On Thursday Chief Stone notified us that we had a firefighter separate from the department due to a medical disability and asked for permission to hire a replacement. This was approved by Council and since the Fire Department already has a hiring list in place this firefighter should be able to be hired rather quickly and will help keep our staffing at the necessary levels. Chief Stone also shared with us that regardless of the current pandemic, Firefighter Mel was able to continue the fire safety poster contest and the video from those awards are now available on the Stow Fire Department Facebook. Congratulations to all those that entered, won, and were selected as winners of new bicycles from Eddy’s Bike Shop and Marty’s Bike Shop.
Council also requested an update on the status of the discussions the administration is having regarding the potential regional dispatch center. The updated did not provide much information as there has not been much progression forward with COIVD-19 since November when the voters approved discussions to continue. There was a question brought up by Councilman Feldman regarding the cities entering into the regional dispatch and whether those cities who still have their own Mayor’s courts should give up their mayors courts to better support our Municipal Court in Stow. The discussion and thought was that if these cities are in for regionalizing for sharing costs, and Stow joining regional dispatch would help them save costs then they should be willing to help regionalize with our court system to help off-set the cost of the Court for Stow. I believe this is a valid question and one that should be voiced as these cities are discussing working together for the benefit of all, it should also include the court operations. I hope the administration pursues these conversations with those cities to see their willingness to work together on more than just the dispatch discussion.
Urban Forestry gave their annual update on the status of new trees planted in the last year and a vision for the future. The City of Stow does have a cost sharing tree program available for our residents are eligible to apply for the replacement or addition of a tree on their tree lawn or front yard. The resident cost is $125 per tree, which includes the purchase of a two-inch caliper tree, installation, watering bag and tree guard. In 2020 the City planted 40 trees with the tree cost sharing program and 67 trees to replace previously removed ash trees. The requested budget for 2021 includes the purchase of 50 trees for the cost sharing program, anyone interested in this program can find more information on the City’s website at: https://stowohio.org/urban-forestry/.
Council also made an amendment to the Arts Commission as the previous language for appointments created a slow down in replacing of members as prior ones expired because it required that the Mayor and Council each make appointments together in pairs, and in staggered duration of terms. To reduce this confusion and align the Arts Commission to many of our other boards and commissions, going forward the Mayor shall be able to make all appointments and Council shall confirm them. There shall now be 10 to 13 members instead of the prior 10 to 16 member language. This did not remove any current members from the commission, there were 3 open Council appointments that were up for replacement that Council instead elected to remove from the total size of the commission. After cleaning up the language, Council confirmed the Mayor’s two new requested appointments, Alana Powell and Leila Griffiths. Both of these two ladies have been attending meetings already and working with the Arts Commission on the Women in Arts series that will appear throughout local businesses in March.
Our next Council meeting will be January 27, 2021 following our committee meetings, a start time will be determined closer to the date.