Minutes of the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission/Solid Waste Policy Committee
April 12, 2007
ATTENDANCE
Attachment A lists the attendance at this meeting, at which the following matters were
discussed.
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order by Vice-Chair Mayor Longo.
MINUTES
On a motion by Mayor Blomquist, seconded by Mayor Kenneth Patton, the minutes of the February
8, 2007 meeting were unanimously approved.
RESOLUTIONS
General
On a motion by Mayor Eileen Patton, seconded by Mayor Kenneth Patton, Resolution No. 070412-A,
approving an amendment to the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission (CPC) Personnel Policies and
Procedures to allow CPC employees to use exchange time as vacation or sick time and to change
the employment status of Ms. Carla Regener from full-time to part-time, was unanimously
approved.
Mayor Longo noted the arrival of Mr. Hugh Shannon to represent Commissioner Peter Jones.
On a motion by Mayor Kenneth Patton, seconded by Mayor Procuk, Resolution No. 070412-B, authorizing the CPC staff to begin planning the initial stages of the City of Cleveland Wards 15 and 16 Master Plan in the event that the planning services need to start prior to June 14, 2007 in order to comply with the project schedule, was unanimously approved.
On a motion by Mr. Cantor, seconded by Mayor Gorden, Resolution No. 070412-C, approving a subgrant subconsultant agreement with the Cuyahoga River Community Planning Organization for consulting services for the High Performance Shoreline Project (Green Bulkheads) for $195,000.00 for the period April 12 - September 30, 2007, was unanimously approved.
Mayor Longo noted the arrival of Mr. Patrick Smock to represent Commissioner Jimmy Dimora.
On a motion by Mayor Kenneth Patton, seconded by Mayor Gorden, Resolution No. 070412-D, withdrawing Resolution No. 061116-B awarding a contract to Spatial Insights, Inc., for software enhancements and upgrades to the CPC's Brownfields Geographic Information Services (GIS), was unanimously approved.
On a motion by Mayor Kenneth Patton, seconded by Mayor Gorden, Resolution No. 070412-E, approving an Inter-Agency Agreement with the Cuyahoga County Engineer's Office to upgrade and enhance the CPC's Brownfields GIS, was unanimously approved.
On a motion by Mr. Shannon, seconded by Mayor Blomquist, Resolution No. 070412-F, approving an amendment to the CPC's contract with Currere, Inc., to increase the contract amount by $70,000.00 and to extend the term from March 31, 2007 to February 29, 2009 was unanimously approved.
Olmsted Township
On a motion by Mayor Kenneth Patton, seconded by Mayor Blomquist, Resolution No. 070412-G,
approving a one-year extension of the approval of the preliminary layout for Gates Village
of Woodgate Farms Subdivision, proposed to be located in the Olmsted Township, was unanimously
approved.
COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL ISSUES
Mr. Alsenas introduced Mr. David Abbott, Executive Director of the Gund Foundation and Hudson
Mayor William Currin who is also President of the Northeast Ohio Mayors and Managers
Association, who were present to discuss the Advance Northeast Ohio: Economic Development
Action Plan, the action strategy developed from the goals identified by the Voices and
Choices campaign.
Mr. Alsenas stated that Mr. Abbott would explain how the development of the priorities and action plan got started and Mayor Currin would speak about the implications of the action plan specifically those that affect local government, issues of tax sharing and land use, (zoning and land development).
Mayor Longo recognized Mr. Tom Bier from Cleveland State University and Mr. Paul Oyaski, Director of the Cuyahoga County Development Department.
Mr. Abbott explained that the Fund for Economic Future was started about four years ago when the major foundations decided to pool grant foundation funds in the amount of $30 million and to strategically award these funds to efforts that would advance the Northeast Ohio region's economy more aggressively then had been occurring. The first step the Fund took was to engage a team of economists to identify the best opportunities for making the region's economy more competitive.
Mr. Abbott stated that the world economy looks at Northeast Ohio as one functional unit but the region doesn't act that way; each city and county govern and tax separately. The intent of the Fund dollars was to begin a discussion on a regional basis to get the average citizen's input on what they think are the important issues facing this region, where investments should be made, how to develop alliances for long-term development and how get this region out of the doldrums that it has been experiencing for the past two decades.
Mr. Abbott stated that an extensive public engagement process to discover what people thought were the most important issues facing the region was started. In addition, the economists put together a "dashboard of economic indicators" to be used over time to guide investment decisions and to measure our progress.
Mr. Abbott stated that amazingly the economic indicators and the issues identified by the public meshed extraordinarily. He said that the Action Plan synthesizes the strategies and initiatives that the public and the economists said were the key issues. Mr. Abbott stated that racial and economic inclusion are not on the list because they were deemed too political but there is a great deal of interest by the public about these issues and the economists said that places that are racially and economically inclusive do better in world-wide competition.
Mr. Abbott stated that the Fund is now in the process of getting support from the government sector, business sector and non-profit sectors to advance what was identified and that the Fund was investing another $30 million over the next 3 years to invest in initiatives that develop an understanding of our common fate and our need to work together regionally to achieve a competitive place in the world and to survive long-term. Mr. Abbott stated that the Fund has to invest the money intelligently and leverage it with public funds.
Mayor Currin explained that the Northeast Ohio Mayors and City Managers Association developed an Action Plan with six goals and that the fourth goal is to understand the concept of regionalism and how it can work through programmed services and shared benefits. Mayor Currin stated that this region went beyond the tipping point when Cleveland was named the poorest city in the nation twice in the last three years. Mayor Currin stated that is it time to stop hoping that something will happen but to make something happen.
Mayor Currin explained that the Association has challenged itself to develop a sustainable, comprehensive and collaborative regional economic development program for all of Northeast Ohio. He said that this study will include a serious investigation of revenue pooling (tax sharing), land planning and sustainability. He stated that the Association developed a White Paper at the request of the Fund for Economic Future and that the Association received a Request for Proposal from the Fund and that the Association's response is due on April 18.
Mayor Currin explained that the focus of this study is on regional economic development and that the first phase will be to do research to answer questions and to build a consensus.
Mayor Longo opined that Mayor Currin would not have been here two years ago making these comments and that this dialogue just shows how far this region has come and suggested that the chambers of commerce should be asked to participate to help with the marketing effort. Mr. Abbot replied that the Greater Cleveland Partnership has volunteered to take the lead in developing a marketing alliance and has made a great deal of progress.
Mr. Shannon stated that this initiative is similar to what the Board of County Commissioners has been doing for the last few years and that they are fully engaged in the process.
Mayor Gorden stated that a major turning point is the fact that we have the two major cities, Akron and Cleveland working together and that in itself is a huge success and an economic driver.
Mayor Currin stated that the intent of the study was not to break new ground but to take the best practices from all around the country and creatively meld them into one.
Mayor Longo stated that the State of Ohio is notorious for having no master plan for the development of the state and that maybe we need legislation to allow Northeast Ohio to form a structure for revenue-sharing. He asked if this was part of the RFP.
Mayor Currin responded that an important part of the study is to do legal research to determine what changes to the state constitution may be necessary or if the changes can be done through local government action.
The mayors all agreed that this study is important to the future of the region and asked that they be kept informed.
Mr. Alsenas stated that he was impressed that the people identified preserving the core assets of this region as a priority and that economic development should also include identifying, preserving and protecting the natural areas of this region.
Mr. Alsenas stated that the Planning Commission has over a period of years been doing work on the core elements of the County's assets and redevelopment potential, such as the Greenspace Plan, Brownfields, Watershed Planning and the Cuyahoga Valley Initiative and that he was very excited that the region is going to work in a disciplined way on these issues.
SOLID WASTE DISTRICT REPORT
Mr. Holland presented the 2006 Waste Flow Analysis. Mr. Holland reported that Cuyahoga County
used nineteen different landfills in 2005 and sixteen in 2006. He reported that the primary
facilities used for disposal of County waste were Stark County operated by American, the
Stark/Tuscarawas/Wayne landfill operated by Kimble and the Lorain County landfill operated
by Allied.
Mr. Holland explained that for the collection and shipment of waste, the County is paying the receiving Solid Waste Districts approximately $5.1 million, with approximately $2.5 million going to the Stark/Tuscarawas/Wayne landfill and $2.2 million going to the Lorain County landfill. On a per ton basis the fee is about $4 a ton in Lorain and $2 a ton to the Stark/Tuscarawas/Wayne landfill.
Mr. Holland stated that he wanted to notify everyone of a situation that may affect where the County is going to dispose of its waste in the future. He explained that the Stark/Tuscarawas/Wayne District has adopted a rule, which districts can do, that was facilitated by the former director of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) under Mr. Taft's administration. He explained that the Stark/Tuscarawas/Wayne District, after developing its initial plan, could never get concurrence from three counties in the District so that the OEPA had to step in and write the plan for this district. Mr. Holland stated that he thought political accommodations had been made because Rule 4 of the joint district states that exporting Solid Waste Districts cannot bring waste into the Stark/Tuscarawas/Wayne landfill unless the exporting district is achieving the same or higher recycling goals than the Stark/Tuscarawas/Wayne district. Mr. Holland indicated that unless this problem is fixed, Cuyahoga County may find itself with 65% of its waste with no place to go.
Mr. Holland identified three courses of action which are to appeal to the new OEPA director, secondly, to bring a lawsuit against the Stark/Tuscarawas/Wayne district and OEPA based on the argument that the joint district has usurped the state's authority in establishing recycling goals and that it is not proper for one county to tell another county what its recycling goals should be. Mr. Holland stated that only the OEPA should have the authority to establish district rules.
Mr. Holland explained that the third option would be to take the County's waste to other landfills. He stated that there is a new facility in Jefferson County which moves solid waste in and out by rail lines, which is the most economical method.
Mr. Holland stated that courts have ruled that solid waste is an item of commerce and if coming from another state, the Stark/Tuscarawas/Wayne district shouldn't be allowed to impose this rule because they have developed a barrier to commerce.
Mr. Holland stated that the solid waste industry is now developing large regional landfills and because Cuyahoga County is completely built out and is now redeveloping old landfills this issue will have to be addressed by the Policy Committee in the near future. Mr. Holland welcomed any input from the Policy Committee.
Mr. Holland pointed out an anomaly that also may become an issue; the County's recycling rate is increasing every year, but the County's disposal numbers are not going down even as the County continues to lose population. He opined that the waste haulers may not be accurately reporting the amount of waste that is being generated which means that the County's recycling rate may in fact be higher than 50%.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Mr. Ed Hauser distributed information about River Day. He asked why, if the County's
bicentennial is on June 7, 2007, there no celebrations being planned. He stated that Whiskey
Island should be an important part of the celebration. Mr. Smock told Mr. Hauser that he would
bring this issue up with the Board of Commissioners.
ADJOURNMENT
With no further business to attend to, Mayor Longo adjourned the meeting.
Attachment A
Cuyahoga County Planning Commission/Solid Waste Policy Committee
| April 12, 2007 ATTENDANCE RECORD | |
|---|---|
| Member | Present |
| Mayor Robert Blomquist | Yes |
| Mr. Robert Brown for Mayor Jackson | Yes - represented by Mr. George Cantor |
| Commissioner Jimmy Dimora | Yes - represented by Mr. Patrick Smock |
| Mayor Merle Gorden | Yes |
| Commissioner Timothy Hagan | Yes |
| Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones | Yes - represented by Mr. Hugh Shannon |
| Mayor Edward Kelley | No |
| Mayor Thomas Longo | Yes |
| Mayor Eileen Patton | Yes |
| Mayor Kenneth Patton | Yes |
| Mayor Michael Procuk | Yes |
| SOLID WASTE POLICY COMMITTEE | |
| Ms. Virginia Aveni | Yes |
| Mr. Jack Licate | Yes |
| Others: David Abbott, Paul Alsenas, Chris Alvarado, Mayor William Currin, John DeMuth, Patrick Holland, Kristin Hopkins, Carol Thaler | |
