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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Brecksville City Council Regular Meeting – January 20, 2026

City Council — Tuesday, January 20, 2026

BodyBrecksville, Ohio

SessionCity Council

DateTuesday, January 20, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

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Transcript — Verbatim

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Unassigned speaker

2:44

Here

Speaker 1

2:45

Jansen.

2:46

Here.

2:46

Kapke.

2:47

Savages excuse Stucky.

2:49

I'll call to order community the whole for 6 30 on the 20th.

2:54

And uh with the first item, I'll turn it over to Mayor Kingston to introduce uh Mr.

2:59

Freelick from the RTA.

Speaker 2

3:01

I appreciate that, Council President.

3:03

Yeah, um, I've had some very productive uh meetings with uh Joel Freilich and his team last year.

3:09

Uh Joel is the director of service management for RTA.

3:13

And one of the things that him and his team do, among other things, is to um collect data points on um folks using different RTA stops and public transportation, and they're always looking to improve efficiencies, and sometimes that may be adding a stop, removing a stop, um moving a stop.

3:35

So um there were some really great meetings, and I invited Joel to come in.

3:39

I thought it would be beneficial on an educational level for everyone on council to kind of hear a little bit about what goes into all these stops.

3:45

And uh Joel, thank you again for coming in.

3:48

Floor's yours.

Unassigned speaker

3:53

Speaker 2

3:54

hey, Joel, could you

Speaker 3

3:55

trust this button?

Speaker 2

3:56

I don't think it's on

Speaker 3

3:57

here.

3:58

Maybe another one.

Speaker 4

4:05

Good evening.

4:06

Ah, okay.

4:08

I always tell my staff, if you're not uncomfortable, you're too far from the mic.

Unassigned speaker

4:15

Um,

Speaker 4

4:15

so I'm Joel Frylight.

4:17

Thank you for the lovely introduction.

4:18

I appreciate it.

4:19

I'm here on behalf of our CEO, India Bird Song Terry.

4:23

Um, and uh we're gonna show you some data and what we suggest, you know, what what we think we should do about it.

4:29

Um RTA, you know, kind of has an open channel of communication from the community.

4:35

People email us, they go on our website and give us comments, they threw lots of ways.

4:40

And we've received inquiries from riders of the number seventy-seven Brexwell Road bus.

Unassigned speaker

4:46

Um what they are telling us is it's nice that now you go to Snowville Road seven days a week when in the past, before system redesign, you only went to Miller Road on weekends and finally to Snowville Road on weekdays, and now we made that seven days because we know that's it's a good thing to do.

Speaker 4

5:06

Um but they say, you know, that's nice, but can't you go a little further because there's still more Brexville south of Snowville Road?

Unassigned speaker

5:14

Speaker 4

5:14

we looked into this, and um indeed we you know we found there is a greater demand for the bus to go further south.

5:23

The reason it doesn't go further south today is it is seeking to go as far as Snowville Road and then backtrack and try to get to Catherine Boulevard on the other side of I-77.

5:33

Stalzenburg College is over there, and um, and and some of the employers.

5:38

Um and that's why we went there because we had some requests.

5:42

Um but turns out um very, very little usage.

5:47

The request was there, and I think the ridership used to be a little higher over there, but it's not anymore.

5:52

Um so we we looked at different scenarios and uh basically found that what we really should do is serve all the way to the Brexville to the southern city line, to the county line, and then find a good place to reverse direction by looping something and coming back.

6:09

So um we

Unassigned speaker

6:10

Speaker 4

6:10

discussed this with Mayor Kingston and his staff in May.

6:13

Uh, and then we had to have ongoing conversations.

6:16

We had to have extensive conversations with the village of Richfield and Richfield Township to figure out where can we turn this bus around and where can we pause because drive at the end of every route you've got to pause because you might be late, you might be early, and you want to leave on time on the way back.

6:33

So we call that a layover, and we found we found out what we can do there.

6:37

You couldn't do it today because there's a new intersection that's been built and has not been opened to traffic.

6:42

Um it's in Richfield, um, and it's the new Allega Way that's been constructed all the way out to Brexville Road, but then their barriers up because their signal's not been installed yet.

6:53

So but we are optimistic that this year that'll open

Unassigned speaker

6:56

up.

Unassigned speaker

6:56

Speaker 4

6:56

we're getting ready.

6:58

Let me show you what they're um so let I I told you that we go by the numbers because um we listen to people and what they say they'll do, but we also find it's very important to find out what they actually do because sometimes what people say they do isn't exactly what they actually do.

7:12

Um so every stop it is listed here in in the zone of consideration.

7:22

Um the stops written in red lettering are over on Catherine Boulevard.

7:29

And the numbers indicate over the course of the whole day, and the bus runs from very early morning till mid-even with one trip per hour, except that in rush hours it's two trips per hour.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Procedural█████████████████████████████████████████████46%

Transportation Safety█████████████13%

Pending Litigation████████████12%

Engineering And Infrastructure████████8%

Public Engagement████4%

Public Safety████4%

Parks and Recreation███3%

Budget Equity Analysis███3%

Planning And Zoning███3%

Summary of Proceedings

Brecksville City Council Regular Meeting – January 20, 2026

The City of Brecksville City Council met on Tuesday, January 20, 2026, from 8:00 PM to 8:32 PM in the Ralph W. Biggs City Council Chambers. Council President Dominic Caruso presided. Present were Council Members Caruso, AJ Ganim, Mark Jantzen, Ann Koepke, and Brian Stucky; Dan Bender and Beth Savage were absent. Prior to the regular meeting, the Committee of the Whole met at 6:30 PM and council committees met earlier in the evening. Unless otherwise noted, all voted legislation passed 5-0 on suspension and emergency final reading.

Call to Order, Roll Call, and Approval of Minutes

Roll call was taken at 8:00 PM; Caruso, Ganim, Jantzen, Koepke, and Stucky were present.
Approved the December 30, 2025 City Council Special Meeting minutes by a 5-0 vote.
Approved the January 2, 2026 Organizational Meeting minutes by a 4-0-1 vote, with Jantzen abstaining.

Committee of the Whole: RTA Route 77 Bus Extension Presentation

Joel Freilich, RTA Director of Service Management, presented a data-driven proposal to extend Route 77 Brecksville Road bus service south from Snowville Road to the Brecksville/Richfield county line. He reported that Brecksville & Snowville Road has about 18 daily boardings on northbound buses and about 19 daily alightings from southbound buses, while the current Catherine Boulevard detour stops have very low usage—about one boarding per day for roughly 24 trips. The proposal would replace the Catherine Boulevard loop with a loop through Richfield using the new Allega Way when it opens, retain service on Snowville/South Point/Miller Road, and eliminate only very low-use stop pairs (about 0.2 boardings per day at one pair), with a possible future mid-block stop on Miller Road subject to crosswalk/safety considerations.
Freilich said RTA must advertise and hold a public hearing before finalizing changes, and implementation is tentatively expected around August 2026, depending on the opening of Allega Way. Mayor Daryl Kingston expressed strong support, noting the extension would help economic development and access to jobs; Police Chief Korinek also spoke favorably, and council members thanked RTA for using ridership data.

New Business: Legislation Approved or Tabled

RES. 5752 – Added an exception to the regular blanket purchase order limit for Medical Mutual administrative fees, not to exceed $650,000. Passed 5-0.
RES. 5753 – Authorized internet auction sale of surplus municipal personal property under Ohio Revised Code Section 721.15. Passed 5-0.
RES. 5754 – Authorized a one-year renewal Facility Use Agreement with the North Coast Woodturners for the Horticulture Building. Passed 5-0.
RES. 5755 – Tabled 5-0: proposed one-year renewal Facility Use Agreement with the Brecksville Theater for Old Town Hall, Garage Workshop, and second floor of Blossom Building #5. Committee members said the packet contained language different from last year’s signed agreement and will return with corrected language at the next meeting.
RES. 5756 – Authorized a Then and Now Certificate and payment of $8,013.50 to Matt’s Landscaping for December 2025 snow plowing. Passed 5-0.
RES. 5757 – Authorized a Then and Now Certificate and payment of $15,418.96 to Rumpke of Ohio/Waste Management for December 2025 refuse and recycling services. Passed 5-0.
RES. 5758 – Amended Resolution No. 5608 to replace exhibits for a waterline easement for the Valor Acres mixed-use development; the line was moved by 5-10 feet. Passed 5-0.
RES. 5759 – Accepted CTL Engineering’s $64,170 proposal for construction administration, inspection, and testing for the CUY-SRTS 2026 Brecksville Project (PID 120129) on Oaks Road. Passed 5-0.
RES. 5760 – Authorized transfer of all real property acquired for the I-77 Miller Road Interchange Project to the State of Ohio. Passed 5-0.
RES. 5761 – Authorized a Memorandum of Understanding with the Cuyahoga County Board of Health to provide Phase II Stormwater Services for 2026–2030 at no charge to the city. Passed 5-0.
ORD. 5842 – Amended 2026 appropriations: $12,100 for human resources drug screens; $200,000 for Phase 3 Brecksville Road Resurfacing engineering (bringing that budget to $233,000); and $12,366.67 in estimated resources / $14,840 in appropriations for a Bureau of Workers’ Compensation grant-funded gear dryer. Passed 5-0.
ORD. 5843 – Accepted Anthony Allega Cement Contractor’s bid of $268,808.85 for the CUY SRTS FY 2026 Brecksville Improvement Project (Oaks Road sidewalks from Barr Road to the Blossom Hill Complex entrance). Passed 5-0.
ORD. 5844 – Adopted a supplement to the City’s Codified Ordinances (quarterly update). Passed 5-0.
ORD. 5845 – Authorized purchase of a replacement Community Center fire alarm panel from Johnson Controls through the State of Ohio Administrative Services Purchasing Program for $23,459.74. Passed 5-0.

Council Committee Reports and Authorizations

Safety & Service: approved 2026 dispatch services from Chagrin Valley Dispatch for $318,717.09; annual Sundance Systems support for CAD/disaster/mobile data, public records, AVL, hosted system, and Mayor’s Court interface for $11,540; and a Fire Department drying cabinet/gear dryer for $14,840, with $12,366.67 covered by a Bureau of Workers’ Compensation grant. All approved 5-0.
Streets & Sidewalks, Utilities, Buildings & Grounds: committee chairs reported no items for Council action.
Committee of the Whole: approved bid advertisements for 2026 online surplus auctions on GovDeals.com, asphalt materials supply, the 2027 Road Program, refuse & recycling contracts, and housekeeping/janitorial services (with a three-week bidding period for facility walkthroughs); approved $288,000 for 2026 IT management and support fees with Chagrin Valley Dispatch; and approved monthly professional bills totaling $53,221.74 (including Matty, Henrikson & Greve LLC $17,374.83; Donald G. Bohning & Associates $18,938.41; Mansour Gavin LLP $5,494.50; and others). All approved 5-0.

Board, Commission, and Planning Items

Board of Zoning Appeals: no items; next meeting reported February 9 (minutes say 7:00 PM, transcript says 7:30 PM).
Planning Commission items from January 8 were approved by Council: First Financial Bank signs at 8751 Brecksville Road (5-0, including deviations for a south-wall sign and four wall signs); Goldie’s Bakery signs at 7305 Chippewa Road (4-0-1, Caruso abstaining, including deviations raising total signage to 81.06 sq ft and allowing drive-through menu boards); AT&T antenna/equipment replacement at 6898 Miller Road (5-0, contingent on structural review); and VA Mixed-Use BPDA Tenant Signage final approval changing “Tenant Sign Criteria” to “Tenant Sign Guidelines” (4-0, with Ganim excused due to a conflict). Next Planning Commission meeting: January 22 at 7:00 PM.
Recreation Commission: organizational meeting January 26 at 7:30 PM; the commission will transition to quarterly meetings.
Human Services Advisory Board: next meeting February 10 at 3:00 PM.

Department and Mayor Reports

Building Department: 46 permits issued in December, with valuation just under $2.1 million and fees of $49,501.37.
Human Services: Yuletide Hunger/Adoptive Family program assisted 100 families and 93 children; donations totaled $44,000, the highest in history and nearly double the prior year.
Other directors (Law, Engineer, Finance, Service, Purchasing, Police, Fire) gave no reports.
Mayor Kingston announced a $20,000 Cuyahoga County Road Preventative Maintenance Reimbursement for a Riverview Road section (Moroski Hill to Riverview C8). He also announced that Congressman Max Miller confirmed on January 9 the full $640,000 District 7 appropriation for the Police Department after about 18 months, including four cruisers, MDTs, and other equipment (the minutes read “$640.00,” but the transcript clearly states $640,000). He reminded council of the Kiwanis Empty Bowls event on March 3, 5:00–7:00 PM, tickets $20, benefiting local food pantries.
Council members publicly thanked the Service Department for snow and ice response, noting Brecksville did not run out of salt.

Key Outcomes

All 13 resolutions/ordinances brought to a vote passed 5-0; RES 5755 was tabled 5-0 and is expected to return with corrected agreement language.
Council authorized the bid advertisement package, janitorial services bidding, IT support renewal, dispatch services, professional bills, and the Oaks Road sidewalk construction/engineering awards.
RTA will proceed to a public hearing and, if approved, implement the Route 77 extension around August 2026, subject to the opening of Allega Way.
Upcoming meetings: Planning Commission January 22; Recreation Commission January 26; Board of Zoning Appeals February 9; Human Services Advisory Board February 10.

Meeting Transcript

Here Jansen. Here. Kapke. Savages excuse Stucky. I'll call to order community the whole for 6 30 on the 20th. And uh with the first item, I'll turn it over to Mayor Kingston to introduce uh Mr. Freelick from the RTA. I appreciate that, Council President. Yeah, um, I've had some very productive uh meetings with uh Joel Freilich and his team last year. Uh Joel is the director of service management for RTA. And one of the things that him and his team do, among other things, is to um collect data points on um folks using different RTA stops and public transportation, and they're always looking to improve efficiencies, and sometimes that may be adding a stop, removing a stop, um moving a stop. So um there were some really great meetings, and I invited Joel to come in. I thought it would be beneficial on an educational level for everyone on council to kind of hear a little bit about what goes into all these stops. And uh Joel, thank you again for coming in. Floor's yours. Uh hey, Joel, could you trust this button? I don't think it's on here. Maybe another one. Good evening. Ah, okay. I always tell my staff, if you're not uncomfortable, you're too far from the mic. Um, so I'm Joel Frylight. Thank you for the lovely introduction. I appreciate it. I'm here on behalf of our CEO, India Bird Song Terry. Um, and uh we're gonna show you some data and what we suggest, you know, what what we think we should do about it. Um RTA, you know, kind of has an open channel of communication from the community. People email us, they go on our website and give us comments, they threw lots of ways. And we've received inquiries from riders of the number seventy-seven Brexwell Road bus. Um what they are telling us is it's nice that now you go to Snowville Road seven days a week when in the past, before system redesign, you only went to Miller Road on weekends and finally to Snowville Road on weekdays, and now we made that seven days because we know that's it's a good thing to do. Um but they say, you know, that's nice, but can't you go a little further because there's still more Brexville south of Snowville Road? So we looked into this, and um indeed we you know we found there is a greater demand for the bus to go further south. The reason it doesn't go further south today is it is seeking to go as far as Snowville Road and then backtrack and try to get to Catherine Boulevard on the other side of I-77. Stalzenburg College is over there, and um, and and some of the employers. Um and that's why we went there because we had some requests. Um but turns out um very, very little usage. The request was there, and I think the ridership used to be a little higher over there, but it's not anymore. Um so we we looked at different scenarios and uh basically found that what we really should do is serve all the way to the Brexville to the southern city line, to the county line, and then find a good place to reverse direction by looping something and coming back. So um we uh discussed this with Mayor Kingston and his staff in May. Uh, and then we had to have ongoing conversations. We had to have extensive conversations with the village of Richfield and Richfield Township to figure out where can we turn this bus around and where can we pause because drive at the end of every route you've got to pause because you might be late, you might be early, and you want to leave on time on the way back. So we call that a layover, and we found we found out what we can do there.

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Brecksville City Council Regular Meeting – January 20, 2026

Call to Order, Roll Call, and Approval of Minutes

Roll call was taken at 8:00 PM; Caruso, Ganim, Jantzen, Koepke, and Stucky were present.

Approved the December 30, 2025 City Council Special Meeting minutes by a 5-0 vote.

Approved the January 2, 2026 Organizational Meeting minutes by a 4-0-1 vote, with Jantzen abstaining.

Committee of the Whole: RTA Route 77 Bus Extension Presentation

Joel Freilich, RTA Director of Service Management, presented a data-driven proposal to extend Route 77 Brecksville Road bus service south from Snowville Road to the Brecksville/Richfield county line. He reported that Brecksville & Snowville Road has about 18 daily boardings on northbound buses and about 19 daily alightings from southbound buses, while the current Catherine Boulevard detour stops have very low usage—about one boarding per day for roughly 24 trips. The proposal would replace the Catherine Boulevard loop with a loop through Richfield using the new Allega Way when it opens, retain service on Snowville/South Point/Miller Road, and eliminate only very low-use stop pairs (about 0.2 boardings per day at one pair), with a possible future mid-block stop on Miller Road subject to crosswalk/safety considerations.

Freilich said RTA must advertise and hold a public hearing before finalizing changes, and implementation is tentatively expected around August 2026, depending on the opening of Allega Way. Mayor Daryl Kingston expressed strong support, noting the extension would help economic development and access to jobs; Police Chief Korinek also spoke favorably, and council members thanked RTA for using ridership data.

New Business: Legislation Approved or Tabled

RES. 5752 – Added an exception to the regular blanket purchase order limit for Medical Mutual administrative fees, not to exceed $650,000. Passed 5-0.

RES. 5753 – Authorized internet auction sale of surplus municipal personal property under Ohio Revised Code Section 721.15. Passed 5-0.

RES. 5754 – Authorized a one-year renewal Facility Use Agreement with the North Coast Woodturners for the Horticulture Building. Passed 5-0.

RES. 5755 – Tabled 5-0: proposed one-year renewal Facility Use Agreement with the Brecksville Theater for Old Town Hall, Garage Workshop, and second floor of Blossom Building #5. Committee members said the packet contained language different from last year’s signed agreement and will return with corrected language at the next meeting.

RES. 5756 – Authorized a Then and Now Certificate and payment of $8,013.50 to Matt’s Landscaping for December 2025 snow plowing. Passed 5-0.

RES. 5757 – Authorized a Then and Now Certificate and payment of $15,418.96 to Rumpke of Ohio/Waste Management for December 2025 refuse and recycling services. Passed 5-0.

RES. 5758 – Amended Resolution No. 5608 to replace exhibits for a waterline easement for the Valor Acres mixed-use development; the line was moved by 5-10 feet. Passed 5-0.

RES. 5759 – Accepted CTL Engineering’s $64,170 proposal for construction administration, inspection, and testing for the CUY-SRTS 2026 Brecksville Project (PID 120129) on Oaks Road. Passed 5-0.

RES. 5760 – Authorized transfer of all real property acquired for the I-77 Miller Road Interchange Project to the State of Ohio. Passed 5-0.

RES. 5761 – Authorized a Memorandum of Understanding with the Cuyahoga County Board of Health to provide Phase II Stormwater Services for 2026–2030 at no charge to the city. Passed 5-0.

ORD. 5842 – Amended 2026 appropriations: $12,100 for human resources drug screens; $200,000 for Phase 3 Brecksville Road Resurfacing engineering (bringing that budget to $233,000); and $12,366.67 in estimated resources / $14,840 in appropriations for a Bureau of Workers’ Compensation grant-funded gear dryer. Passed 5-0.

ORD. 5843 – Accepted Anthony Allega Cement Contractor’s bid of $268,808.85 for the CUY SRTS FY 2026 Brecksville Improvement Project (Oaks Road sidewalks from Barr Road to the Blossom Hill Complex entrance). Passed 5-0.

ORD. 5844 – Adopted a supplement to the City’s Codified Ordinances (quarterly update). Passed 5-0.

ORD. 5845 – Authorized purchase of a replacement Community Center fire alarm panel from Johnson Controls through the State of Ohio Administrative Services Purchasing Program for $23,459.74. Passed 5-0.

Council Committee Reports and Authorizations

Safety & Service: approved 2026 dispatch services from Chagrin Valley Dispatch for $318,717.09; annual Sundance Systems support for CAD/disaster/mobile data, public records, AVL, hosted system, and Mayor’s Court interface for $11,540; and a Fire Department drying cabinet/gear dryer for $14,840, with $12,366.67 covered by a Bureau of Workers’ Compensation grant. All approved 5-0.

Streets & Sidewalks, Utilities, Buildings & Grounds: committee chairs reported no items for Council action.

Committee of the Whole: approved bid advertisements for 2026 online surplus auctions on GovDeals.com, asphalt materials supply, the 2027 Road Program, refuse & recycling contracts, and housekeeping/janitorial services (with a three-week bidding period for facility walkthroughs); approved $288,000 for 2026 IT management and support fees with Chagrin Valley Dispatch; and approved monthly professional bills totaling $53,221.74 (including Matty, Henrikson & Greve LLC $17,374.83; Donald G. Bohning & Associates $18,938.41; Mansour Gavin LLP $5,494.50; and others). All approved 5-0.

Board, Commission, and Planning Items

Board of Zoning Appeals: no items; next meeting reported February 9 (minutes say 7:00 PM, transcript says 7:30 PM).

Planning Commission items from January 8 were approved by Council: First Financial Bank signs at 8751 Brecksville Road (5-0, including deviations for a south-wall sign and four wall signs); Goldie’s Bakery signs at 7305 Chippewa Road (4-0-1, Caruso abstaining, including deviations raising total signage to 81.06 sq ft and allowing drive-through menu boards); AT&T antenna/equipment replacement at 6898 Miller Road (5-0, contingent on structural review); and VA Mixed-Use BPDA Tenant Signage final approval changing “Tenant Sign Criteria” to “Tenant Sign Guidelines” (4-0, with Ganim excused due to a conflict). Next Planning Commission meeting: January 22 at 7:00 PM.

Recreation Commission: organizational meeting January 26 at 7:30 PM; the commission will transition to quarterly meetings.

Human Services Advisory Board: next meeting February 10 at 3:00 PM.

Department and Mayor Reports

Building Department: 46 permits issued in December, with valuation just under $2.1 million and fees of $49,501.37.

Human Services: Yuletide Hunger/Adoptive Family program assisted 100 families and 93 children; donations totaled $44,000, the highest in history and nearly double the prior year.

Other directors (Law, Engineer, Finance, Service, Purchasing, Police, Fire) gave no reports.

Mayor Kingston announced a $20,000 Cuyahoga County Road Preventative Maintenance Reimbursement for a Riverview Road section (Moroski Hill to Riverview C8). He also announced that Congressman Max Miller confirmed on January 9 the full $640,000 District 7 appropriation for the Police Department after about 18 months, including four cruisers, MDTs, and other equipment (the minutes read “$640.00,” but the transcript clearly states $640,000). He reminded council of the Kiwanis Empty Bowls event on March 3, 5:00–7:00 PM, tickets $20, benefiting local food pantries.

Council members publicly thanked the Service Department for snow and ice response, noting Brecksville did not run out of salt.

Key Outcomes

All 13 resolutions/ordinances brought to a vote passed 5-0; RES 5755 was tabled 5-0 and is expected to return with corrected agreement language.

Council authorized the bid advertisement package, janitorial services bidding, IT support renewal, dispatch services, professional bills, and the Oaks Road sidewalk construction/engineering awards.

RTA will proceed to a public hearing and, if approved, implement the Route 77 extension around August 2026, subject to the opening of Allega Way.

Upcoming meetings: Planning Commission January 22; Recreation Commission January 26; Board of Zoning Appeals February 9; Human Services Advisory Board February 10.

Meeting Transcript