By Sam Wildow
TROY — The Troy City Council’s Buildings and Utilities Committee on Monday provided a recommendation to the council to move forward with the city’s Hobart Arena Roof Replacement Project.
The committee recommended authorizing the Recreation Board of the city of Troy to advertise for bids and enter into a contract for the Hobart Arena Roof Replacement Project at a cost not to exceed $670,000. This has not yet been approved by the council and will go to the council for final approval.
“We do have this in the budget. We are asking for authorization now. This is prior to the design work being completed,” said Patrick Titterington, director of Public Service and Safety. Titterington said the city was asking for approval now due to a narrow window of time that the work can be done this year.
Council member Jeffrey Whidden asked if the roof replacement would interfere with any events at Hobart Arena.
“The reason that the August time frame is what we’re targeting is because we don’t have the activity in the building. Otherwise, it would be noisy and disruptive,” Titterington said.
Council member William Twiss also clarified that when the city had done previous updates to Hobart Arena approximately six years ago, the roof was not one of those improvements at that time.
“The roof wasn’t touched when we did the updates. We knew it was a project down the road,” Twiss said.
Council member Bobby Phillips also asked when the last time the roof was renovated at Hobart Arena. City staff said the roofs were last replaced around 2000.
Next, the Community and Economic Development Committee recommended moving forward with the rezoning of 2.484 acres located on South Dorset Road at Arthur Drive from light industrial district to local retail district, as recommended by the Troy Planning Commission. A public hearing was held last week in regard to this ordinance with no comments for or against the rezoning.
The committee then provided a recommendation to move forward with an annexation petition filed for 25.3483 acres from Concord Township, referred to as the Mortell Annexation, located on State Route 718 and Peebles Road. The full council will consider a statement of municipal services to be provided to the area proposed for annexation, a statement of buffering related to incompatible uses, and acceptance of the annexation.
Council member Samuel Pierce asked if there was any cost to the city. Titterington said if the applicant wants to tap into the city’s utilities, the applicant would have to pay for the cost of those utility connections.
Following that, the Recreation and Parks Committee provided a recommendation to authorize the Board of Park Commissioners to advertise for bids and enter into a contract for two golf simulators for the Miami Shores Golf Course at a cost not to exceed $100,000.
Titterington said this expenditure is in the city’s budget and the units would be portable, placed in the shore line, and used in the off season for training, lessons, leagues, and tournaments. He added this was discussed during a budget meeting as being part of a bigger plan to expand the utilization of Miami Shores.
Also on Monday, the Streets and Sidewalks Committee provided a recommendation to the council regarding the sidewalk assessment portion of the first phase of the South Stanfield Reconstruction Project. The committee recommended appointing members of an Assessment Equalization Board (AEB) to hear any appeals. The recommended appointees are Rena Gumerlock, Roberta Jacobs, and John Terwilliger.
These items have not been approved by the full council yet. The next Troy City Council meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Feb. 7 in council chambers on the second floor of City Hall, located at 100 S. Market St.
