Committee of the Whole - November 25, 2025
Committee of the Whole - November 25, 2025
Gahanna City Council held a Committee of the Whole meeting on Monday, November 24, 2025, at 7:00 PM in City Hall Council Chambers, per the agenda and minutes. However, the instruction for this summary specifies the meeting date as November 25, 2025. This discrepancy is noted. The meeting covered two economic development items and two council office matters, with all actions being procedural or routine. Councilmember Schnetzer was absent; all others present. The meeting adjourned at 7:16 PM.
Discussion Items
ORD-0053-2025 – Columbus Academy Conduit Revenue Bonds
- Director of Economic Development Jeff Gottke presented a request for the city to issue up to $15,000,000 in tax-exempt conduit revenue bonds for Columbus Academy. The bonds would primarily refinance existing 2019 bonds and fund capital projects, including converting a facilities building into an academic building with maker spaces and an IT department. No city resources, guarantees, or debt capacity are involved; the city acts solely as a pass-through issuer. A public hearing is required; an emergency clause is needed to meet the January 1, 2026, closing date. Representatives from Columbus Academy (CFO Weston Outlaw) and bond counsel Mark Kamer (Dinsmore) were present for questions.
- Council discussion: President Bowers inquired about holding the public hearing on December 1 instead of December 15, but Mr. Kamer explained that advance notice deadlines could not be met for December 1. Vice President Weaver emphasized there is no risk to the city. Councilmember McGregor asked about the project; Ms. Outlaw described the renovation of a facilities building into an academic building and creation of a new facilities building.
ORD-0054-2025 – Community Improvement Corporation (CIC) Contract Renewal
- Director Gottke presented a renewal of the City’s agreement with the CIC for 2026, with only the dates changed. The CIC is undergoing a strategic plan (expected mid-2026) focused on the Connect and Benson Capital development in Creekside. The city contribution is $300,000, unchanged from the prior year, but the contract does not specify the amount. Director Gottke requested a procedural mechanism to ensure continuity of services.
- Discussion: President Bowers confirmed the funding amount with Mayor Jadwin. There was debate over using an emergency versus a waiver; City Attorney Tamilarasan advised that a resolution authorizing the contract would be appropriate. Council agreed to convert the ordinance to a resolution. Vice President Weaver noted that Section 3.1 of the contract references a TIF strategy that may be outdated; Mayor Jadwin and staff agreed to revise that section. The revised contract will return as a resolution on the December 1, 2025 agenda.
2025-0242 – Support for Jessica Hilts’ Candidacy as Region V Director, IIMC
- President Bowers reported that Management Analyst Jessica Hilts requested Council’s support for her candidacy for Region V Director of the International Institute of Municipal Clerks (IIMC). She earned her Master Municipal Clerk designation. The position rotates every five years; Ohio will be in the rotation for a term beginning in 2027. Council members expressed unanimous support, and President Bowers will issue a letter of support.
2025-0240 – Ohio Division of Liquor Control – Annual Renewal of Class C and D Permits
- Clerk VanMeter noted the notice for annual renewal of permits expiring February 1, 2026. He checked with Chief Spence; no objections exist. Council indicated no objection.
Key Outcomes
- ORD-0053-2025: Recommended for introduction/first reading on the Regular Agenda on December 1, 2025, with a public hearing and second reading/adoption as an emergency on December 15, 2025.
- ORD-0054-2025: Converted to a resolution; staff will revise Section 3.1. The resolution will be introduced/adopted on the Regular Agenda on December 1, 2025.
- Support for Jessica Hilts’ candidacy: Approved unanimously; a support letter will be issued by President Bowers.
- Liquor permit renewals: Approved with no objections.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening, everyone. Today is Monday, November 24th, 2025. I've got just before seven o'clock, so I hope you'll forgive me. Uh we could start a few seconds. There it is, seven o'clock. So we'll call this meeting of the committee of the whole to order. We will get started first with items from the Department of Economic Development. Good evening, Director. Okay, good evening, uh Counsel. I broke my glasses on the way down here, so I'm gonna try to like see through the it's all crooked and try to look at this and up there. It's it's gonna we'll get through it, thank you. Um briefly two items that are mostly procedural in nature, I would say, not necessarily uh very substantive because they're mostly just a replication of things that have happened in the past. Um the first one is a request for a third partnership with Columbus Academy for some conduit revenue bonds. And basically what's happening here is um happened in 2015 and 2019, and and again a request tonight. Um so the city has access to um tax exempt revenue bonds for uh economic development purposes or nonprofit use. And uh the revised code requires that municipalities issue them, basically. So the city is the issuer, and then those are then purchased and handled and paid back through the financial institution and and the borrower in this case Columbus Academy. Um to skip to the important part and the part that's capitalized up there, um, no commitment of city resources, debt capacity or guarantees is involved here. So basically, all that the city does is approve the issuing of the bonds, and then they're purchased by the financial institution for the use then of the nonprofit, in this case Columbus Academy. Um primarily the use will be for refinancing the existing 2019 bonds and some capital uh projects there. Um this is the very short version. Um again, it's mostly procedural. It's required by the revised code. The city is just the conduit, just the pass-through there. Here tonight, in case you have any questions, is um Weston Outlaw, the CFO of Columbus Academy, uh, and Mark Kamer and his colleague from uh Dinsmore, the bond council on this project. A couple of procedural uh notes. We are asking in this case for an emergency uh in order to meet the January 1st uh 2026 closing date for the for the loan or for the the bond because there's a required public hearing uh in the in the statute. So that kind of necessitates the emergency in this case because we have to have the public hearing, which could take place um on the December 15th meeting uh for second reading and passage, hopefully with an emergency, so it could take an effect immediately so that they can meet the January 1st deadline. Um so it's a little bit out of the ordinary of how things usually work. So I I'll stop there. If you have any specific questions about the mechanism of how this works or the project itself, uh Mr. Dinsmore and Mr. Outlaw could answer those questions. Otherwise, I can answer questions from the uh from the city side. Thank you. All right, thank you very much, Director, and uh thank you to our guests for joining us this evening. Um discussion from my colleagues on this item. I just have a procedure question, just a procedural question. Um and I could be missing something that's occurring on December 1st. December 1st, but would there be an issue with hosting the public hearing on December 1 instead of the 15th? I don't believe so. I'll look procedurally. Is there um hi my name is Mark Kimer? I'm a monitoring at Nesmore. And to answer the question, yes. We uh uh we have to post notice of the meeting seven days in advance of December one. We could have done that today or last week, but we didn't want to presume anything um before having this meeting tonight. Um and so and the dispatch requires two days lead time, so we will have to get that notice in Wednesday this week for the 15th. Um we couldn't get it in Wednesday this week, it's still hit the December 1 deadline. All right, thank you.
openpublica.com