviously it's it's a project that
continues to be engineered. We learn
more and more. They're looking to take
the number two bus down to an hourly.
Right now, it's four buses per hour.
They're looking to take that down to one
bus per hour and bring four linkus
buses. So, we would be going from four
conventional slower buses to four fast
and one slower. I'll call it slower. And
the character of the bus rapid transit,
as we've learned, is very different from
a conventional bus. It's taking that
left lane. It has technology on board
similar to what a ambulance has where it
can trigger the change of the signal as
it moves down the street. And and so
instead of being behind a bus that
you're going to want to like get away
from because that's the last thing you
want to be behind on Main Street, I
think that we will find that being
behind a bus rapid transit bus is really
the way to go because you're going to
get that signal prioritization. And so
in a sense it will help with congestion
on Main Street for sure um while uh
triggering a leg on those side streets.
But again we're looking from a change of
four buses an hour to five buses an
hour, four slow buses an hour to four
fast and one slower. Um with parking uh
we've heard from businesses uh and u
institutions that a potential concern is
what if uh individuals are going to come
here and park for a long time. um maybe
take up our parking lot instead and um
even though that's not allowed uh and
then we have a parking enforcement
issue. Is there a provision for park and
ride? And we've heard from Kota that
they don't really think park and ride is
going to be a big factor at a stop like
ours. But nonetheless, we're in good
faith working uh with Capitol uh and
also looking at some on street spaces
further south uh on Pleasant Ridge
beyond kind of the business district
catchment area to see if there's some
dedicated park and ride uh facilities uh
that we can provide uh for users who
might want to use link us and have
traveled by car.
Um, I asked the chief and Megan to work
with Kota on just knowing more about
safeties and statistics and chief can
talk about that if if you guys have any
questions. Um, but two kind of safety
issues branched out. One was uh the
issues of the station itself like is it
safe to be on the station? Is the
crosswalk safe? And we you guys have
heard a lot about that already. And we
look we look at this project knowing
that it's been deployed in many cities
throughout America. there's a lot of
expertise and experience that goes
behind that exact design and that
geometry of those stations. But then the
other one is people and I think the
concern of well there are more people at
the station maybe it's it's a station in
a different location. Are the people
going to be a safety issue? I think this
chief made a really good point uh when
addressing this with a user recently
which
is people are on Main Street on the
sidewalks. They're on Main Street
currently on at the number two bus
stops. They're driving past in their
cars. They're using their bikes. People
are a part of the fabric of Main Street.
And so when we look at safety, we look
not at the fact that we have people in
our rights of ways, rightways, because
we know we will have people in our
rightways, but the question is how are
we then understanding the risks on every
property and the chief has very
graciously offered to any user business
who wants it to work with the Beexley
Police Department to perform a safety
audit and look at the facility and
policies. Is there anything that needs
to be honed if there are concerns about
uh you know members of the public on the
right ofway? Um and so that I feel has
been u a really great resource that of
course was already on offer but a great
reminder and so um those are some of the
follow-up things that have occurred and
I want to offer Megan an opportunity to
provide any additional uh follow-up
insight. Uh thank you mayor. I literally
was just thinking how nice of a job you
were doing summarizing kind of those key
takeaways from both what we found in the
survey at meet your street and in some
more one-on-one and small group meetings
with um different constituents. And so I
just echo what you said um and I um you
know I know the plan is to table it. I
really encourage anybody on council or
otherwise who'd like to talk more about
this oneonone to reach out. We've got a
wealth of information um that we can
continue to share if you're hearing new
questions that you don't think that
we've addressed and I'm more than happy
to do that. I had a quick question. I
wasn't able to attend the most recent
Meet Your Street thing at the Beexley
Library. Could you share with council
what was the the input and the feedback
that you received? Yeah, absolutely. Um
so for anyone unfamiliar, Meet Your
Street is really geared toward our
business partners. um in the past, this
is like maybe the fifth one we've
hosted. We've done it um for individual
corridors. We open this up to any
business group. So, Cassidy, Main
Street, uh Livingston, and we also had a
few residents um and members of local
organizations attend. And so, it was
actually probably the most well attended
one that we've had. Um we did invite
Kelsey, who's out there with her son, um
from Dakota, uh to join us for that. And
we did go over um quite a bit of the
information that's been presented to
council, including some of the results
of the survey and then just gave a nice
10,000 foot view overview of everything
that's been planned so far and um
discussed all aspects. Um so it wasn't
just focused on the station location, um
but general, you know, what are the
overarching goals of link us and how
will it impact the region um and um
truly from that it was a healthy
conversation. There wasn't one topic
that I would say got zeroed in on more
than others. Um, and so really good
feedback and just group discussion.
Great. My second question is for the
chief. Um, chief, do you have any safety
concerns about the proposed BRT uh,
station for Pleasant Ridge and Maine?
No, ma'am. To answer your question
succinctly, I spoke with the leadership
from the safety and security side of
Kota. They have 800 stops in central
Ohio. And of those, no data supported
that there's a direct correlation
between schools or facilities that house
children and acts of violence. Um, they
have intensified and increase their
staffing specific to safety and
security. And I think that that
infrastructure they've created is a huge
asset. But also go back to what I had
shared and what the mayor has shared and
that is we're here as a resource um risk
mitigation look at those um facilities
currently as they stand with or without
the bus stop. What do we need to do to
help ensure that people feel safe here
in Beexley? So outside of that um
regardless if there's a bus stop or not
I mean this is a very safe community and
um I don't have any concerns. Thank you
so much. Mayor, did you have anything
else to add before I Okay. Uh, Mr.
Hurley. Um, so on on the meeting with
Christ Lutheran, I know we had some
witnesses at our previous meeting who I
would say were opposed to the location
at Pleasant Ridge. I mean, you know, not
asking you to speak for Christ Lutheran,
but can you based on that meeting, would
you say they're, you know, opposed,
neutral, like kind of how would you I
don't feel comfortable speaking for
Christ Luther. Uh we have we do have I
know members from the church here. Uh
there was a variety of voices in their
leadership and so I don't want to
characterize what the overall and I
think too Mr. Hurley um if you want to
look at the attachment that the mayor
just sent today. Um I think that there
were some representatives from the
church that maybe also gave some
additional feedback in the survey. Um
and just uh real quick uh what is the
timeline for so we approve resolution
let's say at our next meeting you
continue your negotiations with Kota at
I I think at our first meeting you said
it's like 12 to 18 months when we can
expect to be actually voting on because
this resolution is nonbinding but there
kind of what's the what's the
expectation when we're actually going to
vote on okay this is where we're putting
the stop for real this time.
Um I I'm gonna so the the way that our
code reads actually the administration
that provides that authority what to
where the stop would be in agreements
but I think I want to work still as we
said uh to figure out what that process
looks like timing wise. So it's this
would be a partnership to figure out
timing wise what it looks like. I think
that the vote on the 27th, if it were to
occur on the 27th, is a really pivotal
moment in terms of location because that
allows Dakota engineers to move from the
60% engineering to go forward to 100%
engineering. So, I'd anticipate that at
that point we are saying that we're
committed to that location and we would
support that administratively. Then the
next question is, is there any special
rightway agreement? And it would I kind
of want to work with Mark to determine
does the rightway agreement require any
additional action. So I so then I'm
reading from section one of the
resolution. Yeah. Council authorizes
that council authorizes the mayor
negotiate with COD for the use of
rideaway at the intersection of Pleasant
Ridge Main Street for a link stop
subject to future council approval.
So you're saying that that subject to
future council approval is not a because
the way I read it here is it's the
expectations we will have. We're we're
committed to continuing in partnership
and and and I think there's been a lot
of concern about the particulars of a
ride-of-way agreement.
Um I was just steep speak I'm sorry I
was answering your question just
structurally so I don't know the timing
exactly. Oh that that's fine. I I just
what what I want to be assured of is
that there's going to be, you know, I
read this resolution as council kind of
saying, "Okay, here's, you know, we're
authorizing you to go into negotiations.
I just want to make sure that at some
point we're going to have a say before,
you know, the ink is dry and we're
actually then installing up the RTB
stuff." Yeah. So, again, I'm committed
to that. Um
the the timing is going to be when the
there's an actual agreement in front of
us to
uh put forward for you know a resolution
of
support. Um I'll let someone I I have
another kind of line of inquiry but I'll
let someone else go and I'll Mr.
Silverman, do you have your hand up?
Yeah, I do.
Um so my position is that I believe we
need a bus stop at Beexley. I wanted to
get back to the study that Megan and Ben
put together with about the locations
that were determined. And I know that
Columbus is committed to a Nelson Road
and a James Road stop for the city of
Columbus. And my understanding is there
has to be a certain distance from those
stops to the stop that would be in
Beexley, which would then narrow down
the allotted area that we could put a
stop in. And we
initially based off that determined that
Drexel fit the parameter and then we
determined based off utilities and
others that moving it one block to
Pleasant Ridge would be the best. Is
there any
other stops that that meet the criteria
of a distance from Nelson and James that
are also viable? or is is Drexel
Pleasant Ridge kind of the the one area
that would fit what we if we wanted to
have a stop in back? I guess I'm trying
to picture. Yeah. So, I think it's a
variety of factors. One is distance from
other stops. There's density of use and
the other is like the actual
infrastructure and how well it lends
itself to it. I'm sure there are other
considerations and I'll let Megan
piggyback off of this, but um Drexal and
Maine was ideal because it's it's next
to the nexus of density that's occurring
based upon zoning and development
patterns and just the geography of the
commercial lots that are present on Main
Street. Um, Pleasant Ridge is a great
alternative because it is less
disruptive to infrastructure and both of
those intersections feature that
three-way T intersection, which means
you're not eliminating a lefthand turn
into a street. In this instance, either
a street or or a business. Um,
so you could go further east and you
would have more spacing from Nelson
Road, but if you did that, you get away
from the density that is really sought
after. And that includes the mixeduse
development that's going up around us.
That includes future mixeduse
development that's anticipated uh in
areas that we know are going to be prime
development opportunities and it also
includes Capitol University obviously
whose faculty and and students are users
of transit. Um, so I think those are the
reasons why it was felt. As you go
further down east, we looked at all
those intersections. COD was very kind
through their engineers to look at and
analyze that and your council peers
literally intersection by intersection
looked like. What would that look like?
And what it looked like was it cut off
access to businesses and streets every
step along the way and is is in the
parameters like Chelsea would be too
close to James. So I guess I'm trying to
figure out is there is there was there
any ones
determined on the east side of Xleet
that fit the parameters or did it
basically based off all the studies
those ones were were decided to be
um
the further east you go the further you
get away from that density of current
and future development and use and so
they were less desirable as you went
along from that perspective and closer
to James as you said Megan what would
you add to
Um yeah and I would say there is a
intersection by intersection uh PDF memo
that summarized all the deeper data that
is available in the council information.
Um and I think what happens is you go
further east too because of the driveway
accesses and kind of the offset roads we
have much more impact um to traffic
patterns to left turn accesses to
driveways whereas in the current
location the preferred location for now
um there would not be that impact. Um
there's also consideration we've heard
some individuals interested in learning
well why not close to the library. Um
and that was pursued that's also
included in that memo. There is a
right-of-way general availability of
rightway concern there um with how close
both the library and the northern
development are to those rightway lines
and so it it frankly doesn't fit. Thank
you. Now, Alex, I just wanted to add
that um when it originally came to the
council working group, the proposed
location in in Beexley, as you know, was
Drexel and Maine. And at that time, the
closest stop was uh I believe Alum Creek
and Maine. And the council working group
felt very strongly that those were just
too close together because they're only
separated by a light. Uh and now
obviously it's evolved to Pleasant
Ridge. And then as I learned last time,
the Alam Creek location has moved a
little bit more west to now Nelson. So
that distance between the stops is
definitely a consideration. I just know
that distance was important to Kota to
have enough of like I think it was.7
miles. They didn't want to have a stop
that was sooner than that. So I thank
you for the feedback. Mr. Markham, you
had your hand up. you had mentioned um
the offer for uh the chief to do I guess
safety audit for some of these. So I
guess just a general question, you know,
what kinds of things would you look at
when you when you do a safety audit for
traffic and and those sorts of things?
And then uh I think you're the person to
ask this question, too. You know, I'm
trying to wrap my brain around like
safety issues concerning a bus stop in
the middle of the street versus bus stop
on the side. Are there additional safety
concerns with that as you know how's
that affect that that sort of dynamic?
All great questions. So the the first
piece of this is I was brought in
because um stakeholders felt safety
would be an issue and the there was a
lot of whatifs played in that scenario.
What if those that are in this area of
that stock could potentially engage with
those students? And so it really became
less about the stop and more about do we
have a safe infrastructure with that
facility that church that needs to be
provided
beforehand ever allowing that um
potential to to to interface itself. So
um the extension was really how can we
look at the the space itself is that
safe is it um in need of cameras? It is
in need of fencing is it in need of some
things and make some suggestions.
Clearly, it's up to to that entity if
they make those improvements or not. But
really from a risk mitigation, how can
we help that? That was part one. Part
two, the question with the actual
location. I think that um it's a a
deeper dive and one that I would really
want to work with and see from a crash
statistics, pedestrian numbers, um if
the numbers differ from the location of
of where that stop is. And I think that
would be helpful. That's um something I
do not know but would absolutely could
look into.
Can I can I follow up to that point,
Chief? Um if we were to approve this at
the next meeting and we do have a BRT
station at um Pleasant Ridge in Maine,
um how would we handle folks who are
attempting to
um drop off on the left so that their
passengers can get out to the station?
I mean, I know that's a lot to think
about, but say you had somebody who's
not real steady on their feet. You know,
they don't want to get dropped off on
the sidewalk side because then they have
to walk in the crosswalk. And it's to my
understanding that this location was
selected to allow better access for
wheelchair, bicycles. So, a lot of the
infrastructure in that particular
location is based upon that question.
So, I think that it's already being
worked into that. So this allows faster
exiting entrance. Um and you know a lot
of things I learned sitting in that
meeting listening to the average times
was based upon that question. Yeah. I I
I know we talked about like average
weight time you know how long it would
take for someone to unload and load
especially given that it's going to be
equal platform level. Um I and listening
to Mr. Markham and safety issues. It
occurred to me that um I I obviously I
would not wish that anyone would do
this, but you could have some folks who
um aren't going to pull over to the
right, unload, and then walk in the
crosswalk. But what if you had folks who
were just pulling up to the platform
when the bus isn't there and you get out
on the left side and you
wait? Has has has are there any concerns
about that potentially happen happening?
I haven't thought about it. And so I
think that those are great questions and
it would from a visual and seeing the
the actual design and the potential from
a traffic flow and some of those
whatifs. Uh you know, as we mentioned
there, there are a lot of whatifs that
could potentially happen. I think
they're all great questions and things
that we will need to go back. I did
extend an invite to meet with their
director of safety and security and just
ask some of those very um so even from
the community as well as council. I'd
love to get, you know, a nice uh Q&A
together and then I can sit down and and
answer. So that way the next time I come
before you I'll be able to answer those
more succinctly. Thank you very much. Um
other comments, question, discussion
from council before um I turn it over
for public comments. Mr. Marcelino, did
you want to um add anything? I think
they've been waiting a long time. We
should let them go. Thanks. Okay. Um I'm
so sorry. All right. Um now to public
comments. This is a third reading on
this resolution, so you do not need a
speaker slip. Um, I think everyone was
here at the beginning when I uh went
over our public comment policy. Um, is
there anyone who would like to speak
first? Come on
up. Um, and if you wouldn't mind, please
hit the button on the microphone so it
should show green. Perfect. Um, thank
you so much. And you have up to five
minutes. Okay. Thank you. My name is
Kathy Schroer. I am the president of
Christ Lutheran Church, 2314 East Main
Street. Um Christ Lutheran Church has
been a presence in Beexley for 150
years. Our children's center has been
serving the community for over 50 years.
We have a responsibility to our members,
the Beexley community, and the children
we serve to protect our property and our
neighborhood. Um, as I stated at the
last council meeting, our primary
concern with the proposed station at
Pleasant Ridge is the safety of the
children in our care. This station would
sit directly across the street from our
playground, our open yard, and the
entrance to the children's center. We
believe this invites trouble and is an
unnecessary risk. We've been told by
city officials that Pleasant Ridge is
the only viable option to retain all
existing lefthand turn lanes in Beexley.
We believe that removing one lefthand
turn is a better option than placing
children in a compromising
position. We're also concerned about the
increased congestion this station will
cause between Dawson and Drexel during
peak traffic times. What provisions are
being made to provide access for
emergency vehicles to this section of
Main Street? We have heard that
extensive traffic studies have been
conducted by both Kota and the city of
Beexsley. Are these available for the
public to
review? Since the last city council
meeting, Christ Lutheran Church
leadership has met with Mayor Mayor
Kesler, Megan Meyer, and Chief Lewis.
Um, I also attended the meet the street
uh session held on May 7th. Details
about how the proposed station will
affect our church and the surrounding
properties seems to trickle out at these
sessions, but we have not seen full
plans. I learned at the May 7th meeting
that the curbs near the station will be
pushed back three feet on each side of
Main Street. Logically, this means that
in order to maintain street lights, road
signs, and a negotiable sidewalk, the
trees in front of the church will need
to be removed. However, have we have yet
to see plans for these changes? We would
like to see a full set of designs for
Main Street, not the station, but the
sidewalk area. How much of Main Street
between Dawson and Drexel will be
affected by the widening of the street?
How will traffic move between the wider
and the narrower sections of the street?
What will the sidewalk area look like?
Are there plans to plant new trees to
replace the existing trees? And where
will these trees be
planted? Who's paying for these
modifications to the street and the
sidewalk areas?
Will the church capital and businesses
affected by these changes have any input
into the
changes? Up to this point, the city has
not been forthcoming with information
about the impact of the proposed station
and the changes required to accommodate
it. I ask that a vote on the Pleasant
Ridge station be put on hold until we
have a full designed publicly available
plans that can be reviewed by all
parties and by our legal counsel. Thank
you for the opportunity to speak.
Thank you so much. Um I did write down
some of your questions. Um if you
wouldn't mind just staying until the
very end and we will
Thank you. Thank you so much. All right.
Do we have any other members of the
public who would like to offer public
comment on this resolution? If so,
please go ahead and come up to the
podium and share your name and address
with us, please.
Hi. Hello. Hi. My name is Robbie
Farquar. I live on Sherwood. Uh a
lifelong Beexley resident. First council
meeting. First Beexley post. Beexley
buzz post today. So sorry. Won't be
doing that again. Welcome. I know. I
know. Welcome to our city council
meeting. I know.
Um first and foremost, I want to say
thank you. I appreciate everyone's time
uh effort here to make community a
better place. um make the community what
it is. Uh I fully support BRT in
devoting sufficient resources to
improving public transportation. I
personally used the two bus line back
when I was working downtown and found it
a great community resource. I'm here
today to voice my concerns with the
current plan about the specific Pleasant
Ridge location on two topics, congestion
and safety. Uh first briefly on
congestion. Um, I understand that Kota
is pushing for this location or Drexel
as it is truly the center of Beexley,
but the reality is that it is already
likely the most congested part of Main
Street. As a Sherwood resident, we deal
with plenty of speeding cutthrough
drivers already who are trying to avoid
the congested Drexel and Main Street
intersection. This new buzz stop will
surely encourage more drivers to turn
down Sherwood or Dawson cutting through
Central Beexley.
Last meeting it was referenced that this
or Drexel would be the best place for
our 370 Beexley daily riders. But I
would encourage each of you not only to
think about our 370 Beexley riders. I
would encourage you to think about our
East of Beexley neighbors too. I would
ask you I would ask you to ask Kota if
we should that we should fully
understand how many daily bus riders are
using the current stops immediately to
the east of Beexley. those riders that
would undoubtedly also appreciate and
benefit from this type of stop if it was
closer to their
community. Do we have a unique
opportunity to share this BRT privilege
with our neighbors to the east instead
of centralizing it, especially
considering the next BRT bus stop is all
the way at James Road.
Safety. As a vital part of the Beexa
community, Christ Lutheran and his
preschool has so vividly advocated
against this location, primarily due to
safety concerns. I am not affiliated at
all with this church, but I recognize
and I'm willing to advocate as a
community member alongside them. As a
preschool with over a 100 toddlers, it
is undoubtedly a very vulnerable part of
our community.
I fully understand that Main Street is
filled with schools, churches,
synagogues, and retirement homes that
would have similar safety concerns. And
that makes this location very difficult,
but also very important. But as a
community in this day and age, we need
to take every opportunity to mitigate
unnecessary risk to protect the
children. And if that means someone
can't turn left or right on their street
due to this new stop and has to go to
the next street, so be it.
Also on the data point uh the safety
data I would just ask you think about
that if there is not a data point that
says there's a safety issue do we want
our community to be that data point for
other communities. Thank you. I
appreciate your time. Thank you so much.
Welcome to your first city council
meeting.
Um, is there anyone else in attendance
tonight that would like to offer public
comments? We have two speakers with us.
Is this permitted council? Um, hopefully
my little buddy cooperates. Crap. Shoot
because it is past his bedtime. Um, but
that's how it goes with the public's
business. Don't we know? Um, so I wanted
to bring just a little bit of new
information to I'm sorry. Would you
please state your name and your address?
I'm Kelsey Ellson, 33 North High Street,
Columbus. I'm with Kota, local
government affairs director. Thank you
so much. This is Angelo. Um, so, um, I
wanted to bring some new data to the
conversation. I don't think I can
address everything that's been brought
up. Um, and but I'm available to meet at
another time if that's helpful. But I
also wanted to just share a little bit
about um, me as well. So to start with
the data, um I know we hear a lot about
parking and we've taken great care um
and I'm saying we working with the
administration to think about how
businesses are going to continue to
prize that parking near them and we want
to respect that. So right now the BRT is
not taking away any parking. But what I
did was I actually was able to pull some
information about how riders are using
the stops in front of um uh the Pleasant
Ridge Future Station today in the
existing line too because those folks
those customers are our best indicator
for um what we can expect in the future
too. So 94% of them walked to their
stop. The other 6% um people were
dropped off.
Uh so the again 94 people 94% of people
um they're not bringing a car to this to
this um interaction with Kota. They're
using their two feet which makes a lot
of sense based on how Beexley has taken
care to build itself out as a walkable
community. So I think that's going to be
your advantage to help avoid um see
actually seeing this concern around
parking bear out. Um 35% of them were
students and then why were they riding
the bus at all? Again, I think with the
new premium service, it's going to be
more alluring and I think you're going
to see even more uptake for just fun
reasons. It's going to be really
convenient and fast. Um, but 35% used it
for work. Um, I don't know if any of
them are child care teachers um or work
at any of the direct establishments
around it, but um we know that they're
going somewhere in the area. Uh around
23 and a half% were going to school. uh
the same number. We're we're going
shopping for food, uh maybe groceries,
to go dining, to spend money at local
Beexley businesses. We know again and
again that public transit is a a way to
open up areas to help more customers and
more workers get to help them uh help
them grow. 6% were just visiting
families or friends, family or friends.
Um and then 6% um were going to the
doctor. So again, this is admittedly a
small sample size. Um I will give I will
give you that but it was from people who
are out using KOD in Beexley today.
Okay. So that's number one. I think just
in terms of safety, I don't want to at
risk of uh I know roundabouts can be a
little bit of a lightning rod. We're not
talking about a roundabout, but you know
when you come up come up to a roundabout
and you're like, "Oh, I got to do this
right. I have to pay attention." Um,
hopefully you weren't holding your
phone, but you bring your utmost ability
to getting through that appropriately.
The mass of the station in the center of
the road has kind of a similar effect.
People want to make sure they they are
paying attention and interacting with it
appropriately because of its, you know,
nerdy word, but verticality, because of
its mass. It is substantial in the
middle of the road. Another piece of
safety with other other drivers. Um and
chief you may be um concerned with this
is that protecting the lane width which
we have done is one of the best things
to make sure that the road users of all
sorts are are interacting safely.
Yeah. Okay. Uh he's expiring and so is
my time I expect. So um finally I just I
I just think with new are you going to
do it? No. with um with a new service to
KOD. I think I just want to acknowledge
the human part of this conversation,
which is that if you're not necessarily
writing yourself, then you may be having
questions of who KOD writers are. I've
given you some data. Um but before I
worked at KOD, I was a transit writer. I
am now. I'm not I'm not writing transit
because I work at KOD. I'm working at
Kota because I care deeply about
transit. Um, and she couldn't be here
with me tonight, but I I want to just
point out that the average wage of child
care workers is
$15.19, which is probably not something
that affords you the ability to live in
Beexley. So, it's key. I wanted to use
that. It's key
to Hi.
Thank you.
Thank you. that we provide access and
transit's a way to do that. So I I spend
34% more than my mortgage on child care
going to a pretty premium center
downtown which I expect probably pays
their workers even better than that. But
um up until a couple weeks ago she
unfortunately left. Um this was Angela's
teacher and she takes Kota. Okay. So
Kota allows people to show up to work.
Um right and whether that's me because
workers can go work in child care or
whether that's the workers themselves in
child care. So, I just want to bring
that that to your attention. That's
you to say maybe you don't have a friend
or family who's who's using Kota today,
but um I'm in front of you. He loves the
bus. She loves the bus. It's a part of
our lives. And really, the question to
ask ourselves is how will this become a
part of yours? We strongly believe that
the BRT is part of Beexley's very bright
future. Thank you so much, Kelsey, and
thank you to um your beautiful child.
for joining us. Thank you. Um, is there
anyone else who would like to offer
public comments? Mr. Nes, come on up.
Um, if you could please give us your
name and your address. You have up to
five minutes to advise council, please.
All right. Thank you. Uh, name is Craig
Ness. Address is 2576 Brighton Road. And
I want to start by complimenting your
multitasking, Kelsey.
Um, so I'm here tonight to support the
link initiative in general and the
proposed location on Pleasant Ridge in
Maine. Um, I am one of the majority
voters who voted in support of the levy
last year um, to support LinkUS and I
would also be proud that Beexley could
play a part in supporting the
initiative. Um, I am currently uh, a bus
transit rider as well. It's part of how
I get to work. It's part of how my
family and I are a onecar family in a
car centric town. Cotto helps enable
that and I'm a rider of the number 23 on
Stellza Road that gets me to Easton. Uh
I also want to mention um like Kelsey
did. Um it's been part of my experience
with my kids as well. uh at a time when
Rebecca was working on weekends, my kids
and I would take the number two downtown
to to uh visit Cosai or to downtown
events. Um and I want to say I
appreciate all the thorough thinking
that's gone into this u location on
Pleasant Ridge. Uh I know some concerns
have been brought up about safety. Um
but I think it's important to note that
uh as far as the metrics and the
research show, uh there isn't a cause of
concern for child endangerment. Um, my
kids went to preschool in front of a bus
stop in Clintonville. Uh, we have a bus
stop in front of Montro today at a
school. Um, as far as I'm aware, there
hasn't been a connection of, uh,
endangerment of children being near a
bus
stop. Uh, I just also want to mention
that we have a a very professional
police force. They're very responsive
and if there were any issues that arose,
I have trust in them to address it.
So, in closing, I'm in support of this
initiative. I would be very excited
about the benefits of it. Would support
our local businesses. It would calm and
lower congestion uh on Main Street um
because of the wrership. Uh it would
allow workers of our businesses to have
a safe and economical way to get to
their jobs. Uh and I think it's part of
us protecting our planet for future
generations. Thanks. Thank you, Mr.
Ness.
Um, is there anyone else that would like
to offer public comment? Don Lewis, come
on
up. Don Lewis 663 Ulair. I just have a
question about expense. What kind of
expenses were costable the city
occur within all this? Mr. Lewis, I'm
going to write your question down. And
as I mentioned at the conclusion of
public comments, um I'll make sure that
those questions get uh routed to the
right. Terrific. Thank you. Thank you.
Um is there anyone else that would like
to offer public comment who has not
already had a
chance? All right, I'm going to go ahead
and close public comment. Uh Miss Royer,
thank you so much for giving me uh your
written questions. Um, I had written
them down as well, but I think based on
the questions, I think it would be most
appropriate for me to give those to the
mayor. Um, is your email address on
here? Mr. Mayor, do you have M. Royer's
contact information? Okay, great. I'm
going to hand those to him, M. Royer,
and I'm going to ask that he please
follow up with you once he's had a
chance to review them. Um, I will give
those to you. Thank you so much for
that. Um, and, uh, with respect to Mr.
Lewis's question about who would pay for
that and the cost. Okay. Is that
something mayor that you want to um I
will answer that and then allow any
further clarification. But the uh the
cost of the of the project is borne by
KOD and supported by the the levy that
Mr. Nes just referred to as well as some
federal dollars. Um the city might opt
to do some additional work associated
with it. Um, for example, we've talked
to Capitol University about perhaps
would they be interested in partnering
on a on a micro, not a micro, a pocket
park, the southwest corner there at
Maine and Pleasant Ridge wouldn't be
required. It would be optional. Um, but
it is a the cost is borne by uh the
project. I think that's straightforward.
Thank you, mayor. I appreciate that. Um,
council, I know at least one of you
wanted to maybe have some additional
discussion or um ask some questions now
that we've had a chance to hear from uh
our public. Um, would anyone like to
offer additional comments before a
motion is made? Mr. Hurley? Um, yeah.
So, just just again continuing to think
through this. Um, I guess I'll put a
question to to you, Mayor, and to
Director Meyer.
If if you had to pick a plan B, is there
another intersection that I know we've
kind of danced around that question of,
you know, we we understand why Pleasant
Ridge is the the preferred
location, you know, but I guess if you
had to pick a plan B, do you have
another site that you feel is almost as
good, you
know, based on, and I'm looking I have
the PDF here Megan referenced of of the
KOD summary of the different
intersections. and you know sort of the
summary data points. Um I so I want to
clarify this is not my plan A. This is a
collaborative plan A. It's a plan A that
we arrived at um as we have gone through
engineering as Kota has expressed
um what makes sense and what doesn't
along the corridor and as I've heard
from the three council members that were
part of the working team in terms of you
know what seemed desirable and not
desirable. I don't personally I I I
don't want to make light of the fact
that cutting off access to streets
really changes things. Um and so I don't
even feel comfortable because if I were
to say plan
B, you know, I'd have to think really
carefully about what is the business
that is losing access and how does that
impact the exact issues we've heard
about tonight. Um safety and access uh
by emergency vehicles becomes a
different consideration. there all sorts
of other considerations and one thing
that was a really good outcome of the
more rigorous look at the main and
Drexal location. It was happening
already with engineering but in getting
additional feedback from our council
team just kind of seeing how that uh it
was not just an infrastructure
uh cost and um sort of uh inconvenience
issue. it had a lot more to do with how
it would impact uh like a direct impact
to um changing uh a property right in
front. So, I don't feel comfortable
saying that that I would say what the
plan B would be because it seems like
this is a consensus built. If there's
going to be a station, here's where it
makes sense.
Um so, when you know I asked this
question of COD when they were in uh
last week or last meeting, those three
weeks ago now. Um, you know, basically
they, you know, they're locked into the
Nelson road and and the question was
asked in the context of if Beex doesn't
have a BRT site and for the record, I
think we should. I absolutely think we
should, but basically they're pretty
pretty set on Nelson and James was my
takeaway. I think I asked, you know,
would you consider relocating stations
to accommodate for that gap on Vex's
portion of Main Street? And uh, the
answer was I think no. Um, I don't want
to speak for COD. I see Kelsey's out
there. She can correct me if I'm wrong.
Um, and I appreciate the betting that's
gone into
this. I guess what what I'm thinking is
in the context of this resolution, I
would feel much more comfortable if the
resolution authorized you to negotiate
basically two competing locations. So,
if we were to say Pleasant Ridge is up
plan A, can we put a plan B into the
mix? Because what I'm hearing from the
community for folks that are supportive
of BRT, even the ones that have said
they like the Pleasant Ridge location, I
think they're going to be pretty happy
having it pretty much anywhere in Main
Street. And if folks feel differently,
they can correct me on that. You know,
we have folks that I think are
supportive of BRT, they don't like the
location. I think we can I think there's
a way to maybe appease them to or at
least to contemplate, you know, and
continue down that road. Um, at the end
of the day, going back to my line of
question, we're going to have to make a
decision. you know, you're going to
negotiate on behalf of the city. I I
think we should be the ones to say,
"Yes, this is the location."
Um, you know, I appreciate the survey
that was sent out. For example, we never
we've always said, "Here's Pleasant
Ridge. Do you like it or not? Tell us
why you like it or not." We've never
really in the surveys we've done with
the community, we never really given
folks an option of do you want it here,
here, or here. It's always been, "What's
Pleasant Ridge? Do you support it or
not?" Obviously, people support it. And
I think the majority of Beexley, if we
put a stop there, is going to be fine
with it. But I'm just thinking since
we're I guess I view it as we're still
early enough in the process, we can have
an alternative and sort of proceed with
both options knowing that at some point
we are going to have to pick one. But it
just for the folks that do have some
concerns, it it still get, you know, it
keeps them in the game, so to speak.
keeps them, you know, we can continue to
talk with Christ Lutheran and others and
and share data and have that
conversation knowing that we're not, you
know, it's we're not locked in fully to
one location now. But that that's just
my thought process. I'll I'll pause
there and let you and yeah, others
react. So, I think there are two ways
there two important data points to
answer that question and Kelsey, if
you're able to, I'm going to ask you to
answer one of them. Um, they're
following a federal process. They're at
60% design going to 100% design. And
even as soon as the past month or two,
the station moved from Alen Creek Drive
to Nelson because they're honing in on
the particulars. And the more they hone
in on particulars, the more they start
to answer some of the questions that
were even asked this evening about,
well, where does that tree go? And, you
know, where does that sidewalk exactly
land? That's the sort of information
that comes in as you get deeper and
deeper. I would like to hear from Kota
in terms of is it even feasible to do a
double 100% engineering process and I'll
answer my opinion about how I think that
does or does not make sense but first I
did you capture that did you hear that
question
which was like thank you the when you
called it the double 100% engineering I
was my I did not compute council member
currently was asking can we like pursue
two locations at once could we have two
options that have been
fully embedded so that council could
consider it doesn't have to be fully I'm
just saying in terms of the resolution
text if we said you know I I'll sort of
riff here let me find the language uh
you know council authorizes blah blah
blah rightway at the intersection with
pleasure region main street or a second
location as identified you know we don't
even need to be specific I'm just I'm
not wanting to close the door on other
options quite yet But so that's the
question is if if city beex would say
hey look we're going to have a stop in
beexley I think council and the
community at large are supportive of
that one option is bridge the other
option is maybe another cassidy
cassingham rose whatever we have the
whole study you all did how does that
fit into your process because you've got
a much bigger process you've got to
manage all this and does it fit in
so this is your resolution
this is your chance to weigh in in the
interim as an agreement is in front of
us as we advance the project. So, this
is a question for you about how it
should look. Um, I I would say the
Pleasant Ridge is our preferred
location. Um, if you're asking for input
on on the statements in your resolution,
I would love for it to say that. Um I
don't know what the other one it would
mention but we do after all the
conversations we've had strongly believe
that it is the very best. Um it was due
to your own input and your community's
input that we moved away from what we
originally wanted which was Drexle. So I
think here is really where we would like
to stay. Um I think we have done pretty
extensive analysis um with staff. Megan,
I think you can save me here a little
bit, but I think if we to recap that
together um a little bit more too to
make sure that you feel comfortable and
if there are ways to share that in a a
way that can be received by the public.
Well, then I think that that would be um
maybe something a tool that we already
have in our tool belt. I could suggest
um and I think too something that we
haven't talked a whole lot um about in
this group is in our small working group
um with the council members involved.
Um, in addition to that memo where we
went through every intersection, we
actually kind of asked that question. If
it wasn't President Ridge, what would it
be? And we looked at Roosevelt and we
asked them to do an even deeper dive
into Roosevelt. And um, even still with
that deeper dive, this just made more
sense for a number of reasons, all of
which we we've said already. And so part
of that process has been done again by a
small group of of council. Um, and so
that was to get to this point. So that
more in-depth review of what would be
the next best thing had been completed.
Um and so um and we do have that
information. It is in the folder and if
that's something we would like to talk
about more um and another you know small
group meeting it's something that we
could certainly do or in a way that's
open to the public as well. I so I I the
the the question of like I I feel like
we'd never actually answered the
engineering question like what it look
like to go deeper on engineering on two
sites. Um I think that what is true is
if council passes a resolution and says
here's the what we're supportive of.
We'll continue to work forward in good
faith if
something unexpected comes out of the
full engineering which is possible. I
mean you get into there was a uh it
through that and so that's going to be
important. It's not like it's it's not
like our hands are tied to doing that
and it's not like we can't continue to
look at it. I mean, I I was a little on
the spot with the plan B. I mean, I
guess I would have to say it would
probably be Drexel and Maine because
that's what we started with based upon,
frankly, many years of feedback. I mean,
Kelsey, I don't think was married when
uh we first started talking about this
and then Mazletov, now we're like double
Mazletov. And uh we've been through a
lot already together. Um and if you look
at this um our presentations in the
past, you see you've seen how much how
much how many events and touch points
we've had and looking at different
locations. Understandably, when the
pedal hits the metal and you're looking
at specifics, all of a sudden we're
asking questions that weren't being
asked before and that makes sense. But I
do think there comes a time to make a
decision based upon the best knowledge
and information in front of us and move
forward with it. And if something
changes and we get more information,
we'll let you know about it. But I
really feel like the due diligence
that's gone into looking at the
different locations, I would encourage
any of the council members that have
been around the table talking about it
to to also refer to that. And I see Sam.
Yeah, I've been trying I've been trying
to jump in here if you don't mind here.
We we heard Mr. Hurley. Um I know Mr.
Marcelino, you've had your hand up. I
want to first just be completely
respectful of Councilman Hurley because
I've obviously had a lot more time with
this issue than you have. That was part
of the working group and part of where
it started. I mean, uh, obviously I
didn't like this project to begin with.
I've made that clear. I didn't vote for
it. I think it was really dumb the way
that, uh, they proposed it as being a
sales tax. I think that impacts the
people that need, uh, public
transportation the most. So, we're just
effectively rising the cost of, uh, or
raising the cost of bus rides uh, for
people because then they're inevitably
typically taking it to go shopping and
doing whatever. So, it's just another
half a percentage. But, I digress. Here
we are. Becklessly voted for it
overwhelmingly. I also completely
disagree with the notion that that means
that we have to have a bus stop just
because the city of Beexley voted for
it. We aren't just here to rubber stamp
whatever the city of Beexley did. We're
here to evaluate whether it's right for
our community because the city of
Beexley didn't necessarily vote on the
location. They didn't vote on whether we
were even going to have a stop. This is
a Franklin County vote that was put
before us and and uh you know it was
supported by Beexley residents. But that
all being said, I certainly think that
we we do need a stop and I think it has
to do with the future of Beexley. And we
worked
through intersection by intersection
asking, can we go anywhere else with
this? And the one thing that stood out
to me throughout every evaluation of
another area was how it impacted
residents. And you know, the biggest
thing to this is that we certainly have
a lot of people that have vested
interests in this location coming to
speak to us about it. But that's these
these are the people speaking about
because it's going to be closest to
their property, you know, the church
mostly and a couple businesses that
reach out. Um we haven't heard from
Roosevelt yet. We haven't heard if we
try to put it at Grandon yet, if if
Johnson's comes out, if if all of the
residents on Grandon. Um and so I think
that you know as we work through these
it's really hard to try to find that
second better location without you know
getting all of Beexley to respond to
which place it should be. So instead I
think us in our infinite amount of
wisdom have to kind of trust what has
been put before us in terms of the best
location uh that that you know to put
this station at. And I say that in the
idea that you know I never wanted to be
in Drexel and there were many issues
with Drexel that I saw. That's how we
got to Pleasant Ridge. And I think that
those are the only two locations where
it really doesn't impact somebody's
ability to live, somebody's ability to
to turn onto their own street and get to
their their property or for an emergency
service to get to that street and take a
left or a right. Um, and so when we're
thinking about all this, we're thinking
about safety and such, I understand it's
going to impact
somebody. And I think every time we do
that, we can sit here and say, "Well,
what if?" But at this point, if it's not
impacting, in my opinion, somebody's
home and their ability to get to their
home, then I think we're doing the best
to the community that we possibly can
and also understanding that we are a
unique subver. We are a unique
community. We don't have the space to
put things in other places. This is it.
So, we got to work with what we got. And
you know, in this case, if it if it uh
you know, if it fits in a space and
doesn't impact the uh ability for
residents to frankly get to their uh
property uh effectively, and I mean just
with direct turns, I think it almost has
to be. And I'm going to say again, we've
gone block by block trying to find
something better. And it either was
impacted by the amount of ridership or
the distance to another station or the
distance, frankly, to our most desirable
area, Beexsley, which is right here. So
all of that, but also I want to
acknowledge certainly that is a uh
person that has spent more time just
because of the mayor's committee with
them and I appreciate your thoughts
because certainly I think we all had a
similar viewpoint.
Thank you, Mr. Marcelino. Miss Sud,
thank you Mr. Marcelino. Um I stand with
you on everything you said. I've had a
part um in the small working groups.
I've had a little bit more time with
this than some of my fellow council
members. So I respect all the questions
tonight. I also respect that the those
who have come out to speak to us or send
us emails because that's why we put the
resolution out to the community. We
wanted to hear from you. We wanted you
to weigh in. So, thanks for taking the
time to do just that. Quick question for
the mayor and Megan. Are we able lot of
questions that are coming up tonight
were covered by in their last
presentation as far as walkability to
Pleasant Ridge, that 10-minute sweet
spot. Um, it was welllaid out, but
everybody's busy and so going back to a
meeting sometimes just is just that we
have a really nice layout on beexley.org
to recap a lot of things that we've had
the opportunity as a working group to
cover and had deeper dives than our
constituents or our fellow council
members. Are we able to add that
presentation a link to beexley.org
underneath development? Um, anyone who's
listening tonight or is here in person,
there's more information. Um, I know
when you get this information firsthand
and you're not taking notes, sometimes
something resonates and you need a
little bit more. Um, and it's laid out
very nicely here um, under our BRT under
development. Um, so Megan, that would be
great if we can attach that code of
presentation from the last meeting as
well. Absolutely. Have it done before
the end of the meeting. It's also if
anyone wants to look at it today right
now it's um sorry before the end before
the before the end of the meeting it's
on the upcom it's on your agenda packet
so you can look at the current agenda
it's under the subfolder for additional
materials great idea miss um I hang on
before before Mr. Hurley speaks a second
time. Is there Oh, Miss Fible.
I am hearing that the again because
everyone else has has mentioned this
that that that safety is an issue that
congestion is a concern. Um, and
that
parking could be a concern
and and I am I am convinced that the way
that Kota
describes how traffic will move up and
down Main Street because of the
technology that the buses have to move
the lights in a certain way that the
congestion is something that we don't
need to be concerned about.
I am convinced that with
um some help that our parking situation
could be better. And I am going to
promise that if that happens, I will be
on top of making sure that we can find
partners within the city that will that
will alleviate businesses concerns when
it comes to that.
I am convinced that if the chief
believed that there was a safety
issue that
this site would not be something that we
would pursue. Beexley always always put
safety first. Always. And there is
nothing I love more than little people.
And I would not want to put people in
that
situation. I work every day with an
organization that
helps moms, working moms, moms who
cannot
afford to. They they can't cycle
themselves out of
poverty and they don't qualify for any
kind of assistance.
These are the people that are riding
this bus. These are the people who are
riding with their
children. These are the people that
would love to live in
Beexley. These are the people that can't
afford cars, so they ride the buses.
These are the they and the themms that
I'm worried we don't want in our city.
And that makes me sad. That makes me
really
sad. And if we are shooting for a one
beexley. I think we need to think about
that a little bit. I really
do. Thank you, Miss Fible. Um, all
right. I think everyone's had it. Mr.
Mr. Fishell, you want to add something?
And then I'm going to ask council if
they have any additional comments
before. Well, I I just want to make a
couple comments as not as she lawyer but
as a resident of best and trying to
listen to all this and understanding
that you guys are everyone in this room
is trying to do the best they can. But
you know this has been a project that's
going has gone on for a long time. It
was vetted by three of the members of
your body. Again, that they're not that
doesn't mean you should rubber stamp
them or anything like that. And there
are just several things that have been
discussed during about this project that
makes me want to chime in, which I I
know I do sarcastically all the time,
but I rarely do seriously. So, um, first
of all, and again, it should be a
pleasant range. I mean period that
that's the best location based on the
best effect it has and the least amount
of problems that are caused. I'm not
saying no problems but you know we have
we heard from people and we've heard
from people the last couple meetings
about the concerns of being at Pleasant
Ridge. you. No, nobody everybody can
imagine the people who would be in here
when it the project was on Roosevelt and
you weren't turning left on Roosevelt
ever again. Think I mean so again I'm
not downplaying the concerns that we've
heard. I'm just saying I think Sam made
the point that these are cons there's
going to be concerns no matter what.
Beexsley is part of a special community
but it's part of the greater Franklin
County Columbus community and there are
scary things or you know scary is not
fair challenges when changes occur. I
feel them all the time and that's why
you have this long process where
everyone's beded things. We spent how
long to vote I'm sorry to select our
police chief and he's doing an amazing
job. this council and the community says
to the chief, are there safety concerns?
And the answer is no, but here's some
things we can do to make you feel
better. We have a star, as she's been
described, in Megan who has again been
in the on the ground floor with all of
this stuff, coming up with these
recommendations, and not not to mention
the mayor. And so we are relying on
these folks and folks are relying on you
too to come up with the best potential
solution for Beexley and the larger part
of the community, not a reaction to I
don't like it there. Let's put it in
another corner just because it will
affect me less. And that's a lot of what
we're talking about here, whether it's
at Pleasant Ridge or even in Beexley at
all. And so I for one trust the process
and I think it would be a black eye on
Beexley if this council did not vote
unanimously and again you guys could do
what you want of course but if this
council did not v vote unanimously on
this in favor of this resolution it will
be a black eye on Beexley in the larger
community and probably with many many of
our members. And the final point I want
to make is just to reiterate what is one
vexley about and I think you know
Lorianne said that so thanks for
indulging me. Thank you Mr. Fishell. Mr.
Hurley did you want to have one more
comment before um I make a motion.
What's that? Okay. Um thank you council
and thank you so much to members of our
public who were able to speak tonight.
Thank you mayor for uh chiming in and
for continuing to work on this. Um, as
you know, your city council is a
nonpartisan group of seven folks, and we
like to ask questions because that is
our job. It is our job to evaluate
legislation and to find the facts and to
apply them to legislation. So, I'm going
to continue to ask as many questions as
I think I need so that I can come to a
comfortable place in voting for this.
And I know that the rest of my council
members feel the same way. So, thank you
for listening to us. Thank you for
sharing your thoughts with us. And with
that, I move to table resolution
2-25. Could I please have a second?
Second. Second by Mr. Marcelino. Um, Mr.
Bishell, would you please roll? Yes.
Sure. Uh, Mr. Silverman.
Yes. Mr. Marcelino. Yes. Miss Bible.
Yes. Mr. M. Yes. Lkey. Yes. Miss. Yes.
Mr. Hurley. Yes.
Thank you, Mr. Hel. That wasn't random.
It was random in my head.
All right. Um, moving on to our other
third reading, Mr. Fishell. A third
reading of the ordinance 11-25 amending
the designated outdoor repression area
in an area in a I'm sorry, area in a
specified portion of the main street
district and enacting regulations.
Thank you so much, Mr. Official. I
wanted to extend a a heartfelt thanks to
uh Mrs. Fible for covering the
discussion at this one last week using
Dora and all of Dora's tools in her
toolkit. Um just so council is aware, uh
we have set this um hearing for this
ordinance, I believe, to be June 10th.
Natalie, does that sound right? I'm
looking around at the mayor. I'm looking
at Mr. official. Okay. June 10th. Okay.
Um so we we are complying with our
publication obligations. Um and uh as a
result, we will need to table this one.
So I do not anticipate a vote this
evening. U before I open it up to any
public comments. Um is there any further
discussion comments from council?
All right. Seeing none, uh we don't
require any Oh, I'm sorry. No, no, go
ahead. Go ahead. I'm Um, we don't
require any speaker slips for this one.
Given this the third reading, would
anyone in attendance like to offer a
public comment on resol or ordinance
11-25? All right, seeing that, did you
have I did have I as answer Mr.
Silverman asked a question politely
twice before I finally got around to
answering it. I apologize, but there are
no restrictions in terms of how close a
Dora can be to a school. Ah, there are
some though to a BRT.
Oh my
gosh. to All right. Thank you for Thank
you for getting back to him on that. All
right. Seeing no other um comments or
questions from council, I move to table
ordinance 11-25. Could I please have a
second? Second. Second by Mr. Marcelino.
Mr. Official, would you please do a roll
call? Miss Lam. Yes. Mr. Yes. Mr.
Silverman. Yes. Mr. Marcelino. Yes. Miss
Bible. Yes. Mr. Yes. Miss. Yes.
All right. So, we have no second
readings. We are now on to our first
reading of ordinance 1225, approving the
updated rules of the Beexley Civil
Service Commission introduced by Mr.
Early. Thank you. I'm going to let the
mayor take the lead on this one. Um, so
with Thank you, Mr. Let Okay, there we
go. Thank you. I'm gonna let Mr. Offber
take the take the lead on this one. So
as Mr. Offenberg certainly a chair um
the chair
no he's chair chair m ch ch ch ch ch ch
ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch
ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch M M Mr.
Offenberg um the uh it's been a long
strange trip. We started trying to work
on the civil service rule update in 2019
got way laid by co uh uh COVID I think
it was that co Yeah. Um and then we
ended up um basically having to start
from scratch. So the civil service
commission and Miss Emily who was
assisting put in a lot of time and
effort to modernize the civil service
rules. They had not basically not been
touched since 1983. You have a copy of
those rules and and and city what civil
service has approved those rules and
city council also has to approve them
for them to be effective. um civil
services of course recommending that you
approve them. Um the you do not have a
redline version because the old version
was so old that we just basically
started from scratch even though we kept
some of the stuff from there. So um this
is the first reading. I know we have a
civil service commission member here
that we want to hear from and maybe we
will own and maybe maybe at the second
meeting meeting we can have one or more
civil service commission members here.
Council I think we were planning on that
right mayor
just here for general entertainment.
Sounds good sounds good. Um are there
any
[Laughter]
Council, are there any questions,
comments on ordinance
12-25? Um, and at this at the next
reading, we will uh hear from our civil
service folks um to do a deeper dive on
this one. Anything further, Mr. Hurley?
No. Okay. U Mr. Official, do we have any
speaker slips on this one? We do not.
Okay. All right. We are moving on. All
right. to a first resolution 03-25 to
adopt the tax budget for calendar year.
Attached year two is exhibit A
introduced by Miss Scott.
Thank you, Mr. Official. This is pretty
straightforward. Are we able to pull it
up, mayor?
All right.
All right. So, here it
is. Perfect. Great. Yeah. Large and in
charge. Yep.
So, so I'm going to let the mayor
elaborate on this. Take us through. Yes.
The tax budget is required statutoily of
to be filed with the auditor every year.
It is a document which uh provides some
general guidance as to what the budget
might look like in the future. Um in it
we do some baseline trending
um assuming no changes to spending. So I
would not no changes in terms of the
overall like sort of trajectory. So
there's a little bit of inflationary
estimates going in there but I would not
read into the tea leaves. This is not an
exercise where we go at all into
thinking through any new projects or
maybe p clawbacks and other projects. So
it's pretty straightforward document
from that perspective.
Uh, any comments or questions from
council on this first
reading? Um, Carrie is going to be at
the next one in case we do have Yeah.
questions about the budget. Okay, great.
We we look forward to that. Uh, Mr.
Official, we still don't have any
speaker slips on this one. Correct. You
are correct. All right. Actually, do you
see a typo on this? There might be a
little bit. Okay. We will keep that in
mind. Thank you, Mayor. Um, moving on to
tabled ordinances. Um, I believe we do
have action on resolution 1-25. Miss
Saw, do you have a motion to remove from
the table resolution 1-25? Motion to
remove from the table resolution 3-25.
Oh,
I think it's resolution 1-25.
Motion to remove from the table
resolution
1-25. Okay. Motion to remove from the
table by Missad. Can I have a second,
please? Second by Mr. Marcelino. Uh, Mr.
Fishell, would you please do a roll
call? Mr. Marcelino, yes. Miss Lampy,
yes. Mr. Silverman, yes. Yes. Yes. Mr.
Hurley? Yes. Mr. Markham? Yes. Is that
more random? This is fairly random.
All right. So, um, we are removing this
from the table tonight to give the mayor
an opportunity to discuss what's
happening with resolution 1-25.
Yeah. So, um, just a general update. Um,
we and I I try to hit all my talking
points. I I was going to make notes
during an uneventful section of our
meeting, but I didn't find the time for
that. So um essentially a lot of great
questions have been asked around uh the
three different proposals we received
from sewer engineering firms uh for
studying um the current status and
future recommendations for our sewer
project. Um, you know, one of the things
that came out of a lot of the
conversations and understanding this is
like really literally the first time
we've asked board of control to analyze
a service contract which is entered into
by city staff who are bringing to the
table a tremendous amount of
professional knowledge and experience
and analyzing the different quotes that
there's a lot of additional I think
information and understanding that I
think is appropriate. ate for uh all of
the elected officials to have as we
consider uh the different proposals. The
other thing that really jumped out as we
had a meeting a couple weeks ago with
the flow monitoring portion that we are
doing right now just to uh capture uh uh
flow information for the spring and
summer is that the numbers we're working
off of in terms of proposing you know
1.1 million or whatever we're talking
about for the total project were a worst
case scenario. It was like phase one
which we knew was going to be this year
would have done a lot of investigation
and from that investigation the
recommendations for next year spend
would have come out and so it was sort
of like a worst case top dollar um and
we were comparing apples and oranges
between the different contracts. Some
some of those firms had um onhand
expertise in actual physical evaluation
which our staff feels is an incredibly
important component to this both private
and public side physical evaluation.
Some of them had on-site on on staff
modeling expertise, others didn't. Um,
and so we would like uh to continue
through our flow monitoring phase that
we're currently going into, which is
going to give us some additional insight
and come back in the fall uh with a
scope that is
um more more specific to initial phase
work so that we're clearly comparing
apples and apples. and the council has
um a little bit more direct insight into
like what that first phase looks like
and that we're comparing a first phase
scope among various vendors is uh kind
of what we're we're focused on doing. Um
it set back set back sets back our
timeline a little bit. I you know our
timeline is a 40-year timeline. Um, so
I'm not saying it's okay to set back the
timeline, but the whole reason that
we're taking this so seriously and
intent on investing what are substantial
funds into getting substantial results
uh is we want to go into this smart,
eyes wide open with the best possible
solution for our community. Um, and so I
don't feel like with the three sort of
the three bids that we were considering
in light of this new process of board of
control and in light of the need I think
to get additional kind of
um education I say almost like
continuing education for council on
sewer on the sewer status and hearing
from our service director and our sewer
foreman and and getting a little deeper
into the muck of uh what's being talked
about. So, I'd like to take a pause. I'd
like to um ask council's grace in uh
humoring us with some more deep dives
into the history of where we are today
with our sewer system best practices and
where we want to see ourselves go
tomorrow. So, that when we come back
with that revamped phase one uh
analysis, it'll probably be in the
context of our next budget as opposed to
any sort of specific extra resolution.
And so it'll but it will be a focus of
our next budget. It will be like a very
crisp um carved out discussion around
that within the budget process is the
proposal right now. I'm not saying that
like as we continue to talk about it and
look at scoping we might not slightly
change that idea, but I am saying that I
think we should set aside resolution
0125 for now. Um let the flow monitoring
information come in. look at that sort
of honed back phase one scope as we move
into our 2026 budget process.
So I guess based on that, are there any
comments, questions from council? I
believe Miss Sod has a motion um coming
up shortly.
Yes. Um and I want to say with the
mayor, I appreciate this uh effort and
decision and I think it's it's the best
way to move forward. So I appreciate
that. Um, I would like to make a motion
to withdraw resolution 1-25 from the
table. Motion to withdraw by Miss Sad.
Is there a second? From the table. You
are just with withdrawing. Withdrawing
it. We are withdrawing it, Mr. Fishell.
All right. Motion to withdraw by Miss
Sad. Is there a second? Second. Second
by Mr. Marcelino. Um, this needs a roll
call, right? Or just a voice vote. You
do a voice. You can do You can do a
voice on the table, too. Okay. Whatever
you prefer. Awesome. All right. Uh, all
in favor say I. I. I. One opposed. All
right. Uh, resolution 1-25 is withdrawn.
Thank you very much, Miss Sod. Um, all
right. We are now to public comments for
which a speaker slip is required. Is
there anyone here who would like to turn
in a speaker slip? Come on up, Mr.
Hecman. We will uh gladly take your
speaker slip. I don't know, sir, if you
were here when I discussed
I don't know if you were here when I
talked about our public comment policy,
but you have up to five minutes to share
your thoughts with council. Please state
your name and address. Thank you. My
name is Ben Hecman, 2411 East Main
Street in Beexley Public Library. I
sorry I was a little late earlier. Um I
certainly don't want to take five
minutes. I shared an email earlier today
with many of you just from the
standpoint of a stop of the BRT in
Beexley and how it would help uh I think
people get to library and use library
resources. Uh we do we had an event with
150 people on Monday. So if some of them
could come on the BRT which is a block
away from uh the library I think that
would be beneficial. Uh you guys, I'm
sure have been to the library on busy
evenings and so any percentage of
traffic that could get calmed because
people are riding the bus. Uh and so I
just feel like that would be a benefit
to the library and to our patrons. We
have had a bus stop in front of our
building and the parking lot for years
and the only issues we've ever had is
that the bus is slow and inconsistent
and that a lot of our patrons come in
and use the library from the bus. Um 48%
of our card holders live outside of
Beexley. So we are a destination. Uh I
know many people who come to hear
authors and see other presentations at
the library stay for dinner. So I think
the more routes we have to get into the
community the better. Uh but mostly I
just think a stop somewhere in Beexley
is good. A block away from library is
good. I will let you guys I commend you
all for listening to all sides and
making the best decision. Uh I know it's
not always fun or easy and so I
appreciate all that you do and as I said
in my email happy to take any questions
or coffee or anything outside of council
chambers. So thank you very much. Thank
you so much Mr. Hecman for your comments
and your email which I read earlier
today. Um is there anyone else who has a
speaker slip to turn in? All right. Uh,
moving on. Mr. Markham for safety.
No report.
Uh, Mr. Silverman for service and
environmental.
Yeah, I want to pay respect to
Councilman Marcelino and have a moment
of silence for Jason Tatum's
Achilles.
Um, Friday is the AAPI festival. Dueling
walks, which was the brainchild of
myself and Mr. Kesler, is not happening
this year.
because we have Gal from Ping Dynasty
going to do live Seshuan cooking. So I
want to thank him preemptively and I
want to invite everybody to come out and
try the live demo from Peaking Dynasty
and all the other activities this group
has planned. It's going to be a
wonderful event at the wonderful Beex
Public Library from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
this Friday the 16th.
Thank you so much Mr. Silverman. Uh,
Miss Sad for finance. Yes, I want the
15th is a busy day in the city this
Thursday, May 15th. There's a lot going
on right there. Um, but do do want to
highlight and welcome everyone to come
out to the Pelatonia kickoff. Everyone
is invited. You do not need to be a
writer. Um, it is at 6 PM at 2371
Commonwealth Park South and um, hope
that you can join me there. Um, also
just wanted to take a second to say and
I appreciate the mayor and uh, President
Fibel, President Lami
highlighting highlighting um, this
weekend's um, first ever May is women's
health fair. It uh, blew away my
expectations and um, just having the the
participation from the community and
women getting empowered and equipped.
Um, I wanted to personally thank uh Ben
who's over there and the Beexley Public
Library. Paige and Zach were amazing to
partners to work with. The city of
Beexley um for just leaning in and
believing that this was something that
was needed and helping um with uh that
role for the mayor coming out and from
the very beginning of the morning
throughout the day having President um
Lampy and um u council member Bible
being there to um empower me in that
role really was amazing. the VEXA
Community Foundation for all they do.
They were the ones who um supported
along with Ohio State the mobile
mammogram being there and that's a game
changer for our community. The amount of
women who walked in that day to ask when
they can get that mammogram and very
excited to hear it'll be back next year.
Um as well as the chamber having some
amazing goodies there for us to all
snack on. Um the uh the followup has
been amazing from women um saying they
can't wait for next year and the amount
of people who've reached out saying that
they want to be a part of it as far as
speaking engagement or booths um has
been awesome. So plan to see that back
around the same time next year and that
mobile man mamogram back out there on
Main Street. End of report. Super proud
of you, Jess. Thank you.
Y Mr. Hurley strategic and health. Uh no
report. But would echo Mr. Silverman's
comments about the AAPI festival. Uh
that's always something my kiddos look
forward to. So we'll be there Friday.
Great. Thank you so much. Uh Miss Vible
for recreation and parks. Yeah. Uh the
rec board met uh last week. Um I think
that you all will um be excited to see
some of the ideas that um Elena Andrews
put forward concerning um the
Commonwealth unification and making it,
you know, really exciting. So, um before
it comes to us, it's going to go to um
the um public garden um tree and public
guard um committee. Um they will take a
look at it. Um but I think you'll you'll
be impressed with some of the ideas that
she has for that. Um the pool is off to
a great start. Lifeguards are set. They
have they're almost done with the swim
instructors getting all of them. Bottom
of the pool has been painted. They've
got the gate ready for the splash pad so
that it will be able to be opened um
even when the pool isn't open. So,
that's kind of I think that's really
exciting. I know my kiddos really
enjoyed that back in the day.
Um getting ready to work on the pool lot
and there's been an RFP that's gone out
um or it should have gone out this week
um for the pickup ball and tennis
lightning. Um, summer registration is is
really great and they've got some really
great ideas. Um, good options for the
senior center. They have they've been
looking at um some commercial real
estate. They talked to Capitol. They
talked to Paramount Church. Um, and the
other exciting news um is that each park
in our city has um ads now. So, thanks
to um Lee Nathans. That's really
exciting.
Um, the other thought I have is that if
you all had an opportunity to help the
Beexley bloomers pull some weeds or do
some fun stuff, I know that they would
love for you to be a a celebrity uh
bloomer for a day. U the other thing
that we could maybe do as a council, we
could probably they would invite us. I
know that they would give us an evening
where we could join them and we as a
crew could go together. That might be
fun and I could promise
beverages at my house across the street
if you'd like. So just a thought. So
thank you, Miss Fible. Uh Mr. Marcelino,
zoning and development. Nothing. Thank
you.
All right. Um, council, I don't think
that we have anything further on our
agenda. Our next meeting is Tuesday, May
27th. Um, at this time, I will move to
adjourn. Can I please get a second?
Second. Second by Mr. Marcelino. All in
favor say I. I. I. One opposed. Nope. We
are adjourned.