Tiffin City Council unanimously approves mayoral appointments, holiday pay ordinance, Walker Street dedication and a $10,396.51 budget tweak

Tiffin City Council approved a series of personnel appointments, an employee holiday-pay ordinance, a street dedication and a small budget amendment during its regular meeting.

Council adopted a packet of resolutions introduced by Council member Ashley Decker that approved mayoral appointments and reappointments to local boards and commissions. Measures included appointments to the Thomas Connor Memorial Commission (William Lafferty and Jeremy Cripps), reappointments and new membership for the Julia M. Weller Memorial Commission (Deborah Baker; Mary Phillips), the civil service commission (Christopher Mansour, to an unexpired term through Dec. 31, 2026), the Fair Housing Board (Mary Phillips, two-year term) and the investment advisory committee (Kathy Kaufman, two-year term). Each resolution was moved, seconded and passed by a vote of 7–0.

On personnel policy, council passed Ordinance 26-13 on third reading to provide holiday pay to full-time city employees who are not covered by collective bargaining agreements. City Administrator Nick Dutra clarified that many union-covered employees already receive holiday pay; the ordinance is intended to cover nonunion staff. The measure passed unanimously.

Council also accepted the dedication of a newly extended portion of Walker Street adjacent to the Edelburg Fieldhouse at Heidelberg (Ordinance 26-19). Council suspended the three-reading rule and approved an emergency declaration before voting; the suspension, emergency and passage each passed 7–0, which places the street under city maintenance.

Separately, the finance director requested and council approved an amendment to the 2026 budget (ordinance 26-20, prepared as F 26-06) to appropriate $10,396.51 to the general fund. The ordinance, described as covering an insurance payment for roof/ceiling damage at city hall, was passed after motions to suspend the reading rule and vote immediately. The council vote on that measure was 7–0.

Votes at a glance: Resolution 26-29 (William Lafferty) — passed 7–0; Resolution 26-30 (Jeremy Cripps) — passed 7–0; Resolution 26-31 (Mary Phillips, Julia M. Weller Commission) — passed 7–0; Resolution 26-32 (Deborah Baker) — passed 7–0; Resolution 26-33 (Christopher Mansour) — passed 7–0; Resolution 26-34 (Mary Phillips, Fair Housing Board) — passed 7–0; Resolution 26-35 (Kathy Kaufman) — passed 7–0; Resolution 26-36 (Brenda Young) — passed 7–0; Ordinance 26-13 (holiday pay) — passed 7–0; Ordinance 26-19 (Walker Street dedication) — suspended & passed 7–0; Ordinance 26-20 (city hall insurance appropriation, $10,396.51) — suspended & passed 7–0.

Why it matters: The appointments fill multiple five-year and two-year terms on the city’s advisory boards and commissions, affecting future local planning, memorial-commission work and investment oversight. The holiday-pay ordinance changes pay practice for nonunion employees. The street dedication transfers maintenance responsibility for the new Walker Street extension to the city.

Council also reviewed additional items for committee consideration and scheduled several committee meetings in early March to follow up on items including a chip-seal program, a proposed temporary moratorium on data centers and a farm-lease agreement.

The meeting record shows unanimous votes and no recorded dissent; items that required further procedural steps (codified ordinance replacements) will follow the charter-mandated publication and reading schedule.