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:
A-81: An ordinance determining to proceed with the acquisition, installation, equipment, and improvement of certain public improvements in the City of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio in cooperation with the Akron Summit County Energy Special Improvement District.
A-82: An ordinance levying special assessments for the purpose of acquiring, installing, equipping, and improving certain public improvements in the City of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio in cooperation with the Akron Summit County Energy Special Improvement District; and approving an Energy Project Cooperative Agreement, a Special Assessment Agreement, and a supplement to a Standing Payment Agreement connection with improvements and in such special assessments.
A-81 was presented by Law Director Janet Ciotola and has a companion ordinance A-82. Together with an ordinance for this passed in September 2023, these three pieces of legislation work as follows:
The first step in September was to show the intent to participate in the Special Energy Improvement Project under Ohio Revised Code 1710. The second part is A-81, that shows the property owner, Akron Pen 1972 LLC, plans on proceeding with the $10,261,145 estimated project that will include equipping, and improving energy efficiency improvements, including HVAC systems and LED lighting. The third ordinance, A-82 gives the county permission to assess the property owner for the 30 biannual payments needed to pay back for the improvements. Those payments will begin January 2026.
Ciotola also said at no time will the city be liable for any of the debt outstanding with this project; it is all up to the county to collect. This is the first time Cuyahoga Falls has used this tool on a project this large, but it has been used for the addition of LED lighting to one of our substations. Several communities in Summit County have participated in this program. The committee Voted to bring both A-81 and A-82 out for a vote next Monday.
A-83; An ordinance authorizing the director of public service to enter into a contract or contracts, according to law, with Survalent Technology Corp. for the replacement of the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition platform for the Electric Department. Electric Supervisor Rod Troxell started with an explanation that this is a troubleshooting tool used by his department to monitor feeders and substations across the city. The system the city currently uses is no longer supported by the vendor, so his department went out to bid and after much deliberation settled on Survalent based upon the product as a whole and recommendations from other cities. The budgeted amount for this expense was $320k and the bid came in at $225k. The plan is to continue to run the existing system at the current electric service building and run the Survalent Technology from the new electric service shop on Cochran Road until everyone is proficient and comfortable with the new system. Troxell also said the new software will allow his department to better monitor for the problems that can cause a major outage by being able to localize smaller problems and repair them before they become widespread. The finance committee voted to bring this out for a vote before council next Monday.
Public & Industrial Improvements:
A-84: An ordinance authorizing the mayor to enter into a Reimbursement Agreement with the City of Akron, Ohio for the connection of the relocated Gorge Sanitary Trunk Sewer to the Northside Interceptor Tunnel. Russ Kring, the water department supervisor, explained this will set aside funds to reimburse the city of Akron for adding a connection point to accept our main trunk line in the Gorge when the improvements to our system are completed. The public and industrial improvements committee voted to bring this out for a vote before council next Monday.
A-85: An ordinance authorizing the director of public service to enter into a contract or contracts, according to law, with O. R. Colan Associates, LLC, for professional engineering services for the improvements to Wyoga Lake Road, from E. Steels Corners Road to Seasons Road. This legislation will set in motion the process of determining the amount of right of way needed for driveway approaches and other appurtenances needed for improvements planned for this area. There are approximately 31 properties that will be affected. The public and industrial improvements committee voted to bring this out for a vote before council next Monday.
A-86: An ordinance authorizing the director of public service to enter into a contract or contracts without competitive bidding with Kenmore Construction for the replacement of city storm sewer for emergency repairs at 125 Graham Road and increasing appropriations. Kring explained this legislation approves funds to pay for an emergency repair from damage caused by the August 8 storm. The management at Menards notified the city they had a sinkhole of almost 20 feet in their front yard. After investigation it was determined that at one point in the 1980s the storm sewer was upgraded to concrete; however, a section of corrugated steel pipe was never replaced and during the August 8 storm it collapsed. Kring did mention that 30 years is the average lifespan of that type of pipe, and it is being replaced with concrete. The public and industrial improvements committee voted to bring this out for a vote before council next Monday.
A-87: An ordinance authorizing the director of public service to enter into a contract or contracts, according to law, to construct three (3) dumpster enclosures on Riverfront Parkway. Planning Director Rob Kurtz stated that this would allow the city to move forward with enclosing and consolidating the trash dumpsters along Riverfront Parkway. Discussions have taken place between the property owners and the city and there will be three locations in the area. The enclosures will be owned by the city and will house the dumpsters owned by the businesses and emptied by private contractors. There was some discussion concerning who would be responsible for any damage or graffiti; there will be a process to monitor and remedy problems as they happen. Estimated cost is $130k and the project is set to begin in November and be completed by spring. The new locations would also eliminate the city pick of wheelie bins in the area and pick-up after festivals would be handled as they have been in the past. The public and industrial improvements committee voted to bring this out for a vote before council next Monday.
