Council Meeting 10/10

I attended Council on 10/10 and here's what I saw

Police Cruiser. I think our severe deficits in the General Fund and continued surpluses in the Perm Improvement Fund mandate efficiency choices at every turn. Recall the device cost is Perm Improvement, the energy cost is General Fund. Rick pulled me aside after the meeting and shared the new Charger's improved efficiency due to disengaged cylinders. This is great news, however we're not really improving upon the inefficient Crown Vic (same is still better than worse though). I will support the Charger since it's not efficiency decretive, but I'd like other options too.

As an aside, I wish we would consider alternatives to big cars like the Charger/Crown Vic. This car makes/made sense in highway situations, but I think (no data) it's over engineered and unncessary for a 1 square mile village with a speed limit no greater than 35mph. Why couldn't we maintain a fleet of Ford Fusion Hybrids? Or maybe Hybrid Escapes? (this assumes safety is ensured, it assumes vehicles can do the job) A Hybrid would get amazing mileage, probably 2-3x vs today and would easily pay us back over its lifetime. What would meet our need?

IT Plan. I wish the Mayor had come to Council with his suggestion for Village webmaster sooner. The IT Plan is baked, we're PAYING an IT consulting firm. I love resident input and volunteering, but we'd have been better off designing around this talent/resource earlier. Communication continues to lack between the Mayor and Council.

Signage on Wooster Pike Ordinance. I'm concerned about this. In retrospect I really appreciate Rex Bevis' efforts to minimize signage. What are we approving? What will it look like? Where do we maintain/lose control here?


Voting: I voted in the affirmative on all. With the following exceptions, all were procedural in nature:
-bids for Street Repair. I voted yes since we need to continue to invest here
-Levy - I voted yes since we have no plan to retire them. On a personal note I will vote yes for this renewal. We need in the income now more than ever. I believe one of these could be reduced, though, if we make different choices and agree to a different level of service


Cortney

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