Council - public_hearing

I think it's a great idea.

All right, guys, it's 7 o'clock. The meeting is called to order. Hi, John.

Should we do the public hearing first?

Yep. Sit down. Sorry. We're going to do the public hearings first before we do the Pledge of Allegiance. So we're going to start with the first public hearing to hear comments on four variance questions by, is it four or six? Six. Four. I think it's four. Okay, four questions by Luxone LLC applicable to the property at 3655 Orange Place, Orange Village, Ohio, formerly the Red Lobster Restaurant site to permit the construction of new five-story motel. Is there anyone here who would like to speak to this tonight?

Wait, I gave you the phone. Stacey, can you pass that down to... Council President Perry, please.

Thank you all for filling this out.

This is for the Lux one, and that's for...

Okay, so we'll go to Mr. Spitz first, if you'd like to make a comment.

It's not agenda items. Is that what you're looking at?

No, no, no. This is for the public. A hotel. There's a sign-in sheet for the public here. Okay, okay. It's not a hotel, right?

Hello, everyone. Good evening. Just real quickly, I've been reviewing a lot of things about progression, hopefully, of the Red Lobster development, property and development of the hotel. Greg has done a wonderful job of presenting himself. Again, I'm just curious as to why... That property getting developed is getting such hardship from the council, but Pulte is just giving carte blanche to do what they want. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Spitz. Mr. Soltis? Yes, hi. There you are.

Hello, Greg Soltis, 2111 Chagrin Boulevard. And I know you all have received the letters I sent that I tried to answer all the questions that were presented. And we had a great meeting at Planning Commission last week where we went thoroughly through everything covering the different variances, the property, talking about the history and the context of the place and the evolution of Orange Place Drive. And so I'm just here to request approval for the variances that we submitted, which are four variances we discovered as we looked through the code more that we really only needed four, and be happy to answer any questions you have, whether that be now or later. And that's it. So thank you very much.

Madam President, can we ask questions now?

Okay. Thank you. Thank you.

Okay. All right. Well, since nobody else signed up, we're going to move on to the next public hearing.

And closing that public hearing.

closing the first public hearing and opening the second one. This one is to hear comments on two variance requests by 3900 Orange Place Beachwood LLC applicable to the property at 3900 Orange Place, Orange Village, Ohio, formerly the Bahama Breeze restaurant site, to permit the construction of a new lighting showroom building. There are two people signed up to speak to that. Mr. Burns, how about you go first? And you have three minutes, please.

Jordan Burns, I'm counsel for the applicant and an Orange resident. Just a quick summary of the variances before you. This is pretty straightforward. Two setback variances, a front yard setback variance of four feet from the 75-foot front yard setback and a 15-foot setback setback variance from the 50-foot setback at the rear of the property. Just to orient council, this is the southernmost property on Orange Place on the west side of Orange Place. Again, the former Bahama Breeze property. It's an oddly shaped parcel, which is the primary rationale or the need for the variances. The parcel comes to almost a point at its southernmost end, and that's where this building is proposed to be located. And so you have a situation where the front property line and the rear property lines actually intersect as they approach the southern portion of the property. The granting of these variances will have no impact on adjacent properties. To the north of this proposed building is another building on the same property. To the south is right of way. It's an area on which no construction can occur. To the west is the freeway, and part of the reason for the rear setback variance is that immediately along the western boundary and intersecting into the property is a CEI easement for the power lines that run parallel to the freeway. So that easement also cuts into the buildable area of the property as does a sanitary sewer easement that cuts across the property perpendicular to the road. So it really does limit the buildable area of the property between the configuration of the parcel itself and those two easements. So the two easements, or I'm sorry, the two variances that are being sought really are of very little impact or no impact on adjacent properties. The only adjacent properties are the building that's already approved for construction to the north on the same parcel and right of way to the south. And we look forward to answering any questions that you might have when this comes up on your regular agenda and hope you'll affirm Planning Commission's recommendation. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Burns. Sure. Next, Robert. Thank you. He doesn't have anything else to say. OK, so we'll close this public hearing and now our meeting will begin with the Pledge of Allegiance.

of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Call the roll, please.

Vincent?

Here.

Erland? Here. Allner? Boyle?

Here.

Bielski? Foster? Here. Perry? Here.

I'll make a motion to excuse Kim Ulner tonight. She's unable to make the meeting. Is there a second? Second. Thank you. Anna, will you call the roll to excuse? Vincent?

Yes. Kurland? Yes. Boyle?

Yes.

Buster? Yes. Perry?

Yes. Thanks. Okay, next. I'll make a motion to excuse Ryan Bilski, who's on also unable. Thank you, Jeff. We call the roll for them.

Vincent?

Yes.

Herland? Yes. Boyle?

Yes. Foster?

Yes. Perry?

Yes. Okay. On to our business. I need a motion to adopt the final order and decisions of council and the conclusions of fact for the variance request by Luxone LLC to permit construction of a new five-story motel at 3655 Orange Place. I'll make the motion. Is there a second? Thank you, Jeff. Okay. We don't discuss these because they're- I have some questions.

Go ahead. So I appreciate all of your thorough information that you provided to us. Thank you. And that helped explain a lot of things. I also appreciate the revised variances. And I don't honestly have any problems with the variance. I have a question about one, and then I want to have a concern about something else. If the permitted use is 65 feet for variance number four, why do we need a variance on it?

I saw I read that there was we already allow a 65 foot that 65 would include the mechanical on the roof so it's 50 feet for the roof Okay. So this actually is six feet higher than that.

That level, it's not the top of the 64. Right.

The mechanical doesn't go all the way up to the 65.

Okay. And then I do have a concern. Like I said, I don't have a problem with the variances. I do have a problem with a letter that I'm now in possession of that was sent directly to the schools discussing a possible TIF on this property. I want to make it perfectly clear that I will not support a TIF on this property. at all and i was told that there would not be a tiff asked for on this property so i'm concerned that this went to the schools without any discussion of it here or as i've heard that the mayor has said absolutely he would not permit it as well so i just i want to raise the issue to make sure that the financing is going to come about without any tiff being asked and i also would like it addressed about why this went to the schools before it even came to council

Quick minute to answer that.

Yeah, so I don't know the exact reason other than I know that my client was looking for ways to assist in helping him get the project built. I know that currently now he has a plan that does not require a TIF, but he's reached out and he's also willing to have like a meeting with everybody to be completely transparent about his funding sources and how he plans to get the project done. AND YOU WOULD BE ABLE TO ASK HIM YOURSELF ABOUT THAT PARTICULAR.

OKAY. I WOULD APPRECIATE THAT MEETING AND I DO WANT TO BE VERY CLEAR THAT I WILL SUPPORT THE VARIANCES BUT I WILL NOT SUPPORT A TIF ON THIS PROJECT.

AND HE UNDERSTANDS THAT.

JUST TO ADD TO THAT DISCOURSE, IN THE PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING, I RAISED THE QUESTION TO THE DEVELOPER DIRECTLY. him in no uncertain terms that this project can go ahead without public financing from the community and the answer back was we can do it without that and i said it's not going to be otherwise forthcoming He accepted that. So he can discuss at some point what, you know, it's not very usual that the community has any real discussion about how a project is financed, but the fact that the owner, the developer is able to move forward with it. And I've told him on a number of occasions this body will not approve any kind of TIF for it. And I think that I don't know why they pursued it this other direction, but it's just not going to happen. Okay. Thank you. So that's done.

Okay.

Any other questions from so if I can if I can comment on that and I've had discussions with the mayor about this as well and I assume that I have the same documentation that councilman Vincent has from relative to the schools. But I also have an email from you. I think SALT is dated August 28th, and it says, ownership has advised our team that the project cannot feasibly be developed under current construction and development economics without TIF assistance. And that email is from August 28th, 520 PM. I mean, what are we dealing with here?

So he found another way.

Okay, so then here's what I would propose to this body so that we're not dealing with a bait-and-switch situation. Why don't we hold this off? You can come back. You can pitch your situation. I think Stacey said, hey, we'll have that conversation about it. and then, you know, assuming that it goes fine, because I agree. The variances are separate from the financing, and I think from a legal perspective, you know, there's no way I would ever agree to a TIF for this nonsense, but that being said, the variances, in my mind, seem, and I know that the board has already approved them, or at least recommended approval, would be okay, but if the financing situation is something that you're willing to come back in, I'd be more than willing to give it a little bit of time and see what comes back.

support that. Okay.

Are you making a motion to table?

I would. I would second that motion.

May I ask a question? So is the variance approval connected to financing? Are those completely two separate things?

I want to speak for the law director, but I am of the opinion, and Steve can jump in if I'm saying anything he disagrees with, I'm of the opinion that the variances themselves are separate from the financing aspects of it. That being said, we've had ongoing conversations its body and others where conversations were, and the mayor has been very adamant, there's not gonna be a variance, not gonna be a variance, not gonna be a variance. And I've said on this floor, I said, well, I'm reading a paper from you guys to the school board moving forward in July. I'm sorry.

Variance.

I'm sorry, on the TIF, and I said, well, I'm reading a piece of paper here from your boss or your client, I should say, saying they are. So there's some sort of disconnect, and so let's let the dust settle. And like I said, I have no problem with the variance. You know, my question is if you guys are committed to not going forward with the variance, then they can come in and say that, and then we'll be great.

Well, you mean the TIF?

or the tip i'm sorry i keep on saying variance basically you're saying that we should punish them for asking the school board about it no for what i'm what i'm asking to do is to make sure that we're not dealing with a bait and situation bait and switch situation where we've been we've been going cat and mouse with is there is there a tiff isn't there a tiff the mayor they're not a tiff there is a tiff i'm like i got a paperwork saying there is a tiff i got a letter from you a week ago saying this project is not feasible without a tiff and now you're here saying oh yeah it's all great So I'm just saying, fine, we'll continue and come back and tell us why it's all great and we'll prove it.

I deal with the design, not the economics, but I've worked with enough developers to know that things change rapidly. And so things can change from last week to this week with regards to the economics of it. But I'm not here for the economics. I'm here to request the approval for variances, which I've already been here twice and been to planning commission twice.

So there's what the proposal is, is that this be tabled until council gets assurance because there's been a communication within the week. I mean, on last Tuesday, your client said there is no TIF. And what we need is written confirmation of that. And I would recommend if council tables this, that this be on the agenda for the first Wednesday of October.

That also then pushes going back to design review further.

Yes. Is there a time limit that you're running up against?

I don't set the time limits. I know that within the world of development, moving faster helps with the cost of doing business. Also, we have to make sure that we are ready to go into the ground. Cleveland doesn't have 24 seven nice weather where you can construct things. So, you know, you have to get started in early spring in order to build foundations. So, and my job is to obviously try to push things along and we've been delayed, you know, a couple months already. So I would respectfully request approval of variances. And I know that my client is completely willing to have any meetings and talk about, you know, his funding and his plans for the project.

do feel it's my my responsibility to request approval for the variances and if you grant it I'm always I'm very appreciative if you don't I will come back I have just a point of clarification before we take a vote to table what was the date of that letter to the school board and the one that I have is July 9th the letter from your your email to me is August 28th and then I know

It was September 1st at Planning and Zoning where I heard the owner say unequivocally on September 1st at the Planning and Zoning meeting, he said he absolutely would not and understood that Orange Village was not open to a TIF and he was not going to request a TIF. And he figured out a different funding method so that we didn't require a TIF. I trust him on his word. I think the meeting was recorded, so I don't know what legal relevance that has, but I can't imagine a world where bait and switch could possibly happen after that, and it was witnessed by everybody at the meeting. So I think it's a timing thing. Honestly, I'm fine moving ahead with the variances, but if this committee wants to table it another month, you know.

Variances is just one step. There's so many steps in this process. I think if you don't have an issue with the variances themselves, that this isn't a reason to not move ahead.

Well, I vehemently disagree with that. I gave up trusting developers' words on what they're going to deliver to us years and decades ago. So, I mean, look, I'm only one person. If you guys want to move forward, God bless you. But in my mind, all we're asking is, it sounds like from August 28th till Tuesday, it was tiff, tiff, tiff, tiff, tiff. And then all of a sudden on Tuesday, it's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, we're fine moving forward with it because there's some pushback. And I've had this, I mean, this is not a new conversation with you. I've had the same conversation with you both times you've been here. I've had it with the mayor, too. You know, look, your commentary about the timeline is one that I vehemently agree with. Sooner is always better. And the same comment I would say is your clients pulling off of the tip would have been a heck of a lot better if you pulled off it a lot earlier. But now I'm left here that I have to take your word for it, and I'm not willing to do that.

Well, also, if a TIF came to the village, a TIF request, council controls that. So passing this does not have anything to do with the TIF.

Like I said, I'm one person. I mean, if you don't want a table, don't table it. I mean, that's fine, too. I mean, I have no objection to the conversation about the variances themselves. I just don't trust your client to do what he tells us. I'll be blunt. I don't.

All right, I'm gonna call the roll for tabling the motion for the variances, not the TIF. Anna, will you call the roll?

Vincent? Yes. Kurland? No. Boyle?

Yes.

Foster?

Yes. Perry? No. So it's tabled and- I don't think so.

Wait, Steve? Do you need four to-

Can you please have your client put this in writing for us?

A motion to table can be passed with a vote of three.

It's not enacting anything. Okay, fair enough.

We're tabling it because we have three to two.

And I would recommend your client send a letter to the mayor or the clerk of council just confirming what he said during that last week and what you've represented, well, what's been represented here.

I don't want to speak for everybody, but it sounds like we're all pretty supportive of the variance, so it should move quickly once we know that the financing issue is not going to lead to TIFs and is settled on that.

It's going to lead to TIFs no matter what. Possibly. It's not unless... And there's not support for that.

Could be raised.

All right, we voted, and I'm going to move on.

Thank you.

All right. Next, I need a motion to adopt the final order and decision of council on the conclusions of fact for variance requests by at 3900 Orange Place Beachwood LLC to permit the construction of a new lighting showroom building at 3900 Orange Place. you. I'll second it. We we saw this also in planning and zoning. And did we get a planning and zoning sheet? I didn't remember seeing it.

Oh, yeah, I did.

OK, so the vote at Planning and Zoning was three to two, three in favor of recommending to council to grant the variances. This is on a very narrow, strange, as Mr. Burns described, a very strange piece of land. It wouldn't be used for anything other than a parking lot, and it has no neighbors that really it affects at all. So the hardship discussions were acceptable to three out of five of us. And what does council want to say about it?

I went over to see the space. I see what the issue is. I see what the problem is. These don't seem like experiences that would hurt anything. I'd be supportive of it.

Okay.

Is there any safety emergency issue?

It has a road.

No.

This is the old Bahama Breeze, right?

Yes, but the Bahama Breeze property, the whole thing came to this point.

And the mayor and I discussed this, I think, last week. It's a very odd-shaped parcel, which is, in terms of variances, actually is something that is absolutely a criteria to be considered for approval. And I think all they were asking for was, Mayor, was it just two setbacks? I think one from the highway maybe or something. I mean, they seemed de minimis to me.

It was at the back of the property.

Yeah, back, okay.

Up against the freeway. It really doesn't interfere.

So everyone on council is aware that the mayor has refused himself.

Oh, that's right. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

Planning and zoning commission. And so he has to keep his mouth shut tonight on this issue. On this issue.

And I can tell you why I voted for it was that proper place for a commercial building. It wouldn't be used for anything other than a commercial building, except a parking lot. And honestly, it seems like of buildings that they're putting in there, the It matches what's going up there well. So that's why I voted for it. I'm in favor of it tonight, too. Any other questions?

Vincent? Yes. Kurland. Yes. Boyle. Yes. Foster. Yes. Perry.

Yes. Thanks. OK. Next, I need a motion to approve the treasurer's report. I'll make a vote. Mr. Boyle. Thank you, Amanda. OK, Dana.

Good evening. You have the summary of the monthly and year-to-date activity for July. July's revenues from all funds are $1,255,990.35. July expenditures from all funds is $1,029,199.83. The ending cash balance is $20,703,925.16. You have all of those funds with their cash balances. You have the general funds revenue and expenditure report. We're at 58% of the year, and out of our revenues, we've collected 65%. In our budgeted appropriations, we have spent 48.81%. There's a couple variances. Those are just primarily timing differences or paying an annual bill that are skewing the percentages. Any questions?

Great, then we'll move on to the taxing. I have to wait a minute. Yeah, I guess.

Vincent? Yes. Kerland? Yes. Boyle? Yes. Foster? Yes.

Harry? Yes.

I'll make a motion to approve the tax administrator's report. Is there a second? Second. Thank you. Thank you, Stacy. Okay.

Sorry, Dean. You have a tax administrator report for July. The gross income taxes that were collected for the month of July was $698,881. which is about $124,000 less than last year's July the year to date we're up $89,572 it's just a timing issue when those funds came through and then you also have your cumulative and month-to-month reports that show you the differences for the last four years Any questions for Dana?

Dana, do we have, I mean, and I know there's some obviously variance in it, but I mean, do we know what the decrease in the July numbers were? I mean, is there any causal connection or is just?

It's probably the timing of when people file their tax returns and when they've paid their quarterly estimates. It's all a timing issue. That's why we kind of show the different variances month to month.

I appreciate that.

All right, Anna, will you call the roll?

Vincent? Yes. Curlin? Yes. Boyle? Yes. Foster? Yes. Perry?

Yes. Okay, next is a discussion of the bills to be paid in the month of September in the amount of $252,101.85 and additional August expenses in the amount of $158,755.58. Does anybody have any questions or concerns about the bills? Then we will move on to audience comments relating to agenda items only. I have some people here who have signed up. Thank you. And. After they talk, I want to just go back to our rules again. But for now, the regular rules are going to. We're going to be following them. So Stacey, you're up first. Stacey Manila. Okay, thank you for signing up anyway. Mr. Soltis, Gregory. Andrew.

Again, thank you for your time. I recognize not here and I know you had a close friend that passed away last week and I think you had a death close to you as well mayor I wanted to express my condolences on that I know Kim's dealing with her mother being sick that's more important than anything we're ever going to discuss let's let's put that out there first so um being real quick comment uh Council President Perry, if you don't believe in bait and switch, you should see what's been happening behind me. So just quickly putting that out there. I find it really crazy that come this fall, ooh, my notes, come this fall, we were supposed to have on our ballot The vote for a new fire station, 19,000 square foot fire station, 3,000 square foot gym for people to use, our servicemen and women to use. The average median home in Cuyahoga County is 1,813 square feet. Orange Village is talking about building a gym almost twice the size for its 10 or 20 fire department people, but we're also talking about taking away $3 million away from the same Cuyahoga County services. So again, the optics are horrible. The recent media that has come out today and yesterday from Cleveland.com portrays the Orange Village as corrupt is the word they were using. Thieves, taking from the poor. Yet we want to believe that you postponed the vote to the spring to not compete with the school levy. Are the residents not capable of voting for two levies at the same time? moved it to the spring because the optics of passing a TIF for Pulte and asking, thank you, and I apologize, and asking for the residents to approve a 19,000 square foot fire station at the same time would be terrible optics. Even probably worse than we have right now. I apologize. There is a tree fund That is supposed to be $400 per tree that's supposed to be collected by developers. I wanted to know what the balance is on that tree fund.

Your time is up, Mr. Spitz.

Okay. Thank you.

Pamela Holmes?

Make sure it's about- Would you like to speak? Agenda items.

This time is for agenda items. Pamela? Pamela Holmes? Yes. Yes. Would you like to speak? Yes. You signed up to speak about agenda items? No, not agenda. Okay. You'd like to speak at the other time. Okay.

Okay. Thank you.

Okay, that's okay. Lauren Rock? Okay. And Mitch Gett. Mitch, do you want to speak now about agenda items? No. Okay. Then we'll get to you after... OK, then I'll start over at the whole list. OK.

Thanks.

OK. It's all new. Next is Ordinance 2026-25 be at the next public speaking part. So ordinance 2026 dash 25 as amended an ordinance enacting new section 351.17 unattended trailers and towed equipment prohibited on public streets of chapter 351 parking generally of the codified ordinances of Orange Village, Ohio and declaring an emergency. This is on for second reading. This council have questions or comments about this?

If I could, this was amended to pick up the concept that was discussed last week about what does unattended mean. And we have narrowed it down so that it doesn't have a vehicle capable of towing it. This was at the request of the police department, recall. And there has now been a request by the police department and the administration that council suspend the rules.

So I'll make a motion to suspend the rules. Is there a second? Second. Call on suspension.

Vincent? Yes. Kerland? Yes. Boyle?

Yes.

Foster? Yes. Perry?

Yes. Okay, great. I'll make a motion to adopt 2026-25. Is there a second? Second. Thank you, Stacy. Any comments, questions? The police do find it recommended, and... Mike, do you have anything you want to add, or should we just, I think?

I think for safety reasons, the chief and I and the administration support this. We've seen it over the course of many years where it's caused accidents where there's no attendant with the trailer just being there. So we support this.

I appreciate the clarification to the amendment. Thank you.

Kerland? Yes. Boyle? Yes. Foster? Yes. Perry? Yes.

Thanks. We have resolution 2026-5, a resolution accepting the amounts and rates as determined by the tax commission and authorizing. them to the county fiscal officer. I'll make a motion. Is there a second?

Second.

Thanks. Dana, would you like to chime in on this one?

Yeah, this is a housekeeping issue. This is a result of last July, June, we adopted the tax budget for 2027. So that establishes the tax rates, which were no change from the prior year. And so this is the county's document that they require from us every year that just reiterates what we provided last year in the tax budget.

great questions anna we call them vincent kerlin yes oil yes foster perry yes thank you okay so now we're at audience comments relating to matters which advance the good of the village which is what it's a new process for us all and i think we're going to try to streamline this a little bit better in the future but stacy would you like to go first remember you have three minutes please

Stacey Manila, 4969 West Woodcrest. My comments to council for the good of the village is pretty simple. I just hope that as you are thinking about the upcoming proposed TIFs that have been asked for various projects that you oppose them. You have stated that you are listening to the residents, and I believe a lot of the residents are completely against the TIF, as well as myself. I really don't think they're very fair to us residents. Just as an example, I believe there's been about seven homes, new homes, built on Lander Road just within the five, six years that I've been here. There have been three in the development, which I live, as well as three others, notably on Bainbridge, that are new construction. And none of us got... tax incentives to build a home here tear down we knew what expenses were coming when we chose to build homes there and despite the cost we still did that we didn't come back and ask for any kind of you know relief for it. Um, if you're gonna give some relief to some people, you know, maybe the people in our village that have sustained damage to their homes because they caught on fire in the last few years, I suspect, you know, they really would appreciate some kind of assistance if that was the case. Thank you, Stacy.

Andrew do you want to speak again I think the first subject Andrew Spitz 145 Jackson if you don't know me the first subject I want to talk about is the e-bike ordinance variance now I'm not in great shape but I got on a bike at the gym the other day and I probably got my bike up to about 22 23 miles an hour So are we contending that a bike manually pedaled at 23 miles an hour will cause more damage, sorry, an e-bike going at 30 miles an hour will cause more damage to a pedestrian on the sidewalks than let's say a pedestrian riding their bike at 23 miles an hour? Okay, so we'll move on. Again, I wanna bring up the TIF and why it bothers me. I believe that the city is blindly giving money away and taking money away from Cuyahoga County Services. Again, I was raised in an environment, in a restaurant, where a lot of things were taught trust is earned is is one of the priorities one of the mainstays I was talked about so in a recent email from mayor to the residents that asked us to trust him and act in good faith you know come to these meetings in good faith Why should we trust you when one of the trees behind us were removed when you had no clue what was going on and you apologized about that? Why should we trust you when you've made numerous promises that you haven't fulfilled? Trust is earned. Just because you're the mayor doesn't mean we should trust you.

Um...

And the other thing about, I was learned, taught in the restaurant industry, especially at the theatrical, was that, and this goes to all the council members, and I respect your position. I know this is a hard position. You're not paid much. It's a lot of time. But if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. This is not personal. I'm not attacking your personal lives here. Mayor, you are the CEO of a multi-million dollar organization. If you can't stand being in that position, I'm sorry, but you're in a position to hear from the residents whether my tone is happy or it's not. So again, I'm sure you all have been provided the presentation that we were furnished on Friday at 4.59 before a holiday weekend. It's a joke.

Sorry, Mr. Spitz, your turn.

Absolute disgrace. Everyone here should be insulted.

together sure you still have three minutes so thank you three minutes but she's passing that out I'll just introduce myself I'm Pamela Holmes and I live on hemlock circle it's like my tenth or eleventh year here

Beachmont Oval for 48 years.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak here today. Pam and Earl introduced themselves. They are fellow cul-de-sac residences. This has to do with cul-de-sac parking in the ordinance. I've expressed my concerns to the mayor in a letter that you now have a copy of. Residents are looking for a compromise. We received the rule of the ordinance as this is impeding our ability to have guests in a comfortable manner. While it's not a hardship for all, it is for some that drive and have mobility issues. There's just not adequate parking on the streets. The streets just don't have many spaces. And if there's multiple holiday gatherings, we will not have, it shortens us for more spaces. So we would like to ask for reconsideration. a compromise on the restrictions to something that's more flexible, which could be allowing it on the off hours, which is one of the proposals I had, that we understand the landscapers that park there, we understand there is, between the school buses and the trash, sometimes probably difficulty, even maybe even for the residents, so that from eight to four, eight to five, Monday through Friday, that there are restrictions, but in the evenings and weekends that there's more flexibility. And we understand that the fire and emergency has the priority. And given that a lot of holiday gatherings, people are at home, certainly there's a willingness to be able to move cars quickly should the need arise. So we're here today to ask for not the repeal of the ordinance, but to try to issue some kind of compromise for the comfort of the residents that live in these cul-de-sacs. Now this is Orangewood. We've talked to other friends and residents in Orangewood. I don't know what's happening in the other cul-de-sac areas, but we feel strongly about this. And the driveway, some of the driveways are just not big enough to handle the cars. And for us, we have young grandchildren that come and do sports, and we need to keep our driveways free. So those are just some examples of why we're looking to find some type of compromise.

Thank you.

Thank you for coming in and saying that.

I will see if we can re-look at that. Yes, please.

I'm not sure that it wouldn't be inappropriate insofar as there is a lot of discussion from residents about this particular ordinance. that perhaps we put a little study group together, including the police and fire department, because it's really critical for our safety services to have access 24-7. But maybe there is a compromise that we can work through by coming together and talking about it. And I think it might be appropriate to have a work group that could be set up that would include a member of the council along with concerned residents and our police and fire as a group to come together and look for an opportunity for an adjustment.

And I appreciate that you thought of a solution and, you know, make it a timing thing. So we'll look at that.

Great. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you for coming in. Mr. Goett, you are next on our list. Comments to three minutes.

Mitch Goett, 185 Jackson Drive.

I grew up in Orange Village. I'm a lifer here. I'm a 13-year club. I started in kindergarten. I went all the way through Orange High School. I've always hoped to raise my family here in Orange. In 2019, that dream came true and my wife and I were able to buy a home in Jackson Drive with a beautiful wooded backyard that we envisioned raising our kids in and having the amazing life that we had, that I had growing up in Orangewood. And so that's why I'm here to talk about the Canyons Project a bit. You may have seen one or two emails from my wife, Anna, or maybe more. and some comments here. I'm here tonight because we've been taking turns taking care of the kids. I am an M&A attorney by trade. I consider myself a lawyer, a dad, and lately my third job is tracking what's happening in my backyard every day. to make sure that my family remains safe because it has been a series of surprises and I'd say unanticipated unkept promises and general safety concerns for my family, for our dog, for our kids to try to enjoy our backyard. In the capacity of my job day to day as an M&A lawyer, I look for relationships. I build relationships, I build trust. And I tend to think that trust is built over years and years and years and it's lost in a moment. I'm unfortunately in the position that I'm 39 years old, I've spent my entire life practically living in Orange Village, I've trusted this community and its leaders my entire life, And I'm having a hard time continuing to do that. And I'm saddened by it. And that's why I'm here today. I'm not going to talk through the pages and pages of evidence that we've all submitted of the inconsistencies. We've done that. What I'd like to do is highlight one specific fact about the September 17th meeting that's coming up. and that gets around to why I'm here again. I had the opportunity to be raised in Orangewood, in an amazingly safe, wonderful, beautiful community. And my kids won't get that opportunity because my kids are in a backyard of a commercial construction zone. And the September 17th meeting and the plans that have been presented at best case are showing in 20 years that trees will be grown enough to provide safety and comfort in our backyard. And God willing, my kids will come home from college 20 years from now and see the beautiful landscape that really didn't do much for them while they were going up in their backyard. My daughter is four, my son is 17 months.

Your time is up.

I'm disappointed by this. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments. Okay, we will move on to comments by the mayor, please.

Okay, there's a lot to talk about here today.

First of all, I want to thank the Veterans and Arts and Cultures Committees for bringing the Men of Independence to Orange on September 3rd. We had to move inside due to the weather, but we had a great crowd, and the Men of Independence were especially impressive. I think the acoustics here helped them a little bit. And I really appreciate them. I have a special thank you for the Kent State Honor Guard and Jay Nye, who sang the national anthem that made this even a more special evening. And we really appreciate their performances. Another Wonderful Farmers in Utterson's Market was held last Saturday. Thank you to Elizabeth Bach and her group for providing the village with such a great program, continuing to deliver this wonderful opportunity for our residents in Orange Village. Orange Village Park survey continues. We're placing flyers at the park to receive input from others. We want to hear from the community. Please take the survey to let us know what types of amenities you'd like to see in our park, and then we can determine how might we produce them. The survey can also be found on our website. Tire collection continues through September 18th at the Service Department 4680 Lander Road between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. Please remove the tires from the rims. Today is September 11th. We remember the innocent lives lost, the heroes who stepped forward, ran into the fire, and the unity that carried us through. We are stronger together. Thank you to all our first responders, safety people that every day risk their lives on behalf of our community, those in Orange and those elsewhere. SHIPPING, WHAT A TRANSITION. BRANCH SHIPPING IS MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14th. PLEASE PLACE YOUR ITEMS OUT FOR PICKUP PRIOR TO 7 A.M. THE PAVING OF ORANGEWOOD DRIVE WILL OCCUR STARTING TOMORROW AND IS LOOKING TO BE COMPLETED TOMORROW AS WELL. IT'S A ONE-DAY OPERATION AND WILL BE COMPLETED BY THE END OF THE DAY. Water line work is moving rapidly towards a conclusion. Testing and switch over to the new service is beginning with businesses at the west end of Miles Road. They'll be transitioning services momentarily as they shut down and test the lines. A small community sustainability summit is being organized by Orange Village's Sustainability and Resilience Committee and will host the event here at Orange Village Hall, enlisting a panel of Cuyahoga County Office of Sustainability, Power Clean Future for Ohio, Cuyahoga Green Energy, NOPEC, POWERUP LOCAL, AND OTHERS TO MEET WITH REPRESENTATIVES AND LEADERS OF SMALL COMMUNITIES IN NORTHEAST OHIO TO WORK TOGETHER IN PURSUIT OF A COMMON STRATEGIC INITIATIVE. THE SUMMIT IS BEING SCHEDULED FOR EARLY OCTOBER AND WILL FEATURE FOCUSING ON PRODUCING A COLLABORATIVE PROJECT LEVERAGING THE RESOURCES AVAILABLE THROUGH THE COUNTY. THANKS TO JOHN LOFTUS, AMANDA KERLIN AND THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS TO HELP MAKE THIS HAPPEN AS WE MOVE THIS PROGRAM FORWARD. I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE NOTE OF SOME OTHER STUFF FIRST. E-BIKE DISCUSSION HAS BEEN TABLED FOR FURTHER INVESTIGATION. THE CAYOGA COUNTY MAYORS AND MANAGERS ASSOCIATION HAS CREATED A STUDY GROUP. I'VE BEEN ASKED TO SERVE ON IT TO PURSUE OPPORTUNITIES TO DETERMINE HOW BEST TO MANAGE THESE DEVICES IN OUR COMMUNITIES. Mitchell mentioned a minute ago the workshop for discussion of the buffer zone will take place on September 17th here at Village Hall. I wanted to make note of something that I think is important. A recent podcast produced by Cleveland.com paints a picture for which I would like to set the record straight on the actual facts and not those created by those who contributed to that podcast. The insinuation of the reporters is that Orange Village is taking money from the poor of Cuyahoga County, and this is not true. The tax money that the libraries, the metro parks, health and human services get is prescribed by voted millage, which will remain and continue to be paid to those entities. The TIF funds, which are those derived from the increase in property value above that of the pre-development, can go into the general fund of the county or to Orange Village to be used for specific allocations. Orange Village, while an affluent community, will bear the burden of maintaining the surrounding infrastructure that will be affected by the development. The cost for the maintenance of roads, sewers, paths, traffic devices, et cetera, should be derived from the development. The TIF funds will provide that resource. Otherwise, Orange Village residents in general will shoulder the expense resulting in a need to raise taxes. Where there is a means to provide such financial support through lawfully available means, the Village would be fiscally remiss in not pursuing it. The mayor and members of council were elected by the residents of Orange Village to represent interests for the betterment of Orange Village and not elected to represent concerns of other governmental entities or at the expense of revenues that could come to the village. Keeping taxes as low as possible to ensure the village can provide the services and maintain quality that makes Orange a place people want to live is the mission of our community's government. Therefore, finding means to facilitate that mission is paramount to our purpose. The TIF should not be characterized as a wealthy community taking money from those who need it most. The more accurate characterization is that Orange Village is pursuing a lawful financing tool to help address development-related costs and protect its residents from unnecessary financial burdens. That is in the best interest of our community and is our duty and responsibility to pursue it carefully, transparently, and in accordance with the law. Lastly. I'd like to wish, as Rosh Hashanah begins sundown on Friday and Yom Kippur begins a week from Sunday, I want to wish everyone a L'shanah Tovah, Tikotavu, Happy New Year, and may you be inscribed for a good and healthy year. Thank you.

Okay, thank you. Next are my comments. Can you just pass that down for the council people sign? Thank you. I have something very exciting to announce. It's the Parks and Rec Committee has been putting together a Halloween dog costume contest that they are going to probably use October 17th. It's not 100% for sure, but that's probably the date from 10 to 11 in the morning. It will be an opportunity to bring your dog in a Halloween costume. There will be prizes. There will be other tables and hopefully interactive things to do. And there will be a small parade outside of the dog forest. um it's a five dollar entry fee and this is a opportunity for this committee to raise money for objects that will be in the dog park or for a dog memorial sculpture of sorts so there's a lot of um There are a lot of people who would like to see dogs of the neighborhood remembered, and we're thinking about a remembrance sculpture of some sort. So please mark your calendars for October 17th with a rain date of October 18th in the morning and more to come next month for sure about that. All right, we'll move on to Mrs. Vincent.

Thank you and good evening, everyone. I want to start out by thanking everyone who spoke again tonight. I appreciate you coming out and taking your time to do so. I also want to thank everyone who had a hand in the Orange Goes Red, White and Blue event last week, despite torrential downpours and a tornado warning exactly when we were starting. Orange Village managed to host a fantastic evening of music and patriotism. All of the groups that the mayor mentioned were spectacular. It was livestreamed, so if you weren't able to make it out in the storm, I encourage you to watch it. It just was a wonderful, wonderful evening, so thank you. I also want to thank everyone on the Veterans and Arts and Culture Committees, our amazing service department who moved everything indoors last minute, We appreciate that, and Anna's foresight to say, it looks like we're going to have a tornado around six, so we probably should move it in. So thank you for that. Our Frosty Gator food vendor who stayed outside in the rain to provide food was wonderful, and Anna and Judd for all your work and commitment to the event. As the mayor said, we also had a wonderfully successful market this past weekend. Please mark your calendars for October 10th. That's the final outdoor market for this year. It was a wonderful event. Please come to the last one before the December one. And while you have your calendars out, please save November 30th for our second annual Light Up Orange for the Holidays event. Our committee is still working out details, but expect another visit from Santa swooping in, maybe on a fire truck, we'll see. Holiday music and festivities and the lighting of the Orange Village Grounds. We are doing it two weeks earlier than last year, so maybe we'll beat the snow. I do want to send my condolences out to the entire Stephanopoulos family on the loss of their beautiful sister, Marguerite, who passed away unexpectedly last week in her early 60s. Marguerite grew up in Orange Village. Her life was dedicated to service. Most recently, she served as president-elect for the Orange Alumni Association. As many of you know, I am the president currently, and I was looking forward to having her follow and take over the presidency. She'll be missed, she'll be remembered, and I ask that everyone do something kind for someone special to you in her memory. Speaking of the Orange Schools Alumni Association, they are inducting 18 into the Hall of Fame the weekend of September 25th, which is also homecoming. The Saturday ceremony is free and open to all in the OHS auditorium. Tickets for the luncheon must be purchased in advance. September 15th is the last day to do so. You can get them via the website at the orangeschools.org slash alumni site. Congratulations to all of the new inductees, some of which were Orange residents. I also want to note that we remember those whose lives were lost on Patriots Day, but we also commemorate the good in people that was found that day. A happy 9-11 birthday to my son, Ryan, who took his first steps on that day and rose, as so many did in so many different ways. We also celebrate the Jewish New Year, September 11, so to all of the Jewish faith. And I wish everyone a safe fast later this month. And a very happy Grandparents Day this Sunday as we celebrate all generations in our community. Thank you.

Thank you. Hi. things I think that we've had a number of council members who a lot of days and used absences and we have in our code for excused but even excused I'm gonna suggest that maybe and first of all I want to put out there that family should always come first it is always the most important thing but at the same time you do if you did take this job and you do have a responsibility to the council able to fulfill that responsibility that maybe you step down and make room for somebody who is does have the time to do it so I just think that and I'm not saying anyone's hit this level but maybe we have something like if you miss six which is half of them in a year we're talking the regular council meetings that perhaps they should be consider you know stepping down out there also we have it that it's a possibility to zoom in to council meetings and we're talking about for council members um that you can only zoom if everyone is so as we did during covet and should there never be another covet but maybe there would be it's a time that almost everyone's on vacation somewhere or something like that that there's some reason but if everyone's on the same footing then we can still have a real conversation when one person's there just to read a statement or make a vote, it feels like it's an interloper as opposed to somebody who's part of the group. So just something I would consider that either everyone or no one is on Zoom. Just a little point of something I've been thinking about. I do want to say I know there's been a lot of record requests lately for information from the village and certainly that's your right to ask it and if it's something you need to see I get it a hundred percent but maybe consider if you need to you need to and that's fine but consider that it takes a huge amount of man hours to get these requests together and so you're it's just it's putting a huge strain on our very small staff again if it's important to you do it I'm not telling you not to I'm just saying to consider just don't be willy-nilly about it just make sure it's something that's important to you

That's all. And maybe it is.

So that's all I wanted to say about that stuff. I do want to wish everybody who celebrates a happy and sweet new year. And for those who fast, be fast. I guess I would feel really remiss to not say something about 9-11 when it's a big anniversary I was in lower Manhattan on that day. It is not something I like to think about but I to be very thankful for our lives we should be thankful for every moment that you have that you're able to be with your friends and your family anything in general just let's take that one lesson that life can be precarious and let's enjoy it while we have it thank you

Thank you. I agree. I'd also like to ask the law director to drop legislation to remove Zoom as an option for council. I think it had its place in time and I agree that we can look at the legislation. We'll have three readings and we can discuss it more, but we can get that ball rolling. Thank you. Okay.

Quick question for that. Would that be applicable for all, for both council and planning commission?

that it probably should be consistent, in my opinion. But we can look at that. OK, Mr. Boyle, your comments?

And I didn't really intend to talk about the wake of the TIF conversation, but Mayor, it just strikes me as odd that in the same breath that you praise the work of the county sustainability, which is paid for with the county dollars. We talk about the sewers, which are paid for with county dollars. our love of animals and our county kennel and the county sheriffs maintain the animal abuse registry and the money that comes from the county for the tree canopy and and and look i don't know why cleveland.com wrote the story or played the story they did i had nothing to do with it i stand by my comments but i think the bigger picture conversation goes to where We, this community, and the other 58 communities in Cuyahoga County, where the interplay between those communities must continue to exist, the symbiotic relationship that exists. In 2010, when the new government came in, there was a groundswell for the anti-poaching legislation, which was designed to prevent City A from stealing businesses from City B. And now we're just now figuring out, well, let's just, and again, nobody has disputed the legalities of it. And to that extent, your comments, yeah, you'd be fiscally remiss to do it, but I would say it'd be morally bankrupt to do it as well. So, look, we'll deal with that when it comes through, but I just find it a little disingenuous when you kowtow to the county work people that actually bring you value, but then when you have the opportunity, you're like, well, I don't want to give the money to them that we've already done. And that is, in my mind, reprehensible. But we'll deal with it as it unfolds. The things that I did want to talk about, and it is I now believe that you may be this the second smartest in your family because I've had the conversations with even though you may be an MA M&A lawyer but with your wife and and I do want to comment on something and I think it's something that that the law director I think we probably need to respond to and and and and I had sent a correspondence regarding some uh some things that had evidently transpired relative to the conversation or not a conversation but a a zoning change whether it was a zoning change or a similar use situation and i think the law director i think we need a response to that i've had an opportunity to look at it i recognize that a A similar use situation is not the same as rezoning, but I have questions, and I think to allay those concerns, I think that we need a written response to that letter. I don't see any way that we can move forward without that. And then secondarily, as it relates to that, and this is something that I've discussed with the council president, and I've discussed it on the floor here since January. I think we have to have a conversation about what our representation from our law director looks like in terms of issuing a request for qualifications. make sure and Steve look maybe you're the best one to do it or that I mean we can deal with that as it unfolds but I think we have an obligation to look at that as we move forward and so we're now in a September so we've got October November December but I'm not I don't think it's appropriate to walk in in January with with no plan in place we need to hit the ground running and make sure that we have some sort of plan so what that looks like in terms of drafting and issuing an rfq or whatever i think we have to the devil's in those details but it's something that we have got to move forward with and i i mean this is nothing new i mean i've i've had this this conversation on this body on this floor since january so um those are my remarks thank you

On a day like 9-11, for me, every day, I don't need an anniversary to remember what happened on 9-11. Every day is a 9-11 for a guy like me. I remember such big events as every day, not just every 25 years. how you carry yourself and how you treat others is all a part of making that day better not just 25 years or whatever um thank you the men of independence and the singers and everything and it kind of reminded me of being back on base and doing because we would do things like that often um so thank you for that i enjoyed it i enjoyed all the people that came up for orange i enjoyed the interaction thanks that's it okay then i'll adjourn the meeting thank you everybody good night

We don't have to.