01/06/2009 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 1/6/2009 convictions almost tripled from 5 to 14. In addition, fines almost tripled from about $3,000 to almost $10,000. There is still much room for increased inspections, increased citations, and increased prosecutions in Rocky River Court on real property maintenance code violations. We are in difficult economic times, but we should also do everything we can as a city to stabilize home property values. An effective, well publicized city real property maintenance code program is one very important way to help stabilize our property values. He hopes, as we go through the difficult appropriations process this year, we keep in mind the real property maintenance program and how important it is to the city and to our neighborhoods. As it is his last yeaz serving as Law Director, he has no new recommendations for good government measures. He has made a lot of recommendations over the last seven years, and he thinks most of them have borne fruit. He intends to spend time in 2409 trying to get the rest of them to the table. Even if legislative measures do not pass, he thinks there is a lot of merit in having a discussion. 2) Prosecutor Gordillo's December report: 223 cases handled; 91 General Offenses; 132 Traffic. No trials. 3) Litigation report for the month of December: case of city of North Olmsted and the International Association of Fire Fighters, the motions to vacate that aze pending now in the Court of Appeals have been set for oral azgument in the Court of Appeals on February 10 at 9 a.m. Case of Lester Ackerman v. city of North Olmsted, a slip and fall insurance defense case, the city was granted summazy judgment in early December. The plaintiffs have now taken an appeal, so that matter is pending in the Court of Appeals. With respect to the cases of city of North Olmsted v. Suburban Collision Center, a number of those nuisance cases are pending in Rocky River Court. The parties have reached a plea agreement for a diversion program to resolve these pending charges in which the defendant will plead no contest to two of the five counts and remain subject to diversionary terms through September of this year to coordinate it with the conditional use permit extension that Council last year granted. The Rocky River court has reviewed and approved the diversion document and set the case for a change of plea on January 27, 2009. All resident victims have been notified. There are three replevin actions pending (a new one was received today) as there are people who want their guns back. Councilman Barker inquired if the cases pending with Suburban will have any reflection on the EPA hearing. Law Director Dubelko said they are relevant, and he has offered the services of Assistant Law Director O'Malley, who has handled those cases, to the Safety Dept. for input in connection with the public hearing. Finance Director Copfer: 1) Pleased to report that the certificate of achievement for excellence in financial reporting was once again awarded to the city by the Government Finance Officers Association for the 2007 Comprehensive Annual Finance Report. The award was received on December 12, and it is the ninth consecutive year that it has been received. This award is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting, and she would like to thank all of Council and the Mayor and his administration for supporting the department in the preparation of this report which conveys their commitment for continued financial integrity of the city. 4