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 will call to order the July 6th meeting of City Council. If you're able, please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance
0:07 We'll now pause for a moment of silence
0:35 Madam Clerk, please call the roll. Vice President Baker. Here. Councilmember Bixenstein. Here. Councilmember Block. Here. Councilmember Evans.
0:43 Here. President Keppel. Here. Councilmember Hamilton-Steiner. Here. Councilmember Striebig. Here.
0:50 Reading and disposal of the minutes of the regular meeting of council held June 15, 2026.
0:55 Move to approve without the necessity of a reading. Second. Motion's been made and seconded. Any discussion?
1:01 Hearing none. All those in favor. Aye.
1:03 And that motion passes. Reading and disposal of the minutes of the June 24th, 2026 council community conversation.
1:10 Move to approve without the necessity of a reading. Second. Motion's been made and seconded. Discussion?
1:15 Hearing none. All those in favor. Aye.
1:19 Reading and disposal of the minutes of the July 1st, 2026 council community conversation.
1:23 Move to approve without the necessity of a reading. Motion's been made and seconded. Discussion?
1:32 Hearing none. All those in favor. Aye. And that motion passes.
1:36 Item one reports from finance committee meeting held June 24th, 2026 and June 29th, 2026. Vice President Baker.
1:45 Thank you, Council President. Dear colleagues, the finance committee met on June 22nd and June 29th to review and discuss the 24
1:52 council budget priorities that were submitted to the following the council's retreat on May 11th.
1:56 Priorities address a wide range of topics, some of which build upon existing investments,
2:00 whereas others offer brand new ideas. Conversations about the priorities were informal and open-ended among council members in the administration.
2:07 During the discussion, the committee gained more clarity on which priorities
2:10 will realistically impact the 2027 budget and those that do not have the budget impact
2:16 will be pursued as a policy objectives or as long-term projects starting in 2027.
2:20 At least one additional finance committee
2:22 will be held before the council recess, which was today to review the remaining priorities and develop our path forward in this process.
2:28 I plan to place a more detailed report on this process on the June 20th docket.
2:32 I'll make a motion to receive and file this communication.
2:36 Motion's been made and seconded. Discussion?
2:40 Hearing none. All those in favor. Aye. And that motion passes.
2:44 Item two, reports from housing planning and development committee regarding meeting held June 22nd, 2026 and June 29th, 2026.
2:51 Councilmember Evans.
2:53 Your colleagues, the housing planning and development committee met on June 22nd to discuss a communication from assistant director
2:59 planning director Boss
3:01 regarding the zoning refresh project update.
3:03 Assistant director Boss provided an overview of the proposed changes to the zoning code regarding procedures and definitions chapters
3:09 that were discussed in the fifth meeting of the zoning and planning advisory committee.
3:13 He also reviewed the next steps and final timeline of the project sharing that they plan to have a
3:17 final cohesive draft of the proposed zoning code updates ready for the September docket.
3:22 He said the goal is to have council adopt any associated legislation by the end of the year.
3:27 Council members had the opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback on the five chapters covered in this phase.
3:32 I continue to be pleased with the direction of this work and look forward to reviewing the final proposal.
3:37 Committee met again on June 29th to hear a presentation of a group of young professionals from the cleveland bridge builders on their
3:43 leadership action project with Lakewood Alive.
3:46 The group worked with Lakewood Alive to explore and analyze strategies to help with funding
3:50 the repair and replacement of garages for residents on a fixed income, which has been an ongoing issue in Lakewood.
3:57 Presented four policy options and compared the positives and negatives in each option.
4:01 Council members then asked follow-up questions and shared their feedback on this topic.
4:05 The presentation was timely given the status of the zoning refresh project
4:09 and the potential to make updates to the zoning code that might allow homeowners and landlords more flexibility when it comes to replacing damaged garages.
4:16 The committee is thankful to the bridge builder team for sharing their findings and we will continue to analyze the matter until we can narrow down
4:24 that addresses the unique challenges of our community. Sincerely Brian Evans. I'll make a motion to receive and file this communication.
4:31 Motion's been made and seconded. Discussion.
4:34 Hearing none all those in favor. Aye. In that motion passed.
4:38 Item three report from housing planning and development committee regarding meeting held today, July 6, 2026. Council member Evans.
4:46 President Keppel. Today we met will be the first in several meetings that discuss
4:52 potential ordinance changes code and ordinance changes regarding
4:56 e-bikes and e-scooters.
4:59 This is something that
5:01 is very timely and important to the community that the kind of explosion of these devices around town
5:08 and people just aren't sure or unaware or maybe blissfully unaware if there are rules around these things.
5:14 So we're looking at everything from definitions of how these are defined in the codes
5:20 to ways that we can regulate their use where and what can be done with them.
5:25 But one thing we did here today
5:27 and we understand and we need to work on together is that we do have ordinances that prohibit
5:34 reckless operation of all these devices on the books.
5:39 we're hoping to work with the administration and the police department on education blitz to get the word out there that
5:46 it is not a free-for-all when you're riding an e-scooter or bike.
5:50 So that in the meantime while we're working on adjusting these codes and ordinances we do have
5:54 the power to you know make sure these things are operated safely around the city. Thanks.
6:00 Thank you. I'll move to receive and file that oral report. Second. Motion's been made and seconded.
6:07 And for discussion I'll just add too is we did have quite a bit of discussion
6:15 e-moped for lack of a better word and about children riding them and concerns particularly some of those devices go
6:23 well above what a normal e-bike goes and a lot of these kids are riding them on the sidewalk.
6:31 so we've heard a lot from the community about that and just wanting to note that that is
6:37 discussion that this whole ordinance may not need to be
6:40 finished before there's some work on that separately as well. So I want to note that as well.
6:46 All right any further discussion? Councilman Bullock. Thanks Madam President.
6:53 I'm sorry I missed the hearing just before
6:55 this council meeting. I was returning from an out of town family trip of a couple of days over 4th of July so
7:02 wanted to make it. You know glad the committee's working on this.
7:06 I'm hopeful that maybe the Public Safety Committee might
7:08 continue some work on this as well as early as maybe before our August recess so that we're
7:15 making use of that time at least kind of latently.
7:18 Given the time sensitivity of this during the summer and then as a lead into a school year when we've got plenty of youth that
7:31 well or poorly, right? And there's a couple other layers here
7:35 I guess I'd like to put out for consideration. One is
7:39 there's two categories of our standards and definitions.
7:43 We're working through safe and appropriate use of new devices on
7:50 traditional and new paths. So we're getting new multi-use paths
7:55 which haven't quite been
7:57 seen in Lakewood before.
8:00 And so we want to literally work out the rules of the road for people who are trying to
8:05 operate their vehicles safely.
8:08 Then there's the second category of people who are just not
8:11 doing anything safely. A lot of times those are kids. A lot of times those are kids who need parental supervision, but that hasn't yet kicked in.
8:18 And so I think that's what the chairman of the committee was referring to is that we may not need
8:24 ordinance changes for that category while we also work on the other category and there's plenty to talk about on that too.
8:31 I see a case board member Emily Lindbergh in the audience who's made the argument that it's not the class of vehicle
8:37 but the behavior that should drive how we
8:40 govern this. I think that's an important thought. I think Mr. Boss also thought there was merit to that idea.
8:45 So we got plenty of work to do. I guess what I'd like to do though is urge
8:49 the administration and council to work
8:51 swiftly on this even as it's deliberating in case
8:55 because we don't have time to follow
9:02 process. I think we need to move swiftly while also being methodical and thoughtful.
9:06 So this is what I think they mean by sausage making. We've got to push from the city council side of things while we're working
9:13 with the administration because
9:15 enforcement and education and communication is probably 80 percent of what needs to happen
9:21 and then also work with our partners in case and public works
9:25 and planning. So I hope that
9:28 is a constructive and collegial comment and I look forward to working with all of you on this.
9:37 Great. All right. Any further discussion on the report from housing planning and development?
9:43 All right. We have a motion and a second to receive and file the oral report. All those in favor?
9:47 Aye. In that motion.
9:50 Item four. Substitute ordinance 16-2026. An ordinance to take effect immediately. Submitting to the electors of the city of Lakewood.
9:57 An amendment to the third amended charter of the city of Lakewood
10:01 in order to change the frequency with which the civil service commission reviews elected official salaries.
10:07 All right, so these next
10:12 ordinances are the charter ones.
10:14 So just since we have some folks in the audience who may not be familiar and just to refresh council members memories,
10:22 in 2024 after extensive review,
10:25 research and discussion, the citizen-led charter review commission
10:29 recommended changes around six topics.
10:31 Since then city council has held multiple meetings and committee of the whole with extensive deliberation and thoughtful dialogue.
10:38 After making various amendments committee of the whole ultimately passed ordinances related to five of the six topics favorably out of committee.
10:46 The following five ordinances if passed would send proposed ballot language to the board of elections to place on the november ballot.
10:54 As we've discussed the deadline to get these on the board of to the board of elections is september 4th
10:59 and we've worked hard to stay on track and get them through the process and back to full council.
11:04 As we've had multiple versions and amendments, the clerks helped identify a few things that we need to clean up before
11:11 adoption and I also asked the law department to give them a final review as well.
11:17 As we did that we found three of them have a small typo. So as we go through these
11:21 make a motion to amend and fix that typo.
11:24 And the other two have proposed substitutes that you have in granicus that you can look at
11:30 and i'll walk us through the potential changes in each.
11:33 After we vote on those changes, I intend anticipate moving to defer
11:39 so that the amended versions can be publicly docketed
11:44 and reviewed one last time. So members of the public have a chance to see them as
11:50 before we take our our vote and then that will still give us time to vote on the final versions
11:54 at the July 20th full council meeting and still get them to the board of elections on time
12:00 for that september 4th deadline and to be on the november
12:06 ballot. All right so and we had talked about doing it
12:11 the november of an even year since there's higher voter turnout that it's
12:15 a little more democratic. More people will be out voting and so they can see them.
12:20 So this first one is ordinance 16 20 26. This one has a substitute before you in granicus
12:27 and essentially the substitute it corrects I think all of them had a typo in the third
12:41 whereas clause so I think that one that's taken care of in this one.
12:45 But then the main thing is we had is it changes as we had discussed to the odd
12:54 numbered years for when the salary recommendations are reviewed by civil service commission
12:59 and so that but it puts back in the 10 salary cap so that there's no increase
13:09 in salary unless there has been an increase in salary for the office unless there's not been
13:15 increase in salary in the office the preceding 10 years and part of the reason for that is
13:19 because since they would be looking at it every two years before it couldn't go into effect when
13:24 someone's in office so that's four years and then they didn't look at it but every four years
13:29 it would be effectively six years before an increase so sometimes they needed more than
13:35 10 percent so that's why civil service commission and charter review had suggested removing that
13:40 but now that it's every two years that may not be necessary and is probably more sensitive to
13:49 voters right now as they're thinking about their budgets so that's the substitute before
13:55 you so I'm first going to make a motion to substitute with the version in granicus.
14:03 Motion's been made and seconded any discussion?
14:08 Thanks Madam President I just want to acknowledge that.
14:19 All right any further discussion on the motion to substitute?
14:24 All those in favor aye and that motion passes and then I'm going to move to defer.
14:30 Motion's been made and seconded any discussion?
14:34 Hearing none all those in favor aye and that motion passes.
14:39 Item five substitute ordinance 17 2026 an ordinance to take effect immediately submitting
14:44 to the electors of the city of Lakewood an amendment to the third amended charter
14:48 of the city of Lakewood in order to add additional requirements to the process
14:52 by which council appoints new members to fill a vacancy.
14:56 In this one we it's just I'm going to make a motion to amend to correct the spelling of
15:06 whereas in the third whereas clause.
15:10 Motion's been made and seconded any discussion?
15:14 Hearing none all those in favor aye and that motion passes and then I will make a motion
15:21 Motion's been made and seconded discussion?
15:24 Hearing none all those in favor aye and that motion passes.
15:28 Item six ordinance 18 2026 an ordinance to take effect immediately submitting to the
15:32 electors of the city of Lakewood an amendment to the third amended
15:35 charter of the city of Lakewood in order to change the manner in which
15:38 legislation is amended and to remove the requirement that the entire ordinance
15:42 or resolution be repealed then a new ordinance or resolution be enacted.
15:46 Move to amend by correcting the typo in the third whereas clause.
15:50 Motion's been made and seconded discussion?
15:53 Hearing none all those in favor aye and that motion passes and I'll move to defer.
16:00 Motion's been made and seconded discussion?
16:02 Hearing none all those in favor aye and that motion passes.
16:07 Item seven ordinance substitute ordinance 19 2026 an ordinance to take effect
16:13 immediately submitting to the electors of the city of Lakewood an amendment to
16:16 the third amended charter of the city of Lakewood in order to establish a
16:20 process and requirement for ward redistricting in the city of Lakewood.
16:23 I'll first move to amend by correcting the typo in the third whereas clause.
16:27 Motion's been made and seconded discussion?
16:31 Hearing none all those in favor aye and that motion passes and then I'll move to
16:37 Motion's been made and seconded any discussion?
16:40 Hearing none all those in favor aye and that motion passes.
16:45 Item eight ordinance 20 2026 an ordinance to take effect immediately
16:50 submitting to the electors of the city of Lakewood an amendment to the
16:52 third amended charter of the city of Lakewood in order to clarify the
16:55 various paths in which the charter can be amended.
16:59 So this one we have a substitute it corrects the typo in the third whereas
17:03 clause and then there's also some kind of some language in section 7.5 b
17:11 where you can see it's crossed out as to the submission of the question of
17:14 choosing a charter commission that's in in there currently but it's
17:18 actually not relevant to this section so that's kind of correcting
17:23 um correcting a previous uh typo so to speak and then updates the proposed
17:29 ballot language in section three um as you can see so it kind of
17:38 So I will for I will move to substitute with the version in
17:43 Motion's been made and seconded discussion?
17:47 Hearing none all those in favor aye and then I'll move to defer.
17:52 Motion's been made and seconded discussion?
17:55 Hearing none all those in favor aye and that motion passes.
18:00 Item nine communication from Vice President Baker and council members
18:03 Bixenstein and Evans regarding the city of Lakewood's traffic calming program.
18:08 Vice President Baker.
18:10 Mouthful but I'll read it all thank you Council President Keppel.
18:14 This is regarding the Lakewood's traffic calming program.
18:17 For more than a decade the city of Lakewood has made significant progress
18:19 in addressing neighborhood traffic and speeding concerns through a traffic
18:23 The administration developed a program to respond to resident concerns regarding
18:26 speeding and traffic volumes on residential streets.
18:29 The program has provided a thoughtful data driven framework for evaluating
18:32 requests engaging neighborhoods and implementing safety improvements where
18:35 they are most needed.
18:36 The program reflects an important principle.
18:39 Traffic calming decisions should be based on objective data informed by
18:42 neighborhood input and implemented through a transparent public process.
18:45 Under the program before physical traffic calming measures are
18:48 considered city first evaluates whether the street is eligible,
18:51 collects traffic volume and speed data and determines whether measurable
18:55 thresholds have been met.
18:56 A street must satisfy at least two of the three criteria including average
19:00 daily traffic, 85th percentile speeds and
19:03 percentage of excessive speeders before advancing to the next phase.
19:07 If those criteria met residents are engaged to determine whether there's
19:10 neighborhood support before traffic calming measures are installed.
19:13 It's important to acknowledge that the program has produced meaningful
19:16 results and has ensured that resources are directed towards locations with
19:19 demonstrated safety concerns rather than anecdotal complaints alone.
19:23 It has also emphasized education enforcement for physical
19:26 interventions recognizing that traffic calming should be tailored to the
19:29 needs of each neighborhood.
19:30 As council administration and the public have increasingly discussed
19:33 pedestrian safety and active transportation over the past several
19:35 years it is worth recognizing the program has already provided an
19:39 important foundation for many of these conversations.
19:41 At the same time every successful program benefits from periodic review.
19:45 Since the program was originally established Lakewood has adopted an
19:48 active transportation plan, safe streets for all plan, climate action plan and
19:51 complete streets ordinance.
19:53 These initiatives reflect an evolving understanding of roadway safety and
19:56 emphasize designing streets that safely accommodate people of all ages and
19:59 abilities regardless of how they travel throughout a community.
20:02 We believe the program should now be evaluated through that broader lens.
20:05 Such a review should celebrate the program's obvious success as well as
20:08 also examining opportunities for improvement.
20:10 Among the questions worthy of discussion are whether the existing
20:12 thresholds continue to reflect current best practices,
20:15 whether the resident engagement process could be tweaked, whether the
20:18 project should be prioritized through a city-wide safety framework in
20:21 addition to neighborhood requests and whether the program should be
20:23 codified into lake codified ordinances or remain administratively
20:26 handled and whether traffic additional traffic calming
20:29 treatment as new design standards continue to evolve.
20:33 As council observed from residents over the past several years about
20:35 the program some residents have expressed that some streets and
20:38 neighborhoods might be more willing to accept physical interventions even
20:41 if the criteria are not met.
20:43 This communication seeks to identify opportunities to improve so that we can
20:45 strengthen public confidence in the program.
20:48 Accordingly, respectfully request the administration work collaborative with
20:50 council to conduct a comprehensive review of the program by refreshing
20:53 or by referring this communication to a committee and possibly even planning
20:57 commission and other complete streets and education advisory board.
21:01 This review should include an assessment of the current policies,
21:03 criteria, project delivery process, public engagement processes, available
21:08 funding strategies and opportunities to potentially better align with the
21:10 program with the city's adopted transportation safety goals.
21:14 We look forward to working with the administration and our colleagues, our
21:16 boards and residents to evaluate the program and identify
21:18 thoughtful refinement if any that will help the lake would remain one of
21:22 the safest and most walkable communities in Ohio.
21:26 So I would make a motion to refer this to
21:29 housing planning and development unless we want to go Cal I don't know
21:33 what I think housing planning development is the appropriate place
21:35 for it and then also eventually planning commission and
21:39 complete streets education advisory board I don't I
21:43 think that could be one motion to refer that I will make that motion.
21:48 The motion is to refer to housing planning development committee
21:52 of council planning commission and the complete streets education advisory
21:56 board. I'll second a motion has been made and
21:59 seconded discussion council member Bixen sign.
22:06 Thank you President Keppel and thank you Vice President Baker.
22:09 I'm really pleased to support this initiative and I do want to thank the
22:13 planning department and assistant director
22:16 boss of course as well for all the progress that's been made in the last
22:20 decade with traffic calming. My street went through the process a
22:24 number of years ago and we did not qualify for
22:27 infrastructure but we did get a radar sign and it happens to be
22:32 located right outside my house and so every so often I'll
22:34 look out the window and I'll see director boss up there checking this
22:38 radar sign that happens to be located outside my window.
22:41 But anyways I'm really pleased to have an opportunity to
22:46 look at this through a fresh lens. For me
22:50 my interests stemmed in part from some residents in the Birdtown neighborhood
22:55 who really stressed that you know we here we have some
22:59 terrific driver-centric metrics for traffic calming.
23:02 Could we now incorporate some neighborhood and pedestrian
23:07 driver-centric criteria to complement the driver-centric
23:11 criteria. So I look forward to being in this process
23:14 being part of this process and thank you Vice President Baker.
23:22 Thank you any further discussion on the motion to refer? Councilman Bullock.
23:36 Thanks Madam President. Thanks to my colleagues. I agree with
23:39 everything laid out in the letter and there are
23:42 other Ohio municipalities who put their programs
23:45 in legislation. We have not done that to date
23:49 but we can. So I agree with the
23:56 the evaluation of the standards by which we
24:00 qualify a street for different there's a spectrum of different
24:05 interventions and we've got a thoughtful process but
24:08 but I agree with the the review and recalibration.
24:14 I also note we've got funds for two additional streets this year
24:19 allocated in the 2026 city council budget priorities that
24:25 was was allocated to case so that case could in theory this year act
24:32 on two additional streets in 2026 to implement feed tables was the
24:39 estimated budget of you know so that capacity exists
24:43 today. We probably haven't moved on that
24:47 as far as I know precisely because right now
24:51 we've got a regular administrative process
24:54 and and that's it but I'm reminding us all of that
25:01 because council has already affirmed in our budget that we prioritize this
25:07 and want to expand this. Thanks. Thank you. Any further discussion?
25:16 Hearing none on the motion to refer all those in favor
25:19 aye and that motion passes. Item 10 communication from council members
25:23 Bixen, Evans, and Spivig regarding building stronger block level
25:27 connections. This council member Evans. Thank you
25:32 President Keppel. Dear colleagues sustainable civic
25:34 engagement is built from the neighborhood up
25:36 strengthening the block and you strengthen the city. Lakewood has a
25:39 proud division of block clubs and parties stretching back more than
25:42 50 years. The city has dozens of officially
25:44 recognized block clubs and 66 block party permits were issued last year.
25:49 Yet despite the solid foundation we believe significant potential exists to
25:53 grow and foster our community connectedness through pursuing a
25:55 neighborhood and belonging strategy. Recently oversight of the city of
25:59 Lakewood's block club program was transferred from the administration to
26:02 council. We have already commenced efforts to
26:04 reimagine this program. Over the last three months we have
26:07 partnered with two volunteer community leaders and council clerks to
26:11 launch an initiative seeking to achieve stronger neighborhood level community
26:14 building. Our goal turning neighborhoods into
26:17 communities to build and thicken social capital.
26:20 To this end a series of five meetings has produced a framework for
26:22 immediate next steps to audit Lakewood's social infrastructure.
26:26 The first step consists of hosting three focus groups aimed at garnering
26:30 garnering feedback from the neighborhood leaders who are already
26:33 involved in block level community building
26:35 formally or informally. Focus groups have been scheduled as follows
26:40 Thursday July 9th, Saturday July 11th, and Tuesday July 14th.
26:44 We look forward to meeting with neighborhood leaders in the weeks ahead
26:47 and using their feedback to help inform
26:49 next steps as we continue to develop a long-term neighboring and belonging
26:53 strategy. I'll just quickly add to this that
26:57 we're looking forward to taking the information what we
26:59 learned those those meetings in July and using the month of August during
27:03 recess to analyze what we heard and formulate a
27:06 plan for moving forward and look forward to
27:09 having another item on the agenda communication in September to
27:12 talk about what the next steps are. And I'll make a motion to receive and
27:15 file against communication. Second. Motion has been made and seconded.
27:21 Discussion. Councilmember Bixenstein.
27:26 Thank you President Keppel. I just want to thank Councilperson Evans
27:30 and Councilperson Striebig for their leadership
27:34 with with this initiative. I certainly share the enthusiasm
27:38 we're regarding this this notion that strengthening your block is
27:42 an essential way to strengthen our community on a block level basis
27:46 and I look forward to the upcoming focus groups. Councilmember Striebig.
27:51 Thank you. Also thank you to both my council colleagues for
27:55 your work on this and the administration for seeing the need to
27:58 to bring this back to city council for
28:01 for expanding this program and and and to echo Councilman Bixenstein's
28:07 words. I think that and this has always been my vision as
28:12 a former block captain of 13 years was to make this
28:15 a much better tool to communicate with neighbors
28:20 who are already checking on each other to work with
28:23 the community paramedic program and just all the all the different
28:29 possibilities that we could expand communication between
28:33 neighbors. I'm really thrilled that we're going to start these
28:36 community focus groups and I'm looking forward to those meetings. Thank you.
28:41 Thank you. Councilperson Hamilton-Steiner. Thank you President Kupferl
28:46 and I just want to commend my council colleagues for
28:50 putting in the effort to provide the support for
28:53 for the block clubs. Having gone to a lot of block parties last year
28:58 Lakewood loves their block parties and
29:02 every block party is different there's no two that are the same
29:06 and they like to compete to see who's who's got the best block parties.
29:11 The verdicts still out for me for that one who has the best ones
29:15 but I just appreciate you all for bringing this together
29:18 and I think this is a great tool to build community and especially as we
29:22 see you know what happens when you know
29:26 communication we're not able to communicate through phone or
29:29 or you know electronics or anything like that that
29:32 these block clubs are going to be a critical point of communication
29:36 and emergency response potentially. Thank you.
29:42 Yes and you know this is something council has
29:45 talked about you know we when we talk about our council priorities we were
29:50 all unanimous in wanting to improve communication and
29:55 education efforts with residents brought a variety of topics
29:58 to make sure that folks know about resources available but also that we're
30:01 receiving it's communication there's two ways
30:04 right and so these provide you know strong block clubs provide
30:10 both a way for residents to be informed and have referrals to the
30:16 correct resources and people know about things that are available to them
30:19 but also to engage with us and so that we know how to support
30:25 them better so it's just all around a very good thing
30:28 and I'm excited to see how this moves forward and I'm excited for
30:31 council to take the lead on this so thank you.
30:35 All right any oh council member Vixenstein. Thank you now
30:39 if you were missed not to add I wanted to thank our three clerks because
30:42 they've they've also played a really vital role in this process so far so
30:44 thank you very much. Definitely definitely worth celebrating
30:50 the clerk's efforts always. All right any further discussion on
30:54 the motion to receive and file the communication?
30:57 Hearing none all those in favor aye and that motion passes.
31:01 Item 11 report from council member Hamilton Steiner regarding June meeting
31:05 of the Lakewood Animal Safety and Welfare Advisory Board.
31:07 Council member Hamilton Steiner. Thank you president couple. Dear colleagues
31:10 Leswab met on Wednesday June 17th in their monthly meeting location of the
31:14 East Conference Room in Lakewood City Hall.
31:16 The meeting began with an update from ACO Cremley with this monthly
31:19 report and data update. The report was produced in a new
31:22 report format. Leswab members plan to review the data to better
31:26 understand this new layout. There was an overall animal control shelter
31:30 discussion which involved the current name of the shelter.
31:33 A concerned resident reached out to the Leswab chair to share their concerns.
31:37 The concerned resident feels as though the Lakewood Animal Control and
31:40 Shelter is not living up to the definition of how a shelter operates.
31:43 Discussion continued where Leswab recognized the current functions of the
31:46 Lakewood Animal Control and Shelter, the ordinances which relate to
31:50 the operations of the Lakewood Animal Control and Shelter,
31:53 and whether there are standard operating procedures for the shelter.
31:56 A community concern was brought up by a resident who provided public comment
32:00 sharing their experience with the shelter which has motivated Leswab to
32:03 research best practices and standard operating
32:05 procedures for municipal animal shelters. Leswab intends to provide some
32:09 recommendations through their council liaison
32:12 to bring to the administration of Lakewood City Council. CLAWS
32:15 Citizens Committee for Lakewood's Animals and Shelter will have a
32:19 presence at the Lakewood Arts Fest. Volunteers have been requested to
32:22 bake dog treats and donations of water and or soda
32:25 and other handmade items for the pet treat bake sale.
32:28 This is part of their annual fundraiser to support the work of CLAWS. If anyone
32:32 is interested in supporting CLAWS, please reach out to me and I can
32:36 can connect you with a CLAWS board member.
32:39 I move to receive and file that communication.
32:42 Second. Motion's been made and seconded. Any
32:45 discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor?
32:49 Aye. And that motion passes. Item 12, communication from Council Member
32:53 Hamilton Steiner regarding OMB's proposed changes to federal
32:57 financial assistance for effective date 10-1-2026. Council Member Hamilton
33:02 Steiner. Thank you President Keppel. Dear colleagues, I want to draw your
33:06 attention to the potential overhaul of the federal financial assistance
33:10 via a proposed rule by the Office of Management and Budget,
33:14 OMB. The Code of Federal Regulations 2 CFR 200,
33:18 otherwise known as Uniform Guidance, provides agency-wide policies and
33:22 requirements related to financial assistance,
33:24 which include grants, cooperative agreements, and other funding mechanisms.
33:29 The purpose of the proposed OMB changes is như 1, lại,
33:32 improve transparency, accountability, and oversight.
33:35 2, clarify status of OMB's policies and 3, reduce
33:39 recipient burden. These sweeping changes are alarming in that it has the
33:43 potential to fundamentally alter and change the federal grant-making
33:46 landscape. Some of the proposed revisions, which
33:49 would be the most harmful, include, and this is not in an
33:53 exhaustive list. Section 200.202, alignment with federal
33:57 administration priorities, would force alignment of program goals
34:01 with that administration's policies and priorities.
34:04 Section 200.205, grantee proposal selection,
34:08 would create a process for pre- issuance review to determine if
34:11 grantees are consistent with applicable law. Section 200.206,
34:16 applicant risk assessment, would determine if an awardee has engaged
34:19 in activities or behaviors out of alignment with federal civil rights
34:23 laws, or those inconsistent with religious liberty laws,
34:26 or if the applicant has membership in organizations that violate federal law.
34:31 Section 200.211, 340, 341, 342, and 343,
34:37 ability to terminate or suspend funds. Termination provision in federal
34:42 awards would allow for the termination of federal awards for any sort of
34:45 violation or failures, including failure to
34:48 advance the national interests or federal agency priorities.
34:52 Section 200.208, new terms and conditions,
34:56 would allow for terms and conditions to be added to an award
34:59 after a period of performance has started. Section 200.300,
35:04 limits on DEI, gender ideology, and discrimination,
35:08 would ensure that grant funds and subawards are not used to fund or
35:11 promote illegal DEI, gender ideology, or the
35:15 gender transition of a person under age 19.
35:18 Section 200.218, disparate impacts, would prohibit the use of disparate
35:23 impact studies, litigation, or other related activities
35:26 related to disparate impact liability. Section 200.111,
35:31 language access, removes agency discretion language
35:34 which would have previously allowed for issuing or translating of awards
35:38 in languages other than English. Section 200.205, review of proposals
35:44 would eliminate the merit review process. Section 200.202, community
35:49 engagement, removes previous guidance that
35:52 required federal agencies to engage with members of the community
35:55 that would benefit from or be impacted by a program.
35:59 Section 200.318, hiring preferences and goals,
36:03 would remove references to hiring preference goals for high poverty areas,
36:07 disadvantaged communities, or high unemployment areas.
36:11 Section 200.300, public welfare and environment,
36:15 would eliminate the requirement that federal agencies operate in compliance
36:18 with federal laws related to public welfare and the environment.
36:22 Ultimately these proposed changes will remove uniform guidance as the guide
36:25 and change it to regulation and limit the autonomy of federal agencies
36:29 in addition to the consolidation of grant making decisions
36:32 and put them in the hands of political appointees. If these changes
36:36 are implemented there will be significant impacts all over from
36:39 nonprofits to higher education to school districts and local government
36:43 to business affecting health and human services,
36:46 education, mental health and substance use services
36:49 to our research landscape. No one will be untouched as this would also
36:52 include pass-through funding otherwise known as sub awards and not
36:56 just direct awards made. The comment period is open and will
36:59 close on July 13th. I'm encouraging everyone, all of my
37:03 council colleagues please, to go to the federal register
37:06 regulation for federal financial assistance and make a public comment
37:09 and for members of the public there is a link that direct link that you can go
37:14 to and make a public comment as well. By
37:17 law each comment has to be considered so please make your comments count.
37:21 Thank you. I move to receive and file that communication.
37:24 Second. Motion has been made and seconded.
37:28 Open discussion just by saying thank you council member
37:31 Hamilton Steiner for making us all aware of this. I know
37:35 in your other full-time job that would certainly come up. I just wanted
37:42 to clarify on the first page it says the purpose
37:46 of these changes are these three things is this
37:49 the alleged purpose of these changes because it doesn't seem like
37:53 the the changes you list actually would be accomplishing
37:57 those data goals. Yes that is what they are stating the purpose is
38:01 so that's emphasizing that that is what they're saying those proposed
38:05 changes are and then this is that so each section below that's what
38:09 they're proposing those changes to be. And do you know if they
38:12 define what illegal DEI is? So if you actually go to the federal
38:17 register if you go to that link it's it's filled with a lot of
38:21 propaganda and it's essentially they're they're saying that diversity
38:27 equity and inclusion anything that's it's illegal. I'll just note to
38:32 those section talking about removing the the need for public engagement for
38:38 about the group affected by the award is
38:41 absolute misattention. I'll certainly add a comment myself.
38:45 Any further discussion? Item 13 communication from council member Bullock
38:50 regarding resuming deliberations on proposed rules for liquid property
38:54 seeking to operate as short-term rentals.
38:56 Council member Bullock. Thanks Kyle. Thank you Madam President.
39:14 Dear mayor and member of council members of council please see attached to the
39:18 proposed ordinance to continue our consideration of potential rules to
39:22 regulate liquid property seeking shape deliberation by council
39:25 begun last year and by public input the community at large.
39:29 Although it's it is not clear that short-term rental operation of Lakewood
39:32 is illegal and permitted use the practice has exploded in recent
39:36 years. While the city of Lakewood knows of
39:38 several dozen such properties an informal search on commercial
39:41 short-term rental websites reveals several hundred being made available
39:45 for short-term rental. City council and city hall have received
39:48 an increasing number of complaints about the presence and operation of
39:51 short-term rentals in our neighborhoods who are reported to
39:53 results eroded perceptions of safety greater pressure on housing
39:57 affordability and at times large and disruptive to nearby hotels.
40:01 Proponents of short-term rental operations state that the acutely
40:05 problematic guest behaviors are infrequent.
40:08 Word about the laws already on the book since 2006 Lakewood
40:12 as a conditionally permitted use quote in any commercial district or
40:16 multiple family residential district and provided that quote the building
40:20 in which a bed and breakfast establishment is located
40:23 is a single-family dwelling which serves the principal residence of the
40:26 applicant as recognized architecturally
40:28 historically or as architecturally historically or
40:31 culturally significant. Lakewood's existing laws also limit
40:34 the number of days guests may stay require off-street
40:38 parking and prohibit rentals for quote special gatherings and parties.
40:43 There's wedding receptions I think are included as well
40:47 among other regulations. To my knowledge no property
40:51 currently operating in Lakewood has been granted such a conditional use
40:54 permit although I'd be happy to work with
40:57 planning department to confirm that and may not even have applied. We
41:03 also know that many short-term rental properties are operating
41:05 in single-family and single and two-family districts.
41:09 Reading this section reveals that a previous city council put careful thought
41:13 to commercial short-term rental operation in a residential district
41:17 even when the use is anticipated to be orderly and law-abiding
41:21 and free of chronic nuisance behaviors and even crimes.
41:25 Note that Lakewood's laws predates airbnbs
41:28 we've adopted this in 2006 even before I served
41:32 so I can't involve claim to be involved in this one.
41:38 Airbnbs first arose as a practice in San Francisco in August 2008.
41:44 The goals of a Lakewood short-term rental policy today whether adopted
41:48 legislatively or administratively might pursue any of several
41:52 goals and probably couldn't do all of these
41:55 but this represents a spectrum. To allow for example number one to allow
42:00 for operation in a manner that achieves quality safety and operator accountability.
42:05 Number two to protect against crime nuisance behavior. Number three to
42:08 protect against crime and the risk of crime. Number three to protect
42:11 residential properties from significant alteration for
42:13 commercial use. Number five next I'll keep going.
42:18 Next to prioritize the availability of Lakewood housing stock for long-term
42:22 residents as prices as affordable and prices
42:27 as affordable as possible rather than profit maximizing.
42:29 Next to protect character parking access
42:32 the perception of safety and residential neighborhood zone for
42:35 residential use. Next to design a set of oversight enforcement
42:38 rules that are time efficient and practicable
42:41 for city personnel to implement without significant strain
42:44 cost or time. I think that one's key. Next to protect impacted neighbors
42:49 from the burden of reporting and pursuing enforcement for problems they
42:52 didn't create. Next to ensure fees and taxes are
42:55 collected by the city for short-term rental commercial
42:58 activity and or others not listed here.
43:01 The ordinance proposed here as a starting point would
43:05 require a conditional use permit clarifying that short-term rentals are
43:08 included in the definition of bed and breakfast establishment which is a
43:11 term of art in our code. Next require owner occupancy. Next
43:15 prohibit any short-term rentals inside condominiums or other multifamily
43:19 apartment buildings three suites or larger. Next
43:22 prohibit short-term rentals within 1500 feet of a school
43:25 and establish your requirements for compliance
43:29 with safety quality informational disclosure and
43:33 establish a means of accountability of conditions at and operations of the
43:37 property fell short of the requirements. Now in separate but directly related
43:42 matters city council might review Lakewood's chronic nuisance ordinance
43:46 to assess whether it is strong enough to facilitate abatement of nuisance
43:50 conditions at properties being used as short-term
43:52 rentals. That doesn't require law change but
43:56 necessarily but does similar to the e-dirt bike misuse
44:03 conversation require an assessment of our policies and
44:07 procedures and our public education. And finally
44:10 our tax laws fee structures and collection
44:13 methods to ensure short-term rental activity is paying taxes
44:16 and fees on generated revenue to offset the cost of increased city
44:19 oversight. Please refer this communication proposed
44:23 ordinance to a committee of council's choosing for
44:26 further consideration. Thank you.
44:33 I would think that the
44:37 ordinance would go to housing planning and development.
44:40 Council member Evans would like the communication as well. Okay
44:44 so I will move to refer to housing planning and development.
44:48 Motion's been made and seconded discussion.
44:52 Hearing none all those in favor aye and that motion passes.
44:56 Item 14 ordinance 28-2026 an ordinance to take effect immediately
45:01 clarifying that short-term rentals are a form of bed and
45:04 breakfast establishment pursuant to Lakewood codified ordinance 11-61-03c
45:09 and establishing additional criteria regulating this conditional use.
45:12 I'll move to refer to housing planning and development. Second.
45:16 Motion's been made and seconded. Any discussion?
45:19 Madam President. Councilman Boak. Thank you. This again is a starting point.
45:24 I've drafted this without consultation with the administration
45:29 in direct sense. I have consulted with the administration about
45:32 the factors in play that are listed in communication
45:37 but consider this a first draft. I think city council
45:40 and the community as a whole has several choice points here
45:44 and I try to indicate that in the in the letter which is
45:49 you know in the ballots do we think it's an amenity that is
45:52 important to preserve the operation of or
46:00 something that impacts residential zone districts
46:04 in a way that deserves special care and over and I don't know that
46:10 there's a right answer to that other than what
46:13 we as a community want to decide. This gets into the classic dilemmas of
46:19 zone districts what the law allows in a zone district
46:24 and what exceptions could be allowed in those zone districts and what
46:29 processes we follow to consider those exceptions.
46:33 So what I've attempted to do is actually
46:36 take a little c conservative approach to a proposed change
46:40 by making slight amendments or proposing slight amendments to
46:45 something that's been in the books for more than 20 years or for exactly 20
46:48 years and begin there.
46:53 So certainly there needs to be some feedback. I have
46:56 over the last 12 months talked to proponents as well as opponents.
47:01 I will observe that there's a tendency to
47:05 in our in our development procedures to
47:10 favor new development. I am sympathetic to
47:14 neighbors who bought in a residential neighborhood
47:18 under the existing residential rules and then
47:22 later are experiencing commercial operations impacting them without their
47:28 consent and in this case really without
47:31 notice because we don't even have
47:34 procedures to invite public input as we would
47:39 when we're following a conditional use permit. So I do think
47:44 speaking for myself I that there's quite a number of legitimate
47:48 concerns by impacted neighbors but I approach this
47:54 with a with an open mind so I look forward to the discussion.
48:00 Thank you. All right any further discussion on the motion to refer to
48:04 housing planning and development? Hearing none all those in favor aye and
48:09 that motion passes. Item 15 communication from planning
48:12 director Byington and development officer Wyman regarding amended fiscal
48:16 year 26 HUD annual action plan resolution 2025-66a.
48:21 Director Byington. Thank you President Keppel and members of city council.
48:25 On April 3rd, 2026 the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
48:29 Development informed the city that the 2026 community development block
48:33 grant award was going to be $1,915,618
48:38 and the emergency solutions grant award would be $166,057.
48:43 Because Lakewood's HUD annual action plan cannot be submitted until actual
48:47 funding awards are announced and the city must adopt budget
48:50 legislation prior to the end of each fiscal year
48:53 the allocation recommendations approved by Lakewood's citizens advisory
48:56 committee were based on estimates of the 2026 CDBG
49:01 dollar amount at $1,750,000 and ESG at $160,000.
49:08 Now that Lakewood's actual federal funding awards have been announced
49:11 FY26 action plan resolution 2025-66 must be amended to include the
49:18 additional funds. To minimize duplication of effort HUD
49:21 requires grantees to develop contingency provisions language
49:25 describing the city's approach to aligning estimated allocations with
49:28 actual funding awards once they are known.
49:31 These guidelines approved by the CAC on September 10th of 2025
49:35 were utilized to distribute the additional CDBG
49:39 amount of $165,618 and the additional ESG amount of $6,057.
49:48 The additional CDBG funds were applied to public service activities
49:52 to maintain those services at the minimum 15 percent of total funding.
49:56 The administration line item was increased to maintain the maximum of
50:00 20 percent of total funding and the remainder was allocated to
50:03 street resurfacing. The additional ESG funds were applied
50:06 to homelessness prevention assistance. We respectfully submit the amended FY26
50:12 HUD annual action plan resolution and the citizen advisory committee's
50:15 final actual FY26 CDBG and ESG allocation
50:20 recommendations. Thank you. Thank you. I will
50:26 move to receive and file the communication. Second.
50:29 Motion's been made and seconded. Discussion?
50:34 Hearing none all those in favor aye and that motion passes.
50:38 Item 16 resolution 2025-66A a resolution to take effect immediately
50:43 amending resolution 2025-66 adopted November 17, 2025
50:49 authorizing and directing the mayor to submit the fiscal year one-year action
50:53 plan of the five-year consolidated plan which
50:55 includes dollar allocations and activities to be funded with federal
50:59 CDBG and ESG resources any other entitlement funds received from the
51:03 U.S. Department of Housing urban development all amendments thereto and
51:06 all understandings and assurances contain their rent
51:09 and incorporates the city's application to HUD for fiscal year 26 CDBG
51:13 and ESG funds. Move to adopt. Second.
51:17 Motion's been made and seconded. Discussion?
51:21 Hearing none all those in favor aye and that motion passes.
51:25 Item 17 June 2026 finance department vendor report submitted pursuant to
51:29 liquid codified ordinance 11103. Move to receive and file. Second.
51:34 Motion's been made and seconded. Discussion?
51:37 Hearing none all those in favor aye and that motion passes.
51:42 Item 18 liquor permit QAJ enterprise LLC at 14,000 Detroit Avenue.
51:48 Don't think we have the report on this one yet. Is that correct?
51:52 That's correct Mayor President. We finally got the paperwork. Oh great.
51:55 Yes so it will be done soon. Okay great. I mean you guys have been a
51:59 little busy so but thank you. I know I know there's
52:02 been some trouble getting things from the
52:05 liquor control and back and forth so yeah. For some reason this one's been
52:08 exceptional. It's it's we've probably as Clerk Black's been a
52:12 great help. We yeah this one's been a challenge.
52:16 Well thank you and we don't have the next one either right? Is that correct?
52:21 Okay all right great all right so I will move to defer.
52:25 Second. Motion's been made and seconded. Any discussion?
52:29 Hearing none all those in favor aye and that motion passes.
52:34 Item 19 liquor permit regarding CNE hospitality LLC at 16806 Madison Avenue.
52:41 Move to defer. Second. Motion's been made and seconded.
52:44 Any discussion? Hearing none all those in favor
52:48 aye and that motion passes. Okay we are now to public comment.
52:52 I have three four folks signed in to speak.
52:59 I'll go through those in order. When I call your name
53:02 you can come up. Looks like the microphone is already on so you don't
53:05 need to push anything. You'll have up to five minutes. You
53:08 can address the chair. That's me. Please address the chair.
53:12 You avoid personalities. You'll state your name and address for the record
53:16 and I think that takes away. All right so first up is
53:20 Don Nottage. Welcome.
53:25 Good evening distinguished council people, Madam Mayor, Police Chief.
53:29 Don R. Nottage 2159 Morrison Avenue in Lakewood. My name is Don
53:37 Nottage and my wife Renee and have been in Lakewood
53:41 residence for over 25 years. Prior to that my family had moved to
53:45 Lakewood in 1974 from the east side of Cleveland.
53:48 My grandfather Alex Mamrick along with his father
53:51 were builders of many houses in Lakewood going back to the 1920s.
53:56 In all that time I've never experienced the conditions I was put
53:59 through on July 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Let's cut to the chase. Over those
54:03 three days our power was shut off without warning
54:06 four times. During that time we were sent vague
54:09 half-hearted apologies by First Energy concerning repair schedules as well as
54:15 AI generated phone calls saying that there would be
54:18 quote-unquote planned outages for one hour
54:21 and subsequently four to five hours with power.
54:25 That was a lie. Our power was out for over six hours each time.
54:30 On July 3rd after a late dinner our power went out again
54:35 as did our Cox cable bundled phone service.
54:39 I'm a severe asthma sufferer and we have medically indicated air
54:43 purifiers in our house. Due to the rapidly rising heat and
54:47 humidity my breathing situation started to become critical.
54:50 None of my rescue medications were working.
54:53 Our Verizon service was also down. I became faint dizzy and started to have
54:58 cognitive issues. My wife helped me into the car and we
55:02 rushed to Lakewood ER on Detroit. I was treated for dehydration, heat
55:07 stroke, and asthma symptoms that were addressed.
55:11 We were in the ER for over four hours. I want to also point out that
55:15 my wife has epilepsy in which she requires regular sleep.
55:20 She wasn't able to get any that night. Both of us had our health endangered due
55:25 to a situation that should never have been allowed to
55:28 happen in 2026. On July 2nd our mayor put out a
55:32 statement starting with we hear you and then
55:36 went on to blame First Energy for the entire thing.
55:39 Well, hear this. Over 30 years I worked for four Cleveland mayors.
55:44 I personally witnessed effective leadership and ineffective leadership
55:48 but I know it when I see it. I've seen effective solutions
55:53 be applied across the board to the myriad of problems a big city faces.
55:58 I've seen politicians and corporations work together to get things done.
56:02 I was there when problems got solved, when problems got kicked under the
56:06 table. I witnessed that too. You are our
56:09 re-elected officials. You have a responsibility
56:12 to provide health and safety to your constituents.
56:16 That's what we pay you to do. It's time for creative solutions to be
56:20 enacted including lawsuits and exploring the
56:24 enlistment of a different utility provider
56:26 instead of Lakewood continuously kicking this issue down the road and pointing
56:31 fingers. And in my opinion it's frankly
56:33 irresponsible to build more multi-unit apartment complexes all over the city
56:38 that will even further stress this failing power grid.
56:42 If this situation isn't more creatively addressed by this body,
56:46 people could very well die. I almost did. Thank you for your time.
56:53 Thank you. Thank you and I just want to acknowledge first of all
57:01 that I'm sorry for everything that you went through.
57:06 Many of our residents did. We heard from a lot. I spent
57:09 those three days, I know Vice President Baker did as well
57:13 and other council members of responding to folks in the mayor's office as
57:16 well. We do have another person signed in
57:19 to speak about FirstEnergy and then I thought maybe I'll give the mayor a
57:22 chance to respond unless you'd like to do that now.
57:24 If I could respond now just to a couple things and first of all I want
57:28 to say thank you for being here and I'm sorry that this has
57:31 happened to you. I truly am. As I've said many times and as
57:37 I've spoken to FirstEnergy, we are talking about life and
57:40 death here. There are people with your
57:43 issues, your wife issues and it needs to be addressed and so
57:48 some of the things that we have done and I'm working on putting together a
57:53 timeline for the public so you can all see a little bit of the
57:56 work that maybe has gone behind the scenes so we can communicate it a
57:59 little bit better but I have a timeline in front of me I
58:02 want to go through just a little bit so everyone knows some of the work
58:05 that we've been doing and the law department has been doing. First I
58:08 want to set the stage is that the Public Utilities
58:12 Commission of Ohio is the regulatory agency for utilities
58:16 so through them is the only way that we can effectuate
58:19 change through FirstEnergy. So in June of last year we formally
58:25 petitioned Pucco to investigate the outages from June of
58:29 last year. Four days later they responded and
58:33 they launched a formal investigation. By the end of July their
58:37 investigation resulted in a letter of probable non-compliance
58:41 to FirstEnergy and they noted that several outages in Lakewood were
58:46 caused by equipment or line failures that are not weather
58:49 related events and it also identified a significant
58:53 amount of older infrastructure compared to surrounding areas.
58:57 In October Pucco formally orders FirstEnergy to install new
59:02 transformers and complete inspection repair of
59:05 poles and equipment no later than the end of this year.
59:10 In the month of October we also file a legal intervention
59:14 to oppose FirstEnergy's application to lower its reliability standards with
59:19 Pucco. In December in partnership with City
59:22 Council they issue a resolution supporting
59:25 intervention in FirstEnergy's petition to lower those reliability standards.
59:30 We submitted an affidavit with supporting evidence and
59:35 opposition of FirstEnergy's petition to lower its reliability standards.
59:39 Law Director Vargo in February participated in those hearings
59:45 and cross-examines FirstEnergy officials.
59:49 We did just see that new transformer was delivered to the Birdtown
59:53 substation. It is not up and running yet but it
59:55 was delivered and then on June 24th Pucco sides with Lakewood
1:00:00 and they did deny their application to lower the reliability standards
1:00:04 and as of today I have submitted another complaint
1:00:09 to Pucco regarding the last these last power outages and just a few
1:00:15 things I want to highlight. I've now asked for additional financial
1:00:19 components to the matter which include I'm requesting
1:00:23 significant direct fines to FirstEnergy refunds of payments to rate payers
1:00:29 and other creative options such as an escrow system
1:00:32 that will withhold all rate payer utility bill payments
1:00:35 until the issues in Lakewood are fully resolved.
1:00:40 So I just want you to know it may seem like it's behind the scenes
1:00:44 but we are working the law department is working we're working very hard
1:00:48 to push FirstEnergy as hard as we can and work to have Pucco really come
1:00:54 down on this corrupt entity. Thank you Mayor for your efforts and
1:00:59 please keep everyone in the loop keep your constituents in the loop
1:01:04 through the website or whatever and make sure people are understanding
1:01:08 and that they can have some peace of mind for the future
1:01:11 because this this was bad as we know and there are a lot of ripple
1:01:16 there's a lot of ripple effects occurring around this so
1:01:19 thank you for your efforts please continue. Absolutely thank you and I
1:01:23 just um communication might not be my
1:01:26 strong suit and I work on it very hard every day we do a lot of really
1:01:29 good work at this city and so we did talk today about
1:01:32 maybe getting a website together about FirstEnergy putting the timeline
1:01:36 together about resources for individuals so
1:01:39 we are working to make that improvement because it is important for all of our
1:01:42 residents to know all this work that's being done
1:01:44 and we're fighting hard for all of you. Thank you.
1:01:55 Thanks um yeah and I just want to note with that too is that
1:02:00 that decision by Pucco to not allow FirstEnergy so when they came to us
1:02:06 and said you know we're going to try to do
1:02:07 better on on one side in the public and then
1:02:11 behind the scenes were saying but we're going to try to lower these
1:02:13 reliability standards um and so you know they made their
1:02:17 announcement that they were delivering that new transformer the day before
1:02:21 this decision came out in the papers that they
1:02:24 that um Pucco had denied their request to lower their standards so
1:02:28 they can put out a press release when they want to announce like hey
1:02:31 look we're doing something great but they can't put one out to tell you
1:02:34 what's happening um with your power so I just want to point that out and
1:02:37 notice that um one of the things that was cited in
1:02:40 their decision to not allow them to lower their
1:02:44 reliability standards was all of your public comments so
1:02:49 I know everybody's tired of submitting public comments to Pucco
1:02:52 but it was cited multiple times in their decision about
1:02:56 the how much Lakewood residents have suffered and how unacceptable it is so
1:03:00 it is important that we all keep raising our voices as well.
1:03:05 Absolutely and and let me thank all of City Council
1:03:08 for your support and your partnership and and as we've tackled this
1:03:12 together I want to recognize all of you and I do want to call out one
1:03:16 council member in particular which is Tom Bullock who has a lot of
1:03:19 experience in in our energy and has been
1:03:23 quite helpful as we look to fight with Pucco and
1:03:27 some of this so I want to compliment him as well.
1:03:29 Thank you all right next we have um Ben Jackson
1:03:34 uh can come on up to the microphone and I'll just note too
1:03:37 is um with public comment it's not really a back and forth but I'm
1:03:42 trying I know this is a hot topic so I want to be a
1:03:45 little lenient and I want to give the mayor chance of response but um
1:03:48 but just so we know okay oh go ahead Ben. Yeah thank you
1:03:51 everyone for giving me a few minutes. I came here specifically to ask that
1:03:55 you guys look into this idea of an escrow account.
1:03:58 I think that is the most effective method that we can use
1:04:04 especially for a publicly traded utility if
1:04:07 they start to get nervous about the amount of revenue if we build in
1:04:11 covenants to say if you don't meet certain timelines
1:04:14 some of this money in the escrow is coming back
1:04:17 I think we have a much stronger ability to
1:04:21 bring them to keel so I'm glad to hear that thank you very much and if
1:04:25 there's anything that we can do please keep telling us
1:04:28 suggestions and that kind of thing around comments and
1:04:32 that sort of thing a coordinated voice I think is
1:04:36 very valuable. Thank you. Thank you. All right um next up
1:04:43 is Matt Herberger welcome back. Hello uh Matt Herberger 1448 Bunts Road
1:04:59 um I'm not here to talk about first energy but I will say
1:05:05 I've had many disagreements with the city and the administration
1:05:10 but I will give credit to the mayor I think you're doing an outstanding job
1:05:16 holding first energy to account and and I
1:05:20 I do I have many disagreements but on that front I think you're doing
1:05:27 a great job. So I'm here to talk about something
1:05:30 entirely different uh unrelated I think mostly to what we're talking about
1:05:36 um I just have a suggestion I for those of you
1:05:43 some of you know me I live on Bunts Road there's a multimodal
1:05:48 project going in and I've been opposed to it
1:05:52 as have many of my neighbors um and it's proceeding
1:05:57 as planned I and I came across a an idea that even the planning
1:06:04 director will like because it's easy um
1:06:10 swap the sidewalk for the tree lawn and the tree lawn for the multimodal
1:06:16 path on my street so you extend my yard out
1:06:21 further you plant the trees there and the
1:06:24 multimodal path is adjacent to the roadway um two things
1:06:32 it creates a buffer zone for the residents there
1:06:36 from the traffic that inevitably will be increased
1:06:39 particularly with e-bikes and it'll give the e-bikes egress and
1:06:46 ingress into the multimodal path and for you sir all you got to do is
1:06:52 rotate that uh blueprint 180 degrees and it'll fit the
1:06:57 same way think about it just think about it
1:07:03 I know it's crazy I was thinking about it tonight I would just want to
1:07:07 suggest that and then just to touch on one other
1:07:10 subject that I think is concerning a lot of people
1:07:13 and it does tie into the multimodal path
1:07:18 these e-bikes it's exploding and I know we've touched on it
1:07:22 and I know all of you are educated people and you read
1:07:26 and you see what's happening you see the accidents happening
1:07:30 right we do see it we got to get out ahead of it we are right
1:07:37 and I know you're saying let's put it into meetings let's talk about it
1:07:42 it's coming so quickly I was just my daughter is a lifeguard
1:07:47 at Lakewood public at the pool at Lakewood Park there's kids doing
1:07:53 wheelies right in front of it on their e-bikes
1:07:56 some it's getting it's like it it's almost like it's instantaneous
1:08:01 and my concern is I understand Lakewood wants to do a multimodal
1:08:06 paths and they want to increase that this may damage that and this could be
1:08:12 a real problem we need to find these solutions
1:08:16 between pedestrians regular bikes e-bikes motorized bikes and
1:08:23 I'm really concerned because it's caught me by surprise how quickly
1:08:28 it's happening and I think it's catching all of us
1:08:32 a little bit and I think we need to get out ahead of it
1:08:36 and make sure that we've got regulations in place or we've got
1:08:40 ideas about how we control it to make sure people are safe because
1:08:45 God forbid like at Hilliard and in Madison too late we find out
1:08:52 hey we built something we expected people to follow the rules
1:08:57 they didn't and someone dies someone's injured
1:09:00 right all good thank you my pleasure thank you and I'll just
1:09:06 um on that we actually earlier this evening we had
1:09:10 in our housing plan development committee we were talking about the
1:09:13 legislation around shared use pass and that includes
1:09:16 definitions of various e-bikes there's all different sort of categories but in
1:09:20 that we talked about what I think what
1:09:22 we're all seeing right now and we've had a lot of public feedback as we've
1:09:26 had our council community conversations of the little electric they're sort
1:09:31 of um the updated version of the
1:09:33 mopeds that um for those of us that are old enough to remember
1:09:36 mopeds but um but we're seeing children riding them
1:09:40 and they're they're going they're going way
1:09:43 faster than at um the level one two and three e-bikes you know
1:09:47 might go um 20 miles an hour 20 miles or some of those
1:09:51 these are uh have throttles and can go way faster than that and they're
1:09:55 going fast on the sidewalk and in places that um is very dangerous so
1:10:00 we did have conversation about that tonight too about not necessarily
1:10:03 waiting till we have the full uh shared use path regulation done to take
1:10:08 some action on those because they're they are just kind of exploding and i
1:10:11 think a lot of parents aren't realizing um they're being marketed to them as
1:10:15 e-bikes but they're really essentially electric
1:10:19 mopeds and you know back in the day you had to have your
1:10:23 you had to have a specific license you had to be a certain age um so
1:10:27 there are potential actions we can take with that too um and i'm keep
1:10:30 looking over at the chief too because it's like we were talking
1:10:32 about that tonight and we have to i'll have to follow up with you about
1:10:34 that but um but so that that is i think one
1:10:37 of the things we're all seeing all of a sudden is they're just kind of
1:10:40 appearing everywhere and particularly um on the sidewalks
1:10:43 and um it can be very dangerous for folks
1:10:46 pedestrians and people with disabilities and seniors so
1:10:50 so we we agree and we were actually talking about earlier tonight so thank
1:10:53 you all right um next up is
1:10:56 dennis kwecki oh great come on up yep
1:11:07 good job yeah my name is dennis kwecki i live on the 2160 morrison
1:11:13 and the reason i'm here is on my street we're having problems
1:11:20 i've talked to people called up at the city hall here
1:11:25 i've been in the city of latin for 53 years
1:11:29 at the same residence so i've been around when they collected garbage
1:11:34 from the back that was great but in the meantime
1:11:38 somewhere along the line lakewood's lost its uh
1:11:42 oomph to take care of pro to watch over properties
1:11:47 what i have on my street is a house that's been
1:11:51 bad for 53 years well guess what the gentleman finally died he was a
1:11:57 hoarder okay that was about four years ago
1:12:01 the house is still there the only thing that's happened
1:12:05 it got painted nothing else has happened to it
1:12:09 i've called up they said oh they're waiting for permits
1:12:12 to get it done i mean this house didn't even have stairs going
1:12:16 downstairs they brought it out the steps were and again i heard
1:12:22 well they're getting permits and going on with it
1:12:25 it's been way too long and you know it started
1:12:30 right from the lawn he doesn't have a lawn he has
1:12:33 some kind of plants that just grew and he had a tree in there that was
1:12:40 never taken care of it was all over the place
1:12:44 that's gone finally they've cleaned that up a little bit
1:12:47 but this house has been sitting there just stagnant
1:12:51 you know and i go down the street i don't see anybody there
1:12:55 and if they are there they're not they're wrong
1:12:58 and we got a second house on our street that's been abandoned
1:13:03 for over a couple years first we went through neighbors
1:13:07 or the people that lived in it were terrible okay
1:13:10 they had 13 cars in the driveway and out on the street i guess we
1:13:16 were able to park next to it john you ever see his place it's
1:13:21 immaculate okay and this house we've called up
1:13:27 talk to people while they're getting permits and working on it
1:13:31 i've been monitoring that house and there's only been
1:13:35 a couple people there maybe 15 minutes at the most
1:13:39 and they pull out and pull in i don't know what they're doing pull out
1:13:43 nothing's done the backyard is terrible
1:13:47 i mean it's never been taken care of since the other
1:13:51 people that were in there with the 13 cars
1:13:54 and it wasn't only 13 cars it was a whole mess of people
1:13:57 we told them about the noise and everything
1:14:01 and nothing's been done we've called the city up
1:14:04 many times town has done so itself i just want to know why this isn't
1:14:10 being taken care of i mean they got a gravel driveway in
1:14:14 there for 53 years it's not cement now that i know there
1:14:19 must be some kind of code that says if you
1:14:22 have a gravel and you don't do anything
1:14:24 maybe you can keep it but you know this is
1:14:28 2046 and i don't know why this can't be done
1:14:32 and right now in that yard there's another dumpster in there this is
1:14:36 number nine full-size dumpster
1:14:40 i mean myself i personally think the house should have been
1:14:45 taken down and put a new one on i mean that's how bad it was
1:14:50 that's all i got to say i just wonder when it's going to be taken care of and
1:14:54 why we can't get it going i mean the rats in the backyard
1:15:00 garbage in the backyard you know you know how a backyard is what
1:15:05 it's not taking care of and you got trees it's just it's
1:15:09 just a mess the outside of the house looks nice
1:15:12 because they painted it but the inside and everything else
1:15:17 is a total mess and it hurts me even more
1:15:20 is because i knew those people that lived there before
1:15:24 you know and then when i other people came in at dawn and i were trying to
1:15:28 get rid of everybody just said well you know
1:15:32 there's nothing we can really do with it and there's 13 cars
1:15:36 i mean and you know with the loud mufflers
1:15:39 that they had on them at all times not like regular working hours but
1:15:44 kind of like happy hours they were coming in at two three in the
1:15:48 morning four o'clock in the morning i just
1:15:51 want to know when that will be taken care of
1:15:54 that's all they're gone already but we got another one in there
1:15:57 and now like i said he's just doing nothing with it
1:16:02 that's all i got to say about that it's like four stop
1:16:07 well thank you um i'm not familiar with
1:16:10 that specific those specific houses i don't know
1:16:14 um probably the building commissioner would be who is not here
1:16:18 um but i imagine if someone from the administration
1:16:21 um would want to talk to you get those specific addresses
1:16:25 after the meeting building department and that they called back
1:16:29 and i can't i can't remember her name
1:16:32 right off hand uh and she said well we're waiting for permits
1:16:38 well that was the permit to paint the place on the one
1:16:41 and it's painted already and nothing else has been done
1:16:44 again no contractors in there know nothing
1:16:48 and you know i pay good taxes in my foot i've been here a long time
1:16:53 you know i remember when i got cited one time for having paint
1:16:57 not painted on one of my boards okay and here i got houses that are
1:17:03 falling apart nothing's being done yeah you know and that is um part of
1:17:09 the building code enforcements i see uh director gordon uh jumping in
1:17:14 thank you president keppel after the city council meeting night i'll take down
1:17:18 your name and address and your contact information and i'll pass it along to
1:17:21 the building commissioner for you don is called i have called
1:17:26 nothing it's like everybody's afraid to like
1:17:30 press them it seems like from the city you know like well
1:17:35 you know that's all right if there's nobody there
1:17:39 it's not all right although i'm not the building commissioner at least i
1:17:42 could do is take down your contact information and get it to the proper
1:17:45 people for you okay that'd be great because i should
1:17:48 have taken a meeting a long time ago thank you guys thank you and you
1:17:54 don't have to wait to come to the meeting either you can always email your
1:17:57 council people and we can get you in contact with them as well
1:18:00 or the mayor's office any any of us can get you get you to the right
1:18:03 people um okay that's everybody i've signed
1:18:06 in to speak did anyone else want to speak who had not signed in
1:18:11 okay all right with that then we are at the end of
1:18:14 public comment i want to thank everyone for coming
1:18:18 we do have so announcements i just want to
1:18:21 first express profound appreciation to our city staff for everyone who
1:18:28 all the employees i would go through all the departments but i don't want to
1:18:32 miss anyone but i'll just say it was really all hands on deck
1:18:37 this whole labor or labor day fourth of july weekend
1:18:40 um and even before um and i just really want to appreciate i saw
1:18:46 you know um certainly our public safety forces public works out in force
1:18:50 keeping the parks clean um melissa garrett and all the team
1:18:54 putting on the parade um just really everywhere i looked i
1:18:58 saw city vehicles and city staff members giving up their holiday to
1:19:03 make ours safe and very special so i just want to express appreciation for
1:19:07 that and um you know enduring all those
1:19:12 power outages as we're returning all those calls and there's
1:19:15 um the incident at marks plaza so you know never a dull moment
1:19:19 appreciate the police getting right on that so
1:19:22 i just want to express appreciation to all of our city staff um we're
1:19:25 working very hard our human services department
1:19:28 we're giving up their holiday to open cove as a cooling center so
1:19:33 just good work all around and appreciated um and then i also uh just want to also
1:19:39 note that our ward four council community conversation
1:19:43 is coming up july 16th at 6 p.m at madison
1:19:47 library um madison branch of the lake republic library
1:19:50 so that if you live in ward four um you'll want to come and
1:19:54 chat with councilman vixensine and the ward and the at large council
1:19:58 members but of course all are welcome um
1:20:01 we've had some really great conversations with folks at those um
1:20:04 about a variety of topics it's not just what's happening in that ward so it's
1:20:08 worth attending any of those all right and then i'll open it up
1:20:11 other council members announcements council member strebig thank you um
1:20:16 one for the calendar uh for the next two weeks is on
1:20:20 july 14th is international non-binary people's day
1:20:25 so keep those folks in mind on that date thank you
1:20:30 thank you other council members announcements
1:20:34 announcements from the administration nope uh with that
1:20:38 then no further business to come before council without objection we are