09/16/2003 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 9/16/2003 over their desire to see that North Olmsted is maintained, improved and remains a strong community and a good place to live. Although Mrs. Kasler had made a suggestion several months ago to hire apart-time maintenance person to work through the summer months addressing mounting residential issues, the Mayor suggested at this meeting that this might be a good idea. As chairperson of the committee, she elaborated on the plan which was presented in June for a minimal cost of $20,000, which would have kept this maintenance issue under control. It is now into late September without complaints being addressed. However, when the Mayor stated that he would hold the meeting the next day to discuss a "sweep" of the city regarding maintenance issues, the committee suggested that, if necessary, legislation would be requested to fund that sweep with $20,000. The Mayor further stated he would strive to make a sweep in a week. Further discussion ensued, and it was determined that the former property maintenance person addressed over a thousand complaints a year and that it was unlikely that only 50 presently exist as the Safety Director had stated. This sweep was fiuther discussed, and it was mentioned that it would first include the complainrts on the existing list and that letters would be sent to violators. A suggestion was made by the committee for the administration to immediately bring any enforcement and code issues to the Law Dept., to arrange for a sweep and to inform Council of the details of such an effort, to establish the appropriate way to address such a sweep, cognizant of the fact that collective bargaining issues may affect the personnel involved, and that a legislative request would be made by the chairperson of the Safety Committee to transfer $20,000 to the appropriate fund, should that become necessary, for the purpose of conducting this sweep. The committee was unanimous in this effort and await the administration's report. Mrs. Kasler wrote a memo to the Mayor to memorialize the results of the meeting, and she had a discussion with him tonight with regard to that memo and the meeting. She noted the Mayor asswed her that the sweep project is being investigated, and he will report progress on that topic to her within a few days. Mayor Musial noted that he would make the progress report within several days. Because of the complaints addressed at that committee meeting, he made an inspection of the streets in Canterbury Woods. He could only find two possible problem areas in Canterbury Woods. One was a residence right across from Mr. Kahn involving a total lawn renovation project which appears to have been stymied for one reason or another but which is now progressing forward. The other involved a residence across the street from Mr. Kennedy which appears to have some items stored in front of the home under the bay window and a difficulty associated with a propane tank. Mr. Jesse did review that particular residence and did provide the committee members his analysis of that problem. Property maintenance is a very important area, and he assured Councilwoman Kasler that the administration will cooperate and do everything they can to adhere to providing that particular activity. Mrs. Kasler said she wanted to be sure it is clear that the discussions had by everyone in attendance at the committee meeting (City Council members, administration and residents) developed into a generalized concern of property maintenance of the entire city. She asked the Mayor for a timeline as to when the sweep would be addressed, and 8