Minutes of the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission/Solid Waste Policy Committee
July 20, 2006
ATTENDANCE
Attachment A lists the attendance at this meeting, at which the following matters were
discussed.
MINUTES
On a motion by Mayor Blomquist, seconded by Mayor Patton, the minutes of the April 20, 2006
meeting were unanimously approved.
SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT POLICY COMMITTEE AGENDA
Mr. Pat Holland, Solid Waste District Director, reported that the Cuyahoga County Solid
Waste Management District's Draft Solid Waste Plan Update was ready for ratification, a major
milestone in the Plan update process. Mr. Holland extended appreciation to the Policy Committee,
in particular Ms. Aveni and Mr. Licate who served on the Technical Working Group, the District
and CPC staff and the consultants for the assistance they provided in getting this major task
accomplished.
Mr. Holland stated that at the end of the 90-day ratification period the District had receiving ratifying resolutions from representing 97.9% of the communities in the county including the City of Cleveland. Ratification must be made by more than 60% of Cuyahoga County communities plus the City of Cleveland so the Policy Committee had well met its goal.
Mr. Holland then asked the Policy Committee to approve Resolution 060720-A, declaring the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste Management District's Draft Solid Waste Plan Update to be ratified and authorizing the delivery of the Plan Update to the Director of the Ohio Environmental Agency for final approval pursuant to Ohio Revised Code Chapter 3734.55. On a motion by Mayor Kenneth Patton, seconded by Mr. Hayes, the plan was unanimously adopted.
Diane Bickett, the District's Assistant Director, announced that the 2005 Recycling Report has been completed and will be sent out next week. Ms. Bickett explained that the District publishes this report every year to track every community's efforts to meet the State's recycling goal of 25% and also to encourage residents to participate in recycling programs.
Ms. Bickett presented highlights of the Recycling Report. She reported that 35 cities improved their recycling rates and that of 34 of the 35 had exceeded the 25% household recycling goal. In addition, Cuyahoga County increased its 2001 recycling rate from 18.4% to 23.3% and diverted 209,000 tons of materials from landfills in 2005 which resulted in a $6 million savings to county taxpayers.
Mayor Gorden asked whether cell phones can be recycled. Ms. Bickett explained that any technology items, including cell phones, can be recycled and are counted toward the community's and the District's recycling goal of 25%.
Ms. Bickett extended congratulations to Pat Holland who was named the 2006 SWANA Ohio Buckeye Chapter Solid Waste Professional of the Year. Mr. Holland reported that the same group had voted the City of Brooklyn's Landfill Facility as the best solid waste facility in the State.
COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL ISSUES
Mr. Alsenas reported on the efforts of the CPC staff, since the last meeting, to examine the
issue of housing and how it impacts on the social side of communities and the economics of
the County.
Mr. Alsenas stated that the staff was continuing to work with Patti Choby of the Cobalt Group to identify an approach to look at the housing issue systemically. Mr. Alsenas stated that through her work with the relocation of the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) to Cuyahoga County Ms. Choby has found that the perception of our housing market as being a competitive advantage may be a fallacy and that our marketplace is not responding adequately to the housing needs of current and potential residents.
Mr. Alsenas reported that since last meeting, Ms. Choby and the CPC staff have been trying to put the housing issue into a regional economic development context and referred the CPC members to the diagrams in the agenda book. He asked for the Committee members to think about how the CPC can provide significant value to this issue by framing the questions and the scope. However, the CPC also has to determine the level of effort and the amount of resources that would be need to be expended. Mr. Alsenas reported that this is a very complex issue that will take quite a bit of effort but that the CPC has distinguished itself as being an agency that has the ability to look at issues systemically as was done with brownfields, retail, greenspace and the Cuyahoga Valley Initiative.
Mr. Alsenas stated that the CPC has a meeting scheduled with the Cleveland Foundation to discuss the housing issue and our continued work on the on the Elder Friendly Initiative.
Mr. Alsenas proposed a tour of certain sites in communities in order to get a feel about the variety of housing problems and to meet some people that are dealing with these issues.
RESOLUTIONS
General
On a motion by Mayor Ken Patton, seconded by Mayor Blomquist, Resolution No. 060720-B,
approving an amendment to the Planning Services Contract with the Cuyahoga County Department
of Justice Affairs, was unanimously approved.
On a motion by Mayor Ken Patton, seconded by Mr. Shannon, Resolution No. 060720-C, authorizing a contractual arrangement for planning services with the Village of Walton Hills, was unanimously approved.
On a motion by Mayor Kelley, seconded by Mayor Patton, Resolution No. 060720-D, approving the Administrative Services Contract with the District One Public Works Integrating Committee, was unanimously approved.
On a motion by Mayor Kelley, seconded by Mayor Ken Patton, Resolution No. 060720-E, adopting a Memorandum of Understanding regarding the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, was unanimously approved.
On a motion by Mayor Kelley, seconded by Mr. Cantor, Resolution No. 060720-F, approving the nomination of Ms. Virginia Aveni to the Cuyahoga County Natural Resource Assistance Council, was unanimously approved.
Olmsted Township
On a motion by Mayor Kelley, seconded by Mayor Gorden, Resolution No. 060720-G, conditionally
approving the revised preliminary layout for Arbors at Olmsted proposed to be located in
Olmsted Township was unanimously approved.
PUBLIC COMMENT
There was no public comment.
NEXT MEETING
Commissioner Dimora announced that the next CPC meeting would be held on Thursday, September
14, 2006.
Attachment A
Cuyahoga County Planning Commission/Solid Waste Policy Committee
| July 20, 2006 ATTENDANCE RECORD | |
|---|---|
| Member | Present |
| Mayor Robert Blomquist | Yes |
| Mr. Robert Brown for Mayor Jackson | Yes - represented by Mr. Cantor |
| Commissioner Jimmy Dimora | Yes |
| Mayor Merle Gorden | Yes |
| Commissioner Timothy Hagan | Yes - represented by Mr. Hayes |
| Mayor Jerry Hruby | No |
| Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones | Yes - represented by Mr. Shannon |
| Mayor Edward Kelley | Yes |
| Mayor Thomas Longo | Yes |
| Mayor Eileen Patton | Yes |
| Mayor Kenneth Patton | Yes |
| SOLID WASTE POLICY COMMITTEE | |
| Ms. Virginia Aveni | Yes |
| Mr. Jack Licate | Yes |
| Others: Paul Alsenas, Diane Bickett, John DeMuth, Patrick Holland, Kristin Hopkins, Claire Kilbane | |
