e
are you nervous mark
that's because
[Laughter]
I'm say when are we good oh okay I'm
sorry um so um since Monique lamkey
president lamkey is not here I'm just
going to get get the meeting briefly
started and then have somebody make a
motion to appoint a president proem for
the meeting so I think it's appropriate
before we do that to have Mr mCP take
the role Please Mr Marcelino present Mr
Hurley Miss F here miss sod here miss
lampy Mr Markham here Mr Silverman here
okay so someone would like to make a
motion to appoint a president in proem
that they can take over I move that we
uh nominate Jessica sad as president
protm for the meeting
second rollof
Miss Bible yes yes Mr Silverman yes Mr
Markham yes Mr Hurley yes Mr Marcelino
yes and Miss yes my work is
[Laughter]
done
there you
are remember there's no profanity up
there
right all
right in Monique fashion jumping up onto
the chair good evening and welcome to
city council meeting here Tuesday April
9th
2024 um I would like to have everyone
stand for the pledge
allegiance I pled alance to the flag of
the United States of America and to the
repic for which it stands one nation
under God indivisible with liy and
justice for
all
with President Lamy not able to join us
tonight I would like to move to excuse
her absence can I get a second on that
second thank you all in favor say I I
I all right wonderful um so public
comments um items not on the agenda
tonight are required to have a speaker
slip Natalie or um auditor mCP would
receive those have we received anything
this evening no speaker
okay so moving on with that being said
we would like to welcome the H Rasin
tonight from the Bexley Community
Foundation we are so excited to have
your presence and your
presentation um we all uh benefit
benefit greatly from the Community
Foundation and all the work you do and
the wonderful grants so without further
Ado um we look forward to hearing from
you thanks for coming
hiy
yes hello everyone how's everyone great
thanks for having me um I have some
slides perhaps so we don't have to look
at my back
side but I do appreciate you having us
here
um in my nine years I actually don't
think I've ever spoken to city council
so this is pretty amazing isn't that
crazy nine
years I know Alex has been texting me
all day okay so thank you so much for
your interest in our Bexley Community
Foundation um what started in 2010 which
actually isn't that long ago um as a
Grassroots effort to give where you live
has grown into what we think is one of
our most impactful organizations in our
hometown um today over $5 million doar
back into our community 17 designated
funds um we love to fund everything we
can in Bexley um and be a partner to all
our local organizations um we create
programs that deeply impact how we live
learn work play and
Care yes we do so brief history for
those who don't know um as I mentioned
we started in 2010 but before that five
families actually established um a fund
at the Columbus Foundation to help um
Bexley with um programs projects outside
of kind of what normal tax dollars would
Fund in 2010 that formalized into the um
Community Foundation and our first year
in 2011 we received 96 donations
totaling $200,000 um today we've G it to
over $2.8 million in assets um while
that is wonderful and we do receive $650
200 650 donations annually I will say I
think there's a thought that oh the
Community Foundation has unlimited funds
and that is not true because we have to
raise the dollars that we are able to
give away so we both raise money and we
give it away I think the raise money is
sometimes what gets lost with oh we'll
ask the Community Foundation to do that
well we can't do that if we don't raise
the funds so um just that and then our
vision is to create a Vibrant Community
for all who live learn work PL care our
five favorite words in Bexley um and our
mission is to enhance the quality of
life for the Bexley community Through
investing in initiatives that make a
positive impact we don't put on our own
programs we don't like to do our own
projects we would much rather write a
check and have our Community Partners
the city library Cub Scouts what or you
know Scouts what they're called um do
the project projects that we can then
fund
so our work our grants um over $5
million in funding 250 different
projects you can check out our um
website Bexley Community foundation.org
we fund um grants $500 even 250 all the
way up to 1.75 million um for the
Jeffrey Mansion expansion which um was
our largest Capital campaign aign and
SEC and first ever Capital campaign so
some of these um pictures show the
different types of Grants we do from the
farmers market a lot of obviously
funding the fund with celebrations and
events s Flash and Dash the playgrounds
um all everything we just love to be
here in Bexley including beautification
um trees come down go back in because of
our dollars to the be from the
beautification fund um and so much more
so we we have 17 named funds um we have
a general grants program um that's where
our general grants come from and where
General dollars go into but besides that
big Bexley Community Foundation fund
which we call like the mother fund There
are 16 additional smaller funds with um
specific interests some of those are
interest of a donor some of those are
interested of for example the Jeffree
mansion and park fund those dollars go
to enhance Jeffree Mansion um in those
Parks so
community members include the chamber
you know Community organizations that
have funds the Chamber of Commerce has
opened to fund the Women's Club um the
library for their Community author
series fund um as well as the farmers
market um celebrations and events so we
just love to be a partner to all of
these organizations and help them you
know either raise the dollars or give
away the dollars
basically our work includes community
events by um teaming up with people we
do host one event a year May 8th hope
it's on your calendar it's at the
Mansion it's a really I think easy
evening free event um a little talk a
little nosh food drink um and we just
celebrate kind of all the wonderful work
we've done that's our annual Gathering
um we used to offer a bus tour and we
should do it again where we board the
Bexley beat and drive around town and I
feel like I can't talk fast enough to
say we funded that we funded that look
at that look at that um so we'll get one
of those on the calendar um um and then
obviously Main Event jzm Park Farmers
Market green Bexley events the repair
Cafe was awesome on Sunday we stopped by
um that was made possible through some
do Grant dollars I think is fair to say
um and I found I sound like a broken
record with funded by the Bexley
Community Foundation funded by the next
Community Foundation but I say that so
that people know so they give us money
so we can fund more grants so it's a
nice little circle we have um because
without our donors none of this is
possible so I think that's a huge point
to make is our donors allow us to fund
these projects and be who we are so the
next slide talks about our event on May
8th um we're honoring the powers family
with our Cornerstone award um for
philanthropy and Service uh we hope you
will all join us and invite friends who
maybe don't know about what the
Community Foundation does to come it's
free um it's from 6 to around 7:30 or 8
at the mansion in the beautiful Carriage
Court we hope you'll join us talking of
the Mansion the next slide talks about
the mansion and what we did to help I
think create that additional 12,000
square feet of usable space which um I
think has been amazing a wonderful asset
to our community that has been used for
a gazillion different things over the
past few years the next slide talks
about year the parks which we love also
and um took on as our second capital
campaign and we reached our $500,000
goal to help with the year of the parks
very exciting thank you um and we you
know thank obviously the city and all of
you for thinking of these fun projects
because I think we like to give the
dollars but we don't necessarily come up
with the ideas um but we're happy to
work together to come up with the ideas
to then raise the dollars so all that
good stuff um you all know about y the
park so that's exciting and then next
slide talks about our board of directors
and staff um our board is made up of 14
individuals in our Bexley Community we
are always looking for people to get
involved um join our board join our
commit we have a grants committee that
reviews the requests for funding um we
have a development committee that helps
raise the money so if you know of anyone
who's interested or join our board of
directors I'm happy to talk with anyone
um they meet quarterly they steer our
organization kind of in the direction um
look to the
Future all that good stuff finally any
questions more information um that's it
yes you know what a huge fan I am of not
only the beex Community Foundation but
but you in general I remember this young
young mom who who decided she would take
on this job and she has taken this job
on and created what it really is and
you've done such an amazing an amazing
job and you've done such wonderful
things for our community and have made
sure that you stuck to your guns on
occasions and I'm proud of you for doing
that so um there's so so many things
that I
personally have gotten so much joy out
of because of um the foundation and and
I just always want you to go back to the
board and all those Founders and just
say thank you thank you thank you thank
you and I'd also like to know you please
email me and let me know whether or not
I am paa I will you I am a donor yes
thank you not only do I cheer it I think
you're good but I will let you know
thank you thank you and you are all
joining us actually at our next board
meeting um I believe on April 18th at
five o'clock at the senior center so we
also look our board looks forward to
getting together also that's a great
reminder does anyone else have any
questions for
Holly before I ask yes yes Mr Silverman
I'll Echo what council Bible said with
the work that you do I saw you not only
do your events you also go and support
other organizations I saw you at the bef
event um
I guess my only question I saw the two
past Capstone projects Milestone what
are they like we call them Capital
campaign Capital campaigns yes it's when
we raise funds for a specific project
outside of our normal fundraising the
carriage house and then the year of the
parks would phenomenal additions do we
have any insight into the upcoming plans
it's a great question um no not at this
time I guess be in touch if anyone needs
help i' the library maybe or who knows
what's out there so we would be excited
to help um usually organization
organizations trying to wait a couple
years in between Capital campaigns
because of donor fatigue and often when
donors give to a capital campaign they
might take away from their dollars to
the general organization um and since we
have been kind of not struggling but
it's been more of a challenge to raise
the general fund dollars we've
definitely noticed that you know people
are this day and age to just excited to
give to a specific project we need
general fund dollars to give to the pot
so that we can give the money where it
needs to go um so and but we would be
open to discussion always and our role
on Council how can we help I think that
thank you that's a great question I
would just ask that you tell people
about the foundation I think now you
know when I nine years ago I think
people are like oh what's that little
building I don't know what that is um or
I've seen this leaf or this logo I don't
get it I think now people recognize
maybe the logo though there's a
Community Foundation in Bexley um you
know they help they fund they have money
you know they give it away but I don't
know if people understand that like we
need to raise the money part in order to
be able to give it away um so I would
ask if you could share the word of the
work that we're doing with your groups
of people um and invite them to an event
or put them in touch with me I'm happy
to meet for coffee um you know I think
Bexley is obviously an amazing place I
live here too um and work here and I'm
here all day every day I love it um so
just being able to share that with
everyone um and I think the Community
Foundation makes that even better so Mr
Mark did you have a question
no okay Mr Price and I also Echo the
sentiments of uh Alex and lauan and
thank thank you and the foundation um
the foundation has allowed the
recreation department to do a lot of
things that we probably otherwise
wouldn't have been able to do and um we
are very grateful for for allowing us to
dream and think outside the box because
we know that uh there's an opportunity
to see those things come to fruition so
thank you for giving that
those opportunities and and hopefully it
has allowed us to serve our community
better and provide more memories and
experiences for our community so thank
you thank
you I just want to tell you about a
little bit slice of my weekend so
Saturday we had trash talk with the
mayor and I walked past the North
Community Gardens where thanks to the be
the Community Foundation a new Surface
was being installed and then I came over
to City Hall and I said hi to folks in
the fix it fix it I missed you that was
the next
yeah sorry that was coming from the bike
darn bike recycle bikes which was helped
was founded in part through the
foundation and then came to the fix it
station but I had to run to go to the
eagle scout ceremony at the mansion in
the Carriage Court it was a weekend of
like spaces and things uh made possible
by the Community Foundation and I even
more to talk about during my update you
know how enthusiastically yes we love
the support and that's like thank you
all for all you do every day you know to
be our partners we can't do our job
without you guys so thank you thank you
so what I'm hearing here as well is uh
give back to the Community Foundation so
you can continue to give yes exactly I
had just one quick question I remember
when the Community Foundation was
launching and their early years and I
saw like three funds that were set up
when we would do uh the community
presentations from the Community
Foundation now we have multiple which is
great how do funds get set up great
question so usually there's different
ways right of course there's always
different ways for everything um I think
with an organization or a donor you know
they come to us with a right now it's
$10,000 to establish a fund and needs to
grow to 25,000 within three years all of
our funds are held at the Columbus
foundation so those are actually their
um rules but I think when the foundation
was formed you know the Columbus
Foundation is a name everyone recognizes
um and they are a wonderful partner for
us as well um so that is one way
um another way as an organization maybe
is looking to invest their dollars
instead of having them sit in a checking
account so they come to us and say oh
you know maybe we could get our better
return on our investment if we opened a
fund um we offer administrative help to
some of our funds we you know I share
Grant requests with all of our funds
based on what they're interested in um
we as a board opened the Bexley cares
fund during covid because there was a
need you know in our community um for a
fund to kind of help people
um so they come about different ways um
and I wouldn't say like our goal is to
have 100 funds necessarily um but it's
definitely a huge part of what the work
we do and we would welcome additional
funds all right well it looks like
there's no um questions from the
audience this evening so thank you so
much for coming out it's always great to
see you and as you heard from everyone
here we so appreciate you and the Bexley
Community Foundation all you do all
right thank you
thanks
all right moving on to the president's
report yeah tonight but we have some
purple up there to welcome Mo'Nique back
here shortly um so on the president's
report tonight just wanted to highlight
Bravo the Bexley education foundation's
largest fundraiser it took place on
Saturday um as H was there and I saw Mr
Silverman there and if I'm missing
anyone um but it was great to see people
out um and I wanted toind everyone that
there is a second chance auction that is
still live until this Sunday April 14th
at 10 p.m. the address um is right up
there you can just go on the Bexley
Education Foundation or Bexley Community
Schools website and um you'll get a link
to that auction website and please pick
up the rest of those auction items all
that all the proceeds go back to getting
our smartboards you know our extra
windows in our classrooms the
infrastructure in our schools and as we
all know sitting here on Council it's so
important to keep our Beckley public
schools number one um because that is
what brings people like myself and I
know some of us that are sitting Among
Us um here to Bexley and then it brings
some of us back to
Bexley I think almost everyone I saw
pictures yesterday from a lot of council
members here and the mayor and I'm sure
Mr fishal was out there as well
celebrating the uh the once in A-
lifetime eclips so I just shared a
couple pictures of my crew um that was
something so it was really neat to
experience I love what um our park and
wreck department had going to a lot of
families were texting me that they were
heading over to Jeffrey Mansion I was
really proud of our community for
putting that together it's a great job
please join me tomorrow morning if
you're available April 10th at 9:00 a.m.
at the Bexley Public Library for the
Bexley schools district facilities
planning if you don't know much about
that yet um I would love to share more
for those who don't have kids in school
but what I'm going to continue to do is
just encourage Council um to join those
of us who are going to those meetings
again it's very important to be involved
in our schools whether our children are
there or not um for the future of Bexley
and this is going on till next November
so I'll be at that meeting tomorrow
morning at 9ine would love to see some
of you there and um now I would just
like to have a moment of silence from
Council for our former auditor uh Mr
Bill
Harvey
I also would like to
um just speak out um to um former city
auditor wife uh Mo Harvey and her family
and send our condolences and let them
know that um they are all in our th
thoughts and
prayers end of
report so Mr official thank you I'm
going to start my report where you just
left off because I you know I just want
to say one thing about Bill Harvey who I
got to be friends with um you know we we
all talk about know so many people
including me talk about oh we have to
get along we have to listen to people
who don't agree with us and I certainly
am bad about following that advice but
Bill Harvey was a guy I could always
listen to because of the way he said it
the way he approached it whatever I'm
not even sure exactly what it was but it
was great and I think that I'm not going
to volunteer to do this on my own but I
think we need to step up and challenge
every solar project Ben Kessler comes up
with in memory of Bill Harvey or at
least question but it was it so I just
wanted to say that out loud someplace so
thanks for listening all right onto
business stuff so just this afternoon
the city of Columbus filed a lawsuit in
Franklin County Common Police Court
challenging the tobacco legislation that
the state of Ohio um past that we
discussed last time um if you will
indulge me for a second and I'll send
the whole complaint to you but I think
people would like to know um city of
Columbus is the first named plaintiff
because they are doing the work but then
in alphabetical order the plain the
other plaintiffs in this case are
Beckley Cincinnati Cleveland Dublin Gana
Grand View Heights Heath hilard Oxford
Reynoldsburg Upper Arlington whiteall
and wordington so there are a lot of
communities who are joining in on this a
motion for a temporary restraining order
and a preliminary injunction was also um
was also filed so I will keep everyone
up to date on what how that proceeds
through uh the court system um and so
then if anybody nobody has question if
you have questions that's fine if nobody
has questions I'm going to move on to
the referendum petition that is being
circulated just to try again try to
answer questions about that because I
think it if it's not the first it's
certainly the first time in anyone's
memory in this room that that has
happened on Bexley and it's an unusual
thing so I mean unusual in Bexley um but
um so most any legislation passed by a
city council can be challenged through a
referendum vote there's you've probably
heard of initiative and
referendums referenda initiative
petitions are petitions that citizens
circulate and if they get enough
signatures get an issue on the ballot
that city council has not addressed so
laws can be passed that way um on the
state level for example the U the
recreational marijuana legislation that
we voted on last November was an
initiative petition as an
example a referendum petition which is I
think more common than initiative ones
challenges uh action that a city council
in has taken through formal ordinance um
most anything a city council does can be
challenged through referendum um other
than some spending issues that you know
I'm not going to get into those nuances
so the certainly the zoning the zoning
the um changes that this Council passed
unanimously and was signed by the mayor
um are subject to referendum the
petitioners um those individuals
supporting or circulating the petitions
um were required to submit that petition
I'm sorry to submit to the city
auditor um a certified copy of the
ordinance uh which arguably happened
last week last week yes um and then they
have 30 days I believe again the
statute's a little murky on this but I
believe from the date you passed the
ordinance to gather enough signatures to
get it on the ballot so what that
process looks like is that they are
required to get 10 signatures from 10%
of electors in the city of Bexley um 10%
of the number of people who cast a
ballot in the most recent gubernatorial
election which appears to be somewhere
in the neighborhood of
2400 people so 10% of that so 240 sem OD
votes um the um if if once those
signatures are gathered if the
petitioners believe they have enough and
of course you know we've all read
articles about you know when is enough
enough so um but if they believe they
have enough they need to then submit it
to the city auditor or city clerk who's
the council clerk who's the same person
um and um it then needs to be submitted
from by the city to the Board of
Elections within a certain time frame
that's escaping me right now and then
the board if the if the Board of
Elections will ultimately determine if
there's adequate number of signatures
and if so it will be put on the ballot
for citizens to be to vote on it if
there is an adequate number of
signatures that means that the city
cannot enforce any of the provisions of
uh ordinance
0424 until after the vote and only if
the vote
is rejects the the referendum request
that is what we know so far happy to
answer questions and please if you hear
things are reach out to
me there also and I know the mayor will
touch on this there also is some
information on the front page of becky.
org that will allow people to go there
and at least learn about the issue in
terms of what happened and what it means
a little bit
so I ALS well I should say one other
thing and again this is you know I'm not
suggesting the city is or should be what
the city should be doing in terms of
supporting your de the city meaning city
government supporting the decision by
people in this room to pass ordinance
0424 um but you may have heard in the
past that cities townships counties
whatever they are prohibited by Statute
from using resources to support tax
increases that are being proposed by
that public body uh that are being put
on the ballot that same Pro bition as
far as I can tell does not apply to
referendum issues so again that's an
Administration decision about how to
handle that but there you there there
may be some confusion out there say um
from some people who are familiar with
the restriction or the prohibition when
it comes to tax issues that again
doesn't apply here now I think I'm done
Miss fibel has a question so this would
be voted
on in November did I miss that probably
November and is this something that if
we felt so
inclined we would be okay well stomping
the streets and telling people
absolutely I mean so it is perfectly
fine and again I don't mind I think I
don't think it's a surprise when I share
my opinion on this it's perfectly fine
and I have already done so explaining to
people that they can do what they
friends of mine stuff they can do what
they want you may be hearing about this
this is good legislation and here's why
you can do that right now and you can
certainly do it if the if it gets on the
ballot nothing wrong with that
whatsoever I'm gonna add to Mr
official's um report of the referendum
just um reminding those who may be
listening that council did um vote 70 on
4-24 so just putting that as a reminder
on the
record
any other questions yes Mr Hurley just
one and I can help research this too I'm
just curious if any other communities in
Central High have had a referendum in
recent years and what if anything they
did on the campaign side of it I know I
know at the municipal level they're rare
they're they're more common at the state
level and I've been part of them but I'm
just curious how other communities
handled this yeah I I I think there we
we had some we were
discussing uh last week that whiteall
may have faced one and we're going to
reach out to White Hall officials and
see what we can learn from
them yeah there have been others but um
certainly learn from that if if it comes
to having a
referend all right thank you Mr official
moving on to the auditor's report Mr MC
peek yep um I just have one item um we
have kicked off our audit process which
was part of our 2024 budget um and have
been meeting with the Auditors or
reviewing data but they are planning an
onsite here at City Hall on April 17th
so I believe Carrie has reached out to a
handful of you about some face-to-face
meetings with them just to talk about
processes in the audit so um again
grateful um for the funding to support
that audit and um appreciate and thank
you in advance to um city employees that
will participate that and just help us
better understand our our internal
controls and processes so thank
you any questions for Mr
mCP all right I am going to turn this
over now to Mayor Kesler for our
administrative updates thank you thank
you in Pro president proad did I get
that right um I W to turn back for a
second uh and and just talk a little bit
about our friend Bill Harvey
um when I was running for city council
there were eight people running for
mayor the year was 2007 yeah eight
people one of them was an 18-year-old
High School senior uh one of them was a
comedian Travis Irvine um but Bill
harvan was not a comedian uh oh he's
funny uh but he early on I was I was
running for Council I was like what am I
doing you guys have all all been there
you're like I decided to do this uh
going door to door and I got to know all
eight mayoral candidates and there was
something about a way that bill Harvey
would kind of arch his eyebrow and sort
of Nod and sort of mutter like he knew
something that you didn't know because
he did but uh just ins inspired
confidence and I became a bill Harvey
supporter I voted for Bill Harvey for
mayor uh confession here in the public I
think it's the first time I have said
that but it's the truth um and he did
not win the election for mayor
um but it's a testament to his character
and and who he was that uh John
Brennan also saw that spark in Bill
Harvey and asked him uh to come out of
his retirement Bill Harvey by the way
was a very successful uh consultant uh
and to uh to be a service director of a
city something Bill Harvey had never
done before uh but of course he was
sharp as a whip and very quickly uh took
took over as service director um um very
different style than the service
director before him um but he he did it
with such competence he served as
service director for six years he was my
service director when I became mayor and
I remember if you can imagine I was like
31 years old I think when I became mayor
and Bill Harvey was living his second
career in retirement uh and he'd seen a
lot in his life and I'm sure he at me
and just thought oh man but he was was
uh first off such a great friend when I
was a council member and then when I
became mayor uh was so supportive and so
kind and so affirming and helped me kind
of gain the confidence that I needed in
that role early on I ran for Auditor in
2013 I think is that right became
Auditor in
2014 um and as auditor uh he I think was
a gift to all of us and to you uh he had
he knew our budget inside and outward
outside his experience as service
director allowed him to really be a stal
aor um and
he helped us through funding this
project he helped us through uh funding
Jeffrey Mansion and um even though he
didn't always agree about solar panels
with me uh he was one of those guys who
would tell you how he felt and You' tell
him how you felt and then You' both know
that you respected each other and you
would work work together on on the
greater good for Bexley but beyond all
that you know Bill Harvey was just a
great friend he was always up for a beer
he always loved to tell about his family
and what he was doing next in his life
um and to give advice and to listen and
uh to be there in the moment with you um
and his passing truly has left a void in
our community and so it's with great
sadness that we're here today
remembering him and I'm I'm I'm sorry
that we're not doing with him it with
him standing here right here in front of
us but I just wanted to say again how
much we all miss
bill with that I will turn it over to
the
chief thank you um I I would just go on
the record to just share from um all the
stories that I've heard have just been
amazing although I didn't have the
opportunity the pleasure to work with
him but just hearing the memories and I
think that's important as the the
stories to continue to allow that Legacy
to live on so thank you um here is our
report um open to any questions comments
feedback as a
result
Council yes Mr Silverman I just make a
couple notes first I wanted to say how
special it is to see a retired officer
immediately stting another job with the
city of Bexley I think that's a
testament to both the police force and
the the city um and officer Cha's always
been a stellar officer and Community
member um engaged friendly uh he was
probably the first officer my kids
really kind of gravitated towards when
we moved here um so I just wanted to to
congratulate him on his retirement and
also I'm very glad that he's staying
with the the service crew um I also had
the honor to speak with officer Adam and
I saw the pictures um with the is it
starfish I don't want to miss starfish
reading program books and badges books
and badges um I didn't I I saw that it
was preschool uh we had spoked a little
bit about uh what other schools to get
get it into uh he did say that there was
some Columbus Public Schools that he was
going to go to but he currently is not
inside of any bexi schools um so the
support for this program from myself to
to get him to all the schools in this
area would be great I think it's an
awesome way to engage um I didn't know
if you could speak any more about the
the the starfish program and in relation
to what what Outreach you guys are doing
with that um thank you I will say
um councilman Marcelino U had reached
out to me about chappie coming in and we
had scheduled him to come in tonight um
unfortunately he is his mother is
battling some serious health um
conditions and so he is with her and so
I apologize um on behalf of the family
that um he's dealing with that which
takes priority um but at some point we
would like to get him in front of
council and present him with his
retirement credentials um in regards to
book and books and badges it's a
phenomenal opportunity we are partnering
with a greater good
every um student who hears this message
when one of our officers reads them
receives a book starfish is providing
them um full disclosure we have gone and
met with our schools here in Bexley and
unfortunately we have not had the
reception to be able to go in and have
this so um it doesn't deter us from the
mission and so we've partnered with
others to include um our churches and
the schools within them and some
adjacent schools as well St Catherine's
has been absolutely an amazing partner
and so we will continue to push through
um for those that want to hear this
message thank you Chief uh any other
questions from
Council um if I can I'm G to go off
script so this is the part where I text
the mayor and gave me my heads up that
uh um
so um uh laurianne the mar and I had
just left a very very powerful message
from uh a young lady a survivor of um
the hor Ric events that took place on
October 7th and hearing her story her
testimony of what she's gone through um
was very moving very touching and so um
full circle for me when I hear this kind
of story I'm reminded of of kind of my
personal commitment to community and
that is meet people where they are meet
people where they are and I'm wondering
if we as a community of Bexley have
thought about how how do we meet Israel
where they are and what I mean by that
is I've met with all the rabbis and I'm
hearing these one-offs of people
traveling to Israel to um carry out some
part of a mission but I'm if we
collectively as Beckley could come
together and travel and meet them where
they are from a mission's perspective
and really have a true
solidified um well orchestrated gather
number of us to go there and do exactly
that but I think in hearing that story
and hearing how impactful would be what
it would say about Bexley to come
together truly as a community and travel
there and see what we can do to help and
support I think um it just felt
very
um timely and it felt so right in that
moment and so I share that back to this
group to see would that be something
that we could think about talk about get
others involved and and see if there's
any interest um but I do in in like I
said listening to some of the rabbis
who've gone and and had kind of their
one-off missions but I don't feel that
we've done it holistically as a
community so that was my
idea really appreciate you sharing that
Chief and and we can talk offline about
this but just so everybody knows uh
Columbus is sister city with kafar sabba
and Israel I can't tell you exactly
where it is I don't know if you know
laan thank you thank you and actually
Jewish Columbus um often does does trips
too so I'm sure that they could work
with the city of Bexley should that be
an organized thing you want to do
so Chief and I'll look into
it um I want to highlight Chief in your
presentation here this uh the photos
here are from the eagle scout uh
ceremony
at Jeffrey that was happened on Sunday
we had four Eagle Scouts inducted from
Troop 166 which is I think like a record
from what I can remember uh it was
impressive and so three three of them
had very direct you know ties with City
projects all four of them obviously uh
projects involved in the community so
it's really really great to see
that any other questions
Chief all right we are going to move to
M Rose develop or sorry building and
zoning department director I know your
title
Kathy uh for her
report turn on your microphone
Kathy I've just provided updates on our
uh upcoming and just past zoning board
meeting and our upcoming architecture
review board meeting so if anybody has
any member or questions regarding that
or any other items I have listed on my
report I'm happy to speak to
that I believe that you also have an
announcement oh yes after
only 38 and a half years I'm planning on
retiring is it because you had to start
coming to these meetings yeah
coincidence
you tell
him i' I've been telling him that for
years and he said I'll believe it when I
get it in writing so I did provide it in
writing
unfortunately well Kathy you're uh you
have been such an institution to the
city um you are the the the actual
literal definition of institutional
knowledge I think um one of the great
things about somebody has a zoning
question you turn to Kathy and it's like
an encyclopedia of zoning
um and so you are going to leave a huge
void uh when you do retire and start
riding horses all day long and hanging
out at hi Highway Hills um but I'm
excited for you to be able to have that
time and to just sort of get to relax
because your job is so frenetic and
crazy but I just want to say how what a
PR privilege and pleasure it's been to
work alongside you here at the city how
much your grit and uh your sort of like
just real quick decision- making and
processing is appreciated and and how
much you brought to the city over the
years is to be applauded so thank you
thank you I I like what I do I just
don't want to be in a box in a hallway
I Marcelino yes congratulations uh I
just wanted to pass along that I had a
new Resident that's doing some
modifications to their home uh
compliment you in the process they uh do
this around central Ohio for their day
job but this is their personal home and
when they were applying um for approval
and everything they kind of said like is
that it I'm waiting for a lot more tape
and frustration and everything that
comes along with it and I said you said
this Kath Rose everything's good and I
said then you're good run away you know
I mean don't but I thank you so much for
making that process so easy and just
always being so great and careful with
your job so thank you I appreciate that
Kathy Rose of course I have to say
something here when I was elected as a
new council member in
2000 um quickly you know I was uh I was
put in charge of zoning and the pandemic
hit and everyone wanted to do housing
projects um you were one of the first
cell phone numbers that was programmed
in my phone because we had a lot of uh
ordinances to pass we had a lot of
projects that were going on you
empowered me and you helped me through
all of that um quasa judicial hearings
all of it so we got to know each other
very quickly and you all the wisdom and
wealth that you had to pass on you did
and I appreciated every inch of it and I
actually was although that was a lot of
work as a new council member I got to
know you very quickly so I will miss
walking by your desk and seeing you here
at City Hall but I know we have a few
more months with you so we're gonna put
you to work before you
go but thank you so much for all you do
and 38 years of service is pretty
amazing
and we're all I think I can speak on
behalf of all of us to say we're
grateful for that service and all you've
given to
Bexley with that don't take it easy on
Kathy she's got uh three four more
months here any questions on her
update okay I got a question oh yep Mr
at the bottom with the code enforcement
I saw that there was some more uh legal
going out to the fern Mayfield area and
I remember back when we had the public
hearing we had some some um Property
Owners show up I just didn't know if
there was
any um there was talk of meeting with a
collective of them um I didn't know if
anything had come about that and if this
had any relation to to that I think
they're not in they're not unrelated but
I I'll give you an update on those
during my report coming up
thanks all right Mr
price thank you mayor um really quickly
first before I get into the report um as
a lifelong vexi resident Kathy thank you
for your 30 plus years of service to our
community um as a co-worker appreciate
uh all the time we've been able to spend
together the what I've learned from you
um working with you over the last I
don't know what it's been 12 years 13
years as department heads uh it's been a
pleasure and you will be greatly missed
so thank you for all that you've done
thank you um also if I if I take a quick
second and um you know pass along
condolences to Mo um bill I had a very
similar experience with Bill I think as
the mayor did as I started when I was
also 31 as the Director um and he and
John bar were were um integral to that
process of me coming on board as a
director and uh my experience with Bill
was always very positive um he he uh was
welcoming to somebody who didn't really
know what they were doing uh looked to
him for a lot of guidance for his
experience and his knowledge and and he
never held that over me he never held
that over you he he was there for you
when uh when you needed anything so he's
he personally and professionally would
be missed um by myself and I know by
this community so um with that happy to
answer any
questions about the
report any
questions um couple Mike um had two
different well the direct Department had
two different meetings this last week um
one was the skate park um which
was that crew of people that come I
can't even begin to tell you there is
never a lack of hot bodies in the room
having conversations about skateb these
people are jazzed about what they do I
mean they are jazzed about it and and
and a wonderful group of people just
really exciting um
the other thing I wanted to mention was
that um at the regular um board meeting
for direct Department we had and thank
you Alex um Silverman and as cassad both
came to that so it was really nice and
I'm gonna collect you two as my two
people to talk about that because I do
think that we're gonna hear more about
lights and the pickle ball um and I
thought um there were definitely people
that had different opinions about
wanting the lights not wanting the
lights the problem is the noise the
problem is the lights what I wanted to
to Really mention was the fact
that the individuals that came and
shared their thoughts were so
reasonable they were so polite they were
so calm and
and I've had occasions where I have not
seen that with residents and and that is
what I took away from that um and I
think you know I am going to encourage
us to continue to listen and um to this
interest in pickle Ball's not going to
go away it's a fabulous way for people
to
socialize and it's and get some exercise
and I love the idea that it's
intergenerational but I also want to be
very conscious about the people that'll
live around it and um in ly fashion when
it comes to these lights I'm going to
encourage us all to tiptoe into things
before we just do it so just
um I think mitigating the
sound would be what I would want to do
before we started putting the lights up
but that's going to be a a wck board's
going to give some advice about that
they're going to vote on that first
before it comes and and we will um
before we would ever allocate funds for
that to happen
um so Mike do you have anything
different to share than what I just
shared oh and also before I finish and
then I'm just gonna turn over you
yesterday was
wonderful what the rec department put on
yesterday was really really lovely
bounce houses and and and food trucks
and lots of fun for everyone so
ni nice job yeah it's always fun to have
the community gather and just enjoy each
other's company so it was a nice nice
time um yeah no I think I think you uh
you you had a similar pulse on that
meeting as I did which was it was really
nice to have a really um uh respectful
conversation about something that I know
people are very passionate about when it
comes to the lights on both sides and
have really good thoughtful um concerns
uh or desires for uh the lights um and
uh yeah I my take away from that was
that I think there's because of that
sort of respect I think there's
opportunity there that can can come from
that that um uh you know there may there
may be potential to um find a solution
that everyone feels good about um may
not be perfect but that they maybe feel
good about so uh we will talk as a board
at our next meeting uh in May the board
has committed not to to vote at all on
the pickle ball lights until the June
meeting at the earliest um but uh we
will continue to do our due diligence
and do some continued research um sound
is a big piece of it um and make sure
any lighting uh has limited um light
pollution light bleed um but we'll
continue to go through the process and
hopefully uh make sure the board is
armed with as much knowledge to make the
the best decision that they can
so
after after reading your report Mike and
starting to realize that the uh event
season is upon us and the amount of uh
events that your team puts on I also
received the summer activity brochure
today in the mayilo and that was an
exciting time I want to just tell
Council the story from um Bravo I was
helping clean up with the executive team
and I get a panicked Pam and Christen
Barry at about 11 pm there was a glitch
in the auction system for pool passes
and they had realized that they had over
auctioned the amount of pull passes
intended and it was one of the most
popular items it's a testament to the
people in the community what they
prioritize and the summer pool was one
of the big ones and they they they asked
if anybody can get a hold of Mike and I
texted at 11 o'clock at night and of
course he picks up and he he authorized
the additional auctioned items and it's
just a testament not only to the service
department to you Mike price but also to
the community at large uh how connected
we are and how everyone's helping each
other um I'm excited for the
registration day when when is when does
it go live 23rd 23rd it's always an
eventful day uh whenever there's a
registration for the rec department so I
wanted to extend my thanks for helping
resolve that and uh bef was very
thankful as well so thank you thanks
Alex any other
questions all right
right um okay uh couple things I want to
highlight in my update
um talked about some of these already so
I'm skipping I sorry okay yeah Property
Owners questions was asked about uh
property owner meeting with fale
Mayfield we did meet a second time this
time with their the legal council
um 15 of the 17 property owners that
have retained legal accounts
um to help uh work through um how to
best uh clean up the environmental
conditions at forom field which is
really good news actually their their
environmental consultant and our
environmental consultant met with uh our
City attorney and our legal council and
um we just discussed in much greater
detail what we know about the sites and
what would be necessary to learn more
about the sites and to move forward I
think we have what looks like consensus
but the legal council needs to go back
to the property owners that he's
representing um and so I thought it was
a positive meeting unsurprisingly it
will result in further delay in uh
action because it's you know uh building
consensus around a solution for the for
this for the uh overall cleanup but I've
been chipping away at this project for
12 years so I am uh I'm in it to win it
and uh I think we're going to continue
to work on it but I think the good news
is that we've we've we have the we have
the owners at the table for now and
um you know learning more about the
sites and how to properly clean them up
is only a good thing um so that that
looks like the way it's headed I do want
to say I think um Mark had alluded to I
might say more about information on our
website um we do have a header up on our
website that just points people over to
the the zoning page that we already had
in place when we were working on
ordinance of 424 um so there's factual
information about the ordinance there
there's an FAQ
um you know I we'll be curious to see
how that proceeds whether or not there
is a referendum I want to say
like while it will be a lot of work if
we have a referendum I think it's really
could be a very positive thing I think
not could be would be a positive thing I
think you know we have operated under
the assumption that U we've listened to
a a large swath of our community and
we've heard of course a large diversity
of perspectives but I think that we have
and and My Signing that ordinance and
you all voting for it I think we've
reflected the overall will of the
community I think it's a fantastic
ordinance I think it's designed to
increase the safety along Livingston
Avenue I think it's designed to allow
development to continue to occur
throughout the entire city by addressing
other sections of our code and so I
really look forward to if that is what
indeed happens um being able to tell
that story and let the community also
have their voice heard so I think that
could only be a positive thing um I want
to call your attention to the second
page of my update I have a uh Bexley
mural Festival call call for artists you
can visit be.org
mural Fest and learn about how you could
apply if you're an artist um I hear that
we have several in already and they're
looking awesome um and so you can go
there this is by the way an event that
is made possible in part due to the
generous contributions to the Bexley
Community Foundation thank you Bexley
Community
Foundation to tie all that in we will
also be hearing from the Bexley
Community Foundation as well as uh the
city and the library and the school
district at the state of the community
which is on Monday so I want to remind
you that's a St Charles's new um
convocation center it's a beautiful
space they very generously open it up to
us um we're actually going to try to be
on time this year in our budget we've
worked really hard on that so we believe
in ourselves uh so I I hope that you can
all join for that um today I just had an
out of the future meeting and that is
the infrastructure piece of that is
moving forward as part of our street and
Alley project so look for more info but
it's it's looking fun um and it should
be moving forward here uh in the next
couple months love your alley is going
to be focusing on our alley of the
future as there's a native plantings and
mural space for the uh summer too which
is great news I'm going to quickly walk
through my little photo gallery here uh
met with the CEO of the zoo at the zoo
he's been trying to meet other local
Mayors not other but meet local mayor
through Ohio Central Ohio specifically
there is some interesting stuff
happening to the zoo with some
announcements that are to come I just
wanted to wet your appetite so keep an a
to the ground I can't tell you about it
right now on the microphone um beer did
have his last day sadly at the end of
March uh we sent him off on beer hail
day uh but he's continued to keep in
touch and be available for questions as
they arise had two fantastic trash talks
with the mayor uh one of the Hot Topics
was pickle ball lights um our trash
talkers are in favor of pickle ball
lights Just For What It's Worth but also
think that quieter paddles are a great
idea um this is a photo of the uh new
Brassfield fines at the North Community
Garden um this helps the wheelbarrows
move more easily over the surface it is
made possible in part thanks to a grant
from the backy Community Foundation you
guessed it um Elizabeth Elman was at the
Columbus science Pub which I had never
heard of but now I want to go to every
single one of them every month scientist
get together and they geek up she was
hilarious I mean like standup level
fantastic she got a stand Ovation at the
end She also asked for stand Ovation at
the beginning so that might be why but
it was it was really good she was uh
speaking about climate change
and she was great um we met with mantro
uh students the Girl Scouts to talk
about their upcoming project will they
will be refreshing the moose tracks and
paint on the alleys in partnership with
our service department and our Police
Department it was very cold there so if
you see the chief shivering that's why
um in the past couple weeks our
community survived a fairly significant
amount of
rainfall uh that dowed the region um
we uh we were keeping a very constant
and Vigilant eye on the levels uh and we
frankly lucked out quite a bit that we
didn't have another inch of rain on that
one Monday so this is a photo uh from
Schneider Park that illustrates how high
those water was water we'll take that
the water came right actually underwater
here in this photo is the Birch Walk
which is made possible thanks to the
generous contribution of the beex the
Community Foundation
um but the poem is now in place and the
birches are up and the grass has yet to
grow so once the grass is filled in and
and the space is sort of ready to walk
on uh we hope to have a some sort of a
literary grand opening of that space
it's really beautiful so it's turned out
well um we saw the Easter Bunny already
we also had a staff Retreat um we went
offsite to the cohat at
Easton um and our city hall had a staff
retreat in which we talked about
actually physical space planning as we
sort of as our staff changes how are we
adapting our physical space for that we
refreshed our own internal mission
statement and um we also talked about
there was a third thing we really
focused on but all of a sudden I'm
blanking on it goals yes that's right we
went through the Strategic plan that's
right and uh our different staff members
were challenged to find a goal on the
Strategic plan that was outside of their
sort of Silo that they work
and to select that and it was really
cool so now every staff member has like
a strategic objective that sort of
crosses over their normal sort of
disciplinary boundaries which I'm really
excited about so they're going to be um
kept in the loop and part of various
objectives that are in our strategic
plan so that's really cool and I am
happy oh one last thing I had posted to
our website last week our annual board
and commission vacancies um some of
those obviously have members who wish to
remain um some are you know we've got
some of those Nicky knacky boards and
commissions no one ever hears of like
the board of tax review for example um
so if you know of anyone who's
interested we're always looking for
applicants um we'll get that on the
blast this week and uh you could expect
a resolution for appointment probably at
some point um in May I'm happy to answer
any
questions any questions
for the
mayor all right thank you mayor Kesler
we're going to move on to the consent
agenda are there any um there's no slip
uh speaker slips required for the
consent agenda so H Miss before we do
that I forgot something I'm so sorry no
worries oh I was just think it was a
short report I know I have a sustain is
Earth and Arbor month which is partially
funded by the generous contributions of
the beex Community Foundation but
Elizabeth also wanted me to show you
this highlight reel which I haven't
watched so full
disclosure I don't know what I'm about
to show
you let's
see come on oh for some reason it
won't allow me to uh let me try this a
different
way you guys see this okay apparently it
has some audio but not till the end so
we'll see if that
works we're going to Earth and Arbor
website here I'm G to just narrate over
top of it looks like all the things we
can do poster galleries from
students wow lots
of oh yeah that was fun
[Laughter]
that's a
little it's not buffering quite right
but recycle your glasses I think this is
what this is about they're being s off
right which is neat yeah suo this is in
Partnership
suo than they separate the thin film
plastic from the
cardboard smash it I think the audio was
the glasses part that it didn't come
through for some
reason so don't forget it's Earth and
Arbor month and I can't wait to see more
out and about with the Earths and the
Arbors end of report thank you thank you
mayor Kesler now we are going to on to
move on to the consent agenda no speaker
slips are required so our one audience
member that's left um Mrs Rasin would
you like to speak or you're good okay do
you regret to inform everyone the
consent agenda is not sponsored or
funded by the Community Foundation but
we do have one item on the consent
agenda which is the meeting which are
the meeting minutes for March 26
2024 if there aren't any amendments or
questions um I'm going to move to adopt
so ask that first are there any
questions or amendments all right I'm
going to move to adopt consent agenda
can I get a second second second by Mr
Marcelino Mr mCP could you call the
role Mr Hurley yes Mr Markham yes Mr
Marcelino yes Mr Silverman yes Miss
viable yes Miss sad yes consent agenda
passes thank you Mr MC peek moving on to
third readings we have no third readings
third readings no third read readings Mr
official okay go on to Second readings
ordinance 9-24 to appropriate
$17,988 cents from the unencumbered
general fund to pay for expenses related
to the year of the parks Grant awarded
by the Bexley Community Foundation in
2023 introduced by m sad this meeting
brought you by
the so this ordinance um actually was uh
presented in the Bexley Community
Foundation um um presentation tonight
when it showed that in 2023
$500,000 was awarded to the year of the
parks so basically what this ordinance
is allowing us to do is to take the
money that we have left from the
spending that we did in
2023 um which the money that is left is
$17,988 to be used here in 2024 so it'll
be appropriated for
2024 any questions on this ordinance
thank you again Bexley Community
Foundation all right then we are moving
on to the second reading of ordinance
10-24 to appropriate $45,000 from the
sewer fund fund 10 and to reduce the
appropriation by
$168,950 in the bond retirement fund
fund six introduced by
miss this ordinance um as we discussed
last time and we had car here from um
our auditing Department um $45,500
um was coming from their our salaries
pension and
Medicare and so that's basically what
this uh sewer fund appropriation is um
referring to Mayor Kesler is or anything
you would like to elaborate on this
ordinance on our second raing tonight
nope um I think it's fairly
straightforward
an interlude I just got dripped on just
to let you know maybe somebody needs to
look at
that there if there had been a solar
panel right above you in that roof you
wouldn't have gotten dripped on you're
right just just providing information
second reading of ordinance
11-24 to certify special assessments for
the various sites where the work was not
done by the property owner after being
ordered by the city in accordance with
Beckley code section 14 9.15 b4a or
Bexley code section
1492. 4 B1 and it was necessary to do
the work and assess the owner introduced
by
mad we um did make sure that we updated
the rates of service within this
ordinance it was requested by Council so
um the record reflects that grass and
litter are basically what um is being
asked of in this
ordinance um and uh this is this
ordinance it was also that came up when
are why are we going after this
ordinance at this point with the
residents so it is to be noted that
these residents um were warned and did
not respond and so therefore it needs to
come in front of council so that we can
um make sure that we get those funds
mayor
Kessler all all very true I do we do
have a proposed amended if you'll recall
it's been a while since I sent that out
but the proposed was amended as we were
talking through this U I was speaking
with our city engineer we have wrapped
up the Columbia Place project um and two
of the seven property owners have simply
paid their amount but the other five I
think want to have that assessment if
you'll recall we passed an ordinance
last year authorizing the work to be
done and then saying when the numbers
were finalized there would be an
assessment it came in a little bit below
budget so the proposed amended has on
page three a new section two
that shows a 10-year assessment on those
five remaining
properties um for uh the water line
sewer and concrete work for Columbia
placed bring it up to our uh
infrastructure
standards so that's a proposed amended I
would recommend not amending it until
the third reading because we sometimes
do get some assessment or some money in
prior to certifying the assessment so
it's good to kind of leave a little bit
open and then on the third is what I
would
recommend are there any questions from
Council on this I know lorian and I had
uh a lot of um time with the Columbia
Place project so we're probably brought
up to speed a little more so if anyone
has any questions on what that
assessment looks like you know why it's
in this
ordinance looks like we do not so miss
fib
mean ordinance 9 and
10-24 how would Council feel about uh
9-24 going to the consent agenda or
would you like it to stay in a third
reading is
everybody in favor of moving that to the
consent agenda can I have a
second uh second from Miss fible all
those in favor I all right moving on to
ordinance
10-24 um does anyone would anyone not
like to see that move to the consent
agenda um I'd like to make a motion to
move 10-24 to the consent
agenda second by Miss FAL all those in
favor hi
hi all right so going back just one
other point add to what Miss sad just
mentioned about 11-24 in in addition to
those home and again I'm excluding the
Columbia place because that was a deal
an agreement worked out with those
residents so that's a little different
but in addition to being told work
needed to be done they didn't do it and
then we did it and build them they've
also been asked to pay that bill and
they've chosen for whatever reason to
have it put on their assessment so there
have been multiple opportunities um and
again not Tre this isn't treated any
differently than prior assessment
ordinances have been
treated okay I guess we're on to I got
it again I gotta
move it's not April it's only it's not
April 1 any longer we will call the
roofing company just scooch over that
one I did save my computer um all right
first reading of ordinance
12-24 authorizing the mayor and auditor
to sign a consent and hold harm
on behalf of the city of Bexley with the
property owner
3954 South Columbia partiel number 020
d2008 regarding improvements made upon
and within the city owned RightWay
between the sidewalk and the property
line introduced by Mr
Marcelino kick it over the
mayor okay so this is the what I'm about
to say about ordinance
1224 applies also to the next ordinance
1324
um and there are attachments to both so
I'll start with the attachment for 1224
to help illustrate
this
um and then this one's a little
different because
the are you all right there mark just
make sure um
the the contractor did not pull a permit
for this when they constructed The
Columns so they worked in advance of the
appropriate approvals so you get to you
get the priv pre of sorry this is the
wrong one this is
Columbia that's I mean this is Columbia
sorry so that doesn't apply to what I'm
about to say my bad let me take a
different exhibit for you it's the
second one I had them mixed up in my
head
1324 attachment this is 141 South
Drexel and the
columns well that's a computer rendering
of them but you can see them in real
life because they're up
um and so um any time a uh hard scape is
installed within the city rideway which
both of these are um there are a couple
things that need to occur one um it
would need the approval of any sort of
board commission that would review that
application which kind of depends on
what exactly is being called for um but
then Council needs to consent to the
Improvement within the city's right of
way and the property owner consents that
they're holding the city harmless if at
any point in time we decide to um take
out those columns for example or paint
them blue and white or you know put a
statue of Natalie voder on top of one of
them um all of which can be done because
it's within the city's RightWay so you
do not have ownership of anything that
you put in the city RightWay but the
city council does need to approve of
that um of that Improvement so um both
of these are very similar to both
columns um they are being reviewed by
the appropriate board so we don't yet
have those I don't think we yet have the
approvals in hand and typically we would
wait to hear what the board says before
voting on it but we're getting the ball
rolling by having the ratings here um
they are you know they are within the
code of what would be columns in a front
yard but again obviously they need to be
um approved and they would need to be
approved by you in order to allow them
to install the and an instance of the
South Trel property you can certainly
say no we don't want that in the in the
ride of way and uh they would need to be
removed
so yes
sir are I know we're talking about two
ons at the same time so I'm a little
confused are both of the columns already
in place at both of the the pro no let's
start with the first one if that's okay
Sam thank it's yeah 394 South is what's
in front of you here these are not in
place these are that are proposed this
is a new
build um that just recently got
occupancy it's a little bit north of the
white new build the White House new
build um and so again it's it's part of
a lscape plan where they're calling
for
um you know a variety of low low Hedges
and some landscaping and
columns and they would be between the
the sidewalk in the property line but or
the property itself but but quite close
to the sidewalk here um this is not an
uncommon condition on Columbia but um in
order to you know get approval it does
need to get the consent and hold
harmless there I remember we've done
these before is there some sort of
extension to liability in terms of you
know somebody's coming along the the
RightWay and you know injures thems on
on those or something like that too has
that
affected I would allow I would ask the
City attorney to answer liability
questions my recollection is that is
part of the agreement uh those
agreements as well there've been for
example there've been an have been
agreements similar to this at um the
tennis courts the school where they
wanted to put up that plaque a couple
years ago and it was in the right away
and then one that stands out to me
because it was one of the first ones I
worked on was with kitties when they put
in their side I the side patio that they
have um but I believe there is some I'm
actually trying to find it real quick to
tell you exactly what it it looks like
um or will look like again the ordinance
that you would be passing would be to
have a um authorize the city to enter
into a hold harmless not necessarily
with the identical language we've done
before but something that's acceptable
to the City attorney um and I'm seeing
if I can talk slow enough to F why he's
looking that up I I want to I do have
give you a little preview of coming to
tractions which is this is kind of we
have already through code
enforcement um reached out to the
property owner at the corner of Beckle
Park in Gould where they put up the
Customs City Sign street sign which is
really cool looking but it's within the
city RightWay and it's not you know it
didn't receive any sort of approval um
right right across from St cathine so uh
that also would need to get a consent
and hold harmless if it had retroactive
approval I think you know even more so
because it's actually sort
of it's a city street street sign for
the streets so just that's an example of
something that would need a consent hold
harmless has been done they could
enforcement has reached out to them and
we need to continue to
pursue yeah so the language does
basically require the property owner to
the city harmless from any any damages
arising out of the construction use Etc
of the item that's in the right away
there any sort of practical
considerations for you
know you know if you allow these like
you know in the
future you know limits on like how many
of these might come up come up but then
are we setting a precedent to say we we
kind of can't deny these to other people
you know that sort of thing it's a great
philosophical question I think the
precedent exists all over the place like
these are not uncommon and so if you
start to drive down the street keep your
eye open for I never have though a cons
I mean honestly a tree that's in this
area or even a shrub technically needs
to get a consent and hold harmless so um
it's a common condition and it's not
just on the Mansion streets as we might
call them it's throughout the city
there's lots of little examples of this
um what I think is also true is often um
did I say something wrong no often the
uh the uh you know there some some
historical uses might never have had
this but as we see them like we need to
call them out so I mean I think the
thing we're worried about is we don't
want it to conflict with City Utilities
um the tree commission does not want to
conflict with potential trees that could
be planted um so those are the sorts of
things that get thought about above and
beyond architectural harmony with the
adjacent property yeah and I can I may
well I can say tell you that from a
legal standpoint there's no precedent
being established that doesn't mean
people won't come to you as council
members and say well you did it for
somebody else but as long as you make
decisions based on the individual facts
and not based on the fact that the
owners are the owners raise sex age you
know those kind of unlawful
discriminatory uh considerations then
then Council can take these as they
come and any other questions on
ordinance 12-24 or ordinance
13-24 I technically haven't read 13 so I
should at least techically read it um
just so there's no question about that
so if I ordinance first reading of
ordinance 13-24 authorizing the mayor
and auditor to sign a consent and hold
harmless agreement on behalf of the city
of bexi with the property owner at 441
South drexal Avenue parcel number 02-
0028 69 regarding improvements made upon
and within the city owned RightWay
between the sidewalk and the property
line introduced by Mr
Marcelino
mayor so I I already did speak to this
but I'll any questions specific to this
one these are the two columns at 141
South Drexel and again um you know the
applicant has installed these but that
does not in any way shape or form bind
you guys to approving them you know
retroactively so you can see them in
place at 141 South
Drexel ask you so these are installed
they
exist are we weakening our other boards
by just approving these things after the
fact so we
haven't we have not heard back from the
other boards so if the other boards say
no then you got to make that decision
right but the boards AR aren't in fact
I've watched boards a lot with
retroactive approvals I would suggest
that they are less likely to approve
them because they feel like the process
has been by you know has been there's
been a runaround of the process and I
want to say to my knowledge the property
owner did not realize this it was the
contractor that I think is at fault for
should having they should have known
better about the permit process there
are remedies for that for the property
owner for
sure I mean our
my our posture would be to first off
they have a right to ask for the
approval um we have a right to tell them
to take it out or we could demolish it
if we wanted to but I feel that the
community is better served by give them
a chance to make the case and see
whether or not it's
okay same when did you say that what do
you are you Mr Markham are you saying
that you think that the property owner
didn't want those there or no I'm just
looking at this I'm just saying as we go
by even though I mean now they exist and
now it's the problem and we're going to
retroactively tell them you have to tear
up these things and go through liation
with this uh with the Prov but the
problem is is that rules are in place
for a reason and here we are today
allowing it it just seems to me to
weaken the whole process as a whole and
I understand that the board will make
its own independent decision but while I
feel for the property owner it
holds developers or other builders
accountable in our city to a certain
standard and where they don't abide by
those
standards I don't know I'm looking to
Mark sorry Troy I'm just gonna follow up
on that I I that is something that I
think yeah I I I have had some issue
with over the years on these is there
tends to
be that tends to be something I think
that we've seen right where a property
owner does something and then they say
well the contract was the one that was
responsible for that and didn't do that
and then then we we kind of go well okay
now since the you know property owner
didn't mean to do it or didn't directly
do it and the contractor did it directly
but maybe feel like they were confused
about what they could and couldn't do
then we go well maybe we just won't
worry about it this time so I think that
goes back to my other statement about
are we setting a precedent for this are
we sort of setting up a a a deniable you
know way to uh to skirt you know these
the codes and things that we're supposed
to allow and the way that we're supposed
to do these things is that's kind of my
concern again and to your point I get
property owner can go make the you know
and then now are we saying are we
mandating that it's kind of not really
our job here that's kind of not really
the way the system is supposed to work
right Miss
FAL so just a quickback on what Troy
just said it doesn't it doesn't seem
right they didn't follow the rules they
didn't follow the
law however that looks
lovely so how do you about that I mean
is there is
there can they can there be a Vine can
there be can we I mean how do
you so I'm just curious how you what's
yeah sorry we we can separately I think
prosecute the
contractor depending on what the law
exactly says outside of saying tear it
down we can separately say you should
have filed a permit and you didn't the
contractor or the property owner um I
feel really confident that our Bap and
our tree commission aren't going to say
yes to something they don't like and so
I think let's see what they have to say
about it and then do you guys like it or
not and nobody's pressuring to say yes
to it you know if you don't say no um
our job my job I think is to bring it
before you and say we found out about
this we immediately
notified the applicant that they should
have applied for this we got the process
started to make it right and you have
every right to say no Mr Silverman just
point of clarity so the the boards would
have to vote on it but ultimately the
vote would come to council to approve
the project so it's a funny thing the
way that our code is written there's
even though this is city property which
doesn't technically have a zoning
designation it's sort of
carries the zoning attributes in this
one little strip of land between the
sidewalk and the property line only as
it pertains to vegetation and fencing or
columns so there's a two-step process
the zoning piece or the boards they can
say yes or no from a zoning perspective
so they can deny it from a zoning
perspective your perspective is as a
property owner the city's the property
owner is it okay to put it there you can
consider whatever you want to in that so
just focuses on the zoning piece of it I
I guess from my
clarity if the zoning boards approve It
ultimately the decision comes to us
whether the thing will whether the
column will exist due to it being city
property it's correct okay thank
you and Mr Marcelino can we get
information on Prosecuting the uh the
builders on these uh by the second
reading just CU I I agree I don't want
to punish the homeowner on this one they
didn't know they're just going by what
the person tells them but we've seen
this happen time and time again there's
a lot of really good Builders where we
don't see it happen to them time and
time again so I'd like to hold those
that just you know fly by see their
pants accountable to an extent so you
can get more information I'd appreciate
it good
time any further
questions on ordinance
13-24 all right moving on to taed
ordinances um Mr Marcelino do we have
any action on our tabled ordinances so
all right with no action on our tabled
ordinances we can move on to committee
reports Park and Recreation Miss B feel
like
um I suggested everything I needed to
talk I talked about everything I needed
to talk about um as far as uh the pickle
ball lights were mentioned um skate park
was mentioned we talked about the solar
eclipse um Bexley Bloomers are kicking
off April
25th um with uh I think they're having
omelets at the Mansion um it's a lot of
fun to spend a little bit of time out
volunteering with all of them they
really do take what they do uh what
their volunteer hours are very
seriously and I would encourage anybody
that is asked to be a uh celebrity
Bloomer to go out and do that you'll
learn something I promise you you will
learn something so um other than that no
report all right moving along to service
and environmental committee Mr
Silverman mayor Ben covered the Earth
and Arbor Day Celebrations coming up um
I will ask that we get an update as the
weather starts to turn on the service
projects coming up for the springtime uh
I know that the weather's been
challenging but I I do have some
questions from residents on wi um
Chelsea and granden and
Columbia uh projects update so if we can
get that next meeting that'd be great
other than that end of report thank you
Mr Silverman zoning and development Mr
Marcelino yes thank you very much we had
a cic meeting uh since the last council
meeting they did appoint their new
officers congratulations to those
officers uh the finances are looking
strong with cic we'll leave it at that
you can listen to the meeting if you'd
like to know F details about it um and
we discussed the easement um from the
Frank cast property next door uh long
story shorts of city is still discussing
this with their lawyers as to exactly
what will take place there but long
story short as we are still negotiating
that portion otherwise it was a great
meeting and good things are coming um I
would like to thank John caliper for his
15 years of service to the University of
Kentucky men's basketball team it's a
shame to see him go but can't live
forever I guess oh my and I just thank
you all I thank you very much uh for the
opportunity to present my report that's
all thank you Mr Marcelino how about the
Purdue boiler makers even though I'm an
IU uh you know Alum and fan uh mat
painter fun fact for council tonight
Matt painer is a alumni of my high
school Delta high school and uh so I had
a cheer for Mr painer last night but it
I'm glad they made it to the final but
uh it was it was a tough watch if anyone
caught that game last tonight all right
moving on to safety miss or excuse me
strategic and health committee Mr Hurley
thank you um so easy one first Board of
Health meets next Tuesday evening so
I'll be at that meeting I know one of
the things will'll be discussed is the
uh tobacco law suit so we'll discuss
that more um uh my colleague already
gave an update on cic uh so after that
we had L strategy commission uh lot of
good stuff happening there um I think
this is one of the more interesting
things I've uh been part of in any kind
of government capacity so I really enjoy
sitting in the meetings hearing the
plans we had a you know great
presentation from some local developers
I think that's something that the city's
doing that's really smart is leveraging
the expertise we have in our community
to help guide us on this um also um the
timeline for uh the next round of public
workshops is push backed until September
Mr May did I hear that right and that's
really just to reflect the complexity of
the work being done by the various work
groups so I think that's a you know the
process is really strong one of the
things that I talked about a lot on the
campaign Trail one of the things um that
I prioritize my professional life is
process and I must say land use strategy
and really everything else we do has
really strong process uh Council Retreat
is next Tuesday um I will be sending out
the agenda I apologize for the delay on
that I was um needed a little bit of
help from Mark on the uh the legal e so
that'll be coming out um we'll be at the
library uh big three areas we'll be
discussing the first is Council
structure and process the second is the
city council's role in Economic
Development and the third and this is
where I want to sort of challenge you
all is bring your ideas I um uh
allocated a lot of time for us to really
share things we want to accomplish you
know new legislation the mayor's got his
tracking sheet as well so I really you
know if we can work ahead on the agenda
I'd like to spend you know a third or
half of our time really sharing ideas
and and you know challenging each other
to get some things done this next year
so my update all right thank you Mr
Hurley Safety Committee Mr Markham well
I mean I guess I'm going to speak out on
behalf of Caitlyn Clark and the uh
women's final four in the championship
game which were uh fantastic amazing
sorry to miss John caly day but uh the
rest of that I thought was exceptional I
do want to mention that uh Beckley
Public Library's Grand celebration
starts in April to Mark its historic
100th birthday Day festivities kick off
in April followed by an entire year
filled with author talks musical
performances art exhibits and more
celebrating the library's Rich history
and evolution and on Thursday April 25th
at 6m the library welcomes a community
to its Birthday Bash Bexley Pizza Plus
Pizza Johnson's real ice cream and
birthday cake made by Mark fishell
unless it might store yeah that's not
made by Mark fishal I don't think
I do want to also uh speak out you know
in tribute of Bill Harvey who I think
was an
exceptional um uh Mentor you know to me
when I joined city council as well and I
think a lot of people have talked about
his experience and his skill and his
knowledge and his passion uh I would
also like to I guess celebrate Bill
Harvey
worldclass um snark which I think uh if
you served with him here you really I
learn to appreciate to he had a very
wicked sense of humor he was brutally
brutally honest um he did not hesitate
to tell the entire group here when he
thought we were uh full of crap or
whatever you know uh and it was that
sort of very refreshing um way of
debating things I think uh made him so
special to us as well and I I I really
good you know it's it's it's it's rough
rough to know he's not here and to know
that we've lost that that resource and
that that voice and that that input or
whatever and you know bill was just
funny as hell man I I I love
that
guy thank you Mr Markham I think
everybody joins you in tonight of uh
remembering bill and I think something
else we can all say in his remembrance
is he lived life to the fullest to have
gone on to a second career to serve the
city um when he wasn't here he was
diving with Mo and I was always
impressed by that and I think uh we
could say that he went out um you know
doing something that he was passionate
about right so um Bill uh and and
there's Bill Harvey and all of us that
got to serve with him he is always in my
head when I'm looking at every ordinance
or when we're spending money in the city
we know we're always hearing his voice
and his transparency and he is going to
be greatly missed but absolutely never
forgotten and I know the mayor has some
ideas coming up um for his remembrance
so we will be talking and um sharing
stories as the chief said tonight for a
long time to
come disconnect the uh solar panels for
one day in his honor and
in honor he would like that maybe take
down my artistic bike rack a few things
a few things um with that we we do not
have anyone left in the audience at this
time so I I do have a public comment
Madame President okay mayor Ben as
somebody who went to high school down
the street from stores
Connecticut um and knowing that bill
Harvey was born in Hartford Connecticut
I would like to speak on behalf of Bill
to say go Huskies and that's all I got
bill would have said that tonight I
appreciate that I think so maybe um okay
so I I do not believe there's any public
comments um other than that our next
council meeting will be Tuesday April
23rd at 6
PM I would like to move to adjourn do I
have a second second second by Mr
Marcelino all those in favor say I I
anyone oppos meeting
adjourned good job