It's a year later, and I'm still going strong. I hope you find it informative and thought provoking.
Happy Anniversary, blog fans!
Department Head Reports
- Police Chief Cook reported on the conviction of Dr. Essa, who murdered his wife using cyanide capsules. The Highland Heights Police Department was very involved in the case, as the car accident that led to Dr. Essa's arrest occurred in Highland Heights.
Chief Cook expressed his satisfaction with his department's performance and gave his condolences to Rosemarie Essa's family.
Mayor Coleman and Councilwoman Lisa Stickan (an Assistant County Prosecutor by day) lauded the chief and his department for their good work on the case. - Our new Building Commissioner Dale Grabfelder reported that 7 new residential building permits and 13 commercial permits were taken out last month. A sign of some economic recovery perhaps?
Grabfelder also reported that under new Health Department rules, contractors working on older buildings are soon going to have to be EPA certified to deal with lead paint removal and remediation--which will limit the number of contractors who can work on older buildings.
That made me wonder whether it wasn't time for council to stop sitting on the fence and to make a decision about the decrepit, mold-ridden old church building, which will definitely be subject to the new rules once they take effect.
- The budget is due to be passed at the next council meeting on March 23rd.
Council decided to hold an additional short discussion about the appropriations in the permanent improvement fund before the vote is taken. Apparently Service Director Thom Evans neglected to add the $ 30,000 cost for annual street striping to his budget request, and to make up for that cost, he changed the appropriations that the Legislative & Finance Committee had previously approved---without discussing it with council beforehand. Council wanted an opportunity to discuss those changes before it formally approves the budget.
- L&F Chairman, Councilman Leo Lombardo, reported that the overall budget reflects a 12% decrease in income and a 7% decrease in spending, resulting in a $ 350,000 deficit in the overall budget.
After hearing that report: an image immediately came to my mind:
The Park & Rec Committee Members sitting in water and waving Mayor Coleman over, yelling: "Come on in! The water in the (deficit spending) pool is just fine!"
However, Mayor Coleman neglected to note that the cost of the City Hall water line repair (almost $ 30,000) and the undisclosed cost for settling a labor grievance (council approved that settlement at the March 9th meeting) had not been included in the budget. Both of those items will have to be subtracted from the projected surplus amount. And, of course, the surplus is based on the assumption that city employee salaries will be frozen in 2010--an assumption that may or may not hold true. Labor negotiations continue to drag on.
- There were 2 speakers at the public portion of the meeting. Former Mayor Tom Hughes spoke about preserving the high quality of our residential neighborhoods and about ongoing drainage problems in his back yard. I presented packets to council detailing a matter of serious councern.
