05/15/2001 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 5/15/2001 Dennis Lambert, 25057 Carey Lane, has been coming to Council meetings for a long time. One of the things that disappoints him is to sit through a committee meeting that takes place on Council-an issue which should be taken up in a committee room and not at a Council meeting. Secondly, watching a political debate go on. He asked the Council President to try not to allow those things to happen. With regard to the STOP program, he was pleased to see bicycle officers patrolling the mall. He believes everybody in the community is doing what they are being paid to do. He's never seen a reason to que~ion it, but it doesn't mean that questioning it is wrong. He thinks that Council, besides answering and responding to the complaints of people, has an obligation to look at programs and the potential effect that those programs may have. One thing that he has noticed in the years that he has attended meetings is there is less questioning of this Council-the atmosphere in which Council conduct it's business. There is less questioning than he has seen in other Councils. It is a mission of Council to look at where the fiends are going and how the funds are being used. He applauds those who are willing to examine it. It is an administrative fimction, and it will come up for finding again and it certainly isn't too soon to take a look at it to make sure it's going the right way. Judy Fox, 27725 Blossom, regarding the Sweetbrier issue, she is on the other side of the coin. She has to drop her daughter off at school and pick her up. As far as the safety of the children, she wants all the children to be safe. It is her understanding that it was the Safety Director who designated where the signs would be posted in order to give the crossing guards room to cross the children safely. Is the area being widened because the Safety Director feels the original sign placement was unsafe, or is it because the residents do not want to have cars parked in front of their houses? Mrs. Kesler responded that, when she proposed the ordinance, she asked that the area be widened because there was a safety concern. It is being moved only one driveway on one side and on the east side it is being moved from the telephone pole to a regular sign pole halfway into the next yard so that it doesn't block the driveway. It widens the area by a few feet only. Mrs. Fox asked that Council not vote on the legislation this evening. Cliff Crabs, 25575 Butternut Ridge Road, asked about the status of the electric deregulation. Mayor Musial said the status of the deregulation in North Olmsted is that NOPEC has signed a contract with Green Mountain Energy. They're finalizing the details on that, but it's supposed to provide a 1% to 3% deduction of the then current electric rate in the area. There are opt-out letters to be mailed, hopefully by the end of August, first part of September. Mr. Crabs said that, if Council has the opportunity, they should pass on to Columbus what a big folly he thinks they made in this deregulation. The Governor of the State of California recently made a statement that was profound in that deregulation only benefits the consumer when there is an excess. He thinks the whole deregulation scheme is a big mistake. On another matter, he noted the poor condition of Butternut Ridge Road. He heard that Porter Road was going to be repaved this year and does not feel it is as bad as Butternut Ridge. Mayor Musial said that the city has put in requests for aid to take care of Butternut Ridge Road and has been denied each time. The rough cost is going to be on the order of 5 million dollars, and we just don't have five million dollars to do it. The one aspect that is coming into the picture, however, is we are planning on skin coating Butternut Ridge Road from Dover Center up 13