diff --git a/backend/app/ingestion/models.py b/backend/app/ingestion/models.py
index 847045f..c708142 100644
--- a/backend/app/ingestion/models.py
+++ b/backend/app/ingestion/models.py
@@ -89,7 +89,6 @@ class DocumentDB(Base):
     countries: Mapped[Optional[list[str]]] = mapped_column(JSONB, nullable=True)
     organizations: Mapped[Optional[list[str]]] = mapped_column(JSONB, nullable=True)
     regions: Mapped[Optional[list[str]]] = mapped_column(JSONB, nullable=True)
-    notes: Mapped[Optional[str]] = mapped_column(Text, nullable=True)
     drive_link: Mapped[Optional[str]] = mapped_column(Text, nullable=True)
     year: Mapped[Optional[int]] = mapped_column(Integer, nullable=True)
     date_added: Mapped[Optional[datetime]] = mapped_column(
@@ -108,8 +107,8 @@ async def save_document_to_db(
     asession: AsyncSession,
     metadata: dict,
     pdf_url: str,
-    summary: str = None,
-    title: str = None,
+    summary: str,
+    title: str,
     document_id: int,
 ) -> None:
     """
@@ -127,7 +126,6 @@ async def save_document_to_db(
         countries = metadata.get("Countries", [])
         organizations = metadata.get("Organization(s)", [])
         regions = metadata.get("Region(s)", [])
-        notes = metadata.get("Notes", "")
         drive_link = metadata.get("Drive link", "")
         year = metadata.get("Year", None)
         document_id = metadata.get("ID", None)
@@ -152,9 +150,8 @@ async def save_document_to_db(
                 countries=countries,
                 organizations=organizations,
                 regions=regions,
-                notes=notes,
                 drive_link=drive_link,
-                year=metadata.get("Year"),
+                year=year,
                 date_added=date_added,
                 document_id=document_id,  # Using the document_id passed to the function
                 pdf_url=pdf_url,
@@ -171,7 +168,7 @@ async def save_document_to_db(
                 extracted_qa_pairs = []
 
             qa_pairs = []
-            for qa_idx, qa_pair in enumerate(extracted_qa_pairs):
+            for _, qa_pair in enumerate(extracted_qa_pairs):
                 try:
                     question = qa_pair.get("question", "")
                     answers = qa_pair.get("answers", [])
@@ -220,13 +217,11 @@ async def save_single_document(metadata: Dict[str, Any]) -> bool:
                 file_name=metadata["file_name"],
                 processed_pages=metadata["processed_pages"],
                 asession=asession,
-                metadata=metadata.get("fields", {}),
-                pdf_url=metadata.get("pdf_url", ""),  # Use empty string as fallback
-                title=metadata.get("survey_name"),
-                summary=metadata.get("summary"),
-                document_id=metadata.get(
-                    "document_id"
-                ),  # Pass document_id from metadata
+                metadata=metadata["fields"],
+                pdf_url=metadata["pdf_url"],
+                title=metadata["survey_name"],
+                summary=metadata["summary"],
+                document_id=metadata["document_id"],
             )
             logger.info(
                 f"File '{metadata['file_name']}' processed and saved successfully."
diff --git a/backend/app/ingestion/routers.py b/backend/app/ingestion/routers.py
index 42eee0c..b3a6787 100644
--- a/backend/app/ingestion/routers.py
+++ b/backend/app/ingestion/routers.py
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@
 
 
 @router.post("/airtable/refresh", response_model=AirtableIngestionResponse)
-async def airtable_refresh_and_ingest():
+async def airtable_refresh_and_ingest() -> AirtableIngestionResponse:
     """
     Refresh the list of documents by comparing Airtable 'ID' fields with database
     'document_id's. Automatically ingest the missing documents.
diff --git a/backend/migrations/versions/2025_03_05_62342bab6861_remove_notes_column.py b/backend/migrations/versions/2025_03_05_62342bab6861_remove_notes_column.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7df9183
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/migrations/versions/2025_03_05_62342bab6861_remove_notes_column.py
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+"""remove_notes_column
+
+Revision ID: 62342bab6861
+Revises: aaa104d6c3ed
+Create Date: 2025-03-05 11:34:59.706611
+
+"""
+
+from typing import Sequence, Union
+
+import sqlalchemy as sa
+from alembic import op
+
+# revision identifiers, used by Alembic.
+revision: str = "62342bab6861"
+down_revision: Union[str, None] = "aaa104d6c3ed"
+branch_labels: Union[str, Sequence[str], None] = None
+depends_on: Union[str, Sequence[str], None] = None
+
+
+def upgrade() -> None:
+    # ### commands auto generated by Alembic - please adjust! ###
+    op.drop_column("documents", "notes")
+    # ### end Alembic commands ###
+
+
+def downgrade() -> None:
+    # ### commands auto generated by Alembic - please adjust! ###
+    op.add_column(
+        "documents", sa.Column("notes", sa.TEXT(), autoincrement=False, nullable=True)
+    )
+    # ### end Alembic commands ###