A Moment With the Mayor

Moment with the Mayor for February 10, 2018
Broad Street Waterline
The City will be replacing water lines on both the north and south sides of Broad Street, between North Lyman and Summit Street. A contractor has been selected and work will begin in February. Dominion Energy will also be in the same area replacing gas lines. Dominion work will extend past the water line work area in all directions and will take place through May of this year. Streets off of Broad may also be affected as their water line connections are being made. Side streets may be used for staging areas for equipment and trucks. Residents should expect travel delays and lane closures throughout the project, with full closures. The area will be closed to commercial trucks, and a detour will be provided. A public meeting will be held this month for businesses and residents to learn more about the project. For updates, visit www.wadsworthcity.com or follow social media @cityofwadsworth.

Art Relay
Several pieces of art made by Wadsworth school students taking part in an Art Relay Team were on display at City Hall for the last few weeks. Franklin School art teacher Sally Lucas came across a pilot program and found a grant resource through Crayola to help to form an arts relay team with the goal of spreading art appreciation throughout the schools and city. Inspiration for the students occurred while learning about the works of Picasso, Contrell and Jean Michael Basquiat, after which they were asked to draw people made only from shapes and lines. Franklin Elementary School students sent their finished drawings to their teammates at the middle school to inspire them to create a mixed media collage for the next step in the relay. Both sets of artwork were on display at City Hall for a couple of weeks before being sent on to the high school, where students will use them to create a coordinating sculpture. The Art Relay serves to stimulate students’ imaginations and spark creativity while learning about art. Be sure to visit the Wadsworth Public Library to view the entire collection of drawings, collages and sculptures that will be on display during the month of March.

Employment Opportunities
I often meet with area businesses. One of their biggest challenges is finding new employees. Medina County Economic Development Corporation has taken this issue to heart by creating initiatives to help businesses with this task. They have organized educational tours of manufacturing plants since 2012, but in 2017, they began focusing specifically on tours for the currently unemployed and underemployed individuals who are seeking quality jobs that pay well and offer full benefits. In addition, MCEDC is also partnering with Employing Medina County, Medina County Probation, Jobs for Ohio Graduates, OhioMeansJobs Medina County and others to help educate job seekers on the types of jobs available and help the unemployed connect with employers. Workforce availability in Medina County is also impacted by commuting patterns: over 50% of county residents leave the county for work. To increase the pool of available workers by bringing attention to local job opportunities, MCEDC launched www.worklocal.net in August, 2016. With thousands of postings on the site for jobs in Medina County, officials hope that individuals leaving the county can, instead, find jobs closer to home. Lastly, MCEDC is ensuring a source for future workers by collaborating with the school system to help students understand what career options they have, with or without college, and that those opportunities are here in Medina County.

Until next week……
Mayor Robin Laubaugh