Following is a summary of the October 11, 2022, City Council Workshop. To watch the full meeting, visit www.hudson.oh.us/WatchMeetings.
Correspondence and Council Comments
- Council thanked Hudson Safety Forces for the job they did with the Public Safety Open House. More than 700 people attended the event.
- Council also thanked the engineering staff for working on a flooding issue at Laurel Lake and thanked State elected officials and City staff or helping with the grant application for the Hines Hine Road Railroad Grade Separation.
- Councilman Sutton will recuse himself from the first item in executive session due to a conflict.
- Council continues to receive questions about the status of the railroad quiet zones. We are ready to start the project but are waiting for the legal contract to be ironed out with Norfolk Southern Railroad.
- Council is receiving emails from individuals asking for the City to provide a Senior Center.
Discussion Items
- Authorization to purchase up to two vehicles for Hudson Police. Ford has canceled all police vehicle orders that we (and other cities) had placed since 2021. We only have received one of the eight vehicles ordered. This legislation would allow the City to quickly purchase a vehicle should one become available at a local dealer during the next six months.
- Fiber to the Home RFP. The City is exploring options for how to provide fiber access to all Hudson residents. The City will issue an RFP seeking to establish a public-private partnership with a company that would provide fiber to Hudson residents using the City’s fiber backbone, with the goal of incurring no additional costs for the City.
- Adding the requirement to our Codified Ordinances to provide a monthly transparency in expenses report on a monthly basis. A sample report was provided to Council that addressed most of their requested information while not requiring much additional staff time to create. The report will cover a four-month period and will be made available on the website.
- Guidelines for use/or rental of space at City Hall or other City properties. Several entities are currently using space at City Hall without a lease or contract for the space. Council is discussing a lease/rental contract as well as guidelines for how future organizations would be select for rentals. It will not impact current leases with Destination Hudson as that lease is up in 2025. Some council members expressed concerns about this legislation. It will be on the agenda for a third reading next week.
- Discussion of 2023-2027 Five-Year Plan. Budget items discussed included Water, Electric, Storm Water, Golf, Velocity Broadband, and Fleet.
- Water Rate Study. A consultant reviewed the City’s water rates and made recommends for a 6% increase each year for 5 years, and a 2% increase each year after that. Currently the rates are reviewed every 10 years or so, and the increase (due to cost of living and inflation increases) can be burdensome all at once. Increasing the rates annual would create less impact for customers. It also recommended a blended rate for all Hudson Water customers. Currently there are two different rates for the Village and the Township.
The second item discussed briefly was extending the City’s water lines to some areas of the City. Staff will put together an Ad Hoc committee to look into the extension of Hudson service to new customers and will come back to Council early next year with recommendations.
Future Agenda Items
- Council discussed adding discussions on a Senior Center and a Recreation Center to a future agenda. It was decided that the Senior Advisory Committee should come to council with their proposal for a Senior Center, then it would be placed on the agenda. Staff will reach out to the Senior Advisory Committee to let them know. Regarding a future Recreation Center discussion, the liaison to the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee will suggest they look at this as part of the Comp Plan process. Staff will provide the previous study to the steering committee.
Executive Session
- Council entered executive session to discuss:
- Confidential information related to a special business strategy of an applicant for economic development assistance
- Purchase of a property for public purposes
- Personnel matter concerning the employment of a public employee
Meeting Adjourned