City Council - Regular Meeting

All right, welcome to Cleveland Heights City Council regular meeting. It is Monday, June 1st at 7.35. Addie, would you call the roll? Stone.

Here. DeWitt Foy. Here. Posh. Here. Cuda. Here. Larson. Cohen. Here. Cobb. Here.

All right, Vice President Larson is excused. She's taking care of a sick friend today. And we do have an amendment to the agenda.

Yes, Mr. President, I would like to make a motion to take from the table and add to the agenda this evening, Resolution 103-2026, which is a memorandum of understanding with the Friends of Cane Park. If everyone will recall, we had tabled this legislation previously, so I'd like to move it to get included on this evening's agenda.

Do we have a second? All right, any discussion? All in favor of this amendment to the agenda?

I need to add that this is actually gonna be a second reading. We're gonna be seeking to pass it tonight. Do I need to restate that motion? We haven't voted on it yet. If you do, I'll second it. Yes. So my motion should include that this is a second reading. Sure, restore it to the agenda as a second reading. That's fine.

All right. Do we have a second to that?

Second. Yes.

Okay, and any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? That motion passes. Now we'll move on to approval of the minutes. We have them for April 20th, May 4th, and May 11th of 2026. Thank you, Addie, for putting that together. Any... I don't know, any comments about the agenda? Everything okay? All right, then we'll move on to presentations.

Mr. President, for the record, can you please state that those were approved?

Oh, yes, those minutes are approved. And now moving on to presentations, we have Laura and Michael from Cleveland Heights High School 100 years celebration. And as a proud graduate, I'm so glad that you guys are here.

Thank you. Tell us all about it. We will, we will. Thank you, President Kuda and Mayor Petras for having us here this evening to talk about the Heights Schools Foundation 100th anniversary celebration of Cleveland Heights High School, which will take place June 19th, 20th, and 21st at Cleveland Heights High School on the grounds outside and inside. You'll notice over to my right. The intention of these events are twofold. One is to raise funds for the school district through the foundation. The Heights Schools Foundation was founded 10 years ago, and we are the nonprofit arm of the school district. We provide scholarships annually to graduating seniors going to technical school or college, and we also provide teacher resource grants for things that might not be in the budget or large-scale projects within the district. We haven't been at a point where we can... have any of those large-scale ideas come to fruition, but we're hopeful that through events like this, we'll continue to raise more funds for the district. And this year, our goal is to raise a million dollars to support the school district all the way K through 12. So we are working with Michael Deet, who is a Heights grad. K through 12, Cleveland Heights University High School District, and I am a proud 1987 graduate. And very happy to be in the position that I'm in where I can give back and working with so many volunteers give back to the district. So we started off originally small, and then we decided to have a big weekend blowout for the district, bringing back people right now all the way Washington state, Alaska, Florida, South America, Europe to come to our events. Friday night is a kickoff. Saturday is a gala, and then Sunday is a Taste of the Heights. The kickoff is in the evening, and the gala is also in the evening. Taste of the Heights is during the day on Sunday. So I'm gonna have Mike talk a little bit about Friday and Sunday's events and why we picked who we picked to be present and also how we're really trying to incorporate people from different areas of the community to be present.

I just want to point out for Addie that Apostle Jones is playing on the 19th. I know she loves them.

Yeah, as Laura said, as we started off saying, this whole idea was to raise funds for the district. And like she said, we were originally thinking small, and then I came to the picture and I screwed that whole thing up. And I said, no, we got to go big. I said, let's get the best art. of Cleveland Heights from the local merchants to the community, to the students, to the administrators. Every aspect of Cleveland Heights we tried to touch whether they're involved or not, we tried to get them involved. It's kind of a long approach doing it that way, but we figured out that if you reach out to everybody, you'll reach some. And our team has done an exceptional job at getting that word out. Friday night, as you can see, we have a great lineup of some of the best artists in Cleveland. We have a Juneteenth presentation by Japo. I know you guys are familiar with them. and we are doing something smaller scale, more of an informational type of thing, historical context, Saturday night is a gala.

It is a pre-event ticketed item. Ticket sales close on the 10th because when you're working with caterers and seating. that we needed a little bit of time. So that event is smaller. One of the reasons why we brought Mike on board is when we first initially were talking about a gala, you can only have 300, 400 people that can come to something like that. Well, we all know that Cleveland Heights High School has graduated tens of thousands of people, and we have 40,000 students. address email addresses in our database of living alums so we wanted to come up with events that would enable local community to be there but also all of our grads have an opportunity to be there so saturday night we're honoring our hall of famers it will be a great dinner dance at the high school

I happen to be the Hall of Famer, so I'm looking forward to that. As you can tell, for Friday, I forgot to mention, there's lots of high squares. We try to feature as many high squares as we possibly can. And there's probably more that will be there that we haven't mentioned, but they will be there. Moving on to Sunday. Sunday is a daytime event. It's also Father's Day and also summer solstice, first day of summer. So we're taking advantage of both of those aspects. It's basically a food, music, and arts event where we're celebrating all of those things combined. We have a special dad's tent called Dad Cave that's going to be pampering the dads michael i should have said this to you before can you talk into you can talk into that mic and that way yeah people can hear you at home all right um so like i was saying sunday is taste of heights and it's just a taste of a little bit of everything in heights from food to music to art fashion everything we can squeeze in there um we have an arch tent that's going to be dedicated to uh heights artists from k from from Elementary, middle, and high school, some of the award winners for the last few years. We have several people that are helping us with that in arts communities around the area. And we should get everybody out of there by about 5 or 6 o'clock and let people go back to their families and do whatever they have to do on that day. But it's going to be a beautiful event, and it's going to be a beautiful weekend.

So just to give you a sense of what it will look like, and we have worked on this with the police chief, which I would like to just go on record saying that the staff of Cleveland Heights has been from hanging banners around the high school to helping us design a comprehensive security plan, the fire marshal, everyone has been so helpful and a great resource to us and help us see things from a different lens, which has then helped us create this amazing transformation for the field.

As you can see, there's garage beer and a couple other things we do. We're this close to curing our liquor license for the week. Just waiting on the great state of Ohio to end business. But we think that we should be in the clear. We have two great beer sponsors. We have a liquor sponsor, Heaven Hill. AND WE ARE READY TO GO. AS YOU CAN SEE, IT'S VERY EXTENSIVE. WE HAVE INFLATABLES FOR THE YOUNG KIDS. WE HAVE AN ATHLETIC SECTION, A VERY EXTENSIVE VIP AREA. AND AS YOU CAN SEE FROM WHERE IT SAYS THE COURTYARD AND COMMUNITY ROW, WE'RE DEDICATING AREAS TO NONPROFITS AND SMALL BUSINESSES WHERE THEY CAN GET TABLES OR TENTS. AND THEN THERE'S A COURTYARD WHERE ON FRIDAY NIGHT INDIVIDUAL GROUPS CAN RESERVE A TENT. AS YOU CAN SEE ON THE RIGHT COLUMN, THOSE ARE SOME OF THE CLASSES AND SOME OF THE GROUPS THAT HAVE ALREADY SECURED TENTS, AND WE'RE WORKING THAT OUT NOW TO GIVE PEOPLE THE BEST POSITIONS AVAILABLE. THERE'S STILL TENTS AVAILABLE, AND WE'RE STILL OUT OF ROOM FOR MARKET VENDORS IN OUR MARKET. SO THAT GIVES YOU KIND OF AN ILLUSTRATED, COLORFUL LOOK AT THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE STADIUM, LITERALLY LIKE IT'S NEVER BEEN BEFORE. AND THAT'S THE TASTE. THAT'S FOR SUNDAY. A LITTLE BIT OF A TRANSITION. AND AGAIN, THE SAME TYPE OF CONCEPT, FULL FAMILY ATMOSPHERE AND A VERY COMMUNITY-BASED THING. WE'RE DOING, ON SUNDAY, WE'RE DOING WHAT WE CALL TASTING ZONES, WHERE WE'RE GOING TO, WHERE WE'RE TRYING TO FIND, WE'RE FINDING DIFFERENT RESTAURANTS AND EATERIES FROM AROUND THE CITY THAT REPRESENT DIFFERENT TASTE AND CULTURES AND CUISINES, AND WE'RE TRYING TO GIVE A DIVERSE VARIETY OF TASTE AND FLAVORS. As you can see over the left is the Legacy Lounge, and that's something that's dedicated to the fathers for Father's Day, and there'll be an art tent as well. That just gives you an idea of how it's gonna look from kind of an illustrative view, but it sums it up.

Yeah. Really great. Any questions from council? Go ahead, please.

So I have my gala ticket. I hope all you guys can join us.

Thank you very much. You are one of the first.

Oh, I hope not. Can general community members come in for the Friday and the Sunday event so they could buy a ticket? I assume it's a ticketed event. Buy a ticket at the door.

Yes. In advance, Friday is $25. We're encouraging people to park off-site or use Uber or Lyft. And same thing for Sunday. Fortunately for us, the city still owns the parking garage on Lee Road. And so through June 21st. I hope there's peace. And so we're encouraging people and we've been working with the Lee Road SID to help with parking and just helping people get to where they need to go. But to answer your question, yes, all of these events are community events. Even Saturday night is a community event. We. want people to come see what has the new, and it's not so new anymore. It's been 10 years since the building was reopened. But for many people, they haven't been back. And the field was just redone. The track will be done after. But we want people to come and participate, be a vendor, and just come to the events. So yes.

And also that we'll be doing tours on Sunday. They'll be doing tours of the high school to see all the new renovations, just incorporating the entire campus.

I don't have a question, but we do have our tickets. My husband, who's a teacher in the district for Friday and for Sunday. So we're excited. And I just want to mention that you have family packages because we bought those. We're going to bring the kids, at least some of them. So that was really exciting. And also you did a wonderful discount for teachers that I thought was really, really special to allow teachers to attend the festivities. Thank you.

Any of us would be where we are today without our teachers. And we want to make sure that our teachers are present. We're working with the retiree community. For those of you who don't know, the retiree community in the district is unbelievable. They have parties all year round. I get their emails. And we have a lot of our retirees coming back also. And in one of those zones where... There will be a series of uniforms that were worn by male and female athletes throughout the years, and we will have several of our former coaches there from way back.

I just wanted to add as well, fire, police, and first responders are in free. We have discounts for veterans and for our older guests. And our students are $10 with ID.

But thank you for mentioning the family packages.

Anybody else? Thank you so much for this. Sure. Wonderful. Looking forward to it. I'll be there all three nights. Awesome.

I have one more question. Is our wonderful mayor going to be blessing us with his presence?

I will do my best to be there. I really appreciate it.

I'm sorry.

I'd like to thank you for being here tonight. That was a really nice presentation.

Thank you. Thank you for having us. Hope to see all of you.

Wonderful. All right, on to communications from the mayor.

Thank you, Mr. President. I'd like to read two things into the record. So firstly, council members may remember that we got the roads program out to bid so early that we got dramatically better pricing than we anticipated. So we're able to go out to bid for a second batch of streets. So for the record, on May 20th, 2026, the city of Cleveland Heights received bids for project 26-2020, or I'm sorry, 26-04 road resurfacing program phase two, the lowest and best bid It came from Ronyak Paving at $1,219,250. The rest of the bids were as follows. Carvo Companies, $1,275,987.18. Geauga Highway, $1,303,174. Vallejo Company, 1,396,797, and Phillips Paving, 1,427,163. And secondly, on April 24, 2026, three bids were received for project 26-02, our pavement striping for 2026, 27, and 28. The low bidder for the base bid over the three-year period was JD Striping and Services, Their bid was as follows, $335,606.78 for 2026, $354,391.69 for 2027, and $376,917.34 for 2028 for a total of $1,066,915.81. And And the other bids were as follows. ANA Safety, which was a total of $1,149,757.01 over the three years. And Aramark Company, LLC, for $1,977,204.87 for the total of those three years. I'd also like to note many residents noticed that the water level at Lower Lake was lower than usual recently, and in anticipation of excessive rainfall, the Department of Public Works opened the valve at Lower Lake. That is a routine precautionary measure that's taken whenever excessive rainfalls are predicted. We did not get that rainfall, and so on Monday morning, the department employees closed that valve. I have mentioned a few times that we've been working to arrange a parade recognizing Layla Edwards, our Olympic gold medalist. We're very grateful that we were able to find a time that works for her schedule. She is going to the draft on June 17th. And so on Sunday, June 14th, we are going to have a parade recognizing her. And Jamie Taylor is going to tell us more about that. I'd also like to talk about Cumberland. So I'm very happy that Cumberland Poll opened this morning at 6 a.m. on time. But in addition to the poll opening, looking to the future of Cumberland, we learned from the state today that we're receiving a $300,000 grant towards our project to renovate or rebuild Cumberland. This past weekend, the Cumberland Task Force, which you all appointed members to, had site visits to two aquatic facilities in the area. It's really great to see a number of the folks come out for that. And we have a number of others that are planned. Council members are welcome to join any of those that you'd like. And we have received proposals for folks to be the owner's rep for this project. It's really important that this be successful. There have been a lot of projects where communities invest a lot of money and the pull ultimately fails. And so to ensure success here, we have been looking at hiring an owner's rep. And so we're going to be considering those proposals. So with that, that's the end of tonight's report.

Great, thank you.

President, can I make a quick statement? Of course. Regarding Cumberland Pool, I happen to know a swimmer that was there at 6.30 in the morning. It was cold. And was very pleased. Actually, Sunday evening, they found out that there was some kind of plumbing issue, but someone worked. in the night to get it done so there was good plumbing in the the bathrooms i understand that the heater was turned on five days in advance which has never happened in a long time so the pool is actually normal temperature because it takes many days for a pool that size to get up and so i don't see any staff members here that are in charge of all this but they did a great job

I'd just like to thank Director Andres Gonzalez for making this a priority. And it was very nice being able to join the team members yesterday as they had their orientation. And we're looking forward to 100th successful season for Cumberland.

All right. Thank you, Mayor. City Administrator Michael Reese. We'll call this the Reese Report.

Okay, here we go for the Reese Report. President Kuda, members of council, I have five things to update you on tonight. And all of these things are team efforts that I'm proud to be a part of. I think it's important, this will be repetitive for some of you, but just on the American Rescue Plan Act funding, there was an excellent presentation during the Committee of the Whole, encourage people to watch that. when they have time. The ARPA funding has been a great thing for us. It's very complicated. It required a lot of work once Mayor Petras took office. And thanks to our finance team led by Director Brodzinski, Assistant Director Rashawn Caldwell and Tiffany Ware. We feel very confident that we're on track to spend all the money by the end of the year as we go through the ARPA reconciliation process with the help of Brian Iario, and Assistant Director in Planning and Development. So there's wonderful community projects to check out. And in our upcoming focus publication that comes out in late June, we'll be highlighting many of the things that are part of the American Rescue Plan Act funding. Secondly, with city events that Jamie Taylor will be talking about, I am helping with that along with Mayor Petras and our entire team on the big three events in June, which I'll let her talk about. But these events are very important to the fabric of Cleveland Heights and require a team effort with many of our departments pitching in. Next, we have something that we're calling our special event application. I worked with Todd Walburn and other team members to establish this new process for events that we support. Again, it's called a special event application. This new practice will allow us to be proactive in planning for things like street closures and having an appropriate public safety presence during these events. we will soon be sharing our special event application with individuals and organizations throughout the city. Next is our Friends of Kane Park Agreement. We worked as a team to get an agreement in place that provides certainty to the Friends of Kane Park and satisfies the city. Especially wanna thank Gary Lustig and Andrea Turner with the Friends of Kane Park for their hard work. I met both Gary and Andrea at a local coffee shop about two months ago, and we got to know each other, and they educated me on the importance and the history of the Friends of Kane Park. I also want to thank our Kane Park general manager, Suzanne Conway, and Lily Hall in the law department for their contributions and hard work on this agreement. Lastly is the 2027 budget process is soon going to be starting within the administration. And I'm working with finance director Joe Brodzinski and assistant finance director Rashawn Cogwell on a budget outline that establishes a timeline for revenue estimates to departments, review of the expense budget, budget hearings with our team, finalization of the budget by the mayor, finance director, and me, and budget hearings with city council. So we're working through that outline now and we'll adjust as necessary, but we wanna be proactive so we get the budget right and include all the necessary internal folks throughout the process. That's the conclusion of the REES report tonight.

All right, any questions for the city administrator? All right, thank you. I appreciate it.

Mr. President, if I could add one thing, being a member of city council and now being in this role, it's very important to me that we understand the funding priorities for city council. And so as we begin to draft the budget, there will be plenty of collaboration with city council so that we could understand the things that you are interested in funding so that we can make sure that those are worked into the budget.

Allow me to take a deep breath of fresh air, thank you. Really appreciate that. All right, so departmental reports, I think we have Jamie Taylor. The very talented Jamie Taylor.

Hello. Hello. Good evening, Mayor Petras, Council President Kuda, council members, and Cleveland Heights family and friends. I'm here to talk about our big three special events for June that's kicking off our summer. So I have notes, I'm gonna be reading some of this. As we have seemingly leapt into the first day of June, I'm excited to share the big three Cleveland Heights special events that will propel us into an awesome summer, highlighting and celebrating the diversity, creativity, talent, and spirits of our city. First, on Saturday, June 13th, we invite everyone to join us at Kane Park for our Juneteenth celebration, Free to Be, a Juneteenth family reunion from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. This event is centered around three things, free to be seen, free to be well, and free to become, but also free to be family. Our goal is to create Cleveland Heights' largest family reunion, bringing together generations, neighborhoods, organizations, businesses, artists, and families for a day of celebration, connection, community, and extended family pride. Folks should plan to come and enjoy live entertainment featuring Hubs Groove, the unit band, the Cleveland Chorale, and line dancing by the Line Dance King, And also a community fashion showcase by Drew Christine and many other amazing and intentional activities. There will also be a kids zone with inflatables and karaoke and a petting zoo and a gaming truck. Wellness and community resource hubs, local vendors, great food, and interactive experiences throughout the park.

Mm-hmm.

And up next, I am especially excited to share that we also will have a Legacy Lounge, a space dedicated to honoring our senior community and their stories. We've also partnered with the Heights Cosmetology Program, and they've offered some youth to come and give hand massages and pampering to our seniors. Really excited about that. This event is inspired by the Cleveland Heights tree. The event reflects our roots, our branches, and the strength of the community that connects us. Next up, the following morning on Sunday, June 14th, from 10 a.m. until about 12 p.m., we continue the weekend with the Free to Dream Parade, honoring the history, making accomplishments of Cleveland Heights' own Layla Edwards, and inspiring the next generation guided by her quote, to dream big, little ones. We're proud to have commitments from the Cleveland Monsters, County Executive Chris Ronan, State Representative Juanita Brent, State Senator Kent Smith, County Councilman Michael Hauser, and our host Kira Cotton from the Cleveland Cavaliers. We're also excited to work with Cleveland Heights Toyota who will be providing vehicles for our Grand Marshal Layla Edwards and special guests. Working to confirm our parade participants, local youth hockey programs, and other youth center organizations are our focus. In order to create a celebration that reflects the impact Layla has had on young people through our community and beyond, this event celebrates achievement, local pride, and what is possible when talent, hard work, and community support come together. As planning continues, we are actively finalizing the parade route to ensure the best possible experience for residents, participants, and visitors. Our goal is to create an opportunity for everyone to come together, celebrate Layla's accomplishments, and wrap our arms around our Cleveland Heights' own as she continues her remarkable journey. Lastly, for this month, we have Saturday, June 27th. We're going to close the month out with our GLOW Party, which stands for, as an acronym, for Giving Light Our Way, our Pride in the Park celebration at Kane Park again. Our Pride event this year starts at 4 p.m. and will end just after sundown, after 9.30 p.m., so we can have our GLOW Party. Presented in partnership with our neighbors, University Heights, and local community leaders and organizations, GLOW is a welcoming, family-friendly event celebrating inclusion, authenticity, and connection. Through live entertainment, community partners, interactive activities, and educational resources, and of course, good food, and a fun GLOW party finale, we'll create a space to celebrate light that we all bring to our community. Together our final three summer, I'm sorry, together our big three summer kickoff events reflect what makes Cleveland Heights special, creativity, diversity, inclusion, and community. They are opportunities to come together, celebrate one another, and continue building a city where everyone is welcome. We also invite community members and city staff to get involved by volunteering at any of these events. If you're interested in supporting these celebrations, please feel free to call or email me at 216-691-7698. Anybody need a pencil? Or jaytaylor at clevelandheights.gov. We are really needing volunteers. And I feel like this is going to be such fun, like throughout the month of June. So you want to get in there. We hope to see you through the month of June. And thank you so much.

Oh, Jamie, that was wonderful. You know, between what you're doing in June and what we're doing in Kane Park, this is the place to be this summer.

Yes.

Fantastic.

Thank you. I'm so excited about the parade. And I want to mention that Heights Athletic Boosters actually has replica jerseys for Layla's jersey. And I've already purchased one, but they reopened the order. So if anybody is looking to wear a jersey to the parade or just buy one in general, Heights Athletic Boosters has it there. And I just... Layla has been just incredibly generous with her time. She comes to the community center to work out. She was there at our South Park, South Rink.

And she let us take pictures with her.

And in fact, my 11 year, I will just personal note, my 11 year old son, I came home and showed all my kids the picture and my 11 year old son said, you didn't get me an autograph. So this will be hopefully another opportunity to bring all the family out and to see Layla in person. So very exciting. Thank you, Jane. Awesome. All your hard work on this. Thank you.

Mr. President, I just like to again mention that University Heights generously sponsored our Black History Month celebration earlier this year, and I'd like to thank Mayor Michelle Weiss and Vice Mayor John Rock for their generous contribution to our Pride event later this month. So they're doing this with us, and so I'm grateful for that.

Thank you, Mayor. Any other, I'm sorry, departmental reports? All righty. Then we'll move on to the report of the Clerk of Council.

Yes, I'd just like to notify Council that I've received a notice from the Division of Liquor Control for a transfer of a D2, D2X, D3, D5I liquor permit from YLT Heights LLC to Edwin's Leadership and Restaurant Institute located at 123838993 Cedar Road.

All right, thank you. You know, I think you forgot something. Tomorrow is Addie's birthday. Happy birthday, Addie. I didn't think you forgot. All right, we're going to move on to public comment. What do we have for legislative items?

I have two for legislative items.

When you come up, you have three minutes. State your name and your, if not your address, the street you live on. Laura Delaney.

Good evening. Thank you for having this time for us to speak. Some of you have heard parts of this before, just like a few minutes ago, but I really wanted to say it here in front of everybody. Mayor Petras, President Kuda, and members of the City Council, on behalf of the Taylor Merchants Association, I really want to express our gratitude for the funds that you are going to be voting on today. These funds are going to enable us to... changed the experience of Taylor Road for everyone. We really understand that these funds are a two-year program to address the most immediate of needs of the district. The merchants are all very engaged and are excited to move forward with marketing events and beautification of the area so that people can come and enjoy the unique character of our district. We've begun discussions to transition to a special improvement district. We would involve building owners, merchants, and the Cleveland Heights Economic Development Department to work on this plan and to figure out its feasibility. The Merchants Association is not a SID, but we are in a position to connect with the stakeholders for creating a SID. We are developing this option with the hope of implementing this designation in 2028. I also want to express our gratitude to Mayor Petras and Jessica Cohen for supporting this initiative and facilitating so many conversations. The Department of Economic Development was instrumental for creating our strong blueprint for success, and I really appreciate the expertise of our exempt Julie Kaufman and Brian Anderson. But most importantly, the vision for this project and NABA would not have come to fruition without the leadership and support of Davida Russell. And she's here tonight. And I really want to say thank you. Thank you so much. So that's what I wanted to say tonight. I'm looking forward to telling you about the things that we're accomplishing. So thank you again. Thank you, Laura. Davida Russell.

Oh.

I just want to say thank you. And I will remember my name.

I'm Davida Russell, former councilperson of Cleveland Heights, and I live on Finley, Upper Finley. Tony lives on Lower Finley. That's a personal joke with us. But I just want to come to say thank you to all of you. Thank you so much, Jessica, for lending your name to the legislation, for avidly advocating for this legislation to come forward. Mayor Petras, thank you so much for what you have done and all of council for what you have been doing so far. And I see all the good things that's coming. I'm very excited about the report you've given about what's happening in June and a lot of my favorite people that I know is gonna be participating. So I'm really excited, but I just wanted to come and say, thank you. I've been watching and great job. Thank you so much.

Thank you. That's all we have for legislative. All right. Well, let's move on to legislation. These are first reading consideration for adoption tonight.

I have ordinance number 111-2026 on first reading and ordinance to amend certain subparagraphs of ordinance number 241-2025 relating to appropriations and other expenditures of the city of Cleveland Heights, Ohio for the fiscal year ending December 31st, 2026 and declaring the necessity of this legislation become immediately effective as an emergency measure introduced by Mayor Petras.

So moved. Second. All right, it's been motioned and seconded just for the... Audience, we did discuss these pieces of legislation in detail in Committee of the Whole. Is there any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? That motion passes.

Next, I have resolution number 112-2026 on first reading. A resolution authorizing the city to apply for funding through the Ohio Department of Natural Resources NatureWorks grant program and declaring the necessity this legislation become immediately effective as an emergency measure introduced by Mayor Petras.

So moved.

Second. All right, any discussion?

I just want to thank Director Gonzales and the administration for the focus on creating safe and modern and updated spaces for the kids in the community. We had a conversation in Committee of the Whole about where this fits in in the long-term parks plan. We obviously have a much larger parks plan that we're working on. But just knowing that we are focused on updating playground equipment for our kids is fantastic. really very, very special. And I'm excited to see if we can hopefully get this grant. We'll keep our fingers crossed.

All right.

Councilman?

This is a grant for the Cumberland Park play equipment. And, you know, there's a lot of interest in people that I know around Cumberland. We did a pretty thorough walk and it is really dated. It really needs some help. So this is going to be great if this is something that we could win. And it'd be even better if it's something that we don't have to pay for. We get the grant, so... I don't want to vote yes for this.

All right. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? That motion passes.

Next, I have resolution number 113-2026 on first reading. A resolution authorizing the mayor to execute a change order to an agreement with Renaissance Restoration Limited to provide for additional services necessary to lay new concrete foundations for the retaining wall adjacent to the service center's salt bin and declaring the necessity that this legislation become immediately effective as an emergency measure introduced by Mayor Petras.

I have a motion. So moved. All right. Second. It's been motioned and seconded. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? That motion passes. Here's two for first reading only.

I have resolution number 114-2026 on first reading, a resolution approving the adoption of the 2027 tax budget and declaring the necessity that this legislation become immediately effective as an emergency measure introduced by Mayor Petras. I also have resolution number 115-2026 on first reading, an ordinance amending part one, title 11, chapter 171 of the codified ordinances of the city of Cleveland Heights to enact a new section 171.02H, contracts for youth, adult and senior program services to provide the city with greater flexibility when contracting with persons to administer the city's recreational programming or using city facilities to offer recreational programming to the public and declaring the necessity of this legislation become immediately effective as an emergency measure introduced by Mayor Petras.

All right, thank you. And now we're on to second readings.

I have resolution 100-2026 on second reading, a resolution declaring the necessity of assessing a portion of the expense of street lighting and declaring the necessity that this legislation become immediately effective as an emergency measure introduced by Mayor Petras.

Do we have a motion? So moved. Second. All right, thank you. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? That motion passes.

Next I have resolution number 101-2026 on second reading. A resolution declaring the necessity of assessing a portion of the expense of improving streets and parkways, including grading, draining, curbing, paving, repaving, repairing, sweeping, or cleaning thereof, removing snow therefrom, and planting, maintaining, and removing shade trees thereon, and declaring the necessity that this legislation become immediately effective as an emergency measure. Introduced by Mayor Petras.

So moved. Second. All right, any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Then motion passes.

Next, I have resolution number 104-2026 on second reading, a resolution accepting a grant from the Ohio Department of Public Safety's Office of Criminal Justice Services, Ohio Body Worn Camera Grant Program, authorizing the use of grant funds, authorizing the mayor to enter into an agreement with Motorola Solutions for body worn cameras, and declaring the necessity that this legislation become immediately effective as an emergency measure. Introduced by Mayor Petras.

Mr. President?

Yes.

I just want to note that I've been advised by my employer to recuse myself from any discussion and vote on this matter. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilwoman Cohen. So moved. Second. All right, any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? That motion passes.

Next, I have resolution number 105-2026 on second reading, a resolution authorizing the mayor to execute an agreement with Wade Trim, Inc. of Ohio for professional design engineering and associated services relating to the mitigation of illicit connections in the Overlook Road area and control of the sanitary sewer overflow CH-46 and declaring the necessity that this legislation become immediately effective as an emergency measure introduced by Mayor Petras.

So moved. Second. Second.

All right, any discussion? All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? That motion passes. Sorry, one second here, guys.

I have resolution number 106-2026 on second reading, a resolution authorizing a grant agreement with the Taylor Merchants Association and declaring the necessity that this legislation become immediately effective as an emergency measure. Introduced by Council Member Cohen.

And Mr. President, if you would permit me, I have an amendment to this resolution that we'd like to add.

Please, go ahead.

Okay, thank you. The language is in the second reading as amended on 6-1-2026 version that we have in our packet. But I'd like to... make a motion that a whereas clause honoring former Council Vice President DeVita Russell's contribution to this effort be included. And the whereas clause reads, whereas former Council Vice President DeVita Russell provided leadership and vision in the creation and development of the Taylor Merchants Association, helping to foster collaboration among local businesses and support economic vitality within the community.

I like it. Do I have a second? All right. Any discussion? Well, I'll just say that, you know, DeVita's kind of famous for the you talk, I listen. And this is a great example of conversations that went along and showed that you were listening and that we're listening. And there are great things going on in Taylor and Noble. And just let's just say all in favor of the amendment. Aye. Any opposed? Okay, we have the amendment and now the legislation.

Do we have- So moved.

A motion. Second. And a second. And any discussion, please.

First, I wanna thank former council vice president, Davida Russell, as a resident of the Taylor Road neighborhood. This has been something that you have pushed for and you have always listened and cared about the needs of our neighborhood. And I've always been deeply grateful for that. But this is really the culmination of so many years of effort that you put into this. And I want to thank the current administration and this council for helping to see this through as soon as we possibly could once we took office. And I'm very, very excited about what this brings to the entire part of the city, Taylor and the Taylor Merchants Association and the NABA Association as well. This is just a really exciting step forward for this part of the city.

Thank you, yes, council.

As a newcomer, I just want to echo Councilwoman Cohen's comments and gratitude to all those who were involved in this. The vision of this Merchants Association that spans so many communities, such a length of this very important road in our city, and it's the final piece in our multiple Merchant Association collective is really an inspiring moment to be a part of.

Please, Councilman.

I just want to acknowledge the amount of time that this has taken. And these things do take time. And I want to recognize everybody's patience in allowing Council to do its work to get this done. It is an important thing. We've wanted to pass this in all our hearts for a long time. And I'm thankful that staff was able to do what they were to do to get this done. But it has taken time. And I don't know if we should actually apologize for it. I know that there's a lot of people with expectations that have come into here that have wanted to. They thought it would be passed a month ago or maybe three weeks ago. And I just want to just get that on the table. and say, I'm sorry that it takes so long, but I think what we have right now is a very workable, important agreement for this city. And I'm thankful that everybody has been patient and we can finally get this done.

Thank you, council. Any other comments? Well, let me just say, I know people, I do this a lot about growing up on DeSoto, but Taylor Road is where I hung out as a kid. There was a Heights Variety store. This is for the old timers, right? That people... the nostalgic people uh heights variety heights furniture and toy that store had just all our dreams there was a pool table in the window i always wanted to have a pool table never was able to to get that um milner's was sitting right on the corner it's not there anymore it's actually part of the animal hospital but that was sitting right on the corner of desota and taylor and i remember going there when i was a kid And I got Indian head pennies in change and I still have them in a, in, you know, my coin collection. And, uh, of course Ungers, uh, I mean, even when I was a kid, that was definitely the place to go as I love the cheese squares. Thank God that building is still there and actually looks very good, but we're, uh, this is such a great opportunity, uh, to give a boost to Taylor road and, uh, uh, there are things already that are going on there, I think that are very positive, the Taylor Tudor project and the renovation with the animal hospital. And I know that many great things are to come. So all in favor? Aye. Any opposed? And motion passes.

Okay, I have resolution one zero, sorry guys.

I was waiting for it.

I have resolution 103-2026 on second reading. A resolution authorizing the mayor to execute an agreement with the Friends of Kane Park to support Kane Park programming for the 2026 and 2027 seasons.

I'd like to make a motion to amend this legislation by substitution, essentially replacing Exhibit A as we had discussed in our council meeting as well.

Second. Second.

Second.

All right, any discussion on the amendment or the substitution? All right, all in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? That passes and now onto the legislation.

So moved.

Second. All right, any discussion?

We need to say something, right? I want to thank everyone who's been involved for working to get this across the line. I know there was a lot of back and forth between different departments and Friends of Cane Park. And I just want to thank everyone for their patience and persistence in getting this across the line. I'm very excited about everything going on at Cane Park this year. Stopped by the box office and got tickets to a number of shows this weekend. And this was the one thing that was kind of hanging over my excitement. And so I'm glad we were able to get this done. And Friends of Cane Park can move forward with this beneficial agreement to the city. And we can have a great season. So thanks, everyone.

I just need to say, I think all of us, although I can't speak for all of us, were so terribly disappointed in how the friends were treated. And it's now wonderful to see that, you know, a wrong is turned into a right. I think you have something now, a long-term relationship. that you can count on, staff support, the administrative support, and most importantly, a layer of transparency that I think someone was trying to sweep underneath the rug in a prior administration, and now we're not going to see that. So really looking forward to this.

Councilman Cohen?

The fate of Friends of Cane Park under the last administration was one of the motivators for me to campaign on this idea of having MOUs with our Friends of organizations because I was so dismayed that we were losing the amazing support of that nonprofit and others because as someone who's worked at nonprofit for many years, they are so critical of to partnerships and the work that we do in this city. So I just want to thank the administration for really going the extra mile. I hope this is the first of a number of MOUs with our Friends of organizations, because unfortunately, handshake agreements are not always ironclad. And this really ensures that the work will continue and the partnership will continue and all of our residents will benefit. So we're very excited. Thank you.

And let me just agree and just add to what Councilwoman Cohen said, that I'm glad it's formalized. This will make sure that there are no misunderstandings and we can solidify this relationship. And thank you, Suzanne, for your help and the law director as well. And with that, why don't we vote? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? That motion passes. Thank you. All right. Yes, I think we're on to committee reports. Who wants to go first?

All right. We don't have to have committee reports. I don't have one. Okay.

Thanks, Craig.

Thank you.

I do have one. I just wanted to direct residents to, if they want to view, or if they have not yet, the Committee of the Whole meeting from May 26th, the Planning and Development Committee had a small section of that, or a reasonably sized section of the meeting on the city's infill housing efforts. And we had several of the developers, including Future Heights and the Start Right Development Corporation and YRM, all who are doing infill housing projects in the city, present on the progress. And they talked about the types of homes that they're going to be building, where they're going to be building. some of the difficulties, some of the successes. So it was a really great discussion. Um, we also had a presentation from staff of the planning and development department on our CRA or community reinvestment act grow, uh, tax incentive program, which is our citywide tax abatement program for remodeling or a new construction. And I really urge everyone who's listening, if you want to know more about what we have in place right now, it was a program that started in 2018 to watch that presentation. And I believe we're posting the PowerPoint that Brian Anderson, Economic Development Director, Brian Anderson shared with us on the website as well. So I just wanted to direct everybody there. And then one more note about planning and development. Our ADU meeting is tomorrow. So accessory dwelling units tomorrow. You can be here early as 5.30, 5.30 to 6 p.m. We'll be in the atrium where you can view the winners from our design competition. Six o'clock, we'll begin a meeting of the Planning and Development Committee here in Council Chambers. We'll have a presentation from Planning and Development staff, as well as an opportunity for public comment and questions. And then staff will respond to questions and stay around after we adjourn to answer individual questions as well.

Thank you. So it's accessory drawing units, not auxiliary.

Yes, yes.

All right, I'm glad I got that straight. All right, anybody else with committee reports? All right, let's move on to public comment general.

Tiffany Massing.

Again, state your name, city, street.

Okay, good evening. Tiffany Massing, Delamere Drive, Cleveland Heights. I am here, I'm sure you can imagine why, to talk about Shaker Lakes Parklands again. Want to keep this issue at the... at the forefront, right? We wanna keep talking about it. I'm part of a group of concerned citizens who are trying to save the Shaker Lakes parklands. I wanna tell you that our group is growing by the day. The yard signs are proliferating further and further from the lakes. Some days the Shaker Lakes Conservancy is adding as many as 20 people to our email list. Events like the inadvertent draining of the Lower Lake over Memorial Day weekend have only increased the number of people who are interested in participating. I want to tell you that we're not going away. All along, we've argued that the process of getting to where we are now has been flawed, and now the cities in the Seward District have had to delay the start of the project, acknowledging that they haven't had their ducks in a row, and we feel somewhat vindicated by that. We're not going to rest. The US Army Corps of Engineers has requested public comment and we're gonna be organizing a letter writing campaign in response. We are still arguing for a full review of the process. We want transparent and honest conversations and a real analysis of alternative options. That has not taken place up to now. That's part of the reason this project has had to be delayed. I invite you to join us. We are determined, we are possibly stubborn, and as I've said before, we're not going away. But that said, we don't bite. We wanna help. We wanna be your partners in finding a better solution. Thank you very much.

Gail Bromley.

President Kuda, Mayor Petras, council members. First, I'd like to thank you for being receptive to our comments over these past, what, four months? We feel passionately about the Shaker Lakes Parkland, and we feel that it is a priority now that the Army Corps of Engineers has opened up an opportunity for public comment. And we need your support in this. We would like you to support having a public hearing so people can hear what the alternative plans are, so people can see that this is historic parkland. Several hundred thousand people per year use that parkland. And we currently have 4,000 people who've signed the petition between Shaker Heights and Cleveland Heights saying, please have a pause. Let's discuss this. Let's look at alternative plans. And that's what we're asking for. We want real dialogue. We wanna see real alternative plans so we have what will be suitable for the community because we do not feel there has been transparency. And just for the record, the project number for those people who want to submit to the Army Corps of Engineers by June 25th, the project number is LRB201601374. and those letters can be emailed to the Army Corps. I've spoken with Keith, who is the Buffalo Regional Director, and he hopes that people do submit letters so that this can be a real dialogue. And the email address is Keith, K-E-I-T-H dot C dot S-E-N-D-Z-I-A-K at U-S-A-C-E dot Army dot M-I-L. I encourage people here and I encourage people who are watching this to please write. And I would hope that you'll consider supporting us in the public hearing. Thank you.

Corey Zabel? Okay. Jennifer Wintner.

Good evening, Jennifer Wintner, Scarborough Road. Just one more person to add my two cents about the Shaker Lakes. I'm here because people who care about the Shaker Lakes have a new opportunity to make their voices heard. As you've heard, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has notified the Sewer District it must submit a new application to do any work in the Shaker Lakes parkland, and it's opened up a new period for public comment. We have until July, or sorry, June 25th to let the Army Corps know that we are counting on them to insist that the sewer district, A, clearly explain to the public what the problems are with Doane Brook and the lakes, and B, provide plans to alleviate those problems without destroying the lakes, the trees, the animal habitats, and the historic heritage in the parks. We must ask the Army Corps to insist that the Sewer District do the analyses required by federal law to assess the harm that will be done to the environment and to an area protected by its listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Contrary to what the Sewer District has written in previous applications to regulators, the harm is not minimal and the work will not be beneficial. Council Member Larson braved a rainstorm to walk through the Horseshoe Lake Woods with sewer district staff and see just how different the landscape will be with the trees gone and 30 foot drops leveled. I encourage everyone else on this council and on the Shaker Council as well as the mayors to go on this hike to see what the sewer district's plans are. The Army Corps is willing to hold a public hearing to get input from residents of the community if enough of us ask for the hearing. I'm appealing to the mayor and council to work with the Army Corps to encourage them to find a solution that does not entail destroying our lakes and parks. I also am appealing to the residents of Cleveland Heights, Shaker, and beyond to contact the Army Corps. In case you missed it when Gail gave the email address, I'll say it again. Keith, K-E-I-T-H dot C dot S-E-N-D-Z-I-A-K at U-S-A-C-E dot army dot M-I-L. I'm also gonna offer my email address if anyone wants a sample letter. people who are watching this on the web. My email is jenwintner, J-E-N-W-I-N-T-N-E-R at sbcglobal.net, and I'll make sure to connect anyone with a sample letter, with signs, any other information they need. Thank you.

That's all we have.

All right, thank you. And thank you always speakers for staying and sharing your concerns with us. Any old business? Any new business?

Council President, I have one item of new business. As we discussed in Committee of the Whole, our second council meeting in September is currently scheduled for Monday, September 21st, which coincides with Yom Kippur. And I would like to make a motion to move our regularly scheduled council meeting and Committee of the Whole meeting to Tuesday, September 22nd. Second.

All right, any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? All right, that motion passes. We'll be meeting on September 22nd. Any other new business? Any council member comments?

Okay, two quick things. One is I want to thank the administration. This is the first time I think Cleveland Heights has gotten state capital funding in recent memory. So this $300,000, I wanna acknowledge that it is less than our million dollar request, but the fact that we have state senators and members of the assembly that heard our request and gave money to Cleveland Heights, I think is a real indication that we are on the right path to continuing to build our reputation in Columbus and continue to bring state resources back to the city. And just a point of personal privilege, my mom, who watches every meeting, it's her birthday today.

So I just wish happy birthday to my mom and happy birthday to Addie tomorrow.

So thank you.

Sure. Any other council member comments? All right, so... I just want to say for my president's report, I just have so much appreciation for you guys, my colleagues and the administration. It's just wonderful to work with you and take care of city business in a calm, deliberate and thoughtful manner. And I appreciate all of you. I do also want to say... I don't often say things like this, but I am going to say, because I worked so hard on getting the Cleveland Orchestra to come here for my little three months as mayor. You know, I went to them and they were telling me they were thinking about shopping some other venues to just kind of spread the love around. And I don't mind telling you, I really gave them quite a pitch, and it was no slam dunk. They were really considering going somewhere else. But, you know, I turned on the charm, and, you know, the rest is history. Thrilled to... That all the tickets were gone, you know, that day that they went up, I think it was just a few hours and they were all gone. And we're just so glad to have this world-class orchestra performing at Kane Park this summer. And I'm just, when I hear about all the great things going on in June and the rest of the summer, I'm just, I don't know, I'm brimming with optimism and joy. Just grateful to be here in Cleveland Heights. And with that, I'm gonna adjourn this meeting at 8.41.