By Eamon Baird
PIQUA — The Piqua City Commission held a special meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 29, to amend the rules of conduct for future meetings and approve a resolution to pay for legal fees.
Under the new rules of conduct, public comments will be changed from five minutes to seven minutes. Also, if a commission member or the mayor speaks during an individual’s allotted time, the public member will still receive their full allotted time to speak. Time taken up by any comment made by a commission members or the mayor shall not be deducted from the individual’s allotted seven minutes.
Additionally, public comments will be extended to Springcreek Township, Washington Township and Miami County residents.
Lastly, any individual attending the non-agenda public comment section of meetings may have signs that do not exceed 8.5-by-11-inches in size. Such signs shall not be displayed in a way that obstructs the view of any other individual attending the meeting or any camera recording the meeting.
The amended ordinance passed by a 4-1 vote, with Commissioner Frank DeBrosse voting against the measure.
Before voting on the resolution, the commission heard from resident Kim Heisler, who asked why special meeting agenda packets weren’t posted online earlier.
“By not posting it, it just seems like you guys are trying to get away with something. Maybe you’re not, maybe that’s the program and it takes some time for it to batch in, but it just seems like the city is trying to get away with something. It just seems like there should be more care taken for the public to actually see what’s happening,” Heisler said.
City Manager Paul Oberdorfer said the notice for the meeting was posted 24 hours before the meeting and the agenda packet was posted earlier in the day.
The City Commission held special meetings on Oct. 21, 22, 23, and 29.
“The special meetings and resolutions have their place, but we would want to make sure we continue to be transparent with the citizens throughout the process,” Commissioner Tom Hohman said to Miami Valley Today.
Next, the commission was introduced to the emergency resolution, authorizing Oberdorfer to enter into an agreement regarding case No. 3:24-cv-99 in the U.S. District Court Southern District of Ohio on behalf of himself and the city.
According to the agenda, the resolution was declared an emergency measure because the United States District Court is awaiting the final execution of said agreement for the dismissal of the case and declared an emergency for the immediate preservation of public peace, health, or safety and shall take effect immediately.
“This is a result of a lawsuit that the city was involved in,” Piqua Law Director Frank Patrizio said. “The insurance company has recommended a negotiated settlement; the city would pay approximately $2,500 and the insurance company would pick up the rest.”
There was some confusion in the commission regarding the votes required to pass an emergency resolution. Patrizio said, as stated in the charter, any emergency ordinance or resolution requires a 75% “yes” vote from the commissioners to pass.
The commissioners voted 4-1 to pass the emergency resolution, with Hohman voting against the measure.
Hohman issued the following statement regarding the 75% requirement:
“The emergency nature of the legislation triggered a special voting threshold outlined in Section 12 of the Piqua City Charter. While it is clearly written there for all to see, it is difficult for commissioners to remember every word and provision of the charter. The commission is normally advised of special or rare legal considerations by our attorney.
“Speaking for myself, I do not remember being advised or reminded of this special 75% threshold for emergency provisions on previous emergency votes. The commission was likewise not advised or reminded of this special rule prior to the vote last night. That was evident in our initial belief that the ordinance had passed with only three votes.”
Miami Valley Today also reached out to the city of Piqua to get more details on the emergency resolution.
“The $2,500 is the deductible paid to Miami Valley Risk Management Association, which is the insurance company referenced,” Michelle Perry, public information officer for Piqua, said. “The conditions of the settlement agreement are subject to the attorney-client privilege and attorney work product doctrine until finalized and the case is resolved in the court system. Given that this is an ongoing legal matter, we are unable to disclose the conditions of the agreement. Additional information will be available to the public as the case concludes.”
Mayor Kris Lee also commented at the meeting about the previously tabled resolution regarding the Deerfield Subdivision expansion project discussed at the commission meeting on Oct. 15.
“I appreciate the residents who joined us earlier this month to voice their opinions with questions about the proposal and to have a conversation with us as we consider the proposal,” Lee said. “I want to let them all know that we plan on making a motion at our Nov. 12 regular meeting to withdraw that resolution from the tabled items and the agenda. Instead, I propose a special meeting later in the month to allow us ample opportunity to hear from residents and then we can consider how we wish to move the project forward.”
