Last night’s city council meeting

Here are my notes from last night’s council meeting:

Dream Projects – I’m glad to hear we are taking first steps toward correcting some infrastructure flaws that I have been harping on for a long time.

First, we are seeking state funds to widen Norton Road, between Hudson Drive and Darrow Road. It’s so narrow, with low visibility. Very dangerous. Widening the road is expected to be a $6 million project.

Second, we are seeking to move the bike trail, between Springdale and Graham Road. The new trail will be a set of railroad tracks, starting near the entrance to the Kames condominiums, and traveling south to Graham Road, near Silver Lake Country Club. Those tracks can be converted to a bike trail (i.e. rails to trails), therefore alleviating joggers and bikers from running the dangerous and unprotected path on Leewood. This project is expected to cost $700,000.

These projects are still a long way off. We would likely get a response on our funding request by this winter. Then we might wait 4 years for engineering and environmental work to be completed before shovels hit the ground.

Parade – The July 4 parade is our community’s annual gem–one of the best in Ohio. Please note: This year, the parade vehicles will launch from the Target parking lot, not the Macy’s lot. The founders of Bulldog Bags will be our grand marshals.

Fire Department ISO rating – Our fire department is another exceptional part of Stow. Five years ago, we obtained the exclusive ISO Class 1 rating, which relates to response times and other objective criteria. Recently, that rating was renewed for another five years. That’s good news for our business owners, whose insurance costs are reduced based on the ISO rating of the town that potentially could respond to its fires or other hazardous conditions.

Ohio Chamber rating – Let’s keep on singing our community’s praise. The Ohio Chamber of Commerce ranked Stow 11th out of 96 Ohio cities with populations over 25,000, based on employment, housing, education, quality of life and health. We can get better, but 11th is really solid.

Next meeting – Council will meet next on July 11.