06/03/2003 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 6/3/2003 ,,. came up with nearly $3 million to come out of the hole. One would think the Service ~,~:. Department would start repairing some of the potholes on the streets and call back some of the laid-off employees. Instead within a few months time, the Service Director was on a leave of absence. A director earning about $66,000 was claiming about 500 hours comp time. This was later reduced by the Finance Director to 138 hours. City Council saw directors earning comp time as an unreasonable burden on the city finances and proposed legislation to deal with the issue. It is reported that the Mayor will veto such legislation. Our tax dollars should go to ensuring the safety of our residents, not lining the pockets of certain administrative officials. As a result, she has joined the recall effort. Finance Director Copfer said she could not speak to many of the issues brought up. However, she would be happy to go over the financial issues with her. Law Director Dubelko asked Ms. Cornish to call him regarding the comment about deleting files. Paul Bouffazd, 6701 Bretton Ridge Drive. ^ He would like to know why it is so difficult to have the city mow the tree lawn azound the side of his street as the grass is over 2 feet high. It was mowed today, but had not been mowed for a month. He has previously called the Mayor's office about this issue. Mayor Musial said he would speak to City Forester Dave Wendell about this matter. ^ He is under the impression that there is an ordinance about the height of grass. At Dorchester and Chadbourne, a house on the corner has grass over 2 feet and in some areas 3 feet high. Who is responsible for enforcing the law? Councilman Limpert answered that there is an ordinance regarding grass over 8 inches. The are handled on a complaint basis when the addresses are called in to the Service Director's office. A letter is then sent out notifying the owner that they have a certain amount of time before the city does it and puts the cost on the tax bill. Mr. Miller noted that home had been up by Councilman Nashaz in the past. Other neighbors aze upset about it. He brought it to Mr. Jesse's attention this evening. Appazently, after the home was sold, the new owner vacated the premises. He will reseazch the county records to determine who owns the property. Mr. Jesse is going to address a faster answer as to how we can get a crew in there legally and get it mowed. This will take some work, but they will stay on top of it. Mr. Nashar said Safety Director Jesse had assured him he would go after the owner or the mortgage holder of the property. If they don't cut grass, the city will do so and put the cost on the tax bill. The city was out there a couple of times to clean up the area. He was there recently, and it is a disgrace and hopes it can be taken care of by the end of the week. Mr. Gareau said the ordinance does not appear to have a corresponding penalty provision for letting grass grow and allowing city to mow the lawn. Council might want to give consideration to whether or not, after repeated violations, it just doesn't become like other Building Dept. issues and owner can be prosecuted. There needs to be a provision so that the city is not constantly going out and mowing one property. At a certain point, it should be referred to Rocky River Municipal Court. Finance Director Copfer agreed. She is the person who does have to assess the property taxes. Although most people comply, there are repeat offenders and the city is always cutting their grass. Mr. Gareau noted that, when city employees have to be out mowing those residential properties, they are not mowing the city properties. On the agenda tonight is legislation dealing with vacant commercial properties to try to target that particular out of control problem that seems to pvp up at several properties every year. This hasn't been taken into residential properties as yet. 13