Ashtabula Council Rejects Thriving Communities Commission, Approves Council Cell Phones as Salt Quotes Top $150 a Ton

Ashtabula City Council voted down a proposed Commission for Thriving Communities on Monday, Nov. 2. The 4 to 3 vote ended a debate that stretched across many versions of the legislation. Council also approved city cell phones for members who want them, 5 to 2. City Manager Jim Timonere opened the night with a warning about road salt prices. He also previewed a new Main Avenue parking plan. One downtown business owner told council that plan could push him out of the city. Thriving Communities Commission Fails 4 to 3 Ordinance 2026-172 would have created the Ashtabula City Commission for Thriving Communities. Councilor RoLesia Holman moved to pass it, and Councilor Jane DiGiacomo seconded. Holman, DiGiacomo and Vice President Russell Simeone voted yes. Council President John Roskovics, Councilor Jodi Mills, Councilor Terence Guerriero and Councilor DeCola voted no. Roskovics said he could not support it. He called it a power play and said the same work could be done through an ad hoc committee. In his view, the legislation suggests the city delivers services based on who residents are and where they live. He argued the city has applied services to everyone for years. Before the vote, Roskovics asked whether he would have to sign legislation he found objectionable. City Solicitor Cecilia Cooper said he would. The signature only acknowledges how council voted, she explained, and only the city manager holds veto power. Guerriero raised a cost question about two city employees who would have served on the commission. Timonere said employees required at meetings outside business hours typically receive overtime. One union contract sets a three hour minimum, he added. Most of the nine members, including one from each ward, would likely work daytime jobs. Mills questioned new language saying members serve “at the pleasure” of council. Timonere said that was his suggestion, since earlier drafts gave council no way to remove a member. Terms would still run three years. The ordinance still had highlighted blanks for its code section and title. Cooper recommended placing it as Section 113.17, in the chapter on urban renewal and community development. There was also confusion over timing. Cooper first said the item would go up for passage Nov. 16. After checking council’s rules, she confirmed a vote could follow the second reading that night. Council Cell Phones Pass 5 to 2 Ordinance 2026-179 lets the city manager provide a cell phone to any council member who asks for one. Roskovics and Guerriero voted no. Roskovics said council members should publish their personal numbers and take calls from residents. He recalled a resident who called him three days in a row during the Thanksgiving snowstorm two years ago, while city offices were closed. He said he was fine with members getting phones but could not support how the legislation came about. Guerriero cited the city’s finances. Nearly every employee is getting a raise next year, he said, and he questioned where the money will come from. Calling the phones a luxury, he said he expects to cast many no votes in coming months because he fears layoffs. Holman voted yes. She said she has wanted city devices for city business since her term began. She objected to a sample policy that labeled the personal phone option as recommended. That option exposes members’ personal phones to records requests and searches, she argued. Mills, who brought the legislation, said answering residents is a core duty of office. She logs every call and has answered 718 so far. Her estimate put the cost under $4,000 if every member took a phone. Mills also challenged Holman, saying Holman had not answered constituent calls during her five years on council. Cooper explained how records requests would work. Anything on a personal phone before Nov. 2 must still be preserved. Going forward, a member with a city phone would only need to turn over that device. Salt Quotes Nearly Triple the Current Price Timonere said residents have been asking about salt since the Fairport mine collapsed. Based on what he has heard, he does not see that mine reopening, possibly ever. The city took a summer delivery of 1,000 tons, bringing its supply to roughly 1,500 to 1,700 tons. Ashtabula typically uses about 3,000 tons a year. Right now the city pays $57 a ton. Two suppliers quoted $155 and $185 a ton. Timonere said he believes both supplies come from Egypt by way of Kinder Morgan. Ashtabula’s contract runs through ODOT, which contracts with Morton. Cargill, which has a Cleveland plant, declined to quote a price and put the city on a waiting list. Compass Minerals has not responded. Timonere hopes to hear from ODOT by the end of this week, and the county is coordinating in the meantime. Main Avenue Parking Plan Draws Pushback Timonere previewed an update to the traffic control map to match Main Avenue’s new striping. Many old ordinances referenced businesses that no longer exist, so the new map uses addresses. Parts of