Cleveland Heights City Council meeting highlights 11-4-2013

NOVEMBER 4, 2013

  • Citizen comments
  • BMV audit
  • Holiday trash schedule
  • Doan Brook Watershed Partnership anniversary
  • Sale of public land
  • Cedar Lee Theater loan
  • HOME funds
  • Code changes align with state law

All council members were present.

Citizen comments

Storm clean up: Resident Joanne Bergole complained about the city’s failure to clean up tree-lawn trees following the last storm, and urged the city to do more preventive tree trimming. She said she felt different parts of the city received different treatment and proposed that council be elected by district and not at large.

Injured deer: Resident Beverly Forcier followed up on a letter sent to the city manager with concerns about the way the city handled an injured deer.

BMV audit

Council authorized a contract with Dalene M. Pride to audit Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicle records for 2013 and 2014, to identify mistakes in the taxing district assigned to vehicles owned by city residents. In the past, the audit has uncovered several mistakes, the correction of which enhanced registration revenue to Cleveland Heights.

Holiday trash schedule

Trash collection will be delayed by one day because of Veterans Day, Nov. 11.

Doan Brook Watershed Partnership anniversary

Nov. 12 is the annual meeting of the Doan Brook Watershed Partnership, which is celebrating its tenth anniversary.

Sale of public land

Council authorized the sale of a small sliver of public land to the adjacent neighbor at 2040 Hanover Road. The sale was [in the amount of] $1, with closing costs paid by the buyer.

Council also approved the sale of city-owned property at 1572 Rydalmount Road for $120,000, and a $5,000 no-interest loan for down payment assistance to the buyer. The house was rehabilitated with Neighborhood Stabilization Funds.

Cedar Lee Theater loan

The Cedar Lee Theater Co. Inc. received a loan of $25,000 to restore its marquee. The five-year loan, at 2 percent interest, is from the Economic Development Loan Fund Program.

HOME funds

Council authorized receipt of $393,765 in federal Home Investment Partnership Program (HOME) funds to support housing rehab and buyer-assistance activities in Cleveland Heights. The city will also receive $6,008 to administer the funds. The city applied for the funds as part of a consortium of communities under the auspices of Cuyahoga County.

Code changes align with state law

In order to conform to state law, council amended sections of the city code regarding traffic and general offenses.

LWV Observer: Susie Kaeser.

Please note: YouTube videos of Cleveland Heights City Council meetings may be accessed at youtube.com/clevelandheightsoh

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.

Read More on Cleveland Heights
Volume 6, Issue 12, Posted 12:06 PM, 11.16.2013