TOLEDO, Ohio — Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz started off his weekly Thursday press conference by talking about all the some of the projects that were slated to start this year and what their current status is, including:
- Summit Street construction - construction will begin on Summit St. to Lafayette to Monroe starting tomorrow for most of the summer.
- Amazon (old Southwyck Mall location) - a couple months behind schedule but project is still moving swiftly. The plan is for the site to be done this year.
- KeyBank Discovery Theater at Imagination Station - originally supposed to be open by July 4. While that won't happen, the theater is still scheduled to be completed this year.
- Village on the Green apartment development - construction on the apartments will begin in the uptown neighborhood at the end of this year.
The mayor then announced that even though city pools will be closed this year, children who depended on getting a meal will still be able to get them at five different parks.
Meals will be provided at the following parks from June 1 to August 14 (dates could be extended if need be):
Wilson Park - 11 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.
Navarre Park - 12:15 p.m. to 1 p.m.
Savage Park - 1:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m.
Walbridge Park - 2:15 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 2:45 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Ottawa Park - Monday through Friday from 12:15 p.m. to 1 p.m.
The meals will handed out in the same way as if pools were open as usual.
Help is also still available for small businesses through the city's Emerge program that has $1 million to assist businesses during the coronavirus pandemic.
The deadline to apply is Sunday; as of Thursday, 185 have been submitted.
Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz also announced a new program the city has been working on, which is essentially an online one-stop shop for getting event permits in the city.
The mayor said previously if you wanted to use a city park or public space for an event, you would have to call into six different city departments to get one, calling this a "bureaucratic headache that citizens shouldn't have to go through."
With the new website, residents will only have to go there to get an event permit.
Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz said that Toledo is also working to make sure that its most vulnerable residents are being tested for COVID-19 by going to shelters and making sure the homeless have a chance to be tested.
The mayor said we "need to do better" as Lucas County has the most cases of COVID-19 and most deaths from the virus than any other county in Ohio.
Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz also said the first 30-day period has come and gone for city employees on temporary emergency leave, and evaluation has shown they need to continue to be on leave for the foreseeable future.
The mayor also touched on how important is it to practice safe social distancing practices as restaurants open indoor dining starting Thursday.
Mayor Kapszukiewicz said the city's strike team has received about 166 complaints so far from people who felt social distancing and safety procedures weren't being followed at area restaurants and bars.
The strike team investigated all complaints and found that no citations were needed.
However, Mayor Kapszukiewicz said that doesn't mean the complaints weren't warranted.
The mayor also said a majority of complaints were directed toward bars and reiterated Gov. DeWine's orders that customers aren't allowed to patronize a business unless you are seated in a socially distanced way.
This means that bars cannot be open if patrons are standing up.
