Meeting Notes February 16, 2021
Willoughby City Council Meeting Summary
• February 16, 2021 •
Ken Kary • Councilman Ward 2
NOTE
These notes “are not” the official minutes for Willoughby City Council.
The views I express in these Council Meeting Summaries are my own and do not reflect any official view or position of the City of Willoughby.
The “official” Council Minutes are posted on the City of Willoughby Website
https://willoughbyohio.com/city-council/
This week's council meeting lends some support to the fact that there is "a ton" of development proposed, planned, or taking place in our city. We have multi-million dollar corporate headquarters going up as well as new single-family homes. This is certainly keeping our city leaders and boards quite active with the review procedures in place. If you are interested in some of these current and future projects, make plans to attend a Planning Commission Meeting where the "action takes place." The Planning Commission meets on the second and fourth Thursday of each month at 7:00 pm They are currently using Zoom, which you can sign into, by getting the Zoom Address on the cities website under Planning Commission.
ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING COMMITTEE MEETING:
Chairman: Ken Kary
Members: Dan Anderson, Dan Garry
*The purpose of the Environmental Planning Committee meeting is to review:
EAS #13-11-20
For the construction of a self-service fuel center located at 4145 S.R. 306 (Sheetz).
*More on this below under “unfinished” and “new” business
EAS #14-12-20
For the construction of 5 new residential homes on Shankland & Ridge Roads.
*More on this below under “unfinished” and “new” business
FINANCE & AUDIT COMMITTEE MEETING:
Chairman: John Tomaselli
Members: Dan Garry, Ken Kary
*The purpose of the Finance & Audit Committee is to review the 2021 Budget.
2021 OPERATING BUDGET
Chairman Tomaselli said this is the first meeting to discuss the budget and possibly the only meeting. He said the budget needs to be approved by March. The 2021 budget closely mirrors the 2020 budget. Mr. Tomaselli thanked Finance Director Bosley and her department and the directors for keeping their budgets relatively flat with a watchful eye on spending. This year in comparison to 2020 actuals will be difficult due to pandemic-related issues. The City cut back on new hires, services, and open positions were deferred. Some costs such as payroll were deferred due to coronavirus funds that the City doesn't expect to receive in 2021. On the income side, income tax and net profit tax were down almost $1.2 million dollars in 2020. Income tax rebounded but the net profit tax was down considerably. Mr. Tomaselli asked Ms. Bosley to comment on the 2021 budget.
Ms. Bosley said the budget-to-budget numbers from 2020 to 2021 are very close. She said if a director needed a line item to be higher, they reduced another line item unless it was impossible to do that. She asked the directors to not bury an unusual cost in other line items. She asked that the cost be shown on a line item and if it's an explainable item that will continue to be an expense; that line would grow in the future. On the revenue side, it is very difficult because the City wants to be conservative and keep income tax close to what was budgeted last year. The City will have to keep a close eye on income tax and reconsider things going forward as needed. Ms. Bosley said the fund balance looks better than it really is due to the transferring of dollars especially wages to the coronavirus fund. She said there were three Bureau of Worker's Compensation (BWC) rebates which also made the 2021 beginning balance higher. She said there were transfers to all the funds last year in particular Parks and Rec where programs were minimal and the senior center was closed. That fund is starting the year with a $300,000 fund balance where normally it would budget down to an ending balance of $25,000 in all operating funds other than the general. The transfers that are going into those funds this year are lower than in the past. She said an initial $500,000 was put into capital and $500,000 for future retirements. The year is starting off in a better place, but she doesn't know what 2021 will bring. She said she is not expecting any more federal money or BWC money. Mr. Tomaselli said the important takeaway is that the coronavirus funds were welcome, putting the City in a more favorable position to start the year, but something the City is not expecting every year. Mayor Fiala said we are very much in the midst of the pandemic, and depending on how much longer it lasts, it may have a direct impact on income tax revenue which leaves a lot of unknowns on the revenue side. Mr. Tomaselli asked if anyone had a feeling when things would be getting back to normal. Mayor Fiala said he is hoping things will start to get back to normal by June but it depends on the vaccine rollout. He said the rib burn-off has been rescheduled until September. He is hopeful the car cruise-in can take place.
Ms. McNeill asked what the City anticipated it would bring in for income tax in 2020 and 2021. Ms. Bosley said $18.2 million for both years; in 2020 the City actually brought in $18,088,000 which was very close to what was anticipated. Ms. Bosley said the coronavirus money is in a separate fund. She said the BWC money is sitting in nonoperating receipts. She said if you look at that line item there is $2.5 million from last year but the City budgeted about $600,000. The City budget $300,000 this year in the non-operating line, but the City is not expecting any of those types of monies again.
Councilman Carr said he wanted to mention a few things about the revenue that he found while reviewing the budget. He said fees for services were down $800,000 and fines and costs were down $300,000 which was significant. Within fees and services, $300,000 was for the pools. He said the bigger drop was for EMS fees because so many people at the beginning of the pandemic were not going to hospitals and calling 911. Also affected by the shutdown were fines because the Police Department wasn't actively ticketing.
Chief Ungar said EMS runs were down significantly at the beginning of the pandemic because people were told it wasn't safe to go to the hospital. He said the calls were down about 300 for the year. He said that EMS billing is based on the number of treatments given in an ambulance; the department was limited in the number of treatments allowed to be given to maximize infection control. There was a big drop due to lower calls and the number of treatments given. He said starting in December 2020 through January 2021, calls are back in line to what they were pre-COVID. Mr. Anderson asked how the department determines what is charged for EMS runs. Chief Ungar said they contract with a billing company and billing is based on what skills and treatments are completed in the back of the squad.
Regarding the log removal from the river, Mr. Anderson said he thought bridges were monitored by the County and were responsible for the tree removal. Mr. Palmisano said he agreed that the County should be responsible; however, in 2008 the County gave the City the responsibility of all maintenance on the bridges including patching and painting, and other maintenance items. The County is responsible for structural items such as decking and railings. Unfortunately, it's become normal that log jams take place. It would be easier and cheaper if the equipment could be used down at the river. Mr. Carr asked if we could simply give the responsibility back to the county. Mr. Lucas will check into that.
Mr. Carr asked about the removal of utilities (gas, electric, water, and sewer) from the Tech Center. He asked if this was for the new TDA headquarters or for the former high school. Ms. Bosley said the utilities have been turned off; only security remains. Mayor Fiala said the heating system for Building A and B were both located in Building B, so with the TOA renovation, effectively shut off the heating system for Building A. Mr. Fiala said the building will deteriorate very quickly.
AGENDA
REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING
February 16, 2021
APPROVAL OF MINUTES-
Regular Council Meeting of February 2, 2021
STANDING AND REGULAR COMMITTEE REPORTS
No major reports
CORRESPONDENCE
No correspondence
PUBLIC PORTION
No one spoke
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
RESOLUTION NO. 2021-10 – TABLED (UNTABLED) Passed: 7-0
A resolution approving #13-11-20 for construction of a self-service fuel center located at 4145 S.R. 306 (Sheetz).
The application submitted by Ryan Balko, P.E., Sheetz Engineering Permit Project Manager, for construction of a self-service fuel center located at 4145 S.R. 306 (Sheetz), is approved, and the Council hereby determines that, based on environmental considerations, such project shall be allowed to commence or be constructed subject to compliance with all applicable ordinances and regulations of the City of Willoughby and statutes of the State of Ohio.
This resolution was tabled originally due to the fact that the city engineer needed more time to assess the body of Traffic Data submitted for review. After his inspection and study, he found that the Sheetz Project would not present any major traffic concerns in the area. Design elements were addressed to aid in any traffic concerns presented.
NEW BUSINESS
RESOLUTION NO. 2021-13 Passed: 7-0
A resolution approving EAS #14-12-20 for the construction of five (5) single-family homes located at Shankland Road and Ridge Road.
The application submitted by Jeffery Smul, Vice President, for the construction of five (5) single-family homes located at Shankland Road and Ridge Road is approved, and the Council hereby determines that, based on environmental considerations, such project shall be allowed to commence or be constructed subject to compliance with all applicable ordinances and regulations of the City of Willoughby and statutes of the State of Ohio.
This EAS would pass with attention being focused on the storm-water drainage of the portion of the property “that is not being developed at this time”. Sublot # 1 will have an EASEMENT for storm-water drainage of the property not being developed at this time. Also, there will be a monitoring and eventual removal of the inactive “gas well” on the property which also rests on the portion of the property not being developed at this time. When the applicant returns with their SITE PLANS they will show the plans and timeline for the Gas Well and its removal
NOTE:
For accuracy, this section has been copied from the council meeting minutes
MAYORS REPORT
Reported the City is taking a look at what events can take place this summer; he feels the City learned a lot from last year. This includes pool openings, fireworks, and events such as concerts. He said Ms. Banker has a good head start on most of the events. He said the rib burn-off has been postponed until September but has not heard anything about the other events. He said the City is monitoring COVID data on a weekly basis in terms of cases and vaccines and the good news is that cases are going down and vaccinations are going. Ms. McNeill asked the Mayor to fight for the residents of Willoughby referencing that children can currently participate in wrestling but the City can't hold events.
DIRECTOR’S REPORTS
Service Director Palmisano - No report. Councilman Woodin complimented the Service Department on a great job removing snow during a recent snow event. Ms. McNeill complimented the Service Department as well on the snow removal. Councilman Tomaselli said he recently witnessed a City truck removing snow from the cul-de-sac on King Edward Court and placing it on a nearby tree lawn. He thought in the past the City would deposit snow in Todd Field. Service Director Palmisano said that is true and that all practices are based on responses from the residents. He said the department likes to store the snow in the center of cul-de-sacs, but there have been complaints. He said when work is caught up; the snow is hauled down to Todd Field. He said drivers are instructed to put snow on the tree lawn if possible. There have been complaints from residents on Mary Clark and King Edward; the snow will be placed in the center of the cul-de-sac again.
City Engineer Lannon - No report. Regarding the River Street slope investigation, Mr. Carr asked if there will be an official report. Mr. Lannon said there will be an update stating there has been additional movement on the slope. The City will seek funding to align with the next resurfacing project in 2024. The report will update the cost estimate and give detail on what could happen in the next four years. Mr. Woodin asked if he had a date on when the work will begin on Lakeshore Blvd. Mr. Lannon said the tentative start date is April 1st, but he'll know more after the preconstruction meeting in the next few weeks. Mr. Woodin said earlier this year, the Service Department took care of a small sink spot at North Eaglewood and Grove, but he said it's pretty bad again and needs attention. Mr. Palmisano said he would take a look at it.
Fire Chief Ungar - Reported that on Thursday, the City will be hosting a point of distribution (POD) for the Lake County General Health District where 200 vaccinations will be administered to Lake County residents. He said he was excited to bring this vaccine event to our community; he felt that the senior center will be a good location for future vaccination clinics. He said the school system will have a point of distribution next Wednesday. Chief Ungar said these PODs are not open to the public; you must be registered and given an appointment. Residents should contact the Lake County Health District for information on upcoming POD events.
Police Chief Schultz - Reported his department continues to work on Operation Safe Stay; there have been over 180 incidents in 2021. Recently two stolen vehicles were recovered along with numerous warrants at the hotels. He thanked Darryl Keller for a draft nuisance law that will be reviewed over the next few weeks; he hopes to have it in front of the Council in the near future. Operation SCRAM (Surveillance Camera Registration and Mapping) has been
introduced to the community with an overview video on the City's Facebook page. He encouraged everyone to sign up to help protect the community. Mr. Woodin indicated he signed up for Operation SCRAM.
Building Inspector Keller - No report. Regarding the tree removal at the former Millstein property, Mr. Carr said the developer was hoping to get it cleared very soon and wondered if they needed a permit from the Building Department to remove the trees. Mr. Keller said they will need approval from the City Engineer in case they are doing any soil disturbing activities.
Finance Director Bosley - No report. Ms. McNeill asked what the City's current protocol is if someone is exposed to a COVID positive individual. Chief Ungar said if two people work next to each other and are both wearing masks, that is not considered an exposure if one of those two individuals tests positive. The individual who tested positive would have to be quarantined for 10 days per the health department.
COUNCIL REPORTS
Mr. Anderson
Reported the date for his Ward 5 meeting will be announced soon. He would like to hold it prior to March 11th.
ADJOURNMENT
COMMENTS BY COUNCILMAN KARY
I will refrain from any comments on this summary so you can all get back to what you were doing prior to taking the time to read my report!!!! HAHAHA
NOTE
The views I express in these Council Meeting Summaries are my own and do not reflect any official view or position of the City of Willoughby. The “official” Council Minutes are posted on the
City of Willoughby Website