Mayor

Village of Lakemore Mayor;

Phone: 330-733-6125 Ext.#1

A Message from the Mayor

Welcome to the Village of Lakemore's Web Page. Our general fund, capital improvements funds and water contingency fund balances are standing steady, but with the decrease of businesses within the Village, these funds will begin to decline. To assure that these funds stay stable, we must look forward and attract new businesses to become part of our community. There are several avenues that we will be aggressively looking at, such as tax abatements and incentives for new business. The Village of Lakemore requires these funds to continue to grow which gives us a high degree of flexibility in making our budget decisions each and every year. With the support of Village Council and Administration we will continue to set aside monies to provide for the future costs of several of our planned major projects and maintain the high level of services that we now provided to our businesses and residents.

The Village of Lakemore has 3 main sources of revenue income and they are the Edwin Shaw Hospital, Tri-County Plaza and Springfield Schools. One of the main concerns is the sale of the Edwin Shaw Hospital. Summit County owns approximately 109 acres at this site and the Summit County Planning Commission, Jim McCarthy and I have been discussing alternative uses for the property. Whatever the out come, the Village will keep a watch on this area so that further revenues lost are kept at a minimum. Another concern is Tri County Plaza. There are approximately 10 stores that are empty in the plaza and that concerns me. However, with the way the Village of Lakemore and surrounding area is growing, it is just a matter of time when Tri-County Plaza will be booming again. The reasoning behind this is simple. This year alone, there were 15 new homes and 9 duplexes built in the Village of Lakemore. The Planning Commission and the Village of Lakemore Council have accepted final development plans for Hidden Lake Estates, which consists of 250 single family building lots and Brentwood Estates, which consists of 41 single family building lots. Also approved were Brittany Commons, which consists of a 208-unit apartment complex and a development plan that consists of a 144-unit condominium complex. These developments are located on the East Side of Canton Road. Also located in this area on Waterloo Road is a 17-acre Industrial site that the Village of Lakemore has approved for development. Already, plans have been approved to build a Multi Storage facility in the Industrial Site consisting of 3 acres. The remainder of the property is just waiting for buyers to develop it. Also as you travel south on Canton Road past Tri-County plaza on the left hand side, there is an area of approximately 20 acres that is put aside for retail businesses to aid in the community growth.

The biggest and most noticeable accomplishment this year has to be the addition of the new Police Department that was built behind the present municipal building. The Village of Lakemore has been working on this idea for almost 8 years. There were many different versions of the new Police Facility and many cuts were made to make this feasible for the Village of Lakemore’s budget. This was just phase one of the Municipal Building update. Phase two has begun with the remodeling of the old Police area, which was turned into the new Department of Public Services offices. The Village Administrator and the Utility Billing Collection office are now located here. Also, the Mayors office and the Village Clerks office have been updated. The remainder of the existing Municipal Building will cover a Fire Department addition, a pitched roof and the remodeling of all remaining office areas.

Department of Public Services and Parks - The Public Services Department is probably the most visible department in the Village of Lakemore due to the many areas that it covers. The Village of Lakemore has allocated $5,000 to continue the comprehensive plan to replace all existing Street signs with new highly visible signs. Many of these signs are now visible on the main roads through out the Village and this project should be completed by the end of next year. The Village of Lakemore has also allocated $10,000 to be used for street lighting updates and additions. A new pilot program has started to install remote water meters in homes in the Village of Lakemore. The Lakemore Village Council has allocated $15,000 to purchase some of these meters and the software for the computers. This will allow the Department of Public Service employees to read the meter from the outside of the resident by remote and then download the findings into a computer, no longer having to enter data by hand. This also means that the resident will no longer be interrupted or find a tag hanging on their door when no one was home. The Department of Public Services has also replaced 7 defective hydrants this year at a cost of $1,500 each. Other duties the Department of Public Services Employees are tasked with are Utility billing, water systems upkeep, sewer and storm water systems upkeep, routine vehicle maintenance, snow removal, street repair, trash pick-up, grounds keeping and many more tasks. To keep in stride with the ever-changing technological requirements of the computer industry, the Village of Lakemore has created this web page to help Village residents to be more informed. This web page has valuable information about our Police, Fire and Public Services Departments and will also cover Council meetings, Administration offices, Clerks office, Taxes, History and Zoning.

In conclusion, I would like to thank all the employees and committees within the Village of Lakemore for making the job of Mayor easier. The Village of Lakemore should be proud of our past, confident about the present and optimistic about the future. I will assure that The Village of Lakemore will continue to explore new opportunities and seek the best solution to our problems.