02/17/2009 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 2/17!2009 REPORTS Mayor O'Grady: 1) Thank you and congratulations to Dianne Discenzo. It has been a great honor to know Dianne and work with her. She has been spectacular as the branch manager for the North Olmsted library. Our loss is Parma's gain. Congratulations to Councilwoman Jones on her election to the NOCCA board. He has served on that board, and it is very worthy. 2) The Main Street economic recovery stimulus effort begun by the United States Conference of Mayors is now the law in our country as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Today President Obama signed into law a $787 billion stimulus package which will be administered through Gov. Strickland's office. The package includes funding in the areas of concern to all of us, including Community Development Block Grant, energy block grants, housing, transportation, education, workforce development, and COPS and Fire. A recent meeting was held at the Laborers 310 Hall attended by Congressman Kucinich and other representative and the chiefs of staff of both Senators. He commented on the COPS program and Fire program as the grants provided are to hire new officers and fire fighters. He expressed the need to be able to rehire highly qualified officers who have been laid off before hiring new officers. The Congressional delegation paid attention to that, and he expects there will be discussion on that point in the coming days in Washington. Our request for $75 million in assistance is on the record with both the United States Conference of Mayors and the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency. Our specific proposals are now being evaluated by Gov. Strickland's office. We remain optimistic that we will find funding either through the state or other federal agencies that are considering this, to include the EPA. 3) This Friday, he will join County Treasurer Jim Rokakis and County Commissioners for a signing ceremony at Cleveland State University's Levine College of Urban Affairs. At that time, Gov. Ted Strickland will sign SB 353, the Cuyahoga County Land Banlr Bill. This important legislation will provide yet another tool for our county to combat the problems caused by foreclosures. He salutes Treasurer Rokakis far his outstanding leadership and work in this field and assures our residents that we too in North Olmsted will incorporate this important tool into our tool kit as we continue to deal with this issue. 4) North Olmsted Senior Center is taking appointments for all citizens age 55 and older for income tax assistance. 5) City will be hosting planners from the northeast Ohio area at the Ohio Planning Web Conference this Wednesday afternoon in Council Chambers. The topic for this presentation is Informed Decisions. 6) EPA's public hearing on Suburban Auto will occur on March 3 at 6:30 p.m. at the North Olmsted branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library. 7) Repairs to the training tower at Fire Station 2 are now complete. The issue had been a lack of heat in the tower, which has been resolved by adding duct work. 8) Police Dept. continues to monitor school crossings throughout the city, and no incidents have been reported. Uniform signs have been added at school zones throughout the city to advise motorists as they approach those zones. 9) A meeting was held with the North Olmsted school superintendent regarding the DARE program. Certain information that was out there was inaccurate, and that was corrected. All parties agreed that the program would terminate at the end of the school year. This is a decision of the North Olmsted City Schools and not the North Olmsted 2