City of Gahanna Committee of the Whole Meeting Summary – June 5, 2026
City of Gahanna Committee of the Whole Meeting Summary – June 5, 2026
The City of Gahanna Committee of the Whole met on June 5, 2026, to review park funding legislation and the proposed 2027 tax budget. All council members were present; the meeting was called to order at 8:06 p.m. and adjourned at 8:13 p.m. The agenda was published on May 29, 2026. (Note: The agenda and minutes are dated June 1, 2026, while the recorded meeting timestamp is June 5, 2026.)
Parks and Recreation Items
- ORD-0020-2026 – Director of Parks and Recreation Stephania Ferrell requested an ordinance for supplemental appropriations for Academy Park and Friendship Park. The city was awarded a $113,000 scrap tire grant through the efforts of Management Analyst Sean Bock and Project Manager Catherine Eichel. The grant will fund a poured-in-place playground surface for the Academy Park playground renovation, allowing the full surface to be poured-in-place rather than a mix with engineered wood fiber, improving accessibility and inclusivity. The grant requires a 100 percent local match and a separate grant account, which has been established. Director Ferrell requested a supplemental appropriation of $226,000 (grant award plus required match) from the State Capital Grant Fund's unencumbered, unappropriated balance to the Ohio EPA grant account. For Friendship Park, Parks Manager Zac Guthrie presented the playground improvement project to the Gahanna Kiwanis Club, which donated $10,000. Director Ferrell requested a supplemental appropriation of $10,000 from the Capital Improvement Fund to enhance play value and inclusive features. No council questions were raised. Recommended schedule: introduction/first reading on the regular agenda on June 15, 2026, and second reading/vote on the consent agenda on July 6, 2026.
- RES-0021-2026 – Director Ferrell requested a resolution authorizing the transfer of $113,000 from the Capital Improvement Fund to the State Capital Grant Fund to satisfy the local match for the Academy Park scrap tire grant. No questions were raised. Recommended schedule: introduction/vote on the consent agenda on June 15, 2026.
Finance Items
- RES-0017-2026 – Director of Finance Joann Bury presented the proposed 2027 Tax Budget and requested adoption of a resolution for its submission to the Franklin County Budget Commission. The annual tax budget allows the Commission to determine the city's need for existing tax levies and to establish levy amounts and rates. Council President Weaver asked about an increase in Community Environment expenditures to $9 million in 2025 actuals; Director Bury attributed it primarily to the Community Improvement Corporation (CIC) supplemental appropriation of $5 million approved in 2025. President Weaver also asked about projected 2026 expenditures exceeding revenues; Director Bury explained that a late 2025 supplemental appropriation for the Central Ohio Health Care Consortium (COHCC) assessment was paid in 2026, with encumbrances rolling over and resulting in a limited use of fund balance. No other questions were raised. Recommended schedule: introduction/vote on the consent agenda on June 15, 2026.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes were taken at the Committee of the Whole; the following scheduling recommendations were made:
- ORD-0020-2026 – Introduced/first reading on June 15, 2026; second reading/vote on July 6, 2026.
- RES-0021-2026 – Consent agenda for introduction/vote on June 15, 2026.
- RES-0017-2026 – Consent agenda for introduction/vote on June 15, 2026.
- The meeting adjourned at 8:13 p.m.
Meeting Transcript
Thank you. All right, so we've got um some items for committee of whole this evening. Our first being from uh Parks and Rec. Good evening. And thank you. Um I have a few items this evening, all relatively related to each other. Um the first is a request for ordinance for supplemental appropriation for two separate projects. Uh thankfully to the works of Sean Bach, the management analyst, which he's actually in the crowd this evening, um, as well as our project manager, Katherine Eichel. Um, their efforts to collectively seek out and apply for a scrap tire grant. Um, with her efforts, we were able to secure 113,000. Um, and this is for the construct construction of a port and place surface as part of the Academy Park Playground Renovation. Uh this grant allows the city to utilize the full surface to be port in place and um uh rather than utilizing a combination of port and place and engineered road fiber. So this ultimately helps the inclusivity of the of the playground and ultimately just helps that surface overall. Um this grant does require a 100% match and it also requires a separate account in order to use the funds. Uh a new count has been established in order to uh manage those fundings, and the administration respectfully requests an ordinance to supplement supplementally appropriate the grant award as well as the associated match, totaling 226,000 dollars from the unencumbered unappropriated balance of the state capital grant to the established OEPA grant award for the Academy Park project. Um action item two is actually related to this project, but I would like to um finish the ordinance if if if okay. Yeah. Any questions on this piece? All right, do you want to speak to the next one? Sure. Um, in addition to the uh scrap tire grant, the parks manager Zach Guthrie uh shared the presentation with the Gehanna Kowanis. Uh the Kwanis Club was very supportive and graciously donated to $10,000 for the playground improvements at Friendship Park. Um the funds will overall help us to enhance the the play value of that playground as well as the inclusive function as well. Uh the administration respectfully request an ordinance of supplemental appropriation to of $10,000 from the unencumbered unappropriate balance of the Catholic Improvement Fund to the Friendship Park playground. Any questions? All right. Um we did, I believe, confirm that these can run since one's an ordinance, one's a resolution timing-wise. So the first ordinance um would be adopted on the sixth, but the resolution can be adopted on the 15th. That's okay financially, correct? That's correct. Okay, excellent. So are we good with um the first item ordinance regular agenda on the sixth? Okay. Um uh you want that one then consent? We can do that. And then we can do consent for the resolution second item on June 15th. Good. Sounds good. All right, excellent. Thank you very much. Thank you. Um the second item is a resolution. Yes. And again, this is tied directly to the ordinance for the Academy Park Playground. Um, this is an authorization to transfer funds totaling 113,000 to the Capital Improvement Fund to the transfer out, and the authorizations to the finance director to transfer the funds to the state capital fund. Um, and this will be appropriated as part of the ordinance related to the Academy Park project. Got it. Apologies. We thought that they were switched together. Okay.
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