Message from Mayor Susan Renda
Dear Resident,
Newly elected Councilman, Dan Fritz has taken his seat at the Council table. I look forward to working with him on all the interesting issues in the Village. Additionally, he was sworn in as a Planning Commission member on January 24. Resident members of Planning Commission also sworn in that evening are: Peter Bolek, appointed for a second term, and Paul Stanard, appointed to his first term as a resident member. Paul, as you may remember, was appointed to Council to fill the unexpired term of Kelly Ovsek when she moved out of the Village. He served on Planning Commission as one of the two Council Representatives and did such a fine job, I asked him to return as a resident member. All of us on Planning Commission thank Grant Wilk for his years of service and thoughtful input. We will miss him.
The mayors of Pepper Pike, Woodmere, Orange and Moreland Hills continue to meet with members of the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission on a monthly basis. Our purpose is to discuss possibilities for shared services and collaboration. The County is still in the data collection phase. I anticipate that they will begin to report their findings to the mayors and you in the summer. They anticipate hosting a website soon and holding public meetings in the summer. I will keep you updated.
According to Police Chief Flauto, the Police Department has received several complaints recently about door-to-door soliciting. Regulating solicitors presents first amendment challenges as you can imagine. For example, persons soliciting on behalf of educational, civic, religious or charitable organizations cannot be regulated. In contrast, Village Ordinances requires that all other solicitors obtain a license from the Police Chief before going door-to-door. According to Assistant Law Director Becky Schaltenbrand, “One provision of the ordinance prohibits a peddler, canvasser or solicitor from knocking on the door or ringing the bell of any home where a sign is displayed at the entrance notifying persons that solicitors are prohibited.” You have the option to post such a sign and there are criminal penalties for failure to adhere to the sign. To make certain that a solicitor sees the sign before she/he is on your front porch, you should post the sign by your driveway.
I have been asked by the County to remind you about Issue 15, the Health and Human Services Levy that will be on the ballot on March 6th. It is not a tax increase; it is a renewal of an existing levy. According to the County, issue 15 protects and provides critical services to our most vulnerable citizens: children, seniors, families and people in crisis across the county.
I hope to see you on March 14 at 7:00 p.m. for the State of the Village address.
Warm regards,
Susan Renda
Don’t toss your old cell phones, recycle them.
Do you have old cell phones laying around your home? Many of these old cell phones end up in landfills. Instead of impacting landfills, an alternative is to recycle them. Cell phones are considered hazardous waste, containing lead, copper, zinc and other heavy metals. When disposed in landfills, these metals eventually become part of the leachate, which can contaminate ground water.
One way to recycle your old cell phones is to donate them to Cell Phones for Soldiers and at the same time, support our troops. Their mission statement is “Cell Phones for Soldiers is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing deployed and returning troops cost-free methods to communicate with family while serving in the United States military.”
All cell phones which are donated to this program are either recycled or refurbished and sold. Money raised is used to provide calling cards for our troops. It is interesting to note that Cell Phones for Soldiers was started by 11 and 12 year old brother and sister in 2004, raising over $7 million and recycling more than 114 million cell phones. Postage free, pre-addressed labels are available from their website, CellPhonesForSoldiers.com.
At the last Greening of the Hills in October at Moreland Hills, over 30 cell phones were collected and sent to the Cell Phones For Soldiers.
SAFETY CORNERGetting Help: Know the Numbers
The best time to prepare for an emergency is before one happens. Make sure your family knows emergency phone numbers and your kids know how to place a call for help.
Need to Know Numbers:
During an emergency, it’s easy to become disoriented and upset, so you need to have all important phone numbers readily available ahead of time. Write each phone number clearly so that it will be easy for kids to read. Use a pen with dark-colored ink or type it on the computer because pencil or light-colored ink can be harder to read when you’re in a hurry or if lights are dim.
Because accidents can happen in any part of the home, make copies of the completed list and post one near every telephone in the house and on the refrigerator. Be sure to carry one with you when you are out of the house, and keep one in the car as well.
Also, consider programming some of the emergency numbers in your cell phone. In addition, make sure that people who come to the house to watch your kids (babysitters or relatives, for example) familiarize themselves with the list. If a babysitter is taking the kids out, make sure he or she also carries the list of numbers.
If you choose to create your own phone list, make sure it includes these numbers:
- Emergency medical services. In most places this is 911, but your community may have its own number—check your telephone book if you’re unsure.
- Poison control center: 1-800-222-1222. This toll-free number will put you in touch with the poison control center in your area.
- Hospital emergency room
- Fire Department
- Police Department
- Your Child’s doctor
- Parents’ work
- Parents’ cell phone.
- Neighbors and or relatives
- Pharmacy
Your list should also include known allergies, medical conditions, medications taken by family members and insurance information for all members of the family.
If you are calling 911 from your cell phone, the dispatcher may not have precise enough information to pinpoint your location, so be prepared to give detailed information about where you are.
If you have a home alarm, make sure you and others in the home know how to use it to activate local emergency services (ambulance, police, fire station).
At Your Service
Village offices will be closed February 20, 2012 for President’s Day. There will be no special pick-ups that day. Senior Rubbish will be picked up on Tuesday, February 21st in lieu of the holiday.
The Following Ordinances and Resolutions were passed on January 11, 2012:
Ordinance 2012-01 providing for the employment of Santo T. Incorvaia as Prosecutor.
Ordinance 2012-02 confirming the appointment by the Mayor of the Village of Moreland Hills of Julie Miller as Clerk of Council for a term of one year.
Ordinance 2012-03 authorizing the Mayor to sell, dispose of or recycle obsolete equipment that is no longer needed for Village operations.
Ordinance 2012-04 authorizing the Mayor to enter into an agreement with Ice Miller, LP from January 1, 2012 through the January 2014 Organizational meeting for the purpose of legal counsel.
Ordinance 2012-05 providing for the employment of Chagrin Valley Engineering, Ltd. and Jeffrey J. Filarski as Engineer for the Village of Moreland Hills.
Ordinance 2012-06 amending existing Section 121.01, Council Rules of Chapter 121 of the Codified Ordinances of the Village of Moreland Hills to provide for the standing committees of Council and attendance at committee meetings.
Resolution 2012-07 supporting the Forest Ridge Expansion Project, authorizing the Mayor to file an application with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources for the Natureworks Program grant.