TUESDAY, APRIL 14, 2015 COUNCIL-AS-A-WHOLE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
COUNCIL AS A WHOLE COMMITTEE MEETING
MINUTES
TUESDAY
APRIL 14, 2015
Council President Mr. D’Ambrosio opened the meeting at 7:00 p.m.
ATTENDEES
Members of Council in attendance were Mrs. Quinn-Hopkins, Mr. Licht, 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, CBO Menn, Service Director Rubertino, City Engineer Gwydir, Police Chief Reik and Fire Chief Whittington.
LEGISLATION PROPOSED:
04-14-(01): New Enactment: Section 125.13 “Non-Competitive Bid Procedure for the Sale of Public Real Property Not Needed for Any Public Purpose”
Mr. D’Ambrosio: Mayor Morley?
Mayor Morley: I asked the Law Director to look at this new section 125.13. As you know one of our biggest properties is the NIKE site which is off of Curtis Blvd. We have had some interest in this property. This is so we will not have to go out for bids – it has a provision that anyone interested would have to start construction within 6 months and instead of going out for bids a realtor must provide that they have someone who wants to purchase the property – we would then have the right to sell the property. The Administration could not enter into an agreement without it being approved by Council. I think this can help us with some of the City owned properties and will enable us to not take the time required with going out for bids which could be 3-5 months. The Law Director has reviewed this for accuracy – this is his language.
Law Director Klammer: As discussed in Committee there is a requirement that the resolution authorizing a sale must be read three times which will give the public additional notice of the sale – and, of course potential bidders could come in with an offer. I thank the Clerk who came up with a lot of this language.
There were no further questions or comments.
04-14-(02): Designation: April, 2015: National Autism Awareness Month”
Mr. D’Ambrosio: This designates April, 2015 as National Autism Awareness Month. Throughout the years we have done different recognitions such as child abuse and arthritis. There is a family in the audience today who I am Facebook friends with. They post a lot about autism and I wanted to suggest to Council that we adopt this for April. Autism affects 1 in every 68 births in the United States. In 2004 it used to be 1 in every 125. Research estimates that the lifetime cost of caring for a child with autism can be as great as $2.4 million per child. Professionals in medical and educational fields are still unaware of the best methods to diagnose and treat this disorder. However, it can be treated but is never outgrown. I hope Council will support this and recognize this month of April as National Autism Awareness Month.
There were no questions or comments.
04-14-(03): Recognition: April 22, 2015: Earth Day
Mr. D’Ambrosio: Mayor Morley?
Mayor Morley: We were sent a notice on Earth Day and asked to adopt a resolution addressing Earth Day and the world and trees and recycling. Shred day for the City will be May 30th from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. as part of our recycling for the environment.
Mrs. Quinn-Hopkins: I am curious – does the EPA have anything to do with Earth Day?
Mayor Morley: I do not believe so.
Mrs. Quinn-Hopkins: I have several questions about Earth Day. The first – it says “WHEREAS, the global community now faces extraordinary challenges, such as global health issues, food and water shortages, and economic struggles”. My question is how does that affect Eastlake?
Mayor Morley: I think basically we are supporting the resolution – I do not know if there is any affect on Eastlake. It was something sent to us just like with autism and arthritis – it was just something we were asked to do – just general statistics.
Mrs. Quinn-Hopkins: There are just some interesting points they make and why we should support that but when you really read it does raise a few questions. The second one “WHEREAS, all people, regardless of race, gender, income, or geography, have a moral right to a healthy, sustainable environment with economic growth”. But, honestly, I cannot see where that is truly a moral issue. Going on it says “WHEREAS, a green economy can be achieved on the individual level through educational efforts, public policy, and consumer activism campaigns”. My thought is that seems really over reaching and it is not implementable and is overly controlling. Then further down it says “WHEREAS, Earth Day is the beginning of a new year for environmental stewardship commitments, to implement sustainability efforts and commit to an Earth Day resolution(s)”. I don’t see how we can really implement that. And, further down it says in Section II. about making this an emergency – it says “That it is found and determined that all action of Council concerning and relating to the adoption of this Resolution were so adopted in meetings open to the public and Council and its Committees acted in full compliance with Chapter 112 of the Codified Ordinances of the City of Eastlake”. Truly, we have never really discussed that in Committee and in Section III. it says that it is “presented as an emergency measure necessary for the immediate preservation and protection of the public peace, health, safety and general welfare of the inhabitants of the City, and for the further reason that the within action constitutes a part of the usual daily operation of a department of the City…” I really cannot see how that is really true. By all means I love our planet and I appreciate it being a healthy place without any question whatsoever but there are some items in this particular resolution that I find questionable. Thank you.
Mr. Licht: This is a public meeting – right?
Mr. D’Ambrosio: Yes.
There were no further questions or comments.
04-14-(04): Adoption: March, 2015 Codified Ordinance Replacement Pages
Mr. D’Ambrosio: We adopt the ordinances we pass on a quarterly basis – as required by law.
There were no further questions or comments.
LEGISLATION PENDING:
There was no Legislation Pending.
MISCELLANEOUS
Memorandum of Understanding: Eastlake & Willoughby: Aerial Ladder Truck
Mr. D’Ambrosio: This is a memorandum of understanding between Eastlake and Willoughby for the aerial ladder truck. We are going to lend our aerial to the City of Willoughby because we can no longer man it. Willoughby has approved their legislation concerning this. Chief Whittington?
Chief Whittington: When Willoughby presented the MOU there were some changes we required regarding the spending costs – our City has a $12,500 limit that requires approval by the Mayor and Council. Nothing else changed – their Council approved it last week.
Mayor Morley: The only thing we changed was that they had included that the two Chiefs would make decisions on repairs. Willoughby does not have the $12,500 threshold we do so I talked with Mayor Anderson and we included that anything over $12,500 would go to Eastlake’s Council and Mayor and they included their amount of anything over $50,000 would require their Council’s approval.
Mr. D’Ambrosio: As far as us lending the truck to Willoughby – Willoughby will supply that ladder truck to us whenever we need it. We do not have the manpower to operate it and it basically sits in our garage. There are regulations as to how many people you must have to service the vehicle and we cannot do it. Willoughby is willing to take the vehicle on and if we ever need them they will come with the truck. And, if we ever want the truck back it will be returned to us.
Mayor Morley: Willoughby needs a new truck and the cost would be $1.2 million. They do not want to have to spend that for a new ladder truck. Our truck needs 5 people to man it and we have 5 people on a shift so we would not be able to do anything else at a fire. Willoughby, with our mutual aid, comes to all of our fires just like we go to all of Willoughby’s fires. They will man the truck for anything we need in the City.
There were no further questions or comments.
Amendment: Section 155.02 (a) “Vacation Pay”
Amendment: Section 155. 02 (f) “Vacation Pay”
Mr. D’Ambrosio: These amendments basically just clean up the language in the ordinance. Mr. Slocum?
Mr. Slocum: That is exactly correct. The current verbiage in (a) states that you can carry up to one year of earned but unused vacation pay but not more than two. It does not make sense. We are trying to put something in that makes sense because we have a lot of people who carry over up to two years. That is the way we interpret it and I would like to have the ordinances consistent with how we interpret it. Subsection (f) has a provision for anyone hired after 2009 that they must use their vacation within the year or lose it. With the way we are operating today we need to have people who are hired under 155 – of which there are only a couple of us anymore – be able to carry over. There are other sections that permit carry over and this one says you have to use it or lose it. We are asking that be removed.
There were no questions or comments.
Issuance & Sale: City Hall Refunding Bonds: $835,000
Mr. D’Ambrosio: We spoke at the last Council meeting about this appearing on this evening’s agenda. We are refinancing this building and will be saving about $20,000 over a three year term. It does not extend the life of the term for this building and it will be paid off in 2017.
Mr. Slocum: The good thing is it will help us this year. It is true that it is a savings of $20,000 but we will be saving $17,000 this year. $17,000 this year and $300 next year and $3,000 the following year – that is the way we structured the bonds. It will give us a little additional breathing room this year which is what we need.
There were no questions or comments.
Contract: Osborne Concrete and Stone Co.: Asphalt/Concrete Products
Contract: Specialized Construction: Asphalt/Concrete Products
Contract: Osborne, Inc.: Concrete Products
Mr. D’Ambrosio: We do this every year and these are basically housekeeping items for road working materials. We get asphalt and concrete and asphalt emulsion which is a tack coat to make the asphalt stick.
Mr. Slocum: We went out for bid for motor oil and did not get any bids. I think that is more of a recognition of the volatility with the crude oil prices. We are going back to our normal suppliers and we are viewing it as a utility. If we need to buy we will price a couple of people just like we do with gasoline and diesel – we will get a couple of prices and take the lowest and go.
Ms. DePledge: Do you think that the lack of bids has anything to do with companies not wanting to do business with us because of our lower Moody’s rating?
Mr. Slocum: I do not think that is it. I think we are still viewed decently by our suppliers. I have not received any feedback like that.
Ms. DePledge: I would be concerned about that.
Mr. Slocum: I think there are reasons to be concerned with that.
There were no further questions or comments.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:16 p.m.
dac
APPROVED: ________________
DATE: __________________