Residents complain about condition of roads in Ward
6
Fairlawn City Council
By Ed Wojnaroski
Fairlawn City Council’s Sept. 18 meeting was filled with about 30 residents of Ward 6 — who live on Burnham, Stratford, Haverhill, Pembroke and Carson roads — who complained about the condition of their streets.
Mayor William Roth opened the meeting with a report that the 2007 Street Repair Budget will be approximately $1.5 million, as it was in 2005. He reported that parts of Mackinaw Avenue and Carson would be completely replaced.
He also said that residents would not be assessed for the repairs, as the project will be paid for from funds generated by the Joint Economic Development District (JEDD) agreement the city has with Akron and Bath. The city has had a JEDD with Akron and Bath for the past seven years.
“I’ve been requesting, at the point of demanding,” to know when these streets will be replaced, said Ward 6 Councilman Steve Yashnik.
Roth replied that as the mayor, he was concerned with all six of the city’s wards.
“Our budget has grown, and we can offer many services such as the trash compactor” free of charge, but there is still a limit to what can be done, added Council President James Swartz (at large).
A Carson Road resident suggested that all the streets in the ward be paved at once.
A Burnham Road resident said Burnham “is now almost [not] drivable.”
Another Burnham resident said the road was the first road cut in that part of the city and it shouldn’t be the last to be repaired. He also said that it was “abject stupidity” to install new water lines that had crossed the streets with repairs leaving bumps.
Service Director John Sellars said it wasn’t water lines but that Dominion East Ohio had installed new gas lines and they did the repairs.
Mackinaw Road residents Greg and Cathy Baum said they saw a child hit by loose gravel when getting off a school bus.
Carson Road resident Mark Logan wanted to know by what criteria roads were judged to be replaced, which brought applause.
Yashnik wanted a list of streets that might take precedence over those in Ward 6.
Councilman Bryan Nace (Ward 3) said he saw the list and suggested that Yashnik has not because he hasn’t come to the meetings.
“I would expect you to defend your law partner,” Yashnik said.
Nace fired back at Yashnik that the reason the residents attended the meeting is because, “you are ineffective. You’ve been here 11 years and haven’t got anything done.”
At that point, Swartz interrupted to bring an end to the contentious discussion and moved to continue with regular department reports.
Also during the meeting, council had a public hearing on rezoning 120 S. Cleveland-Massillon Road so that an ALDI store can be built there. Representatives of ALDI’s satisfied council with their willingness to follow the suggestions to make the building more attractive for its setting. Council approved the zoning change.
In other legislative action, council approved changes to the housing codes.
A Committee-of-the-Whole meeting is scheduled for Sept. 25 at 6 p.m. The next council meeting will take place Oct. 2 at 6:30 p.m. Meetings will take place at the Fairlawn Municipal Complex, 3487 S. Smith Road.
Ed Wojnaroski can be reached at jemelec@aol.com.
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