City Council

COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS JOURNAL 99 JOURNAL PAGE -174- MINUTES OF THE MEETING MARCH 28, 2011 PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to Canton City Council. We appreciate you all being out tonight on this beautiful warm spring day. Our, before we begin tonight’s meeting I want to turn it over to our Director, Warren Price for a comment. Director. SERVICE DIRECTOR PRICE: Thank you, Mr. President. In case you’re not aware ladies and gentlemen, Members of Council, our Finance Director, Karen Alger who has, well been here and been with me at least, the whole time. This is her last Council Meeting and so, she’s moving on to North Canton but we wanted to take an opportunity to thank Karen and acknowledge this, her last meeting at Canton City Council. At least as our Finance Director. (APPLAUSE) FINANCE DIRECTOR ALGER: Thank you. I appreciate that. As you know, I’m a woman of little words so I just want to thank everyone of you guys for working with me, especially the Clerk of Council. You’ve helped me throughout it all. Thank you for letting me be the Finance Director and I look forward to going to my next job but I will remember all of you guys as well. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Congratulations Karen. I told you we’d do something. You know we’re not going to just let you sit there. Karen’s going to North Canton. Good luck with that. OK. I told Karen, I said “We are the sweetest City Council in the country compared to some”. With a quorum being present the Chair this meeting of Canton City Council to order. Roll call vote please Madame Clerk. ROLL CALL TAKEN BY CLERK TIMBERLAKE: 11 COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: (DAVID DOUGHERTY, TERRY PRATER, MARY CIRELLI, JOE COLE, BILL SMUCKLER, GREG HAWK, THOMAS WEST, JIM GRIFFIN, CHRIS SMITH, PATRICK BARTON & BRIAN HORNER) ELEVEN COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT. (MEMBER BUTTERWORTH ABSENT) CLERK TIMBERLAKE: Eleven present, one absent, Mr. President. EXCUSING MEMBERS PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Thank you Madame Clerk. Leader Dougherty I’ll recognize a motion to excuse Member Butterworth from this evening’s meeting.. MEMBER DOUGHERTY: Yes, Mr. President I move we excuse Member Butterworth from this evening’s meeting. MEMBER PRATER: Seconded. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: It’s been moved and seconded that we excuse Member Butterworth from this evening’s meeting. Are there any remarks? Hearing none Madame Clerk roll call vote please. NO REMARKS ROLL CALL 11 YEAS, 0 NAYS CLERK TIMBERLAKE: Eleven yeas Mr. President. COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS JOURNAL 99 JOURNAL PAGE -175- MINUTES OF THE MEETING MARCH 28, 2011 PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: We’ll have our invocation given tonight by one of my favorite Ward Council Members Greg Hawk. Would you all please remain standing for our Pledge of Allegiance. The regular meeting of Canton City Council was held on March 28, 2011 at 7:30 P.M. in the Canton City Council Chamber. The roll call was taken (see above) by Clerk of Council Cynthia Timberlake. The invocation was given by Ward 1 Council Member Greg Hawk. The Pledge of Allegiance led by President Schulman. AGENDA CORRECTIONS & CHANGES PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Thank you Member Hawk. We’re moving to Agenda Corrections and Changes and Members of Council you’re going to be asked to suspend Rule 22A to add the 2nd Reading Ordinances 2 through 7 and Ordinance #8, #8 will be Retained in Committee. Leader. MEMBER DOUGHERTY: Mr. President, I move we suspend Rule 22A to add 2nd Readings Ordinances 2 through 7 with 8 remaining in Committee. MEMBER PRATER: Seconded. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: It’s been moved and seconded to suspend Rule 22A to add the 2nd Reading Ordinances 2 through 7. Ordinance #8 will be Retained in the Committee. Are there any remarks? Hearing none Madame Clerk roll call vote please. NO REMARKS ROLL CALL 11 YEAS, 0 NAYS CLERK TIMBERLAKE: Eleven yeas Mr. President. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Thank you Madame Clerk. Motion carries and Rule 22A is suspended and the Ordinances are a legal part of your Agenda. PUBLIC HEARINGS PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: We are now under Public Hearings. We have no Public Hearings this evening. OLD BUSINESS PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Turning to Old Business. Do we have any Old Business, Director. SERVICE DIRECTOR PRICE: Yes, thank you Mr. President. As you may recall, Rosario Carcione spoke last week regarding the situation with closing Fire Stations within the Fire Department and if Council would indulge you, would indulge Director Ream he’d like to respond to that. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Director. SAFETY DIRECTOR REAM: Yes, I’d like to invite the Chief up to the podium please. Mr. Carcione referred to a call last week which he stated that ambulances were 14 or 17 minutes in responding to a location. I looked up that call the following day and what I found was that, that call came in at 19:33 hours and 26 seconds. 40 seconds later it was dispatched to Engine Company #8 who carried the same paramedics that COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS JOURNAL 99 JOURNAL PAGE -176- MINUTES OF THE MEETING MARCH 28, 2011 would have responded had we had ambulance service that day. They also carried the same amount of life saving equipment that the ambulances carry. They arrived at that location 7 minutes later. The person that was being called about was conscious at that time. We did then free up an available ambulance from Canton Township who came and did the transport, then less than a half hour that conscious patient was at the hospital being cared for. So, what, with discussions with the Chief, I want to assure this Council that we have a priority system that we use. Anyone that’s in immediate danger when they call 9-1-1 and requests an ambulance always receives a response from our engine company. We get them then the ambulance as one is available and we’re able to get them there for transport. So these are the same firefighter/paramedics that respond on ambulances carrying the same rescue equipment that we have on our ambulances also. Chief, I’m going to turn it over to you so that you can explain the prioritization and our responses to this. CHIEF RICH: Well what happens when we don’t have transport EMS up and running is we have ALS gear on all our trucks our engine trucks and our ladder companies. ALS is advanced life support so we have the heart monitors, the IV’s, medication, everything we need to save somebodies life. If it’s a call, we have a matrix of calls, serious calls, unconscious, difficulty breathing, any violent incident. Anytime another ambulance is going to be longer than 6 minutes in responding, we’ll send our unit out there to start treatment right away. That happens every time we don’t have ambulances transporting people. MEMBER DOUGHERTY: Mr. President. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Leader. MEMBER DOUGHERTY: So am I to understand then what he was saying last week was not true? SAFETY DIRECTOR REAM: Well what I’m saying is that, what he said wasn’t the entire story. He made reference to an ambulance arrival and an ambulance didn’t arrive until the times he was talking but we had other emergency personnel with medical gear at that scene in very, very short time. MEMBER DOUGHERTY: Mr., Mr. President. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Leader. MEMBER DOUGHERTY: I have a big problem with that because I wish he was here tonight. I don’t see him out there but, you know, you shouldn’t come up and stretch things and turn things around and hit people’s emotions with this type of subject you know, because it just sends people a bad message and you know, I like people to come up here and have facts and let’s deal with the facts and then we can move on. So, I’m really disappointed in this. Thank you. SAFETY DIRECTOR REAM: Mr. Leader, I’m also disappointed. I’ve reviewed this with the Law Department to make sure there were no employee violations with what he did last Monday. He stated that there were 28 calls that we did not provide ambulance service however, on 16 of those 28 calls, we responded emergency personnel to a life threatening or possible life threatening incident just as we would have responded ambulances if we had them working that day. So, why he represented it the way he did, I do not know and you can inquire of him regarding that. COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS JOURNAL 99 JOURNAL PAGE -177- MINUTES OF THE MEETING MARCH 28, 2011 MEMBER CIRELLI: Mr. President. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Member Cirelli. MEMBER CIRELLI: I want to thank the Chief for coming and I want to thank the Safety Director for asking him to come. I feel bad that Mr. Butterworth is not here because he was really concerned about that but when someone comes to this board in the capacity of like a President of a union or something, and this is a question I guess I can pose to the Law Director as well, maybe we ought to have them raise their hand and swear that what they’re saying is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so therefore that they would have to live with the consequences of such and therefore if in fact, they did tell us something incorrect, then it could possibly go into their personnel file. I think it’s just something that maybe we ought to think of doing because when I walked out, he walked out with me and told me about all the money that we lost because we didn’t have people to do the ambulance runs and that they had a whole list of, they couldn’t send this ambulance and this private ambulance and I asked some questions you know like, don’t they have a list of the dispatcher to call the next one. No that doesn’t work that way, they just call whatever and blah, blah, blah. And he was supposed to get back to me with some information which he never proceeded to do anyhow and I think maybe we ought to, with someone serving in that capacity, make them take the position seriously of what they are apprising us of and that it could be in fact, go into their own personnel file. Thank you sir. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Thank you Member Cirelli. Law Director. MEMBER DOUGHERTY: Mr. President. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Yes, leader. MEMBER DOUGHERTY: Can someone answer my question I had last week in reference to people saying, call this ambulance company and they’re out on another call and we had to call this other one and they’re out on another call and I said we should, we don’t have a better communication with the other ambulances so that we would know that? SAFETY DIRECTOR REAM: Chief could you fill Council in on what our protocol is when were not staffed that we can provide ambulance service on that day? CHIEF RICH: Yea, when we’re not staffed they have a list of private ambulances in the area and that’s what we go through first. If they can’t get a private, then they call mutual aid, which is a township fire departments next to us. When they go through the list, it goes pretty quick. They got them on speed dial, they know, and they will tell them right away if they’ve have a unit available. SAFETY DIRECTOR REAM: And I’d like to add to that, that the private ambulance services that we have available are notified that they will be used as primary responders on that day in advance, that if they want to staff differently so that they have more available units, they’re let known ahead of time that they can do that so... MEMBER DOUGHERTY: But you don’t think if you send, call three ambulance plays and their all saying all COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS JOURNAL 99 JOURNAL PAGE -178- MINUTES OF THE MEETING MARCH 28, 2011 of our men are out, how much time are you wasting there? You see my point. I’m just, I’m just, is there a better way to take a look at that and see if there’s a better way of if all their ambulances are out, they can speed dial you guys and say don’t call us, we don’t have any ambulances. I’ll call you back when we have some available. CHIEF RICH: We can look at that. It just takes time. Like I said it’s fast but I can look at that and see how we might be able to streamline that process with dispatch. MEMBER DOUGHERTY: Continuous improvement. SAFETY DIRECTOR REAM: Yes anytime you get into a communication scenario, there’s always the possibilities of breakdowns and non-response, eccetra, eccetra and obviously that is one of the things that we try to keep to a minimum and that’s why we do all the planning that we do and the notifications we do in advance so we, that we have the least amount of communication problems that we do so... MEMBER WEST: Mr. President. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Member West. MEMBER WEST: Yea, how long do you think that takes from them, cause from what I understood last week, they would call one place and then they would say no. Then they would call another and it seemed like it was a long tedious process. How long is that process normally to get another ambulance. CHIEF RICH: I would say about a minute, minute and a half. Not long at all. I could look at the dispatch notes and tell you right away but, I’d say it’s not, no longer than a minute, a minute and a half tops. If I had the dispatch notes I could tell you more accurately but, they don’t wait around. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Law Director Martuccio. LAW DIRECTOR MARTUCCIO: Thank you Mr. President. Member Cirelli, an answer to your question. That’s, that’s a very creative idea. I would pause on it for a moment because when someone comes here for Public Speaks, it’s not for a fact finding purposes. It’s not like a trial, deposition of a trial. Voluntarily someone could be asked, voluntarily to submit to an oath. They could be fine. My bigger concern is this and I wanted to share this you for a moment because some of you have asked in passing. Do public employees have the right to come here in Council and speak of city matters when they’re public employees. And that’s a good question some of you have asked. The answer is it depends. A public employee is still a citizen of the United States. They still have a 1st Amendment right to freedom of speech, however, when you are a public employee it, your rights to speak publicly are weighed against the detrimental affects it might have on your employer. There was a case out of the United States Supreme Court, some of you remember Gil Garsetti, who used to be the DA of Los Angeles. One of his Assistant Prosecutors was not happy with the way he was treated because he was objecting to the way some Deputy Sheriff’s were trying to run a case, was critical of them. He felt like he didn’t get promoted, he got transferred, he thought he was unjustly disciplined so he brought a case that made it all the way to the United States Supreme Court about his freedom to speak his mind about what he thought was wrong in the Sheriff’s Department and the Supreme Court of the United States held that when COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS JOURNAL 99 JOURNAL PAGE -179- MINUTES OF THE MEETING MARCH 28, 2011 you’re a public employee your freedom of speech is limited and you have to weigh it against any adverse activity it may cause with your employer. Essentially what they said is, if it’s a matter of general safety, general community wide safety, you have a right like anyone else does to come and talk about it but if it’s an internal matter, it should be handled by an internal grievance or an internal disciplinary process, then it’s not appropriate. So if a city employee or union official comes here and says I think this punishment is wrong. I think you should do this or not do this in the grievance hearing or you should do this or not do this in the collective bargaining, that’s inappropriate cause that’s an internal matter that has other channels for handling it. But if they speak in the broadest terms about safety, that’s usually permissible. Some folks have come here on a very fine line... MEMBER DOUGHERTY: Mr. President. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Leader. MEMBER DOUGHERTY: And if memory serves me, he made it clear at the beginning he was here as a citizen before he talked. MEMBER WEST: Mr. President. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Yes. MEMBER WEST: Safety Director, did he bring these concerns up to you first? SAFETY DIRECTOR REAM: No sir. Chief, did he bring these concerns to you before he came to Council? CHIEF RICH: No, not about that time delay. MEMBER CIRELLI: Mr. President. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Yes, Member Cirelli. MEMBER CIRELLI: I appreciate what the Law Director is saying about I don’t want everybody that comes to Public Speaks to have to be sworn in. I’m talking about somebody that is supposed to be in a position that, of authority and he also said he was President of the Firefighters Union and then whenever he spoke, I was sitting here listening and he said all the different ambulances that was called and I was thinking, good God being a nurse, I’m thinking the persons going to be brain dead before they can even get there because I know that time is the most important thing. Now, I’m hearing a whole different story and I think what he did was totally wrong because naturally that put the fear of God in a whole lot of people out there that whenever it hit the media, and of course we have no control over what the media writes but by the same token whenever he was acting in that capacity what I’m hearing tonight is he didn’t, he didn’t talk to his superiors about what, the fact of what he was going to discuss and I would have thought if he would have thought it was that important to come to City Council, I still think we should have somebody when they’re going to do that sworn into oath. This way then they can do what they’ve got to do should they have to do something about that. COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS JOURNAL 99 JOURNAL PAGE -180- MINUTES OF THE MEETING MARCH 28, 2011 PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Well I think all of the comments have been fairly made but since Union President Carcione is not here, I think it’s somewhat unfair because I do believe that he and the union have consistently raised the issue about the manpower of the Fire Department and I think the Chief has also acknowledged that too and I, I’m and there’s certainly no fault there’s just not the money there to support it. And I think the President of the Union has also consistently said to us and others that he does have a concern about safety and he does have a concern about the ambulance service. Now again, I wasn’t here last week, so I don’t know precisely what he said, but I’m going to repeat what I’ve said over and over again. We have great public servants in this community. We have them here in this room and we have them working for us. Our firefighters and police are dedicated. They have taken the hit over and over again and so I think it is somewhat unfair to pile on the Union President for things that I know he has said in the past to us publicly and again, maybe he said it in a different fashion last week. I don’t know but to his defense and his union’s defense, they’ve gone to bat, they’ve taken reduction in pay, they’ve taken reduction in insurance, they’ve taken reduction in pensions. Senate Bill 5 is on it’s way. They’re going to take more so, I understand the frustration and the concern that our public employees have. I think he at least deserves that defense. Director. MEMBER DOUGHERTY: Mr. President. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Leader. MEMBER DOUGHERTY: No one’s trying to be unfair. We were here last week so we know what we heard and I’m just saying, come to this body with the facts and be accurate and honest. That’s all I ask. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: No, and I wasn’t suggesting otherwise Leader. I just, I think that these issues have been brought before us on numerous occasions. It’s no fault of anyone, there just simply are not the resources to provide the kind of protection that we would all like. I think even all of us agree Director, if we could provide the finances and resources to the Fire Department, we’d have ambulances in the city and that would be great instead of calling someone else outside of our city. Unfortunately, that is just the way the economy is in 2011 and it probably will be for the next couple of years. Director. SAFETY DIRECTOR REAM: Yes, I felt it was important to present the entirety of the situation, number one. I wanted to assure this Council by bringing Chief Rich in this week that we have plans, operational plans for when staffing levels go lower than what we would like and we do handle the calls in an appropriate manner and our community is safe. Even with the reduced manpower levels that we’re operating with. Chief is there anything else you’d like to add. CHIEF RICH: I’d just like to add that it’s only happened three times this year so far. It’s not like everyday we don’t run transporting EMS. It’s happened three days so far this year and those we abnormal circumstances and on top of that we do plan like the Director said for every eventuality and with the best we got with who shows up for work that day. We’re going to be out there because we’ve got great firefighters and paramedics who are going to be using the best equipment to save lives, I guarantee you that so, I want everybody to be safe. MEMBER WEST: Mr. President. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Member West. COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS JOURNAL 99 JOURNAL PAGE -181- MINUTES OF THE MEETING MARCH 28, 2011 MEMBER WEST: And just real quick Chief, where do we rank as a Fire Department to other Fire Departments in this region? CHIEF RICH: The Best! (APPLAUSE) MEMBER WEST: Say that again. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Thank you Chief very much. Well that’s a can of worms you got us into Director Price. SERVICE DIRECTOR PRICE: Well there’s no other Old Business so I guess we can move on. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Is there anything else? PUBLIC SPEAKS PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: We are now under Public Speaks and who knows what that may bring, but I know our first speaker so, I know she’ll bring us back to earth. Our first speaker is Alice Sarver. Alice would you step forward and give us your name, your residential address please and good evening, again. MEMBER WEST: (Laughter in background) Do you sweat to tell the truth, the whole truth. ALICE SARVER: This makes me very nervous now. Good evening. My request to have this Council and the citizens of Canton kept informed by Safety Director Ream under Old Business as to the status of the $116,000.00 grant, the FEMA grant that was awarded to the Canton City Fire Department for fire extinguishers and smoke detectors and other miscellaneous related items should have really been presented today. This is the final date of that grant. Since it wasn’t if I may, I am happy to take this opportunity to report that all monies have been spent within the guidelines of the grant as of 3/22/2011. The final bid for an additional 1,280 smoke detectors has been accepted from Graybar Electric and delivery is expected of 200 detectors this week and the remaining 1,080 were placed on order because they weren’t in stock. I find that a little bit questionable but I’ll accept it. The method of distribution will be announced at a later date so that all Canton city homeowners will have the opportunity to protect their homes and their lives. Lessons learned in this process are to review the type of items purchased as to their cost and use as pointed out by Councilwoman Cirelli and to communicate all pertinent information to Council as to the grant stipulations and modifications as requested by Council Member Butterworth. I would like to thank Captain Bagley and Captain Williams for their dedication to the citizens of this city and for their help in knowing the answers to these very important purchases and deadlines. Now if we have to worry about the $255,746.00 grant for heart monitors so we’ll rely on you for that. My number two topic tonight is, as a courtesy to the Council staff in their meeting preparations, I am informing you that the Neighborhood Leadership Council will hold their April meeting here in Chambers next week April the 4th during the normal Council meeting time. There will be several speakers. This group has asked me again this year to alert you to the major concern of these leaders which was the topic of discussion in their March 14, 2011 meeting and Councilman Smuckler had asked how many people were at their meeting. There were 41 people representing all quadrants of the city. I put on your, the desks the group concerns that were enclosed with that letter and the discouraging summation was that not much has changed in the past six months since we were here in October 2010. So your communication which NLC has asked that I give you this evening, is for all practical purposes a duplicate of what you received in October. This leadership Council which represents so many people would like to state that we are not complaining just to be COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS JOURNAL 99 JOURNAL PAGE -182- MINUTES OF THE MEETING MARCH 28, 2011 complaining but truly come before you from all sections of the city with incredibly the same issues requesting a better, safer, more secure way of life in this city. We believe we are performing a service to this Council and administration in making you aware of the frustration and daily challenges that neighborhoods are experiencing on so many levels throughout the city on a grassroots level and truly I think this group really does not get the appreciation from this body for the hours and hard struggles that they face on a daily basis. Thank you. We’ll see you next week. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Thank you. (APPLAUSE) Thank you very much and thank you for your public service and dedication. Our next speaker is Jason Scaglione. Jason, good evening, if you’ll give us your name and your residential address. JASON SCAGLIONE: Good evening. Jason Scaglione. 3027 Glen Place NW, Canton, Ohio and I’m here tonight with a couple concerns. First of all, I’m very glad to see what you guys did with consideration on #8 here, $125,000.00 for a parking lot. I don’t think it’s going to do a lot of good if people can’t get down the city streets to get to the parking lot. We have major potholes in all the city streets and I think there’s some liability there for the city if there’s damage to people because of that. I, if there’s a form or something available to report that, I’d like to see that maybe on the front of the Canton city website so that people can access that easily and I think that we can speak for any road in the city needs potholes filled. In particular Raff from Tusc to the other side of the city limits is terrible. I really think that we should take care of that before that becomes a thorn in our side over the $125,000.00 for a parking lot. Also there’s been brought to me several times and I don’t quite understand it myself. We talk about ambulance response to emergencies. We have life saving equipment on ladder trucks. Why do we not have that on an ambulance and why are we running a fire engine which burns much more fuel then having the equipment on an ambulance that would then be there for the transport of patients. I don’t understand why things are done and neither do a lot of other people. I’d like to see us using the dollars wisely and in the correct way. Thank you. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Thank you very much. (APPLAUSE) Our next speaker is Leon Cote. Lee if you’ll step forward and give us your name, your residential address please. LEON COTE: My name is Leon M Cote. I live at 1225 41st Street NW in Canton. President Schulman, Majority Leader Dougherty, Members of the City Council, Mayor and your staff. I’m here to talk about an incident that happened a couple of weeks ago and believe me, I had know idea all the discussion about potholes was going to be talked about tonight. A couple of weeks ago on a Tuesday morning, I was going up 44th Street NW from Cleveland Avenue to Market Street. There was a big, what I would call a big dump truck, another truck half that size and a pickup truck going up 44th Street and they were shoveling cold patch into some of these giant potholes then driving off. Well that was on Tuesday morning. On Wednesday it rained. On Thursday morning I went up that same road at approximately the same time from Cleveland Avenue to Market on 44th Street and all of the potholes were back and part of the problem is they did not tamp that hole patch when they put it down, they just shoveled it in and drove off. I’m not cheap but I’m very, very thrifty and I hate to see a waste of my money or the city’s money and I think a couple of extra minutes tamping down that cold pack would have kept those patches on for longer than a day and a half. I just think that in my opinion, thinking about it is the lack of supervision and I don’t know whether that’s, where that is if it’s the Engineering office or where but somebody’s got to be responsible. I know years ago they used to take the roller out and they would roll over it and that’s a heavy duty roller so, you know to tamp it or to roll, the monies that...I’ve seen the trucks around the city as some of you have filling in these potholes and the next day, they’re back again or a couple of days later. What a waste of our money. I mean I’m just saying shame COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS JOURNAL 99 JOURNAL PAGE -183- MINUTES OF THE MEETING MARCH 28, 2011 on all of us period. Thank you. (APPLAUSE) PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Thank you Lee. Our last two speakers I think are somewhat in the same vein. Our first is Dean Pagonis. Mr. Pagonis if you’ll step forward and give us your name and your residential address sir and welcome. DEAN PAGONIS: How you doing Mayor? Thank you. Dean Pagonis. 6260 Chesham Drive NE, Canton, Ohio. Me and Mr. Parker are here tonight to discuss possibly putting some themes that designate football since we are the Hall of Fame Football city, kind of put some themes to the downtown area and I would like to read this letter to start this off. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Sure. DEAN PAGONIS: OK. Dear Honorable Mayor William Healy and Canton City Council. While we struggle to re-emerge our manufacturing and industrial base, Canton is poised to increase its tourism margins when the over $23,000,000.00 Pro Football Hall of Fame proposed reconfiguration, expansion and renovations are completed. Best wishes to the NFL, the H.O. F., its Executive Director Stephen Perry, and Chairman of Trustees Tom Schervish, Esq., towards commemorating the Hall of Fame’s 50th anniversary and their Future 50 Project. My questions: What could downtown Canton do to portray and enhance its image as the Pro Football Hall of Fame city? How can we more aggressively market Canton’s historic and iconic status as birthplace of the National Football League? Furthermore, how have we honored the foremost American athlete of the 20th century, Jim Thorpe? The New York Time’s said, “Jim Thorpe rocked the cradle of professional football.” when they wrote of his appearance here in belated recognition on January 30, 1952, just one year before his death. Mayor Carl Wise claimed the gathering was the largest and most distinguished in the history of the city. Governor of Ohio Frank J. Lausche was overwhelmed by the attendance and ovation. Extra tables filled the halls of the Onesto Hotel, writes Kate Buford, author of Native American Son, the Life and Sporting Legend of Jim Thorpe. (Pub.2010) How to answer all of the above questions? I believe we need to examine a plan brought up a few years ago by Arts in Stark President and C.E.O. Rob Hankins. Mr. Hankins in effect stated that downtown Canton needs a much more noticeable branding and theme towards professional football. This includes architectural elements such as statues, mural, flags, banners, goal posts, and possibly draping a building similar to the artist Christoff, albeit with a football motif. I think that the plan lacked one major component: A true folk hero. In this regard, the undisputed hero of our town is The Legend, Jim Thorpe. His life, like a true hero, is full of triumph and tragedy. One historian quipped, “Thorpe put the sport on the front pages because he was bigger than the game itself.” Jim Thorpe and Ralph Hay laid the cornerstone for the league in Canton. George Halas recognized the biggest name in sports as well, when voting for Jim as first President of the APFA on September 17, 1920. And now if Mr. Parker will conclude with the second half of the letter. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Thank you very much Mr. Pagonis. (APPLAUSE) Mr Parker, James Parker. If you’ll give us your name please sir and your residential address and welcome to Canton City Council. We appreciate you being here. JAMES PARKER: Thank you. James Parker. 630 Penny Street SE, North Canton, Ohio 44720. Thank you Dean Pagonis and all the sense to the quorum of the meeting. Dean was to read the first half so that we didn’t exceed the time allotment of three minutes. COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS JOURNAL 99 JOURNAL PAGE -184- MINUTES OF THE MEETING MARCH 28, 2011 PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Well you did exceed it but I wasn’t going to say anything. But take your time. JAMES PARKER: Currently, our downtown has a small bronze plaque with Thorpe and Hay’s golden image fading with time along with the inscription telling the story. It graces the side of the now closed Frank T. Bow building. In other respects, there is Thorpe’s Pub at the McKinley Grant Hotel, and a small kiosk of football souvenirs at the Chamber of Commerce office. The Dressler Road H.O.F. overpass in Jackson Township is great, but frankly does nothing for downtown Canton. While we have been told that Jim Thorpe’s statue will no longer dominate the rotunda of our forthcoming re-constructed Hall of Fame entrance, I’m holding my male optimism high that it will be place in an area of greatest esteem to honor the man simply known as “The Legend.” Football seems to have remembered Jim Thorpe, but have we, the Cantonians? Let us not disregard Thorpe’s accomplishments for Canton any further. Instead, let us lend support to his memory, spirit, and unsurpassed achievements, many of which went un-recorded. As part of the original Canton Bulldogs, (a.k.a.Professionals) Thorpe was clearly the catalyst of the Canton matrix that built our great city into a football powerhouse and allowed us to compete with our greatest rivals, the Tigers of Massillon, which put us both on the map. Have we, the people of Canton, and our town planners, disrespected Thorpe’s greatness? Really, and at what cost to Canton’s identity and character? Shouldn’t we think of our own culpability and possible redemption of Jim Thorpe’s legacy, for posterity’s sake alone? For vindication, why not strive to place Jim’s rich tapestry of athletic excellence over a deserving mantel such as our downtown? This certainly fits the mission statement of our great Pro Football Hall of Fame, part of which is “to educate the public regarding the origin, development, and growth of professional football as an important part of American culture.” In closing, I am asking that a special committee be formed to seek and place a Jim Thorpe statue at Canton’s Central Plaza area. This includes, but is not limited to, facilitating a replica of Thorpe’s statue, “Rushing for Yards,” located at East Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania. Already, Tim Allison, who’s present this evening, of Lang Monument Co. (Who helped erect the original Thorpe statue at the H.O. F.), and local sculptor Don Lundstrom, who’s out of town, have shared similar visions on the subject. A large statue of Jim Thorpe at Canton’s Central Plaza can be the keystone which distinguishes downtown Canton’s incredible football heritage forever. Integrated use of the numerous flag poles, and light poles with banner holders already in place could easily improve recognition of local high school athletes and teams. This instills pride and eminency in the students, their families, and our town. Football art dovetailed with contemporary sports projects for Canton possibilities, including a (Pro) Football Heritage Trail, between Canton and Massillon. The Tigers already have an admirable football mural. Implementing these ideas exponentially increases awareness of a football tourism mindset. Let me correct that. Implementing these ideas expoentially increases awareness of a symbiotic and cohesive football tourism mindset that gives our town the game changer, a paradigm shift, and the architectural adjustments that would truly help classify downtown Canton as the Pro Football Hall of Fame City. Honorable Mayor, Council Members, ladies and gentlemen, thank you. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Thank you Mr. Parker. (APPLAUSE) Thank you Mr. Parker. Thank you to all our speakers this evening. You’ve certainly given us a lot to think about. INFORMAL RESOLUTIONS PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: We are now under Informal Resolutions. Madame Clerk would you please read Informal Resolution 12 by title. #12. COUNCIL-AS-A-WHOLE: URGING CONGRESS TO REQUIRE THAT CSBG BE FULLY FUNDED AT ITS $700 MILLION LEVEL. - ADOPTED COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS JOURNAL 99 JOURNAL PAGE -185- MINUTES OF THE MEETING MARCH 28, 2011 PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Leader. MEMBER DOUGHERTY: Mr. President, I move we adopt Informal Resolution 12. MEMBER PRATER: Seconded. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: It’s been moved and seconded that you adopt Resolution #12. Are there any remarks? By voice vote, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Those opposed no. NO REMARKS RESOLUTION #12 PASSED UNANIMOUSLY BY VOICE VOTE PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: The ayes have it. The motion carries. The Resolution is adopted. COMMUNICATIONS PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: We are now under Communications. Let the journal show that all Communications are received as read. NOTE: ALL COMMUNICATIONS WHICH FOLLOW, LISTED BY AGENDA TITLE, ARE ON FILE IN THEIR ENTIRETY IN THE COUNCIL OFFICE WITH THE AGENDA ITEMS FILE DATED MARCH 28, 2011. 98. AUDITOR MALLONN: REQ FOR ADDT’L AMENDED CERT DATED 3/23/11. - RECEIVED & FILED 99. BARTON, P, ANNEXATION CHAIRMAN: REQ STATEMENT OF SVCS FOR BROAD AVENUE ANNEXATION CONSISTING OF APPROX .179 ACRES LOCATED IN CANTON TWSHP. - ANNEXATION COMMITTEE 100. BARTON, P, ANNEXATION CHAIRMAN: REQ TO AMEND GEORGETOWN ROAD CEDA TO INCLUDE THE 1.368 PARCEL OF PROP INCLUDED IN ARMORY ANNEXATION. - ANNEXATION COMMITTEE 101. CANTON-STARK CNTY CRIME LAB: 2010 ANNUAL REPORT. - RECEIVED & FILED 102. COMMUNITY DEV DIRECTOR WILLIAMS: AUTHORIZE MAYOR &/OR SERV DIR TO ENTER INTO CONTRACT W/STARK COMMUNITY FOUNDATION TO PROVIDE A GRANT UTILIZING CDBG FUNDS IN AN AMT NOT TO EXCEED $50,000.00 FOR THE NEIGHBORHOOD PARTNERSHIP GRANT PROG RETRO 1/1/11 - 12/31/11. - COMMUNITY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE 103. SERVICE DIRECTOR PRICE: AUTHORIZE THE DESIGNATION OF COMMERCIAL IMPROVEMENTS OF PROPERTY AT GERVASI WINERY & ITALIAN BISTRO SUBJECT TO TAX INCREMENT FINANCING AS DESCRIBED IN ORC SECTIONS 5709.40, 5709.42 & 5709.43. - FINANCE COMMITTEE COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS JOURNAL 99 JOURNAL PAGE -186- MINUTES OF THE MEETING MARCH 28, 2011 104. SERVICE DIRECTOR PRICE: AUTHORIZE THE DESIGNATION OF COMMERCIAL IMPROVEMENTS OF PROPERTY AT MILLS INDUSTRIAL PARK SUBJECT TO TAX INCREMENT FINANCING AS DESCRIBED IN ORC SECTIONS 5709.40, 5709.42 & 5709.43. - FINANCE COMMITTEE 105. SERVICE DIRECTOR PRICE: REQ TO RATIFY TENTATIVE AGMT REACHED BETWEEN CITY & AFSCME LOCAL 2937 RESULTING FROM RECENT WAGE REOPENER. - PERSONNEL & FINANCE COMMITTEES ORDINANCES & FORMAL RESOLUTIONS FOR FIRST READING PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Turning now to Ordinances and Formal Resolutions for the First Readings, let the Journal show that all Ordinances are being given their reading as required by State Law. Madame Clerk would you please read the First Reading Ordinances by title. NOTE: PRESIDENT SCHULMAN CALLED UPON CLERK TIMBERLAKE TO READ ORDINANCE #1 FOR THE FIRST TIME BY TITLE & ANNOUNCED THE COMMITTEE REFERRAL, AS FOLLOWS: #1. (1ST RDG) AN ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTION 1169.02, APPLICATION FOR CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT, OF THE CODIFIED ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF CANTON Referred to Judiciary Committee ORDINANCES & FORMAL RESOLUTIONS FOR SECOND READING PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: We’re now under Ordinances for their Second Reading, Madame Clerk please start with Ordinance 2. NOTE: PRESIDENT SCHULMAN CALLED UPON CLERK TIMBERLAKE TO READ ORDINANCES #2 THROUGH AND INCLUDING #7 (ORDINANCE #8 WILL BE RETAINED IN CMTE) FOR THEIR SECOND READING BY TITLE AS REQUIRED BY STATE LAW, AS FOLLOWS: #2. (2ND RDG) A RESOLUTION APPROVING THE STATEMENT OF SERVICES TO BE PROVIDED TO THE PROPERTY OWNER IN THE ARMORY ANNEXATION AREA, THE APPROXIMATE DATE SERVICES WILL BE PROVIDED, PROCEDURE FOR INCOMPATIBLE ZONING USES UPON ITS BEING ANNEXED TO THE CITY OF CANTON, OHIO; AND DECLARING THE SAME TO BE AN EMERGENCY #3. (2ND RDG) AN ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTION 1355.02, EXTERNAL WOOD BURNING APPLIANCE, OF THE CODIFIED ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF CANTON #4. (2ND RDG) AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE DISCHARGE OF THE DEMOLITION LIENS, ASSESSMENTS, PENALTIES AND INTEREST ON THE PROPERTIES LOCATED AT 1434 - 5TH STREET NE AND 2307 WINFIELD WAY NE; AND DECLARING THE SAME TO BE AN EMERGENCY COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS JOURNAL 99 JOURNAL PAGE -187- MINUTES OF THE MEETING MARCH 28, 2011 #5. (2ND RDG) AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC SAFETY TO ACCEPT FUNDS FOR THE ASSISTANCE TO FIREFIGHTERS GRANT FROM FEMA AND THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $255,746.00 TO PURCHASE HEART MONITORS AND ACCESSORY EQUIPMENT; AMENDING APPROPRIATION ORDINANCE NO. 245/2010; AUTHORIZING THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC SAFETY TO ENTER INTO CONTRACT WITH PHYSIO-CONTROL, INC.; AND DECLARING THE SAME TO BE AN EMERGENCY #6. (2ND RDG) AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC SERVICE TO ENTER INTO A NON-EXCLUSIVE AGREEMENT WITH WINDSTREAM KDL, INC. FOR USE OF CERTAIN CITY RIGHTS-OF-WAY TO INSTALL COLLOCATED EQUIPMENT AND CABLE FOR FIBER SERVICES TO TELECOMMUNICATION CARRIER CUSTOMERS; AND DECLARING THE SAME TO BE AN EMERGENCY #7. (2ND RDG) AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE CITY AUDITOR TO PAY $73,416.03 TO KIMBLE CLAY & LIMESTONE; AND DECLARING THE SAME TO BE AN EMERGENCY #8. (2ND RDG) RETAINED IN COMMITTEE AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC SERVICE TO ADVERTISE, RECEIVE BIDS AND ENTER INTO CONTRACT FOR THE PAVING OF THE PARKING LOT AT THE WILLIG BALL FIELD COMPLEX; AMENDING APPROPRIATION ORDINANCE NO. 245/2010; AND DECLARING THE SAME TO BE AN EMERGENCY ($125,000.00) AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR AND/OR DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC SERVICE, TO ENTER INTO A FUNDING AGREEMENT WITH J.R. COLEMAN TO PROVIDE A GRANT IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $125,000.00 FOR FACADE AND STREETSCAPE IMPROVEMENTS; AND DECLARING THE SAME TO BE AN EMERGENCY ORDINANCES & FORMAL RESOLUTIONS FOR THIRD AND FINAL READING PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Thank you Madame Clerk. We’re now under Ordinances and Formal Resolutions for the Third and Final Reading and vote. Madame Clerk would you please begin with Ordinance 9. NOTE: PRESIDENT SCHULMAN CALLED UPON CLERK TIMBERLAKE TO READ ORDINANCES #9 THROUGH AND INCLUDING #11 FOR THEIR THIRD AND FINAL READING BY TITLE AS REQUIRED BY STATE LAW, AS FOLLOWS: #9. (3RD RDG) ADOPTED AS ORDINANCE NO. 45/2011 AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR AND/OR DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC SERVICE, TO ENTER INTO A FUNDING AGREEMENT WITH J.R. COLEMAN TO PROVIDE A GRANT IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $125,000.00 FOR FACADE AND STREETSCAPE IMPROVEMENTS; AND DECLARING THE SAME TO BE AN EMERGENCY COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS JOURNAL 99 JOURNAL PAGE -188- MINUTES OF THE MEETING MARCH 28, 2011 PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Leader. MEMBER DOUGHERTY: Mr. President, I move we adopt Ordinance 9. MEMBER PRATER: Seconded. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: It’s been moved and seconded to adopt Ordinance 9. Any remarks under this Ordinance? Hearing none, Madame Clerk roll call vote please. NO REMARKS ROLL CALL 11 YEAS, 0 NAYS CLERK TIMBERLAKE: Eleven yeas, Mr. President. #9 ADOPTED AS ORDINANCE NO. 45/2011 PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Thank you Madame Clerk. Ordinance #9 is adopted. Ordinance #10 please. #10. (3RD RDG) ADOPTED AS ORDINANCE NO. 46/2011 AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC SAFETY TO ENTER INTO A COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT WITH THE STARK METROPOLITAN HOUSING AUTHORITY IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $40,000.00 FOR THE PURCHASE AND INSTALLATION OF SECURITY CAMERAS; AND DECLARING THE SAME TO BE AN EMERGENCY PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Leader. MEMBER DOUGHERTY: Mr. President, I move we adopt Ordinance 10. MEMBER PRATER: Seconded. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: It’s been moved and seconded that you adopt Ordinance #10. Any remarks under this Ordinance? Hearing none, Madame Clerk roll call vote please. NO REMARKS ROLL CALL 11 YEAS, 0 NAYS CLERK TIMBERLAKE: Eleven yeas, Mr. President. #10 ADOPTED AS ORDINANCE NO. 46/2011 PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Ordinance #10 is adopted. Ordinance #11 please Madame Clerk. #11. (3RD RDG) ADOPTED AS ORDINANCE NO. 47/2011 AN ORDINANCE RENAMING A PORTION OF NIMISILLA COURT S.E. IN THE CITY OF CANTON, WILBUR ALLEN JR. AVENUE S.E. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Leader Dougherty. MEMBER DOUGHERTY: Mr. President, I move we adopt Ordinance 11. COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS JOURNAL 99 JOURNAL PAGE -189- MINUTES OF THE MEETING MARCH 28, 2011 MEMBER PRATER: Seconded. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: It’s been moved and seconded that you adopt Ordinance #11. Any remarks under this Ordinance? MEMBER SMITH: Yes, Mr. President. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Member Smith. MEMBER SMITH: Could we have that read in it’s entirety please? PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Absolutely. Madame Clerk could you... CLERK TIMBERLAKE: A portion of Nimisilla Court S.E. from Sherrick Road northerly approximately 228 feet to the dead end of Nimisilla Court S.E. is renamed Wilbur Allen Jr. Avenue S.E. in order to honor the legacy of Pastor Allen’s life and journey. Section 2. A street sign shall be erected identifying said street. #3 this Ordinance shall take effect from and at the earliest period allowed by law. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Thank you Madame Clerk. Any other remarks or comments? MEMBER WEST: Mr. President. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Member West. MEMBER WEST: You know I think this is a awesome idea. I went to college with Wilbur Allen Sr., Wilbur Allen Jr., and his Jennifer and it’s truly a, this is an honor and a privilege to be here this day that they’re naming a street after him and we should all support this highly. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Thank you Member West. Any other remarks? Mayor Healy. MAYOR HEALY: Yea, just a quick question. Tom, how long were you in college? (Laughter) PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: I’m glad the Mayor asked that question. Member West. MEMBER WEST: One thing Wilbur Allen Sr. said you know, “A family that prays together, stays together, and studies together” but I got to say this. I think it was one or two years wasn’t we together two years maybe? Two, yea. Only two years. That’s all it took me. MEMBER SMITH: Mr. President I don’t know whether we should do this now. I just wanted to acknowledge the Allen family that’s here along with his wife and his children and could all of them just stand please. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Sure, please. MEMBER SMITH: I just appreciate them being here. (APPLAUSE) Thank you. COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS JOURNAL 99 JOURNAL PAGE -190- MINUTES OF THE MEETING MARCH 28, 2011 PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Welcome and thank you very much. You have a lot to be proud. Any other remarks? Hearing none Madame Clerk roll call vote please. NO REMARKS ROLL CALL 11 YEAS, 0 NAYS CLERK TIMBERLAKE: Eleven, Mr. President. #11 ADOPTED AS ORDINANCE NO. 47/2011 PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Ordinance #12 is adopted and congratulations again to the family. Thank you so much. (APPLAUSE) Thank you. MEMBER SMITH: Mr. President. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Member Smith. MEMBER SMITH: That was #11 not 12. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Oh, I’m sorry, #11 was adopted not 12. But congratulations anyway. ANNOUNCEMENT OF COMMITTEE MEETINGS PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Alright, we’re now under Announcement of Committee Meetings and thank you Member Smith for picking up on that. Is there an announcement? CLERK TIMBERLAKE: Thomas. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: None, wow. MEMBER WEST: I do have one announcement. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Wow, Member West. MEMBER WEST: I have a Judiciary Committee which will be...say that again. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: (Inaudible) MEMBER WEST: You’re on committees, right? PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Yea. MEMBER WEST: OK, Judiciary Committee will meet, what date is that? CLERK TIMBERLAKE: 4/4. MEMBER WEST: 4/4 at 6:55. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Very good. MEMBER WEST: It will only take 5 minutes. COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS JOURNAL 99 JOURNAL PAGE -191- MINUTES OF THE MEETING MARCH 28, 2011 PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: OK. MEMBER BARTON: Mr. President. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Yes. MEMBER BARTON: Annexation Committee will meet same time, same place. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Any other announcements? MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: We’re turning now to Miscellaneous Business? Is there any? SERVICE DIRECTOR PRICE: Mr. President. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Director. SERVICE DIRECTOR PRICE: Let me talk a little bit about potholes. The city of Canton has over 1400 lane miles of road. We have 31 rank and file staff members or laborers who are available to work out there on patching. To date, we’ve done over 2,000 probably pushing 3,000 potholes. We have thousands remaining in the city of Canton and while I’m not suggesting that the comments were necessarily meant this way, we aren’t the only city with potholes in northeast Ohio. You can go down I77, there’s big potholes there. We’re spending about $4,000.00 per day right now on average on asphalt. I signed a purchase order for $20,000.00 last week, another one came up today for $25,000.00. Keep in mind, we are on, we are still on the winter schedule until this Friday so right now we’re running two shifts in that department. That’s in the event that we’d have another snow event. After that, so we’ve got 18 people, 6 crews of 3 patching potholes. That’s all they’re doing during their shift. When the afternoon shift is done this Friday then all of our personnel will be devoted full time to nothing but patching, so we’ll have, given that their there and that we have full attendance, we’ll have 31 people there. But we obviously have an enormous number of potholes because of the freezing and thawing, it’s probably one of our worst years in terms of the condition of our streets. And I want to assure you though that adequate funding is not an issue at this point. We have fully funded the program for patching. It’s no different than any other year and that’s not a problem. Now personnel wise given the enormous number of potholes we have in the city, yes that is a problem. Now the Mayor came to me and suggested that we may be able to use Parks personnel to assist to get some of these done and their under a different appointing authority. We’re talking to the Parks Department because they have to get the parks cleaned up as well. Parks because of particularly the ice storm, they’re still in dismal shape and so, I will acknowledge, I will be the first to admit with no embarrassment, yea we’re catching up. Catching up in the parks, catching up on our roads because we had a hellacious winter. We had a real tough winter and there’s just not enough people to get it done in I guess the time that people want it done. The other thing I’m going to tell you is that, I’m going to look into this matter with the tamping down of the cold patch . I noted the area. I can probably figure out what crew that was but I want this Council to know that this is a professional operation. We don’t, certainly our policy is not to permit our people to just grab a shovel and kind of shovel a little bit of cold patch over these potholes and expect that to work. Every truck is equipped with a tamper and a roller. Our policy is to tamp down every bit of cold patch that goes on to the street cause otherwise we’d be throwing money away and as you know, cold patch is very expensive when we’re spending $4,000.00 a day to patch potholes right now. That’s standard operating procedure. I’ve seen the sign that’s posted down at the Street Department. The tampers now referred to as “The Kevin”. And for those of you who don’t know Kevin Monroe is the Street Superintendent. The reason it’s called “The Kevin” is because COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS JOURNAL 99 JOURNAL PAGE -192- MINUTES OF THE MEETING MARCH 28, 2011 “The Kevin” came down on some of our folks pretty hard when we’d had reports that they weren’t tamping down the cold patch in the past and so the message to our people is that, you’d better use “The Kevin” and you better use the roller and you better tamp that cold patch down so, we’ll look into it. Now that was two weeks ago. I don’t, I don’t know what I could do from a disciplinary standpoint, if that was the case, and I know Lee and I know he’d have no reason to mislead us here but I’ll certainly look into it but, just so you know it’s our, we do have policies and procedures in fact. And trust me, it does roll down hill and so, when I make a phone call to the Street Superintendent talks to his foreman and those folks talk to the rank and file people who’d have been responsible for that area. So, I just want you to know, we take that seriously. I’m going to do something about it now, but and for the Members of Council and for the public, you’re welcome to call our Street Department because if it’s happening at the time or if you’re not getting an answer from them, my office, 438-4310, talk to my assistant Katie or Derek Gordon, anybody up there, they’ll get the word to me and we’ll find out what happened or if there’s something wrong. But I guarantee you, I’ll look into it. Thank you. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Thank you Director. MEMBER CIRELLI: Mr. President. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Member Cirelli. MEMBER CIRELLI: I had, about three weeks ago I had to call Kevin about some, one of the chuck holes was probably about from where my seat is to almost to Reverend, yea Reverend Hawk, I was promoting you. Where Council Member Hawk is. I mean it was giant. (Laughter) Well he is a Reverend anyhow but it was so giant. It was on 15th Street heading north toward the school there close to Frazer Avenue and then another one was on the underpass on Cleveland Avenue and they must have done “The Kevin” because I went and checked them and they were solid so, but he also informed me it depended on the weather. If they had some rain that really upsets the whole apple cart. But they had enough time where these really dried and the last time that I seen they are still holding good they way they were so I mean I have to compliment them on those ones there. Those I did check on. So I know it does have a lot to do with the weather and if it rains, they can’t go out and if it rains in between when they go out, that can mess it all up too but, hopefully they’ll get their act together. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Thank you Member Cirelli. MEMBER WEST: Mr. President. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Member West. MEMBER WEST: Couple things. I, first James Parker thank you so much for you passion, your vision for bringing Jim Thorpe’s presence in downtown Canton. I would support that fully. Secondly, I would like to bring to your attention the Stark County Minority Health Coalition is having it’s 8th Minority Health Month celebration and it will be held at Skyland Pines. It’s free to the public, as well as each Council Member so if you, you got one of these in your mailbox, please come on out and support it. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Thank you Member West. Any other remarks? MEMBER SMUCKLER: Mr. President. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Member Smuckler. COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS JOURNAL 99 JOURNAL PAGE -193- MINUTES OF THE MEETING MARCH 28, 2011 MEMBER SMUCKLER: I would like to reiterate the comments that were made during the session when we were discussing committees on Ordinance #8. Just so it’s on the record, I appreciate everything that was done with Willig Field. I appreciate the money that was spent there. I don’t necessarily appreciate the cost overrun that was down there but I do understand that in my 20 some years here, this is the worst the streets have ever been and if it takes extra money because some of these streets, these potholes, I can believe that filling them is the answer. I’ve got to believe that it’s going to take whole new pavement in some instances and I see you shaking your head Warren and saying yes, that I can’t support spending money to pave Willig Field like Councilman Dougherty said when we’ve got streets for all our citizens that are going to be in need of new tires, new axles. I don’t know what’s going on with some of these things. I know when you have an SUV, you sort of plow through this but when you’re driving some of these other cars, you’re scrapping the bottom and I think that it’s going to be more than chuck holes that you’re going to be dealing with here very shortly. You’re going to be dealing with whole strips and patches that you’re going to have to do. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Thank you Member Smuckler. Any other Miscellaneous Business? Leader. MEMBER DOUGHERTY: Mr. President, I move we adjourn. MEMBER PRATER: Seconded. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: It’s been moved and seconded that you adjourn. Madame Clerk roll call vote please. NO REMARKS ROLL CALL: 11 YEAS, 0 NAYS CLERK TIMBERLAKE: Eleven yeas, Mr. President.. PRESIDENT SCHULMAN: Thank you everyone. Meeting is adjourned. Drive carefully. (Gavel falls) ADJOURNMENT TIME: 8:30 PM ATTEST: APPROVED: CYNTHIA TIMBERLAKE ALLEN SCHULMAN CLERK OF COUNCIL PRESIDENT