City to split Fieldhouse lot maintenance with schools

by Laura Bednar

July 9 city council meeting

Independence will take responsibility for half of the Fieldhouse parking lot next to Independence High School. Economic Development Director Jessica Hyser said there was uncertainty about who owns the parking lot, the city or Independence Local Schools.

Independence City Council voted to amend its shared use agreement with the schools, enacted in 2002, which includes the use and maintenance of Independence High School and the Fieldhouse, among other facilities. In that agreement, the school district was responsible for the parking lot, according to Hyser.

The amendment requires the city to split parking lot maintenance 50-50 with the schools. The city is offering a one-time amount of $350,000 toward repairing the main lot and western driveway to the property this summer. Councilperson Kevin Day asked what the benefit was to the city if the schools were solely responsible for the lot.

“We’re being good partners with the school district,” said Hyser.

In return, the school district will forfeit the “partnership commitment payments” the city paid as part of the tax increment financing agreement for the Topgolf facility on Rockside Woods Boulevard. The school will still receive TIF payments from the value of the Topgolf project, according to Hyser.

The commitment payments were an additional $33,000 per year for years 10-30 of the 30-year TIF that Independence was paying out of its own funds. Consequently, the city will retain $660,000 over 20 years.

“I think it would be a good exercise if we could try to put on paper what our commitment to the schools is,” said Councilperson John DiGeronimo. He said council should review the original 2002 shared use agreement and its amendments.

Nuisance abatement

Council voted to amend the way the city deals with nuisances, including sidewalks, weeds, tall grass, landscaping and abandoned unusable personal property or other debris.

Building official Michael Gero said the city physically posts a notice on the home and mails a written notice to owners when a property violates city appearance standards. Property owners are given five days to remedy the problem. If no action is taken, the service department abates the nuisance and bills the property owner. Owners must pay for the abatement within 30 days.

The amendment allows the city to continue to maintain the property for the remainder of the growing season between April 1 and Oct. 31 after notifying the property owner about the nuisance. Gero said this is for “frequent flyers” so that the city doesn’t have to continually post the property.

Councilperson Jim Trakas asked how many complaints the city addresses per season. Gero said the city receives several related to grass, but there are three or four properties the city consistently addresses.

In a letter to council, Gero wrote, “The intention is not to become landscapers but to keep properties looking halfway decent to not adversely affect the immediate neighborhood.”

Youth for Christ

The city will pay Greater Cleveland Youth for Christ $25,000 for a campus life program in the school district for the 2024-2025 school year. Kaylee Rao, Youth for Christ site director, said the city funding will go toward things like mentoring, pizza and museum trips, nothing faith-based. She said there were an average of five students in the program at the middle school and 10 at the high school. Rao intends to increase student involvement.

Councilperson Dale Veverka said 14 years ago, the city gave startup money to the program with the intent of phasing out the funding. “Council financial support is now greater than the initial amount with no end in sight,” he wrote in his committee report. “I am personally concerned that even the name of the organization suggests religious connections that would be difficult to justify city financial support.”

Veverka and Vice Mayor Anthony Togliatti voted against the legislation.

Public comment

Resident Jeff Blumenthal noted his concern about an audio recording of a public meeting not matching the meeting minutes. He also said an audio recording of a meeting was removed from the city’s website.

“I believe that every word spoken at public meetings should be included in the minutes from call to order until adjournment,” said Blumenthal.

He suggested council use a paid software option to transcribe the audio to text and save the council clerk time. According to the Ohio Administrative Code, unapproved minutes of a meeting must be available for public review within 15 days of the public meeting.

Veverka suggested that the city consider hiring an assistant council clerk to deal with minutes in a timely manner.

Resident Dan Sobotka addressed his concern about the proposed housing development on the Concordia property not meeting city building requirements and requiring multiple variances.

Jennifer Krzynowek from the Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities spoke about the board’s services and community involvement. “We support more than 14,000 people across Cuyahoga County with developmental disabilities, and last year we served 76 people with developmental disabilities here in Independence,” she said.

The board has awarded $700,000 in grants since 2021 to make community spaces and programs disability accessible.

“The city of Independence was awarded $67,000 in grants for things such as universal changing tables, all-ability activities, book clubs, the I Can program and the Star Summer Camp,” said Krzynowek. ∞