Northfield Township Residents
The beautiful Fall season is here! Northfield Center is a vibrant and beautiful community to live in.
We hope you have had a great summer! The Board of Trustees are pleased to provide this update on the progress and changes that have been occurring this year and what is to come. We trust that this update is both informational and a catalyst for your important questions.
Service Department: Earlier this year the Board of Trustees hired Tim Black as our new service director. Tim comes to us with a strong background in service and leadership being the Macedonia Fire chief for many years. Under his leadership you may have seen our service team out and about ditching, taking care of our parks and soon they will be picking up leaves- more to come on this as we get into October. The township was awarded a $430,000 grant to rebuild Bayberry Dr. and we expect to start that very important project some time in 2023- this will rebuild the street itself and it will also address the stormwater drainage issues – a much needed improvement. Our service department continues to effectively maintain our equipment as well as our facilities. They have also completed the last steps of CDL certification so we can be more versatile during leaf pickup and snow plowing in the winter- an invaluable skill set to have. Crack sealing the townhall parking lot has been another success along with working with a third-party vendor to improve the lighting at our “Cannon Park” at the corner of 82 and Olde 8.
Building Updates: As many of you know in 2021 the Board of Trustees awarded a $3millon contract to build a new Safety and Administration building at the site of our current service garage at 8484 Olde 8 Rd. This will put our fire station, police (through Summit County Sherriff Office) and our administrative staff all in one facility creating huge operational efficiencies. The building, which is approximately 10,000 square feet will have two apparatus bays, fire dept. day room, as well as a 500 square foot multipurpose room for township meetings and events- it will be an incredible space for our first responders and our residents. As with any project we did run into some challenges with site work and excavation but have come up with a plan to remediate this. The building is being funded by a 15 year bond which will be paid for with the sale of township property that is no longer needed, federal grants as well as funds from our general fund. More to come on specific updates as the year closes out but our hope is to have the building operational by the end of the year. This project started in 2019 when we first started the design phase and feasibility studies and its truly exciting to see these plans come to life.
Upcoming Levy’s: Northfield Center Township has two levies on the ballot on November 8, 2022.
Here are the facts:
The first levy is a Road RENEWAL. This levy will have no increases to it if passed and will continue the cost of $29 a year for homeowners for every $100,000 in home value. This levy is a 5 year renewal and provides $170,825 a year towards our annual budget of approximately $550,000.
The second levy is for Fire protection. This is a 2 mill levy and would generate an additional $360,000 annually. Unfortunately, our current levy only brings in $315,000 –the total cost of fire services is $589,000 with 5% increases year over year. So, without the increase Northfield Center Township would be unable to afford these critical services. This levy was on the May 2022 ballot and was defeated by 8 votes. Macedonia Fire continues to provide excellent personnel and staffs two Fire/EMS 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
Northfield Center is a vibrant and beautiful community to live in. We continue to see investment and economic development in our community. New buildings for veterinarian and dental offices are being constructed and we continue to expand our Joint Economic Development District or JEDD that brings in much needed income tax. Northfield Center has secured grants both at the county and state including a $250k grant. These grants have allowed us to improve our township parks adding new activities such as pickle ball and green space. We are addressing our facility needs with our new safety and administration building and we continue to work with our residents through our many committees for topics such as storm water, parks, safety, and our newest committee for our Olde Townhall building.
We welcome all your ideas, suggestions and feedback. Your Board of Trustees listen. We invite all residents to our regular monthly meetings. Also, feel free to contact us at the Town Hall via phone or email.
Thank you-
Russ Mazzola
Board of Trustees- Chair
