Stow City Council
Vote Nov. 8th!

The Finance Committee and Committee-of-the-Whole met tonight to discuss legislation for Thursday’s council meeting. My notes are below…

• The committee passed forward legislation to pay the city’s electric bill for 2012 — almost $500,000. The actual amount of the expenditure will likely be less, maybe as little as $420,000. The committee also approved contracts for telephone system maintenance costs, costs for postage in mailing water bills, and sewer services from the county.

• Speaking of the county, did you read about the proposed Storm Water Management Fee of $12 per home? It’s the county’s proposed response to flooding and environmental issues. For communities like Stow, it’s not required. Stow already assesses a fee on its water, and we address flooding issues by investing in infrastructure with that money. Plus, Stow is a border community, so it would not receive the benefit of a city bordering only other Summit municipalities. I don’t often talk about other political bodies on this blog, but my opinion on the new county fee is, “No thanks.”

• The city will increase employee contributions for health insurance. Presently, employees pay 3.5%. The union contracts will require that all employees have the same contributions as the unions. The new contracts will include the following provisions: $52 per month (family coverage) in 2012, and 5% of the city’s COBRA costs in 2013 and thereafter. The plan will be up for a vote on Thursday evening.

• The council has a contingency fund of $10,000. It’s money that is generally not used throughout the year and re-deposited in the general fund. We have not used any of the money yet this year. But the Finance Committee approved a $500 donation to the Close Up program, which allows Stow students to get a chance to, among other things, visit Washington, D.C. to see their government work (or not work, depending on your perspective).

• Committee of the Whole met in executive session to discuss three personnel contracts. They are Fox Den superintendent Fred Hanson and Fox Den pro Tom McKinney, as well as Director of Budgeting John Earle. The administration wants a one-year contract for Hanson and McKinney and a four-year contract for Earle (which would begin in July 2012 and extend through July 2016).

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

• Please note that Matt Riehl and I will not hold our normal office hours tomorrow. Instead, the Winter Wonderland Celebration begins tomorrow at 6 p.m. at City Hall.

A good chunk of tonight’s meeting was spent honoring the Stow golf team and departed city engineer Bill Drew. Both deserved every kind thing that was said about them.

Finance director John Baranek gave us a short synopsis of the city’s progress in taking credit card payments over the Internet, which will begin this spring for utility bills and later for income taxes.

Council unanimously amended the legislation that approved the nursing home off Sowul Blvd. The amendment moved a driveway south in order to help the aesthetics for Rockport Colony residents.

Council will meet next the week of December 5, when there will be a finance committee meeting.

I took a brief break from blogging after the election, for two reasons: 1) I was completely exhausted from politics. 2) I wanted to do some self-analysis to see how I can be a more effective leader for our community.

During the campaign, I received an incredible amount of support from residents while I knocked on doors. Residents appreciated that someone was willing to “shake things up” and think outside the box.

I also heard some comments from folks who feel I created move divisiveness than our community needs in such a difficult time. When I say I’m “listening” to residents, I don’t mean I’m only listening to residents who agree with me. I have put much thought into the criticism as well.

In January, Sara Drew will take office as mayor, and she will be immediately confronted with the greatest challenge our city has ever seen — a significant decline in state revenue during a recession.

I am prepared to be a cheerleader for this administration if we can make it through this challenge as a stronger city than before.

It all comes down to one fact: I truly care about Stow. If raising our town reflects well on the people who I feel have partially gotten us into this trouble, then I’ll be the happiest person in the room. I have come to the conclusion that I have not done a good enough job of expressing these motives to my colleagues.

I’m excited for this opportunity to become a better representative for you, and to work with the people I disagreed with, rather than in spite of them.

But I will continue to maintain this blog. And don’t doubt for a second that I will continue to watch after your tax dollars.

Tonight, the Planning Committee and Finance Committee met. Below are my notes…

• We had another hearing on the proposed 80-bed nursing home on Sowul Blvd. The nursing home and the planning department have worked out all but one of the issues. The residents would prefer if one of the driveways did not abut a street leading into Rockport Colony; rather, they would like the drive moved farther south for aesthetic reasons. We will discuss the issue Thursday and possibly approve the nursing home’s conditional zoning certificate.

• The planning department also put forth several changes to the zoning code, which will clean up some bureaucratic red tape and make it easier for businesses to come to town. My first impression is that these are good changes, even if city council loses some supervisory authority.

• We received a block grant for a water line on Stow Road and Bryn Mawr. It will be a project for 2012.

• The Finance Committee passed through a temporary appropriation of funds for the first 90 days of 2012. This is necessary, given the likelihood that we will be discussing the budget into March. The state requires each city to pass its budget by March 31.

• The committee also passed along proposals to renew our two contracts for stop-loss health insurance coverage. If you didn’t know, the city is self-insured up to a certain point. Once we reach expenses of $150,000 per covered person or up to 125% of the expected claims, our stop-loss insurance kicks in. When you’re a self-insured corporation of Stow’s size, stop-loss insurance is a necessary cost to minimize risk. Our premiums on the aggregate coverage should decline, however, with our reduction in workforce.

• We learned that the bump on Call Road where the sinkhole repair occurred will be repaired sometime this year. Trees that were taken down will not be replanted until next spring.

Council will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday to pass the legislation discussed tonight.