06/20/2000 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 6/20/2000 the city spend the $300,000. Since the Mayor has said it would only cost each person ~~ in the city $2 to buy the property, she wants to know how her $2 is going to be spent ~,,_ before it is spent. • Mayor Musial said he concurs that no one can predict what is going to happen in the future. That is true. He and the members of Council cannot make that commitment. They can only hope that, if the purchase goes through, that the residents will be vigilant enough to make sure that the new Council members will be apprised of what their situation is and will ensure that the property stays as green space. He said that Council has a job to do as well as the administration--it takes both to accomplish this type of a goal. The other aspect is, even if the city just buys the land and does nothing else and doesn't buy her property, it still would be a wonderful addition to North Olmsted. He firmly believes that. With regard to the unfortunate situation that happened when people were taking pictures of her house, he apologizes for that taking place. That shouldn't have been done. He apologizes to her on behalf of the administration. Tom Jenkins, Safety Director, commented that the residents should know that Council, whether this group or another in the future, is going to get grilled for whatever they choose to do for recreation. Tallwood doesn't want it behind the Rec, Marquette and Edgewater have a stand of timber (16.6 acres) and don't want it there. There is no good place to put something new. As to the debt, there is no doubt it is a big debt but is was for a good purpose--abating flooding. But should we arrest all improvements because we have debt? We have a capital improvements list that we do want--street lighting and the like. There are other areas to develop. There is some special interest to develop things more local than at the western end. He hopes to develop as many areas as possible in recreation as we are woefully behind. We don't just need baseball and soccer, we need tennis courts, basketball courts and passive recreation areas. There has been a lot of bashing going on tonight, but the conjecture of the city coming in and cutting all trees or black topping a whole area or building apartments of selling it, etc., they could do that with a number of areas that they own now. But they're standing--they're not doing that. He has to speak on behalf of Council as they are honorable people and he will always defend them. One of the advantages of that area being across from the soccer fields is the low impact on area residents. There are two residents on Bradley and then light industry. There is one resident on the west, Barton Woods on the north and the residents on Barton Road with mounding behind their houses on the east. There is a low impact on area residents that we don't realize in other areas that the city owns. Also, it's a nice advantage for city residents to develop a park complex where soccer and perhaps softball and baseball could be going on in the same area. There is a common interest in parks maintenance, there is a common interest in concessions, there is a common interest in people being able to see multiple events in a single location. • Tom Jenkins, 5717 Barton Road. (Now speaking as a resident.) In checking these plots of land, there is one stand of timber between the last house on Barton Road and the Barton Road condos. That stand of woods goes deep and winds to a triangular piece of property that is z-connected to that property that fronts on Barton Road. That 20