Streetsboro City Council Meeting
Monday, Feb. 24, 2025
7 p.m.
Streetsboro City Building Office
555 Frost Rd.
Streetsboro, OH
Attendance:
Justin Ring – Council at Large, president
Anthony Lombardo – Council Member Ward 2, vice president
Jen Wagner – Council Member Ward 3
Marianne Glenn – Council Member Ward 1
Jon Hannan – Council at Large
Lisa McDaniel – Council Member Ward 4
Nonvoting Attendees:
Bridget Pavlick – Planning Clerk
Greg Mytinger – Parks and Recreation Director
Patrick O’Malia – Economic Development Director
John Cieszkowski Jr. – Planning Director
Justin Czekaj – City Engineer
Richard Polivka – Police Lieutenant
Robert Reinholz – Fire Chief
David Nott – Law Director
Glenn Broska – Mayor
Shawna Lockhart-Reese – HR Manager
Matt Miller – Finance Director
Bill Miller Jr. – Service Director
Matt Coffman – IT Manager
The meeting was called to order by Council President Justin Ring at 7 p.m., followed by Council Member Lisa McDaniel sharing the invocation and Mayor Glenn Broska leading the Pledge of Allegiance. After roll call, three scheduled city meetings began, starting with a public hearing, followed by the finance committee meeting and concluding with the regular City Council meeting.
The public hearing reviewed agricultural placement renewal of 8840 Diagonal Rd., 47.06 acres. Local resident, John Schwartz, was present to confirm the renewal request of land that has been farmed for over 40 years. Renewal was approved late in the evening during the regular council meeting.
The finance committee meeting opened with a motion to accept January 2025 minutes, followed by Finance Director Matt Miller presenting the January 2025 report. Miller called to attention the increased expense in January for overtime paid for snowstorm roadwork. January expenses totaled 9 percent of the annual budget. In a brief private executive session, City Council and Broska reviewed city employee hirings/terminations. Once back in public chambers, Economic Development Director Patrick O’Malia presented a contract with Portage County Regional Planning for a Community Development Block Grant for 2025-2026. O’Malia explained the purpose of the grant and how it supports the administrative goals of the city to improve the lives of low- to middle-income residents.
In the middle of the finance committee meeting, IT Director Matt Coffman presented a contract proposal with Ubiquiti for street surveillance cameras and a Dell server. This topic brought extended conversation among council, starting with Coffman presenting that street surveillance cameras had been installed at most major intersections in Streetsboro six years ago, providing live feed assistance to emergency dispatch. The new contract introduces phase two of Streetsboro’s street surveillance camera usage, with the new equipment set to expand street surveillance coverage to more locations and hold 30 days of surveillance recordings on the new server. McDaniel asked if both surveillance cameras and servers must be purchased at the same time and inquired if the existing cameras would work with the new system, as well as what limit there was on recorded video and expressed concern for surveillance overreach. Coffman confirmed that currently, emergency dispatch can use old surveillance cameras to view a live scene and that the new surveillance cameras and server would provide live and recorded video with storage for 30 days. Broska endorsed the purchase, stating that street surveillance cameras could be used by emergency services and the police department for live events and post event investigations. Lieutenant Richard Polivka mentioned that details viewed by dispatch on the live scenes help the response time and proper equipment on traffic accidents. McDaniel asked who can access surveillance recordings. Coffman and Ring confirmed surveillance footage would be available for a fee via public record requests. The software of the new street surveillance cameras can be upgraded in the future to scan license plates and add facial recognition for monitoring the public. Ring expressed concern with the privacy infringement upgrades that might come in the future. Jen Wagner stated that privacy can also be helpful to find missing persons and stolen vehicles. Jon Hannan noted that the real time information is indeed helpful to dispatch and clarified that the street surveillance cameras are not intended to be used for ticketing or penalizing drivers before an incident. McDaniel once again stated the warning of limitless tech and privacy concerns for the public. Broska asked the council not to worry about how City Councils of the future might use the surveillance cameras, but mentioned that it would be their freedom in the future to choose how the surveillance cameras were used. Ring proposed purchasing equipment, but also setting up a policy that protects the process of storing and retaining public data for use and how the city uses the information in the future. Discussion among council members confirmed that the policy would be presented to council before new surveillance cameras are put up in public intersections.
In the latter part of the finance committee meeting, HR Director Shawna Lockheed-Reese presented a proposal to amend the employee handbook, requesting an increase to travel expenses. The new limit would be $35 for a day trip and $65 for an overnight trip. Alcohol, tips or taxes cannot be reimbursed per policy. Hannan questioned if the city should match the state of Ohio’s standard rate of $68.
A request to authorize appropriations for property related to state Route 303/Diagonal project was presented. City Engineer Justin Czekaj explained that the project requires more land and there is one location needing appropriations to continue forward. The final two items were presented by Miller with a request to approve a purchasing card admin policy. Miller explained that the city moved to department purchasing cards, instead of using credit cards. They would like to create a clear policy surrounding use of the purchasing cards, and a final proposal was submitted to amend annual appropriations.
The regular council meeting commenced to conclude the evening. After roll call and with no citizen’s comments, the department reports were shared with City Council. Fire Chief Robert Reinholz said that it was the second busiest January for the department with a total of 297 calls. Severe weather seminars have started at the senior center to help the community. The fire department completed water/ice rescue training and a hazmat refresher is coming soon.
Greg Mytinger of Parks and Recreation shared seasonal employment notifications have been released and summer camp information is coming soon. O’Malia shared that a local business that has interests in lithium battery development partnered with the city fire department to provide training on lithium battery fire response. He commented on the positive collaboration between the private business and the city fire department.
Planning Director John Cieszkowski Jr., who was celebrating 12 years of service that day, shared that solar regulations have been drafted and will be submitted to the law department for review and approval. He was drafting the sign code update to provide the planning commission. To conclude the reports, Czekaj announced that City Hall is coming along well and the inspection of a water main is upcoming.
All items passed by unanimous vote and a motion to approve agricultural placement request was accepted for 8840 Diagonal Rd.
T7738 – Contract with Portage County Regional CDBG
T7739 – Contract with Ubiquiti for Street Cameras and Dell Server
T7740 – Amend Policy and Procedures manual for Travel Expenses
T7741 – Resolution to Appropriate Property for St. Rt 303/ Diagonal Road Project
T7743 – Amend Annual Appropriations
T7744 – Contract with Dynegy for electric aggregation services
T7742 – Purchasing Card Admin Policy
T7736 – Enact section 151.03 of Title Five Relating to Conduct of City-Sponsored Festivals/Events, Sponsorship and Concession Agreements
T7726 – CRA agreement with Winking Lizard
T7728 – Renaming of NW Perimeter Rd to Square Rich Taiclet Way
T7729 – Dedicate NE Perimeter Rd: City Square Chuck Kocisko Way
One item was tabled for further discussion, which was to find the right name to honor Chuck Kocisko’s contributions to the community in the planned dedication of the ball fields at city park.
At the conclusion of the regular council meeting, Broska thanked council for attending the state of the city presentation. Each voting council member shared comments in turn. Marianne Glenn shared congratulations to the girls varsity basketball team on their victory this last week and wished the boys varsity basketball team good luck on their game in the upcoming week. Hannan shared praise for the athletics program and the pride the city has in its varsity sports, especially the girls basketball team with their chance to go to state, as well as the boys basketball team and wrestling program.
McDaniel stated her strong dislike of surveillance of the public and reminded the need to balance safely with the preservation of liberty and privacy. Anthony Lombardo congratulated Cieszkowski for 12 years of service. Meeting was adjourned with the next regular council meeting to meet at 7 p.m. March 10 in the council chambers.
