CITY OF ROCKY RIVER. July 6, 2015

Transcription

1 CITY OF ROCKY RIVER The was called to order by Mr. Moran, President of Council, at 8:00 p.m. in the David J. Cook Council Chambers. Council Members Present: Mr. Shepherd, Mr. O Donnell, Mr. Furry, Mr. Sindelar, Mr. Klym, Mr. Moran Absent: Mr. Hunt Administration: Mayor Bobst, Mrs. Costello, Mr. Thomas Law Director: Mr. Bemer Press: Ms. Botos The meeting was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance. Mr. Moran welcomed Mr. David Greenspan to this evening s meeting. MAYOR S REPORT: The Mayor also welcomed Mr. David Greenspan, County Councilman, and thanked him for his leadership in the Department of Development and his help in securing grant funds for the new roof for the Senior Center. The Mayor thanked Council for all their work fielding calls regarding flooding issues in the last couple of weeks. Rocky River has had three heavy rainstorms within the last couple of weeks. During the two prior storms, the city received 110 calls. On Saturday, June 27 th, the city received 63 calls many concerning backyard flooding. In a very short period of time, 2-3 inches of rain fell for a total of 4 inches throughout the day. The Waste Water Treatment Plant s capacity is 125 MGD s of water that can be processed. The WWTP hit an all-time high twice of MGD s on Saturday, June 27 th. This illustrates how significant and extreme the rainfall was on already saturated ground. The city wants residents to call with issues so the city can help identify problems the city system may have or if it is an issue for the homeowner. Storms this strong and close together illuminate problems on the city s side and the resident s side. A comment that was made regarding the city not maintaining the storm sewers as well as in the past is not true. The lack of funding over the past years in the city has actually made it more important for the city to maintain the system. More than 400 catch basins were checked in the spring thanks to Marty Williams and his tireless crew. Also, $60 million dollars has been Page 1 of 6

2 invested into the sewer system since 2008 in thanks to the EPA and Ohio Public Works for grants and zero interest loans. Sandbags were also placed in areas where restrictors may not have been functioning properly and it worked effectively. Sinkholes in tree lawns are appearing. The city has placed orange barrels until the sinkholes can be fixed. An e-update was sent out to residents regarding the storms, what the city was doing and information for homeowners. A lot of positive feedback was received. Bradstreet Landing has lost a lot of beach due to the increase of the water level of the lake. Rocks were used to fill in for lost land east of the pier. The far-east side still needs a cleanup. Rocky River Park had a large amount of wood removed again. Huntington and Edgewater had some of the same problems. The Mayor spoke with Congresswoman Kaptur s office and was told about an ODNR representative that works on erosion control, beach restoration and retention. Director Costello has initiated contact with him. ODOT brought in their hydro-excavator and jetted and cleaned more than 70% of the ODOT lines. ODOT stationed their sewer crew on I 90 Saturday evening due to more rain in the forecast. Thank you to ODOT for their quick response. One of the Capital Projects that is underway in the city is the acceleration of the Morewood Force Main with bids due by June 22 nd. EPA s approval has been received and tentative approval from CEI has been received. The city is waiting for Norfolk Southern s approval. Other Capital Projects beginning are the Avalon Sewer reconstruction project that begins this week. This project removes 18 homes out of the Lake Road and Falmouth pump station. The city is looking at the Riverdale pump station and redirecting some of that flow back up to the T- track. The waterline project on Falmouth, Westway and Northview has begun. The Senior Center roof has begun to be replaced. Paving Phase 1 is on council s agenda and administration is engineering Phase II which will be ready in September for Council s review. Rocky River Park has a pre-construction meeting this Wednesday with construction beginning in late August. The Detroit-Erie wing walls are being tuck-pointed by the Beautification Committee. The Detroit/Wagar Road left hand turn signals will be installed by the end of July. The Detroit Stakeholders Report should be received by the end of July or the beginning of August. The Mayor mentioned that the Gardiner Energy Service contract will be received by Council this Friday. There will be two documents. One is a Memorandum of Understanding from Director Mehling that is part of the contract. This project needs to move ahead while Council is on recess. The full contract is for all the city facilities. The Board of Elections has forwarded information regarding voter registration. Anyone who hasn t voted since July of 2011, will have their name removed on July 24, The second item received from the Board of Elections is regarding the proposal of precinct consolidation in Ward 1 and Ward 3. Please contact the Mayor with any concerns and the Mayor will communicate your concerns to the Board of Elections. Page 2 of 6

3 Councilman Klym mentioned that the reason for consolidating precincts is to be sure that the smaller precincts aren t split causing the need for two ballots for congressional representatives. The County Department of Development has forwarded the Business Retention and Attraction Protocol, better known as the anti-poaching law to the city. The Department of Development would like to renew this document. It is the same language as in the previous document. This will be sent in the Friday packets also. The County Department of Development knows that it will be September before this ordinance will be considered for passage. The ODOT salt contract bids have been finalized. There is a slight increase from $51.22 to $ This has nothing to do with the rebate the city will be receiving from the settlement. The City of Rocky River was recognized by the organization of Movoto.com which listed the 11 best suburbs to live in near Cleveland. Rocky River was listed as number two. Chagrin Falls was listed at number one. Westlake and Bay Village were also included in the top 11. The Mayor distributed a map regarding River Days. All city departments are impacted by River Days. The Senior Center Art Show will have a reception with the Artists on Friday from 2:00-4:00. Liz Manning, Director of the Chamber of Commerce, was on the radio this evening promoting River Days, especially the Taste of River. Sunday will begin with a run as a benefit for Elle s Enchanted Forest, followed by the Antique Car Show, ending the day with Pie in the Park at 6:30 p.m. A big thank you to the West Life for the insert regarding River Days. An E- update will be sent out Friday to residents regarding River Days. The Mayor announced that the city E-update was sent to 3,000 residents shortly after the rain fell. This is a perfect reason residents should sign up for the E-update or Ready Notify so all residents can receive timely communication from City Hall. Councilman Klym wanted to follow-up with Council regarding the Gardiner Energy Service matter. Mr. Klym met with Director Mehling this morning and Mr. Mehling asked that information be conveyed to Council regarding the Memorandum of Understanding concerning the ice rink and the duct sock which is part of the HVAC system in the pool area. Next week, Mr. Klym will be asking for a rule suspension on this particular ordinance regarding $196,000 of work. The ice in the rink needs be in place by August 28 th. The work in the pool area needs to be done August 23 through August 28 th. The duct sock has fallen down slightly and needs to be repaired along with the addition of a variable speed fan. Mr. Klym will have more details next week. o Mr. Sindelar asked if this was the general maintenance repair and not part of the savings plan. The Mayor said it is part of the savings plan with Gardiner Energy. The $196,000 are not dollars that will be expended by the City of Rocky River but monies expended by Gardiner Energy System and paid back by the city through the shared savings program. This will all be included in the master contract. Page 3 of 6

4 o Mr. Moran met with Director Mehling this afternoon also. The money amount seems like a lot, but when Director Mehling points out everything that needs to be completed and the money saved in the long run, it all makes sense. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: AMMENDED ORDINANCE NO : Councilman Klym said this will be read for a third time next week. This is a proposed increase of fees for the city s Recreation Center Membership. Changes are all detailed in the attached amended Exhibit A with a single adult membership changing from $240 to $262 and a business membership from $348 to $400 per year. Also proposed is a reduction for active military members and a no cost membership for a fulltime City of Rocky River employee and a 50% discounted membership for City of Rocky River part time employee. RESOLUTION NO : This resolution will be read for the third time next week. This is alternative tax budget information due to the County by July 20 th to be sure the city has a balanced budget. The final budget will still be finalized at the end of the year. ORDINANCE NO : Councilman O Donnell said that this Ordinance is authorizing the Safety-Service Director to purchase a 2 ½ ton dump truck from Valley Freightliner Inc. The purchase of two of these trucks is in the budget but the city is purchasing only one truck at this time. This truck comes equipped with a plow and a spreader along with a trade in of the 1998 dump truck for $5,800. The Administration is purchasing this through the state co-op and is satisfied with the price. This will be read for the third time next week. RESOLUTION NO : President Moran said this resolution is to certify the unpaid property maintenance costs to the County Fiscal Officer to be collected as special assessments with the homeowner s property taxes so the city can receive payment. This will be read for a second time next week. RESOLUTION NO : President Moran said this resolution is a partner to Resolution No and is to certify the sewer accounts with unpaid balances from 2014 to the County Fiscal Officer to be collected as special assessments with property taxes. This resolution will be held until the end of July so that residents that are affected by this resolution, have a chance to pay the balance owed. The balances reflect the late penalties. This will be read for a second time next week. ORDINANCE NO : Councilman Shepherd said this ordinance is scheduled for a second read next week. This is to renew the vending contract with Metropolitan Vending Company. They have agreed to lock in the rates from last year and add a healthy choice machine and other amenities that have been discussed before. They have performed adequately. Ordinance No : This ordinance is for the Council recess for the month of August. This Ordinance has been passed for the past 30 plus years for Council to enjoy vacation time. This will be discussed again next week. Page 4 of 6

5 Ordinance No : This is the supplemental appropriations for 2015 budget. This will be discussed more next week regarding retirements, energy efficiency rebate received, Phase II paving projects, and unanticipated retirement of Jeff Harrington. This will be read for the second time next week. Ordinance No : This is for the collection of taxes beginning January 1, 2016 moving from the current C.C.A. program to the R.I.T.A. program. A good outline was received this evening from the representatives from R.I.T.A. This will be discussed further next week with Director Thomas. Mr. Klym said that he would be interested in hearing next week if we can meet the time frame listed in the brochure. We are already within the 6 months of the timeline presented. Mr. Klym said this is a big change for the city, the administration, R.I.T.A. and C.C.A. and for all the residents, so that rolling it out correctly is very important. Mr. Moran said that some of the conversation has been started with R.I.T.A. and C.C.A. so that this can be completed by January 1, MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS: NONE COMMITTEE REPORTS: Mr. Moran said that the Finance Committee Meeting held this evening is self-explanatory. Thank you to the representatives that presented and thank you to the Mayor and Director Thomas for reaching out to the representatives and having them attend this evening s meeting. NEW BUSINESS: Ordinance No : This ordinance authorizing the City to enter into a contract with Crossroads Asphalt Recycling, Inc. This is Phase 1 of the resurfacing program. Two bids were received for work on Caroline Avenue, Laverne Avenue, Yacht Club Drive, Elmwood between Detroit and Erie, Lakeview between Detroit and the I 90 bridge and Northview between Center Ridge and Hilliard. The Phase 1 Program will not exceed $1,285, Crossroads has done satisfactory work in Rocky River before. This may need to be considered sooner than three reads so as the projects can continue. This Ordinance will have a first reading next week. Ordinance No : This is literally a housekeeping ordinance authorizing the Safety-Service Director to purchase janitorial supplies from Ohio Valley Supply and Maintenance Co. not to exceed $55,000. It is a one year contract with a one year option to renew. Administration is pleased with the pricing. This will have three reads. COMMUNICATIONS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS: President Moran mentioned the damage on the beaches for the second time this summer and the clean-up work that has been done is unbelievable. Page 5 of 6

6 Building Commissioner Kevin Beirne has retired and will be missed. Michael McCort has begun as the new Building Commissioner for the city. The Sunflower Wine Festival will be held this weekend. President Moran is hoping for good weather so that residence can enjoy everything that is planned for this weekend. Council received a request for a TREX Liquor License for Cravings Café at Lake Road. The police department has given a clear on this request. There is no objection from Council. The meeting was adjourned at 8:53 p.m. James W. Moran President of Council Susan G. Pease Clerk of Council Page 6 of 6