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Euclid council approves multiple emergency contracts and adopts resolution opposing FirstEnergy reliability change
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Summary
Euclid City Council on March 2 approved an array of measures including emergency jail and insurance contracts, a below-market sale of a city lot and several transfers, and passed a resolution opposing FirstEnergy's request to lower reliability standards at the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.
Euclid City Council approved several ordinances and resolutions during its March 2 meeting, including emergency extensions for the city's jail contract and police liability insurance, the sale of a vacant lot on Hawthorne Drive, and a formal objection to FirstEnergy's petition to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO).
The council unanimously passed Ordinance 013-26 extending a two-month agreement with Cuyahoga County for housing Euclid's charged prisoners from March 1 through May 1 while negotiations on per-diem rates continue. Council suspended the normal readings and voted to approve the emergency measure.
In describing the contract extension, the administration said negotiations with the county over per-diem rates took longer than expected and that the extension allows continued housing of detainees until a longer-term contract can be presented to council.
Council also approved Ordinance 015-26 to renew police professional liability insurance at a not-to-exceed cost of $109,139 for the 2026-27 policy year. Administration told the council the premium is about $20,000 lower than the prior year and that coverage remains roughly $1,000,000 with a $100,000 retention.
Council moved and approved the sale of a city-held vacant parcel at 24670 Hawthorne Drive (Ordinance 018-26). City staff described the sale as a standard yard-expansion consolidation; the lot has been in the city's land bank since 2018 and is being sold for a nominal figure to be combined with the adjacent homeowner's parcel.
On utilities regulation, council adopted Resolution 017-26 opposing FirstEnergy's request to PUCO to relax minimum reliability standards that affect outage duration and frequency. The administration outlined concerns about the proposed change to the Customer Average Interruption Duration Index (CAIDI) and the System Average Interruption Frequency Index (SAIFI), saying a requested increase of about 15 minutes per interruption would prolong outages and could harm residents who rely on power for medical equipment, damage property and HVAC systems, and strain first responders.
"What is being asked is not in the best interest of our residents and businesses," the administration told council during the discussion. Council added two "whereas" clauses documenting local HVAC impacts and first-responder burdens before approving the amended resolution to be sent to PUCO.
The meeting also included the first reading of the 2026 annual appropriation ordinance; council directed that the budget be sent to the Executive Finance Committee for review on March 9 before returning to full council on March 16.
The council's roll-call votes on the emergency items and ordinances were recorded during the meeting; all listed measures passed.
