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Minutes of the Council Meeting December 17, 2007 Page 11 ' Mr. Saponaro clarified that we did get parts of the brochure. Mr. Marquardt stated that we did not get all 35 pages. There are references on pages. Mr. Buckholtz asked Mr. Marquardt if he wanted it as one document. We received the information piecemeal. We want it as one . document. We can provide that. We have time. There will be more documents to come. We have just approved the Phase I plan. There is going to be a lot of information. Mayor Rinker reminded everyone that this is something that commenced in the Spring. There have been numerous occasions where Council representatives and frankly the public have always been invited to discuss these things in detail. Mayor Rinker does not know of anyone within our administration and certainly Mr. Brett is no exception, who has made it a point of saying if you wish to discuss these points, if you want edification, elucidation, documentation, do so. It becomes a challenge for all of us in performing our task to be able to provide every item and datum that will be satisfactory to all of you. While we respect the fact that it is essential to have that information, it begs the issue for us to presume that we have to have everything delivered in a certain format only. When we work together, we accomplish much more. Mayor Rinker continued that the fact of the matter is, we are one of three entities in the County that have been tabbed for this innovation zone strategy. One of them is the Midtown Corridor, the other is the City of Beachwood and we are number three. In what Mayor Rinker has observed throughout the community and in talking with community leaders, innovation is key to the retooling of our economy. It is critical. It has been identified as a target area for Northeast Ohio, the 17-county region. All of the indicators show that our ability to be innovative, promoting new technology, promoting businesses that are really gearing up for what he would venture to say is a new type of business has been something that is promoted extensively. The information we have been provided by this County Innovation Zone proposal really speaks to those questions. Mayor Rinker added that the City of Beachwood is known as a leader in the area for moving forwaxd with new business models. They have demonstrated a key relationship with Israel and other entities that are promoting Northeast Ohio in a global economy. The Midtown Corridor, for whatever Dick Feagler may grump about, is still viewed from the planning perspective and frankly within the business community as a critical area of regrowth for the City of Cleveland. Properties that front on Euclid Avenue, despite the terrible time the whole redevelopment has caused for a lot of business, are now hot properties. They are promoting mixed uses and a technology connector. There is a secondary corridor which is going to be getting much greater play in the years ahead that will link the south central part of Cleveland back with the Midtown Corridor to vector in from the center of town to another part of the community called Opportunity Corridor. These are strategies which business leaders, people in government, people in the education community have been noodling for quite extensively. Ironically, this first phase is for us to develop a business plan. If Mayor Rinker has ever heard an expression often, it is that we should develop a business plan. It has been in the context of venturing into a new area. Mayor Rinker's understanding is that is exactly what we are trying to do working in conjunction with a funding mechanism that ultimately can repay a lot of the dollars we invest. We tried a