Bryan City Council approves multiple appropriations, change orders and a CVS liquor permit waiver

Bryan City Council approved a package of ordinances, resolutions and contracts at its Monday, Oct. 20 meeting, authorizing appropriations of donated funds for parks and the amphitheater, finalizing several change orders on street and utility projects, accepting grant reimbursements, and waiving a local hearing on a liquor-permit application for a CVS store.

The council took action on a group of budget and project items that city staff said are either already spent or will be spent before the end of the year. City staff presented donations totaling $4,000 from the municipal utility electric fund for urban-forest tree replacement and $6,300 in various donations earmarked for the Fawn City Amphitheater. Council voted to appropriate those donations into the current budget so staff can use them for down payments and bookings for the 2026 summer season.

City staff explained the $4,000 donation comes from the electric fund and is used to replace trees removed for line work; “it goes right back in to put trees right back into the ground,” a city staff member said.

Council approved final change orders and closeouts for multiple public-works projects. Among those were a small add of $3,726.37 on the Hawley Chase Phase 4 improvements; city staff said that contract balance will be assessed to properties in the project area and the assessments will not be certified to property tax rolls until 2027 because of timing. The council also approved a net deduct of $5,524 on another project (net project value reported in the record as $246,690) and a $9,655 deduct on the 124 South Hunter Street sanitary and storm replacement project; staff said the Hunter Street project’s total reported cost was approximately $810,000 and that the city expects to recover roughly $275,000 from an Ohio Public Works grant.

The council authorized a mayoral contract for a 2025 alley sanitary-sewer replacement project, described in the agenda as a roughly $408,000 contract to replace rear-yard clay sewers and repave the alleys from the Circle K area north toward East Wilson Street. Staff said the city will receive up to $175,000 (about 43.8% of project cost) back from the Ohio Public Works program.

A separate resolution to repave an alley near the old Lincoln School site was approved; the estimate in the record is $530,000. City staff said many of the sewer and alley projects are partially funded by state grants and that roughly 95% of eligible costs on some projects will be reimbursed through ODOT or other state programs.

The council adopted an ordinance that updates language about discharging weapons within the city to explicitly list crossbows, bows and slingshots, after staff said the revision is intended to make the rule easier for residents to find and understand. The update was prompted by a recent off-site incident involving a crossbow and a domestic animal, staff said during discussion.

On a separate administrative item, the council waived a local hearing on an application mailed by the Ohio Division of Liquor Control for a CVS c-2 carryout liquor permit; the waiver means the state will proceed with its process unless a local objection is filed. Council members were warned by staff that the state’s application portal and permit types have recently changed and that the notice in the council packet appeared to be for an existing relinquished permit rather than a brand-new quota permit.

In non-legislative business, the mayor read a proclamation recognizing Oct. 14 as “Zoe Kelly Heroism Day” to honor a local resident for emergency response actions; the council also heard brief reports from department heads about an October residential fire and community events including trick-or-treat hours and a parks-and-recreation Halloween party.

Votes at a glance (as recorded on the meeting floor): all ordinance and resolution motions presented on the Oct. 20 agenda were approved on motions to suspend rules/approve or to approve as read. Council voice responses recorded on the audio record show affirmative votes from the five sitting council members present (recorded as “Yes” by name) on each item listed above; no recorded roll-call “no” votes or abstentions were entered in the public minutes for the approved items.

The city clerk will publish finalized minutes and formal ordinance and resolution texts in the next official packet. Several projects approved at the meeting are grant-funded and, according to staff remarks at the meeting, require subsequent invoicing and state reimbursement before net costs to the city are finalized.