Mayor Reveals the State of Twinsburg

In her State of the City address on Wednesday night, Mayor Katherine Procop informed the community about the challenges and successes of 2010, as well as new developments that are on the horizon for 2011.

Throughout the speech, she acknowledged that the city has suffered from the bleak economy, but also emphasized new hope with the creation of jobs and green initiatives. 

She started her address with jobs, reminding the crowd of the immense loss of the Chrysler plant in 2010, which took more than 1,000 jobs from the city. Then Procop brightened the mood when she announced that there will be more than 600 jobs coming to the city in 2011. The three main companies providing new jobs are University Hospitals, Cleveland Clinic and Kent State University.

Procop proudly acknowledged that these key industries are helping the city recover in harsh economic times.

“The city’s economic development goal is to develop a sustainable commercial base focused on healthcare, education and communications,” she said. “These industries are accelerating the city’s economy in ways that other Northeast Ohio communities are unable to match.”

University Hospitals is adding a 24-hour emergency room unit including a new . The is scheduled to open in July. This facility will be the Clinic’s first medical health center that has a 24-hour emergency room and helipad. This center is expected to bring an economic jolt to Twinsburg, as it is bringing in about 300 jobs. Kent State University’s satellite Twinsburg campus will open a new, 44,000-square-foot .

General Electric will also be providing jobs for people to help manufacture neutron radiation detectors in its new 13,000-square-foot addition.

Procop said that these industries will likely bring more residents to Twinsburg to use these facilities and because it is “a desirable location.”

She also touched on the budget.  In 2010, the city reduced its expenditures by $4 million. Procop took a minute to congratulate the city on these savings.

“This is pretty amazing accomplishment considering that so many of our revenue streams were down for the year,” she said.

One revenue stream that took a hit in 2010 was investments, which only brought the city $94,000 compared to more than $1 million it generated in 2007.

To make up for losses, 18 full-time city positions were eliminated. The positions were not filled when someone left or retired from the city and have been absorbed through redistribution of work.

On a lighter note, Procop happily announced that the city had major savings on service projects.

“When stimulus money became available, the city of Twinsburg was prepared with shovel-ready projects,” Procop said. “The city benefited in over $4 million of American Recovery Reinvestment Act funding.”

The city has been able to resurface roads, install sewers and start some green initiatives.   These include the Laurel Creek restoration, lighting retrofits in the Fitness Center and the installation of a microturbine at Waste Water Treatment Plant.

Another green initiative Procop is excited about is the solar panel installation at the Twinsburg Waterpark. This will save Twinsburg about $10,000 a year in energy costs. It is Ohio’s largest solar-thermal system. 

Future projects include an intersection study at Creekside Road and State Route 91 and railroad crossing upgrades at State Route 82, State Route 91, Glenwood Drive and Cannon Road.

Also, Liberty Park installed a boardwalk trail open this summer that will tie into a nature center, which will hopefully be built next year.

Procop concluded her address by thanking employees who retired from the city for their service.

Attendee and Twinsburg resident Laura Lee appreciated that Procop hosted this event and that she took the time to recognize her staff. She was happy to hear about the new nature center.

“It was a lot of positive information for a period of time where there was a strain in economic development,” Lee said.