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 councilmembers 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.
Finance & Appropriations:
B-93: Allowing the mayor to execute a grant agreement with the Akron-Canton Food Bank to provide emergency food assistance to the residents affected by the loss of Snap benefits. Mayor Walters presented this measure to the committee. Walters said the county has passed a measure to donate one quarter of a million dollars to the foodbank and has asked local communities to match their grant. There are 4,345 residents in Cuyahoga Falls who receive SNAP assistance. The Akron-Canton Food Bank partners with many of the city’s local charities such as good neighbors and Pantry on the corner. The finance committee voted to bring this out for a vote before full council at a special council meeting held Monday night ; it passed 10-0.
Legislation scheduled for discussion:
B-88: An ordinance amending Section 921.06 of the Codified Ordinances, relating to termination of service. Presented by Law Director Janet Ciatola, the major change in the current ordinance is that the resident/customer must allow city personnel access to city equipment. The finance committee voted to bring this out for a vote before full council next week.
B-90: An ordinance authorizing the mayor to enter into a contract or contracts, without competitive bidding, with NEOGOV for human resources and payroll management software and related services for a period not to exceed three years. HR director Viki Stiener informed the committee that although there were three bids opened, two of the bids didn’t meet the needs of public entities when it came to training and certifications. The software costs $71k and was budgeted for 2025. The finance committee voted to bring this out for a vote before full council next week.
B-91: An ordinance authorizing the director of public service to enter into a contract or contracts, according to law, for the replacement of the 6” water main with an 8” water main on Valley Road, from Maitland Avenue to the intersection of Valley Road and State Road. According to city engineer Tony Demasi, the monies requested are to replace a line that was originally placed in 1928 and expanded in 1956. Seven bids were opened and the best and lowest bid came from HM Miller of Mogadore. Valley Road was on the list to be paved in 2025 and with this project on the horizon Demasi stated it would be paved in 2026 due to the construction. The plan is to start construction in May to ensure completion by July then resurface the roadway. The finance committee voted to bring this out for a vote before full council next week.
B-89: An ordinance establishing annual appropriations of money for the current expenses, capital expenditures and other expenses of the City of Cuyahoga Falls for the fiscal year ending December 31. This ordinance will establish the city’s operating budget for 2026.
Over the next few weeks every department head within the city will appear before the finance committee to go through their departments’ budget in 2026.
Mayor Walters kicked the process off by highlighting some of the things in store for 2026. He thanked the finance department and all the department heads for their long hours in compiling the operating budget for 2026. As the council knows, he said, this is a lengthy process each year, and just like budgets at home, the city prioritizes wants vs. needs. The city always budgets conservatively, meaning council expects revenues to come in slightly higher than projected, and expenditures to be slightly lower than projected. The city monitors the economy closely and analyzes trends in withholding tax, income tax, and net profit tax. Fortunately, due to the city having the largest reserve cash balance in our history, just the interest income alone from cash reserves has allowed the city to prepay all the debt in the bond retirement fund for the next 5 years.
Not glamorous, but vitally important, residents will see renewed improvements to infrastructure which includes a total of $14.25 Million in street paving and street improvements. This budget also includes substantial investment in sidewalk replacements, water line replacements, storm water improvements, electric upgrades, and major improvements to the water treatment plant. The city is also adding additional employees to the street department to expand their summer and winter duties. In 2026, Cuyahoga Falls will have one of the first police departments in the region to have an all-electric police car. The city is purchasing a Chevy Blazer Police Edition with an estimated 250-300 miles of range and a top speed of over 130mph. For EVs, the price has come down, the range has gone up, and the maintenance basically consists of adding windshield washer fluid.
Finally in 2026, residents will see the completion of the Riverloop, South Front Street improvements, Fire Station #4 combined with the state-of-the-art training facility, and the Wyoga Lake Road widening project. With that, Mayor Walters said he was proud to present our 2026 budget proposal.
There will be three more meetings concerning the budget and they will take place at 6:30 pm at the Natatorium.
Public Affairs:
B-92: A resolution confirming the reappointment of Dr. Patrick Blakeslee as the City of Cuyahoga Falls representative to serve on the Summit County Combined General Health District Board of Health for a four-year term beginning January 1, 2026 and ending December 31, 2029. Mayor Walters told the committee that Blakeslee is still happy to volunteer for this position for another four years. The public affairs committee voted to bring this out for a vote before full council next week.
