Cleveland Heights City Council meeting highlights 1-17-12
JANUARY 17, 2012
All council members were present.
Neighborhood websites
Susan Miller, a Cleveland Heights resident, explained the use of www.nextdoor.com in her neighborhood, to connect residents of several adjacent streets. It provides a forum to discuss vacant homes, events that are normal and those that are not normal, and crimes that occur. She also recommended a tool used by the City of Cleveland called www.crimereport.com that enables authorities to map crimes and send alerts of exact locations of problems. Mayor Kelley said he would forward this information to the police department.
Fracking gas wells in the community
Miller also stated that citizens should know about fracking gas wells in the area. For example, four were drilled in Oakwood in 2006. She would like the city to examine gas lease parcels, look at the proximity of proposed and existing wells to dwellings, and resolve not to drill on public land.
Waterline replacement change order
Council approved a change order with Terrace Construction for the Whitby Road waterline replacement to cover an increase of $4,225.94 for additional labor and materials.
Mortgage fraud case
Bonnie Caplan, council member, announced that two individuals, Uri Goffman and Tony Viola, had been convicted in a big mortgage fraud case. City employee Rick Wagner had worked with the FBI to collect evidence used to bring them to justice.
Sale of city-owned lots
Council voted to adopt procedures for the sale of city-owned vacant lots to adjoining property owners.
Open houses
Dennis Wilcox, council member, announced open houses would be held on Sunday, Jan. 29, from 1 to 3 p.m. at several Neighborhood Stabilization Project houses that are on the market.
Altamont property declared nuisance
Council declared the property at 3387 Altamont Ave., which has had numerous violations and no progress toward correction over the past three years, to be a nuisance and authorized abatement. The total estimated cost is $10,450.
Roethlisberger Foundation grant
Council accepted a grant from the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation at the Giving Back Fund for the purchase and training of a new police dog and a ballistic vest for the dog.
Citizen appointments
Council approved appointments to the Architectural Board of Review, the Zoning Board of Appeals, the Landmark Commission, and the Citizens Advisory Commission.
Movie event for the Bicycle Coalition
Mary Dunbar, council member, announced that the movie “Bicycle Dreams” would be shown on Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. at the Big Dog Theater. This is a fundraising event for the Cleveland Heights Bicycle Coalition.
Restaurant anniversaries
Mayor Kelley congratulated two local businesses for reaching important anniversaries: Tommy’s Restaurant on Coventry Road has been in business for forty years, and Parnell’s Pub on Lee Road has been in business for fifteen years.
LWV observer: Blanche Valancy.
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.