MINUTES OF THE CUYAHOGA COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION

BOARD MEETING

December 12, 2019

CALL TO ORDER
The meeting of the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission (County Planning) was called to order by Vice-Chair Councilperson Sunny Simon and the roll call showed a quorum was present.

MINUTES
On a motion by Mayor Brennan, seconded by Councilperson Simon, the minutes of the November 1, 2019 Special Board Meeting were duly adopted by unanimous vote.

Mr. Dever arrived.

RESOLUTIONS

Resolution No. 191212-A. Approval of appointment of Shawn Leininger as Executive Director and authorizing Chairperson’s signature of Resolution.

On a motion by Mr. Dever, seconded by Mayor Byrne, Resolution 191212-A approval of Shawn Leininger as Executive Director and authorizing chairperson’s signature of Resolution, was passed with unanimous vote.

Resolution No. 191212-B. Approval of a Planning Services Agreement with the City of Middleburg Heights to prepare a Master Plan.

Susan Infeld, Special Initiatives Manager, provided an overview of the Resolution and introduced Jim Sonnhalter, Planning Services Manager.  Mr. Sonnhalter provided additional details on the services being provided as part of this Planning Services Agreement (MOU) and Planning Grant award.

Mayor Brennan questioned how an MOU that exceeds five thousand dollars ($5,000) was signed prior to Board approval.  Ms. Infeld stated that it was a miscommunication with County Planning staff.  She added that she was not aware it had to be approved by the Board before she signed as the Board had been notified of the awards previously.

Mayor Brennan questioned how the miscommunication happened.  Ms. Infeld referred to Ms. Stefanie Deka from the Law Department.  Ms. Deka explained that the MOU was approved from a legal standpoint only and the need for Board approval if over five thousand dollars ($5,000) was not communicated to the Law Department when County Planning sent the MOU for review.  After the issue of the fully executed contract not having been previously approved by the Board was brought to Ms. Deka’s attention, the issue was brought to Shawn Leininger’s and ultimately Councilperson Simon’s attention.  The solution was to bring the Resolution to the Board to ratify Ms. Infeld’s signature as Interim Director; otherwise the contract would need to be cancelled and the process started over.

Mayor Brennan brought up the fact that other cities such as Strongsville who contributed more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) came before the Board for approval.  Ms. Deka stated that County Planning may have had a process in place however that does not appear to be the case for Middleburg Heights.  Ms. Deka stated that Mr. Leininger is formalizing a contract approval process so that these errors will be avoided by County Planning in the future.

Mayor Sellers arrived.

On a motion by Mr. Dever, seconded by Councilperson Simon, Resolution 191212-B, approval of a Planning Services Agreement with the City of Middleburg Heights to prepare a Master Plan was passed, with abstention from Mayor Brennan and Mayor Sellers.

Mayor Bobst arrived.

Resolution No. 191212-C. Approval of a Planning Services Agreement with the City of Solon to prepare a Solon Connects Master Plan.

Susan Infeld, Special Initiatives Manager, provided an overview of the Resolution and again introduced Jim Sonnhalter, Planning Services Manager.  Mr. Sonnhalter provided additional details on the services being provided as part of this Planning Services Agreement (MOU) and Planning Grant award.

On a motion by Mr. Dever, seconded by Mayor Byrne, Resolution 191212-C, approval of a Planning Services Agreement with the City of Solon to prepare a Solon Connects Master Plan, was passed with unanimous vote.

Resolution No. 191212-D. Approval of a Planning Services / Inter-Agency Agreement with the Cuyahoga County Department of Development to provide planning and technical assistance.

Susan Infeld, Special Initiatives Manager, provided an overview of the Resolution and again introduced Jim Sonnhalter, Planning Services Manager.  Mr. Sonnhalter provided additional details on the services being provided to the Cuyahoga County Department of Development as part of this Planning Services / Inter-Agency.

On a motion by Mayor Bobst, seconded by Mayor DiCicco, Resolution 191212-D, approval of a Planning Services/Inter-Agency Agreement with the Cuyahoga County Department of Development to provide planning and technical assistance, was passed with unanimous vote.

CHAIR’S REPORT
No Chair’s report.

EXECUTIVE DIRECOR’S REPORT
Ms. Infeld referred to the memorandum that Mr. Leininger added to the board packet highlighting the 2019 Cuyahoga County Urban Tree Canopy Assessment Update and introduced Dan Meaney, Information & Research Manager.  Mr. Meaney gave a high-level overview and answered questions about the Update.

Councilperson Simon recognized and thanked Mayor Bobst and Mayor DiCicco for continuing to serve on County Planning’s Board for another term.

Councilperson Simon stated a 2020 meeting schedule was included in the meeting packet noting that the organizational meeting will be held in January 2020 to elect officers.

OLD BUSINESS
No old business. 

NEW BUSINESS
No new business. 

COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC
No comments from the public.

ADJOURNMENT

Councilperson Simon adjourned the meeting.

The next meeting is scheduled for January 9, 2020.

CUYAHOGA COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION

December 12, 2019 MEETING ATTENDANCE