06/20/2000 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 6/20/2000 residents--we ought to do something while we still can. Mr. Gareau has said we should do a study, find out what's out there, perhaps a larger, less expensive piece of property. In the past, we have heard, "How are you going to fit a ball diamond on it? What are you going to do with this, what are you going to do with that?" While we're looking for all this detail, while we're trying to answer all these various different questions of what might be and what is possible, someone else can buy this property and we won't have the choice anymore. He thinks it is something that would be good for our city, our future, our children. If we don't do something about it now, it's going to be gone--that will be a tragedy. • Dave Saunders, 6188 Brighton Drive, spoke as a resident, soccer parent and as president of NOSO, to voice support for the purchase of the property. He agrees with Mr. O'Grady. To the gentleman who questioned whether soccer was good or not, it is. If it we don't purchase land and it is purchased and developed as light industrial, he would have safety concerns about the children who play there because of increased traffic. As president of NOSO, safety is a prime concern. He thinks it would be wrong to let it be developed. • Ron Cook, 5972 Barton Road, has property that abuts the soccer fields. This issue is important to him. Residents need recreation areas. People need to get away from it all. North Olmsted is landlocked--they better get this property. Traffic is a problem, but he sees kids playing and not being bad. On the issue of land usage, it sounds like this area is about half viable for athletic purposes. If we purchase this, he would be happy to see it turned into a little Cahoon park and have a will just as tight as Mrs. Cahoon wrote where people could have a Sunday picnic there. NOSO spent $30,000 at BartonBradley this year to improve the field and to help maintain it so we have some concern there. He is not old-time North Olmsted--he chose the city and raised his family here. Lorain Road is polluted, so let's keep all the activity up there. Off to the side, let's keep it residential. As far as the neighbors, there are going to be terrible bad feelings. There could be uprooting of families, and he doesn't know how that compensation is going to be worked out. He thinks everything and everybody has a price. There are people who are going to be victims. He works over at the soccer fields, and he has kids helping him--pays them $6 to $8 and they are learning good work habits. Everything he has seen there for the last 15 years has all been good. We better get that green space or pazcels of land. Think about Cleveland Metropazks-- people who come from other states marvel at the Emerald Necklace. We better grab onto this. • Mrs. Copfer said she wished to respond to Mr. Miller and Mrs. Szabo's comments about raising taxes. There are Councilmanic bonds, which would be used, or bond anticipation notes would be used to borrow these funds. That is called inside millage. There is only so much in our Charter, (11.1), that can be borrowed for that purpose by Council. Everything else has to go to the ballot. We are levying our full amount, so the millage will not go up. When you make a choice to borrow funds on bonds, you are making a choice between other programs--prioritizing the limited resources of the city. Is it raising taxes? No. 12