04/21/2009 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 4/21/2009 and fourteen cents ($5,924.14) to Reliance Mechanical for repair work done to the pool APR unit and Munters unit at the North Olmsted Recreation Center, and declaring an emergency. Councilman Mahoney moved for suspension of the rules requiring three readings and committee review noting that the request was being made on behalf of the administration through Community Life Services Director Mr. Dailey. The stated reason is that the work has already been completed. The motion was seconded by Council Member Dailey Jones and passed unanimously. Councilman Mahoney moved for adoption. The motion was seconded by Council Member Dailey Jones and passed unanimously. Resolution No. 2009-53 adopted. Resolution No. 2009-54 was introduced and placed on first reading by Mayor O'Grady. A resolution authorizing the Director of Public Safety on behalf of the city to apply for a Federal Assistance to Firefighters Grant for the purposes of receiving funds to purchase a ladder truck; further authorizing the Mayor, if the application is granted, to enter into an agreement with the appropriate agency to accept said grant funds, and declaring an emergency. Resolution No. 2009-55 was introduced and placed on first reading by Mayor O'Grady. A resolution amending the city's contract with Johnson, Miller & Schmitz (formerly Johnson & Colaluca) in order that it may serve as the city's labor negotiator for the various collective bargaining agreements that expired in 2006 and 2007 and as outside counsel in related arbitrations between the city and unions representing the safety forces, and declaring an emergency. Councilman Gareau moved for suspension of the rules requiring three reading and committee review noting that the reason for suspension was the fact the attorneys who would be representing the city have already commenced representation in the arbitration process, and there is a briefing schedule whereby the brief is due in a very short period of time. If we go to the required three readings, then we would not have the ability to commit them to move forward. The motion was seconded by Councilman Barker. Roll call: Gareau, yes; Barker, yes; Kearney, no; Jones, yes; Orlowski, no; Mahoney, yes, with comment that he agrees with Mr. Gareau. His comments were very salient and on point. This is a question of timeliness. Roll call continued: Brossard, yes. The motion passed with five yes votes and two no votes. Dennis Lambert, 25057 Carey Lane, asked how much this attorney representation has cost the city thus far and what is the total the city will spend on labor negotiations. He assumes the attorneys were hired for one particular contract. Finance Director Copfer answered that the original contracts are still in the budget at the set amounts, and we haven't continued that. This is for a specific arbitration. She believes they are approximately 20-some hours into the process already. But we do not have a final bill because we're involved in the process and attorneys do not make estimates. President Kennedy said he believed the rate was $205 an hour. Mr. Lambert said, if we are already 20-some hours into the process, we are $4,000-$5,000 into it. What is the best guess on the total cost? Finance Director Copfer said she did not have an estimate. Mr. Lambert asked if nobody had projected this? He is curious as to the cost to the city because that is what Council does-figure out how much it's going to cost so we actually come out of this with a savings. He wouldn't be surprised if it's more than $10,000, maybe $20,000. Mrs. Copfer said it will be whatever it is to complete the arbitration process. Bryan 7