04/16/1996 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 4/16/96 Mr. McKay, Chairperson of the Streets & Drainage Committee: 1) The committee met on ato- v~ Monday, April 8. In attendance were Council Members Lind, Limpert, Nashar, Musial, McKay and Service Director Bohlmann. Ordinance 96-52 was discussed and will be held in committee for further review. Mr. Nashar did not have a committee report but wished to comment on a problem in his ward. Several residents have expressed concern about hazardous materials being transported down I-480 through Ward 3, especially in the Fitch Road and McKenzie Road area. The residents are asking that a concrete bamer be built at the edge of the road so that their properties are protected from accidental spillage ofhazardous materials. Mr. Limpert did not have a committee report but wished to comment on the study commissioned by the city regarding radio communications. He is very disappointed in the study as presented by Steiger, Hurray & Associates. The report, which cost $10,000, does not give any more information beyond what was already discussed in committee. There are no suggestions or sohitions for the ghosting problem. Mr. Limpert questioned whether the city was going to pay the entire $10,000 fee. Mayor Boyle commented that the administration had the same thoughts about the report as Mr. Limpert. The Safety Director and Police Department are very disappointed with this report because it supplied no new solutions but simply reiterated information that was already known. Although a down payment of approximately $5,000 was made, the city is withholding payment of the balance because the report was so poor. The report did not answer the questions for which it was commissioned. Instead, it went into a new scope--evaluation of the dispatch system--that was not required. Some portions of this evaluation were not true and even contradictory. The Mayor commented that this report was the least professional report ever submitted to him. It did not even contain a scope of services. Mayor Boyle plans to meet with the company to discuss the report and provide them an opportunity to correct the report and do what the city intended to pay for. Mr. O'Grady, Chairperson of the Intra-Governmental Relations and Legislation; Long- Range Planning Committee: 1) The committee will meet at 7 p.m on Tuesday, April 23. AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION Jay Power, president of the North Olmsted Firefighters union, spoke about the direct deposit grievance issue that was filed in late 1994 and has been an on-going problem since that time. A memo from the Finance Director first indicated that direct deposit for employees would be stopped on February 1, 1995, but he anticipated the problem could be corrected by July 3 1, 1995. On January 3, 1995, the Safety Director held a hearing and the firefighters withdrew without prejudice to allow the city the time to get on-line with their corrected program. The Finance Director indicated that the program would be restarted by June 1, 1995. On May 31, without any correspondence or indication that the program was to be restarted, the firefighters reopened the grievance. The Safety Director held a hearing at which time the Finance Director indicated he was waiting for computer experts to take care of the problem The firefighters filed for the next step in the ,~, 3 -,<:~ r _.