Toledo council reviews insurance spike, fire vehicle purchases and $300,000 water safety reappropriation

The Toledo City Council on April 29 reviewed and recommended approval of a slate of departmental contracts and appropriations, including a $1.3 million stop‑loss insurance renewal, a reappropriation of $300,000 for Ohio EPA‑required cross‑connection (backflow) surveys and several large purchases for Fire and Rescue.

The most costly item discussed was the city's annual stop‑loss insurance for its self‑insured health plan. Mike Nagelski, director of human resources, told council that the recommended one‑year contract with Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield would run from June 1 through May 31 and that the estimated cost is $1,300,000. "The way this stop loss works... once that claim hits $600,000, then the stop loss insurance kicks in and reimburses us anything over that amount," Nagelski said. He and the city's benefits consultant said the increase from last year (about $795,000) reflects recent catastrophic claims; council recommended passage on first consideration.

Councilors also reviewed three Fire and Rescue items affecting vehicles, equipment and stations. The department sought up to $850,000 from the capital improvements program to purchase an additional ambulance (which can take roughly three years to deliver), several trucks for special operations and arson investigators, and to fund the next vehicle in the replacement cycle. Separately, Fire requested up to $250,000 from CIP for station improvements — roofing, HVAC, parking lots and security — and said an immediate needs list for seven urgent projects totals about $1,000,000. Jamie Powell (Fire) and Deputy Chief Verdell Franklin presented a separate service agreement request with Stryker, not to exceed $360,000, to cover maintenance and service of cots, power loads, Lucas devices and LifePak monitors through 2032. Councilors recommended advancing those items for formal consideration.

Water and utilities matters included several routine but required items. Patika Pope Bannister, deputy director of public utilities, introduced a request to advertise for SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) support services for the water treatment plant, and a flocculator replacement/preventive maintenance contract to keep wear parts like chains and sprockets on hand. The department also asked to reappropriate $300,000 from the water replacement fund for cross‑connection surveys, which Bannister identified as an Ohio EPA requirement; council recommended the requests.

The Department of Transportation asked the council to declare it necessary to install three LED streetlights on Hafner Road between Oakside Road and Holland‑Sylvania Road at a total annual operating cost of $469.11 (city share $33.81). Director Michael Isaac said the lights were requested by a majority petition of abutting property owners. The department also requested up to $53,100 from the street construction fund to buy a three‑year maintenance agreement for CentriX traffic signal software used to operate roughly 250 intersections in the city's west and north ends; Isaac said the city uses a second vendor for about 239 intersections and prefers two compatible systems rather than rebidding the whole city; council recommended both items.

Urban Beautification asked for up to $24,000 from a special assessment fund to continue leasing three pickup trucks used for mowing and vegetation control. Sarah Stacey (Urban Beautification) said two trucks are existing lease renewals and one lease has about nine months left; councilors asked whether electric vehicles were being considered and about the vehicle brands, and Stacey said she would follow up by referral.

Information and communications technology asked to spend up to $250,000 to replace desktop PCs and complete the migration from Windows 10 to Windows 11 using the city’s cooperative Dell agreement and an MBE partner, Brown Enterprises. Steve Evinsky, IT project manager, and Anne Bennett, director of IT, presented the request and council recommended it for further consideration.

Parks and youth services sought $25,000 to print and mail the annual youth program guide. David Bush, commissioner for the division of youth services, said 15,000 booklets will be printed, with about 10,000 mailed to households of third‑ and twelfth‑grade students at Toledo Public Schools (TPS) and Washington Local Schools and 5,000 distributed to libraries and community organizations. Several council members—McPherson, Williams and others—pressed Bush on distribution strategy, noting charter, private and homeless/transient student populations are not automatically included in the mailing and asking the department to coordinate with the Department of Marketing and Communications, TPS and community partners to reduce waste and expand reach. Bush said the mail approach was a response to prior feedback that school deliveries were not consistently reaching households.

The law department presented two acceptance items: an ordinance to end a warranty relationship with Best Equipment in exchange for $150,000 (Jeff Charles, Law Department) and acceptance of $638,273 from Alliance Global Corporation for an insurance claim to repair material damage at the water reclamation facility. Council recommended both items.

Other items reviewed briefly included a request to purchase replacement PCs (IT), software maintenance for traffic signals (Transportation), and the department of public utilities' technical maintenance and spare‑parts purchases. Council conducted a roll call at the start of the session; nine members were present for the agenda review.

Why this matters: the stop‑loss insurance increase and the fire vehicle/station appropriations represent the largest near‑term budgetary commitments discussed at the agenda review. Several items are compliance driven (Ohio EPA backflow surveys, NFPA‑related equipment standards referenced by Fire) or are maintenance investments intended to avoid service interruptions (SCADA support, flocculator parts, Stryker service agreement).

Next steps: councilors generally recommended suspension or advancement (calls recorded as SEP/SAP/SCP in the transcript) for the items presented so they can return for formal readings or ordinances. Departments agreed to provide follow‑up details on vehicle brands, electric vehicle and mower options, distribution lists for the youth guide and a schedule/cost breakdown for remaining firehouse repairs.