Pool Repairs, Safety Issues And What To Do With All Of Those Leaves?

Bill Paying Time

Council’s Legislative & Finance Committee (L&F) met before the April 20th Committee of the Whole (COW) meeting.
Finance Director Anthony Ianiro presented several invoices to L&F for approval, including bills for a new park lawn mower ($ 5148) and two new pool “funbrella” shades ($9,975).  Ianiro reported that the Park & Recreation Committee (P&R) stayed within their budget for those two items. L&F also approved additional expenses for several new police vehicles ($6,705).

One issue that re-emerged was the problem of overdue bills. That issue arose several months ago, when Tony Ianiro presented bills to council that were for legal services that had been rendered to the city six months previously. Anyone familiar with large law firms and their billing practices would know that any delay was most likely not on the billing end. At the L&F meeting, Ianiro presented two bills for engineering services that had been rendered in the fall of 2009. Ianiro admitted that he didn’t “know where they (the bills) went” and that the engineer had to resubmit invoices to the city for that work, in order to get paid.
I certainly hope the fact that Anthony Ianiro was reappointed as University Height's Finance Director in January---which means that he is continuing to serve two different masters---is not getting in the way of Ianiro's job performance here.

http://www.universityheights.com/downloads_20009/CC01042010.pdf

Safety Issues

Police Chief Cook and council discussed safety concerns regarding “Gas Well Alley”---the city-owned 20 foot wide pathway that runs parallel to Hawthorne Drive and connects Bishop Road to the back of the Community Park. The discussion was prompted by a recent incident, reported in the Sun Messenger two weeks ago, involving a forcible entry and theft from a shed on a residential property that abuts the Alley. Chief Cook reported that although he did not believe that the Alley was suitable for driving upon, it could be patrolled on foot, on bike or using a golf cart. He promised to contact the victims of the theft and discuss establishing a police presence in the area---a good idea now that the weather is improving, which means increased use of the Alley.

Pool Repairs

Mayor Coleman called a special meeting after the COW. One of the items on the agenda was approval of a contract for repair of the pool.

The pool has been leaking for several years. The situation has gotten increasingly worse over time (I heard that by the end of last summer the pool was leaking 1 gallon a minute, but I don’t know how accurate that estimate is). Council was unaware of the issue until one sharp-eyed council member noticed a small reference to the pool leak in the P&R minutes last fall. That ruffled quite a few council feathers because while P&R has been very vocal about demanding $ 300,000 from council to renovate the old pool house, they kept mum about the pool leak.
Mayor Coleman was clearly hoping to get the issue out of the way, by approving a repair contract at the special meeting. Unfortunately, however, that item had to be yanked because a solution for fixing the leak has still not been settled upon.
Service Director Thom Evans happily reported that one company determined that the “piping is intact and not leaking”---but then added the caveat----“as far as they could detect.” It was a bit difficult to follow his explanation, but Evans indicated that the leak appears to be along expansion joints and that the concrete may be deteriorating around those joints. While both caulk and a product called “water stop” were supposed to keep the pool watertight, apparently both of those products have failed.
While the mayor expected one company to come forward with an offer to fix the leak, that company ultimately declined to bid on the project after looking at the pool and determining that its filler product would not be suitable to fix the pool’s leaks.
The ironic part in all of this---which Evans failed to mention---is that P&R budgeted $ 5,000 last year, to have the pool caulked and repainted.
http://www.highlandhts.com/docs/city_council/minutes/2009/04-28-09_council_minutes.htm

So either the caulk was applied improperly last year---a situation that Evans has not suggested occurred---or the situation is not one that mere caulking will fix. Ever the optimist, Evans reported that he hoped to come forward with an inexpensive repair proposal that would fix the leak and allow the pool to open on time . He also stated, however, that caulking is the city’s “only viable avenue” for repair at this point and that, if caulking won’t work, then the city will probably have to cut out and replace areas of cracking concrete---a much more expensive and time-consuming repair job.

Oh Those Leaves Will Fall

When I first moved into the city almost 20 years ago, the city disposed of the leaves it collected by dumping them in the back area of the park and letting them disintegrate naturally. Times have changed. The city now hauls the leaves away each year (unlike Mayfield Village, which shreds leaves and turns them into biodegradable mulch).
Service Director Evans reported that for the last several years (since 2003) the city has paid Utilities Construction, a South Euclid company, to take the leaves that the city collects.
This year, however, Evans was apparently pushed by Council’s Safety Service Committee to come up with a different solution for the city’s leaves. As a result, Evans found a business that recycles leaves and wood chips and is willing to take our leaves FOR FREE.

Well, not entirely for free. It still will cost city taxpayers quite a bit of money, both in terms of man hours, vehicle wear & tear, and gas to haul the leaves away. But we won’t have to pay a company to take the leaves.
Evans did not seem interested in exploring a way to shred and recycle the leaves onsite---which is what Mayfield Village does. In fact, he went so far as to claim that there was “no room” in the 70+ acre Community Park for a leaf shredding area.

That one still has me scratching my head...
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