yeah okay I know I'll bring you guys
some
tomorrow it's okay really
I my mother-in-law accidentally sent us
two orders of cheryls 80 cookies we got
40 and then hockey this weekend she's
like did you get your second Bo I
misordered and I'm like 80 cookies oh
jeez I like the red and those are
well of
house0
still ready this looks really nice I bet
has a
charie
good so I don't get all un Twisted keep
up the good work I love it yeah people
that want to
talk I will
go L annual
G yeah it's like I started it when she
was like in grade oh that's so now it's
even more important to hear what they
all have to say seventh grade 12 13
year heard of
it you have an inflatable I do have an
inflable we're driving by Catherine yeah
we have
inflatable oh my God I'm totally driving
by totally driving
by I love it I love it and I need to
reach out to you about um grabbing
coffee and then you
can yeah yeah I know I can already
feel
girl
travel good how are you
yeah yeah but kids make a difference
Fortis
yeah
my
never you know
so okay are you sitting next to me what
do you think
nails look at mine I need
something well that's not gonna work
tomorrow
ating yeah
yeah I love Captain
karoo I know I brought a pen I know I
decided I was going to grow up and have
a pen although I need a I don't need
a
crochet oh my gosh I can't crochet
always I'm making a
place mys are starting so I
decided uh dogs are good we had we got a
puppy actually brought the puppy in see
you guys well it's not mine it's in New
York now yes another D and it's in New
York it's Annie
it needs to be
needs okay please take your seats I'm
going to call our February 13 20 24
Beckley city council meeting to order a
quick reminder if you are here to speak
during the third reading or public
hearing of ordinance
4-24 there is a signup sheet here on the
Das only for your name so that we have a
good idea of how many speakers we have
there is no speaker slip required for
that so if you have not already signed
your name and you'd like to speak during
that third reading or uh public hearing
please do so if you'd like to speak at
any other time when a speaker slip is
required and you have not already please
give your speaker slips to uh Natalie B
the mayor's assistant or you could hand
it to auditor M peek at this
time all right given that Mr MC PE would
you please call the
role Mr Marcelino present Mr Hurley here
miss F I'm here miss s here miss lampy
here Mr Markham here and Mr Silverman
here thank you please rise for the
Pledge of
Allegiance
Al Mr Mayor it's my understanding we
have two very special guests tonight
would you please introduce them we do
and I'm actually going to turn it over
to the chief to uh make our
introductions of Officer sh Sher and our
K9
unit officer Schauer this is your
Q uh first and foremost good good
evening everyone this is Officer Ken
schaer schaver has been with us now for
20 plus years last year he was selected
to be our bomb detection in K9 um we had
made a decision proactively and looking
at how could we just improve our
services in the city of Bexley and one
of the areas that we found was how are
we protecting our synagogues churches
places of business and made the decision
that we would create a bombb dog um
Division and so officer schaver Works
Tuesday to Saturday Saturday being a day
of worship so he works Saturdays he's
very visible do those sweeps Fridays
prior to worship comes back on Saturday
officer Scher and Pia who you will meet
here shortly um learned so we wanted to
make sure that our K9 was um sensitive
to our audience and so rather than the
traditional German that most canines and
law enforcement she was trained in
Croatian so we really took a lot of
steps to make sure that we are doing our
due diligence um he's been called out on
a number of times we have expanded um
going to other communities and and
providing this resource so um he is
going to um actually do a demonstration
to see exactly what happens we thought
we put it under Lee Nathan's seat but
then we thought that might not go over
will well for Lee without telling him so
he's got the boxes set up and he'll
bring p in actually see how it
works
next tues next Tu days of
birthday um so we're we're out of the
community the whole point was to be
proactive uh originally we came on to
give extra attention to the
synagogues and uh you know proactively
make sure that they are hard target make
it harder the bad guys obviously here in
the last couple weeks we've G going out
to some other areas in the city and uh
ask them if they wanted you know extra
attention and stuff that nature so we're
now we're now doing that and uh I mean
that's that's that's it taking baby
steps and trying to get the program and
hopefully uh Bexley and and city council
agrees that it's it's well worth it in
the community to be proactive and to uh
you know take initiative to try to TR to
make basically a harder Target and a
safer place to live so that's that's
basically the point of the
program um was a quick rundown of moving
in the
doll anybody have any
questions
nothing the star of the show I'm not
gonna lie I a squirrel
train okay she you a honey dog squirrels
seem to
be her Kryptonite they're kind of like
her favorite thing to chase after so
that's
been it's a work in progress there Bley
has we all know
million so they're they're everywhere
okay so because it's GNA take a minute
to get why don't I answer any quick
questions you want to driver that way I
know a lot we got some uh a lot of
stakeholders in here
curious to sit here and learn more well
all right so by the way these are all
the same you can
tell when when you plan to be
on I mean we're out on the street we she
came to United States in April she Shi
in in April to uh
DC our trainer went to pick her up in
DC and then took her back to trainers up
in Sun
storm
doll trainer took her to
Sunberry where she trained for it was
like four or five weeks up in Sunberry
to get used to the odors that she has to
detect and how to alert face tell me
that what's there so she did that for
four to five weeks then at the end of
May I went up to training with her for
another four to five weeks after that we
had to take a state test it's they hide
seven explosive odors and she has to
find all of them and alert to them
correctly she has to go seven for seven
to get you know certified by the state
so we did that at the end
of the end of June so July 1 was
technically our first day on the street
and we've been driving around i' I've
seen some people some people start like
I like
so we're out there but like I said we're
slowly working our way working our way
up to to take on bigger things not not
off too
much I mean you're always you're always
learning I we we've gone out like the
chief said we've gone out to uh our last
call out was Fairfield County Bearfield
County had a trailer park that this I
guess he was off high schooler believe
he's a high school kid lived in and he
was threatening to shoot up his like you
see all the time threatening to shoot up
the SCH and blow up some stuff and his
mom said he was acting weird and
putting uh shopping shopping for weird
basically bomb explosive pipes St and
they wanted me to come sweep the trailer
before the search
warrant see they so we were out
there 100%
but go yeah yeah oh yeah we'll go out on
right you only do explosives you don't
go to the schools or
anything
friend you want me to answer I answer I
got it so um in law enforcement there
are what they call bu purpose STS so
dual purpose means that you're training
them in two different
displ tracking and drugs they can
potentially do attack and drugs and
she's a single purpose P she only
focuses on bomb detection But to answer
your question succinctly absolutely so
we do some training at the schools um we
train with other agencies into you know
our schools churches synagogues
businesses could all be a potential risk
and a place where somebody could call in
the bom so there is no limit as to where
those calls could go and they
purp yes sir is it a profit center or is
in agency always just you know put
free so we have an mou that memorandum
of understanding that we ENT enter into
an agreement so it truly is a law
enforcement courtesy we're providing
resources for
others
all right I see Pia with officer shabber
I think everyone's ready to meet her
come on
in
here's here's how it's explained as far
as American dogs versus European dogs
so if you want a if you want like a
really good pure this is how it's
explained to me don't
everybody you want a really good pure
like buy the standard dog Europe is
where you go they're like really strict
about their standards they won't if it
has like a defect they won't bre it at
all if you want good horses United
States that's where us takes our horses
very serious Europe has
dogs ready did you give all your
questions yes sir you ready her caller
do she know she's on pass she has a
separate collar I put on her for work oh
like when she's at the house when she's
at the house with me it's just a
little
is be
work
all right thank you very much officer
shaver and PA oh wait one more round I'm
sorry
sorry I get done you could have just
kicked
them they take a
beating so like the odor would be in
there and then it would confuse so I
have some alcohol in the car so when we
get done we wipe them all down and then
let them sit for a while
out
nobody
dite thank you so much officer Scher
thank you for for bringing in your your
sweet
te much appreciated thank thank you so
much um folks I know there's some folks
out in the gallery we do have a few
empty seats if you'd like to come in and
join us in council chambers um there's a
few open seats otherwise we are going to
move on
to agenda item number five
please all right so we are on a public
reading and public hearing and third
reading of ordinance
0424 to amend sections 12262 12361 12
54.3 1254 4.09 12 5411 and 1254 20113 of
the codified ordinances of the city of
Bexley Planning and Zoning code to
repeal sections 124.0 5
125412 of the city's codified ordinances
and enact new sections 12540 5 and
125412 and to amend the zoning
classification official zoning map for
all property located in the commercial
Service District and certain property in
the low density multif family
residential district to mixed use
commercial and Livingston Avenue
District overlay introduced by Mr
Marcelino thank you very much excellent
before I get started here uh we do have
a signning sheet and just so we can stay
organized tonight I would ask that if
you wish to speak and you have not
signed the sign in sheet just do so for
us at this point while I'm kind of going
over some basics of procedure of how
public comment and this meeting are
going to run at first I want to thank
each and every one of you for taking
time out of your busy schedules tonight
to come uh talk about this ordinance and
uh listen to what is said and and learn
more about it um but prior to beginning
as I mentioned I do want to go over
procedure as this is not necessarily a
common thing that we uh do every night
here at city council so uh first to
begin with we're going to have the mayor
and attorney kathern Cunningham go over
the history some of the language and uh
the procedure of the ordinance itself uh
from that point forward we're going to
look to public comment um I will have
some ground rules that we expect to
follow here after the mayor and attorney
County go forward um but just to begin
since it is an orance that I've been
asked to introduce we have I want to
just set a reminder that this has to do
with the zoning of Livingston Avenue it
doesn't have to do with one specific
project and just as a General reminder
this is not going to be anything that
just approves uh something that's
already been proposed it's going to have
to go back through any boards that are
assigned uh to this through the city so
as a whole today whatever takes place uh
it's not about one thing it's about
Livingston Avenue and how we want the
zoning to look there into the future um
moreover uh just as we go kind of
through this as a whole um I just ask
that everybody uh let's be respectful of
everybody's opinion uh I ask that we
withhold any clapping cheering jeering
booing anything of that nature no matter
who it is just so we can get through
here and truly hear what everybody has
to say um I'm sure I'll have a few other
comments as we do get into some of the
rules but I just wanted to set that out
so to begin with mayor I wanted to give
you just a moment to uh kind of go over
the history here and some of the
ordinance itself
thanks thank you Mr marceleno and I'm
going to pull up presentation that was
prepared by staff here um and is also
enclosed in
your um
packet um and we're going to be tag
teaming uh this presentation which will
be fairly short uh between uh myself our
zoning administrative director Megan
Meyer sorry our development
Administration director Megan Meer and
our zoning and building director Kathy
Rose I am really amalgam and tiles here
um and kathern Cunningham is is present
as uh zoning Council for answering
questions after public comments um so
we're GNA just talk a little bit about
how did we
get I'll try
to you're also welcome U for anyone
who's sitting outside there are some
open seats in council chambers you're
welcome to come on up and and sit a
little closer as
well Mr can you hear is that better in
the hallway I think uh the speakers were
turned off our our apologies um so how
did we get to discussing a zoning code
change that impacted what is currently
commercial service on Livingston Avenue
as well as um the R12 zoning District
just north of it um the streets of
Ferndale Mayfield and addressing our
conditional use criteria um it really
started before 2017 with some of the
work of our strategic plan and the land
use strategy but 2017 is when um in our
in our Southwest bexy strategic
framework very explicitly it called out
for um the creation of a commercial
mixed use overlay zoning um in order to
really inform the physical
characteristics of uh the space on
Livingston
Avenue after the Southwest Bexley
strategic framework was passed um the
city went into a deeper planning process
in part because of recommendations of
this uh with the city of Columbus um it
resulted in the passage of the it's
actually the 2022 I think joint
Livingston Avenue plan that's my typo um
and in the joint Livingston Avenue plan
the the concepts that were in that
Southwest Beasley framework are
expounded upon um and they're made more
specific they're actually streetscape
guidelines design guidelines and it lays
out a vision that Livingston Avenue goes
from what is today uh sort of a high
automobile oriented
um disinvested Corridor in the city um
and starts to stitch together between
Bexley Burwick and eastmore a vibrant
commercial Corridor in that commercial
space um the city of Columbus was a
party to this plan they they funded half
of it alongside us and uh we worked hand
inand to develop this plan because we
knew that whatever we do on the north
side of Livingston Avenue needs to also
work on the south side of Livingston
Avenue so after the adoption of this
plan by U City Council in 2022 and by
the city of Columbus we also jointly
entered into uh funding with this uh
application with the city of Columbus
for Federal grant money to take the
recommendations of the plan which are
both zoning recommendations as well as
infrastructure recommendations to take
the infrastructure recommendations and
seek Federal funding for those as a
result in middle of
2023 the city of Bexley was awarded a 15
million in a Federal grant to accomplish
the infrastructure changes recommended
by The Joint livings Avenue plan and
then a lot of that speaks to the
residential area but also speaks to the
commercial area so it's it it's dealing
with creating mixed use multi-use paths
along the side um a much safer
pedestrian interface in general both in
the commercial and residential portion
taking the traffic caling installation
that occurred with the reduction to one
lane in the residential district and
turning that into actual true
infrastructure um
where it will even further in in
influence calming of traffic on
Livingston Avenue this is make no
mistake About It by far the largest
investment that we have ever put into
any space in our community in the
history of beex so this is a very
substantial uh Grant from the federal
government and Grant means what you
might think it means that is money from
the federal government to do this plan
um it is not a loan it is it is funding
um from the government it was a the
competitive round we were at the top of
the regional priorities with the middle
higher Regional Planning Commission um
because of the extreme importance of
creating a safer vehicular interface on
Livingston Avenue and a safer pedestrian
interface and a saf safer cyclist
interface all of those
things oh dear uh which were uh which
were true so one second that will get
pulled back up um while it
does uh I would also point the in the
joint Liv avue plan on this the next
slide uh we talk about
how
uh that's
interesting one second I am still
broadcasting Natalie over
here
sorry why don't you try Lo were you log
Zoom okay back
on hold on one second guys um let me why
don't you
log
out copy that meeting and vote oh there
you're still there you're good it was
just a screen
over
okay uh we add little technical glitches
just to keep the mood light in our
meetings so I hope you guys appreciate
that um so the joint Liv Avenue plan um
also points to zoning as a as a as a
need in order to accomplish the
recommendations of that joint livity
plan all of the plans I'm referring to
are on our website if you go to
documents spei plans and studies those
plans are present and
available um and
then um so okay sorry I'm distracted my
thought process here so those two
planning processes were adopted by city
council funding was received for the
infrastructure piece we had begun
working on the MU zoning uh District
several years ago um but in the
intervening time there was a development
proposed at 2300 East Livingston Avenue
that received a legal Challenge and it
we did not want to be in the process of
tweaking zoning while that legal
challenge was underway it was not deemed
to be wise it didn't seem to make sense
and we didn't want to conflate the two
issues uh and I I sort of chuckle at
that because uh there seems there is
continuing to be some confusion about
what this zoning is going to accommodate
versus not accommodate and we want to
make it very clear that these are two
distinct issues so uh the mixed use
commercial zoning designation achieves
several things that are called for and
all all of our plan documents the
council has has proposed and Megan Meyer
will be going over uh what this uh
proposed Ed ordinance uh purposes
absolutely thank you mayor um so with
all of that back history in mind what
does the proposed ordinance actually um
do and what are I'm sorry can you not
hear
me closer is that better okay um I'll
restart so thank you um so with all of
that back history in mind what is the
purpose of the proposed ordinance
overall the main gist of is it is it
would rezone Livingston Avenue from the
current zoning called commercial service
you'll see it abbreviated throughout as
CS to mix use commercial mu um and it'll
also add a Livingston Avenue overlay and
that's how we C carry over some design
guidelines as well as some additional
permitted and conditional uses so what
are the overall goals that's the main
gist of the ordinance but what are the
goals um first of all Livingston Avenue
obviously isn't Our Only commercial
Corridor so the idea is to um make the
zoning across all three of of our main
commercial corridors more similar um and
then to align with what uh mayor Kesler
just went through to make sure that
zoning is in line with both the
Southwest Beckley strategic plan as well
as the joint a joint Livingston Avenue
plan um and then also to expand and
we'll show you a map in a little bit to
help provide a visual to expand the
district from just Livingston Avenue to
the uh neighborhood just north of that
um next to the interstate known by many
as f f Mayfield and what that would do
is allow for future Redevelopment it
does not change the current allowable
uses um except to expand on them just as
this District would um to clarify
conditional uses um in the commercial
districts and this is something that
came out of that Core case um and then
some general minor lead up throughout
the code so some things that we caught
that were either scrier airs or that
were incorrect references to different
material types things like that so less
consequential
I that was you okay um so we're going to
start getting into specifically what are
the differences so today uh the zoning
on Livingston Avenue is commercial
service um it was originally really
drafted to be a highway oriented zoning
designation um really over the years we
had a zoning cod mization in
2017 um it it has skewed a little bit
less automobile oriented and we'll get
into that in a second in terms of what's
actually Allowed by right but in general
it allows commercial uses uh does allow
for Highway or oriented uses including
it's the only District in the city that
allows for drive-through Food Service um
as compared to mixed use commercial if
you want to know what mixed use
commercial zoning looks like welcome to
Main Street we're here right now this is
a mixed use commercial District um as is
North Cassidy um so that mixed use
commercial encourages
uh second floors be built on buildings
it's really kind of encouraging that
we're building a little bit more density
into our Urban fabric um to allow that
commercial Corridor to really function
uh at its highest and best use but in
this instance we're applying a
Livingston overlay so the highway
oriented uses such as drive-through Food
Service that are currently conditional
uses on Commercial service remain
conditional uses with the Livingston
overlay what that what means we'll get
into a little bit more detail here in a
second currently there aren't really any
design guidelines or streetscape
standards for the the commercial service
what does that mean um that means that
when uh we when we propose a building on
Main Street we have very strict
standards about what Landscaping might
look like and what the overall aesthetic
of the space looks like this brings on
those same standards to Livingston
Avenue that's a way that we can
encourage and support highquality
development um we are in the process of
of retooling that entire guidelines
process to look at cast Main and
Livingston uh but that's a future
project parking um right now commercial
service has pretty uh basic parking
requirements not a whole lot of nuance
um this mixed use has much more detailed
parking requirements it gets a lot more
in the weeds um and that's true of a lot
of the standards in general it's a much
more expansive zoning ordinance uh which
provides for frankly a much higher
quality of development down the
road we also wanted to address what is a
conditional use um lots of questions
about that and we wanted to make it
clear that a conditional use isn't a
dirty word it's a pretty common
occurrence in our zoning code so what
changes here in this zoning code is is
incredibly minor um most of our
permitted and conditional uses remain
either permitted or conditional between
commercial service mixed use commercial
the difference is mixed use commercial
does provide for residential units above
the first floor as a right it's
conditional in commercial service today
other than that a lot of the uses that
you see today on Livingston Avenue are
already conditional uses that includes
um retail sale sorry auto service
Funeral Home drive-through Food Service
those are a convenience store gas
station those are all conditional uses
on Livingston they would remain
conditional and there's a reason we have
conditional uses in our zoning um the
types of uses that are labeled
conditional might need an extra set of
review and standards just to make sure
that they work in the spaces that
they're proposed in
so for example um and I'm uh I'm I'm
going to call out a funeral home because
we do have an existing funeral previous
funeral home that's on Livingston Avenue
the type of pattern that traffic and
parking brings from a funeral home is
pretty extreme and might work in one
location but not in another we have a
conditional use of bed and breakfast in
a different zoning District of ours uh
once again that's because uh bed and
breakfast might work in one location and
not another it gives the zoning board
more of ability to like put a put this
under a lens and not provide something
just as an outright rate um in preparing
for tonight we asked our zoning director
Kathy Rose to take a look at the
existing uses on Livingston Avenue and
discuss underneath the current code uh
commercial service and this matches the
proposed code what is currently existing
uh uh conditional versus uh
permitted and Kathy if you want to talk
about that good evening uh
so much to surprise when reviewing all
of the uh 11 locations along Livingston
Avenue 11 out of 10 out of those 11
locations are actually conditional uses
so each of them have gone through the
process uh requested special permission
and you know a conditional use doesn't
fit well everywhere but if if a board
can review it and find things that can
address concerns made by board members
or by the neighboring property owners
uh they like to try to you know add add
those conditions to make it a good fit
and those are all on a caseby casee base
uh depending on where they're located uh
the one property that does meet is a
permitted use is peing Dynasty which is
a restaurant now you'll you do know that
there's a Tim Hortons at the West End of
Livingston which restaurants meat is a
permitted use however the based on the
fact that it has a drive-thru made that
a condition use so yeah I just wanted to
point out that yeah the majority is
conditional use for this
location and Kathy do you want to talk
about the um Board of zoning and
planning which did review this in um
their last meeting yes and provided a
recommendation on the proposed amended
ordinance to
council yes they did review the
ordinance uh had a lot of discussion and
they actually
had made a recommendation on approval of
an amended ordinance with the condition
that Council investigate basic multif
family residential parking requirements
on a per bedroom excuse me as opposed to
a per unit basis uh and that they also
reference the Main Street guidelines to
be corrected to the Main Street design
guidelines which was also noted in that
ordinance and would you mind providing a
little more background on the bedroom
versus unit and how that was brought up
and sort of the context there a little
bit residential units require
uh one space per bed per per unit
dwelling unit as opposed to a commercial
use which requires more parking and
that's based on square footage so when
you take into consideration uh
reductions based on on street
parking
uh you can play with the required
parking um but
the the board felt it was important to
at least investigate
why they have this per dwelling unit as
opposed to per bedroom yeah and Megan
could might be able to speak to the
parking requirements why they split
those up the way they do uh absolutely
so I can tell you in other communities
um this is done in different ways um
when you are designing a zoning code
around parking requirements there is a
general Trend however towards lowering
those minimum requirements for a number
of reasons um and communities they have
been found to be barriers to actual
proactive Redevelopment often used in
areas um to prohibit multi family from
going in and so however you go about
writing it in your code the trend um
regionally as we do see M more multi
family come online to support the
Regional Housing housing growth is to
reduce those minimums and so staff's
recommendation would be to continue to
tie those minimums to the number of
units and not the number of
bedrooms okay um we're g to wrap up here
I just want to clarify a couple things U
from some of what we've heard um over
the past couple weeks what this
ordinance does and doesn't do we've
talked about what it does we want to be
very clear about what it doesn't do what
this ordinance does not do is it doesn't
provide approval to a project that's
previously been proposed um and but not
receed that approval so it needs any
project that needs to come back and I'm
not let's just be honest there are a lot
of people here want to talk about 2300
East Livingston this this ordinance does
not allow 2300 East Livingston to go for
it or approve it in any way Shipp or
form what it does do is it it takes the
issue of conditional uses that was found
at fault by the court and it clarifies
that language and that's important not
for any one parcel in the city is
important for the entire city um
conditional use criteria apply across
all of our zoning designations not just
commercial service um a really good
example of this is there's a condo
complex that if it were bright outside
we could see it the Alexander the
Alexander is a mixed use commercial
fully residential property that was only
possible because of a conditional use
permit um so there are applications in
our zoning code where we use those
conditional uses very prudently if the
same development were to want to move
forward at 2300 each Livingston they
would have to start at square one they
have to come back and they're
adjudicated as a conditional use If This
Were to pass just like they were in the
past it does not in any way shape or
form make it easier for them to go
through that process um we want to focus
on this as the bigger picture and what
is the Beckle of tomorrow that we're
looking for is it more of the same on
Livingston Avenue because we believe
that Livingston Avenue is not being the
best that it can be for our community we
think that we can go beyond this current
Corridor which is suffering from
disinvestment
underinvestment um lack lack of new
development that is truly Community
serving lack of pedestrian accommodation
lack of cyclist accommodation frankly
lack of vehicular accommodation because
of the dangerous environment for
vehicles and that we can Envision a new
and brighter future for the corridor we
believe it's an incredibly important
thing for us to do to invest in
Livingston and to see a Livingston
that's booed and has new investment and
has new energy and that is the purpose
of this ordinance tonight and we're
really excited to hear from our
community and to answer any questions
that Council might have thank
you thank you mayor and everyone else
thank you Kathy um as we go through here
uh we have 18 people signed up to speak
tonight and
um traditionally we give uh five minutes
to speak and I think that given the
number that works out to be about an
hour and a half and given the uh
seriousness of the uh issue I'm going to
ask that we give five minutes but I will
ask that Mr official at four minutes you
let the individual know that they have
one minute left to start wrapping up at
that time uh a couple other rules that
uh I would like ask everybody follow
tonight um is that if that you know four
minutes comes up here uh that you start
to finish up your sentence and your
thought um and conclude that so we can
move along to the next person and get
out of here a reasonable time if
possible if not it is an open hearing so
we'll go from there um we're not going
to interrupt you we're not going to
engage we're not going to answer
questions we will not fire back or
anything of that nature uh I want to
give you your time to come speak to us
tonight and tell us what's on your mind
if you do ask a question pose a question
for uh city council or the mayor we are
um asking everyone to take note of it
and then uh at the end of this we will
have a quick uh kind of question and
answer uh session uh for those pressing
questions otherwise we have all of your
contact information and we always
welcome for you to reach out after
tonight I'll I'll get to that shortly uh
if something's already been said we
would ask just kindly that you not just
simply repeat it um if you've spoken to
us before we'd ask kindly that you come
with new fresh ideas not necessarily the
same thing that we've heard before um if
you do want to adopt what's been said
prior to this we just ask that she State
I adopt the position of the person
before me or um you know Mr mckin
whoever it may be that's speaking uh
again we're going to take down the
questions and not interrupt you but
again I would ask that you not make any
reaction to anything that anybody else
says I I understand this is a passionate
thing I understand that everybody has a
lot of passion about the project our
community and the well-being of Bexley
but just out of respect for everybody
else we want to make sure that we can
conduct our business in an efficient
manner tonight again I've mentioned that
after this all we're going to have um an
answer period for the mayor as well as
Katherine uh to clear up any uh
confusion or questions that we feel are
pressing at that time and I don't don't
want to uh to to hide anything from you
but at the end of this I plan to ask
Council to table this ordinance for
further thought we have 18 thoughts that
are come going to come before us tonight
and if you ask me to digest that all
quickly and efficiently I'm concerned
that I won't do a good job for you I
don't know about the rest of council but
I anticipate that they feel the same way
uh we are not beholding to any other
projects that may want to come on here
we are not uh you know in any rush to
get this done we're just in a rush to
get it right and so we want to take that
time after tonight to make sure that
we've heard what you've had to say we
analyze it and then we can come back to
you when we are planning on taking this
off the table we will do our best to
communicate that to the community I will
make it my plan to make sure that I post
um and ask Council to share that as well
when we do plan to at least come back
for a vote so if you wish to reappear at
that time and come back with us you can
otherwise everything that's said tonight
will be in our minds for the next couple
of weeks while we process what's being
said and what's before us and what's
been presented by everyone uh I will
leave it at that um unless uh the
president has anything further that she
would like to say Noe sounds good okay
thank you very much uh President lampy
we are going to start out with uh Mr
Mike McKinny you want to mind stepping
up of course don't forget to hit the
green button and say your name and your
address for us thank
you
and I'm going to have some disagreement
here and I'll I'll be polite but they
may be pointed
okay yeah can you hear okay
great we
okay
micone is that better oh wow holy sholey
okay I'm a little under the weather I
apologize so I think first thing I'll
start my time now okay I think I think
it's important to say I don't live near
the proposed project and I'm going to
intertwine these I'm likely unaffected
by any of this just like you uh
unaffected by each of you I'm only here
as a human being and a
resident I'm not here as an advocate I'm
not here to harden any political
position or IDE ideological
opinions I hope you all
care particularly based on prior action
with this second opportunity I hope you
care you were elected in a nonpartisan
election the community isn't interested
in ideology I firmly believe that group
speak confirmation bias peer bias these
are dangerous phenomenon we need to look
any further than the oldest university
in the country to understand this I mean
genocide depends on context really okay
that's group
Speak Your Role is not to be a rubber
stamp here and I appreciate the comments
of Sam Your Role is objective and
reasoned analysis with the community and
its residents being the primary
importance and
relevance I continue to see no tangible
enduring economic benefit or
opportunity from The Proposal and I'll
comment on that further in fact it
appears to only offer
risk last time I here I was here I was
told I told you I'm a subject matter
expert on many of these specific topics
your attorney understands what that
means and the relevance of that
comment to be more clear I'm a certified
Appraiser for over 30 years I'm also the
developer of the woodsview building on
Asar Avenue Beyond any of that I hope
you all care objectively I hope hope you
care not for an ideology but for your
neighbors my comments will intertwine
the zoning and the targeted outcome of
its this zoning and the targeted outcome
it's intended to facilitate because they
are more they are more than inherently
an obvious linked this fact is important
again your attorney and your Consultants
will understand the importance of that
comment last time I was here I talked
about dimin of value you had a
consultant although my time was
constrained there was plenty of time for
him to stand back up he said he
stuttered when he said it and he paused
but he said there is no dimition of
value with these types of
events he made it up he had no data I
know he had no data because I
do he absolutely had no data to prove
that
just pulled it out of air he also has no
objective data and he still didn't
hesitate to say it think about
what you're being told really think
about what you're being told by
Advocates next thing he talked about was
spot zoning he said there's no such
thing as a spot zoning this one was
artfully crafted but at the end of the
day a stpoint he said there's no such
thing as a spot zoning numerous State
Supreme Courts and the US Supreme Court
would beg to differ and he knew it or he
should have known it and he still said
it he stood up here and said it to each
of you it's on the
record while he doesn't have any data
again I
do wonderful okay this part's important
goes several elements I mentioned here
within this highly stabilized and
landlock community there are few if any
published strategic documents or land
use plans that have supported or
envisioned any of this area being
rezoned as it it's currently being
proposed or for the intended use this is
occurring as a direct approximate result
of the losses and the timing that you're
attempting to portray I'm sorry uh this
is for a high density development at the
corner it will go through the process
again but make no mistake this is a spot
zoning of a high density development
because there are no other conditional
uses in
play these plans were crafted with the
the Strategic plans that we do have the
latest in 2017 and I will disagree with
what you
portrayed uh they were crafted with
broad consensus over long periods of
time not this narrow ad hoc
window um and I can and will
test can I have a minute is that Mr
mckenny I'll give you about 15 seconds
to
thank you all right I can and definitely
will
testify that the community has indeed
rightfully and reasonably relied on
those strategic documents that you have
published this resoning attempt is
simply a scheme thank you it's a ruse
thank you yeah thank you I apologize I
would have had to go long thank much for
letting me go first the next speaker is
Spencer
cahun
all right ladies and gentlemen thank you
for your time and attention and everyone
who's joined us today and everyone who
may be joining us
remotely speaking a little bit about
what's coming here was just mentioned
about what economic Bel benefits does
this have obviously there's the
possibility for expanded taxation new
businesses new opportunities for
residents to engage serving the needs of
our growing Community being the primary
opportunity housing for children
entering adulthood retiring empty
nesters childless young professionals
and our full spectrum of working
neighbors things that we struggle for in
Bexley right now every one of us is a
homeowner or resident of Bexley in one
way or another we've all seen these
skyrocketing prices which make bexia
impossible to many people even who are
here now if they were coming here for
the first time the city of Columbus has
noted since 2022 that the Columbus
region is only building one house for
every two and a half jobs that come to
the area that's a problem that we're all
dealing with we are separate from
Columbus but we are surrounded by it so
it's problems become ours Zillow just
recently noticed noted that Columbus is
the number three hottest housing market
in the country there's a reason for that
we have a lot of relocations we have a
lot of business growth coming to the
Greater Columbus region some of those
people are going to want to live in
Bley also the building industry
Association of Central Ohio has noted
that our greater region will have a
housing shortage of 110,000 housing
units within the next eight years
similarly mckin and Company insights
suggest that zoning changes supporting
greater density will be critical to
addressing the projected housing demand
in our region for all those reasons
expanding the potential housing uses of
our multi-use commercial districts is
one way that we are saying to the full
Greater Columbus region and that's a
multicounty region when you look at it
federally that we are part of the
solution for what is happening in our
area we are not just a community of
Bexley residents sequestered from
everyone around us we bring in part of
that business and many of us work in
businesses in that surrounding Community
outside of Bley itself we're all part of
that Community we're interconnected as
such they serve our community and we
serve their Community these housing
needs are something that is going to
affect us all it's going to push our
housing prices further it's going to
reduce our housing stock further as more
and more people come in and there's less
and less Supply we're already at a point
where the turnover for housing stock
that goes on the market is that some of
the lowest it's ever been I believe it's
19 days right now lowest point ever
being 16 because there's a huge demand
for housing in this region I like to say
that everyone has discovered the secret
that we already knew that this is a
great place to be and everyone else is
discovering that they like to be here
too there's lots of reasons for that but
that's not going to be possible if we
don't make space and make opportunity
for people who want to come in and
develop and build up our community to
have an option to do that and as we've
noted these are conditional uses there's
no project that's going to be
automatically green lighted there will
be many projects over the years I
presume that will come forward some of
those projects will be greenlighted
others of those projects will be sent
back to the drawing board we will still
have the opportunity to have that input
and make those
STS as such I think this is a great step
forward and I'd like to thank city
council and the many other people
involved with the city who are involved
in making this happen today and move
forward I get that it's not going to be
done today but moving forward as it does
uh at making this possible and
recognizing that need in our community
thank
you thank you
Spencer
TK if you could just make sure you're
providing us with your
address hi I'm Tiasha leac 256 North
cassingham Road first thank you yes
thank you for providing the opportunity
for the public to speak and for Mr
Marcelino and the mayor for clarifying
the actual ordinance there's been a lot
of biased misinformation shared at prior
meetings and online forums by residents
and their unfounded claims often about
how mixed use development will lead to
increased crime or decreased property
values these are claims that have
repeatedly been proven to be false by
both the National Data and the
peer-reviewed research in the field
another Resident told me these not in my
backyard nimes are uninformed bullies
who don't speak for anyone but
themselves in fact the first opponent
who spoke today insulted a fellow
resident before the meeting even began
and the peer-reviewed literature
actually agrees specifically I'd like to
draw everyone's attention to scholarly
research that pulls from Decades of real
world data this movement is not new
there are groups that have been creating
barriers to Affordable Housing and
Community inclusivity for decades in the
US not just in Beckley in fact the
Dynamics of public meetings like this
are described in the literature and
mirror what occurs in Bexley and other
communities that have tight housing
markets and high development pressures
This research dating back to the 1990s
has established that nimbyism in the US
has strong racial and class Dimensions
as it tends to be perpetuated by white
middle and upper classes while already
marginalized minority communities are
often the victims given that these
majority groups hold more socioeconomic
clout stronger Connections in the
community and are more capable of
mobilizing others they are often in a
position of taking institutionalized
action against new development proposals
and pressuring cities to adopt
regulatory barriers to new housing to
quote an expert from a 1998 study these
tactics range from direct exclusion of
multifam development to indirect
exclusion through cost inflation caused
by growth boundaries strict
environmental controls and low density
development requirements specifically
what we are seeing here as well as
inefficiently moving proposed projects
through the permitting pipeline lawsuits
are also
common it is often the case that
opponents of Redevelopment or rezoning
have limited information on the project
to which they're opposed and do not
provide actual risks or benefits from
the research in reality the data shows
that the availability of affordable
housing is correlated with low lower
crime rates and increased property
values as demonstrated most recently by
a 2022 study on the effects of
affordable housing which was conducted
by the livable cities Lab at UC Irvine I
want to underscore that there is no
definitive way to claim that
Redevelopment causes anything because
there are County state and federal
initiatives at play that impact outcomes
Bexley does not have exclusive control
over living conditions for every
resident in central
Ohio however I ask please consider
Decades of available data the pure
reviewed research and recommendations
and analyses from experts and the
legitimate benefits that other cities in
the US have experienced after similar
initiatives and ordinance ordinances
have been passed current and future
residents of Bexley deserve a community
that we fully invest in thank
you thank you very much
Glenn
Zar hi my name is Glenn Zar I live at
941 UC Clair Avenue and this this
project is where I live I ride the
number one bus downtown and uh I come
back in Cross Livingston to at college
to go to my home in new Clair and so I
know this area well and first of all
this is the first time I've done it
spoken at something like this and I want
to thank you for your work I mean this
is fun I've enjoyed listening to this
and you're doing the blocking and
tackling of what it means to run a great
community and I love Bexley I've lived
all around the world with my job I work
in Commercial Banking and I've lived in
three houses in Bexley on Remington and
on Vernon and now on UK Clair and this
community is truly special we had a
business meeting downtown and I was
talking to a colleague who lives in St
Louis and he was saying you know I was
going to have to relocate to Columbus
and Bexley was the only Community my
wife and I would have considered because
it's the only community that has a soul
he said you know we Dr drove through the
community and kids were playing ball and
people were eating their dinner out on
their front porch like my wife and I do
and it just feels like a real community
and not just a suburb and that's what we
have and that's what you're safeguarding
so thank you for that and and thank you
for your work and planning on this my my
only concern is this I have so I have
one question one that I would ask you to
consider and that's the the the the
traffic and the parking kind of issues
in this space Livingston is so
incredibly busy it's hard for me to
Cross when I'm getting off the bus it's
hard to drive out and turn on to
Livingston that whatever planning that
you're doing please take into
consideration the traffic when you're
looking at parking and maybe making more
minimums or what ever please take that
into consideration in terms of what that
might do to this area it's
already it already feels a little bit
unsafe and it already feels a little bit
wonky turning off of uh you you Clair
onto
Livingston as you're planning please
take that into consideration and thank
you for your help appreciate
it thank you Kevin
no
hello can you hear me all right there we
go my name is Kevin noer I'm one of the
owners in the Ferndale Mayfield um
resoning area at 920 and 934
Ferndale and while I'm not necessarily
opposed to the resoning of the
neighborhood um I am disappointed in the
lack of cooperation with the property
owners there we offer some of the only
affordable housing in the city of Bexley
and we are being erased from future
plans so as we all know the area was
built on an undocumented landfill and
Bexley proved uh these buildings to be
built 60 years ago but is now putting
the onus on us the in individual owners
to clean up what they
approved we all want the residents to be
safe and testing shows that the water
and air are at safe levels the grounds
while above recommended levels are
rarely Disturbed outside of the Bexley
Gardens so we're asking the city of
Bexley to hold off on Resident evictions
and to meet with us directly to
collaborate on a solution all
communication thus far has been through
written letters uh that we get responses
a year later or through hired outside
councel um we've submitted I can speak
for myself I've submitted several
mitigation plans and they were flat
denied without any discussion a year
later um for example uh in terms of
solutions there is a $175 million
Brownfield remediation program through
the Ohio Department of development the
grant could fund 75% of the cleanup but
it's unreasonable to expect each owner
to file for this
individually the city will likely need
to do something with their lots that
they own uh so why could they not help
facilitate the whole area rather than
pressuring um everyone to
vacate so I'm just asking City officials
today to meet with the stakeholders of
this neighborhood so we can work
together on a solution that minimizes
the burdens and keeps everyone safe
thank you for your
time thank you Alexander
dashkovsky hello everybody thank you for
having me here I'm a property owner of
914 May field 169 North Gould and 2794
Bellwood I'm proud Bexley lumni
graduated in 2003 a proud immigrant that
came here and when I came here I came to
Bexley Village I live right across the
street from my current apartment that I
use I would just like to say that it's
been incredibly difficult to deal with
the city building department to have to
be passed on to a lawyer I'm a licensed
general contractor I'm also EPA
certified with lead I understand what's
going on what we need is somebody to
facil fa itate this and not to pass the
ball we need to have a community
approach to this Bexley owns Lots we own
property there it needs to be done
together and not to evict people out of
affordable housing that their kids can
go to school I know how hard my parents
work to send me to Bexley we didn't live
in the best parts we lived on bwood we
lived on Maryland next to Green Brier we
lived on ghoul but I got a great
education world class so I want you to
guys give everybody the chance to have
that thank you thank you Larry
Smith good
evening can you can you hear me okay
losing my voice I'm Larry
Smith I'm with healthy urban communities
and I'm an environmental consultant I am
a certified professional under Ohio PA's
voluntary action program under under the
VAP the Brownfield program and I'm
representing a couple of the property
owners um with their evaluation of their
properties and uh responding to the
letters they got to clean up their
properties to meet the Brownfield
standards the Ohio EPA VAP standards so
what I really want to uh just say here
tonight is I look forward to working
together with the city of Beckley as you
know Bexley has had brownfields and
you've had them cleaned up and evaluated
and you know they're complicated they're
not easy they can be onerous especially
onerous when you're taking a Brownfield
site a big property and breaking into
little 20 little parcels and asking each
one of those little Property Owners to
clean up the property seems like we can
come up with a more collaborative
approach because these are complicated I
I handle the technical side to evaluate
the technical side but there there are
many stakeholders there's the city the
community um there's uh the neighbors
there's the property owners there's the
occupants the
tenants we all have to be working
together to to achieve the same goal
here so I'm just really want to say that
you know representing the Property
Owners from the technical side and
evaluating what we need to do to get
these properties cleaned up to meet the
VAP standards as you're requiring which
is a little bit different than what I'm
used to I represent cities and Port
Authorities and lamb Banks and we've
worked with property owners
cooperatively the cities and communities
have worked to get funding to help these
Property Owners to clean up their
properties to evaluate cleanup and get
them put back to beneficial reuse so
this is kind of reversed um that I'm
seeing the the approach and I just want
to say that um I look forward to coming
up with developing strategies Solutions
maybe funding opportunities as Kevin
mentioned odod $175 million uh
Brownfield program so I look forward to
the city on you with on you with you on
this thank you uh just a reminder the
comments tonight are hopefully
surrounding ordinance uh Z 4-24 so I ask
all future speakers uh thank you very
much Mr Smith I ask all future speakers
to address the ordinance um and make
sure that we make a work back to that so
we can uh keep everything organized here
the next person is Miss Sharon
nickel hi my name is Sharon nickel and I
live at 993 eair five houses north of
Livingston
I've lived there for 45 years and sent
three children through the Bexley
schools all three of my kids worked at
the Bexley Bexley pool as guards and
swim team coaches Bexley is a great
Community my kids got a wonderful
education and had a great childhood we
have wonderful neighbors who are more
than just neighbors we have roots in
this community and wonderful memories
here I am very concerned with the
rezoning possibility of Livingston
Avenue as I've said before we live five
houses north of Livingston Livingston
has changed a great deal in the 45 years
I've lived here it is not a safe Street
even with the recent changes made to it
I do not drive on Livingston unless I
have to I have a son on Kenwick and in
spite of all the stop signs on Charles I
take that route to his
house when I do take Livingston I am
often I often have somebody pass me
flying by in the turn lane even though
I'm going 30 miles an hour or riding my
bumper or flashing their lights to go
faster I often see cars run the light at
Kenwick and Roosevelt several seconds
after it
turns when I'm turning left onto you CLA
from Livingston I am constantly looking
in my rearview mirror anticipating
possibly being rear ended there is no
turn lane for turns onto you Claire we
have to go into the yellow striped area
we do a lot of biking several thousand
miles a year and often we access the
bike trail behind The
JCC this involves Crossing Livingston
Avenue I often use the new crosswalk at
cassingham to walk my bike across
Livingston pushing the button for the
lights to flash I always have to wait at
least 10 cars to go by before they one
of them stops to let me cross and then a
lot of times the other lane doesn't
stop sometimes I have to take my car to
Bexley carare on Livingston it's a short
walk but I'm afraid to walk on that
street cars speed by and there are too
many accidents on this street to feel
safe I ask for a ride from Neighbors to
drop my car off or pick it up my
neighbors do the same for their cars
they ask me to give them a ride they
tell me they don't feel safe walking on
Livingston Avenue it just isn't a safe
Street we play a lot of Scrabble on our
front porch it's our favorite room of
our house we get a chance to visit with
the neighbors walking by and have a
great porch s
we use this room a lot we have bones for
the dogs who go by even though we don't
have a dog but we hear EMS going up and
down Livingston constantly we hear the
motorcycles drag race we hear the car
speeding often with insanely loud music
blaring and yes we hear a lot of
collisions when we hear the impact of a
car crash I feel compelled to
immediately respond because I'm a
retired nurse I often offer to call 911
I'm avail able for first aid or if
needed just for support once I had a
lady hit the telephone poll at eclair in
Livingston she begged me to take her
child she offered to pay me to take her
child she was very impaired and she knew
the court could take her child away when
they found out she was either impaired
or had been driving drunk I called 911
and stayed with her in the child till
they arrived I've seen cars in the front
yards of Livingston some flipped over
and some threw houses the house at the
corner of ucair and Livingston actually
had a car go into the living room many
years ago luckily the residents weren't
harmed there's a Facebook page for
Livingston Avenue safety where accidents
are posted very
frequently I ask you to reconsider
resoning this street to allow mixed use
it is not the same as Maine or Broad
Street to reone Livingston to unify the
zoning in Bexley is like comparing to
oranges thank you Livingston is very
very different from main or broad Bexley
police do not have jurisdiction on the
street as you know when I've called
Bexley police to report an accident I've
been told this is Columbus's
jurisdiction unfortunately Columbus
Police do not Patrol the street or
ticket for excessive speeding or running
red lights it's a free-for-all and the
drivers know it when I've spoken to
Neighbors about this meeting and the
potential for rezoning
people are concerned about the change
but when I ask them to attend meetings
I'm often met with the same response why
bother attending the zoning or city
council meeting Bexley is going to do
what Bexley wants to do I really hope
they are wrong I really hope you are
listening to our concerns we see the
dangers on Livingston every day this is
just not a safe place for a high density
apartment building thank you thank you
miss nichel that was impressive timing
by the
way
no extra comments Please Mr official as
we move along thank you uh Mr Robert
single
ter yeah unfortunately I got her extra
20 seconds that she gave to me so that
she'd be under five
minutes good evening my name is Robert
single ter and I also live at 993 you
CLA I shared many concerns regarding the
project at 2300 East Livingston in the
Bap meeting that went to nearly 2:00 in
the morning and I got to speak about
1:00 in the morning tonight I'm only
going to focus on my two primary
concerns with the mixed use zoning
ordinance and that's safety and the
somewhat some appearance of
non-transparency during this
process even though the Livingston
Corridor between college and James has
gotten significantly safer since the
number of lanes were reduced it still is
a very dangerous and UNP police
thoroughfare I cannot remember the last
time I saw a Col a Columbus Police car
on Livingston we even had a Bexley High
School reg a wrestler injured on
Livingston Lesson 12 months ago when
they were hit near Francis and
Livingston several times in the past
couple of months I've seen cars passing
at 50 to 60 miles an hour in the center
turn lane accidents still Ur with within
a couple blocks of the funeral home but
traffic being diverted through the South
Bexley Street such as Francis ukir and
cassingham diverted cars in speed down
the South Bexley streets we try to call
the police dispatcher for additional
help slow down the traffic we are often
told there is not any officers available
at the time to help with traffic
it is a huge problem Livingston is a
very scary Street in fact my car has
been hit on nuclear twice in the past
year when traffic has been diverted down
you
Clair adding 28 apartments with only 35
parking spaces at 2300 Livingston is
going to exacerbate this problem the
lack of parking will force cars to park
on Francis and pleasantridge as a result
the section of Livingston between
college and ucair is only to become only
become more dangerous with more
accidents and I have a feeling the city
will allow people to park on Frances
between Pleasant Ridge and Livingston
making the situation worse the project
would be fine if there were fewer
apartments and I heard Kathy talking
about this tonight say 15 to 18
apartments with the 35 allotted parking
spaces such that residents would not
park on
Francis my only major concern my other
major concern is the secrecy and
non-transparency with which the city
council has operated sometime during
this project when a city council member
was campaigning a couple of years ago in
our neighborhood her husband came to our
house to ask us to post a campaign sign
in our yard we were asked if we had any
comments regarding issues in the city
Sharon my wife said she had concerns
regarding the Livingston Avenue project
we were told that they could not
discussed this project because they were
under a gag order from the city of
Bexley so much for
transparency my feeling is that the
elected City officials appear not to
care about the opinions of the citizens
we feel that you're going to force
through whatever you're ises are without
caring about the opinions of the
citizens we know that whatever opinions
we share could be worthless because you
spent tens of thousands of dollars of
City money defending a proposal that
many residents on Francis Pleasant Ridge
and ucair oppose I also feel that even
though you're saying that this is not
spot zoning because the whole whole
quarter is going to be rezoned the truth
is is that directly affects only one
property which is that 2300 East
Livingston so I would argue that this is
spot zoning in summary please take
safety into account I know how important
safety is and that I was nearly killed
by bicycling in September 2012 when a
non-resident ran as top L at Golden Main
and hit me I laid unconscious on Main
Street for nearly 10 minutes before
spending the next nine days at Grant in
the trauma Unit safety of the residents
is Paramount please take the safety of
the Bexley resident seriously once this
if this ordinance approve is approved
please seriously take into account the
possibility of reducing the number of
allowable Apartments of the 2300 E
Livingston site or do not approve the
project thank you thank you very much Mr
Bill
frell good evening everybody I live at
972 uair Avenue and mayor and Megan I'd
like to thank you both of you for your
time on Friday I know you're a busy man
and I probably took more than
of your time than you cared to have me
have
anyways
um you
know for me this is all about public
safety and Sharon and Robert pretty much
laid it out pretty
much probably better than I can but
here's the
thing we've got a
problem down in that area not only just
with the
density okay but as has been said we got
a crime problem and it's not necessarily
the city's
fault and chief Lewis you guys do a
great
job and but here's the deal we're we're
surrounded by it and we have been for
years and it's only getting worse I do
not shop at Kroger
anymore there's a salit a once or twice
a week it all goes all the way down Alum
Creek the Shell station all the way down
to Winslow drive all the way out
Livingston Avenue and yeah it's gotten a
little bit better since they redid it
slowed it
down but they still pass you in a
passing Lane you got to be on your toes
they tailgate they don't care Columbus
does not Patrol
it and yes the city has limited
Authority on livson pretty much next to
done probably when it comes to traffic
enforcement or anything else we have
these people people and it's been going
on for a long time 11 11:15 at night
here they come they come up our street
they go through the alleys they check
cars we've had cars broke into on you
CLA I know the police can't be
everywhere we got a speeding problem on
you
CLA and we had a bad incident last
July and it took me four months to get
an electronic speed
signed and the mayor and I are still
fighting and disagreeing about the other
one and we're still going to continue
that conversation
sir because I went up on North Roosevelt
North cassingham today and they got two
on each side of the street South abroad
with solar panels on them and I don't
know why we can't have one down there we
got a speeding problem we got a crime
problem to me this seems like more of
a aesthetic Amazon Wish
list and I'm not
against looking ahead to the future or
making things better for
people but as they tell you you buy a
business you open a restaurant or
anything else location location location
and some of the things that you're
considering and proposing especially
with this 2300 Livingston Avenue and I
know you said it's not about that today
but I'm going to tell you
that's not the right place for it and
I'm not saying it can't be in Bexley but
that's certainly not the right location
for it have you considered doing
anything else you got a lot of people in
this community that feel they're being
left behind and not listen to what about
senior
citizens what about daycare center what
about a senior daycare
center have you guys considered any of
that
stuff I mean you know come
on pay attention we see you people at
campaign
time we haven't seen any of you when it
comes to this have you been out talking
to the public have you been out knocking
on doors and really asking people what
they think because a lot of people won't
come up
here because they just think it's a
waste of their
time so the other thing too
accessibility to you
people I'm wrapping up I got a lot of
things spining up here right now
you know emails are fine but they're
just like voicemail they're
impersonal how about
some something during the week the
timing of these meetings it's hard for a
lot of people to attend they got kids
they got functions with their kids they
got to feed their
kids okay um kids got to be put to bed
seniors can't get out at night they
don't
drive
so I think the city needs to really
re-evaluate what you're considering on
doing you know all those drawings and
everything they look
nice but if you got a crime problem and
Columbus isn't going to do anything and
hold their end
up they don't
Patrol you don't see them anywhere go to
Walgreens James and Livingston I'm
getting there I always got an all Duty
Sheriff sooner or later that's going to
get into this community no matter how
good we are or how good our Police
Department is thank you thank you Mr
frell Leah
Turner here we go
my name is Leah Turner I live at 993
Francis
Avenue and um I just want to reflect on
what another uh resident said um I'm
gonna I have asthma so my voice is a
little off tonight so I
apologize um a resident wanted to say
that she knew us and people uh want to
make call us names I prefer we not
address specifically just things of
people i' said I just prefer keep it
generally towards but I'll give you
another we are not
NES that's that's okay but please we are
not nimes you don't even know my family
you don't know that my husband is
African-American my daughter's
biracial most of the people in the city
don't even know that let alone you or
one of the council members when we were
walking in to um the 10th Circuit Court
of
Appeals cuz we were black and white so
obviously we know what it means to um to
be at the
courthouse but that person didn't I'm
not calling them out they know who they
are and they kept talking to us as we
went up closer to the elevator and then
they realized we were going the same
place
awkward so we know what it feels
like very well to be treated whether
it's doing it on purpose or you just
don't know we know at 993 Francis we
know I'm not going to go into all detail
about that but we do know what racism is
like and that's pretty much why we can't
move anywhere else I'm not going to get
any more personal with that my comments
tonight will be addressing land use in
South Bexley because I am also the
president of South Bexley neighborhood
as
Association um addressing the land use
in South Bexley and the lack of equity
in land use across Bexley and the Bexley
owned
properties Equity is it Equitable that
South Bexley is the densest of all
Bexley neighborhoods this can be clearly
seen on the mapping on the Franklin
County auditor
website and you can just scroll right
through and as the further north you go
the less dense it
is is it equable that most South Bley
streets have people speeding up and down
on narrow narrow spots while our
families go about their daily lives most
of these homes don't have the driveways
because they were built a long time ago
historical so most streets in Central
and North Beckley are much
wider by design by I don't know who
designed them but some somebody
did I'm trying to um edit as you asked
so please don't take that
time is this just um is this a just
incable use hold on a
second why does the South Bexley
Livingston overlay
Ordnance only pertain to that or that um
overlay
area why does it only have special
accommodations once again I got to skip
because I'm trying to respect what you
asked in contrast to North Bexley where
a vast majority of city-owned land can
be found and is obviously less densely
populated I recently searched because I
like to walk about there exactly how
much land the city of Bexley owns in
this section of Bexley first I looked at
Commonwealth park it has two Parcels of
land these two Parcels are called
Columbus common on the Auditor's website
these Parcels are combined to
6.72 acres that are owned by the
residents of Bexley I'm surely not
suggesting that the whole 6.72 Acres be
used for housing or mixed use maybe just
a small piece maybe a quarter of an acre
so if you take that quarter out that LE
6.48
Acres thank you we'll give you an extra
30 because I know you had to add it
thank you thank you this would be a more
just and eable use of of city land you
can also see on the Otter's website
there is another plot of land at the
corner of Clifton and Park View this is
partial number
02001 918 it is separated from the
Jeffrey
plot by it's a dark red line around the
Jeffrey Mansion the total market value
of this property is
6345
this is about the same amount that TCB
would be paying for 2300 East Livingston
sorry I couldn't get it all out this
parcel of City owned
property this parcel of City own
property is 2.12
Acres so if you would take out a quarter
of it it would leave you about 1.8 1.9
acres for children to play soccer and
for the deer that love to roam there
this would be adjust and eable use of
city-owned property it is not equable
sorry to put 40 to 45 children and their
families on 2300 Livingston land we have
land we can do better why should one
neighborhood or section of Bexley be
exorbitantly more dense than another if
not by Design we the spna Do Not oppose
what that'll be the time thank you very
much I appreciate it thank
you
David
Green good evening uh council members
and Mr Mayor my name is David Green I
live on uh rances Avenue about
midblock
and the reason I'm my background is in
City Planning landscape architecture
I've done a lot of plans I've worked
with a lot of zoning requests and
Redevelopment requests so I know
this how this works and usually there's
a lot of conflict involved so don't
be annoyed because there's conflict
that's normal but um the the way to
avoid conflict is is
simple you just create a plan which has
already been
done you have a Southwest Beckley
plan
now there's a pending development and
South beex neighborhood association is
interested in this
the project should be an implementation
of the Southwest Beckley plan and be a
guide for future development now this
plan Southwest Bexley plans supposedly
solves in
advance all the conflict because it
involves neighbors neighbors get
involved they say I want this I want
that some of the things they requested
were clean create a walkable bikable
neighborhood safe neighborhood preserve
and enhanced residential areas now
that's common sense because 95% of
Bexley is
residential and people put a lot of
money in their
housing so there's also a request to
revitalize Livingston
quter so there there might be some
conflict here but um these can be
resolved we have the map if you want to
change the map do a plan Amendment get
everybody in and say okay we want to
revise this one area
because it doesn't agree with what we
would want to do or maybe you can
suggest something better but maybe we
don't need a plan Amendment may we just
need a
realistic proposal by a developer that's
realistic
um I think the existing issue uses the
mayor is exactly right the the existing
Highway commercial is
inappropriate has a high maintenance
potential risk to accidents it's
inappropriate Auto oriented uses and
it's hostile to
pedestrians um the plan which has
already been
created says that
limiting the curb cuts by constructing
access roads behind the development
fronting Lion Avenue also create a safer
vehicular Corridor and a more pedestrian
friendly Street environment now the
these things are are being solved
already um take them and go with them um
the the
zoning implements the
plan what you have on the plan they look
at it they say okay you didn't propose
what's in the plan so we're not going to
approve that zone change um it's simple
it's done in advance for you so the the
one question I have and this is a
stumbling block because you've got
you're you're going the right direction
here but um the Southwest plan has
single family residential in the corner
of France is in college now maybe that's
just a mistake on Mission something I
don't know but the plan must be amended
to change it if you want to change
the plan is thus slowly implementing
with each succeeding
user it implement it with each
succeeding
user so the city must Implement its plan
or lose all citizen support and
credibility this is not
complicated you already agreed to the
plan it's not complicated so I think
you've just got a couple of issues here
you need
to fix and uh
it's not I've seen much worse than this
so but um I thank you for your time
thank you thank you Mr Green Kyle
Tom hi everyone my name is Kyle Tom I
used to live at 952 Mayfield place and I
currently own a property management
company uh the reason why I did property
management is because I wanted to
provide safe and affordable housing uh
to those
uh in need you know I really work with
CGI
CMHA uh the community shelter board and
for me the reason why I'm here is to
stand up for all of my old neighbors in
the Mayfield Ferndale Place uh in that
little area you know you guys say that
the ordinance allows for future
development you're looking for uh a
booming Livingston or that's what you
envision but for me what I see is you
guys trying to contemp properties uh to
further your goals you know there's
resources out there to help uh remediate
uncapped
landfills and you know that issue wasn't
documented 25 years ago when that
happened you know I feel like I'm being
steamrolled because the city isn't
really trying to work with the owners of
this uh Mayfield and Ferndale uh Place
area um you know for this ordinance
pushing for a high density area I
personally feel like you guys are trying
to push out uh those with housing
vouchers and those that have low income
or need low-income housing you know I
personally care more about the city
working with the property
owners uh so that we bring more
diversity into Bexley instead of trying
to like I said uh push everyone out you
know your plans show effectively all of
the Mayfield and Ferndale buildings
gone um and to me rezoning is one step
closer to pushing out those in need of
affordable housing and for that reason
I'm personally against the
rezoning um ordinance you know the only
thing that I ask you guys is that you
care more about providing affordable
housing you know I know that uh in this
area uh for example for the duplex I own
I rent out a two- bedroom for $800 a
month and you really can't find that
anywhere uh nearby so that's all I have
to say you guys and thank you for your
time thank you uh Jenny
schmidtz hello I'm Jenny schutz I live
at 9:30 Francis I've lived there this
summer it will be 50 years when we move
there Livingston Avenue was not a
racetrack it wasn't a Speedway it was we
didn't have that much traffic then
during the pandemic you tried very hard
to Railroad in very secretively without
giving neighbors a lot of notice about
meetings about affordable housing on the
corner that would be at the funeral home
they did a traffic study during then
well of course there's not much traffic
when you're in a pandemic because nobody
was out and about I urge you to do a
traffic study now I urge you all to come
and drive on Livingston Avenue it is not
safe Livingston Avenue is not a Bexley
street it's not Bexley sidewalks it's
not Bexley tree Lawns um you had said
that you're going to make this coor
friendly you know pedestrian friendly I
don't ever see how that's going to
happen right now I most people in South
Bexley avoid Livingston Avenue now
because you can't get out because it's
one one lane I made the mistake when I
go to 70 East I came out the other day I
waited for 27 cars before I could turn
right off of eclair to go down
Livingston I never return anytime to
come down Livingston if I'm coming home
from someplace else in the city right
now if you come down Livingston going
east there is no turn lane that you can
turn down Francis or you can turn down
ucair at the turn right now at Francis
is where both lanes come together so if
you stop there to turn left to come down
Francis you're you're going to cause an
accident people are honking at you
they're they're not very happy with you
the same thing at UK Clair you can't
turn left because there's no turn lane
so you have to go all the way to
Livingston which isn't that far but you
have to go to to cassingham to turn left
so I don't know how that improved things
on Livingston Avenue I am not against
affordable housing I think we let people
in Beckley that are wanting to live here
on low salaries or whatever live in
really poor conditions I would like to
see those improved you know before we
all of a sudden built this very high
density three-story building at the end
of my street I think it's too many
people it's not safe I urge you all to
come down there the last meeting they
said they're going to widen and take
White
part of that I don't I know I can't ask
a question but the first plans for the
apartment building there was going to be
right up on the sidewalk so one time
they said um well the last meeting you
said they're going to make this so safe
that people that are living on
Livingston Avenue are going to be able
to sit in their front yard well nobody's
going to sit in their front yard on
Livingston Avenue I'm sorry uh you all
need to drive down Livingston Avenue no
matter what time of day and there are no
Columbus policemen ever on Livingston
Avenue you never see anybody patrolling
you never see anybody you know pulled
over they're going 50 60 miles an hour
if you're going the speed limit they're
passing you in the Middle Lane and
they're very aggravated at you so most I
would say most residents in South Bexley
avoid Livingston Avenue there's where
would you walk on Livingston Avenue
where would you be going you know I just
want you consider that I am amazed that
you um didn't do this zoning before
everything was sent to court and you
spent I think probably an enormous
amount of money to defend yourselves in
court three times and then you decided
to rezone this I don't understand why
that wasn't done to begin with in in the
first place so I urge you all to travel
down Livingston Avenue no matter what
time of day it is but talk to people
there talk to people who live on
Livingston Avenue ask them about it I
don't think they feel like they can come
because I think they know that this is
probably a done deal thank you m Schmitz
before you sit down you did say you
didn't you knew you couldn't ask a
question you can't ask a question and we
are taking notes of the questions to
either answer towards the end or Reach
Out personally if we know them so is
there a question that you did want to
ask cuz you have some time left well
that question was why didn't you do this
to begin with before it went to making
sure you got the question answer want to
clarify okay thank you very much thank
you very much thank you uh Jody Weston
will be next and take did you want to
bring a microphone back there
okay hello my name is Jody Weston I live
at 399 South Columbia Avenue uh I just
wanted to say that I had to change
everything that I originally had planned
on saying uh because I was literally
going to ask you to table this until
another time so thank you Mr Marcelino I
appreciate that um I would ask though
that you formed some type of a committee
with residents businesses and council
members to work with everyone on this um
the ordinance to change it together so
that it's it works for everyone kind of
like what we're doing with the dog breed
ordinance as we're working with the
community on that as well uh before I
had surgery I walk my dogs Down College
to Livingston up the Shar path on Alum
Creek at 6:30 in the morning at least
twice a week this area is a pigy there
is trash everywhere broken glass on the
bridge over Alum Creek for months now
there's so much glass that I have to
walk the dogs on the street which I run
so they do not step on the glass yet we
are looking to change the ordinance to
make things nicer on this stretch do we
actually think that this area will all
of a sudden become beautiful and a safe
place to walk once we change that and
why don't we clean it up now what are we
waiting for and why are we only taking
Mr Francis why are we not taking it all
the way down to Gold are only certain
Bexley residents allowed to have safe
and and nice sidewalks to walk
on also I I can't really tell from the
plans but it seems we're not taking away
the center turning lane to get into all
the Starbucks and and Mumu and
everything down there but then are we
taking away parking from the businesses
that are down there if so have we talked
to the businesses down there to see how
it's going to work for them when we do
this
so again you ask for help in writing the
breed ordinance for the dogs which I
don't think as is as important as this
is I would again ask that you that you
ask for residents businesses and Council
to come together to work on this with
you to make it work for everyone I do
thank you for tabling this for another
night and I also want to add that I do
agree with Sharon and Robert I do not
feel that Bexley truly cares about their
residents and I felt for a long time
that you all do what you want to do with
no recourse for us as the res
thank you thank
you Amy louse
Lous good evening my name is Amy
lowerhouse and I live at 753 Francis
um my husband and I are 29e residents of
South Bexley I've worked here here in
Bexley all 29 years and have owned my
own local business for the last 10 years
um as a residential architect I consider
myself a caretaker one of the caretakers
of bexley's housing stock um and
therefore I take any change to any
change to the zoning code very seriously
um I am not at all opposed to new
development I think it's important for a
community especially an old Community to
in fill with new exciting development um
I'm excited for the changes that you've
talked about on um Livingston Avenue I
think given what I agree with everybody
else about the issues with the traffic
and turning and everything um I really
feel like it can only get better um what
I'm really I am concerned about is the
is the height and the density and and
the parking that relates to the
ordinance um the the parking you're
decreasing the parking
requirements um and you're also allowing
as a conditional use up to seven
stories um I I think it's important that
the
community understand kind of where we're
moving with our development you know
there's downtowns like Dublin and
Worthington and pal that are very quaint
low-scale um you two stories that kind
of thing there's other places like
Bridge Park and Lane Avenue that are
much taller uh developments and and it
has a very different look um and I think
it's important that you listen to what
the community wants as far as moving
forward and what what do we want to be
in the future um I applaud you hugely
applaud you for um putting out the land
use strategy Serv survey for all
residents if um anyone here tonight has
not filled out the L use um strategy
survey I encourage you to do so it's on
bexley's um front page on their website
um as part of the revamping of the land
U strategy uh it says in there that you
want to align with best practices and
that's kind of a vague thing and I'm not
sure what that means and and um I look
forward to it says there's going to be
public workshops about that
um my feeling is that we should table
this rezoning until and my question I
guess is um have you gotten good
response on the land use survey and what
is the timeline for that I guess I would
be interested to see if you could table
this until you hear more from the
community about how they want want to
move forward in general with the
development of the city thank you thank
you very
much Eric
elzando
okay Jo
graph don't worry this is just the uh
ordinance um Jo graph 834 for Francis
Avenue um I don't I'm not going to
repeat everything you've heard already
about safety and uh traffic
and um I mean you've heard that odd
nauseum so far um I just wanted to ask a
couple
questions uh when I and I have spent a
lot of time studying the ordinance and
trying to cross refererence it I have
some I don't know if the procedural uh
questions about the actual ordinance in
particular
um in section 10 which is the page right
before the signature it doesn't equate
to any existing section in the actual
ordinance as an
amendment but and again I I am not a
lawyer so I would defer uh the sentence
basically says that if there's any
future Court
battles the city prevails regardless of
the higher Court
and as a resident anywhere in the United
States I don't think anybody's above the
law but that line to me clearly states
that uh should any provision of this
ordinance be declared by a court to be
unconstitutional or invalid such
decision shall not affect the validity
of the ordinance as a whole or any part
thereof other than the part declared
unconstitutional or
invalid so I don't know why you'd put
that in an ordinance um the other thing
I had a uh concern with is
we're not against affordable housing uh
that got missed uh through like I said
the LA transparency through covid caused
a lot of it the density is not addressed
still uh there should be some kind of
density restrictions as you guys look at
you are as was mentioned reducing
parking availability uh in this
ordinance um I think there needs to be
some kind of concrete analysis of
that uh I'm trying to see here on my
notes
um uh one thing that's uh really kind of
uh weird to me is also I think it's
section
12262 if I have that one right or I
might be confusing that with
12543 but uh it appears that under the
new Amendment from and again this isn't
about zoning this is about operating
ordinances it gives beat the authority
to basically not follow there's no
criteria for resident or developer to
bring forth a uh project that has to
meet any guidelines and they had eight
bullet points that were lost in the law
legal case as you guys know but those
are now just
ideas that beep can decide if they want
to look at or not look at and that that
is what the text says um so I don't know
why we're making that leniency the other
question I have is the blanket overlay
of mu it would seem to me in reading
this there's no obligation to even do
any more residential development once
you do that we've heard a lot from
Mayfield and Ferndale about protecting
their assets and trying to provide
housing but if you look at the overlay
and the me code there's no requirement
to build new housing anywhere so a
developer could come in and say I'm
going to build a four-person or four
person sorry let's say four story a
commercial office building with no
residential and with the new overlay the
new ordinance that would be okay so I
think I'm not suggesting that would
happen but it sure looks like we could
reduce residential housing development
in the area so I don't know if you've
considered all these things um Sam I'm
I'm glad to hear that you were
considering tabling it I just think
there's a lot to digest here and it does
seem like it's getting rushed through um
and like I said me and some other folks
have spent hours looking 14 pages thanks
Mark you know I'm almost done uh trying
to cross reference this back to the
original code that just says deleted
deleted replace not easy
and you know I think you've heard once
again uh the perception of a lack of
transparency or a lack of council
wanting to listen to its residents um so
it's like you know one person says it
you blush it off two people say it it's
probably BS three people say it does
anybody start thinking there might be
something going on here uh and we have
plenty of tape on Zoom that can show you
instances of that but uh at any rate um
I think the ordinance needs to be really
fine toothed before it moves forward and
I the suggestions are things I would
look
at thank you very much
those are all of the people that signed
up for the public hearing I'm not sure
if anybody came in later I just want to
open up the floor if there's anybody
that did not get the opportunity to sign
up and speak to us
tonight okay thank you very
much if this is I don't know what she
said okay
um in regards to the public hearing that
is really all it be I just want to thank
you all for uh participating tonight for
following the rules set forth I've
watched a lot of community meetings in a
lot of different areas and you never
know how they're going to go but I think
that was exceptional and I truly
appreciate everybody's input and
feedback tonight so far uh there were
some questions posed some very very good
ones in addition to the additional ideas
that people had tonight and I did want
to give the opportunity for the mayor as
well as the attorney to address some of
those I know there's a specific legal
question in the last uh posing from uh
Mr GFF and among some others so I just
wanted to give an opportunity for you
all to address some questions and
concerns that came up tonight um briefly
if you don't mind thank you yes we will
attempt brevity but there are some
complicated questions that were asked so
I'm gonna ask Katherine C andam to step
to the lecturn we're going to pinch hit
this a little bit some of the questions
asked were zoning some of them were
procedural some had to do with the
history of our strategic
planning um first off I also W to me I W
to copy what you said which is that it
was fantastic to hear all the
perspectives tonight and also really
heartening to hear as odd as this might
sound that at the heart of all of our
concerns is safety on Livingston and the
future of Livingston and improved
Livingston one that can be safe and
serve Bexley better having said that uh
one of the questions that was asked
Katherine was about spot zoning uh would
you mind defining what spot zoning is
sure spot zoning it's it it has gotten
confused as zoning has changed over time
with plan developments and a lot of
other things but basically Scot spot
zoning means that you have one property
or a
small couple of properties that are zon
distinctly different than everything
around it so you might have a
residential neighborhood with
a
um speed track in the middle of it and
nothing else and it would just be that
in the middle of surrounded by things
that don't have anything related to them
traditionally when zoning started there
weren't sort of these planned areas so
you had a house next to a bar next to a
rendering plant next to a factory next
to a and over time people decided that
that wasn't really such a good living
circumstance so planning came into
effect and Zoning codes came into effect
to try to mitigate incompatible uses
next to each other but one of the things
that mixed use commercial does um in the
city of beex on Main Street now on
Livingston and even even commercial
service did the same thing it allows
multitudes of uses to be close to each
other but it to the mayor's point and I
think to miss Rose's point it creates
them as conditional uses so that you
look at the specific effects and
circumstances when you've got these
circumstances where you can have
residential next to Commercial and the
zoning is expressly adopted to permit
that um that is has been a trend in
Zoning for a long time it's sort of
residential in an urban area is coming
back look at Downtown Columbus they
incentivize putting apartments and
housing back down there with the goal of
increasing the population in Downtown
Columbus residential population to
50,000 um in Downtown Columbus alone and
those are all mixed use developments
it's not a spot zoning it's trying to
take a mixture of things combine Them
Together commercial on the first floor
residential on the second floor
which was historic development and Urban
Development in the world but that is
really kind of what spot zoning is so in
this case mixed use commercial is
intended to allow for the combination of
uses but through conditional uses also
allow Council Bap um traditionally Bap
to try to make them compatible with
their surroundings and have development
standards and I did want to say um
I think Mr Miss labach said that there
would be seven stories buildings here in
the MU District it's a limit of three
stories and there's no in Main Street
there are special exceptions to that in
the Main Street District standards but
there aren't any special exceptions to
that that I'm aware of in the Livingston
district and that's so there can be
mixed uses there can be commercial on
the first floor and residential on the
second but in the Livingston District
the height limitation is much lower than
the Main Street
District thank you for that
clarification that you already answered
one of the my follow-up questions for
you um one of the questions that
pertains to zoning was section 10 of the
original ordinance should any provision
of this ordinance be declared by a court
to be unconstitutional or invalid yeah
such decision and I know that you
drafted that language so you're we
always do and and it is very language
and ordinances and state law but that's
adopted by the general assembly and all
kinds of statutory law and what that it
doesn't mean that that the legislation
or the terms of the ordinance itself or
the statute what becomes codified
ordinances what becomes the Ohio revised
code in the state of Ohio it doesn't
mean that the statute or whatever A
Court decides is inappropriate or
invalid or isn't interpreted in the same
way as perhaps you did um
it it doesn't mean that that statute is
above the court is certainly is not the
court is the one who decides what it
means is if the court finds part of a
statute unconstitutional or part of an
ordinance unconstitutional one
particular thing about it say we can't
have it's unconstitutional to put
residences above commercial property
that would not invalidate the rest of
the ordinance anything that didn't
relate to that unconstitutional
provision would still remain valid the
court would still supersede what what
the is interpretation of the law or the
ordinance but it doesn't put at risk
every law every statute every code
provision that was adopted in that
ordinance it just puts you know changes
the one thing that the court addressed
so it's very standard language and what
we typically call that is a savings
Clause it saves everything else and
defers to the court on what the court
did thank you um another zoning question
that was asked pertaining to 126 2.12
conditional uses the
language uh changes in this draft and
I'm going to pull this up so that it's
uh
apparent um to everybody what we're
talking about the language changes to
the following factors shall be
considered and weighed when making a
determination upon a conditional
use and if you want
to as opposed to shall only be approved
if all factors are met um
and I know I'm I'm putting you on the
spot but I remember that this was a
discussion in the past okay
so um if you want to take a moment to to
read that and refresh your memory yes
okay what's the question I think the
question was
um why that change um does that not sort
of I'm I hope I'm summarizing this
correctly but is it not sort of water
down or make make the conditional use
criteria
meaningless
um right so a couple of things the the
the language was part of what the I
think that was I don't remember if that
language change is part of the rewrite I
think it did in 17 and that was part of
coming out of out of um committees about
uh and recommendations talking about
wanting to be sure that every single
item was met that's unusual that's a
Bexley thing in most zoning codes for a
conditional use at and for a variance
the standards are here are the things
that you have to consider you don't have
to find that every single one is met the
you you weigh the balance and you
determine based on the facts and
circumstances in the neighborhood and
and all of that which ones weigh most
heavily and least heavily and you decide
on that basis um I think there's been
some some um frustration
with um beap but with the city of Bexley
process with this making sure that every
single one of them are met when some of
them don't almost don't even apply um in
in the facts and circumstances one of
them is um I think one of the ones is
usually whether or not um it's going to
impact City Ser the impact on city
services some of the things are economic
goals that are more less objective it's
sort of a more um uh
um facts and circumstances thing in
every case so that's one of the reasons
why it was changed it was not in it it
did make it certainly it made it a more
flexible tool that's absolutely true it
made it a more flexible tool that's
typically what conditional uses are
meant to be they're meant to be flexible
tools and the language was was very
strict and because of that strict
language I think the recommendation was
we need to treat it like most other
communities do and that is make it a
weighing factor and let every any weigh
in and I believe miss cam that our
variance language talks about weighing
factors as opposed to it does right so
this was actually more restrictive than
our variance which is legally a more
restrictive standard normally that is
this this remains more restrictive than
the variant standards did right the the
variance really wants to do uh more of a
balancing if it's an area variance than
this and the conditional use really um
kind of hones in on on the goals and the
policies and the plan which a variance
doesn't do this is really about
Community planning appropriate uses and
how it fits in in the area so it it is
has you consider way more factors and it
is more
restrictive thank you I think that's all
for zoning at the moment but we might
come back in a second um so if you want
to have a seat might call you back in a
second um the a question was made about
plans and strategies and how this this
plays into it I had earlier referenced
the 20177 Southwest Bexley framework and
the 2022 joint Livingston Avenue plan um
in the 2017 Southwest Bexley framework
the exact language is created commercial
mixed use overlay zoning stipulating
that new buildings front the ride of way
to create better walkability that is
exactly what this ordinance is
anticipating um to dovetail with that
there were comments made about um
sidewalk safety and concerns about
walking on the street which is really
cogent to this um this zoning does
actually create more setback so that the
sidewalks have to be wider on Livingston
Avenue um dovetailing with that there's
a question as to why does it stop at
Francis why does it not go to G um the
overall infrastructure the the $18
million project I referenced before goes
all the way to Gould it goes past Gould
um that will in include uh mixed use
paths bike bike paths along what is
currently sidewalk um on both sides of
the Street North and South um to create
a safer environment for cyclists that'll
go all the way to the Livingston bike
path it does include sheltered Crossings
at many of the crosswalks and so I
really encourage you to download or view
the plan online if you want us to print
it out for you we'll be happy to do that
um it looks like that but it's on our
website under documents beex plans and
studies and it's a 103 pages
very detailed how we get from the
Livingston we have today to a safe
Livingston of the future um so this is
based and directly tied to strategies
there was another question asked about
um a map Mr Green mentioned a map that
seemed to not include the area between
college and Francis I want to be very
transparent about this because Mr Green
asked this question of our Consultants I
believe a year after this was adopted
it's true if you look at this it doesn't
say that it's not included but the area
between college and Francis is gray the
consultant agree agreed or or disclosed
to Mr Green that was never the intent
not to include the existing commercial
Service as part of any sort of
commercial consideration it was an
oversight in their mapping process many
of us were present at those meetings it
was a really deep public process and at
no point in time was there discussion of
rezoning between Francis and college to
a single family residential from what
was a commercial District that was not
ever a conversation of the
plan um there were many Property Owners
uh here from the Ferndale Mayfield area
and while this zoning ordinance doesn't
actually talk about evicting uh
Properties or uh tearing down properties
um I'm really heartened to to meet you
and to see you Mark fishell is our City
attorney I think you referenced some
letters you'd received from him we are
100% open to conversations and would
welcome especially larger conversations
I think one of the challenges that we've
had is we're dealing with 13 different
property owners over you know 17
different properties so having everyone
at the table would be fantastic and so
I'm glad to hear you say that and we're
here we care about the same thing we
care about the value of of of those
properties to the residents that are in
them and that they're safe and that
they're secure mayor if I can interrupt
really quickly uh for those of you who
Mr cahun and Mr Gra I apologize for if
you want to grab that side room we just
don't have any doors and so it's
carrying in here a bit and we want to
make sure we stay focused thank you
thank you Mr mercel and I am I am close
to finish sorry for taking so long um
there was a question about overlays why
just overlays here why not overlays uh
elsewhere there are overlays on mixed
use commercial on Main Street um and
this brings the same concept it it just
slightly tailor it this overlay allows
for example drive-thru restaurants not
allowed the Main Street overlay there's
not an overlay on Cassidy um but we
would like to look at Cassidy for an
overlay because Cassidy does have some
very unique uh circumstances and that's
been a discussion that we've
had there was a
question about taking away parking from
businesses um none of the infrastructure
plans proposed would take away parking
from businesses there was a question
about
um widening the C address widening the
sidewalks that is a part of the plan I
believe are there other questions that
that you might have identified that we
haven't addressed
may I think there was a question
um may have been miss laow house um
asked about the timing and the response
to the land use strategy survey yeah so
uh thank you for asking that and I would
that survey is still open it's out on
the blast it's on our website yes uh so
please fill it out we've gotten some
great responses and it's been really
interesting to read through them and we
just read through them verbatim last
night um so our land use strategy update
our existing land use strategy Parks
parkens back to 2011 and we've
accomplished many of the things in that
strategy the new strategy is looking for
a new vision for land use within the
city of Bexley right large Livingston
Avenue is going to be a focus but in the
meantime we have other active strategies
that we spend a lot of time developing
in good trust and faith with our
residents the Southwest bexi framework
is one of those the The Joint Livingston
plan one of the most ambitious planning
projects we've ever been under and it is
incredibly important to our
Administration and I can let Council
speak for themselves that we take those
consensus built documents that the
public asked us to move forward with and
that we move forward with them so even
as we continue to plan for the next
phase we're still working on those
strategies that are active and vibrant
and alive and to wit I would uh suggest
that if you like to read strategies our
overarching strategic plan which was
just a updated by Council um is also on
that same link I pointed you to it's
called the 2023 beex strategic plan it
reaffirms all that points back to those
plans that were adopted and it points
forward it says let's update our land
strategy let's look at our Main Street
design guidelines update those it's what
I referred to before so I think it's a
great question I think it's we can walk
at chew gum you know we have we have our
marching orders and we're working on
them and we have a future ahead of us
which is
great anything else
I think that's all I had written
down I would I have one more thing Miss
lampy um M Madam president sorry um I we
have a I really encourage residents who
want to be involved read our Bexley
blast it's our weekly email Council has
open Office hours I have trash talks
with the mayor you'll find me on
Livingston Avenue frequently it's one of
my favorite places to pick up trash and
talk um it's opportunity for us to
interface and so I just want to affirm
that there are opportunities like that I
think that was another thing that was
mentioned thank
you
mayor what's an
overlay what's an overlay is the
question from
so picture like I'm wearing a jacket
over top of a sweater okay this the swe
well it's terrible analogy but an
overlay there's a base there's a base
zoning that has has certain criteria and
the overlay sort of modifies it a little
bit to to that basis is there the
overlay says okay in this area these
things are a little bit different and
with Livingston Avenue for example um
somebody mentioned seven stories on Main
Street right that doesn't apply to
Livingston because that's the main
street overlay not the Livingston
overlay so but the underlying zoning
ordinance that allows the different
types of uses is the same okay y this
viable if I may um Mr Marcelino Madame
President I was hoping um that either um
Katherine or our uh City attorney might
clarify um the idea that there are
instances when Council cannot talk to
Residents I would never ever want a
resident to think that I didn't want to
talk to them I was clearly the woman
with her husband knocking on doors and
and um I always want to listen to what
our residents have to say and I
certainly am willing to talk safety but
when there is something in front of Bap
and then a um you will explain it better
so please do yeah so I'm glad you
mentioned that because I was thinking
about maybe thank try to address that
because that that th those you know
there's never been a gag order I know
that was just a words used and you know
I just but um there are was advice given
by me as a City attorney and some
situations um that where city council
could be sitting as a basically an
appeals board as opposed to being in a
legislative function like you are they
are tonight that there are cases
periodically that come through Bap or
directly to city council where city
council is sitting in what is known as
the quas judicial capacity and then that
when city council members are sitting as
legislative members they can listen and
should listen to to anybody and everyone
whether it's their Bexley residents
their neighbors whether they go to door
too whether they you know put out a
blast on an email and say give me your
thoughts whether it doesn't matter all
of that's fair game when it comes to
quasi judicial hearings that city
council has periodically the law is
pretty clear that city council can can
must and can only based their decision
on the evidence presented at that
hearing and the as applied to the
applicable law so in the situation we're
talking about in particular involving
2300 East Livingston there was a as
everyone I think in this room knows
there was a an appeal or a um a
conditional use application that went to
beap um um or is it a variance Katherine
am I getting it wrong conditional use
okay um conditional use um requests that
went to Bap and everyone realized that
regardless of the outcome at Bap it was
likely to be appealed to city council
which means quasa judicial capacity
which means again my advice to City
Council Members was to avoid any
appearance of impropriety or unfairness
to any of the parties was to not
publicly discuss their thoughts on that
particular project so that's the reason
for that in the past and that could be
the reason for that kind of issue coming
up in the
future
I just want to add a quick
explanation um and it gets a little
confusing for cities and local
governments because they sit in two
capacities but when they're legislators
when City's acting in a legislative
capacity it's like they're the general
assembly or congress they're voting on a
law that they're creating and they want
to hear public input in that they
they're obligated as as Mr official says
but City cities local governments sit in
various capacities when they're sitting
in a quasi judicial capacity which Mr
fishal was describing they have an
application or an appeal or something
before them and they're sitting like a
court not like the general assembly it's
like you're down in court and somebody's
got a case or controversy before the
judge and in those cases Bexley is very
good um from lots of advice over the
years that when you're sitting in that
capacity you're you're dealing with an
application in somebody's rights and the
rights of neighbors you know people are
standing to talk about it so they are
really strictly limited then and it's
not always easy to tell the difference
whether it's a legislative piece or a
quasi judicial administrative piece that
that's before them but just know they're
either sitting like the general assembly
or like a court and when they're
deciding like they're a court they're
not allowed to talk about it with
neighbors or even they typically don't
with each other except for in their own
deliberations um but when there's
sitting like the legislature
everything's fair game so it's not
always easy to tell but hopefully they
know the difference and certainly Mr
Fishel does and they can always tell you
so I just want to maybe make it clearer
rather than just a lot of Lo talk which
we tend to do too
much all right well seeing that I'm glad
that I rejected the podcast invite the
other day in regards to this ordinance
it's probably a good advice um in this
matter here uh you know we've heard
everybody tonight I think that we've
heard a lot uh and there still may be
further questions that we may want to
ask of the mayor or or Miss Cunningham
or frankly follow up with the resident
that spoke tonight so that being said uh
I would move to table uh ordinance uh 04
d24 tonight unless somebody from Council
has a significant objection to
such I don't have an objetive but I
wanted to ask a clarifying question if I
may yes I mean yeah that's fine allowed
to do that close yeah go ahead um you
mentioned uh gold I just wanted to
Clarity Chelsea on Livingston is the end
of the beex Le right um so with that you
can you define the rezoning area that
we're discussing and also the joint
Livingston Columbus area where those
defined borders are at okay I'm going to
try to answer the question but I might
not answer exactly what you're asking so
first up I was I was responding to the
statement about going all the way to G
I'm aware of of Chelsea being the
southern southern boundary um the
rezoning piece goes from Francis to the
creek because that's our commercial Zone
and that that only our strategies have
only spoken to our commercial zoning not
to single family residential zoning on
the Columbus the
overarching infrastructure is between
the cre essentially the creek actually
there's some recommendations to go to
Nelson but the creek all the way to uh
James the federal funds project I
believe is at keler just be based on the
boundaries that Columbus engineered in
yeah but the the plan itself encompasses
geography from James to the creek did I
answer the question you asking yes thank
you thank you uh so at this point I
would move to table ordinance 04
d24 I'm going to give the second to miss
fibble miss Mr mCP or do we need a voice
vo on this one or we do roll call um
whatever you prefer you can do voice
okay we'll do a voice V all in favor
please say I I I anyone
opposed all right motion carries this
ordinance is
tabled right I now we are moving on to
public comments public comments items
number six this is regarding items that
are are not on our agenda Mr mCP do we
have any speaker slips no speaker slips
all right thank you so much um folks if
you were here to attend that public
hearing you are certainly welcome to
stay and join us for the rest of our
meeting um if you would like uh that
being said I did have a few brief
announcements for my president's
report
um oh yeah oh wait oh wait riveting
announcement
man I know how to clear the
room wait free donut did you say free
donuts M Mr Markham you do have to stay
yes all
right
all right uh given that our audience uh
has gotten a little more sparse I did
want to announce that uh February is
Black History Month um you will see on
Main Street there are lots of banners um
and photos of uh many of our residents
and visitors and folks who have been um
oh yeah Mr official is gonna see if we
can quiet them
down
excuse that that would be great so that
we can carry on with our city meeting
that was mildly successful okay that's
great all right so I just wanted to say
obviously if you haven't seen the
banners and the photos on uh on Main
Street you will find our very own Sam
Marcelino um make sure you make sure you
look for him I believe he is close to um
Johnson's I think I saw him the other
day you will also find uh our police
chief and many other folks who have um
who who uh definitely are worth
celebrating and
recognizing um I also wanted to announce
that on February 21st there is a joint
uh teacher mixer between the bmpa and
the Bexley City Schools so if you know
of anyone who's interested in uh maybe
applying to be a teacher to work for our
schools who is a minority or a woman uh
I encourage you to please invite them to
attend and also on February 19th one of
our council members has a birthday happy
21st Mr
Markham wow you could buy
beer um and um I also wanted to thank Mr
Marcelino for the way in which he ran
that public meeting um I think you did a
fantastic job thank you so much for
giving everybody a chance to speak and
thank you to council for truly putting
on your listening ears U that is the end
of my
report okay I have a couple things one
is I do want to mention this too and
again you know I admit I have a bias
because I love Bexley and I love being
the City attorney I really do but I can
talk louder than they can so don't worry
the um you know I represent a lot of
cities and counties and townships
throughout the state of Ohio I think you
guys know that and really Beckley really
does shine in terms of
transparency the way this kind of
hearing was
held and and again residents deserve
credit as well not just council members
and how much council is how careful city
council is and and and again I'm to I'm
really mean this um how how careful city
council is to make sure that Sunshine
Law is complied with that public records
laws I mean again the comment the the
issue about talking you know talking to
the to the neighbor about the specifics
about something coming before uh you as
in a quasi judicial capacity is another
example so it really I mean I really do
mean that and it's something to be proud
of and I hope the residents recognize
that
um one other thing I want to bring up um
is as you folks know the uh General
Assembly um in their decision-making
process decide determined that they
should override um Governor dwine Jito
of the legislation that was originally
passed that would prohibit local or
local jurisdictions like Bexley like you
guys did to have regulations placed on
uh on um tobacco flavored tobacco those
kinds of things um that law becomes or
the that law becomes effective I believe
at the end of April bottom line is in my
view the city of beex should do nothing
there's nothing to do in terms of
repealing the law you know we we do rely
a lot on Columbus Public Health for
enforcement I'm not exactly sure if
they're going to change their pattern or
approach on enforcement temporarily but
rest assured there is going there are
going to be multiple legal challenges
to the
ordinance oh that worked a little bit
there are going to be multiple legal
challenges to the to the ordinance um
and I to the to the override I'm sorry
and um Bexley will certainly be part of
that I've been in conversation with um
assistant City Attorney in Columbus OH
Columbus that's going to be um Gathering
up some groups so hopefully we we'll
just participate with Columbus and
multiple other jurisdictions um so that
that is certainly on the radar um and as
I think I might have mentioned
previously and if I didn't that's the
first time I am also assisting working
with the city of Athens who's been sued
by the state of Ohio over their single
use plastic bands because of you know
the again the allegation that it
violates um state law as opposed to the
home rule Authority obviously that
affects Bexley as well um actually I've
been meaning to mention this to the
mayor I haven't done it yet but I know
the city of Cincinnati is considering an
amikas brief friend of the court brief
on that case and I was going to reach
out to that person and see if there's
you know if be if Bexley can participate
with them so that is my report great any
questions for our City
attorney all right moving on to um the
auditor's report Mr mCP um yeah just
something uh brief um as discussed in
the budget process and I mentioned it um
in the last meeting I've been working
with um Julian and Grub to um you know
engage in an audit have a third-party
audits conducted um which is ordinary
course and other
municipalities um and essentially
standing up an audit process where we
have um third parties come in and look
at um High areas where where mistakes
happen whether that be payroll accounts
payable and help us identify and um
ensure we design processes that mitigate
risk so longer made short it's my intent
to move forward uh with a partnership
with them um this week so if you have
any questions please let me know um but
hope to get that in place and um stand
up those processes here in the coming
month so thank you thank you any
questions for Mr
mCP all right up to administrative
updates mayor you want to walk us
through thank you Madame President I I
first want to congratulate Mr MC on a
very sharp Blazer you're looking
excellent this evening he dressed for
the public
hearing um we're going to kick it off uh
with the chief and I want to thank staff
who are here this evening I know it was
a little bit of a longer Prelude than
normal to your administrative updates I
also want to recognize uh law Baker who
is helping us with our one Beckley
project law it's fantastic to see your
smiling face in the
audience and um of course our visiting
dignitary the library director Benjamin
Franklin I mean Heckman um with that uh
Chief if you could please uh provide an
update yes sir so we've provided an
update of what's been happening there
have been a number of changes and
continuing to um diversify our
department we're sharing some of the
most recent recruits
promotions um I know that Council when
we last spoke um talked about flock
cameras we have been working with just
Howard and our service department and
looking at implementing the flock
cameras and improving safety in a number
of capacities and looking at
strategically placing 10 cameras in the
city as well as sharing that information
with adjacent communities as well and
and us being able to share with them um
those are really the the critical things
any additional questions outside of the
report or about the report I'd be happy
to answer I'm starting uh over here Mr
Markham
thank you and Kudos you need a special
award tonight for uh waiting out the uh
the hearing to uh to give your report to
us but I I think it's always exciting to
see that we have new officers two new
officers and I think Kum Bexley and
council members always enjoy getting to
know the officers personally and can you
tell us something about our two newest
additions absolutely so um they are both
in recruit school so they'll be training
for six months um you know I think it's
important I want to be very transparent
when I say this we have an amazing
Asian-American and an African-American
female that we've added so diversifying
our department um so we're very proud of
that they're both coming with different
experiences and one is was a a vet um
and vet school at Ohio State and the
other has her master's and so they're
coming very highly educated and
experienced and wanting to get into the
law enforcement space we're very very
proud of of the addition of both of them
we were able to get them in together
into recruit school so they'll be there
for six and a half months they'll be
able to learn and have these experiences
and then bring that back to the
department thank you that's very
exciting I also saw in your report that
you captured some porch Pirates is that
true I did I didn't think anybody ever
got
these we did so um we had started to
notice and develop a pattern of of the U
these individuals and the suspects and
it was a pretty big theft ring and so we
were very successful our detectives went
out did some plan close investigations
and were able to successfully apprehend
them that's very impressive thank
you um
missad Chief first I have to know who is
responsible for these great little
marketing materials of Officer shaver
and Pia um thank you yes well done and
then use these so great job it looks
like it was you I'm not surprised and
then uh how do we use these so they
really are just informational this is
just another marketing tool to continue
to engage and interact with our
community and that's what it's for is
just to um seeing officer Scher and Pia
out and about passing them out at the
different engagements that they provide
and going into the schools Etc so that's
a great marketing piece for us and then
my um second um discussion for you this
evening is I had the privilege of having
um good conversations with you uh in
regards to um some car vandalism and
break-ins that we had across Bexley a
week ago also as we spoke I had a lot of
um conversations with residents about
that I would love for you to um share
with count the rest of council and um
you know the community tonight on how
lucky we are um in Bexley to have our
own Police Department in a two and a
half mile radius and
um just you know a great group as you
said are um we're full capacity right
now with those we've hired um we're very
lucky to get very well educated um uh
hires that have had experience in other
municipalities um but I would love for
you to speak on where we're at with
those cases of vandalism that was very
rare in our community um but I think
it's something we got to touch on
tonight and again I I sit in a place of
privilege to get that information but I
would love for you to share uh similar
conversation to what we had sure
absolutely so um the first part is I I
want to make sure and even in this
format that we were very transparent to
make sure to come out immediately and
acknowledge the fact that we had 24
actual vehicles that had been um damaged
um and two had been entered we also had
a garage at that night um there are no
known suspects at this time uh the
Columbus Police Department had stopped
the vehicle was a stolen vehicle five
suspect had exited the car and continued
on and so we were unable um there are no
leads um we really don't have any um
evidence that was left behind to provide
us any support to be able to follow up
um we immediately had added additional
officers to include detectives similar
to um our porch Pirates if you will and
going plain clothes and um um them with
their vehicles and just the high areas
in which we seen those particular
break-ins I think that this truly was a
oneoff and when you look historically
over the past five years our numbers
have been um rather consistent in some
areas we've even seen decreases in the
types of um burges uh thefts Etc um so
we're a very safe community and I think
that we take a lot of pride in creating
um this this blue wall that I like to
call it when those red and blue lights
are going that it presents an image that
individuals tend to not enter and that's
based upon a lot of high visibility um
one of the other things a lot of
questions came up about Staffing we
unlike the rest of the country are not
experiencing significant um defaults in
numbers we staff seven each shift seven
on Days Seven on afternoons and seven on
midnights at all times there's at least
three officers working and strategically
in the South Central and northern part
of our city so we are definitely out due
diligent in addition to that um as we
talked with officer schaer outside of
that you have additional Personnel such
as him myself Deputy Chief and a
lieutenant who are also out there so
even though that number at S S and S may
not sound um as much as many would like
when you're talking about a two and a
half square mile where there are some
counties that may have one for the
entire County we're running at least
three to four if not more uh every shift
24 hours a day seven days a
week thanks Chief keep up the good work
thank you thank you any other questions
for the chief Mani Chief it's not so
much a question but just something to um
to think about um years ago um I had the
opportunity to sit on that joint uh
Livingston Avenue um group public
workshop and and what not I don't think
you were our police chief then that's
right um and obviously we heard a lot of
comments tonight from residents
regarding speed especially on Livingston
and I'm fully aware that Bexley police
don't have any jurisdiction regarding
Livingston but I want to um encourage
you if I can to see if there's a
creative way that we may be able to use
our police
resources um to to try to slow down that
traffic whether it's having Bexley
police cars you know visible or they
they're they're driving on Livingston a
little more often so that people will
see oh there's a police car I should
really slow down um is there you know
signage that we can add are there Radars
that we need to put up to show drivers
what their speed is I'm not going to ask
you to answer it now but you were here
hearing the concerns about Livingston
and I really don't know if there's
anything that that we can do but at
least just wanted to um encourage you to
think about whether there's some
creative resources that we can do
because everyone um including myself is
concerned with especially the speed on
Livingston if we can get drivers to slow
down um maybe it could become a little
bit safer so just think about that all I
want to say thank you yes
ma'am any other questions for the
chief thank you very much chief for
joining us this evening appreciate
it um Mike price is not providing his
update tonight because he will be here
for a commonwealth discussion at our
next meeting which lauan will speak to
here in a little bit um but we have a
new face joining us Kathy Rose has
brought off she's dusted off her first
ever Council update and so uh Cathy if
you want to talk about this
fantastic update all righty uh that's
before us today that's a scary looking
chart what's it mean well with this new
uh Viewpoint software program we cranked
out a report to show that we issued uh
2700 roughly
permits total last year uh which is
about a little over 240 permits a month
and that's not just building it's HVAC
fencing architecture review board zoning
board
um and as far as like highlights uh the
job St Charles they're still working on
improvements over there on their campus
uh Convocation Center that that's in use
and now they're adding two stories to
the
gymnasium cohatch is also under
construction and hopefully we be open
maybe later this
year and as far as new builds go we just
have two finishing up from last year 202
South Columbia and also 2529
Sherwood uh as far as uh in the works we
are trying
to get more familiar with the Viewpoint
program to understand reports that we
can uh get out of the system and be more
accurate and updated on ways that we can
follow up on completions of jobs or um
re reports that we send down to the
county for
permits um I think we need more tweaking
on some of those reports I'd also like
to let you know that we're we've updated
the uh Chief Building officials in the
process of updating it yeah uh
amendments to his contract with the city
because we want to make sure that we can
keep up with our monthly invoices so
that we don't have larger invoices at
the end of the year that we need to do
some catchup more that to come later in
the me ordinances yeah you you'll be
seeing possibly one of those um and I'm
excited that we are meeting with uh
Emily Buckley and the mayor to discuss
the new position that was approved I'm
looking forward to that and when you're
issuing over 240 permits a month it'll
be
welcome um I'd also like to share some
of the agenda addresses and cases that
we've had uh in January and as well as
ARB in
February and the boards are working
great together uh cases such as
recommendations on zoning board that the
ARB technically can't table it uh but
we've been creative to ask for remand
back on conditions that they feel need
to be applied to a design and the the
zoning board's been great about you know
granting a variant and kicking that
final design back to the ARB so it it's
it's working
well um let's see
here code
enforcement he's pretty much this is the
time of year where he's just catching up
on his fire safety inspections uh but
he's also been working with Bexley house
uh they've had a lot of issues with the
conditions um the fire alarm the
elevator is not working so he's been
collecting data on that and making sure
that they've got someone on fire watch
when they're having issues with their
alarms and such uh and he's also working
with the Fernfield regarding the cleanup
down there so that's been a that's been
keeping him busy and then he also
provided us with uh his violation
notices you notice the one in 20121 he
had a part-time help that year so we get
a lot more accomplished and we still
have budget for that so we'll talk about
that during our Emily Buckley discussion
questions for Kathy I see Sam over here
yeah thank you very much and uh you know
just in sitting into them my first
meeting as as your's on there so to
speak I was blown away by the amount of
work that you are taking off
along with Karen and everything else
going on in the community it's my
understanding um that typically for
significant projects when a community is
facing a significant project you might
need a person dedicated to that project
alone let alone somebody's age back
somebody's fence somebody's addition
whatever that may be so in terms of
potential needs and I know you're having
a meeting coming up but so we know as
Council I mean do you think one is
enough do you think maybe two I'm only
asking because we may have a project
going in next door um I know that
there's some development proposed around
the community
and you don't you know you need the
people there to make sure it's getting
done correctly so what are your thoughts
on that and staff I'll take all the help
I can get okay good but in comparison to
other communities what do you what is
the average if you could kind of give
there well beex is a small community and
it's it's funny how I mean goly if
everybody came in one day to apply for a
permit but it's weird how it just spread
spreads out throughout the year which
which is helpful but when we do have
larger projects uh thank goodness we
have the Consultants who can provide uh
assistance on technical codes for Main
Street districts and Karen you know just
honing in on the designs and being able
to make changes and such
um but we also you know I think we can
share the help that we have in the
office with this position because
sometimes things come up in other
departments that we like to be ble to
provide a second set of eyes to overview
a report or something so but summer
times get very
busy so I think the mayor could keep you
posted if if if we can make something
happen we're gonna be closely monitoring
how much we get to pick up slack with
the um not slack but pick up the
workload with the new employee we'll
keep you updated Jess I love that you're
he tonight I think it's really
empowering on both of our ends to hear
from you um I had the privilege of being
the liaison when I first started in
Council five years ago so I got that
interaction with you but had I not had
that I wouldn't get that experience so
I'm really glad that you're here tonight
to give this report and I look forward
to having that be a part of our
continued discussions moving forward um
do you think it would be helpful when
Council can weigh in when I first
started on Council um it's always a hot
topic of something right it changes with
the with the seasons but it was
short-term rentals so I'm wondering if
it would be appropriate in our next
report to maybe give us an update on
where we're at with tracking those um
and how that's going in the community
yes I can I think Dave's been working on
that so so maybe add it to the next
report just so we can stay updated that
and maybe those ARB airbnbs that pop up
every now and then that are H shortterm
yeah that would be
great it's great to have you here
tonight Kathy Rose thank you
thank you any other questions for Kathy
it's also nice to have Meg in here
because when I get some crazy cases that
I can let her explain when it gets you
know deep into the zoning issues or um
or even commercial projects because I
mean it's a babysitting job and somebody
applies for the wrong permit then they
have to apply for the right permit then
they're uploading their information to
the old permit and it's there's a lot of
tracking so she has access to the
program so she's an extra set eyes
also thank you
Alex I wanted to Echo council member
sod's comment about Viewpoint and you
being here um I think this is the first
time we've had this present in this
software and I'm blown away I think it's
it's very capsulating and should be
shared CommunityWide um and shown shown
to Residents uh I know there was a
recent Resident that you helped me
navigate as I was trying to learn more
about the process and then back and
forth between the contractors and The
Architects and the zoning department and
the building department um so being able
to see it on this form is is is very
nice and and clear and I look forward to
the future version so thank you and I
hope you saw that applicant is was on
the agenda
okay thank you
sorry thank you thank you Kathy um Megan
has joined us out of the kindness of her
heart this is her off her council
meeting but Megan I wanted to offer you
the opportunity to is there anything you
wanted to update Council on I really
appreciate it um and I very sadly missed
my first director's
report shamelessly one week into being
here I got a really bad cold and had to
take the day off so I'm so sorry to have
missed that and I really do look forward
to my report in two weeks um in the
meantime really have had the warmest of
Welcome to Bexley and so thank you all
of you have played a part in that but
also to all of the people that sit on
other boards and commissions it's
amazing to get to participate in a
community with so much public engagement
um I'm learning a lot specifically on
the land new strategy update Group which
has been lately where a lot of my time
has gone and so I look forward to giving
you some more details on where we're at
in that process in a couple weeks here
but um other than that thank
you any questions for Megan while we
have
her all right uh quickly gonna run
through my my report as if I'm ever fast
I'll try
um couple things I I was just you'll be
surprised a little busy today preparing
for the meeting so my update is not as
rigorous as it could have been but I
will thank you to Natalie by the way for
doing pretty much everything you see in
front of you um I do want to update you
uh we were on site at the Schneider park
today um looking at Bridge locations uh
so you know we've received a new another
grant for the bridge from ODNR recently
$500,000 in addition to the 350 that we
had from the state capital fund really
securing the success of that which is
great but then the week after that we
found out that where we want to put the
bridge is not ideal because of the uh
Army core of engineer flood plane water
flow issues so that's okay that's okay
that's okay so the bridge to somewhere
uh is going to go a little differently
than it was originally thought about it
needs to move a little further south um
the place we're looking at now lines up
almost with directly with the proposed
skate park so it's just a little bit
north of the Bexley Village Apartments
so take a gander down there take a look
at it just kind of Envision what that
might feel like um and again the the
thought with that is we're trying to
provide good bike access from South
Beckley across to the bike uh path as
exists in other areas of the city um
the I want to congratulate you guys I
mean we we heard a lot tonight about
Livingston um and I think that we have
done so much work uh to with full heart
s take on the challenge of increasing
the safety in Livingston Avenue and
radically reenvisioning the corridor to
serve the community better um with the
simple Act of striping those Lanes we
did lower the speed by an average of
nine miles per hour which is remarkable
and what more can we do when we put an
infrastructure behind that uh that
really literally cements and trees and
and greens up that space to to make that
a permanently safer street so thank you
for the support over the years of that
project and um what will be a very long
Federal project to come uh I want to
highlight a couple things coming up we
have a skate park public workshop on the
21st that will be um the final draft of
what that looks like the committee
working on it has enthusiastically been
doing that and they're doing a great job
so hope you can check that out we are
tapping our maple trees on February 24th
truth be told we've already started
tapping those trees but our Workshop is
the 24th and then on the second we will
be producing maple syrup at the Bexley
pool parking lot uh I highly recommend
you come check it out just swing by say
hi U chop some wood make some mle syrup
um and we have set the community yard
sale on free cycle weekend from May 18th
to 19th we're already getting questions
about that April 27th before that is
when we doing our shredding and
upcycling and electronic E-Waste stuff
um and then I have some photos this was
the cutest I think maybe you guys have
seen this Capital students using a fire
pit at uh at Schneider Park um it's not
actually technically totally ready yet
it still is waiting on a liner but
that's okay they took matters into their
own
hands there's it's uh they were really
enjoying it and they were kind of like
who's the skywise on our picture but
they gamefully joined we talked about
the swearing in we talked about Black
History Month I had the opportunity and
privilege yesterday Joyce batty invited
me to attend a small group group with
the US Secretary of Health and Human
Services who came into town to kind of
hear what communities are struggling
with and we talked a lot about Mental
Health Access to Health Care um made
some of my pet projects CH uh little uh
pitches for him but it was it was a
great opportunity and great to reconnect
with our representative who's doing
doing very well um that concludes my
report and I want to end it on this note
I am so proud of the work that's been
done by staff um you guys are just like
hitting
cylinders um from directors that have
been here for a very long time directors
have only been here for a couple weeks
um Carrie Martin's doing great Megan's
still managing to somehow complete tasks
that I keep throwing at her incredibly
quickly um Kathy Rose has some new staff
coming soon uh this the city is
functioning very well and I'm very proud
of the work that we're doing so thank
you guys for everything you do and I'm
happy to answer your
questions yes Mr s has there been any
concern with the fire pit from a safety
standpoint is there anything that we're
doing to make sure we're monitoring
that um
so we don't have any sort of Regulation
around it yet um it is a it's we view it
similarly to uh the public grills that
are out in in parks in public places um
there used to be one really close to
this one actually we're going to be
bringing some back to Schneider there
are some of Jeffrey um so obviously fire
can can carry a risk uh but it can also
carry a great reward um so it's a uh
it's a sort of be aware of the
environment around you sort of
situation I don't know if that answers
your question or not from a liability
perspective maybe I just you know the
the grill pits at Jeffrey Mansion are
closer to the wreck headquarters
compared to where they're located on
Schneider so just seeing how as we're
building that area up we can bring Focus
or monitoring to that area through um
City staff I know we don't we don't
really have patrols that walk that path
currently to my knowledge but possibly
looking at ways to get more involved and
getting City staff or resources down
there to just maintain and upkeep that
area as we keep building infrastructure
indust so we are doing we do daily park
checks on Schneider Park uh when we were
walking it today Craig middl Miss was
out there clearing trash from way off in
the distance and um so that's happening
there is there is transparency now I
can't tell you it's every minute it's
definitely not every minute um and one
of the you know one of the thoughts
about Park spaces is how do we maintain
it how do we make sure it's in good
shape but also when we bring value to
the community and new New Uses like this
I mean there's there's going to be
opportunity for vandalism there's going
to be opportunity for people to do
things they shouldn't do um our
philosophy is to bring new value to the
community and understand those risks
exist but the the reward is also very
great
yeah castler I forgot something that I
think is worth mentioning um as it
relates Black History Month the street
light pole Banner program has obviously
been underway since the beginning of the
month um but had the privilege of
working with Brian Drury and the Bexley
minority parent Alliance on also adding
a website to back up or web page on our
website I'm sorry um to give more
information about each of the people
that are being featured this month as
well as information on how to submit
feuture nominations for future years and
so I would encourage everybody to find
that page on the uh Bexley website I
believe it's
becky. black history month thank you
Megan it's great um sort of along the
lines and I swear we're done pretty soon
here if You' read four things Friday uh
last week I brought up an oral history
interview with a a resident from
Havenwood sorry from Hanford Village um
that Resident is our Chief's grandmother
um was our Chief's grandmother so take a
listen again with that lens and think
about it a little bit it's um it's a
it's a unique spin um I didn't you know
it's it's his story to tell I thought it
would be something interesting for you
guys to think through as you listen to
that um that concludes my report Madam
president my very short report that's
great just a comment and a question um
the comment echoing what Megan said you
know the banners on Main Street that's
such a nice tribute it's been great see
whether it's Town member Marcelino or or
coach Roberts or other other friends in
the community so really appreciate mayor
your support for that um and uh and love
that there's a webs was actually one of
my thoughts was I hope there's a website
we can find more information these
individuals uh question um on Schneider
park is there any kind of like map of
the park I've had a few people ask me in
relation to the skate park where's all
this going to be more from the
standpoint of being excited there's so
much at Schneider Park I'd love for
there at some point to be like a map of
here's the dog park here's the splash
pad here's the skat Park here's this
bridge just so folks can really realize
everything that's there and how it all
fits together since that is a part of
Bexley that unless you're in Southwest
Bexley a lot of people don't know even
where Schneider Park is absolutely and I
know many of us have tried the cheerlead
for it but having something to give
people would be really helpful and at
some point no that's a really great
question and if you would turn your gaze
a little bit to the left and into the
lobby you can see a way finding sign uh
that's a mockup uh prototype um for
showing you Jeffrey Woods Trail um but
we are in the process of get bringing
those signs to all of our parks and then
taking those maps and making them a part
of our a better part of our website
because that's been a tough a challenge
the most important thing is when you're
at the park when you're driving up to it
how do you get where you're going um we
have recently taken delivery of much
better way finding signs for Schneider
specifically within the park um as we've
waited on this very long sign project uh
we've just said we've got to at least
get someone out there so we agree with
you 100% any other questions I think
promised I was done a minute I'm sorry
you sure all right um consent agenda all
right consent agenda we have the meeting
minutes from January 23rd 2024 we have
ordinance 0 1-24 to amend chapter 20
22.01 rule 8 of the codified ordinances
of the city of Bexley that was
introduced by Miss Lamy we have
ordinance 0224 authorizing a contract
between the city of Bexley and the City
of Columbus Ohio for the provision by
the city of Columbus of fire protection
and Emergency Medical Service for the
5year period beginning January 1st 2024
and ending December 31st 2028 and
declare an emergency that was introduced
by Mr Markham and ordinance
0324 to appropriate $227 38 from law
enforcement trust fund fund 18 that was
introduced by m
sad any questions from Council on the
consent
agenda any questions from the
audience I move to adopt the consent
agenda could I please have a second
second second by Mr Marcelino all in
favor say
I anyone
opposed all right consent agenda passes
all right no third readings going on to
Second reading of ordinance
0524 authorizing the mayor and City
auditor to accept funding and enter into
an agreement with the mid Ohio Regional
Planning Commission pertaining to the
Livingston Avenue reconstruction Capital
Improvement project and to enter into a
capital Improvement project
intergovernmental and contribution
agreement with the city of Columbus
relative to the project to authorize the
city auditor to appropriate funds
received from morsy for the project
including providing funding to the city
of Columbus excuse me in their
administration of the project to
establish auditor certificates as needed
and requested for the project and to as
necessary authorize the auditor to
receive any unspent balance of funding
deposited by Bexley to the city of
Columbus for the project introduced by m
sad thank you so we had the privilege of
hearing a little bit more about this
tonight in our public meeting so um with
all the things that we I think we all
came to the conclusion and the
participants here residents that spoke
that we can only get better on
Livingston um so this is this speaks to
that um this is allowing morps C and the
City of Columbus to um have the
financial dollars appropriated as needed
um for that project for the Livingston
Avenue reconstruction Capital
Improvement project that is a mouthful
but all good things with this ordinance
um excited to see it happening and
excited to approve this um and here we
are in our second reading so if there's
any questions tonight or if the mayor
wants to elaborate anymore but this was
definitely spoken to about um you know
during our hour and a half public
meeting tonight for sure and to update
you city of Columbus will be here at our
next meeting lovely they will have a few
people there so uh we'll be hearing from
their perspective too even better
wonderful any questions anybody else Mr
just um you know because there was a lot
of conversation as as councilman Brad
noted about traffic safety I guess kind
of at the you know 30,000 foot level
let's fast forward 10 years I mean is
Livingston going to be functionally like
Main Street is where we're going to have
you know one lane of flow each way on
street parking may be limited certain
times a day in turn Lanes or I'm just
kind of trying to wrap my head around
you know what's the end goal here as it
relates to
Livingston specifically the traffic so
um I will
pull this up if you give me one one
second um and show you so there are two
conditions that are anticipated from
this project specific to the residential
uh and Commercial sections and if you
were to look this up online it starts in
like page 47 of the PDF um this is the
existing
condition uh and actually it's not this
is the commercial sorry so this this is
a good kind of top down View and the
commerci commercial section U what it's
showing is that we maintain two lanes of
traffic we maintain a center turn lane
in commercial that where possible there
be a median in the unused portions of
the center turn lane which by the way
where possible is a huge diso because
there's so many curb cuts on Livingston
but this plan also speaks to ways to
minimize those curb cuts and then I was
pointing this out I think when someone
was talking about the sidewalk it shows
um um a tree lawn and then that's
basically two foot sort of deep curb six
foot tree lawn so you're eight feet away
from traffic before you get to a
sidewalk which is ju deposed against the
current condition which is about two
feet away from traffic before you get to
the sidewalk with a 12 foot wide
sidewalk um these proportions are
codified in the proposed Z zoning
ordinance so that 18t magic number shows
up in the proposed Livingston overlay of
the mixed Ed commercial uh uh zoning so
that's it's it's a very direct coraly um
that's what that might look like in a
Future Vision it's G to take a long time
to get there yeah but one of the ways
you make it happen is you create the
infrastructure to support it so and then
the residential sorry oh no go ahead
that the resal just want to clarify on
that so yeah I I you
know will will it be constantly I guess
two lanes each Direction even on Broad
Street we we you know have times of day
or times of the week where parking is
available I'm I'm thinking from a
traffic calming standpoint if it's
almost constantly two lanes either
direction I would assume then the speed
limit remains 35 yeah and I think some
people would continue to have those
safety concerns even after the
streetcape is done however if it
reflects Main Street where you do have
the majority of the time throughout the
day parking in those secondary lanes
that might calm the traffic more I just
don't know you know how how far ahead we
thought of that or those are kind of
decisions that are made down the road it
was it was studied as part by the way no
it's fine it was studied as part of the
uh plan if if we could um put on street
parking at Livingston in the commercial
district and the volume of traffic
between college and the freeway as such
that the Traffic Engineers opinion was
that it it couldn't sustain it yeah
having said that that is a policy
decision of the city of Columbus
ultimately it's a great question to ask
Columbus when they come here um I you
know we do this is
there is an ability to lower the speed
limit in the commercial District um in
theory but I'm not sure if it meets
columbus' standards and that is one of
the you know one of the very limiting
but also very interesting aspects of
this project is it's cross dictional so
as we're doing it we're trying to meld
two different philosophies as well as
possible and I guess I'm may even more
concerned about some of the you know on
street parking east of college where it
is more of a residential feel I think
west of college definitely has more of a
commercial feel so this this
illustration here on page 52 53 of the
plan um shows you what that looks like
and so today they've striped the street
with about a three-foot buffer that's
like cross-hatched then there's a lane
of traffic a turn lane another Lane of
traffic another three-foot buffer what
the plan says is instead of that
three-foot buffer the cars get pushed to
the current actual curb that Center
median becomes extra wide you can see
it's drawn as an 18t median so that's
that 18t number right here here MH uh
that is similar to Fair Avenue if you
want to know what that feels like um
itate it creates a super protected turn
lane so you look at these turn Lanes not
only do you have a turn
lane uh but you have a turn lane with
median protection and you have at those
turn Lanes they're not really pedestrian
Landings but they do provide some
additional protection for pedestrians so
this is kind of what's Envision for the
residential Corridor of Livingston this
is this is the guiding document for the
federal funds that this ordinance
okay looking towards and
um that's it that's all I got for
now yeah yeah I'm I'm just asking
specifically about the streetscape no
that's that's good info thank you Mr
Markham I don't think I'm going to ask
the same question that Danny just asked
but if I am just tell me but I in
general I guess my question I feel like
is a more general question uh even
though I'm asking for some specific
for this $155 million Grant what are the
requirements what what are we required
to do as part of that money what do
Columbus requireed to do what are the
stipulations that that physically have
to happen in this
project
um I'm gonna defer that to the city of
Columbus and towards the vot we actually
required because I have a lot of
experience with opwc but I don't have
the same experienced with their tributal
funding so I know with an obw I can say
well you know we submit a plan we can
change this that the other thing and the
core requirements are this that I don't
know how that applies to tributal funds
so let's ask Columbus that can you can
you speak to the uh to the the general
intent of what that Grant was awarded
for and what it was this just the whole
yes so in in in the responses from the
RFP of the different Engineers right now
it's an engineering like the front end
of it uh um this was the document used
um a good question next meeting would be
what sort of compromises do you think
might occur off of this plan based upon
what we know today they might not be
able to answer that because that's where
we're at today with we've engaged the
engineering firm their job is to take
these drawings and this is the guiding
document and turn them into a set of
engineered documents that will guide the
future project which will you know
become you know RightWay alignment and
make reies and then eventually the
actual project itself I just I just
think it's like just a really fantastic
opportunity for us to be able to get
funding like this and so when you you
know you mention that process you know
very competitive process I guess I'm not
really as familiar with how morps the
awards these you know what they look at
so I'm just was curious as to like how
they saw this project versus other
projects and you know what that kind of
looks like from their perspective you
know yeah it's scored based upon its
effect its effective at solving the
problem of vehicular and pedestrian
safety okay and that's what this is
entire project is designed to do with
very good numbers backing the rationale
behind it all right thank you yep Mr
Silverman I know tonight we had
residents talking about Crossing
Livingston from Bley into Berwick um
currently Roosevelt is the only traffic
calming light is with the new design are
we looking at adding traffic lights
throughout that Corridor um is that
something that's part of the current
discussion the traffic study did not
warrant new lights new signals but it
did uh suggest that some of these
crosswalks have the the hawk beacons so
the flashing pedestrian lights to alert
pedest there was mentioned tonight of
you know the lack of comfort and safety
with those currently so I didn't know if
there was any discussion further about
adding traffic lights um as we work on
designing the it was talked about but um
Columbus is is going to be pretty strict
constructionist when it comes to what is
the technical warrant through OD do for
a traffic light and whether or not we
can do it and that's based upon volume
at the intersection and they tested they
pressure tested all those intersections
and they
concluded actually what they concluded
was that the Roosevelt didn't even meet
warrant but because it was pre-existing
they would keep it um and that we would
add signalized pedestrian Crossings at
these Safe Harbor sort of crossings that
are anticipated as part of the plan
mayor I had a quick question for you
regarding our portion of this project um
would that come from the infrastructure
development fund or a different
fund we we need to finalize our funding
plan we have multiple options for that
and so that's something we need to
decide together as a as a uh government
body um we have access to Street funds
um and our street fund is exceeding
expectations uh based upon our forecast
we are set to go longer than we thought
we would um we have the infrastructure
fund um but it has also some pressure on
it from other areas and then in addition
to that um you know we have um our
Capital fund itself and we're talking
about a five six sevene Horizon um and I
I don't have the numbers in front of me
you might remember maybe it's even in
the ordinance that our share is about
1.5 or .6 um so we just we need we need
more information about how that gets
spread out and we're in the process of
getting that great well we're looking
forward to the presentation next week
from City of Columbus and next week next
time I will bring a funding uh proposal
or just some Concepts that'd be great
and just and Natalie will make sure I
don't forget that so we Megan thanks
guys I appreciate that uh any other
questions from
Council oh Mr Hurley I I I asked at the
last meeting and I just did not take
good enough notes um just rough timeline
for you know in terms of managing
resident expectations when could we
expect this street Improvement to be
completed I'm kind of thinking in my
head how do we sync it up with the
broader you know Livingston
Redevelopment both projects in the queue
and future projects and the other side
of colge have a fundamental mental tool
for you just we're aiming to get it done
before the decade turns okay okay so
2029 is the sort of the target date okay
and I know that feels really far out
that's a pretty realistic timeline given
this type of project that's actually
pretty fast by Columbus standards I
think had discussions to be fair to
Columbus it's really Guided by the
tributal funds project yeah good
question though Megan might have some
experience with that anything else from
Council Mr mCP do you have any speaker
slips on this
one no speaker slips it's moving on to
First readings all right we have a first
reading a resolution tion 0-24
supporting the purposeful unification of
Commonwealth East and Commonwealth West
Parks into a single cisa Park including
the closure of North Columbia Avenue
between Commonwealth Park north and
Commonwealth Park South introduced by
Miss viel thank you Mr official as a
quick reminder refresher for those of us
who were there um and for those of us
who were not there in
2018 um a master plan for Commonwealth
was approved if remember um it was um
requested that there was a great need to
fix our athletic fields that we use lots
of divots Po drainage Etc and we decided
that we needed to have a master plan to
try to decide what in the long run we
could do with that Park to enhance it
make it more exciting um and um this is
a resolution um that is well I should
back up the master plan for Commonwealth
suggested that we we make the two halves
of Commonwealth feel as though they were
one Park cars would still be able access
to Colombia between the two um this
resolution is asking us to aine on the
idea of
closing that portion of North
Columbia and joining Commonwealth to
create one big contiguous Park
um it is a resolution asking us if we
think it's a good idea for our city to
create one big
Park um what this resolution is not is a
detailed description of what that that
Park will look
like our community will be asked to help
in that process um after it's decided
whether or not we will be planning one
big contiguous park or two
halves hopefully that makes sense to
everyone
um as uh the mayor has a timeline that
he um created with the help of Michael
price
um that uh that talks about um how the
process for this decision making is
going to take place
um we've been asked to weigh in there's
lots of different organizations in our
community that have been asked to weigh
in um Bexley Rec a department um sorry
the Bexley um uh Parks and Rec board has
already weighed in and voted unanimously
to support the unification um you can
see that um the tree commission's going
to talk about it as well um next week we
next week the next meeting we're gonna
do a deeper dive into some aspects of
this when Mike price is here um safety
is a value that Bexley always
prioritizes and it's my number one
reason
um to support this proposed change to
the plan um if the My worry is that if
the park is made to feel like it's one
park but not actually be one Park those
same balls with the children following
them are going to be in danger you know
the kids are going to be think that it's
one park and they'll be less likely my
fear
to make sure that it's safe for them to
cross
um Bexley has always treasured our spark
spaces and um with
covid we realized just how important it
is to enjoy the outdoors to be able to
gather Outdoors um so safety is
important um both as a health reason as
well as um to keep our babies safe and
Council has also takes pride in being
fiscally
responsible and calculations suggests
that a change in plans um will be less
expensive than if we were to make
Commonwealth keep Commonwealth two
separate rather than making it one big
one um we're going to dive into that
deeper um but I have asked the mayor to
uh be sure next week to give us data
that will support support the fact that
um joining the halves will be less
expensive um that parking will not be
substantially
reduced and Drexel and Park View will
not be impacted in a noticeable in a
noticeable way so those are the things
that um I'm hoping that we cover next
week um but I'm also asking um the mayor
if there's anything I've missed or that
you would like to share with Council
concerning um making one big Park you
would please thank you I think you
synopsized it beautifully um we we put I
put slides from the workshop in your
packet um the one thing I would just
point out is that although these are
there are three different concepts just
to like ferment the juices a little bit
we talked about different options that
there might be um none of them were
prescriptive or designed to be like that
and there was some pretty good feedback
on pros and cons um really what we're
talking about is not any of those
Visions necessarily but just the idea of
a unified park and then those details
would get followed through next we met
with a city engineer today um to discuss
like what if we decided to do it what
would it look like relative to the
current project um we learned that the
opwc funds that are being applied to
Columbia Avenue with that new water line
and the resurfacing can be used for uh
the removal of the street surface and
the infill and and grass uh for a new
field so um that's really good news um
and more to come at our next meeting as
all of those pieces of presentation
material promised will be
presented Mr Mr
Silverman you mentioned the Colombia gas
line was there any data driven related
to traffic flow during that time that it
was closed there was um it's actually
the the water line if I said gas that
was my my mistake um we're doing a new
water line on it so there's it is still
closed uh the water line section has
been replaced but now what we're doing
is undergrounding the utilities there
are above ground utilities on poles that
go along Columbia part of the scope of
our project regardless is to get those
underground um so we did before an after
surveys of traffic the problem was that
our after survey of traffic
unfortunately there was a snowstorm that
occurred during a p portion of that um
so we need to go back and do it again um
that when we put them out there wasn't a
snowstorm but it it occurred during it
what it showed though was um that the
Columbia volume even at when it was open
um we did a survey in the fall during
October was pretty low so the impact
that it would have on shifting that to
adjacent streets is is fairly minimal
we're talking about a total of about 30
cars an hour that we're using Colombia
so that's one every you know two minutes
sorry to do the math for you but that
feels really obvious um and that in in
the in this winter condition traffic
volume was actually lower on all streets
so it really didn't show us exactly what
the shift looked like but what it did
show us was that the traffic on Colombia
came down to almost nothing which makes
sense it becomes sort of a local access
road so what's the timeline for keeping
that current area closed we intend to
keep it closed until there's a decision
made about the long term thank you if if
Council decides that we're okay with
unification then we're going to move
forward pretty quickly on just going
ahead and doing that because it it meets
with the project
timelines Mr Hurley um just fat looking
ahead
Beyond this resolution would there be
any other Action Council would take in
the future I don't know if we would have
to pass an ordinance or something to
more efficient but what I'm guess I'm
getting at is you know if we if we
approve this resolution now and let's
say there's a change of heart in the
community are we going to have another
opportunity to vote differently or is
this the only chance council's going to
get to really say yes we like this in a
in non-binding fashion yeah I think what
you're asking me is if we decide to
close it and then you decide again to
reopen it later on can you do that no
I'm more asking I guess is there going
to be another action for a council down
the road that's more binding whether
it's an ordinance or something related
is it more of a decision that's made at
the administrative level it is a
decision made at administrative level
and I don't want to make it alone and so
my commitment to the community is it's
I'm going to honor whatever you guys
decide um I feel like collectively we
can make a better decision um we've
we've spent you know we've gathered a
lot of data on this and we've we've
we're trying to socialize as well as we
can um and I'm also not saying like the
timeline suggests you vote on the third
reading if the conditions aren't right
for that by all means don't vote on the
third reading I mean I'm not nobody's
trying to it's not trying to rush it I
guess full disclosure I I I love the
idea so yeah no it's good question have
we I mean in terms of just engagement
especially folks living like north of
this on Columbia I mean has there been
out there has been public okay we sent
them letters um they came to public
meeting I've started I've had a couple
people opposed that I'm so if I hear
someone who's really opposed I'm we're
meeting with them and making sure that
we hear them out and we talk through
some of the concerns and as with many
things so far has boiled down primarily
just the idea of change it's like this
is a different route this is you know
it's unclear what exactly it will look
like um the residents so far that we've
spoken with that front onto the park are
unanimously in support of the change um
residents who have been verbal against
we've believe it or not I mean we've
we've changed hearts and Minds which
doesn't happen very much in processes
like this um so if you know of someone
who's like really angsty about this let
me know I'm serious because we're we're
trying to have like really solid
Outreach so that it's
um no I'm glad to hear that a great
process it was a well attended
Workshop it was well attended I think it
was also recorded right y um I'm not
trying to gloss over there was definite
concerns I when were there but you could
certainly listen to it if you got a
chance I'm sorry Mr hury go ahead and
finish no I was just gonna say you know
when I first moved to Bexley a good
friend and colleague of mine who lives
on Remington actually mentioned it' be
great if we did this years ago so I
think this is just a good idea
so I wanted to uh thank the mayor for
kind of putting together this timeline
looks like at the next meeting there'll
be a follow-up public Workshop um so
that will be kind of a second
opportunity uh for more specific
input any other questions from
Council okay Mr mCP any sleep speaker
slips on this one no speaker slips all
right first reading of ordinance 06 6-24
establishing the Craig Kleinman fund to
support families with special needs
designed to receive donations intended
for the provision of support and
services for Bexley residents and
families facing special needs challenges
needs needs challenges and to authorize
the appropriation of $5,000 for the
unencumbered general fund to provide
funds to match private donations
introduced by
missad so this is a very straightforward
ordinance um with knowing that we have
residents thank you to the residents who
are willing to open their pocketbooks
and give back to a great cause with
families facing special needs in our and
challenges in our community um I had
some questions on this ordinance at pre
Council on Friday and so it sounds like
some things have changed a little bit um
from when we spoke on Friday so I'm
gonna let the mayor elaborate on those
changes yes so um I think we discussed
if it made sense for this to be a Bexley
Community Foundation function which I
would greatly prefer actually over a
Crea special fund um I spoke with the
Community Foundation earlier this week
um there does seem to be interest it it
doesn't meet their traditional threshold
for establishment of a fund so but it
sounds like there might be something we
can work on so I am due to have more
conversation I need to patch in on that
too um which means we might have an
amendment that just kind of changes some
of the some of the trajectory of this
wonderful I'm glad that we have thought
through that and made those calls I
appreciate that yeah and more to come
more to come actually they read about it
in the blast and that triggered the
phone call to me I didn't even get a
chance to reach out love it go blast
people do read the blast
mayor uh any other questions from
Council on this
one uh Mr MC peek any speaker slips no
speaker slips all right moving on to
table
ordinances
um there is there is we have yes there
is I would move to remove ordinance 4323
from the table it's open move to remove
from the table I will second all in
favor say I I I anyone
opposed all right go ahead it's time to
vote we have had enough time to review
this one uh I have it is uh we do have
uh Mr Nathan here who was patiently
waited as always a vested member of the
community and I also so would like to
ask him uh to feel free to step up to
the microphone um and invite him to say
something towards it if he
wishes well thank you thank you for the
opportunity and um you know I I I have
to disagree with some of the comments
that were made earlier because um it's
been my experience that everyone in this
room cares about the city and um
depending on a perspective um that
hasn't been what I've seen and um I am
grateful for your consideration of this
ordinance and for your uh patience as
you um exercise your positions as
political leaders of the city so
um when this ordinance was introduced
there was a section that included uh
requirements for private businesses to
have um
aeds and there was some concern that
this this would create a hardship for
many of the
businesses in deliberations on
consultations we can eliminate those
hardships for some of those businesses
by moving to a model of Public Access
ads which would involve
placing ad locations throughout the
city that will well-trained
individuals could access that would be
temperature controlled would be alarmed
and would be um available uh with
Communications actual cameras to police
dispatch um so that if anyone accesses
that they would uh automatically have a
um emergency Squad sent to those
locations I mentioned mened um in
December that through my work with the
sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation Bexley
has um received a donation from Save
station for one of the save station
Towers so we will have that um available
but moving to the public access model by
placing aeds within hopefully a two 2
minute radius of any location in the
city particularly along Main Street and
particularly within uh Parks um we will
be um lessening the time for uh
individuals to be able to um to get
access to the aeds and um in conjunction
with heart saafe Bexley which I'm I'm
sure you all are aware of
parenthetically let me add that we have
as of today trained
289 Bexley residents in um CPR and AED
usage and
more well that's that's up to your
support thanks for your support and um
and you know certainly um Chief Lewis
and mayor Kesler has been involved and
as all of you with your continuing
interests but getting back to the
ordinance what this will do is um take
the um perhaps hardship from some of the
businesses moving to a public access
model and then focusing on um multi
family housing and um restrict uh uh
making sure that they have ads and
bleeding control kits um accessible uh
Within two-minute um time
frame yeah absolutely thank you Lee no
this is something also that we worked
with Brian on pretty closely to make
sure that uh there weren't any concerns
in the business Community um I know that
was certainly a big deal uh Brian had no
issue I don't think he's here anymore I
told him we were planning on putting
this forward tonight for a vote and if
he had any issues with what had been
proposed to I had that conversation with
him yesterday we've we've um spent a lot
of time Ryan and the Chamber of Commerce
has been a wonderful partner on this
from day one actually and um you know
the the other opportunities as loran had
um uh made available um the um the
rotary club they're interested I'm
speaking with them so I think having
this public access model will give a lot
of uh
organizations um the opportunity to um
to get trained and become U particip and
heart saap actually perfect all right I
think that about covers it on my end but
happy
go um just a couple comments and then I
think a pretty easy question I mean
first off very supportive appreciate all
you you've done Lee and all that Council
Marcelino has done on this um you know
also yeah I I've done a lot on bleeding
control um I mentioned this to to my
colleague already but I mean I will
happily volunte I know people that do
the bleeding control trainings I know
companies and nonprofits so that that I
know a lot of this is focused on the
aeds and sudden cardiac arisk but when
we get time when we get to the point we
want to work on bleeding control I have
a lot of resources for that I I love
that that's included in here um my one
question and this is just there's
nothing in here that that I read that
prohibits this so a few years back I
worked with the state High Patrol to
outfit the state house with bleeding
control kits and they are generally Co
located inside of the AED cabinets
correct um again I see nothing here that
would prohibit that but I mean is that
something I it's really easy then
because you have the cabin up already
typically there's space the bleeding
control kits are only they're pretty
small as having them collocated I think
just makes it a lot easier so any
concerns with that no no not at all
absolutely I think that that's the case
um knowing how to use a bleeding control
kit is a little trickier than using an a
because um TNI kits can be um tricky in
terms of um training to use them um and
those are really the most effective but
um bleeding control kits can control
gauze and bleeding control um bandages
and um you know hopefully we'll have
some instructions um that can be
intuitively utilized yeah I know I know
some of the folks the high State Trauma
Center that could help us with that and
I I also I appreciate um that we're not
mandating it but a lot of times the
bleeding control kits will include a
clotting agent um those do expire so
that creates an additional burden for
whoever's having those but that's kind
of the premium kit so this is this is
great um thank you
thanks yeah I'm I'm good to see you
again here L uh you know before I could
only support you as council president on
this but now I have the full authority
of the safety chair uh to uh to come in
and I know know You' you've put so much
work into this because I remember you
talking to me at a graduation party I
think Rachel L's graduation party
that and uh you know you're someone that
is not afraid of really hard work and to
to do you know to do it everything that
needs to be done and and the details and
that makes our job easier you know when
when we have people good people that are
uh dedicated to to getting everything
done right and so I appreciate that uh
what you've done and I also appreciate
uh that effort that Sam has brought into
this too to make sure that this is being
done you know being done well uh being
done appropriately and that all that leg
work that you guys have been doing and
the background it you know reminds me of
when we did that plastic bag band you
know we spent you know a whole lot of
time and and uh God help us the uh
Universal recycling too like all the
extra work before you bring it so that
it's it's good it's right and it will be
you know be effective and I think
especially something like this because
you know I've used these I've been
trained on these and and and everything
and and it's very rare that you get to
do something right significant here and
and what you're doing that will
literally save some lives you know
people will be
alive that wouldn't otherwise be a lot
and and I think having the even the
broader picture of having a culture of
action that people in Bexley know that
they will have the skills and the
confidence to move Beyond just being a
bystander yes but being able to actively
participate in Saving a life is really
what um I'm hoping that we can
accomplish too so I you know I'm going
to cut to the suspense that I am going
to support this and I do thank you for
your work and I thank you for letting us
be a part of this because it is uh it's
really exciting to be able to to be part
of something like this any any qu other
questions from
Council Mr Silverman I want to Echo what
council member Hurley and Markham said
and and councilman Marcelino for the
work that's been done on this and Lee
Nathan's um I guess my question is you
mentioned um some amendments to the
current ordinance to reflect a different
uh
implementation and so I guess I'll I'll
I'll ask is Mr Marcelino did you want to
walk us or mayor do you want to walk us
through the proposed amendments yeah we
can I mean as you look the amendment
should be pretty clear at this point
they haven't changed at any point over
if you've been reviewing over the past
few weeks from the last time we
discussed it there hasn't been any new
um Amendment within we did modify
ultimately the penalty you'll see the
$100 penalty as I know councilwoman s
had some concerns about that the
requirements for the buildings upon
which they would have to uh have these
units again we BAS basically taken that
out outside of larger uh facilities
within the community I mean it really
remains Alex relatively unchanged over
the past month or so um and so I don't
know if there's anything further that I
would have to uh bring as a change uh at
this point um the only thing that you'll
see attached tonight is a proposal for
where the public units will be within
Beckley and keep in mind those of the
city manage units themselves uh that is
in addition to all of the other
locations that will be required to uh
have
those all right just so there's no
confusion mayor can you U scroll down to
each of the proposed changes too
many I see two different versions of
proposed
amendments on on the agenda so if you
can pull up the one yeah the proposed
amended
AED not to be confused with the
marijuana they're the same one is a word
version and one is the PDF the PDF has
some comments on it that aren't actually
that weren't supposed to print out
they're old so I'm trying to pull
up what's that I was pulling up the
wrong Amendment hold
on I
am I think I screwed this up once oh
there it is look it moved there we go
phew
okay um so this uh this ordinance um
sorry you wanted me to go to
organizational penalties is that right
Sam I got flustered as I was trying to
find the
window I believe the question was just
in regards to each of the Amendments I
think my yeah what changed overall I'll
clarify I couldn't I didn't I put up the
wrong one so now that I see the
Amendments it's pretty pretty clear um
the changes that are being made so thank
you okay thank you yeah I mean the
attempt in placing the public do you
want me still to talk or I don't need to
I don't believe we need to great I don't
think so okay cool all right has
everyone had a chance or can everyone
pull up and look at the proposed
amendments is shown on the
screen seeing some head nodding all
right Mr Marcelino do you have some
proposed action yes I move regarding
amendments that was with the uh or I
thought that was after the 100 as if
that's an organiz only but we can drop
those indeed unless that's my question
was to you is is that required the 5,000
being the highest that was it because
wasn't that the state requirement do you
see what I'm saying um so this mimics
the organizational penalty language and
amount that we have in the criminal
section of our code um this would be
$1,000 because it's a minor misdemeanor
right so it was minimal in terms of that
it went down significant ly from what it
was in the
past okay yeah I know we were well we
did a lot of work on it over a long time
so that's why yeah I want to be really
transparent with Council this is also
achieving something else that we've
wanted for a while and just in our in
our in our this section of our code 14
chapter 1400 which also governs code
enforcement so this will also allow code
enforcement to go after like CVS as an
organization as opposed to hunting down
their Regional manager and criminally
citing them um we've talked before about
why that's so value that was supposed to
be a standalone ordinance but it was
important to this ordinance so we were
able to serendipitously combine the
two sounds good all right Mr Marcelino
back to you I moved to amend ordinance
number
43-23 I second that seconded by Mr uh
Markham um Mr mCP would you do the roll
call on the amendments yep uh Mr
Marcelino yes Mr Silverman yes Mr
Markham yes Miss F yes Mr Hurley yes
Miss Lam key yes missad yes
am Amendment
passes right Mr Marcelino I move to
approve ordinance uh amended ordinance
number
43-23 I second that seconded by Mr
Markham
um all right Mr MC PE Mr Silverman yes
sad yes Miss fibel yes Miss lamkey yes
Mr Hurley yes Mr Marcelino yes Mr
Markham yes amended ordinance passes
congratulations thank you thank you all
we look forward to working with you in
determining the sites for the save
stations and um the additional uh
funding that'll be necessary
um we also uh have a working partnership
with Z which is the leading manufacturer
of ads um they're giving discounts for
uh heart Bexley uh acquisition and so
the objective that this ordinance is uh
fostering is to get as many aeds and
beex as possible which will definitely
save lives thank you all thank you thank
you so much
Lee
great okay I don't think there's any
other action on any taable ordinances
moving on to finance committee
missad yes um so I do have tonight um a
motion for Council we have some invoices
that were received prior to Po's open
due to the end of the 2023 year po
closures and beginning of the 2024 po
openings um purchases in the excess of
3,000 just to remind councel purchases
in the excess of $3,000 in which
purchase orders were opened after the
date of the invoice require Council
approval so that's why this is coming in
front of us tonight these can easily
occur at the beginning of the year when
the books have not yet been opened for
purchase orders we are working on
improving this process
um but I need to make a motion tonight
to approve the payment of the invoices
of Karen Boker for
4680 and Michael um boraka for 45,1
1936 um Michael borca is our commercial
plan review and building
inspection um and this was from January
19th of 2024 and I think many of you
know Karen Boker as our design
consultant and that was from January 15
2024 so I'd like to make that motion to
approve these payments of these invoices
missad moved I will second any questions
from
Council all right all in favor say I
I hi anyone opposed right motion
carries and then just from a committee
report um wanted to let everyone know
hold off on buying your spring mulch
because the biggest fundraiser for the
Bexley boosters is coming up delivery
will uh be happening on April 20th and
they bring it right to your house sales
will start mid-march I'll have more
information on that mark your calendars
especially those who have kids uh 10 and
under for pedal for pancakes it's going
to be back at
Capital um June 15th so I'm helping uh
lead the charge on that this year so I'm
going to be looking to councel to come
help participate get those little ones
out on the bikes um reminder that Bravo
is April 6th um The JCC this past
weekend had their big fundraiser it was
a success um and uh it went off great
and I had um many uh wanting to to have
me report on that tonight of the success
of that fundraiser and that is end of
report fantastic thank you so much Miss
fible Recreation and Parks you Rec board
met last Wednesday um the rec board and
Department are juggling lots of Falls
these days fun intended the skate park
comwe unication je Park enhancement
along with regular intensity that spring
and summer planning and registration
happens um there was a workshop then
last Thursday to review the enhancements
being uh proposed for Jeffrey Park and
they are so incredibly exciting uh
address some some of the highlights is
IT addresses flow of traffic at the pool
in a way that makes the parking lot
which is just a huge slab of blacktop um
look more like a park um there's a Four
Season shelter house um that I know will
get lots of use and an update to our
playground that will serve a wide age
range of children um om and the
enhancement committee will consider
ideas from the
workshop um and finalize the plan once
it comes out of the committee it will go
to the rec board for approval and then
after the rec uh approval it'll come to
us
um so I'm really excited in that in a
form resolution I'm really excited for
all of you to see some of those um there
are some amazing um
boards um that have these beautiful
pictures on them and I would love for
Council to have access to those boards I
it's in the administrative updates
folder and I was supposed to mention it
but I'm so glad you did thank
[Laughter]
youill it is beyond excitement exciting
for those of us that use these um places
some of the ideas that these that that
um omm and the committee have created
you'll love it you will love it so I
encourage you guys all to take a look
great thank you Miss F Mr Silverman
service and
environment thank you um only thing I'll
touch on again uh I believe it was north
of 125 commercial totes went out to
businesses and multif family units for
the universal recycling so I recommend
checking in with the local business
owners and see how that process is going
it was a major undertaking from City
staff and and Elizabeth Elman um and I
think it's the right direction forward
and and look to see how we can keep
expanding on our U Environmental
Services I also spoke with darn um they
are planning for the upcoming summer and
there's some conversation with them
around some ideas for support for the
community um summer times typically a
difficult time for families uh when the
school's L out so I'll have more
information as I speak to them again but
I I did get to join in on some phone
calls with a few of the members and
that's the end of my report thank you Mr
Silverman in the chief's report I think
there was a reference that maybe BPD was
looking for four or five families to
help support and work with over the next
couple months if any of those are darn
families maybe there's a way to connect
yep I'll make a I'll make a note and
reach out thank you thank you so much uh
Mr Marcelino zoning and development
you've been busy today yeah so we'll be
un busy Bap on February 22nd at 6 PM see
you
there all right Mr Hurley strategic and
health um yes so uh I reached out to you
all and sent a doodle poll um for the
upcoming Council Retreat it is still
looking like based on the the early
results and and those of you that
haven't responded please do so uh March
1st in the AM is probably still going to
be the most feasible date
how my goal was to get this scheduled
before spring break however with
people's schedules we may and I've
talked to the president about this maybe
push that back to April just so we're
not you know trying to cram too much
into the first quarter of the year so um
we'll be making that decision I would
like to by the end of the week um to
either schedule it for March 1st or push
till after spring break in the
springtime when people schedules
hopefully a little more um workable if
you have any subjects please send them
um you know we've got I think a good
list going and I intend to sort of
streamline that agenda with President
the mayor prior to the event location
will be somewhere in backley I'd like to
get us out of City Hall and you know
maybe somewhere new and exciting so
another option for the yes say another
option for for warmer weather months is
um we can uh we can certainly do
something Outdoors
um and then also uh cic meets March 4th
uh next land use commission meeting is
March 4th thank you mayor Kesler for
alerting me that I am in fact an ex
officio member of said commission I will
be sure to attend those meetings in the
future it's all right and and I will
certainly take you up on your offer and
Megan's offer to get up to speed on the
land use strategy because it's it's a
very important document uh lastly um you
know this is all strategic Side Health
side I don't have much in the way of
updates I just want to make you all
aware that at the next council meeting I
will be bringing forward a
resolution um still working on the
language but uh expressing support um
for our transgender and gender diverse
residents um it's a as as we've talked
about in the past it's a very tough time
for these residents and these families
um certainly there's a lot going on at
the state level there's legislation
there's VTO overrides there's litigation
coming um you know not wanting to step
into any partisan dispute here just
really to to say you know we love these
families we support them we're here for
them so I'll have that uh to for for
first reading um and would certainly um
welcome any feedback you all may have
once that's out there sounds good Mr
markam Safety good as mentioned earlier
I gonna commend uh uh add to
uh mentioning Sam's Banner on Main
Street and commend his humility I've
driven by it several times and I don't
see him anywhere uh I feel like if I had
a banner with my face I'd be hanging out
underneath
it and
that is not the case apparently with you
and office hours I think office hours
maybe under the banner I love
that and all it all in all seriousness
though Sam um I do want to commend you
you I think you represented Council very
well tonight and I I appreciate that I
know that
is that is hard work that is hard work
to do and I I hope and I feel that the
residents were were felt heard and uh
and you directed that traffic really
well I when it came tonight I thought
well I certainly haven't had that many
meetings since the last meeting but
there's been a ton of meetings so I I
just scroll them down I'll do them real
quick Historical Society had their
strategic Retreat couple weekends ago
and I made a joke about Sheila strob
with a giant uh Buffet of food and now I
have to take that back and literally eat
my words because there was just so much
food at the place it was it was amazing
so uh it was fun and interest I was
really glad to be a part of that and and
hear all the great ideas and and
everything that they've been working on
similar to our strategic Retreat there's
was sort of No Holds Barred everybody
you know bring bring something to the
table uh love your alley met uh last
night and uh so I was excited to be part
of that group and uh they have their uh
program coming up here in a few months
and I hope that we have uh some really
great ideas I heard maybe you had a good
idea about the love your alley this year
you're not aware you're not
aware love your alley for the birds or
something like that you were you were
credited with uh with one of that uh
theme or whatever land use strategy has
met at least three times since the last
meeting uh and it's uh it continues to
be really a lot of fun very very
interesting a lot of work being done
just an amazing amount of work uh we're
going to meet a couple more times this
next week uh we're going to walk the
streets we're going to look at it uh
last night we were in here uh it felt
like all night uh in a good way but I
mean it was you know cram and just I
mean we we could have gone three more
hours with all the ideas and information
and all the work people were doing and
so you can uh look forward to that uh
the timeline for us presenting that work
to you at some point as well that's all
I have great thank you so much uh agenda
item number 20 21 public
comments no speaker slip required but
you do have to give us your name uh Ben
Heckman 2411 East Main Street very
briefly thank you for the display of
democracy tonight I've enjoyed it having
no dog in any fight I I want to let you
know the invitation to the library
centennial celebration should be in your
mailbox today tomorrow by the end of the
week it's a booklet of all the fun
things we have going on perhaps I we'll
come back to another meeting and talk to
you more about all the celebrations that
we have planned for the entire year so
please take a look at for that and thank
you again for all that you do great
thank you so much all right folks uh one
last announcement tomorrow is
Valentine's Day go out and spread some
love in
Bexley our next meeting is February 27th
and with that I will move to adjourn can
I get a second second second by Mr
Marcelina all in favor say I all right
anyone opposed all right good
night