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.
Monday December 13th, Cuyahoga Falls City Council held its regular meeting with two members absent—Adam Miller and Russ Balthis. New ordinances were read into the record.
B-118: A resolution requesting for the Summit County fiscal officer to distribute the taxes it has payable to the city to be turned over to the Finance Committee.
B-119: Allows for supplemental and amended appropriations of money for current operating expenses to also be turned over to the Finance Committee.
B-120: This ordinance would amend the Codified Ordinances of the city concerning refuse collection and disposal and re-establish new rates and regulations. These increases were discussed during the budget meeting, then will be discussed in depth in the finance committee meeting on Monday, December 20th.
The following ordinances allow city departments to spend what each department has budgeted in 2022 for supplies and materials for the various departments and will be discussed individually at the finance committee’s December 20th meeting:
B-121: materials and supplies for the sanitation department.
B-122: materials and supplies for the street department.
B-123: materials and supplies for the electric department.
B-124: amends the 2021 ordinance (100-2020) for materials and supplies for the garage division.
B-125: materials and supplies for 2022 for the garage division.
B-126: the purchase or lease of various vehicles and related equipment.
B-127: materials and supplies for the water and sewer division.
The Public and Industrial Improvements Committee was assigned three ordinances and one resolution:
B-128: This ordinance will allow the city to levy special assessments to those who had sidewalks and/or drive approaches that were in the 2021 replace and repair district.
B-129: This ordinance that will allow the city to enter into a contract(s) for replacement and repair of sidewalks and drive approaches in various locations in the city for 2022.
B-130: A resolution stating the intent to create the sidewalk and drive approach district within the city limits and to replace or repair and bill the property owner via special assessments.
B-131: Allows the Director of Public Service to enter into a contract for the stabilization of the Cuyahoga Riverbank behind Ledgewater Falls Condominiums.
Public Affairs Committee was assigned four pieces of legislation:
B-132: Allows the mayor to execute the participation form for the settlement with Johnson & Johnson to the One Ohio memorandum of understanding and consistent with the terms of the July 21st 2021 proposed settlement agreement. This was the first reading for this legislation.
B-133: Establishes the authorized staffing of the fire department and creates a Deputy Fire Chief position.
B-134: Establishes the authorized staffing for the police department.
B-135: Establishes compensation levels for non-bargaining employees of the city for calendar years 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.
After assigning the upcoming legislation to the appropriate committees, Council President Barnhart made a motion and Council voted to go into executive session to discuss B-132. A roll call vote was unanimous and council left the room. Upon returning a short time later, Council voted to adjourn and held a public affairs committee meeting.
The Public Affairs Committee came to order with one piece of legislation to discuss, that being B-132, which allows the mayor to execute the participation form for the settlement with Johnson & Johnson to the One Ohio memorandum of understanding and consistent with the terms of the July 21st 2021 proposed settlement agreement. This was the second time reading the legislation. The Law Department asked if there were any comments or questions concerning the legislation, for which there were none. The committee voted to bring out B-132 for a vote before council as a whole and that concluded the Public Affairs committee.
City Council reconvened their regular meeting and a motion and vote was taken to convene into the Committee as a whole to discuss B-117. This ordinance restricts the wards of the city based on the latest US census. Law Director Janet Ciotola addressed council, stating that this is done every 10 years as an obligation of the city charter and it must be completed by year’s end. Covid-19 made this decade’s redistricting a bit more complicated because it caused the census information to be late. This was received in the fall and normally would be received in July. Triad Research Group assisted in the process.
The map presented to council with the ordinance reflects population changes in the wards and, according to Ciotola, they tried to incorporate natural features and roads as ward boundaries. It also complies with the city’s charter and best practices guidelines. The Law Department’s office manager, Will Bezbatchenko, worked with consultants and council members and states that he is available if anyone has any technical questions or requires any other information.
Council President Brillhart expressed his thanks to the law department for all of their work on this process, especially Mr. Bezbatchenko who, in Brillhart’s words, mastered the process. This legislation will also be discussed next Monday before it is voted on by the end of this year. Council then dissolved from the committee as a whole and returned to the regular city council meeting where they began the reports of council’s standing committees.
Planning and Zoning
B-102: Accepts the Planning Commission’s recommendation to approve the conditional zoning and site plan for a 5,550 sq. ft. car wash on Hudson Drive. This measure was approved 9-0.
B-105: Allowa the city to enter into a licensing agreement with Iacomini’s for the purpose of constructing and maintaining a sign in the city’s right of way at their location at 1651 Akron Peninsula Rd. This was approved 9-0.
Finance and Appropriations
B-91: Establishes the city’s budget for 2022 ($210,382,263.00). In comments before the vote Ward 4 Councilwoman Mary Nichols-Rhodes thanked Finance Committee Chair Tim Gorbach for running very efficient and well-organized meetings throughout the budget process and the administration for putting forth their vision that creates a synergy that has amazed her. She credits that for how far the city has come and how far she sees the city going. She also complimented the city’s department heads for encouraging their staff and letting their talents shine through, resulting in a lot of improvements to systems and better programing of city services. She also thanked Bryan Hoffman and his staff for the tremendous amount of work that went into putting the budget together, for whichFinance Chair Gorbach echoed her comments. The budget was approved 9-0.
B-106, B-107, B-108, B-109, B-110: The individual ordinance that put together the TIF, the agreement with the Summit County Land Bank, the purchase of property, and the sale of property to facilitate the development of South Front St. before the votes were taken, Ward 2 Councilwomen Susan Spinner wanted to thank everyone who was involved with all the moving parts that made these ordinances come together. The amount of forward thinking, planning, creativity and collaboration, plus the investment of both time and resources to develop all of the necessary components to make this project move forward were extraordinary. She went on to say that this project will have a huge impact on Cuyahoga Falls and that she was very excited as a resident and representative of ward 2 where this transformation will take place. All five pieces of legislation were voted upon individually and all passed 9-0.
B-111: Authorizes the city to enter into a contract with EyeMed to provide vision care for city employees for a period not to exceed three years. This passed 9-0.
B-112: Authorizes the city to enter into a contract with Medical Mutual for medical services and stop gap insurance for a period of one year. This passes 9-0.
B-113: Allows the city to enter into an agreement with Pro-Flex Administrators to administrate the employees’ HSA accounts, 125K accounts, retiree medical plans and COBRA services for a period not to exceed 3 years. Passed 9-0.
B-114: Allows the city to enter into a contract for a human resources and payroll management software for a period not to exceed 3 years. Passed 9-0.
Public Affairs
B-115: Establishes the maximum hiring age for original appointments to police officer at 40 years old at the time of their exam. Passed 9-0.
B-132: Allows the mayor to execute the participation form for the settlement with Johnson & Johnson to the One Ohio memorandum of understanding and consistent with the terms of the July 21, 2021 proposed settlement agreement. This was the third reading of this legislation and it passed 9-0.
Community Development
B-100: This legislation would create a Tax increment Financing District for the area known as Pine Ridge development off of Akron-Cleveland Rd. near Wyoga Lake Rd. for which a public hearing was held on November 1. This passed 9-0.
Council President Brillhart then scheduled committee meetings for December 20 and council adjourned.
