Written by the reviewer from the ASR + docket; [verbatim-ASR] = quoted machine transcript; [paraphrase] = reviewer's wording, not a quote.
0:00 All right, we'll call the October 20th meeting of council to order.
0:05 If you're able, please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance.
0:26 We'll now pause for a moment of silence.
0:36 Madam Clerk, please call the roll.
0:38 Vice President Baker?
0:40 Councilmember Block?
0:42 Councilmember Evans?
0:46 Councilmember Marks?
0:48 Councilmember Hamilton-Steiner?
0:50 Councilmember Striegel?
0:52 Move to excuse the absence of Councilmember Bullock?
0:55 Motion has been made and seconded.
1:00 And that motion passes.
1:01 Reading and disposal of the minutes of the regular meeting of council, held October 6,
1:06 Move to approve without the necessity of a reading?
1:09 Motion has been made and seconded.
1:14 And that motion passes.
1:16 Without objection, I'd like to move item 11 to the top.
1:21 Item 11, Beautiful Home Awards, presented by Keep Liquid Beautiful.
1:27 I believe we have a presentation from Keep Liquid Beautiful.
1:35 And the mic's already on, so you don't have to push anything.
1:42 I don't have to yell.
1:45 Thank you for having us.
1:46 I'm Agnes Michalak with current chair of Keep Liquid Beautiful.
1:49 For anyone that's not acquainted with us, we are the proud hosts of all of our local
1:53 adopt-a-spots, monthly pop-up pickups, all initiatives supporting the environmental
1:59 improvement of our great city, and more.
2:02 However, today, our focus is on our beautiful home awards.
2:06 Our home awards would not be possible without the hard work and attention of my fellow
2:09 board member, Hannah Gal.
2:11 On behalf of myself and our board, we thank you, Hannah, for dedicating your time
2:16 to this event and making it look so easy.
2:18 So please, everyone, welcome Hannah to present this year's beautiful home awards.
2:30 Really, it's a whole board effort, so I can't take all the credit by any means, although
2:34 I'm a little bit of the face of it, I suppose.
2:36 Well, thank you to City Council, thank you Mayor George, the administration for
2:39 welcoming Keep Liquid Beautiful once again, allowing us to celebrate with you for our
2:44 annual beautiful home awards.
2:46 So the beautiful home awards has been sponsored by Keep Liquid Beautiful for over 10
2:49 years now, and to quickly tell you a little bit about the process, the
2:54 community is invited to nominate a home, and the Keep Liquid Beautiful board
2:58 comprises a panel to select winners representing each school district.
3:02 The panel considers each home based on criteria like eye-popping landscape,
3:06 well-maintained features.
3:08 This year, 83 nominations were received for 71 total properties, and from that
3:14 pool of stellar representation of our city's beautiful homes, we are pleased to
3:18 present and celebrate the following seven.
3:21 And to the awardees in the audience, to let you know what to expect, so I'll
3:26 give a short description of you and your homes, and then ask that you please
3:30 step up to be recognized, take a quick photo with Mayor George, if you
3:34 would indulge us, and receive a presentation of a plaque to keep at or
3:40 on your home, which I think one of my board members is going to assist with.
3:45 Okay, so to start, first up, 1452 Robinwood Avenue.
3:50 Robert and Karen Porter have lived at this home for 36 years, their first
3:56 Built in the 1890s, records are varying on the exact year.
4:00 This stately Queen Anne revival might be the oldest home of this bunch.
4:05 Their enthusiasm for gardening is infectious and started with the trend
4:08 of vegetable and front yard gardening on their streets.
4:11 Rob's love of gardening was influenced by his parents, his father in
4:14 particular, who always kept a garden.
4:17 Their words of advice include keeping it simple so you don't get
4:19 overwhelmed, lean on containers for added color and texture, and don't be
4:23 shy to mix veggies and flowers.
4:25 Space is not an excuse.
4:27 Please join us in congratulating Rob and Karen.
4:33 We can maybe just head to the side, take a quick photo.
4:35 Mindy will be our photographer.
4:37 Again, it's a total village of helpers here, so thank you, everyone.
4:39 And while they take their photos, I'll move on to the next.
4:41 This is actually the other contender for possible oldest home of this
4:45 And I'm going to take a quick photo.
4:47 I'm going to take a quick photo.
4:49 I'm going to take a quick photo.
4:51 I'm going to take a quick photo.
4:53 I'm going to take a quick photo.
4:55 I'm going to take a quick photo.
4:57 I'm going to take a quick photo.
4:59 Contender for possible oldest home of this bunch is Sherry Hart's home at
5:03 1333 Lakeland Avenue.
5:05 It was the eighth home built on the street back in 1897.
5:09 Sherry's inspiration stems from so many other homes across Lakewood that
5:14 she would see and admire while walking her dog.
5:16 After investing in an exterior facelift of her home last year, she
5:20 knew it was time to finally create the garden of her dreams full of wild
5:24 flowers and pollinators.
5:26 She loves nothing more than enjoying the monarchs and bees from her front
5:28 porch since we're so thrilled to honor Sherry today.
5:30 Sherry, would you like to step up?
5:36 So next, talk about Thought2 and Moo Canal.
5:38 They moved into their Cape Cod style century home at 2195 Waterbury Road
5:42 four years ago in 2021.
5:44 They first started to experiment with their home in 1897.
5:46 They moved into their home in 1897.
5:48 They moved into their home in 1897.
5:50 They moved into their home in 1897.
5:52 They moved into their home in 1897.
5:54 They moved into their home in 1897.
5:57 They first started to experiment with planting while at a refugee camp in
6:02 Upon their arrival to the U.S. in Lakewood, their expertise continued
6:04 to evolve with container gardening and their first apartment to full
6:07 landscaping at their next first home in Lakewood.
6:11 They encourage others to not be afraid to simply start small like
6:15 they did and they continue to grow and add to their beautiful front
6:19 and backyards each spring.
6:21 So please join us in congratulating Thought and Moo.
6:44 2164 Concord Drive is a duplex filled with three generations of the
6:48 Walters and Castellan family.
6:50 family. Built in 1923 the home is a unique stucco finish colonial and the
6:55 gardens in their expansive corner lot are a labor of love that take all four
6:59 adults plus the kids from time to time to keep up with. Practice and patience
7:03 are their key words of advice in addition to finding 50 half-off plants
7:06 when they can and sharing pollinators with neighbors too. And they share that
7:10 the rewards of connecting with nature and wildlife is well worth the
7:13 effort. So congratulations to Samantha, Mario, Jenny, and Mark and family.
7:44 Thomas Moll-Ready and Carol Hunt have lived in their 1913 built arts and crafts
7:54 home at 1365 Webb Road for 37 years and it boasts beautiful ornamental details
8:01 throughout the whole exterior especially the porch and eaves have
8:04 really beautiful woodwork. Carol inherited her love of gardening from
8:08 her father and enjoys the trial and error of trying new designs and
8:11 techniques. Other words of wisdom are to trust your instinct and start small.
8:16 Common words of wisdom here. Things can always be moved or removed if
8:21 it's not working. Congratulations to Thomas and Carol.
8:41 All right so our next awardee unfortunately couldn't make it with us today. So I'll just grab the plaque I think but
8:52 Kristen Larson has lived at 15905 Lake Avenue for three and a half years
8:57 and while she inherited a lovely backyard garden the front was very
9:02 overwhelming at first to keep up with but in starting over she was able to
9:05 simplify and create the beautiful oasis you see today in addition to
9:10 keeping those distinctive lie in a statuary at the front. She recommends
9:14 that others start small as well. Landscaping is a lot of work and can
9:18 quickly become a burden so start small and keep it simple. So again
9:22 Kristen couldn't be here tonight but many congratulations to her. So next up
9:27 Andy Erker and Mary Hildenbrand moved into their home at 2076 Lincoln
9:32 Avenue in 2020 after completing a renovation. They recommend experimenting
9:38 and learning through trial and error and it doesn't hurt if one in the
9:41 partnership, Mary in this case, has a knack for design and creating beautiful
9:45 cozy spaces you can't help but want to linger in. Their words of advice to
9:49 others and it's a great way to close this out I think is to use your
9:53 front porch. This is Lakewood after all. So congratulations to Andy and Mary.
10:08 And don't go too far because we'll take a group photo after this so you can just
10:12 hang. All right so congratulations to everyone this year's beautiful home
10:18 award winners. Thank you again to Council Mayor George for allowing us
10:22 the time and space to celebrate with these amazing community members who
10:26 show so much pride and care of place here in our community. So I want to
10:29 ask everyone to just quickly come up for one last group shot if you don't
10:32 mind. If you want to come up into this section right here then we can
10:38 get the Lakewood behind us and Mayor George can come up in the middle there
10:41 with the whole group. So and members of Lakewood alive, Lakewood alive, keep
10:45 Lakewood beautiful please join them also so we can celebrate all of you.
11:38 We're gonna have to do like a okay everybody ready?
11:45 One, two, three, okay thanks everybody.
12:08 All right so congratulations and thank you so much to Keep Lakewood Beautiful
12:20 for all of your hard work and putting this on and thank you to all the
12:23 residents. It is perfectly acceptable for you to leave it is not considered
12:27 rude at all so please go about your evening if you wish. So thank you all
12:31 for being here. I will move to receive and file the presentation. Okay motion's
12:40 been made and seconded. Discussion? Hearing none all those in favor aye and
12:46 that motion passes. And one report from Committee of the Whole held October
12:51 13, 2025. Dear colleagues the Committee of the Whole met on October 13th to
12:58 interview candidates to fill the council appointed seats on the newly
13:01 formed Complete Streets and Advisory Board case. We received applications
13:06 from 23 residents interested in joining the case board. After reviewing all of
13:11 the excellent applications from 23 residents interested in joining the
13:14 board after I would just repeat myself after reviewing all the excellent
13:18 applications at a previous Committee of the Whole meeting, council invited
13:21 ten people to interview. Each interview was scheduled for ten minutes and we
13:25 asked each candidate to come prepared to answer the following questions. Why
13:29 are you interested in serving on case and what skills knowledge and experiences
13:33 would you contribute? What do you know about Complete Streets and why is it
13:36 important? What is one near short term goal on which case could begin
13:41 working right away? Council was blown away by the unique skill sets and
13:45 the amount of passion for Complete Streets that each candidate brought to
13:48 the table. After the interviews were over we entered into executive session
13:52 for the purpose of considering the appointment of a public official. Upon
13:56 exiting executive session I made a motion to insert the following names
13:59 into resolution 2025-42 Sean McDermott, Tracy Greenberg, Cody George, and
14:05 Emily Lindbergh and to enter Vice President Baker's name to serve as the
14:09 ex-officio council representative to the case board. The motion was made and
14:13 passed unanimously to refer resolution 2025-42 as amended back to
14:18 full council for adoption and it is on the docket this evening. We would
14:22 like to thank everyone that took the time to apply for the case advisory
14:25 board as well as those that came in for an interview. Lakewood is truly blessed
14:29 to have so many highly qualified residents that are willing to volunteer
14:32 their time and talents in the service of our community. It was a very
14:37 difficult decision to narrow it down to just four people but we are
14:41 confident that our appointees are up for the challenge of getting the case
14:44 advisory board up and running. We expect that there will be many
14:47 opportunities for the community to continue to be involved in this work
14:51 moving forward. I move to receive and file that report.
14:55 Motion's been made and seconded. Any discussion? Hearing none all those in
15:00 favor aye and that motion passes. Item two substitute resolution 2025-42 a
15:06 resolution to take effect immediately appointing four volunteer members to
15:10 the complete and active streets education and advisory board and one
15:13 ex-officio non-voting member of council to serve as liaison. Move to
15:18 adopt. Second. Motion's been made and seconded. Any discussion? We have anyone
15:25 that wanted to speak on this issue? Don't have to. Just seeing that there might
15:30 be. Okay. Okay. Any further discussion? Hearing none all those in favor aye and
15:38 that motion passes. Item three report from Public Works and
15:42 Sustainability Committee meeting held October 13 2025. Councilmember Evans.
15:47 Thank you President Keppel. Yes on October 13th we held a meeting of the
15:52 Public Works and Sustainability Committee to talk over a couple
15:56 different issues the first being some submerged land leases. This is for
16:01 folks living along the lake shore who are looking to do some shore
16:06 enhancements and stabilization projects. This is pretty standard as
16:10 described by the law department. Three of those were referred favorably back
16:14 to council and two were deferred at the request of the homeowners. The second
16:17 item was to discuss resolution 2025-48 from Councilman Bullock speaking about
16:24 enhancing public input for active transportation plan and
16:27 infrastructure projects. I think we had a very good robust conversation about
16:32 this. In the end we felt the resolution is currently written. It wasn't
16:40 quite ready to be passed by this body so at the request of Councilman Bullock
16:46 himself we deferred so that he and I believe Councilwoman Hamilton
16:51 Steiner will continue to work on that resolution to get it to a point where we
16:55 can take a vote on. I'll make a motion to receive and file this
16:59 communication. Second. Motion has been made and seconded. Any discussion?
17:04 Hearing none all those in favor aye and that motion passes. Item four
17:09 resolution 2025-57 a resolution to take effect immediately approving the use of
17:15 submerged lands for property located at 1040 Erie Cliff Drive Lakewood Ohio
17:20 in order to permit the owners the opportunity to construct the proposed
17:24 shore structure. Second. Motion has been made and seconded. Any discussion?
17:30 Hearing none all those in favor aye and that motion passes. Item five
17:35 resolution 2025-58 a resolution to take effect immediately approving the use of
17:41 submerged lands for property located at 1041 Forest Cliff Drive Lakewood
17:45 Ohio in order to permit the owners the opportunity to construct the
17:48 proposed shore structure. Move to adopt. Second. Motion has been made and
17:53 seconded. Discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor? Aye. And that motion
17:58 passes. Item six resolution 2025-59 a resolution to take effect
18:03 immediately approving the use of submerged lands for property located at
18:07 1039 Forest Cliff Drive Lakewood Ohio in order to permit the owners the
18:11 opportunity to construct the proposed shore structure. Move to adopt. Second.
18:15 Motion has been made and seconded. Discussion? Hearing none. All those in
18:20 favor? Aye. And that motion passes. Item seven report from Public Safety
18:24 Committee meeting held today October 20th 2025. Councilmember Stubak. Thank
18:29 you. The Public Safety Committee met tonight to discuss two topics. One
18:36 being the TNR ordinance that we've been working on with the swab and
18:40 clause and the law department and Mr Crumley, the animal control officer.
18:47 And we're still having some conversations about just the last
18:51 few couple things that we need just clean up a little bit with training
18:55 and registration. And we do have some new language from the attorney that
19:02 clause has been working with on unsanitary conditions that we'd like to
19:06 add to to the ordinance so that we don't get into situations where people
19:13 are hoarding animals and things of that nature. There's just a little bit
19:17 of cleanup to do on a couple other points, including making owners
19:21 responsible if the animal safety officer has to to say the life of the
19:30 pet has to have veterinary services performed. So just just a couple other
19:36 things that we're getting real close and I will meet again with the
19:40 swab at their next meeting and we'll we'll hammer out a couple couple
19:44 more of these points here. And then our second order of business was a
19:48 communication from Fire Chiefs Fairbanks regarding the fire engine
19:51 purchase that is going to be happening in 2028. He gave us all the
19:57 information about the different types of engines that they have currently,
20:03 what year they need to be replaced, the conditions that they're in and
20:08 recommendations that he's looking at for new fire trucks.
20:12 Right, I'll move to receive and file that report. Second. Motion's been made
20:22 and seconded. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. And that
20:27 motion passes. Item eight, substitute ordinance 20-2025, an ordinance to
20:33 take effect immediately updating various sections of chapter 505, animals
20:37 and foul of the liquid codified ordinances and creating regulations for
20:41 trap, neuter, spay and return of community cats within the city of
20:44 Lakewood. Move to defer. Second. Motion's been made and seconded. Any
20:49 discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor? Aye. And that motion
20:53 passes. Item nine report from Rules and Ordinances Committee meeting
20:57 held today, October 20th, 2025. Councilman Hamilton Steiner. Thank
21:02 you, President Kappel. Council colleagues, members of the administration
21:05 and Mayor George, the Rules and Ordinances Committee met earlier this
21:09 evening. The meeting minutes from the May 15th, 2023 meeting was approved.
21:14 The committee then entered into executive session for the purpose of
21:17 considering details relative to the security arrangements and emergency
21:21 response protocols for a public body or a public office. Michael
21:25 Coletta, chief information officer, joined the executive session and
21:29 shared the city of Lakewood's cyber security policy program as required by
21:34 state law. After discussion, the executive session ended and a motion
21:37 was made to favorably refer Resolution 2025-53 to full council for
21:43 approval. I'll move to receive and file that report. Second. Motion's
21:48 been made and seconded. Any discussion? Hearing none. All those in
21:53 favor? Aye. And that motion passes. Item 10, Resolution 2025-53, a
21:59 resolution to take effect immediately adopting the city of Lakewood's
22:02 cyber security policy. Move to adopt. Second. Motion's been made and
22:07 seconded. Any discussion? Vice President Baker? Yeah, I'd like to
22:11 note that, and I think that Assistant Director Swallow told us to do so,
22:15 that there was some slight updates to this policy that added some
22:19 language related to council office and council office's reporting
22:23 requirements. So I'd just like to reflect that that version is the
22:27 October 20th version of that new policy.
22:32 Thank you. And I'll just note also our appreciation to the I.T.
22:38 department for putting this together. Very important these days. We're
22:42 seeing a lot of municipalities come under attack. So good to have the
22:46 policy in place. Any further discussion on the motion to adopt? All
22:53 those in favor? Aye. And that motion passes. Item 12, communication
22:57 from President Keppel regarding City Hall update.
23:02 Dear colleagues, I am writing to provide a timeline and update on the
23:12 due diligence work being performed regarding City Hall space potential
23:17 solutions. As you know, the heads of all three branches of government,
23:21 myself, Mayor George, and Judge Neff, have all recognized the need
23:25 to address the space issues at the current City Hall, and council has
23:28 previously identified addressing the police space issues, particularly the
23:32 insufficient women's locker rooms as a budget priority in 20 as a
23:37 budget priority. In 2023, the administration had Webber Murphy Fox
23:41 complete a space analysis study at City Hall. And at the final meeting
23:45 of council in 2024, Mayor George and I introduced a communication to
23:49 bring the space study before council. At the February 3rd and
23:53 June 16th meetings of Committee of the Whole, council members asked a
23:56 variety of questions which could be generally summarized as what are the
24:00 possible options to solve the space issues? How much does each option
24:04 cost? What are the operational and customer service pros cons of
24:09 each? At the July 7th meeting of council, the administration placed
24:13 legislation on the docket to purchase 1470 Warren Road and express
24:17 the idea of moving administrative functions to that property,
24:21 allowing for the expansion of the police and courts into the
24:24 existing City Hall to create a justice center. In order to properly consider
24:28 this proposal, council leadership hired project management consultants, PMC,
24:33 to help us evaluate any data that the administration had previously collected
24:38 toward answering the above questions, as well as evaluate what additional
24:41 data we needed to ask the administration to provide to answers to
24:45 additional questions such as how could an addition be built onto the
24:49 current City Hall of sufficient size to address the space issues and
24:53 how much would it cost? How much will it cost to fully gut and
24:57 renovate the Warren Road building and retrofit the current City Hall
25:00 into a justice center? How do the City Hall improvements previously laid
25:04 out in the five-year capital plan, for example, window replacements,
25:09 fit into the overall budget and timing of the proposed project
25:12 options? What are the ongoing operational costs and the customer service
25:16 and efficiency pros cons of each? Vice President Baker, Council Member
25:21 Evans, and I have formed a working group to dig into these overarching
25:25 questions, and we have been meeting weekly with our consultant from
25:28 PMC, Chris Panichi, an architect with a background in civic construction
25:32 and renovation projects. We asked Planning Director Byington to pull
25:36 all preliminary documents related to the City Hall space question into
25:41 a shared drive, which is now accessible to all council members,
25:44 and PMC reviewed them. Below is a timeline of the some of the
25:48 continuing work following that preliminary review.
25:51 And I'm gonna skip ahead here to October 14th,
25:56 where we... David Thal of Weber Murphy Fox and Chris Panichi of PMC
26:02 met and created the following summarization of options that have evolved
26:06 through this due diligence process. Option one, renovate the current
26:10 City Hall with modest 3,000 square foot addition to the west for
26:13 police expansion and renovate the annex across the street.
26:17 Option two, infill the U in the back of the current City
26:20 Hall as an addition and renovate the current City Hall and annex,
26:25 though the administration has stated that the Sally Port location for
26:27 the jail makes this option less viable. Option three, renovate current
26:32 City Hall and add a large addition. The estimate created is based
26:36 on a two story addition onto the front of the building.
26:39 Option four, purchase and fully renovate 1470 Warren Road to accommodate
26:43 a large part of the administrative functions, renovate the current City
26:47 Hall to expand police in courts and sell the annex. Once Weber Murphy
26:51 Fox has completed this estimate, the council working group and PMC will
26:55 reconvene. It is my hope that we will then be able to move
26:58 forward with a Committee of the Whole meeting with the two consultants
27:01 in attendance to review and discuss all of the data for
27:04 the options, including project costs. I'll move to refer this communication
27:09 to Committee of the Whole. Second. Motion's been made and
27:13 seconded. I'll also add, I just received an email today that we have
27:20 some movement from Weber Murphy Fox on this, so we hope that will be
27:25 happening sooner rather than later. Any further discussion? Hearing none,
27:31 on the motion to refer to Committee of the Whole. Committee of the
27:33 Whole, all those in favor? Aye. And that motion passes. Item 13,
27:38 communication from Council Member Striebig regarding update to the
27:40 bylaws of the Lakewood Youth Council. Council Member Stiebig. Dear
27:44 colleagues, I submitted the following resolution to you on behalf of
27:48 the Lakewood Youth Council to update the Youth Council's bylaws.
27:52 The Youth Council was established in 2019 and drafted its original
27:56 bylaws shortly after that time. The bylaws were first updated
28:01 in 2023. After working under the updated bylaws for over two years,
28:05 the council saw a need to incorporate more flexibility, better reflect
28:10 the existing practices of the council, and to address preliminary, excuse
28:15 me, parliamentary questions and issues that have arisen. The changes
28:21 are relatively minor and do not substantially alter the operation
28:24 of the Youth Council. The process for updating Youth Council bylaws
28:28 is for Youth Council to approve them by a majority vote, which
28:31 occurred this summer. The next step is for the bylaws to be approved
28:35 by City Council, which the accompanying resolution seeks to
28:39 accomplish. I will also end by saying that as an advisor to this group
28:43 of bright young adults, I applaud them for taking time to ensure
28:46 that their processes and practices are accurately reflected in this
28:49 bylaws. I look forward to future discussions on this topic.
28:53 Thank you. Thank you. I'll move to receive and file that communication.
28:58 Second. Motion's been made and seconded. Discussion.
29:02 The next piece is the actual legislation. I'm thinking of referring it
29:10 to rules and ordinances. Councilman Hamilton-Steiner, you're getting a
29:13 record number of things for rules and ordinances in one year.
29:16 That's right here. All right. Assuming that that motion were
29:20 to pass. All right. On the motion to receive and file the
29:23 communication, all those in favor? Aye. And that motion passes.
29:28 Item 14, resolution 2025-60, a resolution to take effect immediately,
29:33 approving the amended bylaws of the Lakewood Youth Council.
29:37 Move to refer to rules and ordinances. Second. Motion's been made and
29:40 seconded. Discussion. And that would be a good opportunity to invite
29:45 the Youth Council in as well so they can experience a committee meeting
29:49 as well. Probably already thought of that. Absolutely. Okay, great. All
29:54 right. On the motion to refer to rules and ordinances,
29:56 any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. And that
30:00 motion passes. Item 15, communication from Public Works Director Gordon
30:04 regarding the Bunce Road Rehabilitation and Lead Service Line Replacement
30:07 Amendment. Director Gordon. Dear President Keppel, members of City
30:12 Council, following this communication is a resolution to amend Resolution
30:16 2025-52, adopted October 6, 2025 to correct a typographical error.
30:23 The resolution as adopted supported a loan application for the 2026 Lead
30:28 Line Replacement Project. It should have been for the Bunce Road
30:31 Lead Line Replacement Project. As Lakewood will be seeking additional
30:35 loan funds for a lead line project in 2026, it is necessary to amend
30:39 this resolution for clarity with these applications moving forward. I
30:43 request the City Council approve and pass the attached legislation on
30:47 first reading so that the project may proceed and be prepared for EPA
30:51 funding. Please let me know if you have any further questions.
30:56 Thank you. I'll move to receive and file that communication. Second.
30:59 Motion's been made and seconded. Discussion? Hearing none, all those
31:04 in favor? Aye. And that motion passes. Item 16, Resolution 2025-52A,
31:10 a resolution to take effect immediately, amending Resolution 2025-52,
31:15 adopted October 6, 2025 to correct a typographical error. Move to
31:20 adopt. Second. Motion's been made and seconded. Discussion?
31:25 Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. And that motion passes. Item 17,
31:30 Figa Cafe LLC, 16203 Hilliard Road. Council President, we respectfully
31:38 request an extension. Thank you. Thank you. All right, we will move
31:42 to defer. Oh, did I? Yeah, so it's not in our PDF, but it's
31:50 in Granicus, the Finance Department report, but there's no attachments,
31:53 so I don't... It's not supposed to be in the docket, it was an error.
31:56 Okay. That version wasn't created in Granicus. Okay. So the motion is...
32:04 It's still good. We have something in our version of the docket
32:09 up here that is not on the actual docket, but it's not supposed
32:11 to be there, so a little confusion up here. So we're on the
32:13 same item, the motion to defer the liquor permit. All those
32:18 in favor? Aye. And that motion passes. Okay. In rather record time,
32:22 we're at general public comment. We do have two public comment e-comments.
32:29 It'll be entered into the record, and then we have some folks signed
32:32 in to speak here. So first is Matt Bixenstein. And as usual,
32:39 the drill, but we can come up. Actually, the light's on, so you
32:41 don't have to push anything. Address the chair, that's me,
32:44 and avoid personalities. Take it away, Matt. Oh, you have five minutes.
32:48 Thank you. Matthew Bixenstein, 2069 Clarence Avenue. Good evening,
32:53 everyone. I'm here representing Friends of Madison Park, a volunteer
32:57 group of neighbors striving to ensure Madison Park remains an exceptional
33:01 asset for our community. The new Birdtown connector entrance and
33:05 pathway that officially opened last month has been immediately impactful
33:10 for Madison Park and the surrounding community, creating direct access
33:14 to the park from the Birdtown neighborhood and Harrison Elementary
33:17 School. I personally witnessed dozens of park visitors using this
33:22 new amenity daily to access the park, walk to school,
33:26 exercise, ride a bike, drink a coffee obtained from any number
33:30 of Madison Avenue establishments, stroll or a baby, and walk
33:34 a dog. I'm pretty sure my son, in typical seven year old
33:37 fashion, christened the fresh pavement with a scraped knee mere hours
33:42 after it dried. This is a prime example of the if you
33:46 build it, they will come mantra playing out in the public realm and
33:49 producing a strong return on a community investment. Thank you to
33:54 the city of Lakewood Mayor George, Senior Planner Nocto, City Council
33:58 members, Kagawa County Planning Commission and everyone who made
34:02 phase one of the Madison Park Master Plan a success. I'm here
34:07 before you today during budget season to encourage the folks in
34:10 this room to build on this wave of goodwill and positive momentum by
34:14 ensuring the Madison Park Master Plan continues to be prioritized as
34:19 we look to 2026 and beyond. Specifically, the Master Plan calls
34:23 for major renovation projects pertaining to three of Madison
34:26 Park's most well used and aging amenities. Beck's Pool, the
34:31 playground and the futsal court. Each of these is deserving of
34:35 a major investment that is thoughtful, comprehensive, incorporates
34:39 public input and seeks to maximize the finite space each
34:44 occupies in our 17 acre city park. Well, we at Friends of Madison Park
34:49 realize it's unrealistic to expect each of these projects to occur
34:53 simultaneously. It's our hope that each takes place in the next
34:56 several years. We are encouraged by tomorrow's public meeting
35:00 regarding the futsal court and the possibility of obtaining grant
35:04 money to help fund this project. Perhaps more than any other
35:08 amenity, the futsal court embodies the spirit of our park as
35:12 a uniquely Madison Park feature that took shape thanks to city
35:15 leadership, recognizing the opportunity to convert underutilized
35:19 tennis courts into this ultra popular heart and soul of our
35:23 park nearly a decade ago. Madison Park is beloved by so many
35:28 in our community. It's our city's second largest park and
35:31 one of the most visited public spaces in all of Lakewood. It's
35:35 been the anchor of our city's southeast quadrant for more than
35:37 a century. Let's ensure progress continues at Madison Park as
35:42 we plan for 2026 and beyond. Thank you.
35:47 Thank you, Mayor George. Thank you. And thank you for that.
35:51 Thanks, Matt, for that. As we enter budget season, just to
35:56 let all know that we will be proposing moving forward with
35:59 Madison Pool for next year. We'll be proposing design and
36:04 engineering next year, followed by pool construction. We're
36:07 hoping to do it similar timeframe as Foster Pool, which
36:10 is getting it done over the winter. Although that was a
36:12 miracle that happened, but we're going to try to pull off
36:15 two miracles and then proposing that the playground happened
36:20 after that. As we spoke within public works and engineering, we
36:24 determined it we best to make sure that we get the design
36:27 and engineering first so that in case we have to expand the
36:30 footprint event, we're not tearing up the new playground.
36:35 So that's kind of the plan. So just want to let you know
36:38 that. And I'll just piggyback on that, that as you may have
36:45 seen, that council recently put out a communication of some of
36:50 our budget priorities after we had had a recent retreat for
36:54 that purpose. And moving forward with Madison Park
36:59 master plan work was one of the top three priorities for
37:02 council members. And it continues to be something that
37:04 council members have mentioned as a priority. So I
37:08 think that's a shared commitment from council and
37:10 administration on continuing that work on Madison Park. So
37:14 then thank you, Matt, for all of your work and for friends
37:17 in Madison Park for all that they do to make that park
37:19 excellent. Other comments? Councilwoman Marks.
37:23 Thank you. And I just want to thank you for coming forward
37:26 tonight with your requests and just know that we on
37:29 council support that idea to continue with developing
37:33 Madison Park. I importantly want to thank you very much
37:37 for your leadership in making Madison Park a great place
37:41 and a safe place for kids to be. It wouldn't be what it
37:45 is without you, Matt. So it's you're very much needed here
37:49 in Lakewood. Thank you for all the work you do and the
37:51 commitment you have to the city as an incredible neighbor
37:54 and volunteer. I appreciate you so very much. Thanks for
38:00 Thank you. Other council members, any comments? All
38:04 right. Thank you. Next up, we have Genesis Brown.
38:17 Hello, Madam President, members of council, Madam Clerk,
38:20 Mayor George, members of administration and staff. Good
38:24 evening. My name is Genesis Brown. I am here with my
38:26 wife, who's the chief operations officer for Cog
38:29 County Board of Developmental Disabilities. Last year, one
38:33 of our directors attended a city council meeting to share
38:36 some updates with you about Cog County DD and give you an
38:39 overview of the work that we do. This year, I'd like to
38:43 share by recognizing an important milestone for Cog
38:45 County DD, the 20th anniversary of our last levy.
38:50 Two-thirds of Cog County DD's 150 million dollar
38:53 budget comes from a 3.9 mil continuous levy that was
38:58 last passed in Cog County voters in 2005. From birth
39:02 through adulthood, we support people with developmental
39:05 disabilities to live here their best lives. Our mission
39:08 is to support and empower people with developmental
39:10 disabilities to live, learn, work and play in the
39:13 community. Last year, we served 351 people with
39:17 developmental disabilities in Lakewood and we serve
39:20 approximately 15,000 people across the county. This is
39:24 a 20% increase in people being served compared to
39:28 2005. Over the last 20 years, the levy approved by
39:33 county Cog County voters has supported people with
39:36 developmental disabilities through early intervention
39:38 services, therapies like occupational and physical
39:41 therapy and speech language pathology, consultative
39:45 services to support students in schools,
39:48 transitional services for young adults, housing and
39:51 employment supports, assertive technology services. Levy
39:56 funding also allows Cog County DD to make strategic
40:00 investments in the community. Since 2021, we have
40:03 granted nearly 1 million dollars to support over 50
40:06 community libraries, arts and culture, and
40:09 recreational leisure leisure organizations and
40:12 making their programs and physical spaces accessible
40:15 to people of all abilities. We awarded $180,000 in
40:19 community grants in 2025. In addition to our work
40:23 supporting people with disabilities in Cog County,
40:26 we strive to be a resource for communities. We
40:29 welcome the opportunity to talk more about how we can
40:31 best support the residents of Lakewood. Thank you
40:33 very much. Thank you and thank you for all your
40:37 important work and letting us know about it. Thank
40:40 you. Thanks for being here. All right. And then
40:44 finally, Amy Herberger.
40:47 Good evening, council members, Mayor George and
40:57 fellow residents. I stand here tonight, not in
40:59 opposition to progress, but in defense of public
41:02 safety, safety, transparent governance and physical
41:06 responsibility. It's deeply disturbing that this
41:09 city has already spent 1.7 million on a plan that
41:13 was supposed to only total 22 million. And yet
41:16 we're being told there's no turning back. How did
41:19 we get this far without proper public input or a
41:22 clearly vetted alternative? The public engagement
41:26 was performative. Residents received one vague
41:29 notice with no mention of a 10-foot wide
41:33 multimodal path. That is not transparency. It's
41:36 misdirection. And it's not just bad
41:39 communication. It's dangerous planning. This
41:42 plan includes 116 intersections in just 1.5 miles
41:48 on an emergency vehicle route. If you believe
41:51 that this won't result in serious accidents, then
41:54 I urge you to walk that corridor during rush
41:57 hour. ODOT guidelines were clearly not followed
42:00 and your staff, while hard working, appears
42:03 overstretched, under supported. Rushing through
42:07 a plan of this magnitude without adequate time
42:10 for review exposes the city to liability and more
42:13 importantly, it endangers lives. More than
42:16 1,400 residents have formally objected. That is
42:19 not a fringe group and that's a majority. And
42:21 yet form letters were prioritized over real
42:25 residents' voices in your documentation to ODOT.
42:29 This is a serious misrepresentation of
42:31 community input. Let me be clear. Bunce Road
42:34 is just not a route. It's a community. It's
42:38 where children walk to school, where seniors
42:40 cross the street, and where families live. This
42:43 plan will increase traffic hazards, eliminate
42:46 mature trees, destroy green space, worsen air
42:50 quality, and reduce livability. This is an
42:52 environmental and safety nightmare. And the
42:56 process, a rush timeline, closed door
42:59 decision, and no meaningful public
43:01 alternatives. The plan was voted on before
43:03 the comment period had ended. That's not how
43:08 public service works. That's how public trust
43:11 is destroyed. You're not being good stewards
43:14 of public money. You do not have federal
43:16 funding secured and yet you're spending as
43:19 if it's guaranteed. That's not budgeting. It's
43:23 a shell game. So I ask, where is the full
43:26 cost benefit analysis, the environmental
43:30 impact report, long-term maintenance plan?
43:33 Where is the evidence that this project serves
43:35 more than a narrow special interest? Mayor,
43:39 as you said, the devil is in the details.
43:42 And in those details, we find risk, waste,
43:45 and negligence. Council members, just
43:48 because you can move forward doesn't mean
43:50 you should. True leadership means knowing
43:53 when to pivot. You still have a choice.
43:56 Choose safety, choose transparency, and
43:59 choose your residence. Do not destroy a
44:01 neighborhood to serve a plan that's
44:03 clearly broken from the start. Thank you.
44:08 Thank you. Does everyone have signed in
44:10 to speak? Kim, did you want to come up?
44:18 Okay, my friend and neighbor has just
44:20 brought up a lot of points that I was
44:23 going to make. But I would like to
44:25 reiterate how this plan began and how
44:28 it should have begun, according to the
44:31 ODOT recommendations, that it should
44:33 have begun with the residents on the
44:35 street, walking the street, discussing
44:39 different plans before anything was
44:42 drawn up as it was here. Number two,
44:46 the, you know, the honesty with the
44:53 letter, and I know, I know the
44:56 administration feels like everything
44:57 was followed to a T. You know, they
45:00 sent the letter out. There was one
45:03 meeting, but the letter just said bike
45:06 lanes. It never said there will be a
45:08 choice to vote on. So to me that
45:11 that is probably like the biggest
45:13 problem with this whole plan.
45:18 Okay, so that's what I think going
45:22 forward, because I mean, if you do get
45:25 the federal funds, we see this going
45:27 forward. So I feel like, you know, for
45:30 the future, really, you really need to
45:34 change the method. You need to get out
45:37 there in the street and meet the
45:38 people. If I really believe that if
45:41 you all had walked Bunce Road at
45:44 different times a day and see like
45:46 how the kids are walking to school, a
45:49 few of them ride their bikes, then
45:51 it's fine. They ride on the sidewalk.
45:53 To see the amount of traffic, it's
45:57 just not a good placement. And I
45:59 think had people taken that time and
46:02 done that, it's easy to drive up and
46:04 down Bunce because it's a freeway and
46:06 everyone does. People forget it is our
46:09 neighborhood. At any rate, that's
46:13 what I would say. Be upfront about it.
46:16 Don't like hide the fact that
46:19 you're talking about bike lanes when
46:21 most people in a city like this would
46:24 think you're talking about actual lanes
46:26 in the street like every other street.
46:30 So I feel there's some things that
46:33 could be done. At this point, like
46:37 those people at the at the assisted
46:40 living and those apartments that want
46:41 to get across the street, it is
46:43 dangerous to them. You put in this
46:45 push button walk thing for them. Do
46:47 they have to wait two years? You drive
46:50 up and you see these people in their
46:51 walkers and wheelchairs like how are
46:54 they getting across the street?
46:55 Couldn't you find the money? I mean
46:56 you spent 1.7 million already.
46:58 Couldn't someone find some money and
47:00 put up a push button walkway for them
47:02 now? Okay, that's one thing. E-bikes.
47:07 Oh my gosh, this kid came up on his
47:10 e-bike that looks like a BMX bike.
47:12 They've got the big helmets with the
47:14 chin thing built in and I asked the kid
47:18 how fast does this thing go and he said
47:20 31 miles an hour and he's on the
47:24 Shocking to me but I mean it shouldn't
47:27 these things are being marketed to
47:29 kids. We got the um
47:32 you know they send for Christmas a
47:33 catalog. Walmart has all the toys
47:36 so kids can get excited and ask Santa
47:39 They had a ton of e-bikes marketed
47:41 to kids like seven or eight years old
47:44 and up and it's here. They're riding them.
47:47 It's dangerous. I don't know what are
47:49 you going to do about that?
47:52 I'm dubious. I mean what's being done
47:55 about speeding on our street?
47:57 Not much. The um your speed is
48:00 is fine um on the south end but the
48:03 is it's put in a tree. The leaves
48:06 um prevent the um the battery from
48:11 What about the other side? The people
48:13 we're on the west side of the street
48:14 people come ripping up out of the get
48:17 gas station. Let's have a sign where
48:19 they can see how fast they're going.
48:21 Let's have a little enforcement on our
48:25 A um I'm running out of time.
48:28 This morning I saw I saw a six
48:31 axle semi truck carrying Cure's light
48:34 beer go up our street.
48:36 That's not allowed. How about putting
48:39 up on the uh traffic um sign
48:42 at the corner of cliff of um Bunst and
48:45 No six uh ton trucks
48:49 and point up our street. I mean this
48:51 goes on day after day.
48:53 Cement trucks, the huge dump trucks going
48:56 to the different construction sites.
48:59 You know help us out. How can you
49:02 eliminate some of the traffic on our
49:04 street? How about when they come out
49:05 the get-go say no right turn
49:07 like CVS, like the library, like
49:10 drug mart. What are you going to do for
49:15 I hope you can do something other than
49:17 put 10 feet of asphalt
49:20 another roadway in front of our homes.
49:29 all right that's everyone um anyone
49:32 else that wanted to speak who did not
49:35 Going once going twice all right um
49:37 Announcements from council members
49:40 announcements from the administration
49:43 um speaking of Madison Park there is a
49:45 meeting tomorrow as Matt mentioned
49:47 public meeting uh regarding the
49:49 footsall courts at 4 30
49:53 um at the footsall courts yeah okay
49:55 at the footsall courts at Madison
49:57 Park so if you're interested in that
49:58 um you can attend that and no
50:01 further business to come before
50:02 council without objection we are