01/21/2003 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 1/21/2003 ,, Mary Misiunas, 26782 Chapel Hill Drive ^ Last spring, her neighbors fireplace was spewing hot ashes over cars and houses, and she called the city to find out if there was an ordinance for caps on wood burning fireplaces. The answer was no and she was referred to the Fire Department. Her husband went to Fire Department and spoke to a Capt. who said there was no ordinance, nothing he could do and they should contact their insurance company. Since then, the neighbor has put a cap on the fireplace. For safety of all residents, they suggest legislation to require screen caps on all wood burning fireplaces. ^ Seeking help in restoring the swale between 26782 and 26804 Chapel Hill Drive. This has been a problem since original complaint of December 2000. Their neighbor raised their backyard and caused flooding on adjoining properties. A sewer was put on their neighbor's property at taxpayers' expense, but her sump continued to run continuously. Mr. Jenkins assured her that the water they would get would not be a problem On November 22, 2002, the back wall of their basement collapsed into their home. One of the contributing factors was the excess of water. They have had $25,000 worth of damage and repairs are on-going. ^ She is soliciting Council's help in stopping the biased treatment that they have been getting from the city. Since their complaint in December of 2000, they have been bullied and harassed to rescind their complaint. It has all been documented, and the Mayor has a copy. When their basement wall collapsed on November 22, the city offered no help except the offer of a contractor's name. She believes another city would have sent the Fire, Police and/or Service Departments. The Mayor was contacted as she was furious about her treatment by the city, and he sent out the City Engineer and an inspector who took pictures. As the work was done, inspectors were sent out to inspect the work. City procedures call for inspectors to identify themselves and leave a card. This was not followed and caused a misunderstanding. Her son was home alone during one of the inspections. He did not see anyone, but a policewoman, who did not identify herself, walked into the house and went to the basement. She called the city and was told the inspectors are sent out to her house with police protection due to the violence between them and their neighbor. One, there has never been any violence. Two, her neighbor put in a driveway this past summer and police did not show up with the inspectors. They are not criminals and not the ones who appeared in Rocky River Court, but they are being punished for trying to make the city uphold their codes. She is asking for Council's help as the swale needs to be put back in order for some assurance that there will be no further damage to their property. Also, the discrimination must stop immediately. If not, they will take legal action against city. Councilman Dailey asked that the ward Councilperson and at-large Council members look into this situation to see what the response was from employees who dealt with the situation and whether it could have been handled better. Councilwoman Kasler agreed and said people who are presenting serious problems should be addressed. If the issue of the swale replacement is being dealt with in the Law Department, that would have to addressed at another time. She would like to see this addressed by the administration with Council involvement if the Law Director has no problem with that. This has been an on- going problem and is not getting better. Law Director Dubelko said some good points 12