Regular Meeting of the Lakewood City Council called to order at 7:43 P.M. by President Seelie.
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Present: Councilmembers Patrick S. Corrigan, Ryan Patrick Demro, Michael W. Dever, Denis P. Dunn, Edward FitzGerald, Mary Louise Madigan, Robert M. Seelie.
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Also Present: Mayor George, Law Director Corrigan, Finance Director Nogalo, Police Chief Malley, Fire Chief Mroz, Public Works Director Beno, Planning & Development Director Jordon, Project Administrator for New Lakewood Fitzgerald, Human Services Director Buckon, Mayor's Executive Assistant Novak;

Reading and disposal of the Minutes of the Regular Meetings of Council held December 20, 2004, January 3, 2005 and the Special Meeting of Council held December 15, 2004..

Motion by Mr. Seelie, seconded by Mr. Demro, to approve the minutes without the necessity of a reading.

Motion adopted. All members voting yea.
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Without objections from Council, items 15, 16, and 17 were addressed first in the docket

****OLD BUSINESS****

1. Committee of the Whole Report regarding Council Appointments. (Pg. 4)

Mr. Seelie indicated there were approximately 15 candidates and that the Committee narrowed selection to two. He indicated that by a vote of 5 to 2 the Committee recommended the appointment of Mr. David Reed to serve on the Architectural Board of Review.

Motion by Mr. Seelie, seconded by Mr. Corrigan, to receive and file the report.

Motion adopted. All members voting yea.
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2. RESOLUTION NO. 7947-04 - A RESOLUTION to appoint__________________as a member of the Lakewood Board of building Standards/Architectural Board of Review/Sign Review Board for the full five-year term ending December 31, 2009. (REFERRED 12/6/04, DEFERRED 1/3/05)(Pg. 5)

Motion by Mr. Seelie, seconded by Mr. Demro, to insert the name David Reed.

Council President Seelie thanked Mr. Foster and all of the other candidates. He indicated they were all outstanding candidates.

Motion adopted. All members voting yea. (Resolution is amended by the insertion of the name David Reed).

Motion by Mr. Seelie, seconded by Mr. Dunn, to adopt Resolution No. 7947-04.
Motion adopted. All members voting yea.
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3. Finance Committee Verbal Report regarding Membership Resolution for 2005.

Mr. FitzGerald submitted the following report:

The Finance Committee met this evening and we reconsidered this matter as we met on this a couple times before. It arose out of a suggestion that has been made for awhile now to reduce the number of memberships or evaluate them to make sure there are no unnecessary memberships or associations that the City belongs to. About 36 memberships have been deleted; determined to be redundant or unnecessary. This evening we deleted an additional one and I'll make a motion for that when the resolution comes up to delete the Greater Cleveland Suburban Council Association. That was recommended unanimously by the Committee; to reduce our expenditures by another $450.00. We also had some discussion about some other organizations that we're paying to use. We're not going to remove them from the list but there are ways that we can reduce the amount of dues that we're paying on; in particular the Chamber of Commerce dues were currently around $950, we can get a corporate membership with them and save on mailing costs by not having them mail hard copies of their newsletters to us which was an additional $400-$500. That isn't something that's going to be dealt with in the Resolution tonight but it's an understanding that we've reached. There was something similar with the Kiwanis where we're reducing the number of memberships we have although we're not going to remove it from the list. We also had a discussion about whether or not we should remove the Ohio Municipal League and we voted unanimously to retain it. We also had a discussion about whether to remove the National League of Cities which has annual dues of $3,871.00. I made a motion to delete it, it was defeated.

Motion by Mr. FitzGerald, seconded by Mr. Demro, to receive and file the verbal report.

Motion adopted. All members voting yea.
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4. RESOLUTION NO. 7944-04 - A RESOLUTION authorizing the Director of Finance to pay the cost of memberships of municipal employees and/or Departments and Divisions in certain associations for the year 2005 and declaring such memberships to be in the public interest. (PLACED ON 1ST READING & REFERRED TO The FINANCE COMMITTEE 11/15/04, 2ND READING 12/6/04, DEFERRED 12/20/04)(Pg. 6)

Mr. FitzGerald indicated that there were no dollar amounts in the Resolution and that the Resolution contained only the list that the City was authorized to pay. He said that he would like to make an amendment to the Resolution to delete the Greater Cleveland Suburban Council Association.

Motion by Mr. FitzGerald, seconded by Mr. Demro, to amend the Resolution by deleting the Greater Cleveland Suburban Council Association.

Mr. Dunn indicated that the reason to delete the Suburban Council was because Committee members could not recall the benefit derived from the Association to incur the dues. He said that the Committee requested form the Administration a list of benefits derived from the City's association with the various organizations. He said that Budget Hearings next year, the actual value derived from the particular organization would be known.

Mr. FitzGerald indicated that a number of items on the list were required technical certifications attributed to engineers, attorneys, and law enforcement.

To amend:

Yeas: Corrigan, Demro, Dever, Dunn, FitzGerald, Madigan, Seelie
Nays: None
Motion adopted. Resolution amended.

Motion by Mr. FitzGerald, seconded by Mr. Dever, to adopt as amended.

Mr. Demro indicated that he voted in favor of the amendment because he did believe that particular membership should have been deleted. He said that he would, however, be voting against the Resolution stating that in an age where income tax increases and layoffs were being considered that there should not be growth in the area of memberships. He said it was more of a priority to try to preserve actual service delivery to the citizens. He said there was an effort to do that but that he was not personally satisfied with; indicating he thought there could have been others.

Mr. FitzGerald asked Mr. Demro what organizations he thought should be deleted.

Mr. Demro indicated they were the ones discussed in Committee.
Mr. FitzGerald asked if the Kiwanis was one item. Mr. Demro responded yes.
Mr. Demro indicated that he thought as Mr. FitzGerald did that the National League of Cities should have been deleted, that the Ohio Municipal League should have been deleted and that the Lakewood Kiwanis should have been deleted, indicating as Rotary was deleted in an earlier version.

To adopt as amended:

Yeas: Corrigan, Dever, Dunn, FitzGerald, Madigan, Seelie
Nays: Demro
Motion adopted. Resolution No.7944-04 adopted as amended.
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5. Rules & Ordinances Committee Report regarding Ordinance No. 107-04; Annual Codification of Ordinances. (Pg. 9)

Motion by Mr. Dunn, seconded by Mr. Demro, to receive and file the report.

Councilmember Madigan asked why the ordinance was an "emergency" ordinance. Mr. Dunn responded that the nature of the ordinance was perfunctory and represented all the adopted ordinances form the past year. He stated they needed approval of Council before officially Codified as part of the Lakewood Codified Ordinances. He said there was no reason to delay the process.

Mr. Seelie clarified that the ordinance had had two readings and that there was no reason to suspend the rules.

Motion adopted. All members voting yea.
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6. ORDINANCE NO. 107-04 - AN EMERGENCY ORDINANCE to approve the editing and inclusion of certain ordinances and resolutions as parts of the various component codes of the Codified Ordinances and to provide for the publication of such new mater. (PLACED ON 1ST READING & REFERRED TO THE RULES & ORDINANCES COMMITTEE 12/20/04, 2ND READING 1/3/05).(Pg. 10)

Motion by Mr. Dunn, seconded by Mr. Demro, to adopt Ordinance No. 107-04.

Ms. Madigan asked when the Code sections would be posted, available to the public. Mr. Seelie responded that this would happen after the mayor signs the legislation; hard copies would be available in approximately a week.

Motion adopted. All members voting yea.

****NEW BUSINESS****

7. Communication from Council President Seelie regarding Council Related Improvements. (Pg. 12)

Motion by Mr. Seelie, seconded by Mr. Dunn, to receive, file and refer the communication to the Committee of the Whole.

Motion adopted. All members voting yea.
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8. Communication from Councilmember Dunn regarding Lakewood Community Relations Council. (Pg. 13)

Motion by Mr. Dunn, seconded by Mr. Corrigan, to receive, file and refer the communication to the Rules & Ordinances Committee.

A Lakewood business owner spoke in support of a Community Relations Council; stating it would serve as a voice and avenue for participation in the City. She said access to information should always be looked to be improved.

A resident spoke in support of the Community Relations Council. He said this proposal gives him hope of working with other citizens and leadership of the City. He said that Lakewood was only getting better in that it embraces diversity, openness to face challenges and the desire to make it better. He said that these are the reasons that keep his and other families here. He said that anything that could be done like the Community Relations Council, to help strengthen the sense of community, and to deepen the respect for one another is a positive initiative.

Anila Coniky spoke as the representative of the Albanian American Community. She said that fostering a good relationship with the Albanian Community and the City of Lakewood creates trust and a better overall community. She referenced the Community Festival held October 10th as a positive event that was instrumental in providing needed information to new citizens in the community. She stated that a Community Relations Council would be a great help to newer citizens.

A resident spoke in favor of the Community Relations Council. He said that he works in Cleveland and that his job is to engage people in the wards to have dialogue. He said this was the only way people can come together to agreement and compromise.

A resident spoke in favor of the Community Relations Council. She said that better communications make a community better. She said this would allow people who haven't had access to the political process to become a resource for the greater community.

Motion adopted. All members voting yea.
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9. Communication from Councilmember Demro regarding Third Amended Charter. (Pg. 16)

Motion by Mr. Demro, seconded by Mr. Dunn, to receive, file and refer the communication to the Rules & Ordinances Committee.

Mr. Dunn indicated he had no problem of putting the item in the Rules & Ordinances Committee that he thought it needed to be a priority and placed on the governing agenda for the community. He said, however, the item took the most expeditious route. He said he questioned if the Rules & Ordinances Committee would be that route or whether it would go to the Committee of the Whole to have all members of City Council engaged because of its significance. He said that he recognizes the months of effort put into the Charter language by the Charter Review Commission. He indicated that because Council has been so busy with so many other issues, it has yet to address Commission's recommendations and that it was not past due. He said Council should make it happen.

Council President Seelie indicated he talked with the Law Department and some Members of Council regarding the Charter Review Commission. He said that because it was already in the Committee of the Whole, discussions would probably begin next month. He said that the priority at the moment was the Budget. He said that they were looking at a November election for a Charter Review. He said because it was much too important an endeavor that the Committee of the Whole should review the matter. He said that a schedule would be set up with Mary McGraw from the Law Department and bring in some of the members. He said he thought it should remain in the Committee of the Whole. He said he would not be voting to place the item in the Rules & Ordinances Committee.

Mr. Dunn stated that if the Rules & Ordinances Committee review could refine the issues and be a value for the Committee of the Whole, he would welcome that opportunity. He said that he did not want any sense that the referral was undercutting the effort of Council as a whole or being duplicative. He said this was why he questioned the motion because he wanted to make sure it was the most expeditions route to make some good decisions.

Mr. Demro stated that the reasoning behind his motion was that in addition to getting the item on the governing agenda that he felt there were parts of the report relative to a strong Mayor Council form of government would call for Councilmembers' immediate attention. He said that if a Committee of Council examined the language from a Council perspective and turn that report over to the Committee of the Whole would be valuable.

Mr. FitzGerald asked if the other version of the Charter could presently be discussed in the Committee of the Whole and Mr. Seelie responded that it could.

Mr. Dunn asked when it was anticipated that the item would be addressed in the Committee of the Whole. He said that if it was going to be soon, he would support the effort to refer to the Committee of the Whole.

Mr. Seelie responded that if not February, then March. He said that probably by the end of February, there would be an overview on both Charters and the Recommendations with the contact person from the Law Department and most likely the Chairperson of the Charter Review Commission.

Mr. Dunn said that as a practical matter, there wasn't enough time to accomplish much in the Rules & Ordinances Committee on the issue before the Committee of the Whole would meet.

Mr. Demro stated that there was already a communication in the Committee of the Whole and that this was putting a new communication in the Rules & Ordinances to allow that Committee to work on it. He said that the Rules & Ordinances Committee was efficient, that there was only one item remaining in the Committee and that he thought the members of the Committee could move quickly to report out on the issue. Mr. Demro addressed Mr. FitzGerald and stated that he could introduce a Third Amended Charter in the City Manager form if Mr. FitzGerald wanted that. He said reason he chose not to at this time was that he didn't feel the other Members of Council would support that effort.

Mr. FitzGerald said he thinks both should be reviewed to see if the proposal has some merit. He said that he understood that the point was to make sure the issue didn't languish in Committee, and that it was important to let the people on the Charter Review Commission to know that the issue would be addressed. He said that there was consensus on Council that this had to be addressed this year.

Mr. Seelie indicated that it was stated that it certainly would be addressed.

Mr. Demro stated that the attached ordinance and communication were not in the Committee of the Whole. He said there was a previous communication. He said that if the consensus was to not refer it to the Rules & Ordinances, he would amend the motion to have the items referred to the Committee of the Whole.

Mr. Seelie called the motion to receive, file and refer to the Rules & Ordinances Committee.

Mr. Demro voting yea
Motion fails. Six members voting nay
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10. ORDINANCE NO. 1-05 - AN ORDINANCE to submit to the electorate of the City of Lakewood a Third Amended Charter of the City of Lakewood. (Pg. 17)

Motion by Mr. Seelie, seconded by Mr. Corrigan, to defer action on this item.

Mr. Demro asked why the item was being moved to be deferred. He said that this would just be putting another piece of legislation on the referral, that will sit there for two years because it will never be dealt with. He said if the item was not going to be put into the Committee of the Whole, than it should be disposed of.

Mr. Seelie stated he would take back his motion to defer.

Motion by Mr. Demro, seconded by Mr. Dunn, to receive, file and refer the Ordinance to the Committee of the Whole.

Mr. Demro requested a roll call vote.

Mr. FitzGerald wanted clarification as to what was in the Committee.

Mr. Seelie responded that both ordinances were in the Committee of the Whole because the Report contained the two Charters; the one amendment with a different form of government and the other one the Charter Review Commission discussed.

Mr. FitzGerald asked why refer again if the Charter Review Report was already referred to the Committee of the Whole.

To refer to the Committee of the Whole:

Yeas: Demro, Dunn,
Nays: Corrigan, Dever, FitzGerald, Madigan, Seelie.
Motion fails.
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11. Communication from Mayor George regarding 2005 Consolidated Plan. (Pg. 47)

Motion by Mr. Seelie, seconded by Mr. Corrigan, to receive, file and refer the communication to the Committee of the Whole.

Mayor George stated there was disturbing news coming from Washington. He referenced a Washington Post article last Friday indicating the Administration in Washington was proposing to Congress a 50% slash in Community Development Block Grants in 2006. He said this would cut the allocation of about $2.4 million (because it was cut this year already) to about $1.2 million. He said this would have a severe effect on the City's infrastructure and other programs. He said that the National League of Cities was leading the lobbying effort along with the Conference of Mayors.

Motion adopted. All members voting yea.
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12. RRESOLUTION NO. 7958-05 - AN EMERGENCY RESOLUTION authorizing and directing the Mayor to submit the 2005 Consolidated Plan, which establishes a unified vision for community development actions; sets forth program goals, specific objectives, annual goals, and benchmarks for measuring progress; and states the manner in which Lakewood will pursue the statutory goals of the federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG), HOME Investment Partnership, and American Dream Downpayment Initiative (ADDI) Programs, and all amendments thereto and all understandings and assurances contained therein, to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). (Pg. 48)

Motion by Mr. Seelie, seconded by Mr. Corrigan, to place Resolution No. 7958-05 on 1st Reading and refer it to the Committee of the Whole.

Motion adopted. All members voting yea.
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13. Planning Commission Report regarding Ordinance No. 91-95 - Zoning Code Amendment to Rezone Phases 1A and 1B of Rockport Square and the Main Branch of the Lakewood Public Library. (Pg. 63)

Motion by Mr. Seelie, seconded by Mr. Corrigan, to receive, file and refer the communication to the Committee of the Whole.

Motion adopted. All members voting yea.
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14. ORDINANCE NO. 2-05 - AN ORDINANCE to amend Section 1105.02 of the Zoning Code of the Codified Ordinances of the City of Lakewood by changing and revising the Zoning Map of the City with respect to certain property as hereinafter set forth and described at 11901-11 Detroit Avenue (PP#315-13-013, 014,016,017,051) known as Phase 1A of Rockport Square and 12101-07 and 12201-15 Detroit Avenue (PP# 315-10-001,002,003), known as Phase 1B of Rockport Square and 15401 Detroit Avenue (PP# 314-01-111) and 15425 Detroit Avenue (PP#314-01-011) and 1426 Mars Avenue (PP#314-01-010 and 038) known as the expansion of the Main Branch of the Lakewood Public Library. (Pg. 65)

Motion by Mr. Seelie, seconded by Mr. Corrigan, to place Ordinance No. 2-05 on 1st Reading and refer it to the Committee of the Whole.

Motion adopted. All members voting yea.
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15. Communication from Mayor George regarding Appointment to the Fair Employment Wage Board. (Pg. 68)

Motion by Mr. Seelie, seconded by Mr. Dever, to receive and file the communication.

Motion adopted. All members voting yea.
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16. RESOLUTION NO. 7959-05 - AN EMERGENCY RESOLUTION approving the nomination and appointment, by Mayor George, of Ron Yannitello as a member of the Fair Employment Wage Board for a three-year term, commencing January 31, 2005 and ending January 31, 2008. (Pg. 69)

Motion by Mr. Seelie, seconded by Mr. Corrigan, to adopt Resolution No. 7959-05.

Mayor George indicated that through talks with the Law Department and others that it was determined the Fair Employment Wage Board Ordinance, required minor amendments relative to its representatives and other issues. He indicated that that the Administration wanted to work with Council to suggest minor changes to the Board.

Motion adopted. All members voting yea.
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17. Communication from Mayor George regarding Mayor's Appointment to Loan Approval Board. (Pg. 70)

Motion by Mr. Seelie, seconded by Mr. Corrigan, to receive and file the communication.

Motion adopted. All members voting yea.
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Mayor George commented that the annual Martin Luther King Day Service was held. He said that last year it was at St. Cyril & Methodius Church. He said this year it was at Lakewood Congregational Church presented by the Lakewood Ministerial Association. He said he was disappointed the turnout was not greater than it could have been even on a snowy night. He said he discussed with Paula Maeder O'Connor, next year's Chair, that steps needed to be taken that the community is much more aware of this event. He said that Rev. Valentino Lasseder from United Church of Christ in Shaker Heights spoke and a number of Lakewood clergy were in attendance. He said that they pledged to do that in the future.

Mr. Demro stated that the Lakewood Project would be performing at the Civic Auditorium at Lakewood High School, 8:00 PM, Saturday. He said there was a group working with the cooperation of the Administration to have the Lakewood Project band back for the July 4th festivities and that this would be a good warm up for those wanting to hear them.

Meeting adjourned at 8:50 P.M.