Proclamations
Mayor Shubert recognized Hudson’s recycling efforts and encourage increased participation in recycling programs among residents and businesses. A representative from the Environmental Awareness Committee will be in attendance to accept this Proclamation.
Under Public Hearings the city needed to provide notice that it will not implement the growth management residential development allocation system during 2021. It is not abandoning the system – it simply will not implement it this year. Estimated projects in the coming year are in the link below.
Consent Agenda
Items B, C and D were skipped and all related to union contract negotiations that are near conclusion but have not had the I’s dotted and t’s crossed. We will address these at the next meeting.
A 20-127 This Ordinance authorizes an annual salary adjustment for the City's non-bargaining unit employees. The pay bands provided in the Pay Range Structure chart attached to the Ordinance have each been adjusted by a factor of 1.02 over the 2020 Pay Range Structure figures. This Ordinance also amends the City’s Pay Range Assignment Schedule.
E 20-132 The Public Works Department budgets annually for the purchase of road salt for de-icing city streets for winter traffic safety. The Public Works Department seeks City Council approval of road salt purchases from Cargill Incorporated through participation in the CUE (Community, University and Education Purchasing Association).
G 20-133 Each year the Public Works Department solicits prices for the conveying of delivered road salt into the City salt storage facilities. Staff wishes to award the salt conveying contract for the 2020-2021 winter season.
H 20-134 The City’s electric rate structure is currently due to be reviewed. Rates are typically reviewed on a five (5) year rotation to evaluate and align with the cost of power and delivery of services to HPP customers. As in the past, the City will utilize the public power consulting firm of Courtney & Associates to prepare an Electric Rate and Functionalized Cost of Service Study and to recommend rate structure adjustments.
Additional notation – HPP will lose money at the operating level in the coming years based on the 5 year plan. To avoid this the rate structures will need to be reviewed (read: rate increases will likely occur in the next year or two if things don’t change).
I 20-135 The Hudson Community Foundation is awarding grants to nonprofits that serve the City of Hudson and the Hudson City School District. The purpose of the funding is for nonprofits that have experience and history of providing services and support to Hudson residents. The City could receive $8,000 in grant funding for the purchase of robotic cameras for use in the Hudson Community Television studio or at remote locations to allow for safe social distancing as required by necessary COVID-19 precautions. No match is required.
J 20-136 The Ohio History Connection awards Ohio History Fund Grant for the purpose of assistance with historically significant projects in Ohio. The City could receive up to $20,000 in grant funding for restoration and preservation work on the Old Hudson Township Burying Ground. We have received letters of commitment from partner organizations and staff time will assist with the required match.
K 20-137 The Public Works Department budgets $35,000 annually for preventative maintenance, emergency repairs, and component replacements for the City’s traffic signalization equipment. The contract consists of unit pricing, as the maintenance activities fluctuate annually. This service provides for safe and reliable operation of the system. The current contract with Signal Service Company expires on December 31, 2020.
L 20-138 A resolution authorizing the City Manager to enter into contract with Vasu Communications Inc. in the amount of $230,539.41. This is for the purchase of 800MHZ radios, pagers and a Safety Center Alerting System.
M 20-139 The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation provides the Safety Intervention Grant Program funding to Ohio public employers who wish to purchase equipment to substantially reduce or eliminate injuries and illnesses associated with a particular task or operation. The City Manager has accepted matching grant funding on behalf of Hudson EMS for the purchase of a power cot and load system for Hudson EMS.
N 20-140 City Staff requests authorization from City Council to enter into a Utility and Emergency Access Easement Agreement for our Emergency Services between the City of Hudson and the Villas of Hudson Homeowners Association (HOA).
O 20-141 City Staff requests authorization from City Council to enter into a Utility and Emergency Access Easement Agreement for our Emergency Services between the City of Hudson and the Clayton Court Homeowners Association, Inc.(HOA).
The above agenda was passed 6-0
Legislation
20-124 is for the library levy. This item is only on a second reading but it was pulled forward at the request of the library and passed with emergency measures. The library asked for a levy renewal (not increase) for 2 years be placed on the May 2021 ballot. Because of a lack of coordination between the board of election and the state of Ohio (they had not reconciled their own language recently) this was to be resubmitted and re-passed. Because of that delay, it would have missed the deadline to be placed on the ballot in May 2021 (there is 1 more item that needs to be approved to complete the process, and that required 3 readings before February 3rd to be on the ballot). It passed 5-0 with Kate Schlademan abstaining due to a conflict of interest her business has with the Library.
All other action items represented “ … issuance and sale of Notes, in anticipation of the issuance of bonds, for the purpose of paying costs…”. In short, debt was created from various projects and it is being sold to the bond market. Financially it is the right decision. The creation of the debt occurred long before I was on council and many of the items this debt was created to support were somewhat controversial, which is why Beth Bigham dissented on some items such as VBB and City Hall debt. I understand why she said no, and even agree with her in principle. But the money had been spent and our lowest cost option was to sell it to the bond market.
The items were as follows:
20-118 $740,000 for some land next to the Windstream building in Phase 2
20-119 $7,725,000 for the salt dome and bus depot movement
20-120 $3,975,000 for Velocity Broadband creation fund
20-121 $1,970,000 for the Brine Well
20-122 $990,000 for City Hall improvements.
20-123 $675,000 to improve the water main on Hudson Drive
It is important to note, as in the case of Velocity Broadband, issuance of notes is not “paying off debt”. There was a statement by a newly elected member of this body that read “The fact is, this business is doing very well – it is cash flow positive, it will have paid back in full the $3.8 mil borrowed this fall …” Paying back 3.8 million in debt means it is paid back, in fact. What happened is we EXTERNALIZED debt, so now VBB needs to pay the principle in addition to the interest. #misinformed
The other large item of note was an announcement that Diebold-Nixdorf is expected to make the old Windstream building on Rt 8 near i80 it’s new global headquarters, consolidating 4 offices into 2, and bringing roughly $31.4 million in payroll to Hudson. They would receive a 50% credit on income taxes for 10 years based on current business development incentive standards. It is important to mention that some jobs will come from within Summit County. Hudson and most other communities in Summit County (except Twinsburg and Stow) have an anti-poaching agreement. If a business moves from one to the other, a penalty is paid to the community losing the payroll. 50% of the income taxes that would have been paid in the first year. 40% in the second, and so on.