On the agenda: Zanesville meeting — Flock camera (Nov 9)

T H E

C I T Y

O F

Zanesville

401 Market Street • Zanesville, Ohio 43701
Phone (740) 617-4875
E-mail: [email protected]

Council – Mayor
Government

Zanesville City Council Public Safety Committee Agenda
Council Chambers, 401 Market Street, Zanesville, Ohio
Monday, November 9, 2026 at 5:45 p.m.
This meeting is open to the public to attend in person or remotely by using the information below.
This meeting is for discussion pertaining to the upcoming Ordinances and discussion items of the
Public Safety Committee for review as follows:
1. Roll Call
2. Approval of Minutes of September 14, 2026
Ordinances
3. Ordinance 2026-102 – Introduced by Council – An Ordinance determining that the city’s
prior expenditure for the Police Department’s armored tactical vehicle was made for
approved purposes under the OneOhio memorandum of understanding, authorizing
reimbursement of that expenditure from the opioid settlement fund, and declaring an
emergency. [First Reading 11/9/2026]
Discussion Items
4. City Dispatcher ZPD Complaint
Next scheduled meetings of Public Safety Committee of 2026:
Monday, December 14, 2026
This meeting is open to the public who may attend in person or attend by phone or Internet using the information
below.
Phone 1-844-621-3956 US Toll Free or 1-415-655-0001 US Toll
Use Access Code: 1267508098 #
Online with WebEx – Enter zanesvillecity.webex.com in web browser. Enter Meeting Information 1267508098

PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING - MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2026

The Public Safety Committee met at 5:45 p.m. on Monday, September 14, 2026 in Council Chambers at
City Hall, 401 Market Street, Zanesville, Ohio.
Mr. Ballmer: Good evening, everyone. Welcome to the Zanesville City Council Public Safety Committee
for Monday, September 14, 2026 at 5:45 here in Council Chambers. May we have roll call, please?
Committee members attending:

Mark Ballmer, Council-at-Large, Chair
Joey Osborn, Council-at-Large
Karla Frye, Council-at-Large
Ralph Hennessey, Council 5th Ward
Committee members absent:

None
Others in attendance:

Police Chief Comstock, ZPD
Billie Corns, Clerk of Council
Sgt. Dent, ZPD
Shawn Digity, TR Reporter
Glen Gregor, IT Network Engineer
Mayor Don Mason

Det. Sgt. Mike Patrick, ZPD
Ptl. Stilwell, ZPD
David Tarbert, Law Director
John Taylor-Lehman, Council 4th Ward
Daniel M. Vincent, President of Council

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF MARCH 2, 2026

Mr. Ballmer: Seeing that we have a quorum, we have several items to attend to tonight here on the
docket. First of all is the approval of minutes from March 2, 2026. What is the committee's pleasure on
those minutes?
Mr. Hennessey moved to approve the minutes as w ritten. It was seconded by Ms. Frye.
Mr. Ballmer: Is there any discussion about those or corrections? Hearing none then, all in favor of
approval of the minutes from March 2, 2026, say aye. Any opposed, nay?
A voice vote was taken with all being in favor. None were opposed.
Mr. Ballmer: Motion carries. Those are approved.

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ORDINANCES
3. Resolution No. 2026-83 - Introduced by Council - A Resolution declaring "Beggar's Night" also
known as "Trick or Treat" for the City of Zanesville .

Mr. Ballmer: Is there any discussion? Mr. Mayor, is there anything you would like to add for this tonight?
Mayor Mason: No, I guessed at the date, but I figured the expert on City Council, Joey, would know
exactly the date.
Mrs. Osborn: Correct.
Mr. Ballmer: The date, I saw, was October 25 th ? Sunday, October 25 th . That seems to work better than
having it the night right after the 31 st ? On November i5t7
Mrs. Osborn: Correct.
Mr. Ballmer: All right. So, that will be Sunday, October 25 from 5:30 to 7:00. And we will make sure
that's promoted so that everyone that needs to know can. Is there any other discussion on that?
Mr. Hennessey: It's still daylight at that time at 7:00 at that time, isn't it? In October?
Ms. Frye: It starts getting dark.
Mr. Hennessey: Is it, about then?
Ms. Frye: Yes, it starts getting dark, what about 6:30, speaking from someone who has like 500 kids
come through the neighborhood .
Mr. Hennessey: How many? You got that many?
Ms. Frye: Literally 400 easy, right Mark?
Mr. Ballmer: Yes, we have a lot, yes.
Mrs. Osborn: Perhaps in the future we might look at bumping it a half hour earlier in years to come.
Mr. Hennessey: Okay, very good.
Ms. Frye: It's still safe.
Mr. Hennessey: Because time doesn't really change until the end of October, correct?
Mr. Ballmer: The time change this year is November 1.
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Mr. Hennessey: That's the only question I had.
Mr. Ballmer: All right, any other discussion? If there's no other discussion then, I will entertain a motion
to accept this resolution.
Ms. Frye: So moved.
Mrs. Osborn: Second.
Mr. Ballmer: Is there any other discussion? All in favor, aye. Any opposed, nay?
A voice vote was taken with all being in favor. None were opposed.
Mr. Ballmer: All right. That resolution then carries.

4. Ordinance No. 2026-85 - Introduced by Council - An Ordinance authorizing the proper city official
to enter into an agreement with Zanesville City Schools.
Mr. Ballmer: Mr. Mayor, is there anything you would like to share on that?
Mayor Mason: No.
Mr. Ballmer: Once again, a very important part of the school system, three very good officers involved
in that. The school system reimburses the city $255,939. I guess for expediency's sake, Mr. Mayor, is
there any reason to waive the readings on this and get that done?
Mayor Mason: You know, the sooner, the better.
Mr. Ballmer: Is there any other discussion from the committee?
Mr. Hennessey: Just out of curiosity, how much do they pay covers our actual cost?
Mayor Mason: Is that 75% (to Chief Comstock)?
Chief Comstock: It's for 175 days of their year. So, basically, I mean, they're covering three-fourths (3/4)
of their salary on average.
Mr. Hennessey: About 75% covers?
Chief Comstock: And then we get them for the summer to do with. They're actually supporting us with
some technology equipment we provide the cruisers.
Mr. Hennessey: Very good.
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Mr. Ballmer: Are there any other questions? I will entertain a motion to present to Council for passage
and waive the readings.
Mrs. Osborn: So moved.
Mr. Hennessey: Second.
Mr. Ballmer: Is there any other discussion? All in favor, aye. Any opposed, nay?
A voice vote was taken with all being in favor. None were opposed.
Mr. Ballmer: Motion carries. Thank you.
DISCUSSION ITEMS
4. Flock cameras and body cameras

Mr. Ballmer: A couple of discussion items tonight on the agenda. Flock cameras and body cameras. We
had a gentleman that had contacted us about speaking. Mr. Gates, are you here? Chief, is there anything
you would like to share about that real quick? Thanks for being here. All the officers that are here, thank
you.
Chief Comstock: No issue, glad to be! So, basically, based on Mr. Gates' inquiry, we had come prepared.
I do have a subject matter expert on our Flock system, also someone that can speak on a couple of the
other discussion items, as far as e-bikes, under-speed vehicles. But, I think Mr. Gates' point was that he
wasn't against Flock, he was just kind of inquiring as to maybe the expense. The state does offer grants
annually for body-worn cameras. It's not a program that we have pursued as an agency, like several
others in the area. But body-worn cams are becoming very common. The grant offered through the state
was in the ballpark of about $5 million. There was really no cap. They awarded $4.4 million over about
130 agencies. Some of the limitations on that is it is probably not going to fully fund your entire bodyworn camera program. The duration of it is about two years, where the agency is then going to have to
absorb that into their budget, or you know, I don't see anybody that's getting away from them.
As far as the Flock cameras, we've inherited the cost on that and added additional cameras in the past
year. That program began a little over 2 ½ years ago through a grant that the county prosecutor had
gotten. Once that came to an end, we had some options on the table. Both Zanesville Police Department
and the Muskingum County Sheriff's Office kind of took over a certain designated number of cameras.
We added a few more, and then we incur the billing there. Some councils and cities have had to deal
with people arguing that the money should be spent here instead of there or whatever. But, the
argument most citizens on the tracking is that everyone is carrying a personal device that tracks them.
Ring doorbells are everywhere, and surveillance cameras are everywhere. License plate reader cameras
aren't anything new. There's just been a minor amount of misuse that has made big headlines. That's
the only negative on it. There's plenty of pluses that I could share. Sgt. Det. Patrick here is on our task
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force. He's the one that kind of spearheaded the introduction of Flock. He's the most educated and
proficient on it. if anybody's got questions on the committee or curiosity, we can field them.
Mr. Ballmer: Are there any questions from the committee?
Mr. Hennessey: I got one.
Mr. Ballmer: Mr. Hennessey.
Mr. Hennessey: It's not really a question. Since this has been opened up, I've got a lot of emails about
who can actually, I'm all for the cameras, by all means, but who can access the data? That's the biggest
fear of what I'm getting back from this. How is that protected? Who is authorized and who is not?
Chief Comstock: Each agency will have users enrolled through the Flock. The officers on the road have
access to it. Also, our Communications Operators and the administration and whatnot. So, the officers
have the ability to run the license plates, the make and model searches, things like that. Dispatch is also
involved because they can do some of that legwork for officers or based on requests, but also, we have
alerts. So, when things hit or pop up on the camera, they do some of the legwork there. The data is all
held through the server with Flock and then protected there. So, there's a data log sheet that shows who
is accessing and who is running each thing.
Mr. Hennessey: It's kind of widespread who can access it, correct?
Chief Comstock: Yes, and it's not just sworn commissioned officers. So, our dispatchers have access to
it too. But, like our jailers don't have Flock usage for it. So, it's given out as needed.
Mr. Hennessey: Then it's tracked by the user that assigns them, I'm assuming?
Chief Comstock: Correct. So, we can do internal audits. Every agency has the ability to do spot checks
on their own. There's a transparency portal also that is available for a citizen to inquire and see our
usage. The first problem we've had with Flock had been, it is a nationwide program. So, we can share
our data with multiple agencies. Public records requests from certain states had kind of given people
access to more information than they should. That's been pretty much squashed by Flock' s legal team.
Flock is a company, a brand. They're not the only game in town. There are other automated license plate
reader companies out there that do this. But, Flock is who we deal with, and they have a substantial
footprint in the Ohio area.
Mr. Hennessey: Is there a training program for the individuals who use this?
Chief Comstock: We have policy on the books that dictates in generic terminology, not specific to Flock.
But, any type of this platform, the guidelines and usage on that. As far as the actual Flock training, we
don't really have, I mean, they've got some online tutorial stuff you can do, but there's no mandated
stuff.
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Mr. Hennessey: So, there's not a set policy at this point?
Chief Comstock: We have a set policy ...
Mr. Hennessey: Not the Flock, just overall policy, correct?
Chief Comstock: Right, and it's kept general on purpose. The only time that Flock is specifically
mentioned as a company is in our procedure manual, just dictating that the dispatchers and officers
need to log in at the beginning of their shift so that they're getting the alerts and things like that. But,
using this type of a format, and officers have been running license plates through LEADS since before I
worked here. So, all the same rules kind of apply. There was just a little bit more freedom in accessibility
at first, not that it wasn't tracked. Flock has worked with a lot of the agencies to kind of filter that down
to as needed. We require an incident number for a case if they're working something or a reason that
something is being ran; you can't just randomly start tracking your neighbor because you're curious what
he did today.
Mr. Hennessey: So, there is, I guess, like a trail of how it started, correct?
Chief Comstock: Correct.
Mr. Hennessey: Very good. I appreciate it.
President Vincent: A couple other things on Flock cameras, just so I'm clear. I've heard information that
I'm not quite clear on it. The information that Flock cameras capture and maintain is license plate
number; that's a definite. I've heard car make and car color. Is that accurate?
Chief Comstock: Yes, it does, I mean if we just know a vehicle has a bumper sticker, we can type that in.
So, make, model, colors, mix-match body panels. They are license plate reader cameras, but it doesn't
have to have a license plate on the vehicle. It will take the photo of the vehicle as it's moving by. There's
just a whole gamut of filters that you can place in there, partial license plates. Obviously if an agency
takes a stolen vehicle or stolen plate, those parameters will be entered. A stolen plate is a lot easier to
pick up. We also verify through dispatch because sometimes a "Q'' will look like an "O," or a "1" and an
"I," and things like that. And then out-of-state plates that match the same numeric and lettering as an
Ohio plate, we verify those things. But, yes, it photographs anything coming through. There's quite a
variety of ways to do searches, spoilers, bumper stickers, and things like that.
President Vincent: Keywords from a bumper sticker?
Chief Comstock: Yes. If you know what you're doing, it will pull up. If you know they're in a white Dodge
Ram, you type in white Dodge Ram, and then you realize just how many white Dodge Rams there are
out there.
Ms. Frye: I have a question also. How long is that data kept?
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Chief Comstock: Come on up (to Det. Sgt. Patrick from the audience). I believe it's 90 days, but we'll let
him speak.
Det. Sgt. Patrick: It's actually 30 days is the limit we can go back on. It doesn't matter. Flock themselves,
actually doesn't hold it. It just kind of sits in the cloud up there, and they don't see that data. The cameras
that we get, the data, we pay for is in our cloud that we have. Flock actually has no access to it.
To piggyback a little bit on what you asked, Dan, as far as the descriptors and everything like it. So, it's a
movement camera. So, any movement that comes through there, it captures. So, we do have certain
search parameters, like people that own a trailer or they're hauling a trailer, it may not capture the
license plate. But if I kind of move some parameters around, I can find that trailer or find a vehicle pulling
a trailer. So, it gives us the capability to do stuff like that. We can do colors. The sticker things, it registers
whether or not it has a bumper sticker or a window sticker, rear window, so it can register the placement
of it.
President Vincent: You can't read the actual...?
Det. Sgt. Patrick: It cannot read it. So, in essence, it takes a picture. It goes through a computer system,
and a computer looks for indicators of it. A Toyota on the back of it, it knows to look for this. That looks
like a Toyota symbol, and that's probably a Toyota. So, it's not actually anybody specifically looking at it.
It's just looking at the design of the vehicle and what it captures with that camera. And then Al picks up
a Chevy emblem, a Ford emblem, or that looks like an SUV. It doesn't go any more descriptive as far as,
that is a Ford Explorer. It just has, it's a blue Ford SUV.
Ms. Frye: So, I have a weird question, I guess. Can you backtrack it? Like, can you put in somebody's
name?
Det. Sgt. Patrick: No, Flock doesn't have anything to do with identifying information that comes from
that license plate. They register a picture. And from that picture, they can see the numbers on a license
plate because most cars, like the cameras or the computer knows, okay this is where a license plate
should be at. So, we'll focus right here, and then we'll see what letters we can identify. A lot of times
they can't tell you whether or not it's even an Ohio state license plate. It could be anything. It just
recognizes the letters themselves. And then from there, they get no information. There's no information
that Flock ever gets as far as a vehicle owner or anything like that. When we're getting hits, we have hits
of a stolen plate or whatever, they're able to get a database that we, as a law enforcement agency, has
a report filed for a stolen vehicle. We enter that license plate into our LEADS system. They say, hey that's
a stolen license plate. Flock gets a flag of, this license plate number is stolen, and they're able to input it
in their system. So, that way if that ever hits, then it comes up as a flag. They know no more as far 'as
what agency, where it's coming from, or anything along those lines. It's just a flag on their system, that
this plate has been given to us, and it's been flagged as stolen. It's on the individual officer themselves
to then verify that through LEADS, through their dispatch, or wherever the case may be, to verify that
that is actually the correct one. Not locally, but there are guys that have gotten in trouble for that
because they just don't verify the information. Again, it's all just Al. So, you still have to have the human
verification that all of this stuff is correct.
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President Vincent: So, it can pick up numbers and letters from the license plate, but not letters from,
like stickers or anything like that?
Det. Sgt. Patrick: No, there's no way I can search anything that says, hey I want an "I Voted for Trump"
sticker. There's nothing like that. It's just general placement of where that sticker may be, whether it's
on the bumper or back glass.
President Vincent: Okay, other concerns that people have is that it's taking photos of people. I know
there's no facial recognition, but there's concerns and people talk like that's out there.
Det. Sgt. Patrick: So, Flock does have capabilities. They've got moving cameras, they've got trailers, and
they got everything else that will actually track people, but there is no Al with it. I'm not saying, so when
it comes to every organization or every company that we deal with as a city, there's good entry level.
For this money, we can do this. I'm not saying that somewhere that somebody doesn't pay a whole lot
of money, and Flock doesn't have the capability of it. But us here, locally, we do not have that capability.
We don't have any way of doing that. As a car is driving by, our LPR, or license plate reader, cameras are
not catching somebody inside the vehicle because they're just not pointed to catch anybody inside the
vehicle. And because Ohio does not have a front plate, everything is geared towards the rear of the
vehicle anyways. So, unless their arm is hanging out, or something along those lines, there's no indicator
of what or who is even driving that vehicle.
President Vincent: So, there's not a picture of people that are in the vehicle for us?
Det. Sgt. Patrick: Correct, no. If the windows are down, that's the only way, or if you're in a convertible.
Then it's a little bit different. But a normal, everyday car with the windows up, I can't tell who is in it.
President Vincent: Sheriff Lutz had shared a couple of things locally that Flock cameras were helpful in
solving the car that was stolen with kids in the back downtown. More recently, I think, with stolen cars
being hauled to Columbus to maybe a chop shop. The plate picked up, and there were three similar
vehicles.
Det. Sgt. Patrick: It will catch, like if a car hauler goes by one, and there's plates on that vehicle, there's
a good chance that it will pick up those plates on vehicles on the trailer. So, any movement it gets, it just
triggers. Typically, when it takes one picture, it takes multiple pictures. It's just the way the system is,
and then they document it and go from there.
President Vincent: So, it helps solve that crime?
Det. Sgt. Patrick: Yes, our biggest one to date is probably Kay's Jewelers. That was a joint group of us
and the Sheriff's Office. Essentially, we received a tip from an out-of-state agency because he was
working a similar case where people were breaking into Kay Jewelers, and he identified a vehicle. They
could never do anything with it. Lo and behold, he's checking on Flock and sees that car in our neck of
the woods. So, he called us up here and said, you might want to watch and see what's going on. That
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lead into about a two-weeks investigation. We ended up following them and getting GPS and doing a
whole bunch of other stuff. And lo and behold, they did try to break into Kay's, and we were able to
make three arrests on them. And that was all based off of Flock.
President Vincent: Okay, thank you.
Mr. Ballmer: Are there any other questions on this piece? Yes, John.
Mr. Taylor-Lehman: Could you explain how the sharing of the information works? Because I did go to
the link that the Mayor sent to us, how many hits there were in this, and then it says, we're sharing with
all these cities, and they're sharing with us.
Det. Sgt. Patrick: So, the nice thing about Flock when it comes to a law enforcement standard, is because
the open sharing portal that they have. Now us, as the City of Zanesville, we have the right as a police
department, we have the right to share our cameras' access or we don't. Every agency or every company,
because Lowe's, Lowe's is a private company, and every Lowe's has Flocks. They did it because of thefts.
That's why if you ever want to know, that's why, every Lowe's you go to. But even them as a private
company, they have the right to share to law enforcement or share to anybody else, and they actually
chose to. With that, it's nationwide. We can share our cameras nationwide, we can share them just in
the state, and anything like that and everybody has the exact same access. With that, that allows me to,
if I do have a stolen vehicle, I can follow that and see if it does make it to another agency. I can then
reach out to that agency and tell them they have this vehicle. Typically for us, it's not out-of-state stuff.
But in the State of Ohio, it has helped us a lot. We've had detectives that have had an assault and the
guy would take off running from us and he ended up 1.5-2 hours away. So, they were able to make
contact with that community and ask to watch out for this guy.
Mr. Taylor-Lehman: So, you would be, say look for this license plate. Is that what you're sending out?
Det. Sgt. Patrick: Correct. We could say, this car is in there, I know this guy is in there because of your
Flock cameras, and we're going to end up having charges on them so that we can give them a heads up.
Now, I guess also piggybacking on that, when an officer does a search or anybody that does a search on
Flock, they choose how far of an area they want to do. So, we can actually limit it just to your cameras.
So, it doesn't really matter any other cameras that are in t he United States, I can open it up to, we have
a zone for the county. So, essentially it incorporates our cameras, as well as the Sheriff's Office. And
we've got one that's for the State of Ohio. From there, I can actually do a nationwide search. So, we see
these people doing these huge searches, it's because somebody in another state or even here locally,
they decided they're going to search nationwide for a car that was involved in a hit/skip on the Y-Bridge,
so really it doesn't matter. I just need to stay focused local. But sometimes it's easier just to hit "search
all," than it is to narrow it down to what you want to do.
Mr. Taylor-Lehman: Thank you.
Mr. Ballmer: Very good. Are there any other questions? Thank you.
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Det. Sgt. Patrick: Thank you.
5. Golfcarts, e-bikes, e-scooters, and e-skateboards (Onewheel)

Mr. Ballmer: Chief, do you want to speak to that?
Chief Comstock: So, I guess what I can do is, I'm going to have Ptl. Stilwell, he's our Traffic Enforcement
Officer, he's the black Dodge Charger that you see running around town. He has kind of taken it upon
himself to put together a breakdown, kind of for a cheat sheet, so everybody can understand of the
different classes of e-bikes. We're all pretty much up to speed on it. Sgt. Dent has also done a little work
on our under-speed vehicles for those that have asked about using golfcarts or having golfcart
exemptions in certain areas. If you have any general questions starting off, I can assist with that. But if
you just want to kind of get a crash course on e-bikes, I'll turn that over to Ptl. Stilwell, and then we can
go from there.
Mr. Ballmer: General questions first?
Ms. Frye: Define a general question.
Chief Comstock: Well, I mean, just like, I guess, what our stance is or what our enforcement. I mean, this
is another growing area. You know, a few years ago, I did a presentation and a breakdown for the sideby-sides and off-highway vehicle use, ATVs. We knew e-bikes were on the horizon and were going to
become a problem. Nationwide, there's a dozen or so higher profile cases where 14- and 15-year-old
juveniles have been fatally struck. Twenty to twenty-eight (20 to 28) mph speed limitations are where
these categories are. Amazon offers plenty of things that operate outside of that. Plus, just like anybody
tweaking and tuning, some people are modifying these things. So, safety equipment usage, we are taking
action. It's kind of case-by-case and a lot of officer discretion in this career field. You know, a 12-yearold riding his e-bike on the sidewalk might get told to slow down versus a guy buzzing down the turn
lane on Maple Avenue, 50 mph.
Ms. Frye: Or three kids who looked about 13-14 coming down the middle of McIntire Avenue with no
helmets. I mean, I guess that's why I wondered. Are there standards?
Chief Comstock: Yes, and he will address the helmet requirement, safety requirements, some ofthe age
stuff. SROs are kind of spearheading the education piece to this. South Zanesville Police Department put
together a flyer that kind of gave a breakdown. Parents are being given some information. Parents have
been held liable criminally in other cities for not being aware of what's going on. But, yes, I mean, we're
trying not to reinvent the wheel. There are already ordinances on the books for bicycle usage, motorized
bicycle. The problem is a motorized bicycle is what is known as a moped, which is gas powered. Those
are all combustion engines. We actually are dealing with motorized, electric motored bicycles now.
There are like three main categories, but we're aware of it. Each shift, I mean obviously midnight shift
doesn't see a lot of juveniles out running around. But, this is just turning into a whole development. I
mean, pretty much one-wheeled units, and there are electric motorcrossers out there. You know, adults
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on 80-horsepower electric bikes that will go 100 mph. That muddies the water on what is an e-bike. It's
a bike with an electric motor, but that is not an e-bike. That is a motorcrosser. It would be like somebody
running a 250 2-stroke down Maple Avenue. Everybody would know that doesn't belong there. But ebikes are unique that they're quiet. They're not as offensive sometimes. They're easy to trespass with.
So, bike trails, park systems, there have been a lot of varieties of what we have ran into. I'll let Ptl. Stilwell
kind of give you the breakdown and might be informative and create some questions. I think we can
then Sgt. Dent can handle anything that's dealing with the golfcarts or any 4-wheeled type stuff.
Mr. Hennessey: One quick question - Mr. Tarbert, do we have anything on the books for this, at all, that
would cover e-bikes or no?
Law Director Tarbert: We've got a whole Chapter 373 in our code, and the Ohio Revised Code has some
language too. I think thee-bikes have evolved faster than the codes have evolved. So, that's the problem.
Mr. Hennessey: Okay, so our ordinances aren't really fine tuned at this point?
Law Director Tarbert: Probably not, no.
Mr. Hennessey: When I go across the Y-Bridge, I got four guys wide, three deep kids going across the YBridge.
Law Director Tarbert: I mean, there are still rules against that even with regular bicycles. So, we've got
rules and laws on the books.
Mr. Hennessey: But we might be a little outdated?
Law Director Tarbert: Right!
Chief Comstock: In 373.14 does give the definition of electric bicycles. So, the vendor that we use,
American Legal Publishing, they've implemented some updates. There's a whole medley of ordinances
covering all sorts of stuff. But, Ptl. Stilwell could probably give you the breakdowns on the definitions.
And there's reckless operation on a bicycle; a lot of offenses that are handled a little differently on a
bicycle versus a motor vehicle as far as the penalty and whatnots.
Mr. Hennessey: Thank you.
Ptl. Stilwell: I am Ptl. Stilwell, Zanesville City Traffic Unit. I'm the black Charger you guys see. So, I have
been off on paternity leave for quite a while. Before I went on paternity leave, I was not really seeing
any e-bikes. I might see one or two here and there. But since I've been back, it's been a lot! I have stopped
a few. I have educated a few. There are some that I stopped, and they've gotten pretty serious tickets.
An example, what the Chief was talking about, the bikes that don't classify under e-bike, they look like a
dirt bike. They don't have pedals. You can go as fast as the thing will let you go. A lot of these companies
are advertising these bikes as go 50 mph, SO-mile range. They're basically just electric dirt bikes. I had a
male riding his dirt bike down Eppley doing a wheelie. It's everywhere!
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So, the e-bike is broken down into three classes: class 1, class 2, and class 3. But, really in essence, if it
doesn't have pedals, it's not an e-bike, period. As far as I understand, all e-bikes are under the bicycle
definition for the city. So, everything that an e-bike can do is supposed to be handled under the bicycle
section. So, that's riding next to the curb and not riding on sidewalks and business areas. You have to
follow all the traffic laws of a motor vehicle, as well. So, if the bike is weaving, that's a violation. I mean,
if a motor vehicle can't do it, a bicycle shouldn't be able. A bicycle has to follow motor vehicle laws.
Downtown, business area, they're supposed to ride on the street; they're not supposed to be riding on
the sidewalk. I have stopped probably a hundred people in the years that I have been here. I made a
little cheat sheet when I was on paternity leave and was sitting in the chair with my baby. But, e-bikes
just basically fall under the bicycle definition, and bicycle definition falls under motor vehicle law. Clear
as mud?
Mr. Hennessey: I think so (laughing). E-bike has to have pedals.
Ptl. Stilwell: Yes. If it goes by you and it doesn't have pedals ...
Mr. Hennessey: What does it fall under then?
Ptl. Stilwell: It falls under motorcycle.
Mr. Hennessey: Okay.
Ptl. Stilwell: If it doesn't have pedals, it's basically a motorcycle. I'll leave it at that.
Mr. Ballmer: Are there any questions?
Mr. Hennessey: How about underage kids doing this?
Ptl. Stilwell: As far as I'm aware, there is no legal age requirement, except for class 3 e-bikes, you have
to be 16 years old, I believe.
Mr. Hennessey: What's a class 3?
Ptl. Stilwell: A class 3 is an e-bike that provides power while pedaling only, and it can go up to 28 mph.
So, if it's Blue Avenue, and you're going down the hill from Zanesville High School, and you're going 28
mph, you're speeding because the speed limit is 25. So, I mean, you got to follow the traffic laws, and I
don't think a lot of parents understand exactly what these things can do.
Mr. Hennessey: I mean, I'm like you, we did not see that many that long ago. It's like all of a sudden, it
has exploded.
Ptl. Stilwell: And that's why you see on the news, this 15-year-old was killed in Columbus, got ran over
because ...
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Mr. Hennessey: So, this would be classified, go back to when I was a kid in school, we rode our bikes to
school, up Taylor, down Dresden, wherever. Are we considering an e-bike, the pedal one, the same?
Ptl. Stilwell: As far as I know.
Mr. Hennessey: That's what I figured, same rules, same laws.
Ptl. Stilwell: Yes.
Mr. Hennessey: That puts it into perspective; it's like a bike!
Ptl. Stilwell: Yes.
Ms. Frye: But you can't ride an e-bike or a regular bike in the middle of the street like you're a car?
Ptl. Stilwell: No.
Mr. Hennessey: Correct, you got to follow the traffic laws.
Ms. Frye: So, that is illegal?
Ptl. Stilwell: Yes. I stopped a male on Maple Avenue riding down the left lane on an e-bike.
Ms. Frye: And again, these kids I saw on McIntire, one of them popped a wheelie in the middle of the
street.
Ptl. Stilwell: If you don't exercise reasonable control over your e-bike or your electric dirt bike, it's going
to be more than likely viewed as reckless operation.
Mr. Hennessey: So, electric dirt bike is going to be like an electric car?
Ptl. Stilwell : Yes.
Mr. Hennessey: In essence, no pedals. An electric car can go up 130 mph. Is that what we're thinking
here? An e-bike that without pedals can go up to 50-60 mph, then it's just like a motorcycle?
Ptl. Stilwell: An e-bike is topped out at 28 mph.
Mr. Hennessey: Even if it goes faster?
Ptl. Stilwell: If it goes faster than 28 mph, it's not an e-bike.
Mr. Hennessey: It's not an e-bike then?
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Ptl. Stilwell: Correct.
Mr. Hennessey: Okay.
Ptl. Stilwell: If it goes faster than 28 mph. An e-bike that has pedals is probably not going to go over 28
mph, unless it's illegally modified.
Ms. Frye: And the big issue really is kids with these. I mean, my husband, he bikes. And he has an e-bike,
and he bikes on a trail. And I'm sure that there are other adults who are riding an e-bike in the street by
the curb the way they're supposed to. I mean, is it mostly kids or are there actually adults, too, riding
down the middle of the street on Maple Avenue?
Ptl. Stilwell: I haven't seen as many adults as I have juveniles. I live in the city. I have my whole career.
And I typically see adults following the rules. Juveniles that if they don't have driving school, they don't
have all of these educational bits about how to be safe.
Ms. Frye: And they don't think they're going to die.
Ptl. Stilwell: They have an invincibility, and they think that they can do a wheelie down a full residential
street and there's not going to be any issues. It's just not the case.
President Vincent: Back to Mr. Hennessey's question, as far as you could see a bike going faster than 28
mph. But they're designed based on their class where they kick out. So the class 3 will kick out of
assistance at 28 mph. It will not take it above that, but someone could pedal faster and get above that
or maybe going down the hill. And class 1 and class 2, both top out at 20 mph. Class 1 is only powers
assist when pedaling. And class 2, again a 20-mph limit, but it can assist when not pedaling. And then
class 3 is 28 mph.
Mr. Hennessey: They've flourished; they're everywhere now. I mean, I have an old couple in my
neighborhood. They ride them, but they're doing it the right way. They're an older couple. They're doing
it for exercise. But, then got the little kids coming in the neighborhood that aren't. It's just the difference
of age.
President Vincent: Do we have helmet requirements?
Ptl. Stilwell: Helmet requirement for a class 3 only.
Mr. Hennessey: Class 3 only?
Ptl. Stilwell: As far as I'm aware, yes.
Mr. Hennessey: Okay.
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Mr. Ballmer: Are there any other questions?
Mr. Hennessey: We need two more of you (to Pt/. Stilwell) just to take care of those problems.
Ptl. Stilwell: I'll take it.
Mr. Hennessey: I know you will.
Ptl. Stilwell: I think, as far as education, of course I can stop one here and there and educate them. But,
I think the SROs in the school, I think they have the best platform to reach the juveniles in the city about
the e-bikes. I do a lot of school zone enforcement. So, I see the kids coming to school and leaving a lot.
More and more of them are riding e-bikes to school as well. I know we've had a few juvenile injuries on
Blue Avenue, so I've been kind of focused in that area, those school zones, and I have been seeing quite
a few e-bikes going to ZHS and ZMS.
Mr. Hennessey: So, in your opinion, we need more education?
Ptl. Stilwell: Yes. As far as I'm aware, there is no education. Like I said, a lot of these businesses that are
advertising these e-bikes and others, they don't tell you that it's legal and they don't tell you that it's not
legal. They basically just advertise this fun machine, and the kid or the person buying it, whoever, thinks
it looks cool. And, everybody wants to be cool.
Mr. Hennessey: They're wanting the parents to make sure their child does right. Well, it doesn't happen
like it used to.
Ptl. Stilwell: So, I think SROs in the schools have the best ability to educate.
Mr. Hennessey: Thank you for your insight on it.
Mr. Ballmer: Are there any other questions? John?
Mr. Taylor-Lehman: I have a quick question.
Mr. Ballmer: Mr. Taylor-Lehman.
Mr. Taylor-Lehman: Are there helmet laws for motorcycles?
Ptl. Stilwell: For motorcycle novices.
Mr. Taylor-Lehman: Okay. So, then these e-dirt bikes, maybe, maybe not, thing ifthey're experienced?
Ptl. Stilwell: Thee-dirt bikes are not allowed on roadways anyways.
Mr. Taylor-Lehman: Okay.
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President Vincent: Unless they have lights and all the proper horn ...
Ptl. Stilwell: But you'd have to get it registered, and you can't get it registered through the BMV. It's just
not legal to be on the road. That's why the helmet is almost irrelevant with the e-dirt bikes because
they're not supposed to be on the road anyways. The only one that requires a helmet as far as I
understand is the class 3's and that also requires an age limit of, I think you have to be 16 years old
before you can ride a class 3.
Mr. Taylor-Lehman: So, is there a street legal electric motorcycle?
Chief Comstock: Oh yes. Yes, I mean, Harley Davidson makes one. It's fast! But they're motorcycles.
Mr. Hennessey: Just out of curiosity, did anyone see the news this morning? Where the city was buying
back the e-bikes in a city? It was huge. They ran out of money; they had so many turn them back in for
safety. They were lined up. Did you see that?
Mr. Taylor-Lehman: They're destroying them.
Mr. Hennessey: Yes!
Chief Comstock: About a thousand bucks will get you ...
Mr. Hennessey: I forget what city it was, but the parents were lining up saying take these things away
because my kids are hurting themselves.
Ptl. Stilwell: I think if more parents understood what these things were capable of, I bet most of them
would not be getting these e-bikes for them.
Mr. Hennessey: It was unreal how many they were turning in, just this one city. I can't remember the
city. It was on the world news.
Ptl. Stilwell: Like I said, I live in the city, and I'm not going to disclose where I live, but ...
Mr. Hennessey: I won't tell either!
Ms. Frye: Probably not a secret because I think I even know.
Ptl. Stilwell: I have routinely seen 15-20 juveniles riding e-dirt bikes down the street, and I'm fairly
positive that they don't understand that they're not legal to be on the roads.
Mr. Hennessey: They're not trained.

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Ptl. Stilwell: And like I said, they're doing wheelies and they're going from the right lane to the left lane,
back and forth. It's jamming up traffic. It's very reckless.
Mr. Hennessey: It goes back when we rode bikes as a kid, my parents told me what I was allowed to do
while on that bike. We were told. And you respected that, and it isn't happening now.
Ms. Frye: I like the idea of education in the schools because I do have a hard time with giving a kid a
ticket if they don't even know that what they're doing, even though commonsense would say, no you
shouldn't be doing this. If nobody's telling them not to do it. But if they're hearing it in the schools, then
I think you start citing them. But again, give them a little education. I totally agree with that.
Mr. Hennessey: But how do we get that done though? How does the city ...
Ms. Frye: An SRO officer can go into a health class. I mean, I was a school psychologist. I went into health
classes and talked about stuff.
Mr. Hennessey: I mean, who would do the education if we went that route?
Ms. Frye: The school resource officer.
Mr. Hennessey: Is there anything on top of your head that would say, how do we educate these kids? I
know it's not that easy.
Ptl. Stilwell: That's a very complex issue.
Mrs. Osborn: The SROs are at the school. They will see and know who is arriving on one. And to have
that relationship to be able to say, hey...
Mr. Hennessey: Who did you say?
Mrs. Osborn: The school resource officers.
Mr. Hennessey: Good point.
Mrs. Osborn: They're going to be there on the ground, eyeballs, they'll know who's coming.
Law Director Tarbert: We have so much open enrollment. I'll bet your problem is not coming from
Zanesville High School kids. It's coming from the west, Tri-Valley. So, you have to make sure you've got
all those covered.
Ms. Frye: Don't they still all have resource officers?
Law Director Tarbert: I don't know about the others.
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Mrs. Osborn: West does.
Ms. Frye: Maysville always did.
Mr. Ballmer: Are there any other questions? I do have one. In the immediate, what is the best way to
contact the police department if it's not an emergency to report something, if you see somebody riding,
and we want to make somebody aware of it. What's the best way to contact the police department?
Ptl. Stilwell: Through our business line.
Mr. Ballmer: Okay.
Ptl. Stilwell: If I'm on duty, dispatch typically advises me of reckless driver calls. Or if somebody has
complaints about specific issues with traffic, of course, it can't just be, oh we're having problems with
traffic 24/7. Sure, I can go check that out, but I'm not going to work that area 24/7. I have the whole city
to deal with. But I have no problem if you have a specific time area, between for example, 4 p.m. to 5
p.m. Sure, I can go check that out. I can't say I'll sit there the whole time. But, I, at least, check stuff out.
I work the red light there on Linden (at the steel company) because they have a bunch of issues with
people running the red light for their employees. I mean, if somebody complains about something, I will
check it out.
Mr. Ballmer: Very good, thank you. Are there any other questions or discussion? Thank you for attending
tonight and being a part of this.
President Vincent: Mr. Ballmer?
Mr. Ballmer: Mr. Vincent.
President Vincent: Are we going to touch on golfcarts and Onewheels also? I know that golfcarts have
been a concern.
Mr. Ballmer: Who would like to speak to that?

At this time, Sgt. Dent went to the podium.
Sgt. Dent: Sgt. Dent. As far as the golfcarts and stuff goes, we are not golfcart friendly to my knowledge,
unless Council has passed some type of ordinance to allow golfcarts on certain streets at certain times.
There's Ohio Revised Code that applies to golfcarts. It gets a little tricky because we get into some very
particular definitions regarding whether or not it's an under-speed vehicle or a low-speed vehicle and
how we enforce that. There are two different subsections that apply for each. A long story short, if it's
not registered, it's not supposed to be on the roadway at all. If it doesn't have a license plate and all that,
an inspection done, it's not supposed to be on the roadway. Additionally, there are people that have
went and got their golfcarts registered. There are a few neighborhoods where you can drive around and
see people driving around in their golfcarts with license plates on them. The Ohio Revised Code says that
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they can do that as long as the municipality has granted them permission to drive on said road, and they
can't be on the roadway that's higher than 35 mph. To my knowledge, we don't have any roadways that
we've approved to do that on. So, therefore, technically they are breaking the law. It appears that people
probably do not know that they are breaking the law by doing that. They feel that they have done
everything that they should by getting it inspected, insured, and registered. But, I mentioned something
to David a few weeks ago about it. I think at some point we'd have to look at adopting law here and
maybe making it simple, that completely restricts the operation of golfcarts on the roadway.
Mr. Hennessey: Entirely, right?
Sgt. Dent: Entirely, yes. Because we have had some crashes. We thought we had a law that applied to it
specifically, an ordinance. After a couple hours of reading definitions of vehicles, we found out that it
does not apply to that. So, we're back on the search for applicable law. There is one ordinance already
that we can adopt from the ORC, and that would help out. And then maybe with clarified restrictions on
it as well.
Mr. Ballmer: Mr. Vincent.
President Vincent: Yes, just to clarify I know there are some communities, some areas where golfcarts
with proper headlights, signals, horn, license plate, inspected, an adult can drive those in those areas,
but you were saying that the municipality has to grant roadway use?
Sgt. Dent: Yes.
President Vincent: And we have not done that. And then absolutely if it's under 16, a non-licensed driver
driving a golfcart in the city, they should not be out there.
Sgt. Dent: A lot of issues there. Correct.
Ms. Frye: So, the guy who drives around my neighborhood on Fairlawn Avenue and through the alleys
in a golfcart, he's not legally ...
Sgt. Dent: He's been told not to do that.
Ms. Frye: Okay, so you know who he is. Also, is there a restriction for how many kids you can load into
the golfcart?
Sgt. Dent: There su're is, and they've been told about that too. I've seen them. There's more than just
one person. There's a green one up there, there's one that doesn't have a roof...
Ms. Frye: This one is white.
Sgt. Dent: Yes, there's a white one that doesn't have a roof over it. They go over to the church and drive
around in circles and go back home.
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Ms. Frye: And they drive through the alley.
Sgt. Dent: A couple kids I had stopped on one. They were actually driving it pretty reasonably up until
the police got behind them, and they panicked, and then just (inaudible).
Ms. Frye: Well, I think this is usually an adult, but I mean, he like literally, I've seen four or five other
people in that golfcart with him, and there are kids and it's scary.
Sgt. Dent: There's another neighborhood that has them .
Mr. Hennessey: Mine has them. Six kids drive around in it.
Sgt. Dent: Yes, I was driving around town the other day. I wasn't at work and saw an adult driving one,
and they had, I don't know how many kids they had on there. One of them was sitting on their lap and
stuff, which is definitely not a good idea.
Mr. Hennessey: Well, this is just kids driving kids. But, I mean, they're safe. I'm not going to lie. They're
not driving crazy.
Sgt. Dent: Yes, most of the time I haven't seen anyone do anything egregious yet.
Mr. Hennessey: They're not.
Sgt. Dent: Most of the time, we can tell them, you're not supposed to be doing this and hopefully that
stops it. It's not always the case.
President Vincent: With that, Mr. Tarbert, do we need to adopt something then to make this clearer so
the officers know? Some of it, I guess, the Ohio Revised Code covers. Do we need to ...
Law Director Tarbert: Get together and figure something out. I mean, if that's what the committee wants
to do. If it's in the Ohio Revised Code, you saying it's in the ORC, but it hasn't been adopted by our. ..
Sgt. Dent: Yes. There's 4511.214 and 4511.215 allows us to put more severe restrictions.
Law Director Tarbert: It just allows the city to put more or you can cite under those provisions.
Sgt. Dent: We can't. I think, because we had a juvenile driving one, one time, and they got into a crash.
I think it took a while to find the correct code. And I think we were finally able to cite them under that.
Law Director Tarbert: Well, that's easy. So, we'll start there. We'll get together and start there adopting
the ORC section into the code. And then if we want to clarify it further, we can talk about that as well.

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Sgt. Dent: I thin.k the only confusing part with adopting is that it also includes a section for minitrucks. I
have seen a couple vehicles driving down Maple Avenue that would technically classify as a minitruck.
Multiple people asked what a minitruck is.
Sgt. Dent: It would be like an imported ...
Chief Comstock: Yes, Suzuki, Honda, some Daewoo's. They literally are a mini pickup truck. A friend of
mine has one. It's a Suzuki. They're running on about a 12-inch rim, so like a side-by-side type wheelset.
They're a little 2-3 cylinder.
Sgt. Dent: I've seen some people make their way into town and just stop at Lowe's and Home Depot
with them, and then they go back out.
Chief Comstock: And those are usually registered because it's an import from overseas. They've brought
them in. My friend has one that has a license plate. Some of them can do freeway speed, but most of
them are under-speed vehicles.
Multiple talking at once about minitrucks.
Mr. Ballmer: Real quick, what about thee-skateboards?
Sgt. Dent: So, the Onewheels and stuff, those get even more tricky because now you go into, it could
fall into some different classifications, like mobility devices and micromobility devices. A couple years
ago, I talked to the sergeant with Columbus PD that operates their traffic enforcement unit. They had
issues as well. It gets very difficult to enforce because of how they fall into a classification. So, until some
new laws come out that cover those, and they don't fall into these special classifications that kind of
allow you to get away with some stuff, it's a little hard to do too much with them. Now, once again, if
they're in the middle of the roadway and being ridiculous, it's a little easier to enforce the other laws
that apply. But, just the existence of them in and of itself doesn't always constitute a violation.
Mr. Ballmer: Are there any other questions or discussion?
Ms. Frye: It's all very interesting, thank you.
Mr. Ballmer: Yes, very informative. Thank you for your time. We appreciate it very much what you all
do. Please be safe.
Sgt. Dent: Thank you .
Mr. Ballmer: Is there anything else for discussion? I will remind everyone the next Public Safety meeting
for October, if we have one, will be scheduled for Tuesday, October 13, because the 12th is Columbus
Day. And so, that's a holiday. So, just make a note of that. Other than that, I think we are good. Mr.
Mayor, is there anything else you have?
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Mayor Mason: No, sir. I'm glad you had these guys in.

The committee members expressed their thanks.
Mr. Ballmer: I'll entertain a motion to adjourn.
Ms. Frye moved to adjourn. It was seconded by Mrs. Osborn.
Mr. Ballmer: All in favor, aye. Any opposed, nay?
A voice vote was taken with all being in favor. None were opposed.
Mr. Ballmer: We stand adjourned. Thank you.
The meeting ended at approximately 6:41 p.m.

Mark Ballmer, Chairman

Page 22 of 22
Public Safety Committee Minutes 9/14/2026

Billie Corns, Clerk of Council

Dave Suciu
Public Safety Director
ORDINANCE NO. 2026-102
INTRODUCED BY COUNCIL
AN ORDINANCE DETERMINING THAT THE CITY'S PRIOR EXPENDITURE FOR THE
POLICE DEPARTMENT'S ARMORED TACTICAL VEHICLE WAS MADE FOR
APPROVED PURPOSES UNDER THE ONEOHIO MEMORANDUM OF
UNDERSTANDING, AUTHORIZING REIMBURSEMENT OF THAT EXPENDITURE
FROM THE OPIOID SETTLEMENT FUND, AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY
WHEREAS, the City of Zanesville is a Local Government under the OneOhio Memorandum
of Understanding (the "MOU"), which governs the allocation and use of opioid settlement
proceeds in Ohio, and by Ordinance No. 2022-109 this Council accepted the OneOhio opioid
settlement and established Fund 356, "Opioid Settlement," to receive the City's share of those
proceeds (the "Local Government Share"); and
WHEREAS, Section 8(2) of the MOU requires all opioid settlement funds to be used
consistent with the definition of "Approved Purpose(s)" in the MOU, permits the Local
Government Share also to be used for past expenditures made for purposes consistent with that
definition, and requires a Local Government, before using any part of its Local Government Share
as restitution for past expenditures, to pass a resolution or take equivalent governmental action
explaining its determination that its prior expenditures for Approved Purposes are greater than
or equal to the amount of the Local Government Share it seeks to use for restitution; and
WHEREAS, Section A(7) of the MOU defines Approved Purposes to include, in clause (iv),

strategies to decrease the oversupply of licit and illicit opioids, as further set forth in the Ohio
Abatement Strategies attached to the MOU as Exhibit A, and provides that for purposes of the
Local Government Share, Approved Purposes also include past expenditures; and
WHEREAS, Exhibit A to the MOU lists law enforcement strategies among the examples of

Strategies for Community Recovery and, under its heading for first responders, law enforcement,
and other criminal justice professionals, provides for funding "other public safety expenditures
relating to the opioid epidemic" that address community and statewide supply and demand
reduction strategies, including criminal interdiction efforts; and
WHEREAS, Auditor of State Bulletin 2022-003 provides that, for any prior expenditure to

be reimbursed from the Local Government Share, the local government must pass an ordinance
or resolution that identifies the prior expenditure and explains its determination that the
expenditure was for approved purposes consistent with the MOU, and describes the methods by
which the opioid settlement fund may reimburse the fund that made the original expenditure;
and

ORDINANCE NO. 2026-102
WHEREAS, in July 2025 the City purchased an armored tactical vehicle for the Zanesville
Police Department from Lenee Industries, Inc. at a total cost of $301,727.00, paid from the
Mandatory Drug Fines Fund (Fund No. 820); and
WHEREAS, the City completed an expenditure correction via Journal Entry JN10156,
posted October 2026, which reallocated $279,988.96 of the vehicle's cost from Fund No. 820 to
the Police Operating Fund (Fund No. 201) in exchange for an equivalent amount of eligible
expenditures from Fund No. 201 to Fund No. 820; and
WHEREAS, the Police Department uses the Vehicle to protect officers and the public
during the execution of high-risk search warrants and other operations directed at the
distribution of fentanyl and other illicit opioids in the City; and
WHEREAS, no part of the cost of the Vehicle has been paid or reimbursed from any grant,
donation, insurance proceeds, or other restricted source; and
WHEREAS, Fund 356 may also hold settlement or trust distributions governed by terms
other than, or in addition to, the MOU, including the National Opioid Abatement Trust II funds
addressed in Ordinance No. 2025-27, and this Council intends that the reimbursement authorized
by this ordinance be paid only from Local Government Share monies; and
WHEREAS, the reimbursement must be authorized, charged, and recorded before the
City closes its books for fiscal year 2026, and because of the urgent opioid crisis in Zanesville,
Muskingum County, and the State of Ohio, it is therefore in the best interest of the residents of
the City that this ordinance be passed as an emergency.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the Council of the City of Zanesville, State of Ohio,

that:
SECTION ONE: For purposes of Section B(2) of the MOU and Auditor of State Bulletin
2022-003, this Council finds and determines that (a) the portion of the City's prior expenditure
to acquire the Vehicle reallocated to Fund No. 201 in the amount of $279,988.96 was a public
'
'
safety expenditure relating to the opioid epidemic that supports supply reduction /strategies,
including criminal interdiction efforts, as described in Exhibit A to the MOU, and wasI made for
purposes consistent with the definition of Approved Purposes in Section A(7) of ithe MOU,
including clause (iv) of that definition; and (b) the City's prior expenditures for i Approved
Purposes are greater than or equal to the amount of the Local Government Share thej City seeks
to use for restitution under this ordinance.
i
SECTION TWO: The City ·Auditor is authorized to charge Fund 356, "Opioid ~ettlement
Fund," in an amount not to exceed $279,988.96 and to credit that amount to the Polic'1 Operating
Fund (Fund No. 201), as restitution for the prior expenditure identified in Section One,

ORDINANCE NO. 2026-102

representing the portion of the vehicle cost reallocated via Journal Entry JN10156. The City
Auditor shall account for the transaction using the invoice method described in Auditor of State
Bulletin 2022-003, or such other method as the Auditor of State approves.
SECTION THREE: The charge authorized by Section Two shall be paid only from Local
Government Share monies received by the City under the MOU and deposited in Fund 356. No
National Opioid Abatement Trust II funds, and no other monies in Fund 356 whose governing
terms do not permit their use for this purpose, shall be used . The charge shall be made only
against an appropriation in Fund 356 sufficient to cover it.
SECTION FOUR: The City Auditor shall keep with the records of Fund 356 a copy of this
ordinance, the invoice prepared under Section Two, the purchase and payment records for the
Vehicle, and a copy of Journal Entry JN10156, and shall make any report of this expenditure that
the MOU, any applicable settlement document, or the Auditor of State requires.
SECTION FIVE: Nothing in this ordinance amends or repeals Ordinance No. 2025-27.

The proper City officials are authorized to do all things necessary and
proper to carry out this ordinance.
SECTION SIX:

For the reasons stated above, this ordinance is declared to be an
emergency measure. Provided it receives the affirmative votes of six (6) or more members of
Council, this ordinance shall take effect and be in force immediately upon its passage and
approval of the Mayor. Otherwise, it shall take effect and be in force from and after the earliest
period allowed by law.
SECTION SEVEN:

PASSED:

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __,2026

ATTEST:

APPROVED:

Billie Corns
Clerk of Council

Daniel M. Vincent
President of Council

- - - - - - - - - - ~ 2026

This legislation approved as to form:

Donald L. Mason
Mayor

Law Director's Office