MEMORANDUM

 TO:                  City Council Members/Department/Division Heads

FROM:            Douglas L. Lewis, City Manager

SUBJECT:     Weekly Update

WING DEVELOPMENT PROPOSED: Staff received partial engineered plans and specifications which are scheduled to be presented to the Planning Commission on Tuesday, July 5, 2005. As Council is aware, Mr. Wing has submitted drawings to develop a manufactured home community on U.S. 20 at Amboy Road. The plan contains 67 sites with homes, each approximately 1300 sq.ft. with attached garages, on approximately 10 acres.  

Staff is currently reviewing the engineered plans and specifications for compliance and Mr. Johnston will be providing staff’s comments and recommendations to Mr. Wing by the end of the week. In addition, we will be providing the information to the Planning Commission prior to the meeting. It is our recommendation that any requirements be made a condition of the development.    

OHIO MAIN STREET PROGRAM: This past Tuesday, June 21, 2005, Ms. Patty Lines of Lines and Associates and I attended a program to learn more about the Ohio Main Street Program.  

The goal of the program is to assist Ohio communities to economically and physically revitalize their downtowns or neighborhood commercial districts by providing the necessary education and training to implement the National Trust Main Street Programs Four Point Approach: 

            1)         Organization

            2)         Promotion

            3)         Design

            4)         Economic Restructuring  

It is my belief that the Downtown Main Street Program would prove beneficial to the City of Conneaut. If we decide to pursue it, it will require the support of the Chamber of Commerce and downtown business merchants as well as require EXTENSIVE community input. The program requires that a part-time Downtown Manager be hired. We will continue to research the program and schedule for discussion at an upcoming Work Session.    

LOGAN/SLOGAN COMMITTEE UPDATE:  This past week, Ms. Judy Yesso facilitated the final focus group meeting with representatives of the Conneaut Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. A number of excellent ideas were discussed. We are summarizing the information and will update Council at a later date.  

REFUSE COLLECTION/RECYCLING:  Per our discussion at a recent Work Session, staff has been informed that Tidy Trash was sold to Waste Management. As a result, Waste Management may be the sole residential trash hauler in the City of Conneaut.   

Once it is confirmed that Waste Management is the only refuse hauler, staff recommends sitting down and talking with them about entering into a long-term contract and/or exploring the option of bidding out refuse collection and recycling services. The goal in franchising these services is: 1) to obtain a lower cost for residents,  2) to require roll-out  containers for trash to be placed into, 3) to determine if curbside recycling is economically feasible, 4) to limit the number of collection days within the City of Conneaut.   

SANITARY SEWER LINES:  Several streets were videoed to decide how to spend our grant money funds that we will be receiving. The Wastewater Treatment Plant looked at Ackerman Street, Poplar Street, Marshall Street, Sandusky Street and Buffalo Street. Sandusky Street and Buffalo Street, south of Jackson Street are in very bad shape.  

At least two areas on the sanitary line on Buffalo will need to be repaired prior to receiving our grant funding. There are other problems on the remaining streets that were videoed, but they will be able to wait until funding becomes available. 

WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLAN UPGRADE: The first half of the sludge holding tank is finished with two hundred yards of concrete poured this past week. The digester lid was removed and has been demoed. Construction of the new digester lid has begun.  

PARRISH ROAD RAIL GRADE SEPARATION PROJECT: Craig Pierce, Superintendent of the Wastewater Treatment Plant attended a meeting in Ashtabula this past week, regarding this project.  He has reported that the utility relocation portion of the project will take longer than originally planned. The electric and telephone relocations will take approximately nine months due to the fact that they have to wait for the right-of-way clearing. The clearing cannot be done during the Indiana bat season, which runs from April 15 to September 15. 

As far as the sewer line is concerned, the section between the tracks will not be replaced. The state also refuses to pay to have that section videoed prior to and after the overpass is completed.  We feel that the pylon driving activity may cause damage to the line, which will be very costly to repair after the fact. We hope to purchase our sewer camera so that we can look at the line prior to construction beginning. 

ROAD CUT REPAIRS: The Public Works Department has been working on repairing several road cuts during the past few weeks.  These repairs are due to the street being torn up by our Water and Wastewater Departments for repairs to sewer and water lines. 

CITY HALL CLEAN-UP PROJECT: This past Friday, we had a City Hall clean up utilizing employees from various departments. The employees did a wonderful job of trimming trees and bushes, pulling weeds, edging sidewalks and mulching. The temperature certainly did not cooperate as it was pushing 90 degrees, but everyone involved continued to help out to get the job done. The following employees should be commended for the wonderful job that they did: Vicki Jackson, Judy Church, Dave Masiorvits, Chad Kenderski, Steve Lee, Bill Johnston, John Roach, John Falcone, Nick Sanford, Bob Gestwicki, Joe Mucci, Steve Perkio and son, Pat Beckwith and I. 

BOARDED UP BUILDINGS: The Fire Department boarded up buildings this week due to owner neglect and safety concerns. Those buildings were the former Tavones Bar and house on the corner of Jackson & Chestnut Streets, 454 State Street and the former store located on the corner of East Main Road and Old Main Road. Each of these buildings has citations against them and the Fire Department has been trying to work with the owners for compliance. 

E211 TROUBLES:  Due to some electrical problems with E211, the Fire Department was required to use E212 for multiple calls while E211 was taken out of service. The  reliability of E212 is of concern given that it is counted on more and more as both the engines are aging.    

4^TH OF JULY FESTIVAL:  The Parks and Recycling Division is getting the jump on preparing Lakeview Park for the 4^th of July Festival. In addition to their regular assignments, they are spending additional time to clean up Lakeview Park. 

Mr. David Reich of O.D.O.T. District 4 informed me that Broad Street will not be paved in time for the annual 4^th of July Festival.  As a result, the alternative route will be Jackson Street to Mill Street, Mill Street to Erie Street, Erie Street to Lake Road. The Police Department and CSX have been informed of the change in route.        

VALLEY STREET WATER LINE:  The water line on Valley Street has been completed and all the homes have been tied in.   

WATER CONSUMER CONFIDENCE REPORT: Residents should have received their Consumer Confidence Report this past week.    

POLICE CALLS/CITATIONS/ARRESTS:  During the week of June 9^th through June 16^th, the Police Department logged 513 service calls.  Of these calls, there were 22 animal calls, 39 registration checks, 28 suspicious activity calls, 77 traffic stops, 11 traffic violations and five disorderly conduct citations. 

POLICE CALLS/CITATIONS/ARRESTS:  During the week of June 16 through June 23, the Police Department issued 59 citations/arrests and logged 427 service calls.  Included in these numbers were 28 registration checks, 53 traffic stops, 30 suspicious activity calls, 14 thefts, 10 domestic situations, 13 juvenile complaints, 16 animal calls, and they issued 15 speeding violations. 

SOAP BOX DERBY:  The Soap Box Derby was held last weekend and the Public Works Department did an excellent job preparing the subway area by trimming trees and mowing grass.   

In addition, much credit must be given to Tracy and Kelly Welton of Ashtabula for their willingness to take on this event. As Council is aware, without their efforts, there is a very good possibility that the Soap Box Derby would no longer be an annual event in Conneaut.  The event went very well and Mr. Varckette and I split races – thanks to a good push from The Mac. 

CERTIFICATE OF EXCELLENCE:  Thanks to the efforts of Pam Harper, Lori Lamer and Patricia Beckwith, the Bureau of Worker’s Compensation recognized the City of Conneaut for outstanding achievement in effective Return-to-Work Management for the 4^th quarter of 2004. The score of 185.90% exceeds the statewide average of all other employers in the State of Ohio.  

UPCOMING EVENTS – MARK YOUR CALENDAR: 

4^th of July Festival:  July 1-3, 2005 at Lakeview Park. 

4^th of July Parade:  July 2, 2005 at 5:00 p.m. off Mill Street 

4^th of July Fireworks:  July 3, 2005 at 10:30 p.m. at Lakeview Park. 

Household Hazardous Waste Collection:  September 17, 2005 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Ashtabula County Fairgrounds.