2013 vol. 2 - Akron City Council

News
City Council
Volume 2 2013
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East to west, billions being invested
in Akron rebuilding projects
Sewer rebuild project to create jobs for Akron workers
When the $870 million reconstruction of
Akron’s sewer system begins, Akron residents will be at the front of the line for the
construction jobs it will create.
A combination of resolutions and legislation approved by Council will require
contractors and subcontractors to hire Akron
residents establish a contractor qualification
program and create a Commercial Drivers
License (CDL) training program to prepare
Akron residents to drive some of the hundreds
of dump trucks that will be needed to move
earth for the project.
The exact percentage of local workers that
contractors will be required to employ has
not yet been determined, but the target is 20
percent of the workforce initially, rising to
50 percent over several years. The contractor
qualification program will monitor compliance and ensure contractors stay up-to-date
on city income tax payments.
“This is an unfunded project being forced
upon us by the federal government. Since
Akron residents have to pay for it, we want to
ensure that Akron residents also get the lion’s
share of the jobs created by it,” said Council
President Garry Moneypenny.
“We want contractors bidding on this job
to know that they will be held to a higher
standard. We will be watching them very
carefully,” he said.
The city is starting the CDL training
program with a $25,000 investment.
Summit County is collaborating on the
program, and The Akron Urban League
has agreed to manage it.
“Hundreds of dump trucks will be
required to move dirt for the massive
storage basins that are part of the project,”
said Margo Sommerville, Ward 3 Councilwoman. “We don’t have enough commercially licensed drivers in Akron to operate
that many dump trucks. This training
program will ensure that Akron residents get
the majority of those driving jobs.”
“It’s a first step in recycling the money our
The history of Akron’s combined sewers
City offers
“Lots for Little”
Two years ago
when campaigning
to rejoin council, I
went door-to-door
to get the pulse of
what people were
thinking about their
neighborhoods.
The number one
complaint
and
question I heard
Garry Moneypenny was what is the
Council President city going to do
about all the dilapidated and abandoned
homes?
Since rejoining Council in 2010, I’ve
focused my energies on this issue. In my
ward alone, I’ve worked to take down 86
condemned homes already this year.
Last year we demolished 500 homes
citywide. This year we are on target to take
down 600 homes.
All of us on Council agree that
dilapidated houses affect quality of life.
Nobody wants to sit on their porch and look
at boarded up houses. That’s why At Large
Council Representative Jeff Fusco and I
have become so active in Akron’s “Lots for
Little” program.
The idea is to encourage property owners
who live next to a vacant lot where we tore
down a house to buy that empty land. Our
goal is to get vacant property into the hands
of someone who will pay taxes on it and
take care of it. Our planning department
has worked hard to create this program.
Abandoned homes and vacant property
generate no tax income for our schools
and the county. Many vacant lots are
unbuildable by current code standards.
The program, which started late last
year, allows neighbors to buy the land
for five cents a square foot and to pay for
it on their property taxes over five or 10
years. We first offer half of the land to each
neighbor, then all of it to one if the other is
not interested.
The one problem we continue to face as
we try to take down abandoned homes in
the city is that Summit County is three to
five years behind on foreclosures because
of the abundance of foreclosed homes
and lengthy due process. If you have an
abandoned house next to you, please
be patient. We will get to it when all legal
issues are resolved, and you will have the
opportunity to buy lots for little!
News
City Council
Volume 2 2013
Published by:
Akron City Council
166 S. High St., Ste. 301
Akron, Ohio 44308
Garry Moneypenny,
President
330-375-2256
[email protected]
Produced by:
WhiteSpace Creative
935 W. Market St.
Akron, Ohio 44313
Robert Zajac, Ex. VP
330-762-9320
[email protected]
W
hile Akron is spending
more than $1.5 billion in
public money to rebuild its
schools and sewers, private
investors also are steaming “all ahead full”
building corporate headquarters, redeveloping old factories and building new
housing developments from the East Side
to the West Side.
The projects are big and small, but add
it all up and it totals more than $1 billion
in a mix of public and private investments
on new developments and redevelopments
in Akron.
East Side
On the heels of celebrating the opening
of Goodyear’s $160 million new world
headquarters, East Akron is getting a new
gateway called The East End. The $378
million mixed-use project encompasses 1.7
million square feet for office, residential
and retail tenants at the former Goodyear
world headquarters campus.
Add to the private investment another
$227 million in city, state, and federal
funding for infrastructure improvements,
and the total investment in a new gateway
to East Akron will top $600 million.
The development will include a fivestory Hilton Garden Inn and 170 apartment
units in the old Goodyear Hall.
“I’m excited for the entire city and
particularly the Ellet and Goodyear Heights
communities,” said Ward 10 Council
Representative Garry Moneypenny. “This
new development will be right at their
doorsteps, and I think it will help revitalize
the East Side.”
When completed, the redevelopment
will be home to more than 1,000 workers
in numerous businesses, and it will create
ancillary benefits for neighborhood businesses as apartment residents use other
local services.
Moneypenny points out that the city
invested in East Market Street several
years ago by putting utilities underground,
replacing sewers, widening the street and
adding new sidewalks.
The East End development is near the
50-block urban neighborhood redevelopment program being administered by
University Park Alliance.
“The gaps are closing,” said
Moneypenny. “The redevelopment plans
in Akron now extend from The East End
through University Park and right into
downtown. All of this is taking place
within five minutes of Akron’s three largest
employers: Goodyear, Summa and The
University of Akron.”
In the heart of the city, new student
housing and entertainment are driving
major investments. New student housing
developments have added 1,975 beds
around the Main and Exchange Street
intersection, and a new $30 million development, The Depot, will add another 624
new student beds when it opens in August
2014.
Downtown entertainment received a
boost when Ken Babby acquired the Akron
Aeros and announced he was investing
more than $1 million is stadium renovations. Among those was the addition of the
biggest high-definition video scoreboard in
all of minor league baseball.
“We’re very fortunate in Akron to have
a downtown stadium on Main Street. It’s
very much a part of the center of eclectic
life in the core of Akron,” said Babby.
“Many minor league ballparks are
far away from cities, out where the fairgrounds are or on some dirt road. Mayor
Plusquellic and City Council believed
from the beginning that to make baseball a
success the ballpark had to be downtown.
And so even from its earliest stages, long
before I came here, the Mayor had the
vision and belief that a ballpark was a vital
cog in the redevelopment of downtown.”
Across the street from Babby’s ballpark is the 82-year old historic Mayflower
Manor. The city has applied for a $14.5
million federal loan to fund the acquisition of the property, relocation of residents
and renovations to prepare the building for
redevelopment. The city wants a mixed-use
project that includes office space, retail
space, restaurants, and housing.
“The former Mayflower Hotel is a
historic downtown landmark that should
be preserved, and its redevelopment will be
a catalyst for improving the environment
downtown,” said Planning Committee
Chair Jeff Fusco.
Also near the ballpark, Children’s
Hospital is building a $200 million tower
to house a new neonatal intensive care unit,
Historic Greystone Hall will be renovated and converted into meeting space as part of a project
that will bring a long-awaited new hotel to downtown Akron.
extra operating rooms, another emergency
department and other clinic programs.
Near City Hall, Akron will get what it
needs most: a new hotel across the street
from the John S. Knight Convention Center.
City officials have often said that the lack
of quality hotel within walking distance of
the convention center causes Akron to lose
hundreds of millions of dollars a year in
convention business.
The new hotel plans call for a $40
million investment that includes renovating
the historic seven-story Greystone Hall and
connecting it with a glass atrium to a new
160-room hotel built where the vacant High
Street Christian Church now stands.
One block west of the convention center,
City Council gave the go ahead to finish
rehabilitating Cascade Plaza’s parking deck
as the lynchpin of a deal that will keep First
Merit’s headquarters in Akron, retaining
450 jobs and adding 150 more. Akron has already invested nearly $20
million over the past decade to repair leaks
and damage to the 3,000 space parking
deck underneath the plaza. The final phase
will be to replace the dated concrete court
between the buildings, which also serves
as the roof of the parking deck and the
entrance to First Merit, with a park-like
plaza.
“Downtown still has untapped potential,” said Moneypenny. “There are several
developers telling us they are going to build
downtown, and the plan to build a third
new hotel at Northside is still alive.”
On the southern fringe of downtown
is the city’s most popular entertainment
venue, the Akron Zoo. It just completed and
opened a its biggest exhibit ever, the $13
million Grizzly Ridge. Grizzly bears, red
wolves, coyotes, otters and eagles anchor
the exhibit that houses animals that were
once native to Ohio. And yes, grizzly bear
habitat once extended from California to
Ohio.
Further south, the new $100 million
Bridgestone Technical Center is the development anchor in Firestone Park, and
corresponding redevelopment may be on
the horizon.
City Council approved the sale of $5
million in bonds to buy the old Bridgestone technical center and is talking with
downtown hotel developer Amerimar about
redeveloping the old tech center. A plan
to create a research center for oil, gas and
polymers has been floated.
See “Akron REBUILDING”
Next PAGE
City to begin vehicle safety inspection program
Akron Police Auditor Phil Young
and Council Representatives Garry
Moneypenny, Jeff Fusco, Margo Sommerville and Ken Jones are teaming to start
a vehicle safety inspection program as a
public service in Akron.
The program stems from resident’s
complaints to the Police Auditor about
being pulled over for minor infractions like
a burned out light bulb. Those complaints
gave him the idea for a program to identify
safety issues with vehicles to preempt a
police stop or a ticket.
“When is the last time you started
your car and walked around checking all
your lights, signals and flashers,” asked
Young. “Did you remember to check the
renewal date on your drivers license on
your last birthday?
“We’re trying to perform a public
service for our citizens. These will be
voluntary inspection sites where no citations will be issued. We’re just going to
make sure everyone has a valid drivers
license and that their vehicles are safe.”
The Akron Police, Summit County
Sheriff ‘s Department and State Highway
Patrol will participate in the program with
each providing one officer at each site
to conduct the tests. The State Highway
Patrol also agreed to check window tint at
the inspection sites. Akron does not have
a device that can check tint, and citizens
often don’t know if their tint is acceptable
or illegal.
Each of the four Council Representatives participating in the program will
choose a location for an inspection site.
Each site will be open for one day with
three officers – one from Akron, the
sheriffs department the highway patrol –
conducting the inspections.
Initially, the inspection sites will be near
senior citizen complexes and in minority
neighborhoods, where safety-related
police stops are the highest. Young hopes
to repeat the program with other Council
members choosing new locations every
few months.
Young said he has talked with representatives from Auto Zone, Advance Auto
Parts and O’Reilly’s, and they have agreed
to participate in the program by offering to
install replacement light bulbs purchased at
their stores at no charge.
“I don’t want this to be a flash in the pan.
We should be providing this service for our
citizens. My goal is a regular event that for
now we operate at least four times a year.”
becomes Akron’s mayor; U.S.
government quits funding
EPA-mandated projects.
The $22 million overflow storage facility on Cuyahoga Street has helped the city
reduce overflows into the Cuyahoga River by one third. Thirteen more storage
facilities like it are planned.
residents will pay for the sewer repairs back
into the city,” said Ward 5 Council Representative Ken Jones.
The Combined Sewer Overflow
(CSO) Program is a federally mandated
reconstruction of Akron’s sewer system,
however the federal government is not
providing any funding to help pay for
the repairs. Akron officials have been
working with the U.S. and Ohio Environmental Protection Agencies to develop
repair plans that include creating huge
underground storage basins, building a
second sewage treatment plant and reconfiguring some of the combined sewers.
A federal judge must still approve the
agreed-upon repairs and the length of time
Akron will have to make them.
“There is no question that we need to
and should correct the overflow problems.
We all want a clean environment,” said
Council President Garry Moneypenny.
“The question is how much time will the
judge give us to fix the problem and to raise
money to pay for it.”
The early 1900s design of Akron’s
sewer system allows sewage and ground
runoff water to mix when water flow
volume is severe due to heavy rains.
When the volume becomes more than the
city’s sewage treatment plant can manage,
untreated overflow goes into the Cuyahoga
River. Most Midwest cities have similar
sewer design and overflow issues.
Akron has already spent about $300
million repairing and reconfiguring the
sewers and building a storage basin. Those
repairs reduced overflow volume from the
sewer system by one–third. Proposed are
thirteen additional storage basins, new
sewer lines to allow for further separation
of the combined sewers and three giant
interceptor tunnels. The goal is to contain
excess wastewater during heavy rains
1991 Akron begins “Ohio
Canal Combined Sewer
Overflow Study.”
Donnie Kammer, Ward 7 Council
Representative
Did you come into office with any goals
in mind?
One of my main goals was to make
myself available to Ward 7 residents.
I’ve done that by holding daytime
coffee meetings and evening ward
meetings. I walk and drive through
my neighborhoods on a weekly basis
as a proactive approach to identifying
issues. I return calls in a timely manner.
What has been your biggest disappointment? If a resident has an issue or concern, it’s
my job to help them any way I can. Yes,
Thus far it would be the continuous
I believe I have fulfilled my goal.
impact of the recession on our country
and our city. High unemployment and
economic hard times have forced too Any “lessons learned” in your first term
many homeowners to abandon their that stand out in your mind?
Just that I’ve learned how important it is
homes. The rise in vacant homes citywide and frequent vandalism and arson for colleagues to work cooperatively and
targeting those homes causes alarm in how unsuccessful confrontational politics
our neighborhoods. Even though the city is. We need to build consensus among
is working diligently to solve this issue, it Council and the administration and work
is still disappointing to see people losing together to accomplish the ultimate goal,
their homes, the homes being ruined by which I believe is making Akron one of
vandals and becoming an eye soar to our the best cities in which to live, work and
raise a family.
neighborhoods.
2009 US EPA, Ohio EPA
and Akron reach agreement
on new LTCP
2011 Federal Judge John
Adams rejects agreement
2011 Parties submit revised
plan on which all agree
1993 City hires engineering
2011 Judge Adams rejects
revised plan
1998 City publishes LTCP and
sends to Ohio EPA for approval
2013 Judge Adams announces
he is hiring an expert from
Oregon to advise him; project
now estimated to cost Akron
$870 million
firm to develop Long Term
Control Plan (LTCP)
2002 Ohio EPA approves
$376 million plan
– water that previously was discharged into
the river – until the rain ends and the city’s
sewage treatment plant has the capacity to
treat the wastewater.
Akron’s solution to pay for the program
is the same one adopted by most cities: raise
sewer rates to pay for the repairs. Raising
sewer rates is the only way to ensure that
non-resident users of the system also help
pay for the repairs. About 17 percent of the
sewer system users live in the suburbs.
It is estimated that sewer rates could
triple – climbing to between $125 and $150
per month for the average household. The
silver lining is that the money Akron residents pay for the repairs will be returned
to Akron in the form of jobs and additional
city income taxes.
September 10 is Judgment Day
Akron voters to decide every Council position
Primary election day is Sept. 10 when
27 Democrats and 10 Republicans will
vie for positions on the Nov. 5 general
election ballot.
Four Democrats and four Republicans are competing for three position
per party as At Large candidates on the
November ballot, and all four Democrats
are current council members. They are
At Large incumbents Jeff Fusco, Mike
Williams and Linda Omobien, and
current Ward 2 Council Representative
Bruce Kilby. One will lose their bid for
re-election to Council.
Five Democratic candidates – none
with any Council experience – are
competing in the Ward 1 race along with
Committee formed to make
decision on Akron food trucks
Committee members include Jeff Fusco,
Chairman and Councilman-at-Large; Margo Sommerville, Ward 3 Councilwoman;
Veronica Simms, Akron School Board;
Suzie Graham, Downtown Akron Partnership; Guido D’Orio, Member, North Akron
Board of Trade; and John Buntin, Member,
Kenmore Board of Trade.
“I like the idea of having food trucks in
areas with few food options, such as Summit Lake or the University of Akron,”
Sommerville said. “The committee’s number one priority is to protect the interests of
our brick and mortar restaurants while also
meeting the needs of consumers.”
The committee is looking into precedents set by similar cities to make a wellinformed decision that will best serve
Akron. There is no timetable for a final
decision.
one Republican candidate. Each party
can have one candidate for each ward
Council seat on the November ballot.
Ward 1 was redrawn to encompass all
of Highland Square as part of the redistricting plan approved by Council late
last year. The goals of the plan were to
equalize population among the wards;
retain the minority majority already
existing in Wards 3, 4 and 5; and keep
identifiable neighborhoods together
within a single ward. Highland Square
had been split among four wards.
Ward 2 also was redrawn, moving
Council Representative Jim Hurley from
Ward 1 to Ward 2. He is unopposed on
the primary ballot.
Ward 3 Council Representative Margo
Sommerville is running in her first election. She was appointed by Council to
her seat when her father, former Council
President Marco Sommerville, resigned
to join the mayor’s cabinet. In appointing
her, Council noted her advanced degree
in public administration and urban
studies as well her considerable civic
involvement.
While most Council Representatives
have one or two candidates opposing
them, Ken Jones in Ward 5 is facing four
other Democratic candidates.
Following is a list of all Council candidates on the Sept. 10 ballot.
September 10th City Council Ballot List
WARD 1
John Bryan (D)
Robin Green (D)
Derrick Hall (D)
Chuck Heimbaugh (D)
Rich Swirsky (D)
Anthony George Karam, Jr. (R)
WARD 2
James P. Hurley III (D)
Akron’s dining landscape might have a
different look in the near future depending
on the outcome of a local issue that has
become a prominent topic of discussion
throughout the past year.
Cleveland food truck operators have
lobbied the city of Akron to allow them to
serve the downtown area, but their initiative has been met with opposition from local restaurant owners who are worried that
the low-overhead food trucks will take
business from brick-and-mortar venues,
costing the city jobs and tax income.
Food truck owners recently began attending City Council meetings every
Monday to speak during the comment
period about operating in Akron. This
prompted Akron City Council to form a
committee to research food truck vendors
and their potential impact on the local
economy.
2009 Six years of negotiations
with US EPA result in lawsuit
against Akron
Incumbent Council Representatives Jeff Fusco, Linda Omobien, Mike Williams and Bruce Kilby (pictured L to R) are vying for three spots on
the November ballot.
West Akron
Old news is finally becoming good news
in West Akron’s Highland Square neighborhood. All of the t’s have been crossed
and i’s dotted, and the new Mustard Seed
grocery store is about to begin construction.
2004 City begins CSO
work based on plan; reduces
overflow volume 33 percent
1987 Don Plusquellic
Ward 7 Representative Donnie Kammer answers
questions about his first term on City Council.
What has been the most pleasant surprise
during your first term?
It’s the overall cooperation of the administration and the city managers. I need
to work with them to address issues and
citizen concerns in my ward, and they
have consistently gone above and beyond
to assist me. And then there is John Valle
and the Department of Neighborhood
Assistance. This new department created
by Mayor Plusquellic was a wonderful
idea. It is an asset to all of the wards in our
city. John is very responsive to our needs
and always willing to lend a hand.
1972 Clean Water Act is
passed designating the Ohio
EPA as the agent with authority
on clean water issues.
Pollution Control Station
After two years on the job, is being a Council
representative what you expected?
I came into Council approaching my
position as a full-time job, and it has been
that and more. So yes, the issues I’ve faced
and the time required to resolve them
has been what I expected. What I didn’t
expect was the help I would get from my
peers, especially Council President Garry
Moneypenny. His wealth of experience
and knowledge has helped me a great deal.
I am very grateful for his guidance and
mentoring.
Downtown
2002 US EPA takes away Ohio
EPA authority to approve plans
and rejects Akron’s plan
1981 Akron upgrades Water
What’s it like to be on Council?
Industrial Rubber Group is redeveloping the former Goodyear world headquarters into a live-work-play community with apartments, commercial and retail business and restaurants plus a theatre, recreation center and hotel.
1934 Akron builds its last
sewer that combines waste and
runoff waters.
WARD 3
Tony Brown (D)
Nyere McGuire (D)
Margo Sommerville (D)
WARD 5
Lucille A. Humphrey (D)
Ken Jones (D)
Tara Mosley-Samples (D)
Sidney K. Richards (D)
Ronald Street (D)
WARD 6
Bob Hoch (D)
Shirley Ann Thompson (R)
WARD 7
Donnie Kammer (D)
Adam VanHo (D)
Paula A. Beagle (R)
WARD 4
DeAndre Forney (D)
Russel C. Neal Jr (D)
Eugene Norris (D)
Akron REBuildinG CONT.
After 37 designs, complicated by
a lack of parking and trying to fit a
grocery store on a small, odd-shaped
property, Mustard Seed and the city
have settled on a $6 million, two-story
24,000 square foot store.
One block east of the new Mustard
Seed, a two-story building with
building with first-floor retail and
second floor apartments soon will
be rising on a vacant lot. In dollars,
the development is small. But to the
WARD 8
WARD 9
Mike Freeman (D)
Christopher A. Miller, Sr. (R)
WARD 10
Garry L. Moneypenny (D)
Harry L. Jenkins (R)
COUNCIL-AT-LARGE
Jeff Fusco (D)
Bruce Kilby (D)
Linda Omobien (D)
Michael D. Williams (D)
Karl William Johnson (R)
Chris Kormushoff (R)
Charly Murphy (R)
Linda M. Robinson (R)
Marilyn L. Keith (D)
Gary Hagen (R)
passionate and often vocal community,
it is immeasurable.
“There are a lot of things going on in
Highland Square with the grocery store
and new storefront development, but
I think the real story is the Highland
Square Neighborhood Association and
its involvement,” said At Large Council
Representative
Mike
Williams.
“Neighborhood-based organizations
are the key to strengthening communities and allowing each community to
express itself at the local level.”
Council President Moneypenny
gives the lion’s share of the credit for
Akron’s development boom to Mayor
Plusquellic and his staff. He said
Plusquellic’s commitment to pursue
businesses big and small, foreign and
domestic, has been key to Akron’s
stability. He also gives credit to the
major players – the hospitals, tire
companies, banks and university – for
cooperating and communicating.
“Akron is city of collaboration,” he
said. “When the common good is identified, everyone finds a way to work
together even when not all agree.”