Westshore Council of Governments (WCOG) Meeting, Sept. 12, 2018

This report is not an official statement of the League of Women Voters. Mayor Kennedy's office prepares official minutes. These minutes have been abridged. For complete minutes, see the LWVGC Westshore Facebook page, facebook.com/lwvgcwestshore.

Present: Mayors Kennedy (North Olmsted), Koomar (Bay Village), Clough (Westlake), Bobst (Rocky River), Patton (Fairview Park), Summers (Lakewood), and Renee Mahoney, COG Fiscal Officer.

New Business: Julie Morron, RRPD Youth Service Officer and Westshore Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) coordinator, reported on current activities and requested input from COG on direction forward. The question is whether CERT should continue. The volunteer responders are a valuable resource, helping but not replacing first responders with things like traffic control and crowd control at community events. Morron requested support from COG to get fire chiefs involved. They have training and ability to train others. Morron proposes to attend twice per year as liaison and trainer, along with one police chief once a year. She would have fire chiefs paid overtime to do training for 20 people. Individuals can also take free training through FEMA and continuing education courses. She suggested the program leader could rotate annually through the COG. Program has cut costs through COG sponsorship; a little over $16,000/year shared by the 6 cities, about half what it was before. In response to question, Morron described typical volunteers as a wide age group, between 30 years old and retired, who are interested in public safety, want to learn what police do, and want to know how to be prepared  for crisis situations. They like appearing at public events. The Citizen Police Academy could be a feeder organization for CERT.

Marc Ryan, Lake Erie Council Scout Executive/CEO explained the role of Scouting today. Originally a community service organization, today they are mainly a program provider. The program has been growing; they will welcome 4,000 new families in the area this year, including those with girls, as they have single-gender programs as well. CERT program discussed above would be an ideal fit for Scouts; they want to partner with cities to deal with youth problems. Their Sea Scouts program has just been adopted by the U.S. Coast Guard. Scouting is turning its traditional goals towards foundational needs: workforce development, character building and leadership. Ryan gave the mayors bottles of maple syrup, a new Scout project. Tapping trees on their lands, they are now the second largest producer of maple sap in Ohio.

Fiscal Officer’s Report: All cities are currently under budget.

Commission Reports

RTA: Mayor Clough made three main points: 1.) They have an acting general manager and are doing a national search for a replacement. 2.) They have commissioned Cleveland State University to do an economic impact study. 3.) They are reviewing services with help from Greater Cleveland Partnership, to determine whether they’re operating under the right model, and running the right routes. They did not ask voters for funding this past election because they didn’t feel ready; they still have to determine whether to go to ballot next November, and what kind of tax to seek – sales, property, sin tax? He also noted that autonomous cars are on the horizon – how will they affect transportation in our area?

NOACA: They are excited by the prospect of a public-private partnership to develop a Hyperloop, a super-speed corridor that will enable people to go from Cleveland to Chicago in half an hour.

Land Bank: Mayors asked what is the commission’s focus beyond demolition of condemned properties? Answer not provided.

County Planning Commission: All the cities are forming master plans with money from the County.

Cuyahoga County Mayors & Managers Association: CSU is surveying mayors about regional collaboration. Seventeen of the First Ring Suburbs wrote Gov. Kasich to request Rainy Day Funds come back to the cities, but they have doubts that will happen.

Old Business: County Jail: North Olmsted wants to be the hub for transferring prisoners. Chiefs need to work out the protocol with their individual judges, so local police won’t be spending unnecessary time processing. Fact-finding continues on the possibility of consolidating police and fire services for the Westshore. Models exist for this.

The next WCOG meeting will be Wednesday, Nov. 14, at 9:30 a.m. in North Olmsted City Hall, 5200 Dover Center Road. All meetings are open to the public.

LWV observer Judith Weiss

LWVGC-Rocky River Chapter Chair. Retired librarian, writer, volunteer. Rocky River resident for 9 years.

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Volume 10, Issue 20, Posted 10:10 AM, 10.16.2018