Pepper Pike council adopts 'Futures' committee ordinance, accepts energy grant and approves police door upgrades

Pepper Pike City Council on Feb. 18 adopted ordinance 2026-04 to add a "Futures" committee to advise on new ideas, services and facilities, and immediately appointed Councilmember Eric Modi as its chair.

The council suspended the second-reading rule and voted unanimously to adopt the measure after a short discussion about committee size and scope. Council members debated whether the committee should be tightly circumscribed to prevent it becoming a venue for routine complaints; a council member said the committee should focus on “new or improved city services or facilities” rather than day-to-day operational complaints.

Why it matters: The new committee is intended to create a formal channel to surface and vet resident ideas before they reach the full council. Supporters said it gives residents a structured forum while retaining an executive connection through a council liaison.

Council also accepted an annual NOPEC energy-efficiency grant, described in the meeting as about $16,000 and intended for energy‑efficiency projects such as LED lighting or heating upgrades. Administration staff said the grant has flexible allowable uses and does not require a city match.

In separate action, the council approved entering an agreement to replace the police station’s aging access-control system. Chief testimony described a hardwired key‑fob system that will tie about 16 doors into a centralized panel with generator backup, interoperability with existing city fobs, auditing of ingress and a new lobby intercom linked to Beachwood dispatch. The chief said the upgrade will improve tracking and accountability for sensitive areas such as evidence storage.

Votes at a glance: - Ordinance 2026-04 (create Futures committee): adopted unanimously during the Feb. 18 meeting. (Roll call: Miss Swords — Yes; Mr. Schmidt — Yes; Mr. Modi — Yes; Miss God — Yes; Mr. Lame — Yes; Colonel Rice — Yes.) - Ordinance 2026-05 (accept NOPEC grant, approx. $16,000): adopted unanimously. - Access-control agreement (police station door locking system; ~16 doors): approved by unanimous roll call.

What’s next: The Futures ordinance takes effect as adopted; the council directed staff to implement committee formation details (membership process and scope). The access-control vendor will proceed with procurement and installation; staff said permits and coordination with existing systems are required.

Quotes from the meeting: “I support this idea and I want to make sure it doesn't become the complaint committee,” a council member said during the ordinance discussion, urging language to focus committee work on strategic, future-oriented items.

On the door system, the police chief said the upgrade will provide “better tracking ability of ingress and ... accountability for every room.”

Provenance: Topic first introduced at SEG 330 and concluded at SEG 549 (Futures committee adoption); grant acceptance discussed at SEG 551–634; access-control agreement discussed and voted at SEG 1172–1291.

Ending: All roll-call votes on these items were unanimous. The council also referred other items — including an ordinance on planning appeals — to the planning commission for additional review.