01/18/2022 City Council MinutesITEM 1: CALL TO ORDER
APPROVED AS SUBMITTED
FAIRLAWN CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR MEETING
JANUARY 18, 2022
President Russell Sharnsky called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.
ITEM 2: PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
ITEM 3: ROLL CALL
Present: Mayor Roth, here; Mr. Russell T. Sharnsky, here; Mr. Joseph Gentile, here; Mrs. Barbara Potts, here; Mr. Todd
Stock, here; Mr. Philip Brillhart, here; Mr. Michael Detorakis, here; and Mrs. Kathleen Baum, excused.
Also present: R. Bryan Nace, Director of Law; Police Chief Terry Wisener, Police Division; Fire Chief Rich Dobson,
Division of Fire and Emergency Rescue Services; Bill Arnold, Commissioner of Zoning/Housing and Residential Chief
Building Official; Nick Spagnuolo, City Engineer; Ernie Staten, Director of Public Service; Mark Ludwig, Director of
Finance; Jacob Kaufman, Tax Administrator/Assistant Director of Finance; Laurie Beisecker, Director of Parks and
Recreation; Laura George, Executive Assistant to the Mayor; and Tonja Caldwell, Clerk of Council.
Mr. Sharnsky: We do have a quorum present. We will follow the pre-printed agendas. There are copies available for
our visitors in the back of the room. At this time could you please check to see that your cell phones have been placed
on silent mode?
ITEM 4: APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Mr. Sharnsky: At this time the meeting minutes from our January 3, 2022 meeting are not available, but they will be
sent to all the Council members when they are available. I would expect them probably sometime next week.
ITEM 5: PETITIONS, CLAIMS AND COMMUNICATIONS
Mr. Sharnsky: Have we received any petitions, claims or communications since our last meeting?
Mrs. Caldwell: Yes. Council has petitions for a sidewalk on Rosemont Boulevard. According to Fairlawn Code
Section 1020.06(a) and the City ofFairlawn's Sidewalk Petition Procedure, I, Tonja K. Caldwell, Clerk of Council, do
hereby ce11ify that based on the findings from Spagnuolo and Associates, the petitions that were submitted to me on
December 21 , 2021 and January 13, 2022 requesting sidewalks on Rosemont Boulevard from Cleveland-Massillon Road
to Augusta Drive have valid signatures of 73% of the owners of the project's front footage to be assessed.
Also, a liquor license request to Tangier Catering, LLC dba Tangier, 507 South Cleveland-Massillon Road, Fairlawn,
Ohio 44333 from Edwards Realty and Investment Corp. dba Tangier at 532 West Market Street, first floor and basement,
Akron, Ohio 44303. The Police Chief does not require a hearing.
Mr. Sharnsky: Mr. Nace, the petition for sidewalks on Rosemont Boulevard, is there anything else you need to move
forward on that?
Mr. Nace: No. The next step would be that we'll mail out notice to all the residents in the affected area. Then, we'll
have a resolution before you at the next Council meeting to direct the Engineer to take the steps that we need to do under
our procedure.
Mr. Sharnsky: I understand it's a long process and we're just at the beginning of that process.
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Mr. Staten: Mr. President, ifI could add something. It is winter time. I don't know how soon it will get staked, and I
don't know when the meetings will actually take place. As soon as we possibly can, but we have to be able to put the
stakes in the ground also.
Mr. Sharnsky: Thank you very much.
That brings us to Item 6, our Reports of City Officials and Boards. We have the reports from the administration. As
usual, we'll begin with Mayor Roth who is going to present a version of the State of the City this evening.
ITEM 6: REPORTS OF CITY OFFICIALS
MAYOR'S REPORT, MAYOR ROTH
Mayor Roth: Good evening Mr. President, Council, Cabinet and those in the audience tonight. This is actually the
27th State of the City that I will give to City Council at a Council meeting. It's a little unusual this year because
normally I do the Chamber of Commerce first but that was moved until February, so Council gets to hear it. I do
apologize, I try to make these interesting but there are certain facts and figures I do have to read into the record. At
least I believe I do to have a proper record for the City. The hard copies of all the reports I based it on are before
Council and they're also available to any resident or anybody who wants one. These will eventually be put up online,
but hard copies are now available.
Looking back on the last couple years, we've dealt with something we really haven't dealt with before with Covid.
We all know about it and we're all sick of hearing about it, but it's still here. Part of a city government's purpose is to
make sure that we continue on with the services we can provide, make sure there's the least break as possible in the
service, but also make sure that our community is safe and all our necessities are taken care of. As Council and
Cabinet know, how in the last two years we've been able to accomplish this is we had Zoom meetings for a while,
then the State Legislature came back and said you no longer can have it due to public meetings, which is fine with us,
and now we meet in person. We still have some meetings by Zoom, we have some by WebEx, and we have some by
Teams. It's whatever way we can to get things done. We still encourage people to use the internet if they don't want
to come in or they feel uncomfortable coming in because of any Covid concerns they have, and obviously the
telephone is available. But again, we're more than willing to have people come in and meet with us and work with us
as we sit here tonight and do this. Our policy as a City is we do not have a mask mandate. My policy has been if you
want to wear a mask and feel comfortable, go ahead. If you don't want to wear a mask, that's fine. However, I do
request that if a resident or an individual comes into City Hall and they're wearing a mask and feel uncomfortable, I
would request that you put one on. That's worked quite well I believe in the last year and a half, two years. It's a
comfort level and common sense thing and there's social distancing, things like that. Part of getting through this
because we're a 24/7 operation is we have to make sure with the small staff we have that we're able to function even
if Covid would go through the ranks. We don't live in an isolated world and obviously Covid has hit some of our
employees, so what we did is we had things called split shifts. An example is Service. For a long time, we had half of
the Service Department work one shift totally apart from the other shift. The idea was if there was an infection in one
group, the other group could still handle things. Seniority wise, our Fire and Police Departments have given the
example, and also in Service, there were times when we had the Captains and Lieutenants work separate shifts to
make sure we had somebody that could be in charge if somebody else got sick. We've modified this through time, but
again these are things you do. You quietly do it and the idea is continuation of service and continuity of service. We
also used flexible scheduling. We allowed some employees to work from home with the help of our Information
Services Department and the FairlawnGig. We were actually able to have employees on secure networks to work out
of their home as need be, again, to provide service and to keep things going on as much as we can.
The Service Department took on extra work as we know. For a while there, every meeting we had afterwards the
room had to be sanitized. It didn't matter how big or small the meeting, that was extra work. We use ultraviolet light.
And, we've actually had equipment like that for years in our EMS vehicles, which is a great way of wiping out germs.
We had that for police cruisers and we also purchased large equipment like that to put in here and in the community
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center after meetings. These are things you do. You adapt. I guess my message is that I appreciate Council's
cooperation in this. When we had to be flexible, we were. When we had to meet, we did. I think we got things done,
but the end message for our community is we were able to continue to provide the services we have to do as a
government to our residents and our businesses. I think we have achieved that and I think we will continue to do that
as long as we can possibly do it. Now, traditionally I go through the departments, so here we go.
FINANCE DEPARTMENT: Again, it's my pleasure to report this because we all know what goes on nationwide in a
lot of different governments, but the financial condition of the City is very sound. It continues to remain very good
and stable. Last year was a bizarre year with income tax and economically with the shut down and things like that.
This year for 2021 and last year being 2020, I' II talk about 2021 right now. The net income tax revenue actually was
up by 11 .4%. That sounds like a huge amount and that's good news to hear. But when you compare this and go back
to the last normal year which is 2019 for income tax revenues, overall we're up by 6.3%. That's about 3% a year
which is frankly our normal growth. It's not every year, but it's pretty much baseline. There is one caveat to that as
we all know. The State Legislatures out there, they have ideas about the State House and cities that collect income
tax. Right now, there's really no specific details out there. It's a new legislative session. I told Council and Council
is aware of this and the Department Heads are, but the budget we pass and what we do is based on todays law, todays
method of collection, todays world. Not to be gloom and doom, but at any time the State Legislature could very easily
mess it all up. I'm being diplomatic by saying it that way, but we just don't know. It's out there, it's like the sword of
Damocles over our head. We just don't know sometimes what they're thinking, and I'll leave it at that. But again, the
City of Fairlawn financially is doing very well.
The JEDD revenue for 2021 was $3,467,480.00. This was actually a decrease of $335,925 .00 from 2020, but the
reason for the decrease is best as we can figure out is that we normally get a monthly payment from the City of Akron
and we only received ten monthly payments in 2021 . We will get the monies, but their Finance Director retired and
actually she went over to Summit County. They had a new Finance Director somewhere along the way. They missed
it, but we'll make that up. I'd say right now your JEDD revenues are fairly consistent. It's what they've been in the
years past, which is good news. The income tax, this is something I like to point out. We talk about the income tax,
and I don't want to sound like a broken record, but schools collect from the property tax and that's the way it's
designed to be. A large percentage of what cities collect is from the income tax. In 2020, 79.4% of our total revenue
was income tax and JEDD revenue. In 2021, it's 80.8%, so when the legislature talks about the income tax making
minor adjustments, that is the tail wagging the dog for cities because we rely on income tax. That is the way it's been
designed for decades in the State of Ohio and how government functions, so I always like to point that out.
BUDGET PROCESS: I'm not going to go through that. Council knows very well how we do the budgeting process.
It's a six month process by the time we're done, by the time we pass the permanent budget on March 31 st, by
December 31 st we pass the preliminary budget, which you already have done. I always like to point this out, we have
what they call a general fund reserve balance and you've heard me mention this in the past. These are monies the City
keeps in reserve based on what we spent last year. Again, we're not the Fairlawn savings and loan as Jerry Apple
used to say, but it is fiscally wise and conservative have reserves. You don't spend every dime you bring in. We all
get that and we all know that, that's not our purpose. As we sit closing the books in 2021, we have reserved monies
equal to 53 .4% of the 2021 actual expenditures that we have. In other words, January 1st if you didn't collect a penny
we would make it all the way through the end of June. That for a city, and it's up from 43 .3% the year before, is very
well because the Government Finance Officers Association recommends that governments maintain an unrestricted
fund balance of no less than 16.7%. What Fairlawn does, we exceed the recommendation. The old saying is watch
the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves, and I think that's a good example of what we're capable of
doing. Again, I thank Council and the Department Heads for their cooperation on that.
DEBT REPAYMENT: I love saying this. To go back, we refinanced the construction loans for the Police Station, the
Service Center, and to remodel City Hall and everything else. By refinancing, we saved money in interest and we
extended the term of the loan. This year, 2022, we make the final payment on that loan so that is all paid for. The
only debt the City of Fairlawn will have is what's for the FairlawnGig, which we knew we would have in building it
out. As we sit today, other than the FairlawnGig, the City at the end of this payment will have zero debt. Which
again, most governments can't say that, so I thank Council and the Department Heads for that fact.
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HEAL TH CARE: Speaking on expenditures, Health Care is a different world between private sector and public
sector as we all know. Public sector benefits are very different from private sector, and it's just the way it is. It's
contractual and it goes back years. Approximately a little over 10% of our operating budget goes to health insurance
and insurance benefits. It's over $1,000,000.00. Every year we have Health Care Committee. Council is aware of it
and we meet quarterly. It's made up of labor representatives, non-bargaining and bargaining units, administration,
Finance Department, and we use our insurance broker, Jeff Brett, and we go through and shop around. Now with
cities, it's a little different from an individual where you can go to all the different insurance companies and try to get
a plan. Cities insurance companies are restricted. Very few companies actually offer public health insurance, and so
we've actually had companies refuse to bid on a group the City of Fairlawn's size. Long story short, we did succeed.
The first quote out of the box was a 24% increase. We ended up getting 7.9%. It's still substantial, but the point is by
going through and working with the bargaining units, we were able to get increases that aren't astronomical. The
irony is when I look back at 1996 in those years, health insurance was never even discussed. It was a non-issue. It
seems like another world, but that's how it was back then. Obviously now it's a different world. But again, we deal,
we adapt, we adjust, and we move on. I would like to thank the Health Care Committee for working with us to
succeed in getting a better offer than what we originally had .
In 2020, the City received $800,000.00 in Covid Cares monies. It was based on population and a couple other factors.
We were allowed to utilize this for payroll, mainly safety payroll in Police and Fire. In 2021 , the City received
$386,000.00 in ARP funding. That's the American Rescue Plan, and these monies were used for infrastructures
improvements because again, based in the definition in what we could receive, this is how we could utilize it. So, we
do appreciate that type of funding. It's obviously smaller than bigger cities get, but we appreciate what we received
because we did have a drop in revenue so that helps make up for some of what we didn't get.
I always liked announcing this. Again, the State Auditor announced that we have a clean unqualified audit opinion. It
used to be called an unmodified audit opinion, now it is an "unqualified audit opinion." Long story short, that's the
highest you can get and that's what you want if you're a city or any government entity is that you receive the audit
opinion that way, so I'm very happy with that.
POLICE DEPARTMENT: Actually, for Fire too, it's kind of unique in Fairlawn's history that we had two new
department heads in one year. I'd like to first thank the search committee. I know Russ is here tonight and we had
other individuals on it before doing the search committee. Through the years I've replaced department heads, you
have to work inside and outside based on the department and based on the needs trying to find the best candidate. We
were fortunate that our best candidates by far were both inside the departments and home grown. Both Rich Dobson
and also Terry Wisener had grown up through the departments, had long careers of a lot of work, holding a lot of
different positions in the departments, a lot of experience, and a lot of dedication, so it was a great pleasure that we
were able to promote these two individuals to be Chiefs in 2021. Again, I appreciate their willingness to apply for the
position and willingness to accept the appointment.
A couple things, I want to go through the highlights of the Police Department. I try to go through these at a relatively
fast pace, but I do have to get them in. Dispatch received about 17,178 calls for service and contacts in 2021. This
number is different from prior years because we have a different type of system coming in now and certain calls are
counted differently. One fact we did notice in 2020 and 2021 is we still have less individuals coming into the City,
but it's changing now. Less people leaving their homes and less people coming into work. Now that is slowly
changing, but it did have less of an impact in the last two years than we normally would have. We are now part of the
County wide CAD system, Computer Aided Dispatch. This system speeds up communication for the safety forces on
a County-wide basis and it uses high speed fiber for communications. I'm proud to note that the FairlawnGig is the
one that serves the County wide CAD System. So again, the County wants something reliable and fast so they used
the FairlawnGig.
JOINT DISPATCH: We've been talking about this for years. We did pull the trigger in December and we took the
step of joining the COG, Council of Governments, and that is with Summit County, the City of Stow_, the City_ of
Tallmadge, and the City of Cuyahoga Falls. We'll be creating a joint dispatch center. This center will be out m
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Tallmadge, I believe it's out on 91. It's the old MRDD center. It's going to be a campus and the building is going to
be totally remodeled, upgraded for security and to serve what is best for a joint dispatch center. It's going to take
about two to three years. They're in the design build phase right now remodeling. It has to go out for bid, and it's
going to be about two to three years to actually complete the center. Simultaneously during that, there is going to be
joint training with all the dispatchers from the different departments. There is a basically a meshing of different types
of computer programs and technology that would take place over this time. When the dispatch center is ready to be
open, we'll all be prepared to make a smooth transition to that area. As we talked about in the past, its time has come
for a city the size as Fairlawn. Realistically, we thought long and hard over it. The center, the functions it has
because of technology, a lot of what we've had, it doesn't matter whether you're here or frankly on the moon because
technology gets you there in less than seconds. The service is a personal service that we have and it will be
maintained. I'll talk about those in a minute, but again I see it as the best step we could make at this point. More
importantly, by joining in the COG at this time, we got in at the ground floor. We are at the table and we are on the
Board, so we are part of the decision making process. It's not like say down the road if the Governor changes or
legislature changes suddenly. Remember years ago, they had the movement to try to force everybody to one dispatch
center County wide. That was backed off, but that's always out there. This way, we actually have set up our own
future and we're in control. Both the Chiefs here tonight, we went through it long and hard and they both are in
agreement that this is the right step to take and I appreciate their cooperation. I appreciate Council's cooperation in
this matter. Last but not least, the joint dispatch center will be powered by the FairlawnGig, and they will have a
contract where the FairlawnGig will provide the services for that. At this point, too, I'll talk about it a little later on,
but there's going to be a data center built in Summit County in the City of Fairlawn, and the back-up for the dispatch
will be located in that data center in the City of Fairlawn. This is important because you want redundancy and God
forbid something goes wrong there, you have a back-up and can be set up over here and will be within the data center.
TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT AND STEP: They're as active as they could be under the circumstances. With Covid,
you think of the safety of the officer, you think of the safety of the individuals they're stopping, and you try to limit
contact. We still stop vehicles but use common sense. We did have 759 citations of all types and that's actually just a
little less than the year before. That's for citations, but in addition we have 755 written warnings. Again, the City of
Fairlawn's goal is to educate the driver so a lot of the time they give written warnings and they don't give a traffic
ticket. That's been pretty much 50/50 for I don't know how many years I can tell you, but we're not like some other
jurisdictions where they see this as a source ofrevenue. We don't. We have Mayor's Court as a public service to our
residents so they don't have to go down to downtown Municipal Court in Akron. No offense to Akron, but they can
come here and take care of it. We also do that to educate the drivers and that's what we have.
CRIME: As usual in a city like Fairlawn, the vast majority of any type of crime we have is theft related. In fact, in
2021 92% of all reported crime was theft related. It was 93 % in 2019, but it is pretty consistent. The vast amount of
that is the old shoplifting and generally between Thanksgiving and New Year. 'Tis the season. We're a very
attractive spot, but again that's generally what we have.
We still maintain our programs.
DAILY HOUSE CHECKS: We had 286 checks for 2021. We had less than the year before. With people having
Covid, more people are staying home and not traveling as much. But with the house checks, what we have is if you're
travelling or even if you're going to a funeral or something, you can call our Police Department and we will check on
your house. Generally, it's a minimum of once a shift. At the very least it's a drive-by, but generally they get out of
the cruiser, they walk the perimeter, and check the house. This service is free provided for our residents. I know
Council is aware of this. If you ever have residents that travel, make sure they're aware of this and utilize this because
that's something that's good to have.
SENIOR CALL PROGRAM: We had 1,089 contacts for 2021. We have a list of seniors, it's totally voluntary, and if
they don't call us by a certain time of day we call them. If we don't get a response from them, we sen~ a ~r~iser out
to see if they're alright. There have been places and times in the past. I can recall one place where an md1v1dual had a
stroke and if it weren't for that program, our police went out, EMS was called, and that person's life was saved. If
you know anybody that needs it, have them sign up. It's voluntary.
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PREVENTATIVE PATROL STOPS: If you leave your garage door up overnight, or there is an accumulation of
newspapers in your driveway, or something unusual about your house, the police check it out and they leave a note or
give a report of what's going on and they try to contact the homeowner and see what's going on. We had 372 of those
in 2021.
DETECTIVE BUREAU: The Detective Bureau in 2021 had an 80% clearance rate. I always talk about this, my first
job as an attorney I was an assistant Summit County Prosecutor. You see on TV where the bad guys are always
caught by the end of the show but that's not reality. At the end of the day, to have an 80% clearance rate is extremely
high. It shows a lot of dedication in our people and a lot of work on their behalf, and I appreciate that fact. It's
something to be proud of.
SAFETY TOWN: We didn't have it in 2020, but in 2021 we had 62 children attend it. We also did things like we
help the citizens properly install child safety seats in their vehicle. You can go by at least a minimum of once or twice
a week and you'll see one of our police officers in the front parking lot helping someone install a baby seat. We want
to make sure it's done right. That's a service we provide.
LOCKED VEHICLES: We responded to 314 of them this past year in 2021.
This one is amazing, but you have residential and commercial alarms and we had 568 times our police had to go out to
a residence or commercial prope1ty because of the alarms. Thank God the vast, vast majority are tripped by accident
and just went off. Again, it's another service we provide.
We had 95 scheduled court appearances for officers this past year in 2021. That's anything from testifying at a trial,
attending a pretrial, going to grand jury, going to a traffic case, consulting with a prosecutor, whatever it is. That's
pretty much the norm.
BODY CAMERAS: We've had this technology for years, and in hindsight it's one of the best things we did because
it protects the police officer and it protects the individual they're interacting with. The good news about cameras is
our officers are activated and they can't shut them off. They're activated when they go to a scene and Terry can
explain it better than I can, but the point about it is we have upgraded the cameras with Council's help this past year.
We bought a new higher level of what they call WatchGuard cameras, which upgrades the system. Part of what that
does now is instead of us having to make DVDs of data, we can now actually send it by email through the internet
download. It saves us a lot oftime. The body cameras are a two way street, and I think it's worked well for our
community.
THE FIRE DEPARTMENT: As I mentioned before, we had Chief Russ Hose retire. I've been very fortunate in my
career as Mayor to have very good Police Chiefs and Fire Chiefs along with other department heads, but the tradition
continues with both Terry and Rich.
EMS calls this year, we had 1,904 calls and this increased by 208 calls over last year. This also includes fire calls. I
pointed this out before with Police but also with Fire and EMS when you go to a call with Covid it's an extra thing
you have to deal with. It's an extra precaution and extra exposure. All our safety forces and our other departments
too, there is no hesitation. They know what their job is and they do it, and I like to point that out for Council and for
the record. We're very fo1tunate of the people we have. They get it and they know it's part of their job and part of the
risk. We've had nobody refuse to go and do certain things because of certain health issues or stuff like that, so I think
it says a lot about our departments and the training that we have.
FIRE AND SAFETY INSPECTIONS: Fire and safety inspections of all types, this could be fire alarm inspections,
fire suppression systems, structural, safety access, or on site fire. We had 158 inspections this past year and this also
includes plan inspections. For those in Council that attend Planning Commission meetings, you'll know the structures
when they go in, one of the departments that has to sign off is the Fire Department. They have to inspect the fire
suppression system, the exits, the signage and things like that.
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GENERAL FIRE AND LIGHT SAFETY INSPECTIONS: They had 107 additional ones for 2021.
BUILDING/CHANGE OF OCCUPANCY AND PLAN REVIEW INSPECTIONS: They had 157 of those.
FIRE INVESTIGATIONS: We are part of a multi-jurisdictional group that we can utilize and we help other
departments where they can do fire investigations. An example is we had a fire on Nye Drive in December, so we
activated the team and we had engines from Fairlawn but other departments respond and they do the investigation.
There were actually 14 calls, not just in Fairlawn, but 14 calls for this investigation team and Fairlawn participated in
5 of those. It's good cooperation. We can't afford to have an arson bureau. Most cities can't, so you utilize this
working together. Police have something similar with investigation of car accidents. We have something very similar
to that where we have individuals on a team. Another example is the Violent Fugitive Task Force. Abro Washington
is our representative on that. That's a group of individuals from around the County, multi-jurisdictions, and that was
frankly utilized last week. It's something we participate in and it makes sense to do these things. I appreciate
Council's support in that.
TRAINING: I mentioned this before, but the training we have we're proud that it's a service we provide. The
training we give Police, Fire and Service, it pays dividends because our people are highly trained or highly motivated.
We try to give them the best equipment possible and it pays off. I think that's why we have the quality of life we have
in the City, but I would acknowledge the amount of time our safety forces and other departments have to spend in
training. Whether it's re-education, whether it's updating or new medical procedures. I always point that out every
year because that is a large amount of what they do in time. We have individual training officers make sure that they
meet all their requirements for certification through licensing, but there's always something we have to do. It's never
ending but it provides a quality that we have in our employees.
BUILDING, ZONING AND UTILITIES: We are an older, inner ring suburb. What we deal with is we provide the
best we can to make sure our housing stock stays healthy and our City stays as a quality of life place to live, work, and
have recreation. Years ago, we instituted the exterior inspections to City residential properties. The goal is to inspect
the exterior of at least a third of the housing stock every year. Again, in 2021 they did 711 exterior property
inspections. That's standing in the street and checking paint, mold, you name it and they look at it. What they do
then is they send a letter out and this goes to rental properties and also goes to home owners. Home owners generally
have more violations than rental properties do and it's been documented in the last five to seven years that way. The
good news is we send the letters out, we work with the resident, and we had 97% compliance with our letters which is
a very high compliance. The other 3% we're still in the process of working with these individuals. I think it shows
that people act in good faith. We point stuff out and they try to remedy it. Overall inspections performed by Bill
Arnold's department, he had 1,653 of all types: exterior, complaint based, and building/new construction.
SINGLE HOUSING FAMILY MARKET: For those ofus who were here in '07 and '08, it's amazing how different
the world is today because it was quite a different picture. Again, the housing market is very robust. According to
NEOREX data, Northeast Ohio Realtors Exchange, their data shows again that in Fairlawn that we have a very strong
and healthy housing market. In 2021 there was a 10% increase in the median sale price of a single family home over
2020. The average time a house was on the market decreased from 45 to 34 days, and the average sale price was
$273,718.00 which is up $24,464.00 from 2020. We have a very healthy housing market.
RESIDENTIAL DEMOLITION PROGRAM: Fortunately, we didn't have to call on that program this year. It's the
second year in a row we did not have to demolish any houses.
ONLINE APPLICATION FOR PERMITS: We went to that in 2020 and now the majority of permits that people
apply for and activities they do in that department are now done online. That shows that we adapt and try to make
things more convenient for individuals.
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Fairlawn City Council
January 18, 2022
APPROVED AS SUBMITTED
VALUE OF NEW CONSTRUCTION: With all of the new permits that were filed in the City of Fairlawn, new
construction for 2021 was $12,930,922.00. Based on the information provided in the permit applications, 276 new
jobs were created.
SERVICE DEPARTMENT: The Service Department, I had mentioned before they had additional burdens put on
them with Covid cleaning and stuff like that. They maintain 135 acres of City property, about 138 vehicles, trucks,
heavy equipment, and roads. We have approximately 30 miles of roads or 116 lane miles. I think we saw a good
example of how well our City can handle snow in the last 48 hours. It reminds me of growing up in Buffalo when I
saw that much snow coming down. It's kind of a childhood memory walking down the street and the snow is 15
inches tall. It's not a bad memory. The work they do is amazing. The 2021 snow season started December l51 and
ended February 19th. It was actually 28 days later than the season before and 56 days earlier it ended than the previous
year. Still, we used 3,132 tons of salt. This was almost double what was used the year before that. Also, 605 gallons
of calcium chloride which we didn't use any the year before. Calcium chloride and salt, it's sophisticated how the
way they use it is based on different weather conditions, the temperature of the road, precipitation coming down, you
name it. So there's a mix, and if you ever want to see something interesting, get inside one of our snow plows and see
all the equipment the operators deal with. It's almost like being in a space ship. It's amazing and high tech. Our
drivers all have to have their CDL's and that's just the baseline to start. What they have to operate and what they have
to do is amazing. Again, hats off to our Service Department for that.
RECYCLING CENTER: First off, I'd like to point out a thanks to Council and our administration that we provide
this service for free. We waive the annual trash compactor sticker fee. This year we collected 2,306.3 tons of solid
waste. That's down about 425.7 tons. I think in 2020 people took advantage of cleaning their houses out because
they couldn't do anything else, so in 2021 they sort of caught their breath. We had 88. 7 tons of co-mingle. That's
glass and plastic and that's down about 1.23 tons. 33 .71 tons of newspaper and that's up 1.44 tons. 47.14 tons of
corrugated cardboard up 5.47 tons. 2,480 yards of brush and yard waste, and that's down about 1,020 yards. Again, I
think a lot of landscaping projects were done in 2020. One thing that's kind of interesting is that China now is buying
recycled materials again so we're getting a little trickle effect from some of the monies we get in for recyclables. It's
not that much, but it's better than what it was. We're seeing that little change in the globalization of the market again.
Again, we successfully applied for a recycling grant from the Summit/Akron Re-Works, and that was $7,464.80.
2020 as you know, we had a lot of issues with Covid and there were things we couldn't do. 2021 we were able to
bring back large-item pick-up day. That day, our crews were out 16 hours. They spent the entire day loading and
doing everything, but they managed to get everything hauled away and properly disposed of. Paper shredding day
was also brought back.
CITY ENGINEER: We continue with our concrete slab and basin repair, and also asphalt repair. We're doing all that
stuff right now.
We did complete the extension of Fairlawn Corporate Park Road, and that's down by where TrustedSec is going in.
We had to extend that road. They're building their building, so we completed that. We did get $134,000.00 from a
grant to extend that road. Again, grants have requirements and we met all the requirements and it came in on time. It
came in within budget and that's what you want to hear. As Council knows, any type of road work we do we pay
cash. We don't incur debt, so it's all cash and carry. Most cities can't say that and I am very proud of that fact. We
spend what we have and we don't spend the future monies.
WIDENING OF CLEVELAND-MASSILLON ROAD: That was a massive project. I thank everybody for their
patience. Hats off to Ernie, that was one of his many headaches he had to deal with. That was a project that took over
20 years to obtain the funding, get the plans, get the right of way and everything else. It sounds like a long time, but
with the size of that project that's actually pretty much on track. When that contract was let we had a date of Octobe~
2021 that project had to be done. ODOT in their infinite wisdom, and I'm not_ being ~ritical: I understand W?Y t?e~ did
it, but ODOT late in 2020 or early 2021 decided that any type of ODOT fundmg proJect or tfthey had fund mg m tt,
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Fairlawn City Council
January 18, 2022
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~hey w?uld sort of let the contractor not have to keep the completion deadline. When that happens, contractor
1mmed1ately says, "I really can't get done until 2023" or something like that. We actually met with the contractor, we
sat down, and said no. A contract is a contract and I know what ODOT said. Ernie did most of the negotiations, but
at_the end of October of 2021 is when you said you'd have it done. What we did do is we basically said we'll work
with you, but what do you need to get that project done in that time. They said, "let us close the road." If you
remember, we closed the road for a period of time so they could do both sides of the road and get that done. What
that ended up doing is we met the deadline at the end of October 2021 to get it done. Now when I say that, the
roadwork is done. We didn't want utility to delay this for quite a while because they wouldn't move their cable, but
there is some off-road work that still has to be done. Our goal was to get those lanes open. It's now open to traffic
and it's up and running. So again, my hats off to Ernie for that. I think it's been a great project for the area and it's a
good improvement for what's going on there.
PARKS DEPARTMENT: Parks Department is our quality of life. They had a rough time the year before. Basically,
we couldn't do much of anything. This past year we brought back our Friday night concerts and we're going to do
that again this year.
LEARNING RESOURCE CENTER: We're opening for limited hours. We have outdoor events. As we all know,
we did the 50th Anniversary program this past year. I think it was a big success. Because of Covid, we moved it from
the Fourth of July to Labor Day weekend and I think that actually went off very well. Historically, that will probably
be the largest fireworks display Fairlawn will ever do because we didn't spend money on Fireworks in 2020, so for
the 50th Anniversary we spent about $25,000.00. What we did do is we just saved that money and we budgeted the
regular amount for 202 I, so what you saw that night was actually a double firework show. I think it worked very well
and was very well received. It was worth it for the 50th Anniversary. Having said that, do not expect that type of
show in the future. Jake would take me out and lynch me ifl ever did that again, but it was good.
COMPUTER INFORMATION SERVICES DEPARTMENT: I don't think much about these departments because in
part, it's a lot of technology that I could sit here and quote what the things are and wouldn't know what half of them
are, but the never ending battle and we hear it every day is things are hacked. Ransomware stuff like that. These guys
are front line, installing new firewalls, installing new equipment, new programs, and training. A lot of it's in the
background, but if it works you don't think about it. My hat is off to them. We do have a new part-timer now in the
depai1ment. We have Tou Xiong, we also have Steve Ameling, and we also have a new individual and his name is
Ash. He's part time and he does the grunt work. When employee A does something wrong, he can come in and say,
'no, this is how you do it' or something like that. Actually, it's good to relieve some of the burden off Tou and Steve
because they do have a lot going on and that's one department when I first started you had one person and it mainly
was about telephones. In 1996 it was mainly about telephones. It wasn't really about computers, so it's a different
world now.
IN GENERAL: Labor relations are good. Intergovernmental relations are good. We still maintain our mutual aid
response and always will. If you look at our figures it's pretty even back and forth. We've provided the various
communities Safety Force cooperation is seamless. The relations with Summit County and Akron are also very good.
We are unique in Summit County. When you look at what goes on in Washington in the State House, it's pretty ugly.
Summit County, we are a non-partisan City. There are different political parties in charge of different sections of the
County. What we do together, in 2021 we worked with the County and put together the criminal justice ring. We
connected all the government buildings in downtown Akron and the County. FairlawnGig was basically paid to
design it, supervise the construction, get it done, and it used Covid moni~s. It was County Covid monies. We got that
system up on time and under budget. That's 2020 again, now fast forward to 2021. Right now, we're working with
the University of Akron, the City of Akron, and the County of Summit to install safety cameras, and it's more than a
safety camera. It's a program for shots fired and other things for the entire Akron U campus. The idea is this data and
information in real time can go to the Akron U Police Department, the Akron Police Department, and the Summit
County Sheriffs department. No, our forces are not going to be responding to those calls. Where we're involved is
the FairlawnGig is the only entity in this County, and correct me ifl'm wrong, that has the capacity, the speed, and
everything else to handle all these cameras and data. We're going to be paid for it, but the idea is that we work
together with different entities. But again, the FairlawnGig is the one providing the ability and the technology, the
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Fairlawn City Council
January 18, 2022
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spe_ed, and the data that can do this. With that in mind, we're now working with Summit County. The County is
takmg about $50,000,000.00 of ARP A monies and they want to build a fiber ring to connect all 31 governments of
Summit County. It's about 125 miles of fiber. They want to connect them all, and in addition to that, build a data
center in Fairlawn in our business park. FairlawnGig is involved in developing the specifications they want
Fairlawn Gig quality. We physically aren't going to build it, but we're going to be involved in the project. It's going
to connect all 31 governments. Again, this is based on the County's faith in us. You look at a lot of governments four
or five years from now or ten years from now, they're going to say we got all this ARP A money but what did we do
with it? They can't show anything for it or very little. We already have the criminal justice ring. You're going to
have a fiber system that uniquely sets off Summit County from any other entity. Again, the data center, they call it a
level four data center, this is the best data center you can build in the United States. Now, what does that mean? All
of the governments can have space in the data center. They'll pay for it and we'll all lease some space. Private
industry business will have space in that data center if they so choose. The back-up data center will be in there. It's
things like this when you think how the FairlawnGig has set Fairlawn apart from a lot of the country and what we've
been able to do . This sets the County apart. Economically, it's huge. We are putting ourselves on the map, but thi s is
the stuff you can do when you cooperate. But again, it's going to be specifications from the FairlawnGig. More
importantly, the data center is going to be operated by the Fairlawn Gig. You know the quality and you know what
you're going to get.
COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT CORPORATION: CIC this year, we couldn't do much with it with the economy.
We did meet periodically and talked about different projects, but it's a tool in the toolbox we use.
TRADE SHOWS: There were none last year. This year, it doesn't look like there's going to be any either. It is what
it is.
F AIRLA WNGIG: A couple highlights right now is the latest Gig residential survey shows 94% residential
satisfaction rate of people that are FairlawnGig customers. 84% of commercial user rating, which is pretty high. Our
monthly revenue in December passed $248,006.00, so we 're on track for $2,976,060 .00 per year for revenue.
Remember when we first did this it was a leap of faith with Council. We knew what we were doing but no one ever
tried this before. We had predicted five years or longer for the revenues to catch up and be able to pay things. We
have gone past every one of our estimates, and it was all the experts told us we could do. I think it says a lot. It's a
system and now we're going through the latest and newest equipment. We always talk about upgrading. We're doing
that every year. All the new development in Rosemont, they're going to have a higher level of GPON. That's
equipment which is going to replace the older level, and eventually all the customers of Fairlawn will get that new
one. We're constantly upgrading the system. I think we achieved our goal. We wanted to build a state of the art fiber
with wire network and we did. I think it's kind of humorous today when all these other entities out there are
bombarding Fairlawn with mailers that fiber is here and we can do this and that. But to match the service and the
quality which they can't do it.
We have a take rate of all potential customers in the City of Fairlawn JEDD of 63%. That's a pretty good market
share for any entity when you're looking at this. That's very high, so it speaks a lot. Our largest advertiser is
references. People refer it, they know it works and they tell other people. That says a lot. Again, we accomplished
all of that without raising any taxes. We didn't put a levy on for this. We borrowed the money, and we knew we
would, we knew how we would budget it, and we've done all that stuff and our income tax rate is still 2%. It's been
that way as long as I've been Mayor and it probably goes back 30 years. A lot of communities can't do that, but we
try to live within our means.
Last but not least, Rosemont the Development. It's been a long history. In 2019 the club closed. It was 2020 when
they went through the sale. We formed the P.U.D., and now it's long into place. As we sit today, if you drive up
Cleveland-Massillon Road you can see it's four distinct neighborhoods and it's going to be mixed-use. The housing
market as we know is very hot. It's providing four distinct different types of housing in that area, and actually a fifth
type, but I think it speaks well for our community and our neighborhood that what's going on with Fairlawn is a very
attractive place to live and a very attractive place to work. Again, that's the future. We have new housing coming in.
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Fairlawn City Council
January 18, 2022
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This year we saw Crystal Clinic is now open and operating.
I'd like to poin~ out with Rosemont, too, the City has received the 62 acres for the preserve that we're building, so it's
permanently City property and we're going to go forward with that.
Other than that, I've spoken long enough, but it's truly an honor to serve as Mayor. Thank you all for your help.
Mr. Sharnsky: Are there any questions or comments on the Mayor's report this evening from members of Council?
[There was no response.] Thank you, Mr. Mayor. It was very informative, as usual, and I appreciate what you do.
We'll now move on to our Law Director, Bryan Nace.
DEPARTMENT OF LAW, R. BRYAN NACE
Mr. Nace: Good evening, Mr. President. I have no report this evening.
Mr. Sharnsky: Anything further for Mr. Nace this evening? [There was no response.] Thank you.
POLICE DIVISION, POLICE CHIEF TERRY WISENER
Chief Wisener: Good evening, Mr. President and members of Council. I have no report this evening. Thank you.
Mr. Sharnsky: Anything further for Chief Wisener? [There was no response.] Thank you.
DIVISION OF FIRE AND EMERGENCY RESCUE SERVICES, FIRE CHIEF RICH DOBSON
Chief Dobson: Good evening, Mr. President and members of Council. I have nothing to report tonight.
Mr. Sharnsky: Anything further for Chief Dobson? [There was no response.]
BUILDING AND ZONING DEPARTMENT, WILLIAM ARNOLD
Mr. Arnold: Thank you, Mr. President and members of Council. We will be holding a Board of Zoning and Appeals
meeting this Thursday in this room at 6:30 PM. We have four items on the agenda. That concludes my report.
Mr. Sharnsky: Any questions or comments for Mr. Arnold? [There was no response.] Thank you.
DEPARTMENT OF ENGINEERING, NICK SPAGNUOLO
Mr. Spagnuolo: I will yield my report to the Service Director. Thank you.
Mr. Staten: Good evening, Mr. President and members of Council. The only thing in Engineering is there will be lane
closures on Cleveland-Massillon. It was actually supposed to start today, but due to the snow obviously they won't be
able to work on the road. The light poles and conduit have come in, so they will be working on putting up the additional
lighting down Cleveland-Massillon on the west side of the road. That concludes Engineering.
Mr. Sharnsky: Questions or comments for Mr. Staten on the Engineer's report? [There was no response.] Would you
like to continue with the Service Director's report, please?
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SERVICE, ERNEST STATEN
Mr. Staten: The only thing out of Service is yesterday we did have the large snow storm. We used over 750 tons of
salt and received 16 inches of snow. You heard the Mayor say we used a little more than 3,000 tons of salt for the
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Fairlawn City Council
January 18, 2022
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season last year. We used 750 in this storm in particular. The reason for that was just the constant one inch of snow
per hour that we received. We wanted to make sure that once it did stop that it completely cleared so that main roads
were operating. The crews worked 18 hour shifts and no complaints. All the equipment worked fine, and there were
no major break downs. That concludes Service.
Mr. Sharnsky: I think if there were any complaints, I think what our residents didn't understand in this storm was
just the enormity of the whole situation. They're used to seeing two or three inches of snow, it gets cleared, and it's
done. I think because of the size of this storm and the amount of snow that came down, I think you guys did a
phenomenal job. I know you were through the neighborhood that I live in at least a couple times by noon on Monday,
and I know that was a holiday. As we talked earlier, it's always a weekend or a holiday that your guys come in. They
do a great job. Any other comments for Mr. Staten?
Mr. Stock: I'd like to echo that fact that we were able to get around last night. I was in Akron later in the evening
and you still couldn't get around the City of Akron, and the City of Fairlawn streets were clean. Well done.
Mr. Sharnsky: Anything else? [There was no response.] Thank you.
DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE, MARK LUDWIG
Mr. Ludwig: Good evening, Mr. President. If it please Council, a couple of quick shout outs. As the Mayor's report
indicated, congratulations to Jake and members of the Finance team. The job that they've done in terms of support of
Finance is just incredible.
Secondly, to the Chief, while the person in charge certainly is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable
doubt, a well done shout out to the Chief and the Police Department for a prompt determination of probable cause for an
arrest in a horrible crime. A very well done in terms of that determination.
Quickly again, I echo the comments to Mr. Staten and the Service Department. It's just incredible how quickly they can
build up this huge pile in the front of my driveway, and tempt me with this wonderfully clean road that I can 't get out of
my driveway in. Other than that, it's a wonderful job.
Mr. Sharnsky: Anything further for the Finance Director? [There was no response.] Thank you, Mr. Ludwig.
DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE, JACOB KAUFMAN
Mr. Kaufman: Thank you, Mr. President and members of Council. In your mailboxes you should have found the
quarterly credit card report for the end of 2021 . If you have any questions, you can reach out to the department. That
concludes my report.
Mr. Sharnsky: Anything further at this time for Mr. Kaufman? [There was no response.] Thank you.
DIVISION OF PARKS AND RECREATION, LAURIE BEISECKER
Mrs. Beisecker: Thank you, Mr. President and members of Council. I have no report this evening.
Mr. Sharnsky: Anything further for Mrs. Beisecker? [There was no response.] Thank you. That concludes the Reports
of City Officials.
ITEM 7: INTRODUCTION OF NEW LEGISLATION
Mr. Sharnsky: We have none. It's very unusual that we don't have any new legislation at a regular Council meeting, so
we'll move on to Item 8, our Public Hearings.
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Fairlawn City Council
January 18, 2022
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ITEM 8: PUBLIC HEARINGS
Mr. Sharnsky: There are no public hearings scheduled for this evening, so we'll start on our legislation.
ITEM 9: COMMITTEE REPORTS ON NEW OR PENDING LEGISLATION
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE CHAIR, RUSSELL SHARNSKY
Ordinance 2022-002 Offered by Council President Sharnsky
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING AND/OR SUPPLEMENTING CHAPTER 220 "COUNCIL" AND CHAPTER 222 "ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS" OF
TITLE FOUR "LEGISLATION", PART TWO "ADMINISTRATIVE CODE" OF THE CODIFIED ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF FAIRLAWN
Expiration Date Public Hearing Accepted l st Reading 2nd Reading 3rd Reading Hold Pass
04/03/2022 NI A O 1/03/2022 01/03/2022
Resolution 2022-004 Offered by Mayor Roth
A RESOLUTION ACKNOWLEDGING THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROJECT OF FIRST WATCH RESTAURANTS, INC.
Expiration Date Public Hearing Accepted l st Reading 2nd Reading 3rd Reading Hold Pass
04/03/2022 NI A O l /03/2022 0 I /03/2022
**********************************
Mr. Sharnsky: Will the Clerk please read Ordinance 2022-002 by title only for the second time?
Mrs. Caldwell read Ordinance 2022-002 by title only.
Mr. Sharnsky: We had an opportunity to discuss this at our last Committee meeting, but I would like to hold this and
review it a little bit further at our next. It's only a second reading. I know it reflects the changes of what we're actually
doing to make sure that what we have written down is what we're doing, so it's bringing everything back to what we're
actually doing in the Council meetings and such. It's just a clean-up of our Code. Mr. Nace, do you have any comments?
Mr. Nace: Yes. I would agree, I think we should hold this in Committee and discuss it further. Perhaps at the next
Committee meeting.
Mr. Sharnsky: Any comments from members of Council at this time? [There was no response.] Hearing none, we
will hold this in Committee.
**********************************
Mr. Sharnsky: Will the Clerk please read Resolution 2022-004 by title only for the second time?
Mrs. Caldwell read Resolution 2022-004 by title only.
Mr. Sharnsky: If Council recalls, we discussed this in our Committee meeting and we determined that we wanted to
hear from an individual from First Watch, and I believe someone is here this evening and would like to address Council.
We did receive the menu. I believe all of Council has received the menu with the changes that included the beverages
that you're adding. If you'd like to come up and identify yourself?
Mr. Bibisi: Yes, my name is Alex Bibisi and I am the Ohio liquor counsel for First Watch.
Mr. Sharnsky: Could you explain the project or why you're making the changes and what your additions are? I believe
this is applied under a TREX application which is an economic development project.
Mr. Bibisi: Correct.
Mr. Sharnsky: Talk about how it impacts your employees and those types of things if you could.
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Mr. ~ibisi: So, this is an existing restaurant at the Summit Mall. There is not actually going to be any expansion of the
premises or renovations or anything like that. What we're doing is we're using this TREX transfer process as a way to
move a liquor permit from, I believe this particular one we're looking at is the City of Columbus, into the City limits of
Fairlawn. The reason for that is because liquor permits in Ohio work on a quota system. It's population based and there
are none available in Fairlawn. In order to add alcohol to the menu at this restaurant, we have to use the TREX process.
So this is, like I said, it's an existing location. There's no expansion, no patio or outdoor areas or anything like that.
They're also not planning to have a fixed bar. It's just going to be table seating. The hours for the restaurant are going
to stay the same. Right now, that's 7:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., so that's really tailored at the breakfast and brunch kind of
crowd. I'm happy to answer any questions you got.
Mr. Sharnsky: I'm sure Council, as we discussed last time, I think some Council members had some questions. Go
ahead if anybody has any questions.
Mr. Stock: Do you anticipate adding any jobs to First Watch with this addition?
Mr. Bibisi: No. There's not going to be any new jobs, no. I'm not sure what the current staffing level is for this
restaurant, but I've been told by the general manager there that there won't be any staffing additions.
Mr. Sharnsky: I have a question actually for Mr. Nace. Isn't there a requirement under the TREX application that it
has to have some kind of an economic impact on the community to be able to apply for this? Does that meet the criteria?
Mr. Nace: Correct. It has to be an economic development project. It doesn't necessarily have to add jobs. A lot of
times when we are faced with these, the projects do add jobs and that's obviously something to promote. But if it would
add revenue and promote the business, perhaps down the road they might add folks, but I still think that could be an
economic development project if it increases the development. I noticed the application indicates that the number of
jobs for the project is 30, so I'm assuming that's ...
Mr. Bibisi: Yes. The numbers that we used for that are related to the initial buildout for that location, so that probably
means that they have about 30 employees right now. We have used those same numbers for other First Watch locations.
We've got about 12 liquor permits across the state that we're applying for right now, so those same kind of figures that
are based on the initial buildout rather than a new remodel or investment have been accepted by the Division of Liquor
Control.
Mr. Sharnsky: So, the burden is not upon us to make sure they meet the criteria for the TREX application, it's just us
to accept it. Is that correct?
Mr. Nace: Well, Council has to find that it is an economic development project. I don't think there's any specific
criteria. It doesn't have to add a certain number of jobs, and it doesn't have to increase by a certain amount. I think as
long as it has some positive economic impact, I think it would be legitimate for Council to say that it's an economic
development project.
Mr. Sharnsky: Mayor, do you have a comment?
Mayor Roth: Yes. I think that normally we see the addition of jobs, but I think in this climate right now part of the
liquor license is to maintain the economic viability of the restaurant to make sure its doors stay open and to keep the
people employed. I think that would meet the criteria that Council would need.
Mr. Sharnsky: I believe there's other restaurants that already have licenses very nearby. The Rail and PF Chang's. I
believe both have licenses and serve alcohol.
Mayor Roth: If you're in the food service business, having a liquor license does make a difference to the bottom line.
There's a lot of profit in it. I worked in restaurants all through college, and if you have quality food without a liquor
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license it's pr~tty much goin~ to break even. It's a very little thin margin. Alcohol sales do help, and if you noticed the
Governor durmg_ th~ pandem1~ even allowed take-out of liquor for a lot of restaurants. Part of that deal was to keep the
restaurants funct10nmg and gomg, so I think based on the climate we have today it would probably make sense.
Mr. Sharnsky: Mrs. Potts, go ahead.
Mrs. Potts: You mentioned you have this bar menu at other restaurants already?
Mr. Bibisi: Yes. I don't believe that it's been implemented yet. They're trying to coordinate the rollout statewide all
at the same time at all their locations.
Mrs. Potts: Oh, okay. That was going to be my question, how has it played in these restaurants. So you haven't started
it yet anywhere?
Mr. Bibisi: Not in Ohio. I believe they might be offering alcohol in some of their other markets. I think in Florida they
might be doing it there, but not in Ohio.
Mr. Gentile: I just have one question. Based upon your menu, the only alcohol I'm seeing is basically champagne or
some sparkling wine?
Mrs. Potts: There's vodka.
Mr. Gentile: And vodka.
Mr. Bibisi: Yeah, they're cocktails and boutique mixes is how they've been described to me.
Mr. Gentile: Would it be a good assumption to assume that you're going to have only that? Your bar limited to those
beverages, because I know you said you didn't anticipate the full bar being built.
Mr. Bibisi: Correct. What you see on the menu is all that they're planning currently, so it's a very limited offering.
Mr. Sharnsky: I think that has to do with the hours of operation, too. They're only open to 2:30 in the afternoon. I
guess it's 5 o'clock somewhere, Jimmy Buffet did say. Any other comments?
Mr. Stock: Will all your wait staff have to go through TIPS training?
Mr. Bibisi: Yes, and we actually have written procedures in addition to that. One of the procedures that First Watch
does that goes beyond what's required is that they require identification from everyone who is purchasing alcohol.
Normally, you're only required to do that if someone appears to be underage. They've also got a booklet that has images
of different ID's from states, driver's license and state ID's from all 50 states, so they're going to make sure that their
employees have that resource available so if someone comes in with an ID that isn't an Ohio driver's license or something
that they're familiar with, then they'll be able to reference that.
Mr. Stock: Thank you.
Mr. Sharnsky: Anything else? [There was no response.] If there are no more questions, I would ask the Clerk to please
call the roll on Resolution 2022-004.
Mrs. Caldwell: VOTE ON RESOLUTION 2022-004: Sharnsky, yea; Gentile, aye; Potts, yea; Stock, yea; Brillhart,
yea; Detorakis, yea; Baum, excused. Six yea, one excused on the passage of Resolution 2022-004.
Mr. Nace: Mr. President, just a point of order. Our Charter does require Council members to respond with a yea or a
nay.
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Mr. Gentile: Sorry. I'm new at this.
Mr. Nace: Right, I know. I'm not trying to call you out, but I just want to make it clear. It's an unusual requirement
and I've never liked it. Even when I was on Council I hated it because it's sometimes hard to tell the difference between
a yea and a nay, but that's what our Charter says.
Mr. Sharnsky: Alright. I would ask Mr. Gentile to please change his vote.
Mr. Gentile: I'll ask to correct it to yea.
Mr. Sharnsky: Or not to change his vote, to re-vote.
Mr. Gentile: I'll correct it to a yea.
Mrs. Caldwell: Six yea, one excused on the passage of Resolution 2022-004.
Mr. Sharnsky: Thank you, Mr. Nace. You always keep us on the straight and narrow.
Since I looked at the calendar, we actually have two more Mondays left in this month. I'd like to set the next Committee
of the Whole meeting date for Monday, January 31 st. That'll give Council a couple weeks before our next meeting.
Take advantage and get a little bit closer to our next regular meeting, 6:00 p.m. as usual. Depending on the Covid
situation, either here or in our offices. I think we were comfortable last time meeting in our offices.
That concludes the report of the Committee of the Whole.
FINANCE COMMITTEE CHAIR, BARBARA POTTS
Mrs. Potts: There's no report for the Finance Committee tonight.
MUNICIPAL SERVICES COMMITTEE CHAIR, TODD STOCK
Mr. Stock: Good evening. Municipal Services Committee has no report this evening.
PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE CHAIR, KATHLEEN BAUM (EXCUSED)
Mr. Sharnsky: Is anyone aware of a report from Public Affairs this evening?
Mr. Stock: I'm under the impression there's no report from Public Affairs this evening.
SAFETY COMMITTEE CHAIR, MICHAEL DETORAKIS
Ordinance 2021-074 Offered by Mayor Roth
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING AND/OR SUPPLEMENTING CHAPTER 240 "DIVISION OF FIRE AND EMERGENCY RESCUE SERVICES" OF THE
CODIFIED ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF FAIRLAWN AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY
Expiration Date Public Hearing Accepted 1 SI Reading 2nd Reading 3,ct Reading Hold Pass
03/20/2022 NI A l 2/20/2021 12/20/2021 01/03/2022
Ordinance 2021-075 Offered by Mayor Roth
AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE SUMMIT COUNTY PUBLIC DEFENDER'S
COMMISSION TO PROVIDE LEGAL SERVICES TO INDIGENT DEFENDANTS WHO ARE ARRESTED OR SUMMONED TO FAIRLAWN MAYOR'S
COURT OR AKRON MUNICIPAL COURT FOR VIOLA TIO NS OF LAW WITHIN THE CITY OF FAIRLAWN, OHIO DURING THE YEAR OF 2022
Expiration Date Public Hearing Accepted 1 SI Reading 2nd Reading 3,ct Reading Hold Pass
03/20/2022 NIA 12/20/2021 12/20/2021 01/03/2022
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APPROVED AS SUBMITTED
Ordinance 2022---003 Offered by Mayor Roth
AN ORDfNANCE AUTHORIZfNG THE MAYOR TO ENTER fNTO AN AGREEMENT WITH ORIANA HOUSE INC.
Expiration Date Public Hearing Accepted I st Reading 2"d Reading 3'd Reading 'Hold
04/03/2022 NI A 0 I /03/2022 01/03/2022 Pass
**********************************
Mr. Detorakis: Good evening. Would the Clerk please read Ordinance 2021-074 by title only for the third time?
Mrs. Caldwell read Ordinance 2021-074 by title only.
Mr. Detorakis: Mayor Roth?
Mayor Roth: I just conferred with the Law Director and the Fire Chief. I think we have to make some additional
changes, so I'd ask you to hold it in committee.
Mr. Detorakis: Very good. We will hold that for our next meeting.
**********************************
Mr. Detorakis: Would the Clerk please read Ordinance 2021-075 by title only for the third time?
Mrs. Caldwell read Ordinance 2021-075 by title only.
Mr. Detorakis: Mayor Roth, again? Comments?
Mayor Roth: I will defer to the Law Director on this one.
Mr. Nace: On this one, we would also request that you hold it in committee. We need to look at this a little further and
discuss it maybe at our next committee meeting. There is a change in there that I think we all ought to be aware of and
we haven't had a chance to really go over it.
Mr. Detorakis: Very good, thank you. We can hold that also for our next meeting.
**********************************
Mr. Detorakis: Would the Clerk please read Ordinance 2022-003 by title only for the second time?
Mrs. Caldwell read Ordinance 2022-003 by title only.
Mr. Detorakis: Mayor Roth, again?
Mayor Roth: Same thing. I would ask you to hold this in committee and we can talk about this agreement at the next
committee meeting. Thank you.
Mr. Detorakis: Very good, thank you. We'll go ahead and hold that for the next meeting. That does conclude the
report from Safety Committee.
INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE CHAIR, JOSEPH GENTILE
Mr. Gentile: No report tonight, sir.
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PLANNING COMMITTEE CHAIR, PHILIP BRILLHART
Mr. Brillhart: Planning Committee has no report this evening.
ITEM 10: OTHER BUSINESS
Mr. Sharnsky: I believe Mr. Borchik has been patiently waiting this evening. He listened to the State of the City. You
picked a long meeting tonight.
Mr. Borchik: No, that was good. I enjoyed that.
Mr. Sharnsky: Mr. Borchik is here representing the Copley-Fairlawn School Board and wanted to address Council this
evenmg.
Mr. Borchik: Hi, welcome. Good to see all of you. We want to be totally transparent about what we're about to do
and we want to make sure you're all in the loop is what it boils down to. Two years ago, we were going to go forward
with a building project and seek a levy and things along those lines, but because of Covid we put a stop to it. As of right
now, we are planning this November to put a bond levy on the ballot for an upgrade of our stadium, an upgrade of our
restrooms in all of our buildings. We have hired an architectural firm that did a study for us and we feel our schools are
all. .. we've done a lot of upgrades already with roofs and heating and cooling, all the wiring, and lighting, everything.
We feel really good about our buildings, but our stadium is in bad shape and we need to upgrade our stadium, and our
restrooms throughout our district are in bad shape and we need to update those. Those are the things that we've identified,
so it's going to require a bond issue in November. We're looking, just off the top of our heads, nothing has been firmed
up, it's over $20,000,000.00, so we're going to have to have a two or three million levy, so we want to make sure
everyone is in the loop so to speak because it's going to be a big project. We feel that we'll be able to justify it. We'll
have all the numbers and all the statistics, etc. coming forward as we get closer to it, but we started the process and we
don't want to hide anything from anybody of what we're doing.
Mr. Sharnsky: Have all the projects been completed in the schools? The safety type ones?
Mr. Borchik: Yeah, we feel really good about all our vestibules, all our entrances. You know, then again, because Fort
Island is your Fairlawn school, I went to Fort Island by myself to talk to the principals and the custodian to see if there's
anything else they want to look at. The thing on the restrooms, which is again being totally transparent, in this day and
age we need now to provide a gender neutral family restroom to access in our buildings. We'll put one in all three of
our elementary, two in our middle school, and two or maybe three in our high school. So that could require taking
classrooms to add that in, you know, from a space stand point because we have to do that. Just like with our stadium
project. So you're aware, we have to do a couple of things. One, structurally the stands have ... the building, the stadium
was built in 1970 and the structure and such that the engineers have just been basically letting us slide and we really
need to put new grandstands in. We also have been on septic system, which the EPA says we need to get on City sewer.
So those are things that have been weighing on us, so we have to do. That's been the driving force of getting this stadium
project done. We've set our new turf field and we would build around it. We put an eight lane track around the turf,
new grandstands, a new field house, get rid of the septic system, a new entrance, new fencing. Those kinds of things are
what we're looking at.
Mr. Sharnsky: Any questions or comments?
Mr. Borchik: Also, another thing I'll give you a Covid update since it's lower in this day and age. I talked to the
superintendent today and asked her assistant specifically about Fort Island. We have two student cases reported that are
positive right now as of today. What happens is, any Covid cases are reported to Summit County, and Summit County
Health Department tells the school district. That's how we get our information, so that's how we're kept in the loop.
There could be more cases out there, but we're just not aware of them. We're told what we're told, and so we had two
positive cases at Fort Island as of today which is consistent with all our numbers that we're getting pretty much from the
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APPROVED AS SUBMITTED
get-go. That's why when we came back from break, some people were saying should we go virtual or should we have
mask mandates. We are very fortunate in our district. We feel very fo1tunate that we haven't had to have virtual or
mask mandates because of the way we've been able to do things. We talked about using Covid money. We used our
Covid money and we bought these air purifiers. They look like humidifiers. Every single room in the school district
has them and we're very fortunate. We were able to keep six foot spacing in every single room. In our areas where the
cafeteria is we now have kids sitting at desks and the desks are all spaced out six feet apart. There's no big tables and
kids aren't grouped together any longer. Those are the kinds of things we've been able to do that we're very fortunate
and our numbers supported that we haven't had high numbers at all. We feel really good about it.
Mr. Sharnsky: I've heard the numbers and I think the schools have been very fortunate.
Mr. Borchik: Just knock on wood, we've been lucky. Haven't we?
Mr. Sharnsky: The numbers have been relatively light.
Mr. Borchik: The numbers are spiking in Summit County and in Ohio and wherever, but here we've been very
fortunate.
Mr. Sharnsky: We heard from the Summit County Health Department this morning in a safety meeting and they talked
about this area being a hot spot, and they don 't expect a plateau for quite some time is what they're saying. Overall,
compared to some of the surrounding communities we're very fortunate.
Mr. Borchik: We're on edge, we're watching those numbers on a daily basis. We get reports and just trying to stay on
top of it, but I think so far so good.
Mr. Sharnsky: Push the right buttons I guess. A little bit at a loss I think because nobody knows what the right one's
are, I guess.
Mr. Borchik: So again, I'm the community liaison for the School Board, so if there's any questions, I know I've dealt
with a couple of you individually, so if there's any issues or anything feel free to contact me at any time. I'll be around.
Mr. Detorakis: You mentioned Fort Island. Herberich and the high school have no reported cases?
Mr. Borchik: Not as of today.
Mr. Detorakis: Okay, that was just a daily report, but there are cases obviously ongoing.
Mr. Borchik: The daily report, yeah.
Mr. Detorakis: Do you have a number of how many total?
Mr. Borchik: We've got minimal. We're like ten. Seriously, we have 3,000 kids and 500 staff members and we've
got like ten cases.
Mr. Detorakis: And only ten have gotten it?
Mr. Borchik: Yes, it's minimal. We've been very fortunate.
Mr. Detorakis: I thought it was much higher. You're giving us good news, this is good.
Mr. Borchik: Yes, it is what it is. We've been very fortunate.
Mr. Stock: I'm sorry, for the dollar amount you said two to three million levy?
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Mr. Borchik: Yes, that's ballpark. Again, nothing is firm at all. So, I want to make sure that's clear.
Mr. Stock: But you're looking at a minimum investment of 20?
Mr. Borchik: The first thing out of the treasurer's mouth was at least 20 million, and it could be more than that when
it's all said and done.
Mr. Stock: You said you're putting new turf in?
Mr. Borchik: No. We redid the turf just two years ago. We just put a new turf in, so we're going to build around it so
to speak. We 're going to put the eight lane track around the existing turf, put in new grandstands, and a new field house.
The field house, in fact, the architect showed us .. .I don't know if you've seen our auxiliary gym that we have. The field
house is going to be the same amount of square feet as the auxiliary gym is, so it's that big. Four locker rooms. One of
the big problems we have is the building was built in 1970. Girls' sports were minimal then, and so our girls soccer
team, for example, they have to dress up in the school and come down or walk down to the stadium because there's no
facilities for them. So, we're going to add four locker rooms into this new field house, which one would be designated
for the girls. Then there's girls track in the spring, or girls lacrosse that we have in the spring. Girls' sports didn't exist
in 1970 when they built the building.
Mr. Stock: And you're putting in gender neutral bathrooms in all school buildings?
Mr. Borchik: Yes. The three elementary schools will get at least one, and the middle school at least two, and the high
school could have up to three. The architects are doing a study and analyzing it and it could require taking a classroom
next to the existing restrooms and making it a facility with individual. .. and that's part of societal needs that we have to
address. Something different. Again, in 1970 these things didn't exist.
Mr. Stock: Thank you.
Mr. Borchik: Any other questions?
Mr. Sharnsky: Anything else?
Mr. Gentile: Just one. With all of the publicity with the trans gender sports problems that there are with crossing over,
has there been any issues in the Copley-Fairlawn schools?
Mr. Borchik: Knock on wood, so far, we've been fortunate. I was working as the assistant principal/athletic director
at Copley High School. I was a board member for the OHSAA. When I retired, the OHSAA hired me and now I'm a
contracted employee for them, so I still work for the OHSAA and that situation exists throughout the state. Different
schools have those that they have to address. We've been fortunate in that respect, but we're prepared to deal with it
when it comes our way, which I'm sure it will.
Mr. Gentile: Thanks.
Mr. Borchik: That's another thing on the remodeling of the restrooms. The locker rooms are another thing that has to
be addressed, which we have to make a space in the locker room.
Mr. Gentile: So are you going to address that ...
Mr. Borchik: In this project, yes. That's part of this whole ...
Mr. Gentile: So basically, you'll have five?
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Mr. Borchik: Pardon?
Mr. Gentile: You'll have five locker rooms instead of four?
Mr. Borchik: In the field house, yes, but I'm saying in all the buildings, the locker rooms in our gym or our pool and
those kinds of things, we also have to accommodate a family restroom kind of thing for gender neutral.
Mr. Sharnsky: Anything else for Mr. Borchik? Congratulations on your re-election. How long are your terms? Four
years?
Mr. Borchik: Four years. I'm Community Liaison for the next four years, so you'll see me.
Mr. Sharnsky: Anything else for Mr. Borchik? [There was no response.] Thank you for coming in. I appreciate it.
Mr. Borchik: Thank you, and again, good report on the City.
Mr. Sharnsky: I hate to belabor this meeting, but the Clerk of Council has just pushed something in front of me and
reminded me that based on Chapter 220.0l(c) I have to formally read into the record the appointments for chair people
for the different committees. I'll do that very quickly.
I'm the president and Mrs. Potts is the Vice President. The Finance Committee Chair is Mrs. Potts. Municipal Services
Committee Chair this year is Mr. Stock. Public Affairs Committee Chair is Mrs. Baum. The Safety Committee Chair
is Mr. Detorakis. Intergovernmental Affairs Committee Chair is Mr. Gentile. The Planning Committee Chair is Mr.
Brillhart.
As I indicated before, all members of Council are members on all of the committees this year.
If there is no other business to be conducted, that brings us to our adjournment.
ITEM 11: ADJOURNMENT
Mr. Sharnsky: Do I have a motion to adjourn?
Mr. Stock made a MOTION to adjourn; Mr. Detorakis the second. Everyone voted in favor. The meeting adjourned at
7:54 pm.
The next regular meeting of Council will be February 7, 2022 at 6:30 pm.
These are the official minutes of the Fairlawn c:~ Council meeting he! on January 18, 2022 and
approved by Fairla~~ncil on the 7,J,,,,, day of ......,_.....,.'"""""....,._. ____ 2022. :E~ky /. le~
PRESIDENT OF COUNCIL a
Summer Owen
Recording Secretary -
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Fairlawn City Council
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