THE CITY OF STREETSBORO, OHIO SERVICE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES. Monday, April 13, 2015

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1 THE CITY OF STREETSBORO, OHIO SERVICE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES Monday, April 13, 2015 This Service Committee Meeting was called to order on Monday, April 13, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. by Steve Michniak, Chairman. Mr. Michniak gave an invocation and then Mayor Broska led the Pledge of Allegiance. PRESENT: ABSENT: Jeff Allen, Regis Faivre, Julie Field, Tim Claypoole, Steve Michniak, John Ruediger Bridget Pavlick ALSO PRESENT: Glenn Broska, Mayor Dave Maistros, Law Director Darin Powers, Interim Police Chief Robert Reinholz, Fire Chief Jenny Esarey, Finance Director Joe Ciuni, City Engineer Bill Miller, Service Director John Cieszkowski, Planning Director Sue Truby, Economic Development Director Missy Hatch, Parks and Recreation Director Caroline Kremer, Clerk of Council MOTION: TO EXCUSE MRS. PAVLICK. Moved by Mr. Ruediger, seconded by Mrs. Field. Upon voice vote, motion carried. Disposition of Minutes MOTION: TO ACCEPT THE REGULAR SERVICE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES OF MARCH 9, 2015 AS PRESENTED. Moved by Mr. Faivre, seconded by Mrs. Field. Upon voice vote, motion carried. MOTION: TO ADDRESS FERAL CATS/VOICES IN THE DARK AGENDA ITEM FIRST TONIGHT. Moved by Mr. Allen, seconded by Mrs. Field. Upon voice vote, motion carried. New Business Feral Cats/Voices in the Dark Mrs. Field had received information/literature at the last meeting from Tom Szemon and read it,

2 researched it, and made a lot of phone calls. She invited Jacqueline Diaz-Mewes of Voices in the Dark, an animal rescue organization, to speak to Council tonight. Mrs. Field hoped from this, that Council could provide a connection or jump start for the residents to perhaps connect with this organization. Mrs. Field felt there were a lot of amazing residents in the community with big hearts for stray cats, and she thought this connection could help. She appreciated Ms. Diaz-Mewes coming tonight to share information about her organization and hoped the community might perhaps begin a program here in Streetsboro to help the animals. Ms. Diaz-Mewes gave a brief background about herself and Voices in the Dark, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit animal rescue with offices in Brookpark, Ohio. They currently served Cuyahoga, Lorain and Lake Counties; they adopted out dogs and cats, and had a feral cat protection program. Ms. Diaz- Mewes worked with many animal agencies before she co-founded Voices in the Dark. She explained that humans started the feral cat issue; cats are a domesticated species that have been around for generations that humans irresponsibly released into nature after they were already removed from the food chain. She said these were cats that grew up wild that were not socialized with humans but were domesticated to be companion animals and they were extremely resilient. She said feral cats were a strongly heated issue because a lot of emotions become involved. She found through her many years of working with animals that the best and most humane way to deal with the issue was a trap-neuter-release (TNR) program. The Cleveland Animal Control worked with the Cleveland APL and offered a co-pay for Cuyahoga County residents: for $10 the residents can trap, spay/neuter and vaccinate an animal before it was released. Ms. Diaz-Mewes had arranged with Pet Fix NE Ohio which would send a van to the Streetsboro citizens to take the cats back to their stationary clinic in Euclid for $25 to TNR and vaccinate the cats. She also offered to educate the Streetsboro residents, which, along with a TNR program, could drastically reduce the feral cat population. She agreed an apartment complex parking lot was not a long-term solution or home that was safe for the cats or safe for the residents. She added that the Voices in the Dark feral cat protection volunteers were willing to do clinics to help the residents access and use traps and she was willing to extend the program to Streetsboro if the citizens were willing to volunteer. Mr. Ruediger asked if the cats that went through a TNR program were marked in any way so others would know they d already been spayed/neutered. Ms. Diaz-Mewes said the cats received the universal ear tip of the left ear to mark them and received vaccinations, deworming and treatments for parasites. Mr. Ruediger asked, if a fixed pet cat was left behind and then was trapped, how Voices in the Dark would know if that cat had already been spayed or neutered. Ms. Diaz-Mewes hoped no one would leave a cat behind, and their shelter would take an adopted animal back if the owner couldn t keep it. She said feral cat colonies shouldn t be relocated, but Voices in the Dark did sometimes relocate feral colonies because it wasn t safe to leave them in an apartment complex parking lot and she wouldn t re-release them there, or in a city where the animal warden believed in trap and euthanization. Voices in the Dark had a barn sanctuary in Michigan, but she thought she might be able to make arrangements to relocate a colony to a rural area in Streetsboro. She said if a pet cat was accidentally trapped, the vet would be able to tell if it had already been spayed or neutered by the scars (or a little blue tattoo next to the scars) before attempting surgery on them. She Page 2 of 8

3 added that when they do a program in a suburban area the volunteers usually go door to door to let people know they will be trapping in the area, so the people can keep their pets indoors during that time, or could call Voices in the Dark if their cat doesn t come home like usual. Mr. Allen clarified that Ms. Diaz-Mewes would be willing to send a truck to Portage Pointe Apartments to trap and relocate their feral cats for $25 per cat. Ms. Diaz-Mewes said it wouldn t be her organization (Voices in the Dark), it would be Pet Fix NE Ohio, a 501(c)(3) spay and neuter clinic, that would be able to send a van by appointment and the neighborhood would have to bring the cats in a carrier or a trap and pay $25 per animal and then she hoped the cats would be released somewhere in the area. If Council wanted the cats removed completely from the City, she said it would take a long-term of research to find a solution for that. She thought the City animal control might be able to lease traps for citizens to use, but that would have to be arranged with animal control, or she could research finding donations for such a trapping program. Mrs. Field said Ms. Diaz-Mewes was very helpful and had provided some great information, so Mrs. Field hoped this would get a lot of publicity and the residents would step forward, and she knew they would because of their great passion for these animals. Mrs. Field thanked Ms. Diaz-Mewes for coming and presenting the information tonight. Ms. Diaz-Mewes was willing to answer any further questions that may arise so the Clerk would provide the Council Members with Ms. Diaz-Mewes /contact information. Old Business T-6042 Amendment to Dogs and Other Animals Running At Large Mrs. Field explained that this topic was not related to the previous topic; they were separate items. Mr. Michniak asked if there was anything new regarding this topic. MOTION: TO TAKE THIS OFF THE AGENDA UNTIL WE COME UP WITH SOMETHING ELSE AND IT S PUT BACK ON THE AGENDA. Moved by Mr. Allen, seconded by Mr. Claypoole. Upon voice vote, motion carried. New Business Update on Kickapoo Pass Culvert Bid Opening Mr. Ciuni said this project had been bid three times at different times of year to try to get the best price. This was to replace two 60" corrugated metal pipe culverts because one pipe had collapsed and the other was failing. It was bid to replace the two pipes or to use an 8 x 4 concrete box and the preferred method was the concrete box. The budget established back in 2013 was not adequate for the job because the prices had been similar in all three bids attempts. The bids were opened on April 2, There were three bidders and the low bid was from Burton Scot Contractors at $233, Mr. Ciuni recommended awarding the bid to them. The project with the box culvert was expected to be done within 30 days. They would do the project half and half to keep one lane of traffic open at all times. Page 3 of 8

4 Mayor Broska said this project was budgeted at $150,000, so appropriation amendments would be presented at the next Finance Committee Meeting. The City had received about $68,000 in a refund from the State from a paving program so that amount could go toward the Kickapoo Pass Culvert Replacement project and they would find the other $13,000 to $15,000 in the Capital Improvement Fund to get this project done this spring. Ms. Esarey noted that the original ordinance ( ) to authorize going to bid and entering into a contract for this project had an account number that was different than the 2015 budget, so that would need to be amended to the proper 2015 account number at the next Council Meeting, similar to what was done for the OPWC Ward 1 waterline project recently. MOTION: TO FORWARD AMEND ORD. NO TO THE APRIL 27, 2015 FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING. Moved by Mr. Ruediger, seconded by Mr. Faivre. Upon voice vote, motion carried. Update on 2015 Road Resurfacing Program Bid Opening Mr. Ciuni said the bid opening was last Friday, April 10, 2015 and the bids came in less than the $500,000 estimate because the asphalt prices were the best they d been in 20+ years ($97/cu yd). There were four bidders and Chagrin Valley Paving was the lowest at $370, to resurface Sunny Lane, Meldon Drive and Andy Drive in the Sunny Slopes area that got waterlines last year and also Greentree Drive E from Frost Road to Bristol Lane. Council had already passed an ordinance ( ) to authorize awarding the contract, so this item did not need to be moved to Regular Council. The administration would award the contract, schedule a pre-construction meeting and get the project started as soon as possible. The paving program should take about 45 days. Review Bids for SWPPP Inspection Services Mr. Cieszkowski had requested bids from 5 consulting engineering firms for the Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) services. He received responses from three of those firms and he and Mrs. Truby reviewed those firms. He recommended Council allow the Mayor to enter a 3- year contract with Krock Esser Engineering because their responses were the most detailed, they didn t charge for any reimbursables, and it would be most cost effective to not have to go out to bid each year for these services. He felt a multi-year contract would save a lot of time and effort for the staff since it was very time consuming to go through the bid process and evaluation process annually, especially since there were not a lot of firms that provided these services and they didn t vary greatly in the services they provided. Mr. Faivre was familiar with Krock Esser Engineering and felt they were a good firm; he supported a three year contract to save the City money. Mr. Allen asked if Portage County offered these services. Mr. Cieszkowski said yes, but the Portage County Soil and Water Conservation District didn t have the staff to provide the services for Streetsboro. The City used to have in-house staff (Amy Flake) do this work, but there should be no cost to the City for these services because the cost would be charged back to the applicant/developer. Page 4 of 8

5 MOTION: TO FORWARD THIS TO THE APRIL 27, 2015 REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING AS A THREE YEAR AGREEMENT AS EMERGENCY LEGISLATION. Moved by Mr. Ruediger, seconded by Mr. Faivre. Upon voice vote, motion carried. Discuss License Agreement w/junior Baseball Mr. Allen said there was a 2008 license agreement to allow Streetsboro Junior Baseball (SJB) to put signs on the fences with a split of the money 80% to the City and 20% to SJB. He asked to put this item on today s agenda because SJB was considering selling naming rights for the various fields to raise some money and was getting good response from the local businesses. He thought the license agreement needed updated and maybe could include this new fundraising idea. The current agreement gave the Mayor executive power to approve the signs on the fencing, but this proposal was different for signs on the backstops. Mr. Maistros thought the 2008 license agreement still existed since it didn t have a termination period, but it did need cleaned up/updated, which he could do for the next Council Meeting, although it could be a delay for SJB to sell the ads and get banners made. Mr. Maistros thought two things needed addressed: 1) the City should have final review of the signs and 2) since, technically, this signage would fall under Planning Commission/Sign Code he may need to draft some legislation approving this and relieving these signs from going through the Sign Code and Planning Commission each time SJB sold an add and wanted to place a sign. Mr. Allen mentioned that at the last Planning Commission meeting where they discussed the Planning and Zoning Code Update they had put a provision in the proposed Planning and Zoning Code, but that was not adopted yet. If Council was comfortable with this Mr. Maistros would draft legislation for the next Council Meeting. Mayor Broska suggested changing the split of the money in the updated license agreement to 80% to SJB and 20% to the City. It was originally set so the City would get money to take care of the fields since the budget was so tight back then. Mr. Michniak asked about the sizes of the signs for the backstops and outfield fences. Mr. Maistros said SJB had listed some sizes to propose to sell and he would include that in the updated license agreement. MOTION: TO FORWARD THIS TO THE APRIL 27, 2015 FINANCE COMMITTEE AND REGULAR COUNCIL MEETINGS. Moved by Mr. Allen, seconded by Mr. Ruediger. Upon voice vote, motion carried. Discuss Purchasing a Dura Patcher Mr. Miller said this equipment had been available for a while. A vendor had provided a demonstration to the Service Department recently by patching some concrete on SR14. By using this equipment it would help maintain the roads in more weather conditions than they could do now (a Dura Patcher was usable about 10 months of the year) and save money in the long run on road repairs. The machine worked on concrete and asphalt and Mr. Miller thought the $57,000 cost was a Page 5 of 8

6 great investment for the City. Once it was ordered it would take five weeks for delivery. This equipment could also do crack sealing. In the past not crack sealing the asphalt had been a big problem for road maintenance. Mr. Faivre had heard of this equipment, but had never seen it in action. Mr. Miller explained some technicalities to Mr. Faivre. Mr. Miller would look into getting the crack sealer attachment; he wasn t sure it was included in this quote, but if it wasn t it was only another couple hundred dollars. Mr. Ciuni had seen the equipment in Beechwood. He said the final product looked like a tar and chip, which wasn t pretty but was successful. Mr. Miller added that this equipment would save time and effort because they wouldn t have to dig out the area to patch it. The patches could last up to five years. Bids were not required because it was State pricing. MOTION: TO FORWARD THIS TO THE APRIL 27, 2015 FINANCE COMMITTEE AND REGULAR COUNCIL MEETINGS. Moved by Mr. Allen, seconded by Mr. Ruediger. Mr. Claypoole asked if the Finance Director was comfortable with this expenditure. Ms. Esarey answered that $70,000 was appropriated to the Equipment line, so this $56,673 purchase should be fine. Council encouraged getting the crack sealer attachment for only a few hundred dollars more. Upon voice vote, motion carried. Discuss Replacing Concrete at City Park Pavilion Mayor Broska said they had started the project. This maintenance was being done in-house to save money. They broke up the concrete, removed it, brought some gravel in and tamped it. They would lay the forms and then pour the concrete on Wednesday. They wanted to install sidewalks from the parking lot to the pavilion and from the pavilion to the restrooms for handicapped access, but the sidewalks would have to go through the Planning Commission first, so they would be installed later. They had received a few complaints about the condition of the concrete and the cost was below the Board of Control threshold, so they went ahead and started the maintenance work. Mr. Claypoole asked that the concrete be guarded after it was poured so no one would write in the wet cement. Mayor Broska explained that since the administration had gotten away from the Civil Service hiring within the Service Department they had been able to hire people with needed specialties like cement finishing, hardscaping, landscaping, operating machinery, etc. to save money in the long run. The inhouse staff built the new war memorial in Evergreen Cemetery. Ms. Hatch mentioned that during the 2015 budget process the Parks Improvement line was to be used for signage, paths, and playground equipment, but this was a Park Improvement too so that s the line the funds were coming from. She expected this project to cost about $3,100, but even with unforeseen contingencies it shouldn t go over $3,500 (the Board of Control threshold). Mr. Allen agreed the concrete was bad and had needed done. He asked about the roof of the pavilion which seemed to be in poor condition. Ms. Hatch said it was not leaking at this time so she would look into making improvements to the pavilion roof down the road and would contact the Lion s Club since they had originally constructed it for the City. Page 6 of 8

7 Bump on Frost Road Mr. Michniak asked for an update regarding the condition of the raised road over the gas line. Mr. Miller said there was a gas line that ran across the roadway. The Service Department thought the problem started with a drive culvert leaking into a trench that went across the ditch. Mr. Miller was waiting on the gas company s response whether they would repair it or if the City should charge them and put the drive culvert in to prevent this from happening again. The bump had sunk somewhat, but the City was waiting on the gas company s response. There wasn t any danger from the gas lines. Citizens Comments Pete Buczkowski, 9345 Root Drive, asked if the cat rescue group could tell the difference between a feral cat and an outdoor pet cat. Mr. Michniak said Ms. Diaz-Mewes had said they couldn t until the cat was spayed or neutered and ear-tipped. The rescue group would notify neighborhoods of any trapping programs so pets could be brought indoors and if a pet was picked up accidentally there were ways to tell if it was already fixed before another surgery was attempted and they would try to reunite the pets with their owners. Mr. Buczkowski asked for clarification on the Kickapoo Pass Culvert Replacement project. Mr. Ciuni explained they would do the project one traffic lane at a time so residents and emergency vehicles could still get through. Mr. Buczkowski hoped Root Drive would get the cracks sealed once the City acquired the Dura Patcher. Others said Frost Road and Hannum Crossing needed it too. George Greenlee, 8580 Ferguson Road, said Mr. Maistros had recently sent a letter to his neighbor regarding the illegal use of a motocross track, but the issue still wasn t completely settled. He said for three years City Council had failed to give him equal justice and due process under the law of grade and fill and asked why, because he [Mr. Greenlee] had a permit. Mr. Allen answered that City Council had opinions from the Law Director and Planning Commission that they were doing their job and it was being done properly. It finally went to Planning Commission and the Planning Commission said the track had to get a conditional use permit, so that s where it s at. Mr. Allen thought the neighbor, Mr. Deizic, had received a ticket for grade and fill, but Mr. Maistros corrected that it was prosecuted under the noise ordinance. Mr. Allen thought the Law Department was working out an agreement regarding the grading and filling. Mr. Maistros said Mr. Deizic had received a letter in September and the City had received a response after that; it was laid out in Mr. Maistros most recent letter. Mr. Greenlee understood Council had the authority to instruct the Mayor and the Law Director to enforce the law, but they had not done so for three years and he wondered why because it denied Mr. Greenlee his rights of equal enforcement of the law. He added that Mayor Broska knew for 2 ½ years that [Mr. Deizic] was in violation of City Ordinance and Code, yet he refused to tell Mr. Maistros to enforce those laws, denying Mr. Greenlee his rights and he wanted to know why. Mayor Broska answered that they had enforced the law as it existed and had issued a citation for a noise ordinance. Since that time it had been under investigation by both the Planning and the Law Departments. Mr. Greenlee emphasized that the neighbor didn t get a grade and fill permit and Page 7 of 8

8 Mayor Broska had known that for 2 ½ years, but Mayor Broska said that wasn t true. He said it came to the City as a noise complaint and a dust complaint and the City addressed the noise and dust complaint. Then it was brought up that perhaps the neighbor needed a grade and fill permit and perhaps he needed to go and have a conditional use permit; the City had followed through with it in a timely manner. The City cited him, and they thought they had a resolution to the noise problem, but since that time they found out the situation had not been resolved, so the City had taken it a step further and [Mr. Deizic] had received a letter last week from the Law Director to cease and desist. Mr. Greenlee said it was three years after the fact and 2 ½ years after Mayor Broska had failed to give Mr. Greenlee equal justice under the law, which Mayor Broska said wasn t true. Mr. Ruediger interrupted because Mr. Greenlee had gone beyond the three minute time limit for Citizens Comments. Mr. Greenlee repeated that the Law Director had denied him his equal rights of due process and equal enforcement of the law. Mr. Ruediger welcomed Mr. Greenlee to come to City Hall during business hours to talk to the administration. Announcements A Safety Committee Meeting will immediately follow this meeting. There being no further business to be addressed by this committee, and upon motion by Mr. Claypoole, seconded by Mr. Ruediger, this meeting adjourned at 7:56 p.m. ATTEST: Caroline L. Kremer, Clerk of Council Steve Michniak, Chairman ck Page 8 of 8