Regular Council Meeting Minutes from May 9, 2017

June 14, 2017 in Regular Council Minutes

EASTLAKE CITY COUNCIL

REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES

MAY 9, 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 7:11 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 and Council President Ms. DePledge. Also in attendance was Council Clerk Mrs. Simons. Mr. Hoefle was absent and excused.

Those attending from the Administration were Mayor Morley, Fire Chief Whittington, CBO Menn Service Director Rubertino, City Engineer Gwydir, Finance Director Schindel and Law Director Klammer. Police Chief Reik was 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 they are being recorded.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Regular Council Meeting –April 25, 2017.

MOTION: Mr. Evers moved to approve the minutes from April 25, 2017. Mr. Zuren second.

Motion carried. Minutes are approved.

COUNCIL PRESIDENT’S REPORT – President Ms. DePledge

Meetings Scheduled

Ms. DePledge: The next Council-as-a-Whole Committee Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 23, 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. This evening will be adjourning into Executive Session to discuss the matter of Fatur v. Eastlake. As part of my report I just want to thank the voters for supporting the Fire Levy. This is a huge turning point for our community. It is really going to have us start to move in the right direction. All of us and I think that I speak for everyone on Council and the Administration, and all of the employee’s are extremely great full for the resident’s support on that issue. I want to thank Habitat for Humanity they are building a second home here in Eastlake. As you are well aware they improve our neighborhoods and they improve things for everybody. We are very great full to have them investing into our community and building new homes especially on vacant properties.

There were no questions for Council President DePledge.

COMMUNICATIONS & PETITIONS

A communication from Finance Director Schindel to enter into a contract with John Doheny Companies for repair work to S-11 Vactor Truck. Ms. DePledge: This was discussed in Council-As-A-Whole and it will be added to this evening’s agenda.A communication from the Administration to sell a 1997 Ford Ambulance and a 2005 Braun Ambulance on Ebay. Ms. DePledge: This was discussed in Council-As-A-Whole and it will be added to this evening’s agenda.

A communication from the Administration to enter into a contract with Bush Truck Leasing Inc. for the purchase of a 2017 E450 Step Van.

Ms. DePledge: This was discussed in Council-As-A-Whole and it will be referred to the Finance Committee.

A communication from the Administration to authorize the Director of Public Safety to advertise for a Public Auction on property.com on May 14, 2017 for the sale of various items deemed no longer usable by the City. Ms. DePledge: This was discussed in Council-As-A-Whole and it will be added to this evening’s agenda.A liquor license permit request to Moran Foods LLC, d/b/a Save A Lot 639, 33693 Vine St., Eastlake, OH.

Ms. DePledge: This was discussed in Council-As-A-Whole and it will be added to this evening’s agenda.

A liquor license transfer request from Macs Convenience Stores LLC, d/b/a Circle K5301 at 36391 Vine St. to Macs Convenience Stores LLC, d/b/a Circle K 5712 at 35779 Vine St., Eastlake, OH.

Ms. DePledge: This was discussed in Council-As-A-Whole and it will be added to this evening’s agenda.

A communication from Councilman Kasunick for a grant from ODNR to implement a playground and Improvements to the Erie Road Project.

Ms. DePledge: This will be referred to the Finance Committee. I also received a communication from Councilman Hoefle and it was emailed to everybody and I asked that it be added to this evening’s agenda, however when I sent it to Mrs. Simons her email bounced back to and it said that there was some email abuse. It has to do with the issue of social media and recording of meetings. So that item will also appear on the next Ordinance Committee Meeting.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Ms. DePledge: There were no Committee Meetings since our last City Council Meeting. Mr. Zuren?

Mr. Zuren: Thank you Madam President. I just wanted to inform everybody that the Job Fair at North High School will be this Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. It is free and open to the community. It’s not just for high school students or college students it is for everybody. I’ve had multiple calls from people who are looking for a second career late in their life. Everyone is welcome and there three organizations that are going to give workshops at the Job Fair and they are Bryant & Stratton, Ohio Means Jobs, and Auburn Career Center. They are going to give workshops on how to find a job, how to create a resume, how to interview, and how to use social media to find you next job. There are well over fifty businesses that are involved in the Job Fair. Some of the bigger ones are Classic Auto Group and they are going to bring some of their General Managers to the event. PetSmart has three stores that are involved and Arby’s has all of their stores from Ashtabula County to Lake County that are involved. It would be a great opportunity for anybody who is looking for a job, whether it is full-time, part-time, or for the summer. This is a great place to get in front of personnel managers. Welcome anybody who wants to attend on Saturday.

There were no questions for Mr. Zuren.

Ms. DePledge: Mr. Evers?

Mr. Evers: I would like to publicly thank the voters from the City of Eastlake for passing the Fire Levy. Along with it I think that we need to recognize a special group. Mr. Farwell and his committee they did one heck of a job putting this all together. The Fire Department…Chief Whittington you and your guy did a great job. Again I would like to thank everybody that was involved. Thank you voters it’s a shot in the arm for the city and let’s move forward.

There were no questions for Mr. Evers.

Ms. DePledge: Mr. Kasunick?

Mr. Kasunick: Thank you Madam President. I am hosting a meeting for Ward 3 on Monday, May 15 here at City Hall. Everyone is welcome to attend. The main topic of conversation is going to be the Erie Road Park Improvements. For people who are interested in that this will be a great time to learn and I will have representatives from the Chagrin Water Shed Partners. The Port Authority will be here to answer questions and they will let everyone know what is going on with that. Everyone is encouraged to attend and that concludes my report.

Mr. Evers: What time?

Mr. Kasunick: At 7:00 p.m.

There were no questions for Mr. Kasunick.

Ms. DePledge: Next Tuesday we will have Finance and an Ordinance Committee Meeting and they will start at 6:00 p.m.

MOTION

MOTION: Mr. Evers moved to add Legislation No.: 05-09-(01) to this evening’s agenda a Resolution authorizing and directing the Mayor and Director of Finance to enter into a Contract with Jack Doheny Companies for repair work to S-11 Vactor Truck, including labor and material, not to exceed the cost of Eighteen Thousand Two Hundred Sixty-One Dollars and Twenty-One Cents ($18,261.21). Mr. Zuren second.

ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.

Motion carried Legislation No. 05-09-(01) is added to this evening’s agenda.

MOTION: Mr. Spotton moved to add Legislation No.: 05-09-(02) to this evening’s agenda a Resolution authorizing and directing the Director of Public Service to sell on Ebay a 1997 Ford Ambulance and a 2005 Braun Ambulance. Mr. Meyers second.

ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.

Motion carried Legislation No. 05-09-(02) is added to this evening’s agenda.

Ms. DePledge: The next item is Proposed Legislation 05-09-(03) and we are not going to read it at this time. That is the purchase of the 2017 Ford E450 and that will be referred into the Finance Committee for further discussion.

MOTION: Mr. Meyers moved to add Legislation No. 05-09-(04) to this evening’s agenda a Resolution authorizing and directing the Director of Public Safety to advertise for a Public Auction for the sale of various items deemed no longer usable by the City of Eastlake. Mr. Evers second.

ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.

Motion carried Legislation No. 05-09-(04) is added to this evening’s agenda.

MOTION: Mr. Zuren moved to approve and send back to Columbus, Ohio with no objections the liquor license permit request to Moran Foods LLC, d/b/a Save A Lot 639, 33693 Vine St., Eastlake, OH. Mr. Spotton second.

ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.

Motion carried.

MOTION: Mr. Kasunick moved to approve and send back to Columbus, Ohio with no objections the liquor license transfer request from Macs Convenience Stores, LLC, d/b/a Circle K 5301, 36391 Vine St., Willoughby, OH, to Macs Convenience Stores, LLC, d/b/a Circle K 5712, 35779 Vine St., Eastlake, OH. Mr. Evers second.

ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.

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.

There was no one who wished to speak.

LEGISLATION PROPOSED – First number will be 2017-038

05-09-(01) RESOLUTION NO.:_______________

Requested by: Administration

Sponsored by: Council

A Resolution authorizing and directing the Director of Public Safety to advertise for a Public Auction for the sale of various items deemed no longer usable by the City of Eastlake, 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. 2017-040.

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. I would also like to thank everyone for passing Issue 1 and Issue 2. I think that Issue 1 sort of got lost in it and it was our renewal for our operating levy. It is the original levy and that was the last time that we passed a levy from 1982. It brings in about $409,000.00 and back in 1982 that $409,000.00 was that we were going to operate the city on that $409,000.00 back in 1982. Again I thank everyone. Mr. Farwell please stand up. Mr. Farwell is one of our residents who led this charge along with Mr. Vogler and his family and our Fire Department and the Local 2860, and Council…all of us. I think that this was the first time that we had a group effort to get something passed and thank you for your efforts. I don’t know what people don’t understand that this will stabilize our city and it will free up money in the General Fund to do some other things. Chief Whittington, Ms. Schindel and I have already sat down to look at some things this year that we still want to try and do. We will get that over to Council in the next few weeks. The Chief and I have talked about starting to put some things in the Gazette so that our residents know that with the levy passing the things that we are going to do in the Fire Department. This is a long time coming obviously and I am very great full for it. I would also like to congratulate Council President DePledge for her winning the Primary to become the next Judge for Willoughby Court. Good luck to you in November.

Ms. DePledge: Thank you.

Mayor Morley: We have another big item that we got today…that on Monday, May 15 they will start profiling Lakeshore Blvd. from City Hall all the way to the Willoughby border. They will be repaving that and it starts Monday. It is through the state…we have through ODOT…worked with our split of our cost for that. That will start on Monday and again there will obviously be some delays on Lakeshore Blvd. Be careful of that area. They continue to work on Route 91 and we continue to get calls about changing some signs and we have been talking to ODOT about making aware of the U-Turns and different patterns. We really haven’t had too many issues and I know the Chief was giving a little benefit of the doubt on the “No Turn on Red”, but the U-Turns and the wrong turns onto the freeway have not been given too much leniency. When people are making a left to go onto the freeway they are going through barriers. The one weekend or the one day I know that we gave sixty tickets out for that. That is a lot of people not following what they need to be doing. I have been getting a lot of calls…for people cutting their grass and I will put this in my next Gazette article. We have an ordinance number 311.01 about putting lawn clippings into the street and leaving them in the street. Obviously they go into the sewer system and the storm water and that could cause back up. If you haves a landscaper just let them know that they need to pick up their clippings and not to blow them into the street. We do have some residents that just put them into the street. We don’t want the storm sewers to get clogged up. Some of the things that I would like to bring up in the Finance Committee Meeting are that we are one of the only cities with the $12,500.00 threshold for spending. I would like to discuss that we bump it up to the surrounding cities of $25,000.00. It’s not so that we can get around things. It’s like what we talked about before when we pass a budget we pass a budget, but then we still go through Council to approve our spending. The $12,500.00 was put in when we were in fiscal emergency and we left it there for the longest time and I think that it is time that we take a look at that. I am not saying that we have to but that is going to be one of my requests. Ms. Schindel and I have talked about in the last few days and she could probably talk about it a little bit more is that if we don’t bump the threshold to $25,000.00. Things like the sewer truck today…whoever Council would like to pick either the Finance Director or the Finance Chair, or the Council President that we get a second signature on it. Like the truck repair we are waiting the extra week when we can be cleaning out the sewers. It is just something to think about before Tuesday’s meeting. If there are any questions on that please contact myself or Ms. Schindel.

Ms. DePledge: I will make sure that Mrs. Simons adds it to the agenda so that we can discuss it.

Mayor Morley: Also for Council both the BZA Meeting and the Planning Committee Meeting are at 7:00 p.m. I am on the Planning Committee and if you can make that meeting we will talk about the schools. At the BZA Longfellow is looking for a variance. In Planning we have another gentleman coming to talk about vacating part of the street on Forest Drive and he is looking to build a development there and a possible restaurant. I don’t know if we are going to discuss it that night, but if he is there we can bring it up so you can be aware of what maybe happening in that area on Lakeshore Blvd. I talked to the Brixmor Company and there are still a couple of things that are looking to go into Wal-Mart that we are working on and or the old grocery store. Again we can’t have a grocery store at least until 2019 that is when Giant Eagle’s lease is up. I have heard that there may be a couple of things going into that store, but it won’t be a grocery store. We still have the deed restriction on food sale. On May 17 is the ground breaking at 9:30 a.m. for North High School and Longfellow is at 10:30 a.m. I have asked the staff to be there if they can and the same thing with Council. If you can make them it would be great for a show of support with the schools and the building of the new schools. That concludes my report and I am open for questions.

There were no further questions of Mayor Morley.

FIRE CHIEF – Ted Whittington

Chief Whittington: Thank you Madam President. Obviously I share a lot of the same sediments and I think that right off the top…we work very hard to have a good relationship with our residents. I think that sometimes when you see a vote like this I feel and maybe I misinterpreted but I feel like it is a show of trust between us and the people that serve. It is a very sacred thing when the day of the levy I actually sent Ms. Garabrandt at The News-Herald tow press releases. One press release was for if it passed and the other ones were for if it had failed, because I wanted to make sure that I got them right in both ways. I think that in the article I made sure that I said that we don’t take that relationship with our residents and the trust is sacred to us. We are going to continue to do our best to maintain that. Obviously Mr. Farwell worked with Mr. Kaska and they put in countless hours. Mr. Farwell is a resident and he works full-time and he was still putting in a lot of time. So without that kind of energy I think that we lose a lot and Mr. Farwell and the Vogler’s. I know that he had a whole bunch of people that would come to the meetings. I know that Council was there and your guidance and your ability to give us some direction. I know that between the Mayor and everyone that was involved I really think that it was a group effort. I owe a lot to everybody and I definitely appreciate it. Having said that obviously every year…I have a five year plan for the department and every year I would sit down with the Mayor and we would talk about the five year plan. We would always say at the end when we were done talking about it “wouldn’t it be nice one for us to get there?” I think that we are there. So the meetings that we’ve had I want to assure everybody including Council and the Mayor that now we have the ability to some things. This is not wilily nilily. We have a five year plan that I’ve had since I’ve been the Fire Chief and I am going to stick to the plan. Obviously we can make some changes on, but this represents the plan and this is what we have. So when we sit down as a group and we bring you things this based on what we are looking at to say what we think needs to be done right away. There is a plan in place to guide us through the next few years. I want everybody to be assured to that. Thank you to everybody and it means a lot not only to the department but for the city. I have told several people that being part of this city for the last 20 years I really see this momentum shifting for us. I see us going…you know with all of the businesses coming in and we are getting some trust back with the residents. That kind of relationship is important and I really think that this community is on a move. I feel blessed that we are moving in a good direction. The only think that I will add and I know that some of Council was there and the Mayor was there we actually had a heroin summit at the Fire Station, which I thought was well attended. There were a lot of people there and I think that it was over 100 people. We had more than 100 chairs set up. We had speakers from the Police and Fire Department, the Health Department was there, and we gave out some NARCAN that night. We had some speakers from families who lost loved ones to overdoses. In the audience we had some recovering people who were addicted to drugs. I think that collectively we learned a lot. I learned a lot and I get to hear other peoples prospective on things. I got to make sure that my perspective as some who gets confused when we save someone’s life and then the next day I’m doing it again and how it frustrates me. I thought that we had some really good dialog and I thought that it was a good thing. I just wanted to bring it up because I’m not sure everybody got any reports on that. 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.

CHIEF BUILDING OFFICIAL – David Menn

Mr. Menn: Thank you and just to remind you and the Mayor has already touched about the BZA and Planning. We are going to have them in this room. We don’t know what kind of a crown that we are going to have and we are hoping that we have a big crowd. We are going to have it in here on both nights. Hopefully all of you can join us. The Mayor also touched a little bit on the grass. Unfortunately from my end when we get grass complaints we have to go out and then possibly site the residents for their grass violation. We do understand that it has been raining quite a bit. We are trying to give a couple of extra days here and there but as you see quite a few people have cut their grass as well. We are trying to be a little sensible with the weather but unfortunately when people call we have to go out and do our job. Right now we have five new homes that are going to go up in the city this year and that’s a good thing. As you guys know that Habitat for Humanity’s is building another home in our city and I think that is great too. That concludes my report.

There were no further questions of Mr. Menn.

SERVICE DIRECTOR – Nick Rubertino

Mr. Rubertino had no report this evening.

CITY ENGINEER – Tom Gwydir

Mr. Gwydir had no report this evening.

Ms. DePledge: Mr. Evers?

Mr. Evers: Mr. Gwydir how is the Quentin Road project moving along? Are we on schedule?

Mr. Gwydir: We are generally on schedule and we are working through a couple of issues with the barring pressure in the soil right now and get some clarifications. But in general it is moving along as we anticipated.

Mr. Evers: Thank you.

There were no questions of Mr. Gwydir.

FINANCE DIRECTOR – Carol-Ann Schindel

Ms. Schindel: I just wanted to add to what the Mayor had brought up regarding the financial signatures on purchase orders. We will bring to you what the other local cities are doing and the State rule is $50,000.00. That is why that number was picked, because that is the Ohio Revised Code (ORC). Some places in order to give everyone a sense of comfort…might use the gap of a signature from a Finance Committee person as well as another Council person. So that you get two signatures on the purchase order so there are other options to do. The Ohio Revised Code (ORC) is $50,000.00 and we will bring to you what the local cities around us are doing. I have nothing else to report.

There were no questions of Ms. Schindel.

LAW DIRECTOR – Randy Klammer

Mr. Klammer: Thank you Madam President, Mayor and Members of Council. You will remember too and I know that you guys are going to research this $50,000.00 issue. Remember that we have the 50% in the Charter but we also have a separate ordinance that required Council’s approval on anything over $12,500.00 even if competitive bidding wasn’t required. So what I think that they are talking about is making that $12,500.00 number match the new competitive bidding number, because generally speaking they were increased from $25,000.00 to $50,000.00 hence the $12,500.00 to $25,000.00, because it would be half of that. I wanted to thank Ms. Schindel for helping us hunt down the release of the restrictions from the Nike site that the government had given us during the past administration. The buyer is having a hick-up with a title company and an escrow agent, because of the nature of the business. I think that what they are finding is that there are some federal regulations that making some people hesitant. They managed to find another title company. I communicated with their lawyer today and I indicated that I was comfortable amending that by way of an email indicating that we can use whatever title company the find. I have no objection to that. At this point their firm is also going to hold the money in their IOLTA if they can’t find an escrow agent. So just to give you an update I handled that by way of an email so I don’t need to bring you an amended agreement and I have no reason to think that we need an amended agreement on it. I am open for questions.

There were no questions of Mr. Klammer.

Executive Session:

MOTION: Mr. Evers moved to adjourn into Executive Session to discuss Fatur v. Eastlake. Mr. Zuren second.

ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.

Motion carried.

MOTION: Mr. Evers moved to adjourn out of Executive Session. Mr. Zuren second.

ROLL CALL: Yeas unanimous.

Motion carried.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 7:59 p.m.

_________________________________________

LAURA A. DEPLEDGE, COUNCIL PRESIDENT

APPROVED: ______________________

ATTEST: _____________________________________

TRACY M. SIMONS, CLERK OF COUNCIL

City of Eastlake Ohio

Regular Council Meeting Minutes from May 9, 2017

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