We started the evening with three committee meetings. I was the Chairperson for Service and Safety. I opened the meeting for discussion with our our Road Superintendent, as it relates to this year's budget Council was presented that is a $270,000 General Fund deficit. We discussed replacing service garage 6 doors, raise headers and make down to 3 doors. Advised him to acquire multiple quotes. Add a plow truck for this year, to replace truck #2, one of the older ones. We should be in good shape for about 5 years then.
Spoke about 4-5 stormwater projects: Pleasant Valley, Dodd Rd “cage”, Rockefeller Rd and Graylock Rd SW repair and footbridge by Graylock and eliminate that footbridge. Lots of asphalt patching to do. 99% complete on Community Center being switched over to LED lights. The rest of the Police, City Hall, outside Service, all done. This summer for next year's budget, making the salt dome larger or build a new one. 1000 ton capacity, some issues with getting salt. Cargill supplied delays. 300 tons on hand, major event, needs 400-500 tons. We had to skimp. 3 snowstorm events, goes through fast. Had a couple situations Cargill could not supply, we could not store. Guesstimate was $125-150 with existing. Road Paving projects this year: Red Fox; Kenelley, May friars...was not exact but he will stick with the list. Signs for Pleasant Valley road bridge, hang PVC pipe to obstruct truck traffic, as a deterrent, like McDonald's has. Council President Nancy Fellows asked about new plow truck, it has an issue, it's done, but some delay for computerized issue. Will get back to us, next week for sure. (Since this was mentioned at the meeting, we heard we would have it Friday. It was delivered and is in our service garage! (see photo) WH uses 3200-3600 tons usual usage per year. WH can only hold 1000 tons in storage. Our neighbors Wickliffe and Kirtland can hold 4500 - would be looking for 2800-3000sf to house WH salt. Council Vice President Plecnik asked about a resident concern, stormwater, recurring Red Fox Pass, various grate sizes. Pipe size restrictions. Ran out of money to pave Red Fox last year, will use the Street Rating list. I asked “How are we on personnel?” Two eligible for retirement in 4 years, good for now. They work hard. Accomplish a lot. I extended compliments, and shared a few concerns that residents have had about snow events. Discussion about 4 truck routes that divide WH in quadrants midpoint at Rts 6&91. I talked about making adjustments to deal with weather changes within the city, and moving resources as weather permits. More drivers still wouldn't do it. Lack of salt was an issue. Feel free to call him, he said. Mayor had nothing to add. We were open to public comments and then adjourned. Starting just after 6p, I had a Safety Committee meeting - to discuss the budget proposed by the Mayor that is a $270,000 General Fund deficit. I thanked all, introduced and welcomed newly sworn in AFC Serazin and asked him about staffing levels, to help Council plan the budget for the upcoming year. Stable staffing, some overtime issues due to sickness and scheduling, has been cut down. Cutting down on overtime can be accomplished by adding part time personnel. We go to overtime when we staff at 5 because one call off we immediately go to overtime. Hiring full time offers continuity, a full time fire prevention officer, could eliminate half the overtime. We discussed fire equipment needs and then moved on to Police Chief Collins, who noted that adding full time officers was a great help. Some wish list going forward, 911 phone system, to be replaced, digital recording system and police phone system, all need to be changed. Still a little short on replacement plan for cars, should be 4 year. Now only 2-3. Radios need updated to digital countywide. I brought up how there have been some casual discussions about the Dispatch center in the past, communities are looking at a Central location, like Lake County. We should plan ahead, the cost of technology is “putting us out of business”. Forming a committee to explore, and to transition because there are full time people who need to plan ahead. Councilwoman Majka thanked Chief Collins for keeping Council in the loop on recent chase into Euclid and others issues, drug and theft, Mazda dealership, discussed a substation near her district. Collins working with owners of closed First Merit bank building to operate out of there daily, costs, negotiation this week. Operating computers, security alarms, call boxes, working with Mayor and owners to decide what costs involved. Also with our manpower and day shift are doing more checks, at the west side, more aggressively using automation license plate readers, patrol activity. A substation could help, with high presence. Adding two full time is the first increase in service that anyone can remember in a long, long time. Thanked them for being here and thanked them for their service to our community. Vice President Plecnik held a Finance meeting, I am a member along with President Fellows and Councilwoman Pizmoht. We reviewed the budget that has been presented to Council from the Mayor and it is in a deficit of $270,000 in the General Fund. The consensus was to not raise taxes to cover this but to find ways to balance the budget for this year. The budget is due to be passed at the last meeting in March. The regular council meeting began just after 7pm. We set aside 4 vetoes of the Mayor. The first was to hire a firm to investigate collusion between the former law director and Mayor with a newly formed “secretaries” union. Next was to clarify rules for email addresses and expending city funds for appropriate mass communications. Also set aside was the ordinance to engage the services of a firm to do a forensic audit of records to ensure funds are spent appropriately. Finally, the suspension of funds allocated from the WHISPER fund created by the Mayor and his secretary to give aid and personal service to senior citizens, without rules, regulations, and records that were acceptable to review. I asked our law director for legal guidance on the Mayor's objections, and he found them without merit. Council heard from the Lake County Engineer's office and Mr. Exley informed us that there is a proposed $5.00 license plate fee that would go to the Engineer's office for bridges and repair work. We thanked him for stopping by. Council left the Prosecutor hire on hold on third reading. There will be more clarity at the outcome of the Mayor's lawsuit against Willoughby Hills. A trial is set to begin on Monday March 5th. We again reiterated that all the conflict that has been created can be stopped, with the Mayor dropping his case against the city. A Mayor must follow laws that are passed by a Council. It's as simple as that. The budget is on first reading, the sports league contract on third reading was not able to be passed because the Council's Recreation Chairman Hallum has not held a meeting to review it. We also authorized gravel and asphalt purchases so our roads will be patched. Council recognized the heroic actions in the line of duty for two police officers. The entire Resolution was read and applauded by all. Council meeting audio link. It's about an hour. http://www.willoughbyhills-oh.gov/mtg.0222.18.MP3 You can listen to the full meeting audio at the link below, but here are the highlights...
Council continued work last night to address issues facing our community despite the adversarial posturing from the administration. It would be wise if the Mayor would drop his frivolous lawsuit against our city and the people's representatives. However, we continue to carry on despite these challenges. We welcomed newly appointed member Laura Lenz who received applause from the entire chamber. She was the unanimous pick to fill the vacancy after the resignation of a member who served three weeks. I was appointed the Chair of Planning & Zoning committee of Council, also to fill that vacancy. Law Director & Fire Chief Vacancy The Mayor reported that he placed an ad in the local paper for a law director and a fire chief. I believe our acting law director is doing a fine job to the best of his ability under these adverse conditions. We shall see if attorneys apply and will give that individual all due consideration. A fire chief should be brought to our city through a search committee, in my opinion, and with the cooperation of a larger network, with a task force of stakeholders, to find the best possible professional to lead this vital department. An ad in the local paper falls far short of the effort required. I disagreed on the points of contention with the Mayor's veto of a temporary solution for the position, which was to bring back our former chief. However, we let it stand for now since the Mayor swore in Council's original pick as acting chief after the debacle of the Mayor's first appointment, who lied on the application and to me, and to Council, and the civil service commission misinformed council. Lt. Tim Serazin, president of the Firefighter's Union will perform the duties of acting chief for the time being. He will remain a member of the union and I will support his efforts to guide the department. Our acting Law Director Steve Byron reported that the unfair labor practice complaint brought about by the efforts of the Mayor's secretary union formation, was dismissed. again. They filed a motion to reconsider. Frivolous lawsuits do not help Willoughby Hills move forward. Pleasant Valley bridge work will begin soon to get that reopened. A new Shell station will be built at Chardon and SOM mid summer. It will be a larger convenience store, without a car wash, and 5 new bays that should be easier to access. Legislation on 2nd reading includes the services of a city prosecutor (2018-4), and the agreement (2018-5) between the private sports league and the city. We passed the ordinance to hire a labor attorney to protect the city's interest in the case filed by the newly formed and possibly illegally formed, secretary's union. If municipal officials, namely the Mayor and former law director, colluded with the union, then a claim of legal malpractice may arise. We placed a cap on fees. Council adopted (2018-8) an updated administrative code in Chapter 167 for communication practices. This updates the use of email, website, mass mailings, mass communication, that is paid for from the general fund. The policy may be developed by the administration who, I would hope, will work with Council to agree on what is a best management practice. Council ratified (2018-9) the improper payment of funds to our former acting fire chief, when the Mayor failed to follow the law by coming to Council for the appropriate manner of compensation for this non-union employee. This matter was to set to prevent an innocent party from bearing the cost of the administration's error. Again, I thank Mr. Talcott for his service and wish him well in his retirement. Council voted (2018-10) to engage the services of a local firm to examine the city's financial books and audit city records. A small appropriation for this service will give our residents confidence that no disbursements of funds have been made outside of normal business practices. I am hopeful that we will welcome a clean report prior to passing the 2018 budget. Council will temporarily suspend (2018-11) the appropriation of funds from the WHISPER program to determine exactly what eligibility and requirements are in place. Legal liability is another concern. It was of serious concern that records requested last week were “not part of the program” when in my opinion and that of others, they should be. Councilwoman Pizmoht raised something like two dozen serious questions that need to be answered (listen at 1:15). Councilwoman Majka spoke as a “fairly new” two year council member, who had some questions and did comparison with other cities. She found that need-based senior residents who need help could receive it, but so were low income single parents. Also raising serious concerns over the volunteer screening, going into senior's homes, access to fiance records, medicine cabinets, etc. should need background checks especially for visiting a vulnerable senior. And we want volunteers to be safe. This is a “pause” button on the program, she said. (listen at 48:30). Lastly, we approved the purchase of three new police vehicles for this year (2018-12). Council President Fellows accepted the motion to move into executive session to discuss pending litigation and for consideration of a Complaint for the removal of the City Prosecutor. We returned from the session and voted to accept the Complaint and to serve it. Following the law of our city is paramount. No one is above the law. A hearing will be held in Council Chambers on Thursday, February 22nd at 8pm to consider the matter. http://www.willoughbyhills-oh.gov/mtg.0208.17-Pt-1.MP3 |
Dave's Notes from the MeetingsThis is an effort to keep my constituents informed, check this page for updates. Archives
January 2020
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