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City works to add sewer to attract more businesses
SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter
Published: February 14, 2013
In the movie, “Field of Dreams,” Kevin Costner plays a farmer who builds a baseball diamond in his cornfield after hearing a voice say the words “If You Build It, He Will Come,” and eventually the dead baseball player “Shoeless Joe Jackson” appears.
In the city of Norton, many officials are espousing a similar theme these days, only in their case, they are looking to attract businesses by expanding the sewer system.
“We are going through growing pains,” said Mayor Mike Zita, who took office in 2012 after serving on the city council since 2004. “Several interstate exchanges come through the city and we have a lot of open space but only about one third of the city has sanitary sewer, the rest is septic systems.
“In order to attract and support new businesses we have to improve our infrastructure,” said Zita. “More businesses would allow us to take the tax burden off our residents.”
The city has just over 12,000 people, and those who work outside the area did lose a portion of their tax credit several years ago.
“Our income tax is 2 percent,” said Don Nicolard, president of the city council. “We used to give residents a 100 percent tax credit if they did not work here, but in 2009 we rolled back 25 percent of the credit.
“Much of the revenue generated has gone toward the expansion of the sewer system.”
Located in the southwest part of Summit County with a small portion extending into Wayne County, Norton Township was first organized in 1818 and was named after Birdseye Norton, one of the original owners. Norton was incorporated as a village in 1961 and assumed city status in 1969.
“Norton has always been a little slow on the uptake of businesses,” said Nicolard, who moved to the area in 1960. “When I opened my business (Donald Lloyd’s Hair & Nail Studio) in 1992, it was the only commercial space available but now we have a lot more because of the downturn in the economy.
“We don’t really have a downtown, most of our businesses are located in Norton Plaza, a shopping center at the intersection of Greenwich and Cleveland-Massillon roads.”
The schools are the largest employer and the mayor said businesses range from companies like Packaging Material Services to medical and service-oriented entities.
“The Digestive Wellness Center on South Cleveland-Massillon Road is one of the newer businesses to open up, and we just had a doctor’s office open and we’re expecting a dentist in the spring.
“We have very little manufacturing; the last manufacturing company to open up was StarPoint Extrusions, which is located on the outskirts of town on Eastern Road.”
Nicolard said the most recent addition to Norton is Action Sports Apparel on Wadsworth Road.
“Unfortunately we lost our economic development director,” said Nicolard. “He was very active in attracting businesses, and had he lived, Norton would be a different place.”
The Norton Business Development Task Force, of which Nicolard is a member, concentrates its efforts on attracting new companies.
“The problem is that we are competing with every other city in Summit County,” said Nicolard.
Like other municipalities, the downturn did force officials to make some tough decisions.
“Services at city hall and our street department were cut by 35 to 40 percent at one point,” said Nicolard. “We did have a few layoffs but most of the cuts were made through attrition since we did not replace people who retired.
“We had fewer people manning our snow plows and fixing pot holes.”
There were some foreclosures and Norton does haves Moving Ohio Forward demolition money available.
“There are a few houses that we might use the money to demolish but we have not done so yet,” said Zita.
More recently, there were some cuts in fire and emergency medical services.
“The fire levy was defeated in 2011 and we were forced to reduce the service,” said Zita, who is a former Norton firefighter and paramedic. “The 4.6 mills levy passed in November 2012, so we have restored the service.”
“We have shared dispatch services with Copley since 2009 in Copley,” said Nicolard.
“When the new fire station was built, accommodations were made to house the dispatch center here. The new dispatch center in Norton will house Norton, Copley and Barberton police, fire and EMS dispatch services. It is set to open in the spring.”
The city does have a number of parks. Columbia Woods Park is located at 4070 Columbia Woods Dr. and features a playground, gazebo, picnic tables, pond, ball fields and pavilion areas.
In addition, Loyal Oak Community Park has several soccer and baseball fields as well as a pavilion.
There is also a community center where residents can attend events and rent space for gatherings.
There are a number of historical sites in Norton, including the Knecht Cider Mill at 3137 Cleveland-Massillon Rd., the Country Store at 2334 S. Cleveland-Massillon Rd., which dates back to 1828, and the Loyal Oak Tavern at 3044 Wadsworth Rd. The tavern was built around 1840 and was once a hotel.
“The tavern serves lunch and dinner, and it’s very nice,” said Zita.
The Biery House and Museum, located on Greenwich Road, houses the Norton Historical Society and is open to the public.
Each year the city holds an Apple Cider Festival at Columbia Woods Park in September, complete with a parade, fireworks, crafts and other attractions.
This will mark the 25th year the festival has taken place and the mayor said it is being moved to the first weekend in October.
The mayor said the city is in the process of making some zoning changes that will enable increased development to occur.
FirstEnergy has acquired the rights to develop a compressed-air storage plant above a 600-acre underground cavern that was formerly operated as a limestone mine. The technology would operate like a large battery storing energy at night for use during the day.
“We believe this to be a great asset to the city of Norton and encourage them to move forward with its production,” said Zita.
“From a personal standpoint, I think Norton has a lot to offer,” said Nicolard. “It is a friendly town, with excellent schools and nice parks. If we can bring sewer into our non-residential areas, which has been my goal for years, we can attract more businesses and that will lead to progress in the future.”