REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES-SEPTEMBER 8, 2015
EASTLAKE CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
SEPTEMBER 8, 2015
The Regular Meeting of the Eastlake City Council was held at Eastlake City Hall, 35150 Lakeshore Boulevard. The Meeting was called to order by Council President
Mr. D’Ambrosio at approximately 7:05 p.m.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
ATTENDEES
Members of Council in attendance were Mr. Evers, Mr. Licht, Mr. Hoefle, Ms. DePledge, Ms. Vaughn and Council President Mr. D’Ambrosio. Mrs. Quinn-Hopkins was absent and excused. Also in attendance was Council Clerk Mrs. Simons.
Those attending from the Administration were Mayor Morley, Law Director Klammer, Finance Director Slocum, CBO Menn, City Engineer Gwydir and Fire Chief Whittington. Service Director Rubertino and Police Chief Reik were absent and excused.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Regular Council Meeting–August 25, 2015
MOTION: Ms. Vaughn moved to approve the minutes of the Regular Council Meeting of August 25, 2015. Mr. Licht seconded.
ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.
Motion carried. The minutes were approved.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
COUNCIL PRESIDENT’S REPORT – Mr. D’Ambrosio
Meetings Scheduled
Mr. D’Ambrosio: The next Council-as-a-Whole Committee Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, September 22, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. The Regular Council meeting will be convened immediately following the adjournment of the Council-as-a-Whole Committee meeting.
COMMUNICATIONS & PETITIONS
A communication was received from The Walter Drane Company regarding the July 2015 Codified Ordinances replacement pages.
Mr. D’Ambrosio: This was discussed in Council-as-a-Whole Committee and will be added to the evening’s agenda.
A communication was received from Finance Director Slocum regarding the 2016 Tax Budget.
Mr. D’Ambrosio: This was discussed in Council-as-a-Whole Committee and will be added to the evening’s agenda.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Mr. D’Ambrosio: No Committee Meetings were held. Is there anything that Council would like to report? Ms. Vaughn?
Ms. Vaughn: I do not have anything necessary to report except that I am very distressed that although there are two people running for Council seat in Ward 2 they have yet to attend any Council Meetings or Committee Meetings. It only leaves them five more meetings to know what happens in the entire City. I feel very bad for the residents in the City of Eastlake because they haven’t shown the initiative to come to the meetings.
Mr. D’Ambrosio: Do you want to do you Motion?
Ms. Vaughn: I will be glad to do my Motion.
Motions:
LEGISLATIVE RECOMMENDATIONS
Legislation No. 09-08-(09)
MOTION: Mr. Hoefle moved to add Legislation No. 09-08-(09) to the evening’s agenda affirming the commitment of the City of Eastlake to the importance of American manufacturing, recognizing its important role to U.S. national security, expressing concern that defense supply chains are moving offshore, and urging our federal elected officials to support policies that make America less dependent on foreign nations for the products that enable America’s soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines to be the most powerful fighting force in the world Mr. Evers seconded.
ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.
Motion carried. Legislation No. 09-08-(09) is added to the evenings agenda.
Legislation No. 09-08-(10)
MOTION: Ms. Vaughn moved to add Legislation No. 09-08-(10) to the evening’s agenda accepting the 2016 Amounts and Rates as presented by the Director of Finance. Ms. DePledge seconded.
ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.
Motion carried. Legislation No. 09-08-(09) is added to the evenings agenda.
RECOGNITION OF THE PUBLIC
Mr. D’Ambrosio recognized the public input at this time; he reminded the speakers that there is a 3-minute limit for their comments; all comments are to be directed to the Chair and not include any personalities or individuals.
Angelo Trivisonno, 34186 Waldmer Drive, Eastlake
Mr. Trivisonno: This is a quick question for the Finance Director. What computer software does the City use for its accounting?
Mr. Slocum: We use CMI.
Mr. Trivisonno: Thank you.
Sandy Liddington, 1066 E. 348th Street, Eastlake
Mrs. Liddington: Our son died in our arms on the first week of August from a heart attack. He went brain dead right away and he never came out of the coma. I have two plumber’s that I am having problems with one is Richards Plumber and the other is Mr. Rooter. Richards charged $380.00 to fix our water because it didn’t come into the house. He charged us that amount and the pipes were still broken. We looked through the phone book and we found Mr. Rooter. They gave us three different prices. They cut our phone and television wires along with leaving a mess in our yard. We had an eight foot hole in our front yard. At the end of the job they were supposed to put our yard back together and they didn’t. They gave my 80 year old husband and a bag of grass seed and told him “here”. I want to know what my husband and I are supposed to do when we have lived in Eastlake for 50 years and all of our kids went to North High. What can we do?
Mr. D’Ambrosio: Ms. Liddington, I know that this has been an ongoing thing and that you came to one of our Committee Meetings and expressed the same concerns. I believe that you talked to our Building Official about this. Mr. Menn do you have any comments on this?
Mr. Menn: This is something that has been going on for quite some time. The Mayor has even taken some time to call the contractor when we heard about this situation. We have talked to the contractors and they did take out permits and they were inspected by the Service Department at that time. All of the work was signed off and the contractor was paid in full from our understanding. I do not deal with what the customer might be charged. We did try to talk to the contractor to see if there was any leeway and basically that was the price of the job.
Mr. D’Ambrosio: Mrs. Liddington, this is something that you may need to get an attorney for. It seems like it may be a civil matter and that it is out of the City’s hands.
Mrs. Liddington: Our son was only 53 years old and I saw him pass away. He was our first child and our only son. I am still having trouble with these plumbers and the job took place back in February. No one is helping us. What are we supposed to do? My husband is 80 years old and you don’t hand someone who is 80 years old a bag of grass seed and tell them- “Here”. Those are the kind of plumber’s that are out there to take advantage of the elderly.
Mr. D’Ambrosio: Mrs. Liddington, I am very sorry to hear about the loss of your son. It’s a terrible tragedy. I think that you may have to get an attorney and we talked about that the last time. The City’s hands are tied on this. If this was my problem I would go to the Building Department too and ask them to do everything that they could and in this situation it sounds like they did. The Mayor even got involved and called the contractor.
Mrs. Liddington: How do you know what lawyer to contact when you have never had a problem? Then you get old and you have someone that is out there trying to take your money what do you do? You don’t know where to turn or what to do?
Mr. D’Ambrosio: I don’t know if the City can recommend any attorneys. Mr. Klammer?
Mr. Klammer: Mrs. Liddington if you want to you can call my office and I would be happy to recommend someone colleagues that could help you. The Law Department can not represent you because that isn’t something that we do. I would be happy to give you some recommendations as to some colleagues. The Council President is right the problem that what you have is a private and civil matter between you and your contractor. If there aren’t any building violations as far as permitting goes that’s the solution that you have. If funds are a problem there are opportunities through legal aid or the Bar Association. There are opportunities that are out there, but it is something that you are going to have to work on that the City can’t do for you.
Mrs. Liddington: My husband is 80 years old and three years ago he had a quadruple bypass.
Mr. Klammer: All I can do is to tell you that if you call I would be happy to make some recommendations, but it’s not something that the City can do for you.
Mr. D’Ambrosio: We are trying to give you answers.
Mayor Morley: We’ve tried and I have even made phone calls. There are a lot of other things that are involved and this really isn’t the place to discuss them.
Mr. D’Ambrosio: Mrs. Liddington, Mr. Klammer will give you his office phone number after the meeting. I would suggest calling him and he would be able to give you somebody that might be able to help you out. Let’s start with that.
Mrs. Liddington: The worst thing in the world is to have your child die in your arms.
Mr. D’Ambrosio: I hope that I never have to know what that feels like.
Mrs. Liddington: It is worse than having your parents passing away.
Mr. D’Ambrosio: I can imagine.
Mrs. Liddington: To have your child die in your arms.
Mr. D’Ambrosio: Mrs. Liddington, thank you very much.
There was no one else who wished to speak.
LEGISLATION PROPOSED – First number will be 2015-067
RESOLUTION NO.: 09-08-(01)
Requested by: Council President A Resolution appointing Tracy Simons,
Sponsored by: Council Clerk of Council, effective September 8, 2015,
as provided in City of Eastlake Charter Article
V. Section 8, and declaring an emergency.
MOTION: Mr. Licht moved to suspend the rules requiring separate readings and
reading in full. Ms. DePledge seconded.
ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.
MOTION: Mr. Licht moved to adopt. Ms. DePledge seconded.
ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.
Motion carried. Legislation is adopted as Resolution No. 2015-067.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
RESOLUTION NO.: 09-08-(02) – 09-08-(07)
Requested by: Administration A Resolution Authorizing the City of Eastlake to Sponsored by: Council Proceed with the Demolition of an Unsafe Structure as listed herein and located in Eastlake, Lake County, Ohio, and to request the Assistance and Cooperation of the Lake County Land Reutilization Corporation in affecting the same, and the respective addresses, and declaring an emergency.
MOTION: Ms. Vaughn moved to suspend the rules requiring separate readings and
reading in full. Ms. DePledge seconded.
ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.
MOTION: Ms. Vaughn moved to adopt. Ms. DePledge seconded.
ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.
Motion carried. Legislation is adopted as Resolution No. 2015-068, Resolution No.: 2025-069, Resolution No.: 2015-070, Resolution No.: 2015-071, Resolution No.: 2015-072, Resolution No.: 2015-073.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
ORDINANCE NO.: 09-08-(08)
Requested by: Clerk of Council An ordinance to revise the Codified Ordinances by Sponsored by: Council adopting current replacement pages, and declaring an emergency.
MOTION: Mr. Evers moved to suspend the rules requiring separate readings and
reading in full. Mr. Hoefle seconded.
ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.
MOTION: Mr. Evers moved to adopt. Mr. Hoefle seconded.
ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.
Motion carried. Legislation is adopted as Ordinance No. 2015-074.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
RESOLUTION NO.: 09-08-(09)
Requested by: Mayor Morley A Resolution Affirming the commitment of the Sponsored by: Eastlake City Council City of Eastlake to the importance of American manufacturing, recognizing its important role to U.S. national security, expressing concern that defense supply chains are moving offshore, and urging our federal elected officials to support policies that make America less dependent on foreign nations for the products that enable America’s soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines to be the most powerful fighting force in the world, and declaring an emergency.
MOTION: Mr. Hoefle moved to suspend the rules requiring separate readings and
reading in full. Mr. Evers seconded.
ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.
MOTION: Mr. Hoefle moved to adopt. Mr. Evers seconded.
ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.
Motion carried. Legislation is adopted as Resolution No. 2015-075.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
RESOLUTION NO.: 09-08-(10)
Requested by: Finance Director Slocum A Resolution accepting the amounts and rates Sponsored by: Council as determined by the Budget Commission and
authorizing the necessary Tax Levies and
certifying them to the County Auditor, and declaring an emergency.
MOTION: Ms. Vaughn moved to suspend the rules requiring separate readings and
reading in full. Ms. DePledge seconded.
ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.
MOTION: Ms. Vaughn moved to adopt. Ms. DePledge seconded.
ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.
Motion carried. Legislation is adopted as Resolution No. 2015-076.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
LEGISLATION PENDING (Placed on First Reading 08/25/2015)
RESOLUTION NO.: 08-25-(01)
Requested by: Administration A Resolution authorizing and directing the Sponsored by: Council Mayor and Director of Finance to enter into a Lease Agreement between the City of Eastlake and the Willoughby-Eastlake Public Library for use of certain premises on the west end of the Eastlake City Hall, and declaring an emergency.
MOTION: Ms. Vaughn moved to suspend the rules requiring separate readings and
reading in full. Ms. DePledge seconded.
ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.
MOTION: Ms. Vaughn moved to adopt. Ms. DePledge seconded.
ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.
Motion carried. Legislation is adopted as Resolution No. 2015-077.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
There was no Unfinished Business.
NEW BUSINESS
There was no New Business.
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS:
MAYOR/SAFETY DIRECTOR – Dennis Morley
Mayor Morley: Thank you, Mr. President. Welcome everyone to this evening’s meeting. Welcome Mrs. Simons to the Eastlake family. Thank you for passing the legislation for the Willoughby-Eastlake Public Library. Thank you Mr. Werner, Ms. Victoria Simmons, and Mr. Linderman, Mr. Slocum, and Mr. Klammer for working really hard the last three to four months on getting this deal in place. It’s two government entities working together to save the taxpayers’ money and to gain some revenue for our City. We welcome you and we can’t wait until you are moved in. They have been working this week on getting some of the wiring done along with moving their desks in. Some employee’s will start in the next few weeks while the remainder will move in by November 1st. Right now they are leasing in Mentor. We had our 9/11 ceremony on Sunday, September 6th and we would like to thank everyone who was involved. As we approach the 14 year anniversary please remember all of the families that were affected on that day. We have been getting some calls on Willowick Drive and as you know we have awarded the bid to TC Construction. Mr. Rubertino and I made a phone call this morning—along with talking to Mr. Gwydir. We are hoping that they start within the next few weeks on Willowick Drive. The contract date is for December 12th and we hope that it is completed by then. I did give everyone on Council all of the affected areas on Willowick Drive. More than what we thought needed to be repaired and obviously we are looking to get that moving for the people that have to drive on it all of the time. This is just a reminder that the crews will not be picking up leaves this year due to last year’s occurrences so please bag the leaves for Republic Services. We have a Planning Commission Meeting set up for September 10th; however, the group that was going to be there is not ready so the next meeting will be for September 24th. That concludes my report and I am open for questions.
Mr. D’Ambrosio: any questions for the Mayor?
There were no questions of Mayor Morley
FIRE CHIEF – Ted Whittington
Chief Whittington: The only thing that I have to report is that I want to thank anyone who got stopped at the MDA toll booth. We always make it a priority to get it done over Labor Day weekend. It was bitter sweet because it was Fire Prevention Officer Futchi’s last year for leading the way. He has been doing it for 30 years and has being responsible for sending them $300,000. He just got a MDA Life Time Achievement Award. We are sad to see him and we have somebody to take his place and we will try to continue the tradition. I just want to thank everyone for their support.
There were no further questions of Chief Whittington.
SERVICE DIRECTOR – Nick Rubertino
Mr. Rubertino was absent and excused.
CITY ENGINEER – Tom Gwydir
Mr. Gwydir had no report for this evening.
There were no questions of Mr. Gwydir.
FINANCE DIRECTOR – Mike Slocum
Mr. Slocum: We are working on the proposed revised ordinance for the tax collections. This isn’t being done because we are moving to RITA. It is being done because of what was passed at the State House last year. If we do not adopt the new ordinances we will not be able to collect any tax dollars next year. There are some technicalities that we have to meet and I am thankful that we have RITA. They are doing a lot of the leg work for us but there is some fine tuning that we are working on. I should have something out to Council within the next two weeks. With that I am open for questions.
There were no questions of Mr. Slocum.
POLICE CHIEF – Larry Reik
Chief Reik was absent and excused.
CHIEF BUILDING OFFICIAL – David Menn
Mr. Menn had no report for this evening.
There were no questions of Mr. Menn.
LAW DIRECTOR – Randy Klammer
Mr. Klammer: Thank you Mr. President, members of Council, and Mayor. First I would like to say that it will be sad when you are gone Mrs. Cendroski. You know that everybody loves you and that we are going to miss you. You have another few weeks here correct? There is one property that I am working with and the Mayor knows of this. I am working with their lawyer and that the goal is for the family to tear it down themselves. Just so it doesn’t end up on Mr. Menn’s desk I asked the Mayor to hold on to it while I work things out. I just want to let Council know that there is an exhibit to the Willoughby-Eastlake Library Lease and that we are going to finalize and add to it. If anybody has any objections to it we will hold it but it should work out just fine. That’s it and I am open for questions.
Mr. D’Ambrosio: Mr. Klammer, you’ll get with Mrs. Liddington and give her your office number.
Mr. Klammer: I’ll do whatever she needs.
Mr. D’Ambrosio: Mr. Hoefle?
Mr. Hoefle: While Mrs. Quinn-Hopkins is out I just want to make sure that anyone who is in Ward 3 knows that they can reach out to the three Councilmen-At-Large and they are Ms. DePledge, myself and Mr. Evers. I have had some people that weren’t aware of what the Councilmen-At-Large do. I just want to make sure that people know that we cover the whole City.
There were no further questions of Mr. Klammer.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at approximately 7:29 p.m.
______________________________________
JOE D’AMBROSIO, COUNCIL PRESIDENT
APPROVED: __________________________
ATTEST: _____________________________
TRACY M. SIMONS,
CLERK OF COUNCIL