Bedfordtimesregister.com - Roads top issue of business lunch: 140 turn out for Macedonia mayor's 'roundtable'

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RPC Photo / Robert Recker Mayor Don Kuchta focused much of the economic roundtable on the major ongoing road projects in the city, along route 8 and 82, and Highland Road.

RPC Photo / Robert Recker Finance Director Steve Brunot briefly told business representatives that the city is willing to work with them through small business loans and other economic assistance.

by Robert Recker

Senior Editor

Macedonia -- There was a packed conference room at Macedonia City Center Sept. 24 for a luncheon hosted by Mayor Don Kuchta.

Dubbed the city's first "economic roundtable forum," the 90-minute event focused on updates about the city's myriad road construction projects, a thorough introduction to the mayor's staff, and a handful of inquiries during the concluding question-and-answer session.

"The people in this room represent about one-seventh of our businesses, so we will be having these meetings quarterly," Kuchta told the crowd of about 140. "We are going to be here to update you and answer your questions."

Two questions raised by the audience involved the status of a promised repaving of South Freeway Drive. One unidentified audience member said his business, located on the road, spends "$40,000 to $50,000 a year" on truck maintenance.

But Kuchta said a "couple of flies in the soup" would delay the repaving for at least another year.

Finance Director Steve Brunot explained the city went out for bid on the project this summer, but only one offer came in, and it was more than 10 percent over engineer's estimate, so by state law, they could not except it.

Gene Hill, an engineering consultant with the city, also noted that because so much of Freeway has been patched over the years, it might not be possible to grind up and recycle the road material itself, a cheaper alternative to completely rebuilding the road from the base.

Kuchta, who's traveling to India next month on a trade mission to seek possible tenants for a Freeway Drive foreign trade zone, said property owners on Freeway could ultimately be asked to pay an assessment to help cover the road project.

Brunot said once the project is re-bid and a contractor is chosen, the work could be done by mid-2009.

The only other topic broached by the audience was the Route 82 railroad bridge reconstruction.

Kuchta said the project's more than $20 million price tag includes about $2.8 million to be paid by the city, with the rest by state and federal agencies. He said $6 million of the cost would be paid by the government to the railroad company, a move about which he bluntly said, "it sucks."

"And we have to pay the flaggers during the project $700,000 ... I think I'm in the wrong business," he chided.

Kuchta said one reason for the years of delay in getting the new bridge built was the use of federal funding.

"When the federal government is involved, all of the federal departments have to sign off on it," he said.

Hill said the intersection of Route 82 and Valley View, which was closed for the project, should be open within a week or two.

In addition to the road updates, Kuchta also briefly discussed a county mayor's association program in the works that would allow cities that lose large income tax-providing companies to receive a portion of that company's income taxes from the city it moves into.

"So if someone who is a huge taxpayer leaves Macedonia, I won't jump out my window," he said. "It's called cooperation folks, and I think it's about time."

He also said that he strongly opposed the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District's plans to assess a fee to homeowners and businesses for stormwater drainage management. He said the fee would be about $5 per year for homeowners and calculated for businesses based on the amount of parking lot, roofage and other impervious surfaces on their property.

E-mail: rrecker@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3168