I call to order the agenda review of April 7th, 2026.

Clerk, please call the roll.

Jones, here.

Comyes?

Kramer?

Here.

Martinez.

Meldon.

Morris.

Saranto.

Here.

Williams?

Here.

Driscoll.

Here.

Gaddis.

Hobbes.

Six present.

We will start with items one through six from the Department of Public Service.

Joe Fosna, Director of Department of Public Service.

Item number one is brought to us by our solid waste division and will be uh presented by Commissioner Ryan Murphy.

Good afternoon, members of council.

This ordinance proposes authorizing the mayor to enter into a contract with Abdum Environmental for an amount not to exceed fifteen thousand dollars funded out of the solid waste fund and waiving competitive bidding.

A component of the landfill gas system unexpectedly failed, requiring immediate action for for repairs so that we can maintain regulatory compliance.

Okay with EPA.

Okay.

Uh Chairman Cowmise.

So we never leaked anything or that's correct.

We were we were within compliance of the EPA requirements.

Okay.

Just checking.

Thank you.

That was your recommendation.

SEP.

All right, thank you.

Item two.

Item two through five are coming from our fleet and facilities division and will pre be presented by Commissioner Rick Aikman.

Good afternoon, members of council.

Uh as Director Fosdall mentioned, item number two, uh my first piece of legislation is authorizing the expenditure of an amount not to exceed 350,000 from the municipal garage fund for the citywide vehicle lease program.

This ordinance uh authorizes that annual expenditure to enterprise lease.

Uh this was uh originally authorized through ordinance two fifty-four-19.

It's a five-year agreement with a five-year renewal.

Uh the vehicle lease program reduces the demand on our capital budget while um by reducing uh purchases.

Uh this lease program also uh we kind of continue to replenish newer vehicles that uh reduce maintenance costs and we get more up-to-date efficient pieces of equipment.

Uh asking for SEP Chairman Coleman's your recommendation?

Happy to go SCP on these.

Uh are there any electric vehicles in plan?

Yes, sir.

Lovely.

We do have a question from Councilman Serantu.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

How many vehicles are we talking?

Uh Commissioner.

Uh we are currently leasing 61 vehicles.

Okay.

Uh three of which are uh Chevy Equinox, uh, five are mid-size uh SUVs, and 53 are various size pickup trucks.

Okay, and and these are non-safety division vehicles.

Yes, sir.

Okay.

All right.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, madam chair.

Thank you.

All right, we'll move on to item number three.

Uh thank you.

Item number three authorizes the expenditure of an amount not to exceed 500,000 from the capital improvement fund for the improvement and or replacement of major mechanical systems and general building and infrastructure improvements authorizing the mayor to accept bids and award contracts for said projects.

Um this ordinance uh just to kind of give you an idea, these projects include but are not limited to plumbing, roofing repairs, replacement, sewer street lighting, uh, fire suppressions, and HVAC failures.

Um, in addition to uh you know, unsaid emergencies or emergencies that pop up throughout the season, um, this will help us to uh create and install additional EV chargers, and then also including electrical enhancements and parks.

And uh one of the biggest items is we are eliminating the underground steam lines underneath Erie Street that lead from the alarms building over to the safety building.

Um those types of items and improvements is for all city-owned assets.

One other point of interest is we are starting the re-armoring of the gun range where our police officers uh certify.

Uh the metal has become fatigued, and we're looking to replace uh anywhere between two and three hundred of those uh deflection shields.

I'll pause there for questions.

I do have a question as far as the projects.

Do you um how many do you have lined up or is it just you know whenever something pops up?

I know you said for emergencies, but do you have particular projects that besides the gun range that you have on the yes ma'am?

So the two of the things that we are currently working on uh that have been advertised but waiting for funding is the deflection shields at our uh shooting range, and then uh basically divorcing the underground steam lines.

We already have quotes on that as well.

Um we are also looking at um now that we're gonna continue occupying the alarms building.

We're looking at replacing the HVAC unit on top of that building.

Um that we are very quickly approaching the advertisement.

Uh rest assured that of this half a million dollars that we will continue to follow purchasing guidelines in regards to PLA and advertisements.

Yeah, see no further questions.

Chairman Colmez, your recommendation?

I think we should also look at maybe one percent dollars when if any of these instances on these capital improvements that might lower our carbon footprint.

We could consider that too.

Um so we should probably have that conversation.

But SCP on these is great.

Thank you.

Perfect.

Um, item number five.

One of those four.

We'll get to yeah, four.

Um, this is authorizing an expenditure of an amount not to exceed one million dollars from the capital improvement fund for the replacement of vehicles and equipment for the police department.

I'm sorry.

I'm out of order, pardon me.

Authorizing the expenditure of an amount not to exceed one million dollars from the capital improvement fund for the replacement of non-emergency vehicles and equipment, authorizing the mayor to accept bids, purchase from vendor lots, purchase used equipment and vehicles, utilizing purchasing cooperatives, award contracts for purchases, waiving competitive bidding requirements of TMC, chapter 187 were applicable.

I'd like to draw your attention to section three.

Uh this is in large part of the dozer that we have, or some people refer to them as a track trash compactor at the landfill.

Uh it is time for a rebuild, right?

A complete power train rebuilt.

Um we are at that point of of hours associated with uh the larger pieces of equipment.

So of that expenditure of 315,000 to rebuild that is better than over a little over a million dollars to replace.

I'll pause there for questions.

Councilman Serantu.

Thank you.

Commissioner, how long uh if you have that rebuild, how long will that last?

I will I will yield to Commissioner Murphy.

That's a good question.

Um OhioCat equipment currently are good for three lifetimes, so you can rebuild them three times and maintain their integrity.

Uh, this is the first rebuild of this piece of equipment.

It's currently at about 12,000 hours, and we should get another 8,000 hours out of that before having to do another rebuild.

Um, with that being said, there will still continue to be repairs and premeditative maintenance that's required on that machine over time.

Okay, how long have we had that piece of equipment?

That's a 2012 2012.

So it's been quite some time.

And this would be the first rebuild.

Yes.

Okay, thank you very much.

Thank you, madam chair.

Thank you.

I would also like to acknowledge Councilman Hobbes.

Um I think there's no other questions.

Chairman Colmages, your recommendation?

SCP, please.

Thank you.

Moving on to now item number five.

All right.

Thank you.

Uh this is authorizing the expenditure of an amount not to exceed one million dollars from the capital improvement fund for the replacement of police equipment and vehicles.

Um this is authorizing the mayor to accept bids and award contracts for said purchases.

Councilman Driscoll.

Thank you, Chair.

You probably know what I'm gonna ask Rick.

Uh what's the what's the makeup of the inventory that we're uh that we're getting here?

We have currently we are currently slated for the purchase of 14 pursuit-rated Ford um uh interceptors.

Okay, so nothing different than we bought last year.

Correct.

Um, I do know uh and I have not seen the report yet, but I do know that we had uh test drove two EV modeled Chevy Blazers um with the police department.

I have not seen that full detailed uh response of how that worked out for them.

Um skipping this cycle to purchase electric vehicles for the police department will just give me adequate time to install more EV stations.

Yep.

So when that time comes, it will have that infrastructure built.

Yeah, I think we're not quite ready yet from the conversations we have with the police.

Although the test drives have gone well, I think I think we're not yet ready to make that uh decision.

So I think waiting maybe one more cycle of you know going to the next year's capital budget.

But I also think um not dissimilar from item uh three that we could use a certain amount of uh the one percent funds for you know if we if we finish if if we finish the work of the sort of task force that we've got looking into police vehicles, we could we could make additional purchases later this year out of the one percent uh for the environment fund.

I I wanted to and thank you for that those comments.

I wanted to you know give you assurance um based off of all of the conversations and our high-level interest that we uh look at EV charged vehicles or uh non-combustible engines.

Uh rest assured that we keep our fingers on that pulse, right?

We are always monitoring um obviously the big three has taken a huge step backwards when it comes to uh the EV platforms.

Um we've had several vehicles that have been canceled as we try to expand our EV fleet, but unfortunately, as the big three has taken a step back, we're looking now towards 2027 and 2028 as they change those platforms and as that EV platform is continually evolving as uh the energy needs change.

Yeah, but again, that gives me uh adequate time to continue looking at the infrastructure, continue building that infrastructure while looking at the power grid citywide.

Yeah, I think that's smart.

I think we have time to wait and make that decision.

The only really interesting thing I think the task force is kind of uncovered is it's a lot easier to get pursuit rated as an electric vehicle because they accelerate much quicker than uh so that that's why.

And um in some cases they're cheaper than the pursuit-rated uh combustion engine vehicles.

Yeah, we're getting some good feedback.

Um we were kind of disappointed when the Ford Lightning was pulled back.

We were in attempting to purchase five of them, um, receiving one of them, which we're we're truly just kind of you know, validating and measuring the usefulness of that in a city fleet of our size, um, but unfortunately Ford withdrew those other uh and then limited our purchasing's power.

Um but unfortunately Ford withdrew those other uh and then limited our purchasing's power.

So um we're gonna continue to monitor that and we are committed to moving that needle forward um for further conversations.

So thank you.

Yeah, I I really appreciate uh the good faith uh from the administration on this so far.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Uh request an SCP.

One question from Councilman Surratt.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Um what's the average length of time that we uh keep our Ford Explorer police cars?

Uh we're averaging right now 126,000 miles uh if you take all of them into consideration.

And we are looking as we continue to move forward, recycling them every three years, because at the three-year mark we're we're we're coming up with the higher maintenance cost.

Um that's just everyday use.

That's not counting anything that's either damaged um by a citizen and or are you know we we crash up or bend up.

So um that's just strictly maintenance expenses associated with running those cars 24 hours a day.

So we're looking at about a three-year uh lifespan and or demoting them to community officers to where we take them out of uh a pursuit rated scenario and then just basically repurposing those marked units for other uh benefits citywide.

Okay, thank you.

Yes, sir.

Thank you, madam chair.

Chairman um Cole, your recommendation?

SCP.

Item number six.

Item number six is being brought to us by our parks and recreation division and will be presented by Commissioner Karen Rainey Wilkins.

Good afternoon.

I'm seeking authorization for the expenditure of 300,000 dollars from the Capital Improvement Fund for our continued parked infrastructure revitalization efforts.

Um this would include it, but is not limited to benches, picnic tables, grills, pathways, parking lots, signage, drinking fountains, and more.

I don't know if anybody has any questions.

Okay, I will want to oh councilman Driscoll.

Thank you, Chair.

Uh thank you, Commissioner.

I just curious, do we once we appropriate this money and then kind of you expend the dollars as you see fit, or do you have a plan for what you're gonna do with uh them the dollars this year?

Well, this is our sixth year of seven years of of really aggressively pursuing these improvements and replacements.

Um we do have uh the we're at the last of the list of some of these items.

So example picnic tables and benches um pretty much have got those covered.

We've got about a dozen more in each of those categories.

So we've identified those.

We're doing an assessment of the drinking fountain situation.

We have some that were um in the past turned off and uh disconnected, and we would like to look at whether it makes sense to replace those with new units.

Um beyond that, the big need really truly is parking lots and drives into the parks, but though that's a very expensive endeavor because many of them need serious infrastructure um rebuilding.

So that's we're gonna try and squeeze as much out of this as we can.

Do you have a uh long-term list, not just of the stuff you uh intend to accomplish this year, but of all the capital needs as you understand them that you know if we put in a referral for them, could we could you show us what you intend to do this year, but then also what the capital needs, you know, you feel I mean I it doesn't it it won't affect whether or not we vote on this next week, I think just out of curiosity.

Absolutely, yes, we can.

Okay, thank you.

I think I'll put in that referral.

Thank you.

I would like to acknowledge councilwoman Morris.

And actually that was going to be my question as far as the referral.

Um, but I will also add um I guess the number of visitors per park as well, just trying to see a correlation um and also uh identifying what would what are the priority parks and and the priority um things that need to be replaced or or um fixed in that aspect.

So I can put in that referral as well, in addition to councilman Driscoll's.

I I generally send out a quarterly report to the district council members on what's happening in the parks in their district as well as the visitation at each park.

Um so I can just send us a send that to everybody.

Just send it to everybody, yeah.

Because I I would definitely want to know that as well as far as going out to the community and going to different parks so I can have those conversation points.

Um but I can still put in that referral.

Yeah, send it to everybody, please.

Um questions, all right.

Uh Chairman Cole Mas, your recommendation?

SEP, please.

Thank you.

So now we are going to item seven through 13 from the Department of Public Utilities.

Wait till they get settled.

Just get started whenever you are settled.

You know it's opening day, so I know people want to get out.

And you're not gonna yell at me, so let's go.

We'll go as quickly as we can.

Understand the home time hometown pride.

Um good afternoon.

I am Patika Pope Bannister, director of the Department of Public Works, and I have with me first Abbott Simon, the commissioner of environmental services, then Christine Minor, who is the plant administrator at the water reclamation facility.

Andrew and Andy McClure, uh Commissioner of Plant Operations, and then Noah.

No, sir.

Okay, and then Noah Gallagher will ganger Ganger, sorry.

Um he is administrator of plant operations at Collins Park.

So Abbott will go first.

Good afternoon.

Abbott Saman with Environmental Services.

I'll try to make this very quick.

Uh back in 2023, we received uh an air grant uh in the amount of 1,350,000 that was from the Ohio EPA and $650,000 uh from US EPA.

Subsequently, the OEPA increased their grant award by 81,624, while the US EPA decreased their grant award by $89,987.

The piece of legislation you have before you is really kind of to true up the accounts, uh so to accept and deposit the additional grant proceeds uh in the amount of $81,624 that we received from Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and reducing the grant proceeds from the operating grant fund in the amount of eighty-nine thousand dollars nine hundred and eighty-seven uh that uh was not received at that point from the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

I'll take any questions you have and uh respectfully requesting SEP.

Chairman Colmars, your recommendation?

Thank you.

This is really important and good work, and we always appreciate that you come to us with grants.

SEP, please.

Thank you.

Item number eight.

Good morning.

Christine Minor from the Division of Water Reclamation presenting for the grit collection parts and equipment.

Uh this ordinance seeks to provide the legislation necessary to waive competitive bidding process and allow for the purchase of up to 184,000 dollars of repair and replacement parts and equipment from Amwell, who's the original equipment manufacturer.

Um the items will be installed by plant staff, and this will put two of our six crit tanks that are currently out of service back into service.

I think we have to go back and request respectfully requesting SEP as well.

Yep, that one.

Okay.

Okay, Vice Chair Morris, your recommendation.

SEP, please.

Okay, item number nine.

Me again.

Um we are requesting $65,000 of the sewer operating budget to replace process control equipment at the wastewater treatment facility, things such as dissolved oxygen, pH probes and other process control equipment that we use to monitor and maintain compliance within the plant.

Successfully or respectfully requesting SCP.

Bicure Morris, your recommendation?

SCP.

Item 10.

This is a hundred um, I'm sorry, an ordinance to request 125,000 to purchase um two-thirds of an acre of space adjacent to our currently rental area pumping station.

Um we have um out for bid or um improvements to that Reynolds area pumping station.

And in order to do so, we need to buy two-thirds of an acre of property just north of the existing location.

So the 125,000 will cover the cost of the purchase of the um parcel as well as money to the real realtor company, I guess you would call it, um, which is the West Erie Real Estate Solutions for those purposes of purchasing that land.

Respectfully requesting SCP as well.

Sorry, I'm just trying to clarify something.

Um Councilman Soranto.

Thank you.

Uh, who are the current owners of that property?

It's one of the dollar stores on the other side of the fall state.

So it's it's a dollar store that's uh closing.

No, they're they have a weird L-shaped property, and we're essentially just splitting off and buying the section that's directly behind the Reynolds uh area pump station.

Okay.

I can't I pause it.

See, there's a family dollar and a dollar general on either side of it.

I can't keep straight which one that is, but it'd be the one to the east if you're looking to the east.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you, madam chair.

Okay.

Vice Chair Morris, your recommendation.

Uh I'll go SEP, but I'm really excited.

I had a meeting with Patika uh the other day, and we were talking about some of the improvements that are gonna happen at the Reynolds uh Reynolds area pump station, and just really excited for this.

So definitely SCP.

Thank you.

Okay, item 11.

The Division of Water Treatment recently prepared and submitted a grant application with collaboration from the Ohio State University to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

The grant application is for source water protection strategies and is proposed to include OSU completing an educational campaign within the Western Lake Erie Basin to increase awareness and understanding of the connection between nutrient management and Lake Erie Health.

The grant application was recently approved in the amount of $15,129.

Um the educational efforts will include a train the trainee program to better educate OSU extension agents.

The proposed grant structure would involves educational activities within Lake Erie Basin within the city of Toledo covering direct expense not to exceed $15,129.

Um this will be a reimbursement.

So City of Toledo will pay for those expenses and be in reimbursed by Ohio EPA.

Water treatment staff will administer and oversee the grant program and review all the materials and educational programs.

And we're requesting SEP.

I actually had a question considering just the cuts to OSU extension.

Is this just for um a year or like what what is basically the plan and what what gap is this filling in relation to just what's happening with the extension services here?

Uh this it's just uh it's limited to the scope of services, it'll be uh a one-time um contract, I guess, with the uh with the extension.

Okay, and it's just for the year or is just uh however long it takes to send the 15,000.

There could be some audio video, there could be preparation of educational um documents or um organization of meetings, um, but yeah.

Okay, all right.

Umris, your recommendation?

SCP, please.

Item number 12.

Uh I'm Noah Ganger with the C of Tullio Water Treatment Plant.

Um item number 12 is for the legislation authorizing the appropriation expenditure of 105,000 dollars from the water replacement fund.

Uh it's for the replacement of an inline total or organic carbon meter, TOC, and one bench top TOC meter.

Um the water plant, uh, we find that reading and tracking high organic content in the lake is incredibly important in through our subsequent uh treatment processes.

Um the inline meter gives us real-time data.

We can trend it uh 24-7.

Uh usually TOC gives us an early indicator of when our source water is changing due to algal activity uh runoff or lake turnover.

Um high organics can be hard to treat water, especially during the springtime.

Uh so our current in inline TOC meter locate at low uh uh low service pump station and our lab uh bench top CO CO TO C meters are uh currently obsolete and it's difficult to find the replacement parts and keep them running.

Uh our inline TOC TOC mirror is actively failing.

So definitely times like spring after all that heavy rain.

We want to make sure that TOC meter is still actively reading and giving us that real time data.

And we're requesting SCP.

Any questions?

Okay.

SEP.

All right, item 13.

All right.

Item 13 is for the authorization appropriation expenditure of 140, 145,000 from the water replacement fund for four ultraviolet 254 meters.

Um similar to TOC MEARS, it reads organic uh organic compounds in the water, and we want four ultraviolet UV 254 meters to be placed in key positions of our uh water treatment plant for so it should give us raw and also raw water and also mirrors to show us organics before and after ozone.

Ozone's our new process that's been online since 2021.

It's great at removing and limiting or organics, but currently we don't have the best process control for ozone.

So to better run it efficiently, we kind of need to see where our organic levels are right before ozone and after ozone.

So we know how much to treat with ozone and also organics also impact our coagulation process and disinfection.

So being able to read organic levels throughout the process allows us to better run our processes more efficiently, cut down on chemicals requesting SCP.

SEP okay, item 14 will be from the Department of Communications.

Take it all away.

Is it on?

I'm on.

Good afternoon, members of council.

My name is Rachel Hart, Chief of Communications here today requesting authorization for an amount up to $35,000 for city website improvements.

Um key enhancements that we need to make um somewhat urgently are um enhancements to our city's website ADA compliance.

New guidelines are going into effect this month.

Um so we'd like to make sure we're able to continue meeting those guidelines.

Um and secondly, our current content management system is reaching end of life, um, and so we'll need to replace that promptly in order to prevent any ongoing security risks.

Um I'm happy to answer any questions that you might have, um, and we're requesting SEP.

Thank you.

Councilwoman Kramer.

Hello.

Um, I just had the question of um what's the timeline for the improvements?

Yeah, so the timeline for our accessibility enhancements would be to have those complete by the end of the month.

So we have done, I think a really good job of staying current with those guidelines as they change.

We've done a lot of um testing of the site, so I'm confident that we don't have that much more to do in order to meet that compliance deadline at the end of April.

Um, and it may take us a little bit longer to get through the content management system upgrades, but we're shooting for early summer.

Very ambitious.

Thank you.

Yes, thank you.

Councilman Soranto.

Thank you, madam sure.

Uh director, why are we waiving the competitive uh requirements?

Yes, sure.

So um Matt House was selected to build our current website through a competitive bid process back in 2020.

Uh and since then we have continued to work with them for ongoing website updates.

Um in 2023, council did approve a competitive bid waiver to do um some additional maintenance on the website.

Our IT leadership has advised in this current security environment that it is recommended we stick with our trusted uh vendors to continue that maintenance.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you, uh Madam Chair.

Okay.

Um President Williams, your recommendation.

I talked to Councilwoman McPherson and she says she was okay with going SEP for this.

Um is this the last year we'll need Matt House or next year will be able to open it up or will do we have to stick with that?

We will we plan to to stick with Madhouse as long as we keep the current city website.

So we built the website in 2020, so we're on year six of this investment.

So until we're ready to sort of start over and build a new website from the ground up, our plan would be to stick with Madhouse.

Okay, thank you.

Thanks.

SEP items 15 through 19 will be from the Department of Development.

Good afternoon, Council.

Brandon Sellhorst, Chief Growth Officer.

I'm joined by Paul Searing, General Counsel, and Eileen Granada, senior attorney, to present items 15 through 17.

The proposed legislation represents a generational opportunity to retain and strengthen one of Toledo's most important economic assets, which is the Owens Corning's worldwide headquarters for the next 30 years.

Owens Corning is proposing to invest more than 250 million dollars in its global headquarters in downtown Toledo to modernize the facility and to support new and emerging technologies.

This is one of the largest corporate reinvestments in downtown Toledo in decades.

This incentive before you is the extension of an existing tax increment financing or a TIFF for 30 years, which Ohio law allows when a company makes a significant reinvestment in a facility.

TIFF is a performance-based real property tax exemption, meaning the real property tax exemption is effective if the company performs on its commitments.

In exchange, Owens Corning is committing to the following.

First, to maintain its worldwide headquarters in downtown Toledo for the next 30 years.

Secondly, to invest at least 250 million dollars into its headquarters.

Third, to retain all of the current jobs at the site, which currently standing, it's at 1,036 jobs.

They're proposing to create a minimum of 25 new jobs at the site.

They will enter into a payment in lieu of taxes agreement with the Toledo Public Schools, ensuring continued annual revenue to the school district.

They will provide annual reporting on employment, payroll, and investment to the city and the state of Ohio as required by Ohio Law.

And they will support the final phase of the Glass City Riverwalk Project, which is envisioned to be on their property, which is, as we all know, kind of helping to unlock a critical public uh improvement project on their campus.

So this investment is being evaluated against other Owens courting locations and investment priorities.

This incentive helps ensure Toledo remains the preferred location for the company's global headquarters and future growth for decades to come.

Retaining a Fortune 500 company Fortune 500 headquarters is one of the highest value economic development outcomes a city can achieve.

These are high-wage jobs that generate significant income and net profits tax revenue to the city.

They support our local and regional economy, and they are truly a catalyst for additional investment in downtown Toledo.

In short, this legislation secures corporate jobs, it leverages a major private investment, and it reinforces Toledo's position as a headquarters city and does so with a performance-based budget neutral tool to the city.

As it relates to the agenda items, uh item 15 on the agenda amends the the ordinance uh that authorized the existing TIFF and authorizes the extension.

Item number 16 authorizes an amendment to the development agreement, which codifies those commitments from the company that we mentioned.

And item 17 on the agenda is uh what authorizes the city to enter into an agreement with the company and Metro Parks Toledo to essentially give the appropriate legal instrument that's needed uh to build out the Glass City Riverwalk on the Owens Corning headquarter campus.

Uh respectfully request first reading on this on all three items.

Happy to answer any questions that you have.

Councilman Saranto.

Thank you.

I think this is absolutely outstanding.

Uh you know, Owens Corning has been a great corporate citizen uh in this community for decades.

And I can remember back uh in the mid-90s to late 90s, uh Owens Corning looked at going elsewhere in this country, and uh there was not a metropolitan area in this country that would not have welcomed them.

And uh there was not a metropolitan area in this country that would not have welcomed them.

And we very wisely uh kept them here.

Credit obviously goes to the Finkbinder administration uh because that was a that was a battle, but we kept them here and look at what this has done for downtown.

They're also cooperatively you know working with Metro Parks, which is exciting with the river walk and so forth.

So uh it's additional jobs, uh it's keeping the jobs that we have here a thousand thirty-six, uh, and again it's enabling a company that's that's uh just doing very well uh to stay in Toledo, and it is very important that we have a Fortune 500 company.

So I'm very pleased about uh how this has turned out and to the naysayers back in the 90s that said, why are we giving them tax abatement?

Why are we doing this?

Why are we doing that?

Well, you know what?

They could have easily left.

There were at least 50 locations they could have gone to.

And the fact of the matter is that we have to do everything we can in this economic environment to keep what we have, uh especially when they've turned out to be an excellent company for Toledo.

So thank you.

Thank you for your impression of the naysayers as well.

Could have been worse.

Councilmember Comives.

Thank you so much.

That's why we were giggling over here.

Um yeah, I too want to just uh extend my appreciation for the upkeep of the property, what it means for the the riverfront area down there.

I'm really excited to see uh the pieces of this that tie into the action that's happening there.

I also want to call out the rooftop or the the parking lot solar.

Really appreciate the the work that's there, and I think it's important because when people come into Toledo, it's one of the first things that they get to see, and I think it's really important because as we as a council continue to push for more renewable options, and people push back on us and say solar doesn't work in Toledo.

I always point to the solar array at Owens Corning.

So um just really appreciate all of uh all of those uh pieces.

You mentioned that there's annual reporting.

Was there annual reporting already happening?

And if so, can we just see the last five years of that?

Absolutely.

You can see um the most recent annual report, so all annual reports on tax incentives are due to the state of Ohio by March 31st of every year.

So we do annual reporting with the company.

Would be happy to provide that.

Thank you.

I just appreciate that.

Um that's all I have.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Yes, and I would also echo just the sentiment.

Um, you know, this is really what I mean when I talk about community benefits agreements.

I know it says developer agreements, but this is in the same essence of what we mean when we want to want developers coming in and not of course getting tax incentives, but investing back into the city, and this is a prime example of that.

So kudos to that, kudos to the work, and really looking forward to just what comes of this, especially within the downtown area.

Um President Williams, your recommendation.

Thank you.

Um, I'll give him recommendation.

I actually it was so funny because Brandon caught me to a meeting.

I mean, director Sellhorse called me to a meeting up on a 22 with them, and I saw them and met them, and I was like, please don't leave.

And it was the total opposite.

I was like, I thought they were gonna tell me you're not it.

So um I'm so glad that they're staying, and I appreciate what they do because they don't just do work um downtown, they actually are in the community and they don't say how much they give to community.

Um, habitat from humanity is a great partner of theirs, and they do a lot of work with Habitat.

So I appreciate the work that they do.

Um, for item 15, I'll do first read, 16 first read, and 17 first read.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, items 18 through 19 are from the Department of Transportation.

Good afternoon, Christy Soncrant, Commissioner Engineering and Construction Management.

Um item number 18.

This ordinance allows Odot to rehabilitate the Craig Memorial Bridge within the City of Toledo limits.

The project will upgrade the electrical and mechanical components of the lift bridge.

The work will require single lane closures for most of the duration of the construction.

At the end, a 180-day full closure with a detour route will be in place.

The work is anticipated to start in 2028 and be completed in 2029.

This project is fully funded by ODOT with no cost to the city of Toledo.

Requesting first reading, and we'll take any questions at this time.

Councilmember Comives.

Thank you so much.

I love all the work that we've been doing along the bridges in downtown.

I think they've all turned out to look really great, and so I'm excited to hear about this too.

Um what is the detour route looking like on this?

Is it just over to Cherry Street or they don't have it laid out yet?

I would assume that's what it's gonna be, but we don't know until it gets closer to the time.

No worries.

Do you know like uh average daily traffic count on this bridge?

But I don't have it off the top of my head.

I can get it by referral if you would like that.

Yeah, I'd take that.

That's all my questions.

Thank you.

Chairman Driscoll, your recommendation.

Um we'll go first reading.

Just curious though starting 2028, be completed in 2029.

Could be two years or one year, depending on what what season you mean by that.

So ODOT's fiscal year usually starts in June.

So you're talking about the June.

Yeah.

Okay, all right.

Terrific, thank you.

Item 19.

Item 19.

Ordinance 442 25 requested loans of 16 million to replace the 48-inch sewer main located on Arlington Avenue.

Due to the wet spring weather, it was necessary to request several additional pumps, which increased the cost of the project by two million dollars.

Therefore, we are requesting a supplemental loan in the amount of two million from the Ohio Water Development Authority.

Um, requesting SCP and we'll take any questions at this time.

President Williams.

Thank you so much.

Um, just no questions just really this really goes to the conversation I keep having about our infrastructure.

We really have to dig into this infrastructure because it this is another gift that keeps on giving is this Arlington project.

I just uh really feel bad for the residents over there.

This has been going on for so long, but this just goes to how bad our infrastructure is and how we um really need to start focusing on that even more.

Not that we're not focused on it now.

Um, you know, uh like I tow director Salehorse, we have all these great projects coming and all this development we want to do, and all these people we want to bring to the city can't do that.

We don't have if we can have sewers and water mains busting all over the place.

So hopefully that um you know us as a council really start um really working towards uh that and working with the administration towards that.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilman Copes.

So the two million dollars was only for pumps.

Yes, we have to um they're 14-inch to pump all the water that can't get through Arlington, that 48-inch sewer now.

And is it uh is this like the only instance when we would need one of those?

I'm just curious how much does one cost.

They are pretty expensive because we did look into it.

I don't remember off the top of my head, but they were expensive.

And um, I'm hoping we are, which I believe most of you know, but I'll reiterate it now.

Um we're gonna replace the other half.

Yeah.

So um, yeah, because we don't want this to continue happening.

Um but uh we hope to not ever need those kind of pumps ever again.

That would be lovely.

Um I just um I'm just it's becoming so I mean it's it's obviously so much money, and we all know that.

Um and it just is really making me think about uh have we had conversations with our state lawmakers, anybody else to think about what other funding mechanisms might exist or if there's any help from a rainy day fund.

I mean, this is certainly not a small feat, it's uh it's quite a you know, I and I'm sure we're not the only community dealing with something of this nature, but they're sitting on three billion dollars in a rainy day fund, and we're struggling to pay our bills.

So I just I'd love to start those conversations and see who else we can engage.

Um, just putting it out there for myself.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Chair Driscoll, what is your recommendation?

Uh definitely SCP.

Um but this isn't uh I appreciate what you had to share with us, President Williams.

This is not the only taking time bomb on our agenda.

I mean, if you look at the amount of police vehicles we're replacing this year, our fleet in general, um you know how many of how many of our vehicles are in a real state of disrepair and we don't have the money each year.

This is why council passed a resolution last week.

We we we have got to stop transferring out of our capital fund.

We have to uh because the needs are piling up, and the longer we put it off, the worse the problem gets.

And and our infrastructure is just another example of that.

But I absolutely we got a go SCP on this, and um I agree with you, Councilmember Comines, whatever we can to find the sources to move this project along because we're looking this is a long time horizon now for these residents, and and the it appears that the uh the radius for for the impacted neighborhoods is getting larger and larger by the day.

So the faster we can get this done the better, but definitely SEP on this.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay.

Moving to Department of Law for item 20.

Good afternoon, members of council, Dale Amsch, City Law Director.

I'm here with Jeff Charles, our litigation chief, and Michael Walton, a senior attorney for the department.

Um item 20 is an ordinance that seeks approval for a 750,000 dollar post-judgment settlement stemming from a personal injury accident.

Um we believe that the settlement is in the best interest of the city and are requesting SEP.

Chairman Hobbes, your recommendation?

SCP, please.

Thank you.

Next, we have the clerk reports the vacation of an alley located behind 2024 Champlain.

This was heard by the zoning and planning committee in January of 2026, and we did receive payment after the border revision.

We have two resolutions in attendance from all members.

We have a resolution recognizing National Arab American Heritage Month.

And then next we have the National Association a letter carrier's annual food drive.

We have one appointment from the Office of the Mayor for the Civil Service Commission.

It's Karen Poor.

Under the second read items, we have 109-26, amending Toledo Municipal Code by enacting a new section 557 titled Biometric Data Collection.

And 113-26 agreement with priority waste for five years with a five-year renewal for curbside waste and recycling.

$13,560,000 from the general fund.

Councilman Saranton?

Thank you.

I'm still uh waiting on a referral answer.

I had asked last week for a copy of the current contract with Republic that the county uh drew up.

And I've also asked by way of referral for a copy of the uh proposed contract with priority.

Uh it's come to my attention, and I'll be happy to admit if I'm wrong on this, but in the uh current contract with Republic, there were no penalty clauses.

There were really no opportunity to take punitive action uh with Republic if they didn't live up to the contract uh in terms of what they needed to do.

So I'm hopeful that the administration will get us those contracts.

I find it interesting if there were no penalty clauses.

Why in the heck uh did did the county agree to that?

It just doesn't make sense to me.

You always have to have penalty clauses uh so that you can take appropriate action when you have a contract, particularly a contract of that magnitude uh that affects uh every residence and uh in the city of Toledo.

So I uh hopefully I'll we'll get that information for members to see what the original contract is and what the proposed contract is.

Um thank you very much.

Next, we have two new items from City Council.

One is the expenditure expenditure for sponsorship of 2026 Glass City Jazz Fest, 40,000 from the general fund.

This is from Councilwoman McPherson.

Then we have granting a six-month extension for the SUP at 3535 West Sylvania Avenue.

It's granted by ordinance 170-25 for lacrosse and soccer fields.

This is under Councilwoman Morris, and we have a third item from Dr.

Jones.

Thank you, Cleric.

The third item is a walk on resolution from the Department of Housing and Community Development.

It is to designate the week of April 6th through the 10th.

So this week of 2026 as National Community Development Week.

This is to celebrate the tremendous investment that the community development block grant or CDBG program has had within our city.

And just to give more leverage as well as highlighting the contributions to housing stock, infrastructure, public services, and just the overall economic well-being of the community.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

I just wanted to thank all my colleagues for joining us today.

I know that it is the mudhands game today.

So whoever is going to enjoy the weather and see the game, good luck to them.

As I'm telling you, it'd be popping down there.

So everyone have safe and be fun.

Have fun and be safe.

Not have safe.

Have fun and be safe, and definitely want to send our prayers up for councilwoman McPherson right now.

Just making sure she has a speedy recovery.

Thanks.

Thank you.

All right.

Seeing no further business, this meeting is adjourned.