Laserfiche WebLink
Minutes of a Meeting of the <br />North Olmsted Parks and Recreation Commission <br />September 8, 2008 <br /> <br /> <br />Mr. Dailey said that it will have to be done with City help when it gets done. The City does not want <br />it getting it done by a volunteer project. Mr. Groden asked if what she has raised will pay for it. Mr. <br />Dailey said that the City and Rae Ann will find out – we need to get quotes and have questions with <br />HR and risk management people and perhaps the Law Department regarding how to best address the <br />situation and get it done. The City is looking forward to getting it done and having it completed for <br />the kids. <br /> <br />Budget Cuts <br /> <br />Mr. Scarl had another question about people being let go to save the budget and asked if the budget <br />was approved for ’09 for the Rec. Mr. Dailey said no, it would not be approved until March, at best. <br />Mr. Scarl said there would be preliminary budgets, looking to see what could be cut? Mr. Dailey said <br />this was correct. Mr. Scarl asked if they made enough to cover. Mr. Dailey that everything was <br />st <br />turned into Finance by September 1. He doesn’t know if Carrie (Copfer) got all the numbers in yet to <br />see where the City stands. He continued that the cuts in the budget are a sign of the times; if you read <br />the papers, you see that every city is going through this – Shaker Heights has let people go; Lakewood <br />has let many people go earlier this year. We don’t want to get to the point where we let people go, so <br />the Mayor is working hard to trim where we can. Mr. Scarl said that there is no hiring back when they <br />leave; if you look around, the City’s lean. Mr. Dailey said it is but, short of raising taxes, the City does <br />not know much more it can do. Mr. Scarl said the Service Department is down to twelve people, and <br />it used to have 30-something. Mr. Dailey replied that it’s tough timing; the City of North Olmsted will <br />have to make do with what we can and, hopefully weather it out for another year or so and revenues <br />will start turning around going back up again. <br /> <br />Rec Master Plan <br /> <br />Mr. Groden said that this may be a silly question in light of the financial times we’re talking about, but <br />would Mr. Dailey say that any talk about the Rec Master Plan is dead. Mr. Dailey said that the City is <br />working with the Schools right now. The Mayor and the Superintendent are talking about some issues <br />that will probably resurface after the first of the year to see what can be done jointly. Mr. Lasko said <br />that sooner or later something must be done. Mr. Lasko said that joint Rec and School facilities on <br />behalf of the community must be addressed; certainly on behalf of the schools the issue of a middle <br />school, in whatever form or fashion that might be, whether it’s the construction of a middle school, <br />whether it’s the conversion of the existing high school into the middle school and building a new high <br />school…other communities have done something like that. Rocky River renovated their existing <br />Middle School. If you drive by the Rocky River Middle School by St. Christopher’s Church is not a <br />new School; it is a renovation and addition to the structure. It was said that the same thing is <br />happening in Lakewood. Mr. Lasko continued that the Schools and Rec issues are not going to go <br />away. It must be addressed. <br /> <br />This concluded the report of the Community Life Services Director. <br />Page 6 <br /> <br />