Cleveland Heights City Council meeting highlights [9-6-11]

SEPTEMBER 6, 2011

• Eagle Scout project recognized
• Resident questions economic development activities
• Police vehicle purchases
• Repeal of gun laws
• Public safety items
• Vehicle purchase for water department
• Cedar Road resurfacing
• Zoning variances
• Cedar-Lee streetscape improvements
• Council hires lobbying firm
• Northeast Ohio Advanced Energy District
• New target area for NSP

Mayor Edward J. Kelley was absent.

Eagle Scout project recognized

A proclamation signed by Mayor Kelley and all council members recognized David Schellenberg, who recently achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. Schellenberg described his Eagle Scout project, which was the refurbishment of two miles of nature trails in Forest Hill Park.

Resident questions economic development activities

Mark Pultusker of Inglewood Road questioned whether the city’s economic development activities represented a wise expenditure of funds.

Police vehicle purchases

Council authorized the sale of two used police motorcycles to Wild Bill’s Used Cars with the proceeds ($8,200) to apply to the purchase of nine new police vehicles (Crown Victorias) from Statewide Ford Lincoln Mercury Inc.

Repeal of gun laws

Council repealed “Prohibition of Deadly Weapons in Parks” and “Regulations of Firearms” of the city ordinances in order to comply with current state law.

Public safety items

Council Member Ken Montlack noted that

• The city has acquired a new K-9 police dog
• Property owners are responsible for cleaning up/removing graffiti; unremoved graffiti can be reported to the city or to Mr. Montlack’s office at 216-320-5800.
• Since police blotter information now appears in multiple publications, with many incidents being reported more than once, residents should understand that things aren’t as bad as they seem.

Vehicle purchase for water department

Council approved the purchase of a compact sport utility vehicle (a 2012 Dodge Nitro Model KA5L74) from Arena Dodge Inc. for the water department. The purchase will be made through the Ohio Department of Transportation Cooperative Purchasing Program. This program, in which the city has participated since 1991, enables purchases to be made at a lower price than could be obtained through bidding.

Cedar Road resurfacing

Council authorizes application to the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (“NOACA”) for federal funding for the repair and resurfacing of Cedar Road from Euclid Heights Boulevard to Taylor Road. This is an early step in a project that will not come to fruition for a couple of years. The construction costs are eligible for federal funding to a maximum of 80 percent, with the balance of at least 20 percent being paid for from local roadway improvement funds, with no real estate assessment.

Zoning variances

Council approved three variances to:

• Yosef and Tehilla Greenberger, 3825 Berkeley Avenue, for removal of an existing garage and construction of a two-story house/garage addition
• SP Hampshire LLC, owner of 2749 Hampshire Road, and the City of Cleveland Heights, for the creation of five parking spaces to be located partially on SP Hampshire’s land and partially on the city-owned parking lot #3 at 2728 Mayfield Rd.
• Lisa Moose, owner of 2956-58 East Derbyshire Road, for reconstruction of a three-car garage.

Cedar-Lee streetscape improvements

Council authorized joining with the Cedar-Lee Special Improvement District (SID) in applying to the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) for federal funding for streetscape improvements for the Cedar-Lee business district. Council Member Dennis Wilcox commented that SIDs, in which the property owners tax themselves to fund improvements, are important to the city’s business development efforts. He noted that Coventry’s business owners voted to tax themselves for an additional five years at a higher rate. There is an opportunity to leverage federal funding to cover most of the costs of the Cedar-Lee SID project.

Council hires lobbying firm

Council authorized an agreement with G2G Consulting LLC for lobbying services to promote local interests at the state and federal levels and to seek sources of funding for economic development projects and infrastructure improvements. The cost of the 12-month contract will not exceed $75,000. Several council members noted the importance of expertise and creativity in finding funding opportunities as the federal and state governments cut support to cities.

Northeast Ohio Advanced Energy District

Council approved legislation relating to the city’s participation in the Northeast Ohio Advanced Energy District (AED). Fifteen other suburbs and the City of Cleveland are also participating in the creation of a Solar Special SID. The city’s pilot project is a lighted sign at the entrance to the city on Monticello Boulevard.

New target area for NSP

Council approved an 18-month agreement with Cuyahoga County on behalf of the Ohio Department of Development for federal funding in the amount of $250,000 through Phase III of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) and establishing a new Priority Target Area within Block One of Census Tract 1407.1, which includes the streets Whitethorn, Oak and Sycamore. Council also approved extending the expedited property purchase provisions that applied to the initial four target areas to Phase III of the NSP and the new target area. The NSP addresses the problem of vacant, abandoned, and foreclosed properties in the city.  Four target areas were established in 2009, and the city has renovated twelve homes and demolished twenty.

LWV observers: Katherine Solender and Kirsten Karakul.

These meeting summaries are abstracted from LWV observers’ written reports. The summaries have been edited and prepared by Anne McFarland, Charlene Morse, and Maryann Barnes. To receive e-mail postings of full reports, send an e-mail to mbarnes9515@gmail.com or join through Google groups using “lwv-chuh observer reports” as a search phrase.

These reports contain member observation and selected highlights of public meetings and are not official statements of the Heights Chapter of the League of Women Voters Cuyahoga Area. This disclaimer must accompany any redistribution of these reports.