CITY OF ROCKY RIVER

JULY 7, 2008

The Committee-of-the-Whole was called to order by Mr. Moran, President of Council, at 8:00 p.m.

Council Members Present: Mr. Hunt, Mr. Shepherd, Mr. Mylen, Mr. Furry,

Mr. Long, Mr. Moran

Absent: Ms. Arabian

Administration: Mayor Bobst, Mr. Linden, Mr. Harrington

Law Director: Mr. Bemer

The meeting was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.

MAYOR’S REPORT:

Mayor Bobst introduced a young man in the audience, Zak Paull. Zak will be a sophomore this fall at Rocky River High School. He is a wonderful student and very involved in school and very active in scouting. He met with the Mayor last week and asked some incredible questions. They discussed sewers. He was very attentive and a great listener. Mayor Bobst said that it is great to have Zak in attendance this evening. She said that if Zak had any questions the Council members and she would enjoy answering them after the meeting.

The Mayor reported that Rocky River and Community Challenge will be co-hosting River Days this Saturday, July 12 and Sunday, July 13. Everyone received at their homes a brochure outlining all of the festivities that are planned. Mayor Bobst thanked all of the civic organizations and all of their volunteers who have been so involved in the planning. The Mayor said that there was one error in the brochure. The time for submitting the pies for the pie baking contest on Saturday morning should be between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. It is a misprint in the brochure has 9:00 p.m. It has been corrected on all of the other literature that has gone out, and a thank you to the Sun News and the Westlife for quickly making the correction prior to the newspapers going out. Again the Mayor wished to thank all of the civic organizations and especially Community Challenge who head up a lot of the festivities on Saturday. She said that we are off to a great start.

The Mayor welcomed Jeff Harrington, the Superintendent of the Rocky River Waste Water Treatment Plant and thanked him for his attendance this evening. He will be talking about the Metcalf & Eddy Engineering contract that is before Council. She said that there will be 2 additional ordinances in the near future. One is accepting the grant and zero interest loan from Ohio Public Works and then an ordinance for our portion of the payment schedule in September. The second ordinance is an ordinance that all of the communities participating in our Waste Water Treatment Plant will pass at the same time.

Mayor Bobst reporting on the status of the quiet zone said that we received in mid June information from Norfolk and Southern finalizing the train count as four trains per day. She said that they also gave us a cost estimate of $680,000 for the engineering, for the installation/construction of the power out indicators for all four crossings and the constant warning circuitry at Elmwood. That number seemed extremely high to the Mayor. She had heard, while meeting with Congressman Kucinich and some of the other Mayors, that other communities were experiencing very aggressive numbers with this engineering, so with that she asked Norfolk and Southern to give us a breakdown. She said that they gave us what she would call a broad breakdown of that $680,000. The Mayor discussed a study that had been conducted about 3 years ago by Railroad Controls Limited. She has a copy of the study and offered copies to anyone who would like to review it. The Mayor said that in the study the Power Out Indicators were estimated to be about $20,000 apiece and there are 4 of them so that would be $80,000. and the Constant Warning Circuitry was around $175,000. for Elmwood. So, as you can see, $80,000 and $175,000. does not approach $680.000. Councilman Kucinich had indicated to the Mayor that he would be meeting with representatives of Norfolk and Southern in Washington D.C. and wanted more of the details from other Mayors that were hearing these very large numbers. The Mayor said that she shared with Marty Gelfand our large numbers and our previous study that is not supporting those numbers whatsoever. Marty Gelfand took the numbers, our information, and forwarded them to Ron Ries at the Federal Rail Administration, who is the Director of Crossing Safety, to get some indication from the FRA before the Congressman or we go back to Norfolk and Southern to say that these numbers do not seem in line with an earlier study. She said that they may say that the earlier study may not have had all of the details, etc., but she feels that it is worthy of investigation because $680,000 seems like a very aggressive dollar figure on the work that needs to be done. She will provide an update to Council as soon as she hears from Ron Ries or the Congressman’s office.

Mr. Mylen asked for the detail of the $680,000. broad breakdown. The Mayor said that they said that these are ballpark estimates because to prepare actual estimates their engineering department has to do some preliminary engineering and she imagines that would be at our expense. She said that the breakdown they gave her is $330,000 for the Constant Warning Circuitry, $110,000 for each crossing (Linda, Wagar and Morewood), another 330,000 for Elmwood and an additional $20,000 for Power Off Indicators for all 4 crossings. The Mayor said that she was told that that is a fairly accurate ballpark estimate. Mr. Mylen asked if each of these expenses would be absolutely necessary for us to go forward with the project. The Mayor said that Norfolk and Southern are saying that we have to do all of this in order to establish the Quiet Zone. Mr. Mylen asked if these were safety measures that the City was going to consider whether we move forward with the Quiet Zone or not. The Mayor said that this would have to be done whether we install supplemental safety measures or not. The Mayor said that Norfolk and Southern by agreement they said that they would install an Electronic Notification System and as of yet they have not installed that system. She said that if they did install that system maybe some of the other requirements may be addressed, but she does not know if it would eliminate anything we would have to do to establish the Quiet Zone.

Mr. Hunt asked if the Constant Warning System is only required at Elmwood. The Mayor said that was correct. She said that the other locations already have it. The Mayor said that we can establish the Quiet Zone after these upgrades are made, so that there would not be a requirement to install supplemental safety measures because our train count totals and vehicle traffic totals are below the risk threshold. Mr. Long said that there is such a difference in the numbers and what concerns him more than the amount is that they are always changing the numbers. Mayor Bobst said that RCL did not do the study on behalf of Norfolk and Southern, it was in independent Railroad Controls Limited study. She said that RCL is in the business of installing supplemental safety measures and those were their estimates when they did the evaluation of the tracks. She said that they are professionals and very knowledgeable. She said that now we have this discrepancy between $680,000 and $260,000 and that is worthy of review. She said that she really thinks that we need an independent review and she was very pleased to hear that it would be passed along to Ron Ries. She said that whether he will weigh in on which number is more correct than the other remains to be seen, but we are at least having it evaluated. Mayor Bobst said that we do not have to install supplemental safety measures, but we do have to upgrade the engineering on the tracks and that is what this is about and it was estimated at about a quarter of a million dollars when we originally looked at this.

Mr. Bemer said that when we met with the Norfolk and Southern representative a year and a half ago and we had our RCL study done at that point and the costs were presented and they basically said that the cost estimates were high because we were looking at the potential of $300,000 so based on what we thought was a very conservative estimate of cost and then Norfolk and Southern was saying don’t worry, it’s not that bad and then we get this piece of information causes a certain amount of concern and skepticism on our part. The Mayor said that is why in independent review is going to get us some of the information that we need and she thinks with the Congressman’s help, hopefully, all of the communities that are faced with this. The Mayor said that in all fairness to Norfolk and Southern, RCL does not speak for Norfolk and Southern, RCL is just giving us estimates as we were pursuing the Quiet Zone and supplemental safety measures. She said that those figures were cost estimates and they are now 3 years old. Mr. Mylen said that he is very happy that the Mayor is double checking the numbers.

Mayor Bobst said that D B Hartt, David Hartt and Alisa Duffy Rogers, will be back tomorrow evening for a meeting to talk about the Development Code update. The Mayor wanted to commend all participants. She said that David Hartt and Elise have never, in all the time that they have worked with communities, developing new code, writing new code, revamping of entire sections of code, never received the thoughtful commentary and feedback that they have received from the 30 or so individuals who have been involved in this process. They were absolutely thrilled and it makes their job so much easier and more effective moving forward. The Mayor said that she knows that all of the members of City Council have been involved and it is a true measure of their commitment. She said that we know if the process is good we know that the product will serve the City well.

The Mayor announced that there is a new Chamber Executive Director. Her name is Liz Manning. She will be starting on Friday so she will be here for Family Fun Fest and River Days. The Mayor said that she is looking forward to meeting her and welcoming her.

The Mayor reported that the streetscape meeting was last week and it was very productive. She said that she has shared the Detroit Road Streetscape Workbook with everyone. She said that it will be followed up by some budgetary information to use it to work with stakeholders, prioritize, and then be looking at the grant opportunities. The Mayor said if anyone had any questions she would be more than happy to get them in touch with Paul Volpe, Kory, or anyone else that has been working on the project.

Mayor Bobst said that Council President Moran brought the lead article from Sunday’s Plain Dealer about the Cleveland housing market. She said that on page A10 there was a colorful map with some very exciting news for the City of Rocky River. She said that there were 5 communities, only 1 on the west side, Independence being on the south, we were the only one to have gains in our home sale prices in 2007 and 2008. It was very good news for the City of Rocky River and she was very pleased, as you can imagine, when she opened the paper. She has heard many positive comments from our residents that see that as something to be very proud of in the City of Rocky River. The Mayor thanked Mr. Moran for bringing the article and that concluded her report.

Mr. Moran said that we are looking forward to moving forward with the Quiet Zone and it would be interesting to hear from RCL, as the Mayor said they are professionals in what they do. He said that when something doubles in price that is a lot, but when something quadruples in price there has to be something to it. He said that we are going to be investing significant dollars and City Council is looking forward to hearing why the large difference in the estimates.

Mr. Moran asked if anyone had any questions regarding the Mayor’s report. No one had any questions.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS:

Committee Reports

Mr. Furry said that he and the Mayor attended the Cleveland Airport Systems Suburban Mayors meeting held on Monday, June 30^th, hosted by Mayor Gary Starr of Middleburgh Heights. The airport addressed the Part 150 Study update that was completed in August 2000 addressing such issues as noise compatibility which will gather airport noise and type of aircraft be it passenger or cargo. They have received a FAA grant for $880,000 along with $220,000 of local funding from the Port Authority. Consultants Harris, Miller, Miller and Hanson will conduct the study. The time frame from inception to completion to FAA acceptance will be approximately 18-24 months and will apparently allow extensive public participation.

Mr. Furry said that they also announced plans for their Master Plan update. They are in the initial stages of that as they are still searching for funding and a consultant, but anticipate it to commence in calendar year 2008.

Mr. Furry said that the airport also addressed the Residential Sound Insulation Program with a total project cost of 6.5 million dollars, of which 5.2 million dollars from the FAA and 1.3 million dollars in local dollars. He said that eligible homes are in the 65 decibel level buffer zone which is set by the FAA.

Mr. Furry said that in regards to the Noise Monitoring System, they have upgraded the system in late May and are developing policy and procedures for remote access. There are currently 11 monitors that have been in place for 20 years with one portable one, which the City of Rocky River has utilized twice in the past. He said that they have also purchased an additional portable one that should be up and running shortly. They are working on getting the system in place that would allow a 24 hour delay on accessing information.

Mr. Furry said that he would continue to ask all residents to utilize the Airport Noise Monitoring Hotline on our website. The phone number is 216-898-5220.

Mayor Bobst said that the only other thing that they shared with them at the meeting was the construction plans for the next several months. She said that one of the things that they indicated, which is important as we talk about airport noise, is that there may be some parts of our City because of the construction and the flight patterns that are impacted by that construction, some areas may hear more noise and some may hear less but this would be of short duration while they are constructing and they will return back to their normal levels. We recommend that if our residents are hearing airplane noise that they use the hotline, that is extremely important and we would like to hear about these as well because we have a direct liaison with the airport. She said that they have worked very closely with the FAA and in fact they used Rocky River as an example. We used the noise monitor twice, once on Westover and once on High Parkway. She said that the residents on High Parkway not only had the noise monitor but prior to that documented every flyover, time, and if they could identify the aircraft. She said that it was sent to the airport and they sat down with the FAA and actually modified some of their flight patterns and were becoming more consistent with the 10% fan out that they were suppose to be adhering to. She said that we ere able to affect change and hopefully with the noise monitors and the new system we will have even more impact on them. Mr. Furry said that he has a copy of the construction schedule if anyone is interested in seeing it.

Mr. Mylen asked if any of the areas in Rocky River have experienced noise levels above 65 decibels. Mayor Bobst said that she believes that on High Parkway it was about 50 to 55 decibels, but she would have to verify that figure. Mr. Bemer said that we have City ordinances in place pertaining to noise and our daytime limit is 60 decibels and our nighttime limit with the exception of air conditioners is 50 decibels.

Mr. Moran said that with all the work that has been done for 30 years with regard to aircraft noise it is very important to turn in as many phone calls as we can because they bring the awareness. He said to the council members that they should make sure that all of their constituents have the hotline telephone number and use it. He said that the more people that call because they are hearing planes will help. He said in this situation the comments and complaints are good. Mr. Furry said that they have a quarterly meeting for S.A.F.E. and they provide us reports stating the number, it may state a 10% drop in complaints for example, but then a 10% rise in new numbers, so they track repeat people and new ones and track the data. Mayor Bobst said that the hotline telephone number is on the front page of the City’s website.

Mayor Bobst said that the noise monitors can track unique aircraft. She said that it can track the direction, altitude, type of aircraft and if they did not follow the correct fan out or flight path. She said that airport officials meet with the airlines and with thorough documentation they could line it up with their documentation from their noise monitoring systems and it was very effective in working with the airlines and FAA.

MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS:

Mr. Moran said that we have a request of the Ohio Division of Liquor Control from the BP Station at 19400 Hilliard Blvd. He said that they are requesting the same liquor permit that the Shell Station received, which we were not in favor of a while back. He said that we went through quite a process with the Shell Station, fighting the situation of issuing a permit for selling beer. Mr. Moran asked if anyone had any questions or comments as far as trying to restrict the BP Station from getting a permit. Mr. Moran said that we have liquor permits available. Mr. Bemer said that there are 6 available for carry-out beer and wine. Mr. Moran asked in that situation would we have a leg to stand on to not object this request. Mr. Hunt asked Mr. Bemer if there is anything new or any reasons that the Law Department could give us based on what he had so diligently presented with regard to the Shell Station. Mr. Bemer said that the Police Department reviews all of these applications and we take our queue from them and we have no negative information that would lead us to believe we would prevail in objecting to this application. He said that we did prevail 2 years ago along the same time as the Shell application and BP did not pursue an appeal at that time, but Shell did appeal. Mr. Bemer discussed some case law and discussed the area, Police Department’s ability, etc. Mr. Furry asked if we review the liquor licenses annually. The Mayor said that are reviewed annually, in October. Mr. Moran said that they do background checks and there were no concerns. He asked if Council would request a hearing or not. Council agreed not to request a hearing.

NEW BUSINESS:

Ordinance 84-08: Mr. Furry said that this is an ordinance for erosion mitigation revetment located within a Lake Ere submerged land lease adjacent to Permanent Parcel No. 302-01-004 at 22744 Lake Rd, Rocky River, Ohio (Consent Agenda)

Ordinance 85-08: Mr. Mylen said that this is a housekeeping ordinance and is authorizing the purchase of janitorial supplies from Resource at a cost not to exceed $30,000. He said that it is a thorough list and the bids will be in the packets next week and will include a copy of last year’s documentation to compare (Consent Agenda)

Ordinance 86-08: Mr. Hunt said that this ordinance is a contract that would allow us to retain Metcalf & Eddy. He said that Metcalf & Eddy has been on retainer since 2006 and is overseeing numerous projects at the Waste Water Treatment Plant. The contract retainer amount is for $24,840, 2008-2009 retainer based on a per month fee is $9,840 and miscellaneous $15,000 which would be part of this contract as well is in effect an emergency fund used at our discretion if something were to come up on short notice at the WWTP and Superintendent Harrington would need to inquire of Metcalf & Eddy for some direction that money would be there to tap into. That figure is based on hourly rates that were attached to the ordinance and the same amount of miscellaneous resource that we set aside last year as well. The contract would run from August 1, 2008 to August 1, 2009 and the current contract expires at the end of this month. Mr. Harrington said that Metcalf and Eddy has been on site of the plant since 2004 when they did our first Ohio Works project and they are on their third multi-million dollar project and they also supply basic services and consultation. Mr. Harrington said that there is a 2% increase on the hourly rate and 2% on the retainer fee, which is well within reason. He said that Metcalf and Eddy has done an excellent job and they know the WWTP facility very well and he recommends continuing their services. Mr. Hunt said that the $15,000 will not necessarily be tapped into unless it is needed and it is better to have it in place if something does come up. (Consent Agenda)

Ordinance 87-08: Mr. Hunt said that this ordinance is authorizing to enter into a tax-sharing agreement with the City of Avon and various other municipal corporations in Cuyahoga and Lorain Counties for the purpose of sharing in tax revenues generated in the joint economic development zone located in and around the City of Avon at Interstate 90 and Nagel Road. (Consent Agenda)

As there was no further business by members of Council, members adjourned at 8:55

James W. Moran Mary Ventimiglia

President of Council Assistant to the Mayor