Comments – Land Conservation Chamber of Commerce presentation Downtown (Phase 2) Survey RFP Discussion Tennis & Pickleball, Along with Park Board Masterplan The Rest & Future agenda items
Comments - Land Conservation
I was contacted by the Western Reserve Land Conservancy, which has reached an agreement to purchase the 56 acre lot surrounding the O’Brien cemetery (referred to as Obrien wetland complex) on Hudson drive. The land conservancy will need a resolution by Hudson City Council and the Summit County Council to utilize state funds to purchase the land, and that application must be submitted by April 1st. Once the land is purchased it could be either managed by the conservancy or Hudson directly. It would be considered protected land and not intended to be used for any other purpose.
To easily find this lot, use this link https://ags.hudson.oh.us/HudsonJS/ and find parcel 3000415 using the “quick search” feature.
Chamber of Commerce
Nicole Alverson represents the Chamber of Commerce and works closely with Merchants of Hudson. Nicole came before council with a presentation/plan to utilize $20k in requested funds for marketing purposes to assist merchants through the current slump in business. The plan will utilize both broad-based social media advertising and more targeted geofencing techniques to promote all Hudson businesses to those inside Hudson and in adjacent communities, potentially bringing those outside of Hudson in. The $20k in funding would be taken from the general fund, yet given the city received over $1 million in CARES funding, it represents a fraction of what the city was able to use for many other areas, saving the city over one million and was the biggest part of why our general fund balance remained $2.3 million over expectation at Year end 2020.
The ad campaign would be broadly generic to all of Hudson and any landing page would include links to all Hudson merchants. That page can be designed inhouse and will not utilize any of the funds requested. The ROI measurement of a campaign like this results in data showing who was a part of a geofence, and did that mobile device come to Hudson after viewing an ad. The Chamber will be able to field over 1 million ad-views, and know when those who have viewed those ads enter Hudson. To drum up as much business as the ad-spend, we would need to see approximately 300 visitors over the months spending roughly $67 per visitor. It is a bit of an unknown but given it represents a very small amount of what Hudson received in CARES funding, and our merchants represent a very large part of what makes Hudson unique, I believe it is worth the effort so we can see how the results look.
Downtown (Phase 2) Survey RFP Discussion
Last week, at our city council meeting, staff presented RFP responses from two market research companies that could be used to perform statistically valid research within the City of Hudson on future usage of the Phase 2 downtown property. Skylar Sutton, Kate Schlademan and I represented the subcommittee to work on the RFP letters discussing methodology and some goals that research might achieve. The survey would still need to be designed and approved by all of council – we simply assisted in putting together the RFP. Two council members expressed deep concern about the “lack of transparency”, which surprised me personally. We were just asking for a cost quote from vendors wishing to bid on the project… not designing any survey ourselves, at Bill Wooldridge’s request. I expected this workshop to involve their objections – which in the end, there were none. So… staff is going to move forward with the RFP process without adjustment. Okay – much ado about nothing.
Tennis & Pickle ball, Along with Park Board Master plan
Two items in this agenda, one being the consent agenda item TMP-5340 authorizing the city manager to advertise for competitive bids and enter into a contract for the construction of a tennis and pickle ball complex at Barlow Farm Park. Budget attached below
It is higher than was explained at the park board presentation, by a few hundred thousand. And this is not in the park board master plan budget. The master plan is linked below, representing legislation item TMP-5341.
There are funds in the park board budget if debt is utilized to fund the construction. During our presentation it sounded as though the park board planned on waiting for funds to become available over time, and thus this might be built in the coming years. That has changed into utilizing debt and building it this summer, 2021. Either way is fine in my opinion. Parks does have the ability to cover that debt in its budget – I asked Jeff Knoblauch to update the park master plan and budget with the debt projections to see the actual impact – make those numbers available to all concerned.
There are other items in the park board master plan that represent areas of concern, which the park board has not responded to – such as the board requesting a seat at the table in the comprehensive plan. The master plan also shows more investment in areas of lower priority to the community than higher priority areas. Tennis and pickle ball being the 5th listed item but representing one of the highest investments. Skylar Sutton would like responses to those issues before moving forward accepting this master plan.
The Rest
Consent Items TMP-5331 A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO ADVERTISE FOR COMPETITIVE BIDS AND ENTER INTO A CONTRACT FOR THE RAVENNA STREET CULVERT REPAIR PROJECT. Brief Description: The project will include the repair of the 5-foot by 7-foot metal culvert under Ravenna Street along the Brandywine Creek Tributary.
TMP-5330 A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO ADVERTISE FOR COMPETITIVE BIDS AND TO ENTER INTO A CONTRACT FOR THE NORTH OVIATT STREET WATERLINE REPLACEMENT PROJECT. Brief Description: This project will involve the replacement of the existing water main and water service connections within the right-of-way on N. Oviatt Street from E. Streetsboro Street, north to Aurora Street.
TMP-5333 A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO ADVERTISE FOR COMPETITIVE BIDS AND ENTER INTO A CONTRACT FOR THE WEST BARLOW ROAD SIDEWALK PROJECT. Brief Description: The project will include the installation of a sidewalk along the north side of West Barlow Road from Nicholson Drive east to State Route 91 (Darrow Road). A map is linked here
TMP-5329 A RESOLUTION AFFIRMING THE APPLICATION SUBMITTED BY THE CITY MANAGER’S DESIGNEE TO THE STATE OF OHIO PRESERVATION OFFICE FOR A CERTIFIED LOCAL GOVERNMENT GRANT. Brief Description: The State of Ohio Preservation Office awards Certified Local Government grant funding for the purpose of advancing historic preservation efforts of local governments. The City has applied for $20,000 in grant funding to cover consultant work required to complete the filing of the Hudson Historic District Extension along Elm Street and Roslyn Avenue. No local match is required.
TMP-5291 A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO ENTER INTO LICENSE AGREEMENT FOR A SOLID WASTE STORAGE AREA BEHIND THE MAIN STREET STORES IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA. Brief Description: This resolution would authorize the City Manager to enter into a license agreement with Kep’s Tavern LLC to permit the use a City-owned dumpster enclosure on City property to properly store their trash, solid waste, and recyclables.
Legislation items
21-5 A RESOLUTION APPROVING THE APPLICATION FOR PLACEMENT OF LAND IN A NEW AGRICULTURAL USE DISTRICT FOR PURPOSES OF O.R.C. 929.02 FOR LEONORE E. COSMA, 2242 RAVENNA STREET, HUDSON, OHIO. Brief Description: Ms. Cosma has submitted the attached Application for Placement of Farmland in an Agricultural District for property located at 2242 Ravenna Street (Permanent Parcel No. 30-00514) in Hudson. Council has previously approved similar applications since 1999 at five-year intervals, but the renewal deadline for 2020 was missed, and therefore this application is considered a new request.
TMP-5334 N ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTION 230.05 OF THE CODIFIED ORDINANCES TO AUTHORIZE THE CITY MANAGER TO ENTER INTO LICENSE AGREEMENTS FOR EXPANDED USES OF CITY-OWNED UTILITY EASEMENTS.
Brief Description: The proposed amendment would authorize the City Manager to enter into license agreements with property owners for the construction of driveways and patios that are within a City-owned utility easement.
Items to be added to the future agenda
Mrs Kowalski requested the addition of ongoing rec center discussion be added to the 60 day tracker so council could discuss how they want to move forward with her proposal.
I requested we discuss how to handle fall trees and debris in the parks which, in some areas, has accumulated to look unsightly and possibly overloaded park staff.
Questions or concerns, please let me know -Chris
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