As we close out 2020, I want to first congratulate our Kirtland High School fall sports teams for their tremendous achievements. Amazingly, the Girls Soccer and Boys Football teams both brought home State Championship trophies. Led by coaches Ed Bradac and Tiger LaVerde, these programs have become state powerhouses and have really put Kirtland on the map.
The December 1st snow storm brought nearly twenty inches of wet heavy snow to parts of Kirtland and downed forty trees in a matter of hours. The storm proved to be one of the toughest snows in recent memory and I want to thank the Police, Fire and Service Departments for their hard work managing the treacherous conditions. We had all hands-on deck and within hours of the snow ending, our roads were cleared. A special thanks to Willoughby Dispatch who handled over 100 calls for service that day, and performed with utmost professionalism and skill.
It is no secret that our city roads need extensive repair and that for too long our construction, maintenance and funding approaches have left much to be desired. In June, with input from a resident Road Paving Task Force, I asked our newly appointed Service Director and City Engineer to develop a Comprehensive Road Program. The goal was to produce a plan that would fix our most dilapidated roads and to generate a long-term strategy to keep our good roads good. Using their professional knowledge, recently collected road conditions data and by walking many miles of our failing roadways, our team developed a full plan to fix our roads over the next fifteen years. In addition to the acknowledgment that future roadwork must include base and drainage corrections, further analysis showed that many city roads were neglected and poorly maintained over many years. We now face significant costs to fix the problem.
In November, I proposed a road funding option designed to spur conversation as to how we pay for a long overdue Comprehensive Road Program. The proposal was met with great questions and by request from members of City Council and the community, I asked that the legislation be pulled from consideration. Although that proposal was dismissed, the serious and focused conversations regarding funding continue.
The question remains, how do we work together as a community to fund a road program that seeks to truly build good and lasting roads for our residents well into the future? With that in mind, I have asked Council President Lowery to appoint a special committee of Council to work with residents, key stakeholders and the administration to build collective support for a road program that we can all trust.
Staying on the topic of infrastructure, with the help of Councilwoman Kelly Wolfe and Lake County Utilities, we will be preparing and publishing a presentation for our Old Town residents relating to the future EPA mandated sewer project. Keeping in mind that not all our residents rely on technology to get their information, we will also mail a fact sheet and frequently asked questions letter to the Old Town residents. The purpose of the presentation and mailer will be to help our residents prepare further questions for a January 2021 public meeting.
In closing, I want to wish our residents a Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday season. 2020 has been a challenging year for so many, and I sincerely hope that the New Year brings promise and joy to all of you.
Thank you,
Kevin Potter