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Record of Proceedings

Whitehall City Council Meeting - November 5, 2025

City Council — Wednesday, November 5, 2025
BodyWhitehall, Ohio
SessionCity Council
DateWednesday, November 5, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
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Speaker numbers apply only to this recording. Names come from transcript evidence. “Possibly” marks uncertain attribution.

Speaker 1

0:25

Good evening, everybody.

0:26

Welcome to the White Hall City Council agenda meeting for Wednesday, November 5th, 2025.

0:32

We will start with a moment of silence, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

0:35

We'll then have our roll call.

0:38

We will appear to have one member not with us this evening.

0:41

I'll need somebody to make a motion to excuse.

0:44

Thank you, Ms.

0:44

Elmore.

0:46

And who would like to second?

0:47

I will.

0:48

Thank you, Mr.

0:48

Morrison.

0:55

And then we uh will depart a little with our traditional, and I'm gonna uh have the three candidates who are with us this evening are no longer candidates but have been elected into office stand up, stay their name, and um so they can be introduced to everyone here uh on the DS and for the public.

1:15

So just a quick introduction from each of them.

1:17

Uh then Mr.

1:19

Nicodemus, I believe you want to go to executive session.

Speaker 2

1:21

Yes.

Speaker 1

1:22

So we will uh take a motion to go in executive session uh after

Unassigned speaker

1:28

the

Speaker 1

1:28

newly elected individuals have introduced themselves.

Unassigned speaker

1:31

When

Speaker 1

1:31

we come out of executive session, we'll go into our approval of the minutes, uh, which is quite a few.

1:36

We've got the September 9th, 2025 agenda and committee meeting minutes, the September 16, 2025 agenda and regular meeting minutes, the September 23rd, 2025 agenda and committee meeting minutes, the October 7th, 2025 agenda and regular meeting minutes, the October 14th, 2025 agenda and committee meeting minutes, the October 28th, 2025 agenda and special meeting minutes, and lastly the October 28th agenda and committee meeting minutes.

Unassigned speaker

2:01

Uh

Speaker 1

2:01

we'll then move into our standing committee reports, followed by officials reports.

2:06

Um sorry, were you saying something?

Unassigned speaker

2:14

Oh,

Speaker 1

2:14

the approval of the minutes.

2:15

Who would like to make a motion for the approval of the minutes?

Unassigned speaker

2:19

Mr.

Speaker 1

2:19

Morrison, thank

Unassigned speaker

2:20

you.

Speaker 3

2:21

I'll second.

Unassigned speaker

2:23

Okay,

Speaker 4

2:23

that was

Speaker 1

2:24

heck.

2:25

Thank you.

Speaker 3

2:26

Amy

Speaker 1

2:28

which one of you was it.

2:30

Okay.

Speaker 5

2:31

I'm

Speaker 1

2:31

not looking, so I can't be certain.

2:34

Thank you, Mr.

2:35

Morrison for pointing that out.

2:37

Uh, since our last meeting, there have been no official reports filed in the council office since the last meeting.

2:41

Um same holds true as there's been no communications, petitions, or claims filed in the council office since our last meeting.

2:48

We'll then move to our poll public, uh, verification of copies.

2:51

Under third reading, we have no legislation for third reading this evening.

2:55

Uh under second reading, we also have no legislation for this evening.

2:58

Uh under first reading, we have uh three items will be title only.

3:02

First being ordinance one twelve twenty twenty-five.

3:05

It has been referred to the planning commission for their November 17th meeting, which is an ordinance amending the use regulations in tables 1103.02, table eleven three point zero three, and table eleven oh eight point zero one, part eleven of planning and zoning code.

3:22

Ordinance one thirteen twenty twenty-five was read by title only.

3:25

An ordinance authorized the mayor to execute the necessary conveyance documents to acquire property from Columbus Housing Partnership located at zero etna road, Whitehall, Ohio, and declaring an emergency.

3:36

And our final piece of legislation by title only will be ordinance one fourteen, twenty twenty-five, authorizing an appropriation of the amount of three hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars from unappropriate monies and the Wimpetty Fund 279, the Aetna Road TIFF expense account 279.000.50,008 and declaring an emergency.

Unassigned speaker

3:56

We

Speaker 1

3:57

then have orders 116, 2025, uh approving and making a fund transfer in the amount of 829,443 and 75 cents from unappropriate monies of the general fund 101 to the debt service fund 401.

4:11

That'll be introduced by Miss Elmore, seconded by Mr.

4:14

Morrison.

4:14

Our last piece of legislation is uh ordinance 117 2025, approving a fund transfer in the amount of 462,212.50 cents from the police department tax levy fund 280 to the debt service fund 401.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural████████████████████████████████████36%
Public Engagement███████████████████19%
Elections███████████11%
Food Security███████7%
Public Safety███████7%
Executive Session██████6%
Economic Development██████6%
Affordable Housing█████5%
Veterans Affairs███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Whitehall City Council Meeting - November 5, 2025

Whitehall City Council held its regular meeting on November 5, 2025. The meeting included an executive session, approval of past minutes, official reports, first readings of three ordinances, and the unanimous adoption of two financial ordinances.

Consent Calendar

  • Seven sets of meeting minutes from September and October 2025 were approved. An amendment corrected the September 23, 2025 minutes to reflect the Mayor stating he does not find it enjoyable to attend council meetings without prior notice of the topics.
  • An absent council member was excused by a unanimous vote.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No members of the public spoke during the two dedicated public comment periods.

Executive Session

  • Council voted to enter executive session under ORC 121.22 G3 for pending litigation, with labor attorney Mark Fischell. The motion included a debate over the temporary exclusion of Mayor Bivens from the session. The closed session lasted from approximately 7:00 PM to 8:21 PM.

Officials Reports

  • Mayor Michael Bivens congratulated newly elected officials and citizens on Issue 28, announced the November 6 groundbreaking of Aries Lofts (315 housing units, first residents expected Summer 2027), and reported on food insecurity in the Pinewood neighborhood (27% SNAP participation). He stated the city's infant mortality rate is 10.5 per 1,000 live births, compared to Franklin County's 7.3, asserting babies are three to four times more likely to die due to systemic poverty. He presented a budget timeline: submission to committee on November 12 and public testimony on November 16.
  • City Attorney Bradley Nicodemus reported the Ohio Supreme Court accepted the state's appeal in the tobacco retail license lawsuit. The city, part of a 28-municipality coalition, has won at the trial court and 10th District Court of Appeals levels.
  • Treasurer Shaquille Alexander noted October tax collections were under half of expectations but predicted no drastic issues.

First Readings

  • Ordinance 112-2025, amending use regulations in the Planning and Zoning Code, was read by title and referred to the Planning Commission for November 17.
  • Ordinance 113-2025, authorizing property acquisition from Columbus Housing Partnership at 0 Etna Road, was read by title with an emergency clause.
  • Ordinance 114-2025, appropriating $375,000 from the WIMPITE Fund to the Etna Road TIF Expense Account, was read by title with an emergency clause.

Key Outcomes

  • Ordinance 116-2025 was adopted, transferring $829,443.75 from the General Fund (101) to the Debt Service Fund (401). Motion by Elmore, second by Morrison, passed unanimously.
  • Ordinance 117-2025 was adopted, transferring $462,212.50 from the Police Department Tax Levy Fund (280) to the Debt Service Fund (401). Motion by Elmore, second by Morrison, passed unanimously.
  • Council members congratulated all election participants. Councilwoman Harcar provided extensive food security resources and read a statement from the absent Councilman Brown. Councilman Dixon publicly thanked Public Service Director Casey Rowlands for recent road improvements on Broad Street. Council members encouraged all candidates who did not win to remain engaged.

Meeting Transcript

Good evening, everybody. Welcome to the White Hall City Council agenda meeting for Wednesday, November 5th, 2025. We will start with a moment of silence, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. We'll then have our roll call. We will appear to have one member not with us this evening. I'll need somebody to make a motion to excuse. Thank you, Ms. Elmore. And who would like to second? I will. Thank you, Mr. Morrison. And then we uh will depart a little with our traditional, and I'm gonna uh have the three candidates who are with us this evening are no longer candidates but have been elected into office stand up, stay their name, and um so they can be introduced to everyone here uh on the DS and for the public. So just a quick introduction from each of them. Uh then Mr. Nicodemus, I believe you want to go to executive session. Yes. So we will uh take a motion to go in executive session uh after the newly elected individuals have introduced themselves. When we come out of executive session, we'll go into our approval of the minutes, uh, which is quite a few. We've got the September 9th, 2025 agenda and committee meeting minutes, the September 16, 2025 agenda and regular meeting minutes, the September 23rd, 2025 agenda and committee meeting minutes, the October 7th, 2025 agenda and regular meeting minutes, the October 14th, 2025 agenda and committee meeting minutes, the October 28th, 2025 agenda and special meeting minutes, and lastly the October 28th agenda and committee meeting minutes. Uh we'll then move into our standing committee reports, followed by officials reports. Um sorry, were you saying something? Oh, the approval of the minutes. Who would like to make a motion for the approval of the minutes? Mr. Morrison, thank you. I'll second. Okay, that was heck. Thank you. Amy which one of you was it. Okay. I'm not looking, so I can't be certain. Thank you, Mr. Morrison for pointing that out. Uh, since our last meeting, there have been no official reports filed in the council office since the last meeting. Um same holds true as there's been no communications, petitions, or claims filed in the council office since our last meeting. We'll then move to our poll public, uh, verification of copies. Under third reading, we have no legislation for third reading this evening. Uh under second reading, we also have no legislation for this evening. Uh under first reading, we have uh three items will be title only.

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