Oregon: City proceeding with Navarre safety project

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A request for a right of entry agreement on property along Navarre Avenue will be on the agenda of Oregon city council’s meeting agenda for Monday.
Paul Roman, director of public service, informed council’s committee of the whole last week the agreement was needed to accommodate work on a safety improvement project on Navarre.
The agreement is needed for property at 2924 Navarre Avenue.
Roman said a Chipolte restaurant has a driveway at East Harbor Drive where the work is planned.
A right of entry agreement allows the project to proceed while the city and property owners complete an easement acquisition agreement, he said.
The entire safety improvement project is estimated to cost about $6.9 million. The city has received $5 million from the Ohio Department of Transportation safety grant program and $600.000 from ODOT’s urban paying program. More recently, the city received a grant of $592,000 from the Ohio Public Works Commission for the project, which includes a median barrier and three new traffic lights. Traffic light intersections will be widened for U-turns and for pedestrian signal crosswalks.
Much of the work will focus on the stretch of Navarre Avenue from Isaac Streets Drive east toward Coy Road.
The committee of the whole this week will also consider an ordinance that sets the final assessment costs for a sanitary sewer project along Brown Road.
The total cost is $174,404 for the owners of six parcels who will be assessed based on their front footage.
Property owners will have 60 days to make payments. After that the assessment will be levied on their property taxes over 10 years with an interest rate of 5 percent.
During a special meeting Monday, councilman Terry Reeves was elected president of council for 2025. He replaces Steve Hornyak who chose to not seek another term as president.
Councilmembers agreed to keep committee assignments as they were in 2024.

OEDF finances questioned
The financial records of the Oregon Economic Development Foundation and the foundation’s transparency were again discussed during council’s committee meeting.
Bradley Henning, who had been hired last year as the foundation’s executive director and then asked to resign in November, told the committee his removal from the director’s position was in retaliation for his raising questions about financial statements and related records.
He said he’s asked for whistle blower status and a private meeting with mayor Mike Seferian to share information he has about the foundation’s finances.
The OEDF receives $100,000 in donations a year from the city for the foundation’s operating budget.
Last year, the city also provided $1.7 million for the foundation to purchase land to extend the city’s industrial park.
Henning and the mayor have disagreed over how much was left when the purchase and accompanying expenses were complete.
Henning said he was also asking for an audit of the OEDF, which is a non-profit entity.
Beth Ackerman, a member of council’s finance committee, agreed an audit is warranted and said council should direct Tim Pedro, president of the OEDF board of directors, to come before council and answer questions.
“This is not a new topic,” she said. “We’ve gone through three directors in three or four years.”
She credited Nick Roman, the city’s finance director, and Joel Mazur, city administrator, for attempting to secure financial information from the OEDF but added safeguarding of taxpayer money has been lax.
Roman said he’d talked with Pedro and was told bank reconciliation statements and other records would be provided to him by the end of last week.