Art Spark...

My mention of the Haymaker Farmer’s Market interest in an art mural on the columns beneath the Haymaker Bridge earlier in the week sparked a fair amount of interest from folks.  People seemed to feel that the Market was on to something good and they were letting me know that we (aka the City) needs to do more to promote public art projects like this since art runs deep in Kent’s DNA — both formally with the art education programs and professional galleries like the KSU Gallery and the McKay Bricker Gallery, and at the other end of the spectrum with a glom of  indie artists randomly found around town doing their own thing in unexpected places (like streetcorners or at the Professor’s Pub). 

I tend to agree that the City needs to do whatever it can to advance the arts — both the formal and informal forms of creative expression.  I don’t make that statement to be politically correct or for some philanthropic agenda, rather if we’re serious about selling the Kent experience as an eclectic mix of characters, places and sensory stimuli then art has to be part of the community conversation and stake it’s claim at the alter of eccentric Kent.  The adjectives and descriptors of art — quirky, surprising, confusing, thought provoking, and even shocking — also happen to pop up when talking about many aspects of Kent so in that regard art resonates and even amplifies the Kent ethos (or milieu for the high brow artists among us.) 

Our efforts to market the Kent lifestyle is not unique to us — it’s the core of a lot of city development efforts.  Those bold Texans in Austin have taken it so far as to proudly adopt the tag line “Keep Austin Wierd” in a national campaign to be the world headquarters of everything odd.  You can’t help but admire the lengths they’ve gone to realize their aspiration — the video of the 6′4″ cowboy walking down the street in his raw hide boots and matching thong did me in but clearly they have no fear in embracing their unique sense of style. 

Another ambitious city that has embraced the off-beat is Asheville North Carolina.  They’ve carved themselves a unique place in the mountains of North Carolina that is equal parts hippie and hill-billy – and it works really well.  Great art, great street scene, great restaurants and a surprising mix of people of all kinds of dispositions. 

It turns out that Asheville is one of the sources of inspiration for the Kent art mural project that has been adopted by the Haymaker Farmer’s Market.  They’ve got their own infrastructure art thing going on.
 

 Here’s a few good links to learn more about the Asheville project

Asheville Story Archives

Kent still has a long way to go to catch Asheville but it’s nice to know that we’re in good company.

Get Your Passport Here...

One of the public services that the City Clerk for the City of Kent picked up on behalf of all our international travelers was providing passports.  That may not strike the casual observer as unique but passports are not a traditional city service — it turned out to be an opportunity that our City Clerk saw the need for and she has been filling ever since.

It may be a little thing but it’s an important little thing that helps us achieve all those cultural and economic benefits that I’ve blogged about this week related to Kent’s international scene.  International travel is a two-way street and she helps make sure that Kent residents and visitors have an easy way to safely get where they want to go and return home when they want.  Sounds small from the comforts of your lounge chair but when you’re 2,000 miles away from home it’s definitely not such a small thing.   

Last week the City Clerk sent around a notice that the US State Department was increasing passport fees.  She said that if you have a passport that needs to be renewed, the cost of renewal will increase by $35.00.  For first time applicants, the cost for an adult passport will be $135 and for those under 16, $105.  Currently, those fees are $100 and $85, respectively.  The US Dept. of State has not told us the exact date of these impending increase but she says that past experience tells her it is in the not-so-distant future.

Here’s the State Department notice:

River Access Project Update...

Last week the Kent Parks and Rec Director held a public meeting in the Riverbend neighborhood to review the concept plans for improving river access by converting vacant City park land into a new boat launch area.  The Parks and Rec design consultant attended the meeting, offered some initial concept images and took notes based on the feedback of the meeting attendees.  As you might expect the comments ranged from concerns with parking, lighting and noise to excitement over the prospect of a new outdoor recreational opportunity.    

John and his design engineer will now go to the drawing board and work to incorporate the elements of the public input into the specifications for the project as much as possible and wherever practical.  With that in mind John has provided me with some of the hand out materials from the meeting and he wanted to let the public know that they can continue to submit comments through March 30th.  Here’s what John sent me:  

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More Downtown (Riveredge Park) Drawings 

Overall Project Summary and Public Comment Form 

Thinking and Acting Global...

I had the opportunity to be a panelist up at Kent State last week in a strategic planning session that focused on international students and their impact in the Kent community.  I was joined by a couple of local business representatives and Portage County Commissioner Smeiles.  We had about an hour to discuss the challenges and opportunities for increasing international students in Kent and it was great to see parts of the University’s international action plan being scripted.   

Dr. Lefton has been advocating hard for expanding the international student presence at Kent State and for increasing Kent State’s presence internationally with campus offices spread around the globe.  It was clear from the time we spent on campus that his deans and faculty are taking this challenge seriously.  Kent State has a great tradition of international engagement but there’s no question that they are looking to raise the bar.   

Like most good strategic planning sessions the ideas were flowing and information was jumping around the room as the various players began to connect the dots of opportunities to develop action steps to include in their strategic plan.  As would be expected at an institution of higher learning most of the morning and afternoon sessions were devoted to academics but they carved a time slot for us just before lunch that was titled Enhancing Our Community:  Creating Cultural Context.   

I think that’s a perfect description for exactly what we are trying to do on many levels with the partnerships in downtown Kent — create the kind of cultural context that university cities are known for and leveraging that unique cultural context into our strongest asset that sets us apart from all those suburbany non-university cities around us.  We’ve got a lot of really great assets in Kent like the Cuyahoga River, a good school system, great parks, low crime, low cost of living, blah-blah-blah. 

I’m not diminishing the importance of any one of those assets but honestly those are must have’s that pretty much describe every other community too.  If you don’t have those things you’re not even in the game.  Sure, some places do parks better than us and we might do the River better than others but overall there’s barely a few degrees of separation on these community amenities — and a few degrees of separation isn’t even going to buy you a cup of coffee.     

But when you throw in 32,000 students and the amazing multi-cultural mix that comes with them you’ve got a potential game changer.  You get that mix right, and give people of all ethnicities places to gather, mingle, learn, live and play together, and you’ve just leap-frogged yourself to the front of the line of best places to live.  In today’s flat world having an international perspective and multi-cultural exposure is a huge advantage.  Typically, to get that kind of cultural experience you’ve got to pay the price of living in a big city where you also get lost in traffic and lost in the hectic lifestlye that comes with needing dual incomes to be able to afford to live there.  I know of what I speak because I lived in Washington DC for 12 years and the local high school proudly noted that over 90 languages were spoken in that school — it was the great mixing bowl — but you rarely had any time to enjoy it because you spent hours in traffic, hours in lines at grocery stores and hours recovering from spending hours in lines.     

To that extent it was like living in a museum — you were surrounded by some terrific amenities and unbelievable diversity but you couldn’t touch it or interact with the exhibits; to the point where began to feel like an exhibit yourself watching the world go by from inside the glass cage, just another rat in the maze.  Kent to the rescue.   

What’s different about Kent is how we’re able to do bundle all those big city cultural amenities into a small town package that leaves plenty of room for living.   Great works of art may end up hanging on display in museums but they’re made in the streets of places like Kent where life is hands-on.  Whether its sports teams or community building the key to success is leading with your strengths and in our case our quality of life — or what I call the Kent lifestyle — is the Kent advantage.  And in one way or another that Kent lifestyle is derived from having the 2nd largest public university in Ohio call us home.  

When you get right down to it we think that by cultivating our ecclectic and unique lifestyle we can make Kent the city of choice for anyone in Northeast Ohio who is looking to be in a place that is known for its energetic and diverse residents that want to connect to their community in a personally meaningful and enriching way.  That is the core strategy that the City is trying to put to work most visibly in the downtown revitalization effort but it touches upon just about everything we do. 

This morning I received an unsolicited email from a Kent resident that affimed the value of the Kent lifestyle in real world terms, not in fancy advertising phrases — which is exactly why I liked it so much. 

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Advocating the Arts...

Kent’s got it’s straight lines, crooked lines and curved lines but my favorite parts are at the edges – that’s where things get interesting.  Whether we’re talking about the cast of characters that call Kent home or all the haircuts and clothing styles prominently displayed by students of the fashion design school or even the tatoo parlors and muscle cars that are favorites of Kent’s biker crowd.  Any way you twist it,  Kent is a lifestyle choice. 

Sure, Kent is a City but that misses the point – it’s a lifestyle first and a City by default as a lifestyle gathering hole.  People choose to live in Kent because it’s got room for everybody.  If you like living a outside the lines then Kent is your kind of place.   Where some communities seek depth within a narrow range of life styles, Kent goes wide, celebrating the edges of convention. 

Unabashedly honest, unapologenic, unmistably Kent.  That’s the heart and soul of the Kent brand.  That’s our point of origin; where Kent is a verb and a subculture.   If Kent had an anthem it would have to begin with the line from Blinded by the Light – ”Momma always told me not to look into the sun.  But momma, that’s where the fun is…”  

Fulfilling that lifestyle promise isn’t easy because you have to keep it real, you can’t be a poseur, and you have tolerate things that may be disagreeable to you because that’s Kent.  In a world full of choreographed, spoon fed look alikes, Kent’s a breed apart and *&#! proud of it.  Kent’s the undiscovered moments that sneak up on you and last a lifetime.    

One of the great aspects of living life on the edge of the envelope is the artistic qualities that pervade the community in spirit and in form.  Kent and Kent State University have a rich art legacy and fantastic galleries that while located on Main Street are anything but main stream.  What started me down this Kent path less traveled today was the announcement I heard on NPR today that reported the 10th annual national ceramic cup juried art exhibition that will be on display at the Kent State Downtown Gallery from March 5th through March 27th.  I had one of those, seriously? ceramic cup juried art exhibition? national?  only in Kent moments.   

Sure enough, NPR doesn’t lie, here’s more details on this only in Kent event: 

Annual Juried Cup Show to Open at Kent State’s School of Art Downtown Gallery

The 10th Annual National Juried Cup Show will be on display March 5-27 at the School of Art’s Downtown Gallery in downtown Kent, Ohio. The juror, Dean Adams, is currently an Adjunct Faculty in Ceramics/Foundations at Montana State University. Mr. Adams exhibits nationally and internationally and has participated in many artists/ residencies, including the Archie Bray Foundation, The Banff Center and the Watershed Center for Ceramics. He is also a founding board member for the LH project on Oregon.

There will be a reception on Friday, March 5 from 5 until 7 PM. 

City Council Update on Downtown...

Last Friday I provided City Council with a short synopsis on the status of the various elements of our downtown redevelopment efforts and given all the interest that the $20 million stimulus award generated throughout the community I thought it would be good to share it as a blog post as well. 

 1. PARTA Multi Modal Project – Following the $20 million award announcement from last week, a meeting has been set up for the engineers from all the respective agencies to begin to work through the $21 million grant application to figure out what aspects of the original request need to be cut out in order to stay within the $20 million budget.   A meeting has also been set up for next month (March) for the engineers to meet with the grant administrators/engineers from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to begin to discussions on the grant terms and agreement.  PARTA reports that their real estate representatives continue to work through the federal process for the land acquisition required for this project.  Kent State has set up a web link for the grant award at http://www.kent.edu/news/announcements/success/mulitmodaltransportationcenter.cfm, the City is updating our capital projects page to include PARTA project information, and PARTA is also planning to add a web information source for the project on their web site as well.

 2.  Downtown Redevelop Blueprint – With the recent progress made on agreeing to the esplanade extension with Kent State, receiving the Multi-Modal Center grant award, finalizing of the Collective Intent Agreements with the private developers, and the completion of the Phoenix Project, we felt it was a good time to go back to the downtown redevelopment blueprint and update it accordingly.  We have met a number of the existing business owners along Main Street to discuss their plans for expansion and we have offered the services of our planning consultant to reflect those plans on the revised downtown blueprint.  As part of this effort we plan to re-convene the public stakeholders committee in the next month (March-April) to provide an update and receive feedback.  The members of the former Kent State University Citizens Advisory Transportation Committee will also be invited to the stakeholder meeting since they were active in the multi-modal project design and advocacy.  

3.  Development Agreements – I believe we will be in a position to have the Collective Intent Agreement signed in the next week so we have engaged the legal staff to prepare the Development Agreements that will serve as the legal documents for the downtown projects.  To that end we have also had a couple of meetings with the School District to begin to discuss the use of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) for the project.  Our tentative target dates for the Development Agreements and TIF Agreements are the Summer of 2010.   We have advised the private developers to plan to attend the March Planning Commission meeting for a conceptual presentation of the various elements of the project.  We would expect the developers to submit their site plans for formal Planning Commission review in May 2010.  

4.  City Property in the Development Block – We are working to set a March closing date to purchase the last remaining parcels of private property from Mr. Arthur.  In addition, we have contacted Dominion Gas to begin outlining a plan to get their gas sub-station relocated out of the block.  Dan Smith has talked with the tenants of the currently rented properties in the block and advised them that we they need to begin to make preparations to find new business locations this summer so that we can proceed with our plans to initiate more building demolition perhaps as early as Fall 2010.  We are currently having the buildings evaluated for any special environmental handling in preparation for demolition.  The City and the University have drafted terms for a land exchange agreement and we have employed an appraiser to prepare the necessary land transaction documents. 

Snow Ban In Effect...

This is probably the 4th or 5th time this winter that we’ve had to put a snow emergency in effect so I know it’s old news at this point but I still feel an obligation to let you know that thanks to the latest round of snow squalls the Public Service Director  has declared a snow emergency in effect at 9 am February 26th – which means we need your help to move any parked vehicles off the streets so that the plows can safely clear the streets.  The parking ban on City streets will remain in effect until further notice.  Here’s the official announcement:

NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 26, 2010

THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC SERVICE FOR THE CITY OF KENT HAS ANNOUNCED A SNOW EMERGENCY PARKING BAN BEGINNING TODAY AT 9:00AM, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26TH, 2010.

THE PARKING BAN IS BEING PUT INTO EFFECT TO ALLOW CITY CREWS TO CLEAR SNOW AND ICE FROM CITY STREETS DURING THE CURRENT STORM EVENT. THIS PARKING BAN WILL REMAIN IN AFFECT FOLLOWING THE STORM TO ALLOW CITY CREWS TO CONTINUE SNOW REMOVAL EFFORTS. AN UPDATED NEWS RELEASE WILL BE ISSUED TO INFORM THE PUBLIC AS TO THE STATUS OF THIS PARKING BAN AND WHEN IT WILL BE LIFTED.

DURING A SNOW EMERGENCY, PARKING ON ALL CITY STREETS IS BANNED TO PROVIDE FOR SNOW AND ICE REMOVAL. A SNOW EMERGENCY EXISTS DURING ANY 24 HOUR PERIOD WHEN TWO OR MORE INCHES OF SNOW ACCUMULATES.

THIS WINTER SEASON, RESIDENTS AND BUSINESSES ARE REMINDED TO CLEAR PUBLIC SIDEWALKS OF SNOW AND ICE ABUTTING THEIR PROPERTIES.

City of Kent, Ohio
Eugene K. Roberts

Stonewater Drive New Traffic Signal Getting Ready ...

Here’s a short note from our City Engineer with an update on the status of the Stonewater Drive extension and the new traffic signal at Stonewater and SR 59 between Don Joseph Toyota and the Klaben Ford Dealership. 

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The new signal at Stonewater and W. Main Street has looked complete for the last several weeks.  However, the preemption notification light has been on back order for several months. This light lets emergency vehicle drivers know that the signal registers their presence and need to travel through the intersection without stopping. On Tuesday this week (February 16) the contractor installed this small but vital equipment. The signal has gone through several performance tests and will soon be set into operation. The following schedule will be followed to get the signal into operation.

- On 2-22-10, Thompson Electric will be back to finish the remaining construction (hookup of the interconnect wire and telephone drop) and Pathmaster will program the controller, establish the video detection zones and program the audible pedestrian signals. By the end of the day on the 22nd, the traffic signal will be put into flash until 3-1-10.

- On 3-1-10, the signal will be switched to stop-and-go mode (normal operation) and the 10-day performance test will begin (this is the final test of the signal). On this day, the contractor will also remove the barriers from the bridge to allow through traffic to use Stonewater Drive. During the 10 day performance test, the signal must function without major deficiencies that would cause the signal to default to flash. We will be using temporary signs (“Stop Here on Red”) to indicate where traffic is to stop on West Main Street and Stonewater Drive. When the weather breaks, the temporary signs will be removed and appropriate stop lines will be marked on the pavement.

After passing the 10-day performance test, the signal can be subjected to final inspection prior to our acceptance.

The traffic cabinet is installed and the timing is set up.  We will be installing video detection (to activate the signal) at this and all future intersections.   Basically it is a “box” drawn on a video feed instead of the old loops cut in the pavement. When the cameras recognize a vehicle entering the “box” it notifies the controller that someone is in the zone. No wire loops in the pavement to be torn up during repairs or resurfacing.  The zones are able to be changed via a laptop and in the future from the Traffic Engineer’s Office at Engineering.

Currently only SR 261 and SR 43 have video detection.

Parks and Rec River Access Project Public Meeting ...

The Kent Parks and Rec Director has set a date for a public meeting for the river access improvement project.   Element of this project have been in the long range park plan for years and with the receipt of the state grant funds this year the Parks Director is ready to move forward with some river access improvements and he’d like feedback from the public on their preferences.  Some of these elements were also developed in the Kent Whitewater Park Study — for more details on the study click here.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

John Idone, Director
Kent Parks & Recreation
497 Middlebury Road
Kent, OH  44240
330-673-8897 

Public Comment Meeting

Kent Cuyahoga River Access Project

River Bend Park Development

Kent Parks & Recreation will be hosting a public meeting to solicit comments and ideas for the development of River Bend Park and access improvements around the locks in the Heritage Park area.  The meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 2^nd at the Roy Smith Shelterhouse in Fred Fuller Park at 7:00 PM.  Written comments will be accepted until March 10^th at the Parks & Recreation Office, 497 Middlebury Road, Kent, OH.  Kent Parks & Recreation received $250,000 Cooperative Boating Facility Grant from ODNR that will be matched by $50,000 in park funds.

The city has selected R. E. Warner & Associates as the design and engineering consultant.  They have an extensive background in park development with local and state parks as well as experience with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.  

River Access

 This project will provide a new access point to the river for boaters to “take out” before the Main Street Bridge and old canal lock.   This would be connected to the existing trail to provide a ramped access to the river.  For persons interested in portaging around the dam, a set of steps with a canoe glide will be constructed leading up to the trail under the bridge.  Just downstream of the Dam will be a second access point. The old wooden steps will replaced and include a canoe glide along with a small landing area to launch back into the river.

Improvements will be made to the existing boardwalk and steps around the Heritage Park area to facilitate portaging around the locks.   This will involve removing the existing railing on three sets of steps and retrofitting a canoe glide onto the railing.  A small section of the boardwalk will need to be widened. 

River Bend Canoe/Kayak Launch

River Bend Park was acquired in 1992 by Kent Parks & Recreation to provide access to the Cuyahoga River north of the dam. At the present time there is no public parking or easy access to enter the river at this park.  The construction of a boat launch facility will enable users to park their vehicles and access the river.  The installation of the entrance road and ramp will provide emergency first responders a strategically located point of access. The parking lot would have security lighting and a safety kiosk would be installed for boater safety.

River Bend Park Master Plan  - 

Conceptual Plan  -  The original Master Plan for River Bend Park is outdated.  Comments and ideas are being accepted for the park’s development.  This information will be considered in developing the final design for the canoe/kayak parking lot and ramp as well as any additional facilities that could be developed in the conceptual plan. 

For additional information please contact Kent Parks & Recreation at 330-673-8897.

Zoning Code Revisions Meeting: Sign Regulations (...

This is the latest meeting in a series of public meetings reviewing the City’s Zoning Code.  To view all the meeting materials click here.
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EMAIL MEETING NOTICE FROM GARY LOCKE, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR

Good Afternoon Everyone:

Attached are the materials for the next Joint Meeting to discuss the zoning code update. The meeting will be Tuesday, February 16, 2010 at 7:30 PM. The Planning Commission has a meeting at 7:00 PM with one agenda item.

The topic for discussion will be the continued discussion of draft sign regulations. You may recall that we had reviewed a draft several months ago and there were a number of comments provided. I have prepared a new draft (known as the second revision) that incorporates a number of the comments. Attached to this email are the agenda for the meeting, the revised draft and a report from me which summarizes what has been revised, along with some commentary.

I hope to see you all on Tuesday evening assuming we are not snowed in!

Gary Locke, Community Development Director

Revised Code Section
CHAPTER 1165 SIGNAGE (VERSION 2)