University Heights City Council meeting highlights 1-7-13

JANUARY 7, 2013

• Town hall meeting
• Interim fire chief
• Joint police dispatch
• Wire transfers
• City budget
• Traffic control box
  
  

All council members were present.

Town hall meeting

Mayor Susan Infeld stated that postcards and e-mails were sent to citizens regarding the town hall meeting on Jan. 10 at 7 p.m. The potential merger of Shaker Heights and University Heights fire departments will be discussed.

Interim fire chief

Mayor Infeld swore in Brian Phan as the interim fire chief. He was previously the fire chief in Bainbridge and captain in University Heights.

Joint police dispatch

Council approved the city’s joint application with South Euclid, Beachwood, Shaker Heights and Euclid for a grant from the state of Ohio for a feasibility study for a joint police dispatch. There is no cost to the city for this study.

Wire transfers

Council approved entering into a wire transfer agreement with FirstMerit Bank. Two signatures are needed to approve a wire transfer. Council also reauthorized the law director, finance director, and clerk of council as signators on the account.

City budget

Budget appropriations were presented on first reading. The finance committee added $25,000 to improve roads and some other minor revisions totaling $40,000. Two hundred thousand dollars was added to police and fire salaries to retain or have funds available to retirees.

Traffic control box

Council approved replacing the traffic control box, pole, and traffic signals on the corner of Warrensville Center Road and Cedar Road due to the accident in December. The cost is approximately $46,000, for which the Regional Transit Authority (RTA) is responsible. Councilwoman Frankie Goldberg asked if the city has to front any of the money. Law Director Anthony Coyne said he would speak to RTA.

LWV Observer: Michele Weiss.

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.