SUMMER TRAVELS AND TRAVAILS

I’ve been out of town communing with nature. …awesome nature.

The West Coast drought was hard to ignore.

The northern California hills weren’t green.
There was straw-colored dead grass everywhere I looked. 

Local lakes most clearly reflected the challenge that thirsty farms and residents are facing.

I wish we could have shared with them some of the torrential rain that poured down here on Saturday.

I would have been happy to do that…..especially when the storm sewers were overwhelmed and my street began to flood.

As the flood waters receded----leaving dry basements behind---I sent a silent “thank you” to the late Steve Hovenscek, who served as the city’s engineer for many years.He approved the system of swales and drains that routed the floodwaters away from Hawthorne homes and basements.

 

We were lucky.

I can only hope that other city residents fared as well.

SPEEDY COUNCIL MEETINGS: QUICKLY SPENDING MONEY

The two Council meetings in June were quite brief.
They lasted only about 30 minutes each.

For the most part the business at hand involved spending money.

Council approved: 

• a contract for police department technology and IT support services; 
• a 5 year postal machine lease;  
•  the purchase of a new police department SUV;
•  and the purchase of a new pickup truck, a cab and chassis, a dump body and a snow and ice control equipment package for the service department.

All those items were included in the city’s 2015 budget.

NEW LADDER FIRETRUCK HAS ARRIVED

Fire Chief Bill Turner reported that the city took delivery on a pricey new ladder truck, replacing the one that the city purchased, second-hand, from Mayfield Village some time ago.

Turner stated that the new ladder truck

“…should be a 25 year plus vehicle for the city”

 Given the cost, residents should hope so...

KIMBLE DISPOSAL'S LETTER TO RESIDENTS:
VITAL FACTS OMITTED?

Residents received a letter from the city’s garbage collector this week, warning them that two large Kimble-supplied “Rubbish Carts” or (as Service Director Thom Evans called them, “toters”) were going to be delivered to their homes in the next few weeks.

In the letter’s “Enhancements to the Rubbish Program” section, residents were asked to use 95 gallon super toters for garbage, “immediately upon receipt.”

The toters, Kimble states, take up

“…less floor space than 2 or more rubbish cans….”

In its letter Kimble doesn’t mention a couple of other pertinent facts.
For instance, Kimble doesn't mention how much taller and bigger the 95 gallon toters are than regular garbage cans

Nor does Kimble mention the fact that, fully loaded, the 95 gallon toters could weigh up to 66 pounds.

That will be fun, dragging through the snow this winter, won't it?

The Kimble letter also doesn’t mention one other salient fact:

Residents don’t have to use the 96 gallon mega-toter.

Residents are still allowed to put out one bag of garbage a week (weighing up to 40 pounds).

No toters required.

NEW PATROLMAN SWORN IN

Scott Cupar was sworn in as the city’s newest Police Department Patrolman at the June 26^th Council meeting.

Police Chief Jim Cook shared some of Cupar’s background with Council.

He is a Villa Angelo-St. Joe’s graduate and was named a Lakeland Police School Outstanding Cadet.

Family and friends were there to witness the event.

POOL DECK LITIGATION UPDATE

Common Please Court Judge Michael Donnelly held a hearing this week on the pool owners’ motion to dismiss the neighbors’ suit challenging the monstrous, towering deck installed by the pool owners a mere 11 feet from their rear property line.

The pool owners argued that the neighbors should be thrown out of court because they didn’t timely, properly serve the city.

An individual in attendance reported that the pool owners’ attorney argued that service on Mayor Scott Coleman, Law Director Tim Paluf, Building Commissioner Dale Grabfelder wasn’t enough.

He apparently contended that each of the part-time, once in a blue moon, city-appointed zoning appeals board members had to be individually served too.

It's true an error made in the Notice of Appeal, which initiated the suit.
That Notice didn't list the city as a party.

But the reality is that city was aware from the start that the zoning appeal had been filed, challenging the Board of Zoning Appeals' split decision to uphold the deck permit.

Building Commissioner Dale Grabfelder---who told the neighbors' attorney that he was the proper city official to accept service--- was served on the same day the Notice of Appeal was filed
Grabfelder said he would inform Paluf once he was served, and the attorney also emailed Paluf a copy of the Notice of Appeal on the same day, putting him on notice of the suit.

Nine days later, the neighbors' attorney filed a Corrected Notice of Appeal, adding the city's name as a required party to the zoning appeal suit.
Grabfelder was served (again), along with Paluf and the mayor.
Additionally, a copy of the Corrected Notice of Appeal was emailed to each Board of Appeals member.

It couldn't have been more clear to Paluf and the city, right from the start, that the neighbors were exercising their right to seek judicial review of the zoning appeal board's decision.

During the hearing Judge Donnelly aptly noted that it was the pool owners, not the city, that filed the dismissal motion...a puzzling circumstance given that service on the city was the basis for filing the motion.
Paluf responded by telling the judge that the city would join in the motion too.

The judge also asked Paluf if the city had objected to similar service in prior zoning-related cases.

Apparently Paluf admitted that the city had not objected before.

At the end of the hearing the judge suggested that the parties should consider compromise and settlement if he denied the dismissal motion.
Apparently the pool owners’ attorney signaled that---at least to-date---compromise wasn’t an option for his clients.

The dictates of thriftiness, common sense, neighborliness… and a judge…be damned.

The neighbors heard from their attorney on Friday.

The dismissal motion was denied.

NEW BUDGET…. ALREADY BLOWN?

There was a lot of optimism after the city handed out 6 bid packets for the big Miner Road renovation project.

More bidders = more competition = (hopefully) lower cost.

Unfortunately for city taxpayers, only 2 companies actually submitted bids.

The “lowest and best” bid, submitted by C.A. Agresta Construction Co., was way more than the city expected to pay.

Engineer Brian Mader estimated the project might cost $3.2 million.

The city budgeted $3 million for it.

The winning bid: $3,460.358.40.

Council President Cathy Murphy delivered the bad news at a March 24^th Committee of the Whole meeting:

“It came in over budget.
We allocated $3million for the project. It came in at $3,460,000”

When asked to explain the lack of bidders, Service Director Thom Evans could only speculate:

I don’t know for sure.
I have a little bit of suspicion it’s because the project was fragmented out…
It will take several different subs (subcontractors) for asphalt, concrete and drainage work…
If the value of the project is only 45% to the bidder, they are putting up a bond for a large project. That’s pretty expensive.”

Murphy focused on some discrepancies between the 2 submitted bids:

On item 614 (traffic control) Agresta  bid $257,500. The losing bidder quoted $77,000.

Evans explained:

Because Agresta is the low bidder, they obviously were lower on other items.
All contractors have their own way to figure it (their bid) out.

Murphy also commented on the large amount ($200,000) that Mader (who put the bid package together for the city) set as set aside as a “discretionary allowance”.
Evans commented:

Discretionary  allowances are for items that are unforeseen or for quantities that change during the course of a contract.
The contractor is only paid for what they perform….
It (the allowance) is quite a lot to work with.”

Several major projects that Mader’s predecessor worked on went $100,000.00 over budget.

Here’s hoping Mader does a good job keeping costs under control.

THE SOLUTION? BORROW MORE MONEY

Council’s Legislative & Finance Committee (L&F), comprised of President Cathy Murphy and Council Members Chuck Brunello and Leo Lombardo, met with Mayor Scott Coleman and city Finance Director Joe Filippo on April 10^th to discuss the over-budget Miner Road Project Contract.

Their solution: borrow more money.

Coleman later explained to the full Council:

Last year we took out short term notes (i.e. borrowed money) because the cost of carrying the notes (i.e. interest rates) were so low.
The notes are coming due.
We have to pay them off or secure another year of short term notes…
We plan to take out two notes: $4.2 million (to replace a 2014 $3.65 million note) and $500,000.00 notes ($4.7 million total).
In 2014 we took out a $3.65 million note to pay for repaving Ford Road, replacing a Highland Road culvert and for the Miner Road project….
We spent $1.2 million on Ford Road.

We are including some additional money for $500,000 in road improvements.

At the end of 2016 when the notes come due we can look for more (borrowing) for Highland Road (water main replacement project), pay some of it down or bond it (the debt) out.”

Councilman Bob Mastrangelo (M) understood the strategy but questioned the figures.
He focused on the fact that the city won’t actually be picking up the entire cost pay for the entire Miner Road project.
That led to this exchange with Finance Director Joe Filippo (F).

M: Why are we getting a note on the $1.8 million that will be refunded   (through an already awarded county grant and 0% interest loan---0% being a better rate than the note interest rate)?
F: We need the money to pay off first.
    The county award is a reimbursement.
    We have to spend the money to get the (county) money. 

M: We do have the money (to cover the $1.8 million) in the General Fund.

F:  This way, at the end of the year will we have a $1.8 million in the Capital Fund.

Mastrangelo’s point?

Does it make sense to borrow money and incur interest costs for the $1.8 million county award when the city has more than enough money to cover that cost during the relatively short pre-reimbursement period?

Both the Mayor and L&F recommended the deal…so their answer, clearly, is Yes.

MAYFIELD SCHOOLS:

STILL NOT STEPPING UP TO THE SERVING LINE

The Mayfield High School tennis teams took it in the shorts several years ago, thanks to the “Wildcat Park” football stadium boosters.

The high school tennis courts were ripped out to make room for a new stadium parking lot.
“Wildcat Park” phase 2, currently underway, focuses on adding a party pavilion at the stadium.

Replacing the tennis courts clearly isn’t a priority for the Mayfield School Board or the “Wildcat Park” booster crew.

In order to keep the teams going, Mayfield tennis players have been trekking over to, and using, the tennis courts at our Community Park.

The Mayfield Schools haven’t paid a dime for its priority access to, and use of, the taxpayer-maintained Highland Heights tennis courts.

On Tuesday night, Recreation Director Dave Ianiro asked for Council’s OK to advertise and accept bids to resurface all 8 tennis courts.

Ianiro said:

They were last done 15 years ago.
We only have a certain time frame to get them done.
Mayfield (schools) use them in the spring and fall.

Ianiro said that he had spoken to the Mayfield Athletic Director.
He told Council members:

 “…they are going to assist on different things we do to improve the park. 
We have to put in some Porta-Potties (for the tennis players) because the bathrooms aren’t open yet.
They (Mayfield Schools) will assist with payment for that.
It’s a minimum cost, but it’s a start for them to start paying for the cost of (the school’s) using (the tennis courts) in fall and spring.”

Well that's certainly one way to look at it.

If the Mayfield Schools really wanted to step up to the serving line they’d pay for resurfacing the tennis courts, not renting some cheap portable toilets.

After all, the community tennis courts now function as the Mayfield Schools' Tennis Stadium, and will continue to do so for an unknown number of years to come.

FAREWELL JEAN BUCHAK!

Mayor Scott Coleman and Council members gave a nice farewell to Jean Buchak on March 24^th.
Buchak served as Clerk of Council for the last 33 years.

They apparently took her by surprise.

When Council President Cathy Murphy began reading a “Resolution of Appreciation” in her honor, Buchak---who usually types every Council resolution—asked:

Where did you get that?

Buchak started working for the city in 1964.
Her first job was police clerk.
She became the city’s first police dispatcher and later retired (before being rehired by the city) as Police Chief Jim Cook’s secretary.
Cook commented:

She’s been great to work with.
She taught me a lot.
It’s been an honor to be with her.

He then added with a laugh:

I don’t know if I’d call her my secretary. She was more telling me what to do.

Councilman Ed Hargate remarked on the tumultuous times that marked Buchak’s beginning year as Clerk of Council:

The Resolution (of Appreciation) mentions that Jean was first appointed (as Clerk of Council) on a temporary basis.
The reason why is that the position had become a political football.
(Former) Mayor Tom Hughes was running for reelection against 3 members of council.
There was a need for someone who was above politics and someone who was able to work with everyone.
It is a testament to Jean that she was always able to work with everyone and was above politics.

 Mayor Scott Coleman shared this anecdote:

I remember my 1^st council meeting (20 years ago).
I didn’t say a word.
I remember walking out and Jean came up to me and said, “ Good job tonight.”
I told her I didn’t say anything 
“Don’t worry,” she told me, “you will”.

Every Council member wished her well.
When the accolades ended Buchak demonstrated her noted good humor, commenting:

I think I’ll keep this (meeting) recording. I’ve never had a nicer one.

Jean Buchak's (with flowers) Council Farewell
front(L to R): Lisa Stickan, Ann D'Amico, Jean Buchak, Chuck Brunello
rear (L to R): Ed Hargate, Scott Coleman, Cathy Murphy, Leo Lombardo, Bob Mastrangelo, Tim Paluf

President Cathy Murphy (in pink) insisted on a "funny" picture to mark the occasion

CITY HALL GETS SPIFFED UP

There’s been a lot of work going on at City Hall.
A new HVAC system has been installed.
The public bathrooms outside the Council Chambers have been renovated and made ADA-compliant.

Walls have been painted, new furniture has been ordered, and new rugs installed.
Here are a couple snapshots showing the spiffy results.

Newly painted and carpeted inner office area

A new dining area for city hall staff

Renovated City Hall conference room