Tuesday Feb. 15th. 8 pm. City Hall. Discussion about what to do with the city’s new green space.
Council has invited interested residents to come to their Feb. 15th Committee of the Whole meeting to discuss possible uses for the newly created green space in front of the Highland Heights Community Center (where the Old Church Building used to sit).
What a great way to begin the discussion.
In honor of its 50th anniversary, the Highland Heights Lions Club recently announced that it will make a donation to enhance the city’s newest green space.
http://hillcrest.patch.com/articles/highland-heights-lions-club-making-plans-for-50th-anniversary
Wednesday, February 16th . 7 pm. City Hall.
Charter Review Commission meeting.
The 9 individuals selected by Mayor Scott Coleman to serve on the Charter Review Commission will meet to discuss making changes to the city Charter.
When he announced the Commission’s upcoming meeting during the February 8th council meeting, Mayor Coleman stated that a Commission meeting would be opened to the public “sometime in the future”—giving the very distinct impression that residents were supposed to stay away until then.
When asked about his comments, the mayor conceded that all of the Charter Review Commission meetings are public meetings, open to the public.
Makes you wonder what the Commission is planning to discuss on the 16th, doesn't it?
Is the City of Highland Heights Really All Wet?
As the Plain Dealer reported this week, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) issued a new set of flood plain maps in December 2010. Banks and other mortgage lenders use those maps to determine whether homeowners need to purchase flood insurance—which can be a significant additional expense for property owners.
Brian Mader from the City Engineer’s office couldn’t explain the whys or wherefores of FEMA’s mapping. During the February 8th Committee of the Whole meeting he pointed out several examples, including that FEMA has now declared the Rutland Drive area to be located in a 100 year flood plain---even though there are no open streams and storm sewers have been handling water run-off in that neighborhood for decades.
Mader has asked FEMA to disclose the data they used, so that he can get a handle on how they came up with their flood plain determinations.
Mayor Coleman and members of Council jointly expressed great concerned about the issue. What they will have to decide--after they hear back from Mader-- is whether to use taxpayer money to pay for the kind of detailed study that would be required to rebut FEMA’s flood plain determinations—not a cheap proposition.
In the meantime, residents have the option of hiring a civil engineer to prove that their homes sit above 100 year flood spillage levels . There are no guarantees, but if an engineering firm concludes that a home sits above the flood level, it can issue a flood elevation certificate and request that FEMA amend its map to exclude the property from the flood plain.
Unfortunately this will take some time to sort out. In the meantime, impacted residents have very little time to purchase flood insurance, as demanded by their lenders.
Additional stories:
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2011/02/new_flood_maps_will_cost_resid.html
http://hillcrest.patch.com/articles/highland-heights-officials-question-flood-plain-map
Drill Baby, Drill? The Saga Continues.
On Tuesday night Law Director Tim Paluf indirectly confirmed a rumor that had been floating around lately, namely that after Council received the final report from the Gas Well Committee on January 11th they instructed the city’s outside council to share the Committee’s park map with Bass Energy, to see if Bass would accept any of the drilling sites selected by Mayor Scott Coleman and three of the seven members of the Gas Well Committee (the other 3 members of the Committee--including Council President Scott Mills--concluded that there were no safe drilling sites in the park).
Bass Energy apparently didn’t like what it saw. According to Paluf, “Bass doesn’t appear happy with the sites because they are not far enough apart. “ Paluf indicated that Bass wants to place gas wells at least 1200 feet apart–twice the state law spacing requirements.
As a practical matter, given current state setbacks, a 1200 foot spacing of wells would mean drilling a gas well either in the middle of the ball fields or in the middle of the forested area of the park.
Although Mayor Coleman had no problem recommending that Bass drill a gas well in an identified wetland next to the new park parking lot, he adamantly pledged during several Gas Well Committee meetings (as did the rest of the Committee members) that he did not want any gas wells to be drilled in the woods.
I guess we’ll have to wait to see if that’s one promise the mayor will keep.
Personnel Issues? What personnel issues?
Park & Recreation Director Dave Ianiro gave a very brief report to Council on Tuesday night. He discussed some upcoming equipment purchases, told Council that P&R wants to build a large storage shed, and also emphasized, once again, that P&R is looking to Council to foot the (quite large) bill for renovating the Old Pool House. Ianiro also mentioned that summer program registration is now underway.
When asked how online registration was going, he quickly admitted, “We don’t do that.”
Why not? Ianiro didn’t explain.
Most significant was the one thing Ianiro chose not to discuss with Council: a letter he recently received from the contractor who runs the pool concession stand. Councilwoman Cathy Murphy (council’s P&R rep) brought the letter (which both she and Mayor Coleman also received) to Council’s attention during her own report to Council.
The contractor involved pays the city $3,000 a year for the privilege of selling snacks at the pool. She hires Highland Heights kids to work at the concession stand (one of Mayor Coleman’s daughter worked there in the past). Apparently the contractor---like the life guards and their parents who signed a petition last September---also has some significant concerns about how the pool was managed and staffed last summer.
When asked to report on his efforts to address the concerns raised in the lifeguards’ petition. Mayor Coleman told Council that he,
“looked into it but didn’t get to the bottom of it. It (the petition) was never addressed to Mr. Ianiro or myself.”That last statement is true. The petition was apparently addressed to the city’s Park & Recreation Commission--the city-paid group that manages the park. Of course the reality is that Mayor Coleman and Dave Ianiro also received copies of the petition---and that they are the individuals utimately responsible for everything that happens in the park.
But take a moment to think about what Mayor Coleman really said here: that he assumed no real responsibility for addressing the concerns raised by the lifeguards and their parents because they did not put his name at the top of their petition. Basically, the mayor's position seems to be that he doesn't feel obligated to deal with issues if residents do not follow (what he considers to be) correct (though unwritten) procedural rules in presenting their concerns. Residents should take note. The lesson here is: if you want to get Mayor Coleman to pay attention to you, you need to put his name on top of your petition.
The drums are beating louder and louder about issues at the pool. First the lifeguards’ petition and now the contractor’s letter. And don’t forget the nonresident male swim coach who abruptly resigned mid-season last summer. (The results of the investigation into his alleged inappropriate behavior have never been made public.)
Whether they want to deal with them or not, Recreation Director Dave Ianiro and Mayor Coleman are now clearly on notice that some serious problems may exist.
The summer hiring season is almost at hand.
Residents are wondering: Will Recreation Director Dave Ianiro and Mayor Scott Coleman finally address the issues that have been brought to their attention or will they continue to keep their heads in the sand?
