Council Continues Normal Business On Eve Of Election

On the night before one of Lakewood’s most important elections, the City Council met for its regularly scheduled meeting in the City Hall Auditorium. Council President Mary Louise Madigan called the meeting to order at 7:43 P.M.

Councilman Ryan Nowlin (A-Large) delivered a report from the Finance Committee regarding an ordinance providing contracting authority for the City. Often times when ordinances like this come to Council there is not much to remark upon, however, due to the current circumstances in the city, several increases were needed, requiring further explanation. The first two items among the requested increases were both tied to the Lakewood Hospital situation. The first one was a request to increase legal fees from $300,000 to $500,000 due to the citizens’ lawsuit against the City. The second item was an increase in professional services from $200,000 to $275,000 due to matters involved in the hospital discussion.

After visiting the items line by line, Councilman Nowlin reported that the Finance Committee unanimously recommended adoption of the ordinance. After recommending adoption the Committee discussed some possible ways for the City to pay for the unexpected increases in payments. One possible solution was for the City to use some of the unexpected increased revenue it received this year.

A member of the public, Marguerite Harkness, wished to speak to Council on this matter. She asked Council where its consideration of the loss of income tax revenue due to the loss of the Hospital was in their discussion of these matters.

Councilwoman Madigan told Ms. Harkness that the annual budget conversation would begin in the next couple weeks and all the relevant information regarding costs and revenues connected with the City, including the Hospital, will be covered then.

Further comments and discussion were had by Councilman Tom Bullock (At-Large), Councilman David Anderson (Ward I), Councilman Sam O’Leary (Ward II), Councilman Shawn Juris (Ward III), and the Mayor on some of the finer points of the Hospital issue.

Council proceeded to pass the ordinance.

Councilman O’Leary then asked that Council refer a discussion item to the Public Works Committee. The City has recently completed the separation of storm and sanitary sewers for approximately 100 homes on Edgewater Drive. However there are about 29 more homes in the project area that require further work to be done by the homeowners to complete the separation. These homeowners have expressed several concerns regarding many aspects of the City’s requirement of them to complete the work. A few of the many issues raised were the necessity of compliance, compliance timeframe, technical assistance, and financial assistance. Councilman O’Leary and the Mayor have had several productive meetings on the subject and have resolved some of the residents' issues, however issues persist. Some of the issues that remain pertain to previous actions of Council or possible future appropriations. That is the reason Councilman O’Leary recommended this matter be referred to the Public Works Committee for discussion.

Council referred the matter to the Public Works Committee.

Next, Law Director, Kevin Butler, asked the Public Works Committee to reconvene a discussion they began regarding allowing cyclists to use the rush hour restricted bus lanes on Clifton. With codes on the books that already restrict the use of the lanes for buses only during specified hours, Council would have to approve a specific exemption for bikes. Director Butler said that Council would need to make sure the code is clarified to ensure the exemption and that unsafe cycling conditions are mitigated.

Council referred the matter to the Public Works Committee.

Law Director Butler then introduced a resolution, which if passed would allow the Mayor to enter into an agreement with the District Advisory Council of Cuyahoga County, Ohio General Health District for the provision of public health services in Lakewood. The cost of the services are not to exceed $204,354 for the year of 2016. Although the matter was a resolution and did not have to be sent to committee before a vote, Council decided to refer it to the Human Services Committee for Discussion.

Councilman Juris said that considering the discussion going on in the city regarding health care he was looking forward to the discussion.

With no further official business before Council, they moved on to the public comment section of the meeting. Several people from the community got up to speak to Council, all of whom have spoken to Council at least once, if not several times over the last several months. The only topic discussed were issues surrounding Lakewood Hospital. Several Council members responded to the comments made by the public in an attempt to answer questions and clarify points. On the eve of the election, tensions were noticeably heightened, but decorum was maintained.

Council President Madigan adjourned the meeting at 8:54 P.M.