05/03/2006 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 5/3/2006 from Mayor Jackson and his administration to not only to bring the fees paid by the users of water closer together, but Cleveland will also take over the water mains. There is a commitment to do $10 million of work on those mains each year for the next five years. That is significant as the cost to the city would be about $150,000 for a quarter mile of main replacement. Councilman Ryan commented that several years ago we haci a problem with the Regional Sewer District, and he believed there was litigation instituted by the suburban cities that brought about a solution. He is hopeful the Mayor could address that with some of the other suburban mayors to maybe get more clout. Mayor O'Grady said there was an effort by suburban mayors to address the issue of the inequity. What we are seeing here with this latest proposal from Cleveland is a continuation of that effort. Law Director Dubelko: 1) He is conducting interviews for two new law clerks. 2) Currently, he is receiving resumes for the new law director position. 3) Issued RFP's for outside counsel in various areas of law Council authorized him to do. 4) Reviewed contracts for Recreation, Mayor's office, Human Resources and Service departments. 5) April 27 and April 28, along with Safety, Human Resources, Service directors, attended the SERB academy in Columbus. It was a very worthwhile and educational program, and all benefited from attending. 6) Civil litigation: C & C Realty, involved an appeal from a denial of a request for a use variance by Halleen Chevrolet. The decision of BZA was upheld by Judge Saffold. Case of McDermott v. City of North Olmsted., age discrimination claim that the federal district court had previously held in the city's favor, and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that judgment. 7) Prosecutor's report for April: total of 247 cases. Approximately 67% were traffic matters, with two cases tried and two convictions. 8) Regarding Charter amendments, it appears two will not be passing. With respect to Issue 29, he recommended it twice and believes in it. He thinks it should go back to the people in some form, and agrees with the Mayor's comments regarding a better informational campaign. City officials need to make sure they continue to be good stewards of the powers granted by the people. Finance Director Copfer: 1) March financial statements were e-mailed, and the detailed revenue and expense reports were e-mailed to all of Council today. The summary sheets were placed in Council mailboxes. The General Fund expenses are up 11.6% over the prior year, and the General Fund revenues are up 9.8% over the prior year, which equates to about $500,000 apiece. So, we are about at break-even. 2) The city sold the bonds that paid off the bond anticipation notes and funded this year's capital projects on Thursday, April 20. We had two issues. One was the unlimited tax for the fire station construction. The all-in total interest costs for that unlimited tax issue was 4.73% and the average coupon was 4.8%, and that was for $3,990,000. The limited tax issue of $7,775,000, the all-in total interest cost was 4.497%, and the average coupon was 4.23%. One-year notes are now at 4%; so, if we're getting that for 10 years we're getting an average coupon and the short-term rates are going up. We chose the right time to jump from notes to bonds. 5