The Erie City Council convened on Wednesday, December 3, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. to address a range of routine administrative matters, zoning changes, and capital investments. The meeting was marked by extensive public testimony focused primarily on the death of Marcello Woodard, which occurred on July 2, 2025, with citizens demanding transparency, accountability, and policy reform. Council members also honored community leaders and acknowledged the recent deaths of local residents, including Mr. James Sherrod and Michael Mindrella.
Meeting of Wednesday, December 3rd, 2025 at 9 a.m. Council members Witherspoon, Brzezinski, Flores, Nelson, Schaff, Titus, and True. I would like to ask everyone to please stand for a moment of silence and the pledge of allegiance. We also want to take a moment to, in this moment of silence, to recognize the young man that died early, early yesterday morning. He was shot just a block from my house. So we wanted to recognize the life loss there in this moment of silence as well. Underground with the liberty of justice for all. Motion to approve the minutes from the Wednesday, November 19th City Council meeting and bills for payment on December 5th and 12th. Members Brzezinski, Flores, Nelson, Schaff, Titus Troop, and Witherspoon. Is there anyone here to speak on a repository sale? Anyone here to speak on a repository sale? Anyone here to speak on a repository sale? Hearing none, public comments. Each individual has five minutes. Please give us your name and your municipality. So good morning. My name's Kenneth Bounds. I live in on Colorado Drive in the city of Erie. This is my second visit to council. I'm going to read a letter first of all, and then going to give you some comments if that's okay. Thank you for your correspondence denying that the city has any responsibility for the backflow of water and sewage into the basements of our houses on October the 23rd. The grounds for the quote for the grounds quoted for your denial were that you had no prior knowledge of the rain event and hence could not have taken any corrective or proactive actions. On June the 19th, 2017, very many houses in the area of Frontier and Mill Creek were flooded extensively. And you were certainly prior warned that this could happen. Many of the houses in that area discharge storm water to the sewer because they were built in the 1920s when this was actually not against building regulations. So on November the 5th, I came here to ask for two things. If the city drains are inadequate for the expected rainfall, then something needs to be done. Mill Creek supervisor, Miss Clear, uh, has publicly laid the blame on the of the flooding and back up in the city's jurisdiction. What is the city planning on doing and we the the uh below signed wish that you take some action and I'd like to give this to the official record. I'd like to briefly speak on um two matters first of all it's our understanding that the reasons given for not taking responsibility do not stand up secondly um we haven't seen any real action thirdly I did get a response to the from the CRC from Mr Stephen Jenks the assistant superintendent who who quite simply said there was such an influx of water from the storm that day that the systems were overloaded. Well does this mean that in the future when we get a lot of rain we the people who live there can expect to have our basements flooded again it's not a pleasant prop uh um situation to be in if you don't live in a potentially floodable area then please come and visit me next time my space my basement's got some nasty stuff in it I'd be delighted to show you how unpleasant it is so finally um I would like to ask the council not the engineers we haven't really heard from the engineers that the real reason in my opinion as an engineer about why the storm the the sewer drain floods is the second mentioned thing in the letter from council uh from council say uh uh legal people and that is that people's storm drains from their roofs feed into the sewer and and there's a lot of people's houses in that area that do that I wouldn't imagine I can imagine okay I imagine it happens all over the city and I'll be very quick and say it is my wish that the council take action deary me uh take action is up take action on the storm drains of people's houses thank you very much for listening to me I look forward to hearing from you good morning council um my name is Michelle Dovershaw I live in the city of Erie um and I'm here to speak on cello um I tried long and hard to come up with words that nobody has said before um maybe people would listen more if they were different words but my niece said it best and if you allow me I would like to play something darkness silent key shatter back gunshot three times a man lives on rabble like a follow me on chill his name is forest time he was two weeks away should be here today to be now full of sorrow it's family fine letter feels so hollow alive taken in the blink of an eye one must be innocent always die chill Feels so hollow. Alive taken in the blink of an eye. One must be innocent. Always die. Say his name. Justice for his stolen time. He was two weeks away. A family fight for a one twenty-five days till Justice Not Bone. Hello. Justice for his soul's time. Hello. He was two weeks away. Should be here to do in a salon. Taking in the blank of a love. Why did Shello have to do? He is why. Thank you very much. We are here. Every week.