Westshore Council of Governments (WCOG) meeting, Feb. 12, 2020

This report is not an official statement of the League of Women Voters. Mayor Koomar's office prepares official minutes.

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

Guests: Bay Village Police Chief Mark Spaetzel and Bay Village Fire Chief Chris Lyons.

The meeting was held at Bay Village City Hall, Mayor Koomar presiding. It was called to order at 9:30 a.m.

Fiscal report: The year-end report was submitted showing expenditures significantly below budget. The possibility of additional funding for drug enforcement from the state and possible drug enforcement grants were discussed.

Commission Reports

NOACA: Mayor Bobst reported that there will be a presentation and discussion on Feb. 18, 4-6 p.m., at the Crawford Auto Museum on University Circle titled “From Hyper Loop to Electric Vehicles.” The event is part of an exhibit at the museum co-sponsored by NOACA titled “Electric, Steam or Gasoline: The Past, Present, and Future of Alternative Power" and the presentation will be preceded by a reception and tour of the exhibit. The presentation is free and open to the public but registration is required. The exhibit will continue until April 26, 2020.

County Planning Commission: Mayor Bobst reported on the Planning Commission’s Healthy Urban Tree Canopy initiative. Grants are available for 2020. The planning commission wants to be an information clearinghouse on the issue.

The Solid Waste District also reports to the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission and problems with recycling are intensifying. It is becoming increasingly more expensive to recycle than to send recyclable waste to landfills. The district seeks information from the cities as to their costs and their experience with negotiating new contracts with their service providers. They have compiled a spreadsheet by city of service providers and contract terms, and seek to be useful to the cities in contract negotiation.

Cuyahoga County Mayors and Managers Association: Mayor Bobst reported that the big issue is school funding. Competing legislation on how to fix the impending explosion in voucher costs to local school districts is before the legislature and the eventual outcome is unclear.

New Business: This is the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Westshore Enforcement Bureau (WEB), and Bay Village Police Chief Mark Spaetzel and Bay Village Fire Chief Chris Lyons were invited to update the Westshore mayors on the collaboration between the jurisdictions.

Police Chief Spaetzel described the WEB as encompassing training, narcotics, and tactical functions to which all of the cities’ police forces contribute personnel and resources. There is a SWAT team which receives 28 days of training annually; a crisis negotiating team, bomb unit, and mobile field unit (riot squad). Hazardous materials are handled by the fire departments. When asked to identify the greatest challenge facing law enforcement Chief Spaetzel responded that most crime in this area is related in some way to substance abuse. Recruitment is also a significant challenge.

Fire Chief Lyons described regional collaboration among the Westshore’s fire departments. While most ordinary calls are handled locally, 3-5 percent involve mutual aid responses. Complex incidents are handled by a Regional Incident Management Team concept developed by FEMA with pre-designated roles and responsibilities. There is a Westshore HazMat team, and technical rescue specialties are located in particular cities and shared by all. For example: Fairview Park has high-angle ropes specialists; Westlake has trench collapse rescue ability; Lakewood has a SCUBA team, and Bay Village does surface water rescue. The fire investigation unit is also shared.

Other New Business: Mayor Koomar delivered an update on the opioid litigation. The state is looking into a statewide settlement. The current proposal suggests distributing 30 percent of any settlement directly to the cities; 55 percent to the cities indirectly through a foundation; and 15 percent for state programing. Nothing has been decided and no dollar amounts have been committed, but there are suggestions that as much as $1 billion could be involved in the settlement. It is not possible to extrapolate how much any city could hope to receive and all money is to be used to relieve opioid related costs.

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 10:30 a.m.

The next WCOG meeting will be Wednesday, March 11, at 9:30 a.m. in Bay Village City Hall. All meetings are open to the public.