09/16/2008 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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r Council Minutes of 9/16/2008 Councilman Barker commented that the Mercedes dealership in North Olmsted is the top Mercedes dealership in the region, possibly the east coast 2) Charles Dial, 27959 Gardenia, said there is an ongoing occurrence of power failures in his area which affect eight or nine homes. Many of the residents are elderly and are in need of power for communications. He believes the problem is that CEI has not trimmed the trees along a 400 to 500 foot area although they do have an easement. He would like the city to pass legislation to mandate the trees be adequately trimmed. Mayor O'Grady commented that CEI already has both the right to go in and trim those trees and the responsibility. There's no additional permission that they need from the City of North Olmsted. The real solution is technology-the ability to put the wires underground. At this time, the cost for doing that is prohibitive. CEI has already informed the city they will be doing a significant trimming project in North Olmsted next year. If residents are having an issue with power outages, they should notify the city and the issue will be addressed with CEI. 3) Jim Burns, 3978 Dover Center, noted that five or six years ago the state legislature passed a law that phased out the personal property tax and phased in the CAT tax (Commercial Activity Tax). The grocers association has sued the State of Ohio saying the CAT tax was a sales tax on food and was unconstitutional. The state said no it's a tax for privilege to do business, and the state's position was upheld in the original court. The appeals court overturned that decision. This has a significant financial impact on cities and schools. The city needs to look into this because, if the Supreme Court upholds the appellate court decision, the state may have to refund all the tax collected. Also, it's going to take a while before they can adjust the rates to make up for the revenue that are lost. This is something the city needs to keep track of and see where it's going. LEGISLATION Ordinance No. 2008-104 introduced by Mayor O'Grady was given its third reading. An ordinance amending the organizational chart of the Wastewater Treatment section of the Division of Public Works in the Department of Public Service in order to deliver services from the said division in a more efficient and economical manner, and declaring an emergency, as amended. Councilman Gareau moved for adoption. The motion was seconded by Councilman Barker and passed unanimously. Ordinance No. 2008-104 adopted. Ordinance No. 2008-108 introduced by Mayor O'Grady was given its third reading. An ordinance amending the range of compensation rates and salary ranges for administrative and legislative personnel so as to provide the changes in titles and salary ranges for various non-bargaining unit positions in the Wastewater Treatment section of the Division of Public Works in the Department of Public Service; and to otherwise restate the compensation rate ranges for said various administrative and legislative personnel for the year 2008, and declaring an emergency, as amended. Councilman Gareau moved for 16