12/13/1999 Meeting Minutes (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Regular Council Meeting 12-13-99 Page 12 Council President Marquardt asked if there was any discussion. Mrs. Cinco said at this time all of Council and the community have received my statement. It will be submitted for the minutes. Again, let me emphasize that we are looking at landscaping in areas that are appropriate, that aze safe. And, again, those plans leave it open for us to be able to do this for safety and to have the traffic flow regulated and to maintain the Village chazacter as opposed to looking like a landing strip as Willoughby Hills does. I think a 5th lane can be hazazdous. If we can bring it up, which we are doing with our lighting plan, and with some kind of landscaping where appropriate, hopefully, we will be able to. Mrs. Mills said the progress of Mayfield Village is very important to all residents. The community must be awaze of changes. As a Councilperson, I welcome open citizen forums and studies on important issues. The decisions that Council members must make are important to this entire community. Mr. Buckholtz said I have several comments. This was handed to me from a resident and I know that we have received an incredible amount of mail. This is from Mrs. Khoury, who is in our neighborhood in Worton Pazk. "Although I understand that we will not be voting on this issue, I would like to say that the Khoury family all hope you will decide to put atree-lined divider in the center of S.O.M. Center when you widen S.O.M." Mr. Buckholtz said I just wanted to read that for the record so she knew I communicated that. I would like to say that is not my feeling. I had tried to spend a lot of time listening to people in my azea of town. I have read every single letter very carefully. Nice letter, Jim. This is not an easy decision. I have said on many occasions, and it truly comes from the heart and the mind when I say that I always am amazed at our Mayor's efforts. He seems to work round the clock on things. I don't know how he finds the time and the hours. He does things in a first-class way. Basically, any chance he has for this community to put forth a plan, it's the top of the line plan. Still watching costs, he goes for it. I think he knows that I don't agree with him on this particular plan, but I wanted to say that and I kind of wanted to put it in the context of--I drive Gates Mills Blvd. almost every day. I prefer it to the freeway. I also grew up, as Jim Farmer mentioned, a couple of blocks from Fairmount Blvd. Beautiful boulevazds and there are many other examples: Monticello. I've also had the opportunity to take a rough measurement (if you take a measurement from the front door of one house on Gates Mills Boulevard and take that measurement to a front door on the other side of Gates Mills Boulevazd) and there is a little more land there to deal with. There are a lot of things I would like in my personal life and would like for the Village and sometimes you just have to work with what you can work with and deal with necessities and watch out for the constituents. So, the only thing I will say in closing is I find it interesting that the bulk of the letters, I would say all the letters that I received, phone calls and letters, cazefully worded statements, were all in favor of the median. I am kind of impressed to see that I haven't heazd anybody speak up here in favor of the median. It seems like all the people that have come out to the meeting aze opposed to the median. The actual last thing I will say is, and again, the Mayor has really gone above and beyond the call of duty with this: That is the landscaping issue. I, too, come from a neighborhood that has some prior experience with the Progressive World Headquarters. He has made a commitment to residents that there is almost no bounds to what we'll do with landscaping, beautification, green space, shrubbery. That was in the