The new year got off to a quiet start with Norton City Council tending to public works projects and other routine matters.

At the Jan. 12 meeting, Council waived second and third readings of two ordinances, both dealing with the waterline project at Hazelwood Avenue and Connect Road.

Members passed an ordinance authorizing the city to proceed with the project, along with a resolution approving the report of the Assessment Equalization Board on objections concerning the estimated special assessments.

According to City Administrator Rick Ryland, plans are for the project to begin sometime between the middle of February and early March.

Contractors once again will be selected using a “reverse auction” process — the same that was used to obtain estimates for the Barry and McGowan roads project.

That auction, Ryland told Council, “saved the taxpayers money and got a very qualified, very good company to come in.”

In fact, he said, winning bidders Buckeye Excavating came in with an estimate 40 percent less than what the city budgeted and has been performing ahead of expectations.

“This project is two-thirds complete,” he noted.

Ryland was given the go-ahead to use the reverse auction process, with Council passing an outstanding piece of legislation from 2008 permitting the use of reverse auctions to award contracts for services or supplies.

During his report to Council, Ryland also commented on the city’s current salt supply inventory.

“We’re at crucial levels,” he said, saying that the recent ice storms and snowstorms have taken their toll on the city’s supply. An additional 1,200 tons have been requisitioned.

“We placed the order; we hope we get it,” said Ryland.

He also noted that keeping the roads cleared have strained the city’s finances. “We have eroded the overtime budget for our service crews,” he said.

During the meeting, resident Charlotte Whipkey spoke in front of Council and made it clear that, contrary to reports, no decision has been made by the 9th District Court of Appeals involving Issue No. 26.

The issue, passed by voters during the Nov. 4 General Election, was intended to use the results of the 2007 General Election to reduce the number of Council representatives from seven to four ward representatives and one at-large member. Affected would have been Council members Brenda Hlas, Mike Zita and Council President Scott Pelot, at-large members elected to a four-year term in 2007. According to the amendment, the top vote-getter in the last election — Zita — would keep his seat on Council, and Hlas and Pelot were to have been removed from office effective Jan. 1.

Summit County Common Pleas Court Judge Brenda Burnham Unruh ruled Dec. 18 that Issue No. 26 is unconstitutional. Unruh’s ruling allowed Hlas and Pelot to keep their seats until the 2011 General Election.

Whipkey appealed that decision to the 9th District Court of Appeals and filed a motion for a stay pending appeal with Unruh’s court. On Jan. 2, Unruh denied her motion. The appeal has yet to be heard.

Whipkey also took issue with Council’s recent decision to change the rules requiring public comments to be limited to agenda items.

“We, the people, pay to keep the lights on here,” she said. “We need to be able to make our statements.”

In other business:

• Legislation to rezone properties in the areas of Greenwich and Croyden roads from R-1 (Single Family) to B-2 (Neighborhood Business District) was given a first reading before Council. A public hearing on the rezoning will take place Jan. 26 during Council’s regular meeting.
• Council waived second and third readings and approved an ordinance authorizing an agreement with the Legal Defenders Office of Summit County, Ohio Inc. to provide legal services to defendants requiring legal representation.
• Ryland reported on the opening of the joint call center facility with Copley Township.
  “Everything worked as we wanted it to,” he said.
  The pilot program will operate for one year.
• Ryland updated Council on the contract negotiation status with the Norton Police Department.
  “We’re about to conclude them,” he said.

The next regular City Council meeting will be Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. in Council Chambers in the city’s Administrative Building on Columbia Woods Drive.