Akron Council's Weekly Legislative Spotlight! 2024 Issue #20

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Akron City Council

Weekly Legislative Spotlight

From the Desk of the Council President

Hello Joan,

A hearty welcome to our new subscribers. We are so excited that you are joining us! To our regular subscribers, thank you for your commitment to staying informed and engaged through your continued subscribership to Akron City Council's Legislative Spotlight.

We hope you enjoy the information we share each week, including highlights from the Council's legislative agenda from the previous Monday's Committee and Council meetings. Definitions and information about commonly used terms and council-related facts are also featured.

Please stay connected and abreast of the issues before Akron City Council.

The information shared in each week's Legislative Spotlight will continue to educate, empower, and liberate you to become increasingly engaged with your City Council in making Akron a better place for all its residents.

Sincerely,

Margo Sommerville

Council President

Ward 3 Council Member

Legislative Highlights From Monday, June 17, 2024

ORDINANCE NO. 225-2024 authorizing the Mayor, or his designee, to apply for, and if awarded, accept and expend grant funding from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) and Climate Justice Community Change Grant for the Resilient Infrastructure & Sustainable Environments (R.I.S.E.) Summit Lake Project; and declaring an emergency. Vote: 13-0. View the presentation to the Public Service Committee here.

ORDINANCE NO. 226-2024 amending and/or supplementing Title 3 “Administration,” Chapter 35 “Employment Policies,” Section 35.02 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Akron to recognize Juneteenth Independence Day; and declaring an emergency. Vote: 13-0. Juneteenth is celebrated on June 19th to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States after the Civil War. The City has observed Juneteenth each year since it was declared a federal holiday in 2021. This legislation updated the Code of Ordinances to include this holiday.

Remember...

You can see all the legislation discussed during the meeting at: https://onlinedocs.akronohio.gov/OnBaseAgendaOnline/

JUNETEENTH

Municipal Offices are closed on Wednesday,

June 19th to celebrate Juneteenth. There

is no delay to trash/recycling pick-up

for the week.

Ring Doorbell Cameras

Council Staff has been working hard to distribute Ring Doorbell Cameras to approved applicants. These doorbell cameras were purchased with ARPA funds and applications were processed in compliance with federal guidelines.

All applicants were notified via email whether they were approved, rejected, or put on a waitlist.

As of this date, approximately 60% of the approved applicants have picked up their Ring doorbell cameras.

We have begun contacting applicants that are on the waitlist. If you applied, please be sure to check your email!

June 2, 2024 Shooting Update

On June 18, a Press Release identified a vehicle believed to have contributed to the incident. The vehicle appears to be a white SUV with dark-tinted windows. See the full release here. Anyone with information on the June 2 shooting is encouraged to call the Akron Police Department Detective Bureau at 330-375-2490 or 330-375-2Tip.

Residents may also provide anonymous information to any of the following: 

The Summit County Crimestoppers, call 330-434-COPS. 
Text TIPSCO with your tips to 274637.
Download the Akron PD app and submit information by texting Tip411 or by accessing the link on our website www.AkronCops.org.

The City of Akron and Keep Akron Beautiful are launching another round of the Recycle Right Campaign.

The initiative—running Monday, June 10th through Friday, August 9th—will again include mobilizing specially-trained personnel to conduct curbside cart observations.

Before the City began the Recycle Right campaign in 2019, the contamination rate of Akron's recyclables was 39.3%, which is high. This rate cost the City $205,031 in contamination costs. After the first two rounds of the Recycle Right campaign, the rate dropped down to 26.3% which brought the contamination cost down to $38,038.

The most recent audit confirmed this program's continuing success, showing that the City’s contamination rate for recycling is currently at 22.3%, meaning the City has nearly cut the contamination rate in half during this campaign. This year, Akron hopes to improve the contamination rate further with a goal of below 20%.

Residents who have contaminants (non-recyclables) in their recycling carts will receive this informational "Oops" tag on their carts with direct feedback designed to improve recycling cart contents.

To help take any guesswork out of what can or cannot be recycled, the City of Akron offers the free Akron Recycles app. The app allows residents to search any item and find out if it belongs in the trash bin, the recycling bin, or on the curb as a bulk item. The app also provides customized alerts and reminders regarding curbside pickup. It is available to download for free on Apple or Android devices.

Check out the calendar on

Council's website for

upcoming Ward Meetings!

Your Council Representative

Is Available to Serve You!

There are several ways to reach your Ward Representative:

View their information on the Council's website .
Attend their ward meeting .
Call or email them.

Upcoming Open Comment Public Hearings

***

Notices are posted on our website at least 15 days before the meeting.

Suppose the Ordinance is a Conditional Use (Zoning measure). In that case, a notice is also mailed to the owners and residents of property within, contiguous to, and directly across the street from the property involved in the Ordinance (per Charter Section 34). Notices are also published in the Akron Beacon Journal.

You do not need to fill out any forms to participate. You're able to attend in person in Council Chambers or remotely via videoconference.

Those wishing to attend remotely need to notify the Clerk of Council as outlined in the meeting notice in order to receive the information to join remotely.

Thanks to our Subscribers!

We are thrilled to announce that our Legislative Spotlight has reached over 1500 subscribers! Thank you for your ongoing support and

for sharing the information!

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311- Akron's One Call to City Hall

If you have a specific city issue that you'd like to see resolved (a pothole, water leak, tree down, missed trash collection, etc.), you can enter it in the online system, call 311, or download

the new "MyAkron311" app.

The app is available for free on all Apple or Android devices in the app store.

After downloading, residents can create a profile, enter a service request, look up timely city information, and set up notifications specific to their address such as trash/recycling collection reminders.

Public Comment Period

A public comment period is held at each regularly scheduled Council meeting, where up to ten (10) members of the public may address Council on matters within Council's authority. No member of the public shall be permitted to address Council during the public comment period more than once every 30 days.

Those who wish to participate in the public comment period of a regular Council meeting need to submit a public comment form by 4:00 p.m. on the date of the meeting.

The sign-up form is available here.

For those that do not have a mobile device/computer to utilize, or need additional assistance, Council staff is available to help.

Signing up is a requirement of Council Rules, similar to other bodies.