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the same way. And I'm sure you guys feel the other way. What I'm trying to say is that the
<br />overwhelming, if you want to go door-to-door with me, you're welcome. But these people do
<br />not want this project. They just do not. The traffic is bad enough. I mean, it's like a racetrack out
<br />there. But I think you folks know that already. I would rather just suggest that you thoughtfully,
<br />as you say, consider our wishes, and believe me, there are so many people that are joining us.
<br />And I'm not overreacting to this. Just feel that — and I'm not as eloquent as Ed and his wife.
<br />They're very, very good. I would like to leave you with this. Rather than to keep pushing,
<br />jamming something down, that we take a step back and perhaps think, instead of having a
<br />whole bunch of the community unhappy with people — and it's spreading. I'm at the
<br />barbershop. I hear about it. You know, I'm walking with a sign and people pull over from their
<br />car and want a sign. Could we not just take a step back and figure a way that we can — I know
<br />this is idealistic, but work together? Could we not find a better solution than having to be here
<br />and take up a lot of your time? And I respect it, I really do... I respect each one of you. So that's
<br />it. You know, no quick answers, whatever. I just don't think the project is a silver bullet for us. I
<br />think it will come back to bite us later. And I say us because after five years, I consider myself
<br />certainly a citizen here. I care about each one of you, and please think about what we're
<br />suggesting. Thank you.
<br />Ms. Elaine Freed:
<br />Elaine Freed, 27615 Butternut Ridge. My house is the last house of the area that had been
<br />downtown North Olmsted, diagonally across the street from the Marathon Station, and we
<br />moved in 77. When we got there and learned more about the neighborhood, we learned that
<br />the family who was in the place and did a lot of renovation during the 40s, 50s, had decided
<br />they couldn't stay there anymore. They loved the neighborhood, but they couldn't stay there
<br />anymore because they couldn't stand to look at the gas station. By that time, of course, the
<br />Unitarian Church had been moved, and my understanding was that it had lots of serious issues,
<br />and so therefore being in the situation of getting money for their property and moving was
<br />advantageous. Still there in that section where Porter and Butternut and Lorain come together
<br />was downtown North Olmsted. It is where the CVS was or is now. There were two- or three-
<br />story apartments with shops on the down level. On the other side of the street where the car
<br />lot is, there were other homes, but there were, again, shops with apartments and so forth
<br />upstairs. Now, this area was not the best looking in the city, but I do remember it, and place by
<br />place moved and left. The gas station is still there. The corner is always very busy. With the
<br />school building, there's been a lot of change. However, the traffic situation, as bad as it is, is
<br />much better than before with the old buildings. So there has been some change on that end of
<br />Butternut, but the traffic is horrible. People use it not only for school issues, but they use it as a
<br />shortcut to get from 480 over to the other side of town. Last week, during the night, I heard a
<br />little noise, and I saw some flashing yellow lights, and I'm thinking, what in the world is the city
<br />doing at this time of night? I looked out the window, it wasn't the city. It was a tractor -trailer
<br />creeping along the road up to Porter, and then it made a turn, and that's not the only time
<br />we've seen tractor -trailers make that shortcut. So working to preserve Butternut Ridge is really
<br />important. The street itself is not super wide, and if you are walking along that area, especially
<br />in places where there are no sidewalks, you're right on the edge of the road. So I'm hoping that
<br />11..05-25 Council Meeting Minutes Page 1.2
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