Council President Mr. D’Ambrosio opened the meeting at 7:00 p.m.

 

ATTENDEES

Members of Council in attendance were Mr. Licht, Mrs. Quinn-Hopkins, Mr. Evers, Ms. DePledge,

Mr. Hoefle, Ms. Vaughn and Council President Mr. D’Ambrosio. Also attending was Council Clerk Mrs. Cendroski.

Those attending from the Administration were Mayor Morley, Law Director Klammer, Finance Director Slocum and Assistant Service Director Rubertino. Police Chief Reik, Fire Chief Whittington, City Engineer Gwydir and CBO McReynolds were absent and excused.

LEGISLATION PROPOSED:

There was no Legislation Proposed.

 

LEGISLATION PENDING:

There was no Legislation Pending.

 

MISCELLANEOUS:

AMENDMENT: SECTION 1155.03 “NUMBER OF OFF-STREET PARKING SPACES REQUIRED”

Mr. D’Ambrosio: This was legislation Mr. Gwydir re-wrote for us. We are referring this to Ordinance Committee but I suggest we wait to hold a meeting until March 18^th as Mr. Gwydir is currently out of town. Mr. Hoefle, do you have any objections?

Mr. Hoefle: No objections.

Mr. Klammer: If you want it to go quicker I can tell you what it is all about. This relates back to Enpress and finally we have a solution to our parking ordinance which is archaic and burdensome.

Mr. D’Ambrosio: We will keep this on the March 11^th Council-as-a-Whole agenda when Mr. Gwydir is present.

State Bid: D.J.L. Material & Supply, Inc.: 4-Ton Marathon Trailer Mounted Hot Mix Transporter Asphalt Hot Box: $33,060.00

Mr. D’Ambrosio: This is a 4-ton mounted hot box for asphalt. The money for this comes out of the Road Levy in which $75,000 was budgeted. The hot box cost is $33,060. Mr. Rubertino?

Mr. Rubertino: The hot box has a positive effect as the asphalt is coming out hot. When we use the cold patching unit we have now within 15 minutes the patch is already cold. It does not adhere to the existing asphalt. With the hot box it obviously comes out hot and adheres to the cold asphalt or concrete much more quickly and lasts longer. It is a better patch and is easier to get down in this weather. Nothing will be secure below freezing but it does give us an added advantage because it sticks and will stay longer. In the better weather months it is actually a permanent patch and there is even less of a chance it will come out of the hole. It is a smoother patch, more adhesive and better all the way around.

Mr. D’Ambrosio: I did talk to Mr. Rubertino today and explained to him that we usually do this in Committee meetings but because of the transition between Service Directors the Mayor called me today to see if we could add this to the agenda. I did not think it would be a problem because the asphalt plants open in April. Have we used this company before?

Mr. Rubertino: Yes. We got the DuraPatcher from them and our materials for the machines from them. This unit is actually 4-6 weeks out. We would like to order it from this company to get the machine quicker and get the machine on the road. We had some companies quote us 4-6 months. This company is willing to get on it right away and give us a timeframe of about 4-6 weeks.

Mr. D’Ambrosio: It is under State bid. The asphalt plants open usually the first of April or mid April depending on weather. It would be nice to have this thing ready to go by that time. If no one from Council has any objections?

Mr. Licht: What account is this taken out of?

Mr. D’Ambrosio: The road levy.

Ms. Vaughn: We budgeted $75,000.

Mrs. Quinn-Hopkins: I would not be against this hot box. I think it is a fine thing to have in our community. But, I would be opposed to voting it through as an emergency.

Mr. D’Ambrosio: Do you want to put it on three readings?

 

Mrs. Quinn-Hopkins: Yes.

Mr. D’Ambrosio: You would put this on three readings?

Mrs. Quinn-Hopkins: Yes.

Mr. Klammer: Don’t confuse it. You don’t have to do it in three readings. Three readings and an emergency are different. You can still do it in one reading but the emergency makes it effective immediately instead of in 30 days. Or you can do vice versa. You can do three readings and pass it as an emergency.

Mrs. Quinn-Hopkins: Yes. I just feel that the three readings rule is an important rule and we kind of roll over it like a steam roller. I really feel like we need to take it more seriously.

Mr. D’Ambrosio: I understand what you are saying. If we put a majority on three readings our agendas would eventually be “this” long.

Mrs. Quinn-Hopkins: That is okay. That is what we were elected to do.

Ms. Vaughn: I believe Mrs. Quinn-Hopkins has been reading the Plain Dealer – as have I.

Mrs. Quinn-Hopkins: No, I have not.

Ms. Vaughn: There has been a lot of discussion from certain constituencies about this issue. In this particular case we are having enough problems with pot holes right now. The sooner we can get this equipment that will keep a repair product in the damaged road the better off we are. It is not an emergency – it is a necessity. It is budgeted. We are just trying to get there sooner. It is an emergency on my street – it is an emergency on Waverly – I don’t know about your Ward.

Mrs. Quinn-Hopkins: I understand what you are saying and I agree we should get it. But if we pass it as an emergency we still won’t get it until April.

Ms. Vaughn: And if we don’t we won’t get it until May.

Mr. D’Ambrosio: Or July.

Mr. Klammer: An emergency requires you to wait for 30 days to allow for a referendum. Three readings require three readings. The two are different and require different votes. You can pass something and have three readings and you can pass it as an emergency and have three readings. You can pass it as not an emergency or you can have one reading and pass it not as an emergency or one reading and pass it as an emergency. There are four or five different ways it can come down and the votes are different. It is a matter of the vote too.

Mayor Morley: If we do three readings it will not go into effect until April. Then with 4-6 weeks it will be June. I also read the paper and I know Willoughby Hills does this. Three readings are for residents to come if there is a problem. If you believe the residents are going to have a problem with this that would be a reason for three readings. If Council chooses three readings for things that we know are possibly going to be “hot box” issues where the people will come and speak – those are the times we have done three readings – you guys can do as you choose. But, I don’t think you have to start falling in line because other cities are going to start doing three readings for whatever reason they are doing them.

Mr. Klammer: If it is three readings – then it is thirty days. I respect your concern. It is there and it is the law for a reason and that is why we take a vote to overrule it. You can always vote no and the vote comes down the way it comes down.

Mrs. Quinn-Hopkins: Yes.

Mr. Klammer: It would be three readings and then another 30 days to become effective – if we did not waive the three readings and pass it as an emergency.

Mrs. Quinn-Hopkins: To clarify, I intend to vote for this.

Mr. Klammer: All I am doing is clarifying the time frame.

Ms. DePledge: I just want to concur with the Mayor on this. The whole purpose behind three readings is to give the public an opportunity to be heard. I don’t know that there will be a massive amount of opposition to this particular purchase. Again, the whole premise behind three readings is to give the public an opportunity to be heard where there is typically a controversial issue. We do pass things without three readings a lot because they are housekeeping issues or typical issues we see year after year. So, it is not as if anyone is trying to put anything by anyone or be sneaky or anything like that. They deal a lot with housekeeping issues and the public has the opportunity to reach us – all of us are available. If someone had a problem with this we could certainly revisit it if we had to.

Mr. Evers: Mr. Rubertino, this trailer comes with a 7,000 axle but we are going to haul 4 tons on it – that is 8,000 pounds. Is that the heaviest duty suspension we can get or in a year are we going to have to fix such as we have had to do on some of our other trucks?

Mr. Rubertino: The rating does not mean that is what is going to be held in the unit.

Mr. Evers: Right. But it is rated for 4 tons – that is 8,000 lbs. The axles are rated for 7,000 – that is 1,000 lbs. over. That concerns me.

Mayor Morley: They do not fill the hot boxes to the max. It will be common sense and I am sure our Director will do that – will not overfill the box to capacity. Even if it says 4 ton capacity I cannot imagine they would have 4 tons in it.

Mr. Rubertino: It is two 7,000 lb. axles which actually gives you a rating of 14,000 lbs.

Mr. Evers. 14,000 combined but you are still putting in 4,000 lbs. which is 8,000 per axle. The suspension rating – just like we have gone through with some of our trucks – is what concerns me. Is the suspension heavy duty or is it just the standard?

Mr. Rubertino: It is the heavy duty suspension. It is rated for that rate.

Mr. Klammer: Mr. Rubertino, you could forward something in writing to this effect.

Mr. Rubertino: Okay.

Mr. Evers: Then I have no problem with that.

Mr. D’Ambrosio: From my experience sometimes if you have a 4-ton asphalt trailer you are taking it out by shovel. We have a 4-ton and usually put in 2 ½ tons. To shovel 4-ton of asphalt to fill one pot hole at a time – you could not do it in a day. But that is a great question.

Mr. Evers. I realize that. We have had problems in the past when we have ordered new trucks with the suspension being under rated and within a year we are replacing the suspension in the trucks. Mr. Rubertino answered my question and I am satisfied.

There were no further questions or comments.

Adoption: February, 2014 Codified Ordinance Replacement Pages

Mr. D’Ambrosio: This is a housekeeping matter. We accept the replacement pages for our codified ordinances and it keeps our laws current. It includes the amendments to laws made by the State and the amendments made by the City. We do this quarterly.

There were no questions or comments.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 7:13 p.m.

dac                            

                        

                                                                                    APPROVED: ________________

                                                                                       DATE: __________________