05/06/2008 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 5/6/2008 legislature is trying to correct. There are more payday lending storefronts in Ohio than McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's combined. Much of the meeting centered azound a proposal that is being constructed by Mr. Rokakis, which is a county land re-utilization program. That program will assist cities in Cuyahoga County in the fight against blight and land abandonment; and, secondly, when homes aze abandoned, rehabilitation for the homes is not always possible and demolition is much too costly for each city to handle on its own. Finally, it was pointed out that the real victims of this foreclosure crisis are those that are left on the street to deal with the abandoned homes that are in their neighborhood. Nothing is safe about streets that have even one abandoned home on them. The county has a foreclosure prevention program, and she will ask the administration to obtain pamphlets for City Hall. Citizens interested in the program can call 221 to be directly connected to someone who can help them. The important thing they learned from the seminar was that the situation calls for a radical solution. Its affects are felt in so many areas, including property evaluations. We really need to take a generational view on how this situation will eventually play out. Our hope is that the actions we take now will benefit our cities and our counties in the near future. It was a great session to attend. Mayor O'Grady thanked Councilwoman Dailey Jones for her report. He has been involved in the foreclosure issue, and he will be sure to contact the county to get the pamphlets for City Hall. He noted that Treasurer Rokakis is an outstanding professional who has taken the lead on this issue to include testifying in Washington before Congress. This is a crisis; we are doing things proactively in North Olmsted to address the crisis. Councilman Orlowski commented that he had previously had an opportunity to hear Mr. Rokakis speak on this subject. Mr. Rokakis is a good speaker and is very knowledgeable about how the foreclosure crisis came about. He would recommend that anyone who has the opportunity to hear Mr. Rokakis speak should do so. Councilman Kearney, chairperson of the Public Safety, Health & Welfare Committee: 1) The committee met this evening at 7:25 p.m. Present were Council President Kennedy; committee members Mahoney, Orlowski and Kearney. The conunittee discussed two new liquor licenses for Wal-Mart, a C 1 and C2. These permits allow the to-go sale of beer, wine and certain prepackaged mixed drinks. The committee voted unanimously to recommend Council have no objection to the permits. Councilman Kearney made a motion that Council have no objection to the new C 1 and C2 liquor permits for Wal-Mart Stores East, DBA Store 2316, at 24801 Brookpark Road. The motion was seconded by Councilman Orlowski and passed unanimously. Councilman Mahoney, chairperson of the Recreation, Public Pazks & Buildings Committee: 1) The Parks & Recreation Commission met yesterday, Monday, May 5, at the administrative offices of the Recreation Center. Present were chair Terry Groden, vice-chair Mahoney, members Norman Baxter, Betsy Drenski, John Lasko Jr., Julie Nader and Community Life Services Director John Dailey. Guests included Linda Powell and Ms. Jennifer Rudolph. The Rec Commission discussed the April year-to-date revenue and expense reports along with the announcement that the spring ice show will be the weekend of May 16, 17, 18. ~ he Friday/Saturday events are at 8 p.m., and the May 18 Sunday show is at 3 p.m. All are encouraged to attend. It is a very good program that our youngsters put on. The recommendation theoretically pending from the Recreation Committee as it pertains to the Recreation proposal was discussed by Community Life Services Director Dailey. He pointed out what the anticipated procedure might be as it pertains to the role of the Recreation Commission. 10