Since I raised the topic of strategic planning yesterday with my discussion of the 2008 Strategy Update, I thought it was a good time to distribute the Council Activity Report for the first quarter of 2009.  In a nutshell, whereas Economic Development dominated Council’s time in 2008, much of 2009 has been devoted to broader community issues like neighborhoods, sidewalk shoveling and trash service.  But don’t worry Economic Development is still getting a lot of air time and it is likely to get more as long as the economy continues to be such a significant challenge.

We’ve been busy working on our 2008 Annual Report for City operations and as nice as we hope the Annual Report will turn out, we thought there was value in a Reader’s Digest version for those ADD among us who don’t have the time or attention span to thumb through 10 to 12 pages but still want to know a little bit more about what their City has done for them lately.  For anyone that falls into that category we’ve put together a new 2008 Strategy Update that tries to show not just all the work we’ve been doing but also how that work contributes to the goals of our community.  One of our greatest challenges is not just being busy but being busy at the right things.  Those right things are what we call our strategy goals and objectives.

Cities and communities are notoriously bad at celebrating their successes — instead we tend to jump right into the next problem on our agenda.  Plus, given the breadth of what it takes to build a community, sometimes it’s hard to see what progress we’ve made along the way. 

It’s like trying to swim across the ocean, no matter how hard you kick and pull when you look around it can feel like you haven’t made a lick of progress.  The waves still look the same days, months and even years after you started and without some mile markers you’ve got no measure for what all that energy you exerted produced by way of distance traveled.  The goal isn’t just to battle the waves, it’s to get to some distant shore, the trouble is that shore is often not even on the horizon so it’s easy to lose your course and feel a bit hopeless from exhaustion. 

That’s why we felt it was important to stop for a minute to catch our collective breath, check our bouys and see how far we’ve come.  That’s the inspiration behind the Annual Report and the 2008 Strategy Update.  Given the nature of our business cities are more about creating a body of work.  We’re in the aggregation business — we do lot’s of little things that can add up to something big.  Hopefully that big hairy audacious thing looks, smells and tastes like that big hairy audacious goal that we set for ourselves.  If not, back to the kitchen we go.  Consider the Strategy Update an early taste test.

To download a full version of the brochure Click Here 

Here’s the panels of the brochure sort of page by page:

Look for the full Annual Report in the next few months but in the meantime if you’re a strategic plan junkie be sure to check out all of the City strategy information that we’ve uploaded:   Kent Strategy Documents

Even in good times retail is a fickle business but when the economy turns south retailers can be in a world of hurt.  Building customer loyalty is more than just selling great products at great prices; it’s understanding your market, leveraging your niche and merchandising the heck out of your product and service lines.  The big box stores have proven formulas that they have tested and re-tested in all kinds of different markets which is a great way for them to get a leg up on the competition but that leaves the little mom and pop stores on their own to try to figure things out along the way.  That’s probably why so many mom and pops don’t survive — they can’t get up the learning curve faster than their costs add up.    Kent is proud to be more of a mom and pop than big town and to prove it, Main Street received a grant to assist 5 small businesses in downtown Kent get the kind of professional advice they couldn’t afford on their own. 

Retail is Detail!

What is This?
Main Street Kent (with the assistance of a grant from Heritage Ohio) announces a new dowtown retail assistance program – Retail is Detail! Five (5) downtown businesses will receive the assistance of two national retail consultants to analyze their business and make suggestions for improvements. Areas that will be covered by the consultants include: Mission/Purpose, Product/Service Mix, Inventory Management, Website/Ecommerce, Store Design and Merchandising, Advertising/Promotions and many more. This program will be conducted throughout the summer so that improvements can be made before the students return in the fall.

What are the Requirements for me to Participate?
1. A donation of $250 to Main Street Kent that is refundable upon completion of the recommendations made by the consultants. So, basically it is free to you!

2. Assist the consultants by providing them information from your business that will remain confidential.

3. Review the recommendations with an open mind.

4. Implement a majority of the recommendations.

5. Report progress and sales trends via follow-up e-mails and phone calls.

How do I get Started?

Call or e-mail the Main Street office at 330-677-8000. Only five (5) businesses can participate so make sure that you hurry to sign up!

Not a lot of cities get a chance to admire and enjoy the Budweiser draft horse team up close and personal but it looks like lightning is striking twice in Kent, and for the second time in as many years, the good folks at Budweiser have offered to bring their horses into downtown Kent.  The last time they came there were throngs of people so I’d recommend coming early to get a good vantage point as the horses plan to pull the Budweiser wagon and make a few deliveries.  The horses should arrive on Thursday, May 28th between 4:30 and 5:00 pm and the parade is planned for 5:30 to 6:30.

In honor of Memorial Day the Kent American Legion Post 496 is sponsoring a parade in downtown Kent.  The parade begins on East Main Street between Depeyster and Haymaker Parkway at 10 am on Memorial Day.  It will proceed west on Main Street, pause for a brief ceremony on the Main Street Bridge, and then proceed north on Gougler Avenue and North Mantua Street before it ends at Standing Rock Cemetery.  So grab your flag, wave it proudly, and celebrate Memorial Day with the Kent community.  I can’t make any promises but the last couple of years many of the parade vehicles threw out candy along the parade route so wear your sneakers — you’ll need them to outrace those 8 year olds for all the good stuff.

The annual British invasion is scheduled to occur Saturday, May 23rd at the Marvin Kent Home at 409 West Main Street (Masonic Center).  No this isn’t the return of the Beatles just some of the cars they probably used to drive on the other side of the isle.  The Masons are sponsoring the 7th All British Car Display Day and for $6 bucks (advance tickets) ($8 bucks day of the event) you get a pancake breakfast, all day pit pass, and a home tour.  Don’t worry if you’re not an early riser they offer a special mid-day $5 pass after 10 am.  It’s a great way to stroll around and re-live an era when the Roadster was the king of the road.   

The Kent State University Area Citizens Advisory Committee. How’s that for a mouthful — and it’s acronym KSUACAC, isn’t any better. But don’t judge a book by its cover, this has been a productive bunch that have tackled some challenging transportation issues from a mutually inclusive town/gown point of view. How can we improve Summit Street traffic but preserve the sense of neighborhood? Ask the KSUACAC. Want to talk multi-modal? Ask the KSUACAC. So now that the City staff wants to update folks on these projects and get some feedback on transportation issues, including downtown/campus connectivity and redevelopment — guess who we’re going to call? You got it — KSUACAC to the rescue. And the best part is the KSUACAC meetings are all open to the public so if you’re interested to participate in a little dialogue with your neighbors pull up a chair on Tuesday, May 26th, 2009 at 6:30p.m. in the basement of the Kent Fire Department building located at 320 South DePeyster Street.

The meeting will be held Tuesday, May 26th, 2009 at 6:30p.m. The location of the meeting will be the Kent Fire Department, Basement Training Room, at 320 South DePeyster Street, Kent, Ohio 44240. The public is invited to attend this meeting.

Parking is available on the Day Street side of the Fire Station or the back parking lot behind the Fire Station.

Questions regarding the meeting should be directed to the City of Kent, Department of Public Service, 330-678-8105, Mr. Eugene K. Roberts, Service Director.

The City of Kent and Kent State University have expressed the desire to enhance physical connections between downtown Kent and the University. Establishing a high-density multimodal facility can both capture traffic at primary roads and arterial system (Haymaker Parkway) and transfer vehicle occupants to pedestrian, bicycle and transit systems connecting downtown Kent, the University and Northeast Ohio. The western area of campus is seeing renewed academic activities, cultural activities and special events.

Consideration should be given throughout the design and construction of this project to move people seamlessly through the system between the campus and the community. We visualize this facility to be a transfer station, encouraging people to change from personal vehicles to another form of transportation. The facility should act as both an arrival point for and a portal to the City and University. We see the possibility of such a facility encouraging people to patronize nearby private businesses, encouraging more business development around campus and into downtown Kent. We see that this facility could serve as a meeting place or destination in itself for classrooms, art events, and a welcome center for both the campus and the city. The facility can be a connector for both community and university. As such, it must be designed as a vital civic space.

Consideration should be given throughout the design and construction of this project to minimize the possible negative impacts and accentuate the positive impacts the project may have on surrounding neighborhoods and business interests. It must build upon the transportation planning and other principles used in the Crain Avenue Bridge Project Purpose and Needs Statement, the Terrace Area Parking Purpose and Needs Statement, the Bicentennial Comprehensive Plan and other City/Campus Projects as they evolve. Further, the development of the multimodal facility needs to be integrated with improvements to Summit Street, and other City Transportation Projects.

The project activity consists of:

A. Locating the facility to optimize University, City, Business, PARTA and user needs.

B. Encouraging economic development opportunities (e.g. welcome center, hotel, conference center, etc.) and enhancing Main Street as a connection between Kent State University and downtown Kent.

C. Designing a facility and associated components to meet the purposes and variety of the objectives listed below.

Project Objectives:

1. Design a facility where all modes of transportation connect (transit, bicycle, pedestrian systems), thereby encouraging pedestrian and bicycle traffic.

2. The facility should be designed to assure safety and security.

3. The facility should integrate with the City’s intelligent traffic planning

4. The facility should take advantage of the topography.

5. The facility should be an attractive, unique facility integrating development opportunities (e.g. housing, office, etc.) along its frontage. It should be in tune with its surroundings, scaled accordingly and represent Kent’s historical architecture.

6. The facility should be designed to create/enhance multiple convenient connections between downtown Kent and Kent State University.

7. The facility should be designed to accommodate future modification for alternate transportation needs (e.g. commuter rail, airport limousine, shared cars, electric cars, segways, intercity buses, taxis, car rental, bike parking, bike racks and lockers, bike rental, motorcycle parking, pedestrian access to the campus, Esplanade, downtown Kent, The Portage Hike & Bike Trail, etc.)

8. The facility should utilize green building strategies and employ eco-friendly operational strategies.

9. The facility shall be designed and operated so as to minimize the environmental impact on neighboring properties (i.e. noise and light pollution, water runoff, litter, etc.)

This Purpose and Needs Statement explicitly does not address the location of the multimodal facility or its overall size or its parking capacity. Neither is the cost nor the scope of its amenities delineated.

Summit Street is a vital transportation corridor that connects various neighborhoods and institutions in the southeast quadrant of the City of Kent. (From S. Water Street (SR 43) at the Northwest and KSU stadium on the Southeast). This corridor is heavily used by automobiles, trucks, pedestrians, transit and bicyclists and at certain periods during week days and evenings suffers from congestion and dangerous conflicts between users including service vehicles and emergency personnel. Congestion on Summit Street peaks during those times the University is fully operational.

Consideration should be given throughout the design and construction of this project to minimize the possible negative impacts and accentuate the positive impacts the project may have on surrounding residential neighborhoods. Summit Street must not be widened. It must build upon the transportation planning and other principles used in the Crain Avenue Bridge Project Purpose and Needs Statement, the Terrace Area Parking Purpose and Needs Statement, the Bicentennial Comprehensive Plan and other City/Campus Projects as they evolve, including the framework for the Campus Link and/or multi-modal facility. Further, improvements to Summit Street are not stand alone solutions. In particular, these recommendations need to be integrated with the development of the multi-modal facility.

The proposed project activity consists of:

A. Reducing congestion

B. Improving safety

C. Allowing transit systems to move more smoothly

TRAFFIC IMPACT CONSIDERATIONS

• Preserve the assets of attractive surrounding residential neighborhoods. This should be done through traffic management, access management and traffic calming. (e.g. roundabouts)

• Design signal control systems that respond to the traffic “pulse” and make use of intelligent traffic signal systems.

• Consideration should be given to feeder intersections such as the Willow-Main intersection.

• Shift the balance between private and public transportation on Summit Street in favor of public transportation.

• Improve signage to direct traffic away from Summit Street, and direct traffic onto SR 43, SR 59, SR 261, and towards I-480, and the Ohio Turnpike.

• Make walking and bicycling the preferred and easiest modes of travel to campus and on campus by providing state of the art pedestrian facilities including smart crossings, boulevards/ medians, landscaping, barriers, shade trees, sheltered arcades and amenities that enhance the pedestrian experience, coordinating and connecting with the esplanade system.

• Provide dedicated bicycle lanes and/or paths, bicycle amenities and ready access to transit for bicycles.

• Place parking at each of the four (4) primary entrances to KSU and encourage public transit.

• Phase out parking spaces in lots adjacent to Summit Street and create incentives to park elsewhere.

• Study the relationship of University throughways to the perimeter roads.

• Encourage access to parking lots along Summit Street by directing vehicles to enter campus from the north or from the south as appropriate, rather than from Summit Street.

• Consideration should be given to the development of policies that will reduce traffic demands.

· Utilize traffic control systems to assure primacy of emergency vehicles.

PUBLIC TRANSIT

§ Place bus shelters on and off campus.

§ Study segregating automobile traffic from bus traffic during peak traffic times.

§ Address bus re-entry into traffic from bus stops.

Talk is cheap but just about everything else in life costs money which is why Kent City Council sets aside real money in the City Budget — to the tune of $100,000 every year — to help fund local agencies that offer support services that are considered important in the Kent community.  It’s called putting your money where your mouth is.  Governments were born out of the need for public safety and public health, and over time this mission has evolved to include a wider and wider range of other community based services.  But we’re smart enough to realize that we can’t do everything for everyone with city employees so years ago Kent City Council established a social service line item in the budget that makes it possible to contract out those important social services to the professional agencies that are best suited to deliver them.  Call it out-sourcing or privatizing but either way it’s a formula that has worked.

Given the mounting financial hardships for people that live here we’re seeing an ever rising number of requests for government help.  From housing to employment assistance, more and more people need help.  The City is proud to be the line between safety and harm for as many people as possible but the numbers are working against us.  The safety net that we can afford to cast for people in need is only so big and these days it can’t catch everyone.  That means choices between good programs have to made.  

Here’s how the 2009 Social Service dollars will be allocated:

   ASYDI – Academic Sports/Youth Development Institute
   PMHA – Portage Metropolitan Housing Agency
   CAC – Community Action Council of Portage County