Medina council approves package of ordinances including $40,000 Main Street contribution and property actions

Medina City Council approved a broad slate of ordinances on March 9 that included a $40,000 membership renewal for Main Street Medina, authorization to solicit bids to lease a city-owned building that houses Spokes Cafe, and other budgetary, personnel and infrastructure actions.

Council voted 6-0 to authorize a $40,000 payment to Main Street Medina for the city's 2026 membership renewal; Mayor Shields urged the contribution, saying the group brings events and business promotion that benefit the city. The council also approved an ordinance (with the emergency clause) authorizing the mayor to solicit requests for proposals to lease the city-owned building at 406 South Broadway — the site previously occupied by Spokes Cafe — so the city can select a new lessee before the current lease expires at the end of May.

Council adopted an ordinance to offer a city-owned parcel at 410 East Smith Road for public sale by competitive bidding; that motion passed 5-1 (Lamb opposed) after staff described development constraints including a bisecting creek, nearby railroad tracks and utility connections. The building official and planning staff described 12 active commercial projects in the first quarter, totaling about $22.3 million in local investment.

Other measures approved included: amendments to seasonal employee wage ranges for recreation and service departments (raising the range to $13.76–$17.56 per hour to aid recruitment and retention); revised Memorial Park pool rates and season-pass adjustments; an update to part-time pay scales at the community recreation center; acceptance of 11 easements needed to complete the South Huntington Street Bridge reconstruction (emergency clause adopted to allow recording); and a resolution authorizing the mayor to submit three congressionally directed spending applications for FY27 for local projects, including a parking lot renovation and a recreation center turf field-house expansion.

Why it matters: The package advances near-term capital and program priorities — from parking and trail feasibility work to recreation and pool operations — and sets contract and procurement steps to keep facilities operating without interruption.

Vote details and next steps: Most ordinances passed unanimously (6-0). The sale of 410 East Smith Road passed 5-1 with Councilmember Lamb recorded as the lone no vote; Ordinance 3726 (a zoning amendment adding conditionally permitted uses) was placed on first reading with a public hearing set for April 13. The mayor was authorized to execute grant paperwork should the congressionally directed spending requests be awarded.

(Source: Medina City Council meeting transcript, March 9, 2026; ordinance block SEG 1843–SEG 2338.)