ARTICLE
At its regular meeting at 4:00 p.m. today, Toledo City Council is expected to vote on Ordinance 251-18 which would approve $1 million from the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) fund for street and alley maintenance and repair equipment. According to the city, this funding will allow Streets, Bridges and Harbor to no longer rent various equipment for typical maintenance duties. Also, Councilman Tyrone Riley could request immediate consideration of an ordinance approving $300,000 from the CIP fund for various citywide bridge and levee restoration projects. The appropriation is being requested immediately to meet strict deadlines for 2018 work. Other legislation expected to be voted on by City Council include: • Ordinance 209-18 which would approve $30,000 for professional services on behalf of City Council for advice concerning negotiations to develop a regional water agreement. The ordinance would first be relieved from Council’s Water Quality & Sustainability Committee where it had been referred. • Ordinance 256-18 which would approve $235,000 for the first year renewal period for an engineering oversight agreement with Mannik & Smith Group, Inc. for their services as part of the Toledo Waterways Initiative. • Ordinance 259-18 which would authorize an agreement between the city, Metroparks Toledo, and Gotcha Bike, LLC for a bike share program. Under the agreement, the bicycles and necessary infrastructure would be purchased with grant dollars by Metroparks, and ownership of the bicycles would be transferred to the city. The ordinance would approve $150,000 in general operating funds toward the operation and maintenance of the program. Also, Council could give immediate consideration to a resolution from Councilman Chris Delaney that would express objection to the recent decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in Janus v. AFSCME Council 31. The ruling held that required collection of fees from non-union members for the service of collective bargaining in the public sector violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Ordinance 246-18, which would direct the Department of Public Utilities and Toledo Municipal Court to implement and administer a voter registration program for individuals served by those agencies, will likely receive first reading. As part of the program, the Human Relations Commission would support compliance and issue reports. The ordinance would appropriate $5,000 annually for materials and implementation costs. All Council meetings are held in Council Chambers on the first floor of One Government Center, located on Jackson Boulevard in downtown Toledo.