City Manager

Mark Cozy, City Manager

330-854-2225, Ext. 1119

330-854-6913 (Fax)

citymgr@cityofcanalfulton-oh.gov

The City Manager is the chief executive and administrative officer of the City.  He is responsible to and subject to control, supervision and direction of the Mayor.  The City Manager is responsible to City Council for the day-to-day operations of the City.   Other responsibilities include advising Council  regarding the financial status and future needs of the City and reporting to Council on the general operation of City departments, offices, boards and commissions, as well as exercising leadership in the development of City projects and economic development.

Gas Aggregation

The City is proud to announce that the rate for the 2011-2012 year for gas aggregation will be a fixed rate of $5.882 per Mcf ($5.782 per Mcf for eligible Seniors), beginning as early as your December 2011 billing cycle.  Please note, this rate is for natural gas service only, and does not include utility charges or applicable taxes.  

Participating is easy!  To be eligible to participate in our program, you must:  1. Have a residence or business located in the City of Canal Fulton;

2.  Have your gas supply delivered to you by Dominion East Ohio Gas (DEO); 3.  Meet Ohio non-mercantile requirements; 4.  Not be enrolled in the PIPP (Percentage of Income Payment Plan); 5.  Be current with your natural gas utility bill payments. 

If you are currently enroled with another supplier, you should verify with them whether your current contract has an early cancellation fee before you cancel with them and take advantage of this special offer.

If you are not currently enrolled in the City's aggregation program and you wish to enroll, please call Direct Energy by October 28, 2011, in order to start service for your December 2011 billing cycle, otherwise your service may not begin until after the next applicable meter reading date.  Call 1-866-803-4618 to enroll.

The City’s Safe Routes to Schools Engineering Study is now complete.  The study can be reviewed on the City of Canal Fulton website under “Events”.  The study recommends improved walkways and signage throughout the school campus to better direct vehicles to proper destinations and improve pedestrian safety.  It also suggests that a bikeway/walkway could be built linking the schools together.  The least expensive way to provide bicycle access to the school campus is by linking it to the towpath trail.  This study recommends creating those linkages, establishing signalization; improve lighting, and upgrading the towpath trail with a year-round surface. 

These projects would be 100% federally funded through the Ohio Department of Transportation and can also include construction of sidewalks and street lights, law enforcement support, safety programs and education, etc.  The Safe Routes to Schools Committee will review the Study and gather input from City and School officials and residents before applying for any funds.

We did not get the paving grant for Locust Street this year but our experimentation with slag chip and seal on Market Street was a huge success.  Even though slag costs more than the gravel used on residential and township streets it provides a better wearing surface, has less dust, bleeds less than the gravel.  With the rising costs of asphalt, slag chip and seal is a less costly alternative. We will apply the slag chip and seal on Canal Street and the residential sections of Locust Street this year.  The business sections of Locust Street have too much traffic for chip and seal.  Our Streets Department will also repair the sections on Locust that were heavily damaged by last winter’s weather.  We will continue to use the gravel chip and seal in our neighborhoods and more rural streets.

If you have questions concerning any of these projects or anything else pertaining to the City of Canal Fulton, I can be reached at (330) 854-2225 ext 1119.

2010 Year End Administrative Summary

The year 2010 was a big year for the City of Canal Fulton in terms of projects.

Our project to raise High Street above the flood stage, install guardrail along the canal, widen Erie Ave in front of the Northwest Local Schools, and resurface that section of road was completed at a cost of $1,102,629.  The City only paid $142,956.  State and Federal grants paid $907,660.  The Stark County Engineer will also contribute $52,013 toward the re-surfacing of Erie Ave.

The sewer line project on Marshallville Street is nearly complete at an estimated cost of $377,410.  Half of this project, $188,705, will be paid for through a grant from the Ohio EPA.  We anticipate new construction for an office building to begin this year as a result of this new sewer line.

The City of Canal Fulton formed a Stakeholders Committee to work on the Historic Downtown Revitalization Study.  This study explores the feasibility of bringing a Scenic/Excursion Railroad to Canal Fulton.  It includes the placement of a train depot and historic hotel in the Historic Downtown District.

The total cost of the study is $27,975.  The City’s cost is $10,042.  The Ohio & Erie Canalway Association will contribute $9,333.  The Stark County CIC has pledged to reimburse Canal Fulton $8,600.  A copy of the feasibility map can be viewed on the City website at cityofcanalfulton-oh.gov.

The City of Canal Fulton and Northwest Local Schools formed a team to begin working on a School Travel Plan through the Ohio Safe Routes to Schools Program.  This program supports projects that enable and encourage active transportation like walking or bicycling to and from school.  These projects are 100% federally funded through the Ohio Department of Transportation and can include construction of sidewalks and street lights, law enforcement support, safety programs and education, etc.  Our team has gathered information from parents, students, and local officials along with demographic information of our community.  We then compiled a report and have sent it to the Ohio Department of Transportation for review.  We hope to have an engineering consultant assigned to us by this summer so that we can begin the next phase of our School Travel Plan.

In 2010 our Streets Department experimented with chip and sealing with crushed slag instead of crushed gravel on West Market Street.  Slag costs a little more than gravel but there is less dust and less loose gravel and it seems to produce a longer wearing driving surface.  We will experiment with crushed slag in 2011 as a cheaper alternative to asphalt on some of our primary streets.

The City of Canal Fulton’s partnership with the Canal Fulton Heritage Society to operate the St Helena III replica canal boat was another success.  While boat ridership only increased by 58 people, income was up by $2,474.  We tried different modes of advertising to widen our user base.  We also increased the number of specialty cruises with our Ghostly Tales Cruises and the Canal Fulton Players’ performance of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing Cruises being our most successful.  We also kept an extra horse that resulted in an increase in costs.  Even with the success it still cost the City $4,811 to run the canal boat last year.  Our goal is to break even and we have made some operational and programming changes for 2011 that should enable us to accomplish this.

In all the City of Canal Fulton performed $1,508,014 in capital projects in 2011 and has and will receive $1,166,311 in grants in order to accomplish them.