The More Things Change…

You’ve heard the expression: “The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same”?
That’s a good way to describe Lance Osborne’s most recent Get-Go pitch. But first...

Back In The Saddle Again

Council got back to work (minus an out-of-town Mayor Scott Coleman) on Tuesday night.  The main topic of discussion: adopting a policy that would allow eligible residents to be reimbursed for the cost of installing backflow preventer devices on their property.

Eligible property owners are ones who regularly experience sewer backups in their basements during rainstorms. The backflow devices aren’t a cure, but if configured and used properly they should prevent sewage from backing up from the city’s sanitary sewers into private homes.
The downside: residents will have to limit the amount of sewage they put into the system during storms; too much sewage flowing from homes will cause the devices to open and allow backups to begin again.

The county, which is responsible for the sanitary and storm sewer systems, has agreed to pay for the backflow preventer devices. The city will act as the financial middleman and perform necessary pre-inspections.

Interested Highland Heights residents should contact the building department (440-442-7403) for more information.

Post-Election Sparring

Council President Scott Mills displayed his usual energy and enthusiasm during the meeting, which surprised some given his election loss.  Mills conducted himself with humor and dignity---a class act, under very difficult circumstances.
In fact, a casual observer wouldn’t have know that there had been a recent election---at least until Finance Director Anthony Ianiro gave his report to council.

One thing Mills has always taken great pride in is bringing a twice-a-year paper shredding service program to the city.  Residents don’t have to pay a fee to participate; the city picks up the tab.
It’s been a popular new service; resident participation has grown steadily since it was launched a couple of years ago.
The city’s most recent shredding event was held on October 1^st. Mills was distressed because six weeks had passed and the shredding company was still waiting for Ianiro to cut a check to pay for its services.

Mills, who clearly assumed that the payment delay was politically-related, told Tony Ianiro, “Now that the campaign season is over, I hope that this (bill) will be taken care of.”
Displaying some of his well-known temper, Ianiro snapped, “What did you say?”
After Mills repeated himself, Ianiro finally responded, “We’ll take care of it.”

Good thing.
It would be a shame if the city’s payment practices---whether politically motivated or not---caused Highland Heights to develop a new nickname: “Deadbeat city”.

Prettier Wrapping Paper/Same Package

Tony Ianiro also serves as head of the city’s Economic Development Committee (EDC). He announced that the EDC was meeting the next night.
On the agenda: an update from Moore Associates, the company helping the city perform an economic development self-assessment; and a follow-up presentation by Lance Osborne on his proposed Get-Go development project.

Osborne brought conceptual drawings showing what the mega Get-Go and rear retail strip would look like. I was relieved to see that the drawings reflected a more “upscale” appearance than the garish blue/red mega Get-Go facility that sits at the Avon/Avon Lake interchange off I-90.

Osborne emphasized that he’s listening to residents and trying to come up with something they like, but he also admitted that nothing about the basic project itself has changed. He still envisions using the Catalano’s parcel for a mega Get-Go gas station, car wash, and alcohol-selling convenience store/café in the front, with a 25,000 square foot retail strip in the back.

The drawings of the retail area show a yoga studio and two restaurants. It’s a nice vision, but since they are “conceptual,” the drawings don’t necessarily have anything to do with reality.  Osborne has made no promises or guarantees as to the quality or type of tenant that will actually end up in the space.

One thing Giant Eagle has made clear in the past: it will not allow anything in the retail area that might possibly compete with any aspect of its business----which would seem to eliminate restaurants and food service-related businesses from the retail space in back.
When I asked him about that, Osborne told me that they could put restaurants in the retail area “with restrictions,” but he didn’t explain what those restrictions would be. 

Osborne also didn’t explain why he dropped his investment estimate for the project.  At a September 15^th EDC meeting, Osborne estimated that the mega Get-Go project would entail an $8 million investment. Two months later he reduced that estimate to $7 million.

As for employment, Osborne estimated that the mega Get-Go would bring 40 jobs—mostly minimum wage, part-time jobs (24)---to the city.  He also claimed that the retail space could mean as many as 80 jobs---- an obviously pie-in-the-sky estimate based on his “conceptual” drawings.  It goes without saying that the actual number of jobs created, and the level of payroll tax that will result, depend entirely on what businesses actually relocate there.

Osborne told the EDC that his job estimates would translate into about $39,000 in additional payroll tax and “almost” $47,000 in additional property tax for the city---a total of $86,000 in claimed new annual revenue for a city whose projected 2011 revenue already exceeds $16 million.

In the end it will be up to residents to decide whether the estimated economic benefits are enough to justify gutting the city’s zoning code and allowing a mega Get-Go to be installed in the primarily residential southwest corner of the city. 

When will that vote take place? Stay tuned.
Law Director Tim Paluf promised to answer that question prior to the November 22^nd Council meeting.

Three Cheers for Civic Involvement and Local Elections

The October 25^th Highland Heights Council meeting left me cheering for two things: civic involvement and frequent local elections.

Hurrah for Civic Involvement

Not much business was transacted at the October 25^th Council meeting, which isn’t really surprising. 

Things usually quiet down right before Council elections--after all, if you were running for reelection, the last thing you’d want to do is cast an unpopular vote or make a controversial decision.

The main event was Mayor Scott Coleman’s acceptance of a $5,000 donation from the Highland Heights Lions Club.

The Lions Club is a civic group dedicated to doing good works in and for our community. They announced last spring that they wanted to make the donation as a way to mark and celebrate their 50^th anniversary this year. It was their wish that the money be used to build a gazebo on the new municipal center green space.

Councilwoman Cathy Murphy, herself a Lions Club member, arranged a small post-meeting reception to celebrate the event.

I was a bit surprised when, over cake, a long time Lions Club member commented, somewhat apologetically, about the size of the donation---he pointed out that it was relatively modest compared to the gazebo’s actual cost.

I told him he was wrong to focus just on the dollar figure.

It was the Lions Club’s donation that kept the gazebo project on track and brought it to fruition this year---a rare accomplishment in a world where decisions sometimes seem to be made at a glacial pace.  (Council deliberated more than 2 years before finally deciding to tear down the decrepit, substandard Old Church Building, thereby creating the new city green space.)

The Lions Club donation provided the inspiration and motivation to make the gazebo a reality.

Ground has been broken. The project is already underway. That timetable would not have been accomplished but for the Lions Club and their generosity.

This just goes to show: civic involvement matters.

Civic involvement can make a big difference in getting things done in our city

Civil involvement is a very good thing.  

Former Mayor Fran Hogg demonstrated positive civic involvement at the Council meeting as well.

Although she’s kept a relatively low profile since leaving office, Hogg came to the Council meeting to share some good news.
When the meeting was opened to the public, she stepped forward to laud one of the city’s good corporate citizens: Phillips Electric. Hogg told Council that Newsweek Magazine just ranked Phillips #9 on its list of global companies that engage in green/sustainable practices---a ranking based on both environmental factors and transparency

Hogg commented,

“We are really lucky to have them here. It's not a U.S. company so they could locate anywhere in world. It’s important that we let them know that we appreciate them.”

Hogg suggested that the city send a letter of appreciation or pass a resolution acknowledging Phillips’ national recognition and commending the company for its good business practices.

A very good suggestion---from another involved citizen who, like the Lions Club, cares deeply about the city and its residents.

Let’s Hear It for Frequent Local Elections

Although Council didn’t do much, the Drainage Committee had a pretty busy night.

Drainage is the least visible---and in some ways least exciting---of all the Council committees, but it serves a very important purpose: it’s responsible for developing and overseeing the city’s storm water management system and it’s a resource for residents with flooding problems.

Needless to say, the committee has been very, very busy this year. 
 

Councilwoman Cathy Murphy, the chair, has served on the Drainage Committee since her first term on Council. She’s very dedicated, but the work can be very frustrating. It can be hard to get things done.

Locally, the Drainage Committee looks to the Service Department and the city engineer for help, but the reality is that drainage issues are added to regular workloads, and the amount earmarked in the city budget to address drainage issues is pretty small.

For the last several years Murphy and the Committee have been working on getting the Jefferson Drive/Highland Road sewer backups addressed. They came close last fall---but the County, who is responsible for the work, rejected the bids. A more modest relining project is currently on the table. Here’s hoping the County moves forward with it this time around.

After sitting in on this week’s Drainage Committee meeting and listening to residents’ horror stories (one couple said they are afraid to go to sleep if it’s raining, for fear of what they might face in the morning) -- I left thinking: Thank goodness for election years. 

There’s nothing like an upcoming local election to motivate the powers that be to pay attention to residents and commit the resources needed to solve their problems.

While Murphy couldn’t promise that it would happen overnight, she was finally able to assure the residents in attendance that their problems were on the city’s radar and that they would absolutely be addressed in the coming year. 

There’s nothing like an upcoming local election to encourage responsiveness to residents’ concerns.

 Given that, wouldn’t it be great if local elections were held every year?

Upcoming Events

• Election Day: Tuesday November 8^th.
• Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation Open House: Sunday, November 6^th, noon to 3 pm., 1076 Ford Road. There will be a vegetarian food sale, games and activities, craft demonstrations and musical performances.

Gone Fishing

Regular readers may wonder why I haven't blogged recently. I was out of town for several weeks and am just now catching up with everything I missed.
While the mayoral race apparently heated up in my absence, things on the Council side have been pretty quiet.
The Oct. 18 Committee of the Whole meeting was cancelled, so I have nothing to report from last night.
Council will hold its next regular meeting on Oct. 25th. I'll have more on that next week.