Cuyahoga Falls City Council holds regular meetings on the second and fourth Mondays of each month. Council committee meetings are held on the first and third Mondays in order to allow council members to publicly discuss pending legislation that will be voted on at regular meetings. The public is free to comment on pending legislation during the allowed time set aside as part of committee meetings.
Special Committee on Sustainability, Energy, and Environment:
A-71: A resolution authorizing the City of Cuyahoga Falls to become a Power a Clean Future Ohio community. Committee Chair Mary Nicholas Rhodes began the meeting by giving a brief rundown of measures the city has taken recently to reduce energy use, replacing 3,000 street light bulbs with LEDs, hybrid vehicles in our police department, and other measures to keep our city on the forefront of environmental sustainability. Nichols-Rhodes introduced Cassandra Clevenger, Deputy Director of Power a Clean Future Ohio, who outlined the services her agency provides communities free of charge to help reduce their carbon footprint and become more sustainable. Part of her presentation showed work her agency is doing with the city of Toledo and the Township of Yellow Creek. The cost to the city for this work is nothing, as Power a Clean Future Ohio operates through donations from philanthropists as a large part of their budget. Four citizens also spoke on behalf of the resolution, pointing out that a connection with Power a Clean Future Ohio would have made their residential solar power projects go much smoother, and also feeling sustainability is becoming more and more important. Resident Austin Roe stated, “We can no longer wait for Washington or Columbus to act. This needs to start within our community.” The committee voted to bring this out for a vote before council next Monday.
Finance Committee:
A-67: An ordinance authorizing the director of finance to enter into a contract or contracts, without competitive bidding, with Storm 7 Labs LLC for the maintenance of the city’s network firewall. The presentation was made to the committee by IT director Josh Kington. This measure would settle the funding for the firewall software and the ordinance is capped at 60k. The finance committee voted to bring this out for a vote before council next Monday.
A-68: An ordinance authorizing the director of public service to enter into a contract or contracts, without competitive bidding, for the purchase of services, materials, supplies, and equipment for use in the water division in 2022, making the necessary appropriations for the same, and declaring an emergency. The administration asked to place this legislation on hold temporarily.
Public and Industrial Improvements Committee:
A-69: An ordinance authorizing and directing the appropriation of certain interests in real property necessary for the improvement of West Portage Trail Extension between State Road and Northampton Road, and declaring an emergency. This measure was discussed in executive session earlier in the evening and the committee voted to bring it before a vote before council next Monday.
A-70: A resolution authorizing the mayor to apply for and accept financial assistance in the form of a grant or loan from the Ohio Public Works Commission for replacement of 6” and 8” water mains on Oakwood Drive, from Graham Road to Monroe Avenue, and declaring an emergency. City Engineer Tony Demasi made the presentation on this re-application, stating that we had received this grant at one point but were unable to meet the timeline set by the state, this re-application, if successful, would make funding available in 2023 and be available for a 2-year construction period.
