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Akron committees advance sewer rate amendment and multiple public-works contracts; planning committee moves to restrict vape shops
Summary
Planning committee gave favorable report and suspended rules on smoke-shop licensing and zoning changes to remove vape shops as conditional uses; Public Service committee approved sewer ordinance changes and several contracts including Lock 3 landscaping; Public Safety committee recommended extension for Leeds Online database service.
Multiple Akron City Council committees met and advanced several measures that will move to the full council for final action.
Planning and Economic Development Committee: The committee moved to give a favorable report and suspend the rules on two related ordinances to add smoke-shop licensing (Title 11) and to amend the zoning code (Title 15) by adding definitions and development requirements for smoke shops and by eliminating vape shops as a conditional use in certain sections. Councilmen Fusco, Kammer, Connor, Boyes and Hannah provided a roll-call affirmation on the motion; the committee recorded a 5–0 vote to forward the measures with a favorable report. The committee chair said the item would be considered under emergency procedures at the evening council session.
Public Service Committee: Members approved an ordinance amending sewer-charge sections of the city code (title and section numbers read into the record) and voted to forward the measure to full council; committee members Kamer, McKittrick, DeShazier and Lombardo voted in favor (4–0). Committee members also approved several procurement and operating items for placement on the consent agenda. Notable items included a contract authorizing the city to pay 50% (approximately $75,000) of an estimated $150,000 landscaping and maintenance contract for Lock 3 for the 2025 season, with the Ohio & Erie Canal Coalition covering the remainder through fundraising; and authorizations to purchase critical water-distribution repair parts, pump-station touchscreen equipment, and composite parts for sludge-collection systems at the water plant. Committee members placed those items on the consent calendar for the full council.
Public Safety Committee: The committee considered a three-year extension for Leeds Online LLC, a searchable property/transaction database used by pawnshops and scrap yards to log items and generate alerts for recovered stolen property. Police representatives explained the service helps generate leads from pawn and scrap entries; committee members voted to suspend the rules and give a favorable report so the extension could be acted on at the evening session.
Most committee actions were approvals to forward measures to full council rather than final ordinance adoptions by the committees themselves. Several matters will be considered under suspension of rules and as emergency measures at the full council session later the same day.
