Cortland City Council approves budget filings, advances Main Street resurfacing and sets terms for new fire chief

Cortland City Council met Monday, July 6, 2026, with the council president presiding. The council approved routine payables and an alternative tax budget, advanced a local public agency agreement with the Ohio Department of Transportation for Main Street resurfacing, and held a first reading of an ordinance establishing salary and benefits for a new fire chief.

The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance and a brief prayer, followed by a roll call. The council approved minutes from the June 15 meeting and then voted to authorize payment of electric bills (read during the meeting as totaling $60,047.54) and a second batch of payables totaling $222,656.84.

On budgeting, the finance director described R32-26 as the annual estimate of remaining 2026 revenue and expenditures and the estimate for 2027. "This is every year for estimated budget for 2027," the finance director said, urging council to certify the alternative tax budget to county authorities. Council members voted in favor of the resolution.

Labor and personnel matters included R33-26, a memorandum of understanding with the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association Local 11 for service-department staff. Service-department representatives said affected employees recently passed required water-collection exams and that the MOU completes an EPA compliance step. The council voted to approve the MOU.

The council handled several ordinance first readings. O-22-26 authorizes the director of public service to update and amend the local public agency agreement with the Ohio Department of Transportation for the Main Street resurfacing project (Project True, East Main, PID 117384); council moved the item forward in a roll-call vote. O-24-26 would authorize the mayor to contract with MS Consultancy for professional municipal engineering services after a committee-led selection process; council members said MS ranked first among proposals and noted the contract can run up to four years with annual reviews. "We're most comfortable with MS," a member involved in the selection process said.

On personnel terms, the council conducted the first reading of O-23-26, an ordinance setting salary, benefits and terms of employment for the new fire chief. The presiding officer told the council the salary would be identical to the current chief's and that the city would remove the employer pickup of the employee retirement contribution from the contract—a change the council described as part of a broader effort toward transparency in city contracts. Council indicated intent to consider an emergency second reading to expedite implementation.

Department reports were largely administrative. The finance department reported a faster-than-expected transition to a new payment-processing vendor: "It took 2 days. It's done today," the finance director said, noting new online account setup, continued free auto-pay for recurring payments, and a $1.50 one-time fee for single ACH payments. The fire department reported a recent hire who completed required medic training and receipt of an EMS grant for "a little over $2,900." The service department updated council on street maintenance, an upcoming demolition tied to an abatement, the West Main outdoor event-space project beginning in August with anticipated completion by December 2026, and continued work on a safety-service complex with USDA involvement.

Committee reports highlighted recent work by the safety-service and finance committees on fire-department staffing and the new chief's compensation package, and the technical review committee's consideration of an independent cost estimator. The public comment period drew no speakers and the council adjourned.

Votes at a glance: - Approval of June 15, 2026 meeting minutes: approved (roll call recorded affirmative responses). - Electric bills to be paid (amount read as $60,047.54): approved (one abstention recorded). - All other bills to be paid ($222,656.84): approved. - R32-26 (alternative tax budget): approved (roll call affirmed). - R33-26 (MOU with Ohio Civil Service Employees Association Local 11): approved. - O-22-26 (LPA agreement update for Main Street resurfacing): advanced on first reading. - O-23-26 (terms for new fire chief): first reading held; council discussed emergency second reading and specific contract changes. - O-24-26 (contract with MS Consultancy for engineering services): advanced on first reading.

Next steps: Several ordinances were at first reading and will return for further consideration; the council indicated it may schedule an emergency second reading for the fire-chief ordinance to expedite the staffing transition.