Council Talks Bed Bugs

Council President, and Ward IV Councilwoman, Mary Louise Madigan called the October 20, 2014 Council meeting to order at 7:34 P.M.

The first order of new business was presented by Councilwoman Madigan regarding bed bugs. She began by saying “recognizing that all [Council members] have been approached by constituents requesting help on how to deal with bed bugs I am asking the Administration to convene a coordinated approach to address this issue.” Currently the City does not have bed bug issues designated to any specific City division, nor a protocol on how to handle them. In the past complaints have been filed with Building and Housing, Health & Human Services, Fire, and Council. Councilwoman Madigan closed her statement saying due to this “growing and complex challenge we need [to]...develop a multidisciplinary strategy to respond to our constituents.”

The next item on the agenda was a communication from Councilman Ryan Nowlin (At-Large) and Councilman Tom Bullock (At-Large) asking Council to discuss the process in which residents submit proposals for neighborhood improvements on public land and how they are acted on. Councilman Nowlin said that in recent years the City has received increasing numbers of requests from residents seeking to improve their neighborhoods by upgrading infrastructure in the public right of way. He continued saying “such proposals are relatively new to Lakewood, at least in recent times, [and] the City currently lacks a policy framework by which to evaluate all of these resident-initiated improvement proposals.” He suggested that they set up criteria to evaluate multiple dimensions of each proposal. The evaluations, he said, should include at least the following: design, infrastructure impacts, construction cost, affordability of maintenance, sources of payment, personnel costs for administration, thresholds of resident support, procedures for dissenting resident input, and impacts upon the community.

Councilman Nowlin then requested that his communication be referred to committee “to consider legislative procedures for deliberating upon such proposals” and “guidelines by which [they] might evaluate them on an objective basis consistent over time.”

Council referred the matter the the Rules and Ordinances Committee for discussion.

Councilman Bullock then read a communication from himself and Councilman David Anderson (Ward I) regarding Lakewood’s commercial property inspection and maintenance strategy. The two wish to convene a discussion between Council and the administration to review the City's goals, resources, and procedures for commercial property, and receive an update on the City's progress toward their goals.

Councilman Bullock mentioned that Lakewood's Community Vision recognizes the importance of commercial properties and emphasizes the importance of enhancing existing assets with quality design and proactive code enforcement. He also discussed the importance of keeping our commercial buildings in good condition as a matter of business retention. Many of Lakewood's businesses are tenants themselves, and by helping make sure commercial buildings are up to standards may help retain businesses.

Councilman Bullock applauds the Mayor's leadership in the City's “Housing Forward” strategy which has systematic inspected and cited residential properties throughout the city in an effort to improve the housing stock. An effort that has been largely successful. Councilmen Bullock and Anderson believe that the city would likewise greatly benefit from a “Commercial Forward” strategy which, like with the housing strategy, would prioritize proactive code enforcement and systematically evaluate commercial buildings in an effort to improve building quality.

Council referred the matter to the Housing Committee for discussion.

The final item on the agenda was from Public Works Director Joe Beno asking Council to approve funds for an elevator repair in the Lawther Center, which is where the City's Human Services Department is located. The broken elevator is powered by a 36-year-old hydraulic jack which is damaged and unfixable. The repair is estimated to cost $30,950, however in 5% of repairs of this type the whole in which the jack sits in, which is 20 feet below ground, needs to be redrilled at considerable additional cost. For that reason Director Beno asked Council to approve $61,280 for the repair. In order to expedite the repair process, Director Beno also asked Council to consider bypassing the public bidding requirement.

Councilwoman Madigan asked how many people work on the second floor. Director of Human Services, Toni Gelsomino said that five people from her department work on the second floor. However, she continued, the problem is more the fact that Representative Marcy Kaptur's office is on the second floor and the basement, which has the larger meeting rooms, is where senior arts and crafts classes, socialization, and adult development are held.

Councilman Nowlin asked about the contractor Director Beno mentioned, Gable Elevator company. Director Beno said that they are the company the city holds contracts with to maintain elevators. The budget for maintenence on any given elevator is around $6-7,000, and regular repairs tend to be in the $500-$1,000 range. He added that they did seek a bid from another company and it was about $37,000.

Councilman Nowlin then fallowed up by asking if Director Beno new how many elevators of this type the City has in operation. Beno said the only other hydraulic elevator in a City building is the one on the north side of City Hall.

Councilwoman Madigan then asked how long the repair should take. Director Beno said that it takes about a week to take out the old jack and a week to put in the new one, however it will take about a month to manufacture the new jack.

With no further questions, and being a time sensitive matter, Council voted and passed resolution approving the funds for the repair.

Coming to the end of the agenda items Council President Madigan adjourned the meeting at 8:15 P.M.

Christopher Bindel

I have been a Lakewood resident my entire life and have been covering the Council meetings for the LO since March of 2009. I am a Mayoral appointee to the Citicens Advisory Committee, as well as a member of Pillars of Lakewood and president of Eaters of Lakewood.

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Volume 10, Issue 22, Posted 5:46 PM, 10.28.2014