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Record of Proceedings

Powell City Council Meeting - October 21, 2025

City Council & Boards — Tuesday, October 21, 2025
BodyPowell, Ohio
SessionCity Council & Boards
DateTuesday, October 21, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:16:23

Transcript — VerbatimClick a line to jump · ⧉ to share it
0:02

I will call to order the PAL City Council meeting for Tuesday, October 21st.

0:07

Could you please call the roll?

0:12

Lee Carlson.

0:13

Here.

0:14

Here.

0:15

Pendler Herman.

0:16

Here.

0:16

Heather Carr.

0:17

Here.

0:18

David Lester.

0:19

Kurt Ramsey.

0:20

Here.

0:21

Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

0:25

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

0:29

And to the Republic for which it stands.

0:31

One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

0:40

The next item on our agenda is an executive session.

0:46

So I will entertain a motion to go into executive session pursuant to a high revised code section one twenty-one point two two G three.

0:55

A conference with an attorney concerning disputes involving the public body that are the subject of imminent court action.

1:04

Is there a motion to do so?

1:07

Is there a second?

1:08

Second.

1:09

Please call the roll.

1:11

Lee Carlson.

1:12

Yes.

1:12

Tom Counts.

1:13

Yes.

1:13

Tyler Herman.

1:14

Yes.

1:15

Heather Carr.

1:15

Yes.

1:16

David Lester.

1:17

Yes.

1:17

Kurt Ramsey.

1:18

Yes.

1:19

Okay.

1:19

So we're in executive session.

1:21

Council is going to leave so that you don't have to.

1:24

And I in 15, 20 minutes, something like that.

1:28

Just be patient with us.

1:30

We'll be back.

1:31

Thank you.

2:58

From the for the auditor of state award with distinction presented to Samantha Borchers, Acting Finance Director by Scott Brown, our regional liaison from the auditor of state.

3:14

Mr.

3:15

Mayor, you took all my comments, so you didn't.

3:20

But we appreciate a few minutes on your agenda this evening to really celebrate a job well done.

3:28

As the mayor said, my name is Scott Brown, and I am the auditor of state Keith Faber's Central Ohio liaison.

3:36

The auditor would tell you I am your personal customer service representative.

3:42

Among other things.

3:53

Again, each year our office is responsible for conducting forty-two hundred audits out of six thousand clients statewide.

4:03

And this award uh places your organization in a very select group as just four percent of our clients qualify for the award.

4:12

The auditor of state award is presented to local governments and school districts upon the completion of a financial audit meet the fall that meet the following criteria define as a clean audit report, as Samantha knows is a very short letter from the auditor.

4:27

Um the entity must file financial reports with the auditor's office by a statutory due date without extension on a gap accounting basis and prepare a comprehensive annual finance report.

4:39

The audit report does not contain any findings for recovery.

4:42

Material citations, material weaknesses, significant deficiency, uniform guidance findings, or other question costs.

4:52

Really breaking through all the auditors speak.

4:54

This award represents the hard work of all of Powell's staff and employees who make every effort each day to attain accounting excellence.

5:04

We would like to recognize the council, the administration, and the finance department that have done an outstanding job watching over every dollar.

5:13

What this truly means is across your entire organization, you have the people and the processes in place that understand fiscal accountability.

5:21

Specifically, we want to recognize finance director Samantha Borchers for her leadership, professionalism, and exceptional commitment to fiscal integrity.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Planning And Zoning██████████████████████22%
Real Estate Development█████████████████████21%
Procedural███████████████15%
Community Engagement█████████████13%
Public Engagement███████7%
Arts And Culture███████7%
Historic Preservation███████7%
Public Safety████4%
Budget Review███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Powell City Council Meeting - October 21, 2025

The Powell City Council met on Tuesday, October 21, 2025, at 7:30 PM in Council Chambers. The meeting included presentations, public comments, discussion of a Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) amendment ordinance, and adoption of a moratorium extension. Key actions included the failure of Ordinance 2025-21 to amend the CRA boundaries and the passage of an extended temporary moratorium on new CRA applications.

Presentations

  • Auditor of State Award with Distinction: Scott Brown, Regional Liaison from the Ohio Auditor of State, presented the award to Acting Finance Director Samantha Borchers, recognizing the city's financial audit excellence. Only 4% of audited entities qualify.
  • Liberty Township Fire Department Update: Fire Chief James Reardon reported that total calls for 2025 are about 84 ahead of the previous year. The department added a fire inspector, an EMS coordinator, and three firefighters, and now operates a third ambulance as promised with the successful levy.

Consent Calendar

  • The council approved the minutes from the October 7, 2025 meeting and adopted the consent agenda, which included monthly reports from Finance, Economic Development, Building, Police, Planning and Zoning, Human Resources, Public Service and Engineering, and Community Engagement.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Jerry Wade (Powell Community Band): Highlighted the band's 88 members and six annual concerts. He asked to be considered a stakeholder in planning future performance spaces at Village Green and Bennett Farms.
  • Palak Tolani (Seva Diwali Food Donation Drive): Expressed gratitude for the city's support in hosting donation boxes. Reported collecting 6,000 lbs of food in 2024 with a goal of 10,000 lbs in 2025.
  • Melissa Scott (Olin Tanji Community Theater): Described the theater's summer production with 950 attendees and requested a seat at the table for planning performance spaces, noting needs for shade, storage, parking, and safe drop-off zones.
  • Bill Harkenreiter (Powell Civic Theater): Shared the theater's mission and requested consideration in performance space planning, emphasizing simple improvements like loading/unloading zones.

Discussion Items: Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) Amendment and Moratorium

The main discussion centered on Ordinance 2025-21 (Amended) , which would amend the downtown CRA to limit new residential construction abatements to the "T" shaped area (Northwest Quadrant) and exclude other areas. The ordinance had been tabled from September 16, 2025.

  • City Manager Andy and Law Director Yaz explained that the original CRA (Ordinance 2023-10) inadvertently included more lots than intended. The amendment aimed to focus residential abatements on the historic core.
  • Council members expressed varying views: Heather Carr and Tom Counts supported the T as aligning with original intent, while David Lester and Tyler Herman raised fairness concerns, particularly regarding the Corinthian Fine Homes project (Liberty Green) at 84 and 110 South Liberty, which would lose eligibility.
  • Testimony from David Warner (Corinthian Fine Homes): Argued that the project (14 townhomes) is comparable to the Fisher Homes Encore Park project (19 townhomes) and that excluding it would create a competitive disadvantage. He stated that without the abatement, the $10 million project would not proceed.
  • Testimony from Mike Lagozo: Supported the T focus, noting his empty parcel there and plans to build.
  • Testimony from Dave Absolov: Urged processing of applications already filed, including his own, as he has a certificate of occupancy.

After discussion, a motion to adopt Ordinance 2025-21 failed (2 votes in favor, 4 opposed).

Council then considered extending the temporary moratorium. Tyler Herman moved to adopt Ordinance 2025-25 (extending the moratorium) with an amendment to only block new applications, allowing processing of those already submitted. The amendment passed, and the ordinance was adopted as an emergency on first reading (5-1; Lee Carlson voted no). The moratorium will now last until November 19, 2025, and applies only to the receipt, submission, or acceptance of new CRA applications for residential new construction.

Key Outcomes

  • Ordinance 2025-21 (Amended) : Failed to pass (2 in favor, 4 opposed). No changes to the existing CRA boundaries at this time.
  • Ordinance 2025-25 (Extended Moratorium) : Adopted as an emergency (5-1). The moratorium on CRA tax abatement applications for residential new construction is extended until November 19, 2025, but only applies to new applications; previously submitted applications may continue to be processed.
  • Council will consider future legislation to address the CRA issue, potentially including the Corinthian project.

Other Business

  • Committee reports were dispensed with.
  • Council entered executive sessions as allowed by Ohio law for legal consultation and personnel matters.

Meeting Transcript

I will call to order the PAL City Council meeting for Tuesday, October 21st. Could you please call the roll? Lee Carlson. Here. Here. Pendler Herman. Here. Heather Carr. Here. David Lester. Kurt Ramsey. Here. Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. The next item on our agenda is an executive session. So I will entertain a motion to go into executive session pursuant to a high revised code section one twenty-one point two two G three. A conference with an attorney concerning disputes involving the public body that are the subject of imminent court action. Is there a motion to do so? Is there a second? Second. Please call the roll. Lee Carlson. Yes. Tom Counts. Yes. Tyler Herman. Yes. Heather Carr. Yes. David Lester. Yes. Kurt Ramsey. Yes. Okay. So we're in executive session. Council is going to leave so that you don't have to. And I in 15, 20 minutes, something like that. Just be patient with us. We'll be back. Thank you. From the for the auditor of state award with distinction presented to Samantha Borchers, Acting Finance Director by Scott Brown, our regional liaison from the auditor of state. Mr. Mayor, you took all my comments, so you didn't. But we appreciate a few minutes on your agenda this evening to really celebrate a job well done. As the mayor said, my name is Scott Brown, and I am the auditor of state Keith Faber's Central Ohio liaison. The auditor would tell you I am your personal customer service representative. Among other things. Again, each year our office is responsible for conducting forty-two hundred audits out of six thousand clients statewide.

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