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.
Legislation scheduled for discussion
Finance & Appropriations:
B-38; An ordinance providing for supplemental appropriations for operational expenditures of the City of Cuyahoga Falls in the General Fund, Civil Service Commission. This legislation was presented by Finance Director Bryan Hoffman, and it is a change due to the large volume of promotional exams and additional exams for replacing retiring employees. The increase would be in the amount of 50k. The committee voted to bring this out for a vote Monday, July 14.
B-39: An ordinance authorizing the mayor, as director of public safety, to enter into a contract or contracts, without competitive bidding, with Atlantic Emergency Solutions, Inc. for the purchase of Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) equipment for use by the fire department.
B-40; An ordinance authorizing the mayor, as director of public safety, to enter into a contract or contracts, without competitive bidding, with Breathing Air Systems, Inc. for the purchase of Self- Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) equipment for use by the fire department. Chief Martin explained this would cover the cost of replacing the 30-minute bottles currently used by our firefighters with newer bottles that have a 45-minute capacity. The emergency air bottles would remain the same. The department will be replacing 58 of these units. B-40 will replace and purchase new fill stations so it would provide upgrade fill stations at all stations and a new fill station at the new station #4. The committee voted to bring both ordinances out for a vote separately Monday, July 14.
Public & Industrial Improvements:
B-41: An ordinance authorizing the director of public service to enter into a contract or contracts, according to law, for the replacement of the Air Handling Units on the Municipal Building, located at 2310 2nd Street in the City of Cuyahoga Falls. City Building and Grounds supervisor John Ball stated the air handling system currently in the city building is original to the building when it was constructed and was a budgeted item for this year. The committee voted to bring this out for a vote Monday, July 14.
B-42: A resolution of intent to appropriate certain property along Wyoga Lake Road between Seasons Road and East Steels Corners Road. City Engineer Tony Demasi presented this resolution to the committee. Part of the process for obtaining both construction easements and permanent easements— to date, 13 of the property owners have acknowledged their letters and have signed on with another 18 who have not received their letters yet are planning on signing as soon as they arrive. Thirty-one properties will be affected in total. The committee voted to bring this out for a vote Monday, July 14.
B-43: An ordinance authorizing the mayor, as director of public safety, to enter into a contract or contracts, according to law, for the demolition and replacement of Fire Station #4 and construction of a new training facility and training prop. Some highlights of Chief Martin”s presentation were that Station #4 will remain 100% operational during the construction of the new station and training facility. The new station will join the other stations in the city by housing two fire companies (three firefighters make up each company). Station #4 is currently only able to house one company. Bids were opened in mid-June, and the best and lowest bid came from Summit Construction from Akron at $9.3 million while it was budgeted at $10 million. The committee voted to bring this out for a vote Monday July, 14.
B-44; An ordinance authorizing the director of public service to enter into a modification of Contract No. 8984 with DLZ Ohio, Inc. This will modify the current contract the city has by $500k and it is to complete the interceptor sewer line that will eventually end near Gorge Park as well as complete the design work.Water Department Supervisor Russ Kring stated that all of this project is timed to happen at the same time the dam is being removed, and they have been working closely with the city of Akron, the EPA and the other contractors working on the project. The committee voted to bring this out for a vote Monday, July 14.
B-45: An ordinance authorizing the director of public service to enter into a contract or contracts, without competitive bidding, with United Survey Inc. for the lining of storm sewers in the city right of way. The legislation will allow the water department to make repairs on two 72”diameter storm sewers in the Graham Road area. The work will all happen underground and no traffic will be affected. The proposal will apply a half-inch coating in the inside of the existing sewer line and the material used has a lifespan of 50 years. Kring told the committee that this technology has been used in several places within the city and has performed very well. When asked for an estimate on what it would cost to do the same with steel pipe, Kring estimated it would be well over $300k per pipe. This project was budgeted and the price tag will be $97k. The committee voted to bring this out for a vote Monday, July 14.
B-46: A resolution authorizing the mayor to apply for Federal Congestion Mitigation/Air Quality Funds programmed by the Akron Metropolitan Area Transportation Study (AMATS) for the signal improvement of Barney’s Busy Corners. Presented by city engineer Tony Demasi, the project to design the system came from grants received in July 2017 when the city was awarded $276k in safety funds. That money was used to pay for analyses and feasibility studies to improve the operation of the intersection. The result of the study was the recommendation to replace existing traffic controls with a modernized system that will include the ability to connect with our Centrex traffic control system and tie it into the Howe Road corridor. The new system would offer battery backup, preemption for police and fire sirens, and vehicle sensors for all lanes. The proposed system would also include signage and additional traffic control devices for motorists traveling eastbound. This legislation will allow the city to apply for a grant to move forward with the design from the original grant and begin the upgrade to this six-road intersection that carries over 30k vehicles per day. The only intersection that sees more traffic is at Howe Avenue and Main Street and that carries 33k. The cost for the system as designed would be $400k and when applying for the grant the city would be asking for 80% of that price. The committee voted to bring this out for a vote Monday, July 14.
Public Affairs:
B-47: An ordinance providing an amendment to the Charter of the City of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, originally adopted by the electorate on November 3, 1959, and amended from time to time, to be submitted at the next General Election on November 4, 2025, which amendment will revise Article IV, Section 2, “Composition and Term.”
B-48 An ordinance providing an amendment to the Charter of the City of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, originally adopted by the electorate on November 3, 1959, and amended from time to time, to be submitted at the next General Election on November 4, 2025, which amendment will revise Article IV, Section 5, “Vacancies and Absences.”
B-49: An ordinance providing an amendment to the Charter of the City of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, originally adopted by the electorate on November 3, 1959, and amended from time to time, to be submitted at the next General Election on November 4, 2025, which amendment will revise Article II, Section 7, “Vacancy in the Office of the Mayor.”
All three charter ordinances are companion legislation and were presented to the committee by Law Director Janet Ciotola who began her presentation by thanking her staff and the Charter Review Board. B-47 would ask the voters to decide to extend the current term for ward councilperson from two years to four years. The changes would not take place until the 2030 term (voted for in November of 2029). Ciotola said that while researching this portion of the charter she learned Cuyahoga Falls was one of only three cities in Summit and Cuyahoga counties who still had two-year ward council terms. With that change a second question arises, which is how the charter handles the situation should someone be elected to a four-year term and resign or otherwise be unable to complete their term.
B-48 would do nothing to how a replacement councilperson is chosen; however. the person appointed to fill the seat would have to run in the next municipal election and be elected to the seat by the voters. This wasn’t an issue with two-year terms but for a four-year term this is what the committee recommended.
For B-49, if approved by voters, this would also require the mayor’s office to be treated the same way should there be a vacancy. Currently if the mayor is unable to complete their term they are succeeded by the president of City Council. That person would also have to run for the office in the next municipal election. It is important to remember that even if all three of these pieces of legislation pass city council, they all have to be approved by the voters in November. The committee voted to bring this out for a vote Monday, July 14.
B-50: An ordinance providing amendments to the Charter of the City of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, which amendments will remove obsolete language in Article III, Section 5, “Director of Public Service.” This legislation was also presented by Law Director Janet Ciotola and she described it as the housecleaning part of the charter that removes obsolete language and departments and these changes only require a council vote to become law. Examples cited include replacing “records department” with “human resources,” or the removal of “the welfare department.” The committee voted to bring this out for a vote Monday, July 14.
Community Development:
B-51: A resolution accepting the recommendations of the Tax Incentive Review Council and the Community Reinvestment Area Housing Council concerning Enterprise Zone and Community Reinvestment Area tax exemption agreements within the City of Cuyahoga Falls. When the city offers tax abatements the state of Ohio requires follow up to make sure the parties involved are maintaining their end of the agreement. Community Development Deputy Director Mary Spaugy reported to the committee that the 117 residential properties and 18 commercial properties receiving abatements are all in compliance. The 18 commercial properties have not only met their employment and payroll obligations, they have exceeded them. She also went on to say the agreement for Kyocera (SGSTool) will sunset this year and next year the new storage warehouse and overhead door, both on Wyoga Lake Road will all begin in 2026. The committee voted to bring this out for a vote Monday, July 14..
