Council Members Discuss Goals for this Term
Sidewalks, Zoning Changes, Economic Development Top Wish Lists
With no urgent legislation to review and the planned absences of two council members during the Stow-Munroe Falls School District's Spring Break, City Council President Cyle Feldman decided to use the March 28 council meeting as a brainstorming session for the legislative body.
Each of the present council members took a turn discussing their legislative priorities and wants, with significant agreement around the topics of sidewalks, economic development, and planning.
Feldman started the session by explaining its purpose:
“We all want Stow to be a great place to live, to work and have fun, but I think as elected officials, we need to be able to collaborate, set some goals, find some common ground and get some things done. That really was the impetus for today,” he said.
Each of the councilmembers then had the opportunity to share their list of priorities.
Baranek’s Wish List: Smart Investments in Infrastructure, Safety, Recreation
Ward 3 Councilman John Baranek got the ball rolling outlining his priorities, which include:
Completing unfinished sections of sidewalks throughout the city;
Maintaining support of the city’s safety forces with the resources they need to keep Stow safe;
Funding parks and recreation programs that keep the city’s youth active;
Identifying key investments in the community the city can make while staying financially sound;
And, revisiting employee levels and job classifications to ensure that all employee positions are rated and compensated appropriately and that any positions not needed are eliminated.
Regarding the city’s first responders, Baranek said he wants to see “continued support to safety forces within reason and the fiscal responsibilities that we have as sitting on council."
"As Finance Director years ago, I was an advocate of supplying them with their needs within reason, and I think that’s what we have to look at as we go down the road here over the next couple of years, to make sure we remain fiscally sound and keep our safety forces adequately outfitted.”
Baranek noted the strong financial condition of the city currently, compared to 2008, when it had a record high debt. He explained that the prior debt was largely from sound investments in land and buildings that the city had previously made that were being paid down, including for the service center behind City Hall; the former Parks & Recreation facility across from Silver Springs park; a new satellite fire station; acquisition of the water system and buyout of Fox Den golf course. He said he’d like council to be able to think strategically about investments that make the city better.
“Working collaboratively with the school system, with the administration, I think we can make this a nice community, a viable community, a continually growing community within Northeastern Ohio.”
Fiocca’s Wish List: Make Biking in the City Safer
Ward 4 Councilman Mario Fiocca cited two priorities:
Enhanced nature trails at the city’s parks;
More connectivity to existing bike paths with safe biking lanes throughout the city.
“There’s a lot of cyclists around the City of Stow plus two great bike shops. From a safety aspect, looking at safety or residents and obviously having to deal with distracted driving, I think that is a good opportunity for us. Being that we have such a great bike trail that surrounds the community, I think that would help with connectivity and make things a whole lot safer,” Fiocca said.
He highlighted safety as a concern for pedestrians and cyclists who must venture onto Leewood Rd. as part of the bike trail and suggested that section be prioritized for safe bike lanes or sidewalks.
“I look at it as how do we make Stow a great place to live and play, and I think we’ve done good things the last couple of years as far as the play aspect of it, with the recent purchase of the senior community center and the improvements we’ve done with our parks,” he said.
Herman’s Wish List: Build for People, Not just Cars
Councilman At-Large Kyle Herman added his support for several of the items identified by Baranek and Fiocca, including sidewalks and bike lanes. He said those two items would likely be important elements as the city undertakes its review of the planning & zoning codes, scheduled to start shortly.
Completing the planning & zoning code rewrite is critical, Herman said, “because it can unlock so much potential for our city as we grow in the future."
“We can find ways to reduce the barriers to development in parts of our city where its appropriate and make sure it is done in a sustainable way while also protecting our green spaces. That’s a really important balance.”
Herman explained the importance of the planning & zoning code rewrite this way: “We really need this overhaul so we can grow in a way that we’re a city that is built for people, not just for cars.”
Other items on his wish list include:
Pursuing the “Rails to Trails” program, a national program that promotes the development of multi-use trails, to establish a bike path along the obsolete train tracks that cross Graham Rd. by Crystal Lake and extend to Rt. 59 in Cuyahoga Falls to the South and behind Silver Lake Country Club to the bike trail at Springdale Dr. to the North.
Creating sustainable infrastructure, by leveraging free consulting from the non-profit group Power Clean Future Ohio, which helps cities with best practices regarding sustainability, cost savings, energy efficiency and federal grants that can help pay for those initiatives.
Engaging more with the city’s boards and commissions and encouraging them to continue bringing ideas to council.
An initiative previously promoted by Ward 2 Councilwoman Kelly Coffey, ensuring the safety of city schools by adding a resource office in each school.
Regarding Power Clean Future Ohio, Herman noted: “Akron became one of their partner cities this week. Munroe Falls is already working with them. Cuyahoga Falls is already working with them… It’s free consulting that they offer to help our city with best practices.”
“We also should tap the expertise from other cities as well as within our own city staff and boards and commissions,” he said.
“I would like the boards and commissions to know that we appreciate their ideas and are encouraging them to elevate their ideas to council,” Herman continued. “The Parks Board was very important to the parks master plan that we need to continue to implement.”
Riehl’s Wish List: Reduce Neighborhood Speeding, Address Dilapidated Houses, Vape Shops
Ward 1 Councilman Matt Riehl also emphasized the importance of the upcoming planning & zoning code rewrite: “We have one opportunity to get this right; there’s a lot we can do to get this wrong.”
His priority list for this term included:
Making sure the new planning & zoning code appropriately addresses the issue of dilapidated houses, which he said has been a concern in many neighborhoods across the city for a long time;
Reducing the issue of speeding in neighborhoods by investing in speed tables that could be placed on the impacted streets;
Capturing available dollars from the state and federal governments;
Limiting the number of vape shops in the city.
Riehl said that when he talks with residents, one of the biggest concerns is speeding.
“We can do a much better job at addressing it. A couple years ago, the City of Akron applied for a grant for speed tables that they put in neighborhoods. It was so popular that the city went the following year and spent their own money to buy some more. That would be ideal if someone’s having an issue in their neighborhood, to go and place one of these speed tables out there that shows the speed, records the speed, and all that good stuff,” he said.
Riehl criticized the administration for not applying for state and federal grants made available for various projects, citing the cities of Hudson and Cuyahoga Falls as two that had recently received money for a park and fire station, respectively.
“Our citizens pay state taxes, they pay federal taxes. We should be able to bring some of those dollars back,” he said.
Riehl suggested that while the city reviews its planning & zoning code that it consider the number of vape shops in the city.
“They are selling to underaged children vape and tobacco products,” he claimed. “Other communities in Northern Ohio, Cuyahoga County, have put in place the items in their zoning code to limit vape shops in their communities and it might be something that we need to look at,” he said.
Feldman’s Wish List: Connectivity, Economic Development, Finish What We Start
In addition to agreeing with numerous subjects brought up by other council members, Feldman expanded on his own priority list:
Several items under the topic of Connectivity:
Sidewalks: Making sure that residents can walk or bike to our city parks.
Municipal sidewalk repair program: A need to evaluate to see if the money is only being spent to repair existing sidewalks or to build new sidewalks.
Annual road list: Making sure that all the roads that are identified as needing repair get done, even if they can’t be finished in the current budget year.
Economic Development: Reinstituting the Community Improvement Corporation, a stand-alone board that would assist small businesses with obtaining city funding to help with setting up shop in Stow, expanding or improving their businesses.
Continue to implement the parks master plan: Feldman commented that the city has paid for many consultant reports with mixed results on what’s actually been implemented.
Communicate more with the city’s boards and commissions other than arguing over who’s going to be on it.
Get some early wins when they’re doing things so residents can see what they’re getting done.
Feldman noted some of the deficiencies in Stow’s sidewalks.
“We have no sidewalks on Young Road and Stow Road to our most used park,” he said. “I drive through Hudson, I know they’re spending a lot of money, but they’re building new (sidewalks), right?” he said. “What Mr. Herman said, it’s built for people, people can move and get to different places, so I’m with you.”
Feldman recommended that council look into funding once again the city’s defunct Community Improvement Corp., which was last funded by council in 2017.
“The process needs a little revamped. We got some new people, some new thoughts, so I’m gonna look at bringing that back in a more effective and better way. I think it’s good where we can get to a point where, I’m talking to residents and (they’re saying) ‘Cyle, we need an upscale restaurant.’ OK. I talk to restaurant owners: ‘Who’s going to help me get to Stow.’ At least I’d have an answer I could direct them to, right?”
Feldman added: “I know that’s a tough ask, but it’s an awful loud one as an elected official. I hear it constantly. So, my thought on this is we can help economic development and small business and other people who want to come here who may need a little assistance.…It’s a tool in the toolbox for planning.”
Feldman was pleased with the ideas shared by each of the council members and expressed a hope to engage with the administration on them.
“We can find some common ground and we can get some things done together and your perspective by me, as an elected official, is very much appreciated. So, hopefully, we can share some of this with the administration, we can get some of these bridges gapped and move forward on that.”
Councilman At-Large Jeremy McIntire and Ward 2 Councilwoman Kelly Coffey were not in attendance for the meeting.
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