here and uh mayor I don't know if it's proper but I would like to see if we could have a moment of silence for uh Jack padrasco who was buried on Saturday uh I think even though he lived in Brecksville the resident Brecksville I mean he was a fixture in Independence I think almost every family or most families uh who lost loved ones over the years uh Jack was the one that I mean his funeral won't be especially before fortunas came in he was the only funeral in town but uh I just know from my personal experience uh when my dad passed away suddenly back in 86 uh I mean Jack literally I mean got got our family to about three or four months of tough emotional time and mental times and everything and uh you know and he was always Jackie was always this thing and his personality was a calming uh and he was just a one a he and Donnie both were tremendous so I like if we can just take a moment of silence say a prayer uh yeah find thought in your mind for uh for your jack fedrowska foreign service on Saturday he had there was a bishop here and I think five clergy five priesthood uh and a fitting A fitting tribute to to Jack so I thought I just had to bring that up um with our agenda we're going to page two and we're going to I don't think we have to go out of uh order for anything uh we'll start with the second reading which is on page two of our agenda it's a new agenda so uh I kind of missed the old one used to have a little in italics you know like a little brief we're working is that coming okay good because that was always nice but we have on second reading we're going to start off with ordinance number 2023-54 it's an ordinance approving the tax budgets for the year 2024 this uh very new you gave us a real good memo that kind of gave us the highlights so um are there any questions that uh when we have this is true that we do this every year has to be sent in by July mid-july yes and that that memo kind of indicated that over the years the tax budget has become more of a formality the state of Ohio still requires it but used to be called a tax budget and technically we're approving and it was Chicago County allows an alternative tax budget just a little bit more uh narrower in scope and at one time the state of Ohio and Chicago County required a public hearing on it and that requirement's been waived any since for a while now so don't even need that and in that memo I explained that it's it's basically the main purpose of the tax budget is to certify tax rates for each subdivision or other taxing unit and and for the City of Independence on the property tax bill it's the 2.20 Mills of the total 65 gross residential Mills 58 plus or minus effective residential millage rate only 2 0.2 of those comes to the city of Independence and of those 2.2 the police pension fund gets 0.30 the fire pension gets 0.30 and then the city's general fund gets the other 1.60 so that's that's the highlight of of the the tax budget and council's had it for for a month now so if you have any questions we'll entertain it but otherwise appreciate the adoption Maggie I'll get it downtown and really this is just the first step towards the heavy lifting that comes in the second half of the year uh start working with the administrationally in the groundwork for the the 2024 appropriation ordinance and working with all the department directors on on tentative operating budgets for for 2024 and we probably we spent a lot of time in 2022 2021 on on the fiber Capital plan so we took a little break right now the first couple of months this year but it'll be time to revisit that too and start tightening that up for for 2024 and Beyond as well so this is just the first step of quite a bit of work to do during the second half of the year but that's what we get paid to do so we're going to do it thank you very much so we'll be voting out in the this evening any questions for the finance director Jim I just had one and I was just kind of curious the height of funds um at one time they were they're proving slightly difficult to manage because we were new at this but uh has that smoothed out and it seems to be the same amount of money every year do you anticipate any changes in that I obviously in this document it doesn't but yeah good question uh council president triggers it's been fairly stable uh frankly with with the height of fun or any of these really for the tax budget next year it's a little early to project with accuracy all these funds down to the dollar and and we haven't really received guidance from Haida yet as far as what they're looking at for 2024 financially so for this document uh the numbers you see will suffice again it's more of a technical document in nature uh the more meteor weightier figures will be in the annual appropriation ordinance that we'll be diving in to third and fourth quarter this year and and by then we will have some guidance from Haida and what to expect from from them 2024 financially thank you any other questions we'll vote on that this evening uh thank you Vern uh the next three ordinance is our second reading all deal with uh compensation and the funeral the finance director deals with the position of being a full-time position as well as compensation but we really haven't had time to discuss it the Greg when do we this is have to be passed as far as to be effective for the next term by July 10th because we really haven't discussed this in any Workshop or a meeting and everything July 10th is the the deadline of the number of days you needed beforehand but the July council meeting is the regular meeting is July 11th and I believe the law director O'Brien you kind of indicated to me that not only has to be a pass but it has to be affected by July 10th as well so you know if there's some last minute Hiccup and it doesn't it doesn't take effect immediately of the mayor's signature then I mean that could blow everything up too so pass it tonight the finance director is correct uh it would not go into effect until the following elections it would not be uh enacted prior to the 120 days statutory Department okay this is the purpose of that obviously it's a longer period of time to let members of the public decide Vance if there is different with the position so they can get the paperwork get the signatures in file so that's the whole Genesis of sooner rather than later is minimum 120 but one would argue basketball in advance and I feel I know Jim you shared with me as far as his ideas as far as compensation goes and as far as the the mayor and finance right I it really is it needs to be adjusted and increased in in viewing at least in my eye and that's just my I don't have any uh I'm not going to be uh in public office after this year anyway so for me I'm just talking to the citizen but I but I do know that the amount of work and and responsibility that both those positions have it's not the same position and you're better than anybody to say how it was when he first got elected in the 80s as is now as far as how uh the uh and even the world is a lot different place uh in that time but I think the responsibilities that both those positions have I I think warrant an increase in compensation now as far as Council goes that at least my own personal view is that compensation was never really a big uh and the big thing that that I was the uh the health care that was provided for the and at any time you pray the same your self-employed when you're self-employing that to me that was the biggest attraction we could yeah I mean as far as getting paid nothing would be all right the compensation I mean the benefit we have from the health care which I don't believe any many other councils around here get their health care uh uh if I'm correct Evie from what you have addressed no we saw one of those salary surveys though that did indicate there were a couple councils that did get the medical insurance as well very few and their councils were also compensated than independencies as well and so to me that to me that that really is I did a different volume because of the uh uh of that but I would be in support I think Jimmy suggested uh I think for the mayor you suggest 110 000 I believe for finance strike do you suggests a hundred thousand and uh for uh Council uh 12 000 I believe the vice mayor 13 500. I think the 12 000 is that the PRS is that uh it's the minimum that's the minimum mind if I just so I just basically took a mathematical equation so I took all the salaries that we were provided from uh representative communities around us and that what we had asked for was communities that are of approximate Financial valued Independence as well as population value so it's not obviously a perfect match we didn't compare ourselves with you know Cleveland and West Lake and that to those big communities so I just basically did some math and uh the when you look at the averages I thought maybe we should be you know in the middle somewhere so we shouldn't be at the bottom we shouldn't be at the top but if you just put us in the middle of those communities that were provided for us those were the numbers that kind of worked out so it was like 108 300 for mayor 110 for uh for finance directors so I just basically put a you know idea of a saying well if we wanted to be kind of middle of the pack um that's those what the numbers might be and on the council uh the minimum to uh uh several years ago the state legislature uh increased the minimum pers for for Credit Service credits to twelve thousand dollars and so that's what my reasoning was there and then for vice mayor it's 13 I suggested 13-5 because it's 1 500 more now for for vice mayor and I just thought we'd keep it the same consumers and triggers which communities did you use was there uh the very last page of the document that was sent to us that says uh administrative salary survey base salaries 2022. any other class uh on this matter I would say the other piece of the puzzle is potential the value of the hospitalization coverage or any additional coverages as we considered what a reasonable compensation for Council is I know there have been some changes over the past 25 or 30 years I know that it was cited that it was in the 90s if I'm incorrect please correct me but in the 90s it was um ten thousand dollars and somewhere around in the early 2000s the hospitalization was added and then the cost of hospitalization in 2003 or whenever it was obviously would be dramatically less pre-obamacare so the value of that hospitalization has skyrocketed so anytime we were trying to consider compensation at least when we negotiate contracts for teachers the part of the package has to do with the total compensation package not just the salary piece of it so I I would call that to everyone's attention because that combined with and I just spoke with John earlier the other piece you have coming into play obviously is the value of your money is less because of inflation you might be losing two to three percent but all those pieces should seem to come to play so they probably should be involved in any discussion mayor eyes do you know when the only Council started receiving uh Health Care was that it was in the 1980s for sure yeah I was going to say well Jim when you run in the 90s it was it was an optional and I think I think we had this uh at least I think we've seen this table before but you're absolutely right even the would you suggest that Jim the for the mayor and the fine instructor is still on the low side even taking uh taking this into consideration so well I agree I think mayor and finance director should be increased to keep us competitive as opposed to counsel when somebody's looking to run for mayor Finance directory really asking somebody to put their career on hold to do something else full-time so it's got to be fair it's got to be worth their while I had a hard time looking I mean from the sheet and I don't know as far as an Apples to Apples within the community if if UH responsibilities are similar whether positions are appointed if it's your mayor slash safety director if if there's other responsibilities included hard to tell I guess if it's at the point of of pick a number maybe we could get together later this month of if we ever had any uh newer or other information versus you know Jimmy great I mean pick a number right I mean that's kind of where we're at but if there's ever I feel like this won't change again for quite some time so we should really um be comfortable with what we're choosing well the council hasn't changed in 24 years or 23 years I think as far as and the mayor's was increased I think what 2012 I believe was it says in the legislation and I'm not sure as far as Finance director uh when that compensation was adjusted but but it's something surely it hasn't hasn't come up that often or when it does it usually gets shot down free pretty quickly everything but I have my feelings personal things I don't have any problem at all with the suggestion that the gym keep um as far as the dollar amount goes 13-5 for vice mayor and what for Council 12 or and I think the mayor even that the mayor in the finance director is still kind of on the low side but at least it's moving in the right direction as far as that goes because we can talk about it yeah I keep in mind that's a 2022 salary survey not 2023 and whatever Council decides doesn't take effect until 2024 as comes first and these Toronto and says we don't change these too often so they're going to be there for a while and it's it's I either put it in in writing or or verbally if anybody's asked about this the last month to keep the keep the individuals out of it keep you seven people out of it keep the mayor personally and me out of it and look at the position and what's right for these positions for the city and they're important positions and you know Council don't don't sell yourself short I sat in those seats as you did as the mayor did and especially in the day of social media now you you lose a lot of privacy in your life by by agreeing to sit and run for one of these positions and uh yeah we willingly ask for these public positions too but they come at a lot of personal costs too and so you know the market is what the market is and I didn't see the one with with Council salaries but yeah not all of them um provide the medical insurance to to members of council but I believe a number of them do and and I think green is one of them as well as some compensation for council members that is is um is higher than what Independents make and nobody's getting into public sector to to get rich but uh there is a sacrifice on your personal time your personal lives your personal privacy and for good people to to step up and run you got to make it worth their while too you can't uh this is Independence this is not a a community that's just barely scraping by and if if we pride ourselves on compensating our employees and our union members uh near at or near the top uh you know U7 should should get the same same respect and consideration that all the other employees do too any other comments so it's kind of hard to sit here and talk about giving yourself a raise basically but if I take myself out of it because I if the luck that I want to go one more term and I think the more you offer the better people you have putting her name in the kitty to try to sit up here and help run the city I mean for for what we do and I'm not patting myself on it back but for what we do and the time we spend what we receive is it's it's really pathetic I mean I think I see 155 dollars every two weeks or 255 dollars every two weeks plus the health care so when I started this process 18 years ago there was a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow that after 20 years of service you could have a retirement and you would have health care that they took that away so so now unless you make twelve thousand dollars you don't get that pot of gold at the end of the 20-year period and believe me 20 years is a long time to put yourself out there get ripped on just about every month you can't go to Drug Mart anywhere I got to work hat and goggles to go there you know because a five minute walk in the drug mart turns out to be 45 minutes to an hour so if you think that the job is just once or twice a month here you're wrong I mean it's a lot of time and a lot of time away from my family and my wife so you know like I said it's it's hard to to to tell the public hey I want to give myself a raise but I don't even look at it as a raise I looked at it as that pot of gold I threw them in the rainbow if you donate 20 years of your life to something you should get something to return and they've taken that away from us so that that's why I say the 12 000 minimum for Council would just it would it would bring a better group of people to run for office and as far as the mayor and finance director go guys it's a 50 million dollar company if you think a hundred thousand dollars is a lot of money to pay somebody to run a company that makes 50 million dollars go look in their private sector and see what those people make because they make a lot more than that and I know it's part time you can see the mayor's truck here all the time and money is not here he's on that phone constantly Vern and Maggie put in a ton of time to run this city the way it operates we're blessed to have them and take them out of equations that's very sad don't talk about gradual talk about burn it's the position if you want high quality person to be in that spot comes with a price I mean I don't know how else to explain it if I could just for the members of the public so there's no confusion whatever Council does here it doesn't change their compensation at all no it changes compensation for the next Council and sure one can presume that they're going to be re-elected but there's no guarantee with that so this change end is going to make sure councilman narduzzi what you're saying is um that doesn't go into effect until uh January 1 of 2024. well you know would Council be willing to vote on it this evening or do you would you feel more comfortable at another meeting discuss it and then maybe vote on a couple weeks so we get we definitely want to get it for 2024 I think it's without saying but I I'm like I said I was comfortable I think that definitely the mayor and the uh Finance director we're grossander paid at this point and the need to get that raise and Council like I said I I I'm not part of the equation but I never ran with this thinking about money matter if I never thought about money I've been like holy and I thought I'd make a whole lot from what I'm doing but you know that wasn't the purpose the purpose has always been to help people and uh and just get enough to to raise your children and your and your wife so that was never an issue money's never been an issue with me uh it didn't inherit anything either so it didn't come from but it did to me the purpose was the mission of being the best person you can help people with and not worry about if you do that I think that God provides you're going to be able to take care of your bills and everything so I never thought of that being an issue and thank God I never had to worry about that but uh uh but I know it's it's an important thing if you want to attract quality people to this uh to these positions you have to provide at least a a decent compensation because it is a lot of hard work and a lot of time uh that uh we agonize over decisions it's not easily made thinking that you can walk away this is our community we live here we have family that lives here so your your arming objective is to do the best we can in our hearts and we might disagree but I think we still uh we still have the same objective and we're all here to do what's best for the community uh irregardless on that so so I'm going to be this Council feel like uh we can either take Jim's recommendation or if we have other ideas of as far as compensation goes we could go on this evening because I'm worried about it I don't want this to fall through the cracks and well director O'Brien are you seeing if if it passed say four to three tonight whatever gets passed that won't take effect for 30 days uh well you know what an instructor I'm just I'm trying to find the statute right now just to confirm that that's the case and so you do and what do you need a super majority five two or you need five yeah uh but uh you can always amend it and declare an emergency would go into effect at that time so that that is one alternative is to add amend all the legislation to add and declare an emergencies and moment it's signed by the Americas so that would be a recommendation if you didn't pass it again it's been a long time since I've looked at this section uh other than putting these ordinance together obviously came out of my office I didn't bother to go back and look at it so I want to look at the enactment versus effect but again I do remember from many you know two decades ago when this was crazy the last time um that the Genesis of the reason for that 120 days is to put in out into the public so if whatever Council or public officials compensation changes remember the public see that while in advance of obtaining a petition getting necessary signatures so that's why I've always advocated for this body and other problem about get it passed sooner rather than later so that it gets published people are aware of it and you know you may have you may find five people running for mayor six people running Finance director 20 people running for accounts I don't think that little bit concert is gonna move the needle but that's my point if that's the case just only a recommendation from down here in the lower tier just why don't we have another meeting between now and the end of the month you know council members some time to to dwell on it because this is the first source of the discussion and you've had and it's really just this inductory discussion there's probably more that needs to be discussed I'm sure we could find any number of topics to talk about it a workshop or special counsel meeting later this month [Applause] oh please oh July 3rd Zoom just what you see he just kept telling you that he can't go on a drug mart for 10 minutes assume he's going on a personal vacation I think is making his point do what you guys got to do I'd like to hear from every council member though this stuff so so we know where everybody stands I mean it's well you put it out there thank you and that was very well stated how you stated any feelings from from Anthony um well my feelings are that we're all public servants up here um I don't see any of us needing additional funds I can rationalize with the uh full Oprah's credit justification for for many of us up here that are seeking that retirement and those benefits at the end of our terms um and I wasn't even aware of when did that change if it was just about 2001 or two okay so quite a while ago been a while um oh excuse me I'm sorry it was 2000 uh during the Kasich Administration it was 2010 my apologies 11. sorry um but I I would be completely satisfied with the compensation that we're currently receiving I think the health benefits are extremely generous um that ten thousand dollars is sufficient for Council um every year we fill a Full Slate of candidates we're not having trouble in that regard that would be my personal opinion how much did you serve the Tennessee for the mayor and a conversation for the mayor so what was the suggestion a hundred thousand 110 I believe the mayor and 100 000 for the finance director I think he's with Jim um you know based on the comparative surrounding communities those do not seem out of line is Seven Hills currently at 14 nine didn't they raise that they'll never go higher I think it was voted on something a year or two ago like mayor's salary like forty five thousand yeah 40. that's an operation I mean you can't compare yourself to that just look at their history until now you don't compare yourself to a 14 900 uh Southern Hills salary well then possibly would be willing we could vote on the mayor and vice uh Vermeer and finance director this evening and then save the council for for a workshop then I think it'll listen to everybody but are you seeing if Council went from ten thousand to twelve thousand you would get that full year credit for the medical correct yeah there's seven of you that that would be an extra fourteen thousand a year in a 50 million dollar budget I think you guys should be really selling yourself short for two thousand dollars a year to to not qualify for that full year of Oprah's credit for the medical side yeah I everybody made a lot of valid points I don't think we're asking for an extreme amount of money for the different positions um I see the hours that our finance director puts in classified as a part-time job at his salary I think it's way under Market especially if you went to the private sector um I agree with Jim about the the 12 000 for the pers and we are a 50 million dollar City so the mayor I think you know should increase his salary as well so I'm for that CDs I'm dealing with you and I think you ask a few questions my main comment was just comparing salaries is not a legitimate way to deal with the question what's your feeling as far as the conversation Premiere and finance structure creating them well does that mean we're changing them with a full tag I had to beat Finance Finance factor for sure right yeah what what about the name Is that real time now I thought I I'd been in this position under three mirror and I thought three really worked my full-time positions as far as that goes I mean it it might say part-time but I I don't think uh even when you guys are on vacation you probably are thinking about what's happening back in my town everything so that's a fair question because not not all councilman really realized how much time's put so that's you know it's a fair question but I I think every mayor of that you're on call 24 hours a day seven days a week period yeah I I think at least the people I've served I think the future of you know I think you you want to have the highest quality I think they should be compensate accordingly uh the responsibility they have and then my number of employees and and the directors that they have to run I think they're definitely worth whether you're termed with part-time or full-time I think it's worth it you know they're worth looking no matter who is in that position so it's possibly we could I mean I'd be willing to vote on all three if you wanted if you wanted to tonight but at least the mayor and the finance director I think we should to me they're gross underpaid and then I think they uh Council again I never paid much attention as far as the uh you know PRS or that I always the main thing I was was always the hospitalizationalist to me was the the godsend but what uh Council saying would you want to vote in all three packages [Music] this you know Johnny I'm good okay well then let's take a one by one we've talked about the issues uh ordinance number uh 2023 Dash 60 deals with the compensation of uh council members and the vice mayor uh we have a blank there in in section one uh what do we have a motion to uh have the council members 12 000 and the vice mayor at thirteen thousand five hundred as suggested by councilman traches um [Music] uh they call the role please Debbie Geronimo yes Grendel yes now do you see yes cagliotti yes Travis aye reverka no world channel yes so as as amended we'll be voting on that ordinance this evening ordinance number 2023-61. that was 13 5 and 13 12 000 for uh councilman um or just 2023-61 its audience fixing the compensation of the office of the mayor in the city of Independence and section one uh has the the blank there is fixed that and I believe Jim you're uh do you want to make a motion for 110 000. I would so move I'll second then slow speed of space Brecksville salary survey Independence is a larger budget than every one of those cities probably accepts Strongsville I don't mean I don't know those those mayor Sons there but uh or increasing by 35 000. from 75 to 110. uh I don't think it'd be hard to to double it and say well let's go to 150 pounds or that or I think 110 000 to me is with usage is reasonable so yeah so we have a first and second so Debbie recall please sure Grendel yes nardisi yes tagliati yes trancus aye Rivera no well Chan Woods yes teacher animal yes and we are filling that pulling in with a hundred and ten thousand dollars and uh if we look at uh ordinance number 2023-62 this orange is requiring the position of finance director of the city of benefits be full-time and establishing compensation and I believe it's on section two at the bottom of the legislation Jim are you making a motion there today I would move uh in section two to add one hundred thousand dollars effective January 1 2024. second two seconds Chris call the road please no Ducey yes kathleiadi yes Travis aye Rivera no well chanowitz yes teacher animal yes Grendel yes and now with this piece of legislation councilman trachus had uh raised some suggestions that the state of Ohio uses with some of their full-time employees that they cannot hold additional board appointments and committee assignments and no other employment is that yeah so under State policy not state law um like cabinet officials which I would equate this type of job to are not supposed to have significant outside income they call it so in other words you're not working two full-time type jobs so I think with respect to um and that's why there's a clause in there that says that uh you know if there is any type of outside employment that's Financial related uh is that still in here or did we change that so if there was anything that was Financial related that at least there would be a public acknowledgment of that so that the um the legislative body and the citizens couldn't know that but yeah I mean the concept is for a full-time employment that you're that you're here full time um and not working you know several different jobs section previous Finance director did hold multiple jobs and yeah it was the finance director for multiple communities as well as the controller for McDonald's and they're all God's children but but he did a terrific job doing them all so okay very good well we'll be voting on all uh three of these ordinances this evening then uh with the Amendments that were made tonight thank you everyone let's move on to the first reading and on page three of the agenda uh we have ordinance number 2023-63 has ordinance amending section 143.16 of the codified ordinances of the city of Independence relating to paramedic certification and chief I Know Chief Riga you that was one of our topics of the safety committee meeting that was held last week would you like to give us you know nowadays we don't get as many candidates taking our tests it just seems to be a change of time 11 years ago uh it's a different situation there we're looking to get the candidates coming in having all their certifications already but what we you're finding right now is there's a lot of candidates that are in school or graduating in a few months and they can't even sit for our test because uh the ordinance doesn't allow them to sorry um so what this ordinance will do is eliminate that they'll it'll leave it up to the commission to write any uh restrictions within the uh announcement for the test so essentially um we're changing it so that they just have to have their certifications at the time of appointment so then we can then thereby let them sit for the test and take that test and qualify for a list but they cannot be hired until they obtain the certifications needed as soon as the legislation I think the way this is written here is still the old the uh the recommendation of the change is on the memo if you look at the legislation it talks about from the city prior to original appointment but it still reads the old languages is on the legislation so I don't know if we need to yeah we'll have to get that amended well it's Amanda if Council notices that on the memo that we have yeah under the background information you're right that's that's what we want to that's what we're changing into what's on the legislation here is still the old in section eight you're referring section a uh yes yeah I would miss uh Mr Vice chairman I would move that um section A in the memo be incorporated into section A of the legislation the very good so uh we have a motion uh from uh councilman I'll second that um call the world did sure toddliati yes aye Roberta yes yes Grendel yes yes very good uh any any opposition to approving this this evening or any further questions of Chief Arena we'll put this on the consent agenda heavy okay ordinance number 20 23-64 is honors authorizing the mayor to enter into agreement with Cleveland Clinic at work for Professional Services in connection with the fire department's wellness evaluation program and again Chief have as part of your presentation last Tuesday yeah um we had a three-year agreement with Cleveland Clinic at work for uh physicals for the fire department these are basically occupational physicals that are required by a standard within our industry um that uh basically screens firemen for potential medical issues that are related to what we work with so Cancers and cardiac issues and things like that so um we had the clinic for the past three years our contract was ending I did go out and solicit uh quotes from other vendors that provide this type of work both brick and mortar companies that are here in town and some that come in from other areas with a mobile type setup so in inventing all those vendors the Cleveland Clinic did they were the only ones that came up with a three-year agreement with us that would reduce costs over time and they were the lowest in addition to that so although their price did go up from last time and um and there's another fee for uh Med Direction type uh for the evaluation of the guys and guidance in that respect so so the end result is a total of 69 180 for the three years which will be paid at a yearly at twenty three thousand sixty dollars I seen the cost per 500 640 per year correct right any questions for for chief the opposition this is an annual requirement it's part of the job but it's not a past actually in the collective bargain agreement in addition to the fact every year somebody could not refuse to do it they can't refuse to do it no but if they fail it the weight is currently written in our contract if there was something critically medical wrong with them they would have to let us know because they'd have to take time off to get that corrected but if there was something minor we wouldn't necessarily know that but the individual would be unnoticed that they have something going on from their position okay so closest to a fit for duty is that we can get right now okay any uh opposition putting this on a consent agenda this evening damn evil places on a consent agenda ordinance number 2023-65. this ordinance declaring improvements to certain Parcels of property in the city of Independence on how to be a public purpose for purposes of sections 5709.40 and 5709.42 of the high Revised Code exempt from taxation describing public improvements to be made to directly benefit the parcels requiring the owners of parcels to make service payments in lieu of taxes establishing a municipal public Improvement tax increment equivalent fund the deposit of service payments populated authorizations pursued to high Revised Code sections 5709.40 5709.42 and 579.43 and Jessica this is basically known as the Tiff to forward ends regarding the wealthy property correct very good evening yes so as you all know wealthy building is building a hundred fifty thousand 155 000 square foot Class A office building on Rockside Woods Boulevard North Sea Biz who is their lead tenant will be occupying approximately 60 000 square feet of that building for nearly two neck decades now the city is capitalized on the tax increment Finance program to help capture and redirect funds to the city's public infrastructure funds and so that's exactly what we'd like to do with this is to again apply the Tiff to this property and use those funds for public infrastructure in the area as with other Tiff programs that are tips that we've done in the city this would also keep the school district whole so both the independence local school districts and the Cuyahoga Valley Career Center would still continue to receive their taxes as they do now so I think in your memo you'd say that over a 30-year period the life of the Tiff that it would generate uh almost five million dollars for the for the city and that's being conservative without knowing what the fiscal office will appraise the building at once the project is complete my my calculations right now are saying 5 million to the city of Independence at about 6.7 million dollars to both the independence local schools and the Cuyahoga Valley Career Center jointly back yes any any questions for Jessica when uh we'll see Biz be occupying the building I'd imagine about the September time frame possibilities of any other tenants in that we have not had any discussions about any additional tenants in that space yet any other questions for Jessica any opposition putting this on the consent agenda this evening thank you thank you foreign ERS number 2023-66 is orange authorizing participation in the Ohio Department of Transportation Cooperative purchasing program and NSU gave us the memo on this we're already participating under this but every two years we have to yes that's correct this basically would allow the city to purchase off the ODOT contract we'll have an opportunity to purchase you know asphalt salt vehicles to through them uh this is an action unless we Council would approve this we can't even ask for pricing off the ODOT contract it just it gives us some another way to compare prices as well how does have we utilized this Consortium uh or this not that I'm aware of we have I don't know how many uh these programs are we a part of there's three or four cooperatives that we purchase off of currently but we can compare prices and you know we've uh as a matter of fact uh director of all channelowitz when he was uh pricing his lawnmower which is on legislation later on today uh we found substantial savings with another cooperative any questions for dinner any opposition previous on the consent agenda thank you Dennis and we moved to ordinance number 2023-67 his ornus authorizing the renewal of the agreement with Kimball Companies Incorporated for recycling processing Services I guess this runs from October 1st of 23 through September 30th of 2024 and about not to exceed the sixty thousand dollars I believe yes that is correct it's uh it's a four percent increase over what we were paying last year for uh recycled processing uh but with this after discussions with the director McKinley and actually Kimball the representatives Kimball's herself and checking some additional pricing uh the uh 7613 is very competitive I think they've written the notes there's so far 48 000 296 was expanded was that over the last year or 11 months uh I believe that was last year for the contract period uh we're asking for 60 000 just because it is a it's an uh as needed basis and uh just to have a little buffer there very good questions for dinner and what does it cost per ton to landfill our rubbish recycling is is uh there is an a premium that you pay for that there had been some discussions in the past whether or not we just take that you know waste and dump or the Recycled products in the uh add it to the landfill a couple of you know things that came up with uh you know we feel that we've you know our residents are in the habit of recycling and our recyclables are what's considered clean uh so they're very um it's easy to find people to get on our recyclables uh and we just hate to take a step backward we think you know felt that it's a responsibility and I guess that's up to council though if they would like to uh revisit uh recycling I'm just curious but it's generally around 7.50 seven dollars a ton maybe some other charges associated with that but under ten dollars is there any guarantee that they are actually recycling this material uh yes sir it's uh Kimball is audited this actually this program is through the uh Solid Waste district and it is the the audit Kimball they do spot audits audits in the we can even have our recyclables you know have a spot on it on it to find out the value of it any other questions for for identity in that position and putting this on the consent agenda thank you Dad uh now we're going to uh for this 2023-68. this order is accepting the mid option of Cargill Inc for the purchase and delivery of rock salt for the 2023-2024 snow season pursuant to the Joint Municipal Improvement Consortium and I guess it's 90 000 less than last year uh that we have uh that's not they see 240 000. yes that's correct actually Cargill is going to hold the price that they they charged last year which was uh 52.21 per ton just to give you a little history of it back for the 2020-21 snow season we're paying 63.41 cents a ton from Cargill so the price this price is very favorable uh Cargill he has always met our delivery requirements I don't know if the council remembers a number of years back we went with uh Compass minerals their priced at the time was 45.97 but there were a number of delivery issues the quality of the the rock salt that we were receiving was was not up to the standards it uh we we like and cargo has proven to be uh you know proven commodity and it's a reasonable price food last year was the lowest amount we paid on paid for sold it was the cost 98 98 000 478. I believe so because of the mild winter weekend uh any opposition no off position but I have a question yes Ron how much of the salt did we use I remember in the past there was some limitation as to how much we had to use or had to buy and where do we stand related to that required so our minimum last year was 4 400 tons um the same minimum is required this year for 4 400 tons we did hear our minimum last year we have about 2 000 tons left over from last year [Music] all right now these uh stored is this store down at uh on Old Drexel Road yes [Music] is there any stored at the service garage no nothing okay yeah the bit specific specifications remain the same you know delivery is in 24 to 72 hours and just as director McKinley mentioned it's a 80 minimum 140 maximum so we're protected thank you thank you Neil any other questions any opposition putting this on the consent agenda Dennis thank you very much you move to ordinance number 2023-169 is authorizing the purchase and delivery of a ride on zero turn 72-inch mower for the recreation department and uh Tom would you like to yes vice mayor uh this was I'm always going to replace our 2006 model skag which is currently in the shop Power Equipment needing extensive work and what we're not going to do we're going to end up auctioning it off through gov deals and I did have this in our five-year capital for the past five years saving up for it I had 18 000 and this machine came in at 17-6 this is for a Kubota with a diesel engine which would give us a lot of longevity very good any questions for Tom Tom why did we uh why are we going with the Kubota I know the service department uses skags you've got skags you've got a Toro I don't think we have any Kubota mowers um because we're getting good reviews on them from what I've been reading on them other people's had them and um our current Kubota equipment's uh good high quality Equipment side by sides yes and also these are made in Georgia too any other questions for Tom I know we talked about in the service department trying to standardize is there going to be a disadvantage to having a Kubota in that we have skag and other equipment well the other thing with skegs they don't make this uh one with the with this Kubota diesel engineer we currently do deal with the two dealers a Middle Field farm and garden and Akron tractor who deal with kubota's and they repair anything and get parts there so we shouldn't have any issues as far as that goes thank you Leon hi Jim actually Tom is this a mulching mower no it's a rear discharge uh we could get mulching blades for it but the mulching blades we've seen tend to Clump up more so we were getting stronger blades with it okay thank you and the reason why we go we're discharged is because they're safer in Parks it doesn't launch like if there's a ball laying on the ground doesn't watch the ball 40 feet it's everything's uh contained to the rear of the machine makes sense thank you any other questions any opposition putting this on the consent agenda putting the Debbie on the consent agenda let's move to ordinance number 2023-70. this ordinance authorizing the disposal of unclaimed or forfeited property held by the city's Police Department pursue into a high Revised Code section 2981.1282 and chief I know you that was a topic of of our safety committee meeting last week if you want to give more details uh yes sir we discussed at the safety committee meeting as a councilman Grendel has already stated these have all been seized by the court we have a court order on all of these pieces of property and we are turning them over to a federally licensed firearm dealer named at Wells and we will be receiving trade-in credit this is similar this mirrors what we did last year and this is due to the proactive work of officers taking Firearms off of the street any questions for cheap are you putting this on the consent agenda this evening thank you chief harness number 2023-71 the smartest authorizing funding for Road and right-of-way repairs and Associated by numerous water main breaks leaks and uh or water valve and or hydrant repairs and Don I know we all are aware what happened in Pleasant Valley here the last last couple weeks and everything and this is a yearly we have this in the Five-Year Plan every year for 150 000 I think you said there was 50 000 remaining but uh from last year but I think that'll probably be used up the price event that we had correct vice mayor we thought we uh had enough money to pay down of the upstanding work that we had already performed but yet it hadn't yet been invoiced and but then when this uh situation occurred on Pleasant Valley we felt prudent to encumber this funding for 2023. very good any questions for Don Don has Pleasant Valley been the only issue the only one of significance there's been a handful of small minor incidents around the city on a more collector roads or residential roads nothing of the severity that we had to contend with on Pleasant Valley things we were able to manage at a lot less cost and effort with this funding and what is the approximate age of the line that broke on Pleasant Valley and just looked at the maps uh earlier today in the 60s say that the pipe is the age that is in the 60s it was installed so 50 60 years and what size pipe was it 12 inch not too old hmm any other questions and that is as Cleaver as the paper project started yet or it has we did some tree clearing and we did have a contractor for Dominion doing some gas service connection lowerings to minimize and eliminate conflicts for the future work that we are proposing the contractor here does intend to get started here another week or two I see I keep driving by looking for you know for the signs and everything too very good thank you uh we'll put this on a consent agenda this evening part is number 2023-72 or as hard as amending ordinance 2021-56 which established the Home Improvement assessment public-private partnership program for the purpose of assisting City residents to maintain and ensure properties remain in compliance with the codified ordinances including but not limited to for storm water management Creek maintenance and Sewer maintenance uh Jim I think you know you worked on this uh yes yeah um thank you Mr vice mayor so um I was happy to work uh with uh after uh a workshop session that we all have where we're discussing the program and Mr Riley came in um as well as Don our city engineer um and gave some feedback on how the program currently works as well as the mayor's vision and some of the ideas that members of council and the public have had this is kind of a reworked uh ordinance from uh prior obviously there's some some differences that that we did that we were looking at in the past based on experience and I want to enumerate all of them they're they're all in the in the ordinance for those to see we can certainly keep it on first reading and have a another Workshop or put it in Utilities Commission or something if you want to do that and go over it in Greater detail but it is substantially different than it was two years ago first reading utilities that's okay yeah yeah and thank you for uh community services and for engineering for the good input that you you put in on this and hopefully it will be pretty close to in shape for us to look at it again in July we'll call a meeting here uh in June to try to get this going very good so this will be uh held on or kept on first reading and referred to the utilities committee thank you uh the final paid page five of the agenda ordinance number 2023-73 which is a companion to the other way it's an ordinance authorizing the appropriation of 200 000 and the payment of the city's proportional share of the participation in qualified and approved projects relative to the property Improvement assessment public-private partnership program keep this on first reading too since it goes hand in hand with the other again that'll be referred to uh to be discussed at the utilities committee meeting also and is there supposed to be another page attached to this because it references six projects that have been completed and then it references five additional projects but I don't under attachments those projects total seventeen thousand twenty seven dollars the previous ordinance uh Anthony look at it it's attached to that and it has the uh the projects are all enumerated there right but there's right there's six in that chart and if you read the legislation ah where does it say it references saying it now but it references the six projects that have been completed which apparently are attached to the legislation and it references five additional projects and it says they're an attachment a but I don't see those I was going to talk about it I believe that was a prior version um we decided that the projects that were in the queue we're going to discuss at the upcoming knowing that there was going to be utilities committee meetings scheduled the ones we were trying to address with the second ordinance was the just to reconcile the ones that were completed and payments had been made okay so we're not I believe we got this information at the workshop correct but it's not attached to the legislation so we'll make sure everybody has it for the work for the utilities committee thank you confusing so we'll keep both of uh 72 and 73 on first reading and uh we moved out towards 2023-74 and this artist accepting the proposal of infinity Construction Company Inc for professional General Contracting Services in connection with the Civic Center kitchen renovation Center and Emily L turned the meeting over to you thank you vice mayor at the council meeting last month Council approved legislation for us to work with AECOM with a mechanical engineer and they also an electrical engineer come out they were able to then put together a scope of work that we could provide to jme to then go out for the bidding process for contractors and so we went through their bidding process received initial quotes um from two Contracting companies um based on the scope award that they were asked to look at which includes I'll name a few just job oversight and project management demolition of existing walls removal that ceiling tile removable fire door and fire filling of a wall opening removal of existed utilities not to be reused trenching for additional drain lines addition of drain locations a new wall new electric box new utilities new wall and floor coverings and to answer rework of the the hood and so after receiving those initial quotes from the general contractors that had input from their subconscious that they brought out on site Infiniti came forth with a proposal that was eighty thousand dollars less than the other proposal that we received um and so feel very comfortable working and moving forward with Infinity with Council support any questions for Emily wasn't don't we have some sort of a piece of legislation that were required to receive three prices on things over fifteen thousand dollars so because of the of working with jme design they're responsible for the bidding process of the city themselves to not handle the community process so didn't we approve Emily working with them earlier this year with understanding that if they they were going to design something rather unique for us was that not what we thought we were doing so jme design when we approved legislation for them they did the design of the kitchen and then also listened to the project management of it so they were responsible for reaching out to contractors this isn't the same firm that this is not oh I'm sorry so so jme design is the design company for that as into the project management site and so then we have to then in legislation was approved previously for an architect mechanical engineer now we're in the general contracting phase so this is the next step in the kitchen renovation process so following that once this is approved then the next thing you'll see for me again next month is approval for appliances question we we did not get this so jme did that with two different contractors but they're responsible for the bidding process which may or may not have been the same so they're the general and then they bid it to the subs is that what you're saying Jamie is the design company so they went out to bid to the general contractors and then the general contractors as part of their quote bring out Subs to make this the final four okay yes thank you sorry about that foreign going to stay involved I guess as our owners rep oversee anything or is that you Emily so jme design will still be involved at the high level the day-to-day communication between the contractors and the subcontracts who come on site will flow through me but the high-level communication will remain with gme and then you rattled off a lot of The Proposal it wasn't in here like this is all of the things Infinity won't do in The Proposal but it's basically a full gut of the space it ends up being that way so the list of items that I've read is just the list of things that jme sent out to the contractors about the scope of the work that they would have to complete um so because of the addition of the dishwasher which is the number one priority with with the kitchen there needs to be the necessary drains there so essentially the floors is being ripped up walls are being moved so it's going to be basically like a giant a giant home it's a big Center if you will until this initial work is done and then we ordered the appliances so it's essentially it'll end up looking like a gut for the majority of the kitchen yes did Infiniti provide a list of any subcontractors or are they self-performing they have subcontractors I do not have a specific list yeah I know first of all I was surprised to see it contrary is a big company very reputable company so I'm surprised they would do a job this small concern but I happen to know that they they have their own people they don't sub out unless they tell you their own employees Precision does a lot of work for Infinity I'm not involved of any work of uh of a proposal on this project but if there's something um a sock hunting or something like that or is it there's a potential that Precision could work there but I'm not aware of anything disclosure okay yeah yeah and then this is the project we call that the state's going to reimburse us once it's complete the state's going to reimburse us a hundred thousand dollars that's correct yes minus administrative fees I will abstain yeah I think we'll vote on this separately so that John who register is a substantial thank you Council thank you Emily foreign yes we move on to ordinance number 2023-75 let's order in some ending section 157.02 of the codified artists of the city of Independence relating to part-time employees paid time off and health insurance benefits and providing for compensation I believe we had a an amended version at our at our position yeah the chart was missing from the originals three and Bridget uh thank you we'll get your input here evening thank you essentially what we are doing in this first ordinance here is really just consolidating previous legislation and cleaning it up um so for the part-time off schedule that we had previously legislated that was based on days versus hours so we went ahead and we changed the schedule so that um from an administrative standpoint we're able to administer this benefit the other piece here is the health insurance essentially there was contradicting legislation that um did not read well with our contract with the anthem so basically we do have to have a 90-day waiting period in order to offer the benefits to part-time employees and that is what the adjustment in this piece of legislation is going to do it's going to put us back to that 90-day waiting period and make it once again more manageable from an administrative standpoint at 76 right 75 75 75 but the adjoining piece the other piece so then we have 76 the next piece yeah so they do kind of work in combination with one another again we broke up the previous legislation which was 2022-68 2022-68 actually went through and it Illustrated all part-time benefits all part-time compensation it actually listed a variety of different positions talked about uniform allowances in um ISO training for part-time employees what we have found is that uniforms are already offered to the part-time police and fire employees as well as our service employees so to legislate that um I think it was just causing some confusion so we were able to clean up that ordinance and remove that piece again we split up the part-time off benefit and the medical piece into one ordinance and then we went ahead and we took the compensation and we're illustrating that in a separate ordinance so truly when you look at our part-time positions instead of actually listing each position in a specific range we went ahead and we decided okay we can take the 2022-8 schedule of positions for non-exempt hourly employees and utilize that to slot our part-time employees salary or compensation I should say so basically again there was contradicting legislation we had a chart that referenced part-time employees seasonal employees but then we had a separate piece of legislation that had different numbers and hourly ranges so by consolidating everything we were able to just say okay here's the chart for our um non-exempt employees that are hourly whether you're a full-time employee a part-time employee or a seasonal employee everyone will be in that non-exempt chart does that make sense you know it's confusing there's a lot I don't know if you have anything to add Greg well no I would just say in working with the uh we make these changes in non-codified ordinances so we thought collectively let's this is pretty much what you've passed in the past we're going to codify them so that when you make changes in the future we can go to the codified books make the changes and put them back in the books as opposed to doing a search seeing if you made a change 10 years ago and the section is not keeping up that's really what this is right and so and if this works as we say we then put other ordinance pay ordinances and everything and to further elaborate on that we are not looking to increase pay ranges for the part-time hourly employees we are literally just working within the uh the language that was previously legislated but cleaning it up and consolidating it into two different ordinances okay the only comment I have is I it is a bit confusing uh even with the verbal description we just received and we don't have copies of 2014-14 and 2022.68 we have this amended version so we don't know what we're actually changing what is new and what is static from the past so in other words are you referencing some sort of if we had the previous legislation and we had the strikeout for any language that would change yeah that's typically how we receive our legislation so we can understand what we're changing and what we're enacting that makes sense and that's certainly something we can do um nothing should change well I I can say that the materially you know like we said we had days we moved it to hours to be more I don't know about the PTO scheduled chart that's all unclear to me and whether or not those days have been increased or decreased but the wording in both ordinances was just taken I did it personally from the ordinance reference in there and just placed into a cop fight against that I can tell you but wasn't it codified already if it was yeah oh they were just ordering so we had to go do a word search and candidly just type in uh and and in fact these are the only the ordinances listed there are the most readings or most recent ordinances I think I could probably go to 88 it's the originating ordinance but they were never codified and so we're codifying now and and there is one change I did put in the definition of seasonal thank you because we did not have seasonal employee anywhere in our codified organ so and there was you know it seems to me that the city for whatever reason just looks at their pool people as seasonal but it's not we have actually have seasonal people during the holidays we have seasonal people so I was trying to make that more clear because sometimes it got a little confusing in finance it's not the result it just gives us flexibility in Staffing it does and to be quite honest with you as hard as this was to explain to you I do have to say um from an administrative standpoint it can be very difficult for us to have to go in and pull different pieces of legislation and make sure that we have the most recent when we do not have this um these items codified so to Greg's Point by codifying these um you know two pieces of legislation it gives us more of a direct um you know route to obtain that motivation I guess I'm still confused because 75 is amending the codified ordinances so they were already codified and were oh no no no no these are new sections I have to amend the kind of our endurance to create new sections well the next 76 is a new new section it's that this is the way it reads an ordinance an acting new section 157.03 and 75 reads that's an ordinance amending section 157.02 of the codified ordinances of the city of Independence because there was one let me get you let me put this there's no reason to rush this because this is already passed by previous councils we're just trying to clean it up which obviously I didn't do it for a good job let me get you the ordinances okay yeah if I could just see the show and you can put it better understand thank you thank you version and bear that come please okay [Music] well we'll just wait for this we'll just uh when they get here we'll come back to that all right we'll go ahead and come back okay ready good evening we have the regular meeting of City Council of Tuesday June 13 2023 clerical color roll here here juicy here here what channel is here and Pastor wigger will be here shortly and we'll come back to him to make sure but for now if you stand for the Pledge of Allegiance thank you pledge allegiance in the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all foreign audience participation okay we start with uh Andrew come on Andrew help me okay got it good evening uh as mayor said my name is Andrew Conkey live at 7823 Stone Road and uh as I'm sure you all are familiar with the property at 7905 Stone Road Japanese be my neighbor um just up here to bring it to the attention as I'm sure you've all have heard the condition that this property is in um it's it's truly unfortunate I guess we could say uh the condition that the owners let it get to and uh I just like to get some answers about it and see where we're going to get it corrected and I do want to say that I'm not the person that thinks that any level of government should be able to tell somebody what they do with their property but there's got to be a line and I think there's cases what's that so you are if they're if the event creates a situation that's untenable that is what was it the last word if it's untenable if it's an unfortunate situation that you can't deal with then government has to intervene exactly okay I just make sure okay so here's so let me update you make sure that Dyer gets your phone number and we'll follow up with a call we've had several residents and we've done this for several years now try and get them they've got their attorney involved council's been we've been patient to try to get them to move cars and clean things up and uh we're done so we're going to go proceed with action if we don't have action before next console being there'll be something on the agenda at the council meeting very good okay I appreciate that Mr Mayor but make sure on the way make sure you give it done I'll call you okay thank you Chuck Schroeder any mayor and council members uh I'm Chuck Soder I live at 6606 Bexley Court and the reason I'm here is because uh last year there was a very nice looking sign put in our subdivision at the entrance uh however the name was wrong it was uh King's coat and the sign was taken down and gone and I'm just wondering what happened to our sign and are we going to get a new sign that says Brampton hunts that's actually the name of the subdivision right it's not King's code so that was taking down the return to the gentleman that uh that uh put it up actually it was put on property that really isn't the development's property right the developer the service department would be moved it it's still sitting in the service department but the resident would put it up was told he could come and pick it up um so it was wrong there was no permits issue he had no permission to put it where he did and he also took down some trees which is a concern to the people who's on the top so as far as getting a new sign up you have to go through the whole process of going before a Planning Commission it was taken down by the developer's request privacy chuck if one of your neighbors had that paid for it because unfortunately we don't have an HOA right in our development because actually we the service will probably be fixed up and provide some of the the area and put Moss down and make it look better other residents in your area a sign if you got a request and I think Debbie deal you have a copy when uh she was offered I don't know all the details but I know the trees that were taken down and the bushes that were cut were unmastered property and they didn't give any permission so if the neighborhood wanted to have a sign put up what would be the process they would contact the building department in City Hall okay and we can go through the whole process with them okay okay thank you thanks Betsy green Road I'm also a neighbor of Andrews um Mr kohera's Ed cohera who owned that house initially died in 19 I believe 94 95 something like that that house has been vacant ever since that time we live across the street Andrew lives right next to him we live on the other side of the street so he Mr kohera owns the property next to ours which is all wooded so over the years my husband's cleaned up maybe five six trees that have fallen from his property onto our property and just recently I had pictures these trees are enormous they were dead they came down and I tried to contact him three times just putting letters in his mailbox because I have no idea where he lives and what his address is or anything but you know I notified him that these trees have fallen now and they're holding up they're being held up by like six other trees so when these come down it's dangerous my husband we can't even clean it up he can't because if you pull these trees out you don't know what's going to fall on top and just recently just you know people die from tree branches falling down it's dangerous this guy has been so negligent it's just unbelievable that nothing has been done over well let me clarify that something has been done a number of cars were removed but it's not to the city's standard so we try to be very patient with residents you know they some of them have extenuating circumstances some of them they don't live there they're not responsive we go through a methodical process of being respectful and then becoming more deliberate and eventually it ends up before Council we've had several situations where it ended up before city council where they authorize the administration to clean it up and that's the next step as I we had so it already happened no said that he is negligent and that they were going to clean up the property or raise the property well then we were we were then notified that he acquired an attorney and so we met with the attorney on site we've had discussions with them and there was some improvement all of a sudden it just went flat again so I heard you and I and Andrew and we're going to uh now that council is well aware of it so that when we introduce the if it's not resolved and we introduce it to council it'll be very clear as to what our issue is all right all right you know so right now what's going on and so we've asked God estimates to remove these two but nothing happens not Andrew Betsy it's we've we've tried to be respectful and uh when they bring in lawyers then we try to be more respectful but if we're done we're done I mean we just uh I'm done so well we got to make sure that first the well there's a series of things that have to be done but uh thank you for and Andrew thanks for coming up and now console is well aware of it and uh we can make sure make sure we can take more direct steps to resolve this issue all right thank you no thank you both of you okay a pastor here oh come on up and say a prayer to protect all of us and give us some divine intervention would you I mean I had such power let us pray where do you dwell o God of glory and where is your blessing our massive doors and strongest Gates cannot contain your majesty false hearts and deceptive words only hide us from your face they are nothing o God of all creation open the gates fling the doors wide and let oceans and rivers Sparkle with your glory bless the world we pray up every heart lift our souls and let the Earth shine with blessing amen amen amen Robert thank you very much appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to be here God bless thank you okay do I have a motion to approve the regular council meeting minutes of May 9th 2023 so streets streets and sidewalks committee meeting of May 11 2023 Council Workshop meeting of 22 May 23 2023. so I'll move second all in favor aye aye opposed and they are adopted the different department heads or we submit their reports we have legislation we have ordinance 2023-54 on second reading title second all in favor aye opposed an ordinance approving the tax budget for the year 2024. second any questions on the adoption call the roll did Geronimo yes yes Travis aye Rivera yes will challenge yes and it's adopted we have Ordnance 2023-60 title loaning second all in favor aye opposed an ordinance fixing the compensation of council members and the vice mayor in the city of Independence as amended motion adapt second any questions on the adoption call the roll Grendel yes now do you see yes yes and it's adopted we have orders 2023-61 second all in favor aye aye opposed ordinance fixing the compensation of the office of Mayor in the city of Independence as amended quotient of that second any questions on the adoption juicy no I did not I'm sorry yes tagliati yes no well chanowitz yes did Geronimo yes grindel yes and it's adopted we have ordov's 2023-62 all in favor aye aye opposed an ordinance requiring the position of finance director in the city of Independence to be full-time and establishing compensation as a man did oh shoot that second any questions on the adoption I had one mayor yes uh council person taglia you raised a good point earlier you so uh you know we did have this part time before do you think that is a better set up does it would attract more people or does it you did the job for a little while I did yes uh in the previous uh Finance director held numerous positions um it's council's prerogative what does everybody think about that I mean we would set this at uh the lower rate of anyone in the in the area here you know I think it would be next to Seven Hills it would be the lowest paid Finance director in the area but I'm not sure what I what the issue is yeah if you so well you know I did a little bit of homework the uh CPAs uh in the Cleveland area according to the ladders start out at about 49 000 a year and go up to about 500 000 a year so we would certainly be on the low end of a of a CPA was it relates to that type of thing so we would have to amend it to a part-time position or leave it as a part-time position yes that's a discussion I'm not sure what the I prefer to be a full-time or full-time position which you're proposing is to not make it full time but and then keep the salary of a hundred that's what I was thinking I was thinking or amusing or oh I look I've been very consistent since Charter review in in now this ordinance that um the complexity and size and scope of Independence is budget that the CEO or the CFO should should be a full-time position and and it should be compensated accordingly and frankly even at that hundred thousand yeah it's 35 000 more than what it was but Council just adopted ordinance 2023-61 increased the mayor's compensation by 35 000 but left it part-time and now the proposal on the table the way it is now is to raise the finance director's position by the same amount of money would increase it from Far time to full time um and now I hear well then let's make it back to part-time and look this is Independence this is not another city in our our vision statement is to be the Premier Community or a Premier Community not just every other community and um I think if you keep it part-time you know it doesn't do the position Justice well I've given it full-time attention but that's just me but I'm not going to be around forever and it's still an elected position and a number of people in the city of Independence who who you know there's people that technically qualify by the charter but as CPAs have told me I can't do that job I have no idea about governmental Finance private sector and government it's two different animals and so the number of people that can get elected to this position in the city of Independence actually do it are are very very few and it's why consistent again in front of the charter review commission I I suggested it being a appointed position I I don't think it should be an elected position but that Ship Sails if it's going to stay in elected position at least it's got to be compensated uh fairly for for the for the duties and responsibilities and I don't want to mention mention the cities because I don't want to get any Mayors or other people in trouble but there's a local community with with a budget that's not nearly independence's size and the finance director is making about 95 000 went to the mayor and said look I'm underpaid I'd like to go to about a hundred and five thousand in the mayor thought about it and said no not going to take you to 105. Finance director walked easily got another job in Northeast Ohio another community at 125 000. mayor in the original City says I'll just go replace this person well Mayor found out reality nobody's applying and anybody who did was was not qualified for the position and the story I got was the mayor had to put his or her tail between his or her legs call back the person that he or she let walk for a ten thousand dollar raise could have had that Finance director for 105 000 now got that Finance director to quit the 125 000 job they just took and had to pay 142 000 to get them back they could have had them for 105 but they were being Pennywise and palm foolish and the finance director called that mayor's block and now instead of getting 105 his plant director is getting 142. and I'm not saying that this position's got to pay 142 even though it's got a budget larger than this community but you guys and gentlemen and well it's all all seven all eight of you are gentlemen so I could say that it's um across the country there's a lack of of people going into Accounting in the first place and then on the back end there's there's there's a shortage of qualified competent people to do governmental accounting and finance the gfoa says it other Publications have said it in in this mayor of this city who could have had their Finance directory for 105 and now ended up paying 142 found out firsthand what the market is for finance directors in Northeast Ohio and that was just in the last 12 months okay anything else we have ordinance 2023-62 on uh uh I need a motion to suspend the rules or no adapt we have a motion second any other questions yes Travis all right no well yes teacher animal print out yes yes and it's adopted the consent agenda approval of the consent agenda items will be read individually into the record and the consent agenda will then be voted on as a whole by one motion and one roll call there will be no separate discussion on these items can I have a motion to read the consent agenda items by title only so I'll move second all in favor aye aye opposed Origins 2023-63 an ordinance amending section 143.16 of the codified ordinances of the city of Independence relating to paramedic certification ordinance 2023-64 an ordinance authorizing the Merit to enter into an agreement with Cleveland Clinic at work for Professional Services and connection with the fire department's wellness evaluation program ordinance 2023-65 and ordinance declaring improvements to certain Parcels of property in the city of Independence Ohio to be a public purpose for purposes of section 5709.40 and 5709.42 of the Ohio Revised Code and exempt from taxation describing public improvements to be made to directly benefit the parcels requiring the owners of parcels to make service payments in lieu of taxes establishing a municipal public Improvement tax increment equivalent fund for the deposit of service payments making related authorizations pursuant to Ohio advice code sections 5709.40-5709.42 and 570-9243 ordinance 2023-66 an organs authors in participation in the Ohio Department of Transportation Cooperative purchasing program and it's 2023-67 an ordinance authorizing the renewal of the agreement with Kimball companies Inc for recycling processing Services ordinance 2023-68 an ordinance accepting the bid option of cargo Inc for the purchase and delivery of rack salt for the 2023-2024 snow season pursuant to the Joint Municipal Improvement Consortium ordinance 2023-69 an ordinance authorizing the purchase and delivery of a ride on zero turn 72 inch mower for the recreation department revision one our news 2023-70 an ordinance authorizing the disposal of unclaimed or forfeited property held by the city's Police Department pursuant to Ohio Revised Code section 2981.1282 ordinance 2023-71 an ordinance authorizing funding for Road and right-of-way repairs necessitated by numerous water main breaks leaks and or water valve and or hydrant repairs 2023. all in favor aye aye opposed ocean adapt second any questions on the consented agenda adoption Calderon Futurama yes grindel yes yes and the consent agenda is adopted we have ordinance 2023-72 all in favor aye opposed an ordinance amending ordinance 2021-56 which established the Home Improvement assessment public private partnership program for the purpose of assisting City residents to maintain and assure properties remain in compliance with the codified ordinances including but not limited to for storm water management Creek maintenance and Sewer maintenance and that'll remain on first reading and it'll be referred to finance committee excuse me utility sorry I looked at Jim and said Finance okay we have ordinance 2023-73 title only second all in favor aye aye opposed an ordinance authorizing the appropriation of two hundred thousand dollars and the payment of the city's proportional share of participation in qualified and approved projects relative to the property Improvement assessment public private partnership program and that'll remain on first reading and referred to utilities committee we have Ordnance 2023-74. second all in favor aye aye opposed in ordinance accepting the proposal of infinity Construction Company Inc for professional General Contracting Services in connection with the Civic Center kitchen renovation project suspended second all in favor aye opposed ocean adapt second any questions on the adoption Colorado yes yes did Geronimo Epstein grindel yes nardisi yes Taco Yadi yes and it's adopted just we have ordinance I'm sorry point of order should we have uh Council persons digeronimo's name taken off the ordinance in light of his abstention yeah I would remove uh remove his name from as an introducer would you please thank you that'll be done thanks Jim uh we have Ordnance 2023-75 all right lonely second all in favor aye aye opposed an ordinance amending section 157.02 of the codified ordinances relating to part-time employees paid time off and health insurance benefits and providing for compensation revision one and that remained on first reading we have uh ordinance 2023-76. are lonely second all in favor all right opposed an ordinance enacting new section 1557.03 of the codified ordinances of the city of Independence relating to seasonal employees compensation and that will remain on first let's see there being no other business before this honorable Council I want to thank everyone for being here this evening I'll entertain a motion to adjourn so I'll move second and for those that uh viewed the council meeting by Zoom thank you all in favor aye opposed his Council stands adjourned thank you very much thank you department heads recording stopped one second [Music] um I'm not sure