Council approved a 4% increase in the rates residents pay for sewer service through the city at Monday’s meeting. Frank Gambosi, the city’s finance director, said the revenue will help pay for water line increases and capital improvements this year as well as wastewater improvements for 2021. The rate increase means that someone who pays $40 a month for their sewer rates would be paying an extra $1.40 per month. Council voted to keep water rates the same, however, for the coming year.

There were a variety of other topics discussed at the virtual meeting, including what the city is doing for Halloween at the end of the this month, and plans it is making for Election Day at the beginning of the next. City Manager Mike Mallis announced that Bedford has decided to go ahead with Halloween this year, and it will run from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday Oct. 31. The city is recommending that residents follow “Celebrating Halloween” safety guidelines set up by the Ohio Department of Health. You can access those guidelines on the city website here.

There were concerns by some of the council members about traffic and parking at Ellenwood Center on Nov. 3 for the presidential election. Those choosing to vote in person and live in Wards 1, 3, 5, or 6 will be heading to the center to cast their ballots. Ward 3 Representative Vic Fluharty asked if there would be a police presence there to help with traffic and parking and Mallis said that he believed auxiliary police were scheduled. Ward 6 Representative Don Saunders asked if there would be adequate parking, and Mallis responded that the city will make sure all of its vehicles are out of the parking lot and will do all it can to make sure there will be as much parking as possible.

Speaking of Ellenwood Center, Mallis mentioned that the trees in the front beds at the center have been recently removed. They were ones that were marked by an arborist as being dead or dying and needing to be taken out. He said the city is looking to work with a local landscaping company to redesign the entryway into Ellenwood, and that any equipment that is currently there will be gone by Election Day.

Council also voted to amend a section of the parking code having to do with large trucks parking in residential areas. The vehicles not permitted to park on the street include truck trailers, semi-trailers and also recreational vehicles such as boats, travel trailers, motor homes and campers. Mallis said that many of those vehicles can still be parked on hard surfaces behind one’s home. Parking exceptions on streets could be made if a vehicle is broken down, loading or unloading or performing a specific service.

Council heard about plans for a variety of upcoming city projects. One is a main gas line replacement in the works by Dominion Gas to take place in the Presidential District of the city. According to Mallis, the company plans to replace three miles of piping in that area. Saunders said that replacement of the magnitude will be quite disruptive to the neighborhood.

Another plan that is being finalized by the city concerns work to be done on Broadway Avenue downtown. The project is slated to start next year and will include water line replacement from the Five Points section all the way down past Union Street. Mallis said the project will also include replacing curbs in the Historic District along with electrical repairs in the area.

In other business, the council:

  • Accepted the third payment of the city’s Coronavirus Relief Fund Program.
  • Approved the annual contract with the Cuyahoga County Board of Health for support for schools and business at a cost of $71,000.
  • Heard from Southeast Library Branch Manager Darlene Davis about the importance of voting for Issue 70, which is a levy to allow the county libraries to carry on all of the services they currently provide. She reminded the residents that this is the first request the library has made since 2008, and that it is a continuing levy.