Akron City Council considers funding for DUI Court
By Stephanie Kist
DOWNTOWN AKRON — Akron City Council is considering legislation that would allow Akron Municipal Court to fund the implementation of a DUI Court.
Appearing before the Budget and
Finance Committee, Akron Municipal Court judges Alison
McCarty and Eve Belfance explained they were approved
for a $50,600 grant for fiscal year 2006, which expires
this Sept. 30, to explore the possibility of implementing
the court, which would be similar but not identical
to the other specialty courts in Akron Municipal Court.
The DUI Court would not be a diversion court, so the
cases would not be dismissed.
They now want to accept additional
federal funding to cover the costs of hiring some part-time
personnel and purchasing sophisticated monitoring equipment
for the operation of the DUI Court. The grant already
has been approved by the Ohio Department of Public Safety.
The grant is a reimbursement
grant, meaning the city would expend its own funds upfront
and be reimbursed.
Council is expected to vote on
the legislation at its next meeting Sept. 25.
Council also agreed to vote Sept.
25 on a project that would improve a privately owned
parking lot on Copley Road between South Hawkins and
Nome avenues after the Public Service Committee was
pressed to take action by Councilwoman Reneé
Greene (D-Ward 4), in whose ward the property is situated,
and business owner Jacqueline Easley.
The committee has balked at allowing
city funds to be spent to improve a privately owned
lot.
Easley and Greene said access
to parking in the lot is such a problem it has caused
altercations between motorists.
“I think it is truly an
injustice to these folks who have lost business,”
Greene said.
In other business, Council unanimously
approved a resolution urging support for the passage
of Issue 6, the Akron Public Schools operating levy,
on Nov. 7.
In a flurry of comments regarding
the resolution, Councilman Michael Williams (D-at large)
stressed the funds raised by the levy would be used
for the day-to-day operation of the school district
and are a “totally separate issue” from
the construction of several new buildings.
He said during election time
the issue of school funding could be brought up by candidates,
and it might well need to be examined, but “for
today and for the immediate future, we need to take
care of our Akron Public Schools and pass Issue 6.”
Councilmen Dan Horrigan (D-Ward
1) and John Otterman (D-at large) took the opportunity
to urge better communication between Council and the
Akron Public Schools Board of Education, and Greene
said it is important for Council as leaders of the city
to support the children of Akron.
“Public education has to
be protected,” she said.
Also during the meeting, Council
had a public hearing regarding a request to retain a
parking lot at 33 Charlotte St. near the intersection
of Merriman Road in Ward 1. Both the city Planning Department
and Planning Commission recommended against approval
of the request because
it would set a negative precedent and the 30-foot-by-19-foot
gravel lot is contrary to the city’s land-use
plan.
Petitioner Christopher Morgan
Jr., who owns multiple unit buildings in the neighborhood,
said he is trying to provide parking for the residents
of his buildings.
Two neighbors, Mary King and
Ken Liston, claimed the lot is an eyesore.
During the Planning Committee
meeting earlier that afternoon, Horrigan, in whose ward
the property is situated, said he doesn’t support
the request.
Council requested time on the
issue and will vote on it at a later date.
Also that afternoon during the
Public Service Committee meeting, Public Works Bureau
Manager Paul Barnett said the city is about two-thirds
complete with upgrading the trash pickup program to
a fully automated method. Next week, he said, customers
in Northwest Akron (all of Ward 8 and parts of Ward
1 and 4) will begin receiving their new trash receptacles.
He also addressed questions Council
had about an accident on the first day of the new program
when the automated arm of one of the packers was ripped
off because the driver failed to return the arm to the
proper position before engaging the truck, causing the
arm to strike a utility pole.
Barnett said he was informed
by the company that produces the packers that had never
happened before.
“Right now the drivers
are scared to death that it could happen again,”
he said, but added it was “such a fluke”
that it wouldn’t be prudent to go to a tremendous
expense to equip trucks with an audio alarm that would
sound if the arm wasn’t in the proper place. There
is a visual alarm already working in the trucks.
During the regular meeting, Council
also:
• continued to take time
on a proposed sewer rate increase;
• requested time on legislation
rezoning parcels on Romig Road to permit residential,
retail, commercial and manufacturing uses;
• approved a $190,000 contract
with the Akron Public Schools for continuation of after-school
activities;
• approved an ordinance
increasing the square footage allowable for a restaurant
at 568 White Pond Drive from 3,300 to 7,600; and
• approved a resolution
expressing support for the application of the Westside
Neighborhood Development Corp. for funding for the Arnold
Homes Development project.
The next regular Akron City Council
meeting will take place
Sept. 25 at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers on the third
floor of the municipal building, 166 S. High St. Committee
meetings are scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. that afternoon
at the same location.
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