Dear Neighbors and Friends,
As part of my commitment to enhance communications in the City of Mayfield Heights, I am proud to unveil a website that reflects the vibrancy of our community. The new website speaks well of our efforts at city hall to maintain clear and open communications with our residents, business neighbors, and visitors. I will continue to investigate ways in which we can provide easily accessible information that will complement the means already established in our community through our community cable channel (Time Warner Channel 20 and AT&T U-Verse Channel 99), AM1700, and the City Focus Newsletter.
I look forward to sharing with you timely reports about all matters that affect your involvement in our community. The news at the forefront now is recent communications from Columbus that local dollars will be cut to allow the state to balance its budget and correct ill-conceived past budgetary decisions. I have met with State Representatives in Columbus to advocate on behalf of our region. At Mayfield Heights, we choose to remain optimistic, be thankful for what we have, and work hard to ensure that we remain on the right path toward prosperity for all residents.
Despite a down economy over the past couple of years, we have remained vigilant toward economic development and look to a year that will foster new additions to our corporate park that will continue to solidify our reputation as a leader in the area. We are happy to report new residential construction in our city that is always a positive sign of the vitality of a city. In addition, we have once again created many programs to address the needs and desires of residents of all ages. It is our resolve to meet the ever changing needs of our community in an efficient and fiscally responsible manner. Our long term debt is lower than most municipalities and the first quarter of the New Year has resulted in greater revenue than the previous year.
I have conducted meetings with area Mayors with regard to regional opportunities to increasing services while saving taxpayer dollars. A great example is our recent addition to the Tri City Consortium on Aging. In addition, I have attended a county wide meeting to discover new procedures to increase economic development within the entire region so that more cities may prosper instead of a select few. I expect to receive grant dollars to be used to improve energy efficiency at city buildings.
In the effort to continue to make our community “greener”, the 3rd Annual Recycling and Shredding Day was held. This event has continued to improve each and every year and we are proud to have included household hazardous waste to the event. The recycling program continues to improve as well. In light of the popularity, we have gone from one recycle bin to three large recycling bins and we are exploring other venues in the city to place additional bins to meet the demands of the community. The first quarter percentage of recycling materials collected compared to total refuse is doubled compared to last year. We appreciate your commitment to recycling and protecting our environment.
Please take advantage of all the wonderful programs and services we are offering this summer. Thank you for your passion and commitment to our vibrant community. May you and your families enjoy much time together during the summer and take the opportunity to reach out to your neighbors to keep our community strong.
If you have any additional questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me directly. We are proud to serve you and look forward to opportunities to meet your needs.
Very truly yours,
Gregory S. Costabile, Esq.
Mayor/Safety Director