Cuyahoga Falls City council meets on the second and fourth Mondays of each month and council committee meetings are held on the first and third Monday to publicly discuss pending legislation that will be voted on by council as a whole during its regular scheduled meetings. The public is free to comment on pending legislation during the allowed time on the night of committee meetings.
The Planning and Zoning committee discussed two pieces of legislation. The first was B-65 and will approve the final subdivision plot as authorized and passed by the planning commission for a new apartment/office development called Princeton Place where land is currently being cleared south of Walsh High School. The development will have 150 units on a 32 acre parcel, while retail office area will occupy approximately 5 acres.
The other pieces of legislation discussed was B-66, which was also authorized and approved by the planning commission. This ordinance would allow the construction of 10 town home units on property located at 1239 Bailey Rd. next to units constructed several years ago. These will be three-story buildings.
The finance committee had several ordinances and resolutions before them for discussion.
B-67: This ordinance allows the Park Board to enter into a contract for a new HVAC unit and a new building automation system. Parks Superintendent Sara Kline explained that the building is now 18 years old and in some areas components are starting to show their age. The new air conditioning unit purchase will be complimented with the additional purchase of a new building maintenance system. The original system has begun to fail and is using proprietary software that makes repair and maintenance more difficult. The new controller that monitors and maintains the building’s heat, humidity and lighting uses HTML based software that will allow it to interface with a wider variety of devices both now and in the future.
B-68: An ordinance to enter into a contract with James G. Zupka for auditing services to review the city’s finances. The auditor of the state typically picks the firm that a city uses, however it is up to the individual city to pay the firm.
B-69: Ordinance B-69 was discussed and council was introduced to the new IT director, Josh Kington. This ordinance is a no bid contract with Verizon for all of the city’s handheld devices, along with the mobile data terminals in the city police, fire, and paramedic vehicles. Josh further went on to say that at this point replacing all of those units with ones from another carrier would not be cost effective and it was best to stay with Verizon at this time.
B-70: B-70 was discussed and Finance Director Bryan Hoffman explained this was a yearly measure that allows the city to accept the tax rate that the county collects on our behalf.
B-71: Ordinance B-71 was also a no-bid contract, however, it is to renew a service agreement for the city’s Innoprise computer software and hosting. Hoffman stated that was the renewal of a 5-year contract for the mainframe computer and software that operates almost all of the city’s departments. The recipient of the contract is Harris Computer Systems and has had a long standing history of quality service and response to the city’s needs over the years
B-72: This concerns a house at the intersection of Bailey and Erie St. City records show that the house has a history of failed inspections brought on by tenant complaints to the housing department. City engineer Tony Demasi stated in July of this year that the county condemned the property. This legislation will allow the city to enter into a contract with a company to demolish the house and remove the debris, placing the cost on the tax bill of the property owner. The property is currently vacant and the owner wasn’t present at the meeting.
B-73: Charles Novak, the city’s Street Commissioner, presented this to the finance committee as a budgeted leaf vacuum truck that would expedite leaf pick up this year, allowing the driver to stop and aim the vacuum tube to the curb to suck up the leaves. This would allow a one-man operation to pick up many of the leaves the program collects throughout the season along with the standard tow-behind vacuum trailer and crew we are accustomed to seeing in the fall.
B-74: Mr. Novak’s next presentation to the finance committee was for the lease of a street sweeper to replace one of the city’s existing ones, either by trading in or selling it at auction.
All 8 items discussed in finance committee were voted to be brought for a vote of council as a whole on Monday, September 27.
The public affairs committee had 2 ordinances.
B-77: Chief Davis made the presentation, stating that this ordinance will change the wording related to members of the traffic committee from “a representative from tech services” to “a representative from police department.” According to Davis, with changes being made in the tech services department, this position makes better sense to be filled by a member of the police department.
B-78: This ordinance authorizes the mayor to sell a 2016 police interceptor SUV to Akron Children’s Hospital. Mr. Campbell supervisor city garage, said the SUV had reached its useful life with our department and would have typically been converted to civilian use and sold at auction. Passage of this ordinance would save the city money from having to convert the cruiser and helps the hospital fulfill their needs.
Both of these items were voted to be brought out for a vote of council as a whole on Monday, September 27.
