SO LONG SUMMER

I spend too many hours in front of a computer every day, working as an online legal analyst.
Because of that you are likely to spot me power-walking through my neighborhood in the middle of the day, almost every day.
Walking helps clear away the mental cobwebs and unstiffens my legs.

I always enjoy seeing what's going on in my neighborhood, and I have to say there are a couple of spots I always look forward to reaching.
One of them is along Radford Drive, near the intersection with Kenbridge.
The house has a tiny decorative bench in the front yard, near the sidewalk, that's always decked out for the season.

I expect to see a fall theme shortly, now that the kids are back in school and we're about to hit Labor Day.
But not yet. 
Here's this year's summer bench.
Hope you enjoy seeing it as much I do, every day, on my daily rounds!

POOL DECK: DISAPPOINTING DECISION.....ONCE AGAIN

I have to say as a lawyer I get very disappointed when courts appear to fall down on the job.
 Despite hopeful signs during oral argument, the 8th District Appeals Court ended up giving the City a pass on the massive Rutland Drive deck.

The court noted, and then blithely dismissed in a footnote, the significant flaws in the permitting process that led up to the after-the-fact issuance of a permit for the deck.
It also shrugged its shoulders at the fact that the owners ended up erecting a deck 74% larger than the one actually permitted by the City.... even though city ordinances make doing that a punishable offense (a misdemeanor carrying a $500 a day fine).
No matter.
Essentially the court's message was:

The City didn't follow or enforce its own permitting rules and regulations?
No problem!
Since the permit wasn't rescinded...everything's Jake.
Right?

No, not all right.
It is absolutely stunning to me that a court would think it's okay for a City not to obey it's own laws....and put its stamp of approval on such conduct.
Essentially residents have been given permission to do whatever they want....

As long as they have enough political clout with the Mayor and the Law Director to get away with it.

Once again, enforcing City code is left to the intrepid neighbors.
Hopefully the Ohio Supreme Court will be willing to right the many wrongs in this case.
As always, I'll keep you posted.

DOES THE CITY EVER ENFORCE ITS ORDINANCES?

SETTING: Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, downtown Cleveland, Wednesday July 6, 2016.
WHAT: Oral argument in the Neighbors’ appeal, challenging the retroactively-permitted, gigantic Rutland Drive deck placed11 feet from a rear property line.

IN ATTENDANCE: Several of the neighbors, the neighbors’ attorney, the deck owners’ attorney and Highland Heights Law Director Tim Paluf.

According to a neighbor in attendance, the judges were well prepared.
They had obviously read the submitted briefs and demonstrated good familiarity with the relevant facts.

As frequently happens during oral argument, the judges almost immediately interrupted the attorneys’ canned presentations and peppered them with questions, zeroing in on the crux of the case.

Quite telling, one judge’s kick-off question to Paluf:

Does the City ever enforce its ordinances?

Paluf responded:

Yes

He then stood there in silence.....

The Court of Appeals keeps its own timetable, but the neighbors think a ruling might issue sometime in the next couple of weeks.

I’ll keep my fingers crossed…..and you posted

HIGHLAND ROAD WATER MAIN REPLACEMENT A GO

On June 21^st Council discussed and approved Engineer Brian Mader’s recommendation to award a $3,327.958.00 Highland Road Water Main Replacement contract to Fabrizi Trucking & Paving Co., Inc.

The project involves installing a temporary by-pass line while the existing water main, which runs along the north side of Highland Road, is dug up and replaced.
According to Mader, the project will start late this year and extend through most of the next construction season:

It will have 5 phases: the western City line to Bishop Road, East of Bishop to Miner Road, East of Miner to the eastern City line, and the Bishop/Highland and Miner/Highland road intersections….

The order (of construction) just depends on how the contractor wants to approach the project.

Mayor Scott Coleman was pleased that the project was finally going forward.
He also complimented Mader on the accuracy of his construction estimate.
Mader had projected the cost as $3.4 million.
Coleman said:

We have been talking about this for at least 6 years and had 1 unsuccessful attempt at getting Issue 1 funding.
We are effectively getting 74% of the project financed by an interest free loan, which will cost us $85,000 a year, and the rest is a grant. 
Our pocket money up front amounts to a little over 25% of the entire cost…

I am excited to get it started although it will be alot of inconvenience to residents.

Some inconvenience, for sure, but the benefits will be great.

Homeowners along the north side of Highland Road will receive new driveway aprons as part of the project and Highland Heights residents in general will be spared the nightmare of a catastrophic failure, which would end up costing much more to fix.

HAPPY GARDENING TO ALL

This year’s warm weather has made a huge difference for this year’s Community Garden participants.

This is what my beginning garden looked like this year:

With all the warm weather---and also thanks to the generosity of the City, which provides water for the Community Garden---everything is growing like crazy.

Just to give you an example.
Last year I had to wait until mid-July to pick my first zucchini.

This year I’ve already resorted to making zucchini bread from the abundant crop I’ve picked so far.

It’s a good thing that I love broccoli....
I've got a couple of giant heads that should make for great eating, if the pesky groundhogs don't get there first.....

 

SUMMERTIME BEACH VIEW

Florida has some lovely neighborhood beaches.

The residents living near one of my favorites have gone out of their way to provide places for rest and enjoyment to all of the local inhabitants....

 Happy Summer, everyone!

GOODBYE MILL TAVERN, HELLO MEGA GAS STATION?

I didn’t arrive in time to attend the Committee of the Whole meeting held before last week’s Council meeting.

The first item on the agenda caught my attention” “True North Proposal”.

I don’t know the details, but one source told me that the discussion centered on a plan to transform the small 8 pump Shell gas station at the northwest corner of Bishop and Wilson Mills Roads into a large mega gas station.

Here we go again.....

 There are only two options for expansion, and my source indicated that the plan involved razing the small strip building fronting Wilson Mills.

Bye Bye Mill Tavern…McNulty Roofing, Biagio’s Deli, Zeppe’s Pizza and all the other businesses that operate out of that building.

So let's see.

We are supposed to get excited about a plan that involves throwing out a bunch of small local business employers and embrace a mega-gas station that most likely will be staffed by a bunch of part-time, minimum wage workers.
Who knows what the impact on the city's income tax revenue will be.

That’s economic development?

VOTERS WILL HAVE TO SAY YES

Although it currently operates as a gas station, the Shell/TrueNorth property is not actually zoned for gas station use.
It’s zoned as local business.

The 8 pumps are “grandfathered”—allowed to stay because they pre-existed the local business zoning.

Legally, grandfathered uses cannot be expanded.

That means the owners will have to put a zoning issue on the ballot, seeking voter-approval to change the zoning to Motor Service use.

Which is why, apparently, it was on the agenda.

The easiest way to get a zoning issue on the ballot is to get Council to agree to put it there.

Here we go again.

DEJA VUE

Does all this all sound familiar?

It should.

Think the mega GetGo gas station Giant Eagle tried to install on the southeast corner of  Brainard and Wilson Mills Roads a couple of years ago.

It’s the same deal.

And I have to wonder.
Developer Lance Osborne said at the time that Giant Eagle is extremely anxious to put a big GetGo gas station in this area.

Do you suppose Giant Eagle has a side deal with TrueNorth?

PROTEST ALONG WILSON MILLS

If you are wondering why you see police tape around the tall pine trees that front the residential lot immediately west of the Mill Tavern, and what’s up with the handmade sign addressed to East Ohio Gas...

I have the answer

The gas company is replacing gas lines along major roads in the area.
They completed work along Highland Road this spring.

Next up: Bishop/Brainard Road and Wilson Mills Road.

The company’s easement crosses the residential lot in question, and the property owners are obviously concerned that their trees will be lost.

WILD KINGDOM

The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District has gotten back on track after winning the lawsuit that challenged the new stormwater management fees that it imposed on its customers.

One thing on their list: cleaning out the large water detention basin north of Hawthorne Drive.
A major stream, part of the Euclid Creek watershed, runs through the basin.
It plays a significant role during storms, holding water and releasing it slowly downstream.
Hence the cleanup, to enhance the basin’s water-holding capacity.

Hawthorne is surrounded by undeveloped woodland.

Lots of wild critters live in the woods.

It turns out that some lived in the basin as well.

The night after the cleanout, I encountered a large strange-looking animal lying dead next to the road.

It wasn’t a possum. It wasn’t a groundhog.

It was a beaver.

Yep, a beaver had made its home in the basin.
It was evicted, unfortunately with fatal results.

No, I didn't take a picture.
This gives you an idea of what the critter looked like

.

SPRING HAS ARRIVED....I THINK

After a quiet late winter period the City is awakening.
Mayor Scott Coleman has decided to take advantage of the low interest rates by borrowing more money to pay for additional infrastructure projects, leaving a healthy balance in the City's general fund.
With loans, the City spreads out payment for those projects over many years rather than draining cash reserves to pay for them outright.

One issue of debate: whether the City should issue bonds to pay off the loans.
The bond process is costly but is typically a more prudent long-term fiscal approach.

The discussion centered on whether, when and how far interest rates will go up as the economy continues to improve.

Councilman Bob Mastrangelo wasn't so sure delaying was a gamble worth taking.
The mayor and City Finance Director Joe Filippo disagreed.

Time will tell who was the better prognosticator.

Councilwoman Ann D'Amico noted with pleasure at last week's Council meeting that President Cathy Murphy was back in her chair following surgery.

Goodbye and Good Luck
It was bittersweet at Fisher's Tavern in Mayfield Village in March, on the night the famed local bar and restaurant closed.
A touching moment:
The employees gathered together to salute and serenade the owner (seated in chair before the blackboard), a wonderful show of appreciation and support.

It certainly has been an unusual winter and spring.

This picture was taken in February

Moon over Highland Heights

This one in April

Here's hoping spring is finally here to stay!

RIDICULOUS EXCUSE…..SAID WITH A STRAIGHT FACE

The Highland Heights neighbors’ challenge to the towering, over-sized Rutland Drive deck is slowly moving forward in the 8^th District appeals court.

The neighbors filed their appellate brief on time, on February 12^th.
The ball is now in the City’s and the deck owners’ court.
http://cpdocket.cp.cuyahogacounty.us/COA_CaseInformation_Docket.aspx?q=csinH68bJGxVyN-u8RyKvw2

The City is a party to the dispute because the decision on appeal was rendered by the Highland Heights Building & Zoning Appeals Board, which affirmed the Planning & Zoning Commission's earlier rejection of the neighbors' challenge to the massive deck.
Both zoning bodies gave their stamp of approval to the massive deck despite the fact that---

• The deck does not comply with the City’s 40 foot rear property line setback requirement for residential decks
  
• The owners didn't get a permit before building the deck
• The City never performed mandatory safety inspections because the deck was substantially completed when the owners finally applied for a building permit
  
• The as-built deck is actually much (74%)  larger than the one the owners told the city (in their permit application) that they were going to build, and
• The  deck is subject to a never administratively-appealed Tear Down Order issued by the Building Commissioner.

Doesn’t that make your head spin?

Zoning laws and permitting processes are designed to protect and benefit property, and property owners, in the City.
To work, they need to be applied, as written, in an even--handed manner to everybody.
What happens when the administrative bodies responsible for enforcing the city’s zoning laws and permitting processes render decisions that run counter to those laws and processes? 
Just ask the neighbors.  

They have lots of opinions on the matter.

But back to the lawsuit…
Rather than filing their responsive briefs on time, the City and the deck owners have filed motions asking the appeals court to give them more time.
For his part, Highland Heights Law Director Tim Paluf told the appeals court that he needs more time because:

“….due to his schedule he has been unable to thoroughly research and review the unique issues relevant to this case.

Say what?
Excuse my French, but (in my opinion):

What a pant load

Paluf’s excuse is both alarming and absolutely hilarious.
This dispute started in May 2014.
The facts are pretty straightforward, and the legal issues have been pretty clear and consistent from the beginning.

Paluf even weighed in on the issue several months after the massive Rutland Drive deck became a political hot potato in the City.
He researched the issue and wrote a memorandum, in which he purportedly opined that the deck was ok to stay.

I say “purportedly” because despite repeated requests from the neighbors, the City steadfastly refused to share Paluf’s memorandum with them.

It seems to me that since it was never publicly disclosed, was not included in the administrative record and was never presented as evidence at the hearings, the zoning boards shouldn't have considered Paluf's memorandum when making their decisions.

But they did.

Several Planning & Zoning Commission members specifically cited Paluf’s secret  legal memorandum as a basis for rejecting the neighbors’ challenge to the massive Rutland Drive deck.
Is that fair? Is that right?

Don’t get me started.

So back to the appeals court and Paluf’s motion…
First Paluf researches the issues and writes a secret memorandum that proves highly persuasive to several zoning commission members.
Then he turns around and tells the appeals court that he can’t file his brief on time because he hasn’t had enough time to “thoroughly research and review the unique” issues in the case.

It kind of makes you wonder.

Do you suppose Paluf crossed his fingers behind his back when he told the appeals court that he hadn’t had enough time to “thorough(ly) research”  the issues yet?
Or do you suppose he was telling the truth?
If that’s the case, then maybe, despite his taxpayer-paid six figure income, the opinion he expressed in his secret 2014 legal memorandum wasn’t “thoroughly” researched  to begin with.
Which leads to another question:

Do you suppose Paluf led the zoning board members astray?

The appellate court gave the City and the deck owners until April 7^th to file the briefs.
It also warned:

“No further extension (will be granted) absent exigent circumstances.”

Guess Paluf needs to get cracking on that legal research....

HOW LUCKY WE ARE

There was an article in last week’s Sun Messenger ---a sad ghost of the weekly it used to be---about the financial woes of neighboring Richmond Heights.

Freelance writer Jeff Piorkowski reported that Mayor David Roche has been playing receptionist, answering the telephone and performing other clerical tasks, because his city hall is so short-staffed. http://www.cleveland.com/hillcrest/index.ssf/2016/02/richmond_heights_6.html
Roche’s proposal to use temp agency workers to address staffing issues was met with resistance from several council members.
Roche explained his rationale:

“...hiring a temporary worker is less expensive” for the city, which “has faced budget challenges the last few years.” 

That’s putting it mildly.

According to that city's finance director, Richmond Heights began 2016 with a 5% decrease in income tax receipts.
There is no telling, at this point, whether that trend will continue.

What a different tale---and how lucky we are---in Highland Heights.

Council discussed the city’s 2016 budget at a March 1^st Committee of the Whole meeting.

Highland Heights Finance Director Joe Filippo announced that the city took in more revenue, and spent less money, than projected in the 2015 budget, resulting in an actual $370,000 increase in the general fund between 2014 and 2015.

For 2016, Filippo projected a slight decrease in property tax collections (a relatively small part of the city’s revenue stream) and a 1% increase in income tax collections (a very large revenue source).

The proposed 2016 budget shows the city operating in the black, with a general operating expenses surplus of $275,000.

MANY ROADS. LIMITED DOLLARS

Council spent quite a bit of time talking about some of the city’s infrastructure needs, specifically road repairs.

According to Mayor Scott Coleman, $805,000 has been set aside in the budget for drainage issues and road repairs in 2016.

While not a tiny sum it’s not enough to fix everything that needs fixing.

As engineer Brian Mader explained:

“We have a large segment of roads that are of the same age.
Tons of roads (in the city) were built in the late 80’s and 90’s.
They are all approaching 25-30 years old.”

Of particular concern to Mader: Brainard Road and Avion Park Drive.
Mader said that in his estimation those roads had reached the point where spending money on concrete repairs might amount to:

 “Throwing away good money over bad.”

Mader’s recommendation: grind down both streets to a solid concrete base and then top them with a new asphalt overlay.
Doing that would extend the roads’ street life for another 10-15 years.

The cost?

Between $400,000 to $450,000----approximately half of the city’s 2016 road budget. 

Councilman Chuck Brunello proposed an even more extreme solution: entirely replacing the old surface and building new concrete roads.
Brunello argued that doing that would “double the shelf life” of those two streets to maybe 30 years.
He did not discuss the significant downside of that approach.
Brunello's plan would cost $900,000---more than the city's entire 2016 road work budget.

 No other concrete repairs or road work would be done this year.

Although Service Director Thom Evans seemed receptive, I didn't hear anyone else jump on Brunello’s bandwagon.

Council President Cathy Murphy said that she was “disappointed” at the thought that the entire 2016 road budget would be spent on 2 streets:

“…because we’ve been going into neighborhoods each year and now you are saying 'don’t do it'.”

Mayor Scott Coleman echoed that sentiment:

“The Issue is that if we spend all that money there, it’s at what expense in terms of what other projects get delayed or what money needs to be put in the capital (improvement) fund to get there...

It looks like we could knock out a lot of streets (needing concrete repairs) for that money...
I agree we shouldn’t ignore the neighborhoods.”

Finance Director Joe Filippo floated one possibility for coming up with more money for roadwork and other infrastructure needs.
He pointed out that the city’s debt service “will go down dramatically” in 2017 and will drop even more in 2012.

“We have room for more debt.
If we borrow more this year at a (current) low rate, we may have some additional funding.”

No agreement on a definitive approach was reached.

Residents can expect the discussion---and arm-wresting---to continue once the budget is passed.

BUDGET UPDATE/CORRECTION

In my last posting I stated that city employees would receive 2.5% salary increases this year.

I must have been in a stingy mood when I wrote that.

A city insider told me my figure was incorrect.
City employees are getting 2.75% raises this year.

WANT TO BUY A USED FIRE TRUCK LIGHT BAR?

Fire Chief Bill Turner wants to get in on the city’s online auction action.

He presented a list of excess and/or unneeded items to Council, looking for their permission to auction them off on www.govdeals.com.

Among the items on Turner’s list: 

• a recently replaced Fire Truck light bar
• an expensive 2013 treadmill that never functioned well (it was under warranty, so the city got a replacement for free)
• 12 sets of 2001-2002 vintage firefighter turn-out gear
• a 2004 Ford Explorer that has some transmission and rust issues

Turner wasn’t sure what would sell, or for how much, but he told Council “there is a third world market” for some of the items.

Turner thinks the city's trash might be some underworld country's treasure

HURRY UP AND WAIT

The recent 60 degree weather was such a tease…and not just for us.

My daffodils aren't the only ones anxious for spring to arrive!