Lakewood Committee of the Whole Meeting – January 5, 2026
Lakewood Committee of the Whole Meeting – January 5, 2026
The Lakewood City Council Committee of the Whole met on January 5, 2026, at 6:30 p.m. in the City Hall Auditorium. The meeting focused on approving previous minutes, filling the vacant Ward 4 council seat, and discussing the schedule for city hall space considerations. The council entered executive session to discuss the appointment and later selected four candidates for interviews. A brief discussion on the city hall renovation timeline and bond financing followed.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes: The minutes of the December 5, 2025, Committee of the Whole meeting were approved unanimously without discussion.
Discussion Items
- Appointment to Ward 4 Seat (Resolution 2025-77): Council President Kepple noted that former Ward 4 Councilmember Cindy Marx resigned effective December 31, 2025. The council had issued a public call for applicants. After brief comments, the council voted unanimously to enter executive session to consider the appointment. Upon exiting executive session, Council President Kepple moved to schedule interviews with four candidates: Jason Frederick, Matt Vixenstein, AJ Pixie Mallow, and Sidney Lighter Canada. The motion passed unanimously. Council members expressed gratitude to all applicants, noting the community's strong engagement.
- City Hall Space Considerations – Schedule and Timeline: Council President Kepple introduced an updated schedule for the city hall space discussions. The administration will present its case for using the Warren Road building on January 26, 2026, with bond council also presenting on debt capacity and proposed bond legislation. Two additional weeks (February 2 and 9) are reserved for further deliberation. The bond council has requested that bond legislation be passed by February 17, 2026, to secure a rating this year. Councilmember Bullock emphasized the need for a clear timeline and continued expert input from the council's advisor (PMC/Weber Murphy Fox). He questioned whether the February 17 deadline was inflexible and suggested that a smaller bond amount or deferring to 2027 might be possible. Vice President Baker noted that any option (e.g., Warren Road purchase, City Hall addition) requires a design phase, possibly costing $1–2 million in 2026, with major construction in 2027–2028. He stressed the importance of third-party verification of cost estimates, especially since Liberty (the seller of the Warren Road building) is also a consultant. Councilmember Evans agreed that the council's consultants should review any detailed proposal before decisions are made. Council President Kepple confirmed that the new Ward 4 council member would be seated before the January 26 presentations, and that consultants could be brought in during the subsequent weeks.
Key Outcomes
- Minutes Approved: The minutes of the December 5, 2025, Committee of the Whole were approved.
- Executive Session Held: Council entered executive session to discuss the appointment of a Ward 4 council member.
- Candidate Interviews Scheduled: Four candidates were selected for interviews: Jason Frederick, Matt Vixenstein, AJ Pixie Mallow, and Sidney Lighter Canada. The Clerk of Council was directed to schedule 30-minute interviews.
- City Hall Discussion: Council members identified key questions for the administration's January 26 presentation, including the basis of design, cost verification, and the flexibility of the February 17 bond deadline. The timeline allows for further deliberation and consultant input through February 9.
Meeting Transcript
All right, so we'll call uh committee of the whole to order. Um, all right, so committee of the whole, we'll call committee of the whole to order. Um, the only we have two items on the agenda. The first is the approval of the minutes of the December fifth committee of the whole meeting. I'll move to approve those without the necessity of a reading. Motion's been made and seconded. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye, and that motion passes. Okay, the other thing we have is a resolution uh to take effect immediately. This is to appoint a member of the community to the ward for seat for the remainder of the four-year term ending December thirty first, twenty twenty-seven. Uh, this is our council colleague Cindy Marks uh resigned effective at the end of twenty twenty-five, so the person appointed to this ward four seat would fill the rest of that four-year term. Um we do have we received, we put out a call for applicants to the public. So before we proceed, any comments on that process. Okay. Okay, thank you. All right. Um, so I will move to enter executive session for that purpose. Second. Motion's been made and seconded. And I do need a roll call. Thank you. Everyone remembers but me. Okay. Um, so I'll go ahead and do that. Evans? Yes. Baker. Yes. Woollock. Yes. Streebig. Yes. Hamilton Steiner. Yes. All right. We'll head to the conference room and I will include Dr. Vargo and Council staff in that motion. I know. So we've exited executive session. And um so with that, I will um move to ask the clerks to schedule let's still go ahead and say thirty minute interviews with the following candidates Jason Frederick, Matt Vixenstein, AJ Pixie Mallow, and Sidney Lighter Canada. Okay. Okay. So and I'll just say in terms of discussion on that, um, we really appreciate everyone who took the time to put their name forward and submit materials. Uh, we are very fortunate in Lakewood to have uh a number of a lot of engaged folks who are willing to serve the community. So we thank everyone who took time to do that. Any further discussion on the motion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. And that motion passes.
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