Kent City Council held its regular October meeting on the 21st at 7 p.m. in council chambers.
In attendance were Mayor and President of Council Jack Amrhein, Ward 1 Council Member Melissa Celko, Ward 2 Council Member Eric Dreger, Ward 3 Council Member Robin Turner, Ward 4 Council Member Chris Hook, Ward 5 Council Member Heidi Shaffer Bish, Ward 6 Council Member Jeff Clapper, Council Member Benjamin Tipton, Council Member Tracy Wallach, Council Member Sarah Wesley, Clerk of Council Kathy Coleman and City Manager Dave Ruller. Also in attendance were Law Director Hope Jones, Fire Chief Jamie Samels, Police Chief Gary Stone and City Engineer Jim Bowling.
Amrhein called the meeting to order promptly at 7 by inviting a public hearing on the CEG grant program. A report was shared by Community Development Director Bridget Susel on grant spending from Aug. 1, 2025, through July 31, 2026. During that period, the city spent $402,360 on low-to-moderate income projects. With no questions from council or the public, the meeting continued.
Amy Ward, a Kent resident, addressed council with a request to put a 20 mph School Zone sign in front of Walls Elementary. She said it was the only school in the city without a marker, which she claimed was not only needed but mandated by state law. She also read a letter of support from Jen Davis, the president of the Walls School Association.
Coleman then shared a list of the correspondence that council had received since the last meeting. Those included letters of concern about deer overpopulation and vehicle towing storage fees, along with updates from committees who were not holding October meetings. She also read into the record a letter from resident Kenneth Claypool, expressing his support of proposed ordinance 505.24.
Following this, the City Manager’s Report was accepted as presented. The minutes from the September regular meeting were approved unanimously and the October committee meeting minutes were approved, with Wesley and Turner abstaining.
The council next took up the consent agenda, which consisted of 10 draft ordinances. Following the reading of each ordinance title, a motion was made to suspend the rules. This was unanimously approved. Next a motion was made for adoption. This was also approved by the full council. Those ordinances included authorizations for: the finance director to pay on purchase orders; the city manager to enter into a loan agreement with the Ohio EPA for the construction of a water reclamation facility; codifying the Feeding Wild Animals and Fowl ordinance; amending the city ordinance dealing with “unlawful noise;” entering into an agreement to have a Squirrel City Half Marathon race; applying for a grant for EMS and dispatch modernization; adjusting inactive deposits; applying for a roadwork grant; and rescinding the CRA agreements with Klaben Ford.
The next item on the agenda was held for committee business, but no committee had any to report.
Hook had the only council member comment, which was to thank Main Street Kent for their work in putting on the Rainbow Weekend celebration. As a point of new business, Clapper asked to take the concern around the Walls Elementary signage under committee consideration. This was approved. Wesley shared a concern over the closure of Stow Road, which was shared by other council members. Part of the concern was that there was no advance warning provided to the city and that lights were not synced up to handle traffic on the overflow routes. It was decided that this could be discussed in more detail with the city engineer’s office.
Amrhein provided an update on the various events and activities he attended and presided over in the past month and then Clapper asked for council to enter into an executive session, which they did at 7:22 pm.