I missed the 9/10 Council Meeting, but after reviewing the packet and minutes, here are some comments.
UC Anthropologist research. I think this is great evidence to the sensitivity of the Lower 80 Acres, and I look fwd to his findings. I feel the Eastern Corridor is bad for the Village if it tracks anywhere near the Little Miami River (will be Seen, Heard).
Best Recycling Rate. This is awesome - I'm very proud of our Community's focus on this. I would like to see us set a stretching objective of 50% within 2 years of the new garbage contract where we plan to further incent recycling by offering larger containers at cost. One followup - this number may or may not include brush pickup. We should get clear on how it's measured.
Theatre Tax abatement on improvements. I fully support this - the Theatre is the heart of our Village and disproportionate investment (with conditions) is right.
Process for Tax abatement. Once again, Council has been completely left out of the process. 72 hours notice for review is wholly inappropriate. One person should not be steering the ship. In all cases, the Group will make a better decision than the Group's smartest Person. (per the book "Wisdom of Crowds"). This issue is easy to get behind, but it illuminates the dysfunction of Council/Mayor. I am sure the founders of our Village's Government did not mean to install an Autocrat.
Andy Black vote. I am glad that per the Solicitor, we conducted the vote legally. While I'm not the expert, I still question this and don't understand how we can vote to fill a vacancy when there is in fact no vacancy. I believe this fails the logic test. Again, glad there is legal justification for our actions, but this doesn't make sense to me.
Waste Contract. This contract has options I am not interested in pursuing, like front yard service. I am fine to collect data on theoretical savings, but I am uncomfortable losing this important service in the Village. I am excited to see the bids come back from this process - we may see 2 Companies bid which I believe will save the Village money.
Cortney
Sunday, September 23, 2012
letter to resident re questions from Council 8/24
I sent this note to the resident as followup to his comments in Council on 8/27
Cortney
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referenced Audio is clip from ICRCTV.COM
http://icrctv.com/mariemont-village-council-7912
(fast forward to minute 30:49 and listen for about 30 seconds)
Cortney
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Hi,
Thx for the comments tonight. Couple thoughts. I don't recall the pay as you go component in the last contract. We discussed but not sure it made it in. I recall we were worried about wet summers like 2011 and going way over when discussed in 2010. We were more comfortable with "even billing". Your memory might be better than mine however. Regardless pub works should be held accountable and to a lesser extent full council.
Second, here are Ed's comments (audio) and guidance to andy to not vote. This is only a small portion so it's more nuanced for sure. While our actions fail the logic test (voting to fill a vacancy before there is one), if we were legal then ill be relieved. Looking fwd to Eds analysis.
8/27 Council
I attended Council on 8/27 and here's what I saw.
Historical Expert's comments re Eastern Corridor. I applaud his research and investigation, and I think this is the most compelling defense the Village has against the Eastern Corridor cutting through our South 80 acres. The Eastern Corridor's path will negatively affect the quality of life for our Residents - we must work to find an alternative.
Resident's comments re mowing. I think we chose "even billing" because of the dry years balanced vs wet ones. I for one am no "futures" predictor of the rainfall, so I think even billing is appropriate.
Resident's concern of my fear of an illegal vote by Council (Andy Black voting for his replacement). I don't see how Andy could possibly have voted. The vote happens when there is a vacancy. We had no vacancy at that Council meeting. The Solicitor even said he assumed Andy wouldn't vote (before changing his mind). It fails all logic and reason.
Pls see separate post to the resident on mowing and legality of Andy Black voting for his replacement.
I voted in the affirmative on all votes except accepting Minutes in which I abstained since I was absent from the previous meeting. All were procedural in nature.
Cortney
ICRCTV.COM
Historical Expert's comments re Eastern Corridor. I applaud his research and investigation, and I think this is the most compelling defense the Village has against the Eastern Corridor cutting through our South 80 acres. The Eastern Corridor's path will negatively affect the quality of life for our Residents - we must work to find an alternative.
Resident's comments re mowing. I think we chose "even billing" because of the dry years balanced vs wet ones. I for one am no "futures" predictor of the rainfall, so I think even billing is appropriate.
Resident's concern of my fear of an illegal vote by Council (Andy Black voting for his replacement). I don't see how Andy could possibly have voted. The vote happens when there is a vacancy. We had no vacancy at that Council meeting. The Solicitor even said he assumed Andy wouldn't vote (before changing his mind). It fails all logic and reason.
Pls see separate post to the resident on mowing and legality of Andy Black voting for his replacement.
I voted in the affirmative on all votes except accepting Minutes in which I abstained since I was absent from the previous meeting. All were procedural in nature.
Cortney
ICRCTV.COM
Finance Committee Meeting 9/20/2012
I attended the Finance Committee on 9/20/2012 and here's what I saw.
Radios for Maint dept. Their current radios become obselete in Jan 2013, so this request makes sense. Further, new ones are mobile vs vehicle mounted, so we can expect better response times in case of emergency. I support new radios for the Maint dpt. I would like us to revisit cell phones and the standards in which we deploy them. I think we should factor in these new radios as we analyze cell usage and need.
Land Line telephone contract with Cincinnati Bell. While I support 60 month contracts to maximize savings, the group converged on 36 months which is still a nice savings. The group felt like flexibility in changing suppliers on month 37 was desirable if necessary. While I'd rather save more, I'm ok with this. I would like to see Joe S's reco to revisit phone hardware (and maybe cell service too) in 2013 or 2014.
Utility Aggregation. The group continues to support Opt In (less discount, more autonomy to the resident) vs Opt Out. Again, I would rather save more, but this should result in substantial energy savings for the Village and those who choose to take advantage. We're reaching out to Anderson, Terrace Park and Newtown to see if further scale/bundling might be possible. More work needs to be done on Aggregation before a Council reco.
Cortney
Radios for Maint dept. Their current radios become obselete in Jan 2013, so this request makes sense. Further, new ones are mobile vs vehicle mounted, so we can expect better response times in case of emergency. I support new radios for the Maint dpt. I would like us to revisit cell phones and the standards in which we deploy them. I think we should factor in these new radios as we analyze cell usage and need.
Land Line telephone contract with Cincinnati Bell. While I support 60 month contracts to maximize savings, the group converged on 36 months which is still a nice savings. The group felt like flexibility in changing suppliers on month 37 was desirable if necessary. While I'd rather save more, I'm ok with this. I would like to see Joe S's reco to revisit phone hardware (and maybe cell service too) in 2013 or 2014.
Utility Aggregation. The group continues to support Opt In (less discount, more autonomy to the resident) vs Opt Out. Again, I would rather save more, but this should result in substantial energy savings for the Village and those who choose to take advantage. We're reaching out to Anderson, Terrace Park and Newtown to see if further scale/bundling might be possible. More work needs to be done on Aggregation before a Council reco.
Cortney
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