Stow City Council
Vote Nov. 8th!

My notes from last night’s meeting of Stow City Council are below:

–We obtained our piece of steel from the World Trade Center, Brian Reali announced. The steel I-beam will be the centerpiece of a new 9/11 memorial to be constructed outside of city hall, near the flagpoles. The beam will sit atop a polished granite rendering of the Pentagon, with flowers surrounding the monument. It should be very nice. There is a committee charged with raising $28,000 of private money. The goal is to have it ready by next September 11.

–The city received good news with regards to grant money for road projects, including the Norton Road-Darrow Road intersection improvement, the resurfacing of Norton Road between Darrow Road and Stow Road, and the Graham Road project.

–With the mild winter, Stow is spending less money on overtime for street department workers. To date we have spent about $8,000 on overtime, compared to about $24,000 this time last year.

–The Planning Department announced an uptick in occupancy on Commerce Drive. The rate is 89.5 percent occupied, compared to 82.8 percent in September 2010. I think we need to repave Commerce Drive if we want to adequately showcase the remaining vacant properties.

–We approved the fee waiver for the Humane Society’s rummage sales. I made a second motion that made the waiver permanent, and that was also approved. There’s no sense in holding an annual meeting over a $50 fee. A business wouldn’t do that.

–The council unanimously approved the changes to the building code. I proposed an amendment, which was also unanimously accepted, to repair wording and clarify one section of the code.

–The council also unanimously approved the contract with the village of Peninsula to perform their building inspections. Since the Monday meeting, I made several changes to the agreement to better protect Stow’s interests. These changes were incorporated into the final approved version.

–Please note that Matt Riehl and I will hold our open hours on Tuesday, February 7 at City Hall, in the second floor conference room at 5:30 p.m. Please drop by and say hi, or ask us questions. We’re happy to have as many visitors as possible.

My notes from tonight’s committee meetings are below…

– The mayor nominated Bob Pontius and Dave Licate to the Public Safety Services Commission. Pontius currently serves on the commission. Licate, you will remember, ran for Ward 1 city council in 2011.

– We discussed a waiver of the $50 fee for Summit County Humane Society to hold four rummage sales at the Stow-Kent Shopping Center, the first of which will occur March 23-24. I will seek to make their waiver permanent, so they don’t need to keep coming back each year for this waiver.

– We discussed a contract whereby Stow’s building inspectors will conduct those duties for the village of Peninsula. It’s a good deal for Stow. They will pay us the same fees paid inside Stow, plus either a $35 (residential) or $75 (commercial) add-on.  I had a few minor changes to make to the agreement between the communities. In particular, the agreement was worded so as to require Stow’s inspectors to investigate for violations within Peninsula, but this was not the parties’ intent.

– Mayor Drew seeks to reduce the pay grade on two positions: On Parks and Rec Director from 19 to 13, and on Human Resources Director from 16 to 15. Both positions are currently vacant, so now is a good time to do this. We won’t be hiring a new Human Resources Director. The administration will soon begin internal interviews for the Parks Director job. Having fewer employees is a partial cause for both changes. Also Parks Director will no longer have responsibility for Fox Den. Regrading these positions is a good move.

– Council went into executive session to examine the hiring of a part-time assistant law director for criminal prosecutions. Her name is Nicole Welsh, and you might recognize her as a former Munroe Falls City Councilperson. We previously lost a full-time assistant law director. Brian Reali is saving money by replacing him with two part-timers.

– City council will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday to vote on this legislation.

We began the council meeting on a fun note. About a dozen third- and fourth-grade students and their families were in council chambers to be recognized for their fire-prevention artwork. I think each councilperson enjoyed watching the excitement on the kids’ faces.

Tonight was the meeting where we recognized the outgoing council members: Janet D’Antonio, Joe Hickin, and Sara Drew. Each councilmember said something nice about the departing individuals. It was a little odd for Sara, because she’s obviously not going anywhere.

Sara also gave her “State of the City” address. It was refreshing to me that she did not use the opportunity to make political statements, and what she said was true. If you can’t tell, I’m drawing a contrast to the past two State of the City addresses.

A few things stood out to me:

• Sara expects groundbreaking on the new hospital in the third quarter this year.
• She instructed the finance department to draft a budget that includes, among other things, a “significant increase” in roads funding.
• She is looking for ways to lease or sell city space that is not being occupied.

I know it’s early, but I like Sara’s policies as mayor, more than as a councilwoman — or even as candidate for mayor.

It was probably an hour before city council began its usual business. Most notably, we delayed a vote on the changes to the building code. I requested this delay so that I can examine a “redline” copy of the new ordinance, compared to the old. We were not provided with this tool, so it was hard to tell what changes we were actually voting on.

Each of the new personnel were approved unanimously. They are all qualified, and I’m confident the mayor has chosen good people in their new positions.

City council will meet against with committees on January 23.