04/16/2002 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 4/16/2002 ~ range of offenses should be considered, taking into consideration the above examples. The committee unanimously agreed to hold Ordinance 2002r4i in committee pending a response from the Law Department. Today he received a memo from the Law Departmern, and it appears that the State of Ohio is addressing these issues in Senate Bi11251. The ordinance will coirtinue to be held in committee. Councilman Gateau, chairperson of the Recreation, Public Parks and Buildings Committee: 1) The committee met on Tuesday, April 9. All committee members were present. There was one item on the agenda that evening and that was a presentation from Mr. Scarf, president of the Hot Stove organization in the city. Mr. Scarf had requested that the annual fee charged to the Hot Stove program be waived this year as has occurred in the recent past. The annual fee, which is based on the number of diamonds used and the number of games played, averages out to approximately $3,000. Mr. Scarf did indicate that the cost of providing the program was becoming more than his organization could handle. There are 680 families involved in the program and the annual $75 fee has not been raised in over five years. Ahhough sponsors do assist in keeping the costs down, things like a sudden dramatic increase in insurance costs have taken a big toll. Mr. Scarf asked that the city waive the fee for a period of five years to help the organization stay on its feet. In support of his request, it was noted that the 12 member board for Hot Stove has voted repeatedly and consistently in the past to improve city facilities at its own expense by things like adding backstops, fencing, bleachers, screening, ball diamond dirt and other enhancements. The Hot Stove progam plans on donating $16,500 to the city this year alone in improvemems, bringing the total donations to the city since 1997 to $74,000. Recreation Commissioner Morgan voiced his opinion that there was no objection to Hot Stove's request, noting that the program had been very good to the community and had been very supportive of the city in the past. The committee unanimously agreed that the matter would be Left to the Recx-eation Commission to handle at its meeting scheduled on April 15. 2) The Recreation Commission meeting took place on April 15 at 7 p.m. at the Recreation Center. There were a number of items on the agenda in addition to Mr. Scarf's request: • The North Olmsted Hockey Club has expressed an merest in renovating an upstairs room at the Rec Center to use as a community group's office. The North Olmsted Hockey Club is "homeless" and wanders from home to home with its files and documents and never really lands in one place for too long. The renovations that they have proposed would be at their expense and would include lighting, storage facilities, painting and carpeting. The commission toured the room which is currently not being used. It's possible that the room might even been expanded to allow for a larger meeting area. The room is upstairs and overlooks the ice rink. The proposal was warmly received by the Recreation Commission. The club was advised to come back next month with a little bit more detail on their proposal. • Sandy Andrews, the individual in charge of the swimming program, gave a presentation. It was welt thought out and included proposals on how to increase attendance at the pools, how to enhance the learn-to-swim program, how to schedule 7