MINUTES OF THE CUYAHOGA COUNTY
PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING

MARCH 14, 2024

CALL TO ORDER
The meeting of the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission (County Planning) was called to order by Director Dever at 2:02 p.m. and the roll call showed a quorum was present.

COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC
No requests for public comment.

RESOLUTIONS REQUIRING BOARD APPROVAL

Resolution No. 240314-A Requesting the approval of the Resolution authorizing the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission (County Planning), Ohio Public Works Commission (OPWC), the District One Public Works Integrating Committee (DOPWIC) to enter into an Administrative Cost Agreement for the State Infrastructure Programs for FY 2025.

Director Cierebiej introduced the resolution and Alison Ball presented on the program and the proposed agreement. The project agreement would be for the upcoming fiscal year starting July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025 with the task of evaluating infrastructure project applications and selecting projects within Cuyahoga County through a competitive grant program. Cuyahoga County receives an annual program allocation of approximately $30 million dollars and 40 to 50 project applications are received per year. The Ohio Administrative Code Section 164.133 permits OPWC to provide the administrative services for the district integrating committees. This agreement would allow County Planning to continue to assist the DOPWIC to develop an orderly application process for submission and review developing the methodology, selection and approval process that meets the requirements of law and allows for the political subdivisions throughout the county to compete for funding in the next program year.

County Planning has provided administrative services since 1991. The Ohio Public Works Commission (OPWC) was created initially in 1987 by the Revised Code Section 164. OPWC’s mission is to deliver its statutory programs with the greatest efficiency and highest customer satisfaction while maintaining a high level of transparency and accountability to Ohio’s taxpayers. The Ohio Public Works Commission (OPWC) administers Infrastructure in conjunction with Local Control with nineteen (19) District Integrating Committees and Cuyahoga County is District One.

The Ohio Public Works Commission District One Public Works Commission (DOPWIC) administers several programs and is comprised of a variety of local stakeholders. District One DOPWIC consists of two (2) Cuyahoga County representatives, two (2) City of Cleveland representatives, two (2) Suburban representatives, and a Private Sector representative. OPWC programs include the State Capital Improvement Program (SCIP) that is a combined grant/loan program based on funding from general obligation bonds. Loans made under the SCIP program, as they are repaid, produce funds for the Revolving Loan Program (RLP). The Local Transportation Improvement Program (LTIP) is a grant program for roads and bridges based on funding generated from gasoline taxes. Another program- the Small Government Commission program- provides grants and loans to villages and townships in unincorporated areas of less than 5,000 in population. Project applications are selected from those not funded through the 19 District Committees. Lastly, the Emergency Program is a reserve fund kept by the OPWC for emergency projects which arise directly out of catastrophic situations that threaten public health and safety.

Alison Ball announced District One’s SCIP fiscal year funding totals more than $33 million for infrastructure projects throughout Cuyahoga County. The resolution is requesting approval of the administrative Program Cost Agreement with the OPWC and the DOPWIC for funding cycle FY 2025 and allows the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission to enter into a contract with the Ohio Public Works Commission and District One Public Works Integrating Committee for a project budget not to exceed $65,000 for work from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025.

On a motion by Director Dever, seconded by Mayor Burke, Resolution No. 240314-A, requesting the approval of the Resolution authorizing the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission (County Planning), Ohio Public Works Commission (OPWC), the District One Public Works Integrating Committee (DOPWIC) to enter into an Administrative Cost Agreement for the State Infrastructure Programs for FY 2025 was duly adopted with a unanimous vote.

Resolution No. 240314-B Requesting the approval of the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission’s (County Planning’s) Revised Parental Leave Policy, Section 9.10 of County Planning’s Personnel Policies and Procedures Manual.

Director Cierebiej introduced the resolution and explained the Maternity/Paternity Leave, Section 9.10 of the Personnel Policies and Procedures Manual was originally adopted in 2014. In 2021, the Board approved a revised policy, renamed Parental Leave Policy, and updated terminology used in the original policy to better align with Cuyahoga County’s policy, which is under a separate Employee Handbook. Director Cierebiej reminded the members of the board that County Planning Commission has its own Policies and Procedures Manual because the Commission is an Agency that reports to the board and is not a Department of the County which reports to the County Executive. Over the years, County Planning has tried to mirror the County’s manual to make sure that its policies are in line with, or at least competitive with what is being implemented at the County level.

On February 23, 2024 the County updated several components of its Parental Leave Policy providing increased benefits to employees. County Planning’s previously amended Parental Leave Policy offered two weeks of continuous paid parental leave after one year of service, having worked at least 1,250 hours. This revised policy, if approved, would provide 30 hours per week of paid leave for up to 12 continuous weeks of paid leave for eligible employees with the ability to supplement the additional 10 hours per week with vacation or sick time. Director Cierebiej noted small differences between County Planning and the County’s policy include a probationary period of one hundred eighty (180) days served by a County Planning employee and the option, not requirement to supplement 10 hours per week for a total of 40 hours per week of paid leave. Although these differences are subtle, this tailored revised policy makes County Planning much more competitive as an employer.

On a motion by Director Dever, seconded by Mayor Gallo, Resolution No. 240314-B, requesting the approval of the Resolution authorizing the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission’s (County Planning’s) Revised Parental Leave Policy, Section 9.10 of County Planning’s Personnel Policies and Procedures Manual was duly adopted with a unanimous vote.

PRESENTATION – ‘OUR COUNTY: THE 2023 DATA BOOK’
Director Cierebiej introduced Dan Meaney and Kevin Leeson to present on the Data Book. Mr. Meaney thanked the team that worked on this project. Mr. Leeson gave the report and noted that different data books produced by County Planning use different approaches in terms of data. The Our Communities report looks at municipal level data using current data while the Our County report uses county level data and both current data and trend data.

Mr. Leeson noted that this is the 1st Edition of a Data Book at the County Level, released in December 2023, that compares Cuyahoga County to ten (10) comparable Midwest counties. The motivation was to provide benchmarks and examine data sets not available at the municipal level. The peer counties were chosen by population size and central city characteristics and compared amongst fifty (50) indicators in six (6) sections: Demographics, Economy, Workforce, Housing, Transportation, and Environment. Every chapter has an overview of each section and an analysis on specific indicators such as the age of population as a demographics indicator, gross domestic product as an economic indicator, self-employment as an indicator of workforce trends, housing construction trends, commuter transportation methods, and land cover indicating development potential – an example of an environmental indicator. The full document can be found at countyplanning.us/ourcounty. Mr. Leeson announced that the next project will be the Our Communities 2024 Data Book, to be released in Spring, 2024.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Director Cierebiej reported that she is excited to begin work with communities that received the 2024 Planning Grant awards for their projects. Board approval will be requested in April and May, 2024 to enter into contracts with these communities. The team leads are getting kick-off meetings scheduled and developing scopes, budgets, and schedules.

The 2024 Community Planning Grants were awarded to:

• Cleveland Heights – Gateway & Wayfinding Plan
• Maple Heights – Evolving Southgate USA Plan
• North Olmsted – Mall Area Mixed-use Overlay District
• Richmond Heights – Northside Business Revitalization Plan
• Seven Hills – Zoning Map Update & Online Resource Development

Director Cierebiej announced that the official rollout of County Planning’s logo and branding is today! New templates are being developed for all Agency documents using the brand standard developed by the consultant. Director Cierebiej thanked Rachel Novak and Kevin Leeson for all the social media graphics and posts, and to the whole team that has been involved in this process. Director Cierebiej continued that next week will be the release of the Agency’s Annual Report with a recorded video that the County Media team helped produce, something to be shared on many platforms, and with the board as it goes public.

Luke Ols will complete his Cleveland Foundation Fellowship July 31st and will transition to a Senior Intern on our team through the end of 2025. The summer internship was posted, and County Planning received almost forty (40) applications with six (6) interviews scheduled to narrow down the top applicant. The current intern, Sidney Bacon will go back to the University of Cincinnati after her last day on April 26th. The Principal Planner posting coordinated through the County’s Human Resources Department is open until March 22nd and has 14 applicants so far to review. County Planning was directed to return to Council to request additional budget for the Principal Planner if we identify a quality candidate, since this vacancy was not funded as part of the biennial budget.

The four (4) previous Community Planning grants from 2023 are wrapping up. Final drafts are complete, and presentations are being made to municipal Planning Commissions and City Councils. The City of Euclid Plan is officially complete, and the city adopted it. Finally, on February 27th the County Council approved County Planning’s Fiscal Agenda Item requesting the to realignment of $28,837 of our existing appropriation to a different accounting code within its 2024 budget.

OLD BUSINESS
There was no old business.

NEW BUSINESS
There was no new business.

ADJOURN
On a motion by Director Dever, seconded by Mayor Weiss, the Planning Commission meeting was adjourned at 2:53 pm.

NEXT MEETING
April 11, 2024

CUYAHOGA COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING ATTENDANCE