Conneaut council passes two ordinances at special meeting
CONNEAUT — City council passed an ordinance to issue and sell $225,000 in bonds to pay a portion of costs of work on Broad Street at a special meeting Monday.
The work on Broad Street will extend from just north of the Norfolk Southern underpass to Route 20 and is being paid for by the Ohio Department of Transportation and the city.
Council had passed a similar ordinance issuing and selling $175,000 to pay for the project at a March 24 meeting.
Conneaut City Manager Nick Sanford informed council at an April 28 meeting they would need to pass another ordinance for bonds after bids for the project came in higher than expected.
There will also be work on Broad Street from Liberty to Route 20 as part of the city's 2025 road projects.
Sanford does not expect work on Broad Street to affect the Soapbox Derby, he said at a work session.
'The contractor for that project is at least four to six weeks out on expected delivery of precast inlet basins for the storm sewers,' he said. 'We don't expect to see any activity on that site for a while.'
Sanford estimates the project may start around July or August.
He added at a work session, the city sent out the first advertisement for bids Friday for the 2025 road projects. The second round of bids go out Friday.
Bids open June 12, Sanford said.
Alongside Broad Street, there will also be bids for Main Street from Mill to Harbor streets, Salem Street from its eastern terminus to Rowe Street and Day Street from Lake Road to Erie Street.
There are also an alternate bids to chip and seal South Ridge Road West from Route 7 to the Kingsville Township line and for additional asphalt paving.
Council passed a Community Housing and Preservation Partnership Agreement with the Ashtabula County Board of Commissioners.
Sanford said the agreement is a partnership with the county that the cities of Geneva and Ashtabula also participate in and relates to the state's Community Housing Impact and Preservation Program.
'It's a very fast turnaround process,' he said.
Sanford said at a work session he is reaching out to CSX about the company's railroad underpass on Broad Street.
'I've requested any and all documentation that the railroad may have inspection wise,' he said.
Sanford said he is not sure if the company will fulfill the request.
'I want to get ahead of this, because I know it's been a hot topic in the city of Ashtabula,' he said.
Recently, Ashtabula city residents have raised concerns at Ashtabula City Council meetings and on social media about the conditions of the CSX underpass on Lake Avenue.
Sanford said Conneaut's CSX bridge does not appear in the same condition as the one on Lake Avenue in Ashtabula.
Councilperson-at-large Mariana Branch brought up the topic of increasing wages for council members.
The wage increase could only go into effect in 2026 if it was passed this year, she said.
A wage increase for 2026 could not be voted on in 2026.
The city has received a bid from one firm out of Cleveland to conduct a utility rate study, Sanford said.
'They proposed a pretty nice task breakdown,' he said. 'Total fees and expense just under $43,000.'
Sanford said last weekend's city clean up went well, and the city might have a second tire amnesty in the fall.
Second Ward Councilperson Chris Castrilla raised concerns about Rockwell Street, asking city employees to take a look at it.
Sanford requested the city have a public safety committee meeting.
Committee members at the work session decided to have the meeting before the city council meeting June 23.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Florida attorney general steps into Scientology land debate
Residents, city council members and the Church of Scientology have been locked in a tug-of-war over a portion of roadway in downtown Clearwater ever since city leaders voted in March to tentatively approve selling the land to the church. The church withdrew its request to purchase the city-owned street in May after a group offered a counter proposal that would memorialize African American history. What seemed like a hyper-local debate over the future of Scientology's downtown footprint has now caught the attention of Florida's attorney general. James Uthmeier sent a letter to Clearwater Mayor Bruce Rector last month about the sale of a portion of South Garden Avenue. Despite never using the word 'Scientology' in his letter, he wrote that comments Rector made during a recent city council work session suggest an 'unconstitutional' position against the church. 'My role as the state's chief legal officer compels me to caution you in this instance because it appears discriminatory motives could taint the Council's decision making,' Uthmeier's letter stated. 'If discrimination forms a basis for any decision to reject or place restrictions on approval, such a decision would run afoul of Florida law.' He wrote that his office had learned the city may agree to vacate the land on the condition that the Church develops its other downtown properties, a condition that he claimed violates a 1978 attorney general opinion. Companies tied to the Church of Scientology have purchased at least 200 properties within Clearwater's downtown since 2017. Residents and city council members opposed to the church purchasing more land say Scientology's properties are empty storefronts that have stunted downtown's growth. Rector, Clearwater's mayor, said the facts in the attorney general's letter were incorrect. He learned from Uthmeier's office that a letter was coming, he said, but didn't know exactly what it would say. This week, Rector said he spoke with Uthmeier's office to explain the situation and correct assumptions. 'We're not adversaries in this,' Rector said. 'It's a local issue. They're not going to get involved in a local issue, but they did receive a complaint.' Rector doesn't know who sent the complaint, although he has an idea, he said. The attorney general's office didn't respond immediately to requests for comment. Danaya Wright, a constitutional law professor at the University of Florida, said the city council has to make decisions that are in the best interest of its community — selling publicly owned land to a private entity is hard to get back, so doing so needs to be done carefully. 'I don't think the (city) has an obligation to bend over backwards to give them publicly owned land,' Wright said, 'as long as they're not privileging one religion over another, or discriminating against one religion over another, which is not the case.' The city council has to assess how this entity has used the other property it owns and what the taxpayer benefits are, she said. 'If it has made promises about development and then not done so, then that's relevant information,' Wright said. Brooks Gibbs, a part of the Save the Garden Coalition, which is proposing a plan that will memorialize African-American history in Clearwater, published a statement in response to the attorney general's letter. 'We intend to meet with city officials to discuss the next steps in bringing The Garden Memorial to life through a public-private partnership, while keeping the street in full use for Clearwater's citizens,' Gibbs wrote. 'We are continuing to move forward with determination.' Rector said Uthmeier's office is not taking any action. And right now, the city isn't looking to do so either. 'It's an active street,' Rector said. 'I don't think there's any appetite from the city council right now to vacate the street for anyone.'
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Honolulu City Council adopts $5.19B budget package
Two late votes by the Hono lulu City Council Wednesday evening finalized approval of a $5.19 billion budget package for the city's 2026 fiscal year, which begins July 1. The Council unanimously adopted a $3.91 billion executive operating budget, which in general will fund city salaries, police and fire services and street and parks maintenance. The panel also fully passed a $1.28 billion capital improvement program budget meant to pay for infrastructure improvements. The Council-approved budget is a 10.4 % increase over Honolulu's current $4.7 billion budget, which expires June 30. Mayor Rick Blangiardi has within 10 days to sign the budget bills into law. The latest budget includes $1.5 million toward new ambulances and six full-time equivalent positions to improve emergency response times on Oahu, particularly in Maunawili, Ko Olina, and Koolaupoko. Council additions also include $500, 000 in traffic safety upgrades near school zones, and $400, 000 in community policing support for all eight Honolulu Police Department districts, among other funding. And under the finalized CIP budget, Council member Andria Tupola successfully added $1.7 million to pay for the long-awaited improvements to an unfinished Waianae Police Station at 85-939 Farrington Highway. 'So we can finish the project, ' she added. But of note on the Council's latest budget vote was the hours-long delay toward its approval. Following back-and-forth discussions inside Honolulu Hale's Council Chambers Wednesday, the panel took a meeting recess after 5 p.m. The Council's final votes cast came after 9 p.m., in a meeting that began over 12 hours earlier. 'The extended recesses were required to carefully review and reconcile the Council member's changes in the draft legislation on the floor, ' a Council spokesperson told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser Thursday. On Wednesday, changes arose after Council Chair Tommy Waters' introduced a new floor draft of Bill 22—the executive operating budget—that morning. In that bill, Waters looked to redirect up to $19.1 million in previously appropriated but unused, or 'lapsed, ' city departmental funds to bolster the city's sewer fund, as a way to defray the cost of anticipated multiyear sewer fee rate increases expected to start July 1. 'We have established a provisional account with the general fund to allow the sewer fund to access it as a contingency when needed, ' Waters said. 'If the funds go unused for sewer activities they will lapse back into the general fund.' But city staff balked. 'We were kind of confused and surprised this morning when we saw the posted (floor draft ) by yourself, Chair Waters, ' city Department of Budget and Fiscal Services Director Andy Kawano said at the meeting. He added, 'It doesn't make sense to take funding out of departments for salaries and current expenses and set aside in a provisional for sewer activities when we, in fact, should not use it.' Kawano stated such an action could harm the city's AA + bond rating—the city's creditworthiness that impacts its ability to do bond financing—as the city tackles federally mandated, multibillion-dollar upgrades to its sewer treatment infrastructure and related utilities. Waters' floor draft—opposed by city staffers and questioned by Council members—later evaporated. Waters' attempt to add general funds mirrored his introduction of Bill 43 last month—a measure which was ultimately postponed during a recent meeting of the Council's Executive Management committee. On May 5, Waters advanced Bill 43, meant to redirect a portion of the 3 % visitor-generated Oahu transient accommodations tax, which in part is earmarked for Honolulu's rail project, to the city's sewer fund. But the chief critic of Waters' measure—BFS Director Kawano—asserted such an action was not a feasible option for the city to pursue. 'This measure will negatively impact the city's general fund and deviate from the intended purpose of the TAT, which is to provide general fund capacity to fund city services ; mitigate the strain visitors place on public facilities, emergency serv ices, and natural resources ; and provide additional funding for rail (i.e., 'Skyline') construction, ' Kawano wrote in a May 12 letter to Council. In related business Wednesday, the Council on a split vote adopted its version of city-initiated Bill 60, which deals with anticipated increases to the city's sewer fee rates. As part of the budget process, the Blangiardi administration proposed a 10-year, 115 % sewer fee rate increase that's expected to begin this summer. City officials say sewer fee hikes are necessary to support the city Department of Environmental Services' ongoing wastewater operations and maintenance efforts, as well as a $10.1 billion capital improvement program for Oahu's wastewater collection and treatment system that's planned through 2040. And they assert the work includes a $2.5 billion upgrade to the Sand Island Wastewater Treatment Plant as required under a 2010 federal consent decree. On Wednesday, the Council voted 5-4—with Esther Kia 'aina, Scott Nishimoto, Tupola and Waters dissenting—on Budget Committee Chair Tyler Dos Santos-Tam's draft of Bill 60, which shaves the city's decade-long span for increased rates down to about six years. That plan would start Jan. 1, 2026, and run through 2031. As approved, Bill 60's sewer fee increases for a household that uses about 6, 000 gallons of water per month—deemed 50 % of all single-family households in Honolulu—equates to a 6 % increase in sewer fees in fiscal year 2026, 7.5 % in fiscal year 2027, 8.5 % in fiscal year 2028, followed by 9 % over the remaining three fiscal years. After the year 2031, sewer rates would increase 3 % annually. As proposed, a household that uses 6, 000 gallons a month is currently charged $99.77 on average. By year 2031, that average bill would rise to $160.85, a more than 61 % increase, ENV data indicates. Under Dos Santos-Tam's Bill 60, ENV will have authority to set up a program called Customer Assistance for Residential Environmental Services, or CARES, to help with 'affordability and equity ' of increased sewer fee rates. Sewer customers who qualify based on household income of less than 80 % area median income will be eligible for a $20 to $25 credit on their monthly base fee. The program will be funded at $10 million per year. Customers will have to apply for the program to prove eligibility and then be re-verified every six months, ENV states. Still, not all were happy with Bill 60's approval. 'Really listen to your constituents because we're going to feel the effects, ' Oahu resident Tara Rojas said with disappointment, during remote public testimony to the Council. 'And this is only sewer (fees ), not even including anything else.'
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Yahoo
Permission granted for former chippy to be turned into 3 bedsits
A former Bury chip shop has been given the official go-ahead to be converted into three bedsits. The building at 89 Wood Street, which was the home of Wood Street Chippy for more than 40 years, will be used to house for up to four occupants. Planning was granted by the council on May 30 to convert the end terrace, which sits at the junction of Ashworth Street. All three bedrooms will have separate en-suite facilities, with residents using a shared kitchen with separate lounge and dining area. Given the occupancy levels, the property does not require a house in multiple occupation (HMO) licence. Get the latest news delivered straight to your inbox by signing up to the Bury Times morning newsletter as well as our breaking news alerts. Conditions state that the basement must not be used as a bedroom 'to ensure the development would not result in sub-standard living". An intercom system will be used for visitor access, along with space in the back yard to store up to three bikes and waste bins. There is no off-street parking available at the property which was highlighted in some of the 42 objections received on the council's planning portal, along with fears about road safety, anti-social behaviour and noise levels. READ NEXT: 'Rogue' park peacocks spotted in gardens across borough READ NEXT: Eight Bury schools set to receive share of £54m funding for essential work One resident said: 'I object to the HMO…one house is going cause more parking problems, my car gets damaged daily due to the state of how many cars are already on the street. 'I have a baby and cannot even park outside my own address have to park on the street next to my house or the back street." Another said: 'It is common that these sorts of premises accommodate occupants for easy money with a high turnover of occupants. 'This risks the safety of all the local residents and stability in the area by accommodating the unknown.' Developer Mark Houghton, owner of Tottington-based HDC Properties, spoke to the Bury Times in April about the concerns raised. He said: 'People tend to fear the unknown, and when they hear 'house of multiple occupancy' they fear the worst. 'Some objectors seem to be concerned that the property will bring the area down and is going to be used to house 'undesirables'. "It's my house so I'm not going to let just anybody live there." "There will be careful vetting, and because it's combined living, it's important that I get the balance right.'
