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Boston Heights Overlook

This is a publication of Boston Heights Overlook. Not an official public document by, of or for the Village of Boston Heights OH.

VILLAGE OF BOSTON HEIGHTS

45 E. Boston Mills Road
Hudson, OH 44236

REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING - May 11, 2005 - 8:00 P.M.

AGENDA

[and Editor's Notes on Council Meeting.]

[with notes from the Finance Committee Meeting of 26 April 2005]

[Note: Council usually votes to "suspend the rules" and dispense with the three readings of each ordinance otherwise required by ORC 731.17.]

ROLL CALL

Council members present: Bill Goncy (President Pro Tempore), Mike Cheung Jim Hudson, Annette Miller, Paul Palumbo, and Janet Miller.
Also present: Mayor Ray McFall, Clerk-Treasurer Carol Zeman, Deputy Solicitor Jason Dodson, and Engineer Steve Schreiber.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

MINUTES PRESENTED FOR CHANGE, CORRECTION OR ADOPTION

Minutes of the April 2005 meeting were approved.

CORRESPONDENCE

Mayor Ray McFall noted that the annual cleanup of the Village's Matthews-Thomas Park is scheduled for Saturday morning: 9AM, 14 May. He asked that anyone with time to spare to come out and help the effort. The Mayor also mentioned the Fire Department's annual Steak Dinner fundraiser on Saturday, 21 May 2005, for which there are still a few tickets available.

AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION

Fire Chief James Robinson read a recognition plaque awarded to the Fire Department by the Ohio House of Representatives. It noted the 2005 EMS Star of Life "You Gotta Have Heart" Award that Chief Robinson will be receiving, and showered many accolades on the department as a whole.

County Councilor Nick Kostandaras added that Summit County Council had invited the Mayor, Fire Chief and Fire Department members to a appear before them to receive similar recognition. He reviewed various county legislation he's been involved with, including the contentious "Sudafed sales/meth labs" restrictions. He had sponsored a County resolution calling for the state to repeal E-Check and/or pick up the fees for it. Mr. Kostandaras also stated that he had received correspondence from the County Engineer regarding the long-running efforts to complete a refurbishment design for the Akron-Cleveland Road bridge; he would convey that to the Mayor. He pledged to continue to work on that funding problem at the County level.

William Hinkle, of Boston Mills Road, referred to the pending Resolution U, below. The Village was to accept a development agreement with an arm of Omni Realty that would, in conjunction with proposed rezoning, allow the company to build a substantial shopping center at Boston Mills Road east of Route 8. Mr. Hinkle pointed out that the Planning Commission's recommendation of this agreement was contingent on the Village's own confirmation of the legal description of the area proposed for commercial use. Mr. Hinkle asked whether that confirmation had in fact been carried out. Village Engineer Steve Schreiber, noting that he had expected to bring this up later anyhow, stated that he had checked Omni's legal description and found that it did not match the proposal as otherwise described, and was defective in other ways. He recommended that Council insist on a valid legal description duly prepared by a registered Surveyor. See below.

LEGISLATION

RESOLUTION P-2005 [Adopted as Resolution 15-2005]	A RESOLUTION ACCEPTING THE BID OF CUYAHOGA BRIDGE & ROAD FOR THE REPAIR WORK TO THE AKRON CLEVELAND BRIDGE. In a letter to the Mayor and Council, Village Engineer Steve Schreiber found this company's bid of $41,700 to be the "most responsive" of the three received, though 4% above his estimate. Cuyahoga Bridge & Road will perform a full-width concrete repair (Alt #2 in the bid package). This bid was received in response to March's Resolution 11-2005. See also last month's Resolution P-2005 where acceptance of bids was deferred until the Village could figure out how to pay for these repairs. See Resolution 17 below for the answer. Per previous discussions at Council and Finance meetings, these repairs are intended only to fix up the structural problems that appeared over the winter, which caused part of the bridge to be closed and the speed limit to be dropped to 25MPH. The Village Engineer has stated that he expects these repairs to be good for about 5 years, by which time he expects the Village to finally shake loose the state funding needed to replace or refurbish the entire Akron-Cleveland Road bridge.
RESOLUTION Q-2005 [Adopted as Resolution 16-2005]	A RESOLUTION ACCEPTING THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS OF THE VILLAGE OF BOSTON HEIGHTS FOR THE MONTH OF MARCH, 2005. There was no mention of who on Council, if anyone, had actually reviewed the various financial statements.
RESOLUTION R-2005 [Adopted as Resolution 17-2005]	A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE VILLAGE OF BOSTON HEIGHTS TO ISSUE A GENERAL OBLIGATION NOTE IN THE AMOUNT OF FORTY FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS ($45,000.00). The Village is (reportedly) taking out this loan to pay for the bridge repairs authorized in Resolution 15, above. This allows for 10% contingency over the accepted bid. Clerk-Treasurer Carol Zeman had pointed out, in a recent Finance Committee meeting, that the Village had no funds in hand for this project, and could not apply the first half of 2005's Road Levy funds to it because those funds were needed to repay the loan already taken for last year's Colesbrooke Road repairs. She expected funds to become available in the September-October timeframe.
RESOLUTION S-2005 [Referred back to Finance Committee]	A RESOLUTION REQUESTING QUALIFICATIONS FOR PROFESSIONAL DESIGN SERVICES FOR THE ADDITION TO THE VILLAGE OF BOSTON HEIGHTS FIRE DEPARTMENT. On a motion by Councilor Bill Goncy, this was kicked back to Finance for further discussion of a consolidated Fire and Police building. Councilor Mike Cheung voted against this motion; all other council members voted for it. Some background: The Fire Department has been planning an addition to the existing Fire Station at Boston Mills and Olde 8 Rds. At a recent Finance meeting, Fire Chief Jim Robinson showed some preliminary concept drawings. Solicitor Russ Pry pointed out that state law (ORC 153.67) requires the Village to advertise for qualified architectural firms; the fire department can't just pick one. At the same time, Councilor Bill Goncy engaged the Chief in an energetic discussion of the merits of the proposed addition; Mr. Goncy appeared to think the proposal was too expansive for Village needs. The Chief disagreed with this view. Other councilors resurrected earlier ideas of combining the Fire and Police Departments in a single Safety Building, as the Police Department operates out of a rather dank and crumbling half-basement. Since the Fire Levy would be paying for the Fire Department portion of such a project, the Village would have to pay for the Police portion out of the General Fund, or capital improvements budget. Clerk-Treasurer Carol Zeman thought that the capital budget might have the funds available for a proportionate contribution to the design stage, at least. A citizen also pointed out that the Fire Department was benefiting from the planning for a new septic system for the entire Village Hall complex, and perhaps could make a reimbursement for its share of that engineering, which in turn could be applied to the building project. (This idea was not well received.)
RESOLUTION T-2005 [Adopted as Resolution 18-2005]	A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CLERK-TREASURER TO ADVERTISE FOR SEASONAL EMPLOYEES FOR THE VILLAGE OF BOSTON HEIGHTS. This appears to be for summertime maintenance workers for the road department, grounds maintenance, etc. It has been reported that a relative of a village official has already been hired in this capacity; if so, perhaps the Village is looking for additional manpower.
RESOLUTION U-2005 [Adopted as Resolution 19-2005]	A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO A DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT WITH BOSTON CROSSINGS LTD. AND BOSTON HEIGHTS DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, LLC. SUBJECT TO CORRECTION OF THE LEGAL DESCRIPTION ATTACHED AS AN EXHIBIT, AND ITS CONFIRMATION BY THE VILLAGE ENGINEER. After a motion to adopt this resolution was on the table, Village Engineer Steve Schreiber reiterated his findings noted above: that the legal description, attached as an exhibit to this agreement, was erroneous. He recommended that Council require a valid legal description, prepared by a licensed Surveyor. He did not call, however, for a physical survey. Councilor Mike Cheung moved to amend the resolution to add that contingency, as shown underlined. Representatives from Omni Realty, which is the parent company for Boston Crossings, stated that they had "no objection" to this requirement; apparently they were unaware of the defects in the legal description. This agreement addresses the 76 acre area north of Boston Mills Road and east of Route 8 and the BP station, over to the Hudson border. It is intended to constrain the developer (and current property owner) as to what can be done to the property in the event most of it is rezoned from Office/Professional to General Business, as has been requested. Omni Realty's Boston Crossing Ltd. intends to build a 51 acre shopping center on the part of the property along the Turnpike, and a 25 acre office park along Boston Mills Road, across from the existing residential neighborhood there.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Councilor Mike Cheung reported on the Planning Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals meeting of 4 May 2005. A number of sign variances were granted by the Board of Zoning Appeals, and lighting approved for Spa Palace on Akron-Cleveland Road.
The next PC/BZA meeting will be on 1 June  at 7PM; Dr. Cheung noted that he will not be present.
Also, there is a Public Hearing on the Omni shopping center rezoning request, at 7PM on Wednesday, 8 June 2005 -- just before that evening's Council meeting.

Council President (Pro Tempore) Bill Goncy reported on a number of meetings he had attended over the past month. AMATS is willing to conduct a traffic survey of Olde Eight Road in advance of the northerly Phase 1 of the Route 8 upgrade project. The Village needs to provide a list of intersections that need to be counted. It appears that Phase 1 will being full-scale right-of-way acquisition this year (2005) with construction to begin in 2007. Also of interest to villagers: beginning in 2007 is the long-awaited widening of Route 82 in Macedonia, with the necessary replacement of the railway bridge there.

Mr. Goncy reported that Cheryl Byer has been assigned to work with the Village to set up the stream monitoring program required by SWMP. In reply to a question by Councilor Janet Miller, he explained that the program would entail taking water samples from Brandywine Creek 4 or 5 times a year.

He also noted that a company had expressed interest in building on the Duke property near the south end of Chittenden Road, in the Western Reserve Enterprise Zone. The company is examining its relocation costs at this time.

Finally, Mr. Goncy reported that he, Zoning Inspector David Himes, and BZA Chairman William Hinkle had attended a seminar in Medina on land use planning and development of a Comprehensive Plan.

Councilor Jim Hudson reported meeting with the Streets Department and receiving its summary of the usual maintenance tasks, as well as additional maintenance at the Akron-Cleveland Road bridge.

Village Engineer Steve Schreiber stated that a pre-construction meeting would be held with the contractor for repairs to the Akron-Cleveland Road bridge. The meeting is scheduled for 9AM, 16 May 2005. He reported that sealing was being carried out on the newly-paved areas of Colesbrooke Road. He noted continuing compliance problems with ditch enclosures and drainage issues in the Wooded View development. A resident at 7168 Olde Eight Rd. had complained of vastly increased storm water flow after the recent drainage changes in the area; he will be inspecting for erosion problems. He reminded Council that the Village's agreement with the developer of the Meghan's Lane development requires that all the stamped concrete be removed by the end of May; he has seen no move to comply so far. He will attend the county's OPWC workshop on 25 May to pursue funding on the Akron-Cleveland Road bridge, and made note of Mr. Kostandaras' letter on the project, as mentioned above.

Mr. Schreiber also reported that about 800,000 tires will be hauled out of the Parker Tire dump in Boston Township, just south of the Village and adjacent to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. He had informed the hauler, Liberty Tire Services of Ohio, that all Village limits will be enforced -- presumably speed and weight limits on the roadways.

OLD BUSINESS

NEW BUSINESS

Mayor Ray McFall announced that Ken Metz has resigned from the Village's Board of Zoning Appeals, as he is moving out of town. He has a couple of applicants in mind for Mr. Metz' replacement, and will make an appointment next month (subject to the consent of Council).

ADJOURN

FROM THE FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING OF 26 April 2005

Also discussed at the most recent Finance Committee meeting:
• Police Department: Police Chief Varga reported a number of cruiser breakdowns and the repair costs. One car's transmission failed, but this was being repaired under its extended warranty. He also reported helping the Clerk of Mayor's Court (Office Clerk) work on a large backlog of traffic tickets.
• 911 Phones: There was a discussion of the cost of installing 911-emergency-only phones in front of the fire station and the Village Hall. Fire Chief Jim Robinson received installation cost estimates from Alltel ranging from $675 to $860 depending on how much work the Village would handle. Kevin Lightner proposed a cheaper installation scheme. Ongoing monthly charges were unknown; Clerk-Treasurer Carol Zeman to follow up.
• Fire Department: Fire Chief Jim Robinson reported receiving a FEMA grant for turnout gear and 800MHz radios, for communication with mutual-aid communities that use that frequency band. The planned purches of large diameter hose is still pending. He also reported spending the money obtained from the last state grant, and applying for another FEMA grant and a National Park fire grant. He is still waiting for a truck quote from Ford.
• Fire Station Expansion: Fire Chief Robinson stated that he wants to move forward on a proposed extension to the fire station, and has so informed Council in writing. He stated that the Safety 2 Committee had reviewed the expansion, and the department was now awaiting the approval of Council. This led to a rather lengthy and convoluted discussion about the scope and merits of the proposed expansion:
  Councilor Paul Palumbo asked whether there had been any more consideration given to the idea of incorporating an new police facility in the fire station expansion. Chief Robinson said that would be fine, but the Village would have to come up with separate funds for that portion, since the fire levy was earmarked for fire department equipment and capital funding.
  Councilor Bill Goncy asked for more documentation of the need for this much larger facility, as proposed -- specifically a larger number of private offices. Chief Robinson replied that more offices were needed for the department officers that had specific paperwork duties to perform; there was also a need for a larger training/meeting room. The Chief expected the facility to help provide fire coverage for future developments in the village. Councilor Goncy said his recollection was that the most recent fire levy was intended to buy a new truck and enhance the building, not "double" its size. Chief Robinson retorted that the responsibilities of the department had increased over the past years, even though staffing had not. Councilor Goncy pointed out that the levy was supposed to be for purchasing equipment. The Chief in turn pointed out that Council had made the decision to finance fire department operations from general funds, and capital purchases from the fire levy - otherwise a levy failure would imperil operations. Councilor Goncy asserted that he had promoted a combined operating/capital fire levy with a smaller capital budget. Chief Robinson maintained that the fire department budget had been frozen over the past few years (this caused Clerk-Treasurer Carol Zeman to head to her office!). Councilor Goncy thought that citizens would be asking why money was being spent on such a large building addition and not on visible department activity, e.g. hydrant maintenance and inspections. Chief Robinson noted that some of the new space was planned for conversion to bunk rooms for future permanent staffing of the department, which "boils down to money" -- Council must supply more money if it wants more staffing and activity from the fire department. Councilor Goncy cast a jaundiced eye over some previous department expenditures, including the actual vs. planned costs of a recent Ford Explorer truck acquisition. Chief Robinson said the extra costs were intended to make the truck more versatile so it could be used for more departmental tasks. He added that the 5-year plan he submitted last year never mentioned trucks -- he expected the next 5-year plan to include truck replacments, and be covered by the next fire levy renewal. He stated that fire department expenditures had been "prudent" The Chief stated that there were 14 people on the fire department staff, and while they were willing to do more work, Council must provide the pay. Council Goncy asked why there was no plan for additional truck bays for the fire station. Chief Robinson said that new bays would be needed someday, but for now would make the station expansion too expensive for now. He anticipated that the planned expansion would allow all firefighting equipment to be secured from publicly-accessible meeting rooms, unlike the current situation.
  Councilor Mike Cheung asked what Chief Robinson's current request was, exactly. The Chief replied that he wanted Council's permission to start the design phase for the station expansion, which would cost about $19K. Clerk-Treasurer Carol Zeman said she would need the department's projection of the new facility's operating costs, for budgetary purposes. Councilors Palumbo and Goncy discussed the merits of the proposed meeting room's size.
Councilor Palumbo proposed that Council arrange to meet in the new Fire Department meeting room, while subdividing the current Village Hall into more room for the Police Department. This led Councilor Goncy to discuss the issues of public and private groups meeting in the fire station.
  Councilor Goncy asked Chief Robinson for the rules and regulations of the First Responder program, as had been promised - he wanted to see scheduling and vehicle allocation rules. He asked whether the First Responder program was a certified EMS operation -- Chief Robinson confirmed that it is. He took the opportunity to reiterate the warnings he said he's been giving for years: that the fire department is sometimes understaffed on weekends, due to its all-volunteer structure.
  Solicitor Russ Pry stepped in to point out that ORC 153.65 requires a certain process for hiring professional design services, e.g. architects for this kind of building planning. He determined that Council must resolve to do what the ORC dictates as far as advertising for design services, rather than just handing out a contract. He would work out the process if Council so resolved.
From the audience, Mrs. Jane Robinson recalled some interest in and support for the idea of a police levy. Also from the audience, Mr. Kevin Lightner opined that it would be wisest to include a police station in the planning for the fire station expansion, even if it is not built immediately. Solicitor Pry pointed out that general funds would have to be used for that part of the design effort, not fire levy money. Clerk-Treasurer Zeman thought that monies might be available from the capital project fund, which is inside millage (not voted millage). There was a brief discussion of swapping funding with a fire department contribution toward the planning for a new village complex septic system, which would cover the fire station but was not currently being paid for by the fire levy. Councilor Cheung suggested that the combined police/fire station be put into the Request for Proposals for design, without yet committing to the expenditure. Chief Robinson was worried about elevating costs for the design phase due to the ORC required process; Solicitor Pry said that the rules did not dictate how a specific architect need be selected from those that respond to the Request for Proposal. Solicitor Pry concluded that a resolution would be placed on the Council agenda asking for requests for proposal for design of a fire station expansion.
  Clerk-Treasurer Zeman reiterated her demand for a statement of future operating costs; she would coordinate with Mr. Pry to ensure that this question is embedded in the Request for Proposals. She also pointed out that the Fire Department operational budget had increased from $60,500 (2003) to $71,500 (2005) -- so it was not "flat" as has been stated. She also mentioned that the Police Department budget in that same time frame went from $555K (2003) to $520K (2005) -- that is, downward.
• Streets and Highways: Road Superintendent Jim Robinson (same person, different hat) reported further complaints of drainage problems in the Village, and lamented the "juggling act" required to satisfy all residents on this. Councilor Cheung suggested that the Roads Department prioritize the problem areas and offer a provisional schedule to deal with them. Mr. Robinson said he could not do this, as the department was too small to do this kind of planning. He reported that a drainage problem on Colesbrooke had been fixed: Tri Mor paving had previously damaged and clogged a drainage pipe, which is now fixed and the road repaired. He reported cracks developing in the newly-rebuilt paving of Colesbrooke Road; Village Engineer Steve Schreiber said that these would be fixed, and closely observed to see how the new pavement & base was faring. Councilor Jim Hudson said that he expected to work with Mr. Robinson to perform the annual spring inspection of the village roadways within a few weeks, which would help prioritize repair requirements.
• Akron-Cleveland Road Bridge Repairs: Village Engineer Steve Schreiber reported receiving estimates for the immediate repairs to the Akron-Cleveland Road Bridge (which has lanes blocked off already). He recommended acceptance of the $41K bid by Cuyahoga Bridge and Road Inc. though it was over his $40K estimate. Clerk-Treasurer Zeman asked how Council wanted to pay for this, since there were no such funds in hand. Dr. Cheung asked for her recommendation; she replied that the money would have to be borrowed. Councilor Goncy asked whether the job needed to be done immediately. Engineer Schreiber and Mr. Robinson agreed that it did. Mr. Robinson added that Blossom Music Center would be opening soon, greatly adding to the traffic going over that bridge. Mrs. Zeman stated that the Road Levy funds were slated to pay off the loan taken to repair Colesbrooke Drive; another load could be obtained against September receipts, at about 3.5% interest. Councilor Goncy added that funding for a complete, long-planned, rehabilitation of the bridge would not likely be available under 2009, and plans for that must be complete by 2007. Village Engineer Schreiber stated that these current repairs were long-term in nature and ought to keep the bridge usable until 2009. Solicitor Pry determined that Council would consider a resolution to borrow the money to do these repairs, allowing $45K to include possible overruns of the bid amount. Mr. Schreiber added that the Village's County Council representative was still discussion completion of the rehab plans with the County Engineer, but he held out faint hope. Mr. Schreiber would be attending an upcoming workshop on Issue 2 funding for this kind of project.
• Park Maintenance: Councilor Goncy asked to revisit a previous discussion of mowing and maintenance for the Village park and cemetery. Mayor McFall reported that he had received estimates for contracted mowing that were "very high", ranging from $575 to $681 per cut, depending on the range of work. Mr. Goncy suggested that the village hire a part-time worked at $8.25-8.50 per hour to perform this mowing with existing Village equipment. In response to an audience question, Mrs. Zeman stated that all such mowing was now paid for out of the Village's general funds, not the park or cemetery budgets. She recalled that Road Superintendent Robinson's estimate of the current village costs for this mowing was $30,000 per year. Mr. Robinson noted that this estimate was based on he personally doing this mowing. He also added that the park could require up to 3 cuts per week. The Mayor noted that contractor estimates ranged from 27-29 man hours to mow the park. Mr. Robinson pointed out that there would still be weeding, landscaping and repair work to do. Mrs. Zeman reminded that any idea of the park budget being used to cover park mowing was complicated by the fact that the Village had subverted the park's basic funding last August, by redirecting the hotel tax to the Village's general fund. She was worried about maintaining expenditures within budget through July. Mr. Robinson said he had difficulty finding part time workers, and had worries about the scheduling and job flexibility of minors. Dr. Cheung suggested advertising in the Hudson Hub-Times newspaper. Mr. Pry determined that Council would consider a resolution to advertise for a part-time park maintenance worker.
• Village Hall Issues: Clerk-Treasurer Carol Zeman asked what Council committee was in charge of Village Hall issues. After some head-scratching, it was determined that this would be the Lands and Buildings Committee, chaired by Councilor Paul Palumbo. Mrs. Zeman asked to address a meeting of this committee; this was set for 7PM, 17 May 2005.
• Fairview Cemetery: Councilor Goncy initiated a brief discussion of cemetery maintenance and planning for Memorial Day.
• Planning and Zoning, Omni Rezoning, Shopping Center: A representative of Omni Realty offered Council a revised development agreement that was said to meet the requirements set by the Planning Commission. This was intended to bind the developer and owner of the property northeast of Boston Mills Road and Route 8 as to how they could develop that property in the event their request is granted for General Business rezoning. The developer intends to put a shopping center on about 50 acres there, with about 25 acres remaining Office/Professional. Dr. Cheung reviewed the proposed development and the various points of the agreement. He noted specifically that the hotels shown as proposed for the westernmost part of the property were not permissible under the current or requested GB zoning, but that that land might end up as ODOT's Route 8 ramp anyhow.. Dr. Cheung also asked for a discussion of the signalization and traffic-lane needs for the adjacent intersection of Route 8 and Boston Mills Road, in light of such a large retail development. The developer had proposed paying for 50% of any required upgrades there, but the Village would have to come up with the other half.
  From the audience, Mr. Robert Riedel pointed out that the current Office/Professional zoning for this parcel promised better tax returns to the village than does the proposed General Business (retail). Dr. Cheung replied that this had been considered by the Planning Commission, and that it was hoped that letting part of the property go retail would promote the development of the remainder as office park. He asked, perhaps rhetorically, whether it would be preferable to have the land remain vacant. Mr. Riedel responded that, yes, it would be preferable. Clerk-Treasurer Zeman asked whether retail or office would be built first. The Omni representative thought that not all office would be built out first, but that some of the street-front office would be developed during the initial phase. Mrs. Zeman thought that more hotel development would be desirable.
  From the audience, Mr. Lightner suggested that this zoning change would by contrary to the spirit and consistency, and pointed out that there is also considerable GB and RB zoning elsewhere in the Village. The Omni representative reiterated the company's oft-repeated view that there is not enough of a current market for this much additional office park in the area, and that they wanted to create a synergistic approach to develop the land, and realize revenue from it, in the short term. Solicitor Pry cut off further discussion with the statement that economic issues should be saved for the Public Hearing on 8 June. (Note, however, that the content of the development agreement is conditioned on the zoning change being granted as requested.)
  Also from the audience, Mr. William Hinkle asked why "Responsible Development LLC" was not a party to the development agreement, even though Summit County records showed that company as the holder of the contract option on this property. The Omni representative said he had no knowledge of the matter. Solicitor Pry, after examining a copy of the County documents, determined that the question was irrelevant since the current owner of the property was a signatory to the agreement.
  Dr. Cheung returned the discussion to the question of improvements required for Route 8 and Boston Mills Road. It was pointed out that something would need to be done well before the intersection was eliminated by ODOT sometime around 2009. The Omni representative pointed out that an upgrade of the lanes and signals would be required even if the parcel was developed solely as office park. Village Engineer Steve Schreiber guesstimated that signalization upgrades could run to $150,000. The Omni representative pointed out that the devloper would be entirely paying for all road and signal improvements needed directly on its frontage along Boston Mills Road. Solicitor Pry cut short further discussion on this topic, stating that the agreement did not hold the Village to any upgrade at all, but required the developer to pick up 50% of whatever costs were incurred. (Presumably this is another economic issue suitable for discussion at the Public Hearing.)
  In response to further audience questions, the Omni representative said it would be fiscally unrealistic to require the office park development occur before the retail development. Dr. Cheung thought that such a requirement would be difficult for the Village to enforce. Mr. Goncy noted that this parcel had just been rezoned from RES residential to OP Office/Professional, as part of the 2003 village-wide zoning update. He felt that Council should, however, consider whether this rezoning would allow for a better use of the property. Solicitor Pry determined that Council would consider a resolution to approve the proposed development agreement.
• Legal Matters: Mayor McFall reported that the Village's legal issues with Mr. Cerny, on Chittenden Road, were going to court. (Note: since decided in the Village's favor.) In a separate case, Mr. Brumfield was found in "technical violation" of the previous injunction regarding his property on Olde Eight Road, and would have to make certain changes -- but would not have to pay the Village's legal expenses. Solicitor Pry added that there would be a pre-trial hearing on the Krieger case next week. (Note: since sent by the court to arbitration.)
• Village Insurance Costs: Clerk-Treasurer Carol Zeman reported that the Village's health care insurance costs were up 32%. Mr. Hinkle suggested that the Village look into joining COSE if that organization's health insurance was more economical. Mrs. Zeman made a note of it. She added that the Village's liability insurance costs, on the other hand, have gone down.
• Miscellaneous Issues: Clerk-Treasurer Carol Zeman reported that March financial statements have been given to Council.
Solicitor Russ Pry reported that investigation of Village records and old ordinances offered no help in palming off the responsiblity for rehabilitation of the Akron-Cleveland Road bridge. He is still looking into the details of the Village's agreement with the Cleveland Division of Water.
Engineer Schreiber stated that the Village's sanitary sewers are governed by the Summit County Department of Environmental Services, not the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District. (Note that NEORSD does show the northern half of Boston Heights as part of its District 5, however.) Mr. Schreiber further discussed the problems in obtaining design plans for the refurbishment of the Akron-Cleveland Road bridge, and mentioned an issue with payment to Karbo Paving for crack sealing. He reminded Council of a tabled ordinance proposed for regulation of catch basins, and asked for further review of the law regarding site plan overview.
Councilor Goncy reminded Council that the guidelines for ditch filling and culverting still needed to be finalized, and suggested that Summit Soil and Water pamphlets on erosion control be included in all building permit packets. He also called for a meeting of the Nuisance Abatement Board to examine the state of the derelict house at 5865 Akron-Cleveland Road.
Mr. Goncy asked whether an occupancy permit had ever been issued for the new house at 738 Pinewood Drive; Mr. Schreiber reported that it had been issued in February.