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By Mayor Robert Stefanik uch has changed in North Royalton over the past year.
The most noticeable and significant change in 2008 was witnessed in our Service Department. This past winter, we rolled out a liquid brine rock salt system to complement our snow removal. This system increased efficiency and lowered the overall cost of snow removal.
Our popular new 2008 street sweeper became the source of daily calls to my office and the Service Department from residents who were absolutely delighted with the fact that we were actually removing debris from tree lawns and sweeping their street. Most importantly, we were able to keep the winter debris out of our storm sewers in an effort to prevent blockages which cause flooding. With the implementation of our newly created Storm Water Department, working with our Engineering Department and City Engineer, I am proud to announce we did more in 2008 to prevent flooding than was done in the previous 20 years. Our Storm Water Department will continue to work closely with our Engineering Department on several projects slated for this year. Throughout our neighborhoods this year, we will be replacing failing concrete, replacing faulty joints, resurfacing streets and continuing our aggressive preventative maintenance programs. Our citywide policy is to repair the “worst first” regardless of what ward a street is in.
Our Police Department continues to work closely with our school system, with our school resource officer providing education and guidance for our students. Calls for assistance from our Safety Forces continue to increase from previous years. Total calls for police service were more than 23,000 in 2008. The Fire Department responded to 2,582. The Health and Human Services Department responded to 13,154 calls in 2008. With the downturn in the economy, calls to the department have dramatically increased and we have responded to the demand to ensure our seniors receive quality services from our community. Over the past year we have addressed the need for additional recreational ball fields in the city. We developed three new fields last year. At Valley Vista Elementary School, we have a new football/soccer field. Behind Royal View Elementary School, the city built a new full-sized soccer field. Next to our York Road Field Complex, we have built a full-sized baseball field which will be the showcase for baseball in North Royalton. In May, we celebrated the unveiling of our newest parkland in North Royalton. The former Elek Springs property, on Royalton Road, was purchased by the city in September. The 15 acre property will be maintained in its natural state, complete with walking trails and a natural spring where water used to be bottled in the mid 1900s. We will be creating a Community Garden in Memorial Park behind the brick house, known as the old “Richard’s House,” just south of the entrance to the park. My administration continues to work closely with several North Royalton service clubs. Despite the poor economy, our city is in very good financial shape. Our 2009 budget, with the help of City Council, is one of the leanest in years. In spite of the fact that health care costs and wages have increased we have managed to keep our budget increase for this year at only 1.5 percent. Our “Double A3” rating was reaffirmed by Moody’s Investors Service in August. |
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Robert Stefanik Mayor 440-237-4300 mayorstefanik@northroyalton.org Vince Gentile John Nickell Gary Petrusky |
Don Willey Ward 3 Councilman Committee Chairman: building and building codes Committee Member: rules and ordinances, utilities, enterprise zone, planning commision, president of council pro-tem 440-237-5277 ward3@northroyalton.org Mike Farrell Larry Antoskiewicz |
Dan Kasaris Ward 6 Councilman Committee Chairman: safety Committee Member: utilities, issue 1 task force and board of zoning appeals 440-623-2098 ward6@northroyalton.org Tom Jordan Judy Willey
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Our Safety Forces continue to provide our community with the highest level of protection while working within lean budgets. Our safety forces work together not only to “protect and serve” today, but are working on a blueprint for the future, as retirements of our highest-ranking officers begins this summer. We are planning for a smooth transition and I am certain these professionals will be up to the task.