Regular Council Meeting from January 24, 2017
EASTLAKE CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
JANUARY 24, 2017
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 Ms. DePledge at approximately 7:04 p.m.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
ATTENDEES
Members of Council in attendance were Mr. Zuren, Mr. Meyers, Mr. Kasunick, Mr. Spotton, Mr. Evers, Mr. Hoefle and Council President Ms. DePledge. Also in attendance was Council Clerk Mrs. Simons.
Those attending from the Administration were Mayor Morley, Fire Chief Whittington, City Engineer Gwydir, Finance Director Schindel and Law Director Klammer. Police Chief Reik, CBO Menn and Service Director Rubertino were absent and excused.
Ms. DePledge: If anyone is recording this meeting as courtesy to the public will you please identify yourself so that the fellow attendees know that they are being recorded.
Kristi Garabrandt-The News Herald
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Regular Council Meeting –January 10, 2017.
Ms. DePledge: We are going to save the approval of the January 10, 2017 minutes for our next meeting. They are not complete at this time.
COUNCIL PRESIDENT’S REPORT – President Ms. DePledge
Meetings Scheduled
Ms. DePledge: The next Council-as-a-Whole Committee Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, February 14, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. The Regular Council meeting will be convened immediately following the adjournment of the Council-as-a-Whole Committee meeting. Over the last two weeks there have been some email’s going back and forth regarding the deer issue. There was some legislation that was discussed in committee and there were some proposed changes that were going to be made to it. It was put through to go for a vote before Council; however, some of the changes still need to have some discussion. After polling Council we have decided to put it back into committee so that we can go over it in a little bit more detail to decide on exactly how we want to proceed on that. It will not be on the agenda this evening and just so there is full disclosure it will be back in committee and it will still be discussed.
There were no further questions of Council President DePledge.
COMMUNICATIONS & PETITIONS
-
A communication from the Administration to put on the ballot a $4.5 Mill Fire Levy.
Ms. DePledge: This was discussed in Council-As-A-Whole and it will be added to this evening’s agenda.
-
A communication from that Administration to put on the ballot an existing $1.8 Mill General Renewal Levy.
Ms. DePledge: This was discussed in Council-As-A-Whole and it will be added to this evening’s agenda.
-
A communication for city Engineer Gwydir for a submerged land lease for the proposed Galalina Are Pump Station and Storm Sewers.
Ms. DePledge: This was discussed in Council-As-A-Whole and it will be added to this evening’s agenda.
-
A communication from Finance Director Schindel to participate in the Ohio Cooperative Purchasing Program.
Ms. DePledge: This was discussed in Council-As-A-Whole and it will be added to this evening’s agenda.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Ms. DePledge: There were no Committee Meetings was held.
Economic & Community Development Council – Mr. Zuren
Mr. Zuren: thank you Madam President. The Eastlake Economic & Community Development Committee met today and we discussed “Taste of Eastlake”, which is an event that will be held this Sunday, January 29 between 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. Everyone is welcome to visit the participating restaurants and get a free sample of food, take in the ambiance and to take in the restaurant itself. At each location there will be a fish bowl container where you can enter your name and number to win one of three gift cards. Each location that you stop at you can enter one time. The participating restaurants are Dubrovnik Gardens, National Pizza and Wing Company, Gracie’s Diner they are closed on Sunday’s so they are offering free samples on Monday, January 30 from 11:00 a.m.to 2:00 p.m., Lucio’s, Flavors on the Vine Family Restaurant, Wing Spot, Severino’s Restaurant and Lounge and Subway. I encourage everybody to take some time this Sunday and visit some or all of the restaurants that are participating and to support our local restaurants. Also in the ECDC Meeting we had a pretty robust discussion on a job fair that we are looking to hold at City Hall in May. Right before most colleges and high schools graduate. It’s not only going to be for people graduating but also for any Eastlake resident who is looking for a job. I will keep everybody updated on that. If anybody wants to help or participate with that please contact me. Finally there was a meeting held for a rally this past Saturday for the Eastlake Fire and Rescue Services Levy. Mr. Farwell is the head of that committee for the Fire Levy. It was held at the Captain’s Club and I want to thank them for holding that. Fire Chief Whittington was present and he explained why the Fire and Rescue Services Levy is so important and desperately needed. A plan of action was also discussed for the levy and during the meeting many people signed up to help with things such as absentee votes, phone calls, literature drops, social media and yard signs covering the voting locations. Mr. Farwell is collecting money and I believe at that event alone he informed everyone that over $600.00 was collected. At this time I believe that over $1,000.00 has been collected for the levy. To get involved please contact Mr. Farwell and with that said I am open for questions.
There were no further questions of Mr. Zuren.
Port Authority Liaison – Mr. Kasunick
Mr. Kasunick: The Port Authority Meeting that was supposed to be held last Thursday due to illnesses among board members therefore we did not have a quorum. Instead it will be held on Wednesday, January 25 at 7:00 p.m.
There were no further questions of Mr. Kasunick.
Ms. DePledge: Based on the fact that the deer issue is going to go back into committee we will have to set a meeting. Mr. Hoefle?
Mr. Hoefle: We are going to hold an Ordinance Committee Meeting on Tuesday, February 7.
Mr. Zuren: What time?
Mr. Hoefle: At 6:00 p.m.
Ms. DePledge: The next Ordinance Committee Meeting will be next Tuesday, February 7 at 6:00 p.m.
MOTION
MOTION: Mr. Zuren moved to add Legislation No. 01-24-(01) to this evenings agenda a Resolution submitting to the electors of the City the question of an additional 4.5-Mill Tax Levy for the purpose of providing and maintaining fire apparatus, appliances, buildings, or sites therefor, or sources of water supply and materials therefor, or the establishment and maintenance of lines of fire alarm telegraph, or the payment of firefighting companies or permanent, part-time, or volunteer firefighting, emergency medical service, administrative, or communications personnel to operate the same, including the payment of any employer contributions required for such personnel under Section 145.48 or 742.34 of the Revised Code, or the purchase of ambulance equipment, or the provision of ambulance, paramedic, or other emergency medical services operated by a Fire Department, or Firefighting Company, pursuant to Section 5705.19(I) of the Revised Code. Mr. Evers Second.
ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.
Motion carried Legislation No. 01-24-(01) is added to this evening’s agenda.
MOTION: Mr. Zuren moved to add Legislation No. 01-24-(02) to this evening’s agenda a Resolution Submitting to the electors of the City the question of the renewal of an existing 1.8-Mill Tax Levy for the purpose of providing funds for current operating expenses. Mr. Evers Second.
ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.
Motion carried Legislation No. 01-24-(02) is added to this evening’s agenda.
MOTION: Mr. Spotton moved to add Legislation No. 01-24-(03) to this evenings agenda a Resolution of the City of Eastlake Council finding that the submerged lands lease area related to the proposed Galalina Area Pump Station and Storm Sewers is not necessary or required for the various uses specified in the Ohio Revised Code Section 1506.11(B) and designating the Mayor of the City of Eastlake as the signatory authority to act on behalf of the City of Eastlake in all matters related to said submerged lands lease area. Mr. Zuren Second.
ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.
Motion carried Legislation No. 01-24-(03) is added to this evening’s agenda.
MOTION: Mr. Meyers moved to add Legislation No. 01-24-(04) to this evenings agenda a Resolution authorizing the Director of Finance from the City of Eastlake, to participate in the State of Ohio Cooperative Purchasing Program. Mr. Evers Second.
ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.
Motion carried Legislation No. 01-24-(04) is added to this evening’s agenda.
MOTION: Mr. Kasunick moved to approve and send back to Columbus, Ohio with no objections the liquor license permit request to Dale E. Colagross, d/b/a Bait Shack, 140 Forest Drive, Eastlake, OH. Mr. Evers Second.
Motion carried.
MOTION: Mr. Kasunick moved to approve and send back to Columbus, Ohio with no objections the liquor license permit request to American Croatian National Soccer Club, 34900 Lakeshore Blvd. Ste 305, Eastlake, OH. Mr. Spotton Second.
Motion carried.
MOTION: Mr. Kasunick moved to approve and send back to Columbus, Ohio with no objections the liquor license permit request from Jordan Brothers Inc., d/b/a Convenient Food Mart 3-141, 34301 Vine Street, to Sama & Salina Inc., d/b/a Convenience Food Mart, 34301 Vine Street Eastlake, OH. Mr. Spotton Second
Motion carried.
RECOGNITION OF THE PUBLIC
Ms. DePledge recognized the public input at this time; she 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.
Vince Crawford, 10237 Cutts Road, Chardon, OH, Waste Management
Mr. Crawford: I am the Public Sect Representative for Waste Management. I am stopping out tonight just to introduce myself as well as our company to you. Just to let you know a little bit about Waste Management because we are very interested in bidding on the upcoming bid for the trash and recycling services for the resident’s of Eastlake. It has been a long time since Waste Management has been the service provider to this city I think that it has been 2001 or 2002. We have had a lot of changes at our company and I thought that it would be important to let Council know what we’ve changed. First and for most what’s changed in Waste Management is safety and it is our number one focus. We don’t have a safety program we have a safety culture at Waste Management. I think that it is really important that people understand that our goal is to be in each and every community the safest service provider possible. It starts with the hiring of our drivers along with the amount of training that we give our employee’s are heads and shoulders above our competition. And the technology that we infuse into our equipment and into our manager’s so that they can be out in the field and not behind a desk. The key piece of technology that we have in our trucks that other providers do not have is called a drive cam system. That allows our route manager’s to see what their driver’s are doing out in the field. It helps them to coach our driver’s to be a better driver in the community. Doing things safely by taking turns properly, driving with the carry can in the right position. We don’t like to go around the corners with it lying out in front or at the intersection; we like to have it tucked away. That is an important piece of what we do on a daily basis. We have also invested a GPS tracking into all of our trucks. Our trucks are also equipped with onboard computers. When we come upon a resident’s house hold we know exactly what time were there and we are able to hit that board to show that we’ve serviced the customer. That way if the customer is calling and saying that we missed you or that we didn’t get our service; we can then try and diagnose what is the issue. Are we getting there before you are expecting us? The advances in technology are important in the waste industry because it’s not an industry that you think of as technology being heavy in what we do. Those onboard computers and the drive cam system are very helpful in providing good and safe service in the community. We also have our own recycling plant. Obviously recycling is very important in today’s world of environmental services. Our plant is located in Akron and it is a 200,000 square foot facility with a $7 Million investment into the plant. We are able to process about 30 tons an hour of single stream material. Many of our competitors in Northeast Ohio utilize that facility, because it is so large. It is actually one of our crown jewels of our recycling branch of our company. Our hauling company that would service this area is located in Chardon. We run about 70 trucks out of that facility on a daily basis. That facility has been there since about 1960 but it has been a Waste Management facility since about 1988. We service many communities in Northeast Ohio and right here in Lake County. We are able to provide solid waste service, recycling service and yard waste service to all of the communities. I know that is a specification that Eastlake has. We are just looking forward to having the opportunity to bid on your service, to be a good service provider if we are able to be the winning bidder. I just want to let Council know who we are in case you had any questions for me while I was here.
Ms. DePledge: Thank you for coming in this evening and we will let you know when our bid is up. I think that the bid will be published so whenever it comes in we will consider it. We consider all bids.
Wendy Zele, 7755 Auburn Road, Concord, OH, First Energy
Ms. Zele: Thank you Madam President and Council. I am the Governmental Affairs Representative for the City of Eastlake from First Energy. I know half of the Council and I have worked with the Mayor and the Chief for the last couple of years in regards to any power concerns. I am here to put a face with the name. If your resident’s have any power quality concerns I would ask that you have all of the communication go through the Mayor. Please encourage residents to contact the Illuminating Company for any power outages. One of the biggest misconceptions is that they think that we know that their power is off. It helps us to prioritize power outages and to have a better understanding of how many residents may be without power at that certain time. I have also brought some broachers that are online through www.firstenergycorp.com . It provides residents as well as yourselves with information on outages. It has an outage map as well as different tools…First Energy app that they can have on their phone just in case they don’t have power at their house. Something that I will be working with your Service Director and the Mayor as well is that we are having some new energy efficiency programs that became active as of January 1st. Governor Kasich signed the bill to move forward with that and we will have so opportunity if the City of Eastlake has done any energy efficiency programs over the last three years. There may be some funding available through our rebate program. So something to think about as well as to encourage your residents to go to our website to look at some opportunities, because we will have an appliance program where they can turn in an old refrigerator or any energy HVAC work that they may have done at their home. That may be something that your Ward Council Members can present. If there are any questions my name is Wendy Zele and I look forward to working with all of you.
Mayor Morley: I have been working with Ms. Zele for the last few years. We I toured the Nuclear Plant…I went on tours and just so you know Ms. Zele have text many times at 2:00 a.m. or 3:00 a.m. when we have been having our storms. Just run everything through me and we have a direct contact if we need to get things done. It is between the Chief, Mr. Rubertino and me that usually handle all of this through Ms. Zele. Ms. Zele has done a great job for the city over the last few years with the needs of our residents. Mr. Zuren had an issue with his Ward and we were in contact within the next day. One of our businesses was having a problem and we took care of the Surfside problems and we continue to take care of the other issues. It’s always a work in progress. I always appreciate everything that Ms. Zele does for us.
There was no one else who wished to speak.
LEGISLATION PROPOSED – First number will be 2017-002
01-24-(01) Resolution No.:______________
A Resolution submitting to the electors of the City the question of an additional 4.5-Mill Tax Levy for the purpose of providing and maintaining fire apparatus, appliances, buildings, or sites therefor, or sources of water supply and materials therefor, or the establishment and maintenance of lines of fire alarm telegraph, or the payment of firefighting companies or permanent, part-time, or volunteer firefighting, emergency medical service, administrative, or communications personnel to operate the same, including the payment of any employer contributions required for such personnel under Section 145.48 or 742.34 of the Revised Code, or the purchase of ambulance equipment, or the provision of ambulance, paramedic, or other emergency medical services operated by a Fire Department, or Firefighting Company, pursuant to Section 5705.19(I) of the Revised Code, and declaring an emergency.
MOTION: Mr. Zuren moved to suspend the rules requiring separate readings and reading in full. Mr. Evers second.
ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.
MOTION: Mr. Zuren moved to adopt. Mr. Evers second.
ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.
Motion carried. Legislation is adopted as Resolution No. 2017-002.
01-24-(02) Resolution No.:_________
Requested by: Finance Director Schindel
Sponsored by: Finance Committee
A Resolution Submitting to the electors of the City the question of the renewal of an existing 1.8-Mill Tax Levy for the purpose of providingfunds for current operating expenses, and declaring an emergency.
MOTION: Mr. Zuren moved to suspend the rules requiring separate readings and reading in full. Mr. Evers second.
ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.
MOTION: Mr. Zuren moved to adopt. Mr. Evers second.
ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.
Motion carried. Legislation is adopted as Resolution No. 2017-003.
1-24-(03) resolution No.:_______
Requested by: Administration
Sponsored by: Council
A Resolution of the City of Eastlake Council finding that the submerged lands lease area related to the proposed Galalina Area Pump Station and Storm Sewers is not necessary or required for the various uses specified in the Ohio Revised Code Section 1506.11(B) and designating the Mayor of the City of Eastlake as the signatory authority to act on behalf of the City of Eastlake in all matters related to said submerged lands lease area, and declaring an emergency.
MOTION: Mr. Spotton moved to suspend the rules requiring separate readings and reading in full. Mr. Zuren second.
ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.
MOTION: Mr. Spotton moved to adopt. Mr. Zuren second.
ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.
Motion carried. Legislation is adopted as Resolution No. 2017-004.
01-24-(04) Resolution No.:______
Requested by: Finance Director Schindel
Sponsored by: Finance Committee
A Resolution authorizing the Director of Finance from the City of Eastlake, to participate in the State of Ohio Cooperative Purchasing Program, and declaring an emergency.
MOTION: Mr. Meyers moved to suspend the rules requiring separate readings and reading in full. Mr. Spotton second.
ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.
MOTION: Mr. Meyers moved to adopt. Mr. Spotton second.
ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.
Motion carried. Legislation is adopted as Resolution No. 2017-005.
LEGISLATION PENDING:
There was no Legislation Pending.
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 Madam President and welcome everyone to this evenings meeting. Thank you for the ballot inchoatives to be put on the ballot. We are going to work hard to get both of them passed. A couple of things on the medical marijuana facility that is being proposed in the City of Eastlake…to remind everyone that we will be having an Informational Meeting next Tuesday, January 31st at 6:00 p.m. We will have the developers there to answer any questions. I did receive the appraisal back today and I am going to go through it and give you guys a copy. I am going to try and see if I can email a copy of it but it may be too big to email and if not we will print some more copies. I will put one copy over into Council Chambers to look at. The next move after that if I talk to the Law Director we will meet with Mr. Rayburn to look at whatever we are going to draft and then bring it to Council for an agreement. The City Engineer will talk about the two projects that are going on. One of the bigger ones and it is going to cause some people to be upset is going to be the Route 2 bridge that will be starting in March. I sent everyone an email. Starting in March the Route 2 Bridge will be getting fixed and replaced. We will be down to one lane at times. Work will begin on March 1st of this year and it will be completed in July of 2018. They will be shutting down ramps at certain times of the day. Once I get a full list we will put it out there. My next Gazette article will talk about both that…my February article will talk about the catch basin on Quentin Rd and I think that Mr. Gwydir will touch on that during his report for the Equalization Basin. That is the problem with the Gazette is that we have to have our articles in at a certain point in time and I would have loved to have the article about the basin in. But when we found out when it was going to start it was too late to put it in. I know that Mr. Menn has been getting some calls and when you see land moving likes it’s moving you’re wondering what is going on? That will be in my report for the Gazette in February and I will put a report in about the bridge again so we are aware of that. We will try and keep as much information especially on the bridge that we can start in March. Suburban Manufacturing is one of our businesses and they just expanded during the summer was given the Showcase Award for the Willoughby Chamber of Commerce represented them a key to the city. We are grateful that they stayed in the city as we are with the rest of the manufacturing that has been going on. We have met with some people this week and we have received a couple of things in the mail that will be moving in the next few months and hopefully we can announce some of the businesses that are thing on coming to the city. Right now they all have clauses that they can’t come out to tell me what the companies are that are thinking on coming here. We have three on Vine Street and once I get that information I will get that out but again until it comes across the desk and it is signed that they are coming and goes through planning…I think that 2017 could be a good year with us for building things coming to the city. The schools are going to start in the next month or so that is also good. That concludes my report and I am open for questions.
There were no further questions of Mayor Morley.
FIRE CHIEF – Ted Whittington
Chief Whittington: I just want to expand on the Route 91 project…I know that as recent as two weeks ago that bridge got struck again from the underneath on Route 2. I think that as much as it will probably create a little bit of incontinence for us for about a year or so it is diffidently needed at this point. The concrete is starting to break apart on the bridge. It will be a nice project once it is completed and we just ask that everybody be patient and Mr. Gwydir is on top of it. Just so you guys know there is a lot of necessity to get that bridge done. The Mayor has reminded me that we are making some provisions internally to adjust fire and ems responses to the hospital while the bridge work is being done. We have had projects up there before and again it doesn’t add a tremendous amount but just a little bit of effort in getting our squads at different locations. We can’t use 361 because of the trains so we will probably be rerouting down to downtown Willoughby. I will be working with all of the Fire Chief’s in the County because we get a lot of squads from all over that actually get off at Route 2 and 91. As a County we will have to make some adjustments. The Mayor has reminded me that we are working on internal policies to adjust for that year. Other than that I am open for questions.
There were no further questions of Chief Whittington.
POLICE CHIEF – Larry Reik
Chief Reik was absent and excused.
There were no further questions of Chief Reik.
CHIEF BUILDING OFFICIAL – David Menn
Mr. Menn was absent and excused.
There were no questions of Mr. Menn.
SERVICE DIRECTOR – Nick Rubertino
Mr. Rubertino was absent and excused.
There were no further questions of Mr. Rubertino.
CITY ENGINEER – Tom Gwydir
Mr. Gwydir: Thank you Madam President members of Council and Mayor. I will start with the Quentin Road Equalization Basin on Lakeshore Blvd. it is really a large mass excavation job. We are building a one million gallon underground storage tanks. There will be a lot of excavation to begin with and you will see a lot of trucks on the road. Then it will be followed by a lot of concrete. When we are done it will look like a grassed over area in the park that it is now today and you won’t see it. The purpose of it is to keep raw sewage out of the lake during flooding events that currently go in now. As far as the Route 2 Bridge I would just ask everybody…it is an ODOT job and they are going to try and maintain traffic through the area, but it is going to be tight. There is going to be a lot of work there and I would encourage anybody that can to choose alternate routes south into Willoughby and or using Vine Street to get onto Route 2. ODOT will be adjusting the timing on some of those lights to try and keep traffic as smooth as possible. If you can avoid that area at all possible it would be beneficial to both ODOT and yourselves. Some things that are pending but that are near an end is we are finishing up the design of the Galalina Area Pump Station Sewers. We have some final permitting to go through with the ODNR and thank you very much for the legislation this evening. I expect sometime in March or April we will be asking to go out for bids on that job. The job is approximately a $1.5 Million job. It is phase one of getting the storm water out of Galalina and it will be followed by a year or so by phase two given your approval again in the county to finish sewers through the area; so that we can dry that area out from heavy rains. Coming later in the summer will be the reconstruction o East 344th Street between Eastlawn and Stevens Blvd. The OPWC has funded 50% of that project by a grant. That money comes through in June or July 1st so topically construction can start anywhere between August and mid September so that we finish up in time for winter. With that I am open for questions.
There were no questions of Mr. Gwydir.
FINANCE DIRECTOR – Carol-Ann Schindel
Ms. Schindel: Thank you and we are currently working on pulling together our numbers for the 2017 budget. At that point in time as we have them together we will be bringing them to you.
There were no questions of Ms. Schindel.
LAW DIRECTOR – Randy Klammer
Mr. Klammer: Thank you Madam President Members of Council and Mayor Morley. The only thing that I would report is to remind everybody that every time we do a levy so the residents know…the city and Council have to take a careful position on not advocating for or against the levy. So a lot of times residents are asking how do we get involved. Why isn’t the city organizing something? We have to keep those things separate because we can’t use public funds to support those levies. So the work of Mr. Zuren, Councilmen, the Chief and the Mayor to get the committee together is how they do those things. A lot of time people are looking for updates on that progress through official city communication and you won’t find that so some residents will get frustrated. We try to remind them to look for the Campaign Committee and their works to get involved to support the levy by going door to door, fund raisers and those things. The city won’t officially advocate for it that way and I know that it causes frustration from time to time. That is the only thing that I wanted to clarify.
There were no questions of Mr. Klammer.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at approximately 7:41 p.m.
_________________________________________ LAURA A. DEPLEDGE, COUNCIL PRESIDENT
APPROVED: ______________________
ATTEST: _____________________________________
TRACY M. SIMONS, CLERK OF COUNCIL