Council discussed the proposed Miller’s Landing development which is a housing development along North River Road proposed by Pulte Homes. There are several items for Council to consider before approving the final plat of the proposed development to ensure that the design presented by Pulte and approved by Stow’s Planning Commission meet the requirements of our zoning code. The items being discussed primarily relate to the roads of the development, including the length and permanency of the cul-de-sacs and this week there was discussion related to whether the addition of these new roads meet the requirements of a city block under the zoning code. Council tabled this item in the meeting so this item can be further reviewed by our City Engineering Department, Planning Department, and reviewed with outside legal counsel hired to advise Council. Council is ensuring that we have done all the necessary due diligence and review of this issue before it comes to a final vote.
Council also heard from our Cemetery Board regarding discussion of additional cemetery space in the City of Stow. There have been discussions about using part of the Hanson property near the driving range (approximately 6 acres) for additional cemetery space. I have been opposed to creating an additional (fourth) cemetery space in the City of Stow. I have proposed that if we need additional cemetery space, we should try to use additional space on the property near where cemeteries are already located. While I understand that the City of Stow will always be in the cemetery business as we will always have an obligation to maintain what we have, if we keep adding additional space (I.e., 6 acres would be 6,000 additional graves) that means we are just growing our future obligation for maintenance after there is no additional income. I hope that the future Council reviews all these options and considers the long-term obligations of creating an additional large cemetery space in our City.
Council also discussed the final allocation of ARPA funds that are required to be expended no later than 2025. The proposal from the Finance Department was expenditures in 4 categories, Fire Department Overtime, Water Capital Projects (water line replacement projects), Water Operating Expenses (wages and benefits for those working on water capital projects), and Road Projects. Myself and several other council members pushed back on this expenditure of using the ARPA funds for salary and wages in the City as this is a one time outlay of money and should not be used to fund on-going expenses such as salary and benefits. This item remained in committee and the Finance Department is reviewing different potential allocations to present to Council at our next meeting.
Finance Committee had a high-level discussion about several of the new 5-year capital lists that it received from the administration the same day as the Council meeting. Based on the level of detail in the lists and the fact that the listed items proposed by the Administration exceeded the 5-year capital budget numbers provided by the Finance Department additional review and discussion of these items is necessary. As the Chair of the Finance Committee, I have scheduled an additional committee meeting on Monday November 20th at 6 PM to further discuss the budget. Often when we get into the end of year crunch and other large things on the Council agenda such as Miller’s Landing having a separate meeting night for reviewing just the budget has proven to be very productive.
Finally, as my time on Council is nearing its end, I was very disappointed to see that our 3 newly elected Council members for the 2024-2025 term did not even attend the Council meeting this past week. The discussion on Miller’s Landing, the 2024 budget, and the 5-year capital plan are all very important issues that they should want to understand and be knowledgeable about. While some individuals did attend a few meetings prior to running, most have been absent from meetings over the last several months. I really hope that they consider the importance of these issues into their term next year and attend the remainder of the meetings prior to taking office.
Council will next meet for a Finance Committee meeting on Monday November 20, 2023, at 6 PM and our next Council Meeting will be Thursday December 14th with committees starting at 5:30 PM and Council to follow.