06/19/2007 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 6/19/2007 Councilman Ryan expressed his displeasure and concern about individuals carrying signs on city sidewalks and who are now sitting on chairs blocking the sidewalks. He noted that businesses are putting up signs along fences. Lorain Road is turning into a carnival atmosphere. Law Director Dubelko commented his department is also working on a new temporary sign code which will address some of those signs at least on private property. Regarding the portable sign issue, he looked at it very carefully and the law clerk thoroughly researched it. He is convinced the research is correct. When you get into contact-based regulation on what is probably the most traditional of public forums, sidewalks, it's just something you can't constitutionally accomplish. To the extent that we have temporary signs all over on private property, that is something we need to address. There soon will be legislation on that which will first go to the Zoning Code Committee for review before presentation to City Council. We need to improve our Zoning Code and get better control, with the next step being good enforcement. We do have laws regarding sidewalk obstructions which can be enforced. Councilman Gareau said he also believed there was no need for a retail establishment to put numerous signs on their property. He suggested the Chamber of Commerce could step forward and advise its members this is not acceptable. Finance Director Copfer: 1) Today she received the final draft of the CAFR (Comprehensive Annual Financial Report) and is reviewing it to be submitted tomorrow to the Auditor of State. 2) She briefly looked at revenue through May to see if there are any problems that need to be addressed. She talked to the County Auditor's office about property taxes because of all the articles in the paper about areas that have high delinquencies. They collected slightly over SO% of our billed real property tax including delinquent and current amounts. They don't establish the level of delinquencies until the closing of the second half in August. In September, we will receive information if there is any substantial increase in delinquencies in our community. 3) Municipal income tax is 1% over plan if it were ratably collected over 12 months. May is usually a very high month because that is when businesses are filing their returns. The county website for estate tax collection posting is being updated on a weekly basis. So far in the second half collection, we have $258,886.95 that has been filed and will be in our second half settlement which closes in September and we receive it in November. The police court fines are at 34%. Interest is at 62% of what the plan was, and we are still getting good return on our money. In total, the General Fund is at 44% of estimated resources, which is good. There still is a problem with sewers. The February estimate was very high, so we are ahead of plan by about 4%. But a lot of that was adjusted in the second billing, and we will have a better idea of that through the end of June. Springvale has achieved 2S% of their estimated resources through May. However, June through September is the busiest time of the year. 4) She also attended the Records Commission on June 6. Erika did a great job, and the employees in attendance had a lot of great questions after the meeting. The presentation stirred a little excitement and started people thinking about what type of records they do have that they are responsible for. S) Attended a fact finding session on June 7 with the Fire Division. S