MEMORANDUM

TO:            City Council Members/Department/Division Heads

FROM:      Douglas L. Lewis, City Manager

SUBJECT: Weekly Update

Traffic Warrant Study: CT Consultants will be conducting a traffic warrant study on State Route 7 at Gateway Avenue from November 9 – 11, 2005. The traffic counts during that period of time will determine whether or not the City of Conneaut will be eligible for a $116,000 grant. The higher the traffic counts, the better chance we have in obtaining the grant to upgrade the interchange and improve the signalization. The grant is important to the City of Conneaut and should improve the flow of traffic at the State Route 7 and Gateway Avenue intersection.     

2005 Leaf Collection Program:  The Public Works Department has developed a brochure to explain the 2006 Leaf Collection Program.  A copy has been placed in each of your boxes at City Hall and will be made available to residents. The Public Works Department will begin picking up leaves on Monday, November 14, 2005.      

N.O.P.E.C. (Electric Rates): N.O.P.E.C. announced they were successful in negotiating a reduction in rates with FirstEnergy. After Green Mountain Energy decided to pull the plug on Ohio, FirstEnergy has agreed to offer a 5% discount for residential customers through 2006 on the generation portion of their electric bill. Small commercial and governmental entities will receive a 1% discount. While similar discounts are expected to continue through 2008, the rates are 2% higher than those offered by Green Mountain Energy. N.O.P.E.C. has not released Green Mountain Energy from legal claims, and has stated that they will be vigorously pursuing those claims. 

EDA Grant:  The City of Conneaut has worked with Growth Partnership to submit the final application to the EDA for the $365,000 in grant funding earmarked by Congressman Steve LaTourette. Growth Partnership has walked us through the EDA process and has taken the lead to ensure that Phase I of the Eastside Industrial Park begins in 2006.  Much thanks go to Joe Mayernick and Misty Hedjuk for their assistance! 

Crack Sealing:  The Public Works Department has been very busy over the past couple of weeks crack sealing U.S. Route 20 and Lake Road.  The crew has completed the work on U.S. Route 20 and it is anticipated that the work on Lake Road will be completed by the end of next week. Much thanks go to the Public Works Department for completing the crack sealing before the inclement weather arrives.   

2006 Budget Review: Mr. Williams, Finance Director, and I have completed a preliminary review of the departmental budget requests. We will be working with Department Directors to finalize budget recommendations over the next two weeks. It is anticipated that we will be presenting the recommended budget to the City Council the last week of November and/or the first week of December.  It may be necessary to conduct a special meeting.  We will keep you updated.  

Logo/Slogan Contest:  Given the approval of the City Council, the City of Conneaut will be conducting a contest to develop a new logo and slogan for our community. The goal is to develop a logo and slogan that is more representative of the City of Conneaut.   

In order to obtain ideas, five (5) focus groups were conducted and cross sections of individuals from the community were invited to participate. Based on their input, we will be asking interested parties to design a new logo and submit their ideas for slogan. The submittals will be based on the recommendations of the focus groups.   

Staff will be developing the information to ask the community, including students from the Conneaut School District, for their ideas. Once we have gathered the information, we will ask the Star Beacon, 1360 WWOW and the Courier to make residents aware of the contest.  We will keep you updated as the process moves forward.      

ODOD Community Distress Grant:  Ms. Patty Lines of Lines and Associates and I sat down with representatives from the Ohio Department of Development this past week.  The purpose of the meeting was to determine how we could improve our 2006 Community Distress Grant application in order to obtain $300,000 in funding. The meeting was very productive and we were able to obtain valuable information on rankings and point values. Ms. Lines has agreed to prepare and submit the application for no cost.  Assuming we are successful, the City of Conneaut will be awarded $300,000 to spend on capital improvements within one LMI area.     

Emergency Generation System Testing: The Water Treatment Department recently ran and emergency power outage test on the Parrish Road Booster Pump Station and the Center Road Booster Pump Station. They hooked up portable generators at the pump houses and ran the stations at full load for a four-hour period. A few minor problems were noted in the system and are being corrected. 

Water Line Replacements: The Water Treatment Department repaired a leak in front of 370 Tyler Avenue this past week. This line in one of the many old lines throughout the system and needs to be replaced. We have slated this line to be replaced next year. 

The water line on Wrights Avenue between Pearl Street and Lake Road is in very bad condition. We have been experiencing frequent water leaks in this area and are planning on replacing the line next week. The necessary materials have been purchased and we plan on replacing 360’ of 6-inch line. The entire project should be able to be completed by the end of next week. 

Fire Hydrant Meters: The Water Treatment Department has purchased two new fire hydrant meters in order to accurately charge customers that want to use hydrants. In the past, customers wanting to use the fire hydrants for projects such as dust control during construction would be charged a flat fee of $50.  

The first customer that used the new metering system was drilling a well and was charged a total of $1,022.86 for water usage. This single customer more than paid for the $972 cost of purchasing the two meters. This system will enable the Water Treatment Department to recover the actual costs for usage of a fire hydrant.   

Wastewater Treatment Plant Project: The upgrade work has slowed a bit this week due to the heavy rains. The contractors have formed the stair pads, are filling holes in the walls from the forms, they are continuing to set the sludge mixers and are setting up scaffolding in #3 digester for painting. They have also started installing the manhole steps inside the tank and have set two manholes in addition to piping near the sludge tank. 

Homeland Security Grant:  The Police Department has applied for a $5,000 Homeland Security Grant. If they receive this grant, they plan to purchase a “MARCS” radio for the Dispatch Center. This radio would enable our Dispatch Center to communicate “statewide” with other agencies in the event of a catastrophic incident. 

Police Department Calls/Citations/Arrests:  During the week of October 14 through October 21, the Police Department received 444 service calls.  Included in these numbers were 20 suspicious activity calls, 13 thefts, 43 traffic stops, 47 registration checks, 13 juvenile complaints, and 10 animal calls.  

Police Department Calls/Citations/Arrests: During the week of October 21 through October 28, the Police Department received 402 service calls.  They issued 4 citations for oversize/overweight vehicles, issued 2 parking violations and 3 speeding violations. They also logged 44 traffic stops, 14 theft complaints, 36 registration checks, 8 accidents, 14 disturbance calls and 7 animal calls.

Police Department Hires:  The Conneaut Police Department recently hired two (2) new police officers to replace retired officers Shugerts and Woods. The new officers include Joe Schor and Jason Rivers.  We welcome them both.     

Burglaries & Thefts:  Numerous burglaries and thefts from automobiles have been occurring around the City. In southern/rural areas, ATV’s are being used for access. 

Ladder Truck: The ladder truck and ground ladders were inspected this past week. This is an annual inspection process and as expected, repairs are needed to the truck to maintain certification. The manufacturer is sending mechanics to review the report and make necessary repairs.   

Free Screenings:  On behalf of the City of Conneaut, I would like to thank UHHS Brown Memorial Hospital for conducting free screenings for City employees. They provided free testing for Blood Sugar, Cholesterol, and Blood Pressure. Knowledge and prevention are the best cure to keep our workforce healthy.    

MARK YOUR CALENDARS -- UPCOMING EVENTS: 

Veterans Day Ceremony:  Friday, November 11, 2005 at 10:45 a.m. from the American Legion to the Veteran’s Memorial in front of City Hall. 

Voices and Choices: Northeast Ohio Regional Town Meeting for economic development on Saturday, November 12, 2005 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Rhodes Arena at the University of Akron.  If you are interested in attending, please contact my office.  A bus has been arranged for transportation to and from the event.   

UHHS Pancake Breakfast:  Saturday, November 12, 2005 from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. at UHHS Brown Memorial Hospital to benefit the United Way.   

Annual Christmas Parade:  Friday, November 19, 2005.  For more information, contact Jim Jones.    

Lights of Love Ceremony:  The tree lighting ceremony will take place on Friday, November 25, 2005 following the parade. For more information, please contact the Conneaut Chamber of Commerce.      

Chamber of Commerce Annual Business Meeting and Dinner:  Tuesday, December 6, 2005 at the Golden Anchor Restaurant.  Please let me know if you plan on attending.