Now You See It..... Now You Don't

Just In Case You Missed It.

From Judge Gallagher's Opinion in the Bass Energy Suit:

"Section 2 of Resolution 63-2006 (authorizing Mayor Coleman to sign a drilling lease ) states that (it) is contingent upon the approval of... three (well) sites by the City of Highalnd Heights and the commitment of Bass Energy to drill the wells on all three sites. Pursuant to Resolution 63-2006, Defendant's mayor (Mayor Coleman) had no power to enter into the Lease until three locations were selected. Despite the fact that three locations were not selected or approved (of) in writing, the parties (Mayor Coleman and Bass) signed the Lease agreement."

No power, but Mayor Coleman signed the lease anyway---- OH MY.

Did You Notice What Was Missing From the Parade Route on Sunday?

The Home Days parade is a wonderful event. It's lots of fun to watch and to be part of (I've had the privilege to participate the last two years, as a member of the LOGS contingent). The parade travels from the Catalano's parking lot along Wilson Mills up to the Community Park.

One eagle eye participant noticed something missing from the parade route this year.

What was it?

The Cutter Oil sign that is posted at the end of Jim Dasher's Wilson Mills driveway--and the accompanying sign that warns against trespassing and the danger of having open flames in the area. (But heh, gas never escapes from those wells, does it? Oh yes, just ask our neighbors in Bainbridge, if you dont know the answer to that question.)

Both signs were gone on Sunday, when the parade passed by. But they were up again, by Monday.

Now you see it, now you don't.

Wonder why Cutter Oil was so anxious to be anonymous all of a sudden, after sinking wells in two Highland Heights residential neighborhoods....

Highland Road Pedestrian Pathway Cost Overruns. Yikes.

The final tally is in, and the cost overruns for that project--overseen by former city engineer Andy Blackley of Stephen Hovanscek & Associates, was approximately $ 150,000. I have heard that two other projects that Mr. Blackley oversaw in the last few years had similar, substantial cost overruns.

Mayor Coleman, with the support of Councilmen Anderson, Legan, Hargate, and Pilla, rehired Mr. Blackley's firm to serve as the city's engineering firm for the next two years...

At least some members of council showed some common and financial sense on that issue---councilwoman Murphy and councilmen Mills and Lombardo voted no.

Council Finally Took a Stand on the Gas Well Issue...but the Mayor was Silent (again)

On Tuesday, Council unanimously passed a resolution endorsing state Sen. Grendell's proposal to change the state's drilling laws, which seeks to better protect our residential neighborhoods from gas wells.

A copy of the resolutionwill be sent to the Governor and state legislative leaders in Columbus. Highland Heights has now joined Gates Mills, Mayfield Village, and other surrounding communities, all of whom have gone on the record in favor of changing the law to protect residential neighborhoods, restore some measure of local control, and stop "mandatory pooling," which drilling companies use to force property owners into drilling leaseholds.

I thanked council and commended them for their action.

Mayor Coleman sat in silence the entire time. He expressed no support for the resolution-- let alone personally endorse it.

Which brings me back to Judge Gallagher's finding:

Mayor Coleman inked the drilling deal with Bass Energy--allowing them to drill gas wells in the park---even though he did not have the legal power to do so. If he hadn't done that, there would be no $ 7 million suit against the city. But he did, and the suit continues on...

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Cause for Concern?

Councilwoman Cathy Murphy on the Case

Cathy Murphy reported at last week's council meeting that an empty and foreclosed home in her neighborhood had been targeted by individuals, who entered the home and over a period of time began stripping it of sinks, toilets, carpeting, and other saleable items. The group was aslo so bold as to remove the wood from the home's outdoor deck and fence.

Although the rest of council seemed initially uninterested, Mrs. Murphy pressed to discuss the issue further at last night's committee of the whole meeting. Her concern, she said, was in preserving not only the foreclosed properties, but the values of surrounding properties, as the foreclosure process went forward.


I was quite impressed with the amount of homework Cathy Murphy did to prepare for the meeting. She talked to officials in both South Euclid and Lyndhurst, which already have procedures in place to ensure that foreclosed homes are properly secured, monitored, and maintained. She also brought copies of ordinances and forms used by those cities.

After hearing her presentation, the remaining council members agreed with the approach she suggested, and the Law Director, Tim Paluf, was directed to begin working on appropriate legislation.


Kudos to Cathy Murphy for her proactive initiative.

More carts put before horses...

It is getting a bit discouraging watching how things get done in the city. The latest example is street striping (repainting the lines on streets) and street paving.

The 2009 budget included money for both paving and striping. Commonsense and logic would dictate that you'd repave streets first, and then have them striped.

But this is Highland Heights.

City council awarded the striping contract last month. Striping is well underway. Meanwhile, the bids for the repaving work are due to be open at the end of this week. Guess what will have to be done after the streets are repaved? You're right! They'll have to be restriped...

Whiteford Park

The renovation work for Whiteford Park (in the Highland Woods neighborhood) was to include new street lighting.

Highland Woods residents worked very hard to get the old and deteriorating playground equipment replaced, which was no easy feat given that Mayor Coleman and some city officials initially refused to acknowledge that Whiteford Park was a city park. At the same time, the residents also expressed concern about the after-hours congregation of teenagers in the park. Therefore, it was decided that additional street lighting should be added as part of the park renovation.

While the equipment has gone in, along with a sign that Councilman Ted Anderson proclaimed was the "most attractive in the city," no additional lighting has been added.

I was stunned to hear Mr. Anderson announce last night that City Service Director, Tom Evans, had looked into the lighting issue and decided that it could not be done, because it required adding a new electrical line from Miner Road.

Mr. Evans never reported to council that there was any issue with getting more lighting for the park. Like the residents of Highland Woods, council--except, apparently, for Mr. Anderson-- was once again kept in the dark.

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Updates: Bass Energy Suit, Drive-throughs, Construction Projects, And More

1. Bass Energy suit
Judge Gallagher issued a ruling on July 2nd, dismissing the suit filed by Bass Energy against the city. She directed the city and Bass to continue trying to find spots for, count 'em, three gas wells in the park, although she also noted that the lease could expire without an agreement of well sites having been reached.

The judge made a couple of significant findings. Here's an explosive one:

"Section 2 of Resolution 63-2006 (authorizing the mayor to sign a drilling lease ) states that (it) is contingent upon the approval of... three (well) sites by the City of Highalnd Heights and the commitment of Bass Energy to drill the wells on all three sites. Pursuant to Resolution 63-2006, Defendant's mayor (Mayor Coleman) had no power to enter into the Lease until three locations were selected. Despite the fact that three locations were not selected or approved (of) in writing, the parties (Mayor Coleman and Bass) signed the Lease agreement."

This confirms what then-council president Cathy Murphy has said in the past: council passed the resolution with the understanding that they would decide whether or not there were acceptable drilling sites in the park--before a lease was signed.

The meeting minutes and the deposition testimony given in the Bass suit establish that :

1) council was kept in the dark while Mayor Coleman, Law Director Tim Paluf, Service Director Tom Evans, and City Engineer Andy Blackley met with Bass for more than six months, as Bass moved forward with its drilling plan;

2) Bass was hoping to drill the wells while the park parking lot was being constructed, to mask its drilling activity;

3) Blackley was paid by Bass to choose well sites for it (he placed one gas well in a wetlands area, on constitutionally-protected greenspace) and to furnish plat maps so that it could obtain drilling permits; and

4) Blackley did not tell council about his activity---or disclose the locations of the well sites that he had chosen-- until months after the drilling permits were issued.

An overwhelming percentage of residents stated clearly, last November, that they do not want gas wells drilled in Highland Heights park. I hope the mayor and council keep that in mind, as they make decisions about what to do next.

2. Do we drive-through?

Readers of this blog will remember that the property owner of the old Ron's Shell gas station property---at the corner of Wilson Mills and Bishop Road----with the support of several council members--has expressed interest in putting a drive-through on that parcel.

City ordinances and zoning laws do not allow any drive-through restaurants in the city.

Cathy Murphy suggested that the city should have an expert traffic study done, to give council better information about whether a drive-through would be feasible at the Ron's Shell site.

The traffic study is in. According to the city engineer, a drive-through is not feasible at that corner. You can't have a drive-in there because of the traffic flow at the intersection and the size and location of the lot.

The council members who supported the idea seemed less than pleased at the news.

3. Construction project update

Two weeks ago, Mayor Coleman announced plans to move forward with rebuilding the intersection of Highland and Miner Roads, and Service Director Tom Evans indicated that the water main on Highland Road might have to be replaced too.

What a difference a couple of weeks make.

It turns out that all the federal stimulus money that the mayor anticipated receiving won't be arriving as a check in the mail anytime soon. This week, therefore, the mayor recommended to council that the city turn down the interest-free loan from the state, which was going to be used to help finance the Miner Road project, with the idea of reapplying for the loan in another year.

And council was told by the service director that the discussion about the water main was something that they needed to be aware of, which might have to be addressed down the road.

4. The old pool house renovation project

Mayor Coleman went ahead and asked council to put the old pool house renovation project out to bid---even after being told that the project was likely to cost upwards of $ 265,000 (way above the $ 75,000 price tag that the Park & Recreation Committee attached to the project).

I'm still struggling to understand why the Park & Rec Committee thinks renovating the old pool house is a much more important priority than, say, improving the safety of the park entrance, adding lighting to the tennis courts, or adding walking paths/trails, so that residents can actually enjoy the 70 + acres of parkland that the city is very blessed to own.

5. Debate over meeting times and frequency

Council holds two formal meetings a month, at 8 pm. They vote and transact city business at those meetings.

On alternate Tuesdays, council holds Committee of the Whole meetings at 7:30 pm, where thoughts, information, and ideas about pending issues and areas of concern are shared and discussed---prior to council taking any formal action on them.

Based on the discussion last Tuesday, it appears that Mayor Coleman and a few council members are looking to cut out half of the meetings. Same pay, half the attendance requirement.

Sweet deal, eh?

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Is This Good Government?

A couple items seem to be brewing in the city, which make me wonder about the state of financial affairs in Highland Heights:

1. Significant cost overruns on city construction projects

Council was informed at the last council meeting that cost overruns on the "pedestrian pathway" project---i.e., the sidewalk along Highland Road-- will exceed $ 100,000.

I believe that project was originally bid out at under $ 700,000---so that is a huge increase in cost, percentage-wise. The $ 100,000 estimate did not include additional engineering fees charged by the city engineer, Andy Blackley and his firm, Stevenh Hovancsek & Associates--so the total cost for the overruns on the project is still unclear.

Another company designed the project, but all of the designs and plans were submitted to the city's engineer, Andy Blackley, for his approval. Blackley approved of the design, I was told that he recommended that it be constructed of concrete (rather than blacktop, as is typical for pathways) , and he was responsible for overseeing the construction work.

That the overruns exceeded $ 100,000 came as a complete surprise to council.

After viewing the original section that was constructed west of Bishop road (which was uneven and undulated signficantly as it traveled along Highland Road), Council had authorized an additional payment of $ 7,500 for hydrant work, so that the sidewalk could be made more level, but neither Blackley nor anyone from his firm warned council that other extra costs for the project had gotten out of control.

Steven Hovancsek, who retired and sold the Hovancsek & Associates firm to Blackley and his partners a number of years ago--but who has agreed (apparently on an independent contractor basis) to act as the public face for the firm when dealing with the city--discussed the situation with the Legislative & Finance Committee on June 16th.

I guess it's no surprise that Hovancsek worked extremely hard to point the finger at every one but Blackley and Hovancsek & Assoc. He blamed the original designer and council for all of the overruns---neatly sidestepping the fact that the city hired Blackley to take responsibility for, and to oversee, the project.

Hovancsek did not explain why, if the design was so poor, Blackley did not point out those shortcomings before the project was put out to bid.

When pressed, Hovancsek finally admitted that he and the city's service director, Tom Evans, unilaterally made the decision to have the contractor replace 81 driveway aprons---representing about 1/3 of the overrun costs--and that he did not inform council about that decision---even though he knew that the work had not been authorized, that it would cost alot of money beyond the bid amount, and that he lacked the legal authority to approve payment for that additional work.

For someone as experienced as Hovancsek to keep council in the dark, as he made decisions that significantly increased the cost of a Highland sidewalk construction project, is troubling indeed. A simple phone call to the council president, to give a heads up and to explain the situation, was all that was needed---but Hovancsek apparently chose not to make that call.

Typically, the city engineer receives a % of the contract cost as his fee for overseeing construction projects. I have no idea if such an arrangement was used with the Highland Road sidewalk project.

It should be very interesting to see, after council approves payment of the cost overruns for this project, how much of that amount (if any) Hovancsek & Associates receives.

To be continued....

2. Decisionmaking for construction projects

The city just spent a great deal of money redoing the Bishop & Highland Road intersection.

The project was not without its glitches, but it is wonderful to see that intersection thriving with local businesses and to have traffic move smoothly once again.

You can imagine my shock, then, when I heard Service Director Tom Evans announce at the Committee of the Whole Meeting on June 16th that the water main under Highland Road has been failing for a number of years and that it may need to be replaced----which means tearing up Highland Road.

Council President Scott Mills was similarly incredulous. He asked whether that didn't mean tearing up the newly reconstructed Bishop & Highland intersection.

Evans said yes.

Evans brought the issue up, he said, because there had been 27 breaks in the line since 1992, when the city relined the water main.

The fact that the issue was raised is not a problem. The problem is one of timing.

If the Highland Road water main has been of such concern to Evans in the past few years, why did he wait until after the Bishop/Highland Road project was finished to bring it up to council for the first time?

And, if that is such a concern, why is the city pursuing, as its next major construction project, redoing the Miner Road/Highland Road intersection?

Replacing the water main will entail opening up the entire length of Highland Road, so a new main can be constructed along side the old one (which would then be deactivated). Isnt replacing the water main---if it is as bad as Evans suggests--more of a priority, and thus more important for the city to do next?

Which brings into focus an important question: who benefits (financially) from all of these construction projects anyway.....? This is a particularly pertinent question to ask, as we read daily about the new scandals surrounding public contract in Cuyahoga County ...

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Council Meeting Hodge-Podge

Some Quick Updates from the July 14 council meeting:

The city-ordered recycling bins are in. Interested residents will be able to buy the bins, at cost, through the service department. The city's trash collector will empty the bins as part of its contracted-for garbage collection service. Residents simply need to place filled bins at the curb on their regular trash day. Residents will also be able to continue to set out recylable items using blue bags (I just use plastic shopping bags, and that works fine).

Sidewalk audit. The city inspects sidewalks throughout the city on a rotating basis. The good news from the 2009 audit is that there are many fewer sidewalk issues than in the past. Residents are responsible for keeping the sidewalks in front of their homes in good repair. To be cost effective, given the relatively small amount of work needed at this point, the Acting Building Commissioner, Jim Austin, recommended holding off seeking a contractor to do sidewalk repairs until after next year's sidewalk audit is conducted.

Aberdeen Assisted Living Facility. The new facility on Bishop Road has received an occupancy permit and is awaiting final licensing by the state. It should be accepting its first residents soon.

Drug Mart liquor license. Although it does not yet possess a signed lease, Drug Mart has applied for a liquor license to sell wine and beer at a proposed location (the old Syms store) in the Shoppes at Alpha complex (the corner of Alpha Drive and Wilson Mills Road). The licensing is entirely a state issue. The city was merely notified that a license has been applied for.

The Catalano's property. Apparently title to the property has changed hands, but Council President, Scott Mills, reported that Giant Eagle, who previously owned the property, is actively working to prevent any business that would compete with its grocery stores from locating there. That puts in question whether Marc's will be able to rent the store, as one investment group had planned. For now, the property continues to remain empty.

Meanwhile, Bass Energy (who has sued the city and who owns the gas well involved in the recent Mayfield Heights emergency evacuation) is apparently claiming that the Catalano's property will be part of a drilling lease, which will purportedly also include the church next door and Millridge School. We can only hope that the parishioners and Mayfield School Board say no to Bass Energy.

Royalty Tax. At the repeated urging of Councilwoman Cathy Murphy, the Legislative & Finance Committee is exploring the issue of taxing energy companies, based on their sale of gas produced by Highland Heights gas wells, and taxing residents who receive royalties from those gas wells. Both Mayfield Village and Gates Mills have enacted similar legislation.
Right now, the drilling companies pay nothing when the local police and fire departments have to respond to emergencies at gas wells----such as the recent evacuation in Mayfield Heights due to the Bass Energy gas well leak.

The Old Pool House Renovation. Whoops. The City Service Director, Tom Evans, reported that the Park & Recreation Committee (P&R)--which is the group that decided that expanding the old pool house buidling was the park's most pressing need and that it would only cost $ 75,000---has apparently decided that rebanding the project will make the actual projected cost (of approximately $ 265,000) more palatable to council and the public.

Therefore, Mr. Evans declared on Tuesday that the project would now be referred to as the "park building alteration." Wonder why P&R is afraid to call the project what it really is?

Read my previous posts for more detailed information on the project, what it really entails, why it is going to be so expensive, and what P&R has said to justify the project.

More lawsuits against the city? Like the Highland Road "pedestrian path" project, the Bishop/Highland Road intersection project (which was overseen by then-City Engineer Andy Blackley), also experienced significant cost overruns.
Now the contractor is demanding an additional $ 38,000 to reimburse it for an increase in material costs. The contractor apparently claims that the city delayed the project and that the price of asphalt significantly increased by the time it was authorized to begin work. Law Director Tim Paluf acknowledged that the contractor has now threatened to sue the city over the issue.

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