4/5/2016 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 04-05-2016 approved. Roll Call continued: Williamson, no; Hemann, yes with comment. I know that the residents who are opposed to this issue are disappointed in my yes vote. I would like to express to you that I wish there were something more I could do on your behalf. Unfortunately, it is highly unlikely that the City would prevail as the ultimate authority over the School District. Sadly, a denial might likely only provide a short term shield of protection but produce a sword for which to do battle. I cannot in good faith support that. If the ultimate question becomes should a city spend public money to either initiate or defend litigation on this issue, I believe that spending public money for that purpose would be far reaching and outside of the scope of fiscal responsibility that I am under oath to guarantee to all of the residents. City money provides urban services like streets, police, fire and many related services required for the safety and well-being of all residents of the City of North Olmsted and not educational services. I would like to help you understand what I have done on behalf of the residents of Ward 4. I did attend a few school board meetings at the time when bond financing was being discussed and when architects were being chosen. I did inquire about the sale of the bonds so that I could be fully satisfied that they were marketed to the highest value and to the best purchasers. They were in good order and I was satisfied for us. After those meetings I did approach and solicit from school board members their support in making sure that local union labor was going to be used to build the project. This was important because Ward 4 has a fairly high concentration of skilled trades such as carpenters, electricians and plumbers. I strongly expressed to each school board member that since my residents voted for the levy and they were the folks paying the property taxes, I hoped they would be given at least the opportunity to work on the project and keep as many jobs locally as possible. I am happy to report that Mr. Wondolowski of the Cleveland Building Trades confirmed that the project is slated for union labor and now it was up to those contractors to put in bids. I am satisfied that the opportunity exists for my residents to work in their home town proudly building our new schools. Next, I attended a few of the town hall type meetings the school board held as well as the State of the Schools presentation. At those meetings, I inquired about the light pollution to be sure residents would not be on their patios in the evening having to wear sunglasses. I inquired about the water retention basin and its capacity, the drain connections and even the swale issue to be sure that flooding concerns were addressed. I also asked about whether or not there would be vinyl stripping or some other visual barrier so that residents were not forced to look at a bunch of yellow buses surrounded by a chain link fence. At the time, there was no plan for that but I am happy to inform you the school board changed that and agreed to place vinyl stripping over the chain link. I agree that the Butternut Street itself is in need of repair. When I first came on council, I met with Ms. Wenger and Mr. DiFranco about the possibility of redoing Butternut. We unfortunately did not receive the funding for the project but I believe it is imperative that we revisit the issue at this time. I am the Vice- Chair of the Streets and Transportation Committee, and Mr. Limpert is a sitting member of that committee. I would urge Ms. Williamson as the Chairwoman to put an agenda together for the discussion of repair to Butternut. If none is forthcoming, as the Vice- Chair I will ask for that agenda myself. As for the School Board, while you have so far done as much as possible for the comfort of the residents I must wag my finger at you. Letter were sent to residents in a select geographic area. As the Ward 4 Councilwoman you did not invite me to attend your meetings. I had to do that on my own. Shame on you. Those are my residents. Going forward I expect your communication to come across my desk from the beginning. I also want to express to you that you have been 6