Council adopts ‘Shop and Dine in Brook Park’ month, introduces traffic‑control and STAR program ordinances

At its March 4 meeting the Brook Park City Council passed a locally focused business-promotion resolution and took first-step introductions on two ordinances affecting public works and economic development.

Shop and Dine in Brook Park: The council unanimously adopted Resolution 3‑20‑25 declaring July 2025 “Shop and Dine in Brook Park” month and urging residents to patronize local merchants. The resolution, introduced by Councilman Mancini, names several local businesses and was amended on the floor to add Kicker’s Pizza to the list of examples. Mancini and the mayor said they plan outreach tied to receipts and a localized prize drawing to promote participation.

The amended resolution included an emergency clause and passed on suspension of the rules. The council’s roll call on final adoption recorded affirmative votes from Roberts, McCorkle, Scott, Vancini (Saini), Troyer, Poindexter, Mancini and others recorded in the meeting minutes.

Traffic-control maintenance ordinance (first reading): Mayor Orcutt introduced Ordinance No. 11457 (2025), authorizing the mayor to enter a contract with Signal Services Company without public bidding to provide maintenance of traffic-control devices. The ordinance had its first reading at the March 4 meeting and will return for further consideration; no final vote to award the contract was taken at this meeting. Councilmembers asked to see the ordinance language and details (scope and cost) before voting; one councilmember noted the item typically belongs in the safety committee.

STAR program ordinance (introduction to finance committee): The council also received an ordinance creating the Storefront Target Area Renovations (STAR) program and declared it an emergency for introduction. That proposal, introduced by Mayor Orcutt with Councilmen Mancini and Dufour as sponsors, was placed in the finance committee for review.

What happened and next steps: The Shop and Dine resolution will take effect after mayoral action; the administration and sponsor said they will develop promotion logistics and a local receipt-based prize drawing. The Signal Services contract ordinance is at first reading and requires future committee/review before council can vote to award funds or authorize a single-source contract. The STAR program ordinance was referred to finance for drafting of details and potential fiscal impact analysis.

Ending: Council members asked for clearer cost estimates and committee review for both ordinances before any contracting or spending. The council did not appropriate funds for either ordinance at the March 4 meeting.