Last nights council meeting included a few updates and a few legislative items. My notes on each below:
- Deputy Engineer Mike Jones provided an update on the 2018 storm water projects and plans for the 2019 storm water projects. Stow continues to invest in improvements to our storm water system to help alleviate storm water issues across multiple wards.
- Mayor Pribonic provided a State of the City update to Council which included updates on each departments outcomes from 2018 and goals for 2019. He will also be providing a similar presentation at the Chamber of Commerce Meeting on Tuesday at lunch.
- Several members of our community and a few professionals in health care stepped up to speak prior to the second reading of the tobacco 21 legislation, several were for the legislation and a few spoke up against it. This legislation was recently voted down by Hudson, our neighboring community to the north. While I do not think anyone is on the side of smoking or vaping, I don’t feel this legislation fully addresses the problem we have in Stow and in this country. This legislation only includes civil penalties targeted at retailers which would be enforced by the health department. It also takes away the current rights of those 18+ who aren’t providing tobacco products to high school students. This issue will be something that needs to be addressed at a federal or state level to address this issue which extends beyond our city borders. For these reasons, I don’t support the legislation as currently presented. As of now, a third and final reading of this legislation is scheduled for our next council meeting.
- Council approved a site plan for Green Oasis Lawncare on Seasons Road, however we voted down a second part of this business that was proposed for outside storage of boats and RV’s. I voted no on this issue because our zoning code in this area requires items to be stored indoors. Planning Commission had also voted no on this variance and site plan.
- Several boards and commissions were updated to increase the number of members, including the Commission on Inclusion, Senior Citizens Commission, and Urban Forestry. Council did slightly amend the recommended changes to state the number increase is “up to” the increased number of members and that quorum will be majority instead of a set number—this change helps keep the commissions running even if the number of members decreases.
- Mayor Pribonic is also working to re-instate the former Arts Commission in the city which can include up to 16 members, 8 selected by the Mayor, 8 selected by City Council. Last night the 8 Mayor selections were approved by City Council. Congratulations to Ward 2 Residents Michelle Marazzi and Kristin Casale who were both selected by the Mayor to serve on the Arts Commission. The next steps for this commission will be for Council to review applications for the selections to be made by Council.
- Mayor Pribonic also selected Christie Sheets to replace my vacant position as the Ward 2 Parks & Recreation Board position. I know the Mayor had several qualified applications to choose from and I am glad that so many citizens were willing to step up and serve. Christie is actively involved with Stow Youth Baseball and I think she will be a good addition to the Parks board.
The next City Council Meeting will be February 28, 2019 at 7 PM.