LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS / University Heights City Council meeting highlights
FEBRUARY 18, 2025 regular meeting
- Public comments
- Mayor’s report
- Starfish IT services
- Directors’ reports
- Council actions
- Council committee reports
Present were Mayor Michael Dylan Brennan and Council Members Michele Weiss (vice mayor), Christopher Cooney, Brian J. King, Threse Marshall, John P. Rach, Sheri Sax, and Win Weizer. Also present were Clerk of Council Kelly Thomas, Law Director Bradric T. Bryan, Finance Director Dennis Kennedy, and City Engineer Brenda Mockbee. The meeting ran for 76 minutes.
Public comments
Multiple residents commented on a proposed ordinance relating to assemblies, parades, and road races. All commenters urged council not to pass this legislation as currently written, citing concerns about impacts on small religious processions, spontaneous protests, and similar events held by groups unable to afford the fees or give the advance notice the proposed ordinance would require.
Regarding an ordinance under consideration that involves rental permitting, a resident expressed an interest in making sure that the proposed fee schedule was balanced against the costs to the city.
Mayor’s report
The mayor offered updates on the Belltower Center development, indicating that a Q’doba and a Smoothie King had contracted for spots at the location. He mentioned that plans for the renovation of the parking lot would be shared in the next two weeks, mentioning that the associated Parking Garage CIC would meet Feb. 26.
Starfish IT services
Patrick Hanrahan, representing Starfish Computer Corporation, discussed the company’s handling of the city’s IT services. He said the company was four-fifths through upgrading the city’s cloud services. They did a round of phishing detection training for city staff, revamped the city’s 8021x network, and established new networking at the pool and fire department. Weiss and Sax had a number of questions about the complete conversion to cloud storage, old machines approaching their end of life, and the lack of dedicated city IT point persons. Brian King discussed the upcoming conferencing system to be used for future council meetings and offered thanks and enthusiasm.
Directors’ reports
Finance Director Kennedy said year-end reports were in and that property tax income was less than anticipated. He said auditors would be coming in next week.
Service Director Allen Pennington mentioned the impending retirement of long time service employee John Pucella and announced a second round of recycling cart delivery.
Building and Community Development Director Markell Davis noted that the owner of a property designated as a public nuisance had additional issues on another property. She discussed upcoming exterior inspections, the development of a map to make areas being inspected easier to discern, new hires, and her upcoming attendance at meeting with personnel of other suburban building programs.
Council action
Council approved the demolition of a property at 14500 Washington Blvd.
On emergency, council approved two budgetary appropriations: $10,000 for promotional materials accidentally removed from the budget and $75,000 for safety funding initially allocated for the prior year.
Council discussed an ordinance, presented on second reading with no vote, regarding permitting fees for departments and addressed the concerns about the fee schedule voiced by a resident during public comment. Mayor Brennan said these fees may be adjusted with time and are intended to enable a gentler shift as protocols for rental inspections change.
Council tabled the ordinance regarding fees and application timing for parades and similar events after an extensive discussion. The mayor tried to clarify that protests and religious processions were not targeted by the ordinance, which was primarily concerned with issues pertaining to road races. He said races are events involving language on predetermined routes, and that the ordinance itself was modelled on those of neighboring communities – particularly Beachwood and Shaker Heights. Weizer criticized the rapidity with which the ordinance was introduced and both she and Sax thanked the public commentators for expressing their concerns. The mayor said he would enact a moratorium on approving new events (including two upcoming five-Ks) in the meantime, but Vice Mayor Weiss encouraged the mayor to grandfather in events under the present law and Law Director Bryan confirmed this would be legally permissible.
Council committee reports
Building/Housing Committee Chair Weizer noted that at the committee’s most recent meeting they had a robust discussion regarding staffing of the Housing and Building Department (she noted that the administration had not provided them with job descriptions until December 2024). They also discussed the city’s contract with SAFEbuilt.
Community Outreach Committee Chair King said the new video conferencing system for council meetings had been tested and should be ready shortly. He praised the clear sound.
Finance Committee Chair Weiss said the committee would meet with Director Kennedy to discuss end of the year reporting at the committee’s March 11 meeting.
Recreation Committee Chair Cooney said pool fees would be discussed at their March 4 meeting.
Service Committee Chair Sax mentioned an upcoming joint meeting with the Building/Housing Committee to discuss rules pertaining to trees and weeds.
LWV observer: Leah Davydov
Meeting packets, legislation, and other information can be found on the city website at: https://www.universityheights.com/council/
Videos of council meetings can be viewed on the “City of University Heights” YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA82j5L_CkQxK9cXP_qrXvw/videos