01/25/1999 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Regular Council Meeting 1-25-99 Page 3 impact--not only on what we are now -but wha.t we will be like--then we are all sadly mistaken. This (the widening and development of S.O.M. Center Road) is a big challenge and a big opportunity. Route 91 is a state route that services this entire area. It already generates a lot of traffic. We are in the process of growing. We ha.ve succeeded in gaining almost 10 million dollars of funding from the Ohio Department of Transportation for wha.t is about a 20+ million project. We are only starting with the engineering drawings. We want to have a workshop meeting with the engineers next month so we can look at the proposed plans for the widening of S.O.M. That area from White Road to Wilson 1Vlills lies vvithin the area of re-development. He wants everyone to understand that planning does not quit. If we do not appreciate the need for us to plan, we are not doing ourselves or future generations the service we need to do. He would like to see that we look seriously at putting together a master plan. He suggests members of Council, P&Z, CAC and otkers from the community be a part of this. We need to look at the ramifications ofthe changes that we will make and determine what changes will try-to control. He thinks we have a great opportunity to turn S.O.M. into a beautiful boulevard that will have an aesthetic impact and serve a functiona.l need. It exemplifies the direction we need to go. We determine the build-out of our Village. The riext generation of decisions will involve retrofitting--redesigning or preserving. As we look ahead in 1999, he does not think we will see changes at quite the same pace we saw in the past two years--we are consolidating a lot--we earmarked a lot of money to get these cornerstones up and running to build for the future. You are all an integral part of that. Mayor Rinker said he looks forward to working with everyone on the committees and Council this year. Mayor Rinker said that long-time Village resident Rita Mikula passed away Friday night. She was a perennial gadfly. Rita was one of those people that if you knew her sometimes you wondered why do I have to deal with Rita. She was a tough bird in many ways. She was prineipled, she often upset people. Sometimes you kind of knew where she was coming from and other times you didn't know at all. She had her opinions and she acted upon them. He was talking with Danna this morning and she said for the 18 years that she has worked her, -not a week went by that Rita didn't call at least 3 times a week with.a suggestion. She shunned the spotltght. She absolutely insisted on not being accredited with anything that she did. She had a very difficult way about her. There probably isn't a department head here or anyone who has been involved in the Village or who has-not run across Rita that probably doesn't have a story to tell about her. She did it her way and lived by her own life. She was absolutely generous in her spirit. There are not too many people who we can say that the community in which they live, that the people in her community and the heritage of her community meant more to her. She passed away Friday night. A lot of us won't know it, but we are going to miss her. Mayor Rinker said Council has approved the list of appointments. He administered the following oaths of office: Animal Warden Brian Miller Assistant Village Engineer Thomas Cappello