City Council - Regular Meeting

Okay, we're going to call the committee meetings to order this evening. Um, I'm going to start out with the mayor has some presentations to make tonight. Mayor Basiata.

Thank you, Mr. President. Welcome to 7 Hills Council meeting. Everyone, if you needed to get a few more photos, go grab them. Anybody? Come on. Let's get it now. Now we you got a full room. I don't want to interrupt the photo op. All right. Uh so many good things to talk about. We're getting in the holiday spirit here. The holiday lights are going to go on next to the fire station this Friday. Uh so much achievement. We love student achievement and we got a lot to talk about on that regard tonight. Can everybody hear me? Okay, Mr. Terry, does it

Something's not right. I can tell. We're just uh Is that better?

Well, I'll have to use my outdoor voice. But if someone can get Todd to look into this because obviously something is not right at this moment.

[snorts]

Well, as I mentioned that we're getting into the holiday season and one of the one of the things we do that's we're very proud of every year is a program called Shop with a Cop. And another thing we like to do is you read our um state of the city and newsletters we like to form partnerships with the local business community. And tonight, real quick, we have representatives from Pathway Credit Union who's making a large donation to our Shop with the Cop program. Uh, so the two representatives from Pathway Credit Union are Nicole Shelby and Dan Summers. Can you come up to the podium? You didn't You didn't bring the large check with you. While he's getting the check, we'll make a Dan, if you can go to the podium and address council and tell us uh don't reveal the dollar amount, but if you can tell us why your your company is partnering with Seven Hills and why you want to be involved in this program.

Absolutely. Thanks. Thanks, Mr. Mayor. So, again, we're with Pathways Financial Credit Union. Um, probably you guys don't know who we are. We're we're we're a credit union that came from Columbus. We were formerly at the Taris Credit Union uh Pleasant Valley and Broad View. Tallaris went through a merger um back in May and Pathways acquired us and Pathways is the fifth largest credit union um in the state of Ohio and they're growing rapidly and that's why they wanted to come to the Cleveland market. So with that being said, Pathways is very involved in all their local communities and that's what we would like to do here in Seven Hills and with us being a credit union in Seven Hills, we thought this this would be a great opportunity to partner with the city of Seven Hills and also give back to the community as well. [snorts] Um Nicole here, her husband is a police officer in another city, so this is uh something that's close to her heart as well. Um, so that's when we touched base with the city of Seven Hills and decided to make this donation uh with Shop with the Cop. Um, both of us are from the Cleveland area. I grew up here in Parma um right behind the shopping center here in Pleasant Valley. So, I'm very familiar with Seven Hills and the local surrounding communities. But we hope that this goes a long way and that we can uh continue this partnership and be able to make donations uh on a regular basis to the city and help with whatever needs to be taken care of. So, we appreciate the opportunity.

Thank you, Dan. Let's little drum roll and then I want at the end of the drum roll you and Nicole to show. Yes. Look at these guys. And let's see the dollar amount. What's the gift? You two hold it up for everyone. $3,000. for the seven rows shop at the cop program compliments of Pathway Credit Union. Thank you partners and we'll we'll see you back a little closer to Christmas. Take care. [applause] All right, next up we have some more student achievement. Um, we're going to recognize Gio Florio for her volleyball accomplishments at Magnificat. Uh, little special recognition to Gia. Uh, in her spare time, she works for the city of Seven Hills. So, I'm going to read a proclamation we have in uh for Gia here real quick. And whereas Gia Floria, senior at Magnificant High School and a lifelong resident of 7 Hills, Ohio, is recognized for her many accomplishments as a dedicated student athlete and active member of her community. And whereas Gia Floria has been a member of the Magnificat volleyball team, serving as a setter and reached an impressive milestone of 1,00 career assist during her high school career. She has been playing volleyball since the age of 10 and has continued her passion through competitive travel play with ABC volleyball where she has represented her team across many tournaments. Whereas Gia Floria is a proud graduate of St. Calm Co School and has worked for the city of 7 Hills recreation department at Kelvin Park where she has contributed her time and

energy to serving residents while balancing her academic and athletic commitments. Whereas Gia Floria is beloved daughter of Carla and Dominic Floria, the sister of Anthony, an eighth grader at St. Kill and Dominic, a sophomore at Lenora Ryan University in Hickory, North Carolina. With the support of her family, she has continued to excel both on and off the court. She is thoughtfully exploring her options for the future and looks forward to discovering new educational and career opportunities that will allow her to apply her passion, determination, and strong work ethic. And since we put this proclamation together, the accolades continued to come in. her and her teammates won districts regional and made the state of Ohio semifinal for their um group in volleyball this year. So now therefore I Anthony Basa mayor of 7 Hills together with city officials and the residents of Seven Hills do hereby extend our congratulations to GF Laura and offer our warmest wishes for our future success. Come on up, GIA. [applause]

CONGRATULATIONS.

[applause]

I want to thank my family. [laughter] [applause] Perfect. That was perfect, [laughter]

you know. A long time ago, I heard uh Joe Taty said uh don't use five words when three will do. And uh that another accolade uh for your brevity cuz uh we have so many other young people here that we're going to recognize today. And if I can call up our rec director, Jen Burgerer, and our director of many sports, David Delusio, to the podium. [clears throat and snorts] tell us what we're recognizing today and why.

Sure. Today we wanted to recognize the boys fall soccer team from Seven Hills. This season they went undefeated. [applause] And uh next to me here is David Deluzio. And Dave runs all of the basketball, soccer, and baseball for the city of Seven Hills. And we could not do it without him. So Dave Thank you. I have some awards for the coach in the team. Can I call your name? Could you come on up? Coach George. [applause] [laughter]

[applause]

Michael Miller. [applause]

[laughter]

Michael, [applause] let me know. Maybe if you call a little bit louder in Harrison HARRISON out of the chair like a gom.

[applause] [laughter] [applause]

MATTHEW, [applause]

right through Jarus. CONGRATULATIONS. [applause] [applause] Mason Thomas.

Oh. Congratulations. [applause]

You guys were a fun team. GOOD SHOT. [applause] [applause]

YEAH. ONCE AGAIN, congratulations to the Seven Hills Sharks and their parents and family. You know, undefeated effort takes teamwork. you know, if you didn't have grandma and grandpa getting you there and mom and dad and brothers and sisters watching the game and the coaches volunteering, many, many things have to go right for an undefeated season. So, it's something to remember for a long, long time. And behalf of everybody up here, congratulations and merry Christmas. Take care everyone. [applause] We may have a maybe a short recess before we continue with city business. Yeah, we'll take a five minute recess.

Thank you everyone. Stay for the rest of the meeting. [clears throat] What the heck is going on? I can't I I of course Eric, what's going on? Nothing.

Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, like to open parks and wreck at 6:21. Um, I have a request um from Director Burgerer to enter into le um enter an agreement with Blue Technologies for IT services. Director Bur, would you like to speak on this?

Sure. Um, so we have changed over to Blue Technologies and we've been using them um for a few months and everything has gone really well for IT solutions. Um, they have a really good cyber security program and that's one of our main reasons for moving on aside from just day-to-day um, getting tickets closed and helping users with basics. Um, so the price is locked in for three years. Um, so the price for next year would be $89,148. Awesome. So that's a three-year term then. And uh I'm going to make a motion to Do we need this as an emergency? No.

No. I'm going to make a motion to put this on the agenda for our next meeting. Do I have a second? Kelly second. Roll call. Kelly, yes. Elliot, yes. Maro, yes. Um, besides that, it's the only thing in my folder. Uh, Director Bird, do you have any other updates? Um, you have from now until Sunday to do your 30% off Black Friday membership sale at the rec center. Um, starting Monday, December 1st is the uh 12 days of fitness. So, there's a different sale every day. Best deal in town. Right on. Um, is there any upcoming dates? Do we have any Santa things? I'm assuming

Saturday, December 6th from um there will be the Santa entrance that comes straight up Summit View uh from Hillside and Santa arrives um it probably be 10:30, 10:45 and then the event inside starts at 11:00. Awesome. Perfect. Those are always good. Draws a crowd so get there early. Get there early. Uh does anyone on my committee have any questions, comments? I do not. No, I do not think anyone from council. Council chair. Yes, sir. Director Burgerer, just you have you noticed obviously you're happy with IT services. You you've noticed a difference in speed and re response time, I guess. Absolutely. Okay, good.

Councilman, is there a car parade this year? What was that? Is there a car for Christmas? Yeah. Is there a car parade for Christmas? No, not this year. Okay. I got to I I gotta put my decorations back in the attic. Okay. Bummer. Um, anyone else? Good. Anything from the audience? Nope. Uh, with that, I will move to close parks and wreck at 6:24. Do I have a second? Kelly, second. Roll call. Kelly, yes. Elliot, yes. Maro, yes. [cough and clears throat] Thank you, Councilman Mororrow. We now go to rules, ordinances, and ethics with Councilman Martin.

Thank you, Council President. Uh, the folder is empty except for one small item. um the drone issues on the uh agenda tonight to finish that one off. Um but one small one for uh for the committee to consider and I sent this out to the committee members and and council members for a quick review. Now was there a little bit of discussion about what is a holiday in this city as it relates to city council meetings only not related to any other labor issue or etc. And in and uh in the rules in 121.09 109 in rule one. It talks about holiday meetings uh that when any regular meeting of council occurs on a legal holiday or the eve of a legal holiday, council shall meet in regular session on the day following such holiday at the place and hour provided in subsection A here thereof. Um, and this is the additional line I would add to that to help clarify what is a legal holiday. And that is as it pertains to council meeting days, a legal holiday shall be deemed as any and or all federal or state of Ohio recognized holidays. Now, the good news about all that is the holidays recognized by the state of Ohio and the holidays recognized by the federal government are the same. So, I didn't I didn't choose to list them out. you know, something would change all of a sudden you don't have a particular day or they added an additional one that would help guide the council in the future to for scheduling purposes. So, any discussion amongst the committee members, Tom or Pat?

I think it's a great idea. Overdue. Tommy Digging or No, I'm just I think that's I think that's fine and I think that clarifies things and then everything should be smoother next year. Okay. Any other comments from other members of council or administration? Mr. Chairman. Yes, Mayor.

Uh I support this. Uh but just for a point of clarity, uh city hall has always followed um the union schedule and in years past the union has voted on a different set of holidays. Uh we've entered negotiations for the next set of union contracts and our position is that we want to adopt the federal and state holidays just as you are in this ordinance. Um, so that's our position, but you know how negotiations can go. Sure. Well, I hope this is a good

at least it clears it up from a council standpoint and from a city operation, we'd like to uh reflect that pending union negotiations. [clears throat] Any other comments or discussion? Anybody in the audience? Hearing none, I move that we go and adopt the uh proposed language um which reads as as it pertains to council meeting days, a legal holiday shall be deemed as any or all federal or state of Ohio recognized holidays and or whatever the legal needs of massaging in the future. Elliot second. Okay, roll call. Elliot, yes. Snitzky, yes.

Martin, yes. Any other business to come before uh uh rules hearing? None. to move that we adjourn. Second a motion. Uh roll call. Elliot. Yes. Snitzky. Yes. Martin. Yes. We are adjourned at 628. Thank you, Councilman Martin. We now go to planning, zoning, and economic development with Councilman Snitzky.

Yes. Hello there. Good evening. Planning, zoning, and economic development is in at 628. Uh I have no new business in the folder. However, there are two zoning variances to be voted on uh at the end in the the meeting in the miscellaneous section. And also there is a lot split in there which I believe deals with Cooper's hawk, right? Yeah. And there's a lot split to be voted on uh resolution number 16-2025. Other than that, there is no new business that I am aware of. Quick look in the folder again, but I do not believe there is any new business. Nope. Okay. Unless somebody else uh on the committee has business for planning, zoning, and economic development. I have nothing.

Nothing. Rest of council and administration or [clears throat] the audience. Well, there it is. One minute. Uh, I'll be I'll ask for a vote to get out of planning, zoning, and economic development is 629. Can I get a second? Kelly second. Roll call, please. Kelly, yes. Curiosis, yes. Snitzky, yes. We're out at 629. [clears throat] Thank you, Councilman Snitzki. We now we now go to finance. And the first thing I have in my folder for finance is uh for new police vehicles. Uh Chief Salum, you want to speak on this?

Uh thank you, Mr. Chairman. So uh every year we order either one or two cars. This year we're going to be ordering two cars. Um I'm asking that uh council read it on emergency and pass it tonight. Uh only because the sooner we get in the queue, the sooner we get the vehicles. And uh that's really it. [clears throat] So the cont what I have here is for 89,800 for two Ford utility interceptor vehicles. That's correct. Anybody have any questions on this on the committee?

No question. It's just a comment that I I as a citizen I just appreciate let alone a council person. I appreciate the ability of keeping the capital rolling stock up and in good condition and uh can't protect anybody who can't get out. So keep it up. Thank you for recognizing it. That's always our plan. Anybody else? Mr. President, Councilman uh Elliot. Yeah, I'd just like to say this is been part of the plan from the beginning. We continue to rotate the cruisers so they're in working condition and uh we order early due to the supply chain. It's very difficult to get these vehicles and the equipment for them. So, [clears throat]

any other comments, Mr. President? $89,000 for both. Yes. Wow. For two, right? Council, I mean, Chief Saloon. That's correct. Two vehicles. That's a total. That's a steal. Right. Yeah. That's if I may, Mayor,

Mr. President, uh, the city utilizes state bidding. So, if we were to go to market on our own, we don't have a lot of buying power. Uh but for the Ford Explorers and select other V vehicles, um the state of Ohio goes out to bid a large order and the buying power of the state allows us to uh get these uh high quality vehicles at what appears to be a reasonable price. And I'd also like to thank council for acting facts on fast on this. Part of it was budgetary. Uh we knew we wanted one or two. Uh the administration wanted to see how the year was finishing up and we're finishing up to the positive and it made sense to do two and we want to lock in in the 2025 pricing and like uh the chief said and Councilman Elliot uh there is a considerable lead time so the faster we act on this uh the faster uh we can get in the queue. Thank you council for moving so efficiently.

Thank you. I'm [clears throat] going to move to put this on the agenda tonight as an emergency. Do I have a second? Martin, second. Roll call. Martin, yes. Mar, yes. Curiosis, yes. Uh, second thing I have in my folder is a two-year agreement with Osborne Engineering for, uh, 20, uh, 2026 and 2027. Uh, Director Gerson, you want to speak on this?

Sure. So, uh, our current contract ends December 31st of this year. Um, it's been a good year and a half we've been here. Um, we're looking, they're asking for a two-year extension of the contract. There's a couple changes that we're asking for. Uh, one is a two-year contract versus a year and a half. Um, the second thing is in the original contract, we had four hours per week um after being here about a year and a half. We found that about eight hours a week is needed. Uh, so we would increase from four to eight per week attendance in the city hall. Um, in that, uh, we've asked for an increase of the, um, retainer from 2,900 per month to 3,500 per month, which would cover the extra four hours essentially. Um, and then we've asked for an hourly rate increase of about 2% per year. Um, these you generally don't see except for if there's a project uh, inspection or if there's a project that there's not a clear defined scope that you tell me to go out, hey, I need you to go take a look at this. that's beyond our retainer. We would bill you on those hourly rates. Um, and then the last one is there was a paragraph about uh becoming familiar with directors, meeting with directors, meeting with staff, becoming familiar with city hall. Uh, we took that out as we're now believe we're familiar. So, other than that, we'd ask if you have any questions, we can try to answer that. Thank you. [clears throat]

Anybody have any questions on the committee? I have none. Anybody on council? Council President, uh, just a comment. Uh, Director Gear, you have been amazing for the city. Your communication is impeccable. Every time we every time I have a question, you answer. Um, very, very excited that we're going to have you for next couple years. Thank you. [clears throat] I'm going to follow up with that also, especially with the Rockside Road project going on right now. Um, anytime I've ever needed you or we need anything, you're always you're always there for us. So, thanks for everything. Dan, anybody anything else, Mr. President? Councilman Snitzky. Um,

yeah. Director Gear, I have to say that uh anytime I've had an issue, and we've had some sewer issues in W three, anytime that I've needed your input or your comment or your help, didn't matter what time of day it was, even in the evening, um you would follow up and get back to me pretty promptly. And I appreciate that a lot being that you're dealing with a part-time council and a lot of our work happens after five. Uh I appreciate that an awful lot. So, thank you. Anybody else? Okay. I'm going to move to put this on the agenda for our next meeting on December 16th as an emergency. Do I have a second? Mar second. Roll call.

Mar? Yes. Martin? Yes. Curiosis? Yes. Uh, the next thing I have is the renewal of the fire levy. Mayor, you want to speak on this?

Sure. What we have uh in committee tonight is a what's called a a resolution, a necessity. It's pretty much um a boilerplate item. It's the precursor to putting an ordinance together that the ordinance actually puts a levy on the ballot. So the there's the first step of of any levy or bond is something called a resolution of necessity. We send it down to this resolution that we hope to pass tonight to the board of elections. The board of elections verifies the numbers, ascertains the correct millage and then they send us back a document and saying they have verified the necessity and here would be the appropriate millage uh for that necessity on to put in your ordinance. And then we uh have that ordinance with the county approved millillage and we have three readings after and it has to be um

February 5th.

I was going to say the end of January, but the council president I believes it's February 5th. So by the end, the last meeting in January is our target to uh have the ordinance that actually places a levy on the ballot in May. And it's the intent of the administration to request the council to put a renewal, so no tax increase in May. Uh but that is not what's on the agenda tonight. Uh what's on the agenda tonight is this resolution of necessity where it's we're sending down to the county basically saying that the city of Seven Hills has the intent to put something on the ballot uh for funding in May. That's what we're saying today that uh we intend to do this and we want some dollars certified by the county and that's what's in front of us this evening to send this um resolution to the county.

Any other questions? Okay. I'm going to move to put this resolution on the agenda for the next meeting as an emergency. Do I have a second? Martin second. Roll call. Martin, yes. Mario, yes. Curiosis, yes. Uh, next I have a ordinance for the sewer maintenance with the county. Director Bridle, you want to speak on this?

Yeah, this is a uh uh blanket um ordinance for the county to supplement our sewer services. It's used for emergency repairs we can't handle. Used for um camera work, any supplemental work with the uh that I can order through the county for pursuers. We've done this in the past for similar amounts. Any questions on this? I'm going to move to put this on tonight's meeting uh tonight's agenda as an emergency. Uh do I have a second? Mar second. Roll call. Mari, yes. Martin, yes.

Curiosis, yes. Uh next is a resolution for a lot split. Director Gerson, you want to speak on this?

Sure. So this is uh a split of the So on the Rockside Road commercial project, uh there was large number of parcels that were consolidated and then split into one, two, three, four. One the hospital parcel, one the detention parcel, and then the third was the overall commercial parcel which was intended to be split once we knew tenants. And so this is a split of the uh residual parcel that uh will be known as one of the lots will be known as if Cooper Hawk completes their deal would be known as a Cooper Hawk parcel. So that'd be for their parcel and then the other residual parcel will most likely possibly be split in the future as we know more tenants come in and depend on whether they buy the property or whether developer owns that. So you're basically taking and creating two parcels. One being about a 2.4 acre parcel which be from Cooper Hawk and the residual will be about 3.6 acres. Uh so if you have any questions I can try to answer that.

Any questions on this hearing? None. I'm going to move if I just may add it's this is so that Cooper wants to own the land they're building on. So, the commercial parcel up front, they're going to carve out 2.4 acres and council action tonight will allow Cooper Hawk to go forward purchasing the land. We want them to purchase the land. It's the aka skin in the game argument. Thank you. Any questions? Okay. I'm going to move to put this resolution on the agenda tonight for an e as an emergency. Do I have a second? Martin second. Roll call. Martin. Yes. Mar. Yes.

Curiosity. Yes. The last thing I have is was already talked about. It's the IT contract uh for $89,148 three-year term. Um any questions on this? Hearing none. I'm going to move to put this on the agenda for the next meeting as next meeting. Is there a second tomorrow? Second. Roll call. Tomorrow. Yes. Martin. Yes. Curiosis. Yes. That's all I have for finance tonight. Does anybody else have anything? I have nothing further. No. I'm going to move to adjourn finance at 6:40 p.m. Do I have a second? Martin second. Roll call. Martin. Yes. Martin. Yes. Curios. Yes. Our meeting will start momentarily. Martin rule in effect. One more time.