SAFETY & PUBLIC PROPERTIES COMMITTEE November 12, 2014 AT 6:00 P.M.

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1 SAFETY & PUBLIC PROPERTIES COMMITTEE AT 6:00 P.M. The met at City Hall on the above date and began at 6:00 p.m. Present: Councilman Pedicino, Councilman Pelunis Absent: Councilman Russo Also Present: Police Chief Viland, Fire Chief Shaw, Assistant City Engineer Welch, Traffic Engineer Hobbs, and Acting Secretary Margie Advent. Mr. Pelunis presided. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion was made by Mr. Pedicino, second by Mr. Pelunis, to approve the minutes from the Safety & Public Properties Meeting on October 8, 2014 as submitted. REPORTS: 1. Jail Report Chief Viland said the report tends to be a month behind due to bookkeeping practices. The October report in draft form is in and the daily average population is higher than the report for September. The count is up to almost 16 per day and getting closer to where they would like to stay. CORRESPONDENCE: 2. Traffic Signal at Hawthorn & Aurora Road Mr. Pelunis spoke with Councilperson Meany who is currently speaking with and waiting to hear back from representatives of the Metroparks. Ms. Welch said there are no new updates. The signal being studied is in flash mode until December and there are no accidents to report. Item Tabled. Motion was made by Mr. Pedicino, second by Mr. Pelunis, to table this item. 3. Access Plan for Dairy Queen Mr. Jeff Baker and Marie Halloway from Cleveland Dairy Queen, 4067 Erie Street, Willoughby, Ohio presented a drawing for Dairy Queen on Aurora Road. Mr. Baker explained the architectural layout of the property and said with the difficult layout of the plot they tried to have an entrance from Aurora Road, but the exit it s a right turn out only. The building is moved as far to the right as possible so stacking would stay on their property and they also tried to make an exit to go into the strip center property behind the site. Mr. Pelunis said tonight they are just looking at the safety aspect of the property. Mr. Pelunis asked if they acquired a cross access agreement with the shopping center. Mr. Baker believed they did. He is meeting with the property owner, Fred, who has the purchase agreement and believes that is part of the agreement. Discussion regarding the Starbucks new plan, stacking and cross-over problems were discussed. Mr. Baker explained the busy time for Dairy Queen is 7-9:30 pm, they do have a lunch business from 12-2:00 pm. Dairy Queen doesn t have morning business which would interfere with Starbuck s earlier busy 1

2 hours. Mr. Baker said a concern is about stacking going out onto the street as 60-70% of Dairy Queen s business is done with the drive thru, but as shown with the variety of cars drawn in they have substantial stacking. Mr. Pelunis said his concern was the six parking spaces on the right. If someone was backing out and someone pulling in, this could cause an issue. Mr. Baker explained the intent of the six spaces was to make two of them for a drive thru order they can t handle. They would be marked for short time use or maybe they could just make five spots. Mr. Pelunis said he would leave that to the experts but thinks the last spot is an issue. Mr. Pelunis is also very concerned about the cross access with Starbucks and doesn t want to make the problem worse for the Starbuck s plan. Mr. Pedicino agreed with Mr. Pelunis and suggested they could get together with the Traffic Engineer and Engineering and coordinate this map with the new Starbucks design, which would give a better rendering of what the traffic flow would be like. Ms. Welch said they met last week with Mr. Baker and discussed this layout and the suggestion of a left turn only came out of that meeting. Mr. Hobbs, who was also in the meeting, explained some of the points from the design. He said the Dairy Queen plan has the cross access, if this plan was approved you would be required to modify the previously approved plan for the Starbucks. Mr. Hobbs also said they would non-perform two or three of the delineators which would be where you would come out to make the left out of the Dairy Queen site to the stop bar. At that point, he said, you have the option to go to the light by circulating throughout the plaza driveways and go out at Linden. Mr. Pelunis asked how Mr. Hobbs saw the traffic movement within the site. Mr. Hobbs did agree that most of the fast food business in general is done through the drive thru. Based on the site plan that has been seen before for this and taking everything into consideration Mr. Hobbs feels this is a better site plan in terms of traffic flow than they had proposed previously. He feels it will cause less issues with the Starbucks cross access issue than the previous plan. Mr. Pelunis asked if there will be a problem with the cars stacking along Aurora Road to get into the establishment. Mr. Hobbs said the only way they could know is to get service time data from Dairy Queen and perform that kind of analysis to see how long that they anticipate the queue to be. Mr. Hobbs added the Dairy Queens that he has observed don t create the kind of stacking that you see on this plan, from that standpoint he is not concerned. If the committee would like them to look into this further they could request the data and perform the data analyses. Mr. Pedicino questioned Mr. Hobbs about the thru lane for Starbucks. He said the lane east bound is the lane to turn into the angled parking spots, so a car exiting will have to cross over cars going down that lane and cross over the Starbucks stacked traffic, which they may not be able to see cars coming toward the exit to the traffic light. Wouldn t that create a sight line problem in there is a stacking issue of cars. Potentially it could, said Mr. Hobbs, again he is not saying this is a perfect plan he is saying given the options they have seen this is the best plan. Starbucks does have an issue with their drive-thru stacking several noted times during the day. He told Mr. Pedicino he has identified it correctly, that is a pass thru lane to allow vehicles to access the backside of the retail building and you could have Starbucks traffic stacking. The idea would be typically Starbucks traffic is highest in the morning during which time Dairy Queen is not open for breakfast and doesn t open until 10:30 a.m. Operationally, from a usage perspective, the two shouldn t overlap, they could and it has potential, but upon the foremost of the time you don t think that would be an issue. Mr. Baker assured members he did not want to start a breakfast menu and was willing to add that clause if needed. Mr. Baker said he didn t want to create a problem and he would love to come back into Solon, which is a great community. But if it doesn t work he understands, it s a tight fit. Mr. Pelunis said the next step is to meet with the Planning Department and come back next month with a different plan, or this plan including the integrated Starbucks and parking lots, and they can take a look at it further and get a memorandum or opinion from the Planning Director and from Traffic Engineer. 2

3 POLICE AND FIRE ISSUES: 4. Damaged, Obsolete, Unneeded Property Disposition Chief Viland addressed members. His memo was requesting legislation to authorize the disposal of broken and unusable office chairs that have collected for a period of 15 years. The chairs have been used to scavenge parts as needed and are no longer suitable for that purpose. The Service Department has been contacted and will dispose of these items. Motion was made by Mr. Pedicino, second by Mr. Pelunis, to prepare legislation authorizing the disposal of all the listed items on the Chief s memorandum and declaring an emergency. 5. Traffic Fine and Traffic Cost Ordinance Amendments Chief Viland explained the Police Dept. has been attempting to garner a solution that would allow the traffic violators to pay their traffic fines and costs via the internet. They have purchased a Mayors Court software package and are in the process of installing it. That will be the means by which people will have access through the internet to pay their fines and costs. While starting to roll this software package out and installing it, they have come across currently a 2008 Traffic Fine Ordinance which conflicts with current State Law, as well as a small wording conflict with the pending Codified Ordinance change coming before Council at the next meeting. As a result of that the Chief is requesting two pieces of legislation be passed. 1. The wording change in of the Solon Codified Ordinances - to add the word Non-Parking which means they will not be collecting the $50.00 mandated court costs on parking tickets that are $15.00 tickets. The Chief said they have never done this in the past and thinks this will prohibit people from wanting to pay their parking citations. 2. The second part is Exhibit A which will be a new Traffic Waiver Fine Schedule. This fine schedule takes into account the fact that court costs have increased in the city. There would be no revenue lost to the city, and is also an incentive for people to utilize the Solon Traffic Violations Bureau as opposed to waiting to go to the Municipal Court because it is still a cheaper cost to the violator. Chief Viland is requesting legislation authorizing Exhibit A be adopted as the new Traffic Waiver Fine Schedule and requests for both these legislative actions be done on an emergency basis so they can implement the software process and begin accepting payments online at the soonest time. Mr. Pedicino asked if this was for every waiverable citation and the Chief said yes, that is for every waiverable citation, correct. Mr. Pelunis asked if we already purchased the software package and Chief Viland said yes, this was purchased earlier this summer through Baldwin and actually it allows us to keep records in the same way the Municipal Court system does and make our required reporting s to State Superintendency, reports through the Supreme Court etc. This software package is very good, and this will allow us to incorporate the last piece of the puzzle which is the online payment program. There are two separate motions. Motion was made by Mr. Pedicino, second by Mr. Pelunis, that Ordinance of Solon Codified Ordinances be amended with the following bold wording to reflect the current collection practice: The Docket Clerk of the Mayor s Court is hereby authorized and directed to impose and collect court costs in the sum of $50 for each waiverable and non-parking case processed. and declaring an emergency. Motion was made by Mr. Pedicino, second by Mr. Pelunis, that the new Traffic Waiver Fine Schedule as proposed and included in Exhibit A be adopted, and all ordinances and resolutions in conflict with the same be repealed. 3

4 6. Jail Service Contract Beachwood (AMENDED) Chief Viland said back in February this Committee and Council passed a resolution authorizing us to enter into a contract for jail services with the City of Beachwood. As the contract went through their process and they had some questions with regards to an indemnification clause in the contract and they did not approve the contract that we approved in February. Their Law Department and our Law Department had additional discussions after the fact. It was Chief Viland s understanding that Mr. Lobe is in approval of the change that is in the amended contract that is attached and as a result the Chief would request legislation authorizing us to enter into a jail service contract with the City of Beachwood for the Mayor and Finance Director in an emergency basis so we can collect revenue at the earliest possible time. This change is acceptable to both Chief Viland and the Law Department. Motion was made by Mr. Pedicino, second by Mr. Pelunis, accepting the Jail Service Contract as attached which has been approved by our Law Department and the Chief of Police and is an agreement with the City of Beachwood for jail services, and declaring an emergency. 7. Update on Ready Notify Chief Shaw updated members on the Ready Notify Emergency Notification System. Chief Shaw said he was at an event with Councilman Russo earlier this month, put on by the Solon 100, and this was part of the update that he provided. He said this was the first time some of the residents in attendance at the meeting had heard of Ready Notify, so Mr. Russo asked the Chief to give an update as to the status of Ready Notify in Solon. Chief Shaw said we have approximately 739 residents signed up, which is about 3% of the community. We have attempted to advertise this on all the social media outlets that the city operates including the Police Department, Fire Department, City Hall, and as well have posted it on the city s website. We have received cooperation from Sue Reid at the Solon Times which gave us a nice article when this was rolled out. The Chief said we also had a message on the last sewer billing, and we will probably look now at other mailings the city does, possibly with the Recreation Department. We also had a sign up event at Homedays this summer. Chief Shaw said we looked at a lot of different avenues to bring this available service to the resident s attention, and will continue to work on that. 8. Replacement Aerial Truck Chief Shaw addressed members regarding the replacement aerial truck. He said the ladder truck did not pass the certification test in 2012, and at that time he was instructed by Council to look at a number of different options. The first option was to look for a grant. The Chief said they applied for an Assistance to Firefighter Grant through FEMA which was denied because they lack the ability to show financial need. Second, the Chief was told to look for a demonstrator unit and used units. Chief Shaw explained there are not many used vehicles out there that they felt were acceptable, however they did work with the City of Twinsburg regarding their 14 year old unit that they currently have in service, and also the City of Garfield Heights, who made the department aware that they would be interested in selling their 6 year old ladder truck. If the Chief had a preference between those two, he said he would recommend the Garfield unit because it s a newer unit and has less use on it. In his memo, Chief Shaw outlined the requests from the committee on all the options available. Option 1- new unit, Option - 2 demonstrator mode, and Option- 3 used unit. The Chief said the pricing in the memo is now dated, we are looking at the 2015 model year and he anticipates those prices to increase. Whatever the option or next step is he would look to update those prices. The Chief explained the other limitation in this process is that we are required to limit the overall gross vehicle weight of the vehicle to 70,000 pounds, which is the capacity of the lifts at the Service Department. He said that does limit to some degree and basically it requires they look for the ladder portion to be made out of aluminum rather than steel. The current vehicle that we have now is an aluminum ladder and the gross vehicle weight is 70,000 lbs. Anything over that weight would require finding a private shop, with heavier capacity lifts, and 4

5 sending the vehicle out for service which would increase the costs of not having our own mechanics doing a lot of the work they do now. Mr. Pelunis said he would still want to get a price even if the truck was 75,000 or 80,000 lbs. if it was going to be $50,000-$75,000 less expensive. He said it might make sense to send it out rather than have the maintenance done in house, and from a financial perspective it may be better that way. If it s not then we can go with the lower weight truck. Mr. Pelunis didn t think we should discount not having the proper weight for our lifts if we could get a better price on something. Mr. Pedicino asked if the trucks that are being looked at, including the weight differential, will reach what we are replacing, and if that is able to reach the highest building in the city or if we need a longer ladder which would increase the weight of the truck. Chief Shaw said the practical answer to the first part is no, the tallest story building in the city is the 8 story Stouffers freezer tower, but that would be a massive gargantuan vehicle which would quite frankly be impractical for Solon. He said what they are looking to replace is the 100 aerial with another 100 aerial, a like replacement. He said he didn t see any need to go larger than that which would certainly increase the weight and create additional challenges. Mr. Pedicino asked if that would reach top of Nestles and Carrington, if the intent of purchasing a ladder truck is to extract people if we need to. Chief Shaw said yes, with the exception of the Nestles freezer. Mr. Pedicino asked if we would be looking at a 2015 demo model. Chief Shaw said yes. Understand, he said, that most of the spring trade shows are in the spring so as you get into the spring months there are more units available. As they are sold, he is not sure what you would find now as the selection would be much less. The Chief said he would imagine the manufacturers do have units online now being produced for those upcoming spring shows. He explained the reason they are called demos are because they are made to a stock specification. It didn t have a customer come in and do custom specifications such as where they want a particular piece of equipment or how they want a compartment designed. The companies put a lot of the features in a demo that most customers order with the hope of selling them later on down the line. The demonstrator model actually could be a brand new unit that quite possibly has never been driven before. It could also be one that has been taken to a show or some departments in other states and shown and demonstrated for a potential purpose. You can get a pretty wide range of vehicles. The Chief would expect now at this late juncture the demos that are immediately available are probably few, which he didn t think a real substantial consideration since we are looking at next year s budget cycle. Mr. Pedicino asked if there were any specific specifications they are looking for or if they needed any legislation. The Chief had no specifics yet and said the demonstrator models they looked at last year are all within what they would be able to use and make work, such as horse power and being able to take some of the hills in the north end of the community, ladder length, compartment square footage, and cubic footage. Mr. Pelunis said he really thought of the three options he was in favor of Option 2 and felt pursuing that option made more sense. Mr. Pelunis spoke to Mr. Russo who is also in favor of Option 2 - the demonstrator unit. Mr. Pelunis said he is not in favor of a used truck because there is no warranty. Mr. Pedicino would concur. Chief Shaw said to that end they will work on getting a complete list of demonstrator models that would be available regardless of the weight or anything like that, as Mr. Pelunis requested. Motion was made by Mr. Pelunis, second by Mr. Pedicino, to refer this to Finance with the recommendation from the Safety Committee that they are in favor of Option #2 the demonstrator model, as stated in the 11/3/14 memo from Chief Shaw to the Committee; and would recommend to the Finance Committee from a safety perspective that this Committee is in concurrence with the Option #2. TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT: 9. Traffic Report Chief Viland said the only thing of note that he would like to bring to the Committee s attention was that the educational speed trailer, the one you see parked on the side of the road, has had significant problems 5

6 over the last several weeks of the season due to battery-like issues. The solar recharge panels are completely non-functional so the unit has been taken out of service for the year. The Chief said their plans are to purchase new batteries, and with a second bank of batteries they will just work off battery charge. This is a very cheap repair and will allow them to maintain the service of that unit for the next couple of years. ENGINEERING: 10. Status Update Report Ms. Welch gave members an update on the City Wide Traffic Signal Project. There are approximately 12 signals that have been upgraded. They are waiting for the Illuminating Company for electric service at other intersections and as they are connected they will be crossed over. Regarding the City Wide Roof Evaluation, they met internally to discuss recommendations from the architect and would expect construction on the Police Department possibly next spring, and will come back to the Committee with that project once it has been finalized. The final settlement agreement has been signed regarding the Briarhill Lake Dam. Mr. Hobbs gave an update on the Aurora Road traffic study. He said as of last week they have completed all of the traffic counts and pulled all the crash data for the last three years. There has been over 200 crashes on that section. Weather permitting in the next week or so the staff from his office will be doing a field review of the corridor and collating crash locations with identifiable safety concerns. Motion was made by Mr. Pedicino, second by Mr. Pelunis, to adjourn the meeting at 6:45 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Margie Advent, Acting Secretary 6