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.
New Ordinances & Resolutions
B-130: An ordinance amending sections 923.01 and 923.02 of Part Five of Title Nine of the Codified Ordinances of the City of Cuyahoga Falls, establishing water rates was assigned to the finance committee for discussion December 4 at 6:30 pm at the Natatorium.
B-131: An ordinance amending Section 925.02 of the Codified Ordinances of the City of Cuyahoga Falls. Assigned to the finance committee.
B-132: An ordinance authorizing the director of public service to enter into a contract or contracts forthe demolition of a structure located at 357 Steels Corners Road, and removal of demolition debris, and certifying the cost thereof to the County Fiscal Officer for collection in the manner provided by law. Assigned to the public and industrial improvements committee.
B-133: An ordinance authorizing the director of public service to enter into a contract or contracts, according to law, for the demolition of structures located at 600 Sill Avenue, and removal of demolition debris and certifying the cost thereof to the county fiscal officer for collection in the manner provided by law. Assigned to the public and industrial improvements committee.
Reports of Council’s Standing Committees
Finance & Appropriations:
B-124: An ordinance authorizing the procurement of Lake Erie Construction Company to install downtown historical signage on State Route 8. Passed 10-0.
B-125: An ordinance authorizing the director of public service to enter into a contract or contracts for employment agency services related to seasonal and occasional employees. Passed 10-0.
B-126: An ordinance authorizing the director of public service to enter into a contract or contracts, according to law, for the replacement of curb on Silver Lake Avenue. Passed 10-0.
B-127: An ordinance authorizing the director of public service to enter into the 2023 NPP Power Pool participant schedule with American Municipal Power, Inc. Passed 10-0.
B-128: An ordinance authorizing the mayor, as director of public safety, to sell to Source Products, Inc., certain used Fire Department equipment. Passed 10-0.
B-129: An ordinance authorizing the Park and Recreation Board to enter into a contract or contracts for the interior renovation after publicly advertising for bids, of the Brookledge Golf Club Clubhouse. Passed 10-0.
Budget discussion continued Monday night, starting with the NECCO department. Their budget will remain close to what it was last year with the exception of a new software addition in the form of an app that residents can add to their phones to receive push notifications that alert them of updates and other news from the city. A service is being reviewed currently, for which NECCO lead Carrie Snyder said news will be coming soon. It was also brought up that as a result of the Ohio Magazine story featuring Cuyahoga Falls, the city’s website has experienced an uptick in views. It went from 56k in the month of September to 1 million in October and currently in November it has reached 4 million.
Community Development Director Diana Colavecchio reports that except for a staffing change, their budget will also remain as it did in 2023. After discussion amongst her staff and comparing their office to other communities in the area, they are requesting to add another planner to their current staff. This new staff member would primarily do code and zoning enforcement to allow the planning director and assistant planning director more time to do staff reports and prepare information for the different boards and commissions. Colavecchio also gave some of the highlights that her office completed in 2023 including being almost 95% complete with integrating the Merriman Valley master plan into our general development code. Other highlights for the year included the city’s partnership in Rise Together to help close the gaps in staffing the local workforce and our partnership with The Summit County Landbank in the Glens Development on South Front St.
Peggy Szalay, CDBG Entitlement Administrator, gave an overview of how the city’s CDBG funds were administered in 2023, including expanding the library community language program, free WIFI to our residents of public housing, grants to Good Neighbors helping 1,320 families and installation of audible crossing signals in our downtown area, plus several upgrades to our community parks including restroom upgrades and pickleball courts at the Quirk Center. Future upgrades will happen in 2024 to Indian Mountain Park and Kennedy Park also using CBDG funds. Szalay also urged those in attendance to take the CBDG department survey so they can properly access the community’s needs for 2024.
As the other departments presented their budgets and plans for 2024, Park Superintendent Sara Kline promises more summer events in the downtown area including a regional event and activities surrounding the solar eclipse in April that she described as a “large scale event “and also announced the city will be hosting a July 4th event including fireworks.
