CITY OF HIGHLAND HEIGHTS
MINUTES OF A COUNCIL MEETING
HELD: FEBRUARY 12, 2008
President of Council Mills presiding.
PRESENT: Mayor Coleman, Councilmen Anderson, Hargate, Legan, Lombardo, Mills; Murphy, Pilla; Clerk of Council Buchak; Fire Chief Bencin; Police Chief Cook; Service Director Evans; Assistant Building Commissioner Austin; City Engineer Blackley; Finance Director Ianiro; Law Director Paluf.
ACTION ON MINUTES: The reading of the Minutes of a Council Meeting held January 22, 2008 was dispensed with. Mr. Legan moved to accept the Minutes as written; seconded by Mr. Anderson. Ayes all; abstain Lombardo; motion carried.
DEPARTMENT HEAD REPORTS:
Fire Chief's Report: Chief Bencin reported he met this evening with the Safety & Service Committee. One of his people created a power point presentation; he invited members of the Safety & Service and Legislative & Finance Committees to see that. Mr. Hargate will report further on the Safety & Service Committee meeting
Police Chief's Report: Chief Cook informed Council that Sergeant Ronald Zagar is retiring from service effective March 1, 2008. Sergeant Zagar served thirty years and his family has been residents in the community. A promotional examination has been scheduled as a two part examination, written and assessment; and, they will hire another officer.
Chief Cook also reported for the month of January the Police department responded to 914 calls for service, 44 residential alarms and 14 motor vehicle accidents with 2 involving personal injuries. Nineteen prisoners were held in their jail facility for 600 hours.
Service Director's Report: Service Director Evans reported as follows:
· Salt and overtime are running at a pretty good clip. They have gone through about 4000 tons of salt so far this year which is just about their average for an entire season. They are going to exceed their average this year for a second year in a row.
· As mentioned previously in the Committee of the Whole Meeting, the County Sanitary Engineer's Office will be here on Tuesday, March 4th to discuss their findings of the Highland Road Sanitary Sewer Evaluation Study. They will present their report and answer questions.
· Highland Road Pedestrian Project update. The consultant has advised that they have resolved the issues with ODOT and the EPA. They were having drainage issues as far as dealing with drainage quality and meeting EPA standards. They believe they have all those resolved and they expect to have the plans back to ODOT hopefully for a final time by the end of this week. He will be asking them to coordinate with the City Engineer; Hovancsek & Associates will be bidding the project so it will be a matter of getting the bid package together. He is hopeful that they will be able to come to Council for authorization to bid sometime next month with a bid opening in late spring and construction in early summer.
Building Commissioner's Report: Assistant Building Commissioner Austin reported the gate on Longspur is functional. The police, fire and service departments all have means of opening the gate on their vehicles. There are still some minor details to be worked out. He requested all three departments go to the site and make recommendations and see what else they need. Mr. Josh Simon has ownership of the gate until the home owner association will take over once the percentage reaches a certain point.
Mr. Austin reported he will meet with Lance Osborne on Thursday to talk about the Shops at Alpha Park. Mr. Osborne plans to be on the agenda for P&Z on the 25th of February.
City Engineer's Report: City Engineer Blackley reported that a week from this coming Friday they will have the pre-construction conference for the Highland Bishop Intersection Project with Timor Construction, our contractor. At the next Council Meeting he should be able to report on their construction schedule.
Mr. Blackley referred to an item on the agenda, a resolution vacating a water main easement located within what used to be called Omega and Sigma Parkway and is now Aberdeen Business Park and explained that the Omega and Sigma Parkways were dedicated streets at one time. Those streets were vacated. When a street is vacated, usually things like water main easements are still remain in effect and that is the case here. This is an easement that is crossing one of the sub lots in Aberdeen Business Park. So the purpose of this action tonight is to vacate that easement. There is no water main in and no intention of placing a water main across that property.
Mayor Coleman reported that the resolution to vacate the water main easement came at the request of Miner Properties and will enable them to market the property. They have some people interested in that particular parcel.
Mayor Coleman noted that Mr. Blackley mentioned Highland Bishop Construction and asked Finance Director Ianiro if expenditures were contemplated in the temporary budget. He also asked Engineer Blackley if expenditures on the project would need to be made before March 31st. Mr. Ianiro advised the expenditures would be OK knowing they will cover it in the final budget which will be in place by March 31st. City Engineer Blackley advised the contractor has ordered the signal masts but no billing has been seen as yet.
Mr. Anderson advised there is spauling in the sidewalks installed in the Colony Eastlawn area. Mr. Blackley will contact Fabrizi the contractor.
Finance Director's Report: Finance Director Ianiro reported as previously discussed in the Committee of the Whole regarding Items 3 and 4, he requested Council approval. Mr. Ianiro also reported the auditors are here, under the contract with James G. Zupka CPA. They will be working on site.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Volunteer Fire Fighter's Dependents Fund Board: Mr. Legan reported Mr. Hargate and he are the Council reps on the Volunteer Firefighters Dependents Fund Board. They met on January 15th. Also present were Christopher Guido, David Betori and George Glasney. Christopher Guido was elected Chairman; George Glasney was elected as the fifth member and David Betori was elected Secretary for the year 2008.
Mayfield Area Recreation Council (MARC): Mr. Anderson reported a meeting was held on February 7, 2008. They voted and re-elected all present officers. Floor hockey is going on. The MARC floor hockey program has been going on for 35 years.
Park and Recreation Commission: No report. Mr. Anderson advised the next meeting is scheduled for February 21st at 7:00 p.m.
Planning and Zoning Commission: Mr. Pilla reported on the action taken at a meeting held February 11th:
§ Michael Christopher Salon, 6255 Wilson Mills Road. Approval was given for their variance to permit a pylon sign which is actually smaller than the old First Merit sign. They received a variance for the main building of 61 SF that was also approved and for the pylon sign of 3 feet 4 inches. The variance was approved because it is exactly where the first sign was. Also they have reduced the signage on the facility from the last tenant.
§ CLAP Day Care, Ltd., 134 Alpha Park. The Commission reviewed the request for a Conditional Use Permit and scheduled a public hearing on the Request. This is a day care that wants to go into Alpha Park.
§ Paul Green School of Rock Music, 299 Alpha Park. Review Status. The Commission reviewed the Law Director's recommendation which stated in his opinion the proposed School of Rock Music meets the testing for similar and like uses.
Mrs. Murphy asked if the Michael Christopher Salon will open soon. Mr. Austin advised the grand opening is planned for February 20th.
Legislative & Finance Committee: Mr. Lombardo reported a meeting was held on Tuesday, February 5th at 7 p.m. Present at the meeting were Councilmen Murphy, Lombardo and Legan and Finance Director Ianiro. Purpose of the meeting was to discuss the operating budget and do a preliminary look at that budget. The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, February 18th at 2:00 p.m. They are looking at the capital budget and once they get those budgets together they will start to finalize the budget and have it ready for March.
Safety & Service Committee: Mr. Hargate reported a meeting was held this evening. They discussed with the Police Chief the purchase of police cars for 2008. It is his recommendation that they proceed with the purchase of four vehicles -- 3 cruisers and one car for the detectives. The cost would be approximately $70,000. The change over costs would be additional. Chief Cook expects for 2009 he will recommend and request 3 cruisers at that time. Mr. Hargate requested the Law Director prepare legislation authorizing that purchase as the Committee recommended proceeding with that expenditure.
They also discussed capital improvements and a memo dated January 15, 2008 with the Fire Department. They discussed those this evening and will be discussing those at later meetings in the next month or so.
Commission on Aging: Mr. Hargate reported the meeting that was scheduled for yesterday, Monday, February 12th was cancelled because of the weather. It has been rescheduled for Monday, February 25th.
Drainage Committee: No report. Mrs. Murphy scheduled a meeting for Tuesday, February 26th at 7 p.m. All members, if they have an agenda item, please submit them.
She reminded everyone that a representative from the Cuyahoga County Engineer's office will be present to discuss the Highland Road Sanitary Sewer Evaluation Study on March 4th.
Mrs. Murphy asked the Law Director to look into the status of the easements for the McCracken property project. They would like to see that project stay on task.
Law Director's Report: Law Director Paluf reported as discussed in the previous meeting, regarding Agenda Item 1, regarding an amendment to the Aberdeen Development Plan, that he would recommend deleting it from the agenda because of the headway they are making in their negotiations.
With regard to Agenda Item No. 5, vacating an easement, Mr. Paluf recommended approval tonight because there might be a deal for the property and it may be another business in the city.
Mrs. Murphy referred to Bass Energy and asked if he has had conversations with them. Law Director Paluf advised he sent them a letter indicating, at Council's direction, that the city is not interested in drilling gas wells at this time. He will provide a copy of the letter for Council.
MAYOR'S REPORT:
Mayor Coleman reported as follows:
· If Council Members want articles in the newsletter please submit them as soon as possible.
· Brown Flynn is putting the finishing touches on the new format for the newsletter which will introduce the new logo and tag line. It will be a much more structured document than it has been in the past with a defined number of pages. Council will have two full pages. If they can't fill it they can put some filler in. If they receive too much information from Council he will have Diana work with Mr. Mills to cut some things. After that he promised the Sun Newspapers that he will talk to them and give them the story on the new logo.
· One of our valued businesses would like to make a contribution to the city to purchase some capital equipment. They have agreed to purchase for the police department a Taser gun which is part of Chief Cook's capital improvements. They are also interested in purchasing for the Fire Department two gas detectors for their vehicles. This is something that Chief Bencin has been wanting. In addition, they will contribute $2000 towards our Home Days Event.
· The Park & Recreation Commission with Tony Valentino engaged an architect to do a drawing for a multi purpose pavilion in the park. They spent some money to do the drawing and he is really excited for Council to see it. They will run it by Park & Recreation and then present it to Council in the relatively near future. Basically what it is is a pavilion for the area between the new parking lot and the playground. It almost looks like a mini Blossom with fire pits and grills and a large cement area for concerts. It also is an area that is practical for the day camp to use in their programs. Hopefully they will bring that to council within the next month or so.
· Home Days will be held August 1, 2, and 3. They should be having some meetings soon.
In response to Mrs. Murphy's inquiry, Mayor Coleman advised the deadline for the newsletter is Friday, February 22nd.
ITEMS TO BE ADDED TO THE AGENDA: No items were added.
ITEMS TO BE DELETED FROM THE AGENDA:
A motion to affirm, modify or rescind the December 5, 2007 decision of the Planning and Zoning Commission regarding the application for an amendment to the Aberdeen Development Site Plan to construct a chain link fence along Holes 13 to 18
A motion was made by Mr. Lombardo to delete the above item from the agenda; seconded by Mr. Pilla. Ayes all; motion carried.
MEETING OPENED TO THE PUBLIC: No one spoke.
NEW BUSINESS:
MOTION TO APPOINT SUSAN OLSON AS ACTING CLERK OF COUNCIL: A motion was made by Mrs. Murphy to appoint Susan Olson as Acting Clerk of Council from Thursday, February 14, 2008 through Monday, February 18, 2008; seconded by Mr. Hargate. Ayes all; motion carried.
MOTION TO APPROVE PAYMENT TO ADLER TEAM SPORTS: A motion was made by Mr. Anderson to approve payment to Adler Team Sports in the amount of $16,873 for baseball and softball uniforms for the 2007 season; seconded by Mr. Hargate. Ayes all; motion carried.
MOTION APPROVING PAYMENT TO PARKHILL ROOFING: A motion was made by Mr. Anderson to approve payment to Parkhill Roofing in the amount of $500 for additional work performed at the Police Department; seconded by Mr. Hargate. Ayes all; motion carried.
ADOPTION OF RESOLUTION 10-2008: Council listened to the First Reading in title only of Proposed Resolution 10-2008 which description is: "A Resolution vacating a water main easement located within the previously vacated Omega and Sigma Parkways in Delta Business Park in the City of Highland Heights, Ohio and declaring an emergency. Mr. Anderson moved to suspend the Second and Third Readings; seconded by Mr. Pilla. Ayes all; motion carried. Mr. Pilla moved to adopt; seconded by Mr. Anderson. Ayes all; motion carried.
SECOND READING PROPOSED RESOLUTION 9-2008: Council listened to the Second Reading in title only of Proposed Resolution No. 9-2008 which description is: "A Resolution authorizing the Mayor to enter into a contract with Snacks and Stuff, Inc. to provide food and beverage concession services at the Municipal Pool and Park for the summer of 2008 and declaring an emergency."
Committee of Whole Meeting: No items were offered for consideration in a Committee of the Whole meeting scheduled for February 19th. Council President Mills cancelled the meeting.
ADJOURNMENT: A motion was made by Mr. Pilla and seconded by Mr. Anderson to adjourn the meeting. Said meeting adjourned at 8:35 p.m.
Clerk of Council
President of Council