[0:08] [clears throat]

[0:09] >> Now 7:00 p.m. time 4 the April 21st

[0:15] at the Red Oak City Council meeting.

[0:17] Uh it is now in order.

[0:19] Uh

[0:20] will you stand for the Pledge of

[0:22] Allegiance?

[0:27] I pledge allegiance to the flag

[0:30] of the United States of America

[0:32] and to the republic for which it stands,

[0:35] one nation under God, indivisible, with

[0:38] liberty and justice for all.

[0:44] Madam clerk, may I have roll call,

[0:45] please? Yes, Mayor Stevens. Here.

[0:48] Anderson? Here. Henderson? Here. Last

[0:51] three?

[0:52] Stubbs? Here. Thomas? Present. Tinker?

[0:55] Here. Willis? I'm here. I'd like to

[0:58] thank all of you for attending, and

[1:02] let's get together and get rolling on

[1:04] this. We'll go to uh consideration of

[1:07] the minutes.

[1:08] Motion to approve the minutes of the

[1:09] April 7th

[1:11] Council meeting, please.

[1:13] Is there a motion?

[1:17] I'll so move.

[1:19] I second.

[1:21] Anderson? Yes. Henderson? Yes. Last

[1:24] three? Yes. Stubbs? Yes. Thomas? Yes.

[1:27] Tinker? Yes. Willis? Yes.

[1:31] Uh since we have nothing on the consent

[1:34] agenda,

[1:35] a motion to move 45, please.

[1:38] Motion to move 45. Second.

[1:41] Anderson?

[1:42] >> Yes. Henderson? Yes. Last three? Yes.

[1:45] Stubbs? Yes. Thomas? Yes. Tinker? Yes.

[1:48] Willis? Yes. Thank you. Under section 4,

[1:51] consideration of petitions,

[1:54] uh communications, and proposed

[1:56] legislation,

[1:57] uh Mr. Doyle, can you start off with

[1:59] resolution 2026-028?

[2:02] Resolution number 2026-028,

[2:05] a resolution authorizing the mayor to

[2:07] enter into a contract with Insight

[2:09] Advisory Group for grant writing and

[2:11] consultation services for an amount not

[2:13] to exceed $36,000 in the current

[2:15] emergency.

[2:17] Councilman Tinker?

[2:21] Motion to suspend rules.

[2:24] I'll second that.

[2:26] Anderson? Yes. Henderson? Yes. Lasree?

[2:29] Yes. Stubbs? Yes. Thomas? Yes. Tinker?

[2:32] Yes. Willis? Yes.

[2:35] Uh motion to adopt.

[2:37] I'll second the adopt.

[2:39] Anderson? Yes. Henderson? Yes. Lasree?

[2:42] >> Yes. Stubbs?

[2:43] >> Yes. Thomas? Yes. Tinker? Yes, Mr.

[2:45] Councilman. Willis?

[2:47] Yes. Comment, Mr. Tinker? Yeah, I I

[2:50] actually have some reservation with

[2:53] you know, this um resolution already

[2:55] because

[2:56] you know, we formed a committee last year and we

[2:59] chose Insight um

[3:02] I think we expected a lot more from

[3:04] Insight in terms of

[3:07] uh providing us with um

[3:10] possible grants out there and it seems

[3:12] like that all we received

[3:15] was help with grants that we would

[3:17] normally apply for without them.

[3:20] And so, you know, I said yes only

[3:22] because we do need a grant writer.

[3:26] Um but they didn't meet the expectation

[3:28] that I think the committee that selected

[3:31] them

[3:32] um set for them. So, that was my only

[3:34] reservation why

[3:35] I kind of hesitated because I I I think

[3:38] they should bring in us grants that are

[3:40] out there

[3:41] for us to apply for. It seems like one

[3:43] of our council members bring up more

[3:45] grants

[3:46] that are out there that Insight should

[3:47] be bringing to us.

[3:50] That's the end of my comment.

[3:52] Thank you very much, Mr. Tinker. Uh

[3:55] I'm going to leave that alone. We'll

[3:57] move on to resolution number 2026-029,

[4:01] please, Mr. Doyle.

[4:02] Resolution number 2026-029,

[4:04] a resolution authorizing the city of

[4:06] Bedford Heights to participate in the

[4:08] Ohio Department of Transportation

[4:10] >> [clears throat]

[4:10] >> cooperative purchasing program for the

[4:12] purchase of sodium chloride for the

[4:14] 2026-2027

[4:15] winter season and declaring emergency.

[4:18] All right, I will make the motion to

[4:19] suspend the rules.

[4:21] Second.

[4:23] Anderson? Yes. Anderson? Yes. Lastree?

[4:26] >> Yes. Stubbs?

[4:27] >> Yes. Thomas? Yes. Tinker? Yes. Willis?

[4:31] Yes.

[4:33] For adoption?

[4:36] Second the adoption.

[4:37] Anderson?

[4:38] >> Yes. Anderson? Yes. Lastree? Yes.

[4:41] Stubbs? Yes. Thomas? Yes.

[4:44] >> Tinker? Yes. Willis? Yes, with comment.

[4:47] My comment is thank council

[4:49] for allowing us to keep this program

[4:51] going.

[4:52] Thank our public works department that

[4:53] one heck of a job keeping our roads

[4:55] salted in the winter, and now we're

[4:56] prepared for the next onslaught that

[4:58] goes on. Thank you. On to ordinance

[5:01] 2026-

[5:03] 030,

[5:04] Mr. Doyle. Ordinance number 2026-030,

[5:08] an ordinance repealing ordinance number

[5:10] 2023-073,

[5:13] which directed the amendment of the

[5:14] comprehensive pay ordinance to establish

[5:16] the compensation for mayor/safety

[5:18] director to include the combined

[5:20] salaries currently paid separately for

[5:21] the position of mayor and the position

[5:23] of safety director since the duties of

[5:25] the safety director were assigned to the

[5:26] mayor pursuant to Bedford Heights

[5:28] Charter Section 8.04 and declaring an

[5:30] emergency.

[5:32] Councilwoman tennis? Motion to suspend

[5:34] the rules. Second.

[5:36] Anderson? Yes. Anderson? Yes. Lastree?

[5:40] >> Yes. Stubbs? Yes. Thomas? Yes. Tinker?

[5:43] No. Willis? Yes.

[5:46] Motion for adoption. Second. Anderson?

[5:49] >> Yes. Anderson? Yes, with a comment.

[5:52] Ashley?

[5:53] >> Yes. Stubbs? Yes. Thomas?

[5:56] >> Yes.

[5:56] >> Tinker? Yes, with a comment.

[5:58] >> Willis? Yes.

[6:02] Councilwoman Anderson, your comment?

[6:04] Thank you, Council President.

[6:07] So, I was unsure and I I had some

[6:10] questions that I felt like the law

[6:12] department did not answer for me um

[6:15] for me to say yes to this. However,

[6:19] recently um

[6:21] they provided us a legal analyst um

[6:25] and it's important to me that the

[6:27] decisions that we make are grounded in

[6:29] our charter and are within our legal

[6:32] authority as a home rule city. While not

[6:35] every decision is universally supported,

[6:38] our responsibility is to ensure we act

[6:40] lawfully and transparently on the behalf

[6:43] of our residents.

[6:44] So, the clarification that the law

[6:46] department did provide helped confirm

[6:48] that we're moving forward appropriately

[6:50] and above board.

[6:54] So, thank you.

[6:57] Councilman Tinker, your comment? Yeah,

[6:59] um I I did not get that clarification

[7:01] and if I it came in the email, I missed

[7:03] it. Um could you please send it because

[7:06] you know, the last time when we approved

[7:08] the pay ordinance, I actually mentioned

[7:10] that

[7:11] the

[7:12] it should be listed as mayor of safety

[7:14] director

[7:15] and when it was just listed as safety

[7:17] director and this is actually confirming

[7:20] what I

[7:21] mentioned that it should be listed it

[7:22] should have been listed as mayor of

[7:24] safety director as it stated here.

[7:27] I don't believe that you can change

[7:30] an elected official's pay in charter.

[7:33] And this is exactly what this is doing.

[7:35] So, I would like to see that

[7:38] clarification um that

[7:40] says that it's to

[7:43] change elected official pay in term. It

[7:46] was my understanding that

[7:48] elected officials can only get

[7:52] raise or pay, whatever you want to call

[7:54] it,

[7:55] in the year of the election.

[7:59] So, that's the end of my comment. Thank

[8:00] you, Mr. You know what, Mr. Ticker, we

[8:02] got to go on this because we did vote

[8:04] this. Mr. Doyle, would you please

[8:05] address some of those things with that

[8:07] memo that was sent out and what the

[8:10] legal findings were on this? Sure. Um

[8:13] and I I might have done one logistic

[8:15] thing before I do that and if I

[8:17] misunderstood you, then I apologize. So,

[8:20] this ordinance tonight on the mayor /

[8:23] safety director comment, that

[8:26] it's the way this is working is it's

[8:28] called an ordinance repealing 2023-73,

[8:32] which directed and then everything after

[8:33] that is what 2023

[8:35] -73 was titled. So, that's why I'm

[8:38] sticking with that.

[8:39] >> [clears throat]

[8:39] >> Um

[8:41] But, so on the on the issue that I

[8:43] understand has been

[8:44] um

[8:45] in front of this council for many

[8:47] months, since before my involvement, we took a deep dive into that

[8:51] over the last 2 weeks.

[8:53] The

[8:55] I mentioned on the record at the last

[8:56] meeting that it is it is true that the

[8:58] Ohio Constitution and the Ohio Revised

[9:01] Code contain provisions that restrict

[9:04] the ability to adjust a public or

[9:07] municipal officers' compensation

[9:10] during your term.

[9:12] Um

[9:13] the question then

[9:14] becomes

[9:16] the extent to which that can be modified

[9:18] by home rule,

[9:20] um

[9:20] which means a further question in that

[9:23] as to whether what you're doing is is an

[9:25] act of local self-government. Um we took

[9:29] our dive into this. The case law in Ohio

[9:31] is very clear. Ohio courts have ruled

[9:35] repeatedly that um setting

[9:38] compensation for public officers, public

[9:41] officials, municipal employees, so on

[9:42] and so forth is an act of local

[9:44] self-government. So, the way Ohio courts

[9:46] treat this analysis and there if your

[9:48] charter reserves home rule and your

[9:50] charter direct

[9:51] addresses the issue directly, you have

[9:54] the ability to deviate from the Ohio

[9:56] Constitution and the Ohio Revised Code,

[9:58] I think it's 731.

[10:01] And in our look into it, the our revised

[10:05] charter does allow

[10:07] >> [clears throat]

[10:07] >> council to amend any municipal officer

[10:11] employees

[10:13] non-union

[10:15] compensation at at any time by council

[10:17] vote. So,

[10:19] it was

[10:21] pretty clean

[10:22] analysis and it's

[10:25] certainly good to be

[10:27] to your point, Councilman Henderson,

[10:28] looking at these things and concerned

[10:30] about them, but

[10:32] I have no doubt that the way the city's

[10:34] been doing it has been fine about home

[10:37] rule

[10:38] and about exercising home rule too.

[10:42] I mean, I do have a I do have a question

[10:44] now. Does that mean council in both

[10:47] themselves a raise for home rule?

[10:52] Yeah.

[10:56] So, that was not part of the I

[10:58] understand that. I was just I make it

[11:00] Yes, you might understand it, but the

[11:02] residents don't understand it. That's

[11:04] what I'm explaining to you.

[11:06] That did not happen. We did uncover

[11:08] something that was wrong, we corrected

[11:10] it, we will be moving on from that.

[11:12] All right, no further comment, that is

[11:14] now a dead issue. We'll move on to

[11:16] consideration of ordinance

[11:18] reports of officer reports and

[11:20] commissions. Mayor Stevens.

[11:23] I'll give you 30 seconds. Yeah, we want

[11:25] a production.

[11:26] Yeah. Yes, go ahead. You're good. No,

[11:29] you're fine. You're on. Mayor.

[11:31] Thank you. Good evening everyone. Good

[11:33] evening.

[11:36] The Arbor Day celebration is tomorrow

[11:40] when we will have a joint effort with

[11:42] the middle schools and um

[11:46] to celebrate the Arbor Day Earth Day

[11:49] will be tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. at Fun

[11:51] Town

[11:52] and if you'd like to join us at 1:00

[11:54] you're welcome to do that.

[11:56] So that's an annual thing that we do

[11:58] every year

[11:59] and

[12:01] we'll be out there to celebrate

[12:03] and speaking of that

[12:05] also as you know we had some

[12:08] terrible weather that came across

[12:10] and

[12:13] it hit it hit all of us home, cars and

[12:16] you name it. So the what I did some of

[12:21] you probably received a all calls to for

[12:25] warn you on the different scam things

[12:27] that's taking place.

[12:30] Making sure that you

[12:33] are on your toes pertaining to how

[12:36] slick these

[12:38] vendors or companies can be to come in

[12:41] and do your work for you. So it's it's

[12:43] very important that you are aware of

[12:45] those scam

[12:48] items or ways of acting from these

[12:50] vendors.

[12:54] The pay the

[12:56] produce produce schools was this past

[12:59] Saturday.

[13:00] Our Channel 5 was outside there and

[13:03] filming

[13:05] the produce distribution. It was a great

[13:07] time, great opportunity and

[13:11] it was just to be able to highlight some

[13:14] of the positive things that

[13:16] Deffer Heights had gone through and just

[13:19] to

[13:20] showcase some of those highlighted

[13:22] areas.

[13:24] The

[13:26] to add to the to to that devastating

[13:29] storm, Darnell Brewer, our state rep,

[13:32] District 22, had uh

[13:36] met with me and and we he generated a

[13:40] memo or a letter to Governor DeWine

[13:43] uh to let him know of all the damages

[13:46] and the things that took place in the uh

[13:49] in the actual

[13:51] uh cities that he represent.

[13:53] And um hopefully we will get a response

[13:56] from Governor DeWine and to talk about

[13:59] the different

[14:00] communities who experienced extensive

[14:03] flooding damage,

[14:05] um just

[14:06] you name it. Prop- property damage, uh

[14:10] personal issu- you know, damages that took place. So, uh

[14:15] hopefully that we can we will hear from

[14:17] Governor DeWine to help uh support our

[14:20] residents in the things that has

[14:21] happened this last

[14:23] uh storm.

[14:25] Also, in April, April is the child abuse

[14:30] prevention month. I don't know if you're

[14:32] aware of that or not, but it is.

[14:34] And in honor of child abuse prevention

[14:37] month, this month is a chance to raise

[14:39] awareness about how children face abuse,

[14:43] how to prevent it, and how to access

[14:45] support.

[14:47] I don't know if you had a chance to come

[14:49] across the front part of our um

[14:53] city hall and you had a bunch of

[14:55] pinwheels going on and you have a sign

[14:57] in the front there.

[14:59] And the blue pinwheels symbolize hope

[15:02] and positivity,

[15:04] representing the possibilities that

[15:07] children can experience positive while

[15:10] shining in the sunlight as the wind

[15:13] blows.

[15:15] Our children are greatest resource

[15:19] and source of sunlight

[15:21] and hope, and they depend on us to

[15:24] create an environment where they can

[15:26] grow without fear.

[15:29] This month let's

[15:31] Why don't we let

[15:34] recommit ourselves

[15:36] to being attentive neighbors, support

[15:39] friends, and strong advocates of

[15:42] families.

[15:44] A single act of care can change the

[15:46] course

[15:48] of a child's life.

[15:50] Let's make sure that every child in this

[15:53] city knows

[15:54] they are seen,

[15:56] they are protected,

[15:57] and they matters.

[16:00] So, that matters a great deal

[16:03] in recognizing

[16:04] the uh

[16:07] child abuse prevention month. AND WE DO

[16:14] WE WE DO HAVE A A representative

[16:18] for Canopy, uh which is a organization

[16:22] that

[16:23] uh

[16:24] support

[16:26] the child abuse prevention month to

[16:29] give a little bit more detail. So, I

[16:30] would like that uh after you I do have a

[16:32] proclamation here

[16:34] uh that I'd like to present to Canopy's.

[16:37] So, if you'd like to come up, please.

[16:44] » [applause]

[16:49] » This is a proclamation just to say thank you and

[16:53] you're a part of There's other cities

[16:55] that's a part of this and we wanted to

[16:57] show our

[16:58] >> [snorts]

[16:58] >> support to the organization that you

[17:01] have. Okay? YES, ABSOLUTELY.

[17:04] >> [applause]

[17:06] >> JUST IN case some folks don't know what

[17:08] Canopy does, we provide uh

[17:10] after a child discloses that they may be

[17:12] abused, we do the forensic interview. Um

[17:15] what we do is bring all the people that

[17:17] may have an interest in this case in one

[17:19] room. They can watch the forensic

[17:21] interview, but what it does is reduces

[17:23] the amount of times the child has to

[17:25] repeat what happened to them, reduce

[17:27] their trauma, and it also increases the

[17:30] prosecution rate.

[17:31] So, we are working feverishly to support

[17:35] children and families in our community

[17:37] so that they can feel safe and be healed

[17:40] in a way to reduce trauma.

[17:43] So, we thank you. So, I on behalf of

[17:46] Canopy and the families that we serve,

[17:49] we thank you.

[17:51] >> [applause]

[17:57] » NO, I'D LIKE TO SAY WE THANK YOU

[18:00] for getting involved in getting this and

[18:02] bringing this up. And Mayor, I also

[18:04] thank you for highlighting

[18:06] that that commission and that group out

[18:08] there and what we're doing to try and

[18:09] show the leadership and staying ahead

[18:11] and try to protect our young residents

[18:13] of the city. Thank you very much.

[18:16] >> [applause]

[18:20] » For item two, the Safety Committee,

[18:22] Chairman Anderson, please. Yeah, thank

[18:25] you, Mr. President.

[18:28] Um

[18:30] for those of you that uh

[18:33] were at our meeting, we we did have a

[18:35] meeting on the 16th

[18:38] uh at 5:00 um

[18:40] and we

[18:41] uh mainly emphasized our camera and um

[18:45] we had a real good meeting on that and

[18:47] minutes will be forthcoming and any

[18:49] information will be uh disseminated um

[18:53] at that time and also to our to our um

[18:57] our people uh in the audience

[19:00] uh they had opportunity to uh view those minutes as well uh they're

[19:05] on the website.

[19:07] Um

[19:07] >> [clears throat]

[19:09] >> also speaking of safety

[19:11] um

[19:13] earlier today our our chief, Chief

[19:15] Leopard, uh mentioned that um smoke

[19:18] detectors are available. And now it's

[19:21] kind of like a downside in so far as uh

[19:24] having individuals uh ask for

[19:27] so we can provide us with a number.

[19:29] Anybody interested, uh you can uh take it down and again it may be it will

[19:35] be on the on the website as well if you

[19:37] if you're interested in smoke detectors.

[19:40] And that's 786

[19:42] 3251.

[19:44] And this was this number was provided to

[19:46] us uh by our our our fire chief.

[19:49] Um

[19:51] also our um

[19:53] uh

[19:54] chief of police um

[19:56] advised us today that he is entertaining

[19:59] uh conversations

[20:01] uh with North Randall

[20:03] uh in so far as uh our dispatch services

[20:07] and and and that that availability uh to

[20:10] them. And he also is in contact with the

[20:13] city of Euclid

[20:15] regarding jail cell services and our uh

[20:18] abilities to uh help out uh within that

[20:21] regard with with our jail.

[20:25] And um

[20:31] that's pretty much it. I just want to

[20:33] mention that uh like many of you uh

[20:36] there have been a lot a lot of damage as

[20:38] a result of this hail storm that we had.

[20:41] So um hopefully you'll be in in touch with

[20:45] uh uh your insurance companies and um

[20:48] other other uh individuals that may

[20:52] contact you or you contact them and um

[20:55] we also have mentioned that

[20:57] and a caveat to you is to be careful uh

[21:00] who you talk to and um give as much

[21:03] information as you feel is safe with

[21:07] personal

[21:08] information as you know with your your identity

[21:14] in so far as things like social security

[21:16] numbers and things like that that you

[21:17] normally would

[21:19] disseminate to anybody that that also applies to to

[21:24] your vendors that you that you contact

[21:28] on regarding that.

[21:30] And

[21:31] that's pretty much all I have. Thank you

[21:33] very much.

[21:35] Councilman Anderson I have no report.

[21:38] I have no question.

[21:40] Any other report? I didn't say anything.

[21:42] Oh, I'm sorry. It was asked basically in

[21:44] my report. All right. Thank you very

[21:46] much.

[21:47] On to Finance Committee Chairwoman

[21:49] Thompson, please.

[21:52] Our next Finance Committee meeting is

[21:54] next week on Tuesday, April 28th at 5:30

[21:57] p.m.

[21:59] That's the end of my report.

[22:01] We're ready. Thank you for that.

[22:04] On to Community Life Chairwoman Lasting,

[22:06] please. Good evening, everyone.

[22:09] I'm just so glad to see you all tonight.

[22:13] I'm happy to say that there's some

[22:15] activity going on in the community

[22:16] center and

[22:18] it's looking very lively now that the

[22:20] summer is coming about and I'm excited

[22:22] about that.

[22:24] We're taking We're still taking softball

[22:26] and baseball registrations. That was

[22:28] announced earlier today.

[22:30] And the youth engagement is starting on

[22:32] the 27th. And these are primary students

[22:36] up until the age of eight between the up

[22:39] until eighth grade, I believe. But you

[22:42] want If you want to get more information

[22:43] about the youth engagement, you need to

[22:44] go to the civic center and talk to them

[22:47] to see what's going on with the youth

[22:49] engagement because they're trying to

[22:51] engage our youth and get them more

[22:53] involved in finding out about themselves

[22:56] and about things going on in the

[22:57] community. [music]

[22:59] The seniors have a bid whist class on

[23:01] the 29th. If you would like to learn how

[23:04] to play Bid Whist. We're going to start

[23:05] playing Bid Whist on the 29th of

[23:08] April, the 29th of July, the 30th of

[23:11] September, and again on the 30th of

[23:13] December.

[23:15] Summer camp Summer camp registration is

[23:17] open and for interviews and for staff it

[23:20] is it is ongoing. So, if you know

[23:22] someone who's interested in being a part

[23:24] of our summer camp this year, please

[23:26] have them come and register over at the

[23:28] community center.

[23:33] We are scheduling a meeting for the

[23:35] community life

[23:38] committee

[23:39] for Monday the 27th or we're looking at

[23:42] 30th April the 30th.

[23:44] We have I have to speak with the

[23:46] director to make sure the days are good

[23:48] with him. So, that concludes my report

[23:51] for this evening.

[23:52] Thank you very much, Chairwoman.

[23:55] On to public service water reclamation.

[23:58] I will fill out I'd like to thank

[24:01] for approving the [clears throat] salt

[24:03] program and staying ahead of the

[24:05] ballgame on that. I would like to also

[24:08] thank our directors, both Nate and Eric

[24:11] King, for the

[24:13] wonderful job that they have done in

[24:15] recovering after that hail storm,

[24:17] getting our streets clean, keeping that

[24:19] I did notice the end of the week that I

[24:21] drove through some of our neighboring

[24:22] cities that are to us and there's still

[24:25] trails of things down the street and

[24:27] things like that. They have done a huge

[24:30] job in taking care of that and also Nate

[24:33] assessing what's been going on with the

[24:35] those storm sewers and filling those

[24:37] things and keeping the the water flowing

[24:40] on that.

[24:41] So, GREAT JOB AND

[24:42] >> [applause]

[24:47] » I THINK THE CITIZENS YOU SEE THEY THEY

[24:49] appreciate the job that you've done and

[24:51] thank you again so much. That is the end

[24:53] of my report. We're on to economic and

[24:55] community development, Councilman

[24:57] Tucker. Yes, um our meeting on April the

[24:59] 7th 7th, I announced that the city has

[25:02] an opportunity to to apply for

[25:05] a $200,000 supplemental community grant.

[25:10] I also announced that we were having a

[25:13] public hearing on April the 14th.

[25:15] We did have that hearing. David Bell and

[25:17] I were the only two that showed up.

[25:19] So, we're going to go ahead and apply

[25:22] for the grant to fix the Laurel Road.

[25:26] That's the main item.

[25:29] All right, thank you very much, Chairman

[25:31] Tucker.

[25:32] On to

[25:34] planning commission, Mr. Stevens. Thank

[25:36] you.

[25:37] The next planning commission meeting is

[25:39] set for May 12th

[25:41] at 5:00 p.m. if

[25:44] we have applicants. Thank you. All

[25:46] right, thank you very much. Building and

[25:48] housing committee, Chairwoman Thomas,

[25:50] please. Thank you, Council President.

[25:52] Our next building and housing committee

[25:54] meeting is also next week on Wednesday,

[25:56] April 29th at 5:30 p.m.

[26:00] End of my report. All right, thank you

[26:02] again.

[26:04] Infrastructure, Councilwoman Peterson.

[26:06] Thank you, Mr. Councilwoman Peterson.

[26:08] Thank you.

[26:09] The bid is for this year's sidewalk

[26:11] program will be open this Friday. If

[26:13] possible, we will bring forward for

[26:15] council's consideration at the May 5th

[26:17] meeting.

[26:18] I will reach out to Don Blue to see if

[26:21] he wants us to have a meeting prior to

[26:24] that May 5th Oh, May 5th.

[26:26] The day we're voting. So, May 6th is

[26:29] going to be

[26:30] brought forward on May 6th.

[26:33] The Metal Lane pavement repair project

[26:36] is tentatively scheduled to begin the

[26:38] week of May 4th.

[26:40] Prior to construction, there will be a

[26:42] message board installed. A project sign

[26:45] will be placed. Door hangers will be

[26:47] delivered to each affected home, and the will be posted on the city's

[26:51] website. and we are also working with

[26:54] our technology director regarding

[26:56] an QR code.

[26:58] We're also working on establishing start

[27:00] dates for Holly Lane and Vicky Lane

[27:02] resiliency project.

[27:05] And I um constantly crusade at

[27:07] infrastructure and capital improvement.

[27:11] Dabney is also working with David Bell

[27:14] on the application for a rural road.

[27:17] End of report.

[27:19] Thank you very much.

[27:20] Councilwoman

[27:22] legislative education committee.

[27:25] >> [clears throat]

[27:25] >> Thank you, Councilman Bell.

[27:27] Um good evening everybody. We have a

[27:29] meeting scheduled for May 7th at 5:30 at

[27:32] the mayor's office.

[27:34] She agreed. Thank you. I will see you at

[27:36] 5:30.

[27:37] Uh Council cable TV and IT committee,

[27:41] that is myself. I will say this much uh

[27:45] I don't know if you've noticed, but we

[27:46] do have a couple of cameras rolling

[27:48] that'll be in there. So with this,

[27:50] Council meeting is being recorded. It

[27:52] was should be available by the end of

[27:54] the week on the city's website

[27:57] and also on VHTV. So hopefully we'll

[28:00] have that done. Those things that we're

[28:02] looking at. I'll also

[28:04] bring out that IT director is working on

[28:09] restructuring the city's website. So

[28:11] hopefully I don't know if he'll have

[28:13] that in time when these new videos will

[28:15] break, but if not, you'll have two

[28:16] surprises that'll be coming up.

[28:18] Also he's working on making sure that

[28:20] our website and our things are going on

[28:22] and we will be fully ADA compliant as

[28:26] per the Department of Justice. At the

[28:28] end of that, that is the end of my

[28:29] report. Thank you all and we are on to

[28:35] Committee reports. Thank you, Councilman

[28:37] Bell.

[28:37] >> do. Thank you.

[28:39] I just wanted to take an opportunity now

[28:41] to welcome one of our newest members of

[28:44] Council, our assistant clerk of Council,

[28:46] Ayanna Green.

[28:47] WELCOME, AYANNA.

[28:52] AND

[28:53] OUR SOCIAL SERVICES SECRETARY, SO SHE'S

[28:55] playing two hats, two roles. Um so,

[28:59] thank you for joining us and you will

[29:01] um see her smiling face

[29:04] here at all of our Council meetings,

[29:05] trainings, so welcome. Um I also wanted

[29:08] to take the opportunity to acknowledge

[29:10] the remaining April birthday, which is

[29:12] Renee Cole, that is our Mayor's

[29:14] Administrative Assistant, and her

[29:16] birthday is Sunday,

[29:18] April the 26th.

[29:21] I also wanted to mention that our next

[29:23] Council meeting has been rescheduled

[29:25] from Tuesday to Wednesday, May the 6th,

[29:29] due to the primary election that is

[29:31] taking place on Tuesday, May the 5th. Um

[29:34] I hope that everyone, if you haven't had

[29:36] already had an opportunity to vote

[29:37] early, then you actually then you get

[29:39] out and you you vote. It's a very very important election, as they all

[29:43] are, but um

[29:45] I would encourage you all just to vote.

[29:48] Um we will be meeting in person at 7:00

[29:51] p.m. on May the 6th, beginning uh and

[29:54] our Council Caucus meeting will begin at

[29:57] 6:00 p.m.

[29:59] End of my reports. Thank you very much,

[30:02] Councilwoman Times.

[30:03] Uh on to

[30:05] unfinished business,

[30:07] uh we looked at we have a couple of

[30:08] items that we had open. Uh

[30:11] there was a question one of these was

[30:13] raised and discussed

[30:15] during our Caucus meeting, which was a

[30:17] cybersecurity

[30:18] situation, which I think that uh Mr.

[30:20] Doyle did address and you're working

[30:22] with that. Yep, we received a request

[30:24] from Councilwoman Henderson today and

[30:26] we'll uh get to work on it.

[30:29] Thank

[30:31] Uh also, [clears throat] this feedback

[30:32] resident seminars, Councilwoman

[30:34] Henderson again, do you have any more

[30:35] you'd like to share or we're still

[30:38] Well, I I

[30:39] made the connection with um David Bell

[30:42] and he is working he's going to reach

[30:44] out to Q Bank. He has he actually has a

[30:47] meeting scheduled with Q Bank to talk

[30:49] about the different seminars they

[30:51] have available for our city.

[30:54] Okay, thank you and the last piece is

[30:57] the you brought up is the cable TV

[31:00] committee name. We will be scheduling a

[31:02] cable TV committee meeting in the first

[31:05] half of

[31:06] month of May, excuse me, to address that

[31:09] and we'll get that in the will come out

[31:10] of committee. On to section 8 and any

[31:13] new business.

[31:15] Yeah, I have something to add.

[31:16] Councilman Harris? Yeah, I

[31:19] like to mention that

[31:22] one of our police cars was damaged with

[31:24] a water testing water damage that the

[31:27] chief just mentioned this evening to so

[31:30] I want to put that on the record.

[31:32] And that's the end of my report.

[31:34] All right, or comments I should You got

[31:36] it. Thank you. Any other

[31:38] new business? So

[31:41] Excuse me, Councilwoman Harris.

[31:44] I know that we're going to be scheduling

[31:45] a meeting for the change cable TV

[31:48] committee name.

[31:49] However, I wanted to share with the

[31:52] >> [clears throat]

[31:52] >> community also why I'm bringing this up.

[31:55] The term cable committee reflects the

[31:57] earlier communication structure

[32:00] primarily focused on cable television

[32:02] and today communication responsibilities

[32:06] include live streaming, website

[32:08] accessibility and updates, digital

[32:10] communication with residents, cyber

[32:12] security awareness, internal technology

[32:15] system, long-term infrastructure and

[32:18] modern modernization. So I just wanted

[32:21] to share before I

[32:23] served on council, I worked in

[32:25] approximately seven years in information

[32:27] technology roles.

[32:29] Help desk analyst, testing analyst,

[32:32] business system analyst, business system

[32:35] right business system analyst and I work

[32:37] with project managers, developers,

[32:39] testers, end users, and so on. So, um,

[32:43] me just requesting to have the name

[32:45] change is just bigger than having the

[32:47] name change. It's I have a vision, I

[32:49] have a

[32:50] background, I have interest in our

[32:52] technology. So, I I am looking forward

[32:55] to having that meeting.

[32:57] I'm looking forward to scheduling a

[32:59] meeting with you as quickly as possible.

[33:00] We'll have that definitely set in stone

[33:02] by the end of the week.

[33:07] Any other?

[33:09] Miscellaneous.

[33:15] Seeing none, all right. We've come to

[33:18] the portion of our meeting

[33:21] where we are open to comments from the

[33:23] public, and this time the floor is open

[33:26] for comments from the public. If you'd

[33:28] like to

[33:30] come forward, please address any

[33:31] comments that you have to myself, and I

[33:34] need you to go by

[33:35] your name,

[33:37] just the street that you live on. You

[33:39] will have two topics with a total of 3

[33:41] minutes. That's right. No,

[33:44] two topics,

[33:45] 3 minutes.

[33:46] You can do 2 minutes on one and one on

[33:48] the other, or break it up however you

[33:49] like.

[33:51] >> [laughter]

[33:52] >> I appreciate YOU COMING.

[33:58] GOOD EVENING TO

[33:59] THE MAYOR, THE COUNCIL, and residents.

[34:02] And I'm going to give you some wonderful

[34:05] information. First of all, my name is

[34:08] Terry Hon, that's important.

[34:10] And I live at 5680 Columbia Drive.

[34:15] And my quick Am I starting now?

[34:18] >> [laughter]

[34:21] » This is in support of what the mayor uh

[34:23] said earlier about the hail damage that

[34:26] we had.

[34:28] And of course, me being the mouthpiece

[34:30] of everything,

[34:32] I started bugging him. I was bugging

[34:36] our representative Ruth as well.

[34:39] And so these are what I'm saying in

[34:42] support of what the mayor said, but I

[34:43] took it a step further. I came in last

[34:46] week and I gave it to the woman.

[34:49] Okay, I want to ask the mayor as a

[34:52] resident, what help do we get from the

[34:55] city of Bedford Heights because this is

[34:57] a disaster and we're almost as bad as

[35:00] East Palestine

[35:02] in Ohio which happened about two or

[35:04] three years ago.

[35:06] Okay, we need help understanding the

[35:09] declaration pages of our policies

[35:12] because they are rather confusing and do

[35:15] we at this point wait for the governor

[35:19] to deem this a disaster site or do we

[35:23] come to the city and ask for them to

[35:27] give us some assistance and direction as

[35:29] to how handle our policies. Now, I was

[35:32] at a meeting last night

[35:35] with the Democratic Club and that many

[35:38] questions came up. So what I wanted to

[35:40] do, if I could walk for just a minute.

[35:45] » [laughter]

[35:47] >> Okay,

[35:48] what I have here

[35:51] I just want to ask uh because most

[35:54] people do not take time to look at their

[35:56] declaration page. They look at

[35:58] their deductible deductible deductible

[36:05] Okay, thank you.

[36:06] And then I'm giving this

[36:08] to Council President, the mayor

[36:11] and the law director.

[36:14] So excuse me for just one second.

[36:16] Let me say I'd like to walk up here.

[36:20] Okay, here you go. Here you go. This is

[36:22] it. Now

[36:24] what I I to say

[36:26] while I'm walking back, and this is very

[36:28] important and this is serious. When we

[36:31] think of deductions, most of us think of

[36:33] $1,500, a thousand, maybe even 500

[36:37] depending on the car. But when you have

[36:39] a deductible where a

[36:41] company, State Farm, has changed the

[36:45] cost of your house, the average house

[36:47] that you did average over 30 seconds,

[36:51] is running $240,000

[36:53] in this city.

[36:55] They made my house

[36:58] 400 and 800 400

[37:02] 486,000

[37:05] to repair and replace it.

[37:08] Now, what house in Bedford Heights would

[37:11] it cost to replace it that kind of

[37:13] money, over $400,000?

[37:16] That is on my declaration page. That's

[37:18] why I'm saying we need help. That means

[37:21] you're going to come out of pocket for

[37:22] $4,800.

[37:24] Thank you. THANK YOU, MA'AM.

[37:30] GOOD JOB.

[37:34] OKAY,

[37:35] I JUST NEED YOUR NAME. YOU don't have to

[37:37] give the address, just the street. Stacy

[37:40] Guy.

[37:41] Um on behalf of my mom again. So, I want

[37:45] to know what the update is from the last

[37:48] time I spoke to you guys about these

[37:49] trees with the person behind her.

[37:52] Because it's been past 30 days from the

[37:54] citation.

[37:55] So, supposedly we're going to take them

[37:57] to court. I haven't heard any updates.

[37:59] I've asked for updates.

[38:01] I'm not letting up until this is taken

[38:03] care of cuz my mom's safety is

[38:05] everything.

[38:06] So, I want to know where is it now? Are

[38:08] we taking him to court, the resident

[38:11] with these trees that have fell on my

[38:12] mom's house?

[38:14] I spoke to you guys at the meeting not

[38:16] last one, but the one before that.

[38:21] Those trees that would be under a

[38:23] building department I will tell you this

[38:25] much. I'm going to have Mr.

[38:27] David Bell I spoke to David Yeah, real

[38:29] quick. We do have her scheduled to go to

[38:32] court. I believe it's

[38:33] May 5th. But she is scheduled. Call my

[38:37] office. I'll give you the exact date.

[38:38] That's all right. Is that Thank you.

[38:40] >> May 5th will work. Okay, that works for

[38:42] me.

[38:45] Anyone else at this time? Please.

[38:51] Cynthia Johnson, White Pine.

[38:54] Just one quick

[38:56] clarification about Insight.

[39:00] Um,

[39:01] you said they applied for things that we

[39:03] didn't meet the criteria for.

[39:06] I did not say that. I know you didn't,

[39:08] but you said in your speech

[39:10] >> [laughter]

[39:10] >> the mayor said

[39:12] that there were things that we did. So

[39:15] they took time

[39:17] in applying for things that they knew

[39:19] No, it was more so that

[39:22] what the directors, some of the

[39:23] directors had um

[39:26] uh

[39:28] Okay.

[39:28] gave the information to Insight.

[39:31] And did not possibly know some of the

[39:35] time at time periods would

[39:37] uh they were asking for without giving

[39:40] that information to Insight. It wasn't

[39:42] Insight doing it.

[39:44] Okay. Okay. Yeah. Okay, thank you.

[39:49] Is there anyone else?

[39:53] Okay, I will take that as a no at this

[39:55] moment. I will ask for a motion of

[39:57] adjournment, please.

[39:59] So moved.

[40:02] Anderson Yes. Anderson Yes. Last three

[40:05] Yes. Stovall Yes. Thomas Yes. Kinder

[40:08] Yes. Willis

[40:10] Yes.

[40:11] Thank you all for attending. Have a good

[40:13] night, everyone.

[40:24] » Mhm.

BH Council Meeting April 21 2026

Transcript