Following is a summary of Tuesday night’s City Council Workshop. To watch the meeting, visit Meeting Video.
Correspondence and Council Comments
- The City held a successful Comprehensive Plan Community Workshop. More than 150 people attended. The Community Survey has been mailed to a random selection of households. Please take time to complete it and send it back. If you didn’t receive one in the mail, go online to www.hudson.oh.us/ComprehensivePlan to fill out the survey online.
- There are many events this weekend, including the Home and Garden Tour, Ice Cream, Screen on the Green, Farmers Market and Bandstand Concert.
- Planning Commission Update. A proposed development at Stow and Ravenna was discussed. PC was not in agreement with the development and the applicant pulled the project from consideration.
View the Council Comments Section of the video to see the full discussion.
Discussion Items
- Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to enter into a purchase and sale agreement with Hudson Drive Realty to acquire property at 5431 Hudson Drive. The property would be the site for a new Public Works/HPP building at a price of $1,900,000. It is approximately 30 acres. It will go through 3 readings with emergency language so that the closing date can be met. The tentative project schedule is design in 2024 and construction in 2024.
- Ad-Hoc Water Expansion Project. The City introduced the update of the City’s Water Expansion Project. The Ad-Hoc Committed selected 5 areas in the City to start looking to connection to Hudson’s water system. The areas were selected based on their proximity to the City’s Water Plant and they are currently served by well water. The City will reach out to 2 of those areas as a pilot to determine if residents would be interested in connecting to City water through an assessment process that would make it easier for homeowners to pay for the connection. Normally, when individuals want to connect to our system at least 60% of the areas residents must sign a petition to get the project started. Property owners are responsible for all the costs. With this program, the City will cover 25% of those costs and the owners will be responsible for 75%. The City will create flyers and hold public meetings for each of the selected areas. If not enough property owners sign the petitions, we will not move forward with a water connection in that area.
Proposed Consent Agenda Items
- Motion to acknowledge the timely receipt of the May 2023 Monthly Financial Report.
- Resolution to enter into a contract with Thompson Electric for construction services for the Eastside Substation transformer replacement.
- Resolution to enter into a right-of-way construction agreement with Norfolk Southern Railway for the Owen Brown Street Reconstruction and Sidewalk Project. Discussion: The City is reviewing a maintenance agreement from Norfolk Southern with essentially mirrors the construction agreement before Council tonight. The City thanks the local, state, and federal elected officials who helped getting Norfolk Southern to move forward with this project.
- Resolution to receive bids and enter into a contract for the disposal of the old Eastside Substation transformer.
- Update on recent power outages:
- June 1: a tree limb took out a 69,000 volt line that feeds the College substation.
- June 4: a component failure occurred at the Prospect Substation. Power was rerouted through other Substations. A new component was ordered and replaced in about 4 days.
- June 9: An underground cable faulted causing power out to about 39 homes.
- June 9: Also on that day, a squirrel took out a transformer.
- June 11: A tree fell on a power line near Barlow and Terex.
- Maintenance and Equipment: Outages like these always occur throughout the year, but it was unusual that they happened all within a few weeks. The City cuts back trees along power lines in one City quadrant per year. Every 5 years, one Substation is taken down for complete maintenance and repairs. The component that failed recently was inspected 1 year ago and passed inspection. Due to a backlog in getting new equipment a few years ago, the City started proactively stocking up on parts and equipment, which was a great help during these outages.
- Council thanked staff or getting the power back up quickly.
- Resolution to enter into a contract with Elizabeth Slagle as Acting Clerk of Council.
Proposed Legislation Items
- Ordinance amending Ordinance No. 22-143 making appropriations for the current expenses and other expenditures of the City during the fiscal year ending December 31, 2023 by making additional or amended appropriations related to legal fees. Third reading. Councilmember Kowalski will be abstaining and will not take part in the discussion.
- Ordinance amending the City’s pay range structure and pay range assignments schedule adopted by Ordinance No. 22-156 for the volunteer firefighters. Third reading.
- Ordinance amending Section 1040.14 of the Codified Ordinances, revising water rates for water service provided to customers outside the City limits. Public Hearing and second reading.
- Ordinance establishing Section 1040.081 in the Codified Ordinances to require new developments to utilize City Water services and providing City Council first right of refusal. Second reading.
- Ordinance amending Ordinance No. 16-46 an Ordinance amending Chapter 872 “Temporary Special Events” and repealing Ordinance No. 08-158 and Chapter 810 “Circuses and Carnivals.” Council questioned if the mention of Circuses and Carnivals was necessary, that was repealed already in Ordinance No. 16-46. First reading.
- Resolution to enter into a purchase and sale agreement with Hudson Drive Realty to acquire property at 5431 Hudson Drive. First reading. June 20
Future Items to Add
- Proclamation for Ashford Swinford – Cleveland Marathon winner.
Meeting Adjourned