Hello and welcome to another edition of the Rouse Review. I'm your city manager Dan Hoffman and with me is Sarah Fry, the public information officer.

Hi everybody.

Okay. Well, it's is it holiday season?

I think it is. Or

does that start after Thanksgiving?

I think it starts with November, but I'm crazy. Well,

we got Veterans Day.

We've got Veteran's Day, we've got Thanksgiving, Diwali just happened, like, the holidays are upon us. Yeah,

yeah, I already see stuff, I'm already seeing Christmas oriented commercials, so, I

think I, I have a neighbor fully decorated. Wow.

Yeah, so it's holiday season, um, but that does not mean that the, uh, the city or the city council is taking a couple of months off. In fact, uh, our meeting is our meetings in November. We do have two November meetings, uh, at the normal times, the 1st and, uh, 2nd and 4th. Second and fourth, right?

Second and fourth.

Yep. Uh, second and fourth Tuesdays, uh, and they are going to be very full meetings. So, uh, and you throw in that we have a special meeting, uh, for the council to, um, they're going to be interviewing city attorney candidates. And then I guess potentially if there's someone that they can all That five, five of them can agree upon, um, they will start making a city attorney selection, um, and then, of course, behind the scenes, as everyone's aware, there was an election, and it appears as, as though at this point, there's going to be three. Uh, three new city counselors. So we're gonna start the process of getting them oriented and getting them ready for their first meeting. That swearing in occurs, uh, before the first meeting in January. So, uh, if you're looking for new counselors at the next meeting, that doesn't take place right away. Um, the, uh, Current city council will be the council until the end of the year. So there's three more meetings left with this council and then we will have a new council in January. Um, so lots of, um, lots of things on the agenda. A lot of land use issues. I'm going to rattle right through them. So for tomorrow night, um, like I said, a lot of items, uh, we are approving The uh city's legislative priorities. We've had a few meetings about this one um It's going to be on the it's going to start off in the consent agenda Unless some councillors let let me know they want to pull it Uh to have some some more discussion. I think we addressed all of their points, uh in the last meeting. So Um, it will be on consent, but it's very likely it gets pulled off for discussion Um And then there's a lot of land use stuff which might not have a lot of broad appeal. You know, an ordinance regarding an easement is gonna come through an ordinance regarding a, um, a, a change to A-P-U-D-A planned unit development over off of Weems. It, it used to be called the Villages on, villages on Valor. The name has changed at this point, but this is the one over on Weems. Um. It was approved previously and the developers coming in for a change. Um, an item related to allowing a certain type of industrial use in the B1 zone is on there. Shifting some dates around in preparation for this coming budget year. Um, a supplemental appropriation. Revenues, by the way, are looking looking strong. So we are, I am seeking a 1 percent increase for staff in order to get us caught up in some of the surrounding jurisdictions got a little bit more, uh, in the last budget. So we're going to see if council is acceptable to that. Um, Uh, kind of the land use issue, the Green Space Bank. If you're a big land use fan, so many big land use fans, this is basically, basically your thing. We've got little land use issues and big land use issues. Uh, the Green Space Bank, which has been discussed for, uh, literally years now, um, is, is finally at a point where it's going to hit first reading. Um, and all the things I've been discussing there at first reading. So you're going to see a lot of these all in a public hearing form in the second meeting of Thanksgiving. So no leaving early for Thanksgiving for us. Uh, after the green space bank, we'll be talking about the, uh, the, uh, Comprehensive plan changes that are part of the neighborhood design districts. So we're talking about the Cider Hill and Cedar Valley NDDs or neighborhood design districts That's a big one also been discussed a lot and I think we're we're Pretty excited about where that's going. Uh, this is the comp plan change. So there's multiple changes occurring. This is the comp plan change. What's going to come next, and it's working its way through planning commission now, is the zoning change that will complement the comp plan change. So, uh, for those of you not aware, our comp plan, that is our guiding commission. Plan for the city. There's the strategic plan which looks out 5 10 15 years Uh, and then there's the comp plan which also gets updated regularly and looks out 20 years So that is our long range plan. That's the plan that the council. Um, just recently actually updated and approved underneath The comp plan, because the comp plan is more of an aspirational document. Underneath that, uh, lies the zoning. And the zoning changes, which are really the, that's kind of like the contract between government and the property owner. The zoning says, this is what you can do by right, this is what you need a conditional use permit for, this is what you can't do. So it gets down more into the weeds, uh, and supports the comp plan. So, those things are going to be coming through over the next couple of months. Let's see, that's about it.

But such a short meeting, it's going to be so fast. Yes,

yes. And then there's an exec session from the EDA. So, it will be a, it'll probably be a little bit longer. Um, and like I said, if you're not real interested in land use issues, this might not be the one for you, but come, I'm sure you'll learn a lot. Um, but that's what we have on the agenda for tomorrow night.

Fantastic. And like Dan said, the holiday season is here. There's so much stuff coming up. First thing is actually not at all related to the holidays though. The 201 Caboose is finally home in the city. So after spending the last couple of decades over at Clearbrook Park, the old Baltimore and Ohio Caboose is back in the city, right there in the corner of North Canton Piccadilly Streets next to the public, um, safety building. So we want you to come out and join us for its homecoming with a ribbon cutting, a nice formal ceremony of a ribbon cutting on Saturday, November 23rd at 11am. So we will also we've been they've been sprucing up the caboose making it look nicer and nicer. So come on out It's gonna be a good time and everybody's Favorite food center holidays right down the corner and that means city offices the War Memorial building Winchester Transit Courts and the visitor center All going to be closed on Thursday, November 28th, as we sit around and enjoy our Thanksgiving dinners. Um, Thursday's trash collection is getting moved to Wednesday, November 27th, and yard waste collection is canceled for the week. But Friday's trash collection is on schedule. We're never going to cancel trash twice in one week. Then, on Friday, the city offices, the War Memorial building, and the Joint Judicial Center will all still be closed, but transit and trash, working. After Thanksgiving. We're officially in the most wonderful time of the year. So, come out and help Santa help us kick off the holiday season with That time of

year.

The city's annual holiday parade and tree lighting. This is like one of my absolute favorite nights of the whole year. If you've never been, come out. It is like Hallmark movie.

It really is a lot, and I'm always surprised at how many people show up for this. I mean, the mall will be packed. Um, and I assume we're doing it in the same spot this year. Always. Right there in front of the old courthouse. And, um, It is very like with the trees all lit up downtown and kids singing. I mean, it is, it is very Hallmark movie.

You feel like you're just in that montage. Um, so come on out, bundle up seven o'clock, find a spot on the parade route, which runs from, um, Cameron and Piccadilly to Braddock down Braddock to Cork, Cork to the old town mall, and then come right down to the, uh, tree lighting right in front of the old courthouse. So it'll be a great time. Lastly, speaking of the holidays, we're going to be super busy. You're going to be super busy. Everybody's going to be super busy. So we're taking a little break, but we'll be back in January.

Yes. So don't look for the podcast until January. We'll do one most likely right before the first meeting of the, uh, of the calendar year. So, um, in the meantime. You know, you can go listen to some old episodes. You can, uh, You can always just pay attention to the city's website. That's always nice. We do have a link in it going out, I believe.

We, we are sending our monthly emails that you can always please sign up for on the city's homepage. Um, we've got a nice new calendar. And in January, we'll be sending out a brand new Wink Connect printed magazine. So lots of ways to stay connected with us.

Absolutely. Thanks for joining us on the Roush Review. Until next time, which will be January, we'll see you around City

Hall.