Documenters: Ravenna City Council meeting for Dec. 1, 2025

The Ravenna City Council met for their regularly scheduled Dec. 1 meeting at 6 p.m. in council chambers. In attendance were Council President Rob Kairis, Council At-Large Member and President Pro Tem Amy Michael, Ward 1 Council Member Paul Moskun, Ward 2 Council Member Tyler Marovich, Ward 4 Council Member Tim Calfee and Council At-Large Member Cheryl Wood. 

Also in attendance were Service Director Tim Contant, Finance Director Tami Lorence, Council Clerk Chelsea Gregor and Mayor Frank Seman. 

Council At-Large Member Christina West had a planned absence, and she was unanimously excused at the start of the meeting. Ward 3 Council Member Matt Harper was also not in attendance. At the start of the meeting, his absence was noted as unexpected, but by the end of the meeting, he had checked-in and council unanimously excused him.

Kairis called the meeting to order at 6 p.m. and then provided a moment of meditation followed by the Pledge of Allegiance and the roll call. 

With no members of the public rising to speak, the council moved forward and approved the evening’s agenda, as well as the consent agenda without comment. Included in the consent agenda were a number of ordinances that allowed the mayor to enter into contracts with Medical Mutual, the Portage County Public Defender and Tank Industry Consultants for the evaluation of the city water tank. It also included an ordinance for the payment of purchase orders and the approval to apply for a grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

Police Chief Jake Smallfield next provided an update on the police department. He spoke on the effects on “morale and trust both in the department and across the community” that the recent officer-involved shootings have had. 

“Every person in our office has been reflecting on this,” he said.

Smallfield then ran through a number of events to show how the department has “come together” and how they have worked to rebuild trust in the community. Those included trunk or treat, a food drive and restarting the Shop with a Cop program.

The chief also provided updates on the new drone vehicle, which he said was the only one in the county. The department also has a new evidence processing center, secure ammo storage area and all new firearms.

Calfee asked Smallfield for an update on the Flock system and if it has been “worth it.” Smallfield enthusiastically shared his positive opinion on the system and said that it has helped to solve about 100 crimes already.

Kairis commended the chief and the entire department for “being so patient in situations when others are not.”

Next on the agenda was a report from the various committees. The next scheduled committee meeting session is set for Dec. 8, but only a handful of committees said they would be meeting then. Utilities may have one agenda item, as will Community and Economic Development. Public Safety has not yet decided if a committee meeting on the 8th will be needed.

For the Cemetery Committee, Moskun reported that the leaf pick-up is going good.

Marovich provided a report for the Parks & Recreation Committee. He said that the disc golf course at Chestnut Hills is proceeding on schedule as the buckets for the holes have been ordered. Marovich also said that they did not receive the grant for the Emerald Lake Land Preservation Phase 2 project, but they are looking at other options.

The council next proceeded with the first reading of two ordinances. 2025-127 is for adopting the cities’ comprehensive plan. 2025-130 is the 2026 payroll ordinance. Lorence said that while the city is still in contract negotiations, this ordinance corrects the fire department numbers, as well as adds four new police officers. The council voted to suspend the rules, and ordinance 2025-13 was unanimously approved.

Ordinance 2025-128 was on the agenda for a first reading, but given its time-sensitive nature (it needs to be adopted by Ohio law by Dec. 31), the council voted to move this off of the agenda and into executive session.

Next, a second reading of ordinance 2025-112 was held. The ordinance is for putting forth an income tax of twenty-five hundredths of one percent for building a new police station, fire station and city hall.

A third reading was scheduled for Ordinance 2025-094, which would set an agreement with Archer Energy for gas services. After some discussion of rates, council decided to table the ordinance, as they did not feel that it made sense to get locked into a rate that was higher than the rate currently being paid. 

With no old or new business to discuss, council offered up some remarks. Kairis said he would like to set a public hearing on Dec. 22 to discuss ordinance 2025-112. He also said that it was recently brought to council's attention that the city needs to have a Board of Tax Review. This is a three-member board and the council can appoint two of the members. Michael thanked everyone who decorated downtown and said “it looks like a Hallmark movie.” Wood said that a number of students recently participated in the Youth Leadership Program and it was “really, really well-recieved.” Calfee took a moment to thank Wood, who was at her final meeting, for her service to the community.

Seman offered a brief Mayor’s Report by thanking the staff for their work downtown and announcing that they finally had Charlestown’s application for dispatch operations. 

A motion was then made to move to executive session. When the council returned, they unanimously approved Ordinance 2025-128, adopting the city’s cybersecurity plan.

The meeting was then adjourned.