The Council of the city of Oakwood, Ohio, met in a work session on Monday, August 18, 2025, in the conference room at the city building, 30 Park Avenue. The Mayor of the City, William Duncan, presided.
Council members in attendance were Mayor William Duncan, Vice Mayor Steve Byington, Rob Stephens, Leigh Turben and Healy Jackson. Staff in attendance were City Manager Katie Smiddy and Law Director Rob Jacques. Also attending for the first portion of the meeting was Code Enforcement Officer Sarah Valentin.
Mayor Duncan called the work session to order at 5 p.m. and led a discussion on the following agenda items:
- Mr. Jacques and Ms. Valentin reported on a recent meeting they had with Centerville staff to discuss property maintenance procedures. They also provided Council with an update on this year’s property maintenance enforcement.
Mrs. Valentin left the meeting at this time.
- Mrs. Smiddy informed Council that staff are reviewing processes for handling various tree complaints. A broad discussion ensued as to how City landscaping is being addressed during this time of transition.
- Mrs. Smiddy updated Council on the status of the organizational assessment being conducted by Raftelis. A final assessment report is expected around August 22, and Raftelis will be invited to a future meeting to brief Council on their recommendations.
- Mrs. Smiddy updated Council on the status of MVCC’s negotiations with electric and natural gas providers for energy aggregation. It appears that Oakwood may not be permitted to participate in the electric aggregation contract unless we agree to do so on an opt-out basis. The Council discussed the merits of opt-in versus opt-out and confirmed that they do not want the City to participate in either aggregation program unless it can be done on an opt-in basis.
- Council had a short discussion about inclusivity concerns voiced by a resident at a recent regular session meeting.
- Mrs. Smiddy informed Council that she recently spoke with Dr. Gupta, Oakwood Schools Superintendent, about our combined Oakwood Scene publication. The schools may elect to terminate their participation in the future, but that is undecided for now. Mrs. Smiddy noted that this points to a larger issue about how residents obtain City-related information, and she would like to conduct a resident survey to gather that type of data.