A Moment With the Mayor

Moment with the Mayor for January 13, 2018
Goals
Looking back over the activities of 2017, I am amazed at all that was accomplished! Our City departments were kept busy working on the goals that were set at the beginning of last year. Some of the highlights are listed here: the Assistant Service Director reported that Interurban Trail Project was completed and includes a new trail house that will be available for event rental in the future. A new sand volleyball court was installed near the outdoor pool; benches and trash cans were replaced downtown; and a kiosk and bike racks were installed close to Subway near the trail head. In Economic Development, the City’s website was completely redesigned making it much more user friendly and packed with valuable information, and the development of an updated City logo was initiated. I’m also happy to report that two industrial business expansions were completed with the City’s assistance, and the City welcomed over 14 new and expanded commercial/retail businesses! To stimulate even more business growth, the Assistant Service Director attended 8 site selector meetings with representatives from national firms and manufacturing companies looking for available land and buildings, and he also met with several developers who expressed interested in Wadsworth. Grant funds were received by the City to help downtown business owners with improvements to their buildings and facades. In the Finance Department, the rollout of Ohiocheckbook.com was completed to provide transparency in reporting, and the department was selected to receive the Auditor of State Award with Distinction and GFOA Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for 2016. The Public Safety Director reported several goal accomplishments last year that included a successful EMS Levy campaign, continued site search for land for development of a new Fire Station #1 and delivery of a new rescue-pumper for the fire department. In conjunction with Wadsworth City Schools and the Wadsworth Drug Free Community Coalition, enhanced community access to drug treatment, awareness, education and counseling services was achieved. Continued expansion of lights & gates funding for railroad grade crossing improvements and plan completion for ODOT installation of a traffic signal at College Street ramp and SR-57 were addressed, and the Wadsworth Citizen Police Academy was restarted. Look for more 2017 accomplishments in next week’s article!

Christmas Tree Pick-Up
Christmas tree pick up, provided by the Street Department, will take place during the whole month of January! Simply place your tree by the curb or on your tree lawn and make sure that you have removed all lights and ornaments since the trees will be chipped for recycling. No artificial trees will be accepted. The last day for tree pick-up is January 31st.

Extreme Cold
Battling extremely cold weather conditions and snow can make life challenging, as we all know. The Ohio Emergency Management Agency reminds us to check on our neighbors. and family members – especially those who are older or have functional needs – to ensure that they are OK and have the resources to stay safe and warm. Offering to pick up food and supplies at the store for those in need could make a big difference to them, as well as helping to clear their driveways and sidewalks. It’s a good idea to exchange phone numbers with neighbors to make it easier to communicate in case of severe weather or emergencies. I’m proud to live in a caring community where people look out for one another.

First Friday
Despite the frigid temperatures, Main Street Wadsworth’s First Friday Cocoa Crawl was a success! In case you missed that, plans are in the works for the next First Friday event on February 2, the Soup-er Bowl! Downtown businesses will be open and offering food, live music, art and fun from 5:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. Mark your calendars for this fun event!

Until next week…..