Brecksville City Council Regular Meeting - August 18, 2026

The Brecksville City Council held its regular meeting on August 18, 2026, beginning at 8:05 p.m. in Ralph W. Biggs City Council Chambers. Council President Dominic Caruso presided; present were Vice President Beth Savage and Council Members Dan Bender, AJ Ganim, Mark Jantzen, and Ann Koepke. Council Member Brian Stucky was marked absent. Mayor Daryl Kingston, the law director, department directors, Beautification Committee members, award recipients, and residents also attended. The meeting included the Beautification Awards, passage of 14 resolutions, zoning and planning approvals, committee reports, and public comment; it adjourned at 9:11 p.m. One roll-call discrepancy is noted: Stucky is recorded as absent at the start but is recorded as voting yea on the adjournment motion.

Consent Calendar

Although not formally designated a consent calendar, these routine items were approved unanimously:

• Approval of August 4, 2026 City Council minutes: motion by Ganim, second by Koepke; passed 6-0.
• RES. 5879 (passed 6-0): authorized the Mayor to apply for American Rescue Plan Act funding through Cuyahoga County Council District 6, Round 2, for a community message display board and ADA/family restroom improvements at Stadium Drive; emergency declared. The finance committee noted about $25,000 remained from prior ARPA-funded Kids' Quarters ramp work and needed to be spent by year-end.
• RES. 5880 (passed 6-0): increased super blanket purchase order limits for asphalt materials from $550,000 to $650,000 and for fuel from $375,000 to $450,000. The finance discussion also referenced a current fuel blanket of $350,000 with about $133,000 remaining, an inconsistent figure relative to the $375,000 stated in the motion.
• RES. 5881-5890 (passed 6-0 each): authorized 2026 independent contractor agreements with Diane Bayer (Jazzercise instructor), Cleveland Fencing Academy (fencing partner), Claudia Fontana (pickleball instructor), Beth Kopniske (massage services), American Performing Arts Network/Julie Mathews (children's acting instructor), Toni Paoletta/Paint Sip and Socialize LLC (art instructor), Jason Pierantozzi (taekwondo instructor), Sobecks Tennis dba Center Court Tennis Club (tennis partner), Mandy Spisak/Retro Revival LLC (art instructor), and Gina Catanzarite dba Brecksville Fitness Studio LLC (fitness instructor). Law Director Matty explained the agreements align with waiver, insurance, and independent-contractor requirements and differ mainly in the exhibits setting percentages or hourly rates; collections and participant verification run through the City.
• RES. 5891 (passed 5-0): authorized an independent contractor agreement with Christina Caruso as fitness instructor for 2026. Council President Caruso excused himself due to a personal conflict, and Vice President Savage presided for this item.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Christina Lakatos, 6556 Lloyd Drive, thanked the Mayor and Council for addressing recurrent power outages. She reported four outages in six days, following a July 4 outage and a three-day outage in April, and asked whether infrastructure upgrades, including possible underground utility lines, could be considered. She also raised an August 9 police pursuit in her neighborhood and said she and neighbors did not receive an emergency notification. Lt. John Chrisopulos responded that a Reverse 911 notification had been issued to the area identified by dispatch; the pursuit originated in Broadview Heights and the suspect fled on foot, so the notification area was based on information available at the time.
• Joe Mauer, 8500 Chippewa Trail, expressed concern about excessive vehicle speeds, estimated at 50-60 mph, on State Route 82 near Heinen's. Police responded that special attention would be directed to speed enforcement in the area.
• Janet Snow, 6535 Lloyd Drive, raised concerns about motorists failing to stop at the Sunnydale Drive/Mill Road intersection and near Mill, Hilton, and Whitewood Roads, especially with school starting the next day. She also reiterated power-outage concerns and thanked officials for pursuing data from FirstEnergy.

Discussion Items

• Beautification Awards: Mayor Kingston introduced the program and thanked Beautification Committee volunteers, including Jane Zawicki, Donna Hulett, Tina Zawacki, Janet Barnhart, Kathy Roberts, and Dawn Rapkin. Donna Hewlett presented the 2026 awards, noting the program marked approximately 30 years. Recipients were Matthew and Jennifer Ratajczak (2616 Hidden Canyon), Annette and Brian Zywiec (5995 Miller Road), and Karen and Patrick Coleman (8072 Pershing). Council congratulated the recipients.
• Board of Zoning Appeals: Council Member Jantzen reported five appeals, each approved 6-0: (1) 6727 Victoria Lane - variances allowing 40.5 ft overall height, 33 ft building height, and 46% roof area above 30 ft for a new house; (2) 8700 Riverview Road - variances allowing a 6 ft fence and a driveway gate outside the side/rear yard; (3) 8410 Sunnydale Drive - variance to install a generator in the side yard; (4) 8500 Wiese Road - variance allowing a 91 ft front yard setback instead of 125 ft for a deck; and (5) 6721 Victoria Lane - variance allowing 19.8% roof area above 30 ft instead of 10% for a new house.
• Planning Commission: Council President Caruso reported five items. Council Members Bender and Ganim recused themselves from Valor Acres-related items. (1) Core, 7032 Mill Road: approved 5-1, with Council Member Koepke dissenting, for a 12.56 sq ft internally illuminated wall sign and 4 sq ft double-sided ground sign nameplate, including deviations for internal illumination and a 2 ft sign placement. (2) Russell Real Estate Services, 33 Public Square: approved 6-0 for a 17 sq ft per side double-sided externally illuminated ground sign, with deviations allowing two ground signs, zero ft from the right-of-way, and a 5 ft 7 in height. (3) Luna Bakery Sign Package, Valor Acres Building H, 5430 Independence Drive: approved 4-0, with 10 deviations including an internally illuminated projection sign, a 13 ft 5 in projection from the first-floor building face, a 45-degree projection angle, four door signs, seven window signs, a 166 sq ft window mural covering 100% of window area, and total sign area of 198.21 sq ft. (4) Luna Bakery Storefront and Patio: approved 4-0. (5) Cleveland Clinic Foundation Medical Office Building, 2130 Valor Parkway: approved 4-0 for preliminary and final approval of a lot split, four-story Building B, and associated site development in the Valor Acres BPDA, contingent on City Engineer approval and with nine deviations including a 0.6043-acre lot instead of 5 acres, a 124 ft lot width instead of 300 ft, a 30 ft building setback instead of 150 ft, a 30 ft parking setback instead of 85 ft, a 2.2 ft side yard instead of 50 ft, a 6 ft rear yard instead of 75 ft, 10.08% landscaping instead of 20%, 9 x 18 ft parking spaces instead of 10 x 20 ft, and a parking-island deviation. Council then amended the parking-island deviation from the incorrectly stated 9 ft to 6 ft; the amendment passed 4-0.
• Committee Reports: Safety-Service Committee authorized the Purchasing Director to advertise for bids for Fire Department personal protective equipment (passed 6-0), with a previously obtained grant assisting the expense; the committee also discussed Flock cameras, with Council Members expressing support and noting no facial recognition and a 30-day data purge. Streets & Sidewalks Committee approved Change Order No. 1 for $61,435.82 for Construction King for the 2026 Road Program Concrete Repairs; the minutes record a 4-0 vote with one abstention, while the transcript roll call shows six yeas, a discrepancy. Utilities, Buildings & Grounds, Legislation, Finance, Recreation, and Human Services committees had no items requiring Council action; Legislation Committee did ask the assistant law director to review the noise ordinance regarding noisy domestic animals. Human Services Advisory Board next meets September 8 at 3:00 p.m. Department directors gave no reports.
• Mayor's Report: The Mayor welcomed students and staff for the new school year and urged caution around buses, crossing guards, and pedestrians. He announced the citywide garage sale on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Labor Day closings, a September 11 remembrance gathering in Public Square on the 25th anniversary, and the Firefighters Association 56th annual Clam Bake and Steak Roast on September 12. He also provided a storm recovery update: about 1,352 residents were initially without power, roughly 25% of the city, with restoration within 36 hours; no tornado was confirmed; and the City requested historical outage data from FirstEnergy for the Lloyd, Vera, and Sunnydale area, which he will present to Council when received.

Key Outcomes

• Minutes approved 6-0; RES. 5879-5890 each passed 6-0; RES. 5891 passed 5-0 with Council President Caruso recused.
• All five Board of Zoning Appeals appeals were approved 6-0.
• Planning Commission recommendations were approved, with the Core sign passing 5-1 and the Valor Acres items passing 4-0 due to recusals.
• The Cleveland Clinic variance parking-island deviation was corrected to 6 ft.
• Council authorized the Fire Department PPE bid advertisement and approved the Streets & Sidewalks Change Order No. 1 for $61,435.82.
• The Mayor will present FirstEnergy outage data to Council; Police will add speed enforcement on State Route 82; the assistant law director will review the noise ordinance.
• Next meetings: Board of Zoning Appeals September 8 at 7:30 p.m.; Human Services Advisory Board September 8 at 3:00 p.m.; Planning Commission per minutes September 3 at 7:00 p.m., though the transcript states August 20 at 7:00 p.m.