- The meeting on January 23rd started out with 3 Public Hearings regarding rezoning more residential properties to “O” conservation district. The 3 properties discussed were Roses Run Golf Course, 2 parcels that are city owned, and the County Wastewater Treatment Facility on Marsh Road. Many residents of Pambi Farms came out to speak in favor of the re-zoning of Roses Run, this passed by a 7-0 vote. The rezoning of the city own property also passed by a 7-0 vote. The rezoning of the County owned parcel was tabled as the county had some concerns about the purpose and future uses of the lot. Hopefully by tabling this item we can have discussions with the county about the zoning of this parcel.
- The Urban Forestry Commission came out and gave a presentation to Council on their commission, they had many good details about our city urban forestry department. They also were kind enough to bring snacks and cookies to share! 2020 marks 40 years that Stow has been a Tree City. Did you know the City of Stow has a tree planting program to allow for residents to have a tree planted in their tree lawn or yard? This program allows up to 50 residents to apply for a tree at the cost of $125 (this is a 50/50 split with the city). For more information about this program here: Stow Tree Program
- Council approved the promotion of one police officer to lieutenant based on an upcoming requirement, and then the hiring of a replacement police officer. There was also a request for the hiring of a Deputy Director of Planning approved by a 4-3 vote, (Fiocca, McIntire, and myself voted no). I personally wanted to see the budget before this position was approved.
- There were several residents that were upset that the public comment time at council was changed to 2 minutes. In the past, council had a 3-minute public comment time. The idea was not to reduce public time but to encourage more discussion and participation by residents at our committee meetings. In sitting on council last year, I saw how public participation in the committee meetings and discussions were much more productive than comments that occurred at council. At committee meetings there is often discussion and questions between those in the audience and council members/administration. With more participation in the committee meetings residents actually end up with more time to address council members and the ability to be involved in discussions on the issues the committees are working on. Last night there was active participation and discussion several audience members on multiple topics, including this topic, the condition of the parks, and on the proposed school bus legislation. The requirement for public comment under our code in Stow is that residents be allowed a reasonable time to speak, the chair running the meeting has the ability to determine what they feel is reasonable. I believe that any change made has to be given time to be evaluated and for the few residents that reached out to me on the issue I agreed it would be reviewed at the 3 month and 6 month mark to see if it is accomplishing the goal of more interactive participation in the committee meetings.
- Last fall city council approved the Commercial Pace Program for financing energy improvements on commercial buildings. We had a presentation last night on the residential side of this program which we were asked to join. The basis behind PACE is that home owners can make energy improvements to their home (roofing, HVAC, windows, and the like) and instead of financing them the traditional ways (cash, loan, home equity) owners can have a special assessment placed on their tax bill and pay for the improvements over time. I was happy to hear that this program has many consumer protections included as part of the residential program. This will likely be legislation for Council to consider in the next month to see if we have interest in having this opportunity for our residents. Click here for information on Residential PACE.
- Two items were discussed in Roads & Safety that very clearly addressed both topics. One was legislation regarding including a specific portal on our website for residents to report potholes to the city. This legislation did pass on to council for a first reading. The second item was an item I am sure most saw or heard about prior to the meeting, increased penalties for drivers passing school buses when they are properly stopped. Fiocca introduced this legislation and there was a good discussion on it with the Police Chief, council, administration, and audience members. It remained in committee so a few more details could be looked at and addressed, including the process for bus drivers to report these types of concerns. Mr. Fiocca is going to continue the discussion on this item with other involved parties and hopefully this is something we will see on the legislative agenda soon.
- Last but certainly not least, there were several discussions around the current state of our parks. At the last meeting the Service Director was asked if he could provide a list to council of current parks maintenance needs and estimated costs, he stated last night that list would be ready for council to review in the next 3-4 weeks. McIntire also shared a slideshow of a few of our parks and their current state. The current state and needs of the parks are no way a reflection on our service or parks maintenance department, it is a result of many changes made when the last recession hit to be more cost effective and save money during difficult times that carried over for many years. This caused many of our parks to not get maintenance needs addressed as they came up and as such, the problems have just grown. I believe this current council is dedicated to finding a plan to address the issues that exist and create a plan to keep it from getting in this state again. I heard many times from residents during my time campaigning that they wanted to see our current parks maintained before we consider adding another one. I don’t disagree and had the same concern that we shouldn’t build something new when we can’t keep up with what we have from the initial moment the splash pad and play trail were introduced to Parks Board in 2016 (minutes here). Hopefully over the next several months council and the administration can come up with a plan and schedule to start addressing the current needs of our parks.
Our next meeting will be February 13, 2020 at 7 PM. Committee meeting schedule and start time will come out closer to the actual meeting date.