Tensions heightened during public comments at an Akron City Council meeting Monday over a proposed housing complex on Vernon Odom Boulevard after the council approved cutting supplemental health care benefits for retirees without opposition.
The council approved three ordinances to cut retiree supplemental health care benefits.
The first will require eligible retirees hired before Jan 1, 2017, to pay a fee for single and family supplemental retiree health care benefits.
The second allows the director of finance to fund supplemental retiree health care coverage that aligns with health care benefits provided to eligible active employees “to save taxpayer dollars by providing competitive and fair supplemental health benefits for eligible retirees and their eligible dependents,” according to the legislation.
The third implements a surcharge on retirees’ spouses for supplemental health care benefits.
A fourth ordinance, which would have provided a monthly stipend to retirees in lieu of the city’s supplemental retiree benefits, was withdrawn from voting. Ward 9 Councilman Mike Freeman said it was an unpopular choice.
The legislation, which has been before the council since September, is designed to save the city money on supplemental benefits that Mayor Dan Horrigan said the community can no longer afford.
“We’re just making everything even,” Freeman said. “We’re not even touching primary insurance.”
After the legislation passed, the meeting opened up to public comments, which ended in a heated discussion and even some tears between city residents and council members when talk turned to the proposed housing complex.
For the past several weeks, residents living on Vernon Odom Boulevard near Romig Road have taken to council meetings to protest the development of an $11.3 million project called Stoney Pointe Commons, which would involve clearing four acres of wooded land to make way for a four-story complex. The project is a partnership between Tober Building Co. in Richfield and Community Support Services, an Akron nonprofit that offers services for more than 3,000 people with mental illness. The housing would be for homeless and disabled adults.
“I feel this represents a threat to my life and my well-being,” said Dan Crum of Akron, who has regularly protested the project at council meetings. “Practically all the neighbors in this area are opposed to this.”
Others at the council meeting shared the same sentiment, saying it would introduce a high concentration of poverty to the area, which would compromise their safety and home values.
Opponents said they formed a committee to look more into the project, and they found letters from Tober to council members dating back to February. The residents said they hadn’t learned about the project until September.
A couple other residents, including Glenn Auvil of Akron, said they learned Councilwoman Margo Sommerville owns property on Stimson Street near the area, implying she had a say in the project. However, Sommerville said she was contacted about the project early on but did not know the details.
After the questioning, Freeman said the council had received letters from Tober mentioning a project, but they weren’t aware of what kind of project it would be.
However, the project is moving forward. Council members have said they can only vote on granting the developer permission to build a smaller parking lot than required and have no say in the project’s construction.
“I want to acknowledge the time and effort, but this is the wrong room,” Freeman said. “This council can’t do anything.”
Freeman encouraged residents to take their concerns to the developer.
In other news, council members also unanimously approved getting rid of minimum parking requirements for new housing developments downtown, with the hope of spurring residential growth.
The legislation gets rid of the minimum requirement of 1½ off-street parking spaces for each housing unit constructed, and instead establishes a maximum requirement of one space per unit.
Theresa Cottom can be reached at 330-996-3216 or tcottom@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @Theresa_Cottom .