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.
Planning & Zoning:
B-64: An ordinance accepting the recommendation of the planning commission for the construction of a 40-unit townhouse multi-family development for Antonio Pilla, located at Clyde Avenue and Buchholzer Boulevard. This was presented by Planning Director Rob Kurtz, who told the committee that this passed the planning commission and the plan calls for 40 two-story rental townhomes spread between 9 buildings at the above location. The committee voted to bring this out for a vote before council July 10.
B-65: An ordinance accepting the recommendation of the planning commission for the construction of a 25,770 sq. ft. building for the Humane Society of Summit County, located at 752 West Portage Trail. This was jointly presented to the committee by Deputy Director of Community Development Mary Spaugy and Planning Director Rod Kurtz. The legislation would give a green light to the Summit County Humane Society to build a new facility in Cuyahoga Falls. Some of the highlights of this project that is considered to be the largest in the Humane Society’s 55-year history were bringing 55 jobs to the city, and the footprint of the building only using 20% of the parcel they plan to build on. The building will adhere to most of the new standards soon to become law under the new agreement between Akron and Cuyahoga Falls under the Merriman Valley Master Plan. Humane Society CEO Diane Johnson thanked council for considering this measure and the project is scheduled for groundbreaking July 21 with an expected completion date in late August 2024. The committee voted to bring this out for a vote before council July 10.
Finance & Appropriations:
B-66: An ordinance authorizing the Parks and Recreation Board to enter into a contract or contracts with Toro Century Equipment, a Jerry Pate Company, for the purchase of two Groundsmaster 3500-D mowers for use at Brookledge Golf Club. Parks Director Sarah Kline presented this legislation to the committee. The Mowers have been on order for 18 months and have a life expectancy of approximately 6 years. The total cost of this legislation after trade in of one piece of equipment will be $85k and it will come from the Leisure Time fund. The committee voted to bring this out for a vote before council next Monday.
B-67: An ordinance authorizing the director of public service to enter into a contract or contracts, without competitive bidding, with Montrose Auto Group or Ganley Toyota to purchase a compact truck. City Garage Supervisor John Campbell explained the truck will be used by the engineering department and with a truck this size fleet pricing was not available. The two dealerships listed were chosen because they encompass all of the major manufactures. They will have the dealership present pricing with the features listed and take the lowest price. The budgeted amount was $37k. The committee voted to bring this out for a vote before council next week.
B-68: An ordinance authorizing the mayor to enter into a Guaranteed Energy Savings Contract with Leopardo Energy LLC and Leopardo Companies, Inc. to implement energy efficiency improvements at the Natatorium and Fire Station 1 and savings through procurement solutions and fleet acquisition.
B-69: An ordinance authorizing the mayor or director of public service to enter into a contract or contracts with the Doering Leasing Co. for the implementation of a fleet acquisition program.
B-70: An ordinance authorizing the director of finance to enter into a contract or contracts, with the Huntington National Bank for the implementation of a virtual card and p-card payment system.
B-68, B-69, B70 are all companion ordinances Finance Director Bryan Hoffman presented this ordinance to the committee along with representatives from Leopardo Companies. Over the last two years Leopardo has been involved in a study within the city to oversee the renovation of Fire Station One and the Natatorium, and they have watched all city departments over that time period to look for ways to improve efficiencies and processes in order to find areas where the city can save energy and tax dollars. The two big ticket items were in the building renovations and a slide presentation showed their plan of action for both the facilities. The fire station will receive new doors and windows, the Natatorium will be more costly with the roof, HVAC systems and skylights all coming up on their 20-year life cycle. According to the list presented by Leopardo there are 85 major components that will need replacement. These are the items covered by B-68. Other areas for savings were covered by B-69 that will change how the city purchases vehicles and will start with 10% of the city’s fleet. B-69 will make some changes in how the city pays invoices and will bring in to use P cards for some departments to pay for some services; just like some cards you use in your household these receive cash back. All of this comes with what Leopardo does best for the communities they work for– the $10 million investment the city is making in these improvements will save the city $11 million over 20 years. The contract will also cover a system to track those savings and make Leopardo accountable.
The presentation made by Leopardo was forwarded to all council members to share with their constituents. For more information about the Leopardo Group visit their website https://leopardo.com/about/
The committee voted to bring this out for a vote before council July 10.
Public & Industrial Improvements:
B-71: An ordinance authorizing the director of public service to enter into a contract or contracts, according to law, with Environmental Design Group, for professional engineering services for the Boardwalk Transformation Project. Presented by City Engineer Tony Demasi, this portion of the $3 million project will pay for the final design work that will produce the construction drawings so that work can begin in 2024 with an estimated completion date of 2025. The cost of this portion will be $309k. The committee voted to bring this out for a vote before council next week.
B-72: An ordinance authorizing the director of public service to purchase certain interests in real property from Grace Cathedral Inc. for the improvement of West Portage Trail between State Road and Northampton Road. Also presented by City Engineer Tony Demasi this is the last of the property purchases for the widening of West Portage Trail that will start in a few weeks and finish in 2025. The committee voted to bring this out for a vote before council July 10.
Public Affairs:
B-73: An ordinance to approve current replacement pages to the Cuyahoga Falls Codified Ordinances. Presented by Deputy Law Director Matt Dickenson, this is a yearly housekeeping matter that allows the city’s ordinances to match the appropriate state laws. He said as the state laws change over the year the city must change their ordinances to match the states. One of the bigger things in this year’s changes is the state allowing concealed carry. The committee voted to bring this out for a vote before council next Monday.
Community Development:
B-74: An ordinance authorizing the mayor to enter into a Community Reinvestment Area Agreement with BVI Realty, LLC and declaring an emergency. Was asked to be held in committee by the administration.
B-75: An ordinance authorizing the mayor to return revolving loan funds to the Department of Housing and Urban Development and reutilizing the same for future economic development and public facilities and/or infrastructure improvement grants for calendar year 2023. Presented by Mary Spaugy, this is just a housekeeping matter to return funds that were not earmarked for a specific project but will be available at a later date. The committee voted to bring this out for a vote before council July 10.
