October Villager Issue Number 1

As usual, there are many issues with the presentation of items in the Minerva Park Villager.

Issue one that I would like to call your attention to is this, contained in the Mayor's Report:

"On September 23, the Planning & Zoning Commission, with some Council members and residents present, met with Fischer Homes' representatives to review an initial plan of the layout of the full development of the property and to discuss the Pre-annexation Agreement. This was not a public hearing or a town meeting." (emphasis added)

This comes immediately after Lynn's profession that everything is being open and shared with all residents. She then writes that the meeting was attended by "some residents" but it was not a public hearing or a town meeting.

Some of you are still going to insist that there is nothing wrong. Some will still say that I put a negative spin on this and am leaving other considerations out; perhaps there are other considerations--no one can possibly know everything that factors in to any particular action, even their own.

For those of you who feel that way, your opinions won't be changed, and I don't intend to make that so. You have to be the one to decide to change your own mind. Reading this blog is the first step to accepting some of the truths that many seem to overlook consistently. If that's insulting, you should be further insulted by the way that "your" elected officials run this village.

Wildlife in Minerva Park

While the wildlife is sometimes an asset in our village, many of you may already be aware of the predatory wildlife also calling this place home.

For years, there have been reports of Coyotes in the Hawthorne wildlife area. It is always a possibility.

Now, there are reports of foxes in Minerva Park. There was a sighting of a mother and baby fox on Wildwood within the last month. There are also the remains of something wildlife-like at the end of Wildwood, by the Cleveland Ave. intersection.

Two nights ago, there was a skunk about the area as well. I didn't see it; it had other ways of making itself known.

Although I have a 50 pound dog that is happy to chase off these critters, he's not always out and apparently he was in long enough for a fox and skunk to disregard his scent.

It's advisable to keep small pets in at night (cats, small dogs, etc.) if possible. If you have a rabbit, (or chickens....perhaps?...don't know what happened with that issue, myself) it is probably wise to keep their living quarters raised off the ground enough that a fox won't torment them too much. And obviously, keep their enclosures secure.

Word on the block is the Mayor has contacted ODNR for advise on how to handle the predatory wildlife we have living here. In the meantime, keep your pets-and small children-safe and watched.

The following link may provide useful information (ODNR Division of Wildlife Nuissance Species information):
http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Home/wild_resourcessubhomepage/dealing_with_wildlifeplaceholder/NuisanceSpecieslandingpage/terrestrialnuisancewildlife/tabid/5674/Default.aspx

Unfortunately, we can't tax the wildlife too. Though someone around here may try.

Resolution for Trash Collection

As usual, the Minerva Park way of handling this legislation was to waive the readings and pass the item as an emergency. They've even added a clause to the legislation now, as if to justify the way they do things (ask me if you want details, or go ahead and attend just one council meeting):
"It is hereby found and determined that all formal actions of this Council concerning and relating to the adoption of this Resolution were adopted in an open meeting of this Council, and that an

y and all deliberations of this Council and any of its committees that resulted in

such formal action were in meetings open to the public, in compliance with all

legal requirements of the laws of the State of Ohio."

Looks an awful lot like the typical self-policing of Minerva Park politics. This statement of openness came from council itself, how can they "find" themselves in compliance with the law.

The waiving of all three readings means that they never had to read it in public to accept public comments on it. Typically, an item is supposed to be read once at each meeting, and typically those meetings are held once per month.

When an item is passed as an emergency, it takes effect immediately, rather than having to wait 30-days for it to become effective.

There has been casual talk about making residents pay for trash since at least 2011. The resolution was passed March 11, 2013, theoretically with much discussion ahead of that quick, weighty decision. We didn't get notice until 10 days ahead of time?

Rumor has it they considered not sending any notice what-so-ever to residents. But then again, that's just a rumor. Good thing we got our postcards. Ten days before the Village and Local Waste officially hold us responsible for our refuse collection ---but wait--- the Village wants us to stay in contract with Local Waste. Didn't they just violate that contract? No, instead they amended it. We are responsible for paying for it, but they want us to do it their way, naturally.

Local Waste expects us to pay them; they have indicated they will send individual records to collections if they are not paid directly.

Topping things off, Local Waste was not notified that leaf collection is no longer going to be offered (likewise, residents have been kept in the dark about this).

This means huge increases in our yard waste, given our environment. Which means huge increases in the labor and metrics on Local Waste's end of things.

The Village supposedly gave them our names and addresses for the billing (not that it isn't public record anyway, but they facilitated the move even more).


Meanwhile, you ought to know that "our" Mayor, as a member of council prior to her taking office as mayor, was part of the movement to increase the salary of the mayor's position, while the previous mayor was on vacation. He returned and found the unnecessary pay increase, but it was too late for him to do much about it.
Since Lynn took office, the salary that our previous mayor received went from the neighborhood of 14K/year to her 27K/year with benefits. For a part time job. With an assistant. Who makes $18/hour.

And the mayor and council can't find a way to make a proper budget that doesn't simultaneously involve increasing taxes, taking away services (leaf collection), and passing on financial responsibilities to individual residents (waste collection)???

If you care to look at the actual resolution: