City Settles Law Suit For $507,500

The October 6, 2014 Council meeting was called to order at 7:32 P.M. by Council President, and Ward IV Councilwoman, Mary Louise Madigan.

The meeting began with a report from the Committee of the Whole regarding the recommendations from the Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC). Every year the city is awarded Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) dollars from HUD. That money is to be divided up by the city to different entities who will enact programs to improve the lives of the people in the city. These programs include public works projects (street paving, water main replacement, and park improvements) and human services (food bank, homelessness prevention, and health care services). It is the job of the citizen volunteers on the CAC to listen to applicants and make recommendations to Council regarding how much each one should get. The Committee submits its recommendations to Council and they decide if they agree with the recommendations or not and then vote. Due to they way HUD works the City never knows exactly how much money it will be receiving until after the CAC has submitted its recommendations, so they have to work with an estimated projection of the grant award. This year it was estimated that funding would be relatively flat.

The Councilwoman delivered her report and stated that there was brief discussion with the Committee Co-Chairs. After the discussion the Committee of the Whole agreed to recommend adoption of the CAC's recommendations to the whole Council.

Upon completing her report, Councilwoman Madigan introduced the resolution with the CAC recommendations and Council passed it unanimously.

The next item on the agenda was an ordinance submitted by Law Director Kevin Butler to update a chapter of the Lakewood Codified Ordinances that is associated with secondhand dealers. As it currently stands, Lakewood does not have any specific codes that pertain to pawnbrokers therefore they fall under the same secondhand dealers codes as a thrift shop does. This has the unintended consequence of allowing pawnshops to become vehicles for the unloading of stolen goods. Because of this Chief Malley and the Division of the Police asked the Law Department to prepare legislation for Council's review that would create new regulations for pawn brokers, making it easier for the City to manage this issue.

Council referred the ordinance to the Rules and Ordinances Committee for consideration.

Director of Public Works, Joe Beno, then asked Council to pass a resolution approving of the City's 2015 grant application to the Ohio Public Works Commission. On this application the City is seeking funding for two projects. The first would be water main replacements on a number of streets across Lakewood, to be determined at a later date. That project would not be completed until 2016. The second project is the installation of 60 wet weather flow meters which are required by the EPA in conjunction with an agreement they made with the City.

Due to the application deadline Director Beno asked Council to pass the resolution on first reading. They agreed and passed it.

For the final item on the agenda Council went into executive session, including only the Council, the Law Director, Director of Planning and Development, the Chiefs of Police and Fire, and the City's outside legal council. They were behind closed doors from 8:08 to 9:12 P.M. Upon resuming the public Council meeting, Councilwoman Madigan said that they were discussing the City's current litigation with Hidden Village, LLC, the owners of the Hidden Village Apartments in Lakewood. For six years the City has been battling the allocations that they violated the rights of the residents in the apartment complex. Now, aftr the longest civil case the City has ever been a part of, the City has decided it would be advantageous to seek a settlement. The City was able to reach a settlement agreement of $507,500. During deliberations in executive session Council agreed to the amount and upon returning to the public meeting passed a resolution approving the settlement.

Mayor Summers said that “the settlement does not represent an admission of liability by the city, and Lakewood has always disputed the allegations...but we believe the resolution of a very old, very time-consuming and potentially costly case was in the best interest of our citizens.” In addition he said that the City had been preparing financially for a trial so the funds for the settlement were already set aside. In fact, he said that by avoiding a trial the City is now actually in a stronger financial position than it was before the settlement.

Coming to the end of the agenda items and with no one signed up for public comment, Council President Madigan adjourned the meeting at 9:14 P.M.