01/29/2007 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Regular Council Meeting 1-29-07 Page 10 That is not something we are going to do overnight. I see that that is the task starting with 2020 as a feeder group as it was before with the 2020 Vision Plan. I see all of our organizations getting involved and certainly the next step will be as we did before, Planning and Zoning looks at it and Council looks at it. This is less a linear path as it is two, three or four parallel paths, but I think that for us to do it right, to have the level of sophistication it is going to take, that is going to be a very important task and I think that is something we need to start this year. With regard to Town Center itself, we have talked before with Heinen's over the last two years. We are expecting in the next month or two to see real plans where Heinen's will be proposing to come north, just enough to have a northern entrance and to start looking at our side of their wall, that blank wall as a way for us to look to redevelop kind of a little town square. How is that going to look? How is that going to work? We are not sure. One of the things in this Town Center discussion we have had is a lot of dialogue with the County Library. Some of you may be aware that in its current location, it is small, it would like to expand. Over the last five to six years, they have been studying different ways. They have actually acquired a couple of properties looking to expand eastward on Wilson Mills. This is a very tough task for them. In the past year, we have had a number of discussions with Sari Feldman, Executive Director. We have gotten them very seriously looking at and very interested in the prospect of bringing the library to the center of town. We have looked at it on this site. We are looking at it in and around this area. Every idea has its challenges and its hurdles. So talking about it, it is wishful thinking, but I am very optimistic. I think that having a library in the center of town. They are talking about a state of the art facility, I don't know if you have been out to Strongsville, but they are talking about a very different animal today than the fort library we all grew up with where you walk in and it's "Shhh!" This is a full service operation and really a community center. We think that putting it in the center of our community is something that is worth exploring. So again, stay tuned to that. And then finally, streetscaping. We have planned a lot of projects. We are doing some things in my neighborhood. Many of you have seen the entryway to Aintree North which was prompted by the widening of S.O.M. Center Road. We are already talking with the homeowner's group in Hanover Woods whose sign gave up the ghost. We axe already looking at probably a variation on the theme of what we have seen on Aintree North. In all neighborhoods we are looking for ways, this is part of the Beautification Committee's charge, of dressing up our community, of getting our neighborhoods looking again at what assets we have and as a Village we try to be the resource. We try to guide and we try to lead but we also try to get you involved and participate in these kind of beautification efforts. In the center of town, in the different neighborhoods, these are ongoing projects that we intend to do. With that, I will stop. I know I have gone on and I know it is very hot and you have been very patient, but face it, we have a lot going for us. We have a lot ahead of us and I have every reason to believe we will continue to maintain this kind of momentum.