Sylvania Council approves multiple infrastructure contracts, equipment purchases and $46,250 settlement

SYLVANIA, Ohio — The Sylvania City Council on March 3 approved a package of construction contracts, equipment purchases and other measures that city officials said implement projects planned in the 2025 budget.

The actions included awarding bids for a Centennial Road sanitary sewer extension and a full water-line replacement and resurfacing on Silvertown Drive, approving a $939,320.75 contract for the Silvertown project and a $61,185 contract for the Centennial sewer extension, authorizing purchase of a closed-circuit television (CCTV) sewer inspection truck, accepting a traffic-signal improvement bid for Monroe/Main/Summit, approving additional engineering for the Sylvania Avenue pump station replacement, authorizing signage and lighting for the municipal building, approving a one-year fireworks contract, moving forward with electric aggregation procurement, making a parks/recreation board appointment, authorizing sale of obsolete IT equipment, scheduling a safety-committee meeting to review a police drone proposal, and approving a settlement of $46,250.

Why this matters: Council members and staff said the contracts finalize work already included in the 2025 capital plan and will deliver planned water, sewer, street and traffic-signal upgrades, add in-house sewer-inspection capability, maintain community events and move forward several smaller capital investments.

City officials said Ohio Excavating of Holland, Ohio, was the low bidder for both the Centennial Road sanitary sewer extension (lowest bid $61,185) and the Silvertown Drive full water-line replacement and resurfacing (low bid $939,320.75). Mr. Shaw, a city staff member who presented the projects, said the Centennial extension will install an 8-inch sanitary sewer crossing Centennial Road near Doyle Drive to serve additional west-side residents and that the work was budgeted from the sewer account (702). He said Ohio Excavating had previously done emergency and contract work for the city and that the Centennial bid was “a touch over” the engineer's estimate but within an acceptable range.

Council member Mr. Madison introduced ordinance 31-2025 to accept Ohio Excavating's bid and appropriate $61,185 for the Centennial sanitary sewer extension; the measure passed as an emergency measure. Council member Mr. Hanson introduced ordinance 32-2025 to accept Ohio Excavating's bid and appropriate $939,320.75 for the Silvertown waterline/resurfacing project; that measure also passed as an emergency measure.

The council approved a $375,302.27 appropriation to purchase a new closed-circuit television inspection truck for the Sewer Division, presented by Mr. Shaw. The vehicle will be built on an E-450 Ford chassis and equipped for digital recording and lateral launching, a capability staff said will enable the city to inspect most residential laterals in-house rather than contracting the work. Mr. Shaw said the purchase is programmed in the 2025 budget and would be funded from the sewer account (702). Ordinance 33-2025, authorizing acceptance of a vendor proposal for the CCTV truck lift-gate package and appropriating funds, passed as an emergency measure.

On traffic signals, the council accepted a $502,082.70 low bid from US Utility Contractor for the Monroe/Main/Summit signal-improvement project, a multi-year engineering item the city tied to OPWC and federal funds. Mr. Shaw noted OPWC would contribute about $93,000 toward the project; ordinance 34-2025 to award the contract and appropriate funds passed as an emergency measure.

For the Sylvania Avenue pump station replacement, the council approved a limited additional appropriation of $8,792 for geotechnical work that was not included in the original engineering contract. Mr. Shaw said Fishbeck (Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr & Huber) is the engineering firm under the original contract; geotechnical investigation and dewatering recommendations were necessary before full design. Ordinance 35-2025 passed as an emergency measure to appropriate up to $8,792 for the geotechnical scope.

The council also approved signage and lighting for the recently renamed Craig A. Stout municipal building. The city accepted a $5,404 quote from Toledo Sign for aluminum flush-mounted wall letters and a $1,770 quote from K2 Electric for ground-mounted lighting and wiring; ordinances 36-2025 and 37-2025 passed as emergency measures. Mr. Shaw said the signage will follow the Board of Architectural Review process and be placed on the Board's March agenda.

On community events, ordinance 38-2025 authorized a one-year contract with American Fireworks Company for the July 3 Independence Day display at Centennial Terrace at a $49,500 contract price; the city will split costs with Sylvania Township and the local recreation district and accept sponsorship revenue as available.

On utilities procurement, staff reported that the city's electric aggregation contract with Energy Harbor expires in May and that procurement staff were refreshing pricing with potential suppliers (Constellation and DynaG) before finalizing a new agreement; council approved ordinance 39-2025 to authorize entering a customer supply agreement once pricing is confirmed.

Council set a safety-committee meeting to review a police drone proposal and related ordinance (ordinance 40-2025 on the March 17 committee agenda). Council member Miss Westfall made the motion to hold the safety committee meeting on March 17 at 7:00 p.m. to hear the police chief and review ordinance materials; the motion carried.

Other actions: the council approved the sale of obsolete IT equipment on GovDeals as recommended by the IT manager; advanced and adopted Resolution 5-2025 appointing Jamie Keblish to the Sylvania Area Joint Recreation District Board of Trustees for a term ending Dec. 31, 2027; and received a streets-committee presentation on roundabouts and safety, where staff compared roundabouts to traditional intersections and cost/grant opportunities.

After returning from an executive session on potential pending litigation, council approved ordinance 41-2025, a settlement agreement and appropriation of $46,250 to resolve claims with Constantinos and Aphrodite Georgicopoulos and Republic Development LLC; the ordinance passed as an emergency measure.

Votes at a glance (all passed as emergency measures unless noted): - Ordinance 31-2025: Accept bid, Centennial Sanitary Sewer Extension; contract to Ohio Excavating; appropriation $61,185 — approved. - Ordinance 32-2025: Accept bid, Silvertown Drive waterline replacement and resurfacing; contract to Ohio Excavating; appropriation $939,320.75 — approved. - Ordinance 33-2025: Accept vendor proposal for CCTV truck lift-gate package; appropriation $375,302.27 — approved. - Ordinance 34-2025: Accept bid, Monroe/Main/Summit traffic signal improvements; contract to US Utility Contractor; appropriation $502,082.70 — approved. - Ordinance 35-2025: Accept proposal for geotechnical services for Sylvania Avenue pump station; appropriation $8,792 — approved. - Ordinance 36-2025: Accept bid/quote for lighting (K2 Electric) for municipal building signage; appropriation $1,770 — approved. - Ordinance 37-2025: Accept bid/quote for building signage (Toledo Sign); appropriation $5,404 — approved. - Ordinance 38-2025: Authorize fireworks contract with American Fireworks Company; contract $49,500 — approved. - Ordinance 39-2025: Authorize mayor and finance director to enter customer supply agreement for electric aggregation — approved. - Ordinance 41-2025: Authorize settlement agreement and appropriate $46,250 to resolve litigation with Georgicopoulos / Republic Development LLC — approved. - Resolution 5-2025: Appoint Jamie Keblish to Sylvania Area Joint Recreation District Board of Trustees through 12/31/2027 — adopted. - Safety committee scheduling motion: Safety committee to meet March 17 at 7:00 p.m. to consider police drone proposal and ordinance 40-2025 — approved. - Motion to sell obsolete IT equipment on GovDeals — approved.

Council members and staff emphasized that most items were previously budgeted in the 2025 capital program and represented the execution of that plan. Several presenters noted grant funding or intergovernmental contributions: the traffic-signal project uses OPWC and federal funds (about $93,000 in OPWC aid was noted), the Centennial and Silvertown projects were charged to sewer account 702 and water account 701 respectively, signage/lighting would draw from the lands-and-buildings miscellaneous fund (401), and the CCTV truck purchase was funded from the sewer account (702).

Council gave no recorded roll-call opposition on the listed measures during the meeting; speakers indicated votes carried by voice and the clerk recorded motions as carried.

Looking ahead: the council scheduled the safety committee to review the police drone proposal on March 17 and will finalize the electric-aggregation supplier after staff refreshes pricing with recommended vendors.