Gas Well Committee
As previously discussed, it appears that a majority of Council members prefer drilling in the park over arbitrating Bass Energy's breach of contract claim.
To that end, a Gas Well Committee (GWC) has been formed. Their charge? To select drilling sites in the park.
In an interesting twist, except for Councilman Scott Mills (who appears to be serving in his capacity as Council President), the rest of Council---including the majority who would rather drill than arbitrate---are steering clear of any direct personal involvement in the GWC. I call this an "interesting twist" because, after all, Council members were elected for the express purpose of representing Highland Heights residents in making important city decisions--not to pass the job off to an honorable but hand-selected, unelected group of delegates instead.
Clearly Council members are hoping to use the GWC to provide them with a layer of political insulation---protection they need in light of residents' previously clearly expressed opinion (through their overwhelming approval of Charter § 14.07) that gas wells should be kept out of the park.
Which makes me wonder: If they are that afraid of taking the flak for participating in the CWC and selecting drilling sites for Bass Energy, maybe its time for the majority of Council that favors drilling to rethink their position. It surely would give me pause, if I was in their shoes.As announced at the November 23rd Committee of the Whole meeting, here is the list of the GWC members:
- Mayor Scott Coleman
- Council President Scott Mills
- Park & Recreation Committee rep Tony Valentino (selected by Mayor Scott Coleman)
- Paul Byrne (selected by Ward 1 Council rep. Cathy Murphy)
- Edward Dlugos (selected by Ward 2 Council rep. Leo Lombardo)
- John Graves (selected by Ward 3 rep Bob Mastrangelo)
- David Less (selected by Ward 4 rep Lisa Stickan)
Financial Disclosure/Conflict of Interest Policy
In response to my discussion of the woefully inadequate Conflict of Interest Disclosure Form recently developed and distributed by Finance Director Anthony Ianiro, I received some thoughtful and interesting comments from a reader of this blog. I reprint some of those comments here, with that reader's permission:
"Your most recent post about the Disclosure form is spot on. It really is disturbing that it is taking so long for this to “get done” when the fact remains that this level of transparency is pretty much commonplace today... I think it would be in the best interest of the City to not only have this form that discloses said information related to ones business interest, but there should also be a NOTICE that goes out to all City Officials and employees that makes it POLICY that any conflict of interest needs to be disclosed immediately. Furthermore, it is also common for organizations to send such NOTICE to their VENDORS that indicates they too must disclose such interests or potential conflicts both now or in any future business dealings. I will be passing along my comments and frustration with this outstanding matter..."You just did.
Thanks reader! And to all my readers I say: keep your thoughts and comments coming...
The Catalano's Property
One of the reasons Council President Scott Mills has been pushing so hard to reenergize the city's Economic Development Committee (EDC) is his concern and frustration---shared by many residents---over commercial properties that have sat empty and vacant for so long in the city. One of those properties is the former Catalano's grocery store property.
I had heard that a group of investors was hoping to obtain the site for use as a Marc's store---but the corporation that owns the Giant Eagle grocery story chain nixed that deal. If you've shopped at Marc's recently you are aware of their expanded grocery and produce sections, which compete with Giant Eagle grocery stores.
Apparently there finally is some movement on the Catalano's front. According to Mills and Mayor Coleman, Giant Eagle's corporate owner has decided not to sell the property after all. Its tentative plan---which would require voter-approved zoning changes---is to put a "Get-Go" gas station and some sort of small accessory retail store (with a dining area) on part of the property and to subdivide the remaining space in the Catalano's building into smaller storefronts, which would be rented out to other retail businesses.
With the addition of the new Council-appointed residents and business owners, maybe the EDC will be able to shepard along development of the Catalano property--at long last.
