04/07/2009 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 4/7/2009 serving elected official. The city built too quickly and without proper controls in the `SOs, '60s, and `70s. The result was our infrastructure was not nearly what it needed to be. In the late `80s and early `90s, the people who sat on City Council heard their neighbors come in, in tears sometimes, talking about black mold growing in their basement, talking about and worried about water in the basement every time it rained. They decided to do significant borrowing at the time to do significant reconstruction. They should have waited and done it over time. But he will not criticize because he was not here to see the faces of the people who were dealing with the water problems in our town. We've come a long way since then, but we're still paying for the borrowing that those previous Councils did. Mr. Lambert said he brought forward a concept and not to affix blame on Council for something when the borrowing ordinances would come from the administration recommending the Council to do this and do that. He is trying to convey that everything is part of a big unit, and ~to divide and separate and make an excuse for one part of something and then not couple it to something else is not a good business practice from anybody's standpoint. This is an overall problem that the community has faced for same time. It's important to recognize you can't place excuses. The best example is General Motors-great products, wonderful name recognition, lousy internal operation. 3) Mary Beth Sammon, 24202 Gessner, owner of Wave of Change Massage Therapy located at 23201 Lorain Road. She has been at the location for 11 years and had no sign out front for 3 years. After she put up the sign, business improved. With the new sign laws, she is in violation of the sign codes. Her building is very small and cannot be seen, and it needs a sign for recognition. The sign brings in about 50% of business, and business is down about 50% from the end of last year. She can't stay in business withou~ a sign. She doesn't want to be in violation of city codes and is in a quandary of what to do. Mayor O'Grady asked specifically how the sign was in violation, and Ms. Sammon said the sign has the business name and phone number but it is considered a temporary sign as there is no place to put a permanent sign in the ground. Temporary signs will no longer be allowed. Mayor O'Grady said the Safety Director would look into this and be in contact with Ms. Sammon. 4) Ewell Whisman, 4401 Columbia Road, said one day he was driving by Ms. Sammon's building and saw the sign, which was about a foot and a half wide, three feet high, and had two balloons attached. At the time, his wife was suffering from cancer and was bedridden as she had no feeling in her feet and legs. Ms. Sammon kindly made a house call and treated his wife for over a year and was able to help her get the feeling back in her feet and legs. Ms. Sammon's services were fantastic. Without the sign, he would not have been aware of the business. The sign is not on city property. It is in the parking lot and can be brought in at night. 10 ~_~