CITY OF ROCKY RIVER

JULY 24, 2006

Regular meeting of Council was called to order by Mr. Gollinger, President pro tem of Council, at 8:00 p.m.

Council Members Present: Mr. Gollinger, Mr. Hunt, Mr. Hurtuk, Mrs. Bartolozzi Absent: Mr. Hagan, Mr. Moran

Administration: Mr. Linden

Law Director: Mr. Bemer

Press: Mrs. McKenzie, Ms. Mitchell

MAYOR'S REPORT:

In Mayor Bobst's absence, Mr. Linden reported on construction projects in progress:

• Center Ridge Road - curbs, walks and aprons are complete on the south side. Walks and aprons continue on the north side. Stamped concrete in the tree lawn area will begin this week. (Sample of this stamping has been installed at Center Ridge & Wooster.)



• Detroit Road Resurfacing - from Wright to Wooster, stamped concrete crosswalks are being installed. Work began last Friday and the project should be complete by the end of this week.



• Streetscape Program - Concrete work is complete on Detroit Road. The new walk on Lake Road coming from the Clifton Bridge is also complete. Work on the crosswalk on Battersea should be complete today as will the restoration of areas around trees on Detroit.



• Rocky River Park - All work is complete except for benches which are on order and should arrive and be installed shortly.



• 2006 Paving Program - Malvern has new curbing on the north side. Sidewalks and aprons should be complete this week when work will begin on the south side. Sanitary sewer work on Maplewood has begun. The mainline sewer will be installed first, then laterals replaced to the cleanout. The island on Hilliard has been removed and concrete installed. The final asphalt is due this Tuesday. The turn lane will be installed when Lake Road is done.



• Mr. Linden and Mr. Mackay are working together on the project of replacing storm and sanitary sewers on Roslyn between Argyle and Frazier. Work is also ongoing for Spencer to alleviate sewer problems there and to correct possible improper connections.

LAW DIRECTOR'S REPORT:

Last Monday, Building Department representatives gained access to the abandoned property on Wooster Road and submitted a report to Countrywide. Countrywide was directed to replace broken windows, replace the roof and gutters and maintain the landscape. The house will be on the list of properties for the Sheriff's sale for August 28. Mr. Bemer has also contacted the Countrywide counsel in Columbus. As to the vacant property on Bonnie Bank, the Law Director said that he will address entry to assess the condition of that home.

Within the last week, the Sheriff's office has notified a habitual sexual offender living on Allen Ct. that he is in violation of the law because he is living within 1000 ft. of a preschool. This was followed by a letter which notified him that he must vacate that property within 30 days.

The Law Director has arranged for Mr. Todd Hunt of Walter & Haverfield to be present at the Council of Governments meeting scheduled for August 10 to discuss the AT&T buildout.

The June train report has been received from Norfolk-Southern, showing an average of 3.6 trains per day passing through the City. Mr. Bemer remarked, however, that in reality, it was 4 or 5, as there were a few days with no trains.

The Law Director of Bay Village attended a meeting of communities developing a commuter rail line originating in Sandusky. In his opinion, however, this would be a hard sell in spite of some interest expressed.

Discussion: Mr. Gollinger asked if, in the his dialogue with the County, a time frame was set for repairs to the abandoned properties. Mr. Bemer said that there was no specific date, but there is a presumption of reasonableness which would limit the time to 20-30 days.

MOTION:

Moved by Mr. Gollinger, seconded by Mrs. Bartolozzi, that the reading of the minutes of the meeting of the Committee-of-the-Whole, the Legislative Meeting and Executive Session of July 10 and the Special Meeting, the meeting of the Committee-of-the-Whole and Executive Sessions of July 17 be waived, that the minutes be accepted as submitted.

Vote: Hunt - aye Hurtuk - aye Bartolozzi - aye

Gollinger - aye

4 ayes 0 nays PASSED

COMMITTEE REPORTS: NONE

COMMUNICATIONS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Mr. Gollinger announced the passing of longtime employee Dan Scalabrino who served as patrolman and detective in the Police Division. Services will be at the Sunset Memorial Chapel.

Mr. Gollinger has also received an e-mail from Terry Granzier, 20960 Beachwood Drive, expressing concern about interest in a commuter rail service, an issue raised by the Council of Governments as detailed in a recent newspaper article. He is concerned that this will jeopardize the implementation of a Quiet Zone. (Exhibit "A")

AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION: NONE

RESOLUTION NO 101-06 BY BRIAN F. HAGAN

AN EMERGENCY RESOLUTION APPOINTING THOMAS T. LONG AS COUNCIL-MAN AT LARGE, IN THE CITY OF ROCKY RIVER, OHIO

1^ST READING

Mr. Gollinger turned to Mr. Hurtuk to discuss Council's choice and the process.

Mr. Hurtuk commented that Mr. Long was an outstanding candidate and although discussions were held in Executive Session, he could say that it was clear that this candidate, a nearly lifelong resident who is quiet, competent and has an academic background, was the unanimous choice. Because of time constraints, a Special Meeting will be held this Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. for a second reading and another on Friday at 6:00 p.m. for the third reading and the administering of the oath of office.

Mr. Gollinger added that the process was long, the culmination of a number of changes which were totally unanticipated last year when petitions were completed. He repeated the schedule of Special Meetings this week which will end in a vote on the resolution on Friday.

MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS:

Mr. Gollinger noted that the transfer of a liquor license for 22474 Lake Road is pending, but discussion will be deferred until Friday.

AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION:

Fred I. Sokol, 20021 Parkview, thanked Council for its selection of Mr. Long as Councilman. He complimented him, noting his willingness to listen and his quiet patience. He wished Mr. Long well.

Dave Langford, 4018 Higley, related an incident which occurred last week in the Walgreen's parking lot when a large African-American man came to his window and asked for money for gas. Although Mr. Langford did not give the man anything, he thought that his wife would have been quite upset and felt intimidated if she were the one accosted. Upon arriving home, he called the police, but he wondered if this is a common occurrence.

• Mr. Linden responded that with the opening of I-90 and the RTA terminal, incidents of this type have happened. It is not a problem, but there have been a few calls. He will ask the police division to check more frequently on this area.

Mr. Langford then reported that he was stopped by a police car when he used Cottonwood to avoid the traffic signal at River Oaks and Hilliard. While he was not ticketed, he wondered if Cottonwood is not a public street. When told by Mr. Linden that it is, but that through traffic has been prohibited because of the many speeders avoiding the signal, Mr. Langford wondered if the same could be done with Higley, his street because there are many speeders on his street, also.

• Mr. Linden said that it would probably not be possible, but he would ask the police division to run radar so that speeding would be decreased. He commented further that speeders are the most common complaint he receives from residents. Unfortunately, the police cannot be on every street every day.

As there was no further business by members of Council, the meeting was adjourned at 8:25 p.m.

______________________________ _______________________________

Frank B. Gollinger Misao Kurokawa

President pro tem of Council Clerk of Council