6/28/2012 - West Side Leader
     

Public meeting set to discuss city sewers

Nine residents voiced their concerns about the city of Norton’s sanitary sewer project during the June 25 Norton City Council meeting.

Residents from the Nash Heights subdivision area and other areas of the city spoke about their concerns regarding the cost for homeowners who would have to hook up to the city’s sewer lines, according to Council Clerk Karla Richards.

In response to residents’ concerns over the project, Richards said, Council’s next committee work session will be a public meeting dedicated solely to sanitary sewers in the city. The meeting will take place July 2 at 7 p.m. in the Shirley McGuire Community Center, 4060 Columbia Woods Drive.

“The topic of discussion will be the true and complete facts on the future of sanitary sewers,” she said. “There seems to be a lot of misinformation out there in the community, and the administration and Council are going to lay everything out to the public about what we know at this time about the potential costs, the time frame — everything we can share about it, we will.”

Also during the meeting, Council gave a second reading to a resolution authorizing the submission of an application to the Ohio Public Works Commission to participate in the Local Transportation Improvement Program to fund a portion of the costs of a sanitary sewer project to service the Nash Heights subdivision, and committing to provide funding for the local share for the project.

Council is expected to discuss the resolution at a future meeting.

In other business:

• A resolution supporting the creation of the Summit County Land Reutilization Corporation and the county’s application for the Ohio Attorney General’s Moving Ohio Forward grant program was approved by a 5-0 vote (at-large Council members Dennis McGlone and Scott Pelot were excused from the meeting).

Also approved was a resolution authorizing a commitment of local matching funds from Norton to the Moving Ohio Forward grant program to “demolish abandoned, vacant and blighted residential properties.”

“That set aside a matching grant amount of $10,000 for the revitalization program,” said Richards. “So let’s say that we’re going to commit to spending up to $10,000, this grant program’s going to give us up to $20,000 to spend.”

• An ordinance rezoning property at 5225 Wooster Road from I-1 [Light Industrial] District to B-1 [Central Business] District was unanimously approved.

“That used to be an insurance agency and now they want to put in a doctor’s office and a geriatric office in that same office, but it needed to be rezoned first,” Richards said.

• Council gave first readings to ordinances authorizing the city administrator to “execute and deliver” agreements between the city of Norton and the Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association — representing the bargaining units for the city’s lieutenants, sergeants and patrol officers — and the Ohio Police Benevolent Association — representing the bargaining unit for the city’s dispatchers.

• Council gave a third reading to an ordinance that would place a four-year, 4.6-mill levy on the Nov. 6 General Election ballot for the purpose of funding the fire department and its vehicles, equipment and supplies.

Richards said the levy would cost the owner of a property worth $100,000 approximately $141 per year.

Council must vote to approve placing the levy on the ballot by the Summit County Board of Elections’ Aug. 8 deadline.

• An ordinance amending two sections of the Norton Codified Ordinances to “adopt the current version of the Ohio Fire Code” was unanimously approved.

• Mayor Mike Zita publicly introduced the city’s new finance director, Laura Starosta, during the meeting.

June 25 marked her first day on the job.

• The next Norton City Council meeting, the last one scheduled before the summer break, is set to take place July 9 at 7 p.m. in the Safety Administration Building, 4060 Columbia Woods Drive.

“After that, we won’t come back until Aug. 20,” Richards stated. “And that will be a committee meeting.”

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