Back To Work

Council covered alot of ground during a relatively short January 4th Committee of the Whole Meeting. Here are the highlights.


Economic Development Committee (EDC)
Council finished interviewing the last of the eight candidates for the newly-revitalized EDC. Next week, Council members will declare their picks. The top five vote getters will get the nod.


The individuals under consideration include: Vince Adamus; Michael DeStefano; Maurice Helou; Dan Greve; Don McFadden; Janet Schiciano; Guy Totino; and Stan Walczyk.


How lucky the city is, to have such an impressive array of citizens willing to step forward and offer their services.



Giant Eagle’s Proposal for the Catalano’s Property
The city is still waiting to receive a more detailed proposal from Giant Eagle (GE) regarding its plan to put a "Get-Go" gas station, a car wash, amini-store and cafe, and a small retail building on the Catalano's site, but GE is already working on getting a necessary traffic study done.


The parcel is not currently zoned for “motor service” use, which means that residents will have to approve some sort of rezoning in order for GE to put gas station on the property.


Both Mayor Coleman and Council President Scott Mills reported that the public reaction that they have received to the proposal has been split 50/50, for and against the plan.


Councilwoman Lisa Stickan, whose ward includes the Catalano property, reported that she has received mostly favorable reactions from her constituents and that they expressed concern that Council would not fully “hear it (the proposal) out before making a decision.”


Based on its track record, I am not really concerned that Council will rush to judgment. After all, Council debated the fate of the abandoned church that sat on the City Hall property for more than two years before finally deciding to raze the substandard and decrepit building...



Bass Energy Ups the Ante
Rumors flying around the city were confirmed on Tuesday night: Bass Energy filed papers in late 2010 (apparently as soon as the Gas Well Committee was announced) seeking arbitration of its breach of contract claim against the city.


This, of course, opens the door for the city to make its own arguments to the arbitrator. It could argue:

1. that the city is not bound by the drilling lease given the fact that Mayor Coleman had “no power” to sign it;
2.  that no breach of contract occurred because the authorizing resolution and lease contract both make clear that the city retained the power to choose drilling sites---and the city ultimately decided no safe drilling sites existed in the park; or
3.  that the drilling lease if void due to “fraud in the inducement” –i.e., Bass misrepresented the safety of frac drilling and the city never would have considered drilling in the park but for those misrepresentations.

It was clear that Bass’s filing for arbitration had its intended effect--fear and intimidation--on at least some Council members. Judging by their reactions on Tuesday night, it appears to me that several Council members are more than ready to give Bass anything it wants--anything to avoid having to actually stand up and fight to protect residents and the park. I am afraid that they might even be willing to pull an end-run around the Gas Well Committee that was formed---with Council’s unanimous consent---in December.

That thought came to mind when I heard Councilman Ed Hargate insistently demand that Council hold an executive session as soon as possible to discuss the Bass matter. Hargate even went so far as to suggest scheduling a special meeting sometime this week---he didn’t want to wait until next Tuesday’s regularly scheduled Council meeting.


He’ll have to wait. He’ll get his executive session. Next Tuesday. At the end of the regular Council meeting. The city’s outside attorney will be asked to attend.
Stay tuned. It could be a bumpy ride.

Last Blast of 2010

I was out of town for more than a week, but made it back in time for the last 2010 council meeting...


Progress Report
City Policies

Council had a first reading of an ordinance adopting a policy governing the use and marking of city-owned vehicles. That ordinance will be voted on—and I assume approved—in mid-January, after it’s had three readings.

Labor Contracts

The city finally reached an agreement with the members of the city’s Service Department---months after labor contracts covering other city employees were approved. Councilman Ed Hargate cast the sole “Nay” vote. As is typical with Hargate, he voted no without stating, on the record, what his objections and concerns were. He did not bother to explain, to his peers or members of the public, why he chose to vote no on this particular labor contract after approving all of the other ones.


Economic Development Committee

Last month Council passed an ordinance restoring resident participation in the city’s Economic Development Committee. Selected residents will serve along with Mayor Coleman’s picks for that Committee---Police Chief Cook, Fire Chief Turner and Finance Director Anthony Ianiro. Council hoped to wrap up the interview process last week, but the last three interested candidates were unavailable. The new Committee should be in place by early January.

Speaking of economic development....

Giant Eagle’s Proposal for the Catalano’s property

After successfully blocking a plan to lease the current Catalano’s building for use as a Marc’s store, Giant Eagle came to council on December 14t with its own proposal for the property.

Although the building looks quite large to many of us, the Catalano’s building and property is actually undersized compared to most modern-day grocery stores. Giant Eagle proposes to demolish the current building and treat the property as if it were two different parcels. The front parcel, along Wilson Mills Road, would have 8 “Get-Go” gas pumps, an attended car wash, and a large combination convenience store/cafe. The cafe would offer food items (to eat on premises and “to go”) and free wireless internet access. A small building housing several small retail businesses will be constructed in the rear portion (south end) of the parcel.
The uses proposed by Giant Eagle are consistent with what has historically existed at the Bishop/Wilson Mills intersection area: gas stations; grocery stores; and business offices.
I saw the preliminary drawing of the proposed Giant Eagle Convenience Store/Cafe and was frankly quite surprised at how nice it looked---it is not your typical shabby looking, garish gas station store. It looks like an upscale grocery store, only in miniature.
Obviously a lot more talking and thinking will be required, but I sure am tired (after 4 years) of seeing the empty Catalano’s lot. Giant Eagle is a well-established and reputable company, they have already successfully test-marketed their proposed convenience store-cafe concept in Pittsburgh, and it would be a total crap shoot as to what kind of business would move in if Giant Eagle decided to sell the property to someone else. Since Giant Eagle needs a zoning change (to put the gas pumps in), the city will have some say over how the property is developed. That won’t be the case if a business comes in that meets general business zoning requirements.

Here are a couple of comments relating to Giant Eagle’s proposal:

• “To have a gas station across the street (from my home) is unthinkable.” Spoken by a homeowner who lives on the north side of Wilson Mills, next to the Brown-Flynn office, close to where the former Ron’s Shell gas station stood.
• “This is not the kind of development I’d like to see in this area. The proposal is uninspiring. “ Councilman Ed Hargate.
• “I think they (Giant Eagle) brought us a Christmas present. It’s got to be better than what we have now. Do it right and everybody will be proud of it.” Former Mayor Tom Hughes

The Gas Well Committee

The Gas Well Committee (GWC) met for the first time after walking through the park. Most of the members seemed to already have selected some potential drilling sites---all except Kennelwood Drive resident David Lees. Lees asked, “Are we not going to address safety issues at all? The whole reason the mayor and council changed their mind (about drilling in the park) was the accident in Bainbridge."
Former Mayor Fran Hogg, who personally wrote the successful ODNR grant application that resulted in the city being able to add over 10 acres to the park in 1997, shared her institutional knowledge with the GWC.
Hogg told the GWC that that not only could the ODNR land not be disturbed as a matter of law, but the protection given to that land also applied to an additional 19 acres added to the west side of the park in 1995. She explained:
    (1) the ODNR grant application stated that the reason the city sought grant money from the state was was not only to purchase the additional 10 acres of land but to protect and preserve 19 pristine wooded acres and wetlands that had been added to the west side of the park in 1995;
    (2) those 19 acres were purchased using city-assessed "impact fees" paid by developers;
    (3) the impact fees were challenged by a building industry group in court, with the result that the money could only be used for park purposes and to expand the park; and
    (4) the city could be liable to refund the "impact fee" money used to buy the 19 acres if that land was used for commercial purposes---i.e., to drill revenue-generating gas wells.


One thing that I found a bit disconcerting---It became apparent during the meeting that the schematic map of the park provided by Brian Mader of the City Engineer’s Office was not to scale and did not show the location of the many county-identified wetlands in the park. Why the GWC was not provided with a more useful and informative map is beyond me.The GWC will meet again in early January. Council President Scott Mills promised to invite NEOGAP (the North east Ohio Gas Accountability Project) to come and discuss safety issues with the Committee. He also promised that the GWC would receive a more detailed map (to scale) before the next meeting.

Truth-Telling and (Sun Messenger) Editorial Comment

These are from this week’s Sun Messenger:
Sun Messenger Letter to the Editor

Council president sets the record straight regarding Highland Heights gas wells


I wanted to correct the record and provide some background information regarding gas wells and the Highland Heights Park. The Sun Messenger reported Nov. 25 that Mayor Scott Coleman signed a drilling lease with Bass Energy “as council had directed him to do.” That is not correct.



Mayor Coleman approached council in 2006 with the idea of using gas wells to generate revenue for the city. Council did not want to commit to drilling any wells on city property unless suitable drilling sites were agreed upon first.


The January 2007 resolution authorizing the mayor to sign drilling leases specifically states that it is “contingent upon the approval of . . . three well sites by the City of Highland Heights and the commitment of Bass Energy to drill the wells on all three sites.” It was council’s understanding that it would participate in the site selection process and even that suitable sites might not be found.


Unfortunately, Mayor Coleman ignored the restrictions placed upon his legal authority and he signed a drilling lease for the park before any well sites were selected, discussed or approved by council. Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Gallagher later held that Mayor Coleman had “no power” to sign the gas drilling lease.


Mayor Coleman intentionally kept council in the dark the entire time. For example, council was unaware Bass Energy hired City Engineer Andy Blackley and his firm to select drilling sites and to prepare a site map, which led to the issuance of drilling permits for the park. After it learned the truth, council acted to rescind Mayor Coleman’s authority to enter into drilling leases. Bass then sued the city for breaching the drilling lease that the mayor had so hastily signed.


Although this situation was created by Mayor Coleman, council is now trying to figure out a solution for the legal situation the city now faces. The Gas Well Committee is an attempt to do just that.

Scott A. Mills
President, Highland Heights City Council

http://blog.cleveland.com/sunmessenger/2010/12/council_president_sets_the_rec.html

Sun Messenger Editorial

Hope for an amicable resolution


News that Highland Heights City Council is naming a committee to recommend potential sites on city-owned park land to allow gas drilling is a strong signal that the lawsuit between the city and Bass Energy is nearing an end. According to Council President Scott Mills, two park sites would be potentially used to drill gas wells, but not a site at City Hall.


We are glad to see that a resolution in this legal matter appears imminent and we hope this becomes a win-win situation for everyone involved, especially the residents. In 2008, voters overwhelmingly approved a charter amendment issue that would prevent the city from selling park land or properties contiguous to city parks without voter approval and would prohibit drilling from taking place on those properties. This must be kept in mind as the lawsuit settlement is ironed out between both sides.


There has been a lot of public outcry against the drilling of gas wells, especially since the house explosion in Bainbridge three years ago this month that was caused by gas from a newly-drilled well seeping into the water supply. There are a lot of concerns about the safety of these wells and the sheer volume of wells being drilled in this region. In the wake of the Bainbridge house explosion, there are a lot of fears about a similar incident happening again.


Officials from the gas industry are trying to soothe those fears. Members of the Ohio Oil & Gas Energy Education Program admit the Bainbridge incident was the result of an error on the part of the driller, but are quit to point out the well inspection process has become more thorough as a result and new safeguards are in place to make sure nothing like what happened in Bainbridge happens again. We would suggest these officials hold a town hall meeting in Highland Heights to assure residents the drilling process is safe. They should also work with officials from the Northeast Ohio Gas Accountability Project, who have done a good job of bringing these safety concerns to light and working with state officials to try and make the drilling industry safer.


We are still hesitant to see gas wells sprout up in a city park and we want complete assurance for the residents that any drilling would not harm the environment in any way. We hope the new committee which City Council is forming will be mindful of that when choosing potential well sites and will also hold Bass Energy’s feet to the fire to ensure any wills that would be drilled will be safe and unobtrusive in every way.

Opinion, December 2, 2010.

The next meeting of the gas well committee will be on Wednesday, December 8th at City Hall.