REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES – FEBRUARY 24, 2015
EASTLAKE CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
FEBRUARY 24, 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 7:08 p.m.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
ATTENDEES
Members of Council in attendance were Mr. Hoefle, Mr. Licht, Mrs. Quinn-Hopkins,
Mr. Evers, Ms. DePledge, Ms. Vaughn and Council President Mr. D’Ambrosio.
Those attending from the Administration were Mayor Morley, Law Director Klammer, Finance Director Slocum, CBO Menn, Service Director Rubertino, City Engineer Gwydir Police Chief Reik and Fire Chief Whittington.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Regular Council Meeting– February 10, 2015
MOTION: Ms. Vaughn moved to approve the minutes of the Regular Council Meeting of February 10, 2015. Ms. DePledge seconded.
ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.
Motion carried. The minutes were approved.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
COUNCIL PRESIDENT’S REPORT – Mr. D’Ambrosio
Meetings Scheduled
Mr. D’Ambrosio: At the last meeting I mentioned the Blvd. of 500 Flags fundraiser. As you know the Blvd. of 500 Flags is run by our local veterans strictly on donations. We are having a fundraiser Friday, April 24th from 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. If you have ever been to this event before – it is a blast – there is a Chinese Auction. There had to be 60-70 baskets for the auction items. The tickets are $35 per person. You can contact me or the Mayor’s office for tickets. Our Sergeant-at-Arms Mike Rydzinski is part of the Blvd. of 500 Flags Committee along with me and the Mayor. If you are available April 24th this is a good time.
The next Council-as-a-Whole Committee Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 10, 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 request was received to proclaim February 23-28, 2015 as America Saves Week in the City of Eastlake.
Mr. D’Ambrosio: This was discussed in Council-as-a-Whole Committee. A Motion will be made to add this to the evening’s agenda as Legislation No. 02-24-(02).
Conditional Use Permit recommendations were received from the Planning Commission for Robert F. Masseria, LLC dba Bonkers, 36091 Vine Street, Eastlake and Faquar, LLC dba Shananaginz, 33329 Vine Street, Eastlake.
Mr. D’Ambrosio: These were also discussed in Council-as-a-Whole Committee. A Motion will be made to add these items to the evening’s agenda as Legislation No. 02-24-(03) and Legislation No. 02-24-(04).
Communications were received from CBO Menn requesting amendments to City Ordinance Chapters 9 “Streets, Utilities and Public Service and 13 “Building”. These were referred to Ordinance Committee.
A liquor license transfer request was received from HB II, Inc. dba Handle Bar II, 34471 Bar & Patio, Eastlake to MFRS, LLC dba Diamondback Bar & Grill & Patio, 34471 Vine Street, Eastlake.
Mr. D’Ambrosio: A Motion will be made during the Council reports to approve this request.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Mr. D’Ambrosio: A Finance Committee meeting was held:
FINANCE COMMITTEE – Ms. Vaughn, Chair
Ms. Vaughn: Last Tuesday night we had the beginning of a series of three meetings discussing this year’s budget. All members of Council were present along with the Mayor, Finance Director and Law Director. Also present were a couple of residents – which was very pleasing – and they made comments during the meeting. It was very pleasing to know people cared about what we were doing. The Finance Director and I decided we would run the budget meetings a little differently this year. The first meeting was to discuss revenue only – and, we are still open to anyone’s suggestion to increase our revenue. We reviewed it and understand where we stand at this point in time. The next meeting will be to discuss our expenses. We will not have the Directors attend but will strictly discuss the figures in the budget. It should not be a particularly long meeting because the figures are the figures and the cuts that have been made stand as is. The last meeting which will be the third week in March is the one we will ask the Directors and Department Heads to come and make comments on the budget they have to work with. Hopefully residents will care and come and we would appreciate any input from anyone. We also discussed the item that appears on this evening’s agenda regarding the cutting of grass on residential property and the Committee recommended Northcoast Lawnscapes, Inc. and this appears on the evening’s agenda. I am scheduling a Finance Committee meeting for Tuesday, March 3rd at which we will discuss expenses. I am open for questions.
There were no questions of Ms. Vaughn.
ECONOMIC &COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COUNCILECONOMIC & DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL – Mrs. Quinn-Hopkins, Chair
Mrs. Quinn-Hopkins: We have been looking for ways to improve our zoning and bring it up to date and we will have recommendations on that in the near future. Also, I have two motions regarding appointments to the Economic & Community Development Council.
Economic & Community Development Council Appointments
MOTION: I hereby move to appoint Kathleen Barry, 35890 Matoma Blvd., Eastlake, Ohio to the Eastlake Economic & Community Development Council to fill an unexpired Eastlake resident term, with said term expiring December 31, 2015. Mr. Evers seconded.
ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.
Motion carried. Kathleen Barry is appointed to the Economic & Community Development Council to fill the unexpired term ending December 31, 2015.
MOTION: I hereby move to appoint John Bosu, 34715 Vine Street, Eastlake, Ohio to the Eastlake Economic & Community Development Council to fill the unexpired term as the Eastlake Business Community representative, with said term expiring October 31, 2018.
Mr. Evers seconded.
ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.
Motion carried. John Bosu is appointed to the Economic & Community Development Council to fill the unexpired term ending October 31, 2018.
Legislative Recommendation
MOTION: I hereby move to add Legislation No. 02-24-(02) to the evening’s agenda Proclaiming the week of February 23 – 28, 2015 as America Saves Week in the City of Eastlake, Ohio. Ms. Vaughn seconded.
ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.
Motion carried. Legislation No. 02-24-(02) is added to the evening’s agenda.
WPCC Committee – Mrs. Quinn-Hopkins, Chair
Mrs. Quinn-Hopkins: Last night the annual WPCC meeting met at 6:00 p.m. with the City of Willoughby. In attendance were me, Councilman Kimberly C. Evers and Eastlake City Engineer Tom Gwydir. Councilman Jeff Licht was absent and excused.
In attendance from the City of Willoughby were Councilman and Willoughby WPCC Chair Bob Harrold, Service Director Angelo Thomeselli and Willoughby City Engineer Jim Sayles. Also present were WPCC Plant Superintendent Jack Gorka, Assistant Superintendent John Hall and Industrial Associate Diana Passwaiter. Also in attendance was Council Clerk Ms. Radebaugh.
We discussed several interesting things. We all received a copy of the annual report which Mr. Gorka summarized. I will highlight a couple items. The main waterline to the plant is approximately 54 years old. That is an 8 inch waterline. Normally a house waterline is ¾ of an inch. The building was opened in 1961 but the line was there before it opened. There is no easement to the line – they cannot find any blueprints or easements and as old as it is they know it will need to be replaced at sometime. The idea is they will include the replacement of that line with another project and reroute it down Gilbert or Erie Road to make it more functional. Also, as Mr. Gwydir has discussed – the outfall diffuser – one of the things is that they hired a diver to swim inside this 54” pipe which is about 2,000 feet out in the lake to diffuse the water after it is treated. The diver goes into a manhole and into the pipe and swims out there to inspect it. They found the second diffuser has had an enormous boulder drop onto it – it has rotated and slid to the side. Though the boulder did not disable the diffuser it has certainly damaged it. That is one of the reasons it needs to be replaced. Also, all the land underneath the bottom of the lake where it was submerged by 2 feet of lake bottom is at the surface of the bottom now and with the wear and tear on the pipe it has filled with silt. Another interesting thing is that it needs to be on a submerged land lease and they cannot find their copy of the lease. They are only good for 50 years so they are doing research to find it and once they get the land lease situated they will be going out for bids. I am sure Mr. Gwydir could give you better details on that. Also, we have been waiting for our permit and information to come back from the EPA inspection. The USEPA came here to inspect and went through the plant and thoroughly inspected us and Willoughby. The only findings they came back with itemized in #6 of the report. They are ecstatic – remember last year they were saying possibly they could force us to make $54 million dollars in repairs. As it comes out the want the WPCC to submit a stress test report within 18 months – on the high side that may cost us $5 million – which would be split with Willoughby. The next item was plans for an equalization tank at the Quentin Road pump station which could possibly cost $8.2 million. Then the plans for phase 1 of the relief sewer on Waverly Road must be submitted within 2 years with construction completed within 12 months or after and this would possibly be $3.6 million. The last item – within 6 years 2011 SSES study must be updated and it is a sanitary sewer evaluation survey. That came out for us very well all in all. That only happened last week and is not included in the report. Also, they have chemical pumps which they have some issues. Between the chemical pumps and the ferrous chloride tank liner – the tank liner had to be replaced and was eating through the cement walls. They completed that improvement in-house and saved over $94,000 less in budget. Mr. Gorka himself was out there pushing cement around. They are to be applauded for their accomplishments. This concludes my report.
There were no questions of Mrs. Quinn-Hopkins.
ORDINANCE COMMITTEE – Mr. Hoefle, Chair
Mr. Hoefle made the following Motions:
Legislative Recommendations
Legislation No. 02-14-(03)
MOTION: I hereby move to add Legislation No. 02-24-(03) to the evening’s agenda authorizing the issuance of a Conditional Use Permit to Robert F. Masseria, LLC dba Bonkers, 36091 Vine Street, Eastlake, Ohio, 44095. Mr. Evers seconded.
ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.
Motion carried. Legislation No. 02-24-(03) is added to the evening’s agenda.
Legislation No. 02-14-(04)
MOTION: I hereby move to add Legislation No. 02-14-(04) to the evening’s agenda authorizing the issuance of a Conditional Use Permit to Faquar, LLC dba Shananaginz, 33329 Vine Street, Eastlake, Ohio. Mr. Evers seconded.
ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.
Motion carried. Legislation No. 02-24-(04) is added to the evening’s agenda.
Legislation No. 02-14-(05)
MOTION: I hereby move to add Legislation No. 02-14-(05) to the evening’s agenda repealing City Ordinance Section 1385.16 “Annual Permits for Multiple Dwellings and Rooming Houses; Fees; Nontransferabilty” adopted September 23, 1986 per Ordinance No. 1986-117. Mr. Evers seconded.
ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.
Motion carried. Legislation No. 02-24-(05) is added to the evening’s agenda.
Legislation No. 02-14-(06)
MOTION: I hereby move to add Legislation No. 02-14-(06) to the evening’s agenda amending Section 1145.02 “Schedule of Permitted Buildings and Uses,” specifically subsection (a)(1) of the Codified Ordinances of the City of Eastlake.Ms. Vaughn seconded.
ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.
Motion carried. Legislation No. 02-24-(06) is added to the evening’s agenda.
Liquor License Transfer Request
MOTION: I hereby move to approve and send back to Columbus, Ohio with no objections the liquor license transfer request from HB II, Inc. dba Handle Bar II, 34471 Bar & Patio, Eastlake to MFRS, LLC dba Diamondback Bar & Grill & Patio, 34471 Vine Street, Eastlake.
Mr. Licht seconded.
ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.
Motion carried. The liquor license transfer request is approved.
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.
James Romano, 34300 Lakeland Blvd., Eastlake
Mr. Romano: I am the CFO of a business located on Lakeland Blvd. I have an issue and do not know if Council can help. On Friday we had a water main break at a building we own and where we operate a distribution facility. The County has been dragging its feet getting it fixed. I had to shut down our business Friday, Saturday, Monday and Tuesday. I cannot continue operating my business if we are shut down much longer. I know it is a County issue but I was hoping Council could put in a phone call to the County to find a way to get it fixed. I have been told by our plumber who we have paid to be on site the past two full days that it will take about three hours to fix if the water main was shut off. They know what the problem is. They can see the water coming out of the ground. But, they cannot find the shut off valve that goes directly into our building. I was hoping you could do something to get them to shut off the water main so the plumber can fix it so I can be back in business.
Mr. D’Ambrosio: How long ago did it happen?
Mr. Romano: On Friday.
Mr. D’Ambrosio: Mr. Rubertino, do you have anyone you can call?
Mayor Morley: I will give you my card. Send me the information with the address and we will call the Department of Utilities in the morning.
Mr. Romano: I would greatly appreciate it.
Chief Whittington: Mr. Romano, please call me or our Fire Marshall Futchi.
Mr. Romano: I have talked with Fire Marshall Futchi but not about this. He has always been very responsive.
Chief Whittington: Please call us in the future – especially with fire suppression things like that. We can come over in the morning.
Mr. Romano: Fire Marshall Futchi is very familiar with our building. Thank you.
Bob Spangenberg, 1034 Eastlake Drive, Eastlake
Mr. Spangenberg: A couple of months ago I mentioned that I was going to start a show on WINT radio which used to be WELW. It was going to involve talking to local government officials. We want to let the truth be known about things and not false things like you read on Face book and things like that. I generally have people send in questions which I will ask. Hopefully, by this time next month I should be getting going and my first guest who volunteered is Commissioner Moran. It will be one half hour and we will see how it goes. I think this is something fun and I am going to try to get information out there. I would rather have them ask you questions so you can say what is really going on instead of people hearing false things. I will be getting a hold of you guys. I am going to try to get a hold of everyone so I will be busy.
Mr. D’Ambrosio: I remember you mentioning that – keep us updated.
There was no one else who wished to speak.
LEGISLATION PROPOSED – First number will be 2015-007
RESOLUTION NO.: 02-24-(01)
Requested by: Administration A Resolution authorizing and directing the Sponsored by: Finance Committee Mayor and Director of Finance to enter into a
Contract with Northcoast Lawnscapes, Inc., the most responsible and lowest and best bidder, for Mowing and Trimming of Grass, Brush, Weeds, Vegetation, Trees, Shrubbery and the Removal of Yard Waste, Trash and Debris, 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. 2015-007.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
RESOLUTION NO.: 02-24-(02)
Requested by: Mr. D’Ambrosio A Resolution Proclaiming the week of
Sponsored by: Eastlake City Council February 23 – 28, 2015 as America Saves Week in the City of Eastlake, Ohio, and declaring an emergency.
MOTION: Mrs. Quinn-Hopkins moved to suspend the rules requiring separate readings and
reading in full. Ms. Vaughn seconded.
ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.
MOTION: Mrs. Quinn-Hopkins moved to adopt. Ms. Vaughn seconded.
ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.
Motion carried. Legislation is adopted as Resolution No. 2015-008.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
ORDINANCE NO: 02-24-(03)
Requested by: Planning Commission An Ordinance authorizing the issuance of Sponsored by: Council a Conditional Use Permit to Robert F. Masseria, LLC dba Bonkers, 36091 Vine Street, Eastlake, Ohio, 44095, 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 Ordinance No. 2015-009.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
ORDINANCE NO: 02-14-(04)
Requested by: Planning Commission An Ordinance authorizing the issuance
Sponsored by: Council of a Conditional Use Permit to Faquar, LLC dba
Shananaginz, 33329 Vine Street, Eastlake, Ohio, 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 Ordinance No. 2015-010.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
ORDINANCE NO.: 02-14-(05)
Requested by: Administration An Ordinance repealing City Ordinance
Sponsored by: Council Section 1385.16 “Annual Permits for Multiple
Dwellings and Rooming Houses; Fees; Nontransferabilty” adopted September 23, 1986 per Ordinance No. 1986-117, 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 Ordinance No. 2015-011.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
ORDINANCE NO.: 02-14-(06)
Requested by: Administration An Ordinance amending Section 1145.02 Sponsored by: Council “Schedule of Permitted Buildings and Uses,” specifically subsection (a)(1) of the Codified Ordinances of the City of Eastlake, 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 Ordinance No. 2015-012.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
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: Welcome everyone. I am glad to see we have a bigger crowd. It seems we have a bigger crowd every meeting – which is good. As I reported before Mr. Gwydir and I met with the Lake County Storm Water to talk about the monies that will be distributed to the City to do repairs for storm water issues in the City. Mr. Gwydir was on vacation last week but before he left he handed in his thoughts on how we should proceed. I will meeting with him on Monday and we will go through what he has suggested and then I will forward it to Council to discuss in Committee for your agreement on how to proceed with the storm water. I had a legislative meeting yesterday with Congressman Joyce, Senator Eckland, Senator Yuko, Representative Young, Representative Rogers and Commissioner Moran. We also had a Mayors and Managers meeting yesterday afternoon where both Senator Eckland and Senator Yuko addressed the group. We discussed not just about the City of Eastlake but surrounding communities and want the Governor to reinstate the Local Government Fund that has taken so much money from the cities. From what we are hearing there is not a good chance of any of that money being put back into the cities. The Governor’s position is everyone needs to tighten their belts. I did tell both Senators that we have tightened and we cannot continue to lay off and we cannot get to the point where we cannot run without people to provide services and that is where we are. It was also brought up that East Cleveland has been in fiscal emergency and Maple Heights has gone into fiscal emergency. We asked if it was the Governor’s plan for everyone to go into fiscal emergency so the State could take over and run all of us. I do not think it would do well for the State. They are pushing for consolidation but there is no direction. Mayor Bonde said there is no direction from the Governor to try to accomplish this. Mr. Slocum and I spoke with a representative from Treasurer Mandell’s office who stopped in today – there is no direction. We are going to be meeting again – the mayors of the surrounding communities – to see if there is anything we can look at in working together to try to save money among ourselves. We need something reinstated from the Local Government funds. EPal will take over the Community Center on March 1st – I will publish their phone number in my next Gazette article and on the web site. I have met with the Law Director this week and plan to schedule a meeting with Council regarding the Nike site. Mrs. Cendroski is working on it. This not only has to do with the Nike site but we had nibbles on possibly purchasing the site. The email I received this last week was from people who are looking at putting in an assisted living center. They asked if they could talk to the residents on East 337th because if they would purchase the land they would like to have a street off of East 337th Street. So, they were going to talk to residents about purchasing homes. They seem to be a little more serious so I am trying to stay ahead of it. Per the Ohio Revised Code we have to go out for bid but if someone brings us a good offer I am trying to work with the Law Director to see if we can actually sell the land without the bidding process. At this point that is not possible but we are looking to see if there is anyway.
I am hoping this is serious – I don’t know. But, if they are going to talk to residents about purchasing property it may be something we want to look at. I spoke with the Chief to see if there would be any fire issue. There would not be any issues. Everything is in the beginning stages but I wanted to keep everyone updated. Keep your fingers crossed that things could move along. It would be good for all of us if we could sell that site and get some decent paying jobs over there. This concludes my report and I am open for questions.
Mr. D’Ambrosio: I understand that we would have to go out for bid. Mr. Klammer, what if we had a realtor who would list the property? Would we still have to go out for bid?
Mayor Morley: That is what I am asking him. Say this does not happen – I would like to get a broker to be able to put a for sale sign on the property and do all the work. We cannot try to sell it – not just that land but some other land that we may have for sell. Mr. Klammer loves it when I ask him those questions.
Mr. Klammer: I love to give legal opinions. There are two issues. We can hire a broker – that is a separate issue for a specialized service. But, as it stands right now we are stuck with the Revised Code which requires the bidding procedure which can be cumbersome when you are trying to work quickly like this. Mrs. Cendroski has already worked up a draft and I have begun scribbling notes on it and think we are on the right track so that will make it to you for an alternative procedure. I think it will work itself out.
There were no further questions of Mayor Morley.
FIRE CHIEF – Ted Whittington
Chief Whittington: There is nothing to report on the ladder truck. We are still waiting for our maintenance company to forward things to Willoughby. On a similar note – I spoke with the Mayor this last week and it was agreed with his permission to volunteer a squad as a transport squad for the County in case we would have an Ebola patient to be transported to the Cleveland Clinic or University Hospital which would then take the patient to Metro which is the Ebola hospital in the area. That would mean if another community would come across an Ebola patient it is the County’s plan that Eastlake would be the transport squad. There are a couple of tactical things to be worked out but I think that is the direction we are going in. It has been a busy fire season and we are fortunate that our people with what we have been involved with and the cold weather have been pretty unscathed. People have been affected by the loss of property but as far as health goes we have been able to weather the storm. I am open for questions.
There were no questions of Chief Whittington.
POLICE CHIEF – Larry Reik
Chief Reik: The last month or so we have had an uptick in accidents. I want to commend the Service Department for keeping up with our area of the roads. The majority of the accidents have been on the freeway which the County maintains. Just remind people to be careful. A lot of times we hear of someone going through an intersection at 45 or 50 mph and it is icy and they cannot stop. If it is icy you should be driving at a reduced speed. The speed limit is for good conditions – not ice and snow. We have been fortunate to not have any serious injuries. The Fire Department is doing a good job. I am open for questions.
There were no questions of Chief Reik.
CHIEF BUILDING OFFICIAL – David Menn
Mr. Menn: Save-a-Lot will be open on Thursday. They have been approved and are ready to go.
Mr. D’Ambrosio: That was their target date – late February or the beginning of March.
Mr. Menn: I think they wanted to go a little earlier but pretty much in February.
There were no further questions of Mr. Menn.
SERVICE DIRECTOR – Nick Rubertino
Mr. Rubertino: I have nothing to report. I am open for questions.
Ms. Vaughn: I just wanted to let you know that I have relatives who live in Mentor who travel to Euclid regularly and they go down Lakeshore Blvd. They called me specifically to tell me that when they got to Eastlake from one border to the next it was great both ways – from Willoughby and Mentor. They wanted me to let you know how much they appreciated the work you and your men have done.
Mr. Rubertino: It is the men – I appreciate that very much.
Ms. Vaughn: I have received calls complaining about the potholes on Willowick Drive and I tell them that is because the weather pops the stuff out.
Mr. Rubertino: The potholes are continuing to be a problem. Willowick Drive is a war zone. We were out there today and are doing what we can.
Ms. Vaughn: When my son who drives in from Willowick complains about it to his mother you know there is a problem.
Mr. Rubertino: We are trying to keep up with it as best we can. The sub zero temperatures make it worse then it will ever be. When the weather breaks it will give us a little more to work with. We cannot get the hot box out in these conditions. We are patching them as we can. People need to slow down. That is one sure way you will not ruin your car. Have them call in the problems and we will patch them as soon as we can. We know Willowick Drive is an issue and we will be addressing that this summer.
Mr. Licht: I saw a plow parked by the soccer fields.
Mr. Rubertino: It was a flat tire – a fully loaded truck. There was no one to work on it over the weekend. Since then it has been repaired. It was out there a little longer – diesel fuel gels and does not go through the lines. They had to take heaters out there with generators to get it thawed out to the point where we could get the truck started and get it safely into the garage. It should be back up and running with no issues.
There were no further questions of Mr. Rubertino.
CITY ENGINEER – Tom Gwydir
Mr. Gwydir: I have nothing to report and am open for questions.
There were no questions of Mr. Gwydir.
FINANCE DIRECTOR – Mike Slocum
Mr. Slocum: We did enter into an extension on our natural gas contract. Last year we entered into a two year contract starting July 1, 2014 for $5.29 mcf which was a good price at that time. A lot of energy prices have dropped so last week we entered into another two year contract starting July 1, 2016 at $4.56 mcf which will cover all City facilities. That will be about a 15% savings over where we are now and is a savings over what we paid years ago. Since we entered into contract natural gas prices have gone up 20 cents mcf. Right along with this EPal agreed to take over for the remainder that we had on the Community Center gas supply and EPal is piggybacking under separate contract but getting the same rate we got. This concludes my report. I am open for questions.
There were no further questions of Mr. Slocum.
LAW DIRECTOR – Randy Klammer
Mr. Klammer: I thank the Clerk for this quick ordinance regarding the Mayor’s competitive bidding question. I am open for questions.
There were no questions of Mr. Klammer.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at approximately 7:51 p.m.
______________________________________
JOE D’AMBROSIO, COUNCIL PRESIDENT\
APPROVED: __________________________
ATTEST: _____________________________
DEBORAH A. CENDROSKI,
CLERK OF COUNCIL