Lakewood City Council Regular Meeting - November 3, 2025
Lakewood City Council Regular Meeting - November 3, 2025
The Lakewood City Council held its regular meeting on November 3, 2025, in Council Chambers at City Hall. The meeting covered a range of items including reports from committees, approval of resolutions, discussion of a citywide composting program, renewal of the NOPEC green energy aggregation program, authorization for a fire engine purchase, lease amendments for the Lakewood Child Care Center, and fiscal year 2026 HUD funding plans. Public comment was heard on both the composting initiative and concerns about the Bunts Road shared-use path project.
Consent Calendar
- Minutes of the October 20, 2025 regular meeting approved without reading.
- Resolutions 2025-62 and 2025-63 recognizing Lakewood residents Dorcas Russo and Joseph Tomino for Legal Aid Society of Cleveland awards were adopted unanimously.
- Resolution 2025-61 ratifying the Fall 2025 slate of Lakewood Youth Council nominees was adopted unanimously.
- Resolution 2025-67 approving the City’s notice to NOPEC to elect the Green Community Choice Program for electricity aggregation starting June 2026 was adopted unanimously.
- Resolution 2025-64 authorizing the purchase of a fire engine for 2028 delivery (budgeted $1.5 million) was adopted after discussion.
- Liquor permit applications for Fika Café (16203 Hilliard Rd.) and Citizens Eatery (14600 Detroit Ave.) were filed without objection.
- The October 2025 Finance Department vendor report was received and filed.
Public Comments & Testimony
Composting Program Support (during Discussion Items):
- Harry Lader (Ward 2 resident) expressed support for the citywide composting resolution, noting 75 documented signatures from all wards and citing successes in Shaker Heights, Cleveland Heights, and other communities. He reported that Lakewood City Schools have already diverted more than 32,000 pounds of food waste through composting.
- Bonnie Sykes (Ward 2, Lakewood Composting Committee) emphasized that current drop-off sites require a monthly fee, which is a barrier, and called for free, expanded drop-off locations across all wards.
- Catherine Zimnik (Ward 3, Lakewood Composting Committee) thanked council and offered continued volunteer support. She suggested leveraging existing salt bin locations at Kaufman Cove and the Lakewood Dog Park for compost bins.
Bunts Road Shared-Use Path (during formal Public Comment period):
- Kim (Ward resident) raised concerns about the path project, asking about utility box placement, closure of a Giant Eagle driveway, and the need for traffic calming, tree buffers, and a ban on e‑bikes. She stated that realtors predict a 15% decrease in home values and asked council to improve the project’s design.
Discussion Items
Housing, Planning & Development Committee Report: Vice President Baker reported on the October 27 committee meeting. Updates included the Lakewood zoning refresh (an external consultant is evaluating and will recommend a complete code update) and the sale of 1472 Belle Avenue as an affordable housing unit with income-restricted buyer requirements. The committee also discussed a substitute ordinance regarding front yard planting regulations (referred to Keep Lakewood Beautiful for input).
Finance Committee Report: Committee chair reported on the October 27 meeting. The committee began discussion of the council budget priorities process, setting a November 17 deadline (with administration requesting November 10) for council members to submit proposals using a standardized form. A chart of past spending was provided. The committee also began a discussion on property taxes, including state-level evaluation, the importance of property taxes for city debt and infrastructure, and recognition that many Lakewood residents are feeling the impact of property valuation increases over the last six years.
Rules & Ordinances Committee Report: Councilmember Hamilton Steiner reported that the committee met November 3 with the Youth Council to discuss their updated bylaws. The bylaws were favorably deferred back to full council pending written substitute amendments.
Composting Program (Items 12 & 13): Councilmembers Hamilton Steiner, Bullock, and Marks introduced a communication and resolution (2025-68) to authorize the mayor to negotiate a contract with a composting provider for a citywide program. The communication outlined goals from the adopted climate action plan: 95% organic material diversion by 2030 and 50% reduction in food waste generation. The resolution was referred to the Finance Committee for further study.
NOPEC Green Community Choice Program (Items 14 & 15): Mayor George and Councilmember Bullock presented the resolution to renew participation in NOPEC’s aggregation program and elect the Green Community Choice option, which defaults to 100% clean power. Councilmember Bullock noted that NOPEC is a nonprofit that returns dividends to the community, previously used for electric vehicle chargers and street lighting upgrades. The program saves residents money compared to the utility’s default offer and requires no upfront investment. The resolution was adopted without referral.
Fire Engine Purchase (Items 18 & 19): Fire Chief Fairbanks requested authorization to contract with Sotfin Corporation for a new fire engine (budgeted $1.5 million) with a 2028 delivery. Three quotes were received; Sotfin was the only bidder meeting the timeline. The chief explained that a 15-year front-line service life plus 10 years as a reserve vehicle is standard. Costs have risen significantly (similar trucks were $500,000 cheaper five years ago). The discussion acknowledged the need to adjust future capital planning for price inflation. The resolution was adopted.
Lakewood Child Care Center Lease Amendment (Items 20 & 21): Planning Director Byington presented a proposal for a fourth amendment to the lease at 1450 Belle Avenue. The amendment would allow the Child Care Center to extend the term in five-year increments (up to five extensions) and provide an escalating tenant improvement allowance (starting at $15,000 in 2027) with a carryover cap of five times the current allowance. The resolution was referred to the Finance Committee.
FY26 HUD Action Plan (Items 22 & 23): Director Byington submitted the FY26 Annual Action Plan and Citizens Advisory Committee recommendations, based on estimated CDBG ($575,000) and ESG ($160,000) awards. The resolution was referred to the Finance Committee.
Reports from Councilmember Strebig:
- Lakewood Animal Safety & Welfare Advisory Board (Oct. 15): Reported on the new animal shelter grant opening (Oct. 23), updated animal statistics, ongoing cat overpopulation at Davis Court, and a pet food drive (Nov. 15, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at Marks Plaza pocket park) to meet a need of 12,000 pounds of animal food per month. A draft TNR ordinance was reviewed with a specialist.
- Lakewood Youth Council (Oct. 23): Welcomed four new members; discussed flashing traffic light timing, a draft communication on a circulator bus, and community festival suggestions (better sidewalks, skate park, more dog parks, place to hang out, etc.). The council began a conversation about teen hangout spaces and plans to connect with the Mental Health Committee.
Key Outcomes
- Substitute Ordinance 28-2025 (sale of 1472 Belle Ave): Suspended rules and adopted after roll call vote (all present voting yes). The property will be marketed for 180 days; council will receive a report within 45 days of closing on buyer and sale price.
- Resolution 2025-60 (Youth Council Bylaws): Deferred pending written substitute amendments from the Rules & Ordinances Committee.
- Resolution 2025-41 (Tree Board Appointment): Deferred to allow Councilmember Evans to present interview results at the next full council meeting.
- Composting Resolution 2025-68: Referred to the Finance Committee.
- Lakewood Child Care Lease Resolution 2025-65: Referred to the Finance Committee for review at the November 10 meeting.
- FY26 HUD Action Plan Resolution 2025-66: Referred to the Finance Committee.
- All other resolutions and communications were adopted, received, or filed as noted above.
Meeting Transcript
All right, we'll call the uh November 3rd meeting of council to order. If you're able, please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. Now pause for a moment of silence. Madam Clerk, please call the roll. Vice President Baker. Here. Councilmember Bullock. Councilmember Evans. President Keppel. Here. Councilmember Marks. Here. Councilmember Hamilton Steiner. Here. Councilmember Streebig here. Reading and disposal of the minutes of the regular meeting of council held October 20th, 2025. Move to approve without the necessity of a reading. Second. Motion's been made and seconded. Any discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. And that motion passes. Item one, report from finance committee held October 27, 2025. Since the chair is not here, let's uh we'll defer this and come back to it in a moment without objection. Item two, report from Housing Planning and Development Committee held October 27, 2025. Vice President Baker. Thank you, Madam President. So on uh October 27, 2025, the Housing Planning and Development Committee met, uh, had a couple agenda items. Uh one was uh communication from assistant director uh boss regarding the Lakewood zoning refresh. Uh sort of remind our colleagues, uh Lakewood has engaged with a outside consultant to evaluate our current zoning code and uh recommend ultimately a complete zoning refresh. Uh so it is an iterative process, and part of these updates to council is to uh keep council engaged. Uh now two members of council are on um the zoning planning advisory council, President Keppel and myself. Uh but we want to make sure all of council and the public is aware of kind of the iterative steps that we're taking uh because ultimately what it will become is a tranche of legislation to update and modernize our zoning code. Um so it just provides for a better process to update the public and our colleagues at the same time, uh, so that when we finally do get those uh updated uh series of ordinances that uh there are no surprises. Um the the second thing we discussed was uh communication from Planning Director Byington regarding the authorization to sell property located at 1472 Bell uh Avenue. Um this is an ordinance that uh the city has been working um I believe with some uh federal funds to rehabilitate this house, and then there are some restrictions on who the buyer can be related to income. Um so it's a a low and and uh an affordable uh housing uh unit. Uh planning commit or the uh the housing planning development committee discussed it. Um planning director gave us an outline of it, and ultimately we were recommended some small substitutes of the ordinance uh related to uh the notice uh would come within 45 days days of the of the closing of the property. So council would then have a report back knowing who it was sold to what it was sold for so that we could be kept in the loop. Uh and then it was favorably recommended out of committee to full council, so it is later in the docket. Uh and then the the council president can decide whether or not we want to suspend the rules to pass it because it's technically had two readings uh but it's had enough time to have three so we can have the discussion later. And then lastly, there was a brief update on um ordinance 182025, which is to amend the um weeds section of the codified ordinances related to front yard planting. Uh so we did substitute the ordinance and committee, uh, but we also referred it out to keep Lakewood Beautiful to get their input, and we are waiting for their input uh as well as some other folks. Uh and we coordinated with uh housing and building department to make sure that we've committed by the end of the year to have that ordinance ready so that the housing and uh building department can properly plan and educate the public going into next growing season. Uh we also may ask keep Lake of Beautiful to help us kind of educate folks on what the new rules are uh to incentivize and and kind of help people understand what they can and can't do in the front yards. Uh so that's dated in committee.
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