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Mayor Jones:
<br />Thank you, Mr. President. As we begin September, I would like to recognize our building
<br />inspectors and code enforcement professionals in observance of Building and Code Staff
<br />Appreciation Day, which is today, September 1st. This is not a federally designated day, but I
<br />would like to acknowledge them. Their work helps ensure that our buildings are safe, properties
<br />are properly maintained, and North Olmsted remains a safe and vibrant community.
<br />We have an update on the Lorain Road construction. This Friday, September 4th, Phase 2 of the
<br />Lorain Road construction project between Stearns Road and Dover Center Road begins, and
<br />construction will shift to the south side of the roadway, with two-way traffic maintained on the
<br />north side.
<br />And finally, a huge thank you to our North Olmsted Fire Department personnel and IAFF Local
<br />1267, for helping to make Stuff the Squad a success. Thanks to the generosity of our residents,
<br />50 backpacks and numerous school supplies were collected for local students. And special thanks
<br />to Mares for allowing us to collect outside their store, Red Lobster for their collection and
<br />donation, and the North Olmsted School District for making sure that the supplies reach students
<br />who need them right here in our city. Thank you, North Olmsted, for always stepping up to
<br />support our community, and, Mr. President, that concludes my report.
<br />Council President Brossard:
<br />Thank you, Mayor. Director of Law Gareau, do you have a report this evening?
<br />Law Director Gareau:
<br />Thank you, Mr. President, I do. Kind of an interesting case that I haven't had a chance to report
<br />out on concerning a statute, 901.51 in the revised code, which is relevant not just for this case,
<br />but it's good to know. It deals with, it's actually called Injuring Vines, Bushes, Trees, or Crops on
<br />land of another. All right, seems kind of arcane. How often does that come up, right? No person
<br />without knowledge of due so shall recklessly cut down, destroy, girdle, I'll get to that in a minute,
<br />otherwise injure a vine, bush, shrub, sapling, tree, or crop standing or going on the land of
<br />another or upon public land. Whoever does that can be liable for, it's called treble damages, so
<br />triple the value of the damaged tree, and you can establish a [inaudible} on that, or shrub, vine,
<br />whatever the case may be.
<br />Now, why am I telling you this? Because we have a situation that was brought to our attention
<br />from the Service Department where a number of trees upon the, in the public right-of-way
<br />received a complaint that the trees were dying. Upon investigation, it was determined that
<br />somebody had girdled the trees. What is that? Taking a chainsaw and cutting around the base
<br />of the tree, which slowly kills the tree. So with that, not only would it be criminal, but it would
<br />also be civil damages, and then they want people calling us, adjacent to those trees that are now
<br />dying, asking us to spend city taxpayer resources to remove the damaged trees. We're not going
<br />to take that easily, so the police department was involved, the service department was involved,
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