Cleveland Heights City Council meeting highlights 10-3-12

OCTOBER 3, 2012

• New council member seated
• Citizen concern - Meadowbrook Lee project
• CDBG application
• Sanitary sewer overflow
• HVAC maintenance
• 3273 East Overlook Road
• City manager search
• Awareness month
• Real estate conference
  
  

All council members were present.

New council member seated

Council approved the seating of Janine Boyd as a member of council, filling the vacancy created by the retirement of Phyllis Evans, who was present and whom both Mayor Ed Kelley and Council Member Dennis Wilcox recognized for her years of service to the city. Boyd’s mother, former Cleveland Heights council member and current State Representative Barbara Boyd (D-Cleveland), administered the oath of office, and Evans held the family bible. Boyd then took her seat with the other members of council. She thanked her supporters, especially her parents, and promised to do her best as council member. Council members followed their committee reports with brief words of welcome and encouragement for Boyd.

Citizen concern

Meadowbrook Lee project

Resident Garry Kanter spoke against the development proposed for the site at the intersection of Lee Road and Meadowbrook Boulevard. He focused on the 71 apartments that are planned and noted that the publicly available documentation doesn’t include the monthly rental fees. On his own, he has calculated that the average rent would be higher than that of any other rental units in the city. He also noted that the applicant’s name does not appear on the tax abatement application. Mayor Kelley asked the law director to provide Kanter with the applicant’s name.

CDBG application

Council authorized submission of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) entitlement application for the year beginning Jan. 1, 2013. The city has participated in the program for decades, and the funds, about $1.4 million, are considered essential for low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, their residents, and the businesses providing services to them.

Sanitary sewer overflow

Council authorized an agreement with Mackay Engineering & Surveying Company for preliminary engineering services related to investigating remedies to eliminate the Fairmount Boulevard/Shelburne Road sanitary sewer overflow issue. The total cost is not to exceed $25,000.

HVAC maintenance

Council approved extension of an agreement with Smith & Oby for professional services for HVAC systems maintenance. The total cost for a period of one year is not to exceed $69,696.

3273 East Overlook Road

Council authorized the sale of city-owned property at 3273 East Overlook Road, which has been rehabilitated with Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) funds. This is the twelfth and final home the city has rehabilitated with these federal funds. The purchase price will be $64,000 with an NSP-required award of $5,000 in down payment assistance for the purchaser.

City manager search

Council hired the Novak Consulting Group for executive search services for recruiting and hiring a new city manager. The cost will be $16,900 plus expenses not to exceed $1,500. The city may also choose to have Novak conduct a one-day team-building workshop ($4,500) and a performance assessment of the city manager’s first year of service ($3,750). The time frame envisioned is three to five months. Acting City Manager Susanna Niermann O’Neil, who will be a candidate for the position, did not participate in the selection process for a search firm.

Awareness month

Council approved two resolutions declaring October as an awareness month for:

• Domestic Violence Awareness
• National Breast Cancer Awareness

With the latter resolution, Cleveland Heights joins the United States Conference of Mayors and communities throughout the nation. Also, Oct. 19, 2012 was declared as National Mammography Day.

Real estate conference

Council Member Mary Dunbar attended the second annual real estate conference at Cleveland State University, where the focus was on the sustainability of Cleveland’s residential and commercial revitalization. She noted that the affordability of single-family homes is the highest it has been since tracking that statistic began 50 years ago.

LWV Observer: Katherine Solender.

[The observer was unable to attend the meeting, but observed the video made available on the city’s website. The meeting lasted about 51 minutes.]

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.