Council approves fiscal recovery, parks appropriation, urban forestry grant and other emergency measures

Fostoria City Council unanimously adopted several ordinances and resolutions Wednesday night, approving emergency measures and fund transfers tied to the city’s fiscal recovery and parks projects.

The council suspended the three-reading rule and approved an amendment to the city’s fiscal recovery plan, an appropriation and transfer to the parks and recreation fund that funds the splash pad project, an opioid-settlement appropriation, an Urban Forestry Grant application, and a "then and now" resolution authorizing prior expenditures.

Why it matters: the actions remove procedural barriers so staff can proceed immediately with contracts and grant applications the administration said are time-sensitive. The council voted on the measures by roll call, and each recorded vote was unanimous in favor.

Key adopted items

- Ordinance 2025-18 (CHIP LAP fund correction): Council approved a correction to ordinance 2023-14 related to the CHIP LAP fund, adjusting an advance and transfer; the ordinance was approved on roll call and becomes Ordinance 2025-18.

- Ordinance 2025-19 (Opioid settlement appropriation): Council approved an ordinance appropriating opioid-settlement funds; this passed on roll call and becomes Ordinance 2025-19.

- Ordinance 2025-20 (Amendment to the Fiscal Recovery Plan): The council adopted an amendment to the 2025 financial recovery plan and declared an emergency to expedite implementation; the three-reading rule was suspended and the ordinance was adopted as Ordinance 2025-20.

- Ordinance 2025-21 (Appropriations and parks transfer): Council adopted an ordinance appropriating funds from the general fund to the parks and recreation fund to cover a revised splash pad estimate and related costs; the three-reading rule was suspended and the ordinance passed as Ordinance 2025-21.

- Resolution 2025-22 (Urban Forestry Grant application): The council authorized the mayor to work with the Tree and Beautification Committee and submit an application for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Urban Forestry Grant; the three-reading rule was suspended and the resolution was adopted as Resolution 2025-22.

- Resolution 2025-23 (Then-and-Now certificates): Council approved and ratified prior acts of department heads and the safety service director and approved then-and-now certificates for expenditures; it was adopted as Resolution 2025-23 after suspending the three-reading rule.

Vote records (roll-call responses recorded in the meeting transcript): All recorded roll calls for the adopted items show unanimous recorded support from the council members present. The clerk called each member by name and each member answered "Yes." The roll-call names as recorded in the transcript were: Layman (called variably as "Layman" or "Lehman"), Podak/Podek (recorded inconsistently as "Podak"/"Podek"/"Podag"), Cassidy, Baker, Mendoza, and Lake.

Context and next steps

City officials said time constraints linked to contracts and grant deadlines motivated the request to suspend reading rules. The finance director and finance committee reported the general fund remains stable and that the parks fund will receive a $453,010 increase to support the splash pad project once carryover calculations are applied. Council directed staff to proceed with the implementation steps enabled by these adopted ordinances and resolutions.

Ending: Adopted ordinances and resolutions take immediate effect under the emergency declarations; staff said some items will still require subsequent procurement steps, presentations, or approvals (for example, bringing selected bidders to council for final contract approval).