6/7/2012 - West Side Leader
     

Zoning, Housing and Residential Building Commissioner Christopher Randles said his department has wrapped up the walk-through portion of its annual neighborhood inspection program.

“We were scheduled to be completed by the end of this week, but luckily we had great weather last week and this week, so we got done early,” Randles told the members of Fairlawn City Council during the June 4 meeting. “We did a lot of apartments this time.”

Each year, the Zoning, Housing and Residential Building Department is responsible for doing a walk-through of one third of the city’s structures.

“This is the sixth year we’ve done this, and this is the second time we’ve done this portion of the neighborhoods,” Randles said. “The number of violations do seem like they’re less each time. We noticed the last two years that the number of violations were significantly less than they had been on the first go-round.”

According to Randles, the property owners of the areas that will be looked at are notified ahead of time.

“To the affected areas, we sent out a letter in advance saying that we’re doing the walk-throughs. We give them a date range of when we’re going to be there and we give them the opportunity to contact us to schedule an appointment in case they want to be present when we do the walk-through,” he said. “We also give them a list of common things we might find, so if there is an issue, they can take care of it before we get out there. We try to work with people as much as we can.”

One common problem this year, Randles said, has been mildew growing on the north side of structures.

“The most notations we’ve made were for the north side of houses, where the structures don’t get the sun, and after the wet weather we had last year, that seems to be the problem we’ve been finding,” he stated.

Randles said his department would be sending out letters this week to property owners who have something that needs to be fixed.

“It’s not a violation letter; we are asking for their compliance,” he stated. “They’ll have a month to get ahold of us if they have any concerns or a month to take care of it before we go back out again. If we do determine at that time that there are violations, we will start the violation process. The majority of the times in the past, when we sent out our initial findings, the owners have taken care of the problem at that time.”

Also during the meeting:

• Council gave a first reading to an ordinance authorizing the mayor “to enter into a development agreement with Giant Eagle for GetGo development” at the corner of Trunko Road and West Market Street.

“The agreement is being finalized,” said Mayor William Roth. “Giant Eagle is going to pay the city the sum of $250,000 to widen Trunko Road with improvements. It went out for bid and we received a single bid, which is being analyzed by [City Engineer Nick] Spagnuolo.”

The bid came from Liberta Construction Co. Inc. An amended ordinance approving the company’s bid of $259,256 also received a first hearing during the Council meeting.

Roth said the ordinances would be held in committee until after the project receives approval from the city’s Planning Commission.

• Council unanimously approved bids from Toth Buick GMC Truck Inc. for the purchase of a pair of vehicles.

The first vehicle is a 2013 full-size pickup truck to be utilized by the Service Department for the sum of $32,394.

“This was the only bid that we had and it was time to order,” said Deputy Service Director Ernie Staten. “The pickup truck it is replacing is from 1991 and it has had a totally refurbished body and engine.”

The second vehicle is a 2013 full-size sports utility vehicle to be utilized by the Fairlawn Fire Department for a sum of $38,756.

“These are both vehicles that are replacing vehicles that are well past their primes and these are both budgeted items,” said Council President Russ Sharnsky (at large).

• Council unanimously accepted the bid of Graybar Electric Co. Inc. for an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system and authorized the mayor to enter into a contract for a sum of $39,038.

“This replaces the current UPS that we’ve run into problems on with buying parts,” Staten said. “The battery is good, but finding parts for it has become difficult.”

• Parks and Recreation Director Laurie Beisecker said planning for the city’s fireworks display and Fourth of July Parade is “coming along.”

“If anyone wants to be part of the parade, they can go to the parks page on the website [www.cityoffairlawn.com] and fill out an entry form,” she said. “As always, there is no entry fee for being in our parade.”

Roth said the Fairlawn Community Foundation is still in the process of raising money for the fireworks display and the parade.

“We’re very close to our goal, but obviously any type of donation would be appreciated,” he said.

Roth said he anticipates the fireworks display will take place July 1 and the parade will be July 4 as usual.

• Roth said June 9 is “shredding day” in Fairlawn.

“It’s very popular and we’re proud to offer it to residents,” he said.

The recycling and shredding of documents for Fairlawn residents will take place at 3300 Fairlawn Service Drive from 9 a.m. until noon, rain or shine.

There is a limit of 10 file boxes or shopping bags per person. All shredded paper will be recycled, and those who bring paper to be shredded are asked to remove any binder clips, rubber bands, paper clips, binders, report covers and hanging files.

For additional information, call the Service Department at 330-668-9550.

• Police Chief Kenneth Walsh said applications are available for the city’s Safety Town program.

“Safety Town is from June 18 to 22,” he said.

Applications are available at the Fairlawn Police Department at 3487 S. Smith Road.

• Spagnuolo said Perrin Asphalt has completed the street milling project at the Villages of Fairlawn.

“They presently are in there replacing some of the curb that was in bad condition,” he said. “They plan to start milling on Embassy Parkway [June 7], weather permitting.”

• Beisecker said the city’s first Friday Night Concert is set for June 15 from 7 to 9 p.m. at Bicentennial Park Gazebo, 3486 S. Smith Road. The Rebeats are set to perform.

The next Council meeting is set for June 18 at 6:30 p.m. at Fairlawn City Hall, 3487 S. Smith Road. The next Committee-of-the-Whole meeting is set for June 11 at 6 p.m. at City Hall.

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