At the August 15 Sylvania City Council meeting, Service Director Kevin Aller presented a report on the Monroe Street and Harroun Road safety improvements, which includes the widening of Monroe Street from Harroun Road east, past the Kroger and Monroe Street intersection, and the lengthening of the two left turn lanes at the Harroun Road/Monroe street intersection. This ODOT-sponsored project has been in progress since 2015. City Council authorized Aller to request letters of interest from ODOT prequalified construction engineering firms to manage the project during construction and to advertise for bids.

Council approved an ordinance for a change order for Phase 2 of the sanitary sewer lining project on Eaglehurst and Lancelot roads to increase the contract amount for changes in resin and liner tube materials costs since the project originally was bid in January. The Phase 2 project was completed in August.

The ordinance to authorize the acceptance of the proposal of Civil & Environmental Consultants for design-build services for Phase 2 of the Harroun Park River Trail stream restoration project was also passed. This allows for CEC to proceed with the completion of the erosion mitigation of Ten Mile Creek from the pedestrian bridge near SOMO to Harroun Road.

Aller also informed City Council that the service department has been successful in securing a Public Utilities Commission of Ohio grant in the amount of $360,000 to help defray the cost of the more than $600,000 Monroe Street railroad crossing expansion and the new safety warning devices that will be required for the Monroe Street/Silica Road improvement project. Council passed an ordinance authorizing the city to enter into a Subsidy Stipulation Agreement with the PUCO to accept the grant. According to Service Department Deputy Director Joe Shaw, the Rail Division of the PUCO has only $1 million set aside annually in grant money for railroad improvements.

Two additional Right of Way acquisitions from the Monroe Street/Silica Road improvement project were approved by council.

Council also passed an ordinance to accept the proposal of the EDGE Group to provide professional landscape architectural services for the Downtown Sylvania Visioning project. This project will develop aesthetic enhancements, review connectivity, and define the design character of the entire downtown area ahead of the Downtown Transportation Improvements Project on Main Street between Monroe Street and Erie Street.

An additional ordinance was passed to approve the banner application from Lourdes University and a final ordinance was passed authorizing the city to accept the proposal of the Environmental Design Group to review the city of Sylvania’s Zoning Code.

In other business, an ordinance was passed to revise the title of “Magistrate” to “Magistrate/Court Administrator,” along with amending Sylvania’s Codified Ordinance Section.