University Heights City Council meeting highlights 1-17-2012

JANUARY 17, 2012

• Audit
• Fire services
• Regional projects
• Martin Luther King program
• New McDonald's
• Municipal pool
• Finance director
• House on Silsby
• Street repairs
• Firefighter

All council members were present.

Audit

Mayor Infield announced that the state auditor’s office has sought bids from external firms to conduct the review of University Heights’ 2011 financial books. This is done when the state auditor’s office does not have capacity. The city will pay the cost.

Fire services

Emergency Services Consulting will begin a review of fire services in mid-February for University Heights and Shaker Heights.

Regional projects

The mayor attended a meeting at the Ohio Department of Development, where it was announced that Gov. Kasich has made funds available for innovative regionalization projects

Martin Luther King program

The Wiley Middle School Challenge Choir sang several numbers, including the national anthem. Oleaser Johnson, a student at Heights High, read her award-winning essay about the teachings of Dr. King. She spoke of the need for everyone to avoid discrimination by getting to know the individual. For example, as an African American, she has joined the East Asian Club at Heights to expand her awareness of Asian cultures and prevent stereotyping.

New McDonald’s

Dave Stiles, owner of the new McDonald’s restaurant on Warrensville Center Road near Cedar Road, spoke about his 35 years of experience with McDonald’s, starting as a line cook and now owning six restaurants. They will open for business Feb. 8, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Feb. 10. He received three hundred applications for employment and had to close the application site. Eighty percent of the employees are from the surrounding community.

Municipal pool

Council approved a motion to advertise for bids to paint the slide at the municipal pool. Robert Jamieson, service director, reported that the metal structure on the super slide is peeling badly and in need of additional repairs.

Finance director

Mayor Infeld and Anthony Ianiro, acting finance director, will begin interviewing candidates for finance director in the next two weeks.

House on Silsby

The county land bank has received the deed to the house at the end of Silsby Road and will move to demolish it. After this, the land bank will deed the property back to the city. The city will then decide whether to sell the lot or to maintain it as a green space.

Street repairs

Responding to questions from Councilman Steven Sims, Mr. Ciuni, city engineer, explained how the priority of streets needing repair or replacement is determined. Mr. Ciuni explained that he maintains a list of streets and ranks them from one to ten. He reevaluates the list each spring. He noted that Lansdale Road should be eligible for Community Development Block Grant funds for repair. Although the application was denied in 2011, Mr. Ciuni will submit Lansdale Road again in 2012.

Firefighter

David Rodney, interim fire chief, announced that the firefighter who had been out on extended sick leave after being severely burned has now returned to work.

LWV observer: Wendy Deuring

These meeting summaries are abstracted from LWV observers’ written reports. The summaries have been edited and prepared by Anne McFarland, Charlene Morse, and Maryann Barnes. To receive e-mail postings of full reports, send an e-mail to mbarnes9515@gmail.com or join through Google groups using “lwv-chuh observer reports” as a search phrase.

These reports contain member observation and selected highlights of public meetings and are not official statements of the Heights Chapter of the League of Women Voters Cuyahoga Area. This disclaimer must accompany any redistribution of these reports.