Minutes of the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission

August 14, 2014

CALL TO ORDER
The meeting of the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission (CCPC) was called to order by Mr. Kelly with attendance as reported in Attachment A.

MINUTES
On a motion by Councilperson Simon, seconded by Mayor Procuk, the minutes of the June 12, 2014 meeting were unanimously approved.

RESOLUTIONS
Administrative
On a Motion by Mayor Gorden, seconded by Mayor Patton, Resolution No. 140814-A, approving the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission’s Personnel Policy and Procedures Manual was unanimously approved.

Contracts over $5,000.00
On a Motion by Trustee Lippus, seconded by Councilperson Simon, Resolution No: 140814-B, approving an Agreement with the Cuyahoga County Department of Development for Planning Services for $55,000.00 was unanimously approved.

Resolution No. 140814-C was introduced and Ms. Sara Parks Jackson from the Department of Development answered questions during the discussion. On a Motion by Mayor Procuk, seconded by Trustee Lippus, Resolution No: 140814-C, approving an Agreement with the Cuyahoga County Department of development to perform community master plans in the amount of $150,000.00 was unanimously approved.

On a Motion by Councilperson Simon, seconded by Mayor Infeld, Resolution No: 140814-D, approving a contract with the City of Lakewood to facilitate the Active Living and Recreation Task Force in the amount of $19,500.00 was unanimously approved.

On a Motion by Mayor Patton, seconded by Trustee Lippus, Resolution No: 140814-E, authorizing the Executive Director to enter into a contract with the City of Beachwood for a Master Plan and Community Survey in the amount of $54,000.00 was unanimously approved.

On a Motion by Mayor Infeld, seconded by Trustee Lippus, Resolution No: 140814-F, authorizing the Executive Director to enter into a contract with the Cuyahoga County Department of Public Safety and Justice Services, Department of Emergency Management for $8,000.00 was unanimously approved.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Mr. Kelly introduced Mr. Garland from the City of Cleveland to the meeting.

Mr. Bill Beachy, Owner and Mr. Chris Comella, Project Manager, from Go Media introduced the new Logo and Tagline designed for the CCPC. Mr. Kelly asked that a style guide be put together with colors, uniformity and consistency rules regarding the use of the logo and tagline for letterhead, business cards, email, and all forms.

Mr. Coyne reported that the summer intern, Ms. Danielle Campbell, had gone back to the University of Cincinnati and that the other summer intern, Mr. Timothy Holcomb, from Cleveland State University, would be here for another week and then will also go back to school. Mr. Coyne said that Mr. Andrew Boughan, a co-op student from the University of Cincinnati, will start work on August 25, 2014. Mr. Coyne reported that interviews for a new Planner have been going well and that the position should be filled by the middle of September. Lastly, Mr. Coyne announced that the Manager of Planning, Ms. Kristin Hopkins, had submitted her resignation and will leave at the end of the month to join CT Consultants. Mr. Coyne stated that he wished all the best for Kris and that her job would be posted and advertised in the next few weeks.

Mr. Richard Sicha gave an update on the results of the Improvement Target Area (ITA) Survey done for the Department of Development.

Mr. Coyne discussed “Projects in the Pipeline” for which the CCPC is in discussion as a major partner. These pipeline projects are: City of Brook Park to update the economic development components in the Master Plan, completing an initial outline of a proposed Countywide Housing Plan and submitting to the US EPA an application for a Brownfield Area Planning Grant for a planning study of the Irishtown Bend area of the Cuyahoga River.

FISCAL REPORT
Ms. Jennifer Karaffa, the CCPC Fiscal Officer, gave the financial report for the First Half of fiscal year 2014. Ms. Karaffa introduced Mr. Chuck Cavano, the CCPC’s budget analyst from the Office of Budget and Management (OBM).

During Ms. Karaffa’s presentation, the Commission members asked why it appeared that the CCPC’s General Fund (GF) subsidy had been adjusted down from the original budget appropriation. Mr. Kelly added that he knows of other non-County Executive agencies such as the ADAMHS Board and MetroHealth Hospital that receive a GF subsidy and that he does not think the GF subsidy fluctuates through the budget cycle.

When asked if OBM has changed the County Council’s budget appropriations to the CCPC, Ms. Karaffa replied that the CCPC GF subsidy is estimated to be adjusted downward. Ms. Simon expressed surprise at the reduction when there were no contingencies put on the GF subsidy by Council and furthermore, it was Council’s intent to have the CCPC grow and to able to bring in more revenue so reducing the subsidy is a disincentive for the CCPC to bring in additional revenue.

Mr. Cavano answered additional questions from Commission members. Following this discussion, it was decided that Mr. Kelly would set up meeting with Mr. Coyne, Ms. Karaffa, Mr. Cavano and Ms. Simon to discuss the GF subsidy issue and report back the results of this meeting to the Planning Commission.

Ms. Karaffa outlined future expenses that needed to be addressed in the near future. These issues included a 1% COLA retroactive to January 2014 for all CCPC personnel, hiring the new Planner, increasing the hours of a part-time Planner to 30 hours per week, and the expenses related to an overhaul of the CCPC’s website and timekeeping and project invoicing program.

NEXT SCHEDULED MEETING
Mr. Kelly announced that the next scheduled meeting was to be held on Thursday, October 9, 2014 at 2:00 p.m.

ADJOURN
The meeting was adjourned on a motion by Councilperson Simon and a second by Mayor Byrne.

Attachment A

Cuyahoga County Planning Commission