12/07/2004 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 12/7/2004 AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION Dennis Lambert, 25057 Carey Lane, spoke about long-range planning for our city and our region. He thinks our city should take the initiative and organize the other surrounding suburbs near the IX Center. He believes this facility could be used as a convention center. Since there is talk about changing the state Constitution to allow casino gambling, he feels the state should be lobbied to grant gambling licenses only to cities with convention facilities where the benefit will be to the general public. Charles Dial, 27959 Gardenia • Has read the Springvale task force report and commends those involved for handling it the right way. They studied the problem, came to conclusions and made them available for public comment. • Renewed his discussion about his outstanding public records request. He continues to be concerned about the issue of vendor purchase orders, especially for what he has seen at the WWTP. He believes purchase orders were being paid with essentially no justification for large amounts. He feels the round numbers of these purchases orders ($2,000, $3,000, $5,000), is clear evidence of purchase order splitting. It is his belief that there should be more explanation than just "Tegg Services" on the purchase orders. It was explained to Mr. Dial that legislation was before Council this evening to go out for bids for electrical contractors at the WWTP. Finance Director Copfer explained that Mr. Dial was only seeing part of the process. There is also a receivership where the department head signs off that they have received and certify the goods and/or services. Therefore, we do have the documentation. She and the Service Director have looked at the process which was being utilized under the standing purchase orders. It was not being handled and documented in the best way, and they have changed that process. Mr. Dial said he thinks it is mandatory in maintaining financial records that there be at least basic documentation on what the amounts are for that are paid out on every purchase order that is of any substantial size. Robert Whiting, president AFSCME 3517, 215 Brookfield Road, Avon Lake, Ohio, 44012. • Employees of the bus line want to publicly thank city leaders for the hard work put in on their behalf over the last couple of months. They understand the strain has been tremendous and decisions are being made daily based on needs and goals of other entities. He recognized employees of the bus line who were in the audience. (Employees stood and were recognized by all.) • He spoke about the value of a bus line-which is a combination of many things. The bus line has served citizens and the communities in many ways, whether transporting a pregnant woman to the hospital, providing safe transport to citizens when their apartment building was on fire, being vigilant of safety issues while driving their routes and notifying the safety forces of problems, helping to evacuate children from a school during a bomb scare, income tax derived from employees, or the retail tax derived from shoppers who ride the bus to our shopping areas. Seventy-four years ago, a City Council sent two people to Columbus to obtain permits for a bus line, which today is NOMBL. Today's Council is empowered to make adecision-not to 9