11/21/2006 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 11/21/2006 3) Update on I-480-the sound barrier walls are coming down. Those walls will be replaced this summer, July of 2007. Mayor O'Grady clarified regarding the sound bamer walls that the State has guaranteed the construction will start as early as July, which is their new budget cycle. AUDIENCE PARTICIP,A,TIQN Dennis Lambert, 25057 Cazey Lane, said he had a concern about Resolution 2006-183. He appreciates the fact that Mr. Orlowski covered a lot of the facts and details. He suggested that, if Council wants to get a goad idea of how central dispatch will work, they should look at the city of Cleveland which has a dispatch center that serves the east and west sides of the city. It took years to iron the kinks out of that and several people died of heart failure before they were able to get an EMS. He does not believe their response time is near what North Olmsted has. This is really bad time and place to do this sort of thing. Home rule is important. People move into North Olmsted so they are under the home rule of this community. When this dispatch center located in Westlake is in effect, we have lost that portion of our home rule. It becomes a regional issue. We cease to become a city unto itself. We do have mutual aid between cities. Our system has been working well, and our response time is good. During an emergency, with a dispatch center in Westlake recommending where the units go, we may be left cold and dry. Somebody's house is going to burn to the ground or somebody is going to be waiting for an ambulance because they are somewhere else. Does not think this is a good idea. Terry Groden, 25211 Chase Drive, said he attended the committee meeting for the discuss of Ordinance 2006-183. He was a bit concerned about how a couple of guests from a neighboring community and representatives from agencies outside the city were treated at that meeting. Although he has no problem with representatives from N. O. Fire Dept. and Dispatch attending that meeting and sharing their views, he is not sure it was appropriate nor necessary for them to denigrate the services provided by the Westshore CDC. Nor was it necessary for certain N. O. officials to grandstand on behalf of the N. O. emergency personnel, who without doubt, do an outstanding job. He was also dismayed when Council members questioned that future grants from county, state and federal agencies would likely be awarded to regional dispatch centers over single- community dispatch centers. He personally believes this to be true. If City Council believes the proposed legislation is either too costly, unnecessary for the citizens of North Olmsted or not advantageous to other constituents they may represent, it's his hope that disagreements with people who are not affiliated with the city can be handled with more tact. He believes there is still room for civility in Civil Service and that representatives and residents of the City of North Olmsted would be better suited by diplomacy with our neighbors. One Councilman did say at the end of that meeting, maybe the time for North Olmsted to join the CDC will come later. If that happens, we'll be asked to participate with procedures that already have been established by original members. He would rather have the Westshore Central Dispatch Center welcome North Olmsted with enthusiasm rather than trepidation. 10