Tipp City Council approves annexation, code updates and contracts for industrial sewer project

Tipp City Council on March 4 approved a slate of routine and project-related actions, including an annexation for roughly 9.415 acres for a planned substation, updates to the city code and traffic ordinances, contracts to support an industrial sanitary sewer project, adoption of a formal fund-balance policy, and a series of appointments to local boards.

The meeting record shows staff told council the annexation stems from a purchase agreement signed in October 2023 with a party identified in the transcript as “Mr. Stein.” Staff said the property, located along Peters Road, includes land for a substation and a strip to accommodate a pole line. Mr. Eggleston asked council to move forward with a public hearing and adoption, noting the 60-day waiting period had expired. The council opened the public hearing, heard no speakers, and adopted the measure as Ordinance 4 24 by roll-call vote.

Also on second reading, council adopted routine codification updates to general-offenses sections (Ordinance 5 24) and traffic-code amendments (Ordinance 6 24). Staff said those changes reflect periodic updates from the city’s codifying company to keep local ordinances consistent with state law and to clarify definitions and distracted-driving provisions. Both ordinances were opened for public comment, drew no speakers, and were adopted.

Council authorized two professional services agreements for the industrial sanitary sewer project. Mr. Eggleston described the scope for the construction-administration contract with EMH&T of Columbus — “pre-construction meetings, reviews, shop drawings, prepare some middle logs, review work progress, coordinate schedules with contractors, facilitate change orders” — and asked council to approve the manager signing that agreement at a cost of $66,475. The council also approved an agreement with DLZ of Columbus for construction inspection services to oversee compaction and verify installation to specifications at a cost of $110,294. Both resolutions passed by roll-call vote.

On finance policy, council adopted a formal fund-balance policy staff brought forward from the previous work session. The policy establishes purpose, scope and minimum reserve targets; staff said it anticipates a general-fund target of 50% of operating expenditures and 25% targets for street, electric, water and sewer reserves, and allows the city manager and finance director to include expenditures of excess funds in future capital and operating budgets.

Council also confirmed several appointments: Lori Willoughby to the Community Reinvestment Area Housing Council (unexpired term through 12/31/2025); Megan Caulfield to the Board of Zoning Appeals (three-year term); and Zachary Snyder to the Restoration Architectural Board of Review (unexpired term through 12/31/2025). All appointments were made following nominations, with no public comment and with motions recorded as passed.

Votes at a glance (outcomes as recorded in the March 4 meeting):
- Ordinance 4 24 (annexation, ~9.415 acres): adopted (public hearing opened/closed; roll-call approval).
- Ordinance 5 24 (codification/general-offenses updates): adopted (roll-call approval).
- Ordinance 6 24 (traffic-code amendments): adopted (roll-call approval).
- Resolution authorizing EMH&T for construction administration: adopted; $66,475.
- Resolution authorizing DLZ for construction inspection: adopted; $110,294.
- Adoption of city fund-balance policy: motion carried (formal adoption).
- Appointments (Lori Willoughby, Megan Caulfield, Zachary Snyder): motion carried for each appointment.

The meeting record indicates all measures above were approved by roll-call votes recorded in the transcript. Public hearings on the ordinances drew no speakers. The council also amended the agenda earlier in the meeting to add an executive session for collective bargaining matters; that executive session was held later in the meeting (see related coverage).