ASHTABULA – Ashtabula City Council President John Roskovics opened up the Monday, Aug. 3rd pre-council meeting with an update about a vacancy left on council as a result of former council member Kym Foglio’s departure earlier this summer.
In a June 23rd letter, Foglio notified Roskovics of her resignation from council, stating that she and her husband had the chance to buy his parent’s home in Saybrook Township, and their move was now complete.
Susan Hagan, the Ashtabula County Democratic Party chair, said the party was putting out a public notice in the newspaper soliciting letters of interest and résumés from people interested in the position. The deadline was July 31.
According to City Solicitor Cecilia Cooper, R.C. 731.41 requires the Democratic Party County central committee members who represent Ward 1 to meet and appoint a successor who will finish out Foglio’s term.
Roskovics told council that he understood that the Democratic Party was holding interviews Aug. 4 to fill the council seat.
“The anticipation is that it will be done by Friday, that there will be an announcement by Friday, which I believe is the deadline (to fill the seat), 45 days,” he said. “So, maybe on the (Aug.) 17th (council meeting), we’ll have somebody new join us. We will see.”
During his report, City Manager Jim Timonere requested an ordinance to enter into a contract with AM Ford of Jefferson for the purchase of a Ford Maverick in an amount not to exceed $28,995 for the planning and community development department, to be paid out of Fund 412. It passed in the regular meeting that followed the pre-council meeting.
“We had an Explorer that I believe was a 2010,” he said of the previous vehicle, which he said started to have transmission problems and other electrical issues. He said it wasn’t worth fixing the vehicle anymore.
He said the city is still receiving bids for the liability insurance for the city, which expires at the end of the month. “So, at the Aug. 17th meeting, we are hopeful that everything will be in place so that we can present an ordinance,” he said.
In addition, Timonere gave a big thank-you to everyone who volunteered at the Wine and Walleye Festival in Ashtabula Harbor, as well as those who put in a full year’s worth of work organizing it. He said this year’s Wine and Walleye Festival was one of the biggest in its history. “I know the fire department and police department went through about 1,500 pounds of walleye for the weekend,” he said. “I was in the wine tent area most of the weekend, and we far exceeded the numbers that we’ve ever had in that area. The fireworks, again, were phenomenal.” He also thanked the community for supporting the festival. “Things went really well,” he said.
Timonere also asked for an executive session at the end of the regular meeting to discuss the purchase or sale of property. He didn’t elaborate. “We haven’t had an executive session in a long time,” Roskovics commented.
During the regular council meeting, council also gave a first reading to an ordinance enacting replacement codified ordinance section 1329.03, entitled “Placement of Numbers on Buildings and Alleys.” According to the ordinance, council has found it necessary to update the city codified ordinances to provide regulations regarding the placement of address numbers in alleys and similar rights of way.
Council member Terence Guerriero explained the need for the ordinance, noting it concerns house addresses on properties with back alley driveways.
“What we’re finding is when you drive down the front of the house that is always marked with an address, it doesn’t always look like the back of the house – different color, different shape – and it’s really hard for squad car(s), ambulance(s), fire truck(s) to count the addresses down when you’re driving around the back to get to them,” he said, noting that he imagined that Ubers, cabs or pizza delivery vehicles also faced the same difficulty. “So, we’re going to require a house address on the back of the houses to accompany the one on the front.”
Council also passed an ordinance acknowledging the hiring of Emily Bussanich as victim advocate in the city solicitor’s office and approving additional paid vacation leave.
According to the ordinance, Bussanich was a long-term employee of the Ashtabula County Juvenile Court with continuous and uninterrupted service beginning in October 2024. She was hired on June 23, 2025, as Victim Advocate in the Ashtabula City Solicitor’s Office.
Cooper explained the ordinance, saying it would give Bussanich credit for the time she served working for Juvenile Court. “So, effective Jan. 1, 2027, in terms of accruing vacation, she would get credit for service starting October of 2024 because she came to us directly from the county,” she said. “She has not been getting that credit, so in order to make it easier for the finance department, we’re asking that it start Jan. 1st of 2027.”
In addition, council, by a 4-2 vote, passed an ordinance authorizing the city manager to enter into a Community Reinvestment Area Tax Incentive Agreement with River & Rail Development, LLC. for tax abatement at 100 percent for seven years for new residential dwellings located at 725 E. 15th St., Ashtabula. Council members RoLesia Holman and Jane DiGiacomo voted no. The part of the application for the tax incentive agreement states that it will be used as a rental property.
