Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Construction updates, sales events & golf course news in Mentor report

The latest on several Mentor construction projects, some big outdoor sales events and break-ins Black Brook Golf Course all are part of the department head reports in the latest weekly city manager memo to City Council:

Engineering
• Karvo Paving is proceeding with the work on the Station Street Resurfacing Project. Traffic loops are being installed this week at Station and Center Streets. Guardrail repairs are also scheduled to be completed. The asphalt surface course is scheduled to be done next week. The scheduled completion date for this project is June 14.

• SR 2 Widening and Reconstruction — ODOT is currently performing night paving operations on SR 2. It is anticipated that paving operations will be complete in June. Final striping of Center Street is complete. Traffic seems to be reacting much better to the improved markings. ODOT has received a design for the corrections near Classic Chevy and has provided them to the contractor for a price quote. Further updates will be provided once a schedule has been determined for this work.

• The Heisley Road Bridge project will be implementing Stage II traffic control  May 29, weather permitting. During Stage II, traffic across the bridge will remain northbound only. The northbound traffic will be shifted onto the newly placed bridge deck utilizing crossovers to the southbound side of the roadway. This traffic shift will be between the exit and entrance ramps only and all traffic will be back to its original location past these ramps. The southbound traffic detour will remain unchanged (SR 2 west to SR 615 to SR 2 east). Periodic off-peak lane closures will continue on SR 2 under the Heisley Road Bridge.

• 2013 Road Repair Program — All concrete repairs have been completed. The contractor will be scheduling joint sealing and restoration operations in the near future. All asphalt streets have been paved, with the exception of the Market Street/Munson Road area. Work in this area is anticipated to be completed next week. The contractor will then schedule work to complete restoration and any punch list items.

• Hoose Road/Kings Hollow/King Memorial Resurfacing and Drainage Improvement — This project is expected to be advertised for bid on May 31 and June 7 with a bid opening of June 14. We expect to be able to present this project to council for their consideration at the July 2 meeting. The project consists of an asphalt overlay on Hoose Road to the eastern city limits. Additional asphalt will be placed on King Memorial from Bringman Court to Hoose Road and will also include Kings Hollow Court. This project will include the replacement of a deteriorated culvert on the east end of Hoose Road.

• SR 306 Concrete Repairs — This project is anticipated to be advertised for bid on May 31 and June 7 with a bid opening of June 14. We expect to be able to present this project to council for their consideration at the July 2 meeting. The project will provide for full depth concrete joint repairs on SR 306 from Bellflower Road to SR 2. 

• Environmental clearance has been received for the Heisley Road Phase 3 project and the city has received a copy of the LPA agreement from ODOT. Engineering will be submitting legislation, which will authorize the city to enter into the LPA agreement and a real estate agreement for right of way purchase. This will allow the city to proceed with appraisals and begin the right of way acquisition process for the project. Currently, project sale is still scheduled for late summer of 2014.

• The city held a pre-construction meeting with Davis Diggers on May 16 for the Beechwood Drive Storm Sewer Improvement project. The contractor plans to begin work at the end of June and anticipates the work period to be one month. Preliminary work by Dominion East Ohio to relocate several gas service lines and a portion of the gas main that would have been in conflict with the storm sewer work has been completed.

• 2012 Sidewalk Repair Program — The city’s sidewalk contractor for 2012, T.C. Construction, has completed sidewalk repairs in Zone 2B. Estimated assessments for property owners are being prepared and will be presented to council shortly.

• 2013 Sidewalk Repair Program — The city has completed the sidewalk inspections for Zone 3B for 2013. A list of properties detailing where sidewalk improvements need to be made is being prepared and will be presented to council for a Resolution of Necessity of the proposed work.

Fire Department
• On May 16 at 3:16 p.m., Fire Station #4 responded to auto aid to Willoughby for at fire at Bondi’s Beverage and Deli on Lake Shore Boulevard. The fire appears to have started in an exterior wall and caused nearly $40,000 in damage. There were no reported injuries.

• On May 18 at 9:50 p.m., Mentor Fire Department responded to a massive industrial fire in Willoughby at 3911 Ben Hur Ave. The building was vacant with overwhelming fire, which required a 3rd alarm MABAS response to bring the fire under control. There were no reported injuries and the official cause of the fire has not yet been released.

• On May 18 at 9:54 p.m., Fire Stations #4, #5 and #3 responded to a head on MVA on Reynolds Road and Ford Drive. There were three patients treated and transported. One of the patients was extricated from his vehicle and was transported to Metro Health Trauma Center via Life Flight. Three days later, the patient came in to Fire Administration to meet his rescuers and thank them.

• On May 20 at 6:46 p.m., Fire Station #2 assisted a person driving past the station when they discovered his car smoking from an electrical problem. The electrical wiring had shorted out and burned. The wiring was extinguished by the department. There were no injuries.

• On May 21 at 10:10 p.m., Paramedics responded to a possible overdose. The patient was treated and transported to Tri Point Medical Center.

Police Department
• A male driver caused a five-vehicle accident on Lakeshore Boulevard near Mentor Family Foods. The male struck the rear of one of the vehicles, which caused a domino effect of vehicles striking into each other. The male driver displayed signs he had been drinking and was eventually arrested. His blood alcohol content (BAC) registered over four times the legal limit.

Parks and Recreation Department
• In light of several break-ins at Black Brook Golf Course, we have begun a process to increase video surveillance of the parking lot.  Over the next couple weeks, we hope to have a plan and pricing to move forward with a program to better protect our patrons.

• The “Just Kids Stuff Garage Sale” is 9 a.m. to noon Thursday, May 30, at Garfield Park. This annual event is always a sell out, so come early.

• The first “Farmers’ Market & Final Friday” will kick off the season on Friday, May 31 from 3 to 7 p.m. at its NEW LOCATION in the Civic Center parking lot.

• Leaking water lines were repaired in the Old Council Hall last week.  Lines located behind the walls in the kitchen were leaking from two separate occasions and appeared to have been leaking for some time.  The leaks were detected by the facility attendant; we are currently getting estimates to repair the walls and floors.

Manager Comments
• Congratulations to Police Chief Kevin Knight on being named “Man of the Year” for 2012-2013 by St. Mary’s of the Assumption Men’s Club/Holy Name Society, which is the Chartering Organization for both Cub Scout Pack 75 and Boy Scout Troop 75. The organization primarily does fundraising to support and off-set the costs of all the CYO athletic teams at St. Mary’s School, which includes football, basketball, volleyball, track and cheerleading. The organization also takes part in several spiritual activities throughout the year. This award is voted on by the executive board and prior award winners.

• Under a proposed rebate plan offered by the Governor, if approved by the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, eligible local governments would receive approximately 56 percent of their 2011 insurance premium. The proposal also includes a 4 percent rate reduction. The City’s estimated rebate is $175,280. If rebates are approved on May 30 by the BWC Board of Directors, checks could be mailed as early as June or July.

• Council President Marn, Councilman Landeg, Councilman Krueger, Tony Zampedro and I joined other Lake County officials in attending Congressman Joyce’s legislative conference last week. Among the interesting topics presented, we were able to speak with Congressman Joyce and his staff in detail about issues important to the community including restoration efforts at the Mentor Marsh, the Take Pride in America event, retention of the tax-exempt status for municipal bonds, support of the Community Access Preservation Act (cable TV), and continued support of the elimination of the medical device tax. We also had a meeting with representatives of the FAA to discuss the sponsorship application for Lost Nation and to offer some alternative options for future federal involvement at the airport. County Commissioner Moran joined us for the meeting.

• Council President Marn, Councilman Krueger, Ron Traub and I were joined by Kevin Malecek, CEO, Mentor Area Chamber of Commerce at the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) conference. New this year was the Mentor booth which featured an aerial photo of Mentor Avenue with the logo or seal of national retailers doing business within our community. The City received many interested visitors and handed out business card type flash drives which contained a welcome video and a wealth of retail market information. We also gave away packets of coffee that had been contracted for by MEACO for the City’s 50th Anniversary.

In addition to “manning” the booth we had a number of appointments with brokers, developers and property owners. Finally, we circulated the convention floor making contact with desired retailers and restaurants. I would view the trip as very successful and we will be following up with contacts that seemed most promising. We were well received by many who thought our innovative approach to the conference and the decision team we brought together served us well. A copy of the flash drive card distributed at the conference has been placed in each Council member’s office mailbox.

• The unemployment rate for the City of Mentor decreased 0.3% from 6.1% to 5.8% in April 2013. One year ago (April 2012) the unemployment rate was 5.6%.  In Lake County the unemployment rate decreased 0.6% to 6.2%. The City of Mentor’s unemployment rate ranked fourth-lowest among communities with a population over 50,000, and among the top one-third (of the 65 for which percentages are calculated). Ohio’s unemployment rate decreased 0.6% for the month of April 2013 to 6.7%.

Economic and Community Development
• Tom Thielman participated in his monthly radio show on WELW – 1330 as part of their Small Business Afternoon Talk Radio. Topics of discussion included the SBA 504 loan program and the City of Mentor’s Small Business Revolving Loan.

• Tom Thielman attended the Lake County Development Council monthly luncheon featuring Christopher Galloway, Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Concord Township, who provided an update on the Capital Parkway Extension Project (aka Auburn-Crile Corridor Project) and the Concord/Painesville Joint Economic Development District.

Public Works Department
•    Assisted cemetery with Memorial Day preparation
•    Baseball field work for GLBL Memorial Day tournament
•    Installed overflow at Garfield Park pond
•    Installed conduit to entrance island at Marina
•    Installed upgraded debris cage - Seneca Trail
•    Storm sewer cleaning - Ohio St. area
•    Completed drainage improvement on South Shandle
•    Completed installation of chair lifts at Morton and Garfield pools
•    Inlet basin rebuilds (3) - Sugarbush
•    Crack sealing - Rosebud, Tyler, Harbor, Warrendale
•    Hot mix - Citywide
•    Performed 24 property maintenance abatements - 52 year-to-date
•    Coordinated replacement of generator at Fire Station #1

-- Betsy Scott, BScott@News-Herald.com, @ReporterBetsy

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