Kent 360 - Kent, Ohio

Blog of Dave Ruller, Kent City Manager

Concrete and Sidewalk Repair Update

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Knowing that sidewalk repairs remain a high priority in Kent, I wanted to share the notice from Engineering that they have the concrete repair contractor on board and they are gearing-up to get started on this year’s concrete repairs.

Here’s the Notice from Engineering, including the streets that will be seeing most of the action:

The City is beginning construction of the above referenced project, which includes work on several streets. The work will consist of removing and replacing existing concrete sidewalk, concrete drive aprons and concrete curbing.

The following streets are a part of the 2018 Annual Sidewalk Program:

Street Name             From                     To

W. College Ave.      S. Water St.         Franklin Ave.
Dansel St.               cul-de-sac            Steele St.
S. Depeyster St.    Day St.                 Williams St.
Dodge St.              Franklin Ave.       Pine St.
W. Grant St.        N. Mantua St.       end of Grant
S. Lincoln St.      Summit St.            550 S. Lincoln St.
Sheri Dr.             Sunrise Blvd.         end of Sheri

Another Way to Fix Potholes

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Another way to fix potholes…eat more pizza!

Domino’s Pizza has announced a new program where they will roll their paving trucks into town and help repair city streets.

Read the Article

Pretty ingenious marketing tactic with a nice twist for the public good.

 

Concrete Repairs

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Before the City rolls-in to a neighborhood with the asphalt milling and paving machines, the Engineering Department will check the condition of the curbs, gutters and sidewalks on those streets to schedule those repairs in advance of the street repairs.

The idea is that streets, curbs, gutters, and sidewalks all work together to ensure safe driving, safe walking, and proper stormwater collection — so if you’re going to fix one, you need to make sure the rest of the team is in decent working condition as well.  Plus, if you’re going to be in the neighborhood fixing stuff, let’s fix as much as we can while we’re there.

The City picks up the tab on the asphalt and a fair amount of the concrete work too, but the concrete work requires a little more house by house analysis to comply with the City Code which has a range of scenarios that split the concrete costs with the property owner.

Typically the City Engineers will try to coordinate the concrete work the season before the asphalt work is scheduled to be done.  As they make their rounds, they take notes on what needs to be repaired, they figure out how much the job will cost, and then refer to the City Code to calculate how much the City will pay and how much the homeowner is expected to pay.

Once they’ve run those calculations, Engineering then mails letters to the effected homeowners to let them know the plan and to give them a first look at their projected cost.

The homeowner may have options available to reduce their costs — example, if the house is owner occupied, City Council has authorized a 50% reduction in the homeowner’s share of the bill, and if the owner can demonstrate that they fall into a “low to moderate income” category, City Council has authorized Engineering to pick up 100% of the costs.

Also, if they’re handy, homeowners can also save some money by doing the concrete repair work themselves or they may use a contractor of their choice.

The idea is to provide options for homeowners who would love to have the repair work done but may not necessarily have budgeted for the repairs.

Right now Engineering has mailed letters out to the next round of homeowners in line for concrete repairs so I thought it was a good time to review the process.

If anyone is uncertain of what to do, the best bet is to contact Pat Homin, City Engineering Technician, to talk through the options with him in person.  His number is (330) 678-8106.

 

City Hall Example from Montana

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I had a resident tell me that as we’re starting to float ideas for what Kent’s next City Hall might look like, we should take a look at the new City Hall building that was built in Whitefish Montana — so we dug up some photos.

It turns out that Whitefish is a great example of a 2-story City Hall located on a prominent corner — which is very similar to Kent.

The Whitefish project is much more than just a City Hall — it includes a 3 story parking deck and retail space — but it provides a nice example of many of the features that Kent City Council has said they want to see in Kent too, e.g., welcoming building, pedestrian friendly, attractive, etc.

We’re interested in hearing what people think about the shape, the materials, colors, textures and layouts of Kent’s next City Hall and we thought looking at other City Hall buildings was one way to help those conversations happen.

To some extent this is the best part of the building design process when we’re still tossing ideas around for what people think are important to have in our new City Hall.

Ultimately, the building is more than just the offices that will be located inside — it also includes all the things on the outside that create first (and lasting) impressions and influence how people interact with the building.

That interaction with City Hall is almost as important as the services we provide so we want to get this right.

PARTA Updates and Public Hearings

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Our hometown regional transit agency, PARTA, is always working to keep up with the times and they’ve got some changes in the works for their Dial A Ride services (DART) that they want to share for public comment at some upcoming meetings.

DART provides eligible and registered transit riders a special pick-up and ride service for folks whom for various reasons are unable to utilize the fixed-route bus system that most of us are more familiar with.  In those cases, riders can call for pick up and delivery on demand similar to taxi or Uber services.

PARTA transit services are critical in Kent — both DART and fixed route buses — so I’m happy to spread the word of their upcoming proposals.

                                                     

PARTA,

Portage Area Regional Transportation Authority                

Contact: Katherine Manning 330-678-7745 x 113; kmanning@partaonline.org

 Service Change Public Hearings

PARTA will hold public hearings on potential dial-a-ride changes set for July 1, 2018.  Public hearings will be held at the following dates and times:

April 16, Reed Memorial Library                                           10:00 a.m.

April 16, Garrettsville Library                                                2:00 p.m.

April 17, Randolph Senior Center                                         10:00 a.m.

April 18, Kent Central Gateway (2nd Floor)                         2:00 p.m.

April 19, Reed Memorial Library                                           5:00 p.m.

April 20, Streetsboro Library                                                 2:00 p.m.

 

Dial-a-ride response service (DART) is shared-ride, general public transportation available to passengers who register with PARTA.  PARTA is proposing a series of changes to its DART service with the goal of creating long term sustainable service.  PARTA has not made any substantial changes to its DART system or its fare structure since 1998.   A countywide sales tax passed in 2002, along with contract and state and federal funding, has in part funded a countywide DART service over the last 15 years.  However, despite PARTA’s efforts to run efficiently and keep costs low, PARTA has seen a decline in revenue along with inflationary costs.  Therefore, PARTA is now taking steps to redesign the DART service model to support ongoing service for Portage County residents by:

 

Reallocating Days/Hours of Operation

Service hours will be reallocated to support expanded days and hours of service, mirroring fixed route services:  Monday-Friday 5:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. and Saturday 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Increase in DART Fares

DART Current Proposed
General Public $4.00 $6.00
Reduced Fare $2.00 $3.00
Medicaid (Contract with JFS or DD Board) Free
Ticket Book General Public (10 Ride) $30.00 $54.00
Ticket Book Reduced Fare (10 Ride) $15.00 $30.00

 

Utilization of Fixed Route System

Trips that have easy access to fixed route bus service and have pickup and drop off locations within .3 miles of a fixed route will no longer be eligible for DART service. Trips will still be eligible for DART if pickup or drop off locations are outside the 0.3-mile subject to service availability.

PARTA offers free travel training to help individuals and groups learn to use PARTA’s fixed route system. Individuals who attend the class for the first time receive a free 10-ride pass. (A list of upcoming classes is available on partaonline.org.)

PARTA encourages Portage County residents to attend the public hearings that have been scheduled.  If residents are unable to attend, comments should be directed to PARTA at 2000 Summit Road, Kent, OH, Attention: Planning Department, via mail or fax at 330-676-6310.  Comments can also be made online at www.partaonline.org.

Contact

Contact me: Dave Ruller: RullerD@kent-ohio.org