Medina council ratifies Teamsters contract, adopts pay schedule and approves six ordinances

Medina City Council on Feb. 9 adopted six ordinances and confirmed a council appointment during a largely procedural meeting that included updates on public works and public safety.

The council unanimously (7-0) ratified a three-year collective bargaining agreement with the Teamsters covering sanitation, engineering, building, parks, cemetery and forestry staff. Mayor Shields described the agreement as "a 3 year contract...12% over 3 years. The first year is a 2% raise, 2% pension contribution," and said the deal also addresses increases in seasonal staffing and insurance premium contribution language.

The council also approved an ordinance replacing the pay schedule for nonunion employees for 2026–28 to maintain parity with recently negotiated union contracts. Director of Finance Mr. Durham told council the change "creates parity" and estimated "an impact on the budget about $1,800,000 over 3 years." Both measures were adopted by unanimous roll call votes.

Other ordinances approved on unanimous votes included: membership authorizations for certain city officials, an expenditure to Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company for sanitation truck tires under state bid pricing, revisions to water-department job descriptions for a backflow coordinator and an operations technician, and a set of budget amendments that include pass-through adjustments and reductions to authorized appropriations.

Service and public-works items were discussed during the meeting. Service leadership said crews responded to recent water-main breaks that required multi-hour repairs and asked residents for patience. City Engineer Mr. Patton reported that the Blake Avenue reconstruction project has commenced after a weather delay.

The Fire Department reported a commercial-structure fire on West Smith Road just before 5 a.m.; Fire Chief Walters said crews worked more than two-and-a-half hours to control the blaze and one firefighter suffered minor burn injuries and is home recovering. Chief Kenny gave an update on the municipal hunting program, telling council the season ended Feb. 1 with 114 deer harvested this year, up from 18 the prior year; a city press release on medinaoh.org was cited for more details.

Mayor Shields used her remarks to publicly thank sanitation staff and police officers for assisting an 82-year-old resident during heavy snow, naming sanitation workers Bobby Coogler, Logan West and Nico McCandlish and praising their actions: "they still took the time on their own to go get shovels...and completely clean up her driveway."

Council also confirmed Bill Lamb (Ward 4) to several boards and committees by unanimous vote. No members of the public spoke during the 'introduction of visitors' portion of the agenda.

Council adjourned after brief council comments and community reminders about upcoming events.

Votes at a glance: all listed ordinances (Ordinances 25–30, 2026) were adopted on unanimous (7-0) roll-call votes.