The Roads and Safety Committee had a presentation from Burgess & Niple who recently completed a traffic study on Graham Road from Route 91 eastbound to the City line. This study had several recommendations for improvements along that corridor which included widening the road to make it a 3 lane road (2 lanes and a center turn lane) along with adding sidewalks and a shared use path along the southside of the road. While currently the intersection of Fishcreek and Graham is undergoing safety improvements, this could add both safety for vehicles and added connectivity to our bike and pedestrian traffic in the City. The Roads and Safety Committee was going to continue to work with the administration to see how to pursue these additional improvements.
Council approved site plans and conditional use certificates for 2 of the 3 lots that were created as a part of the Stow Glen property receivership. The first of these was the approval of the development of a new nursing on a newly created lot that would be to the west of the current assisted living facility. This facility would replace the current nursing home facility that is on a separate lot and will be torn down. This item was approved by a 7-0 vote of Council. The second item was the approval of the re-development of the current assisted living facility into primarily 1-bedroom apartment units. There were several site variances on this approval simply related to approval of the existing buildings be where they already exist and differences in the changing code from when it was built until now. The owners plan on investing $3.2 million into renovating this property. This item was approved by a vote of 5-2 (Lowdermilk and Feldman were no votes).
Finance Committee reviewed an initial draft related to last year’s charter amendment related to the creation of a capital improvement plan for our City. This included the format and proposed breakdown of areas where we make capital investments. This will continue to be discussed by Finance Committee over the next several months leading up to our budget for 2024 in the fall. There will also be discussions on how the second half of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds will be used in our City. I look forward to having a longer-term plan and vision for continued investment into our City.
At the request of the Mayor, the legislation proposing tax levies for a community rec center and a parks capital improvement was removed from the Finance Committee agenda and will not go on to Council or the voters this fall. The Mayor stated this request was due to the recent information that property taxes in Summit County could significantly rise in the next year based on a potential increase of up to a 34% increase in property values. The Mayor committed to holding on to the plans, studies, and surveys, to make a decision on this issue in the future once the impact of property value increases is understood.
Council also approved several capital purchase and improvements, including:
- The purchase of a new ambulance to be used by our fire department. The Fire Department has been proactive in developing a replacement plan for their equipment and rotating their equipment to get the most life out of it. The current plan would include the replacement of an ambulance every other year as we have a fleet of 5 ambulances within the City.
- Plans for the building of new pickleball courts at Oregon Trails Park. This improvement was part of our Parks Master Plan and would be the addition of a walking trail around Oregon Trails, a new parking lot, and new pickleball courts on the north side of the park.
- New artificial turf to be added at the driving range to be used for the tee box area of the driving range. In addition, there was approval for additional irrigation to be added and the current driving range area to be re-done using much of the dirt currently at the driving range property. Once completed the driving range will be significantly increased in size and there are plans for additional improvements in the future, such as covered stalls to extend the use of the driving range into cooler months.
I am glad to see this continued investment into our City and our assets. I know we will be able to continue to make even more investments with the development of a Capital Improvement Plan as well.
Council will next meet on Thursday July 13, 2023 with a public hearing at 5:30 PM; committee and Council meeting to follow. I hope to see everyone out during the 4th of July Parade as well!